I'm not partial to three-shell routines wherein the spectators are chided, bullied, or brusquely commanded to follow your directions (cover this, pick up that, etc,). As such, "The Tweaked Out Shells & Pea" did not speak to me from a performance stand-point. On the other hand, from a mechanical stand-point, I totally hated it. First of all, in order to execute the "revolutionary new technique," you need to buy an unusual (though not hard to obtain) gimmick that doesn't come with the DVD. There is NO indication of this anywhere on the DVD cover, or in the adcopy I saw, although admittedly, there may be alternate versions of the ad I'm not aware of. Secondly, while this "revolutionary" (mechanically aided) technique does allow for an invisible and natural steal of the pea, it also puts the pea into a hold-out position where it can only be retrieved via some exceedingly cramped finger movements. In other words, you lose any advantage you may have gained from the steal with a clumsy, fishy reload. Would it be possible to defuse this by prepping for the reload on the off-beat? Absolutely. But that adjustment would further render this "revolutionary" technique inferior to its classic counterparts, since, in their case, the pea is stolen into a position where it can immediately be reloaded under another shell. Finally, the routine itself doesn't build, doesn't engage and doesn't inspire--it's just a series of transpositions from one overturned shell to another that ends when the magician says it's over.

If you're really interested in performing a three-shell routine, I suggest you skip this and buy Gary Ouellet's "Supershells," or Bob Sheets' "Absolutely Nuts," or Darwin Ortiz At The Card Table (which doesn't contain a shell routine but at least you won't have wasted your money).

David Acer