I bought the download a few days ago one reason why I bought it was the quiz plot. I hoped to find some extra ideas to another (magic) quizgame by boretti - a german magician and dealer who use his quiz since decades, but more later.

Siamese Book Test: This nearly impromptu book test would fit perfectly to the repertoire of max mavens "nothing". So, if I would loose my luggage, I could imagine to use it. But there so many really great book tests on the market that this one has no chance to replace one of them.

Forbidden Palm
I´m not a "card man" so for me this method would be too risky for a close up situation in the real world under any conditions.

Well Timed Miracle
Bold, but I like it. You need some extra "gimmick" 80% of the magicians who work with cards may have and if not you have to pay 6$ extra to get at your local magic dealer.

Synonymax
My favourite from this download I will use for sure. Good idea behind a simple method, easy to create by yourself with potential to make more.

Things That Go Cluck In The Night
I like the routine even if I won´t use it. But if you´re not afraid to break eggs and like routine where the spectator is the star, it´s really nice.

Quiz Show
Big disappointment for ME because I already knew "Superquiz" by Boretti and this routine is exactly the same with nothing new. His outcome at the end is a bit different but not better than "Superquiz".

I was excited reading the reviews,but disappointed when I watched this. kind of expensive for a download. zero visual magic here. the egg and silk was more of a magician fooler. he breezed through the fact that it was a fake hollow egg. I have done this trick for 15 yrs. several different methods and this one is not worth the effort b/c once finished with the effect the laymen wont know what the effect was. the other stuff was filler material. nothing that laymen will be talking about for a long time to come. the other people that reviewed this must have been his friends and neighbors.

Ok this dvd is amazing he goes over lots of topics
His book test is simple and very easy to do with a very quick setup to perform it with regular paper back books
Also the way he disappears cards onto a table is genius and I can't believe I never thought of it but is something I will definitely use and very simple to do
Then he also has a few other mentalism effects that are very easy as well to do and make yourself and you can custom it to the way you perform individually very easily
I cannot recommend this enough
I never write reviews but this is a keeper
Trust me

I want to keep this short.
Pros:
• Tom Stone teaches professional quality tricks with plenty of little details that only come with experience.
• Wide variety of effects. Odds are you will find something you like.
• Well filmed and presented, with good angles and explanations.
• Live audience performance on the DVD for each effect.
Cons: (Depending on your point of view)
• Most of these effect do require some significant, one time preparation to make.
• English is not Tom’s first language so sometimes he struggles to explain himself. Not a problem in the end because the other people on the DVD help to explain things and that makes up for it.
Conclusion. Defiantly worth you time to check this out. I would recommend it. The pros more than out way the cons.

The concepts of the tricks are great, however you must be willing to spend about 20 dollars on props and materials, and put in a good 3 hours of building/making gimmicks, and practicing, and honestly, most of the tricks aren't worth all of the setup. The egg trick is not as good as it looks in the trailer. I gave it 3 stars because even though it requires more work than I was willing to put in for such an unrewarding effect, if you are willing to do that, they will probably get great reactions. So, keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to buy this effect.

very well explained killer routines. Although some routines takes times and effort to prepare, but at least I can put 3 out of those 6 straight into my repertoire. Thumbs UP to Tom Stone!

Some very good effects on this dvd-----My favorite being "Forbidden Palm"----though it may not work in every situation. Good teaching, great presentations. I would recommend it to serious performers looking to expand their creative horizons-

I wanted so badly to love this. I LOVED VORTEX. It was among the most brilliant magic books I ever read. I love 90% of Tom's Columns in Genii. I decided to go with getting the DVD for Maelstrom instead of the book as it was half the price and contained the effects I really cared about plus I would have the advantage of video. That would've been a big help for me with some of the complicated slight of hand in VORTEX. However, to say I was super underwhelmed with this would be an understatement.

I primarily bought this for things that go cluck. I've done the silk to egg for a while, I stopped after an egg broke, and was eager to put it back into my show. However, I found that Tom's routine was surprisingly far weaker than the one I was doing. It doesn't get half the laughs and it is such a pain to construct. This will take you many hours. I see it primarily as an exercise in creativity and not as a trick worth performing.

Siamese book test is nice but there are already tons of similar ones out there such as Patrick Kuff's and if anything I see this as weaker.

Quiz show is a great plot that's very well executed but its not his plot originally, and making the gimmicks is a massive undertaking. That being said I am keeping the plot in mind and I may use it in another form. If you already know another version, keep walking. If not, and you're very good at arts and crafts this may be worth a look.

Well Timed Miracle- Meh. Nothing special. It is nice how he took a beginner's trick and turned it into a showpiece but I think spectators will be bored by the length of time it takes and the procedure. Other people have better versions of this trick such as Jim Steinmeyer.

Synonymax- This one was nice. The only redeeming trick on the DVD for me. It is a brilliant trick that has a lot of potential. For now I'm not using it as I try to steer as far clear from tricks that involve counting and then dealing as they look like mathematical tricks (which they always are), but I could see myself using it in the future with some thought. That flipping over thing does not go unnoticed as Tom thinks it does though.

Forbidden Palm- A gorgeous trick but I didn't bother watching the explanation. I have never in my life performed anywhere that I would do this nor do I ever expect to. This is the type of trick you may consider doing at a close up competition or a corporate event where you have control over everything though.

I feel bad giving this a negative review but the world needs to know. That being said you should definitely buy everything else Tom puts out.

simple tricks, with no huge effects so ever....
His a good magician, but I wouldn`t buy it again.

Buy the book. But enjoy this too. Good performance and excellent explanations. Tom is great.