Ok Bobby, take you word for it, have to say though, Ben makes it look far better than Lennart did on his dvd's, I'll hae to chase these in the New Year.....


Merry Xmas,


David.

"Ok Bobby, take you word for it, have to say though, Ben makes it look far better than Lennart did on his dvd's, I'll have to chase these in the New Year....."






I absolutely agree with that. Not sure if it's because of Lennarts "sloppy" style or what, but Benjamin Earl does perform it 10X better than lennart IMO

Happy Holidays

This is just what I've been looking for, some great card magic DVDs!

Thanks John for a great review!

Josh London

Yes, thank you so much John for your thorough review!!! Wow! It's nice to see people who take the time to help others!! Really thank you, I'll probably order this tomorrow. The demo of Ramjollock is really incredible!! I think I have a solution, but it indeed requires a lot of spectator management or you have to select someone who is willing to try an "experiment" and who will not try to mess things up...

Merry Christmas to all anyway !!

After Christmas when my busy schedule is down I will try and give my full thoughts, but the shuffles are making an interesting topic. Years ago now I tried to learn the Heinstein shuffle. I could do the mechanics fine, but getting it to look good was the harder part, getting it in time and looking natural wasn't the easy part. Then I re-discovered the Ron Wholl by complete accident only to be told a few hours later it was waaaay old, always the way in Magic! So ever since I have never really tried a false in the hands riffle shuffle with waterfall...i have dabbled with the Anderson/Hollingworth shuffle, but never got it perfect, and I will only use something if I can do it perfectly, well, seemingly perfectly. So I then created my own shuffle, which is similar to the Wholl and Heinstein shuffle, and it looked good to be honest. Only needed to shuffle once, didn't look awkward, looked natural, and looked and sounded like a riffle shuffle and waterfall should...then I saw the Grey shuffle...back in January...I was with Ben sessioning for around 12 hours...and right at the end he spread the deck and it was in brand new deck order...after EVERY trick he had performed, he was slowly getting it into brand new deck order, and false shuffling to add to it...so I had to get these DVDs to learn the work on it. Now, I have tried the Green shuffle before sometime ago now, and it just didn't fit me, or look that great. However, since getting these DVDs, I now no longer do any false shuffle but this! The Grey shuffle is in my opinion the BEST in the hands false riffle shuffle with waterfall!! Now, some will disagree, as what works for me might not work for them, but Bens ideas and touches to the shuffle really make it what it is, and make it easy and very fooling. I literally burn my hands in the mirror, and STILL can't see it, and I know what I am doing and when it is happening to look out for it! It's that good!!!

So your sayng that this is not the Green shuffle, but done better then.......?

Exactly, there are several distinct differences between the green shuffle and the grey shuffle. Yes the Grey shuffle was influenced by the Green shuffle, but the Grey shuffle is easier and more deceptive

I remember that session last year Chris - I think I had left about 10 minutes before Ben came over to the group and I was hacked off the next morning when you told me about it!

Not finding the Grey Shuffle that easy but haven't put in enough hours yet I guess! You can maybe take me through it, assuming you (and maybe Ben?!) will be at The Session Convention again this year?!

Yea I'll be there, once you go to a Session convention, you can't not go again!!! I'm hoping Ben will be there, as I would rather he showed you as obvioulsy it is his, but if not, I will help all I can...

I was wondering why there was not more of a buzz about this release. I finally got this the day before XMas. I understand why people are not writing more now, why? Well there is so much stuff on these dvds. I perform Mentalism and the third disk on this set is great. So far I see two effects I will add to a walk around enviorment. I have yet to see the first two disks. I will post a better review maybe over the weekend. These are a great set for the card worker. A lot of mentalist will not use cards but I mix it in with my act and there are some true gems in here. Bravo Mr. Earl and Mr Nardi ..................Ryan

I think a lot of people are still waiting to get it. Mine didn't arrive until yesterday due to the Christmas rush.

Robert

Though I am still yet to write a review on this (I will soon), the thought of card in pocket is just amazing. I performed it to a Magician friend the other day, and well, what I am going to explain next is not a word of a lie, this 100% happened, and I don't think will ever happen again, but must atleast say

I asked him to think of a card, and then asked him to change his mind, as the first card he was thinking of was too easy...he smiled and said he had changed his mind. I ran through the deck, faces towards me and took a card and placed it into my pocket. The 7 of Hearts, it just hit me whilst running through the deck. I asked him to name his card...seven of Diamonds. I smiled and spread through the deck, asking him if he could remember his first card he thought of...he could. I asked if it was a red card, it was, a heart, it was, a low heart, it was, I took one card out, and turned it over, 2 of Hearts...he laughed and swore at me...then I asked if he remembered I placed a card in my pocket...i got him to take it out, 7 of Hearts, he laughed again, so close he said, and asked how I managed to get so close, and get the first card, I smiled and gave him the deck and said, find the 7 of Diamonds, he ran through the deck and couldn't find it...i turned around with bare hands and reached into my back pocket...i pulled out one card...the 7 of Diamonds...he swore at me again and walked away from me (Only to come back 1 minute later asking for me to teach it him. I said '£50 it's yours, as well as some other awesome material '

This worked exactly as Ben says it will on the DVD, except I got INCREDIBLY lucky as the 2 and 7 were next to each other. Shows how weird and wonderful a deck of cards can really be sometimes.

Where has Benjamin Earl been keeping himself? I was very impressed with his card handling. Strong effects performed expertly.

I too have been having some luck with the thought if card. I didn't think this was much of an effect until I tried it. It does floor people. It surprised me, alot.

From the explanation on the dvd, I was under the impression that you ask the spec to think of a card and then you produce from your pocket, but from what I have read above, do you ask them to think of a card and then change their mind abd ask them to think of a different one, is this the way to go?

No no no, sorry, that is the way I present it, I perform it differently from Ben.

Just so everyone can appreciate how effective Ben's grey shuffle:

At my resteraunt job, I do a ambitious card routine where at the end all the cards are left in order at the end. Using false shuffles, cuts and shuffles to achieve this etc. Now I started off by performing the grey shuffle, and as often happens, someone got overly excited by the riffle and bridge shuffle ;p They asked to see it again, AND I DID. I performed the grey shuffle with my hands getting absoloutley burned by spectators, and they did not suspect a thing.

For those who have the set, which disc did you enjoy most?

You can only buy this as a set so a bit of a weird question ;p I personally love formal card magic, so the moves and ideas on disc 1+2 were really great. But opportunities for such magic are restricted on a comercial level. I love it all! Some of the ideas on disc 3 are quite beautiful, there are a good 2 or 3 strong pieces that can be easily worked into most performance venues. Difficult to choose. To watch/perform for self indulgent purposes -Volume 1.
Volume 2 has host of sleights, cuts and flourishes that I reckon will be seen in the next few comp acts.
And for useability/foolability- volume 3.

I have clumped together 3-4 effects of ben's for a mind blowing 5 mins with a deck of cards

this is my routine
shades hofzinser
open triumph
full suit production
followed by the whole deck in order