"UV Nightshades" DVD by Mark Allen and Paul Harris
Suggested Retail USD$35.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"UV Nightshades", a DVD from Mark Allen and Paul Harris, is powerful, visual, mind-numbing magic at its best.

And that, as they say, is the name of that tune.

Picking up on an older Paul Harris routine (from the bibles known as "The Art of Astonishment"), "UV Nightshades" (the "UV" stands for "Ultra Visual") takes Harris' plot straight into the stratosphere.

It all begins with your borrowing a dollar bill and drawing a pair of sunglasses in ink over the eyes of Washington's portrait. The bill is then held with one hand, at the very edge, so the modified portrait is in plain sight. Quickly, instantly, the drawing of the glasses visibly move off of Washington's eyes on onto his forehead with no covering at all. The borrowed bill is then immediately handed back to the spectator where it can be examined until doomsday.

The best part? It really is that direct and straightforward. That's what makes "UV Nightshades" such a powerful thing, knocking spectators into the next county with an uppercut straight to their center of reality. And that, friends and neighbors, is a beautiful thing to watch happen.

As to the specifics, yes, the bill is borrowed, but there's absolutely no switching or palming or prosthetic in sight. Reset is quick and easy, angles are (incredibly enough) not something to worry about, and the pocket real estate is minor (you'll have to do some pocket management to prevent fumbling). You'll have to do a bit of clean-up at the end, but it's simple and logical; no problems there at all. Along with the DVD is enough of the "special something" to build a few of the gaffs (a simple task -- even as arts-and-crafts challenged as I am, I built two in just under five minutes). As to the currency, although it's taught with US $1 bills, it can work with almost any currency that has a portrait on it; while I don't have a lot of international currency, I did build this and try it out with the "large portrait" US bills and had no problem adapting it.

Adapting. Now there's a word we're going to explore a bit.

"UV Nightshades" is taught as I described it, but there's more you can do here. Enough of the necessary something is included that you can build not only the gaffs for the "UV Nightshades" effect, but others as well. If you think of this as a kit for visually changing one small image to another, then you'll see a world of possibilities opening up here. A picture of a playing card can change to another, you could decapitate a stick figure if you want, or have someone's name morph around. And you don't have to use currency; truthfully, while I played with this using a bill, I'll more than likely use it on my business cards. Yep, adaptability is a key component of "UV Nightshades" and really makes this one worth the purchase.

As the ballyhoo goes, "But wait -- there's more!"

In addition to "UV Nightshades", two bonus effects are included: "Ultra Peeler" and "Ultra Spin", both great pieces of work.

In "Ultra Peeler", a card is selected from a deck by the spectator. The performer announces that he predicted that card in advance and removes another playing card from the deck. Using a pocket knife, the performer carefully cuts into this second card, peeling away the layers of paper until, there inside the playing card, is the name of the spectator's chosen card. If that's not weird enough, the card is visibly restored back to its pristine state and given out for examination straightaway. I'll be honest: as much as I love "UV Nightshades", I have a feeling I'll be performing "Ultra Peeler" a lot more. It's just plain freaky on so many levels that I'm struck with it.

I was less taken with "Ultra Spin" and it's still a winner (which speaks volumes about the material on the disc). In this one, a pen is borrowed and balanced on the top of a bottle of water (or anything similar -- it just needs to be balanced on something in preparation what what comes next). The performer places his hands on either side of the pen and, slowly and quite strangely, the pen begins to rotate right and left, moving on its own accord apparently. At the end, the pen is returned and everything is as normal as you can expect. Even if it's not my favorite effect here, it's still a great one that will leave an impression; it's good, clean stuff.

Okay, so those are the three routines you get with "UV Nightshades". You also get the necessary gimmicks and enough of something else to make a few gaffs to pull off pretty much whatever you want. There are a couple of things that need replacing eventually, but they are fairly easy to find on your own or purchase from Harris' website.

In addition to that, you get Joe Russell teaching things and doing a fantastic job of it. He covers all the bases, uses a great teaching tool to help you understand all the basics, and even covers certain dilemmas you might run into (like a spectator giving you a ripped, crumbled, and just generally beat-up bill to perform with). Russell gets a big thumbs-up from me on his thoroughness and how well he conveys the material; he makes all of this easy to learn and simple to master.

All in all, "UV Nightshades" is a superlative work, a great "piece of strange" to quote Harris, and with it's built-in flexibility and two great bonus pieces to back it up, easily worth getting if you're trying to throw your spectator's reality out the window (and ain't we all).

"UV Nightshades" DVD by Mark Allen and Paul Harris
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
The effects are great here, the methods diabolical and simple, and the presentations just plain weird. This is "moment of astonishment" stuff that carries the Paul Harris signature "strangeness" and that's never a bad thing.

Practicality: 10
Set-up is easy, as is the reset. Angles are, surprisingly, not that big of an issue at all. You'll need to carry the stuff with you, of course, but the pocket real estate is tiny. This is a very practical bit of business.

Quality of Production: 10
The productions values are great here. I'm giving bonus points for someone (finally!) equalizing the sound. In all seriousness, the audio and the video are excellently done, and the idea of using captions to highlight points throughout is wonderful.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Joe Russell does an impeccable job teaching every single aspect of these routines, from building the gimmicks to the handling and everything in between. Big round of applause for Russell.

Presentation: 10
It's all about that eye-popping, jaw-dropping, brain-freezing moment, and "UV Nightshades" has that in spades.

Shane

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