Magic Tricks

Part of this review comes from responding to other reviews about this product. Some called this a total waste of money and the worst spending of $60.

For those that just want my opinion, BUY THIS DVD if you plan on working on a manipulation act that looks like real magic. Period.

For those that would like a more detailed reason as to why I give this such high praise, please read on.

This DVD is probably one of the most important ones to come out in a long time. Why? Because it makes you work. It makes you think. It makes you come up with your own material. Routines are not just handed to you, although there are some smaller routines that could be part of a larger routine. So if you are looking for pre-made, no-practice needed magic, keep looking.

The DVD is broken up into sections. It does not play from start to beginning. That was never the purpose. The purpose was to teach methods that you could employ for your own routines. This way you could look at what you want to work on and go from there.

Gimmicks are shown when applicable, but they do not show how they are made. I don't think is a bad thing. When you buy a DVD on foo can routines there's not a section on building a foo can. First, there are proprietary issues at hand; secondly, you might have a better way of doing it. Of course this would force most to find the information and make big boy decisions about how you want to use this information. So put the work in or walk away and let the real artist's step up.

One negative comment made was that the methods shown were old and that there are modern improvements. That's like saying learning the backpalm is old so don't use it. It's one thing to know about it and quite another to do it well. The masters understood that practicing the best methods well is worth more than knowing 100 methods that you muck through.

Some other comments suggested that the DVD gave no routine ideas and that there was no discussion sections. Again, put the work in for yourself. Lukas was trying to show you how to fish, not provide you with a fish dinner.

Many commented on the language issue. I have purchased many DVD's by non-english speaking magicians. All have attempted to communicate their methods... some successful, some not so successful. I believe this one communicated well in showing how the items were used. Granted it is always better to utilize words with action, but unless you speak another language this is about as good as it will get. Again, put the work in and you will see amazing results. Imaging learning from an ancient master who shows you instead of tells you. If you want to learn bad enough you will figure a way to do it.

And for those that have been Penguin Magic buyers for any length of time you can get these in the Choose 5 for $99 section. So that makes them $20 each. A steal at that price. And you'll get 3 more items to put on your shelf and never look at again.

Magic has taken a beating from the public because there are far too many "magicians" out there that want fast and easy. This usually makes the magic for most audiences convoluted and cheap. Comedy, although not bad, has been given a place of importance in front of wonder. This is a sad state of affairs for the Art in Magic.

I personally was moved when I watched the trailer. Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the videography. My guess is I saw some amazing moments that brought wonder back to my life. Isn't that we are supposed to do as magicians?

So get this DVD... put in the work... and bring wonder back into the world.