"Talk About Tricks" DVD by Joshua Jay
Suggested Retail USD$99.95
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Talk About Tricks", a 3-DVD set by Joshua Jay, is one of those rare collections of talent and material that takes your breath away and doesn't give it back.

"Talk About Tricks" is Joshua Jay's pick of material from his column in Magic Magazine. Not exactly a "best of", as Jay describes it, but more a gathering of his "favorite" material from his column on video. That's pretty much how Jay describes the contents of these three discs and the result is such a wild and varied collection of great work by some folks you've heard of and some you haven't that your head will spin.

I'm not going to go into all the tricks -- about 40 of them -- or all the sleights -- over 30 of those -- that you'll find here: there's just too much to go into with over seven hours of video in the set. I'm also not going to go through a lot of name-dropping about who's material is on here. I'll just mention, as casually as I can, Marlo, Cummins, Lovick, Maue, Gardner, Jennings, Wilson, Solomon, and Parr... and not mention the seemingly endless list of contributors also found in this set. If you're interested in everyone and everything you'll find on this set, the ad copy will work well enough for that.

Instead, let's look on what you're getting here, in quite general terms. That's probably the best way of deciding if "Talk About Tricks" is right for you.

The material is mostly close-up for the close-up performer. True enough, there are some pieces which will play in stand-up/platform venues, but they are few. This set consists in the main of close-up magic.

And, of course, that means cards.

As you can expect, card tricks dominate here. Now, I'd be the first squawking like you couldn't believe about that if this were a gathering of multiple sandwich effects and multiple "Triumphs" and multiple... well, you get the idea. Jay is smarter than that, though; much smarter. What he did was focus on different plots and themes with very little duplication. Further, he found some card effects that are just plain different from what you'd expect (such as "Punken Droker", by Paul Cummins, to name just one). Long story short? The card magic is wildly varied and extremely entertaining.

But, as I said, Jay is a smart guy. He knows from his experience that card magic is always the most popular stuff, at least to magicians. He also knows there's more to good close-up magic than that. So, while there are a ton of card routines on "Talk About Tricks", there are also coin routines ("Ninja Coin" by Joel Givens, is my current favorite on the discs, followed closely by Rune Klan's "Coins Through Floor"), a business card routine (my absolute, all time favorite routine on the discs -- "Piano Séance" by Raj Madhok), a finger ring routine... well, before I go making a list, let's just say that there the non-card magic -- the "other close-up magic" -- is extremely well represented here.

It should be said that a lot of the material is not performed by the creator, but rather by Jay or one of a host of talented performers. I mention this only parenthetically. It doesn't matter much, really, as long as the instructor is good and everyone on these discs is that and more.

Next we should talk about difficulty. There are some gimmicks and gaffs here and there, and some the of the sleights taught in those sections will have you working a bit. For the most part, though, the sleights are standard -- a classic palm, a double-lift, a false-shuffle, a force of some kind --- and easy enough for most folks. I wouldn't recommend this for beginners, but that's simply because this set obviously wasn't designed with beginners in mind; the common sleights are breezed over, as they should be on this type of collection. If you're a bit advanced -- Bobo and "Royal Road" aren't strangers to you -- then you should have no problem picking up the material on these discs.

Now, let's talk about the "extras". There are some interviews conducted with Jay by his editor, John Lovick. To be honest I just glanced at those myself. Nothing against Jay or Lovick, but I'm not that interested in having the answers to questions like, "Are there any routines you liked that didn't get put on the discs?" Especially when there is so much meat on these discs to digest. There are also some "performance only" pieces here by Yves Doumergue, Paul Cummins, Asi Wind, and David Parr. I've never been a fan of paying for "performance only" things, and I'm still not. Granted, watching Paul Cummins do his "The Trick That Wasn't" is a treat, but I'd have much preferred the time and space on the discs (and the money in my pocket) was spent on learning it from the man himself and not watching it.

So there are two "extras" I didn't care for. Jay then got me where I live by adding the best extra I could ask for: routines and handlings using his "Overlap" gaff. I'm a huge fan of Jay's gaff, I use it more than I probably should, and it was delightful to see him working with it. That made up for things wonderfully as far as I was concerned. If you've got "Overlap", this "bonus section" will inspire, and that's the most you can ask for from anything in magic.

Well, there you have it. That's "Talk About Tricks" in a nutshell. If you're into close-up magic, like cards and coins and Q-Tips and the like in equal measure, then you'll find "Talk About Tricks" to be what I did: one of the most valuable videos in my library and I can't recommend it enough.

"Talk About Tricks" DVD by Joshua Jay
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
It's mostly close-up and mostly cards, but it's all good, strong stuff. You'll find your own favorites here and probably a few of them. This is a masterful assembly of commercial, entertaining, and at times off-beat magic.

Practicality: 10
Oh, there's the odd set-up here and reset there, but by and large all the problems of practicality are minor ones (if they even exist at all). There are no routines here that present any large issue you'll have to deal with.

Quality of Production: 10
It's an L&L release, so you get what you expect: high production values all the way around.

Quality of Instruction: 10
There are so many instructors here I was worried the quality would be spotty. That worry was unnecessary. Jay brings out the best in all of the teachers here, giving you no reason not to learn these routines easily.

Presentation: 10
Refreshingly, these routines are all about entertainment. The presentations are as varied as the performers and creators, but the one thing they all have in common is they get the job done, be it with striking visuals, audience interaction, or a silly storyline.


Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.