It’s tough to capture the energy of a magic convention on a DVD, but in January of 2007, the folks at Alakazam Magic UK brought their camera(s?) to The Session and gave it a shot. Many talented magicians were there (some booked, others just hanging out), and more than a dozen of them contributed tricks and sleights to this project. That means there’s an unusually high quantity of magic on this DVD, interspersed with hotel-lobby performance segments (including strong presentations by Marc Oberon and James Brown) and closed-room interview segments (with Wayne Houchin, Andi Gladwin and Rob James). But despite the presence of some of magic’s more innovative “new” names (the heart and soul of this convention), I found the DVD as a whole plays flat, and, due to either the directing or editing (or both), it never really manages to exude even a fraction of the excitement one might experience actually being at this kind of event. The fact that many of the performers were taped sitting alone, or beside a single assisting spectator (often another magician) in a small room, performing their contributions without the benefit of a real audience, doesn’t help. In addition, there are no establishing or ambient shots of the convention (which by all accounts was excellent), so you never get any “buzz.”

As for the material, despite the claim on the back cover that these magicians present some of their “best routines,” one has the sense that most of them were saving those for their own projects. On the other hand, Allan Ackerman’s “Twisting Maxi Twist” is a great piece of magic, and just the kind of advanced cardwork that conventions like The Session are all about (it should have been the first trick on the DVD, but it was second to last), and Noel Qualter’s “Cut and Restored I-Pod Cable” has potential for anyone interested in a seemingly impromptu “street magic” quickie. However, unlike its closest cousin, the “Cut and Restored Microphone Cable,” Noel’s trick doesn’t incorporate the sound disappearing when the wire is cut, and I think it would enrich the effect considerably if he (or you) could find a way to achieve that. There are also expository flashes during too many of the performance segments (Myles Nazouki’s “Queens Variation,” Rob James’ “Moving Pip,” Jon Armstrong’s “Versatile Sandwich Move,” and Jamie Badman’s “The Flexible Shift,” to name but a few), all of which could have been avoided by better camera angles or remedied by retakes.

I understand that all DVDs of this type are part opportunistic, part educational, and I have no problem with that, but I think, as a result of how The Session 2007 was put together, it feels more like the former than the latter. Even so, if it were $20 or $25, I wouldn’t hesitate to say take a look, but at $50, I suggest you think carefully about what you want from the DVD before buying it.