Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Stayin' Alive By The Bee Gees
$35 bucks for about an hour long DVD a couple of gimmicks and 3 incredible effects (3 out of 4 ain't bad). The DVD is well shot, well lit and has no production complaints worthy of note.
When all is said and done in a moment, I'm going to highly recommend this DVD. However, newbies take heed. Roger Curzon is a very skilled technician and a very smart and clever guy, but man he is extremely un-entertaining when he performs. When you watch this DVD, do NOT try to copy his presentations. You need to smile more, make more eye contact, communicate with your audience. Curzon does none of this. So please, when learning from this DVD, learn the effects and methods, but create your own presentation, and do not let Mr. Curzon's lack of presentational skills justify your own personal lack of presentation.
There are only 4 effects on the DVD. Two of them use the Curzon Envelope which comes with the DVD. The effect in the two envelope effects is just as the title suggests, signed card to envelope. It's one of the cleanest methods I've ever seen.
Both effects are very clean. There are no funny movements. You simply pick up the envelope and cleanly remove the card from the envelope that's been sitting there in the window envelope from the begining of the trick. When you pull out the card, it's the signed card that the spectator just signed a moment ago. The illusion is perfect and it's very easy to do. One effect is that the card is a prediction card. The other is an ending to Ambitious Card. The latter handling requires the use of an extra gimmick that you have to construct using materials supplied with the DVD.
I didn't care (even a little bit) for Curzon's Ambitious Card handling, presentation or routine . . . Please don't try to learn his. Learn your own and apply the card to envelope to your own.
The two bonus effects are incredible.
Imagine this: Spectator examines then shuffles the crap out of a blue deck. Then he cuts the deck as many times as he wants. The magician never touches the deck. When the spectator is happy with himself and his mixing/cutting/etc, he stops and turns over the top card. The magician then turns over the top card of a red deck that has been sitting in full view the whole time. In fact, the spectator can turn over the top card. The top card from each deck match each other . . . killer!
Both decks are normal decks of cards with no duplicate cards, and the spectator can truly shuffle his deck as much as he wants. The normal decks in play have had some life 'breathed' into them from the magician that just makes them so darn magical.
The Second effect is a very clean do as I do routine with a decent presentational angle. The kicker ending is excellent. The only 'complaint' (if you can even call it that) was that I was very surprised that Curzon didn't think of or didn't realize the fact that with one slight teeny modification, he could allow the spectator a free choice of which deck is used by whom.
On the scale of things, that's pretty minor.
So . . .
Ambitious Card to Impossible Location (Curzon Envelope) gets 3 stars.
Dream Card presentation to Impossible Location (Curzon Envelope) gets 4.5 stars.
Bonus Effect 1 (Knockout Prediction Revisited) gets 5 stars
Bonus Effect 2 (Do As I Do Twist) gets 4.5 stars
Average star rating is 4.25. Add to that the production quality, the inclusion of the gimmicks, the decent price, and you get a solid . . .
Finial Verdict
: 4.5 star product with a Stone Status of GEM!