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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Title: Bill Malone Tips Sam The Bellhop
Medium: DVD Arena: Close up card magic, formal show Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies Sam The Bellhop is an orphan of magic. No one knows where he came from but he found a home in the worthy hands of Bill Malone. First lets look at the routine. Sam The Bellhop is a story, there are others, using a deck of cards. The cards are part of the story but what makes it such a great routine is the deck is being shuffled and cut throughout the routine and the spectators even cut the deck a couple times. The stack isn’t difficult to remember, in fact once you have the story down you’ll know the stack, and once you learn it you have one great routine on your hands. Sam The Bellhop is my favorite story of the whole deck stories and is very precise. If you want to see a funnier deck story check out Doc Easons routine where he acts like he messed up and wings it. Bill Malone is one of the true great card men in magic. Bill comes out of Chicago and he is a shining example of how one can take talent and a bit of luck, his being spotlighted on Worlds Greatest Magic, and turning it into a million dollars worth of opportunity. I think it is safe to say that magic has made Bill a millionaire a few times over and he lives a life that many would love to have. All of it earned by his hard work and intelligence and taking advantage of the doors of opportunity that opened up for him. On Worlds Greatest Magic Bill performed Sam The Bellhop and elevated both Sam and himself in the magic world and in the world of the millions who saw him perform. Luckily Bill sat down several years ago to make a video on his handling of the cards for Sam the Bellhop and it is that video that was converted over to DVD. It would have been preferred that it all be re-shot but I guess tying Bill down these days is not as easy as it was back then. The quality of the DVD is lacking because it was taken from the video tape so it is a lot softer than it should be in focus and a bit of jumpiness. The menu bothered me because while I like being able to look at specific sleights and so forth I also want to be able to watch it straight through. I think the proper term is authoring and it wasn’t great and who ever picked the music to play while the menu is up should be flogged. All that taken into consideration, even if you take into don’t think Sam The Bellhop is your cup of tea, I still think this is a great DVD and I’ll tell you why I think it is so good. The reason I loved this DVD is that I believe in card magic you will first learn how to do tricks. You’ll do individual tricks using packets of cards and then stacks and so forth. Each trick stands by itself but then you realize that you have to fill in the space between the tricks with something that will add to the tricks and that is when it becomes magic. What makes Sam The Bellhop great is the shuffling and cuts during the routine. When people talk about it they say “he was shuffling the cards the whole time and still pulled the cards that made the story work”. Bill teaches, and does a very good job, how to do the Zarrow Shuffle, a false shuffle for those not familiar, and a number of very good false cuts. I’ve done the Zarrow for years but one tip from something Marlo put out that Bill taught really improved the look of the Zarrow and that alone, that one comment about finger placement, justified the cost of this DVD to me. So if you want to learn how to do the false cuts and a great false shuffle that you can use is many other situations, most in fact when using cards, this DVD is a great way to do it. Cuts from Michael Skinner, Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, Erdnase, killer stuff. You also get a great bonus routine, Radical Aces, which is a very nice ace production routine. Always a good idea to magically produce aces prior to your ace set. While I will say clearly, and I hope word gets back to the individuals, that they should be ashamed that they treated such a fine video on the cheap. If you are going to re package a video tape that is fine, just make a bit of effort to do it right and respect the artist some. I’ve seen home done video tape to DVD conversions done better. All that being said I have to say if you need to sharpen your skills with the false work or you really want a great routine then pick up this DVD. Practice until you have it down and you’ll be moving from ‘that trick guy’ into a higher level and be a card magician, and that is always a good thing. |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Michael Mystic. Bill presents a history of the routine to the best of his knowledge and Frank Everheart is mentioned, and no, Frank didn't create the routine either. As Mr. Peterson has said the earliest reference Bill found was from a book published in 1930 where the creator was listed as unknown. There are earlier routines using story lines not simular to Sam the Bellhop dating back to the 1800s. It is clear that Bill Malone brought the routine to a mass audience when he performed it on Worlds Greatest Magic prior to your birth.
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
Not sure about anyone else, but I did complain to the dealer that said there was no issues with the dvd. In my opinion all the issues make it unacceptable... Hope they re run it and fix it. I'd like to get a decent version.
Tom |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
It deserves to be re mastered and cleaned up right.
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
Not trying to beat a dead horse, but has anyone else complained to their dealers? If not it probably won't be fixed. In a post above I mention a big dealer that sold 200 and said he never received one complaint.
Tom |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
He had 200 customers who felt that complaining wouldn't do any good, and likely they are correct. The dealer can pop one into his machine and see it is a tape to DVD transfer and just that.
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in flames Inner circle Toronto 1030 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-10-03 12:46, James Stob wrote: Hey James, These are pressed copies. At least the one I bought is. |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Pressed. It was just done on the cheap was all. I can accept bad film quality, foe example on the Larry Jennings DVD because sometimes you have a bad original and can only do so much. I think they can, if they put the money out, upgrade a studio shot video though. I do think in this case the DVD is still well worth getting because of the material.
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Tom G Inner circle 2895 Posts |
For those of you that can't get to the performance/play all area unless you watch the dvd on your computer... in the main menu arrow down to the Dobson chapter then you can hit your left arrow and get over to the performance menu. But don't hesitate because quickly it will jump up to the top of the move menu.... In agreement with MagicSanta Sam deserves better...
Tom |
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