I received this as a gift from a magician friend, and was quite excited. I've spent multiple hours breaking down the book and the dvds.


The Book: The book is well written. I've seen multiple people say "The Berglas effect isn't in here". Those people are wrong. The basic principle is in there, but that isn't the whole book. This book is about his card work; which is stupidly amazing. You learn to "Jazz" around and become a dynamic performer. As a fan of Jazz music, this is a very similar style based off improvisational techniques. If you're a Dan and Dave fanboy move monkey(Which is awesome), this book isn't for you. I say stupidly amazing for the fact, magicians can see what you are doing, but your audience won't. I give the book 3/5 stars. I love the stuff in there, but I wish there was a little bit more.


The Dvd's: The first DVD is an interview. It is very informative about his back ground and thinking. Dvd 2 is performances of this "Jazz" style. Multiple spectators think or name cards and he finds them. Not really for me, but great to see a legend perform. Dvd 3 has more performances of routines and brief explanations on basic moves (ex. classic force) By far the best out of the three. I give the dvd's 4/5 stars.

Overall I think this is great for anyone whom loves his work. I "jazz" more often than doing structured routines. I also have "The Mind and Magic" book. This explains his stage acts along with more of his thinking. I believe investing in both will make you a better performer. That being said, it isn't for everyone. I give it 4/5 because I find myself being a huge fan of his work, but this isn't the holey grail of books. If you are a close up guy, invest in the Dai Vernon set; if you are a pure mentalist, look into some billet work. This set is for fans and jazz fans.

Love this book. Had it open the moment I received it. A lot of great works in this book. Most likely will have to add some of Mr. Berglas approaches to my magic. The DVDs are equally entertaining. Knowing about the "any card at any number" Berglas effect. Was initially why I purchased this book. But reading through the Pages I would have to say that the description of "Magicians choice" is one of my favorites in this book. The effects that are here in this book are Great. I hope to have a lot of fun with these new approaches. I would definitely recommend this book as a must read.