Price$34.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedMay 04, 2010
Restless Vol. 1
Hauss, Dan
Paper Crane Magic
(Based on 1 review)
Restless is the result of many sleepless nights where Dan created some truly unique and sometimes bizarre magic. On these DVDs there is magic with shoe strings, gum, name tags, water bottles, matches, straws, candy, coffee creamers and many other ordinary everyday objects. Plus fans of Sleeping Queen and Lit will get a deeper look at the visual and unusual card magic of Dan Hauss. We are extremely proud to present this set of unique, practical and unforgettable magic from one of magic's fastest rising stars.
Volume 1
Box Prediction- Dan's ultra clean change of one card for another uses an incredibly simple gimmick that you can use for many different routines. This is one of the most convincing in the hands change your spectators will ever see.
Blurred- SPECTATORS WILL NOT BELIEVE THEIR EYES... seriously. In this routine a spectator concentrates on a bottle and stares at the label. Shortly after they begin to look the label becomes blurry and then back to its normal state. Unbelievable.
Torisit 1- Awesome souvenir routine, a corner of a card is torn, the card is signed as well as the one below. The restoration happens in the spectators hand and the signed card now has half of the other card permanently attached.
Unmatched- Eric Jones stops by to help us out with a great handling of Dan's awesome effect with a pack of matches. A empty pack of matches is shown very clean, front and back. The magician closes the pack and opens it to reveal that the pack of matches is now full.
Billiard- A wager is offered of a dollar that you will be able to find their card. After an unsuccessful attempt to find their card you change the wrong card into a dollar bill. This is a great, visual way to introduce money into your close up routine. Dollar not included. 2 great versions of this effect are explained.
Hello My Card Is- Super clean; super commercial routine. A signed card is found in a completely impossible location, under your name tag.
Pack Attack- A piece of gum penetrates an unopened pack of gum in the most visual way.
Running Time Approximately: 2hr 1min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I wasn't too impressed with most of the material, however there are a few hidden gems in here. Below you'll find the effect title, my ranking (scale from one to five . . . five is best) and a brief commentary.
Box Prediction: 1/5
I had no idea what the effect was when I saw it performed. The camera was too far away and the lighting was bad. Essentially, this is a way to over, over, over, over prove that the card you placed on the card box is really the card you say it is. Frankly, I would have done the exact effect with a double lift and without the card box gimmick. Additionally, the Alternate Version is even more ridiculous. Way too much work for such a simple effect that can be done many other ways.
Blurred: 3/5
Again, not sure what the effect is. Lighting is horrible. While creating the gimmick he kept using the phrase, "where the fade stops." He kept trying to warn us not to cut the gimmick the wrong size, but he never explains what the right size is and because the lighting was off, I have no idea what he meant by "where the fade stops." Finally sometime during the explanation, I was able to figure out what the effect is. And it's actually pretty clever. This is the kind of effect, however, where you will likely be in a casual setting, and people will want to see the bottle . . . they can't.
Hauss did have a few tips on how to blend this with his marketed effect Flow. I see the potential there and done right, this could be a decent piece in a show rather than the aforementioned casual setting. In that scenario, this one is worth considering.
Torisit1: (3/5)
Many fidgety and unnecessary moves that make this effect hard to watch. You'll need to buy a gimmicked card to do this effect. And each performance destroys a gimmick. Additionally, this gimmick is not a gimmick that you can buy in bulk, but rather, it's one that is "included in many gaff decks and packet tricks" as pointed out by pop-up text on the DVD screen. So in other words, you'll have to destroy one of your Ultimate Monte cards every time you perform. Oh, you'll also have to destroy a regular card from your deck each time as well. Not practical at all if you're strolling. However, you do learn A nice switch, and the gimmick that creates the illusion has potential. The particular routine included, however, is not the best application of this gimmick.
Unmatched: (4/5)
It's obvious the method by the way he held his hand while holding the matches. Many effects created by Hauss seem to be for an audience of one . . . himself. In the performance sections, you'll see him, quite often, looking at the magic as if he were the spectator. This is very apparent in this effect. There are so many problems with performing magic this way. First, you'll get the angles all wrong. You'll always perform at an angle that works for your viewpoint but not the spectator's. Second, you'll often just block the actual effect from the spectator's view.
A funny thing to note is that during the instructions section, he suggested using tweezers for a particular part of the construction. Needle nose pliers would have been much more effect, and I'm just not sure why he suggested tweezers. He was barely able to make it work with the tweezers.
The only reason I'm giving this one a 4 star rating is because you learn Eric Jones's handling which is so much better. The gimmick's relatively clever, but the effect is beautiful in Jones's hands.
Billiard:(2.5/5)
Just about every effect on this DVD requires ridiculous construction and preparation, and very often the gimmick is destroyed or given away during the performance. Thus a new gimmick is required for each new performance. This effect is no different. It's a pretty visual effect, but has quite a few awkward moments, and the clean up is a little fishy. Also, he gives the dollar away each time, which isn't a huge deal except that the bill is slightly gimmicked. Not in a way that the spectator will ever discover. However, that means that you need to create a new gimmick for each performance.
I do like the free feeling-ness of the routine. You get to truly lose the card in the deck. The alternate handling is a bit weak and we never get to see a good version of. Plus it's meant to be hands off no deck approach, but then he goes back to the deck for the clean up.
Hello My Card is (1/5)
Basic effect is that your name tag (Hello My Name is . . .) has the signed card on the back of it when you remove it from your shirt. The construction is insane. The handling is anything but smooth or logical. Another case where each time your gimmick is destroyed because the spectator signs it. You may say, "well Jeff, you don't have to have the card signed." That's true. However, if you're not going to have it signed, then none of the prep work is needed. In my opinion, a non-signed version with a duplicate would be a much better effect. He could be wearing the name tag before the trick starts. Whereas the signed version handling is extremely fishy and requires some awkward moments where the stickers have to come in contact with the deck in a fishy and illogical way. Plus you've got a bunch of extra stuff in the deck.
Gum Stick Through Gum Pack: (2/5)
Handling looks fishy . . . Gimmick is pain to create and is destroyed each time you perform the effect. For each performance you need a new pack of gum.
Overall, the DVD had some funny moments . . . I was entertained on more than one occasion. However, just about every effect is either super quick and not worth the extremely time consuming prep work and/or the gimmick is destroyed each time you perform and/or the effect was just an elaborate over-working of an idea that doesn't add much to the effect. I just didn't find a whole lot of stuff on here that was worth the effort.
A few minor annoyances:
- Many times during the construction of gimmicks, they could have just skipped over parts of it or sped up the camera . . . which they finally got towards the end.
- Constantly referring to the marker as "that bad boy" was quite annoying.
- Additionally, starting every segment with "alright guys" got annoying real quick.
- And finally, "Combineded" is not a word
Trick Average Rating: 2.35. Add in some poor lighting, extreme over-thinking of effect and method, a slight over-pricing ($35) and you're left with a final verdict of 2 stars with a Stone Status of Rubble.