I see the jolly bearded magician from England has just released a new set of DVDs under the L&L label.

I've ordered all 4 and will be very interested to see how the L&L crowd react to him.

If the DVDs go down well I think Steve Tucker should have a go. He's currently my favourite UK magician with a beard.

So I started watching volume one, as a fellow Brit I obviously had high expectations from Britain's very own magician's magician with a beard (until Steve Tucker releases his L&L 3 volume DVD set).

The whole thing kicked off with a low res Union Jack Flag with the national anthem playing.

Then Rule Britannia started.

I'm afraid I had to switch off at that point.

Will review further when I muster up enough courage to get past the cringeworthy beginning. Could be some time , if at all.

I don't think the above posts were informative or constructive in any way...I also don't think Mark has much say over the overall packaging or special effects added by L and L.
I have purchased numerous effects from MArk over the years and he is not only an excellent thinking magician but also a very nice person! My best memories is when in 1992, I took a 5 hr train ride to isit him and he picked me up from the station and invited me back to his home/office/workshop where he even made me a sandwich for lunch! He's always available via phone or email for a chat and advice and is genuinely one of the good guys.

As for his style, its very laid back and perhaps doesn't get the wild reactions other magicians do (except from the everhyper L and L audience). I have seen many of the tricks on offer in this DVD set in manuscript and trick form but they are on the whole very effective! However, before criticizing, I guess you have to decide whether or not it suits your performing persona. Vol 2 highlights for me include the Invisible Deck routine (get it mad up coz its a pain to make yourself!) and Just Chance (which is similar in effect to Derren brown's televised showing). Vol 3 is great too with many workers! Vol 1 has an excellent Okito/Boston Box routine and some quite powerful multi-phase effects suitable for walkaround and table-hopping. Also check out the jumbo CArds Across routine in Vol 3 - I've been doing it for ages and works great for both kids and adults!
While you're at it, get his MAsters Routine DVD too - its got some wonderfully-constructed effects.

What I'm saying is don't judge a book by its cover - or a DVD by its music and graphics. There's a lot to learn from this very experienced all-round magician - and if you're like Sooty who 'cringes' because of superficial aspects then you've got a lot to lose!

Managed to fast forward past the titles and saw some cracking magic.

Mark has slowly made his way to the forefront of British Magic and, although he may look like a Morris Dancer, his magic really is first rate.

Will do a more detailed review when I get time.

Topline, my recommendation is to get the master routine DVD first. If you like it get the rest in the order 1, 3 then 2.

magicbern, sorry you found my initial posts non-constructive. I agree there was no real point to them, apart from giving props to the Tuckster.

I've bought his "Master routine" dvd.

"Slo Mo", "Wild dice", and "Stay at home coins" are my preferred routines.

He has very good idea.

ciao

I purchased the L&L finger ring magic dvd and Mark Leveridge's ring and sting routine was probably my favorite. Brilliant stuff. Based on that, I'm considering a purchase of his master routines dvd. Saw vol. 3 and it had some nice material on it. Not a ton of it that I would use but still very good. His diary effect is wonderful (for those of you who like diary effects).

Agreed. watched the finger rings dvd last night and leveridge routine was fantastic.
I was totally stumped and I do a finger ring routine.

if you like ring and string this is a must have.

frank

Don't forget his books. Mark's Collected Master Routine Series is full of the great stuff that's on the DVD.

The move where he dips the middle of the string into his hand and pulls it out with the ring attached to it is brilliant. I practiced it non-stop every day for a week and a half and starting using it in my ring and string routine. People gasp.

Mark has some very underrated coin material. I have two of his earlier masters series tapes and was surprised by the simplicity and cleanness of his coin material (ex. security pen and the Boston box routine).

I agree that Mark's magic is strong. In fact I believe he is one of the best out there at ROUTINING effects to maximum benefit. He seems to have a happy knack of being able to know what will be the most economical and natural way to create a flow of magic. He is also one heck of a nice guy. Lots of his material is adaptable to your own style.

Cheers,
Al

Could you please be more constructive as to which aspects of these tapes you didn't like? Too many posts just give unsubstantiated opinions which aren't very helpful.

Also, the first tapes he came out with were the same routines that have been redone in the new L & L DVD named The MAster Routines. Inly he shot them in England and there were only 8 routines as opposed to the final 12 now. The audience were more sedate than the excitable L & L group but the magic was just as strongly routined.

His ring and string routine is brilliant. If you hop tables you cannot go wrong with the security pen.

I agree.
I personally am a big fan.
two points I really like are:

1. He seems to have a brilliant "blokeishness" about him. He seems like the type of chap you'd meet in a Q at a supermarket.

2. although he doesn't always get as good re-actions as other people, HE is what you want to see and HE is entertaining.
He's got a brilliant voice (i know that probably sounds weird) and I think he is a very entertaining chap, magic aside.

Hello all, I have a question about this ring and string routine. How exactly does the first phase fly? I mean it's pretty obvious what he's doing, even when he's doing it. It's obvious in the mirror too and it's obvious for my friends too. Am I doing it wrong? I don't know, it's obvious when he's doing it too. Just the firs phase upon the regrip and one end of the string passes the back of the hand. Any inputs on that would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.