Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Back in The Village by Iron Maiden
Velocity by Rick Smith Jr. Review:
One DVD, $30 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method
Basically, there's really no method or effect to speak of. This is a DVD that teaches you how to throw playing cards for distance and accuracy. Everything you can imagine is covered, and covered well. Cutting vegetables in half, hitting targets, building a show with throwing stunts in it, how to use it to draw crowds, how to involve the audience, etc., etc., etc.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is dead on. You get exactly (and more than) what they claim you get. Rick Smith Jr. is/was a college baseball pitcher and a magician. Together, those two things give us a technique for throwing cards that is unique, and allowed him to break the world record for distance by several feet. His expertise really shines through and is given to the viewer in simple to implement steps.
Product Quality
The DVD is beautifully produced (typical of Murphy's Magic productions). It's well lit, mic'd, choreographed, etc. They took the time to insert footage shot on high speed cameras to help show the details of a good throw. Further, he had a friend on the DVD with him who was learning to throw cards. Smith gave him coaching and tips on the spot that actually improved his technique and understanding of the grips.
In addition to all the card throwing stuff, there are several different card "flinging" moves taught. Springing a card from the top or bottom of the deck and a lot of card manipulation techniques that can add flourish and style to your card work. I found myself reaching for a deck of cards with every move he taught just so I could try it out.
Final Thoughts
I actually tested his particular throwing grip and found it to be quite easy to do and found that I got a fair distance and pretty solid accuracy. This was only a few minutes of practice. I imagine that if I put in the time, I would be able to do the various stunts he teaches.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
4 Comments
Card throwing to me is like flourishes, not magic. I have no interest in doing either. Card throwing as been around forever, my hero, Howard Thurston by all accounts was crazy good at it. (I have one of his throw out cards in my collection). Although it isn’t my thing it is good that there is a good resource available to people that want to do it.
@Jay – thanks for the post brother. I will say, that card throwing, though not technically a “magic trick”, can still have the same impact on an audience. When he hit the target right above Jason’s thumb, that was magical. It was a moment of astonishment and wonder for me.
I think if you are even a little interested, it’s worth it. As you say in your review; there really is a lot to the dvd. Interestingly though the ‘rsj’ grip happens to be the way i first figured out how to do it long before i ever even heard of rick smith jr. Anyway, 100% guarantee you will learn something from this. Even if you think you know everything, you WILL learn something. As a lover of science i do wish he had spent more time explaining the physics of the flight of the card, or perhaps exercises to improve power
@Ben – Agreed. I truly believe that EVERYONE will learn SOMETHING from this DVD. Also, you make a good point about the physics. That would have been cool for sure. Maybe a guest star like Neil Degrasse Tyson would have been cool, and I’ll be he would have done it too.