Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: . . . And Justice For All by Metallica

Man! This guy is annoying! That was my first thought in the first 10 seconds of this DVD... Sorry to say it, but it's true. However, out of duty to my readers, I decided to watch the whole thing. I'm glad I did. While he's still a bit annoying, there was a lot of great magic and really clever ideas on this DVD. More details in a moment.

Matthew Johnson is a professional performer and does a lot of strolling work. I'm thinking that if this guy came to my table putting on the personality act that he did in the performances, I would likely tell the waiter on my next visit to make sure the magician skips my table. I refer to it as a 'personality act' because in the explanation section, you saw a different side of Mathew... a much less annoying side.

I'm sure that I'm coming across as rude, and I certainly don't mean to. However, I do think it is important that we constantly are examining our character to make sure that it's solid and like-able. Mr. Johnson comes across as an over-the-top greasy car salesman... Imagine if Matthew Lesko where to perform close up magic for you... it's kind of like that.

Ok... enough raggin' on the guy. He really does seem like a nice guy, if you make it to the explanation section. My hope is that Matthew will read this review and take to heart what is meant to be constructive criticism about his performance character.

To his credit, his presentations (not his character) are solid. Again, he's not a put-and-taker. He clearly has thought through his routines and has given them a lot of attention. He does have a couple of lines that he used in several tricks which was annoying... again, that goes back to his character that needs a little work.

On to the material. Much of his stuff is refinements and modifications to other existing routines. I think my favorite was 'ring vanish and flash production.' This is a super visual piece of magic that requires you to carry only a lighter and a some flash paper... You borrow the ring. It's simple, direct, and visual.

Most of the material is pretty solid and is good for the studying performer. I will say that his handling of Ring Flight was very nervous, choppy, and appeared unpracticed and he flashed the gimmick several times. That was the only effect where I felt a bit disappointed.

Matthew is a good teacher. He knows his stuff. He just needs to tone down his performance personality a bit. For $30 bucks, you'll likely get your money's worth. He had some clever ideas, vanishing card box for one, that are worth the price of the disk. If you're looking for some different ideas this might be your thing.

Final Verdict:
3 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.