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Tommy Wonder's Two Cup Routine Reviewed

Less than ten minutes, one of the best cups and balls routines in the history of magic and $25 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Effect/Method

This is the late Tommy Wonder's cups and balls routine. Any magician who has been in magic for a few years know this routine and most likely would agree that it's one of the all time best cups and balls routines. It's a lesson in misdirection, simplicity, structure, routining and so much more.

The method is pretty standard misdirection and sleight of hand. Unfortunately this is not a great resource to learn this effect. More about that in the Product Quality section.

Ad Copy Integrity

There's nothing to be said about the ad copy. It basically touts the awesomeness of Tommy Wonder's routine, and it really is awesome. However, as I said, this is not the best resource for learning this routine.

Product Quality

The DVD is a recording of a private lesson from Tommy Wonder to Leo Smetsers. Smetsers has permission from Wonder's family to publish this DVD. The DVD is less than 10 minutes long. It has three menu items: Welcome, Demonstration and Tutorial. Each menu item is independent, and after viewing it you end up back on the main menu waiting for the animation to complete before you can click another item. The "Welcome" section was just some brief text on the screen.

The Demonstration was a slightly grainy performance of Tommy Wonder doing the performance speaking his native tongue, Dutch, with English subtitles blocking some of the footage. Also it was difficult to read the text and watch the routine. The explanation is done in the same format with the camera at a different angle. It's very difficult to fulling follow along and read the subtitles. In some cases, the visual is enough, but you'll very likely need to rewind multiple times.

My assumption is that if you are interested in the product, you are looking to learn Wonder's routine and are not familiar with it. Or you may be someone who is familiar with the workings and wants to learn the finer points of the routine. In either case, you'll not get what you're looking for. There are no finer points taught. Further, there are some pieces you need to know to do the routine that are not covered.

None of this is Tommy Wonder's fault. This was a private video that he did for Smetsers, a friend, to teach him the handling. Thus any details about the cup holder that are part of the routine are not covered. There's some modifications you need to make to the cup holder to be able to do this routine properly. None of that is covered. I imagine the reason for this is that Smetsers already knew about this and probably has his cup holder. He just wanted Tommy Wonder to film the explanation for him.

Had this come with the cup holder or some instructions on how to make it then this might be worth your consideration.

Final Thoughts

I typically don't let other products impact the rating of a product I'm reviewing. However, in this case, I'm making a partial exception. This DVD is $25, and all you get is an incomplete tutorial on Tommy Wonder's routine.

For $10 more bucks, you can get Tommy Wonder's Visions of Wonder Vol 1, which contains this effect plus 4 more amazing routines from Tommy Wonder. Further, the product quality is 5 times better. Plus you get some extra commentary with Tommy Wonder speaking to Max Maven.

If you're interested in learning this routine, don't buy this DVD, buy the above mentioned Visions of Wonder DVD.

Final Verdict:
2 Stars with a Stone Status of Rubble.