"Bright Ideas" DVD by Christopher Williams
Suggested Retail USD$35.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Bright Ideas", a DVD of card magic by Christopher Williams, is exactly what its title says and worth a look by any serious card worker.

I won't bore you with all the details of all the routines -- they're covered quite well in the ad copy -- but I will say this: there's not a single one that is weak or, dare I say, ordinary, in the bunch.

You'll have your own favorites, of course, but for my money four routines make this disc the must-have card disc it is.

"CTP" is a card-to-pocket routine that is unbelievable in its structure and its entertainment value (watching Williams perform this for a slightly rough table is a treat). In this one, the performers pockets are shown empty and then checked by a spectator to make sure they're empty. Four signed cards vanish only to reappear in different pockets. Williams has built this into an act all by itself, with increasingly magical vanishes and productions. This one routine is worth the money.

So is "Thought of Cards Across". It's the usual plot, done with twenty cards, but the cleanliness here is almost thunderous. Two packets of ten cards each, one picked by a spectator, a card thought of, a snap of the fingers, and now there are nine cards in one packet and eleven in the other. This is immediately repeated with another card (and the packets ending up with twelve in one and eight in the other). This is an entirely "in the hands" version of the classic and is going to be the favorite version of a lot of performers.

I love the "Oil and Water" plot, so Williams' "Oil and Hot Water" was going to be a tough sell: I've seen 'em all and done most of 'em... I thought. Williams knocked me for a loop here, using just four cards and ending with a double color-change at the end. Multi-phased and perfectly structured, this one won me over in a big way.

The last of my favorite routines is "Un-Gaffed Entourage". This is Gordon Bean's "Entourage" plot done without the gimmicked cards and comes in two flavors: a close rendition of the original and a more magical one, depending on how you want to go. I love "Entourage" (doesn't everyone?) and Williams put together a great version that can be done impromptu. This is another one worth the price of the disc.

Okay, so those are my favorites. The other routines are all brilliant pieces so even if my choices don't appeal to you, chances are very good the other material will.

Let's get down to some details about "Bright Ideas".

First, this is material for the advanced to expert card worker -- novices need not apply. You're dealing with culls here and half-passes and all sorts of things that are beyond someone still wading through "Expert at the Card Table" or "Card College". Williams knows what audience his material works for so explanations about a lot of the moves are accordingly brief (a good decision, if you ask me).

Second, Williams material is delightfully commercial with real-world applications. He's a card worker that loves his visuals, sure, but more than that his routining on some of these effects is gorgeous. However, his presentations are his own and at times quite narrative -- be prepared to put the work making these yours.

Third, and a minor thing considering everything else, Williams is a great teacher but his "teaching assistant" (for lack of a better term) is flat-out annoying. Every sentence and action taught by Williams is punctuated with a "yep" or a "uh-huh" or an "okay"... after just a few minutes I was screaming at my TV for the guy to shut-up. He never did, unfortunately. My major complaint with magic videos is a lack of direction; this is the type of thing that a director worth his salt should catch.

Fourth and last, there's very little in the way of gaffs or gimmicks here. Most of the material is powered by a deck of cards and the necessary education. A couple of the routines use what we could appropriately refer to as strangers, but that's about as far as it goes. That, I think, makes Williams' material all the more appealing.

The final analysis? "Bright Ideas" really are just that. Christopher Williams' card work is chock full of those ideas and they pay off handsomely. If you're a serious card worker, this is the DVD to get.

"Bright Ideas" by Christopher Williams
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Material: 10
The material here is a card-worker's dream; powerful effects with solid impact abound. Some are easy enough for the more advanced worker, some will break a knuckle here or there, but all of it is top-notch stuff.

Practicality: 10
Set-ups are minor as are resets, and a great deal of the material requires neither. This is real-world material Williams uses in his act and it shows.

Quality of Production: 10
Everything here is hitting on all cylinders and is a top-notch production.

Quality of Instruction: 8
Williams' teaching skill is very, very good, if a bit rushed in spots. The problem is the most annoying habit of his teaching assistant to have to continually affirm every action. Within five minutes, I was trying to see if I could still learn the routines with the mute on (I couldn't).

Presentation: 10
Williams' focal point is the visual side of card magic and every routine he touches has that in spades. Excellent work here.

Shane

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