Royal Road was shot in 2002 and has been delayed until this year when it was finished by L&L Publishing to their excellent standards. We have spent the last six months getting it into shape and it is common knowledge on the net that this project is pending.

When we shot this I, Tim Trono, Mark Murphy and our crew went to great lenghts to produce a quality product that would teach the student how to be an excellent card magician.

We followed the format of the course, taught the material but I also addressed the problems that I felt dated the course and added ideas that greatly improved the material. We added three effects - one of my own (using a Pass, a Top Change and a Palm under misdirection), one of Dai Vernon's (one of the best Card Tricks ever invented) and a Roy Walton trick that helps teach the Pass beautifully (none of the tricks in the book really utilize the pass properly, IMO).

Many of today's finest magicians added words of advice to the course so students would understand something more about card magic than just moves and tricks. It's been a hard path but it's paying off with a course that WILL teach you how to perform excellent sleight of hand card magic.

The fact that Magic Makers has come up with one on the eve of our release is sad but when I look at their footage I am not too worried.

We shot with multiple cameras and a studio audience. After hours of discussion we settled on a "dinner party feel" to the audience. Partly because they would be watching so many tricks and we didn't want it to be too formal for them but MOSTLY because it closely emulated the environment that the student would first perform in. We thought every little detail out and ironed out every wrinkle in the book.

We were not simply trying to "do the stuff" on DVD but were translating the best single volume course ever written to the video format AND updating it.

Word of this project has been out since we shot it. It has been discussed online many times. Whether or not Magic Makers knew about it isn't for me to decide.

What is interesting is that this is an opportunity for the magic stores (on the street and on the net) to make a choice. Choose to sell a well produced interpretation of the Royal Road by the person who originated the idea or the "other one" because it's cheaper.

Since this is a "gateway" product to new magicians and new customers for those stores, it would seem to me that selling them the best instructional material is the only way to ensure they come back for more...