Price$49.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up, Stage
Date AddedFeb 12, 2010
Harlan: Live!
Harlan, Dan
Magic Enhancer
(Based on 2 reviews)
Dan Harlan's first DVD release in over 10 Years!
"Dan Harlan: Live!"
From the creator of wonderful effects such as Card-Toon, Band Shark, and Hover Card, Dan Harlan is proud to release his newest DVD, Harlan: Live. Harlan: Live! was filmed live at Haines' House Of Cards located in Cincinnati, Ohio. All of Dan Harlan's A-Show stand-up material is finally revealed in this brand new, 2 disc DVD. Following Dan's show is an in depth interview with Dan (by Floyd Collins) and you will hear Dan talk about performing, creativity, and staging. Even local magicians have the opportunity to ask their very own questions. Not to be missed!
Disc 1: Dan's Full Stand-Up Show
Two Left Hands- Harlan's audience-pleasing warm up which gets everyone involved in the fun!
Hold It, Buster- The pun-filled, jumbo card monte updated with all the jokes and bits of business
Crazy 8- Harlan's ingenious signed, torn mis-made and restored masterpiece...finally on video
The World's Saddest Trick- Producing tears of laughter as a sad little hanky vanishes forever.
Ritual Necklace- A new presentation and handling that blows the dust off grandma's necklace.
My Word- The crossword puzzle book test that seems like mind-reading and requires no memorization.
Tightrope- Finally on video, Harlan's charming silent rope routine that tells a story without speaking a word.
Cheez Whiz- Harlan's hilarious, show-stopping routine performed entirely with groceries! First time on video!
Starcle- Creating magic with a paper napkin, Harlan captivates with a full presentation of his classic effect.
Every routine on this 2 DVD set is explained in full detail. Also, you'll learn how Harlan uses structured scripting techniques to achieve maximum entertainment. Plus, you will get a bonus Post-Show interview!
Disc 2: The Interview
In this interview Harlan talks about his background in theater, his major influences, and the business side of magic, and much more. Some of the topics include:
- Detail about how to properly use a ditch bag.
- Dan explains his creative thought process and how he applies it to magic.
- Various staging and theater tips.
- Questions to Dan from local magicians.
- Much, much more...
Running Time Approximately: 160min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
At the time of this review and for the last little while on Dan Harlan’s website you could purchase Harlan: Live for 5 dollars. I’ll be basing my review off of this price.
Harlan: Live is basically a live taping of a lecture. The download consist of 3 videos and a couple PDFs. They’ve included the performance, an interview and the explanations on the videos and PDFs for My Word, Crazy Cash and Crazy 8’s.
This video is full of great material and if you are interested in any of it I’d say it was worth the plunge.
He starts off the show with a couple good ice breakers. He teaches a gag involving memorizing every name in the audience and a couple of hand games including the classic thumbs up opener. I do like the name gag but his version of the thumbs up trick was not great for my performing style.
After his opening he moves on to Hold it Buster. This is a 3 Card Monte style routine with a nice kicker. I do like the trick although I’m not a fan of his patter. It involves a couple gimmicks but they aren’t too labor intensive to make, if you’d rather Dan sells them on his site as jumbo cards. Dan mentions that he doesn’t mind if you build your own gimmicks but if you want a high quality prop Dan definitely can deliver. It makes it easier on you and it shows the artist even more support.
Crazy 8’s and Crazy Cash are taught next. They are both outstanding pieces of magic. Crazy Cash has been used by a few professionals including Keith Barry. Basically, a bill is signed, torn up and put back together inside out, like a mismade bill. This is by far my favorite version of the effect. Shawn Farquhar, with the permission of Dan Harlan actually based his trick Torn 2 Pieces on this principle. I personally have combined Crazy Cash with Jay Sankey’s Mismade Monopoly. I love this, it is worth 50 bucks in itself in my opinion.
Next you learn Dan’s version of the handkerchief vanish. It’s a small update on the original but I’m not a huge fan over all even with the update.
Next is Dan Harlan’s ritual Necklace. This is usually sold for $20 alone. It is basically Dan’s version of grandmother’s pearls, with a couple updates. He goes over all of the construction in detail or you can buy the props from his site again.
My Word is a book test using a puzzle book. Dan has made it very easy to do and has cut out all of the tough stuff you usually get with this kind of trick. You receive a PDF with the download that is the cover of the book and you will need to mess around with your word processor to make the pages. After that you just need to make a quick trip to the print shop and you have a very cheap very unique book test ready at your finger tips.
Next you learn Harlan’s version of the Sand’s routine. He performs it silently which I’m not a huge fan of but I do like how much he involves the audience. He pulls 2 people up on stage for it and performs a lot of magic. I didn’t love the presentation but you learn the moves you need to know to make it your own. I did like the last part though.
Cheese Wiz is next. It is really weird. A piece of cheese, signed in ketchup is shot across the room from banana and ends up in between 2 pieces of bread. That’s not a joke, that’s what it is. This fooled me but it’s a bit too weird for my performance style.
Finally he ends with Starcle. This is classic Harlan, and you can do it at any time with a single napkin. You tear a circle in a napkin and the circle changes into a star. This is very cool and I use it all the time.
So you get a book test, a rope routine, Starcle, a signed torn and restored bill and a stand up version of the three card monte all for 5 bucks. This is a great deal.
Harlan: Live is basically a live taping of a lecture. The download consist of 3 videos and a couple PDFs. They’ve included the performance, an interview and the explanations on the videos and PDFs for My Word, Crazy Cash and Crazy 8’s.
This video is full of great material and if you are interested in any of it I’d say it was worth the plunge.
He starts off the show with a couple good ice breakers. He teaches a gag involving memorizing every name in the audience and a couple of hand games including the classic thumbs up opener. I do like the name gag but his version of the thumbs up trick was not great for my performing style.
After his opening he moves on to Hold it Buster. This is a 3 Card Monte style routine with a nice kicker. I do like the trick although I’m not a fan of his patter. It involves a couple gimmicks but they aren’t too labor intensive to make, if you’d rather Dan sells them on his site as jumbo cards. Dan mentions that he doesn’t mind if you build your own gimmicks but if you want a high quality prop Dan definitely can deliver. It makes it easier on you and it shows the artist even more support.
Crazy 8’s and Crazy Cash are taught next. They are both outstanding pieces of magic. Crazy Cash has been used by a few professionals including Keith Barry. Basically, a bill is signed, torn up and put back together inside out, like a mismade bill. This is by far my favorite version of the effect. Shawn Farquhar, with the permission of Dan Harlan actually based his trick Torn 2 Pieces on this principle. I personally have combined Crazy Cash with Jay Sankey’s Mismade Monopoly. I love this, it is worth 50 bucks in itself in my opinion.
Next you learn Dan’s version of the handkerchief vanish. It’s a small update on the original but I’m not a huge fan over all even with the update.
Next is Dan Harlan’s ritual Necklace. This is usually sold for $20 alone. It is basically Dan’s version of grandmother’s pearls, with a couple updates. He goes over all of the construction in detail or you can buy the props from his site again.
My Word is a book test using a puzzle book. Dan has made it very easy to do and has cut out all of the tough stuff you usually get with this kind of trick. You receive a PDF with the download that is the cover of the book and you will need to mess around with your word processor to make the pages. After that you just need to make a quick trip to the print shop and you have a very cheap very unique book test ready at your finger tips.
Next you learn Harlan’s version of the Sand’s routine. He performs it silently which I’m not a huge fan of but I do like how much he involves the audience. He pulls 2 people up on stage for it and performs a lot of magic. I didn’t love the presentation but you learn the moves you need to know to make it your own. I did like the last part though.
Cheese Wiz is next. It is really weird. A piece of cheese, signed in ketchup is shot across the room from banana and ends up in between 2 pieces of bread. That’s not a joke, that’s what it is. This fooled me but it’s a bit too weird for my performance style.
Finally he ends with Starcle. This is classic Harlan, and you can do it at any time with a single napkin. You tear a circle in a napkin and the circle changes into a star. This is very cool and I use it all the time.
So you get a book test, a rope routine, Starcle, a signed torn and restored bill and a stand up version of the three card monte all for 5 bucks. This is a great deal.
(Top ▲)
Putting that aside, how's the material, and how's Mr. Harlan? Well . . . I must confess, I've always had mixed feelings about Harlan. I'm not sure how much I like him as a performer. He's style is very unpolished and full of awkward moments. His magic, in general, isn't overly amazing, yet there's something about him that interests me. I'm not sure what.
The material in this DVD is stuff you may have seen on other Harlan projects. It appears that we are witness to a Dan Harlan lecture when we watch this DVD set. The range of material on this project is anywhere from freakin' genius to absolutely absurdly ridiculous.
For example, Harlan's signed mismade bill is brilliant . . . probably worth the cost of the DVD set alone. However his closing teleporting cheese trick (yes, actual cheese) is just ridiculous and full of bad jokes and just not that great. It has its moments, but all in all . . . absolutely absurdly ridiculous. There are plenty of other effects in between this range . . . quite a few good ones in fact. A little bit o' rubble, and a fair bit o' gems.
To make things simple:
If you like Dan Harlan, then this is definitely worth the money.
If you've never heard of Dan Harlan, then this is probably worth the money.
If you're not sure how you feel about Dan Harlan, then this might be worth the money.
If you're not a Harlan fan, skip this one.
Having said all of that, let me throw in a big fat "HOWEVER." The mismade bill effect is one of the best effects I've seen in years. Keep in mind that the effect is that a spectator signs a clearly normal bill. It's the torn and restored (ala mismade bill), and voila, you now have a mismade bill that was signed before the bill was turned inside out. This can be given to the spectator to keep. Toss in a way overpriced DVD, and voila . . . Final verdict . . . a 3 star gem.