OK, I bought the lecture. I have watched it thru once. And I really, really enjoyed it.
First, Steve is such a pleasure to watch. Funny guy, great stories. Seems down to earth.
My initial impression of the Lecture:

Sponged- who needs another sponge ball trick? Me- it is much more than a sponge ball trick but his handling on the TT. Before I saw this I thought to myself (I know how to use a TT, I'll probably just skip that section). That would have been a big mistake. He gives advise and other ways to get in and out with the TT that I've never thought of. Fantastic section- you should gain something from this.

Cut Deck- What a great way to introduce your cards to an audience. A great opener for parlour or close-up. Not hard to do- ends clean.So visual! You literaly expand a deck in full view. Beautiful to watch. I really like this one. This is going into my repertoire.

Dick Durbin's Think a Card- I'm really excited about this one. The simplicity yet how powerful this would be. I am no card expert but this should be within an intermediate practioner's reach. Impromptu. Has an out if you miss (the out is actually better than the hit). I'm going to work on this one- I think this one is golden.

The DL and Correct Slip Cut Force- I like his ways of doing the card controls. Very nice. Good info.
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The Valetrol- Controlling multiple selections. I found this information very useful. Very easy method but it looks so clean. Very small setup needed but the gimmick is very easy to have ready. I will probably use this one as well. I liked this as you can reveal 8 or 10 or 12 cards at once. Multiple spectators get involved.

Overall, I really enjoyed the lecture and will get Part 2 when it comes out. Steve is a good teacher. He explains most things very well. He is generous with the information he provides. Lots of funny stories- good magic. I can recommend highly.

Let me start by saying I'm a Steve Valentine fan of his magic!

The lecture starts with sponge ball moves that gives you a solid routine and you use only one ball! He goes on to do things like breaking a deck of cards in half, card from fly that GROWS as you pull it out.
A whole bunch of really usable things that he came up with as he traveled and performed magic! The stuff is great and fun.
I'm now waiting on his next DVD to be released as his stuff is a dream for someone who works at close up and parlor as well as stuff of his that I use on the street that kills. I'm not going to tell what that one is as it's too good to share!

This is an incredible lecture, but you really can't expect anything less from Steve Valentine. If you are leery of doing a spongeball routine, Steve's take here may change your mind. It's a very brief little routine, but I can tell you from experience of seeing him do this live in a room full of laymen that it brings audible gasps from the crowd in the final reveal (he chose to do it from a child's sleeve when I saw him do it live, and the kid's reaction was priceless).

Steve's work on the multi-card revelation idea is great. His method for keeping control of the cards takes a little knack to get it perfect, but it does allow a free showing of the cards throughout the deck until the last minute.

The gem here is "Dick Turpin's Think a Card", which could instantly become your go-to impromptu card trick if the situation allows. The only limitation on the trick is the necessity of doing this at a table with drinks, but you can easily adapt the overall idea to different situations (though the final reveal might not be as strong).

At the end of the video there is an advertisement for Volume 2 coming out, but sadly it never did. Instead, Steve released the individual effects on their own DVDs (Booked, Cloth, C2P), though if you get Steve's Penguin Live lecture you'll have enough great new material to call it a second volume.

Get this. It's obvious Steve is just having a good time, and it will improve your magic presentation.

He is a fine performer and the magic he taught is top notch!