Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Comatose by Skillet
Let first start off by saying that Cameron Francis and I are friends . . . thanks to that interweb thingie. Cameron has also contributed a few tricks for my monthly magazine, Stone Cold Magic Magazine.
Having said that, I've had this DVD for quite some time now. I was supposed to review it a long time ago. I was hesitant to review it because there were quite a few things about it that I did not like. However, my duty as a reviewer is to tell the truth . . . Blatant Honesty in a World of Deception, right? So here it is. Now I did rewatch it today in preparation for the review, and I will say that my opinion has changed slightly, but not entirely, so on with the review.
For $30 bucks you get 10 effects using the Copper/Silver gimmick plus an eleventh effect using the Copper/Silver 'concept.' You get a mix bag of coin-only plots, coin/card plots, a little bit of David Forrest and a little bit more of Cameron Francis. The video editing and theme or style of the video was actually really cool. It was done like a comic book telling a story of the abandoned prop (Copper/Silver Coin) that's made it's way to 'Bertram' city to plot its revenge. The story line is quite fitting . . . The Attack of The Copper Silver Coin . . . it's as if these coins, seeking purpose, forced themselves into some relatively contrived coin plots.
The DVD felt a bit like they - Cameron in Particular - were looking for an excuse to use this excellent prop . . . who can blame them, however. It truly is a great tool, but I'm reminded of the old adage that if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. There were a handful of times where that's how it felt. Additionally, some of the plots were confusing and difficult to follow and even felt like they were kind of thrown together a few days before the DVD was shot.
However, on the positive side, there were also a couple of routines that were downright amazing and may even fully justify the purchase price. We'll discuss some in a moment. Before we do, however, let me also comment on Cameron and Mr. Forrest . . . there is a real chemistry between these two guys, and they clearly had a good time filming this project. They both are nice guys who are definitely skilled technicians, thinkers, creators and magicians. So anything negative I may say should not reflect poorly on them, but on this particular project.
Many of the effects were very awkward and fidgety and required a lot of pocket space (something in this pocket, then another thing in that pocket, etc). Plus there were quite a bit of times where you had to handle a deck of cards while holding out a coin or two . . . it just looked awkward. Additionally, a couple of the effects (namely: Where Eagles Dare, Opposites Attract, Double Transit used signed coins where stickers are placed on the coins (thus another prop to carry around).
The plot for these effects aren't strong enough, in my opinion, and are too fidgety for me. One effect ends with the two coins fusing together 'creating' the Copper/Silver gimmick that you hand to the spectator . . . not a fan of that. Some of the effects had coins - in a very fidgety way - placed under this card or that card and coins and cards are 'magically' (read: confusingly) changing places. I just felt, for the most part, that there was way too much prep work and stuff required to perform what I felt were relatively weak effects. Although, Double Transit was pretty solid. It could be a little confusing, but I think a bit of timing and choreography could solve that problem.
The effect Money Business was the epitome of the confusing, not-very-convincing, fidgety plots. It was just not a clean effect and not very solid, in my opinion.
Spectator's Choice has some potential, and the first phase is actually pretty good. It's a quick vanish of whatever coin the spectator names. But then it gets convoluted and confusing again with the next phase.
I notice that I tended to like Forrest's contributions better than Cameron's (sorry Cam - I still love you man!).
Simple Alchemy was actually pretty decent. Good plot, nice moves and magical looking. Up For The Cup is, hands-down, the best trick on the DVD, and one of the most magical coin effects I've seen in a long time. I really enjoyed it, and it was very, very, very magical looking on soooooooo many levels. It's more of a set piece, rather than strolling for sure, and it's not easy. You've got to be able to classic palm with both hands and you've got a lot of practice, timing and choreography to master, but soooooooo worth it.
Heavy Mental is my second favorite effect. However, considering that I'll likely never put in the time to master Up For The Cup and considering that Heavy Mental could easily enter my repertoire, maybe it's my first favorite, not my second. Internal debate aside, this is a simple and super powerful and surprisingly visual - in a cerebral way - piece of mentalism.
Finally, my 3rd (or 2nd, depending on how I end up resolving my internal debate) favorite is Cameron's Cleverly Constructed Colour Slide. The nice thing about this is that you don't need to buy a Copper/Silver gimmick, but you still get to employ that principle. This is a pretty visual effect and pretty simple to do, and it's relatively logical.
So that's the review of the tricks. Below I'll quickly give each one a 1 to 5 rating. I've explained myself as much as I'm going to. So if you see an effect below that I didn't explain above . . . sorry. I think you'll find that the low rated ones are addressed in my comments above in the sense that they'll likely have the same 'concerns' as the other low ranked ones that I do mention by name.
- Where Eagles Dare: (2)
- Opposites Attract: (2)
- Double Transit: (3)
- Spectators Choice: (3)
- Simple Alchemy: (3)
- Metal Sink: (2)
- Metal Sink Too: (2)
- Heavy Mental: (5)
- Money Business: (1)
- Up For The Cup: (5)
- Colour Slide: (4)
The only other complaint I have is a very common one I have with Full 52 Productions. The graphics, menu, editing, etc are always top-notch and incredible. But then, you cut to the performers and the lighting is dark, the film grainy and all around a stark contrast in quality to the rest of the DVD.
Taking the average of the tricks (2.9) coupled with some fun moments with Cameron and Forrest, minus out a bit for rough lighting, add back in a little for having 3 kick arse (That spelling is for you Forrest) effects, but docking a little for the price, and I think we end up with . . .
Final Verdic:
3 Stars with a Stone Status of gem with a very, very, very small 'g'