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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Title: David Acer Open Traveller
Medium: DVD Arena: close up Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies David Acer is a Canadian magician who I’ve heard of over the years and I’ve read very little of his writings. I knew he was a comic and well thought of and I’ve seen his logo, that is the extent of my David Acer knowledge, in fact I didn’t even know how to pronounce his name, I thought it was Ace-er while it turned out to be Acker in pronunciation. I’ve not had good luck with Canadian performers doing DVD. I’ve seen Sankeys material, which is a shot in the dark since he releases everything that crosses his mind it seems or I’ve gotten tapes by Canadians that are barely comprehensible. Sure their magic may be good but there is only so much I can take. I had read Davids description of this project on a magic forum and it interested me because it was shot during a three day period that he was on the road to an Edmonton Oiler hockey game. I don’t know why I liked this idea but road trips are fun so that is how I came to want to see this DVD and finally David Acer. There are people who are naturally funny and David is one of them. There is nothing I saw on this DVD that I didn’t like about him. I liked his look for comedy, he is a nice looking guy with enough oddness to be interesting, he is tall, and I believe to be truly successful in comedy you must be six foot four inches, that would be 4 kilograms Canadian, and he has a great voice….and no accent! Yeah! He also is clearly creative and intelligent and I really liked the guy I saw on this DVD. I now want to see him perform his stand up and would love to sit and talk to him. Believe me, the fact the presenter on a DVD is likable carries a lot of weight. I found this DVD so purely entertaining it is going onto my short stack of DVDs I watch just for pure enjoyment. The production level is as one would expect being the video was shot on the road at various hotels and locations and mixed in with TV spots. That being said the sound was excellent, better than some studio DVDs I’ve seen. They clearly used a quality camera to shoot this thing and while the room may have been overly lit at one point and under lit at another the image is still fine, not studio quality but better than a lot of what is out there. The guy with the camera did a good job as well. I give it a thumbs up for production. Oh, also to be noted is there wasn’t a lot of hemming and hawing here, David and crew knew what they were going to do and how to communicate it and if need be they re shot parts. This I know because they showed some outtakes. Too often I see DVDs where the person on the DVD screws up and just keeps rolling on….no pride in their performance or product, just wanting to be done with it. You do not see that here, that is because you are dealing with pro’s who care about what they put out not fly by nighters looking for a quick buck, or Loonie, whatever that is. The material, mostly cards with some coins, balls, matchbooks, candy, and mentalism tossed in, is consistently good throughout. You are taught 15 routines and he shows a few others that I wish he had taught. At first I thought this was material he thought of during the trip but, thankfully, it is all well thought out and solid material. David shows a great vanish of a ball, like used in a chop cup routine, and its reappearance. He also tips a nice double lift, kind of flourishy, and some other moves he likes. Before I get to the descriptions, which I’ll keep short, everything is very visual and beautifully done. David knows what he is doing and when he switches coins he blew it past me, his color changes looked great, in fact there isn’t a thing on here I can tap as being filler because there is none. Some of the routines are as follows: Fresh Mint: From a piece of foil a coin is produced. Shade Shifter: A color change of a signed card using a method I’d not seen before but seems to be well known to others. It looked great. Mind Job: I really liked this one, David uses the Out To Lunch principle in a way that once again hi-lights my lack of creativity. I’ll be using this starting now. This isn’t going to fool magicians but it will leave the specs wondering and entertained. Coke Induced: Old magic item used in a nice presentation. The Montreal Transpo: Two card transposition that looked really good and is entertaining. Mitosis: You are going to run out tomorrow and do this and do it whenever you can. Nice mentalism, pretty easy, and like all good mentalism it is performance driven. In this routine specs freely select numbers that when added up result in an amazing occurrence. Unflappable: Torn and restored matchbook routine that is really well thought out and will play great for you bar roaming guys out there. The Dryer Trick: Genius. So easy, again why can’t I think of this stuff? The other material is just top notch as well, go get this, buy it from David if he sells it, I’m sure he does but I don’t know his website if he has one, but you would have to be pretty twisted not to enjoy this DVD and love the material on it. I’ve not been on a search yet and I just saw David has a catalog on the DVD that I’m going to look for because if he has other DVDs out there I’m hunting them down. I’m going to say that this DVD goes into my top five for content and entertainment value, a short film on ants by David is on the DVD and I loved it. In fact I’m putting David Acer, based on this alone, on my top three magicians I want to meet. Great job by everyone involved. If you want to get it from your magic shop and they don’t have it slap the guy with a rubber chicken and have him contact his Murphys Magic sales guy and get it or contact David if he sells it. Brilliant stuff. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Someone just PM'd me that this is a re-release from a video tape. I told you I didn't know anything about David Acer! So if I come across like this is new I am sorry, I really didn't know it is five years old. Still a great product.
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Cameron Francis V.I.P. 7025 Posts |
Thanks for that review. I've been meaning to get this. I have "Extreme Close Up" which is great but this sounds awesome as well.
I think on his website, http://www.davidacermagic.com, he's running a special on this dvd. $30 postage paid or something like that. I've also heard raves about the "On Screen and Other Mysteries" dvd. And I believe Jay Sankey is set to release "The Sankey/Acer Seesions" this year at some point. I can't wait for that one.
MOMENT'S NOTICE LIVE 3 - Six impromptu card tricks! Out now! http://cameronfrancismagic.com/moments-notice-live-3.html
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
David Acer is one of my favorite magicians. I love his work!
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Here is a question. On the DVD he has what he calls Extreme Close Up. I thought it was called that because kids love the word extreme. Now I'm wondering if those are routines he teaches on Extreme Close Up. One is he shows a five and a two, rubs them together and he has a four and a three (one pip goes to the other card), sound familiar?
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Cameron Francis V.I.P. 7025 Posts |
That routine is called Changes and is on Extreme Close Up. Does he teach that on this dvd as well?
MOMENT'S NOTICE LIVE 3 - Six impromptu card tricks! Out now! http://cameronfrancismagic.com/moments-notice-live-3.html
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
No sir, it was in a bonus track and they showed him performing it for some hockey players. It looked very smooth. I just didn't know of a DVD called Extreme Close Up.
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Cameron Francis V.I.P. 7025 Posts |
Extreme Close Up is the only Acer dvd I own at the moment but it's great. A lot of good routines and ideas on that dvd. I will be picking up this one, though, based on your review.
MOMENT'S NOTICE LIVE 3 - Six impromptu card tricks! Out now! http://cameronfrancismagic.com/moments-notice-live-3.html
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Clark Special user 957 Posts |
I think cares stuff (much like Williamson's and the like)gets overlooked due to his crazy performing style. he's so funny you just don't care! seriously though, the guy has some great material.
“The key to creativity is in knowing how to hide your sources.”
Albert Einstein |
Cameron Francis V.I.P. 7025 Posts |
This is a very good dvd.
I'm having fun playing around with Monteal Transpo. Here's an idea to make it easy to reset. Plus I don't trust that I won't rip the envelope too much! Write the prediction on an index card. Turn the stack over and then reveal when the time is right. Place the card you predicted under the index card. At that point, all you have to do is flip the card over for the second reveal. Or you could write the prediction on a small steno pad. Flip the page over to reveal the second prediction. Just some ideas to play around with.
MOMENT'S NOTICE LIVE 3 - Six impromptu card tricks! Out now! http://cameronfrancismagic.com/moments-notice-live-3.html
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Zombie Magic Inner circle I went out for a beer and now have 8733 Posts |
Quote:
There are people who are naturally funny and David is one of them. There is nothing I saw on this DVD that I didn’t like about him. I liked his look for comedy, he is a nice looking guy with enough oddness to be interesting, he is tall, and I believe to be truly successful in comedy you must be six foot four inches, David is a funny guy, in a natural way, Like David Williamson, who also is tall ( 6'6 maybe? ). But, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison, etc. are all around 5'8 and were/are VERY successful in comedy. The highest level you could achieve. |
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