"Pure" DVD by Peter Eggink
Suggested Retail USD$35.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

"Pure", the latest DVD by Peter Eggink, may not be the most original, most creative collection out there, but what it lacks it makes up for with some interesting thinking if you're up for a bit of magical spelunking.

With the ad copy build-up, I was really expecting something powerful here. Eggink is "one of the most devious minds in magic today", according to the back of the case, and is a "[creator] of some of the most amazing magical effects". Unfortunately, that deviousness, those amazing magical effects, just aren't that apparent at first blush.

Take "Nothing", the first effect, as an example. It begins with the performer draping an handkerchief over his hand and, with the other hand, picking up little pieces of invisible and putting them in the handkerchief. The hand holding the handkerchief closes and, when opened, sitting there is a coin. The coin is put back onto the handkerchief and it vanishes. Next, from underneath the handkerchief is produced a wine glass that was previously sitting on the table and, just as quickly, the performer's shoe is produced as well. Finally, a jumbo coin comes out of nowhere to complete the set.

Watching this, it's so easy to dismiss. There's just nothing new or exciting there. The steals are things that have been covered elsewhere, as are the productions of said things. But dig deeper and you'll find a certain elegance to the coin production, with some nice subtleties thrown in for good measure. Watch it again and you'll find those steals well timed and well executed with a huge dose of Schulien-like playfulness. At that point, you begin to take something away from Eggink's routine, something you may use.

The whole disc is like that. On the surface, nothing spectacular; drill down a little bit and you strike oil.

"Ambitious Card" is Eggink's, well, you can figure it out from the title. Anyway, rather than concentrate on the old theme of the card returning to the top of the deck, the signed card in Eggink's routine goes just about everywhere. It transposes with another card a couple of times, then vanishes once or twice... you get the idea. It's an okay sort of routine at first glance. Look closer, though, and you'll see Eggink upping the playfulness factor again with the card repeatedly being put into the deck and appearing in his mouth... twice. That mini-running gag, an ode to misdirection, makes this routine just plain entertaining.

"Watch up?" is another thing that, in the beginning, looks like just another sponge ball routine and the urge to skip by this one was huge. But watch it I did and I found myself loving the watch steal Eggink built into this. What in the world does a watch have to do with a spongeball routine? Not much. Illogical? Yep. Gasp inducing? You bet. Fun? Definitely. And so's the production of the two penlight batteries from the watch.

"In the Pocket" is a repeat signed-card-to-pocket routine with a full-deck kicker. Yes, this has been done before, but Eggink's handling here is stellar stuff -- his work on the offbeat is intriguing to say the least. When it comes time for the climax, the production of the deck from the pocket looks gorgeous. This is a fine piece of work.

"After bend" was the least impressive thing on the disc for me but the idea is a good one. In this one, a spoon bends courtesy of "mental powers" (well, the mental powers of Osterlind and Banachek, I think), is straightened, and then as it is being put back down on the table quickly bends again. Again, an interesting idea deserving further exploration, but the execution here left me cold.

"Pure" is weird and I frankly didn't get it from watching the performance video; I had to watch the explanation to get the gist of things. In this one, the performer motions toward a glass on the table and states that later he'll put a prediction under the glass. A deck of cards is shown and the spectator picks a card. The card is slid next to the glass, under which now sits a card. This mysteriously-appearing prediction is turned over and matches the chosen card. The deck is now turned over and seen to be all Jokers with the exception of the chosen card. It's not as confusing as it sounds -- and the whole "card under glass" thing here is devilish -- and that's the big idea here and worth looking at.

Finally, there's a bonus effect: "The Endeavour." Now this is Eggink at his best, start to finish. In this one, a selected card is placed face down, outjogged from the deck about halfway. With no cover, just a slight rub, the card visually travels up through the deck. Finally, the card on top of the deck is turned over and it is, of course, the signed card. This is as pretty as it is fiendish. No gimmicks, no gaffs, no set-up, no reset, no nothin' except Eggink thinking outside the box.

So that's what you're looking at with "Pure". Personally, I was hugely disappointed with the material here until I started digging through it, catching the small things here, the bigger idea there, and then I saw the value of the material. I cannot say it's one of the best DVDs out there but for the worker looking for new ideas or the dedicated hobbyist in search of something different, "Pure" is a very good collection that is quite interesting.

"Pure" DVD by Peter Eggink
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Material: 7
Some of the material seems way too pedestrian to mess with -- on the surface there's little new here -- but diving below the surface reveals some touches that are quite interesting and, in the end, make the DVD worthwhile.

Practicality: 10
Keeping to the theme, there are no gimmicks in play with this material, set-ups and resets (where they exist) are minor things. A couple of the routines have some angle issues but they can be dealt with easily enough. All in all, as long as you've got the necessary props -- coins, cards, sponge balls, etc -- you're ready to go.

Quality of Production: 2
Oh, man, is this a rough production. It's to be expected in the performance section (where, strangely, spectators shot the action), but the explanation section is filled to the brim with problems: "shaky cam", blanching, sound drops... it's all here and it will impact your learning as you go.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Eggink does a very good job of teaching his material, covering the work in detail as he goes.

Presentation: 10
Eggink's work goes all over the place on this disc, from illogical shocks to suspenseful climaxes. All of the work, though, is about one thing: having fun. Eggink's material has him looking like he's having a blast, it allows the spectators to have fun, too, and it's all done beautifully.

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.