As the title implies, Andrew Normansell’s 100% Commercial Volume 3 - Close-Up Magic DVD offers a good selection of close-up effects. Actually, a more descriptive title for this DVD would have been “Close-Up Card Magic” as all of the routines involve cards. Normansell has an engaging stage presence and the solid effects he presents here offer lots of opportunities to interact with spectators and are not difficult to learn and perform.
Commercial Magician
According to the liner notes, Normansell has made his living performing magic for some twenty years by working for prestigious companies both in the UK and abroad and is a regular on the UK comedy club circuit. On the DVD, Normansell performs the various card tricks for a single (and patient) spectator. Cards change, go from one place to another, turnover and more. The DVD features two four-of-a-kind revelation effects and one spelling trick. All but two effects use ordinary, non-gimmicked cards.
Throughout, Normansell offers good explanations but assumes that you have mastered card basics. In particular, he uses lots of counts of the Elmsley and Hamman variety, as well as the tilt move. Many of the routines involve his jacket pockets, but he seldom palms cards to make these productions.
Revelation with a Twist
Random Revelation offers a production of a four-of-a-kind from a seemingly shuffled deck-a fast and flashy production that looks fair. I like the way that Normansell mixes the stack, which will likely throw off astute spectators. With four cards quickly produced, this effect is a good lead-in for other tricks on this DVD, such as the next one.
Twisting Dai Vernon is Normansell’s take on the classic "Twisting the Aces" but with a kicker at the end where all of the cards instantly turn face up. Here, Normansell could have offered stronger explanation as he performs several variations on the Hamman adn Elmsley counts that he doesn't clarify. Jazzing is a Macdonald’s Aces-style routine that uses regular cards and may be performed impromptu. After creating four piles of cards, each with an ace, the aces vanish, one by one, into a separate pile.
Not What it Seems
In Masquerade 2, a spectator selects a card and finds it. A packet of cards all seemingly change into the spectator’s card and then turn into kings. Jumping Jack Flash is a jack sandwich effect where three selected cards vanish from between some jacks and two reemerge in the deck. The remaining card reappears in the performer's pocket. This routine requires spectators to remember three cards.
A logical follow up to an ambitious card sequence, Packet Classic offers a potential kicker, a transposition, which doesn’t involve a wallet or envelope. After performing ambitious card, the signed card is placed into the magician’s pocket and the ambitious effect is repeated with a small packet of four cards. At the end, the spectator’s card appears in the packet and the remaining card from the packet is found in the magician’s pocket.
Spectator in Control
A clean, to the point and off-beat version of the "Spectator finds the Aces" plot, in Forced Option, a spectator selects a card that is not looked at and is placed in the magician’s pocket. The spectator then selects a second card and inserts it into the deck. At the end, the two cards that sandwich the card are found to be mates of the second card, and the remaining matching card is found in the magician’s pocket. The spectator has somehow located a four of a kind. This one involves an intriguing count sequence to force the chosen card.
