Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Walk Through The Fire By Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Ah . . . Regal . . . 'riter for Rugrats and 'Raymond.'

So, Volume II, eh . . .

Production quality - As with pretty much all L&L DVDs the quality, lighting, menu navigation, etc are all top notch. No complaints here.

DVD Concept - The concept of Premise, Power & Participation is that once you've reached a certain level of competence in your technical abilities, what will separate you from all the other magicians who are also good technicians? Answer . . . How well you present the magic.

We learn from David Regal how to figure out how to present magic. He suggests that we start by analyzing three basic areas (premise, power and participation). Volume II Focuses on Power.

Teaching - How good of a teacher is David Regal? Excellent. Putting aside the quality of the effect for moment, if there's anything you like on this DVD, you will learn it very well while being entertained and engaged by a very smart, funny and clever guy.

The Effects - Below is a list of each effect with a rating (1 star = lowest; 5 stars = highest) along with brief commentary on each one.

Isolated Force (5 stars)

- Since the title of the effect has the word 'Force' in it, I don't feel bad telling you that this is one of the cleanest, fairest, awesome-est forces ever. The method is designed in such a way that the force happens before people even realize the effect is started . . . additionally, at the end when everyone is expecting sneakiness, you've been 'done' for a few moments already and there is nothing for the audience to 'catch.' It's perfect.

Half & Half (4.5 stars)

- Though this requires a particular gimmick that you have to make, the effect is very powerful and seems to kind of happen on a whim during the performance. Essentially, a signed card is torn in half and half of the card changes colors. The best part . . . the pieces can be handed out and kept as souvenirs.

Perfectly Oiled (3.5 stars)

. . . must not . . . hate . . . oil . . . and . . . water . . . as much as I try, I just can't not hate the Oil and Water plot. My own oily bias aside, this isn't the worst handling of said plot. However, there a few fishy moments that I didn't like. But the particular method Regal uses adds an extra level of deception. Add to that his ability to make mountains out of presentational mole hills and you've got a pretty decent routine. If you're a fan of the plot, I think you'll appreciate this handling.

Face It, You've Changed (4.5 stars)

- Two words: Brill-iant! How 'bout this for an effect . . . spectator handles a blue backed card. She signs the face. It changes red. Oh and did I mention that the magician NEVER touches the deck or the card. It's almost perfect. There's one minor thing that is slightly illogical in the presentation and it happens to be method driven. However, with a little thought, this can be justified with a simple line or explanation to the audience. However, even without justifying this portion, the trick is still incredible and impossible seeming.

An Incredible Journey (3 stars)

- A flirty piece of magic where a blown kiss from the cute blonde (or the burly bearded man) into the card box becomes her signed card. It's good; The presentation is excellent; The method however looks very fishy and requires what I felt was overly animated contrived choreography.

Not Quite Dead / Haunted Pack (4.5 stars)

- Even when I tell you this uses thread, you won't believe it when you see it. This is some very clean hands off thread work that is just beautiful to watch. From the explanation we also learn a very valuable lesson about thread work . . . I'll save that for when you watch it.

A Magic Lesson (3 stars)

- A trick that starts as a gag and turns into a decent effect. However, the build up and set up you give the audience sets up one expectation but in the finale they get something that's not quite as good as what they were expecting. You ultimately get applause that sounds like well-that-was-an-ok-trick-but-nowhere-near-as-good-as-he-made-me-think-it-would-be. Nobody likes that kind of applause.

Holding On (3.5 stars)

- Card through table with a very clever move worth learning, however, the final reveal seemed a little rushed . . . he almost kind of squashed the moment of the reveal.

Prophecy Pack (5 stars)

- From the moment I discovered this concept, I've used it in many different ways in my effect. This is the cleanest and most impossible looking prediction of a fair selection. I've used concept to close my corporate shows on several occasions.

Penny for Your Thoughts (4 stars)

- I like the concept of this. The prediction is a novel and simple prop (a letter from the IRS), and the selection seems very fair. It will take a lot of work to put this together, but once you're done, you'll have a solid effect that is so easy to do.

Fill in the Blank Transpo (4.5 stars)

- Another impossible seeming effect where the magician seems to do nothing. Yet somehow a card in the possession of the audience member ends up in your pocket. Simple method using a clever concept that Regal uses in many of his effects.

Brief commentary on Regal's performances:

Regal's a smart and clever guy. He's come up with a lot of powerful magic over the years. Most with solid and doable methods. When you read the presentations on paper, they're well written and well scripted and well thought out. The problem comes in when you're live in front of an audience. We (myself included) tend to rush things. Whether it's due to nervousness or the excitement of the crowd, or something else I don't know. I bring this up to point out that we see this a lot on this DVD. In some cases, his hurriedness squashes the moment of magic or makes it unclear. Watching a pro like David gives us the opportunity to not only learn from his strengths but also his weaknesses.

Averaging the effects we get 4 stars. Add in the extra tips and concepts you'll learn from this set and you've got yourself . . .

Final Verdict:
4.5 star product with a Stone Status of GEM!