I love the At The Table lectures that have been going on recently. They are fun, energetic and you always get something out of them. The DVD set consists of five lectures (Michael Ammar, Daniel Garcia, Jason England, John Amstrong and Alex Pandrea). These were the first five lectures in At The Table history. The set is beautifully constructed and holds all 5 discs ready to go.
The first lecture was from Michael Ammar. This lecture was hosted by Joshua Jay and was the best of the set. Ammar taught a great variety of new material as well as some old classics. He also broke down and explained his performance on Letterman. Some highlights from this lecture were his silk through coffee mug effect, his crazy man's handcuffs routine and his theory. He also performed a variation on the Pencil Through Coin which looked insane, yet he didn't teach it as he believed it wasn't ready to be released yet. There was some great theory within this lecture which I really enjoyed. His Crazy Man's Handcuffs routine is so good and has a really nice "in the spectator's hands" variation. There was so much great material on this lecture. Easily the best lecture in the set.
Next was Daniel Garcia. I was a little disappointed by this lecture, yet it was still really good. The one issue with this lecture was there was a lot of performance only magic. I wouldn't mind one or two of these but there was 4-5 of them. However there was some great material taught. I especially loved Timeline 2.0 (previously taught on Symphony and the Daniel Garcia Project Volume 4). I also loved a routine in which Garcia turns a dollar bill into an origami money ring. Garcia also performed a new presentation for Pressure (which I am already using because it really strengthens the effect), however this wasn't taught. I loved the segment in which Garcia spoke about working in TV magic and he had some great stories. Decent lecture yet I felt it was slightly lacking.
Jason England was the third lecture. I loved this one. Jason taught magic and gambling routines. Jason taught Triumph in it's original format, his take and the version that Vernon performed (that was never taught). He also went over classics like Twisting the Aces. Jason also taught some gambling routines utilising difficult gambling techniques. This lecture was great and I got a lot out of it. Jason had some great tips for classic effects and he has a very laid back style of teaching and he covers everything perfectly. I loved this lecture.
Jon Armstrong was fourth. This lecture was good and was broken into two parts - close up and stage magic. His close up work was great. He had a great new phase for crazy man's handcuffs and he gave a few new variations for his tiny plunger prop. Some stand outs from this lecture were his rubber band through neck. This effect was great because when you pull the band through your neck, you get this lovely pop noise which is a great subtlety. I also loved his card under watch and marked deck work. His stand up routine was performed and explained in full detail. Jon was a delight to watch and I got a few great things out of this.
Alex Pandrea was last and probably my favourite (besides Ammar). I confess, I am a move monkey, so this lecture was right up my alley. Alex taught some great routines - his take on Mystery Card was incredible and I am already using it. One section I really loved was "5 Moves in 5 Minutes". Alex taught 5 knacky moves in 5 minutes and I loved this. His TOP move was used throughout the lecture and is a brilliant variation on the turnover pass. Alex also had some great theory on Ambitious Card and gave a great example routine that was different to the standard ambitious routine. Magick Balay's Four Quarters bill switch was also taught (with permission). I really loved this lecture and I got the most out of this lecture than any of the others. Excellent.
Overall - this set is amazing value for money. For $50, you are getting five lectures from five amazing teachers. The DVD set is really nice and looks great. The lectures are very well produced and you can't go wrong with them. I look forward to seeing more of these lectures. This product is great. I highly recommend checking this out! 10/10
Product Information:
http://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=54177
The first lecture was from Michael Ammar. This lecture was hosted by Joshua Jay and was the best of the set. Ammar taught a great variety of new material as well as some old classics. He also broke down and explained his performance on Letterman. Some highlights from this lecture were his silk through coffee mug effect, his crazy man's handcuffs routine and his theory. He also performed a variation on the Pencil Through Coin which looked insane, yet he didn't teach it as he believed it wasn't ready to be released yet. There was some great theory within this lecture which I really enjoyed. His Crazy Man's Handcuffs routine is so good and has a really nice "in the spectator's hands" variation. There was so much great material on this lecture. Easily the best lecture in the set.
Next was Daniel Garcia. I was a little disappointed by this lecture, yet it was still really good. The one issue with this lecture was there was a lot of performance only magic. I wouldn't mind one or two of these but there was 4-5 of them. However there was some great material taught. I especially loved Timeline 2.0 (previously taught on Symphony and the Daniel Garcia Project Volume 4). I also loved a routine in which Garcia turns a dollar bill into an origami money ring. Garcia also performed a new presentation for Pressure (which I am already using because it really strengthens the effect), however this wasn't taught. I loved the segment in which Garcia spoke about working in TV magic and he had some great stories. Decent lecture yet I felt it was slightly lacking.
Jason England was the third lecture. I loved this one. Jason taught magic and gambling routines. Jason taught Triumph in it's original format, his take and the version that Vernon performed (that was never taught). He also went over classics like Twisting the Aces. Jason also taught some gambling routines utilising difficult gambling techniques. This lecture was great and I got a lot out of it. Jason had some great tips for classic effects and he has a very laid back style of teaching and he covers everything perfectly. I loved this lecture.
Jon Armstrong was fourth. This lecture was good and was broken into two parts - close up and stage magic. His close up work was great. He had a great new phase for crazy man's handcuffs and he gave a few new variations for his tiny plunger prop. Some stand outs from this lecture were his rubber band through neck. This effect was great because when you pull the band through your neck, you get this lovely pop noise which is a great subtlety. I also loved his card under watch and marked deck work. His stand up routine was performed and explained in full detail. Jon was a delight to watch and I got a few great things out of this.
Alex Pandrea was last and probably my favourite (besides Ammar). I confess, I am a move monkey, so this lecture was right up my alley. Alex taught some great routines - his take on Mystery Card was incredible and I am already using it. One section I really loved was "5 Moves in 5 Minutes". Alex taught 5 knacky moves in 5 minutes and I loved this. His TOP move was used throughout the lecture and is a brilliant variation on the turnover pass. Alex also had some great theory on Ambitious Card and gave a great example routine that was different to the standard ambitious routine. Magick Balay's Four Quarters bill switch was also taught (with permission). I really loved this lecture and I got the most out of this lecture than any of the others. Excellent.
Overall - this set is amazing value for money. For $50, you are getting five lectures from five amazing teachers. The DVD set is really nice and looks great. The lectures are very well produced and you can't go wrong with them. I look forward to seeing more of these lectures. This product is great. I highly recommend checking this out! 10/10
Product Information:
http://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=54177