Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Long Live By Taylor Swift

This is an odd DVD to review. If you've read any of my reviews, there's a good chance you saw/heard me complain about the lighting problems, menu problems, DVD quality problems, etc. Well . . . this DVD has easy navigation, Excellent lighting, good camera work and is really easy to see and learn from.

However, what good is that if the effect isn't worth learning?

Minor Annoyances:

Let's get the minor annoyances out of the way first. Then we'll move to the 'real' issues:

First, every (almost) segment started with Emran Riaz saying 'Ok Guys.'

Then each section would have a short intro filmed where he would say (for example) 'Let's Break Down Shinobi Fusion.' Then it would cut the section explaining Shinobi Fusion and he would start that segment by saying 'Let's Break Down Shinobi Fusion. Luckily the DVD was pretty short, so I didn't go completely insane listening to all the redundancy.

Another thing that bothered me a little was that in the intro he said (paraphrasing): let's start watching the DVD so you can go out and do this today. Stuff like this takes practice folks, even for extremely skilled magicians. I'm not a fan of this attitude of spending an hour watching a DVD and suddenly you can perform an effect for a real audience.

And my last minor annoyance . . . there is only 1 'I' in the word Explanation . . . thus, it's not 'Explaination.'

The Real Issues:

During the performance demonstration I was absolutely NOT fooled. It looked quite obvious what he was doing. The move did not fool me and I'm not convinced that it will fool a lay person. The only performances we see on the DVD are to another magician who gives faux-astonished reactions.

Here's what's on the DVD:

2 moves - Shinobi Force and Shinobi Control

3 Tricks that use these moves.

The bummer about this DVD is that it's one of the best teaching videos I've seen in a long time. If you watch this video with the intent to learn the moves and/or the effects, you absolutely will learn them. Riaz is a nice guy and a very good teacher. The camera angles and lighting were perfect. The training tools were excellent. It's a shame the moves and effects weren't on this same level.

There is, however, a small amount of redemption. It can be seen more clearly if we look at each piece individually. Below you'll find my commentary along with a star rating on each component (1 is worst; 5 is best).

The Shinobi Control (1 star)

As I mentioned earlier, I was completely un-fooled by this move. The discrepancy is glaring, obvious and not subtle at all. I will say that there was a funny moment of irony(?) during the explanation. Riaz said that the move should be done slow and deliberately rather than quickly. He continues to explain how the quick way is much more obvious and blatant and really shows the discrepancy. Then he proceeds to show us this 'wrong' way . . . it was soooooooo much better, but still not good.

The Shinobi Force (3 stars)

The Force, on the other hand, is much better than the control. This force looks a lot cleaner and the discrepancy is hidden much better. This might actually fly . . .

Fusion (1.5 star)

There are a couple of moments during the proving or display portion of the effect that are pretty sweet and other Card Fusion effects could take a thing or two from this version - These displays are independent of the Shinobi; they could be added to any Fusion effect. The Shinobi portions of the effect just killed it, and made things so much more muddled and confusing, and again, the discrepancy was just too obvious.

Transpo (1 star)

Same thing here . . . Shinobi only makes things more muddled and confusing. There is too much back-and-forth and confusion brought into play. In fact, even without Shinobi, this would be confusing, but Shinobi makes it so much worse.

Bonus: Soup Kitchen (2.5 stars)

This is actually a decent effect, but again there is some serious Shinobi discrepancy. In fact, this one adds a second discrepancy that makes it worse. However, there are two moments that are worthy of consideration. There is a Gary Ouellet move that I was unfamiliar with that I'm very interested in exploring. Additionally, the final reveal of the card sandwiched between the two Jacks is very cool and visual and stunning . . . but the Shinobi stuff just really brings this effect down.

I'm really in a pickle here. If I were to rate the teaching and product quality alone, I'd likely give a 4 or even 5 star rating. But how important is the level of teaching when the subject matter is so . . . yucky?

So here's what I'll do . . . I'll give you my rating below with one caveat . . . if you think (after watching the demo) that you were fooled and/or the people you perform for would be fooled by the move, then get the DVD. It will teach you (better than most DVDs) how to do exactly that move.

But, I'm not convinced that the move is worth it especially for $30 bucks.

Final Verdict:
1.5 stars with a Stone Status of Rubble.