This is my review for Eric Jones new DVD available via KozmoMagic and your favorite magic dealer. I
recently attended Erics lecture (which totally rocked the boat) and he had a small table set up and
was selling these DVDs. Being a good friend of Erics, I had to pick one up. I have changed my
formatting slightly so be on the lookout for that throughout this review. So without further adieu,
Mirage et Trois!
What happened was this: The DVD began with Eric approaching a table in a
restaurant with a few people gathered around the table. Then came a 3 and half minute performance by
Eric of the entire routine start to finish with all of his little jokes and audience reactions. This
was a LIVE performance in a real time table hopping gig in a REAL restaurant with REAL people
(something we rarely get to see). Most of us who know Eric have only seen him either at a convention
or lecture and the more common scenario, on YouTube, so it was really cool to see him actually
approach a group of people and see them respond so affectionately to the entire routine.I wish I
could say this one performance was worth the price of the DVD, but then you wouldnt learn any of
the super cool and resepctable sleight of hand that Eric is laying out for us. Eric also has a very
charming performing persona that I think we can all respect in proportion.
Quality: 3/5:
The production quality of this DVD was unfortunately not up to todays standards in technology. I
have only heard excellent things about Kozmo Magic (the producers for this particular DVD) and I
will admit, I set my bar pretty high for this project, again, after hearing only great things about
Kozmo Magic. The picture quality was somewhat fuzzy and unlike in some other DVDs, when a coin was
displayed at the fingertips or in the hand, the entire coin can be seen, while that was not the
case. Them moving pictures were running into each other and made this look like this was shot on a
cheap camera. But to make up for this, the sound and lighting were both up to standards and I was
very pleased with that. At no time in the entire DVD was sound muffled or lighting off. Most of the
time in a DVD, when an over the shoulder shot is shown, everything tends to look darker and the
performers voice is muffled. I was happy with everything other than the picture, which
unfortunately lost a few stars due to the fact that I had to squint in some places. Also another
minor thing to point out and compliment on, was the editing and music throughout this DVD. You are
getting a very simply to understand DVD. No flashy texts appearing and disappearing every three
freakin seconds and flashign lights and fire in your face. Simpe Explanation, performance, credits,
main menu. I also got a kick out of the music in this DVD. There was none of that annoying hip hop
and whistles or drums beating everywhere and it made this enjoyable to watch. Thanks Kozmo!
The Layout: 5/5: This DVD had something that not a lot of people do and I was glad to see this
again in a DVD
A GOOD LAYOUT. I hate when I need to scroll through menus and moving the little hard
to see arrows up and down and squinting at tiny little gothic texts etc. I was able to Play All
and watch the DVD all the way through (with exception of the Extras menu option) They set this DVD
up with the trailer, live performance, then in each effect (Out with three, S.V.C.A, and KKK), a
studio performance and explanation and then another performance and repetition of each effect, of
course moving on to the following effect. So this was a very straight forward DVD project that got
the point across and made the customer want to come back for more!
Explanation: 6/5: So now
I will be teaching you each effect. First, start off with 3 coins
ok, I wont be teaching these
effects. But it had been said many many times (including at the lecture), that Erics explanations
are even better than seeing the effect the first time (or something like that) and it has the
worlds truth to it. I said in a previous review, particularly speaking Joshua Jays MAGIC: The
complete course, that the explanations in that DVD were the best I have ever seen and nobody will
ever beat them.Well, sorry Josh, but Eric set those standards up to crazy heights! I have never seen
such intricate focus and direction to detail as Eric has put on this DVD. The explanations for each
effect runs aprox. 15 minutes and that is longer than some of the effects out on the market today.
Im sure if anybody else tried to teach these effects, they would end up with a 4, mayne 5 minute
tutorial that doesent go into any kind of detail. I also love how Eric covers basicaly every angle
imaginable in these routines, making something that people might worry about, into something the
performer looks forward to since the angles are all covered! So lets recap. lengthy explanations,
attention to detail and subtlety, and adding on top of that, over the shoulder and multi-angle
explanations and performances. I cant begin to thank you enough Eric for doing such a marvelous job
on this part of the DVD.
I will now start to talk about each effect in turn and what I
particularly love about each one and the strenghts and weaknesses about each effect.
Out
With Three: 5/5: I have always hated productions and vanishes that start right away but I will be
more than happy to make an exception and actually USE this effect. This routine really makes sense
and as the advertisement says, really IS a comical production of your three coins and while watching
this DVD, actually made me laugh! Basicaly what goes down is the production of 3 coins but the third
one miraculously vanishes without a trace just as it appears. The magician then produces the third
coin once again but finds that one of the other 2 coins vanishes just as the third one appears. This
is repeated with a few lines and the third coin apparently appears, but is found to be actually in
the spread of 2 coins at your fingertips. I loved how clean this routine looked throughout the
entire effect. It is something that you can learn after about 20 minutes of solid practice and then
get down. It has comedy, visuality, and of course clean hand actions which is of course always to
have. You dont just make 3 coins appear which many other routines have, you actually experience
magic that looks like magic! On top of that, you are using productions, vanishes, and in a way,coins
across, one of my most favorite coin plots so that works out great!
S.V.C.A (Spectators
Visible Coins Across): 5/5: Before I get any questions which have come up in the same place, No, I
have no idea if this is the same effect taught on the La Famigilia DVD which Eric had a small part
in. Back to the review. This effect is a really magical ThreeFly by Jonathan Townsend and Chris
Kenner. The first coin goes from one hand to the other in the most visual and respectable way
imaginable. you are not doing this one effect really quickly and without any variation where the
spectators cant even see the coin go across. this is a good solid routine. Next one coin is put
away and one of the two coins at the fingertips starts to VISUALLY melt away and appear at the empty
fingertips of the other hand. Again the coin is put away and all you do is display one coin at the
fingertips andjust by touching your elbo, the coin pops into view just as quickly as the same coin
pops OUT of view at the fingertips! This is repeated once more and then again. The coins are
retrived again and you go into KKK (of you wish). This routine REALLY makes sense though! The
illusion is so powerful that anybody can understand what just happened and where you are going with
it and why you are taking coins away. Eric also went the extra mile as to include patter lines for
this effect that really compliment what is going on throughout the routine.Mad props to Eric for
this one! Its going right into my act!
K.K.K (Three Klan Vanish): 4/5: Like I mentioned
above, I am not the biggest fan of vanishes (in the context of David Roths Hanging coins plot).
Basically each coin is taken into the hand and vanishes completely without a trace and with the
palms of your hands being shown each step of the way until the last coin vanishes and your hands are
both shown undeniably empty to the audience. I loved the cleanliness of this effect, however you
will be left in a somewhat awkward position. If that bothers you, then Eric gives you advice in
cleanup and a couple tips on additional handlings. This one looks just as good as the other two
though. However, one thing in particular that I absolutely loved was vanish of the first coin. When
I first saw the performance of this one I couldve sworn that Eric was using some kind of crazy
sleeving technique or gimmick because of how realistic this looks. It immedietly went right into my
hanging coins effect and Im sure that if you dont use this effect for whatever crazy reason, it
will go right into yours as well.
Overall and closing thoughts: 5/5: Overall I am really
glad I decided to finally pick this up and support my friend for putting his work out into the
world. If you have not already seen this DVD or the trailer yet, I reccomend you head on over to
www.KozmoMagic.com or your favorite magic dealer and take a nice long look at it. These routines can
all go into any part of your repertoir and are excellent for those times in walkaround or table
hopping when a waiter comes by with the check or food, because you can pick it all up and leave and
seem completely conspicuous. This is such a flexible routine and I have even made exceptions
(something I rarely do) and will start performing this soon. It has been said on the magic cafe that
you get more for your money out of this one DVD than any other DVD out there today. I want to
finally thank Eric for this DVD and for a phenomenal lecture. Thanks!
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