"Surfaced" DVD by Chad Nelson
Suggested Retail USD$40.00
Available direct from dananddave.com
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Surfaced", a DVD by Chad Nelson, teaches a card sleight that is as visually shocking as it is difficult, a finger-flinger's workout that will freeze spectators' brains into concrete masses, and probably is as important a sleight to the card worker as the pass or the palm.

That's not hype: "Surfaced" is as powerful a utility card sleight as you could ever ask for. For those that are familiar with such things, "Surfaced" is a one-handed shift. It's a gorgeous version -- Nelson credits Irv Weiner as his inspiration -- that is economical in movement, very well covered, and downright clever. With "Surfaced", a card can vanish, a card can appear, a card can change into another card. "Surfaced" can also give you a powerful control, allowing you to move the card pretty much anywhere in the deck in a second and, as such, it can be used as a pass or a palm.

To give you an idea of some of things "Surfaced" can accomplish, Nelson has included seven routines using his sleight. While there are certainly a million-and-one things you can do with "Surfaced", these serve as ample brain-fodder and show the utility of the move.

"Freefall" is first up and is one of the most difficult routine on the disc (which is saying something, as we'll discuss later). In this one, a card is freely chosen and placed on top of the deck. With a wave of the deck, the card, still protruding, has magically sunk halfway through the deck. Another wave and the card falls through the deck and into the spectator's hand. Then the card is placed on the bottom of the deck and moves upward, to return onto the top of the deck. This one is simply pretty.

"Rum Jungle" uses "Surfaced" to affect a double-color change. Two cards are chosen and lost in the deck. Another card is removed and held face up. With a shake, this card changes into one of the chosen cards, visibly and while the card is face up. It's given to a spectator who shakes it and it changes into the other selection. This is a quick piece and probably the easiest one on the disc.

"Tricycle" is a neat piece. Three spectators each choose a card and these cards are lost in the pack. Three other cards are removed at random and shown to the spectators, but they are not the chosen cards. These are given to the spectators and, with a snap of the fingers, the cards are turned over and they have changed into the chosen cards.

"Clean Hook" probably is the hardest routine here. A spectator chooses a card, returns it to the deck, and, with a flourish, the card appears from the middle of the deck. The card is put on the deck, the deck put behind the back with one hand, and, when the hand it brought forth again, the three mates of the chosen card are protruding from the deck in an excellent display. This is one that is difficult to do when you can see what you're doing; add the whole "behind the back" thing and it's a workout to say the least.

"Criterion" is a crazy Collectors plot. Four kings are produced using a flourish, then three cards are chosen and shuffled into the deck. One at a time, the Kings visually disappear and, when the deck is spread, the Kings are found face up with the chosen cards between them. This ranks very high on the "wow-factor" scale.

"Fourplay" was one of my favorites. There's a lot going on with this one, but essentially a chosen card turns face up and face down in some startling visual, creative, and plain insane ways. This routine, to me, is the best reason on the disc for learning "Surfaced".

"#@*! Off" is the last effect and it's a slick one. The Aces are lost in the deck and, by waving the deck, the two black Aces suddenly appear face up on the top and bottom of the deck. Another wave and the red Aces show up. Essentially, this is a double color-change and it's beautiful to watch.

Well, that should give you some idea of the things you can pull off, as well as agitate some brain cells. In fact, if you're a card worker, you might even be drooling; shoot, I'll admit I was. I could just picture myself going to town with this one after a month or so of getting this disc into my hot little hands...

I've got to make a suitable confession here. As you're likely aware, I don't review anything unless I take it out for a walk in front of spectators (not strictly true; there's so much garbage out there nowadays that if it's really and truly awful, it stays locked away in my "Too Worthless For Words" file, i.e., the trash, but you know what I mean). Doing so keeps me from thinking too much like a magician and lets me find some treasure there that, perhaps, didn't strike me so well right out of the box.

I have not done the first thing with "Surfaced", nor will I for quite some time. Month or so, I said, right? Make that a year or two.

"Surfaced" is tough. I don't mean as in "faro shuffle" tough, where the hardest part is usually the estimation. I don't mean "pass" tough, with the misdirection to manage. I don't even mean "palm" tough, with hiding things as precisely as possible.

No, "Surfaced" is technically not as demanding as any of those; it's manually tough. You've got to have your fingers primed to do things that they are likely not meant to do, or at least not used to doing. And there's a timing to it that feels unnatural at the beginning, with things operating in opposition to each other at times to pull this one off. Overcome all of that, and you'll have the moves down. Then you'll spend more time getting the speed down so doing this live takes less than a second.

Me? I've had the disc for a couple of weeks and I just got the first move of the "Surfaced" sequence down. One down, a dozen more to go.

And all the work will be worth it in spades.

"Surfaced" is difficult to say the least, but it's such a wonderful tool that can accomplish so much that any labor spent with it is worth the return.

As for that labor, I don't think I've ever seen a magic production where those involved with it so want the viewer to learn the work. Nelson goes into great detail with the instruction, covering not just "Surfaced" but variants of it and other bits and pieces that make it so powerful -- the ad calls this "expert instruction" but that's really an understatement. But DanandDave really went out of their way to make this something that, though daunting, can be learned. From the two-camera shoot covering the best angles to the high-def format, to actually using a clear lucite block so that every finger placement can be seen clearly, to including an instruction book just because, these guys have all gone out of their way to make this something you can do.

With a lot of practice, sure, but it can be done.

And for my money, it should be done. Folks, this is a beautiful piece of work that is as practical as it gets and as versatile as it gets when it comes to card work. I can't say enough about this one.

If you're into card work -- and I mean seriously into it -- and you're looking for something different and powerful, then invest the money and invest the time in "Surfaced". You'll be glad you did.

"Surfaced" DVD by Chad Nelson
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
It's a move designed to slaughter the senses, topped off with some excellent routines to jar the creative cells into action. While one of the most difficult to master sleights in magic, it has the potential to be as required a sleight to the card worker as the pass or the double lift.

Practicality: 10
You need a deck of cards and that's about the only consideration you've got here. Like the pass or the palm, you've got angles to care for and sharp-eyed spectators to manage, but, as with those two sleights, that's part of the package that is dealt with easily.

Quality of Production: 10
This is a Dan-and-Dave production, which means phenomenal camerawork, great sound, and so many little touches that make this as expert a production as you can ask for.

Quality of Instruction: 10
The instruction is, in a word, unbelievable. The moves are extremely well covered, the routines perfectly taught, and some excellent ideas are utilized to make learning this difficult thing as easy as possible.

Presentation: 10
It's a sleight so it's all in what you do with it. But the routines included are beautifully visual and utterly impossible. Rarely is card magic done so well.


Shane