"Acting Naturally: The Tibetan Wishing Box and Other Mysteries" DVD by Allen Zingg
Suggested Retail USD$35.00
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In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Acting Naturally: The Tibetan Wishing Box and Other Mysteries", the third and final volume in Allen Zingg's "Acting Naturally Trilogy", ends the series on a high note with more great magic, wonderfully modified sleights, and more ideas on achieving natural actions during sleight-work, all of which makes this a disc that must be seen. Period.

If you've read my other reviews on Zingg's "Acting Naturally" series (here and here). you already know how I feel about Zingg's work and his ideas on making our work look more natural. In this volume, it's all more of the same and that means some great work.

The disc begins with Zingg's creation, "The Tibetan Wishing Box". In many ways, this epitomizes Zingg's "acting naturally" philosophy. At its heart, the routine presented here is a simple card-to-impossible-location plot (said location being a small wooden box in view on the table from the start) but that's like saying a pizza is bread and tomatoes: there's a lot more here to give this one flavor (sorry; that was bad even for me) and make it something special. To begin with, Zingg gives the prop some much-appreciated meaning, throws in some very nice presentational points, and -- as can be expected -- keeps things so open and natural that the impact is solid and strong. You'll need the "Tibetan Wishing Box" for this one, or one similar to it, but once you see Zingg's ideas with the ungimmicked box, you'll find yourself coming up with more routines for it than just this one (as if this one isn't worth the extra expenditure to begin with).

Next up is a platform/living room piece, "The Egyptian Ball Routine #1". In this one, a cue ball and an eight-ball are shown, along with a handkerchief. The eight-ball is wrapped in the handkerchief and set aside. The cue ball is picked up, shown freely, and the hand passed over it. It visibly changes to the eight-ball. When the handkerchief is opened, its seen to contain the cue ball. This is as elegant a routine as you can ask for and Zingg does it masterfully and with all moves perfectly natural.

Following that is "The Egyptian Ball Routine #2". This is much like the first routine in description, but in working and visuals it's quite different and striking. Again, the key word here is "elegant". Like the first routine, this one is that through and through.

"Premonition Too" follows. This is a two-deck revelation routine and it's a great one. A red-backed deck and a blue-backed deck are shown. A card from the blue backed deck is set aside by the performer as a "premonition". A card is chosen by the spectator from the red-backed deck as freely as could be asked for and the deck placed back into the case. When the blue card is turned over, it matches the chosen card. This is so clean, so straightforward, it's a solid winner.

Those are the core routines and they are great pieces of work. But Zingg is only getting started with those gems. In the "bonus" section, there's more, much more.

"The Lucky Card" and "The Signed-Card-In-Box" are variations on a theme. The "Tibetan Wishing Box" is back, once again as a "card-to-impossible-location" device, but this time with a signed card. A little more work is required in these routines than in the previous one, but Zingg once again goes to great lengths to make the work natural and easy. More great thinking here.

"Superstition" is a simple two-card transposition, with an Ace and a Three changes placed on the table. This is really meant as a showcase for Zingg's two moves, "Natural Top Change" and "Double and Deal". It's an effective tool for teaching those sleights and scratches the surface of what can be done with them.

"Imagination" is next up and it's Zingg's thoughts on a billiard ball appearance. More great thinking here and definitely worth a look if only for the ideas about using billiard balls in close-up venues. Strange and different, Zingg's work here is interesting to say the least.

Lastly, Zingg offers another take on his "Double and Deal", a dealt-down double lift. It's a very slick sleight, quite natural, and easy to learn.

But, really, that sums up Zingg's work on this disc. The re-worked sleights are natural -- as they should be given the title of the disc -- simple to execute, and, when applied as part of any routine, very sweet stuff.

As with the previous volumes, though, it's about more than routines and sleights; it's about Zingg's thinking on naturalness. Whether Zingg intended it or not, that thinking creeps up on you. After watching this disc a time or two, you start paying more attention to your sleights and how you do them. You'll even catch yourself modifying them "just so" to make them more natural. And really, isn't that what we're after with sleights?

So, just as I did with the previous two volumes of the series, I wholeheartedly recommend "Acting Naturally: The Tibetan WIshing Box and Other Mysteries". It's a disc with great routines and worthy sleights but, more than that, it's packed with thinking and ideas that anyone who relies on sleights needs to absorb.

"Acting Naturally: The Tibetan Wishing Box and Other Mysteries" DVD by Allen Zingg
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
As with the first two volumes of this trilogy, there are great routines here, well-presented, and some wonderful takes on classic sleights, but the real meat is seeing Zingg's philosophy of "acting naturally" in action. This is stellar stuff.

Practicality: 10
You'll need a small piece of table real estate for some of this, and other effects are clearly "platform/living room" set pieces, but overall this is extremely practical material.

Quality of Production: 10
Great sound, great video, and easy navigation... a perfect score here.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Zingg does his typical masterful job here, teaching all the ins-and-outs beautifully. More, he goes into details on how he applies his principles to his work, making it simple to grasp and apply to any other work you may do.

Presentation: 10
It's all about everything being natural, and Zingg does that as completely as you can ask for. Throw in some nice verbal presentations here, some gorgeous visuals there, and you've got a winner.


Shane

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