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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Title: Esoteric by Gerard Bakner
Medium: DVD Arena: Magic with unusual items Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies Esoteric is a DVD by French magician Gerard Bakner. It was originally done in French but you have the option of selecting English as the language and when you do so they provide a very good translation. I don’t know of it is Gerard doing the overdub in English but whoever it is captures the rhythm and flow of the presentation very well and it is far better than the translations and overdubs I’ve seen on other DVDs done in languages other than English. They were good enough to reduce the original French to where it is barely heard and that is very nice. The shot itself, though, is way too dark. While Gerard can be seen clearly the table top, which is black, isn’t lit well and the items he is working with are hard to see and that isn’t a good thing. Sure the darkness makes for atmosphere but this is instructional in nature not just a performance piece, even if it was just performance it is too dark. Esoteric means of unusual nature and this stuff sure is. Gerard uses tarot cards and other obscure cards that are available at those little odd shops that cater to the new age types. He makes use of what are called Rune symbols, which I’ve heard of but am not familiar with, and stones, also he is fond of using calendars. The material is pretty out there and most rely upon the old magicians choice to get things to go your way. He does a good job in explaining how he gets the spectator to pick the right card or stone. He also makes good use of the way Rune symbols resemble each other to get things to work. He includes an interesting handling of the old voodoo ashes, which is always a winner. The material sure is esoteric and they do make use of cards and stones and that does draw people in. I think this would suit the bizarrist or those of you doing ren shows and all that. I wouldn’t recommend this for you Gospel types as you could cause a mass burning of witches, but it is really cool stuff. If you are one of the people interested in magic with tarot and other unique cards or using odd items like the rune symbols and stones this is one of the best sources I’ve seen, not again, that I’ve seen. I do wish they would have given at least minimal thought to the lighting so things could more easily be seen. This isn’t for everyone, it will actually scare some of you if you are deeply religious and are afraid of obscure items. Gerard shows a real knowledge of using the magicians choice and I appreciate the translations being done so well. Like I said, this isn’t perfect but considering the material it is still pretty darn cool. It made me want to get a bag of stones. |
OldZombie New user Buffalo NY 30 Posts |
Good review, I totally agree. I very much enjoyed this dvd and am planning on adding a version of "7 Stones" to my mentalism set.
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OldZombie New user Buffalo NY 30 Posts |
Oh I forgot to mention, I found very nice glass stones of different colors at a craft store that were perfect for "7 Stones".
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Gerard BAKNER New user Chartres (France) 13 Posts |
Thanks for your review
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Mind_Magic Inner circle The Sunshine State USA 1252 Posts |
MagicSanta:
Do you need any additional commercial prop to perform these routines or you can build them without difficulty? |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
They don't really use props in a sense. If you want to use the specific types of decks it is suggested you go to an escoteric shop, which is a new age shop to me. They have different types of cards like the tarot etc.. He uses stones, which can be found in contrasting colors at many education and science stores. The others are either made with blank cards and pieces of wood that you can easily make without difficulty. The main focus is using odd cards and items that people don't normally see and that often makes the effect more interesting. The real problem with this type of stuff is when you run into a true believer and they buy into your show and all of a sudden you have an idiot pestering you the rest of the day.
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mrmysticmike Elite user Cleveland, Ohio 427 Posts |
I also enjoyed the DVD.
It contains a lot of usable material that you can mold to your own personality and performance style. |
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