Magic Tricks

This is one of those reviews where I wish there were more than five ratings, as my true rating would have been a 3-1/2. But being that I got this as part of a Cool Box special, and that it's near Christmas, I'll round up. This is a two-disc set, and I'd rate the first a three and the second a four.

The production quality of the DVD was excellent, which isn't surprising considering the production quality of a Franz Harary performance.

The first DVD includes next to no magic, and instead spends about 90 minutes telling you how hard it is to produce a show while being challenged by culture, weather, budget, language, scheduling,personalities, etc. I got that message clearly from the trailer and really didn't pick up much more from my 90 minute investment.

Things picked up on the second DVD, which was all footage from the actual show. He had some impressive illusions that rivaled Copperfield, including one that he ended up selling to Copperfield.

But it was the DVD commentary track that I both found most interesting and most disappointing. He got into his magic philosphy a bit, which I found interesting, but was awfully stingy when it got to methodology. He said he would be talking in "code," lest the DVD fall into the hands of any non-magician. But the extent of his coded revelations was that to vanish a silk in his hand, he "used a 'tip' if you know what I mean."

Yes, we know what you mean. And for a DVD that was marketed by a magician to magicians, I really expected more, if you know what I mean.