DVD Review: Daniel Garcia Project Vol. 1

I've heard a lot of positive comments about Daniel Garcia and finally had an opportunity to verify the hype. Garcia is innovative and good. On his Daniel Garcia Project Volume 1 DVD, he teaches a variety of great close-up routines with cards, coins, rubber bands and finger rings.

Satisfaction Guaranteed is an entertaining all-backs routine. The spectator selects a card that turns out to be a double-backer and the routine proceeds with a deck that's full of double-backed cards, a production of four aces and a final revelation that shows the deck to be completely normal. This one is very strong.

Personal Safe offers a great coins across routine that involves a spectator's finger ring. The borrowed ring seems to attract coins as they vanish from one of the magician's hands and reappear in the spectator's hand. The final phase is a stunning transposition where the ring vanishes from the spectator's hand and is found in the magician's. This one reminded me of Paul Gertner's "Familiar Ring" routine.

A great bill switch that doesn't rely on the usual gimmick, ala Kozlowski, Twisted is very clean. Ego offers an intriguing technique for dribbling cards and determining the exact card that a spectator viewed and recalled. The second phase involves a cool color change, which is similar to one that I have learned on the Buck Twins' Trilogy DVD.

A decent effect that requires considerable preparation, Third Degree may or may not be worth the effort. A spectator selects a card that is returned to the deck. A lit cigarette is burned through the cards and stops at the spectator's selection.

The reset on this effect is fast if you prepare several cards in advance, but there's some effort involved in gimmicking cards (you destroy one gimmicked card during each performance). And because the effect involves lit cigarettes, it limits where you can perform it.

Rubber Made offers a stunning three phase effect with rubber bands. It's more like three phases in two distinct effects: A ring and rubber band routine and linking rubber bands.

I like Garcia's excellent finger ring and rubber band effect. The ring appears to be completely separate from the rubber band until the last moment when it's thrown and linked onto the band. And the release is equally convincing. Everything is normal and this one is not that hard to learn and perform.

The second phase, the linking rubber bands, is excellent and stands on its own. The magician takes two rubberbands and links them almost as if they melted through each other, Chinese linking ring style. The rubberbands are not gimmicked.

The technique is similar to a linking effect that was taught on Nabil Murday's Link DVD, but with a different gimmick. Between the two, Garcia's gimmick is more flexible and less apt to get in the way than Murday's gimmick. As a result, I find Garcia's gimmick to be better suited to real world close-up.

I rarely comment on DVD menus and video, but Garcia's DVD features an intriguing look that's innovative and fresh. It's a pleasure to not only watch the magic, but watch this DVD.

Garcia offers some great effects on his volume 1 DVD. I'm looking forward to viewing his volume 2.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $35

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