Child's Play
Despite the name, “Dead Letter Card” is hardly dead, it’s fantastic. Something of a Darwin Ortiz “Dream Card” crossed with some Jay Sankey “Back in Time,” here, McCree’s applies an innocent, childlike theme. The magician opens a wallet and shows a child’s playing card from his youth. After showing a simple card trick that he may have performed when he was ten, the spectator’s freely selected and signed card turns out to be the card that was initially shown in the wallet.This one is a stunner with a great theme. However, I think the youthful card effect, a triumph routine, may be too good. It might be funnier to perform a lame trick as one might as a ten-year-old, and then kill with the wallet at the end. Regardless, this one has been getting great responses for the past couple of weeks at my strolling gigs.
An impromptu “Anniversary Waltz”-style effect that doesn’t require special cards, “Second Inkstain” is another excellent and commercial routine. One person signs the face of a selected card and a second person signs the back of another. In the end, the card turns out to be the same card signed front and back. This one is great for anniversaries and weddings and to perform for couples.
Hypnotism?
I normally don’t care for card sandwich routines, but “Hypnosis” is an entertaining version that not only places a spectator’s card between two stand-alone cards, but offers a transposition of cards in a later phase. All this, under the guise of a captivating hypnotism theme.I’ve always loved David Roth’s “Portable Hole” and in “The Even More Portable Hole,” McCree offers a version that uses borrowed coins and is practical for walk-around settings where the magic happens in spectator’s hands. This one is good and the premise, a portable hole just like one of those in a “Road Runner” cartoon, has lots of appeal. In execution, it plays a lot like a “coin to glass” routine but to spectator’s hands.
Cold Reading
In the oddly named “Cracker,” a spectator peeks at a card and then pulls three random cards of their choice from the deck. The magician then gives a character reading of the Tarot type that’s based on the three cards and then derives and reveals the selected card. This effect combines cold reading techniques with a card trick to create a strong, new experience.The DVD comes with some basic cold reading text. But you’ll have to learn your cold reading techniques from other sources to probably make this one work. This effect offers lots of potential as it raises a simple card trick into an interactive experience that connects with spectators.
Another highly commercial Routine, “Multichange” has the magician finding a spectator’s selected card multiple times and in flashy ways. A distant relative to “ambitious card,” it’s much like a coin flurry, ala David Roth, but with cards. This one is great. “Treble Top” is a good multi-phase effect where three selected cards are found one at a time. This one requires a table.
In “Watched Ambitious,” McCree teaches a basic ambitious card routine, but the climax here, however, is that the signed card appears folded and stuck under the magician’s watch. It’s a great climax to a classic trick that doesn’t require any other props, after all, you’re probably already wearing a watch.
Great DVD
Perhaps more impressive to magicians, but will play well to lay spectators, “Where's the Matter” is a routine from McCree’s competition act where two coins appear and vanish as they pass thru a slot in a playing card. It’s akin to a Jerry Andrus “Zone Zero” but with a playing card and coins. This one is gorgeous, but as McCree explains, because of angle issues, it’s not an effect that will work under many working conditions. Perhaps it’s best to stick with the earlier “The Even More Portable Hole” for a great coin trick.Throughout, McCree offers excellent instructions and explanations. You’ll want a solid foundation in card sleights before you tackle the effects on this DVD. A minor aspect, McCree often relies on a bluff pass, a move that I’ve never liked. However, it’s not difficult to replace the move with other card sleights to accomplish the same task.
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve seen a DVD that comes with so many powerful and appealing routines. Winners here include: “Dead Letter Card,” “Multichange,” “Myopia” and “Second Inkstain,” and there’s no filler to be found. Shaun McCree’s “Mix N' Mingle” is what every magic instructional DVD should strive to be. It’s a DVD set that’s loaded with excellent, powerful and commercial effects from a worker.
This is one of the finest instructional magic DVDs that I have yet to review. Bravo, Shaun McCree.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
MSRP: (US) $69.99
Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
