Magic Tricks

This download is 5 hours long.

It's long for several reasons. For starters, you get Lucy Darling's full show, which is nearly an hour long. Then after Carisa has a quick chat about characters with Dan Harlan you get half an hour of Dee Dee.

"So it's 2 acts in one?". Yes and no. Yes, you get a full performance with two characters, but both of them share items. The purpose of this is to show how material can cross over in two shows for two different audiences (one more orientated towards adults, and one aimed at children) without too many changes.

Some things are performance only. The chop cup routine and the multiplying bottles routine for example. Even though these routines aren't explained Carisa goes on to explain the subtleties she does with each routine that make the trick a little bit more magical, while also fleshing out her character. Frankly, there are enough Penguin ACTS that teach a chop cup routine so I'm glad that only the subtleties were covered here.

The Any Drink Called For trick is fantastic. Not only you get all the thinking of what's the best amount of drinks to produce, and how to get the right colours and flavourings, you also get a good rundown on how to build the props yourself including a section where you get taught how to rebind books.

The Book Production (as seen on Penn & Teller Fool Us) is brilliant, and I wanted to make one as soon as I finished the video. The idea from Dan for his gag (I'm sorry Dan, I know you said "Don't steal it" but it's so good!) is something I definitely want to try. The book selection is pretty clever as well and could be adapted to other effects.

The propless Lie Detector routine isn't exactly propless, but it is certainly entertaining. I'll be honest, this fooled me. As soon as I heard the secret I was kicking myself for not getting it sooner. A good routine to use if you've lost your props while travelling.

The confabulation is an interesting piece. In my opinion, the effect isn't that important, but the playing with the audience and making them part of the show is the more important lesson. There are some good tips on improvisation and character building here.

The Ring on String (more Ring on Chain) is something I really want to make myself. Carisa has it so it's like a necklace and can carry it with her everywhere. It's a simple routine, but it's definitely something I want to have on me at all times just in case someone asks me to show them something. The tips on what to do with walkaround situations are great too and would be of value to any magician doing walkaround.

There's also a quick section on bubbles. While the floating handkerchief isn't taught (again, you could just buy a floating handkerchief if you wanted to do that) the information given on how to make the perfect bubble mix would be incredibly useful for anyone doing kids parties.

Overall, this download is packed full of good stuff and entertaining performances. This is perhaps one of my favourite lectures in the ACT series of Penguin LIVEs. Well worth the full price.