The Dance: The Tumbling Muscle Click Pass
Platt, Brian
Platt Magic, LLC
Tumbling Muscle Click Pass
Picking up on the work of masters Shoot Ogawa and Akira Fuji, Brian has added a retention of vision element to the basic muscle click pass, creating a devastatingly convincing illusion. You'll learn how to perform this with half dollars, Morgan dollars, quarters, or even borrowed rings and keys. As a bonus, you'll learn how to pass up to three coins at once, making for an instant three coins across.
Casual ROV Muscle Click Pass
A variation of the Tumbling Muscle Click Pass that employs retention of vision with a more casual tossing motion.
Flash Transfer/Shooter Split
This technique combines principles from Arthur Buckley, Shoot Ogawa and Dan Sylvester to create an absolutely invisible coin transfer- even under intense scrutiny and with less than ideal angles. Both magicians and normal people will not see this one coming.
Tenkai Pennies (Goshman Pinch/Pointing Transfer)
Brian shares his personal touches on a classic of coin magic.
The Basic Muscle Pass
With a full understanding of how frustrating it can be to learn this basic move, Brian explains in great detail what got him over the hump and what will get you there too. If you're serious about coin magic, learning this sleight is an absolute must. No excuses, you can do it!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
This is not the best source for beginners for the learning of the muscle pass, although it can be learned sufficiently enough from this DVD. I would recommend the muscle pass DVD from Shoot Ogawa - probably one of the best available for all levels of skill, if not the best.
What I really liked was the fact that he was not only teaching his handling of the utility (which is quite reminiscent of Jet Coins by Akira Fuji, as noted by Mr. Platt on the DVD), but he also teaches you a couple of effects in which to use it. He also gives you a special tip that makes it easier to understand how to better execute the mechanics of this utility.
The muscle pass is not something you will attain overnight but if you practice regularly you will eventually get the hang of it. Furthermore, the particular handling taught on this DVD will require further practice to get the timing of the actions down perfectly - which may be harder for some people than the muscle pass itself. The mechanics are not hard but it relies on the correct timing.
In my opinion the instructions are clear and everything is explained well, although the video itself is not studio quality and the sound is very clear.
Whatever your skill level, everyone from the beginner to the advanced performer will gain useful information from this DVD and if you are a beginner, I would recommend also getting the Shoot Ogawa DVD.
(Top ▲)
This short but sweet DVD teaches a wonderfully beautiful and convincing move that is a combination of some pretty well known techniques, but the combination makes this really special. The move has to be seen to be appreciated.
There are several variations of the move that are also taught, and at the end, all the sequences we have learned are put together into a routine called “The Dance” where two coins travel from hand to hand in VERY convincing ways.
The production quality is good. Not over the top great, but competently and clearly done. Also, we are never given a clear introduction to our instructor, but none of these tiny issues keep you from learning this beautiful move and routine.
If you do coin magic, this is a no brainer. You’ll have a blast practicing and performing this simple, beautiful routine!
Four Stars!
(Top ▲)
We've all done it . . . we go through those phases. We get the magic bug; we lose the magic bug; we get the performance bug; we lose the performance bug . . . These Days (thank you Bon Jovi) my bug is all about creating a new close up show that uses no playing cards. I've been looking for some stuff . . . This DVD has some of that stuff. I'm really tempted now, to put the effort into learning the muscle pass. I'm not entirely sure that this is the best resource for learning it. However, it's one of the best for how to apply it.
If you already do the muscle pass . . . BAM, get this DVD . . . no brainer. You'll be taking your coin magic in a beautiful new direction. You will learn one little tip (The Fonzy Move) that will help you with your muscle pass. Just watch the trailer . . . the effects are very clean. This is one of the most magical looking methods for coins across. The weird thing is that even from the exposed angles, it still looks freaky weird and cool.
The bottom line is that if you want to do some powerful coin magic (i.e., clearly have 1 or 2 or 3 coins in one hand, then BAM they're in the other hand), this is tough to beat. If you can classic palm, then you're way ahead of the game. If you can muscle pass, you're even that much further ahead. Yet, if you can do neither, you can still get this down with some heavy duty practice. The timing on this is where you'll need to practice the most, but after watching the DVD trailer, you'll have to admit that it looks pretty dang magical.
I do have one criticism (won't really impact the review) that I feel is important to bring up for the viewers. It's centered around this idea: imagine doing the Dai Vernon wand spin/vanish. The moment you've secretly stolen the ball out of the hand (under the cover of the wand spin), don't open your hand . . . too many magicians are so excited that they made the steal that they open their hands right after the steal. This totally destroys the illusion.
If you're not as familiar with this, then think of the french drop. I've seen many a newbie grab (apparently) the coin, and instantly open their hand to show it empty (i.e., the coin "vanished"). The problem is that they open their hand so quickly that it was never really closed . . . they never really sold the illusion that they actually grabbed the coin.
Brian Platt does this a fair bit. The magic move is so fresh and exciting that as soon as he does the move, he opens his hand to show that it happened. In performance, this is a bad idea. You need to take a moment to sell the condition of things (i.e., which coin is in which hand). So . . . breathe. Take a moment before the big reveal . . . otherwise there is nothing to reveal.
Again, I'm not criticizing Platt per se. I'm just pointing this out to you so that you don't make the same mistake.
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.