Hi was wondering if anyone has this video or knows if its any good? I am looking to buy it but I don;t want to if it no good. So any help on it would be good.
mike

Can anyone tell me some good videos Restaurant magic.
mike

The Paul Wilson video is good.

Another good Restaurant Magic video is the one by Steven's Magic (with Jim Sisti, M. Close, Fleshman...).

There is also others; Carrol Baker's Magic on the Menu, Dan Fleshman 3 volumes series from L&L.

I also strongly recommend the books on Restaurant Magic by Jim Pace, and the other by Kirk Charles and the booklet by Eugene Burger.

I hope this helps.

Ronnie Lemieux
Montreal
Canada

The best thing about Paul's DVD are the tips about having the routine easily moved, and his theories on working in a restaurant in general. I prefer Dan Fleshman's stuff for what is taught. The material on Paul's is decent, strong material, but not everyone likes to use chop cups, etc. Also good is Doc Eason's Bar Magic series, which could easily be tranferred to a restaurant.

Kevin

I liked the Wilson's DVD in regards of all the pieces of advice I found on it. But I didn't like the routine he teaches on it. I was kind of frustrated since I like Paul Wilson's magic quite a lot.
Jonathan.

The routine is not Paul Wilson's.. It belonged to the late Steven Hamilton.

In all fairness, I don't think Paul's intent was that you would watch the tape a few times, then go out and mimic his show word-for-word (although you could probably do that...for a night or two).

I think he was trying to impart a sense of flow, routining, prop logistics, and audience finesse. The "act" is just one example of a tight, well-put-together routine.

And if you discovered a couple of good effects along the way, good on you!

I think that's exactly right DoctorAmazo. Don't buy the DVD to learn the tricks, although you may happen to like them, buy it for the working advice. Moving over to Restaurant books over videos, two that I really like are Jim Pace's Restaurant Book and Kirk Charles' book.

Don't get it..waste of money..get restaurant magic dvd..

It was a really nice DVD!

I think Paul Wilson's DVD had some very good magic routines aimed at lay audiences. The material is not going to blow away magicians, but they are very practical and I honestly believe that if you just learned the routines on this DVD you could have a very successful career in restaurant magic. The routines are very well structured classics. You can learn just as much from studying the structure as well as listening to Wilson's tips.

I think part of the reason this tape/DVD often gets panned is because it was not filmed in a restaurant setting. The studio audience seems like they've seen this stuff a thousand times before, and Wilson seems a bit restrained by their lack of feedback.

All in all, it's a solid tape.

It certainly was not a waste of money. The routines he teaches are quite commercial. And Paul, to his credit as a standup guy, allowed the footage of the spectator sort of messing up his card to wallet. The fellow clearly had already seen this effect and like can happen in real life "guessed" the card was in the wallet. Paul handled it beautifuly.

The DVD is not a guide to doing restaurant magic. Live at The Jailhouse ( http://www.kozmomagic.com ) is a guide for that.

Chris

Anything Paul releases is quality. Your talking about one of the top cardman of our time, who isn't to shabby with coins either.

With respect that has nothing to do with this DVD.

I think both DVDs, in a way, compliment each other. "Live at the Jailhouse" is more about the how-tos and bits of business where "The Restaurant Act", to me, was more about the routining of an act with some bits of business added in.

Both have something to offer but I think someone starting off would be better to get "Live at the Jailhouse" and followup (soon after) with "The Restaurant Act."