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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Title: Earl Nelson: The Lost Tapes
Medium: DVD Arena: Close up Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic. There is something grand about a set of DVDs (two sold individually) that not only doesn’t have anyone performing on the street with a dark t-shirt on but also one with a background story that is really interesting. First off no one should be asking who Earl Nelson is but for those not ‘in the know’ he is one of the finest close up performers walking this planet of ours. He is an example of what you get when you live at the right time, at the right place, know the right people, have the right amount of interest and desire, and cap it off with the right amount of talent. Earl was a student of Dai Vernon and also his friend and is one of the handful of magicians in Vernons inner circle. If you don’t know who Dai Vernon is please stop reading now, thank you. In 1984 Earl released four video tapes which quickly became recognize as some of the best instructional videos in magic and were very much sought after. In 1994 Earls home was heavily damaged in the Northridge Earthquake and the masters were lost of the videos and after that point, obviously, no further copies were produced. If you could find copies of the original released videos they cost you a bundle. In the last couple years Earl was moving and while packing some damaged boxes discovered, much to his surprise, the missing masters. Those have been released now in these two DVDs, sure they are not as clear and clean as a modern DVD but the image is certainly good enough and the sound is great, in fact better than many DVDs produced today. I did have one issue with these. I understand the quality of the film would be a bit off (disk two is just a tad bit fuzzier than one but not a deal breaker) and I appreciate that they released them but when putting them on DVD they should have re-structured it for that format.. They just have it broken down in the menu like the tapes were so you cannot go back to a specific effect you have to rewind or fast forward to find what you are looking for. Okay….I live with the tapes having that problem but DVDs should be set up by chapters since that isn’t a big problem. I understand why they did it the way they did but I don't like rewinding! There is no nonsense on these DVDs. Earl is an outstanding teacher, his style is slow, clear, and confident. The camera work and editing clean and it couldn’t have been better. The material is outstanding and you need to be ready to practice to be at Earls level (good luck on that). Let’s take a look at the DVDs, each DVD consist of the material on two of the former DVDs. Disk One The Pass: I’m of the school that believes that those who say a pass isn’t necessary are those that can’t do a pass right. There are some great sources on learning the Pass out there and I’m not going to say you cannot learn from them but you certainly can learn from this segment. Earls pass is very good and he does an excellent job teaching it. He goes over the Classic Pass, some tips from Vernon, the Wrist Turn Pass, The Turn Over Pass, The Jiggle Pass, The Stanyon Cover Pass, and then teaches Cavorting Aces. As I said Earl is a great teacher so you can imagine this is all well taught and not much further need be said. The Double Lift/The Palm Here you will learn about different techniques concerning the double (and many of you need help) then goes into detail with the dribble and push off double. In the area of techniques he goes over the strike second (he doesn’t call it that), the Vernon Double, which I do, and some other good stuff. The Palm is addressed, again there are other sources out there but this one is very good and comes with all this other good stuff. You will learn topping the pack, the bottom palm, after the riffle, and the diagonal palm shift. This isn’t easy stuff and it will take practice, but as Vernon said, if you are not interested in magic enough to practice then consider collecting stamps. Disk Two Highlights of Variations Variations is the book Earl put out years ago and at the time of this filming was out of print (it was reprinted a couple years ago) and this tape was designed to show some of the material he, Earl, was most often questioned about. Again it is Earl and the camera and his explanations are straight forward and complete. He covers Reset, Reset (very nice routine with cards), Haunted Card, All Backs Sleeve Jacks, $1.50 Vanish, Clifton Ring Move (one of my favorites), Earls Ring Move, Hit and Run Aces. All great routines or components of routines. Oh, the book is great if you can find it. The Workbook Material from Earls lecture notes during his tour of the US and Japan. The effects taught here are Triple Spellbound, ultimate packet trick, Psuedo Macdonalds Aces, and the Ace Production Sequence. All good solid traditional magic routines. I really enjoyed these and if you want help with the pass and double lift or palming the first disk is really a good source for improving these sleights that many have problems with. The second disk has good versions of strong routines and will find homes in many magicians programs. |
Lukenp Special user 560 Posts |
I have the Lost Tapes Volume 1. I have Highlights of Variations and Highlights from the workbook on there original VHS format.
I have to agree with you. These tapes are very good and have tons of valuable info. on them. I recommend them.
"Be natural"
-Dai Vernon |
Irishghost Inner circle www.gaffguy.com 1228 Posts |
Were did you buy them?
I get to gaff some cool stuff for some cool people
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