The Magic Cafe Forums - De'vo's Xtreme Beginerz DVD set

Heres what I thougght about this DVD, its 4 hours long! and costs $40... it will be available on Ellusionist in a few weeks

XB DVD Review by CardConjurer

Overall:

First off, the packaging, menus, video quality, and editing are all top notch... you will never see better editing on a teaching video, nor will you see more real-world moves on a dvd. The quality is amazing, and you can tell how much time was put into this. The special guests are all experts in thier fields, and are widely known for what they do: Daryl Martinez, Jeff McBride, and Greg Irwin.

Moves:
The first set of moves on the dvd are pickup moves. I was genuinely amazed at the amount of quality techniques possible just showing how to pickup dropped cards, there was more creativity in this one section then I've seen in a majority of the other magic/card dvd's out there! After about 5 years experience in card handling, I still learned new things about the CHARLIER cut, the most basic move in xcm! Everyone who purchases this dvd will gain immense knowledge and learn new things about the basics, as well as some new more advanced ideas.

The Perching concept is incredible, as well as just about every move on the DVD's! I can see these DVD's being the start of a new generation of ideas and concepts, so much creativity here it will inspire you. The fanning workshop is THE BEST source of fanning techniques hands down (other than the Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes)! I'll be able to vastly improve on my fans, which I didn't think was possible. I felt like a beginer with fans after seeing the perfect fans Jerry Cestkowski was making. I am amazed at the quality of every single move on the DVD's. Thier so many new ideas on basic concepts. My personal favorite moves are vertical spin, and basically all the pickups.

Information/Tips:
This DVD set is a genuine goldmine of information on xcm. It will teach you EVERYTHING you need to know about finding xcm jobs, and keeping them. The tips on routining are indispensable to card manipulators, because almost everyone has a problem with routining. Overall VERY good information that just about everyone needs to know.

Compared:
There is no DVD out there that can match the quality of this DVD set. Some other DVD's have about 1 hour of content, but spread out, and not packed in. This DVD set has FOUR hours of content which all packed in, and taught with amazing clarity and attention to details. I wanted to write a Pros/Cons part to this DVD, but I really can't... I cant think of ANTYHING I don't like in this set! $40 is waaay underpiced for this set, with all the info, moves, tips, and concepts jam packed into it.
I have just about all the recent material on playing card manipulation (books, dvd's, notes), and This is definetely the best of all of them (not including EoPCF)

REST:
The Q section was very informative, and gave lots of extra tips on the moves in XB, very refreshing idea for a DVD. Yhe menu, and layout of the dvd were well thought out, and are very clean, and easy to follow. The coin roll bonus was a very nice additon, and I hope to see more coin stuff from De'vo...

RATING:

Even though I didn't see any problems with the DVD, I don't believe in perfection... so I give this DVD, MY highest rating of a 9/10.

CardConjurer Loyal user South Florida 202 Posts	Posted: Jul 28, 2005 12:34 am 0 Heres what I thougght about this DVD, its 4 hours long! and costs $40... it will be available on Ellusionist in a few weeks XB DVD Review by CardConjurer Overall: First off, the packaging, menus, video quality, and editing are all top notch... you will never see better editing on a teaching video, nor will you see more real-world moves on a dvd. The quality is amazing, and you can tell how much time was put into this. The special guests are all experts in thier fields, and are widely known for what they do: Daryl Martinez, Jeff McBride, and Greg Irwin. Moves: The first set of moves on the dvd are pickup moves. I was genuinely amazed at the amount of quality techniques possible just showing how to pickup dropped cards, there was more creativity in this one section then I've seen in a majority of the other magic/card dvd's out there! After about 5 years experience in card handling, I still learned new things about the CHARLIER cut, the most basic move in xcm! Everyone who purchases this dvd will gain immense knowledge and learn new things about the basics, as well as some new more advanced ideas. The Perching concept is incredible, as well as just about every move on the DVD's! I can see these DVD's being the start of a new generation of ideas and concepts, so much creativity here it will inspire you. The fanning workshop is THE BEST source of fanning techniques hands down (other than the Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes)! I'll be able to vastly improve on my fans, which I didn't think was possible. I felt like a beginer with fans after seeing the perfect fans Jerry Cestkowski was making. I am amazed at the quality of every single move on the DVD's. Thier so many new ideas on basic concepts. My personal favorite moves are vertical spin, and basically all the pickups. Information/Tips: This DVD set is a genuine goldmine of information on xcm. It will teach you EVERYTHING you need to know about finding xcm jobs, and keeping them. The tips on routining are indispensable to card manipulators, because almost everyone has a problem with routining. Overall VERY good information that just about everyone needs to know. Compared: There is no DVD out there that can match the quality of this DVD set. Some other DVD's have about 1 hour of content, but spread out, and not packed in. This DVD set has FOUR hours of content which all packed in, and taught with amazing clarity and attention to details. I wanted to write a Pros/Cons part to this DVD, but I really can't... I cant think of ANTYHING I don't like in this set! $40 is waaay underpiced for this set, with all the info, moves, tips, and concepts jam packed into it. I have just about all the recent material on playing card manipulation (books, dvd's, notes), and This is definetely the best of all of them (not including EoPCF) REST: The Q section was very informative, and gave lots of extra tips on the moves in XB, very refreshing idea for a DVD. Yhe menu, and layout of the dvd were well thought out, and are very clean, and easy to follow. The coin roll bonus was a very nice additon, and I hope to see more coin stuff from De'vo... RATING: Even though I didn't see any problems with the DVD, I don't believe in perfection... so I give this DVD, MY highest rating of a 9/10. I like cards.
ImpromptuBoy Special user Toronto, Canada 898 Posts	Posted: Jul 28, 2005 01:44 am 0 Thanks for the review!
Steranko New user UK 89 Posts	Posted: Aug 2, 2005 02:24 pm 0 I'm still waiting for mine unfortunately.
DerekMerdinyan Inner circle 1030 Posts	Posted: Aug 4, 2005 01:02 am 0 When is Ellusionist gonna start selling it? I heard it was supposed to be sometime during the first week of August... WHERE IS IT!!! Derek Merdinyan
Bizarrist Loyal user The Man of Mystery 236 Posts	Posted: Aug 5, 2005 09:49 am 0 Many thanks CardConjurer! Derek, I've been hitting the store page quite often hoping to be one of the first 100. Good luck to you....it should be soon....probally Saturday night when the fire and the iron is blazing white hot. S.W. The Most Beautiful Experience We Can Have is the Mysterious.
extrememagic New user Tyler, Texas 11 Posts	Posted: Aug 9, 2005 02:31 am 0 I'm also waiting as well, in genii magazine it said ellusionist.com would be releasing it the end of July, or the first of August. Magic is our art..... Protect it!!
enigmaticmagic Veteran user Seattle 313 Posts	Posted: Aug 9, 2005 06:19 am 0 Its official. its released tuesday at midnight. they will count the first fifty, then again at 6. the next fifty. you can order whenever you want.
SirPoBoy New user 39 Posts	Posted: Aug 10, 2005 05:21 am 0 It is happening tonight, at midnight it will go on sale! Cannot wait to get my Extreme Beginners finally! SirPoBoy