Actually, his final loads were much better before his stroke. However, since the stroke, his left hand action has become cramped, and he really has big problems with them. All the existing videos are post stroke material.

I know exactly whom you are referring to. He doesn't get to these pages often.

Sorry, I had no idea re he had a stroke..
Sorry to hear about this...
My apologies !!!!
As I said, he's a great entertainer -one of the very best I have ever seen- wheather he does good loads or not...

Yep. And he tends to be a little "gun shy" when he does his loads, so you will see him bringing the cups all the way off the table, down into the pouch, and all sorts of other stuff like that.


The Al Schneider DVD's arrived in today's mail. I must agree with Bob (Wellington) that the work on the cups and balls is excellent. I enjoy having different routines to look at and draw from.

I don't plan to review the DVD's any time soon, because I purchased them primarily for the cups and balls work, as well as the Zombie routine.

I will add this. I remember seeing Al do the Zombie in his booth at one of the conventions we had here in Houston. It was truly amazing. It's still one of the best. Al's understanding of the Zombie is very special.

Al's theory in the cups and balls routine is quite solid. The techniques taught are well worth learning.

The "bling bling" final load is, as I suspected, completely different from the Alex Elmsley load. It is closer to some of Martin Lewis' work than Alex Elmsley's.

Gazzo told me after he recovered from his stroke, what he lost was mainly the stuff he did for other magicians, so now he doesn't worry about that material.

If you didn't know, you would not notice his MINOR problem with that hand... He's still about as good as there is with the cups.

When he did that special private performance for me at Scarborough Faire, he mentioned the stroke to me then. He was almost apologetic (if you can believe that about Gazzo!) It didn't seem to affect him enough to make a big difference at all.

If you look at the most ancient of references, you may find the most subtle and "modern" of approaches. Likewise in the reported routining.

Knowlege of the roots of a thing often offers insight its current blossoms.

C&B has many things going for it

1. Versatility in the manner of props you can use.

2. Variety in the manner of effects that can be produced.

But, the really big thing is:

3. The Climax. The big loads. The wow factor.

For those who have not been following the balls the final loads will carry them further, but for those who think they may have an inkling, they are a real sucker punch in disguise. In this way a good routine will carry a huge proportion of the audience into that rarely attained magical state where they believe for a moment anything is possible.

Beautiful though they are when performed well, I don't think many routines such as the linking rings or a production box, are capable of the same transformation of audience mood as the C&B.