I know many of you have rated this very highly. Unfortunately I can not. I have not met the
performer nor am I familiar with his work other than viewing the download. I downloaded it becuase
of the high ratings it had received.
I must say I am also older and like classical magic
and mentalism. I have been a magic demonstrator for Magic Inc., Midwest Magic, Hollywood Magic, and
Hollywood Toys and Costumes for over 20 years. I have edited over 60 magic books and have been the
featured close up performer at the Magic Castle. I say this not to impress but hope you will take my
criticsm to heart as one who has been around this for some time. Most of these comments deals with
the presentation for the purpose of learning.
First - I had a very difficult time with the
spoken language and the accent. There were times I just couldn't understand the guy.
Second I
do have a bias and I am not a big fan of tatoos and piercings. However I do understand that many of
the younger set does not have a problem with this. But, what getting the tatoos has to do with what
is being presented is beyond me. The same can be said for all the sessions holding a guitar.
Third - While many effects are presented, there isn't enough interaction with people as examples
of the work. More demonstrations would have been helpful.
Fourth - He comes with
recommendations from mages I know and trust. Kenton Knepper for example. That is good. The effects
are good and the discussion of their construction is workable. However, they just didn't blow me
out. This would be in contrast to someone like Docc Hilford whose material I do use, find clever and
when first seen by me creates a sense of awe. Maybe just a style thing for me. But his material is
more to my style.
Probably the single worst review I've read to date!!!
I personally think Tattoos are sick & gross, but you knew he had those before you bought the video. Presumably, you also knew about his accent, so why are you bitching about those AFTER the fact?
Also, why don't you at least sign your name to the review if you've worked at all these prestigious places & edited some 20 books? Then perhaps your negative review would carry more weight. I mean, do you think Turner is going to somehow retaliate against you all the way from the UK?!
You say you'd like to see more interaction, but how much? What is "enough?
Then you go off on a tangent about Knepper & Hilford which is totally irrelevant to this review.
If you broke down his video point-by-point, or effect by effect, or even said "At 15 mins in this or that trick were lame. At 30 mins he does a good effect, but after five minutes, he's back to X,Y & Z for the next 20 mins which doesn't work because of this that and something else" your criticism would carry more weight.
But the only thing I got out of it is you didn't like his guitar, tattoos or accent, and he's not Doc Hilford. Which is all rather un-helpful, incredibly unprofessional and actually really lame on your part.
Mate, that's just poor form.
You criticize the appearance of the performer instead of the content of the release? That's a terribly shameful thing to do.
His tattoos and guitar only distract from the teaching if you hate tattoos more than you love magic.
I personally find that Peter has a clear voice and understandable accent. I won't say everyone will agree with me -- I suppose it's just what we're each used to. That said, you watched the trailer before committing to buying the DVD, right? That should have been a clear example of how the whole project would sound, don't you agree? Did you think he would magically become American once you started watching at home?
I can say, the part where you said
"The effects are good and the discussion of their construction is workable. However, they just didn't blow me out. This would be in contrast to someone like Docc Hilford whose material I do use, find clever and when first seen by me creates a sense of awe. Maybe just a style thing for me. But his material is more to my style."
That's an honest and clear review!
It's okay if you don't like it, and honestly, if it's not great material, I want to hear about it! If that was the totality of your review, I'd say you did a good job writing it. It's a shame you had to spend twice as much space talking about your own accomplishments and criticizing Pete for looking differently than you'd like.
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