With a cast of this caliber, you're in a magical House of Fire (thank you Alice Cooper). If you missed the Essential Magic Conference (EMC) last year, now is your chance to see it. Sure it's $150 bucks, but it could very well be the best magic purchase you make this year. If you don't know what the EMC is, first, move out of your cave . . . second, how are you getting internet access to read this review in your cave!? That's awesome! Third, in a very small nutshell, the EMC is this: a magic convention that was filmed and streamed live from Portugal, three years in a row. It's a series of mini talks, lectures and performances from 30 to 40 of the top people in our industry.

Look at the list in the ad copy. It's amazing. Before getting to that, however, I do have a few complaints that I think are worth mentioning.

First, the DVDs are not in order. I watched every single DVD from start to finish, and there were several (way too many) cases where a talk on (for example) disk 3 would "refer back" to a talk or performance that I hadn't seen yet. I hadn't seen it because it was either later on the current disk or it wasn't shown until disk 5 (for example). Many times (too many) I saw the explanation for an effect before seeing the effect. This was a true bummer. Much of the magic was "ruined" because I saw the secret and thinking behind the trick before I got to watch the performance.

My suggestion is that you watch the performance section of all 8 DVDs first. Then go back to DVD #1 and start over; this time watching the talks. One other complaint, and we're on to the good stuff. They did live streaming interviews with Derren Brown and Teller and in both cases, the streaming connection feed was horrible. So bad that you couldn't understand anything. So the EMC folks had a brilliant idea. They decided to end the interviews early (after 10 or more excruciating minutes of horrible technical problems). They did the right thing, and they further did the right thing by announcing that after the conference they would go in person (in the case of Derren Brown) or get a better connection (in the case of Teller) and redo the interview and then include it on the DVD (which EMC attendees get for free).

They did that and it worked out great. They handled it well. So what's my complaint? Why the heck did they leave in the useless footage of a poorly connected interview? Why not just show good footage instead of 20 minutes of unintelligible footage.

Those complaints aside, the conference was amazing. There were talks, performances, discussion panels and so much more that blew my mind. Things ranged from the absurd to the sentimental; from the ridiculous to the absolutely impossible. It was poignant at times and hilarious at other times. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes chaotic. I was actually moved to tears on more than one occasion. Many of the performances left me feeling like a lay person again and not all of the effects were explained . . . thank goodness; I want to remain in my state of astonishment; the explanation would take that away from me. Speaking of astonishment, don't miss the panel discussion about astonishment featuring the pioneer of the movement, Paul Harris.

There were some incredible "history" talks by William Kalush, Mike Caveney, Gene Matsuura and others. David Williamson spoke of heroes . . . amazing, touching, tear-jerking, hysterical-laughter-inducing, and completely beautiful in every way. There is no way, I could list every one and how the moved me or impacted me. They all did in some way. The short answer is that pretty much everyone spoke of their "story" and how they got where they are . . . so inspiring . . . so powerful.

Unbelievable effects were taught. Some with very practical methods that you can relatively quickly add to your repertoire, and some so absurd that you'll never do them. Between the effects performed, effects taught, talks given, lessons learned, and being in the virtual presence of 40 magic giants, I'd be a fool not to recommend this DVD set. Make this your next magic purchase, and make sure you watch every section of every DVD.

Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of complete and total 100% GEM!