Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Together by Demi Lovato

. . . bring the rings "together" we shall . . .

The Essentials In Magic Series:

For Less than $10 bucks you get an incredible deal. This series of DVDs is one of the best "bangs for your buck" in magic today.

First of All, you get Daryl . . . one of the best teachers in magic. He's fun to watch and he makes learning whatever he teaches very easy.

Here's how I look at it . . . if it only cost me $10 bucks to learn how to extract recently ingested Skittles from frog rectums and Daryl's teaching . . . I'm buyin'. . . sorry about the visual.

The Linking Rings:

Let me get a quick negative out of the way first. At the end of the DVD, Daryl does a brief routine using the Quadro-Vicious Circle (i.e., barbed-wire linking rings) set. The routine was good and funny, etc., but the person he used to play the role of the audience member was Mr. Dead Fish . . . literally no response to anything. Not even a smirk or a crooked smile or even any kind of acknowledgement of Daryl's existence. This is fine, but the problem is that seeing that footage would scare me away from performing the linking rings. A newbie might think, "man . . . if Daryl gets that bad of a reaction from that good of a routine, I'm toast. I'll never do this." My advice . . . don't let it scare you off. It should have been left out of the DVD.

In my review of the Sponge Balls DVD in this series, I mentioned that I felt a bit of nostalgia as I watched the DVD. This (Linking Rings) DVD had the same effect on me. There were a couple of moments where I was a child again opening my set of Adams Linking Rings. It was a beautiful moment for me. That aside, it's hard not to recommend a DVD like this. You get some great flashback moments as Daryl shows pictures from Vernon's linking ring routines as well as other books. You get an excellent overview of the different types of ring sets, sizes, types of gimmicks, etc.

Additionally, you get a huge array of link and unlink techniques, displays, counts, shapes/patterns you can make with the rings. Some excellent tips and ideas for storing the rings and keeping them show-ready are offered. He covers the array of standard moves, many of which I was familiar with. However, upon seeing them taught by Daryl, I realized why the moves never quite worked for me in practice (and thus why I never performed them). I was not doing the moves properly. There are minor points on ring angles and finger positioning that make a huge difference. Thank you Daryl for the clarity. You'll learn, from Daryl, some great tips and handling points from Jeff McBride, Dai Vernon and other linking ring masters. Even the advanced pros will find a thing or two of interest I think. Either way, it's only a $10 risk. Just get the darn thing!

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem!