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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts 
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Hmmmm. Sounds a bit fishy. I could see if you had to go inperson and perform some classics with skill.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Paul Menzel Special user Boise, Idaho 530 Posts
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I ordered mine a couple weeks ago and I'm still waiting for them to arrive. You'd think that being charged over $9 for shipping and being told it would ship the next day that it would move faster, especially considering that I bought Christmas gifts online from other sources days later and they arrived in time for Christmas with lower shipping costs. Oh well, maybe today.
As with the other sets, I'm sure there will be parts I don't particularly enjoy or find interesting (and frankly, some of the performers are quite annoying), but there should more than enough good and useful information to make it worth the price. |
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Adam Regular user UK 103 Posts
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Doctorate in Magic? That takes the cake. I don't mean to belittle the time you took to fill out the multiple choice exam or the 25 bucks you splashed out on your doctorate, but what other response is there? A doctorate! As much as I love magic, I'm often too embarrassed by our 'art' for words.
There are of course legal ramifications of all this - one has to be registered as a doctorate-granting institution in order to grant such degrees but perhaps some sleight-of-regulations was employed. Without meaning any disrespect to anyone but those behind this ridiculous commercial venture, this is positively shameful. |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts
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Their webmaster handles the online orders. He was away on holiday and now has returned, so all orders have been shipped.
On one hand they seem like a silly company, but look at the names they get to be on their DVD's. Malone, etc. And, I have other videos of theirs and they teach first rate magic. I'm going to be forgiving of their kookiness because their products rock. At least their not taking effects and calling them another name and selling them! Chris
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Adam Regular user UK 103 Posts
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Well, you're entitled to your ethical approach but the fact that a company has done some good does not mean that their unethical practices/shams should be entirely ignored.
Perhaps this deserves its own thread but I'll limit myself to the following: Magicians have to decide whether or not they want people to respect them. If they don't, fine - the status quo (whereby magicians are considered somewhere near the bottom of the entertainment ladder of respect) will continue. But if we want people to take us more seriously then we should treat our profession with dignity. The fact that an apparently serious business (that produces tapes with top names such as Malone, or whoever you mentioned) also peddles bogus doctorates for 25 dollars is sad. If this was limited to the gutters - fine; illegal but marginalised and unimportant. But this is pathetic, really. |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts
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I got mine today. Verrrry fast shipping.
It came in a small Priority box, so I thought they got the order wrong. It turns out each VDV has multiple performers on them. It comes in an attractive storage case. I watched the Aldo Colombini first DVD and enjoyed it very much. He did a great 4 Ace routine that was simple, but very magical. If the others are like this, It will be a great investment.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Paul Menzel Special user Boise, Idaho 530 Posts
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I've watched a few of the discs already and for those of you who have or have seen any of the other IMS videos/series, you can expect pretty much the same as the others--some great material, some not so good, some great instructors, some not so good, and very poor production quality. The price and amount of good material make up for the lousy production and poor material, so it is still a good deal overall. Just on the first few volumes I found several effects I will use.
I appreciate the time and effort Tony Hassini puts into these videos, but it is not "professional" quality video work. The shots are not well-planned, so important action often takes place out of frame. The camera is often out of focus and white-balancing is neglected so that many shots, including those of performers' faces and cards, are washed out. Audio is sometimes a problem, as well. Many of the videos were shot on the road so the setting is often simply a hotel room. You'd think with as many of these as they produce, they'd have assembled a portable backdrop or something. Despite these concerns, the content is what really matters. Much of the content is very good. Bill Malone provides instruction that beginners should find quite helpful (nd non-beginners who may not have learned things right atthe outset) while Lennart Green offers plenty for advanced card workers. David Stone, Aldo Colombini, R. Paul Wilson, and Dirk Losander provide a nice variety of effects and most are very well done and taught clearly. However, not everyone given time on this set deserves to be among such company. While it provides a fascinating contrast which really illuminates how good these other guys are, some of this is flat out painful to watch. To go from watching Losanders beautiful TT handling to seeing some guy jamming his thumb in everything is a real shock to the system. I do not know if IMS keeps these various sets available after their deadlines or if they raise the price on them, but for the what I paid, the cost/time/variety ratio is good. No one should expect L&L quality production, but there is a lot more variety here than in buying a three or four volume series from a single performer by L&L at comparable price/time rates--unless you are comparing it with Tommy Wonder's DVDs, which are priceless. |
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Dr. TORA Inner circle TURKEY 1439 Posts
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I have written to IMS three times about putting an order for Turkey and being a member but did not get any response. Do you have any comment on the matter.
Magically Yours,
OZLEN TUNCER /Dr.TORA Have you visited my new Website in English, yet? www.magictora.com or www.torasmagic.com |
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Paul Menzel Special user Boise, Idaho 530 Posts
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Do you mean via email, Tora? I've never tried contacting them by email, so I do not know how rapidly or reliably they respond. I've only placed orders by phone. I think the first time I called them, I had to leave a message on an answering machine and they called back, but I try to call during normal business hours for New York. That would probably be less convenient for you. I wonder if any of the branch offices outside of the US have products in stock.
Chris, were you in contact with them through email? |
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Dr. TORA Inner circle TURKEY 1439 Posts
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Yes I have contacted through e-mail. Nevertheless, the name they have given as a representative for Turkey is not recognised as a magician and both the telephone number and the fax number does not exist-may be cancelled.
Nevertheless, they did not answer my three e-mails.
Magically Yours,
OZLEN TUNCER /Dr.TORA Have you visited my new Website in English, yet? www.magictora.com or www.torasmagic.com |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts
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Quote:
On 2004-01-03 00:45, Paul Menzel wrote: WOW- Paul hit it square on the chin. I couldn't have said it better. Some of our favorite Magi tipping excellent material for beginner, through more seasoned folks. To be honest, I would have paid $199 to learn Lenart's "Snap Deal" although I hear he will be tipping this on a future A1 DVD set. Paul, I did contact them via e-mail and they got back to me immediately, even the day after Christmas. But, I am a member. although, that shouldn't make a difference. THough production quality is low on these, yopu can navigate through the DVD's quickly and pick scenes/performers you most like. Dean Dill even did a beautiful, advanced Matrix. I guessed the method, but only after picking my jaw up off the ground. I like to do that. Watch an effect and then try to guess the emthod and or re-create it. I'm off pretty much most of the time, but it gets your brain thinking in different ways. Chris
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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whodini Regular user Clearwater, FL 155 Posts
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I just received these and just the Colombini effects makes the set worth it. I haven't gotten any further than these but Aldo shows some killer card and rope routines. I always feel his routines are sure workers.
Park visit me at http://www.whodinimagic.com
Believe in magic!
visit me at www.whodinimagic.com |
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AutoX New user British Columbia 59 Posts
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So from the posts, I'm guessing that this isn't one of those "need to buy" magic dvds. I would be very interested in these videos, do you think they would be good for an intermediate like me who is trying to get sleights and presentation down?
Thanks! |
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Paul Menzel Special user Boise, Idaho 530 Posts
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AutoX, no, it is [i[not[/i] a "need to buy" set! There is almost as much really bad stuff on here as good. A few of these teachers perform their sleights so badly that they should not be teaching them, they should be learning from the better ones on here. When someone like Bill Malone says, "Never do it this way," then another instructor turns around and does just that and claims it is "natural," you know you've got a problem--especally when it is obvious that Malone is correct. If you can distinguish between the good examples and bad exapmles, you should do alright with this. It is a good deal based on price and amount/variety of material, but it is definitely not a "need to buy" set.
There is information that can be beneficial to magicians of any skill level (though experts less so), but there is not a lot of emphasis on presentation. If you are primarily interested in perfecting sleights and presentation, there are better resources available. You'll probably pay more relative to the amount of material, but you will get more precisely what you are looking for,too. |
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AutoX New user British Columbia 59 Posts
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Thanks for the advice
 It really helped my decision.
cheers! |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts
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Paul's right-there are some bad magicians on this set. They also look they the came from a homeless shelter. It's kind of comical.
So far I love of Bill Malone's work and Paul Gertner, who I have not enjoyed in the past, does a KILLER Eddie fechter 2 card transpo effect that I'm using immediately. I'll get the Gems from this and then sell it ( as I do with most videos and DVD's ). I'm glad I got these. Chris
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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iamslow Inner circle Proffessional Slacker 2001 Posts
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Any other reviews of individual performers from this set??
"Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face" Mike Tyson
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts
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Aldo Colombini is wonderful as usual and Lenart Green's card work is advanced and incredible.
Dan Felshman teaches his "Fleshman Flash" ending to a cups and balls rotuine and it is a thing of beauty!!
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Posted: Dec 25, 2003 08:34 pm 
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