This DVD set is the fourth volume of Michael Vincent's series "The Tapestry of Deception."

I've known Michael for 10 years now, having met him the night that the Magic Circle held its last meeting in the Victory Services Club in 1998. I had seen his photo in the Magic Circular and had read about him. I knew he was something special, and meeting him in person underscored this for me. Later, I got to see him perform at a limited attendance lecture in Houston, where he spoke about his series of DVD's called "The Tapestry of Deception." During that lecture, he demonstrated his cups and balls routine, and went into a little of the reasoning behind it. This set of DVD's covers the routine as it stands today in great detail and depth, and gives all of the background of it as well.

The first DVD is in the form of an interview with Matt Fields, editor of the Magic Circular. Michael and Matt trace the development of the routine from the Vernon routine, which Michael started working with at the age of 15, through the Don Alan chop cup routine, through the John Mendoza combo cups and balls routine (the VM routine) to Michael's current routine. All of these are shown with video clips of Michael performing each routine with a live audience. The work on each of the routines is well done.

We see the routine evolving from a standing version of the Vernon routine, then a seated version of the Don Alan chop cup routine, then the VM routine, also seated, which is the one John Mendoza did with the combo cups. Finally, we see Michael doing his version of the VM routine while standing, with very clever ways of obtaining the final loads. Each of the loads is obtained in a different way from a different place. I'll be the first to admit that there were a couple of these that caught me completely off guard!

Between the routines, he explains how he modified the Vernon routine, for example, and what the influences were that caused him to try different approaches. He cites Cellini, Peter Wardell, Slydini and Tommy Wonder for several of his inspirations, as well as Larry Jennings and Alex Elmsley. He also mentions the work of Gazzo. Interestingly, Gazzo, Wardell and Cellini will each tell you that their routines are versions of the Vernon routine; however, each of them has modified it to fit his own way of working. That is very important, because that is what this set of DVD's is all about.

As you watch Michael's progression through these routines, you begin to gain an understanding of how much cups and balls material he knows. Basically he knows all of it.

This brings us to DVD 2, which is the explanation of Michael's current routine. He breaks this down into several phases. Each phase is short enough to be a separate practice session, so that you can work on the parts and perfect them before you work on the next.

One thing that I should point out is that with all of the vast knowledge that Michael has of the cups and balls, there are certain moves and flourishes that he chose not to include in his routine. Why? Maybe it's because they added less to the routine in his hands that the things he included. And this is an important part of art. Real art often consists in knowing what to leave out.

The DVD also goes into all of the nuances of the work. Michael addresses body language, eye contact, technical mastery and audience attention control. These are the foundation of the work that Michael teaches on all the DVD's in this series.

One of the things I should point out is that Michael claims this is still a work in progress. Knowing him, I understand his attention to detail and artistry. His explanation of the various phases of the routine fit in perfectly with the concept of the Three Pillars of Magic, which he explains on the other DVD's in the series as well.

So, if you are a potential, prospective cups and balls worker, when should you get this set of DVD's?

I would recommend purchasing them soon after you have worked your way through the Michael Ammar DVD's. Once you have a basic routine down, and you know your basic cups and balls sleights, you need to know how to direct what you are doing. The DVD's give a lot of insight into how to apply the techniques you already know.

Although Michael's routine uses a set of combo cups, I think the savvy cups and balls worker will figure out how to apply the principles Michael uses here to a routine with standard cups.

I highly recommend this set of DVD's.

You can get them directly from Michael at http://www.magicofmagic.com/main.htm

I don't have a price for them yet, but will post that as soon as I have one.

Nice review - thanks Bill.

Thanks for the kind words. Michael just sent me the following information:



I had expected the price to be a little higher. These DVD's are, IMHO, well worth the price.

Dear Bill

Thanks again for the great review of my product.

I look forward to serving anyone who is interested in purchasing this DVD set.

Many thanks

Mike Vincent
London

I ordered Mike's DVD set on Saturday and received a note confirming his staff put it in the post this morning. Terrific attention to detail, but now the set's in the hands of Royal Mail and the US Postal Service.

Sigh...



Curt

Hi Curt

The DVD is on its way to you.
You will have it in about five days.
Hope you enjoy it.
Many thanks
Mike Vincent
London

I like when he "activate" the power of the magic wand, then he does the gag holding the wand with the index finger and then he just spread his fingers apart.

I wonder if he explain this part of the routine in this DVD.

Hello Walid

Greetings to you down Mexico Way.

Thank you for your interesting post.

You will be pleased to know that my entire routine is explained in full detail, including the wand suspension.

Warm regards from London

Mike Vincent

The response to my new DVD has been most gratifying, so much so , I am temporarily out of stock.

Should have more in stock in about ten days.

I will keep you all posted, thanks again.

Mike Vincent
London

If I'm correct, a quick check on the currency conversion shows that the Cups & Balls DVD set would be about $78 in U.S. dollars, not including shipping.

While this isn't cheap, it sounds like you are getting some professional-level advice, which would justify the cost. SETH

Thanks for your post Seth.

The Cups and Balls is over 5000 years old and my relationship with the subject spans my entire life in magic, whichis about 25 years.

The Two DVD special editions represents a snap shot of my life in a little under 2 hours.

I said to Darwin Ortiz recently that I consider the effects in his book Cardshark to be worth more than the $35.00 asking price for the entire book, The Unholy Three is perfect example.

I can only hope that magicians who love The Cups and Balls as much as I do, feel that the $80.00 they invest in my DVD will be money well spent and that the value and inspiration they receive will be support them in their personal quest for mastery in the craft of magic.

Thanks again

Mike Vincent aka "The Duffer"
London

Mike -- One general question: how much of the material, in Volume 1 (Misdirection, etc.) is duplicated or referred to in Volume 4 (Cups & Balls)?

In other words, will someone who owns Volume 4 learn anything additional about misdirection/presentation from Volume 1, or are those same concepts just applied specifically to the Cups & Balls effect in Volume 4? SETH

The Tapestry of Deception is an ongoing series, which addresses important concepts, which can assist you in performing highly deceptive magic.

The first volume is an introduction to many of the concepts. At the time of shooting the first volume, I had no structure to the series; it was just a brain dump of ideas floating around in my mind. These concepts made perfect sense to me but I struggled to communicate my thoughts elegantly at the time.

With each DVD in the series, I was able to break things down into smaller chunks of information, whilst retaining the integrity of the broader concepts. The remaining volumes, while they look at different effects, still make full use of the concepts outlined in volume one.

This series is designed to be a point of reference for magicians to use the concepts in line with the material they already perform; this is where the real benefit is.

When I studied with Slydini I learnt his entire repertoire. Slydini insisted on his students learning everything, his way. I only spent a week in New York at the time in 1982 and most of my time was at Slydini's apartment and after the trip, I never saw him again. He left this world before I could say a big heartfelt thanks. He really changed my life.

I was lucky, because of my limited time in Slydini's company, I had to think deeply about his concepts and think broader in terms of applying principles outside the domain of his magic.

The Tapestry of Deception is a tribute to Slydini’s legacy. The Cups and Balls is a perfect showcase for many of the concepts and yes, you will learn a lot about audience attention control and presentation, more so with Volume 4 than with any of the others because The Cups and Ball relies on audience management, attention control and showmanship in order for it to be successful.

Check out my live performance for an illustration. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_MSKFJtaS5k

Thanks

Mike Vincent
London

Dear friends

I want to thank all of you of who have purchased The Cups and Balls DVD and thanks again for the feedback about the product.

The last couple of weeks have been challenging, I had come CGI scripting errors pop up and many of you had problems placing your order.

The internet is a mind field of information and I am improving my expertise in this area slowly but surely.

Things appear to be working fine now and you should be able to place your orders without any problems now.

If you do experience any challenges then do send me an email and I will do what I can to assist you in completing your order.

Once again thank you.

Sincerely

Mike Vincent
London

Mike -- Great YouTube video, nice routine! I liked the "activating the wand" bit a lot, also the initial production of the three balls, very slick. I'm not sure I would do it that way, because the specs might reason that the balls were hidden in the cups somehow, which then might lead to them making some other interesting assumptions. But it was definitely a neat idea and very neatly executed. SETH

I have studied this effect for 25 years and tried many different routines. Three of the finest routines appear on my DVD, with a considered evaluation.

I am delighted to hear that you are already evaluating how you feel your routine should look and feel to an audience.

That is the whole point behind my new DVD.

The purpose is to stimulate you and any other magicians who love this effect to really question what is the best approach for "me"?

It took me a long time of trial and error to answer that question.

I found the answer in the routine you have seen, and it is still a work in progress, it is not finished. Only yesterday I was doing some fine tuning on the routine and made an adjustment, which has improved the pacing considerably.

I hope this quest never ends.

As Racherbaumer would say "Onwards"

Cheers

Mike Vincent
London

Mr. Vincent, I'm really looking forward to your upcoming lecture in Portland Oregon. Will the Cups and Balls be part of your lecture? And will you have copies of the C & B DVD available. Thank you.
Mitch

Hello Mitch

The Cups and Balls will not feature on this lecture tour, but if there is enough interest, I will consider bringing my Cups with me for a live performance.

I will keep an eye on this thread to see how much interest is generated.

Thanks and see in a few weeks

Mike Vincent
London

Thank you for the quick reply Sir. As for interest, I can't imagine anyone in attendance at one of your lectures not being interested in seeing you perform the Cups and Balls. Then again, there are some weirdos out there. Anyway, I certainly hope to see you perform this classic live.

Mitch

Hi Mitch

It's a done deal

I will bring my Cups with me.

See you soon


Mike Vincent