Before I received this DVD, I didn’t know Brent Braun from a tube of toothpaste, but having just finished watching him for nearly two hours, I feel confident that I would now be able to make that distinction instantly. Referred to in the ad copy as a “video notebook,” Decks, Lies and Videotape has a home-made, cobbled-together feel that does nothing to detract from the five routines and four sleights presented here. There are no new plots, but there is some progressive methodology, including an ingenious subtlety (a.k.a. “throw-off”) for Vernon’s Illusion of Depth (a.k.a. Tilt) that many would consider an upgrade; an application for Marlo’s Eidetic Change that converts the visual change into a covert (face-up) switch, at the same time eliminating the need for lapping; and a Bluff Swivel Cut that looks exactly like you’re burying a chosen card in the middle of the deck when in fact you’re positioning it second from the top (a useful alternative to Tilt during an Ambitious Card routine, for example). Despite repeated viewings, I couldn’t dope out the work on any of these from their respective performances - I had to go to the explanations to find out how they were done.

In addition, of the five tricks presented here (all of which are very good), I particularly liked “Kickback Transpo,” a two-card transposition wherein one of the cards remains face up during the exchange, while the other is face down in a spectator’s hands, and the magician is touching neither at the moment of magic; and “Torched and Restored,” a professional, stage-friendly torn-and-restored card routine that combines both classic and contemporary thinking on the plot. The restoration is not executed piece by piece, but rather occurs suddenly and visually (à la Ben Harris’s “Hoodwink”), and the handling has clearly evolved as a result (and in the service) of real-world performances.

There is some benchmark work on Decks, Lies and Videotape - techniques that may even become, if not standards, at least commonly employed. If you like to stay ahead of the curve on these things, you should consider buying this DVD.

David Acer