Random I-Tunes Song Of The Moment: Total Eclipse of The Heart By Bonnie Tyler

I'm not a coin guy. I've got a few simple coin tricks in my repertoire, but very few. And the stuff that I do like and/or do is stuff that I feel has some natural-ness to it, so Okito Coin Boxes and Ramsay's Coin and Cylinder and Coin Flurry's just don't do it for me.

Most of the stuff in this DVD is stuff that I personally wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. However, that doesn't mean it's bad material. It means it not stuff I like to perform. Some of it is stuff that I think should never be performed by anyone.

That aside, the disk is full of talented coin workers who have contributed a ton to the modern plethora of coin magic:

• David Roth
• Dr. Michael Rubinstein
• Mike Gallo
• and one 'ok' coin worker: Vic Trabucco

Of course, I'm only basing my opinion on what I'm seeing on this video. Other than David Roth, I've not seen these workers perform before watching this DVD.

Let's take a look at each routine, briefly. What follows is my commentary and a star rating on each effect (1 is the lowest; 5 is the highest).

David Roth

The Blank Coin Routine (3.5 stars)

Blank coin slugs turn into various coins with just a wave of the hand. A clever take on the wild coin plot with many advantages that most wild coins do not have. The main downside to this routine comes in with some of the choreography. You are constantly picking up and putting down the coin purse for un-motivated reasons. However, you'll learn some great moves in this routine. Plus I was very surprised in the explanation to discover where the coins were hidden . . . I never saw it. Very Clever.

Stonehenge (4 stars)

A rock solid matrix routine using 2 postcards and four coins. The moves on this will fool laymen and magi alike. It's well structured and well choreographed with one exception. I've never been a fan of the business where you cover this coin and that coin to 'show the audience that with four coins and only two cards, two coins will always be exposed.' Really? Are you audiences that retarded that you need to spell that out for them? It's unmotivated - or should I say, method motivated.

Dr. Rubinstein

Oddly enough, I found his material to be the most commercial, relate-able, and entertaining. Dr. Rubinstein was the best at connecting with his audience and the best at giving the magic some meaning even if some of those 'meanings' were a little contrived (e.g., one plot was that magicians don't wear their emotions on their sleeves, but rather they wear them on their coins . . .).

Nest of Boxes (4 stars)

A solid transposition of two signed coins with a smart presentation that has good potential and is something that I think most audiences can relate to. The only downside is that you are having the spectator mark your English Penny. That makes for a huge pain if you're a strolling magician.

Polarized Plastic (4.5 stars)

This may be my favorite routine on the DVD. It's a very cool take on wild coin. And at the end there is a beautiful change that looks like real magic. Also, like most of Rubinstein's stuff on this DVD, the presentation is very motivated and not contrived or worse, non-existent.

Smileys (4.5 stars)

If Polarized Plastic is not my favorite then this one is. I'm torn between the two. The contrived story line that magician's wear their emotions on their coins is a little silly for my taste, but the magic is beautiful. Again, another take on wild coin. It's easy to do, and you end with some very unexpected moments.

Counterfit Coin (4 stars)

In this routine, you'll learn Rubinstein's Stealth Palm which is a very clever and deceptive way to conceal a coin in plain site. This allows a lot of beautiful magic. In the context of this particular effect, it is used to very cleanly change one coin into another. The downside is that it is a little angly and only works for a smaller up close group.

Mike Gallo

The Gadabout Coins (4.5 stars)

This is the star in Gallo's set for this DVD. It's his take on the classic two-in-the-hand-one-in-the-pocket with a logical kicker ending that feels like real magic.

Quarter Transpo (1.5 stars)

Possibly the weakest effect on this DVD. It was a bit cluttered and confusing. Additionally, it requires 8 coins plus a gimmick all for a trick that is so fast that it's almost over before you start . . . just not worth it.

Childhood Memories (3.5 stars)

You may remember that I mentioned Ramsay's Cylinder and Coin effect in my opening rant. This is Gallo's take on the effect, and you know what . . . it actually gives the props some meaning. It opens you up to the audience by sharing some supposed childhood memories. It's not bad. I still think that the magical moments are a little bit contrived, but where I've given Gallo 3.5 stars, I would've given the original Ramsay routine 2 stars at the most.

Vic Trabucco

Coins Across (2 stars)

This is one of the most un-enthusiastic performances of magic I've ever seen in my life. Trabucco seemed almost bored.

'Four Coins Across. Two Hands and four half dollars. Now without my hands coming together, watch. Just a little shake like that and one coin actually jumps across.' That is a direct transcription from the DVD. Now imagine that in the tone of Ben Stein (Bueller, Bueller . . .).

It was very difficult to watch. Not to mention that the above quoted script is almost identical to just about everyone else's coins across routine. Trabucco's handling was weak. He abused . . . er . . . um . . . I mean . . . used the Gallo Pitch. Not only was he not good at doing the move, but he was worse at teaching it.

Having said all that, I will say that his overall method is a very clean one (if you can do the moves properly) and one that I would consider if I did a coins across routine.

Bonus Section (2.5 stars for the whole bonus section)

I'm not going to rate the portions below individually, but rather, I'll rate the bonus section as a whole. The one thing that really bothered me about this section was that it was either 'performance only' footage, or it was footage of one of the stars of the DVD work shopping with those at the video shoot. I was constantly startled by the sound of people sitting around the table with Roth or Gallo dropping coins on the floor. The sound kept spiking when someone kept coughing into the microphone.

It was hard to stay with the explanations because too many people were holding up the teaching with questions and to top that off, the camera work was very shaky. This whole section was a bit rough to watch.

Gallo 4 Ways Out

This is an effect using an Okito box . . . you already know how I feel about that. I will say, however, that this one almost had some substance to the routine. The magic has some nice moments, but there were some parts that were just plain confusing and not magical at all.

Roth on the Breakout Move

More in depth work on a move required for Roth's blank coin routine. I felt it was unneeded because he covered it well in the original section where he taught the routine.

Rubinstein - Smiley's jr. Performance

A modified version of Smileys. However, no explanation which is a bummer, because I liked the routine and would like to learn it.

Latta - 1983

This was a weird addition. Some old 80's footage of the dude's chin and hands, and I think there were some coins there, but I couldn't tell.

Al Schneider on Coins

Ok . . . I'm not even convinced that Schneider knew what he was talking about here. He kept rambling and saying the same thing over and over. He almost sounded like he was trying to justify poor reactions from the audience. This was really difficult to watch.

Al Schneider on the Pop Up Move

I couldn't watch this either . . . I was burned out on Schneider by the time I got here, so I can't say if it was good or not.

Final Thoughts

With a trick/bonus average of 3.5 stars, I think I'll leave it at that . . .

Final Verdict
3.5 stars with a Stone Status of gem.