Chaotic
Johnson, Kieron
RSVP - Russ Stevens
CIO- Kieron's take on the classic card in orange routine. What sets this apart is that the spectator rips the corner off of the chosen torn card and keeps it. It matches, exactly, the card that is inside the orange! Brilliant stuff and real worker!
Lollypop - Kieron's favorite opening trick, either preformed fast or as part of a unique prediction. Where the magician produces a thought of object in a flash of fire!
Stop Kicking Me - A sure fire classic in the making. A video is shown of the magician holding a face down card on his phone. A playing card is now freely chosen (no force) and the spectator now plays the video that was paused only moments before. When the magician in the video turns over the card he is holding. It's the freely chose card! A real reputation maker!
Borrowed Phone in Balloon and Wallet - A borrowed phone penetrates inside a balloon. The balloon is burst and the phone is removed. The balloon is now restored magically and the phone now vanishes visibly, appearing inside your wallet that has been sitting on the table throughout! Mind-Blowing, reputation making magic that will get you repeat bookings.
Chaotic FKS - Kieron's unique take on the art of fork bending, including a unique moment where the fork actually twists in the spectators own hand. Unreal.
Transcend - A superb rising card that can use a borrowed deck and two glasses. The freely chosen card rises completely under your control and inside the covered glasses. This is one that your audience will talk about, long after you're gone!
Bigger - Kieron's unique take on the Sponge Balls that can play close up or on stage.
The 4 Rules of Magic - A quick opening routine that is snappy and above all, amazing
Credit Card - A unique way to reveal a chosen playing card on your actual credit card!
The Devils Triumph - Kieron's take on the classic plot that's unlike any other!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
The DVD is well made, and the camera angle is very good. However, the ad copy for the CIO effect is not entirely true. It claims that the cards match exactly, when in fact, they don't. This was my only real problem with the DVD production wise.
The only other negative was when Kieron Johnson invited on all of his guests to help him with explaining his Bigger routine, which is his take on a sponge balls routine. They all burst into laughter, and the explanation therefore suffered quite a bit. It was a bit confusing to follow, and it took quite a lot of rewinding to understand what he was on about. Maybe this is because I don't have my knowledge of sponge balls, but the constant laughter certainly didn't help. There is quite a lot of, 'but don't worry the audience probably won't notice', which is a bit annoying. The audience mainly don't notice, but there is a chance that they could. (I know there is a chance of that happening in all magic but when the cards don't actually match as the final effect or they have given you a phone and now it has changed to a different model, the magic doesn't seem quite as clean. You are relying on the audience not noticing, whereas normally you are the one at fault when the audience sees something they shouldn't.)
I like Kieron's performing style though, and he gets so into it at one point he kisses a man on the head!
You do get a few good tricks on there such as lollypop, stop kicking me and transcend. I believe that you are mainly paying $31.13 for watching his performing style, and you learn more from that than you do the actual magic. You see him do many live performances throughout the DVD, and this helps you learn about his performing style the most. He is great to watch, and entertaining, however the DVD can get a bit confusing and difficult to follow at times.
On the whole, a good DVD, with some good effects, some not so good effects, and some badly explained effects, however he is a great performer and is great to watch.
(Top ▲)
I have to get this off my chest . . . I'm probably going to come across as a Snooty American, but for some reason, I've been getting a ton of videos for review where the magicians cannot properly pronounce a handful of words. It's a source of pain for me. Watching (listening) to these videos is very painful and very annoying. So when watching this DVD, you'll need a translator . . . a Rosette Stone (Cold Magic):
| What is Said | What it Means |
|---|---|
| Fing | Thing |
| Fred | Thread |
| Wif | With |
| Free | Three |
| Fink | Think |
| nufin | Nothing |
| Fro | Throw |
| Froo | Through |
| Faught | Thought |
| uhver | Other |
| fufer | Further |
| fank you | Thank You |
| Freeze | Threes (as in more than one "three") |
| Troof | Truth |
| Fanks | Thanks |
| Bruver | Brother |
Sorry folks . . . it had to be done. It's worse than gang-bang-slang. It just annoys the heck out of me. It won't really impact my overall star rating because I'm rating the product itself. But it will have a small impact simply because it made the DVD very annoying to watch. Fanks for listening to my faughts and allowing me to foroly vent.
Fortunately, that's pretty much the only complaint I have about this product. Everyfing else is excellent including the price. I love that it's a palindrome (31.13). I love that something so Chaotic is so symmetrically priced.
Overview
Basically, you get Kieron Johnson's take on the classics (e.g., Sponge Balls, Rising Card, Metal Bending, Triumph, Card in Fruit, etc.). But don't let that scare you away. His take on these classics is very much worthy of your attention.
A Few Details
In each effect Johnson brings to the table a nuance, angle, subtlety, psychological angle, etc. that adds to the effect. He has some very clever tips and pointers for fork bending. He also has a super visual fork twist that happens while the spectator holds the fork. It's freaky looking. The fork actually moves and twists in the spectator's hands, and it's done with nothing but a borrowed fork . . . no gimmicks, threads, magnets, nothing . . . just a fork.
His sponge ball routine, though a bit sloppy has a nice addition that sets you up for a very strong kicker. In Re Pressure (modification of Danny Garcia's phone in balloon effect, Pressure), the phone actually is inside the balloon and can be handed to the spectator while sealed in the balloon. The phone then vanishes and is found inside of his wallet.
In The Devil's Triumph the story/premise (though poorly presented) is very clever and has the potential to really hook the audience. I think even the most seasoned pro would find a few tips and pointers in this, and just about every other routine on the DVD.
Product Quality
Production quality is fine. The DVD is super easy to navigate. The light and audio is good for the most part. Some of the performances are a bit loud due to the background noise at the restaurant, but the explanation sections are clean and clear.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is very legitimate. Very honest and accurate. Not much else to say here. I tip my hat to RSVP and Kieron Johnson for the integrity.
Methods
Everything on this DVD is well within the reach most performers. There is very little sleight of hand. Just a card force here and there, and a little bit of misdirection. That's about it as far as technique goes. They are taught well and thoroughly with the exception of the production of a cube of ice. He performed it, but never taught it. I was a bit frustrated by that because it was a great effect.
Johnson is a clever thinker, and his magic is clearly his own. If you decide to purchase this, you'll likely have to modify the routines to suit your character which is likely not anything like his. He's a bit of a clumsy performer. Some of it's an act, but most of it is real. That aside, the methods are very solid, doable and not pipe dreamy at all.
Final Thoughts
There's a good mix of visual, cerebral, and fun magic on this DVD. There's some excellent flash paper stuff, and so much other material that is visual and extremely commercial and super easy to do.
If you like the effects described and you're looking for some easy to do commercial magic with high impact, this is an excellent choice.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
That aside, the effects are all workable, simple to accomplish, and deceptive. One effect in particular really fooled me.
Another effect that I really loved was his rising card effect, that looks so hands off it’s ridiculous.
He has a wonderful take on the fork bend where it visually twists in a spectators hand.
He also has an interesting effect where a selected object is produced in a flash of fire.
However, some of the effects weren’t as good as the others in my opinion, and they also happened to be the least original ones. For example, one routine has a phone appear in a balloon, and a wallet, both of which are separate items, and could be strong on their own, but together it becomes a bit cluttered in my opinion.
At the end of the day, if you work strolling magic regularly enough, you may get a few usable ideas to play with at your next gig!