Price$34.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedAug 06, 2006
Commercial Magic DVD
J.C.Wagner
(Based on 1 review)
Routines performed and explained:
* The Card Under The Drink : This is the classic J.C. Wagner routine where selected and thought-of cards continually vanish from the deck and appear under a drinking glass that is in full view.
* Estimation Routines : Thought-of cards are found using the most devious methods in the arsenal of a card magician -- estimation, instincts and outs.
* Entertainment Tacks : J.C.'s card on the ceiling routine where the deck is wrapped with a borrowed bill and a rubber band. The signed selection and bill end up thumb tacked to the ceiling.
* Bandorama : A card revelation where the selected card spins out of a rubber banded deck.
* Poor Man's Matrix : A classic matrix routine using pennies and two kicker endings producing a large penny followed by a giant penny.
* Spectral Silk : Herbie the invisible Flea assists in finding a selected card while the cards are wrapped in a handkerchief. The handkerchief comes to life as the flea moves around as it finds the card.
* Dyslexic Queens : A card assembly with a kicker ending where the four Queens assemble in one packet and instantly vanish and appear back where they started.
* The World's Fastest Card Trick : A selected card is found in a quick and flourishy way using the Pop-Up Revelation.
* The Wagnerian Miracle : A spectator looks at a card in the deck. After the spectator cuts the deck a few times you name the position of the thought of card. Includes a memorized deck presentation and strategy.
* Would I Lie To You? : An easy lie detector routine where a card is found by spelling the spectator's answers to some questions which they can lie to.
Also explained are the many techniques used within the routines. You will learn the Utility Spread Control, Pop-Up Revelation, Rhythm Count, Knuckle Jog, Snap Change, Two-Step Bottom Palm and much more.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
The so-called "magic underground" is full of people who are either unwilling or unable to perform for actual humans. J.C. Wagner, a long time resident of this underground, is a rare and talented exception.
His two books, Seven Secrets (1978) and The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner (1987) created much buzz upon their release, both providing readers with a choice selection of material honed before (and to some degree, by) some of the toughest audiences known to man -- bar patrons.
On these two DVDs, you can see the effect this performing environment has had on J.C.'s magic. Everything he says and does is clear, quick and simple. Each routine offers just enough presentation to hook the audience, but not so much that they tire of the premise. There are very few multi-phase items, and those that J.C. does perform are brought out later in the set, when he has earned the audience's trust and attention. In short, this work is about as bulletproof as it gets.
Volume I contains 10 routines, including "Spectral Silk," a terrific way to use "Glorpy" as a card revelation; "Bandorama," a wonderful handling for Bert Fenn's "Self-Cutting Deck" (and my favorite effect on the DVD); "The Card Under The Drink," an opportunity to see this modern classic executed by one of its finest proponents (which is particularly useful in the case of this trick, as its success depends as much on timing as it does technique); and "Entertainment Tacks," a bold approach to the "Card On Ceiling" in which a spectator's money gets pinned to the ceiling along with his chosen card. The upside of this version is that it engenders enormous emotional hook. The downside is, you might get punched in the mouth.
Also on Volume I is some of J.C.'s work on Estimation, a lesson in chance, outs and "jazz magic" that will upgrade your arsenal exponentially if you take the time to learn it.
Volume II includes "Transpojuxtaposition," a fun two-card revelation/transposition; "Omni-Twist Collectors," a twisting effect using four Queens that ends with three selections suddenly appearing interlaced and reversed between them; "Glass Thru Bar," a lean, mean version of this classic effect with an added convincer before the penetration; "Polish Marked Deck," a powerful "Triumph" routine that concludes with a color-changing deck; and "Prediction Out Of This World," a killer approach to Paul Curry's "Out Of This World" in which the spectator very nearly separates every black card from every red card in the deck without looking at their faces, but, more importantly, the magician accurately predicts how many mistakes will be made!
My only complaint about these DVDs (and I concede that this might be a personal pet peeve) is the use of somewhat hackneyed lines in the performance segments (for example, "Can you tell one card from the other? Then what's the other?" or "Have you guys ever seen me before? Then how do you know it's me?"). You don't see stand-up comics working the comedy-club circuit using Sid Caesar jokes. If you want to tell jokes in your act, write something new. These dead horses were turned into glue fifty years ago.
Other than that, there isn't a bad trick on either one of these DVDs. This is rock-solid magic by an expert in the field. Highly recommended.
David Acer
His two books, Seven Secrets (1978) and The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner (1987) created much buzz upon their release, both providing readers with a choice selection of material honed before (and to some degree, by) some of the toughest audiences known to man -- bar patrons.
On these two DVDs, you can see the effect this performing environment has had on J.C.'s magic. Everything he says and does is clear, quick and simple. Each routine offers just enough presentation to hook the audience, but not so much that they tire of the premise. There are very few multi-phase items, and those that J.C. does perform are brought out later in the set, when he has earned the audience's trust and attention. In short, this work is about as bulletproof as it gets.
Volume I contains 10 routines, including "Spectral Silk," a terrific way to use "Glorpy" as a card revelation; "Bandorama," a wonderful handling for Bert Fenn's "Self-Cutting Deck" (and my favorite effect on the DVD); "The Card Under The Drink," an opportunity to see this modern classic executed by one of its finest proponents (which is particularly useful in the case of this trick, as its success depends as much on timing as it does technique); and "Entertainment Tacks," a bold approach to the "Card On Ceiling" in which a spectator's money gets pinned to the ceiling along with his chosen card. The upside of this version is that it engenders enormous emotional hook. The downside is, you might get punched in the mouth.
Also on Volume I is some of J.C.'s work on Estimation, a lesson in chance, outs and "jazz magic" that will upgrade your arsenal exponentially if you take the time to learn it.
Volume II includes "Transpojuxtaposition," a fun two-card revelation/transposition; "Omni-Twist Collectors," a twisting effect using four Queens that ends with three selections suddenly appearing interlaced and reversed between them; "Glass Thru Bar," a lean, mean version of this classic effect with an added convincer before the penetration; "Polish Marked Deck," a powerful "Triumph" routine that concludes with a color-changing deck; and "Prediction Out Of This World," a killer approach to Paul Curry's "Out Of This World" in which the spectator very nearly separates every black card from every red card in the deck without looking at their faces, but, more importantly, the magician accurately predicts how many mistakes will be made!
My only complaint about these DVDs (and I concede that this might be a personal pet peeve) is the use of somewhat hackneyed lines in the performance segments (for example, "Can you tell one card from the other? Then what's the other?" or "Have you guys ever seen me before? Then how do you know it's me?"). You don't see stand-up comics working the comedy-club circuit using Sid Caesar jokes. If you want to tell jokes in your act, write something new. These dead horses were turned into glue fifty years ago.
Other than that, there isn't a bad trick on either one of these DVDs. This is rock-solid magic by an expert in the field. Highly recommended.
David Acer