Title: Karnival of Magick
Artist: Tony Chris
Producers: Dream Park Magic Production
Link: http://www.exomagic.net/index.php/karnival-of-magick-2-dvd-set-by-tony-chris-dvd.html
Retail Price: $49.95 USD
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Notes: This DVD teaches simple to learn and perform magic tricks, but you will need to make the props for yourself, and in some cases purchase additional materials or items for your props.
Disk 1: Performances and Explanations
Features:
Magick Routines
1.Ceremony of the Elements
2.Atonement of the Seven Sins
3.The Path Taken
4.Ghost Writer
5.Cards of the Aura
6.A Tale of Two Lovers
7.The Fairmont Hotel
Magick Explanations
1.Ceremony of the Elements
2.Atonement of the Seven Sins
3.The Path taken
4.Ghost Writer
5.Cards of the Aura
6.A Tale of Two Lovers
7.The Fairmont Hotel
Credits
Magick Credits
Disk 2: The Real Secrets of Bizarre Magick
Features:
The Real Work
1.Intro
2.Developing Your Character
3.Your Wardrobe
4.Choosing Your Genre
5.Developing Your Act
6.Your Magick Tools
7.Venues & Where to Perform
8.Final Words
Tony's Tools
Final Words
Credits
Magick Credits
Tony Chris's two disk DVD set is a great look into the world of the Bizarre magic performer. In disk one Tony demonstrates seven different effects, and then teaches you everything you need to know to perform them. In disk 2 Tony takes you behind the curtain to show you the real secrets to performing bizarre magic, and discusses everything from creating your character to where you can perform.
Bizarre magic isn't a field of magic that is too well known, or by any means considered mainstream. Bizarre magic is magic told with a story, set to themes that usually involve the arcane, the occult, the religious, or other similar strange and dark themes. Bizarre magic is in short, a presentation of theater, done so by a character whose job it is to narrate the audience through a journey of strange occurrences and mysterious happenstances. Tony does a great job of introducing you to what Bizarre magic is, but if you don't know what your getting yourself into, buyer beware! One of the draws to bizarre magic is most certainly the props the magician uses to tell the story and demonstrate the magic, and Tony isn't short for a list of cool looking props and toys. The draw back to this DVD set is that you'll have to make all of the props you see in the DVD for yourself. While some will look at this as a creative challenge, and a pleasurable task they will need to undertake, others with a more developed sense of instant gratification may be put off by the fact that they won't be able to run out and preform any of the presented effects within minutes of learning them. I myself, enjoyed the creative challenge presented by this two disk set.
Disk one deals only with the presentation and explanation of Tony's act. Opening with the Ceremony of the Elements and closing with his mystery of the Fairmont Hotel. Tony performs for only a small handful of people during the video, numbering in at six participants. Tony's performance can be a bit of a bear to get through at times only because he can sound a little too monotonic. I don't know if the patter he presents us in the DVD's is the actual patter he uses in his shows, but if it is then I'd make a few alterations before I would perform some of his effects myself. For example in the Fairmont Hotel bit he says that he's “not sure if this will work, but it's a strange occurrence that always ends the same way.” Statements like that just cause my logical and magician mind to slip gears as it tries to process that information. Frankly I don't like the magician line of “I don't know if this is going to work” anyways. Your a magician OF COURSE you know it's going to work, otherwise you wouldn't be risking yourself doing it. Then to follow that with some line about how things always happen the same way every time you do it just invalidates the opening statement. If you've been in possession of these items and it always ends with the same results, then it only stands to reason after so many trials you'd come to expect that the end results will work each time you go to present it. Again, it's just a personal thing with me, but it's the little things like that I'd end up re-writing for my own performance purposes.
If you have never had any experience with the bizarre magic genre before, then take a look at the different types of effects you'll see Tony perform in disk one. It will give you a idea of what to expect. You're telling stories that deal with the arcane, the supernatural, the spiritual, the religious, the Gothic, the occult, witchcraft, new age, and I would be so bold as to incorporate strange science into this field as well. I make this note because not everyone is going to be okay with these subjects, especially so if you come from a particularly sensitive religious background. Tony even goes as far as spelling magic M-A-G-I-C-K which is a spelling used by people involved in the occult to differentiate between stage illusions and their craft, which I was okay with on the cover art for the DVD, but I thought it was over kill when I got into the sub-menus and the spelling was consistent even there. As Tony will explain in the second disk, your presentation of bizarre magic really does depend on your character, the story your telling, and the props your using. Just because you may have reservations against using things like pentagrams, or suggesting to your audience that a spell needs to be cast before the revelation can be made, doesn't mean you have to use those elements in your act. Just develop your act and character to be in accordance with what you personally believe in and you'll be fine.
The explanation portion of the DVD really left me with a feeling of “that's it?” I paid close to $50 bucks for this DVD set, and that's all the magic I get? If you're looking for a product that is heavy on sleights, strong on magical moves, or loaded with a lot of practical walk around magic you can take with you out onto the streets, then you're going to be pissed off if you buy this product, because you're not going to find any of that here. Tony uses a lot of really simple magic principles, and forces to accomplish his effects. What you're buying with this DVD set really isn't the magic how-to on individual tricks, more so than the magic how-to when it comes to developing the props, building the character, putting together the act, and taking it out on the road. If you take the knowledge of the mechanics out of context with the effects, and combine it with your imagination and a few ideas Tony gives along the way, you are armed with the means to create your own effects, and presentations to your own brand of bizarre magic. I think that's a selling point that is highly understated in the marketing, and will probably be missed by the masses. This DVD set is a gold mine, not a bar of gold. The tools aren't included, and you're on your own to go dig out the gold for your own use. But believe me, the gold is there.
Nothing aggravates me more than when I purchase a product, get it home, review the contents and learn that I've got to go back out to the store, and purchase a bunch of other crap that I would have done on the way home, had I known in advance that I needed it. This product is one of those kinds. Everything that you'll need to perform the effects taught within the first disk is something that you'll either have to make from scratch, or go out and find. The good news is your not left out in the cold to fend for yourself on this subject. Tony goes overboard to explain to you how to make the props for yourself, where you can find the needed items, even down to where to find the types of font he uses on his cards. Sure, some assembly will be required, but I feel the knowledge of where to look for the things needed is given well. Tony's already done most of the leg work for you, the only thing really left for you to provide is a little bit of creativity.
As an additional note on the aforementioned need to purchase other things in order to perform the effects taught in a product, Tony does mention in two separate effects specific products that are available on the market that you'll need to purchase at your local magic shop. I agree with Tony that both products are things that should be in your collection if you are going to be performing bizarre magic, and one of them is an interesting spin on the traditional handling. Also both items are fairly inexpensive which is an added plus. He also gives an alternative handling to one of the effects if you don't want to purchase the recommended extra item. Anything else that you'll need you can make at home, or Tony gives you some great ideas as to where to get them.
(To Be Continued...)
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