"At The Table" DVD by Tomas Medina
Suggested Retail USD$15.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 4 Out of 10

"At the Table", the latest DVD by Tomas Medina, in a collection of impromptu effects that are, by and large, too old and too bare to be of any real interest to those who have moved beyond books for beginners.

That's not a bad thing, mind you, but a DVD obviously marketed to those who are not beginners needs something more than re-treads from the back of Tannen magic catalogs and books whose titles all sound suspiciously like "You Too Can Do Magic". Unfortunately, with "At the Table", that's pretty much all you get.

Sorry, folks, but this is one time I'm not going to dive into each individual routine. They're all well-known enough you know 'em, even if you don't know them by the title Medina's given them. There's the bottle production from your coat -- you know the one: you take off your jacket and pull a bottle from it after showing it empty of such things. There's the thing where you can interlock your hands and straighten your arms, but the spectator can't -- you know, the old thing Copperfield did once. There's the "coin under watch" bit, you know the one where...

Okay, so now you get what I'm saying here. Medina even included the old "jumping toothpick" bit, where one toothpick is rubbed on the sleeve and "static electricity" makes another toothpick fly away from it.

This is just old stuff. Period.

And Medina doesn't bring anything new to the table here (sorry). No new thoughts, no new presentations, no nothing. These are simply the old bits regurgitated for performers that, apparently, may not know these old things. If they don't, though, they're better off picking up an "Idiot's Guide" or Mark Wilson's course, or, well, pretty much any beginner book.

The saving grace for "At the Table" -- and it's the only saving grace -- is that much of this truly is impromptu or near enough. Work-wise, the material is perfect for restaurants and bars when you're out and about. And I'd be the last one to say that these pieces are too ancient to be effective; with the right presentation and a little more thought, they can be strong pieces for those moments when you're asked to do something but are at a loss with your usual pieces.

Honestly, though, if that happens to you, you're honestly, completely stuck for something to do when asked on the spur of the moment, check out a beginner's book instead. You'll likely end up with a lot more material than the twelve pieces on this disc.

And if you're like me, and find your big problem in such situations is deciding what on earth you're going to do out of all the things you've got flying around your brain, leave "At the Table" alone. You'll be disappointed with what you get.

"At the Table" DVD by Tomas Medina
In a Blink: 4 Out of 10

Material: 3
Old material, sometimes ancient material, that's at times good but generally so well known among magic that this rates as a beginner disc, except it's marketed to those looking for "impromptu"... something beginners don't take into consideration. By and large, this is a satisfactory collection of material, just with too little new to recommend it.

Practicality: 9
A couple of the routines do require a little set-up, but it's usually so minor it's easy to think of it as impromptu. Medina did the work here in assembling routines that can be done pretty much on a moment's notice.

Quality of Production: 3
Generally, the production values are okay -- nothing to fuss about, nothing to rave about -- but some things are just plain annoying, like the comic "thought bubbles" that show up time and again, or the mistakes in editing.

Quality of Instruction: 5
Medina does a good job of teaching the material. A little more time spent on a couple of pieces would have been nice, though; overall, Medina's instruction seemed to be rushed here.

Presentation: 1
Other than being "impromptu", there's little going on here. Medina performs everything without any real work or thought given to things than the mechanics, so all the effects feel aged and dry.


Shane

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