Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Who I Am By Richie Sambora

This was a nice change of pace from a video production stand point. I've been reviewing DVDs that seemed like they were filmed 30 years ago on a 500 pound home camcorder that were selling for $35 bucks without any gimmicks.

This DVD however, was very well shot, comes with a few props/gimmick and only cost $25 bucks. I loved the Hollywood style production. It was fun to watch, and one of the coolest features about the DVD was the 'commentary' section where you would get to see the performance footage again (after seeing the explanation) while Chris Ballinger did commentary on what you were watching . . . much like the director's commentary on DVDs. I thought it was an excellent idea and really added to the teaching.

In addition to the well produced DVD, a fun and funny host and the gimmicks, essentially what you get is 4 effects. Two effects (Ambitious Card and Coin in Ball of Yarn) are very brief effects that, frankly, Ballinger kind of stumbled through that were only shown as examples of the types of tricks that would use a Sharpie pen to have something signed.

The other 2 effects were effects with the Sharpie pen itself. One effect is that you visibly erase the logo off of the pen even though the spectator just touched the ink and it wouldn't erase.

In the other Sharpie effect you drag one of the letters from the word Sharpie to another part of the pen.

Ballinger's presentation is a bit rushed and he misses several opportunities to connect with his audience. He's very much like many magicians today, so caught up in what to say while 'presenting' the 'trick' that everything else gets ignored. I only bring this up as yet another reminder that you should come up with your own presentation and personality and not copy the creators of the effects.

I like Ballinger. He's a genuine nice guy and seems friendly, even when he's missing those audience connection moments.

As for the effects, I'll give his rushed and short handling of Ambitious Card 2 stars, the Coin in Ball of Yarn 3 stars only because it's a classic and can be good (even though he struggled a bit in the performance). However it's not covered that well in the DVD. Again this and Ambitious card were more like 'Hey here's a trick that uses a pen to sign something so let's include it on the DVD.'

I think the two effects using a sharpie are possible worth considering if you have a better presentation. I'll give Permanent (erasing the logo) 3.5 stars and Letter Carrier (moving a letter from the logo) 3.5 stars as well.

The average trick rating is 3 stars. If you like the effect (Erasing the Logo), then you'll get your money's worth.

Final Verdict:
3 stars with a Stone Status of grubble . . . little bit of gem . . . little bit of rubble.