Maybe so but what about quality of production and effects?

Off topic but how fast is L&L's shipping?

Or as already pointed out, absolutely NOT.

Any statement claiming "stooges and actors" in an L&L audience is a fabrication, a falsehood, and just plain misinformation. Do yourself a favor and don't repeat such lies.

As an alternative, watch the John Bannon video Impossibilia. It was one of A-1's first videos, it might even have been the first one they released. It used Mike's then current wife as the only spectator and her obvious lack of enthusiasm detracted from the excellent magic performed by Mr Bannon.

Those of us who've sat through an L&L taping know that it's not full of stooges. We are asked to allow our reactions to be obvious and visible to the camera but the reactions are -usually- genuine. When there's an appreciative audience the performer will give a considerably better performance so it's, in my opinion, the best way to do it.

Dave

As far as the "mass producers," L&L, far and away.

I think it should be pointed out, though, that many of the DVD's being released right now by L&L, Meir Yedid and others are actually just re-releases of old videos by companies like Videonics, Supreme, MVN and independents, and we shouldn't hold, say, a 1983 video production to the same standards as a 2005 new release.

Scott:

Absolutely! I once came across a thread slamming the "Lost Works of Bro. John Hamman" DVDs for their terrible quality. Well, of course: they were never meant to be released as a commercial product, they were shot by Richard Kaufman as a reference for him while writing his Hamman book. But the chance to see the man himself performing some of the most creative effects ever invented more than makes up for the technical shortcomings, and, to me, at least, makes them worth their weight in gold (well, maybe not literally, but they are the most prized discs in my collection). There is tremendous historical value in those older releases, and we're lucky to have them available. I could care less about the video quality: it's the magic that matters!

Lightning fast... I live in the middle of the US and I usually get my DVDs within 2-3 days after I place the order. It really is not uncommon to order them on a Wednesday and for them to arrive on Friday. That was the case with my last order.

Well the folks at L&L are some of the best people I know - and they try their very best to put out the best product they can.

However, if I want to learn magic - Brad Burt and Gerry Griffin put out pure instructional videos, I would include Richard Kaufman's two videos for instruction.

If I want to be entertained and just see how a trick is done - You can't beat L&L and A1 multimedia. I've been in the audience for some of these videos and they are very entertaining.

I am of the opinion that videos can be a nice supplement to a well written book - but very few videos can stand alone. Bannon and Elmsley come to mind, along with Roger Klause and some of the Ortiz videos that reinforce the accompanying books

Dave

Lots of good ones out there, but I'd still go with L&L overall.

L&L definitely make some of the best dvds!

L&L publishing because of very good quality and editing

Favorite DVD publisher?

I am prejudiced here, of course, but my favorite DVD company is ... mine.

See http://www.goodmagic.com/websales