If you are having trouble with the DL's in your Svengali Pitch and need some help or a morale boost, or would like to supercharge your routine, I suggest you take a look at the "Double Take" DVD, click HERE for more info.

This is an amazing collection of DL moves, tips and techniques that is probably the last word on the subject. The DL sleight is thoroughly analyzed, from the get-ready to the pickup, to the display and return, with several different methods provided for each move. Even though this DVD appears to be a transfer from an older videotape, the picture quality and audio are fine, and the DL's are shown from several different angles so that you can see exactly what is happening. You even get Vernon's "Pushoff DL" (very clever and very sneaky, you would NEVER suspect it's a DL). There are also a couple of truly eye-popping flash changes (you'll never rub that key card on your sleeve again after you see these fancy reveals).

Just adding one or two of these beauties into a Svengali Pitch would take it to an entirely different dimension. And even if you didn't want to do that, you could take a regular deck and perform one heck of an Ambitious Card routine with the information on this DVD. Although I'm a big fan of books for routines and theory, I do agree that for sleights, a DVD can be very helpful in seeing exactly what's going on. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, and it's very true in this particular case. You could read Hugard and Giobbi all day and still not understand the subtleties shown here. If you want to take your DL's to the next level, this is the way to go. SETH

Thanks for the review, Seth. I'll check it out ...

Cap'n Mike
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By the way, in making this suggestion, I am very mindful of Don Driver's caveat that "a pitchman is not a magician," and I do agree with that. If you perform tricks with a Svengali Deck that the buyers will not be able to do themselves, you are creating a potential problem. And if you make it look too tough, people will not buy because they think they won't be able to duplicate what you're doing.

I always tell people that they can do "all the tricks I just did," and that "the cards do almost all of the work for you." Both of those statements are completely true because in the pitch, I do three of the tricks in the instructions that come packed with the deck I sell.

But the temptation to "improve" my DL a little bit is almost impossible to overcome after watching this amazing DVD . . . . And besides, buyers can still do the original DL in the instructions, so everything I say is still true, it's just a matter of a slightly different method. Heck, I'm still entitled to a FEW secrets!! SETH

If ANYONE needs a DVD of this type, it is I! When I'm outside, my sloppy DL is much more obvious. Inside, not so easily discernable, tho still sloppy. I'll CERTAINLY be looking into this one.

Thanx, Seth.
Jon

Yeah, I was thinking about you and your past posts when I saw this, but I was also looking to improve my own DL's, too.

You will be interested to see that these DL's don't require the usual top-and-bottom hold and a "concave card" display (although there's certainly nothing wrong with that). Instead, most of these DL's work from the sides and often use the top of the deck itself to steady the work. This way is all very natural-looking, very casual, and it goes by in a flash. Done properly, these DL's are probably about as airtight and waterproof as they're going to get. But I think this technique might be very useful, especially when you're working with the short cards in a Svengali Deck, which make for an easy DL pickup but a tough display sometimes.

Like I said, it's enough to make you want to learn an Ambitious Card routine! SETH

So you WANT me to be a Magician? ;-)

Jon

No, because that would violate one of Don Driver's "Ten Commandments of the Svengali Pitch" <grin>.

But anything that either of us can do to strengthen and further "waterproof" our pitch seems like a good thing to me! SETH

If anyone needs to "waterproof" the DL it is I! Maybe "eye-proof" it! I'm working on it. ;-)

Jon

Got my copy. It arrived only 2 days after ordering. What a NEAT DVD. If I can't do a DL after this, I'll never do it. (I'm working on it!)

Jon

Glad you like the DVD, I agree that there's some very good stuff there.

The very nature of the Svengali Deck makes the pickup easy (and I think I'll continue to do it from the front and back for that reason). But this DVD has lots of good variations, handlings and subtleties that could easily be incorporated without getting too fancy about it. In fact, in my opinion, they help to make the DL even more casual and convincing.

Although I pitch Svengali's, I'm not a card guy and so was unaware of most of these other moves. But they are definitely worth looking into and thinking about. SETH