"Omega Mutation" DVD set by Cameron Francis
Suggested Retail USD$99.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Omega Mutation", a three-disc DVD set by Cameron Francis, is a collection of routines that at times is wickedly good, at other times strikingly innovative, and, on the whole, an excellent gathering of some surprising, almost shocking, magic.

I'll spare you the details about Cameron Francis. Let's just say the guy is good, very good, when it comes to creating magic and leave it at that. Likewise, I'll spare you what the majority of the ad copy for this one pushes: a synopsis of a "movie-like" story for these discs that makes "Zombie Lake" look like "Citizen Kane".

Once you see Francis at work, the latter won't matter much at all to you and the former will be a proven point of fact.

So let's get right to the material, which is something else. These discs are fairly packed. We're talking over four-and-a-half hours of material, a total of some twenty-seven different effects. It's mostly cards (there are a couple of side-jaunts into bills, and a business card effect) and most are combinations of established routines or alternate handlings for the classics. But, rather than rehashes that bring little or nothing to the table, Francis' experiments all end up being "similar but different" and in those differences is some of the best thinking.

Take "Back in 10" as an example. Here's an old principle, combined with another old principle, but made different. In this one, a spectator signs a blank business card and it's placed aside. Three coins are placed on the table and one chosen. At this point, most folks would go the usual route and have the prediction suddenly appear on that signed business card. Not Francis. He's different. In his routine, the chosen coin vanishes only to re-appear taped to the signed card. Earth-shattering? Maybe not. But creative as all get-out and open to a few different flavors if you decide to play a bit on your own.

"Signed and Assembled" is another one that is just different enough. A single Joker is shown and placed in the card case. Three cards are selected, signed, and placed in a row on the table. About a third of the deck is dropped on each card. A magical gesture later and the piles are turned over showing the selected cards have vanished. The card case is opened and, along with the Joker, are the three selected cards. Here, Francis' difference is in a clever routining and the use of the simplest sleights. He also got rid of one of the oldest dodges in the art; the four cards really are in the card case and the case doesn't come near the deck (you know what I'm talking about).

"Cheque This" is one of those combinations I told you about where Francis truly hits his stride. A bill is borrowed and changes into a personal check made out for one dollar. The check is laid aside and a card chosen from a deck. The check is then examined and seen to have, on the memo line, the name of the chosen card. Quick, cute, oh-so-easy (after you learn the bill switch from Francis) yet different enough to have a strong impact.

While we're on the subject of bills and the switching there of, "International Cards of Mystery" uses that combo again and very well. A US bill is removed and a prediction written on it. A small packet of cards is shown to have the names of different cities of the world written on the back of each card (London, Madrid, Paris, New York, etc.). All the cards are eliminated by the spectator but one. The prediction on the bill is seen to be correct (of course). The US bill then changes to money that can be spent in the city named. This is a strong piece that is so unexpected with the real climax of things that it drops jaws. Again, easy but oh-so-surprising.

"Yours and Yours" is a perfect example of the "similar but different" thing I was talking about. Sure, there are a ton of effects where one chosen card changes to another, but in the Francis routine it becomes at first cute and then strong. It begins with the performer writing the words "Yours and Yours" on a piece of paper. Two cards are chosen and lost in the deck. The piece of paper is slammed down hard onto the deck, opened, and the paper is now blank: the words have vanished. The deck is spread and it's shown that the words are now on the first selection ("Yours") and then changes to the second selection ("...and Yours"). This is good, fun, quality stuff that knocks 'em for a loop (even though it's probably one of the easiest, mechanically speaking, effects on in the set).

By now, you pretty much get what I'm saying here. Francis' magic is different enough, with enough combinations, that it makes for unexpected, unique spectator experiences. That's huge for folks that do this kind of thing for a living and great material to learn from for those looking for something that ain't all that typical. Now, add to that the ease of doing some of these things -- the simple sleights, the easy set-ups, the quick resets, the reusable gaffs -- and we're now talking about some killer stuff that will be used.

The only word of caution here is in the nature of any such large collection. Don't go into this thinking you're going to like everything, or even do everything as Francis does it. Beyond personal likes and dislikes, there are some routines where the combination of things doesn't work as well as the original, single effect version, and a couple of times Francis' routining is a bit convoluted and will be hard to follow by some spectators (especially after a beer or two). The handful of routines I mentioned above, while excellent, have already been altered to fit by yours truly because, while the idea was excellent, the execution didn't quite fit my style and one sleight or the other has been replaced or the theme changed completely. I say this not to denigrate Francis or his work -- I wholeheartedly love this set -- but rather to remind some of our number than not everything has to be, or arguably should be, perfect for a collection of this size to be worth every single red cent.

And in the end, "Omega Mutation" is. For workers, it'll end up being cheap at twice the price. For those coming up in the ranks, they can learn a great deal from Francis' collection, both in terms of effect and routining. This is one I recommend highly.

"Omega Mutation" DVD set by Cameron Francis
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Material: 9
Most of the material is card work, with some bill work thrown in for good measure. As can be expected from such a large collection, quality varies but even the least common denominator here is very good. All in all, there's some impressive material here, along with equally impressive thinking.

Practicality: 9
Francis kept much of this for workers, with small set-ups, easy resets, and an eye to addressing all those things that matter. When the biggest issue facing the performer is table space, it can be said Francis has done his job well.

Quality of Production: 10
Big Blind Media has a well-deserved reputation for high production values; here they live up to it yet again.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Francis (and BBM perpetual sidekick Owen Parker) teach these routines extremely well and entertainingly. You'll learn the routines and all the ins-and-outs of them and probably have a few chuckles along the way. Huge bonus points here for all the crediting done by Francis -- it's as thorough at times as his instruction.

Presentation: 9
Francis' magic goes all over the place, from the strikingly visual to the just plain weird. While verbally they are usually quite narrative, it's the unusual quality and shock value of these that make them work so well.

Shane

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