Hi Roger,

I'm slightly confused! The email was only sent to past customers (magicians) who have purchased from us before and not anyone else, so I'm not quite sure how that is exposure? This is made clear to all the readers of the email. The Mate routine was also put up as a thank you to these people. If you read the email again you'll see that it's been placed on a hidden page where the only link to it can be made from our newsletter.

As for the comment regarding the two disc sets, our latest DVD "illusion Through Expectation" is on one disc, runs at 1 hour and 40 minutes and sells for $39.00.

Best,
Russ

My apologies - I hadn't realised that.

Hi Roger,

I've value your business and the last thing I'd want to do is blatantly expose anything publicly like that.

Best,
Russ

No problem Russ. My mistake. I thought it a bit odd! Should've read the whole email!

I don't have the DVD's and Matthew himself wrote me that prpbably I will not like this, because this are not sleight of hand tricks! I have Party Animal and the lecture notes from Matthew and I like his material and I like his style.
After I got the newsletter from RSVP I know for sure that I will order this set! His presentation is fresh and modern and I like to see Matthew work! This DVD'S are probably not for everyone, but it looks for me that it is very practical and can be used under real conditions with a fresh style.
By the way I found the newsletter great.

Frank

Mathew's DVD set is getting allot of talk on another thread:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......m=218&11

Tim Trono of Murphy's Magic said this:

On 2008-10-29 01:47, Tim Trono wrote:
I have to be honest that when these DVDs came out a year ago I overlooked them. I am a big fan of Matthew's work from Party Animal but I just assumed since these were designed to be easy to do effects they would not be as strong... how wrong I was. When I read about the "Ultimate Phone Prediction" on this thread I became curious and finally took out and watched these DVDs. They are fabulous.

On Vol. 1 there are 3 effects that are HUGE winners... Compatibility Test, Listen Ear, and Ultimate Phone Prediction. On Volume 2 Sole Survivor, Ahead of the Game, and Out of This World are also stand outs. Don't make the mistake I made and overlook these just assuming they are not as strong as they are designed to be easy. These are now amongst my favorite DVDs. The DVDs are also exceptionally produced. There are great performances in the streets of London. It's a fun watch. The material can be learned very quickly but is extremely well thought out. Even as I was watching these I kept saying "great idea, great idea". Recommended.

Tim

PS Magic Dave's Psychic Hotline is also on Volume 1 but The Ultimate Phone Prediction is MUCH stronger.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Well, this set was released a year ago and like Tim Trono, as quoted above, I am also big fan of Matthew's work from his Party Animal DVD set, but passed on the set.

The ad said "easy to do card tricks" and just assumed ( I know ) this was aimed at beginners and wouldn't be of interest to me. I don't mean that as a put down of beginners ( I still consider myself a beginner in magic in many ways ).

When I read Tim's post, which I shared above, I went and got the DVD's.

Here's the 2 BIG mistakes I made.

1) I thought this was a beginners card tricks DVD set and passed on it.

2) I didn't get these and missed an opportunity to see Matthew perform more material.

So, I should have gotten this just to see Matthew perform because I think he's one of the most talented Magicians in the world today.

Well, he blew me away. These are NOT DVD's just for beginners. Although, yes, Matthew has structured these so that anyone can do them.

But, they will also appeal to people that get paid top perform. There are some exceptionally strong pieces on this set.

Also, Matthew is on the streets performing for real people. That is invaluable to guy and gals that want to know how card magic can/should be performed to get the maximum reactions.. Matthew is a professional and just watching him work is inspiring.

The production quality is also fantastic. It takes talented eye to be able to properly capture magic performed live in this setting and they nailed it.

GET THIS! Both volumes. Whatever your level, there is something on these DVD's for you.

Matthew, I'm sorry I didn't get these when they came out. I'm a big fan and should have known I would have at least enjoyed seeing you work.

Thanks Chris...I always appreciate your support! Thanks also to everyone who has been very kind about my projects.

Actually, while I'm on I'd like to make a quick point about the material on the Self Working DVDs. I did notice that some people were hinting at the fact that there is nothing "new" on these DVDs. The thing is, we weren't suggesting that the effects or even methods were new because most self working card magic has been around for YEARS. Also, as someone else pointed out, there are plenty of well respected magicians who have put out "collections" of self working card magic. The point, and what you're buying, is the presentation and (I hope) a fresh look at some tricks that you might have forgotten.

The other thing is that I KNOW there must be magicians, professionals like myself, who don't know of these tricks because HAND ON HEART I didn't know these effects before we began the project. Admittedly there are some which are based on principles that I knew etc but SERIOUSLY, the majority I didn't know...it wasn't just a marketing ploy as was suggested by someone. The thing is that in the past I had no real interest in self workers. When I got into card magic my philosophy was "the more complicated the better" as is the case with most people when they get into card magic in a big way. Also, you have to remember that I have only been doing magic since 2000, and went pro in 2002 after graduating University. So the transition from beginner to worker had to happen very quickly. Even now I'm still finding out things that a lot of magicians take for granted as "basic" and I have to be honest...I LOVE it. I'm a magician through and through; I LOVE magic and its a wonderful thing when you realise that, not only do you not know everything...but you know NOTHING, and that there is a whole world of stuff still left to discover.

Anyway, thanks again for all the support guys.

You didn't know Out of This World?

I knew of it but I had never learnt it as, to be honest, I always thought it was a really boring effect. This is mostly because when I had seen it done in the past, it would go on FOREVER. Russ showed me a method that he knew the night before the shoot and I took the decision to only use about a 3rd of the deck as you get EXACTLY the same trick and premise, just in a fraction of the time.

On the subject of out of this world, I think this trick has quite a lot of comedy potential. I did some comedy in my presentation but I think it can take more. Try to add a few gags or funny bits in when you're asking them to tell you whether its red or black. You could even tell a story joke as you're doing it (almost like sam the bellhop)...anything to keep it moving during the "red...red....black...red...black...black..." phase which can drag on, hence the use of only a third of the deck when I do it! Try to have the conclusion of the joke just as they put down the final card. So, you get a laugh, then you bring the attention to the order of the piles. I know some purists would just like to do the effect as it is, but I think it has to be a very forgiving audience to give you their FULL attention through the dealing phases. And anyone who tells you that comedy dilutes the magic and it doesn't need something to help keep it moving is either not a worker, or possibly a boring performer (who doesn't know it)...just my opinion...maybe not the case!

Just a thought.

Matthew,

I just ordered these yesterday based on the strength of your Party Animal DVDs.

I can't flaw your logic in regards to OOTW, but for me there is something very powerful about them separating the WHOLE deck. It feels complete to me. And I don't like to draw attention from the dealing. I have them go relatively slowly at first and finish at a good clip (I tap out the pace I want them to go like a metronome). It doesn't take more than 90 seconds. And sure, 90 seconds of dead time is unacceptable in most performing situations. Which is why I wait to perform this for those rare situations where a slow, deliberate effect is EXACTLY what's going to blow them away the most. Of course, since you're someone who performs professionaly, you often have to change the routine to suit a majority of your performance situations. As someone who primarily doesn't perform professionally, I have the luxury of waiting for the right audience/situation to perform this effect.

Not disagreeing with you at all, just offering a differing view. I learned my first version of OOTW from Scarne's book about 18 years ago when I was 13. It just may be my favorite card trick and I've learned half a dozen methods over the years and probably only performed it 18 times over those 18 years. But when I do it's insanely powerful.

I'm really looking forward to getting these DVDs and seeing your take on some of these classic effects.

Hi magicsquared,

As you say, we all have different views and perhaps I was being a bit quick to say that the comedy way is the ONLY way. I appreciate that people have their different styles and if you're doing something in a different setting that is a slower pace then I guess if you can get away with doing the full deck...good on you mate! The only reason I said I thought it needed help was because every performance I've seen has been boring, but perhaps I had just been watching the wrong people .

Anyway, hope you enjoy the DVDs mate.

It's all about context. A slower, more deliberate version of OOTW is perfect for some situations, and a snappier more condensed version is probably better for a lot more situations. It's like the difference between a joke and a ghost story. You'll have a lot more opportunities to tell a joke in your life but in the right situations nothing is more powerful than a ghost story.

Matthew, what is on the horizon as far as future DVDs or other projects?

Yea, context is important you're right. However, as you say, you have A LOT more opportunities to tell a joke than a ghost story, therefore its probably better to have more jokes in your arsenal than ghost stories...again, just a thought!

Regarding the horizon...I don't have plans to release anything else in the near future. Basically I don't want to release something until I feel like I've got enough solid material or something that would make a definite impact. The problem is that Party Animal was a collection of stuff that I had come up with over a number of years. Therefore it might be a number of years before my next one. Having said that, I have a few nice ideas (I hope) in my lecture notes!

I'm also playing around with a really nice touch I've come up with for Bill in Lemon. What I might do is put it in my lecture notes and simply email it to the people who have already bought them.

Anyway, thanks again for taking an interest and I hope you enjoy the DVDs.

Cheers

Matthew does have his 2008 lecture notes available if anyone is interested:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=159

Anyone could put out this post has no respect for criticism as a literary art.

Any body had 'mileage' out of this set ?

Hi NFW

Matthew/Russ released a DVD called Strike 6 which featured their favourite 6 routines from this series. Personally, I thought the DVD was good and well worth the £10 I paid.

Cheers

Justin

Thanks for that Justin

Hiya Gang!

I had no idea this DVD was from 2008! I just pulled it off my library shelf after I realized I never watched it. And I LOVED "Listen Ear". It's going right into my repertoire...

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......um=175#0

~jamie