Price$35.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJan 23, 2015
The Forces Project
Liam Montier
Big Blind Media
(Based on 3 reviews)
Being able to 'force' a playing card on a member of your audience is a very powerful skill to have, and for a lot of tricks, it may well be the ONLY skill you need!
Learn all about how to force cards on this brand new project - techniques that will make your audience think they had a completely free choice, when in fact, they actually had none at all!
On 'The Forces Project', your host Liam Montier will teach you 24 bulletproof forcing techniques, ranging from the beautifully self working to the essential moves like the 'Classic Force'.
Not only that, but you will also learn how to identify the correct forces for your routines, how to make them more deceptive, keeping your handling natural, how to practice effectively and all kinds of theory and clever thinking that will make you a true force master!
What is on the Project?
-Getting Started
Riffle Force
World's Easiest Riffle Force
Dribble Force
Psychological Stop Force
-Advice - Uniformity of Action
Cross Cut Force
Cross Cut Crimp
Cut Force
Cut Deeper Force
-Advice - Confidence
Jedi Force
Clock Force
Count Force
Double Deal Force
-Advice - Language
Prophecy Move
Touch Force
Impossible Force
10 - 20 Force
-Advice - Context
Spread Force
Swindle Force
Hindu Shuffle Force
Back Slip Force
-Advice - Contingencies
Lift Shuffle Force
Bottom Slip Force
Classic Force
Topper Move
And once you have delved into the huge array of techniques, Liam will teach you some absolutely KILLER routines to put your new found skills to use!
The Triple Prediction - Maurice Fogel
Analogue Poker - Jack Tighe
Par Optic Vision - Ted Annemann
Decipher - Simon Aronson
Blendo - Liam Montier
Clock Trick - Liam Montier
Also available in the series - The False Shuffles & Cuts Project / The Double Lift Project / The Elmsley Count Project
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Because of You by Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire
Liam Montier: The Forces Project Review
One DVD, a cubic butt load of information and $35 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method
This is a not quite a "study" of forces, but rather a resource of 25 very common (for the most part) forces. Sprinkled throughout, you'll find tips and advice about making the forces more natural and less detectable. You'll learn how to deal with situations where you miss the force. On top of that you'll learn 6 effects that utilize various forces. The effects chosen help demonstrate the flexibility of various forces and how powerful combining them with each other and/or other moves can be.
The effects taught are all pretty much prediction effects. They all differ in theme, some more powerful than others. Blendo combines two forces together and a few other sleights to make a very visual and surprising routine. As I said, each effect is, at its core, a prediction effect.
Ad Copy Integrity
Read over the ad copy and watch the video trailer. They are 100% accurate. You get exactly what it says. Although, oddly enough, the written copy says 24 forces, but the video says 25. The video trailer has the correct number.
Product Quality
Big Blind Media. Other than some clever, witty comment about Owen "The Great White Beard" Packard, there's not much more to say about the production. It's well lit, well shot, and well taught. The menu is easy to navigate, which is helpful when you have this much content.
Liam does a great job of giving simple explanation of each force. Not a lot of time is spent on each one. Only a few minutes are needed. When you need to study them again, rewatch the section you need. The tricks are taught well also.
Final Thoughts
If you're looking for a solid resource for a whole bunch of forces along with a few effects that can be done with them, including mind reading and predictions, you'll be very happy with this DVD. If you already know a whole bunch of forces, you're probably familiar with most of these. However, there were a few that are lesser known and may be worth your attention, but I would say that this DVD (more than the other "Project" DVDs I've reviewed from BBM) is for beginners. There were a few pointers, tips and ideas that the more advanced folks will find interesting, but for the most part, you're getting an entry-level course in forcing cards.
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
Another winner from Big Blind Media.
Liam Montier and crew have taken card sleights and one-by-one dissected and culled (no pun intended) them into almost encyclopedic collections. This time, the subject is card forces.
There are probably hundreds of card forces, so your favorite may not even be included here. But most of them (your favorites, that is) are. They are certainly favorites of Liam Montier.
The two dozen forces in this collection are taught with skill and patience and real world experience is shared. While I have often stated that learning these forces in books is far superior than "copying them" off a DVD, I would tell you that that is not the case here. As with Mr. Montier's "False Shuffles and Cuts Project", the forces are much better seen and learned visually than through the classic books. (Exception, the classic force is all about psychology and timing. The psychology part is what makes the whole thing work, though and one is advised to spend time reading Roberto Giobbi's writing on the Classic Force in Card College 1 than trying to learn it here. Having said that, there are so many other really good looking forces, I don't know why one needs to perform the Classic Force in the first place --- my two cents...)
The tricks that conclude the DVD set are decent and worth learning, but I am not certain they are the best representation of things one can do with a force. For that matter, I am not sure any one single trick is representative. I guess BBM felt it necessary to add them here as part of the marketing for the set. But I felt they were a bit superfluous.
Joshua Jay has a similar disk out ("Hand Picked Admonishments -- Card Forces") which I also recommend. While the same forces are covered, the teaching and logic is slightly different. The teaching styles are also very different.
I pulled out one star because the more I have done card forces over the many years I have been performing card magic, the more I have come to realize that psychology and performance is WAY MORE important than the technical chops needed to pull these forces off. Yes, the psychology for doing a simple 10-20 Force is just as important as in the psych-heavy structure of the Classic Force. The explanations provided in this Project tend to swing more towards the technical how-to-do-it than the "why" side of things.
And if you do not want to dedicate the time necessary to learn and master the psychology of the thing, then why not just buy a gaffed forcing deck.
Still, "The Forces Project" is highly recommended for beginners and mid-level performers. Skilled magicians and pros have already learned the half-dozen forces they are comfortable enough with.
I happen to really like the quality of BBM products and appreciate the hard work that goes into the creating of a DVD such as this. I will support them every way I can.
Liam Montier and crew have taken card sleights and one-by-one dissected and culled (no pun intended) them into almost encyclopedic collections. This time, the subject is card forces.
There are probably hundreds of card forces, so your favorite may not even be included here. But most of them (your favorites, that is) are. They are certainly favorites of Liam Montier.
The two dozen forces in this collection are taught with skill and patience and real world experience is shared. While I have often stated that learning these forces in books is far superior than "copying them" off a DVD, I would tell you that that is not the case here. As with Mr. Montier's "False Shuffles and Cuts Project", the forces are much better seen and learned visually than through the classic books. (Exception, the classic force is all about psychology and timing. The psychology part is what makes the whole thing work, though and one is advised to spend time reading Roberto Giobbi's writing on the Classic Force in Card College 1 than trying to learn it here. Having said that, there are so many other really good looking forces, I don't know why one needs to perform the Classic Force in the first place --- my two cents...)
The tricks that conclude the DVD set are decent and worth learning, but I am not certain they are the best representation of things one can do with a force. For that matter, I am not sure any one single trick is representative. I guess BBM felt it necessary to add them here as part of the marketing for the set. But I felt they were a bit superfluous.
Joshua Jay has a similar disk out ("Hand Picked Admonishments -- Card Forces") which I also recommend. While the same forces are covered, the teaching and logic is slightly different. The teaching styles are also very different.
I pulled out one star because the more I have done card forces over the many years I have been performing card magic, the more I have come to realize that psychology and performance is WAY MORE important than the technical chops needed to pull these forces off. Yes, the psychology for doing a simple 10-20 Force is just as important as in the psych-heavy structure of the Classic Force. The explanations provided in this Project tend to swing more towards the technical how-to-do-it than the "why" side of things.
And if you do not want to dedicate the time necessary to learn and master the psychology of the thing, then why not just buy a gaffed forcing deck.
Still, "The Forces Project" is highly recommended for beginners and mid-level performers. Skilled magicians and pros have already learned the half-dozen forces they are comfortable enough with.
I happen to really like the quality of BBM products and appreciate the hard work that goes into the creating of a DVD such as this. I will support them every way I can.
(Top ▲)
The Forces Project is a great resource for learning some very strong forces.
To start, the DVD is extremely well-produced with great audio and video quality, the menu is very easy to navigate with each item listed along with its sub-sections. More on that part later. Since there is not really anything much to describe about a DVD like this, the ad copy is 100% accurate with no discrepancies.
Liam Montier does an excellent job on teaching the various forces on this disk. He gives a history and/or background on most of them, where they first appeared, where they came from, etc. This DVD is not a complete collection of every force ever published, but for what is presented here it is complete and nothing is left out.
There is a lot of material on this DVD to get through because not only do you learn the basic method of each force, but many of them have a subsection focusing on more in-depth subtleties that make that particular force more effective. Some of the forces on here are able to be done two or three different ways and where that is applicable, Liam also teaches those variations.
At the end of the disk, there are some effects that are taught in which you will utilize a selection of the forces taught earlier on the DVD. If you have read any older magic books or card magic books, some of these effects may seem familiar because they are either an old effect or an update on one, and they are all very good! Liam performs each one in-studio for one or two people and then explains the effect. The effects presented, for the record, are all rather easy to do and there are no knuckle-busting sleights used. In fact, many of them are 'almost' at the self-working level. Do not let the term 'self-working' turn you off - some of those types of effects can be devastating when presented correctly!
You will likely not care for every single force on this DVD, but they are all very effective if used properly and they will all get the job done. This is a very good DVD for beginners of card magic because none of the forces are terribly hard to do, but some will take a great deal of trial and error to acquire (for example, the Classic Card Force). Even advanced performers will likely see a force (or a variation on a force) on here they have never heard of or have never seen before - I certainly did and I consider myself quite well-read. At the end of the day, there is more than enough effective forces to pick and choose from on this DVD and there is something for everyone.
If you have seen any of the other DVDs in this line from Liam Montier and Big Blind Media (such as the Elmsley Count Project, the Self-Working Card Tricks series, etc.), then you know how good this DVD is because it is on-par with the rest of them. If you have never seen the others, this is as good a place as any to start.
Whether you need to learn some different forces for your own work or just want to learn different forces to add to your tool box (and you should!), this DVD is an excellent resource.
VERY highly recommended!
To start, the DVD is extremely well-produced with great audio and video quality, the menu is very easy to navigate with each item listed along with its sub-sections. More on that part later. Since there is not really anything much to describe about a DVD like this, the ad copy is 100% accurate with no discrepancies.
Liam Montier does an excellent job on teaching the various forces on this disk. He gives a history and/or background on most of them, where they first appeared, where they came from, etc. This DVD is not a complete collection of every force ever published, but for what is presented here it is complete and nothing is left out.
There is a lot of material on this DVD to get through because not only do you learn the basic method of each force, but many of them have a subsection focusing on more in-depth subtleties that make that particular force more effective. Some of the forces on here are able to be done two or three different ways and where that is applicable, Liam also teaches those variations.
At the end of the disk, there are some effects that are taught in which you will utilize a selection of the forces taught earlier on the DVD. If you have read any older magic books or card magic books, some of these effects may seem familiar because they are either an old effect or an update on one, and they are all very good! Liam performs each one in-studio for one or two people and then explains the effect. The effects presented, for the record, are all rather easy to do and there are no knuckle-busting sleights used. In fact, many of them are 'almost' at the self-working level. Do not let the term 'self-working' turn you off - some of those types of effects can be devastating when presented correctly!
You will likely not care for every single force on this DVD, but they are all very effective if used properly and they will all get the job done. This is a very good DVD for beginners of card magic because none of the forces are terribly hard to do, but some will take a great deal of trial and error to acquire (for example, the Classic Card Force). Even advanced performers will likely see a force (or a variation on a force) on here they have never heard of or have never seen before - I certainly did and I consider myself quite well-read. At the end of the day, there is more than enough effective forces to pick and choose from on this DVD and there is something for everyone.
If you have seen any of the other DVDs in this line from Liam Montier and Big Blind Media (such as the Elmsley Count Project, the Self-Working Card Tricks series, etc.), then you know how good this DVD is because it is on-par with the rest of them. If you have never seen the others, this is as good a place as any to start.
Whether you need to learn some different forces for your own work or just want to learn different forces to add to your tool box (and you should!), this DVD is an excellent resource.
VERY highly recommended!