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Harry Murphy Inner circle Maryland 5444 Posts |
I have mentioned the Steve Draun videotape on the Dr. Sack’s dice routine elsewhere on the Café' and a number of members inquired about the “production values” of the tape because they had “heard” from some unnamed source that the tape was poor.
So here is a little review of the “Draun on Dice” videotape produced and directed by Gregg Peters and featuring Steve Draun. The tape is well made starting with Steve performing before a table of spectators. The performance starts with his signed “Ambitious Card” to “Card to Wallet” routine. He does a nice vanishing Sharpie pen after the card is signed. He then goes into The Dr. Sack’s dice routine, and concludes it with the Dai Vernon “Climax for a Dice Routine” (which is a two in the hand and one in the pocket with a shrinking die routine). The explanation portion of the tape is Steve at a table alone (without audience members) discussing and showing the various elements of the routine. He shows and clearly explains the Sack's routine (which is why you are buying the tape), the Vernon climax, has the Mohammed Bey handling of Malini’s version of “Chink-a-Chink” with dice (whew did you get all of that!) and then he shows and explains a Marlo move with dice. Finally, as an “extra” on the tape he explains his Ambitious Card routine. I don’t know why anyone would complain about the production values of the tape. It is well-produced, good camera angles, and explains what needs to be explained and does so rather well. The complaints that people have may be more about Steve’s rather dry presentation style than the actual tape itself. It is true that Bob Sheets handling of the Sack’s routine (found on his “It’s the Rules” videotape) is livelier. If all you wanted to learn was the Sack’s routine with a comical ending (based on patter) then Sheets is the way to go. It can also be argued that Daryl’s handling of the Mohammed Bey/Malini version of the Chink-a-Chink on his “Fooler Doolers” DVD’s is a funnier presentation or that Daryl’s "Ambitious Card" is also better presented on his Ambitious Card DVD. But (and this is a big but!) if you want to learn the basics of a couple of good solid Dice routines and are confident enough in your own presentation skills then you will learn what you need to build your own presentation. Yes the tape is a tad on the dry side and yes the tape gives you what you exactly what you need to know to learn the routine and perform it. Plus, the tape comes with a bag of the necessary dice to get you started. This bag includes a jumbo die and a miniature die of the same color as the four regular dice. The set I got also had a “cheat sheet” that helped learn the necessary positions of the dice as the routine progresses. That isn’t a bad deal. Tape, dice, cheat sheet, and good solid routines what more could you ask for? Hey, don’t forget you get a good Ambitious Card routine as a bonus. Let me say that I learned the Dr. Sacks dice routine in the early 60’s from Bruce Elliott’s book “The Classic Secrets of Magic”. I don’t recommend learning it from the printed page. It took me months to get it figured out and down pat. Even so, I learned a couple of things from the Draun tape that that I didn’t know and I included in my dice routine. Later I saw Bob Sheets performing his routine which gave me a couple of patter ideas for my own routine. I think that the Draun on Dice tape (with the dice) is a good reference to have in your library and an excellent point to start learning this routine. I recommend it highly. I understand that it has been released (without Mr. Peters permission) on DVD but does not come with the dice. I always thought that the total package (tape, dice, etc) was what gave this version added value as you did not have to go searching for (and buying) anything extra. Hope this helps a little. P.S. For historical completeness, it was James Lewis who took the time and taught Bob Sheets the routine. If James reads this maybe he’ll mention where he learned it.
The artist formally known as Mumblepeas!
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
Great review, Harry. I'm not much of a dice man, but I picked up a couple of his ambitious card moves. I became a Draun fan after getting this and have his CD Rom's that teach wonderful sleights.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
1KJ Inner circle Warning: We will run out of new tricks in 4385 Posts |
Nice review, Harry. I have this DVD and I really like it. His entertainment value is not really an issue for me. I can't clone someone's personality, and wouldn't want to. Sometimes I see really entertaining magicians and that is good inspiration, and sometimes there are really skilled magicians and I think that describes Steve Draun. He has his own entertainment style. I have never met him or seen him livek, but I think that live, he would be very entertaining in his own "not over the top" way. He seems to build a nice, "more intimate" relationship with his audience.
However, what I really appreciate is learning the moved with explanation that has the backing of experts going back to Dai Verson and others. Steve explains not only how he does the moves, but why. Here is a magician that has spent many years learning simple ways of doing tremendous moves instead of difficult ways to accomplish the same thing. I think Draun on Dice is an excellent resource to put together a dice routine. Another dice routine that I really like, which makes a very good transition from dice to cards is Revelation(s) by Claude Rix. This is a tremendous routine, but like Steve Draun, you have to plug in your own entertainment skills into the routine or it can be long and boring. KJ |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Dvd, Video tape, Audio tape & Compact discs. » » "Draun on Dice" - a little review (0 Likes) |
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