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Educating Archer

John Archer

(Based on 1 review)
What can I say about John that you don't already know? John is one of the funniest entertainers I have ever seen! His comedy is funny and his magic is strong. What more could you possibly want from a performer?

On this DVD you will learn some of John's favorite routines that have made him one of the busiest magicians in the UK.

If you like good, strong, entertaining and funny presentations accompanied by strong magic and mentalism, you will absolutely love this DVD.

Here are some of the routines performed and explained on this DVD:

John's Tossed Out Deck

This is John's comedy take on a classic plot with one big difference: the deck is completely examined and shuffled by a spectator before the effect! The chosen opener for many mentalists has now got a whole lot better!

Tragic Square

John's opening effect. Under the guise of a record-breaking attempt, John rushes through a magic square at lightning speed (with a lot of humor along the way!) This really gets the crowd going!

Spelling Test (No Book Book-Test)

Wow!!! This is something really special. Comedy mentalism at its best! Your spectator merely thinks of a word (no force of any kind, no pre-show, your spectator never writes anything down or tells anyone the word that they have in their mind). Yet you have predicted in advance which word they will think of! This is a fun-packed routine with one heck of a killer ending!

Komedy Killer

This is John's famous presentation for the Kenton Knepper classic. John's story will have you in stitches. This is the ideal trick to have on you all the time. A 10 min routine you can do anywhere!

Collard

The ultimate comedy presentation for the Koran Medallion. This routine is worth the price of the entire DVD. A lot of the magicians that were present at the filming of this DVD have put this straight into their professional act! (Works well for parlor, cabaret, stage, or kids).

If the above routines are not enough to wet your appetite, this DVD also includes the following gems: Dodeckadeal: a great coincidence effect using a pack of cards; Spoon River: a great comedy spoon bending routine which gets people involved; Stapled: John's fantastic comedy torn and restored card routine; Chinese Choice: a fun-packed routine using 3 spectators and a night out at a Chinese restaurant, and A Clean Ring Vanish: if you need to vanish a ring at any part of your act, then this is the cleanest method you will find!

Disc One Running Time Approximately 1hr 49min
Disc Two Running Time Approximately 2hr 7min

Reviews

Jeff Stone

Official Reviewer

May 01, 2009

A few years ago I decided to branch out the type of venues I perform at. I was, previously, strictly close up strolling. I wanted to break into the stand up scene. A friend of mine, Jim Spinnato, said that although there are a lot of mentalists, there aren’t too many comedy mentalists. He suggested I build a comedy mentalism routine.

He then turned me on to John Archer’s DVD as an example of a killer comedy mentalism act. It’s true. John Archer is an absolute showman, an incredible entertainer, and extremely funny. His act completely inspired me. In fact his Komedy Killer (a modification of it) is now in my stand up act.

There is so much to be learned from this two DVD set (performance on one disk, exp on the other). Even if you are a close up magician, there are a couple of great close up effects as well. He has an incredibly funny torn and restored card effect along with a do as I do close up card effect. Both are excellent.

His take on the Koran Medallion is brilliant. Many of the effects on here are modifications that fit John’s personality. That’s one of the big lessons from this set that you can learn. Take an effect and make it your own. Man if John doesn’t do that, then nobody does! The guy is clearly a thinker and a definite pro.

Seriously, if you are not laughing your butt off while watching this, then you’re dead. Secondly, if you don’t learn something from this DVD that justifies paying double the retail price, then you watched a different DVD than I did. I’ve made enough money performing Komedy Killer to pay for a whole year’s worth of DVD purchases and then some.

There are also some excellent interview pieces and discussions about how he developed some of the routines, how he got gigs, how he evolved as a performer, etc. This DVD is by far one of the best DVDs I've reviewed. Total GEM! Available at your favorite magic dealer. Lost .5 point for some areas of poor lighting and sound.
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