Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: This Crazy Love by The Oak Ridge Boys

First I would feel remiss if I didn't inform my viewers of the similarities in appearance between Mr. Prince and Mr. Bean. If only Mr. Prince were as funny, but alas, he is not. However funny isn't the only form of entertainment. Mr. Prince certainly is a chop-havin' performer, no doubt about it.

Let's start with a brief review of the overall DVD, then a specific review of each effect. First, the DVD is only 70 minutes. That includes a 4 minute 'trailer' and there are only 6 effects on the DVD. For a price of $34.99, it'd be nice to get more than 6 effects. Both volume I and volume II were done together, and the trailer for the DVDs pitches them together stating that there are 10 routines. Seriously . . . 10 routines . . . two DVDs? This could easily have been one DVD.

As for the production quality, no real problems here. It was filmed live in a real restaurant with real audience members at a restaurant that Mr. Prince actually works at every week. I really like this aspect of the DVD. It was a little noisy at times, but nothing too bad. The explanations were shot in a back room at the restaurant after closing time. There were a few lighting issues, but nothing serious. The navigation and menu, etc. was all just fine. All in all, the production quality was an 8 on a scale from 1 to 10. One other thing that was a nice touch was during the explanations they would show flash backs to the performance segments. I think that aided greatly in the learning of the effects.

Speaking of effects . . .

Table Approach - The DVD opened with some harsh words that were a little too definitive. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY, AND NOTHING ELSE IS RIGHT! He was giving advice on approaching a table. One thing he said was that at restaurants as opposed to paid gigs, you shouldn't be 'Mr. Confident.' First, aren't restaurants paid gigs? Second, his entire presence is Mr. Confidence, so he doesn't even follow his own advice, which is advice that I don't agree with by the way.

Cups and Balls (1.5/5) - , but this routine is just plain not good. It was way too fast and way too confusing, and before you realize that there are three cups on the table he's already turning them over to reveal the final loads. Also, during the explanation, a lemon got stuck in the cup. He had to stop and put down a lemon that he was palming and dig the lemon out. Rather than explaining how to get out of it in a real live performance, he simply said, 'That never happens during performance, so about it.' Sorry gang. Mr. Prince is a super nice guy, but don't take cup-and-ball advice from him. Go to Ammar.

The World's Easiest Bill in Kiwi (3/5) - As is the theme of all Prince effects, it's right to the climax: 'Here's-your-signed-bill-look-it's-in-a-kiwi' However, there is nice subtlety and a nice move that you won't find in most routines of this type. The routine itself isn't that great but the subtlety and the moves are worth studying this routine. Additionally, he covers what he calls, Kiwi Finesse which is a nice addition to the effect that allows you to hand out the Kiwi when finished.

Shoot the Kiwi (4/5) - The ad copy says that the spectator can cut open the kiwi and remove the bill. This is NOT true. However, once you start the cut, you can hand it to the spectator and let them dig it out. There is no kiwi switch and there is no secret stuff for the spectator to find once you give them the kiwi. This is a nice version for sure.

Fees - This was another advice section. Remember, earlier he referred to restaurants as something other than a paid gig, yet in this section, he's referring to them as paid gigs. I really didn't find much value in this section.

Blue Card (2/5) - This is basically a card to wallet effect (sort of). In this routine, he did what so many performers due which irritates me. He completely ignores a response from a spectator. In this case, he asked a spectator how to pronounce her name after she wrote it on a card. He didn't even let her finish before he just went into his 'let me take your card and put it over here' patter. Man that's annoying. Then of course it was right to the punch line with no set up. I'm getting a little irritated with that style of his. He explained that this trick is good for birthday parties, anniversaries, etc, and that you could have a message pre written on the back of the card that comes out of the wallet. However, he did not explain how to get that information and get it on the card. He briefly brushed over it and didn't cover any details, yet he said that this one tip is the very reason he included the effect on the DVD. Also, there is a very difficult sleight used on this effect that he simply says, 'We covered it in another routine.' However it is not covered in another routine on this DVD.

Brain Freeze (1/5) - This effect is just crap. He flies through this so fast that you don't even know what the heck's going on. Often his magic is like he's just demonstrating what the gimmick can do or what move he can do. It would be sort of like taking a Svengali deck and making this your routine: 'Look they're all different. Now they're all the Six of Clubs. Now they're all different. Look now they're all the same again. Look they're different again.' Do that while talking so fast and riffling the deck so fast that they aren't even sure that you have a deck in your hands, and that's the kind of magic this is.

Tips - This was a very good section about how to handle a situation where someone wants to offer a tip. To me, the advice he gave here was the best part of this DVD, and the most useful thing I got out of this and volume I.

Signed Card Thru Window (5/5) - I love this effect and the method is brilliant. However, again, Mr. No personality shows up. Also, that move mentioned in Blue Card is used in this effect, and he again claims that it was already covered. He is correct if he's referring to the fact that it was covered in Volume I. Considering that this DVD was only 70 minutes, he should have explained the move again. He had time. The customer should not have to buy Volume I to learn a move that was used in Volume II.

If you average my ratings for each effect, you get a 2.75. However, I'm going to dock that a little bit for having a very short DVD that should have been combined with Volume I. However, there were a couple of really good tricks and with the right practice and personality can be good additions to any pro's repertoire.

Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble (somewhere between gem and rubble)