No problem. I'll go practice.

This topic is 4 pages long and I don't see one review of the DVD...

Really? He's a Freemason? What lodge. Scottish Rite or York Rite?

Rumor has it that he's a 33º

I don't own it, but have seen it. It's not very good. There are much better DVD's for learning Spongeballs.

There have been Magic Maker DVD's that were original ( John Born and Jason Dean set was incredible ) but, they also put out products that were not original. So....folks have to decide if they will pick and choose original/taken without permission products from a company, or just not support the company.

Jason and John have said they regretted working with Magic Makers as they didn't know their reputation before signing on with them.

I have this DVD and love it. I think its one of the most comprehensive sponge DVDs out in the past decade and Ben does an excellent job explaining as always.

The DVD is high quality and there are plenty of routines and moves that cater to all skill levels.

I saw the DVD. I think Steve Dacri's Sponge Ball Toolkit has much more going for it. http://www.mjmmagic.com/store/spongeball......481.html

MCM ( Modern Coin Magic ) DVD? Did you see the sleeving on that? HORRIBLE!

Say what you want about Magic Makers, but I am still impressed with Salinas's ability to perform so many different kinds of magic. Not every sleight is as polished on the DVDs as they could be, but give him a break! He has had to make DVDs on color changes, extreme card manipulation, coin stunts, sponge magic, and an attempt to cover the complete Bobo coin book... all in the last few years!! Calling him on the poor execution of a sleight that is rarely done in coin magic now seems like a bit of a low blow. How many top performers release this many DVDs on such a diverse range of magic in such a quick span of time? I have several DVDs of his, and I am satisfied with all of them.

Rarely seen... don't tell Rocco or Carl Cloutier or Sol Stone or Bob King or.........

This DVD rocks! I have jays sponge and and Patrick pages video as well, and This DVD is so much more comprehensive than the other 2. I love it! It's perfect for people who have worked with sponges a little bit because he teaches it simply and to the point.

For the record I have the complete card magic dvds, 40 ways to force a card, hot shot color changes, xtreme flourishes with cards, and a few other MM dvds, and I gotta say they are all very good. I know that they take from other magicians, but so does every single video that is supposed to comprehensive. Like all of Daryl's videos, he always tells you who invented the tricks he performs, but honestly who remembers?

I just watched one of his videos last night, not even 12 hours ago and I couldn't tell you who invented the tricks I learned. So IMHO it doesn't really matter that they say who invented what. It's more about the content for me. I do own a lot of magic videos and books and a lot of the same tricks are covered, but I like that because it gives me a chance to learn things differently from all the different performers. Like when I watch Daryl's encyclopedia of card revelations, and MM's complete card magic, both of them have a lot of the same tricks in them, but both performers teach and perform differently, which I think helps when trying to create your own stlye.

I wonder would you feel the same way if you created something and it was stolen?
I'm not talking about a mention of a move but an entire product idea.
Look,many people try and support a creater such as John Corneilious or Dan Harlan because:
a/ You get better value as the product lasts longer also better instructions.
b/The creater may produce something else with funds he gets from his product.
c/ It makes you feel better!

You guys can have whatever opinions you like about MM. It's your right to support them or not. Myself, I wouldn't buy a single thing that was or is put out by them. I don't care if it was the greatest thing ever to hit these shores.

At the end of the day and after all the meaningless double-talk, They still RIP OFF MAGICIANS. This is not a fact in dispute. They do it and they do it often.


Tim

If someone "steals" a routine from you, they won't be able to perform it like you so they will ultimately fail at it in the end. Besides, when we learn these sleights, don't most of you watch other magicians to get an idea of what you want to do, then you kind of mold and shape it into your own? that's the point. MagicMakers is simply making their products available by lowering wholesale prices. I would love to have L&L videos all over the place, but they are EXPENSIVE..and this economy isn't getting any better. that's my 2 cents.

Look, I had to deal with this stuff first hand as a demonstrator at a magic shop. I agree that magicmakers rips other peoples products off and then puts their name on it. I was just saying that they are making their products way much cheaper than their competition (probably manufacturing in india or something).

This thread is about a MM DVDV with Ben Salinas. I just don't think it's very good and there are betetr sources.

There are MM folks that I love: Simon Lovell, Paul Hallas, Randy Wakeman... I think the DVD's they did are excellent.

Ok, So I own this DVD now... I didn't realize it was a Magic Makers product at the time that I purchased it (over the internet), and I thought I could get some new ideas from this dvd. However, when I watch it I'm afraid that I'm going to pick up bad habits and actually make my sleight worse.

Watch Ben when he goes to saw a ball in half. I'm sorry, but his moves are not polished at all. I'm a novice, admittedly, but I practice my sponge routine in front of a large mirror several times a week, and work extremely hard on my sleight.

Watching Ben, I don't think a 5 year old would be fooled. It's inexcusable.

Right. So now I'm looking to pick up the Noblezada video. So far, I'm most impressed with the spongeball toolbox.

If you are going to be in the business of making money selling DVD's teaching magic tricks, it's important that the teacher is polished in the moves that he is trying to teach. There are absolutely no excuses. Just because I learned math in school it doesn't qualify me to be a math teacher.

Is it just me, or is Salinas's ability to perform magic lacking in performance skills? Maybe Salina should stick to teaching only the things that he has polished rather than teaching sloppy moves and slieghts.

I may sound very critical, but I believe that the teaching should be left to those who are polished performers.

I must apologize. I have gotten Ben Salinas mixed up with someone else. Please disregard my last post. I also apologize to Ben Salinas. I have never seen him perform.