I recently saw some video of Bill Malone's on the Loose dvds. I want to purchase one, but I don't know anything about them. I am a card magician and don't really like gaffed tricks, unless the gaffs can be built at home with something like double stick tape. His material looks great, and hopefully one of them is what I'm looking for.

Gaff cards routine: Michael Skinner's 3 card monte, Mental Photography & Invisible Deck.

The rest just use a normal deck of card but Sam the Bellhop routine requires you to stack the deck.

Well, a man's meat, is another man's poison. Just buy all the 4 volumes then decide which routine you like and want to use it in your repertoire. You won't go wrong with these set of DVDs.

You'll not only learn the trick but also the tips as well as many useful working advice.

Yes, the set is fantastic, My favorite is vol 3, but is just my opinion, all volumes are fantastic, the hole set is focused on cards, except the Slydiny silks, One effect with matches,the matrix effect that is amazing, color changing knifes, and the bill in lemon, is an amazing set, very useful, and Malone is a master you need to see his false shufle and cuts secuense in vol 1.

If you look around on the Café, you'll find that Malone's DVDs are highly regarded. The magic is strong, and Malone is a riot. I would recommend the DVDs highly. If you only get one, might as well start with the first volume (that's just my favorite one).

The tricks are ok,some are great.The best thing is his presentation.He is the best performer I have ever seen,His presentation makes any trick looks better and very funny.

I agree. And, this just re-enforces the point that it is the entertainment that is important and not the "trick". This is one of my favorite DVD sets. Lots to learn just watching a master at work. His timing is impeccable and his audience management and interaction is 2nd to none. Oh, and the effects for the most part are great too.

Mike

Mike, I totally agree with you. I liked these DVD's a lot. I don't mention it much around the old-timers because they only have one thing to say about it "None of it's his material...yada...yada....yada...".

So what? He never said it was his material and he credits everyone accordingly. Some times I think certain people would rather we learned nothing than learn something from someone second hand.

His entertainment aspect is well worth the price of the series. Like Mike said, oh, and the tricks aren't bad either.

Bill Malones on the loose dvds are excellent. You wont be dissapointed in my opinion.

Awesome. I'm going to get all of these. I'm might get three first because I like how the tricks on that sound. (I already have a version of Michael Skinner's 3 card monte so I'm going to hold off on one) Either way I'll eventually aquire them all. Does anyone know what other good material he has?

Everything he has is good. PERIOD.

Other than this set, I don't know of any major stuff that he has put out. There is a Sam the Bellhop video and a Slydini Silks video, but both of these routines are also covered in "On the Loose".

Ace of Clubs,

Yes, Malone does cover his "Sam the Bellhop" on both his "Sam the Bellhop" video and on Vol 1 (I think) of his "On the Loose" set. However, IMHO, his "Sam the Bellhop" covers the routine in greater detail AND he goes into depth teaching you many many false cuts and the "Zarrow Shuffle". He teaches you false cuts and flourishes by Erdnase, Cornelius, Skinner and Vernon (just to name a few). On this video, you can find correct teaching of the finger placement and the little nuances and subleties that make these moves so devastating. And, at the end of the video, he also teaches a great routine (Radical Aces) as a bonus. This video is highly recommended.

Mike

If you like cards, you'll love these DVDs, get all of them. Most of the effects use a normal deck.

I just bought vol. 2 and 4 on ebay for 20 bucks each, so then I'll buy the other two.
(I also picked up daryl's encyclopedia of card sleights vol 5,6,7)

I have the Bill Malone's On The Loose vol. 2, if anyone is interested to buy this dvd, please pm me. I have had read a lot of good reviews re. Bill, but after watching this dvd, I'm really turned off by his presentation style. He is also not a good teacher as he goes over his card tricks, such as Cut'Em High And Tie, and Favoriate Opener, really fast. I personally does not like his style as I feel that soemtimes he belittle his audiences, at least it's evident to me on this dvd. The Counterfeit Money is an average bill in lemon routine. I don't appreicate the fact that the lemon appeared inside one of his shoes. I'm sure I'm going to get some heat from other folks about my comment in this posting. But hey, I'm sure there are some other folks in the magic community feel the way I do about Bill Malone. Thanks for reading. Have a good day.

I've been looking at these for some time and I was wondering on a scale from 1-5 (1 being something any one can do; 5 something only a Pro should try) where would these fall. From what I'v heard they sound like they'd be about a 3.


Happy Posting!
Jeremy L.

I agree with you about Malone's style, evolve629. Although I very much enjoy Malone's presentations, he occasionally makes comments that are inappropriate or belittling. I think he would do well to leave out comments like this, and I would not recommend that people emulate it unless that's their style and they know their audience well enough to know that they would be amused rather than offended.

Having said that, I think Malone knows what he can get away with, and I don't think anyone was offended. Also, I think his teaching is fine and that the bill in lemon routine is entertaining.

Jeremy, I agree that I would put these at a 3 in difficulty on a scale of 1 to 5. For beginners, there are some effects that are easier (around a 2), and there are also some that I would rate a 4.

Thank-you. I'm glad there is a range in skill so I can have stuff to work on for a while.

Hi guys,

I've only got the volume1 and 4, they're excellent. I just sometimes watch his performance, because its just perfect. He's not only a magician, but an excellent entertainer, comedian. Just fun to watch him. Anyway are the other also worth the money? Because I don't any of his tricks, not that their bad, they just don't fit me. Just his false shuffle sequence and some handy sleights I use, ...

Greetz

zwevie

Zwevie,

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, if you are really looking for a good tape discussing false shuffles, false cuts and some flourishes and you like Malone, get his "Sam the Bellhop" video. After he demonstrates his "patter" for "Sam the Bellhop", he spends approximatley 85% of the rest of the video demonstrating the Zarrow false shuffle and the many false cuts and flourishes he uses in that routine. I was astounded by the many false cuts he demonstrated on this video. IMHO, well worth the money for those items. I'll probably never do the "Sam the Bellhop" routine but I'll use the many false cuts I learned on that video over and over again.

Mike