Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Losing My Religion By R.E.M.
First, let me say that based on my minimal interaction with Craig Petty (a handful of emails and watching several DVDs) that I think that Craig is not only a really nice guy, but a smart guy and a very patient guy. I've offered some pretty tough criticism in some of his past projects, and he took in stride. He was very receptive and courteous about the whole thing. I'm hoping that his attitude will continue to be positive after reading my review below.
Many of you who read my reviews hopefully by now know two things about my reviews. First, I really try to give my rating based on how good the effect is not the presentation. In other words, I don't usually dock points even if I thought the performance was boring or I didn't like the presenter. The other thing, however, is that I do make sure that I point out the bad performances even though it doesn't usually impact my rating of the DVD. The reason I do so is because I'm wanting to make sure the world (at least the 4 or 5 people who read my reviews) knows how NOT to perform magic. With that said . . .
Many of you may be familiar with funny man Frank Caliendo. He has his own show on TBS. He's a funny guy. I remember the first time I saw him do impressions, I was hysterical. So I started 'YouTubing' him. I found several segments and clips of him. Some of them were different performances of the exact same material. What I noticed was that in some of the clips Caliendo seemed to be almost bored with his own material and was nowhere near as enthusiastic as he had been in other segments.
You could tell he'd done the routine too many times. It was no longer fresh.
That's kind of how I was left feeling during many of Craig's performances on this project - He's just done them too many times and has slipped into a mindless routine. Rather than going through each effect, I'll just cover some general things and maybe highlight a couple of things from a couple of effects.
Broad stroke:
Almost every effect required a great deal of explanation to the spectator. An opening monologue to each effect that never ends through the entire routine. It was kind of hard to listen to and watch. I had this experience, however, when I was watching/reviewing the Ed Marlo/Bill Malone DVD set. After a while, Malone's high speed rambling kind of got on my nerves. He was a bit overwhelming. I kind of feel that way about Craig Petty's performances. I feel like he talks and overly explains stuff too much, too often and too fast.
If we were dealing with an everyday activity like drinking a glass of water it would go like this:
I'll open the cupboard and reach up with my right hand like this and grab a glass from the cupboard. Ok, now I'll shut the cupboard and walk over here to the tap and turn it on like so as I fill my glass up with water. Ok, now that I've got my glass, turned on the tap and filled it up with water, I'll turn off the tap like so. Now that I have a full glass of water and the cupboard is closed and the tap turned off I'll bring the glass to my mouth like this and pour the liquid in my mouth. Of course while I'm doing that I'll not be able to talk, so let me explain what will be happening as I pour . . .
You get the idea? I promise you that I am NOT exaggerating. It is just like that in almost every trick. Additionally, he has a tendency to insult - albeit in a joking manner - his audience . . . a lot. In his effect Face Off He insulted his spectator a dozen times (yes I counted). He opened with three insults in a row before he spent 2 or 3 very long winded and boring minutes explaining everything.
Just about every trick on the DVD follows this formula:
- Insult the audience
- Ramble on about what he's doing, going to be doing and what he has been doing
- Describing everything in excruciating detail.
- Over Emphasize every move and action using meaningless patter.
- Then he does a really good trick with some really nice moments and moves
Generally speaking, if you can get past the unfortunate problems above, the tricks are pretty good. Unfortunately there is no magic . . . just tricks.
Speaking just for the tricks, there was no trick that I hated and no trick that I loved. They were all 'pretty good.' There were some fun premises that had potential. There are also a few decent moves that you'll learn. For $35.00 you get a hand full of blank cards needed to do some of the effect plus 9 effects that are 'pretty good.' There's supposedly a trick on the DVD called 'Doctor Who Card Trick.' But I couldn't find it anywhere.
If you feel like you can over look everything I've mentioned above and that you could take Craig's tricks and ideas and turn them into magic, then you may find your money's worth. Just please do not use his patter, presentation, jokes, insults, etc. Find your own groove and let the effects speak for themselves . . . or at least let them get a word in edgewise.
Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble (leaning toward rubble, but maybe a gem).