David Regal is one of the most likable performers I’ve ever seen. He seems to be one of the few performers who can get away with scripting his routines without sounding like a robot. And, while he’s got a path planned, he’s not afraid to stray from that path in order to remain in the moment with his audience. This is refreshing since many magicians seem do magic “at” the audience rather than “with” them. This is not the case with David. That’s because he cares enough about them to constantly think of the magic from their perspective.

He also cares enough about them to use every tool in his magic toolbox in order to entertain them. The method is not his first priority; it is all about the effect. Stacks, gaffs, misdirection, swindles, sleight-of-hand… it doesn’t seem to matter to David. His ‘take no prisoners’ approach to the creative process means he isn’t afraid to go the extra mile… or two… or ten to make sure he fools them to the best of his ability.

Cheating- This is a twisting routine with a spectator’s named four-of-a-kind. The cards turn over one at a time. Then, they turn to Jokers. Finally, they transform into the four Kings. David reaches into his pocket to remove two of the original four-of-a-kind. The other two are found reversed in the deck on the table.

Everywhere- The spectator selects a card and returns it to the middle of the deck. The card is instantly revealed on top. The magician tables the card. Instantly it is found in the middle of the deck. This card is also tabled. Now it appears as the bottom card which is also tabled. The magician continues finding duplicates of the selected card and placing them into a pile on the table. Finally, the card is pulled from the magician’s back pocket. The cards on the table are turned over: they have transformed into a run of Hearts from Ace to King, in order.

Deep Guilt Aces- This is exactly what I was referring to when I said that David will stop at nothing to fool his audience. In effect, a spectator cuts the deck into four piles. The top card of each pile is turned over; they are the four Aces. No switches or funny handlings; the spectator cuts and the spectator turns over each card. It is that clean.

Self Evident- This is probably my favorite effect on the set. The spectator cuts off about half of the deck. Holding the deck face up, he deals cards onto the table one at a time, stopping whenever he wants. The backs of all of the cards are shown to be blue backed. The card the spectator selected is turned face down; it has a red back.

The Half Deal- After a demonstration of a bottom deal and second deal, David has a spectator sign the back of a card. The card is placed on top of the deck and he talks about a curious move called the half deal. With that, he deals the ink off of the card into his hand. It looks like a clear sheet of acetate printed with the design of a playing card. The card is restored and handed to the spectator for examination.

Cups & Balls & Cups & Balls- David has a very interesting take on the cups and balls. He begins with a demonstration using the old Adams red, yellow, and blue cups as he recounts his first encounter with the trick as a child. He puts the cheap cups away and talks about how as an adult he has upgraded to the brass cups. He continues the routine with the fancy cups. For the finale, He produces large loads as usual, but he also produces the Adams cups and balls from his childhood. Large loads are produced from the Adams cups as well. The routine requires some special props to be made, but the final loads are quite unique.

These are just some of my favorites from the set. There are plenty of other items that are worthy of your attention. There are tricks with cards, coins, strings and beads, bills, and rings. There is much more variety than is offered on most magic DVDs, but most of the routines do use cards. David’s performances are entertaining and the explanation portion is expertly done. You won’t be disappointed.

Highly recommended.

-Available from Vanishing Inc. Magic

If we’re talking bang for your buck, you would be hard pressed to find another DVD set with more value. With over 90 items (tricks and sleights), there are enough items here to fill much more than three discs. But this isn’t a case of quantity over quality. These are top notch routines suitable for the real world. Most DVD sets these days feel like the performer is stretching his material to fill as many DVDs as possible. This is absolutely not the case here. The set is packed with great magic.

The variety of material offered here is also impressive. There are tricks for close-up and stand-up performances ranging in difficulty from self-working to advanced. There is a nice mix of magicians represented as well. Rune Klan, Joel Givens, Paul Cummins, Raj Madhok, Joshua Jay, Rick Maue, Francis Menotti, Felipe Abreu, and John Lovick are all featured. While I was familiar with the work of most of them, I hadn’t had the opportunity to see all of them perform in front of an audience. This was a welcomed treat.

With so much material, I won’t detail each routine, but I would like to mention a few standouts. This is just a taste of what is offered. There are plenty of other outstanding routines.

My Lady’s Other Ring (John Lovick)- This effect immediately went into my stand up act. It’s the perfect kind of trick for a close-up worker who is looking for something that plays big in stand up environments. In short, the magician calls a female on stage to read aloud the steps to a new magic trick the magician would like to try. The magician acts out the steps as she reads: he borrows a finger ring from a lady in the audience, vanishes it, and produces a ring box from his pocket. He opens the ring box to reveal a ring inside. However, to the surprise of the ring’s owner, it is not her ring. The magician borrows a ring from a second female in the audience and shows it to the first lady. Amazingly, she verifies that it is HER ring. To bring things full circle, the magician pulls out the ring box from before and shows it to the second volunteer. Her ring is found inside. The routine is simple to do and contains plenty of built in laughter. Even though the props are small, the effect can be easily understood by an audience of any size.

242 Deal (Richard Vollmer)- A ten card poker deal that requires no sleight-of-hand and is easy to remember. The spectator chooses five cards for himself and five cards for the magician. Of course, the magician wins the game.

Reflipped (Yannick Chretien)- Tricks with the four Jacks and four Aces seem to be quite popular. This is a great add on to any one of them. The Jacks are placed face down on the table. The Aces are held above them. When the Aces are dropped, they change to the Jacks in midair. Now the Aces are on the table. The change is easy to do and looks amazing.

Tap-a-Lack (Paul Cummins)- This is a version of the classic “Do As I Do” routine performed under extremely fair conditions. The spectator and magician both select cards and lose them in the deck. The spectator looks through the pack and attempts to find the magician’s selection. He places one card face down on the table. The magician does the same. The spectator announces his card; the magician reveals that he got it. The magician then announces his card; the stunned spectator turns his guess face up. He got it as well.

Punken Droker (Paul Cummins)- The magician relates the story of a time when he played ‘Drunken Poker.’ The cards are mixed face up into face down. Obviously, as the cards are dealt, it is advantageous to receive face down cards so that no one else can see your hand. Four poker hands are dealt; the magician receives five face down cards while everyone else’s cards are face up. The rest of the deck is spread on the table. They’re all face up as well. The magician received the only face down cards in the pack. When he shows his hand, he reveals a royal flush.

Coin and Bottle (Rune Klan)- Rune Klan is an offbeat thinker in magic. He is known for his knucklebusting coin routines. Luckily, this one isn’t too difficult. It is, however, extremely well constructed. In effect, a coin vanishes a few times and appears underneath a napkin covered by a bottle on the table. For the finale, the magician waves the napkin over the coin. It changes into the bottle. The coin is found on the table. The two have changed places.

Laser Aces (Joel Givens)- This would be a perfect closer for a close up show for a performer with a slant towards gambling routines. The magician demonstrates a few cheating techniques by cutting to the four Aces. For the climax, the packets on the table are frozen into four solid blocks ala Paul Harris’s “Solid Deception.” Everything can be examined.

Even if you’ve been a loyal subscriber of MAGIC Magazine and have read these tricks in print, you would do well to pick up this DVD set. Reading through a trick, it can often be difficult to imagine the effect it can have on an audience. Seeing the routines in action, however, will convince you of their power. If you aren’t familiar with Josh’s Talk About Tricks column, this is a wonderful introduction. Highly recommended.

-Available from Vanishing Inc. Magic