I am in my 70,s and learning the ART and performing my few tricks keeps my brain alive,and my hands dexterous and my wife wondering if I am in my second childhood.NO I just never grew up,she is lucky to be with such a young STUD!!!
thank you for all the pleasure you have given us so far.
fondest regards

wally

I am sure the video course was envisioned with great scepticism due to the Herculean task ahead. However, Dr Harlan Tarbell completed an even more onerous task many years ago by putting the course into word. When completed this will surely also be like swimming across the English channel or Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile.
Upon reflection, who else could have completed such an undertaking? I draw many blanks, maybe the late Pat Page, a younger Johnny Thompson, the genius Byron Lappas? Dan Harlan, seems to be perfectly positioned in his platform at Penguin where he is submerged and interacting with many great magicians. His enthusiasm is unmatched, his knowledge vast, his love of magic burning and most importantly, as he states he is a generalist, able to harness the best in any domain of legerdemain.
This response is merely to encourage Mr Harlan along his record breaking attempt. We need to recognize when genius is at work. And bravo that he is not afraid to criticize the course where necessary, and more importantly to add his own modern touch, This is a boon for us.

I debated about purchasing this edition because I have so much reference material on the Thumb Tip already. (i.e. Darwin's DVD Set, 101 Things to do with a Thumb Tip, and several other sources to include Tarbell. Dan's presentation is refreshing to watch while he shows up-to-date methods, and tips on employing this gimmick. The suggestion he has for hiding it from view and becoming comfortable using it is worth the price of the download alone. The effects he presents in this volume are things you can do seemingly impromptu when someone asks, "Will you show me a trick?"

I totally agree you may start carrying this device again if you aren't already.

Thumb tips are bad-ass! And there's nothing better than a set of effects that teach you how to use them in a modern setting!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Also, Thumb Tips are really cheap and really good, buy a cheap durable one and follow Dan's instructions on concealing a thumb tip and you are good!

If you're like me, when you first started out in magic you saw someone perform a routine that just blew you away. Then you practiced until you could perform the routine too, only to go out and perform it for others and find that the routine or trick didn't move them like it moved you.

Dan does a brilliant job of explaining how you can get the biggest reeactions out of the effects you show your friends, and how to leave audiences that you perform for remembering your show for years to come.

This lesson can even help you find your personal style if your magic persona has an identity crisis.

The pros already know how important having a vast knowledge of how to plan a magic or mentalism show is, and the content in this video and book are worth far more than the asking price.

I do not understand why some people are having a problem with this and rating it low. Lesson 1 gives a great history on magic and lesson 2 gives amazing insight on practicing before performing. This is exactly the way it is laid out in the books.

I've always thought thumb tips are old school. Now after watching Tarbell 6 on thumb tips I've a new found respect for this most neglected prop. If you want to have a deeper understanding of using the thumb tip which I always thought only to vanish a silk or do a bill change, do get this video download, no regrets. Now the thumb tip will always be in my pocket!

Hello all.
As a child in the old Hornmann/Flosso magic shop in Manny-Hanny NYC - I watched as Al Flosso (The Coney Island Fakir himself) performed his Misers Dream. I was 9 years old. I was floored before I knew what this term meant to the magic community. IT was MAGIC! I learned my basics of coin work there. Bobo, Dingle...and so many more added fleshing out(s).
Dan Harlan (of course)- does his 'Dream' his own way...but really, fairly close to Tarbell's outline. Its damn good. It is a 'Harlan' performance - and very well constructed.

The whole download was paid for - in full - by just this opener. (And the rest is even better).

I have performed coin work from Seattle to Moscow. And there are many who work coins more impressively than I...just as I work cards but never was really good at knuckle buster moves...but I honestly can pass and never been questioned (favorite pass is the Turnover - btw). Still and all, they were enjoyed performances by all involved.

OK - enough of stating my personal experience and timeline.
THIS is a really good investigation of Tarbell 23. If you do coin work..I doubt you will not enjoy the purchase. Hells Bells...its less expensive than a good coin pull.
Watch it..practice...and you will ALWAYS have a good set of effects in your pocket.

First, Tarbell 14: Novel Card Mysteries suffers like all Penguin downloads from (1) the same lack of a volume control on the Penguin viewer that all Penguin downloads (and demo videos) suffer from, and (2) no table of contents, or even list of what magic is included in the download description. Penguin should address these for all downloads.

There are 4 or 5 tricks on this download - again no TOC so I can't go back can check easily. Dan Harlan does a good job of presenting old effects in a new way. The last, non-card effect, is maybe the best: the old beginner trick where a banana is magically sliced into pieces despite still being in its peel. Dan adds something to the presentation (which is optional), and suggests equipment for doing the preparation easily. Having the spectator be the 'slicer' rather than the magician is a great idea, especially for kids shows.

Dan's lifelong experience is felt, as he slips in details here and there. One of these is a fix for the rare time when using a forcing deck might go wrong, and is really great and something I expect to use. However in one explanation Dan says to force a card, and only suggests that he will explain his favorite force later, which is NOT in this download. Dan could have at least said the name of his force.

The explanations are long and detailed. The longest effect is an unsigned card to orange effect. Dan does not say anything about using oranges v. the more common lemons - such as more space for a card, kids love bananas, or that you could at least eat a banana afterwards. One of the last card effects, frankly, involves too much preparation for the effect you get out of it, and Dan all but sort of says so himself.

So overall, given the overdue fixes Penguin should make, cost, and slightly over 1 hr length, I give this download 3 stars, although Dan Harlan gets 5.

I've been with this series since it began, and fully intend to get them all - they will all be worth much studying, just as the original course is. This may be my favourite so far - these sorts of insights into how a couple of very successful magicians think can be much more valuable than another few tricks. I found it interesting and informative, and also entertaining. Dan and Greg kept it light-hearted and amusing, despite the potentially dry nature of discussing humour.