Well, Digital Dissolve arrived – well packed and promptly shipped.

I’m not going to take much time here – just the salient points:

• It IS Steve Dusheck’s trick – the variations are totally derivative from my perspective
• The DVD is amateur hour in production and content – at least the opening logo was mercifully quick
• This is not Jamie Schoolcraft’s best work
• It’s a good trick – always has been
• An OK product at an OK price – did not come from an advanced civilization as implied

and…….
I didn’t get laid!

Take care………

Generally, I only post reviews for two categories – Good to Great and Unimaginably Bad. In all honesty, I try to concentrate on the former as they do the most good for everyone. I like good magic and like telling you about it.

However, once in a while there comes along a product so unimaginably bad that I must write about it. Products that require ENORMOUS BALLS to ask money for them. I’m talking about world class, pants ripping kajonies. Could you have actually produced and sold Silver Shifter, for instance?

In a way, I admire these people. I would never, never in a thousand years, dreamed you could sell bottled water, $5 coffee or $50 rubber coins. Thus, I am doomed to a life of poverty – so be it!

Magicians are the easiest of consumers. I’m constantly amazed at the number of discussions on the Cafe which revolve around someone defending shoddy treatment, poor shipping or total non-delivery of promised product. The reasons given by the various vendors are invariably pathetic. Their defenders, and there are many, seem unfazed by the jobbing. I stand constantly amazed.

In my old blog I wrote a post titled F*** me, I’m A Magician. It received more comments than anything I ever wrote. Even there the defenders could be found.

The travesty I’m referring to in this review is a 2 DVD set called The Sankey Sanders Sessions. I honestly don’t know how old these are and am not interested enough to find out. The cover says it was shot in 2002. If I can save 1 person from buying this, then it is worth it.

As far as I can tell, one of these guys got a video camera for Christmas and started filming each other doing a bunch (21) of mediocre tricks. At some point one of them must have said think we can sell these tapes. After the laughter died down they must have decided – why not – they’ve seen worse stuff sold. (That’s true, but barely).

Remember what I said above about having industrial grade balls – they took one DVD worth of material and put it on 2 DVDs! It appears they spent the greater part of 15 minutes editing and slapping together a menu.

Both of these guys can do better. Sanders is a likable and capable magician. Some of his earlier stuff has been overpriced, but it least it was decent.

Jay Sankey has gradually tarnished a fine and deserved reputation. His early stuff was brilliantly creative and items like Mr. Clean Coins Across and Paperclipped are modern classics and seminal points for many other tricks. His recent output has been, in a word, pathetic. I expect him to start spitting in a napkin and selling it next. Apparently he has a following that will buy it.

Any good points? Actually the physical production is top notch and you get 2 DVD holders which you can use for other DVDs – that way you can recover 50¢ of the money you spent.

I recall an old story about a farmer that gradually replaced his horse’s food with more and more saw dust. The horse never complained, but one day the horse died. These guys should remember this.

Take care………

<Originally Posted February 16, 2007>

Whatever happened to Steve Pellegrino?

Has anyone heard from, his holiness, Stephen Youell?

I was wrong about Paul Chosse

I’m still right about Jabba and the Cafe’ crew.

Paul Kozak is a PUTZ!

The Internet is slowly, but surely, destroying the magic community as many of us have known it. We’re much, much poorer because of it.

Denny Haney declared the Egg Bag to be magic’s perfect trip. I tend to agree.

I need to take the time and energy to learn a stacked deck. I need to just do it!!!

Why is classic palming a coin so damn difficult?

Why does gospel magic attract so many goof balls and rotten magicians. This isn’t a religious comment – just the opposite actually. They do NO ONE any good.

Have you notice the Cafe’ blog section recently? Makes me seem downright regular.

Bob Kohler writes the best copy since Jeff Busby.

I miss the Magic Circle Jerk.

Take care………

Number 10
Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8
Men have two emotions: Hungry & Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Number 7
Give a person a fish & you feed him for a day; teach a person to use the Internet & he won’t bother you for weeks.

Number 6
Some people are like a Slinky……….not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Number 4
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3
Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents?

Number 2
In the 60s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now The world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER 1 THOUGHT FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES:
We know exactly where one cow with Mad-cow-disease is located among the millions of cows in America , but we haven’t got a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants & terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration????

Take care………

Remember I’m an old guy and I can only review from that perspective. I could throw a bunch of “dudes” in here and try to sound like one of the street guys, but it would be transparent. (Is “dudes” still even viable? I’m so out of it!)

The Theory 11 site itself is OK. It has the obligatory black/ellusionists type theme and has enough noise to give it a little bit of a Web 2.0 feel. Personally, I find it too busy, but I’ve seen worse.

The videos of the tricks they are selling are like everyone else’s videos – bad music – too loud – filled with street bums and space queens acting like the L&L crowd on steroids and giving no idea of what the trick actually looks like. Structured to sell the experience, not the effect. I doubt any of these tricks will actually get you laid, but that’s the implication. Again nothing new or unusual here.

I ordered Digital Dissolve to test out the process and the item itself. I must say the ordering process was painless and professional. The order was acknowledged promptly and sent the next day. I should get it this week. There’s been a LOT of discussion of whether this is merely a repackaging and routining of Steve Dusheck’s classic Copper/Silver. If it is, I think they made a serious mistake in using this as one of their lead products. Some of the excuses and rationales I have seen from the producers are robustly L-A-M-E. We’ll see!

I’m a big fan of Aaron Fisher and wanted to try his trick, but frankly it didn’t even look good in the video and it smells of angles big time. I could easily be wrong, but if I am, the video should be re-shot.

They do show that a number of the tricks aren’t available yet right on the description. Something that is SORELY lacking on many of the big sites that pretend they have everything in stock.

The forums are nice and seem to have a little momentum. I hope it continues. Unfortunately, most tend to die and only Brooks goes on. Something I’ll never understand.

Not a bad start. I doubt it will spawn a new worldwide religion that one would have expected after reading the pre-release hoopla. At this point it is just the web version of Brainstorm in the Bahamas and other think-tank commercializations – nothing new. No one else has ever fulfilled the promise. I wish these guys the best.

Gentlemen – keep it real and you have a chance.

Take care………

Let’s get this out front:

I HATE JOSHUA JAY

He’s young, good looking, talented, single and doing exactly what he wants. In short, he’s everything I’m not and never will be.

Even in his very earliest writings, h’s shown an incredible ability, for someone of his age especially, to select quality tricks and sleights. This collection of 3 DVDs represents his favorites – not necessarily the best, of his columns from Magic Magazine.

There’s 7 hours, or so, of enjoyable magic. Moves, routines, tips etc. It’s always fun to see stuff in person that you’ve only read about. Most looks better – much better. Some doesn’t.

A few nits:

• Rick Maue’s Riding the Wave was tedious – so tedious I flipped over and watched the White Sox. It lasted two excruciating innings!

• One of the best tricks on the DVDs was by Paul Cummins and it was performance only – something I find inexcusable on a magic instructional DVD

• Some of the banter was sophomoric, but, then again, they’re sophomores!

• The usual L&L crowd. Josh, to his credit, actually made a few L&L jokes. Personally, they never particularly bother me and the women are certainly a pleasure to watch – so much so that I can tolerate the dork always on the front row.

• At times, I was so distracted by the gal in the short blue jean skirt – wondering if she would ever reveal the promised land (she didn’t) that I lost track of some of the tricks.

In summary – I’ll watch these more than once. Something I don’t believe has happened in 2007.

Well done!

Take care….