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Standing Room Only: Volume 3

Steve Draun

L&L Publishing

(Based on 2 reviews)
In the foreword to Steve Draun's lecture notes, card legend Edward Marlo wrote, "Steve is very discriminating in his choice of methods and effects. All the effects he does are direct and their plots are easily understood by laymen or magicians but their methodology is skillfully concealed from even the most knowledgeable expert." Now, for the first time in front of a live audience, you will see Steve Draun, one of Marlo's best and most gifted students, at the top of his form.

PERFECT COIN VANISH - A silver dollar is vanished with both sleeves rolled up. Both hands are shown empty front and back - the hands are held out in front of the body the entire time - and then the coin is reproduced!

ALL BACKS ROUTINE - A spectator is asked to select a card and is surprised to find that it has a back design on both sides. The performer fans the cards and shows that all of the cards have backs on both sides. Suddenly, the deck is returned to normal with backs and faces - and can be used for more effects as it is perfectly normal!

QUICK CULL - After the spectator shuffles the cards, the performer finds the Aces with just a few flourishes.

CENTER DEAL - A bluff Center Deal with a setup that looks so real, you'd swear that the Aces were in the center of the deck!

COUNTING PUZZLE - Magicians will see an Elmsley Count but the results still don't seem possible! The ending even fools those who think they know the secret.

BLUFF ACES - Some brand new twists on Marlo's classic effect.

TRAVELERS - An updated version of Dai Vernon's timeless trick. The application of more modern palms and subtleties makes this standard even more deceptive.

COPPER/SILVER - A practical, efficient and deceptive handling for a great classic of coin magic.

ONE WAY DEAL - This is one of the tricks that made Steve Draun's reputation. An ordinary deck is shuffled by the spectator and the magician deals himself a full house in seven hands of 7-Card Stud Poker.

TOPSY TURVEY - This is Steve Draun's handling of a trick invented by Marlo and included in his Riffle Shuffle trilogy. Most agree that it's the best of the seven versions created since the original.

BONUS MATERIAL: CUT, PASS, CHANGE & SQUARE WORKSHOP - Learn advanced card techniques from the master. Though challenging, these moves, including work on running cuts, the Thumb Pass, the Mercury Change, and squaring a squared deck, will enable you to lift your card magic head and shoulders above the average card worker.

Running Time Approximately 1Hr 42Min

Reviews

Doc Johnson

Official Reviewer

Mar 28, 2015

PROS

I’m going to review the three DVD set in one review. One could review it in one word… outstanding!

The thing that I so much like about Steve Draun’s work is he has hard hitting magic that does not involve knuckle busting moves. There is a bit of practice required, but nothing impossible.

In the three set DVD, he covers card magic, coin magic, ring magic, etc.

CONS

He doesn’t cover every type of magic, but he covers a lot of ground that he uses in his professional work.

Many of his routines are his versions of classic routines, but he also has some unique and very interesting routines of his own.

VERDICT

Steve is a master magician and this DVD set is excellent.

(Top ▲)

David Acer

Official Reviewer

Sep 03, 2007

If you haven’t had enough Steve Draun after viewing Standing Room Only Volumes 1 and 2, this should help slake your thirst (at least for a time). Sharing more in common with Volume 2 than 1, Volume 3 (like 2) features material that was conceived (rather than just adapted) by Steve Draun, unlike Volume 1, which in turn is unlike Volume 2 (therefore 3). I particularly enjoyed Steve’s quick, commercial approach to “All Backs,” which includes a great opening gag that gets you into the trick in way that makes people actually care about it (you could also add this to many existing All Backs routines); “Perfect Coin Vanish,” a seminal handling for an archetypal effect; “Topsy Turvey,” an ingenious intermingling of cutting-to-the-Aces with Triumph; and “Counting Puzzle,” a Phil-Goldsteinesque packet trick using regular cards which magically (and repeatedly) reverse themselves despite close scrutiny (the ending for this, by the way, is a fooler, as the adcopy states).

The remainder of the DVD features more of Steve’s clear, direct work on some standard plots, like the Copper/Silver Coin Transposition, Dai Vernon’s Travelers, and an Ace Assembly, as well as deceptive methods for tricks that I consider challenging to sell to real-world audiences, such as a bluff center-deal and a 7-handed, 7-card-stud poker deal.

You’ll also learn a variety of sleights over the course of these routines, including a Turnover Pass by Paul Curry, the Elmsley Count, an interesting method for culling a card during a kind of milk-build overhand shuffle, the Erdnase Change, Steve’s rising (or more accurately, levering) card, the Starfish Change, a bottom deal, a no-get-ready stud-style Double Lift, the Veeser Bluff Shift, David Roth’s Strabismus Switch, and more. Finally, there’s a bonus section featuring several other sleights and utility moves.

Overall, there’s more than enough innovative material on this DVD to make it worth your while.

David Acer
(Top ▲)