What do you think about the trilogy.

Is it worth the money?

Down with the buck twins!!

viva la revolution!!!

I borrowed these from a friend and as far as the value goes I think it probably depends on what you're into. it's not my kind of thing and I think if you want to do magic, then there are probably much better things to spend that kind of money on, like books or if you really want DVDs a couple of volumes of Daryl's encyclopedia of card sleights. in all honesty all of the tricks are kind of ho hum reworkings of classic effects. if you are into XCM, they seem to be big in that crowd so it probably makes sense to know what they're up to. then again, given their marketing approach, if you're just going into it to do XCM you might want to go elsewhere since pretty much everybody seems to be doing their stuff these days so you aren't likely to stand out, and in any case I think De'vo is a better performer. From my way of thinking, if I'm going to spend that kind of money I want something that is going to be a resource that I can go back to again and again. Also, I think the buck twins are pretty boring performers honestly and as far as presentation goes they leave a lot to be desired, which is to say I think all you can learn from their dvd's are the sleights and flourishes and that makes them feel pretty incomplete to me.

Also, this post may be in the wrong forum.

ETA: Also, I have to say that just hanging around on the Café here and asking questions and soliciting advice on things that give me pause has been better for my magic than almost any purchase to date. The magic Café is as valuable as Harry Lorayne's Classic Collection, Expert at the Card Table, and the Sphinx DVDs, IMHO.

There is a trick called "Subway" on these DVDs that I use all the time. It is one of my favorite tricks. As far as a resource, there is a section on the DVD called "basics", I think, that gives instruction on 20 different sleights and basic flourishes, like the LePaul Spread. It is definately one of the best produced magic DVDs that I have ever seen.

It's a beautifully designed set, from the packaging through to the setup of the menus and the filming. it sets the standard for others to aspire to. I thought that the range of things they showed was pretty good, and that the instructions were clear. Personally, I did think it was worth the money.

If you're into flourishing, the trilogy is a must-have. The tricks on this set are eye-popping and visual (although of course somewhat angle-prone). Others have already mentioned the dvd's are beautifully produced. I give thumbs up

I have the Trilogy set. I think the tricks are terrific; I am less keen on the flourishes. Any recommend any other DVDs which have as good a selection of tricks (i.e. items that are quick but a bit "moovey")?

Max

The card work is fantastic. However, with their bigger hands not all the moves are done easily by everyone else. The stuff is REALLY good but also really "moves-y".

I totally disagree. The hand size thing is B.S.

BTW for me, these DVD are in my top 5 DVD purchases out of the 100's+++ that I purchased.

If you don't like flourishes. You can by these as a single DVD.

Go to Dan and Dave's website and ask them. Support them by getting it directly from them
http://dananddave.com/
or
http://www.theory11.com/

Blackdeck,

I've had the honor of having Dave and Dan lecture for my little convention, on the west coast. They are self-effacing, modest, kind and charming gentlemen. I think every negative comment you ever read about them is sheer jealousy. Their talent, ability and teaching skills are without peer.

The production values of their products exceed every metric in and outside the magic community.

If you want the finest source of flourish-related card magic, this DVD set is it. I am an old man, set in my ways and by no one's reckoning a flourish devotee. I added three of their effects in a single month of practice. Someone younger, with more pliable hand could easily triple that number. They teach each effect/flourish very, very effectively.

The events they teach are flashy, useful and in some cases simply beautiful.

Buy the DVDs dude. Buy them now!!!

Kent F. Gunn
Golden Gate Gathering Guy

I agree with kentgunn!!i have them would have paid more!!!From the very bottom to the very top of the work they have done is 1st class!!
Its a joy to see these guys do thier stuff!!
don't be afraid to try some of thier stuff out !!i know it looks hard but put the time in and you will get it!!
I had the dvd for less than a week and was doing "tivo 2.0" an fooled my mentor with it !give it try!(i have about 4 years of magic under my belt )I'm an old dude as well !
loved it!
Bryan

These guys are a joy to watch. While some of the flourishes and effects are pretty advanced, I found my card work getting better after about a month of working with this set.

Petrakos

Totally nice guys?--perhaps. awesome technicians?--yes, in some ways. good card effects?--NO, with the exception of maybe one or two. (indeed, on a few of the effects the methods would be embarassingly transparent even to a lay person). good flourishes?--maybe but I don't really care; nor does the rest of the lay world. The basic conclusion: if you have no force of personality and want to make up for it with flashy technique, you might like a small portion of the material these discs. I was particularly disappointed with the tricks disc--lackluster. Nothing against these very nice guys--I just felt that this thread so far was a little too kind to them. On the penguinmagic forum (where everyone is 14), a positive review would be one thing. But this is the magic Café/ We need to be honest and objective here.

Worldofillusion, if that is your real name.

People expressed their opinions. You expressed yours. You expressed yours poorly. Use capital letters at the beginning of new sentences. It's very helpful when people want to read what you've written.

You feel this thread was too kind to them. They don't need us. They have released a DVD product that they produced. This product's proceeds essentially allowed them to buy a house. You say we need to be honest and objective. I was.

You say "this is the Café" as though it were hallowed ground. I have found few places I like more than the Café. It is however, the lowest common denominator for discussions like the one you and I are having. Don't imagine for a moment that Dave and Dan bother with this silly place. They are too busy making money, hand over fist. They have capitalized on the desires of their audience and are far more successful as magical entrepreneurs than you (or I) will ever be in the world of magic.

I found your comments carping and seething with nothing of value except thinly veiled jealousy. You wrote, "awesome technicians, in some ways" (I couldn't stand to recreate your ineffective attempts at punctuation.) Dave and Dan have concentrated their abilities and efforts to become the highest profile card flourish mavens on earth. If you doubt their ability as technicians you simply know nothing about flourishing with cards.

You may not care for flourishes. This is a thread about the quality of three flourish DVDs. If you don't like flourishes as an art form, don't post, except to share that narrow-minded view. I prefer to watch magicians doing tricks with cards myself, to most flourish-heavy performers. I believe Dave and Dan transcend an art form they helped make into an art form.

You didn't like their card effects, except for one or two. Are you willing to share your work with the magic community? How many multi-gagillion DVD sales have you been involved in? Ah . . . I thought so.

The DVDs are solidly produced. The authors make no claims that are not wonderfully backed up by their product. I genuinely feel it is your lack of knowledge and inability to write coherently that is "embarassingly transparent" in this thread.

There have been times when laymen are more impressed with flourishes than card tricks. Let me do my sybils, and I'll let you do your "count twenty cards down and subtract that number while you deal the deck to find your card by spelling the name of the card" trick.

You also have to compare all the other Magic instructional dvds out there. I rather have something produced and polished like this instead of some crap that Magic Makers makes any day.

Kent, great post.

Worldasillusion, terrible post.

"good flourishes?--maybe but I don't really care; nor does the rest of the lay world."

Pardon me?

So the lay world doesn't care about flourishes? Why did Vernon do the wandspin vanish...why is the butterfly cut so popular...why is springing the cards in virtually every card workers repertoire...why does doing a ribbon spread turnover get a reaction...etc

If you don't care about flourishes than what was your reasoning behind buying this set of dvd's?
You clearly dislike flourishes,and apparently you dislike everything about the magic of the Buck Twins, so how do you expect to give an "honest and objective" review?

I am by no means an experienced Magician but I will say with the few books and DVDs I do own; This is a keeper. The three disc are all unique and extremely well taught in my opinion. Of course, you'll see them execute a couple of slights that are not explained but, with time you could probably pick up how they are done.

One down side that I see to it is there is no "Play all" option making it slightly difficult to navigate through the DVD without having to go back to the main menu and selecting the next part you want to see. Another down side I think (this is completely subjective of course) is that on the flourishing disc all the flourish are taught with background music, Text and of course, their hands. Some reasons I don't like this is because I would like to maybe hear some extra input or advice from them to me. Also, Sometimes I do have to look down at my hands to make sure I'm doing the move correctly but, it's limited because I have to read, pause, and then rewind if necessary.

All in all I think it's great thing to have. Once again, I'm no where near expert but as an amateur, I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy.

Interesting discussion here. A couple points I might add:

1. I heard this was the number 1 selling magic DVD set of all time with over 8000 units sold (this figure was as-of a couple months ago so its probably more by now) I don't know if that's true, but it is really popular so, word-of-mouth is that customers are satisfied.

2. Laymen like flourishes. There will be no argument on this point. Some say that it isn't a good idea to mix them with magic, okay, but almost EVERYONE likes seeing something done with a normal deck of cards that they haven't seen before.

3. While the DVD is produced really well (high quality angles, teaching, editing), the magic tricks themselves aren't very amazing. Most of them are slightly flashier updates of old tricks. And the buck twins are terrible with their patter. For example on "the queens", their entire plot is based on "okay I have four queens. now watch one of them vanishes. now there's only three! now, another one vanishes, and now there's two! then, one vanishes and there's only one! now, that one vansihes and they're all gone!" etc. I'm sorry but this is terrible patter for laymen - but for their magician audience it's fine.

This may be why the Buck Twins do not perform professionally for laymen, they only do it for magicians at seminars, lectures etc. Yet it is foolish to stick your head in the sand (ostrich-style) and not recognize that the flashy, flourishy magic is the FUTURE OF CARD TRICKS!

Kids of today's "youtube generation" have much shorter attention spans, and they do not want to sit through a mathematical style trick where you count 10 cards into 3 different piles or anything like that. They want sandwich effects, flashy reveals, VISUAL transpositions, etc! So, the "Trilogy" DVD set represents a great step in this newer direction of magic, and may even be some day known as the seminal work on the subject, starting many a young kid along the path to a lifetime of magic.

Well, I'm glad to have inspired some comments. I will stand by my original review. Mediocre (at best) magic, good flourishes. (I did not touch upon the production value in my original post, but will also say it's well produced. But production is only a value-add to the extent that what's being produced is good.) The third disc, "Everything Else," is unmemorable filler. As Trashman correctly notes, the Twins don't perform for lay audiences. I think we all know why this is so: their material is not entertaining to lay audiences.

Kent, the fact that kids (or anyone else) buy these discs does not mean that they are good. For the most part, the only people entertained by these guys are card flourish enthusiasts. The Buck Twins are exceptional, maybe even revolutionary, flourishers, but mediocre card magicians. I don't think any card magician worth his/her salt would disagree. Kent, I also question whether your viewpoint is truly objective. Your original post gushes about how the Twins are "self-effacing, modest, kind and charming gentlemen"--that's all very touching, but totally irrelevant to the subject at issue. I think you were a little flattered by the Twins' decision to come to your "little convention," and your attitude about them flows from that.

Mackinley, see above. Springing the cards, ribbon spreads are not the kind of flourishes the Twins tech, so I think we both know that your analogy is inapposite. I like flourishes and manipulation when executed with judgment and taste, and when sensible in the context of a magic performance. I just don't think, however, that lay people are entertained by an endless series of cuts, Sybils, and what not. At least with McBride/Cardini style card manipulation there is a magical component-- cards appearing, disappearing, etc.

Perhaps my problem is ultimately taxonomical: I just don't think the Buck Twins ' material should be classified as anything resembling magic. As a result, for people wanting to learn MAGIC the Trilogy will be a big disappointment.

Punctuation isn't your only problem.

It's difficult to be taken seriously, when you fabricate words to express a point.

Dave