Vinny Marini – Penguin lecture
$29.95
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/9421

If you are a habitue of the Magic Café, it is quite possible that you have run into Vinny Marini, a student of Bruce Elliott. He has been a prolific poster both as a contributor and a commenter. He is known as one of the more generous people in magic. He has posted tons of videos on Youtube, both demonstrating his magic as well as tell a lot of it. If anyone had a question about something, all they had to do was message him and he got right back to you. Vinny has been one of the magic folk that I have been online friends with forever. Many years ago, our mutual friendship with Mickey Silver brought us together and we have emailed and talked on the phone ever since. I was fortunate enough to meet him in person at Magic Live 2013.

Vinny has specialized in cards but has also come up with some great coin and rubber band moves. He has also released several dvd's. His Top Gun move dvd is outstanding. He also put out a DVD called La Famiglia where he had invited magicians to send him video of their tricks and explanation and he melded them together into a nice dvd and giving some of these their first exposure on a disk. One of these has gone on to much bigger things. Eric Jones made his first appearance on the disk.

It has taken many years and a lot of hard work for Vinny to bring his character, the Godfather of Magic, to national attention. (Yes, he does look like an organized crime figure but don't let that fool you.) So, when I heard that he had done a Penguin lecture I couldn't wait to see it.

So, let's get started.

Vinny starts off teaching a Sol Stone effect that he calls "The Sensuous Cork". A simple and fun trick you can do borrowing what you need at any bar, A cork is covered by a small metal cup. When it is removed, the cork is now standing. I have been using this a while myself and it always plays well.

Next up is a packet effect called the G-Wave (the Godfather Wave). Eight blank cards are spread in the table and the spectator removes one, which turns out to have a different colored back from the others, The routine continues with multiple color changes. Easy to do and fun. He also teaches his top change method and his version of the Mirror Count from Lennart Green.

Wild Time Revisited is another packet trick, an ungaffed Wild Card routine. The Bluff Jog Force and his scoop technique are taught.

Card on the Box A card is chosen and replaced into a spread deck. The deck is closed but the selected card cannot be found. Is is on top of the card box which has been lying over to the side. The card keeps vanishing and reappearing under the box. Nice tips here to make the Mercury Fold a lot easier.

Coin in the Bottle becomes Coin in the Saltshaker. Perfect for walk around gigs. He adds a card restoration to Wayne Houchin’s French Kiss. (Only the restoration is taught as French Kiss is a marketed item.) Arlene, the Psychic Elephant, finds a selected card in a spread deck. (This routine garnered him a standing ovation at the public show). The glide palm is also taught.

Scent of a Woman. Three spectators each choose a card and one is signed. All three are torn up and placed into a bag. The magician pulls the pieces out one by one without looking at them and sniffs each one. The scent tells him which four of the pieces he should keep. When this is done, the pieces are placed together to show the selected card. There is a lot of room for comedy with this routine.

The Houdini Card Trick. A selected card is returned to the deck which is rubberbanded and placed inside a handkerchief yet manages to escape. A similar routine where the card escapes from the card box is also taught.

In Card Through the Mat a nice vanish reminiscent of the work of Lennart Green is taught. In the Balloon Trick, a borrowed hundred dollar bill in transformed into a one, then is found inside of an inflated balloon. Iniduoh (Houdini spelled backwards) features a selected card which is folded in quarters, rubberbanded and penetrates the card box. Vinny also tips his Top Gun change.

Shifting gears, Vinny teaches his multi phased ring and string routine. The three shell game is shown and one of the shells actually vanishes and reappears during the routine.

Coins are discussed next with Vinny teaching his coin flipping technique, which he says, is 95% accurate. (the money maker). A variety of coin moves are taught. Puts, takes, vanishes, palms, etc.

After years of looking at low quality videos of Vinny on Youtube, it is a real pleasure to finally see a quality video like this. Penguin has done a great job of presenting the Godfather. And, from what I hear, he had a lot more material as Penguin has invited him back for another session.