Review: Banding Around by Russell Leeds

This DVD is practically an in-depth reference on rubber band tricks that comes with new ideas and techniques. Rubber bands are inexpensive and easy to carry around and Russell Leeds has come up with some clever variations on classic and well known rubber band moves and created some intriguing routines.

Some routines feel a bit contrived and others become rather similar in presentation, but there are lots of great ideas here. I particularly like Leed's clever variations on Crazy Man's Handcuffs and his Triangle move.

The main effect, Rubber Ring, offer a powerful seven-phase rubber band routine. The bands pass through each other, through your own thumb and then a spectator's thumb. You pass a band through a spectator's wrist and then through a finger ring. This is a visual and commercial routine that combines lots of rubber band methods.

With Impromptu Penetration, a rubber band penetrates through a pen, strand by strand. In the second phase, the band is wrapped around the pen and the ends of the pen are held by spectators and the band passes through again. This is another excellent effect.

In the offbeat Rubber Coins, you change a series of bands into coins. The similarly themed Trans-purse-ition has the bands turning into coins and changing places with coins that are sitting in a coin purse. Another effect with a coin purse, in Bands in Purse, three bands travel to an empty purse that a spectator is holding. There's also another similar effect, Rubber, where bands turn into rubber balls - which can work as a great intro to a three ball routine.

In Empowerment, a spectator holds three bands that vanish, one-by-one from his hand. At the end, they return. In Bands Through Table, three bands seemingly melt through a solid table.

Rubber Fly is basically "coins across" but with rubber bands. Three bands in one hand travel, one by one, to the other hand. I like the way that the bands visually vanish from plain view.

With Pick Pocket, two different colored bands change places in the spectators hand. This routine features a cool color change with lots of applications. In Growing Band, a rubberband grows in size right before spectator's eyes.

In Linking Bands, you link two bands together and hand them out for examination. Invisiband is a fast bit of business where a rubber band momentarily vanishes and then reappears.

Finally, a work in progress, Band Through Glass offers a method to cause a rubber band to pass through the bottom of a drinking glass. Leeds has not actually perfected and performed this one yet but offers it as a idea.

I like the way that the DVD teaches all of the sleights in a separate section. Explanations are good and Leeds is assisted here by Craig Petty. One minor irritation, I hate having to locate hidden bonus tricks. I don't understand why magic publishers are doing this.

But overall, I like this DVD. Combine this one with Nabil Murday's excellent Link (please click here to read my review), and you’ll have an entire act with rubber bands.

MSRP: $30.00

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