From Wayne Kawamoto,
Your Guide to Magic & Illusion.
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More about presenting magic than teaching new techniques, tricks or moves, Mel Mellers’ unconventional DVD showcases his comedy skills and excellent stand-up show.

He shows how to take mostly rudimentary and well known tricks and dress them up into hilarious and entertaining routines. However, the DVD is a mixed bag that falls short as it’s not clear what Mellers is trying to teach other magicians.

Dealer Items

Most of the tricks on this DVD are well known by most magicians and Mellers’ suggestions on taking a trick and applying a theme can often be summarized in a single sentence. It’s fun to watch Mellers as he thoroughly entertains a crowd, but I’m not sure how much magicians will gain from this DVD without trying to copy and take on Mellers’ stage personna (something I don’t recommend).

In Mass Hypnosis, Mellers convinces his audience that he can hypnotize them and relies on the lowly coloring book, a common and often misused magic dealer item. The premise of hypnotism is a good one and this routine is a good example of how showmanship always trumps the trick.

In 5 Minutes And One Balloon, Mellers entertains with a few balloons, the kind that twisters use to make animals and such. There’s some good material in this gag-laden routine. Phobia is a funny approach to the well known “Needle Thru Balloon” that exploits spectators’ fear of loud noises.

Mentalism and Mayhem

Mellers delves into mentalism with his Birthday Revelation. Here, Mellers guesses an audience member’s birthday in a routine with billets. This is the best routine on the disc. The other mentalism bit is the powerful and commercial Shirt Prediction where a prediction appears on Mellers’ shirt.

A commercial effect, Ropertainment is Mellers’ rope routine that combines “Professor’s Nightmare” and other rope techniques and routines. It’s a strong routine, however, he exposes a secret at the routine’s conclusion to hilarious comic effect. It’s a trade-off that Mellers admits to during the explanation.

An offbeat memory feat, Business Cards Warm Up has Mellers providing details from randomly selected business cards that have been selected from “over a thousand” that are in a briefcase. Mellers also explains a "number-adding" mentalism effect that refreshingly provides a fun theme and reason to perform it.

On A Roll is Mellers’ comedy bank note routine. The DVD also includes a “bonus” effect, a performance-only segment of a hand-cutting routine that exposes a secret in return for laughs.

Exceptional Comedy

I enjoyed watching Mellers and found his approach to be hilarious. However, I’m not sure that he offers all that much here to help magicians improve their acts. Indeed, Mellers offers an example of what can be done with a simple trick that is presented well. But whether this is worth the price of the DVD remains a big question.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $39.99

Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.