Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Billy Jean by David Cooke
What's better than listening to David Cooke's version of Michael Jackson's Billy Jean and watching Bill Malone. I say unto you . . . Nothing . . . Unless the Bill Malone being watched is the Malone Meets Marlo series. Does it get any better than that. I say unto you Nay; it does not.
This is disk number two of a six disk set. Let me give a brief review of the whole set which will be found on each review for each disk. Then I'll speak specifically to this disk. First, as mentioned above, it's always a pleasure to watch Bill Malone perform. Add to that the material, and you've got a recipe that any card-loving magician would sacrifice his first-born cat for. This set's purpose, according to Malone, is to 'Bring Marlo's Material Back to Life.' With that comes the bitter/sweet realization that this revival may produce some hacks who won't read the books, but it will also get more people reading the books. Malone spends a bit of time talking about all of the books and original resources for the effects he chose for this series. He re-sparked my interest in Marlo's work, and has inspired me to order one of the few books that I don't own from Marlo, Marlo In Spades.
Malone does an excellent job of teaching these effects and giving proper credit. In the explanation section, as was typical of Mr. Marlo, Malone gave multiple explanations, variations and bonus handling and effects that weren't shown in the performance segments. The only criticism I have for this set is that many of the presentations are of the 'Put and Take' variety, which drives me crazy. However, you still get a generous portion of Malone's crazy style which tempers the Put-and-Take-ness of the presentations. Also, in Malone's defense, he did say, at the beginning of each disk, that he only gave 'basic presentations' with the intent to have us create our own. With that as the background, let's look at disk two:
With each effect, I'll give it a rating on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 is best; 1 is worst) and a little bit of commentary. One little side note. I watched this disk and the others a couple months back when I first got them. I then watched them again over the past couple of days, and I found that some of the effects fooled me again . . . both the first time a couple months ago, and again this week. Even though I had watched the explanation previously, I had forgotten how it was done, and I was fooled again. I love it!
Spectator Cuts and Counts Down to The Aces (4 out of 5)
:
In the explanation, you learn two excellent false shuffles which is always a bonus. On the downside, this requires a full deck stack. However, I think it just might be worth it. The impact is pretty darn solid. This is one of the effects that fooled me twice as mentioned above.
One Handed Control (4/5)
This is a beautiful thing to watch. It's surely a magician fooler, and the best part is that it uses a technique that isn't seen much these days. Yet another one that nailed me twice. The effect is a one-handed ace cutting sequence that looks absolutely impossible, especially when you consider that the spectators get to put one of the aces in the deck and cut it. It's an excellent display and, as I mentioned, beautiful to watch.
One Shuffle Eddie (3/5)
This is one that he did not perform for an audience. It was only shown in the explanation section . . . for good reason, I think. It was a little fishy looking. However it is a decent effect, and with a fair bit of practice, I think the fishy-ness can be overcome. You learn two versions. The effect is that you clearly shuffle face up into face down (think Triumph); then suddenly all the cards are face down except the four aces. It's not the greatest effect on the planet, but it does look pretty impossible even with the fishy shuffle.
Super Clean Ace Assembly (3/5)
As the name implies, it's a super clean ace assembly. However, even though it's clean, it's a little quick and a little unpractical in the sense that you have to be seated if you know what I mean
Casino Countdown (2/5)
In my less-than-humble opinion, this is not that great of an effect. It requires a set up and is too much work for the effect. In fairness, the set up can easily be done in front of the spectators. However, I still think the effect isn't worth the work.
A Twick as Lovely as a Twee (3/5)
I'll be you didn't know that Marlo invented the 'Tree of Hearts.' I had no idea. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know. Anyway, this is (I believe) Don Alan's effect using this little invention of Marlo's. It's a cutesy little effect with a fun little surprise, and you end clean.
Interlaced Vanish (3/5)
This is a clever utility vanish with many possible uses. The effect is a little Movey and a little without meaning, but the move may be worth learning for other applications.
Open Prediction (4/5)
This is a very clean effect. You tell the spectator what card she's going to pick. Then she picks it. The downside - you end slightly dirty, and during the performance, he flashed. No I don't mean he showed us his boobs (that's in volume 3). I mean you get an inadvertent peak at the method.
Elevator Passengers/Penetration (4/5)
I love the elevator plot. This one is fun and visual and has gone right into my casual repertoire. You start clean, end clean and don't need any set ups. There was one little thing that was sort of funny that seemed like it shouldn't happen. He used a classic Marlo move (The Sunrise Production) and didn't credit it as a Marlo move. I got the impression (maybe mistakenly) that he wasn't sure whose move it was. It's a minor point, but on a video studying Marlo, I thought it could've been avoided. You also, during the explanation, get a bonus explanation of another elevator effect. The bonus version is not as good as the 'non-bonus' version. Either way, this one's a keeper.
Touch Turn Poker (4/5)
Was this the first NFW? The effect is similar but a bit more logical than NFW. Malone's performance was a bit too fast-paced and not very presentationally rich. This effect, by its nature, has a lot of presentational potential. It's a bit more technically demanding, but I think it's worth the effort.
Marlo On The Memorized Deck Idea #1 (4/5)
This is basically a Card Calling effect. If you don't already do memorized deck stuff, this effect might be worth diving into learning a stack. Malone highly recommends the Aronson stack. However, other stacks will work as well. The nice thing about this effect, unlike Idea #2 below, is that even though the spectators shuffle the cards, it is instantly reset right under their noses.
Marlo On The Memorized Deck Idea #2 (4/5)
Although the stack is ruined at the end of this effect, it might be a better effect. It's a very clean four-people-think-of-a-card-and-you-know-what-it-is-without-asking-questions routine. Plus there's a fun kicker at the end that adds a magical and somewhat visual element to the effect. Between Boris Wild and the Marlo ideas I'm beginning to convince myself that I need to learn a stack. Personally, I think I'll learn Boris Wild's, however, from what I've heard, the Aronson stack is killer as well.
The Vanishing Card Trick (5/5)
Dang it! He fooled me again! This is another one that fooled me twice. It's the complete vanish of a card from the deck and a reappearance in an impossible location (Malone's addition). I love the vanish even though in the kind of work I do, I would likely not be able to use it. It's a super clever vanish that Malone executes flawlessly.
Miracle Ace Cutting (5/5)
This effect has been in my casual repertoire for quite some time, and it is amazing. You've got to be able to do a faro (not a perfect one) to do this, but it's a simple faro of only a few cards. Other than that, the effect is super simple, and you'll fool yourself when you do it. You actually do what you claim. You really do cut to the Aces with no breaks and no crimps etc. It can be done with a borrowed, un-tampered-with deck.
If I were to rate this volume strictly on the presentations, I'd give it a 3.7 (the average of each effect's rating) out of 5. However, if you include the history, the stories, the bonus ideas, alternate handling along with the privilege of seeing old Marlo material come to life, I would rate it at least a 4 out of 5.
I might give it a 4.5 if it were priced a little better. I think this could have easily been a 4 disk set rather than a 6 disk set without cutting any material.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.