Price$35.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJan 15, 2009
Avenue
Dorian Rhodell
(Based on 1 review)
Dorian Rhodell is not only an avid practitioner of card magic, he is also a former student of the late Larry Jennings. His style and technique, although more classical, have been tailored for a modern audience and will suit any performance atmosphere.
The effects explained on this DVD have served his professional repertoire for many years and are sure to bring new wonder and excitement to your audiences.
Journey down an avenue of classic design, modern thinking and professional direction and experience the card magic of Dorian Rhodell.
"A real miracle man." - Larry Jennings
"An amazing student, and excellent performer, and an insightful creator, Dorian combines worldliness and charm with expert sleight-of-hand and his own quirky brand of humor to deliver stunning results." - Paul Chasse
Running Time Approximately 60min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
What's good:
The menu navigation was very simple and easy to navigate. Additionally, I liked that the moves were separated out into their own section for the most part. This made the explanations much smoother. Much of the magic is very visual and with a decent amount of practice, pretty do-able. The effects were taught well, and it's clear that Dorian Rhodell is a very skilled technician. He also did a good job crediting effects and moves. Pughe's Pass is a very pretty move that has many applications and is definitely worthy of note.
What's not good:
The first three tricks are basically the same effect just different methods. Though the DVD lists 8 different effects, really there are only 6, and you could even say less than that because on more than one occasion an effect was basically another way to handle a previous effect. It's fine to have multiple versions, but that's bonus material stuff. If you're going to charge $35.00 for a DVD, it better include some awesome props or at the very least have 10 or more effects that are all different, not variations of each other.
Much of the material is very angle-sensitive. You'll notice in the DVD that the camera favored Rhodell's left side. Had the camera taken just about any other angle you would've seen much more than you should have. In fact, during the explanation, that's essentially all that was needed . . . move the camera to his right.
Although the effects are visual, they are a bit technically demanding, and some of the routines are very spasmodic and meaningless. None of the plots are particularly new, and Rhodell doesn't really add much to these classic plots other than the visual nature. However, in most cases, the only thing added is convolution.
Minor annoyances:
Literally, every trick and every explanation, Rhodell started by saying, "Hey guys here we go . . . " Man that got old fast. Also, he just blurts out an "F-Bomb" right at the beginning of the AFI explanation. That was a bit annoying. Additionally, he used that dreaded phrase of the magi "Tell You What" nearly a dozen times.
Though I really appreciated the simplicity of the menu, there were two minor issues. One he tried to give the menu sections "clever" names like "thinking" instead of "performance." It added nothing and only made the menu a little bit weird. The other menu thing was the "moves" section. It was listed as the third item on the list after the explanation section. I felt it would have been better placed between the performance and explanation section.
Again, these were minor annoyances.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, you get to watch a very skilled performer essentially show off (in a laid back non-threatening way) how good he is at a couple of angle-sensitive moves. The only thing really new that may make this worthy of consideration is Pughe's Pass. Now, frankly, I'm only calling it new because I've never heard of it. For all I know Eve used it on Adam to get him to eat the forbidden fruit. So if you're already familiar with that move, then there really isn't much pushing me to recommend this.
I liked watching Rhodell perform. From what I can tell I like him as a person and would probably have a good time hanging out with him if the opportunity ever presented itself. However, if I'm to speak just to the product and whether or not I can recommend that you part with $35.00 . . . I'm leaning toward the negative. Again, only 6 ish effects that are all old plots that you've probably already performed yourself. You get a good utility move, but again . . . very angle-risky. I think that your $35 bucks would be better spent elsewhere. Thus my final verdict is 2 stars with a Stone Status of Grubble (i.e. mostly rubble).