USER REVIEWS:

“Card Magic…For The Serious Magician” by Brian M.

-Review by Ash Jackson

To tell you the truth the only reason I originally ordered this was because I saw Brian’s demo of “Card Stab” and I was blown away.  However, I am so glad I did buy it because it has so much more great stuff on it.

My order was shipped very quickly and it only took around 4 days to get to me, and I’m in Australia.The quality was pretty good even though it isn’t filmed with expensive equipment like a major production, but to tell you the truth I really like the feel and atmosphere of the product.

There is a long thorough introduction teaching you a lot of the basics needed for the performance of the effects. Some of the techniques include various double lifts, breaks, swing cuts, undercuts and some nice passes; including a favorite of mine the Spread Pass Delay.

Some of my personal highlights include Ace Transposition where Dr. Daley’s Last Trick is given an incredible final twist, Sign Fuze where three different versions are taught, Torn Transposition and The Twist Change which looks like a pass type move I’ve never seen before. Card Change features another instantaneous visual type pass move I’ve never seen before, Ambitious Reverse with a clever series of moves to include in any Ambitious Card routine, Mental Selection where cards are shuffled by spectator, four freely selected cards match Brian’s previously written predictions. The Card Stab is astonishing. Brian teaches two different methods worth the price of the DVD alone.

I will definitely be adding some of these effects to my own repertoire some time in the future. The explanations are extremely thorough and easy to follow. There is some easy stuff, some intermediate and also some stuff

that will take quite a bit of practice. The production including performances and explanations runs for over two hours, and for twenty dollars you can’t go wrong. How many times have we all bought a tape for double that price and been disappointed?

You will not be disappointed in Brian’s work. He has so many effects soon to be released, I think it’s just going to get better and better.

My final verdict… It’s a total thumb’s up!

One of the best investments in magic I’ve made, and I have a lot of tapes and books, so that’s saying a lot.

Dear Brian,

Your DVD and CD are simply fantastic.Your routines are great and your technique is wonderful.BRAVO!!!Please let me know when you will release other stuff

Best/Fabio

Hi, I would like to thank Brian for an excellent video!!! I’ve never been all that great at getting a good double lift that looked natural, but after him teaching a few various ones, I picked one that works for me perfectly every time!!!  He also teaches some other nice sleights like the pass, pinkie & thumb breaks, and some false cuts.  They are not the most extravagant, but they get the job done in a nice fashion. (I personally think if u do a false cut too fancy, that they will assume that you are an expert, hence not believing that the card is truly lost).  All of the effects are awesome and nicely explained with good camera angles.  "stab through card" alone is worth the price of the DVD, even if u know all the other tricks like the back of your hand, this alone is worth the price for all you get on this DVD!!! For barely $20, I can not emphasize enough that this is an awesome BANG FOR THE BUCK DEAL!!!  In fact; I’m ordering the second DVD, "Top Secret Vol.1" right now.  It would be awesome for Brian to get some kinda publicity with his material, as to keep his DVD’s rolling out the door. I shop at many online magic stores, i.e. Penguin Magic, Ellusionist etc, and I have some great DVDs and books, but I’d have to say that Brian’s DVD is in the top 3 for sure, well, top 2 lol. Thanks Brian!!!

 

                                                   -Richard Thompson

Brian,
Here is my review of your DVD's I ordered.
There are a lot of tricks on these two DVD's and all for only $20 a piece.
It's an extremely generous deal for what he reveals.  The tricks are good
too. He just didn't put a bunch of fillers on this and peddle it.  The 
card stab alone will blow you away.  He is very thorough in his explanations 
and gives a lot of helpful tips at the beginning so you know what you'll 
need to do in order to pull off the effects.  
I also have an ancient DVD player and needed him to convert the DVD's to
VHS. He was happy to do it and even threw in a few bonuses for me.  
What customer service!!  I'm definitely looking forward to any more products 
that Brian will offer because in my mind these were a steal!

Highly recommended.
Andrew O'Malley
hey thanx ur real cool. i also think ur a great invrntor. u amaze me
as a veteran in magic i think that u could be the next steve Fearson. hey anyway...the tricks that really stood out the most were...disapearing kings, ace transpo, sign fuze, ROUND OF DRINKS, watch the jack, impossible outcome, and dollar vanish. You have a gift dont let that go. keep inventing, u will be huge one day.  
                                                                                    Sicerely,
                                                                                            Edward K.
Hey man, Im a pretty accomplished cardician but that card stab really has me stumped!

Awesome Job! -King L.

I have studied magic for many years now, and I am always looking for new techniques, fresh ideas and creative minds.  "The Magician's Arsenal" DVD delivered "BIG TIME"!  What impressed me the most was how Brian showed that you need to adapt to your atmosphere.  So many videos say do this, say that.  He presents his magic in an entertaining way and sometimes he seems to amaze himself.  Very happy with the underground feel, and the navigation on the disc.  His "revolver pass" is very versatile and the "spring double" is very convincing.  Buy this if your looking to enhance your tricks and also if your looking to add some material (as almost all of it is impromptu magic!).

Thanks,
Bruce.

I just wanted to say, how do you come up with these amazing moves?  I envy you.  I tried to figure out your new Shimmy control by watching the video over and over but just can't figure it out.  My two thumbs up to you.  Again, thanks for showing your amazing sleight of hand. -Philip.
There are a lot of tricks on these two DVD's and all for only $20 a 
piece. It's an extremely generous deal for what he reveals.  The tricks are 
good too.  He just didn't put a bunch of fillers on this and peddle it.  The 
card stab alone will blow you away.  He is very thorough in his explanations 
and gives a lot of helpful tips at the beginning so you know what you'll 
need to do in order to pull off the effects.  

I also have an ancient DVD player and needed him to convert the DVD's 
to VHS.  He was happy to do it and even threw in a few bonuses for me.  
What customer service!!  I'm definitely looking forward to any more products 
that Brian will offer because in my mind these were a steal!


Highly recommended.
Andrew O'Malley
I would like to thank Brian for sharing his magic with the world, 
I bought all his DVDs and his magic is great. I also want to say 
that the free shipping is fast real fast. I had a minor problem 
with the card stab trick on the Card Magic for the Serious 
Magician DVD and Brian sent me the link the next day. Wow, talk 
about super fast customer service!!

Buy, buy, buy, you will not be disappointed.
Highly recommended.
Anthony B.

"People see the World through their eyes, I see the world through my hands"


Top Secret Vol. 1: Reviewed by Scott.

 

Okay, here is my review for Top Secret, if you are thinking about getting this DVD, take some time and read this review, because I think it will help.First off, I amm an advance card magician and got a lot out of the DVD.But if you are a beginner, you should have no problem with learning these tricks cause they are all taught well.But there is something for everyone.I bought all three DVDs on the site, and this is the first one I watched.I think this is a must have, if you like the downloads that you get to watch on the site then this DVD is for you.  Because all of the downloads are on this DVD, plus bonus tricks.  So you get to see most of the tricks before buying the DVD.  So I really liked that and it helped me purchase the DVD because I liked a lot of the downloads, plus when getting the DVD you save so much money instead of buying the downloads separately.  So right now I am going to review each trick.  I am also going to rate each trick on how easy it is, and what I think of the trick from 1 to 5, 5 being the best.

 

Disappearing Kings:  This is a very good effect if you are seated at a table, weather you at your dinner table, or out on a restaurant table.  Its not my type of effect because I do walk around magic, but if you work with a table, this could become pretty useful, and it is impromptu.  Skill level: 3 out of 5.  Trick: 1 out of 5 because its not my type of effect. 

 

Ace Transposition ver. 2:  Wow, one of my favorites on this DVD, with just a quick set-up that you can do right under their nose, you will blow them away with this trick.  Pretty simply to do with just some practice you can do an amazing effect.Another good thing is that this is perfect for street magic, just walk up to somebody and perform this amazing effect. Skill Level: 2 ½ out of 5.  Trick: 5 out of 5.

 

Signed Sandwich:Wow your going to love this one, you might have seen this under another name called monkey in the middle; this is another one of my favorites on this DVD.Very easy to do, so visual, and when doing it, it looks like pure magic.  Skill Level: 1 out of 5.  Trick: 5 out of 5.

 

Ace Sandwich:This is another one of my favorites on the DVD, there is a set-up, you can’t do the set-up in front of them, but this is a good opener for a magic show.So you open with this trick, and then after you can go into any other trick you want to do.This is just an amazing effect that keeps getting better as the trick goes on.  Skill Level: 3 out of 5.  Trick: 5 out of 5.

 

Signed fuse Ver. 3:This is a good effect, not something I would really do because you have to have the card signed on the back, so I wouldn’t want people thinking that I marked the cards or something like that if I were to do another effect for a different person without showing them signed fuze first.But if that doesn’t bother you then you have a simple, but amazing effect that is totally impromptu, that’s right, impromptu.  This is going to get great reactions.Skill Level: 3 out of 5.Trick: 4 out of 5.

 

Relax, I’m just joking:This was pretty good; it isn’t the best, but its okay.  Its something you might try out, and if it gets great reactions then you can maybe do it again.But it is very easy to do, and it’s worth a try.  Skill Level:1 out of 5.Trick: 2 out of 5.


 

Opposites attract:Here is a good effect, I already knew how to do it, so I wasn’t really amazed, but your spectators will.It isn’t the easiest, but it is going to get great reactions and it looks impossible, if you take time into mastering it, then this will be a keeper.  Skill Level: 4 out of 5.  Trick: 5 out of 5.


 

Whispering Card Case:Sorry, but didn’t really like it, in my opinion I think it was a little obvious, but that’s just me.You can give it a try, but I would say only do it to layman.  Skill Level:3 out of 5.Trick: 1 out of 5.


 

Deuces Untamed:Yep, this is another one of my favorites; this is a very good effect that is just amazing to watch.The set-up for this trick was a little bit of a turn off, cause I really wanted to do the effect all the time, but do to the set-up, I will only be able to do if from time to time.But when I do perform it, it’s going to be good.So its something you can do, and its is very amazing.Skill Level:3 ½ out of 5.Trick: 4 out of 5.


 

Impossible Joker sandwich:Another one of my favorites, this will take some time to get down, but once you get it down you will be doing this all the time.  Cause the move is just fun to do if you get it down.This is an amazing effect, you will like this one.Skill Level:2 ½ out of 5.Trick: 5 out of 5.


 

Not a chance:Okay, this is a good, impromptu effect, its something I added to my magic.Its something that everyone will get down with little practice and is pretty amazing.Skill Level: 1 ½ out of 5.Trick: 4 out of 5.


 

Pip Off:The trick itself your probably no going to be able to do it, because of the set-up.But the color change move he does during the trick is a very good move, so the color change used in the trick will be useful.The trick itself you might be able to do if you really wanted to, but your going to need something to do it with.But I’m sure some of you will do it. But I really liked the color change, so it’s worth learning that.Skill Level for color change:3 ½ out of 5.Trick: 1 out of 5.


 

The odd card:Its okay, if you do it right, then it will be very amazing for your spectators.But its either something your going to practice, or not bother with.It’s not something I would do, but if you practice, it could be a very good effect.The reason I wouldn’t do it, cause the move that is used sometimes doesn’t work.Skill Level: 4 out of 5.Trick: 2 out of 5.


 

Head on collision: Even thought I was familiar with the trick, it gave me a different way to perform it, which was very helpful.Its easy, and impromptu, and one of the best.Its one of my favorites.You will really like this one.Skill Level: 1 out of 5.Trick: 5 out of 5.


 

Lucky Cut:  This is going to get a lot of great reactions, once the spectators think you messed up the trick, then you show them that you didn’t, its going to be the best.It’s such a great and easy to do, this is something your going to do all of the time.Skill Level: 1 out of 5.Trick: 5 out of 5.


 

Dollars vanish extraordinaire: If you have the gimmick to perform this effect, then it is very good.But I didn’t have it, but you can buy the gimmick at a magic store for not that much.Its also more of a stage trick if you have short sleeves on, if you have long sleeves, you shouldn’t have a problem with a close up situation with some practice.Skill Level: 4 out of 5.Trick: 1 out of 5 cause I didn’t have the gimmick.


 

The impossible outcome 1 and 2:If you have what is needed to perform the effect, then it’s going to be one of the best tricks.But if you don’t, then don’t worry, a similar impromptu trick is taught later on in the DVD.Skill Level: 2 out of 5.Trick: 1 out of 5.


 

Triumph:  This is the other similar impromptu trick that is taught, its pretty easy, but will take some practice, but this is something you would be able to perform with no problem. Skill Level:  1 ½ out of 5.Trick: 4 out of 5 because I know better versions not taught on the DVD.


 

Energize:  This is a different way to perform the head on collision trick, I like both, so I can’t decide what is better, but this like the other one is easy and impromptu.   Skill Level: 1 out of 5.Trick: 5 out of 5.


 

There and back:  This is okay, it’s not something I would really perform but I’m sure some of you guys will.It will take some practice, but it’s worth it if you master it.Skill Level: 3 out of 5.Trick: 3 out of 5, I like the idea of the trick.


 

 Bonus Tricks:


 

Lost names:  Ah, it’s pretty good, it’s not the greatest but its something you can mess around with.He teaches a hard and easy handling so you will be able to get it down.Skill Level: 2 ½ out of 5.Trick: 2 out of 5.I didn’t really like it.But that’s just me.


 

It couldn’t be done:Okay, now this is pretty good, there is a set-up but if you get it set-up, then this is going to get great reactions.It’s a twist on the effect taught in the DVD Ace transposition.Skill Level: 2 out of 5.Trick: 4 out of 5.


 

Okay, so I reviewed all of the tricks on the DVD, I said a few things that might convince you to buy the DVD.Now the skill level may be different for some people.Everyone will either agree with me or some tricks might be harder for some people, but that was just so you get an idea on how hard it is.So that’s my review, if you read all the way up to here, then I think you already know your getting it.  Peace.

 

Feel free to make your own review on something: themagicmanis@yahoo.com