Random I-Tunes Song Of The Moment: Alive By Skillet

I like Nathan Kranzo. He's funny, casual and I think I would really enjoy attending one of lectures . . . but . . .

The production quality of this DVD is pretty horrific. It feels like a VHS camcorder with no lighting. Also, constantly throughout the DVD, some guy sitting next to the camera keeps on coughing, and each time, the sound spikes and gets pretty loud and annoying to boot.

There is no menu, just one button to click to start the video. But the graphics on the main (only) page are so pixelated that it's really hard to see the button you're supposed to click.

There are no chapters, so you have to watch it from beginning to end. You can't really go back and watch a certain section.

The DVD is about an hour long and very funny and entertaining. However, a lot of the teaching was left out or not very thorough.

There were several times where the camera cut and then skipped to the middle of an explanation of something and often times you have no idea what's going on or what he's talking about. The lighting was so bad that you couldn't really see the coins and so it was not only hard to learn the effect, but it was hard to even see what the effect was.

There were a couple of ideas on here that were 'learnable' from the DVD. One is Voodoo Card. This one is worth considering and has a good presentational angle.

He performs Al Baker's The Knife Dial but does not teach it. His opening effect, while clever and hilarious, only works on magicians because it requires you to open display a secret gimmick that makes handkerchiefs vanish.

You do get some decent tips on working with loops and some good tips on working with a Mullica Wallet, but that's about where the value of this DVD ends.

Considering the fact that you get only a couple of things that you can really glean from this due to the production quality, and considering the price tag of $35 for something so poorly produced, it's hard to recommend this.

Final Verdict:
2 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble (little bit of gem and a whole lot of rubble).