Absolutely right Mark....and I said it in my review that is sitting in my word file at the moment.

Aussie, Fading coin is you lay three imaginary coins down, one is selected, and you reveal real coins out of no where. It reads silly, it can play very big.

About the shuffling : A comment I heard one spectator say to another who didn't see the performance.

"he did it with my deck which I shuffled and yet somehow the cards where split into reds and blacks..."

Shuffling before a card trick makes all the following processes seem fair. As for the faning the cards to yourself, the spectator tells you what colour the cards are and it seems like you're pulling random cards anyway.

The ending is killer ..when they turn over the remainder of the deck and see that its TRULY MIXED

Though, I'm not taking back what I said about the real treasure on this, but. . .

Damm! That fading coin is a nice effect!

Mark

I like this DVD, however - I was expecting a little bit more in-depth analysis regarding the presentation. Basically Mr. Burger showed us several takes on presentation and pointed out the ones he likes and dislikes. Some pointers, but that was all of it . . .

I kept thinking how great this DVD could have been, if some of the thinking in the depth of what Darwin does would be incorporated . . .


Andy

I have been doing Fading Coins for years. I kind of wish Eugene would not have included it in this dvd!! It is that good!

There are so many versions of OOTW that it is just a matter of personal preference as to which is best. All have their strong points. This dvd is about presentation and it delivers on that front.

I know what you're saying about wishing Fading Coins had been held back. I learned it from Lawrence Hass's book. It's a beautiful piece of magic. It was, however, nice to see it performed.

I too have been performing Fading Coins ever since it first appeared in Genii and wish it had been kept hidden a bit longer.

OK. I had the chance to view this DVD. First, I really enjoy Eugene Burger and can appreciate his desire to make his magic meaningful and memorable. I began to realize that most of my magical presentations fall into the stunt category and I want them to be so much more.

That said, the DVD was a little different than I expected. I, too, thought he would go a little more in depth to the philosophy behind presentation. Instead, we ended up getting a lot of different ways to present effects. Now, I'm not complaining. That approach was very interesting. It was just different than expected and it felt like something was missing.

In some ways, I wish this would have been a 2 disc set. Disc 1 could be just Euguene describing his theory on presentations and the various directions one could go. As someone else said, perhaps it could have been like Al Schneider's disc 1. I think Eugene could more than fill one whole disc with that kind of discussion and I still would have wished for more! Then, Disc 2 could have been the disc that was released.

I guess I just wished for more. The disc itself was well done and had a lot of great info, but it felt like Eugene had more to say. Or perhaps there was more that I needed to hear. It's one of the few times when I wished there would have been more to watch.

If you're on the fence whether to get the disc, I would encourage you to do so. You still receive so much. I'm just thinking we'll see another disc on the same topic from Eugene in the near future. Or at least I hope so!

Thanks,
Barry

Ya know, at the end of it I also felt like it wasn't complete. I also thought Eugene would go deeper. I actually PM'd a person involved with the DVD and asked if there was another DVD coming out because I had that "I need more" feeling.

Spot on - that is why I see this as a missed opportunity to make a good DVD a real great one. This could be a classic for all times. Unfortunately, it is not there now. Let us hope, a second DVD will follow up to fill that gap.

I have mixed feelings on the DVD. On the one hand, I concur about the feeling of thinking there could have been more (you can read as much here). On the other hand, I don't know to what extent Burger wanted to make sure he wasn't doing other people's homework for them. Simply offering 8 different presentations on a given routine is 7 more than most resources will give you.

That is true, Eugene may have decided what he was going to say and that was that. I love that dude... I went to see Eugene once and he was on a second floor pateo smoking. Below him a minor race riot broke out, about 20 black kids getting beat up by the guy they jumped (this was Silicon Valley black kids, not real good fighters). I walked through the riot and when I got up to Eugene I said "I'm sorry about that fight", he said "what fight?". I was then told by someone else that Eugene lives in a tough Chicago area and likely never noticed the fight.

I think a lot of what you guys feel is missing wasn't included on this disc because it's been covered before on the Magical Voyages discs and on his older videos (now the Chicago Tapes). Why cover old ground, really (although wasn't it Richard Kaufman who said that Eugene kept writing the same book over and over?)?

I think being able to see 8 different variations on a routine is an experience we've never had before in magic. Now, to be honest, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings if Eugene had done it with some of the other effects as well, but I think what was given was more than enough. Besides, shouldn't we now take the idea and come up with our own presentations? Even if we choose to do similar effects?

Erlandish, weren't you the one saying you wanted to right a book full of different presentations of one effect? I think that would be fanstastic! Should you ever do it, put me down for a copy. This is the kind of stuff I lay awake thinking about (well, that was probably too much information). . . how many different ways, different stories, different ways of presenting can I think of for one effect, one trick. We have to be able to adapt to our performing environment and what is appropriate one place may not be in another. Being able to frame a trick differently in different circumstances is an invaluable skill.

Mark

I also wonder how a whole routine should be structured in view of those teachings. How to mix different presentation styles . . .

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I saw him lecture a few years back, and a lot of what was covered on this DVD was what he did in his lecture, word for word. Difference being, he didn't explain OBSERVO, or do OOTW in it, and I think he went more in-depth too. Either way, it's a good investment if you've never been, or didn't take good notes.

(Also, I didn't get to have dinner with him after watching the DVD, unlike the lecture)

I prefer Eugene "Mastering The Art of Magic" since the DVD is the Condenstation of all Eugene Performing Philoshopy.....and while I'm at it....I also like to reccomend "Scripting Magic" by Pete McCabe and 26 other Guys.....this is the in depth books about various style and approach to presentations and Scriprting....not to mention, Drama, Suspense, and many more

Good points. I love that book but man did I feel stupid when I saw the layout of the cards on OOTW that Eugene does on this dvd.I was doing it wrong from the book.
The pick up move and timing of the cards being turned over was great to see.

I've read all his books (I'm a reader) but have not seen the DVDs he put out. Which do you recommend?

Well. . . hmmmm. . . ahhhhh. . . all of them? Okay, Magical Voyages are good, but if L&L audiences bother you, I'll warn you. . . they are present. I like these a lot. They were the first magic videos I ever saw. Eugene teaches a lot of effects, talks a lot of philosophy and answers a lot of questions. The Chicago Tapes (dvd versions of three of his older videos) have the meat of his philosophy. The Bizarre disc in this set is lovely, though some aren't fond of it. There's a good interview with Andruzzi, some good discussion of bizarre magic, and Eugene teaches his Haunted Deck. There's also a performance of a Jan Inglee piece. The other two in the set are really good, too.

I haven't seen either of the videos (now on dvd) the he did for Steven's Magic, but I plan on getting to them at some point.

All that being said, I prefer his books, but like you I'm a reader, so take that for what it is. I'm not a big fan of videos, so the ones I have, I like.

Good luck with your book - I see that you are out of Korea now . . .

Andy