I have a new jinx book and inside the book are few tricks that made by Danny Tong is it the same guy which in the DVD?
Danny Tong = Dan Tong?

Yes. He has many of his creations in various books as he has been a performer & lecturer for many years. One of magic's best!

This DVD is one of the finest I've seen of late. It features a collection of worker material that will baffle and entertain.

I particularly liked the no-tear approach to the newspaper tear, the ESP revelation/card tricks and the two approaches to bank night. The rope routine was also strong.

Great DVDs with solid stand-up material from a single artist are a rarity. If you are thinking of adding any of these effects to your act, I highly recommend Dan Tong's DVD.

-Wayne

I just received my dvd from Dan. Tony did a wonderful job of reviewing Dan Tong's dvd. Thanks for taking the time to do so.

With the scarcity of stand-up magic dvd's, this one really arrives at the right time. Anyone looking to put together a stand-up act will be off to an excellent start with the help provided in this dvd.

The Jimmy Ray Paper Tear is really good. Dan goes into great detail explaining why he performs the routine the way he does. His explanation on how to make the gimmick is very clear as is his explanation of how to perform the effect.

The Egg Bag is my favorite on the dvd. It is a performance only. However, it is the same routine explained on his close-up dvd set. The method is the same. The routine is the same. The difference is in how he handles the spectators in a close-up venue and how he handles the spectator in a stand-up environment. (I highly recommend his "Finally" dvd set. Close-up magic at its very best!)

The Five Card Mental Test is another good addition to a stand-up show. This effect plays very well.

The rope routine is a great piece of magic. Again, it's one of those routines that play for large audiences as well as smaller audiences like a restaurant audience. What I like about this handling is that it goes full circle. It begins with a very strong cut and restored phase. It moves into a phase of "The Professor's Nightmare." You MUST see his handling of showing the three equal pieces of rope. From this point forward, I will use no other method. The routine finishes with the complete restoration of the rope into one solid piece. As I said, a great piece of magic!

The Bill To Wallet is full of great ideas. Dan has worked all the bugs out of this routine. All one has to do is learn it and perform it.

The bonus material is not just something thrown in to add time to the dvd. The material is really good. The linking paper rings is a fun routine to watch. Talk about playing big and packing small.

I REALLY liked the Revised Big Surprise. It's Dan's take on Michael Close's effect. Dan has added some bits of business to the routine that really ADDS to the way it plays. He has some really good built in subtleties that not only add to the effect but also help manage the spectator.

The production quality of the video is also first class.

I am excited about this dvd. (I'm also excited about Dan's first two dvd's.) Here we have access to some really good commercial magic that has been honed to the inth degree. Dan's fifty years plus of performing experience sure shows through in the development of these effects. You will have to look long and hard to find dvd's that provide this kind of value. My hat is off to Dan Tong!

John Luka

Nice One John! Both you and Tony does a very good job for the thorough review! I m ordering it tomorrow!

I'd post my honest review of it but I'd probably get torn to shreds.

Please do I have been interested and I would like to know a different point of view.

Production quality and explanations are all first-class.

Tricks :

Dan does The Jimmy Ray Paper Tear, starting off with pieces of paper already ripped. However there's a LOT of fumbling with the gimmick and at the start of the trick he even flashes the restoration packet. A better solution would be to use the marketed No Tear Newspaper trick, which is exactly the same effect but much, much cleaner in method.

Egg Bag : To my way of thinking The Egg Bag is a children's effect. What adult wouldn't think that the egg is hiding in a secret pocket? I know there are a lot of ardent Hobson Egg Bag users out there, I'd suggest that Hobson's routine works because it's inherently entertaining, I wasn't entertained by this version.

5 Card Mental Test : Clever method, zero entertainment value. Someone picks one ESP symbol out of five and you show your prediction matches it. Uh... so what. Sorry.

Rope Routine : This is ok, I'd start with something by Sands, Tabary, Daryl etc however. He's also using gimmicked ropes which is unnecessary.

Hat Tear : This was quite funny.

Bill to Wallet : This is Terry Seabrooke's routine. Sometimes it's tough borrowing a high denomination bill, but didn't like the way he tricked the older woman who offered a bill onto the stage. Saying "I just want the serial number" several times but then going back on it and getting her up in front of everyone made me uncomfortable.

More important than the tricks - Presentation :

Not a lot here to be honest. There are a few gags sprinkled through it but nothing that stood out. It's like watching a good amateur, not a great professional.

I don't regret buying it because DVD's of standup material are so rare and it's worth the price just to see his act. But will I add a trick, a line, or any of the routining or business to my own act? No. Your mileage may vary.

- I haven't watched the bonus material as yet.

I am on the fence with this one so I would appreciate ALL reviews. No one is going to be upset with you if you are honest and give an explanation of why you feel the way you feel.

I feel the same way as Futureal. I thought the newspaper gags would be original rather then the old groners that are found in joke books which contain funny headlines. I already use and like the Tony Stevens method of the 'No tear' newspaper. Always hated the egg bag but it would be a good routine for children.

I love the bonus aterial...check his signed bill to can...makes the dvd worth the price just for that...my opinion only..

Is it similar to Mike Close's effect? What are the differences?

I haven't seen closes but I hear they are similar...i know there might be some improvements but I cant say what they are...'m sure someone will come on board here...i think its a good product but I produced it so cant really comment as to the value..the market will determine that

koz

Yes, it's based on Mike Close's routine and he does use a few of his lines and the idea of the pen cap appearing in the can at the end.

In Mike's trick a signed contract appears in the canister, Dan Tong makes it a burnt-bill trick.

What was weird was that Dan uses the exact same Terry Seabrooke routine he had already previously performed for the same audience that same night. He just repeats the whole thing, word for word, which was pretty surreal.

I re-watched the whole DVD (and the bonus material) today after posting my initial review. I thought I might have been a bit harsh.

Nope.

You got to listen to his Jokes again because they are funny. I thought burnt bill was great because when he burnt the envelopes the audience was cringing and you got to love the fear factor of that trick.

While I talked earlier about what I liked about this DVD, here's a link to my entire review that offers more discussion:
http://magic.about.com/od/dvdreviews/fr/092608tong.htm

-Wayne

I experimented with Dan Tong’s 4th eye over the weekend at my restaurants. It’s the effect on the DVD with ESP cards where the cards are mixed and then you can tell the spectator which cards he is holding. I know that Tong teaches this as a stand-up routine, but I often work out routines at my restaurants when possible. After using them in my restaurants, it’s not a big jump to ring them into a stand-up show.

The routine got good reactions. I probably performed it ten times. It’s not a great routine yet, but I think it’s got lots of potential. I’ll be evolving this one.

-Wayne

Are you using the trick because you like the effect or you like the method?

As I said above, from a lay standpoint it meant almost nothing to me. Someone picks one out of five symbols and you've predicted it. Clever, maybe. But it's only one out of five, and unless you've come up with a killer presentation of it there's not a lot of entertainment there.

Invisible Deck is a superior effect.

Actually, I was working-up and performing the second routine with ESP cards that's in the bonus section. While I thought that the first ESP routine was fine, it wasn't something that I think works with my persona and presentation.

It's not the method that appealed to me. It was the potential for audience interaction when mixing the cards. I only performed it at tables with four or more people so everyone could mix cards. A few jokes, and then I delivered the "mind reading." I'm not sure that this will become "A" material for me, but it's getting decent reactions and my presentation of it should potentially improve.

-Wayne

Does anyone have a source for the can used in Revised Big Surprise?