Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Straight From The Heart by Bryan Adams

I was hoping that the random i-tunes song of the moment would be Vincent by Don McLean . . . but alas it was not meant to be. Meanwhile, I've just finished watching Vincent's latest DVD, and one thing you cannot deny the man is that he truly performs Straight From the Heart (Thank you Bryan Adams). That's one thing I really admire about him and his work. I also admire his desire and efforts to continue to grow and improve himself as a performer as well as the art itself.

I love his knowledge of magic history and how he incorporates it into not only his performances but his personality in general. There are a lot of things to like about Mr. Vincent and his magic, and many of those things are present on this latest DVD set. However . . .

There are a few issues I feel need to be addressed. First, 4 disks was a bit excessive. I think the material as it stands without cutting anything out could have easily fit on less than four disks. Further, I felt that there was enough stuff that could have (should have?) been cut that the whole project could have been 2 disks and less than the steep $80 price tag.

The first disk opens up with a conversation between Vincent and the host. The conversation makes several references to "the show last night." Vincent begins explaining his details and psychology and handling choices, etc. that he chose for the show. Yet there was no show. I was beginning to wonder if the disk skipped the show somehow. Finally, however, the show started. First, that was very confusing. Second, much of the performance was ruined because of the discussion that preceded it. Too much was tipped. Bad form, I'm afraid.

Further, many of the explanations are poorly taught. While it's true that Vincent, in general, assumes a certain level of skill and experience in his viewers, there were often times where he assumed way too much and gave us too much credit. Then followed by saying things like go back and watch it on my other DVD , or go read "X" book for the details and things of that nature. To be fair, many of the routines were explained in good detail, but even those had some moments of skimming that needed further clarification.

When I buy a DVD that has for explanations things like the above mentioned statement (i.e., look somewhere else), I'm not entirely put off buy that. However, my assumption then becomes that the purpose of the DVD is to learn performance mastery. As good as Vincent is, there were many mistakes (noticeable mistakes) in his performances . . . awkward unscripted moments abounded, etc. So I'm not sure the purpose of this set. On the one hand, many of the explanations were glossed over, but on the other hand, the performances were nothing overly earth shattering.

After some careful examination, I've decided that the title The Quest for Mastery for the most part is referring to him improving and approaching mastery of his repertoire that he's already shared with us on his previous DVD sets. I own and have reviewed both volume I and volume III of this series, and they received high marks from me. I have not seen volume II. Throughout the DVD series he constantly refers to the fact that we need to go back to volume I or II and maybe III on occasion. While I can appreciate many of the nuances and additions he has added to his previous works, too much detail was left out for this to be a stand-alone product.

Disk four of this set in particular had multiple cases where he showed us an addition or an improvement on an effect from a previous DVD. However, he does not explain the effect or even perform it. He merely rushes through the "improvement." In these cases, the "improvement" was so out of context that I have no idea if was an improvement without going back and watching the other volumes or purchasing one of the other volumes. I had no idea even what the effect was on some of the ones shown on the fourth disk.

Further, one of the best effects on the set just so happens to be a marketed effect of his which he does not teach, but rather tells you to go buy the marketed effect from his site. Much of this DVD felt like a glorified sales pitch for other products. I like the Larry Becker/Lee Earle approach. Many of their DVDs completely expose their gaffs, gimmicks and marketed products. Yet even after they expose them, people buy them. They do it out of respect for the creators and because often it's just much easier than creating your own. I think Vincent could have taken a page from that book.

Pretty much all of the material is an adaptation of other people's works, but they're good adaptations, and Vincent always has a nice touch or thought or idea that he brings to the table that makes studying much of this material worth while. Even with all of the problems mentioned above, there is a good amount of good material on here, and though the explanations are often too un-detailed, the majority of the material that he teaches (as opposed to directing you elsewhere) is learn-able from explanations given.

Also, don't get me wrong. There is some stuff that is performed well, taught well, and explained well. One example is his take on the Any Card at Any Number plot. His take is excellent. I also liked his presentational angle for The Professor's Nightmare. His handling of McDonald's Aces is one of the best of seen, and he does explain it in great depth, and you'll learn a great utility switch here. S.O.L.I.D.! His handling of Paul Harris's Interlaced Vanish in conjunction with a Larry Jennings Ace production is excellent and taught well. Further, Vincent's handling on the classic Jennings Open Travelers plot is very good and well explained.

I'm not sure, however, that this DVD lived up to its title. The ad copy claims the following: "with a set that runs for over 6 hours The Quest for Mastery is all about elimination - removing the inessentials until all that is left is an elegantly crafted mystery." The irony here, of course, is that they did not apply this very concept to the DVD project itself. Much could have been eliminated to make the product more solid. These few items I've mentioned as standouts plus just a few others I did not mention should have been the full product. So you see the dilemma I have . . . this one's hard to call.

I really don't feel that I learned much in the way of a quest for mastery of my magic, and I don't know that I really learned a whole lot about Vincent's quest either . . . I did learn some, but the whole project seemed to be lacking, particularly when compared to the past projects. The struggle I'm having is that there is a some good stuff on here - very good stuff - but it's hard to say with absolute confidence that you'll be happy you spent $80 bucks on this set. It's hard to say with absolute confidence that you won't be happy you spent the $80 bucks either. I do think, however, I've given you plenty of information to decide for yourself.

Final Verdict:
3 Stars with a Stone Status of grubble (a balance between some gem and some rubble).