"Fingers of Fury Volumes 1 and 2" DVDs by Alan Rorrison
Suggested Retail USD$25.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

"Fingers of Fury", a two-volume DVD set by Alan Rorrison, contains some very slick magic, but too much brings too little to the table to make it worth the work.

Let me cut to the chase. "Fingers of Fury" is a collection of routines that could be renamed -- if you want to stick with take-offs on movie titles -- "The Excellent, The Average, and The Ugly". Now, I have to say that when Rorrison is excellent, he's way beyond the pale, his thinking approaching genius and his magic skating on the brink of artistry. That's not hype; the man is beyond clever. But his average material is just that and his ugly? Well, it is.

Let's look at the material on both discs and you'll see what I mean.

"Deep Impression" has a chosen card being thrust into the arm like a, well, knife through arm. It is just what you think it is and, really, is more of a sight gag than anything else. Oh, I'm sure screams are involved just because of the surprise built into it, but all in all, it's a weak piece. "Ugly".

"3 Shot Slammer" I liked. It's a three-phase coin through glass routine, much simpler than other versions out there, if a bit gutsy at times, and maintains nice visuals throughout the routine. If you're not already doing a similar routine, this is probably as good as any. "Average".

"Broken Home" is a broken and restored key routine. That right there is interesting, but Rorrison has the keys borrowed which really ups the ante. The problem lies in the method, which will have you only performing this when certain things all fall into place for you. When they do, this can be a neat piece. You'll need to put a bit of extra work into it to clean-up, but it can be worth it. "Average".

"Evolution" is a weird little piece that looks quite good. In this one, a stick figure is drawn on your business card in ink and the head moved across it to land in a corner away from the rest of the figure. This one will have folks scurrying for the special pen and paper stock needed just because it does look so weird. "Excellent". Times two.

"Hell's Bend" I just wasn't impressed with: coin-bending done as a bet just doesn't appeal to me. The method likewise left me cold: you need a table (probably covered) to pull this one off. While it's simple enough, and reasonably visual and clean, it just didn't do anything for me. "Ugly" and "ugly" again.

Neither did "Lightless Lights", a production of flickering lights from nowhere and the vanish of same. Rorrison makes it clear this is his answer to "D'Lite", without the prosthetics, and as such it's okay, but think Jay Scott Berry here and you'll get an idea of where Rorrison is going. "Ugly".

"Relentless", on the other hand, is quite slick. In this one, an image is taken of the spectator's hand with your cell phone. A coin is marked by the spectator and placed on the screen. A magical gesture later, and the coin is now gone, merged with the screen's image. Simple enough and quirky, this one is appealing in more ways than one... if you're not already doing a version of this in one form or the other. "Average".

Volume 2, "Death by Cards", is exactly as the name implies: on this volume, Rorrison shifts over to card tricks and nothing but card tricks.

"242" is, essentially, a card revelation, with the card turning face up in the deck, changing to other cards and back again, and leaping out of the deck. This is a pretty sequence, if not as magical as other material on the disc. "Average".

"JoKing" is a multi-phased sandwich routine, with lots of small magical moments built into it just because. This is pretty much an act unto itself and looks very pretty if not a little confusing at times. Be prepared to work on this one; it's a bit of a knuckle-buster. Me, I'll stick to Ackerman or Ortiz when I want to do sandwiches. "Average".

"Linker" is Rorrison's version of the linking card plot, using a single playing card. The method is an old one, but Rorrison's handling of it is beautifully visual and much better than you'll find elsewhere. Very neat stuff here. "Excellent".

"Whiteside and Penman" is a neat bit of weirdness. In it, a card is selected and used to find its mate. These two cards are then torn in half lengthwise and a piece from each card placed on the deck. A magical rub later and the two halves are fused together into one card. The visuals here are very nice and if you can't see this as a great alternative to Doc Eason's "Anniversary Waltz" you're not trying hard enough. It would have been nice to have the gimmicked card included, but you can't have everything I guess. If you go in for this routine, buy a bunch of the things because the giveaway value is high. "Excellent".

"PolterDeck" begins with a "Haunted Deck" sequence (which can also be found in Derren Brown's "Pure Effect"), then goes into a very visual face-up Ambitious Card move, and ends with the selected card shooting out from the pack. This is a fairly neat routine and most likely worth the time you'll need to invest in it, but I won't be getting rid of my "Haunted Deck" routine anytime in the future for it. "Average".

"No Way" is Rorrison's gaff-less version of "NFW", with the Jokers twisting their way face up and face down in a packet before finally turning into the four Aces. Nice and fairly simple -- relying on the usual sleights -- this is a fairly good version of "Twisting the Aces", if not as powerful as some of the other versions out there. "Average".

Okay, so now you have an idea of what you're getting here. Now, being in that group of performers that thinks any collection with one routine destined to become a personal worker makes the whole collection worth almost any price, I can recommend these discs. "Evolution" on the first volume and "Whiteside and Penman" and "Linker" on the second make them worth the money in my book. If you're of a mind, even some of the weaker pieces, the "average" ones, contain moves and thinking that can be applied elsewhere (I love the second phase of "PolterDeck" and kicked myself for not thinking about it before this).

But if you've been around the block before, even just once, most of these pieces just aren't going to resonate with you. If you already do a good routine similar in plot to Rorrison's, it's unlikely you'll replace it with his version; there's no compelling reason to. That's the biggest problem with most of this material, and one that will disappoint.

My advice? Get "Fingers of Fury" but know going in that there are a few killer pieces, a couple of lame bits, and the rest at least worth a look if not worth adding to your act.

"Fingers of Fury Volumes 1 and 2" DVDs by Alan Rorrison
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

Material: 7
The material on the two discs runs the gamut of props and themes, showing the breadth of Rorrison's skills. Also on display is his thinking, which at times is wonderful to watch while at other times a bit of a let-down. All in all, the material is above average and worth a look.

Practicality: 7
The material purportedly comes from Rorrison's working repertoire, which would make it perfectly practical for his venue, but offers a few hurdles for others. At times, you'll need a table here, a gaff there, a set-up here, a reset there... well, you get the idea.

Quality of Production: 10
It's a Big Blind Media production and their production values are always excellent; that's a reputation I don't see them not living up to any time soon.

Quality of Instruction: 9
Rorrison does a great job of teaching his material, usually covering all the bases as he goes. The ubiquitous Owen Packard is on hand for both comic relief and furthering of the instructions, which helps tremendously.

Presentation: 8
Rorrison's magic is all about cleanliness and visual appeal, and his material is rich in those areas. This is some very appealing magic. The problem is that some of the routines are so packed with magic they risk bogging themselves down and run over the real "meat" of the magic.


Shane

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