For $25 bucks you get an extremely well produced DVD, a deceptive looking gimmick, a pretty amazing trick, and a magician who's a little too proud of his creation a little too arrogant and a little too desperate to get attention from his female spectators.

I'll be the first to admit that maybe I'm missing something. Maybe Fisher's using irony without the sarcastic tone to tip us off to the fact that he's using irony. Something. But here's what I saw. During the performance out in the streets, after the magic moment where the deck vanishes (and it is a beautiful moment), the two female spectators reacted with the typical enthusiasm seen on magic DVDs these days. Then Fisher said, "Now can I get a 'Hell Yeah!'?" The emphasis he placed on the word "Now" makes it easy for one to infer that he'd been begging for this elusive "Hell Yeah!" for an extended period of time yet coming up "Hell Yeah-less!" each time.

Then on top of that he asks the spectators for a kiss. Too tacky and too desperate. Then to top that topping off, the explanation was extremely patronizing. I have no problem with him speaking to beginners and trying to keep it on "their level" but unless "their level" means treat you like a 5 year old who's learning to tie his shoes, he's missing the "level."

My final piece of pain on this project is how overly dramatically he says everything. He was over selling every moment of every teaching segment to the point that it was getting really hard to watch. But for my loyal readers (both of you) I stuck it out, and I'm glad I did.

Though the DVD is very hard to watch at times, the effect and method are excellent. Fisher's provoking patronizing and annoying arrogance aside, he is a good teacher. Every angle and scenario you can imagine is covered and taught well. Though there were a few camera angle issues, but they were minor enough.

If you can ignore all of the above annoyances and you like the trick, you'll be happy with your purchase. I'll throw in my standard supplication here . . . please, please, please, learn the trick and learn the method, but do not; I repeat; do NOT learn anything about presentation from Fisher. I think he's seeming desperation and arrogance are a huge part of what's wrong with magic today. Please don't perpetuate the problem.

Final Verdict: Ignoring the presenter and focusing on the presented, you get a solid 4 stars with a Stone Status of Gem.

Panic is a very cool diminishing deck. In the basic handling the deck is held in the hand the 4 kings are placed in the magician's pocket and magically and very visually the deck switches places with the kings.

I like Aaron Fisher and I think that his thoughts on theory and the nitty gritty parts of card magic is very helpful to the beginner as well as the professional. He has a little bit of a sing song tone when he explains magic, I don’t know if it is deliberate but it can seem like he’s a bit patronizing. If you can look past this his magic is worth looking into.

With my purchase I go a set of gimmicks in the mail with instructions to download the method. On the down you learn how to perform this effect in a variety of situations. He goes over how to open with it, close with it, get into it during a set, how to ditch the gimmicks how to work it out of one pocket how to perform it in a close up or parlor setting and what kind of magic to perform before hand. All of this was very helpful and as the download played almost all of my questions were answered regarding different situations.

On the download, along with panic, you learn a simple version of Dr. Daley’s deception which works well with Panic if you like to routine the two together.

The gaffs are mandolin backed but the way they are made Aaron suggests a way to hide that if you are using a bicycle deck. I could imagine that you could use other back designs such as Tally Ho’s as well, although I’ve never tried. The gimmicks should last a while but care must be taken to get a long life out of them. If you follow Aaron’s performance advice they will spend a lot of time in your pocket and they could easily be damaged. The other thing is that there is a small angle consideration. Aaron shows how to minimize the risk of being caught but you should be aware of it before buying.

I feel like this was very worth the price for the gimmicks and instruction.

Aaron Fisher has managed to get himself in the enviable position of having lots of young “street magic” fans, while also earning the respect and admiration of older, more experienced magicians. This blending of genres is visible on his DVD, “Panic.”. The effect is simple: you place the four kings in your back pocket, spread the deck to display the cards, then by simply pressing your hands together the deck vanishes, leaving only the 4 kings behind. Where did the deck go? It’s in your back pocket where the kings were just a moment ago.

Despite the fact that there are already a number of methods in existence to vanish a deck, both gimmicked and not, “Panic” is worthy of your attention. First of all, the disappearance is very clean. The illusion the gimmick creates allows for a very convincing, dynamic display. Even after knowing the method, it still almost fools me. And if you want to fool someone deeply, conviction is necessary, and “Panic” creates an unbelievably convincing illusion.

On the other hand, the handling is a little idiosyncratic. The display of the cards is a bit unusual and a touch cozy. And while the deck does vanish, the effect is that of it actually transposing with the 4 kings, which is something to keep in mind in terms of routining. While I imagine I’m in the minority here, were I to perform “Panic” I would need to justify the use of the kings more than simply by placing them in my back pocket, which Mr. Fisher says is his preferred presentation. (As if in answer to my concern, Mr. Fisher does explain an alternate handling reminiscent of Vernon’s “Travelers” where the 4 kings vanish from the deck and appear in 4 separate pockets before the deck itself vanishes per the basic effect of “Panic.”)

One of the things I most appreciate about this DVD is the care with which Mr. Fisher explains his creation and the thought that has gone into teaching it. In addition to being an excellent performer, he also is quite a good teacher of magic, and his ability to not only communicate clearly, but anticipate potential roadblocks the viewer might have is extremely valuable. Very few DVDs out on the market, whether they be one trick DVDs or compilations, demonstrate the same level of thought and care that Mr. Fisher does in teaching “Panic.”

Along the same lines, Mr. Fisher is clearly a deep thinker in magic and cares greatly about the tiniest of details. In addition to the time spent practicing his sleights, he has clearly spent an equal amount of time analyzing and studying what makes quality magic. He discusses a number of these kinds of details in regards to “Panic,” also introducing very important, classic principles in the performance of magic in general. Even if the viewer were never to perform “Panic,” but just take Mr. Fisher’s approach to heart and implement the ideas he discusses, his or her magic would be certain to improve dramatically.

To complete the lesson, Mr. Fisher even goes into detail as to how to handle various audiences and circumstances, even going so far as to discuss how to handle unexpected interruptions during a performance. This is the mark of a teacher who has performed the material he is teaching, as well as one who is committed that his work be performed effectively by the viewer.

I do have to say that, while this is an excellent effect, for $1 more you could get Aaron’s book The Paper Engine, which, while it does not include an explanation of “Panic,” does explain a number of great routines and discusses in depth many of the ideas he discusses on the DVD. (I’m an unabashed fan of books over DVDs) However, if you like the effect of “Panic,” and given the gimmicks included in the DVD are excellent and not something you could make on your own, this is definitely a strong effect and well worth the price.