Hey guys,

I've had my eye on this dvd set for awhile and planned on getting Vol. 1 shortly. I feel though that the effect descriptions are kinda vague and was wondering if someone could help me out with it (Mostly vol. 1, but the rest is more than welcome).

They are very good.All of them have workable routines.

Lol the spelmann dvds, if you go to the review section you will practically find a war on these dvds long before they where even released. Very mixed opinions, However I rate them so volume one:

Sweet sensation: this is marcs take on the kurotsoke (sp?) routine. very similar to that of mavens. Five specs are all holding a wine gum. One has the sweet wine gum, you work out who has it. Marcs handling of it does improve mavens in some ways however it cannot be done improptu. However, I feel there is more scope for playing with the presentation with marcs premise of using sweets.

Transmission: Whilst I like the premise of this routine it is not something I personally would add to a stage show. Because of the technicalities if you are nnot a confident performer there is the danger that you will be stuck in dead time. Having said that I have got great reactions using this impromptu. Furthermore I have seen a very respected perfomer do something similar at a convention when stopped in the streets by people and he got some cracking reactions.

A card in 52: Im not into book tests so didn't look at this closley. I remember the review in magic magazine laid into this routine fairly heavily for being disjointed. (A book is sleected followed by a card tc) However if you play with it I think it will work well with a jazz type feel to it. Still strong for an audinece never the less.

£1,000,000 serial killer: This on volume one was my favorite. Great game, a joy to watch marc do this. Furthermore the kicker is great. I have used the kicker as an encore piece for a stage show long after the routine has finished. I enjoy this alot.

Theif in the dark: This routine is marcs take on sneak theif. It does take some work, however marcs version plays bigger on stage then the original and looks much more impossible.

Staple gun roulette: I agree that the description of this effect does make it seem cleaner then it is. don't expect a "derren brown style load a hand gun and lets get straight to the point beacuse I'm insane type roulette routine." However if you want a cheap russian roulette (the guns are a fiver each from B and Q.) then this is great. With a bit of work like marc uses you can make all the props fit logically. Still great stuff. Instead of using spectators, since there are four staple guns I prefer to go for more serious parts of the body. Ill fire the first gun over my knee "since its a one in four and odds are its safe" followed by stomach followed by lips followed by eyes. Works better if you progress this way (I think anyway)

To be honest I do think the dvd is great. Some nice takes on old classics, some revamps of old principles and some nicely thought out routines such as £1,000,000 serial killer.

Apologise for any typos btw.

Matt.

Hey Matt,

Thanks much for that (still a bit in the dark on transmission and the booktest), but if you want to please feel free to do the rest!

Scott

I have all four volumes for sale in the let's make a deal section.

I have all four in the "coaster" section

Just out of curiosity, why does everyone hate these?
OK sure there are some effects that wouldn't hit as well as others, but it's good material (for the stage).
I must admit, I've not seen the 4th one yet.. but am I alone in saying I enjoyed these?
Cheers,
-James

Nope, I shall join you in saying they are enjoyable.

Good workable material.

Steve Dela

Some hit and some miss but each can be taylored to your own style with a little imagination.

I like that it was filmed in front of a real audience, if that means that some miss - so be it. There are tricks that I wouldn't go near ie: Sweet Sensation, but it's good to see the thinking behind it, and good to see a current real working performer.
-James

Personally I find that these DVD’s have become sleeper hits. Like a good bit of the material released that has been discussed here on the Café, the initial reaction to its release is what has prompted most of the responses that can be found.

I think these DVD’s are very good, and highly underrated. As stated there is plenty of material here, of which is highly adaptable. For me some of the effects are hit and miss, sometimes it’s the effect and others it’s the method, but there are moments of brilliance within.

I higly recommend you buy all 4 of them. Like always there are some routiens which wont fit you but the ideas are veray good. I use about three routiens of Marc in my show with slight variation to fit my style.

I like his creativity and way of thinking. Some routines (i.e. chair routine) are good example how you can use and disguise bold method to achieve a huge reaction.

Regards
Thomas

As I said earlier I like them.Not all the effects are appealing to everyone I feel,but my favourite is the twist on heirloom Clearly Predictable I think its called.

I have a lot of respect for Michael Close as a Magician and a Reviewer and here is what her had to say:

...Well, I sat through all four of these dics and , and I can't see what the big deal is. At best, what Mr. Spelman presents are mental magic tricks. At worst, they are some of the most contrived, overly complicated, unconvincing, and un entertaining magic tricks I've ever seen...

...I'm not going to critique any more more routines. I think you get the point. Let's talk about two other issues. Mr. Spellman's performances lack any qualities that I would associate with a professional entertainer. (Remember Bob Cassidy's principle about what a mentalist primary product is?)There is no pacing, there is no energy, there is no establishment of any kind of persona...

At $56 per disc (and almost $200 for the set), these DVDs are outrageously overpriced. (Actually they would be overpriced regardless of the price.) This is not just bad mentalism-it's bad magic. There are so many better ways to spend your money. Please find one. Not reccomended.

Hmmmm

SAVE YOUR $

Even though I haven't seen them yet, I feel two things. The first being that ANY effect can be entertaining in the hands of a good performer, even if you have to slightly critique it to fit your needs. Nothing bad with mental magic either (Larry Becker has made a living off of it and quite a good rep wouldnt you say?). The second is as far as Marc performing badly (which from the looks of his corporate list he must be doing something right), I'm not buying a dvd set to see how good of a showman Marc is. I do not care if he is a bad performer.

Sheesh, if Michael Close said that about the spelmann DVDs, I'd hate to see him review a Dan Harlan video!

I'll stick by my original comment - they're a good set.

Contrived

A question for anyone to answer: In a reply above, Cardman036 mentioned stuff for sale in Lets make a deal" section, and I've heard talk about items for sale before. I'm not exactly new here but have yet to see this type of section anywhere on this forum.
Is it for members with a certain amount of posts or what?
Any info please.
Thanks

Oh dear.

I love some of Larry's stuff, but if you think he's made his living off performing that stuff, then you really are showing your lack of understanding of what's what.

Larry always had a real job, like and added a little cream to the cake by selling mental magic to magicians like you.

enjoy

bb

[/quote]

Even though I haven't seen them yet, I feel two things. The first being that ANY effect can be entertaining in the hands of a good performer, even if you have to slightly critique it to fit your needs. Nothing bad with mental magic either (Larry Becker has made a living off of it and quite a good rep wouldnt you say?). The second is as far as Marc performing badly (which from the looks of his corporate list he must be doing something right), I'm not buying a dvd set to see how good of a showman Marc is. I do not care if he is a bad performer.
[/quote]

First, bad material exists: some is contrived; I also hate the effects that are procedure laden. Second, there is no point in offering a presentation of someone else’s effect unless you have improved it (read the review if you can). Third, what someone sells on their DVDs and what they perform may be two different things.

I have not seen the CDs either. But I respect Michael Close’s reviews, he is usually right on the money (He is very well respected). The review most often given to three CD sets is that there is not enough good material for three CDs. But the performer and the producers of the CDs put out a three set edition just to make money. This is true of most sets these days (there are exceptions).

So ignore the advice of a well-respected performer (Michael Close) who uses material in real world settings at your own peril. I for one will listen to Mr. Close, he has never steered me wrong. It is a shame he no longer writes his column.