Price$29.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 03, 2006
Art Of Astonishment DVD
Paul Harris
(Based on 1 review)
DVD Contents:
- Unshuffling Rebecca - An in-the-hands, self-working Triumph. Triumph's next evolution. No moves!
- Backlash - A no-palming signed card to pocket; with an outrageous kicker!
- Angel Case - A diabolical utility item designed to switch small objects. Perfect for spirit writing!
- Zen & The Art of Boomerang - Toss a card high in the air, catch it in the deck and it splits its mate!
- Flesh - Pieces of a toothpick magically and visually jump from hand to hand!
- Impromptu Nightshades - Paul's classic Nightshades on the fly; borrow a buck and watch George flip his shades!
- Buck Naked - What a scam! One of the greatest bill swindles ever conceived!
- The Shape of Astonishment - You have to see it to believe it; the imprint of a quarter in a piece of foil changes instantly from heads to tails! This will really kick you.
- Fizz Master - Cause the carbonation to travel from one soft drink to another!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Paul Harris exploded onto the close-up scene in the mid 1970s with an approach to magic that was so progressive, he arguably produced (or at least precipitated) a paradigm shift in the art. Nearly a decade later, after the release of his 10th book, Close-Up Seductions, he disappeared from magic, channeling his creative energies into other mediums (including film), only to return in the 1990s with more inspired ideas, as well as renewed enthusiasm for using close-up to engage people emotionally, not just intellectually. This DVD, which came out on video shortly before Paul's outstanding Art of Astonishment books were released, is an interesting complement to the latter, and gives the viewer a chance to see how Paul's conversational style often manages to support, ground, and sometimes even motivate his absurdist material.
The DVD boasts 9 tricks, all of which are enormously clever, some in method, some in effect, and a few in both. Highlights include "The Shape of Astonishment," in which the magician carefully, meticulously impresses the tails side of a coin into a flat piece of foil, then moves the coin away and turns it heads up, whereupon the imprint is shown to have become heads up as well; "Unshuffling Rebecca," a cunning, visual approach to Triumph in which the cards are seen to turn over as they're pushed through the deck; "Buck Naked," an ingenious effect wherein a smaller bill (like a five) changes into a larger bill (like a twenty) while under a spectator's hand; and "Angel Case," wherein a green Tic Tac and a small (blank) scrap of paper are dropped into a card case, then a spectator is invited to shake the case as she thinks of an intimate and personal question. When she opens the case, she finds the answer written in green Tic Tac on the paper.
These four tricks, all unpublished prior to the Art of Astonishment books, are among Paul's best, and for them alone I would recommend this DVD. Add to that five more fun, deceptive Paul Harris creations and it's a no-brainer--the Art of Astonishment DVD is a good buy. The only thing I'm not sold on are the segments interspersed throughout the DVD wherein Paul's assorted spectators get together amongst themselves (sans Paul) and describe the tricks they've witnessed. In principle, this is an interesting idea (I would imagine it's educational to hear how people reconstruct a trick they've seen), but in practice it was unrevealing, partly because regular people have difficulty being themselves in front of a camera, but mostly because one or two of these folks probably find it challenging to tie their shoelaces, let alone describe a magic trick. All in all, though, I respect the attempt, and in the end it does nothing to detract from the worthiness of this DVD.
David Acer
The DVD boasts 9 tricks, all of which are enormously clever, some in method, some in effect, and a few in both. Highlights include "The Shape of Astonishment," in which the magician carefully, meticulously impresses the tails side of a coin into a flat piece of foil, then moves the coin away and turns it heads up, whereupon the imprint is shown to have become heads up as well; "Unshuffling Rebecca," a cunning, visual approach to Triumph in which the cards are seen to turn over as they're pushed through the deck; "Buck Naked," an ingenious effect wherein a smaller bill (like a five) changes into a larger bill (like a twenty) while under a spectator's hand; and "Angel Case," wherein a green Tic Tac and a small (blank) scrap of paper are dropped into a card case, then a spectator is invited to shake the case as she thinks of an intimate and personal question. When she opens the case, she finds the answer written in green Tic Tac on the paper.
These four tricks, all unpublished prior to the Art of Astonishment books, are among Paul's best, and for them alone I would recommend this DVD. Add to that five more fun, deceptive Paul Harris creations and it's a no-brainer--the Art of Astonishment DVD is a good buy. The only thing I'm not sold on are the segments interspersed throughout the DVD wherein Paul's assorted spectators get together amongst themselves (sans Paul) and describe the tricks they've witnessed. In principle, this is an interesting idea (I would imagine it's educational to hear how people reconstruct a trick they've seen), but in practice it was unrevealing, partly because regular people have difficulty being themselves in front of a camera, but mostly because one or two of these folks probably find it challenging to tie their shoelaces, let alone describe a magic trick. All in all, though, I respect the attempt, and in the end it does nothing to detract from the worthiness of this DVD.
David Acer