Just started watching this but so far it is VERY good. Lots of doable material.

I just got to see Mr. Gordon do a pile of stuff from Card Startlers. He got a 5 minute standing ovation from some hardcore cardmen. Paul is a heck of a worker...entertaining!!!!!! The tricks are top flight **** hot! Fred

Just finished watching and all I can say is Wow! I love this set. Great practical card stuff! The perfect set for lovers of card magic.

My previous exposure to Paul's stuff was through some of Peter Duffie's compilation ebooks and Aldo Colombini's books and dvds. Nice to finally see the man himself at work. I especially enjoyed the live segments where you see him perform for lay folk.

Favorites from the set would be hard to pick as there are many but some of them include: Diminishing Not Likely, Twister, Emulsion Cards, Knock Em Dead, Jinx Force Concept, Eureka!, Fry Them With Oil And Water, Session Stunner, Twin Peeks, What A Triple Kick.

The best part is that most of it is very easy to do. Not knuckle busting material at all. But the cleverness of some of the concepts will make you smile. Loads of fun stuff to play with. Some minor set ups for some tricks but nothing you couldn't do quickly. Lots of impromptu stuff, too.

The dvds are PAL, however I had no problem playing them on my Mac. I'm sure they would play fine on PCs as well.

I believe it's only available through Paul's website at this point. If you like strong card magic, get it. http://www.paulgordon.net

On a side note, for any of you who own my Killer Close Up dvd, the first routine on the disc, Ace-Equence, contains an opening effect which is very similar to Paul's effect "Eureka!". This was a case of independent creation as I was not aware of Paul's routine at the time. However, all credit for the effect goes to Paul.

Jeez! That's a heck of a great review Mr. Francis. All deserved, too! It's the finest set on impromptu card magic I've seen. Oh yeah, the full web address (where I got my offer from) is here: http://www.paulgordon.net/cardstartlers_......dvd.html

JP
(ps - I also love your stuff Mr. F!)

BTW, I forgot to mention something. I think this dvd set is an excellent companion to Paul's books or even a good intro to Paul. Because I think some people might read some of these effects and dismiss them because there are spelling procedures. But actually seeing them performed, you can clearly see just how entertaining they can be.

Great review! I order it directly from Paul.

I hate to be negative, but is there anything original here?

Paul is obviously a good professional card magician. But I'm not seeing anything original in these clips.

Robert

Robert, honestly, I don't think the stuff in the clips is even the best stuff on the dvds. It's still really good stuff, but I got more excited by some of the other items. He also gives credit where credit is due.

I'm really enjoying this set too - and I've not even seen all three of the discs yet!

What I've found is lots of good, practical card magic that can be done with a borrowed shuffled deck in use - stuff that I'll actually be able to use for the paying public.

Some of my favourites are:
Diminishing? Not Likely!, Twister, Strollers Delight, Fry Them With Oil And Water, Session Stunner, The Amazing Four-Card Trick & Mars Life. I imagine there will be others too, but these are the ones that caught my eye initially.

As others have said, you won't see any fancy editing or special effects here, Paul cuts straight to the chase and teaches good practical stuff that you'll probably want to learn and at the price he's charging, I think Card Startlers is a absolute bargain!

Highly recommended!

Iain.

This is a great DVD set.
There are some great effects on here. These aren't pipe dreams, they actually work for the people who are paying you.

As mentioned by Cameron some of the effects I would have completely overlooked in print, and have, but when you see them performed they take on a new life.

There is so much information on here that each disc could have been released seperately, and the good thing is it's suitable for people of all skill levels, you don't have to bust any knuckles.

Highly recommended

I'd also recommend picking up Corner of Picadilly too

Hey guys,
I was just about to order this set from Paul Gordon's website however, I noticed it states that the DVD set is in PAL (UK) format. Recently a British magician sent me two DVDs he burned for me on some British stand-up comedy but unfortunately, I was not able to play them in my DVD player. For those of you who live in the States and purchased this, did you experience any problems playing these DVDs? Many thanks.

Roberto

I watched them on my computer.

I'm in the US, and they play on my PC and my DVD player. JP

Unfortunately, my computer's DVD drive is on the blitz. I checked the manual on my DVD player and it wont play PAL DVDs so I'll have to wait until this set becomes available in NTSC. I wrote to Paul Gordon and he informed me that he has a new 2 DVD set that will be coming out very soon and will be distributed by Murphy's. This will be available in NTSC.

Roberto

Hey guys, just got this in my mailbox. Jeez what a bargain. DVDs Special Offer from Paul Gordon (FREE DVD) - http://eepurl.com/JbCB

JP

I ordered Card Startlers based on the positive reviews on the Café. I was not surprised that my impression reflected the general consensus expressed on this site. Great talent, great production and definitely a worthwhile purchase. The only surprise was how fast the DVD arrived after the order was placed.

Wow, that's quite a recommendation.

indeed it is... hmmm..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yobi-_fw5rg

Need I say more.

Hey, that's a great (well deserved) review... JP