Where to begin?
I'll be 100% honest. This trick has left me with a slightly split
personality. If you work larger crowds of disconnected people (i.e. less family groups and more
"strangers") this is a wonderful trick for your arsenal. It's not going to work if people talk to
each other afterwards. If they do, they will discover the secret by process of elimination. Now to
the painful separation of my personalities - The presentation by Gazzo on this DVD is dreadful.
Gazzo is a great street performer and I love all his routines. His material is often a bit on the
blue side for me personally but each to their own. If I could sum up my experience of this DVD? Like
pulling teeth. Gazzo, I've bought your DVD and I want to learn your trick - stop performing and
start teaching. He rambles and goes off on unfunny tangents. At times I found myself rewinding or
restarting segments because I honestly had forgotten what I was doing. Gazzo is a great performer
but his teaching, on this DVD anyway, lacks a bit of professionalism.
What I really wanted
was "this is how you do the trick, a, b, c, and now here are some performance tips and patter". What
I got was a jumbled mess.
As I said - Good trick, unfortunate DVD..
49 of 53 magicians found this helpful.
If you already know the method behind the classic Tossed out Deck effect, you're not getting much
value in this DVD. The video was a little misleading, in giving the impression that the last
spectator -- the one whose card you didn't initially name -- was also part of the "tossed out deck"
phase of the plot. In fact, he's not. His card is selected in a different manner than the others.
I've been doing amateur magic for 20 some odd years now, and I know that promotors of magic
products tend of over-sell the effect a little. I guess I was just a sucker for thinking this trick
was something that it's not.
On the other hand, if you don't know the original tossed out
deck method, then this is as good as any other place to learn it, I guess.
As others have
noted, the DVD is actually a little painful to watch. Gazzo repeats himself far too often and his
disclosure is rambling and unfocused. It's a little surprising, because he doesn't come across that
way in performance. Ah, one of life's many mysteries.
24 of 26 magicians found this helpful.
I'll concede this is a good effect for some people, but it's not for me. It's been noted this
effect requires "strong audience management", but once you toss a deck to someone who's 50 feet away
from you, there's not a whole lot you can do if they decide to be a trouble-maker. I'm not
interested in exposing myself to that kind of risk.
I also think the description is a bit
misleading, where it says, "You name each person's card"... well, sort of. You can NOT say, "Joe,
you peeked at the 6 of clubs, Mary, you peeked at the 9 of diamonds", etc. That's not how the trick
works, but this description might lead you to believe it does. I can understand someone being
disappointed if that was their expectation.
Bottom line, this effect is similar enough to a
Radar Deck, except with that effect, you're far more in control. No need to worry about
troublemakers. Since there are better alternatives to accomplish a similar effect, I can't
recommend this.
18 of 21 magicians found this helpful.
I was a bit nervous buying this product as some of the reviews were bad. They could not have been
more wrong. In fact I have never written a review for a product but I love this one sooooo much I
am. I absolutely love his new edition to the trick! Many people have said that the preview is
mis-leading. The thing is that to us magicians it might but to laymen It looks better than the video
shows it. I have been working on this trick every day to make it as close to perfect as I can and
I have to say Gazzo did a great Job!
9 of 10 magicians found this helpful.
Admittedly to anyone around magic for any period of time the tossed out deck is simple and you don't
need a dvd to tell you how to do it, but Gazzo's take, his proceedures and insight is worth three
times the price. He added some nuances that I've never thought about (I've used it from stage for
years in my mental magic speach). I'm incorporating some of it immediately. Thanks Gazzo & Penguin
Magic
8 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
Most TODs that I have seen work on the same principle.
The addition where you name the last
spectator's card makes this more convincing.
Also this needs to be done for a big group of
people.
[edited for exposure]
The deck can be used for a couple of other tricks as well.
The DVD and the deck is good value here.
7 of 8 magicians found this helpful.
Okay, 1st off let me state for the record that I completely disagree with the guy who said that this
trick is ONLY for large crowds & street performing! Gazzo also shows how to do the trick with a
straight deck for only 3 people! 2nd, you can do this trick anywhere at any time, except for
close-up with only 1 or 2 people. 3rd, Great teaching; Gazzo is so meticulous that he goes over
everything so well that you should learn it thoroughly! Finally, he teaches several card sleights,
one of which is worth the price of the whole pkg.! If you want a crowd pleaser then this is the DVD
for you!
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
I wasn't too sure whether i would like this when i bought it, but boy was i wrong! this was worth
the money, plus more. The only problem is, the only way you can truly practice this, is infront of
an audience. But, that being said, the first time i performed this, the results were HUGE! i suggest
this to nyone and everyone.
4 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
This is a great effect since it involves so many different people in the audience. Any effect that
includes multiple members in the audience will get huge reactions. Gazzo gives up some wonderful
presentation ideas.
4 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
There is nothing new on this video. . . . Well, there is . . . sort of. Gazzo's own handling and
presenting of the tossed out deck is a slightly new(er) way of presenting a trick that is at least
forty years old and widely known. Moreover, Gazzo uses the tossed out deck as a secondary prop for
what he views as his comedy routine. And that's where the problem (at least for me) comes in.
That his humor is bawdy is not the issue. In the right setting that is acceptable, even
appreciated. But the fact that he repeatedly denigrated gay and lesbian persons is not acceptable.
Using a magic trick as a prop is one thing. Using human beings is another. The time when it was
considered funny to use pejorative references to any societal minority is gone. I sincerely hope
that no easily-influenced young person would pick up on this and attempt to use it in his or her own
act. And I'm not talking about what's 'politically correct.' I'm talking about what's right and
wrong. This kind of humor is wrong, even if some people have not yet come to realize it.
For my
part, it succeeds only in depleting the entire act and instruction, and hence the one star (for a
pretty good spin the the tossed out deck).
PS: I doesn't help that he chooses to play dirty old
man with the attractive European lady who assists him for the tutorial. She was clearly
uncomfortable.
Gazzo! You're a talented comedian and performer. You don't need to say hurtful
things about others in order to sell your act. Catch up to the times. The day for that sort of thing
is over.
Oh, one more thing. Penguin is an outstanding magic dealer whose other books and
downloads I've purchased I enjoy and appreciate. I really should review a couple of those. Think I
will . . .
12 of 22 magicians found this helpful.