Classic Magic- The Larry Jennings Video (DVD)
Price: $30
Format: DVD
Publisher: L&L publishing
Duration: 90 minutes
Published: 2002
Difficulty: Intermediate to Mid Intermediate

Description
Larry Jennings was one of the most prolific creators of close-up and card magic the world has ever known. For over 35 years, his name was synonymous with the upper echelon of the magic world. As one of Dai Vernon's Foremost students, he created magical effects that have become standards in just about every magician's repertoire. The material on this broadcast-quality video is considered to be be Larry's most cherished effects- his most classic material- the magic that has made Larry Jennings one of the most enduring and respected names in all magic.

My Brief Analysis
How true is the description itself! In this 90 minute dvd, you will witness one of the most glorious and productive creator in magic of the last century- Larry Jennings. His demonstration in magic and his skills and patter are all top notch. In each and every trick, you can see the various problems he has encounter to make it a good and memorable one. As well as that, Larry gives you priceless tips on certain sleights and on how to register the effect into the spectator's mind. All the tricks involved in this DVD are highlights from his Classic Magic of Larry Jennings book.

Review of Effects

The Invisible Palm -This item is perhaps the most practical and most classical item I have ever come across. Three aces gets "invisibly" palmed into the flesh of your hand and gets laid beside the one already on the table. This is repeated for all three aces, thus leaving the spectator speechless.
In this explanation, not only does Larry give you a thorough go through in the effect, but he also includes you a full background of this effect. What I enjoyed the most were the countless number of tips and finesse he added throughout this item. Hands down, this is one of my favorite tricks to do. 10/10

The Visitor -Again, this is another item included that I will be seeing myself using it year after year, it is that good and magical. A card (which can be signed) mysteriously appears between the two red queens. Just moments later, the selection vanishes only to reappear between the two black queens in the center of the deck! This is truly a classic and a masterpiece. 10/10

The Homing Card -Popularized by Fred Kaps, this is another true classic. The Ace of Spades disobediently and continuously jumps from the top of the deck into the pile of red cards held by the performer. This is continued on all the way till the last card.
I enjoyed watching the performance more than the explanations because Larry executed the moves flawlessly and naturally, and his patter (which he got from Michael Skinner) fits perfectly in what he was doing. 10/10

The Mystery Card -A spectator is invited to select a card, but not to be seen by him or by the performer. This card is kept into the performer's back pocket for safekeeping. A card is selected and signed, it is then placed face down in between the two face up Jokers. Just moments later, the selection mysteriously vanishes from the Jokers. The performer remembers about the mystery card he put into his pocket just moments ago. The specator is asked to reach into the pocket and remove one card- the signed selection.
Again, I enjoyed watching the explanation section of this trick. Larry shares his thoughts on certain moves that is included in this trick, particulary one which he is very famous for. I liked the idea behind this and it proves to be very effective for magicians, if performed correctly. 10/10

Impossible- The performer turns away and a spectator is asked to mix the cards by cutting them and shuffling until he or she is satisfied. A card is selected and the card is lost into the pack by the spectator. The performer turns around and does some more further cuts, thus losing the card further into the deck. The word "impossible" is spelt and to the specator's surprise, it lands on the selected card.
A self working miracle this is! The method of doing this is truly devious and imperceptible. This is a trick where you can focus entirely on your presentation and your directions for your spectators. There are no other things to worry about; no angles, no forcing, no pre-stacking, etc. As Larry mentioned, "if you do this trick for a spectator, you will truly feel it is an impossible trick." 9/10

Ambitious Classic -A small packet trick using the ace, two, three, four, and five of spades. Each of the cards are members of the Spades family. The Ace is the youngest child of the four and the five is the father of the family. Each and every card does some kind of surprises. The Ace is put into the center of the packet and jumps to the top. The deuce is placed into the center of the packet twice, yet it still jumps to the top. The three is placed face up between the four and the five. Just seconds later the three does a double somersault and lands face down between the two cards. With another snap of the fingers, the three lands face up between the face down cards. The four is placed under the five twice, yet it still manages to make its way up to the top. As a finale, the five is waved over the cards on the table as it changes into a King!
This is a valuable trick. After trying this trick out for my first spectators, I can positively tell you that this trick is a winner. Even though the plot is nice and the trick is relatively easy to do, it requires more procedures than other packet tricks I know. 9/10

The Jennings' Revelation -The deck is split into four fairly equal face down piles on the table. The hands come over and is shifted side by side until the four aces, out of nowhere, appears face up on top of each packet.
This is a very visual effect. Do not underestimate this one, it will blow your spectators away! I did this once in my local magic shop and the people there looked at me in amazement. Larry delves deep into the only "move" to achieve this effect. This is a trick that should not be missed in this whole DVD. 10/10

Ambidextrous Travellers -Four signed Aces travel into the four pockets in your jacket. You take them out, and just seconds later you find all four aces in your jacket again! (spectator can take them out of your pocket the second time)
Although I won't be seeing myself using this effect in the future, I still got some valuable teachings in the explanations. There are many utility moves I find useful, especially the different kinds of palm. The Hofzinser bottom palm and the one hand bottom palm cleary stands out in my mind. As well as that, you also get to learn the Neal Elias multiple shift. As Larry commented upon the shift he mentioned, "in my way of thinking, it is one of the most deceptive." Very true.
Don't just skip over this effect just because you think you are not going to use it, but I guarantee you will find yourself using the utility moves in this explanation for years to come. 8/10

Always Cut the Cards- The spectator and magician puts the aces into the deck alternatively until all four aces are lost into four positions of the deck. With a snap of the fingers, the aces magically appear on top!
I would put this trick in my "A" category in my list. Not only is the method simple, it is imperceptible as well. Nothing gets more straight forward than this. 10/10

The Close-Up Illusion -Three cards are used. Only three. One of them are place clearly placed under the other two. Just a shake, it jumps from the bottom to the center of the two cards. This can be repeated over and over.
Spectator's love this! They just don't see how a card can visually penetrate from the bottom to the top. This trick keeps them thinking... I should also say that this is the only trick that cannot be performed impromptu, which is a major drawback. 8/10

Conclusion If you are a close-up performer who focuses primarily on top notch card items, look no further, this is the one for you! Not only do you learn the effect itself, Mr. Jennings also describes the background of it. Another aspect I find very helpful is that he gives credits to people when he uses their moves, and I feel that giving credit to other people is very important.

This video is wonderfully produced and there is even a short introduction in the beginning by Mike Maxwell saying that these are highlight tricks that came out from the Classic Larry Jennings book. Even though I don't have his Classic magic book, I can tell you I will sure get it if I see it someday. These items included are top notch and will serve you well for years to come.

Overall 10/10

Thanks... It's a good review...

Thanks for the review. Which of these tricks have you added to your A-list repitoire?

The Invisible Palm (if I perform at a table), The Visitor, Homing Card (sometimes), Always Cut the Cards (always), Jennings' Revelation (depends in where I perform.

Finally, I have to say I learned a lot of techniques and good tips on the "Ambidexterous Traveller's" explanation.

That's a great review. I've been thinking about getting hold of this disc for a while and now I definitely will.

Hmmm, methinks that msc455magic paints an overly rosy picture of this DVD. Larry was a wonderful cardician, and the routines on this DVD are all classics (as the title suggests). But Larry is not always the clearest of teachers. During the course of the DVD, he mis-speaks a few times (confusing left and right, counting wrong, forgetting words, etc), and leaves important steps out of some of his explanations.

Having made these little compaints, let me add that the DVD is worth getting anyway. My favorite routines on this DVD are his "The Visitor" and "The Mystery Card."

Well considering Larry's age during filming (and wasn't he in poor health?) I would give him the mess ups with lee-way.

This is one of the few videos, where I enjoy the explanation section much more than the performances. Larry Jennings' card handling is of course flawless, elegant and beautiful to watch. The magic is of the highest order. The explanation part of the tape always feels as if a very relaxed Mr. Jennings gives a personal lecture to me.
But I can hardly stand the performances, because some of the patter makes me howl in agony (especially Ambitious Classic and Homing Card - two of my favorite tricks in card magic). Even worse is the female spectator. She deserves a price for the most lifeless spectator in a magic performance - a hardly audible whispered "Wow" is the most enthusiastic response. Other than that, it's one of my favorite videos.

I would also recommend his Paris videos. The Slo Motion Aces, MacDonald Aces, and Curry turnover, among other beautiful sleights are excellent. These, I think, were his last recordings, and he was really ill.....and taped before a French audience(including Duvivier and Bloom), and translated as he speaks, but does not take away from enjoying the excellent material contained within......

Like many, I've been browsing the Café for threads on really good magic books, and saw "The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings" too many times to ignore.

I'm going to buy the book. My question is whether I should get the DVD also, as a visual reference. Or even if it's simply a treat to have the performances by the man himself.

I'm not worried about having trouble learning from a book, and I know the book has more material. So how valuable is the DVD, if you already own the book?

Thanks,
Shawn

ShawnMilo,

Congratulations on finding a wonderful book and going at it, you are gonna love what's in those pages. Now, to answer your question.

Since you asked, I'd recommend going through the book and finding the routines that fit your interest (of course), and work through those routines for however long it takes you to perform them without tension...get to know them inside and out. Do yourself a favor early on and start thinking now on how the routines that you have chosen relate to each other and how they can be placed into a larger set in order to create a full experience of wonder, laughter, simple entertainment, whatever your goal is, and not just come across as a bunch of tricks.

I say this because as soon as you feel comfortable with these routines then you should go and buy the DVD. You will be past the point of being heavily influenced by the performer (as it pertains to who YOU are), but you will not be past the point of learning what is left to learn from the DVD of a master performing his own creations. The DVD of Larry will help you pick up on things that text have a hard time getting across, such as timing, blocking, tension, relaxation, direction, and so many other things that are easier to grasp from a visual learning aid. This book in particular falls short in the areas that I have pointed out, not because Jennings didn't handle all of these expertly, quite the contrary, he was one of our greatest thinkers. Many of his routines were (and still are) past the point or further refinement, they are quite simply perfect. I'll remain tactful here and say that some of the things I listed above ore not properly expressed in this book in particular due to the writing style.

More to the point, there are sleights and subtleties that are not possible to relay or pick up on through text alone. Bob White's DVD on palming is a great example of this. Over the years I have read and practiced almost every palm (some were completely new to me) that Bob covers on his DVD, yet seeing them performed to perfection was an eye-opening experience to say the least. Bob has small handling details and subtleties that made the palms look like, well, nothing. They are invisible in his hands and quite breathtaking. It's just not possible for anyone to teach in text how beautiful these palms are with the same effect that Mr. White could actually show you.

Hopefully something I mentioned will be of use to you.

Best,
Clark

Clark,

Thank you very much for the thoughtful reply. I was looking for the answer "to buy or not to buy," but I was apparently asking the wrong question. I have already ordered the book. Now I'll order the DVD at some point, and lay it away for a future date. DVDs aren't subject to suddenly going out of print like books are, but I'd like to know I have it for when I'm ready.

Shawn

Thanks for the review. I have the book, now I am really tempted to get the DVD

No problem Shawn, I hope I didn't ramble on too long there.

I was watching this DVD again today and was going to do a review...and see someone already has and better than I could have done.

An all time classic

The book was written by Mike Maxwell and...I don't think that was his forte. It was nice to see Larry perform some of these classics on video.


It says it's volume 1. Too bad they didn't do another one.

This is one of my all time favorite DVDs.

Anyone use Larry's version of the Homing Card? Some basic sleight of hand and you have a miracle.

I do. It's great.