Price$150.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up, Comedy
Date AddedJan 16, 2014
Ridiculous
Williamson, David
Essential Magic Collection
(Based on 2 reviews)
An award-winning performer, amazing sleight of hand artist and superb entertainer. His unique style helped change the way we perform magic. And now he shares the routines that built a career, won praise from fellow performers and the applause of the audience. All gathered together in a 4 DVD boxed set.
DISC 1 - PROFESSIONAL SHOW
Shot in Lisbon the live show features classic Williamson routines: The Needle Trick, Ring and Rope, Torn & Restored Card, Card in Mouth, Rocky Raccoon, Aunt Mary's Terrible Secret, Funner Color Stunner and the Cups and Balls. All explained in full detail together with advice on performance that turns tricks into theatre.
DISC 2 - CARD WORK
David Williamson is renowned as one of the world's finest sleight of hand artists. Here he explains some of his favourite card routines: He Who Spelt It Dealt It, Roger Smith's Texas Trick, Terry Hampton's Sleeve Aces, Fortes' Springing the Aces, Cocktail Dazzler, Interlace Swindle, Liar's Poker and many more. First class magic from a true card artist.
DISC 3 - NON CARD WORK
More classic close up effects with the Williamson treatment. Gypsy Thread, Wishing Well, Floating Matrix, Chick a Chink, Coin in Bottle, Pencil Through Coin, Spoon Bending, Saline Solution and more. Every trick performed and explained together with the latest tips and touches.
DISC 4 - MOVES & CONFESSIONS
This is a master class in card handling. The sleights and moves that form the backbone of David's card magic. Learn them well and you'll have an armoury of sleights at your disposal. The Change, Pass Palm, Classic Force, Second Deal, Bottom Deal, Double Lift, Diagonal Palm Shift, False Shuffles, Holding Out, Pinky Count and Palming.
Also featured on this disc Confessions. David Williamson reveals the real secrets of magic, what it means to be a magician and how to be the very best magician you can.
The DVDs include an extensive interview with David Williamson about his life, his magic and his career as a performer. Plus more Extras: The Striking Vanish and Vanishing Knife.
Ridiculous is an English language production. Four DVD Box Set. Subtitled in 4 languages. English, Spanish, French and Japanese. Total Running Time: 10 Hours. Shot in HD in Portugal by Luis de Matos Productions.
WHAT THE GREATEST ARE SAYING...
BILL MALONE
"David Williamson is a hilarious, entertaining and one-of-a-kind performer! Not only my favorite magician to watch but his ideas, teaching abilities and skill level are just as amazing! An investment in magic you can't afford to pass up!"
TOM MULLICA
"I think it's RIDICULOUS that this material is available for the fraternity. It's RIDICULOUS how talented David is, it's also RIDICULOUS that he's willing to share this treasure of material with his friends in magic. David Williamson is very serious with his comedy and we all love him for his dedication to the art.
2. Where are the Duke Sterns, Karrell Foxes and Jay Marshalls of today... they all live in the fertile creative mind of David Williamson. I am so proud to have him as a friend, especially knowing I influenced his 'style' of entertainment. We all benefit from the genius of David's talent. Don't miss out on this truly extraordinary gift of sharing.
3. All great comedy magicians are true artists...they have studied for years to find out what works and why. While you're laughing and being entertained by someone 'special' like Dave Williamson, you are being fooled as much as a lay person. What a treat to have David Williamson as one of us.
4. David Williamson is a humble guy, he does what he does because it makes him happy. He doesn't care about being famous, he just wants you to be part of his world of laughter. If he wasn't a magician, he'd be a jazz musician because he can jam with the best. RIDICULOUS is exactly how he works but LIKE ABILITY is why he's so successful!
5. David Williamson SUCKS!"
DEREK DELGAUDIO
"David Williamson is an utter failure. He has spent his entire life trying to convince others that he's not a genius. He's not fooling anyone."
Reviews
(Top ▲)
My wife has a crush on David Williamson. I suppose I have something of a man-crush on him, too.
If you've never spent time with David at a magic convention, go do it. Forget the lineup, the lectures and the shows. Just go to be part of the insanity that David creates.
Enough about the man, let's talk about this DVD set put out by Louis De Matos and EMC.
As with all of the EMC sets I've seen, the first DVD contains a full show. In it, you get to see how David works with real people... a lesson in itself. There's no question that David has settled down a bit with the passing years. While he's not as over-the-top crazy, there is now a maturity and additional depth to his work. This is great news for magicians wanting to learn from him.
What I particularly love about the material is how minimal the props are compared to how large the pieces play. Like most great performers, David is relying more on his personality than on the individual tricks.
But don't be fooled into thinking that David is taking the easy way out. As you'll find on the other DVDs, his technique, particularly with cards, is first-class. In fact, the fourth DVD in the set is primarily devote to in-depth studies of basic moves we all use (double lift, top change, forces, palms, shuffles, etc.). Any student of close-up magic is going to learn a lot from David's technique.
I think my favorite part of the DVDs are the interview and "Confession" segments. Not only do we learn about David and his history, this is where the real life lessons will be found. Don't skip over them thinking that they're just filler. Quite the contrary.
Without question, these DVDs capture the essence of one of the most entertaining performers of our time.
If you've never spent time with David at a magic convention, go do it. Forget the lineup, the lectures and the shows. Just go to be part of the insanity that David creates.
Enough about the man, let's talk about this DVD set put out by Louis De Matos and EMC.
As with all of the EMC sets I've seen, the first DVD contains a full show. In it, you get to see how David works with real people... a lesson in itself. There's no question that David has settled down a bit with the passing years. While he's not as over-the-top crazy, there is now a maturity and additional depth to his work. This is great news for magicians wanting to learn from him.
What I particularly love about the material is how minimal the props are compared to how large the pieces play. Like most great performers, David is relying more on his personality than on the individual tricks.
But don't be fooled into thinking that David is taking the easy way out. As you'll find on the other DVDs, his technique, particularly with cards, is first-class. In fact, the fourth DVD in the set is primarily devote to in-depth studies of basic moves we all use (double lift, top change, forces, palms, shuffles, etc.). Any student of close-up magic is going to learn a lot from David's technique.
I think my favorite part of the DVDs are the interview and "Confession" segments. Not only do we learn about David and his history, this is where the real life lessons will be found. Don't skip over them thinking that they're just filler. Quite the contrary.
Without question, these DVDs capture the essence of one of the most entertaining performers of our time.
(Top ▲)
Review of David Williamson's Ridiculous
4 DVDs, 10 hours, David Williamson and $150 bucks . . . whew, what a journey! Let's get the easy/short stuff out of the way first.
Ad Copy Integrity
Yep
Product Quality
Dang ol' . . . dadgum . . . yep
What You Get
What do you get? You get David Williamson . . .
You get 4 DVDs . . . 10 hours of David Williamson. Let's cover some general details about the entire project. Keep in mind that WIlliamson is a veteran performer, and has been performing 30 or so (maybe it was 40) years. What you get overall on this set is real world experience and hard won knowledge that can only come from living in the trenches. You get this wisdom in the form of live performances, studio performances, interviews, pointers, lectures, stories, and in depth explanations of effects from his various repertoires over the years.
I think that by the end of this DVD set, anything you ever wanted to know about Williamson, his career, his methods, his thinking, etc. will be answered. You'll have no questions left. Many of us in today's world are only familiar with his zany crazy performance style. What a lot of the young folk don't know about him is that he is one of the best sleight of hand magicians of our time. His techniques and nuances and handlings are nearly flawless. You'll see this throughout the entire DVD set.
The material is nicely organized across four DVDs. The first is his live professional show. Second is all card magic; third is all non-card magic and fourth you get his take, tips and training on a variety of card moves along with an eight part "confessions" session where he shares much of his life's work, successes, stories, failures, experiences, etc., etc. One thing that really stands out across every segment is how "fooling" his magic is. I can't tell you how many times I thought, "How is that possible?"
He uses techniques that we all know, but he just knows when, how, why and where to use them. He is truly a sleight of hand expert in every sense of the word. There were so many tips and pointers on how to execute a particular routine, move, effect, etc. that it was almost overwhelming - the good kind of overwhelming.
Also each DVD has a few extra bonuses including footage from the EMC 2012 conference along with a four part interview with Luis De Matos - each DVD contains one part of the four parts. I kind of feel like this review is supposed to reflect the DVD set in length (i.e, a 10 hour DVD set deserves a 10 page review), but there's not a ton to say. Let me just offer you a few (of the many, many, many, many . . . ad infinitum) stand out points.
Disk 1 - Professional Show
Here you'll see live performances of several classics. Frankly, not all of them impressed me, and the intent (I think) of this DVD was to learn by watching a pro in action in his real environment. It was a bit hard to watch because the audience seemed to be non-English speaking and so there seemed to be some communication barriers. This caused some of the material fell a little flat. I think with an American audience it might have played a bit differently. On the plus side, you see his work on the classic "needle trick" (i.e., swallow some needles and swallow some thread . . . then "regurgitate" the thread with the needles all threaded on). Though the presentation of this was a bit hectic and even a little gross, the magic of it was . . . well . . . magical. It just seemed impossible. You really believe that he swallowed the needles.
His Torn and Restored card is another one that clearly has benefited from years and years and years of experience. There was so much stuff in this routine that just seemed impossible, yet it was all stuff that we all know about. He just knows how to put the stuff together. It's truly amazing.
There's certainly more on this disk, but those were the two stand-outs for me.
Disk 2 - Card Work
Williamson's card work is incredible. Forget the plots and presentations for a moment. Just concentrating on his near flawless technique is astonishing in and of itself. His style of magic is so casual and "sloppy" (think: Lennart Green, but not as chaotic and crazy). There are some nice showpieces on here that have clever presentational angles as well as sneaky and baffling methods. If you're a card guy/gal, you'll be very happy with this DVD.
Disk 3 - Non Card Work
Williamson's sleight of hand skills really shine on this DVD. His coin work is incredible. His work on the Gypsy Thread is fun. He has a couple of added ideas beyond the standard presentation and method. His Whirly Bird Silk Vanish is excellent and extremely deceptive. Just about every effect on this DVD really showcases his incredible sleight of hand skill. The psychology and handling of his Coin in Bottle was a huge highlight for me on this disk.
Disk 4 - Moves & Confessions
I think this was my favorite of the four. Beyond the section on moves, were the confessions. You really get to know David. You get to "meet" him, and it's almost as if you're there picking his brain about magic. It's incredible. Plus at the end you get a bonus section on his Striking Vanish that is full of tons of beautiful moments of magic that I'll be you never thought of using his Striking Vanish to accomplish.
Regarding the section on moves, you get his take on the classics and more (e.g., Top Change, Palming Cards, Classic Force, Slip Force, Second and Bottom Deals, Pinking Count, Holding Out, Double Lift, Ernase's Diagonal Palm Shift, and so much more). His tips and pointers, etc. are extremely valuable. He does every single one of these moves (and the many more covered) so deceptively and so naturally that it's hard to believe he's doing any slieght of hand at all. This section is invaluable to the card worker.
Final Thoughts
My favorite parts of the whole set were definitely the behind the scenes stuff: the interviews, the "confessions", anecdotes, EMC footage, etc. These 10 hours were the equivalent of being one on one in the presence of a true master of sleight of hand and being allowed to ask him anything about anything. There is so much amazing and powerful and extremely valuable information on this DVD set that I must recommend it. This is the kind of thing that you will come back to time and time again. This is his life's work, and you're encyclopedia of sleight of hand knowledge.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!