I still maintain that when we pay for a dvd we expect better...regardless of the venue....if the technical stuff isn't passable for subsequent public viewing, then shoot the next night's performance or the one after that, until it's right. Kozak admits the night club footage was his first performance at this venue...I suspect it was taped so he could improve his act the following nights, but why dump this one on us? He should have almost 10 years of performances since this was videod..... compare to the Amazing Jonathon's dvd shot in a similar circumstances, not identical, butn before a live audience. Also, I didn't expect to view a large segment of the night club act watching a ventriloquist and a comedian, although the joke about the condoms was very funny. Am I too hard to please or am I missing something on this dvd with the supposedly valuable lessons? I did learn not to buy something like this unless there is a detailed table of contents!

I think we have different expectations. You're not too hard to please...you're just hard to please. I learned a lot from Kozak's audience management and routining, which I didn't need better lighting to pick up. If you've learned those lessons through experience or other products, you wouldn't have gotten the same value I did.

Curt

Let me preface this by saying that I don't buy many magic DVD's. The ones I do are not to increase my repetoire, as I don't need to but basically to support friends and those people who I admire and respect in magic. I made the decision to get the Kozak DVD because I remember first seeing Paul work in 1988 on a Magic Castle episode on CBS with Kevin James, Scott Cervine, Steve Spill, Lance Burton, etc. Paul was very entertaining and I also enjoyed his Salt Pour DVD I purchased last year. But more than anything else, I gained a huge amount of respect for Paul after reading a gutwrenching interview with him in MAGIC Magazine last August (highly recommended read). Knowing that the comedy club footage was shot at a time he was about to hit rock bottom (according to the article and DVD, it was around 1997) I was curious how he would come across.

This DVD is fantastic. I have been doing comedy club shows for the past couple of years now, and while this is performance only, it is still a great learning tool. His comedy club show is fast paced and amazingly, about a quarter of the show and majority of the laughs come not from the magic, but just his interaction with the audience....a trait I have found necessary for any strong club performer.

I was amazed to see him kill with some basic stuff, and some complex stuff. About six months ago, I had thought about having two "back-up" effects in my case to pull out as a time filler or emergency. One of those I considered was Larry Becker's Some Total Stage. Imagine my surprise to see Kozak get mileage out of that effect in a comedy club. (And incidentally, for those of you who think mentalism in a comedy club can't work, you have never seen Kozak, or Kerry Pollock work a comedy club).

One of my personal favorite moments was asking a German immigrant why she moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1997. (A time when the city was without the Browns) As a lifelong Browns fan who had a long painful 4 years, even I was able to laugh at his poking fun at the city. And let me tell you something, I don't care who you are, telling a room full of drunk comedy club Browns fans that they should root for the Pittsburgh Steelers takes some serious balls.

Kozak showed his years of experience by taking what could be considered a moment of bombing (when a gentleman refused to answer what he did for a living) and turning it into almost 3 solid minutes of comedy getting him to answer the question.

I could care less about the quality of the video. I personally did not see anything wrong with the lighting or sound of the comedy club show. Yes, the camera angles at times could have been better for the nightclub show, but who cares, audience management is where it is at for me and as cfrye said above, you don't need professional video to enjoy that.

All in all, I am very happy with this DVD and highly recommend it to anyone who performs on stage and interacts with the audience. Not an awkward moment in his show, no matter what happens. And I am happy to see that after he hit bottom in the late 90's and was able to find himself, find peace, and find religion, that he is where he is today, happy in life and enjoying bringing down the house every night in Las Vegas. I would very much like the opportunity to sit down with the man my next time to Vegas, buy him an orange juice and pick his brain.

And for those who have been asking, a quick recap of effects, again, I think not knowing what was coming by having them listed makes it even better, as if you were actually sitting in the club, but whatever, here you go: Opens with his manipulation act, goes into torn and restored bill, ring to Gumball, Some Total Mentalism, Voodoo effect (awesome), bill to peanut, salt pour, martini production and some illusions in the nightclub show.

Sorry for the lengthy review...as I said, I buy so few DVD's, but this one had me enjoying myself while on the road on a Southern swing performing in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas last week. I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel to watch it again and again. All said, I probably watched the show 4 times last week.

Does he perform his entire chop cup routine on the DVD? I would think that he does. I've heard great things about his routine and would love to see it. I don't care that there are no explanations.

Sorry to revive this old thread but could somebody tell me if his Arm Buzz Saw - performance is on this DVD? And if not where can I find a video of it - or better yet of his whole "Wicked" show?