Magic Tricks

Have you ever wondered what Nathan Kranzo looks like? Me too? I've heard the name a time or two, but that's about it. Well if you are curious what he looks like, Do Not Purchase his magic effect entitled Pimpin'. By the end of this 20 minute low-quality production, you'll still be wondering. Oh, you'll have the bottom half of the slogan on his T-Shirt memorized, and you'll even have a solid memory of what his hands look like, but you NEVER see his face. It would appear that Mr. Kranzo (if that really was him) was the cameraman, editor, etc. The camera angle never changed.

One more criticism, then I'll get on with the more positive aspect of this product. For the record, according to www.dictionary.com a Pimp is a person who solicits customers for prostitution. I will pose the same question that Eugene Burger posed in his review of Jesse Feinberg's Snap: Have words lost their meanings? On the trailer for this DVD, you will find displayed on the screen the phrase, "Pimpin' Ain't Easy." Then on the DVD cover you see a quote by the faceless man himself, " . . . it feels like a PIMP SLAP to the brain." Of course, by Pimp Slap we are referring to the Pimp abusing his "Ho." Which, of course as we all know, is hilarious. Finally in the DVD near the end we hear yet another reference from the mysterious headless voice that states that the change of the cards to money is direct and to the point ". . . just like a pimp would be."

When are magicians going to grow up? I don't want to go off on some moral tirade, however, I think this kind of dialogue is anything but funny. I find it to be demeaning and bordering on offensive. I live in America, and it's a free country here, so if you want to publish and/or purchase a DVD with this kind of stuff in it, that's fine with me. It's your right. However, I would make a plea, maybe a suggestion, that it is childish and immature and not funny. I'm sure there are a ton of people out there who will tell me to lighten up and don't get bent out of shape . . . it was just a joke, etc. That may be so. However, I'll bet if I decided to start using certain racial slurs in my products, that I'd be considered a racists, rather than somebody who is "just making a joke." Don Imus comes to mind.

It's not infrequent that I am watching a magic DVD and my children are coming in and out of the room. There have been times when the magician just decides to use some off-color or, in my opinion, offensive comment or remark. I don't want my kids hearing that kind of crap, and I especially don't want them to think that I think it's ok. I don't. Television, radio, etc are bad enough today as it is. I know . . . turn it off; don't watch it. I agree. I do turn it off, and I don't watch it. However that doesn't change the fact that crap is out there.

I take on the occasional magic student. When I do, I do it for free. The reason being is that I want them to be mentored and molded into magicians who have respect for the art, mankind in general and who are mature enough to not make prostitution and pimps a common household name that 5 year old kids are using.

Based on my above tirade that I didn't "... want to go off on," you may wonder why I have a copy of a product called "Pimpin'" by a man with whom I am unfamiliar. Simple, the cover says, "Created by Nathan Kranzo . . . with the blessing of Paul Harris." Emphasis mine. To me, that implies that this is a routine that either Harris helped develop or a routine that is based on a Paul Harris idea. Either one means it's solid. As far as the effect goes, it did not disappoint. Thus, I got it in spite of the ridiculous title, not because of it. As it turns out, regarding Harris's involvement, it was the latter situation - it was based on a Paul Harris method/effect.

Production quality on a scale from 1 to 5: 1.5
Effect on a scale from 1 to 5: 5
Explanation on a scale from 1 to 5: 3.5

The Advertisement Claims:

* Step by Step DVD Training
* Create the Gimmick in less Than 4 minutes
* Easy to Do . . . virtually self working
* Resets in 3 seconds
* Can be performed close up or stand up

Every one of those claims are pretty much true. The only one that I'd have to not be 100% on is the final claim. I have not performed this for a live audience yet, so I'm not 100% sure that it can be performed close up. However, based on what you see in the DVD, it would appear that this claim is likely true. Strictly based on the effect itself, I would have to give this DVD 5 stars. However, to consider the entire product as a whole, I would dock a bit of star-age (is that a word?) for being only 20 minutes long and receiving no gimmicks and only one effect. I also would dock it a bit for the tacky-ness of his choice of theme (pimps), and finally a bit of a dock for not showing his face.

Finally, Mr. Kranzo if you're listening, might I appeal to your sense of dignity and ask that you rethink you choice of words. Jokes about "pimps", "pimp slapping" etc, are not only not funny, but extremely immature and remind me of so-called comedians who aren't funny so they just tell a lot of stupid crude jokes and drop a lot of "F-Bombs." It's petty and totally unneeded, and frankly is intellectually insulting to your audience. That's my opinion.