Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Finally Figured Out by Royal Bliss

I was a bit excited for this one. The opening was a lot like a movie, with kind of a clever experience for the viewer as if I (or you) were seeking out some underground card master that will tip the trade secrets to that one special young kid who's got what it takes.

It started fun and even a bit mysterious. Then . . . Well . . . It died.

Disk one is basically nothing more than a 'look how clever I am' and 'look at all the moves I know' and 'even though I'm exposing it, it still looks amazing.'

Don't get me wrong Damian Nieman is clearly an expert and an amazing card handler, but this DVD claims to be a place to learn the 'tools of the trade.' Nope . . . it's merely you observing someone else who can use the tools. Imagine that in a 5 minute period you get this lesson:

'Just flip this switch here; pull that lever there; turn this knob over here; then push that button, that button and twist that dial. Then just pull back here and push down here, and that . . . my friend is how you fly an airplane.'

That's pretty much what you get with this DVD.

In the first five minutes of the 'teaching' section, you 'learn' the following:

• How to Shuffle
• Attitude
• Retaining a Stock
• Gambler's Cut
• Stripping the Deck
• Deck Script Control
• False Strip 1
• False Strip 2
• Vernon False Cut

I'm not exaggerating. All of those topics are 'taught' in 5 minutes. No . . . not 5 minutes each . . . 5 minutes total for all 9 techniques. Really . . . 5 minutes. That's an average of 55 seconds per concept. Seriously. How can you teach 'attitude' in 55 seconds? How can you teach anything - let alone something as complex as card manipulation - in 55 seconds?

Throughout many of the segments, you hear a tone of 'I'm bored with this . . . can we go home now' in Mr. Nieman's voice.

He takes on the attitude of 'you guys already know this stuff,' and he even says as much in the first segment 'How to shuffle.'

As far as production quality, it's top notch; good lighting, good angles, nice close up shots of Nieman's hands, etc. But the material is pretty much a bust. There is a Jennings technique taught that's worth checking out. However, all of this stuff is worth learning or 'checking out,' but the problem is that this DVD doesn't 'teach' anything.

It really is just an expose of the basic techniques, and it's done so fast that even rewinding isn't helpful.

Sorry folks, but disk one is absolute rubble. 1/2 star, if that.

I will say, however, that if you just want to watch someone who's really good at all of these moves, but you're not interested in learning them, then you may enjoy this set.

This DVD is Called 'Tools of The Trade.' The concept, as Nieman puts it, is that he's going to give you and teach you the tools of the trade so that when you move on to disk 2, you'll be ready to learn the tricks.

Basically, he took someone who has never seen a mechanic's tool box and said, 'ok, this is a wrench, and this is a hammer, and this one over here is a screw driver, and this is an socket wrench . . .'

That's not useful info folks. Show me how the hammer works. Take a minute to show me how to hold it to get the best leverage from it.

On to disk two . . . just as bad people. Because he feels as though he's given you the foundation - he hasn't - then he can just blaze through the effects and the so-called teaching segments.

You 'learn' some ace cutting routines, a 'lead in' to MacDonald's Aces, multiple shuffles you can use when doing Vernon's Triumph, Jennings's Open Travelers, the Gene Finell's Free Cut Principle, some work on three card monte and a few other things.

There are some excellent moves on here, but it's darn near impossible to learn from this DVD. I consider myself to be a well read card man. I'm no Vernon or Cervon or Ortiz, but I know my way around a deck of cards, and I've studied the main classics and I've been a student of advanced card techniques (student - not performer) for many years, and I had a hard time keeping up with him on some of this stuff.

He showed two really cool Skinner moves that I'd never seen before, and he spent about 20 seconds 'teaching' them. He flew right past them. I felt as a performer - we see a few excerpts from a live show - he's way too fast paced and his patter is a bit long and rushed. The section on Triumph was blazed through to such a point that if you are even at a mid-level stage in your magic you will be completely lost in this section. Even an advanced card person would find this section rushed and would likely need to rewind multiple times.

Basically, if you understood what he was talking about and could follow him, it's because you already knew the material, and likely would have even done a better job teaching it.

Though even with all of the criticism I've offered in this review, the one thing I emphatically cannot criticize is he near-flawless technical skills. They guy is a stud and decks of cards fear him, no doubt. And as I mentioned before, if you want to watch a really smart, friendly and nice guy do - not teach - a bunch of moves and ideas that he is really good at then you may enjoy this set of DVDs.

The only other thing I found of value for myself personally is that it has motivated me to go dig out some old Skinner works and study his work more. For $80 bucks you'd be better of buying 10 copies of Erdnase and giving them out on street corners as you preach from the words written therein.

Final Verdict:
Sorry folks but this one gets 1 star with a Stone Status of rubble.