How are the sleights on the dvd? What I mean is there some good sleights you can sink your teeth into?

WOW! So many, many strong effects! I just bought some clear wallets from John's website so I can perform Lost & Found. Besides Lost & Found, my favorite effect is Gemini Prediction.

What effects from Brainstorm is everyone else having having success with?

Out of the Blue is probably my favorite effect on the DVD. I also really like Club Sandwich/Double Monte, its a great ungimmicked sandwich and monte routine.

John's website says he's out of stock on the DVD's. The plastic sleeves are available, however.

Chris

I just finished watching the performance sections of both volumes, and I'm in the middle of watching the explanations. I must admit that I was disappointed with the performances, both because I didn't really like the patter and because a lot of the effects seemed to be very similar in terms of what the audience sees. I might be spoiled, since I've only learned card magic from Ammar, Malone, and Daryl. John's style is actually very similar to mine, but a lot of the time I didn't think his presentation was all that great.

What was definitely great was the quality of the material. There was never any doubt that many of these are killer effects, especially on Volume 2. And having watched the explanations for the first 4 effects on Volume 1, I am very pleased. The Ballet Cut is very cool, and Lost & Found is excitingly clever. Wow!!! I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the explanations.

I didn't mean to say that John's presentation was bad (he's better than I ever will be), just that some of his lines were weak and he is not as clear during performance as the three guys I mentioned above (again, a very high standard).

Also, I should explain my comment about some of the effects appearing very similar. All this means is that you shouldn't perform them all continuously in a routine as was done on the DVDs -- but, of course, no one would do this. The purpose of the DVD is to select the effects that best suit you, and for that, there is plenty of material here. The effects on these DVDs will kill audiences.

I too am a big fan of John and his magic. He's got some very commercial kickbutt magic. John is also a very good musician and did the music for my DVD which I thought was pretty tight. John you rock man!

Luke
dancymagic@yahoo.com

For anyone whose interested, I've reviewed Vol.2 of his Brainstorm DVDs here.

Got to say I'm very impressed by both DVD's.

I agree with all the positives on this post.

1st class material. 1st class performer.

JohnG,

I got your DVDs. Its awesome. The effects are devastating.

Booya !!!

--

For anyone interested I found the little toy frog needed for the "Fairy Tale Frog" trick. I found it at PETCO in the dog toy section. It even has a little crown on the top of its head. They cost about $1.16. I am still having trouble with the tree frog stickers. Every craft store I have gone does not seem to carry these. By the way I really enjoy the DVD'S. Does anyone have any suggestions to where to find these?

Thanks for the tip on the toy frog. I may go get one myself. As far as the frog stickers, go to http://www.froogle.com and type in "frog stickers." Tons of links come up. There's bound to be something.

John
http://www.johngstudio.com

The music on Luke's DVD was so original and awesome. Figures John was behind it!

GREAT NEWS! I have the Brainstorm DVDs back in stock with a new special offer: Receive signed copies of Brainstorm 1 and 2, plus four FREE frog stickers for "Fairy Tale Frogs" and a FREE clear plastic sleeve for "Lost & Found." $65 at my website http://www.johngstudio.com

You can also purchase the Frog Stickers (the exact design used on the DVDs) and Lost & Found sleeves separately.

Thanks so much for all the great feedback!
John G

http://www.johngstudio.com

Get these, get these, GET THESE. They are the BEST DVD's I've ever had. The effects are KILLER and John's performances are awesome and his teaching skills the finest!

I agree. GREAT card effect DVD's.

I have more than 100 dvd`s and by far Brain Storm card magis is my favorite set, very difficult to surpass this material.

I hate to be a jerk, but I didn't quite like his material....It's just me. I'm not saying his stuff are not good, but it just didn't quite suit my style...
And I find that his presentation to be rather weird...not his patter or anything, but when he tried to get the crowd going...
Just my 2 cents...
I know I'm getting myself into hot soup here

I really LOVE "Brainstorm". "Intuition" and "Out of the blue" are my favorites.

I agree with cardfreak, in that I found that there was something strange about John's performance style. However, it is important to think about how the effects play out independent of the performer's individual style. Also, keep in mind that you would never actually perform all of these effects back-to-back, as must be done when you are producing a DVD. When watching the DVD, I got tired of seeing Elmsley Counts over and over again, but in performance I wouldn't do more than one or two of John's routines anyway, so it doesn't matter that some of the effects are similar. If you think about it in this context, you'll realize "Brainstorm" is strong card magic.

I bring these points up because I initially had a negative reaction to the DVDs, but as time passed I realized how good they were.

My favorites are Intuition/Out of the Blue, Clairvoyance, and Tailspin. I also enjoyed Detour (John's Card To Wallet routine).

I realy enjoyed John's performing style. It was like you were at a birthday party and this fun guy got talked into doing magic. I liked his style because these was nothing phoney about it. I don't buy many DVD's, but these were suggested by a working performer to me.

I now use 2 of his card tricks. I won't say which ones because people have gone freaky on me when I do them. I doubt they are thew ones you are thinking of.