Price$40.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 02, 2013
Rope, Nut & Knot
Livera, Giovanni
Kaylor Productions
(Based on 1 review)
THEY WILL NOT SEE IT COMING AND THE REACTIONS PROVE IT!
This is ROPE, NUT, & KNOT by Giovanni Livera.
Golden Cups winner and celebrated motivational speaker Giovanni Livera takes you inside his inspiring world of magic to teach you one of his signature and most worked routines. You get the details on all aspects of props, practice and performance, including a handling for television all from one of magics' greatest innovators. Tie a knot and hang on! Your audiences are going to love ROPE, NUT & KNOT!
Professional Props are included. You are all set to start learning a pure sleight-of-hand astonisher by a master teacher. With Gio teaching you-moment-by-moment, you will get the moves quickly. Wow your audiences with a real worker!
"After I had my working act, I did not add another routine in 25 years...until I added Giovanni's Rope, Nut & Knot. My audiences and I love it!"
- Bud Dietrich
Trade Show Magician Legend
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I really, really loved the Salt & Silver that Giovanni put out last year and I was really looking forward to his next release, which is this DVD.
Because his first DVD was so well done there will be some comparisons between that one and this DVD, though they will not impact the rating of the review.
Let me start by talking about prices. When a performer has worked on an effect or routine for years and it has become a "standard" in their repertoire or something for which they have become well known, then when those routines are released to the magic community at large (if they ever are), there is usually a premium put on those effects/routines. 'Salt & Silver' was priced at $50 and came with a standard salt shaker. 'Rope, Nut & Knot' is $40 and comes with a 1-inch hex nut and a 3-foot length of nylon rope.
For both DVDs it is a nice gesture to have gotten the props with them so you do not have to go out and buy anything extra, even if they are easy to find. As for the props with this DVD, the rope is easy to find but you will probably have to visit or order from a specialty store to find the size of hex nut used, should you ever need to replace either of them. In my opinion, this DVD was closer to the right price than 'Salt & Silver', regardless of premiums placed on the effects - more on this later.
Whew. Having said that, the quality of this DVD is right up there with his first release - everything clear and crisp - the video, the lighting, the sound, etc. The menu is also easy to navigate and is well laid out.
As for the routine itself, everything is clearly explained and if you are a ring and rope performer, the moves will not be anything new to you. Here is where my star rating comes in: There are three phases to the routine but the first two are identical with not much impact as far as progression in/building of the routine is concerned. In my experience you need to continually give your audience a reason to keep paying attention to you by making each step more interesting, or at least, a bit different. If I were to base the entire disc off of the routine itself, it would get 3 stars, however, this is not a problem if you just do a little thinking - it is easy to change these phases to suit.
Now, that is not to say that the routine is not strong, because it is. Giovanni is an excellent example of proper routining via misdirection and timing, and teaches both aspects here with an expert touch. Even if you do not perform the routine on this disc, practice and retain the lessons in misdirection and timing.
If you ever have performed (or do perform) the Relentless Ring & String Routine by Bob Miller, you will be familiar with one of the techniques taught here by Giovanni. In the Miller routine it is referred to as "snapping the knot" and is a really cool little flourish if you take the time to master it. The way Giovanni accomplishes and teaches it is a bit different but it achieves the same result.
Another ultra-cool thing you will learn on this DVD is a sound effect as he teaches you to make a "rewind" sound with your mouth (think of the sound made by rewinding a cassette tape without pushing the stop button; you do remember cassette tapes, right?). He uses this sound effect in the routine and it gets a great laugh from his audiences. Once you learn it you will think of plenty of other effects or routines it can be used with great comedic effect in. For the record, he teaches you how he does it, then teaches an "easy" cheaters version. Learn the first one.
One thing on the 'Salt & Silver' disc you did not see in any of the shots was the cameraman in the mirror behind Giovanni in the explanation section. In this DVD, there are a few shots where you get a glimpse of the camera and operator. If you have seen that disc, another thing you will notice that is a bit different is the slightly different formatting used in 'Rope, Nut & Knot'. Also, during a few of the explanation shots he uses an assistant.
Giovanni also presents some extra ideas on where to find the rope if you need to replace it, other materials to use besides the included nut, how to fit the routine to your style, etc.
On the 'Salt & Silver' disc there was a very cool option to view a flip screen shot for the explanation because Giovanni is left-handed. With a routine like 'Salt & Silver' that option makes sense but on this disc you will not find that option because it is much less complex and you can just mirror his actions if you are right-handed.
Earlier I said I would touch once more on the price point of this disc. Upon doing further research, it is my opinion that this DVD is much closer to what I would consider proper pricing for the material on it and for the props included. In my local area, supposing that the DVD had been priced at $35/USD, a hex nut of the same size ($4.11 incl. tax) and a 3-foot length of rope ($1.02 incl. tax) would have put my total investment just a hair over $40/USD.
All in all, for the things you can learn from it and for the props included this is a nice DVD for the price. Even if the moves used in the routine are nothing new to you there is something on here for most magicians that work with ring and string/rope. Recommended.
Because his first DVD was so well done there will be some comparisons between that one and this DVD, though they will not impact the rating of the review.
Let me start by talking about prices. When a performer has worked on an effect or routine for years and it has become a "standard" in their repertoire or something for which they have become well known, then when those routines are released to the magic community at large (if they ever are), there is usually a premium put on those effects/routines. 'Salt & Silver' was priced at $50 and came with a standard salt shaker. 'Rope, Nut & Knot' is $40 and comes with a 1-inch hex nut and a 3-foot length of nylon rope.
For both DVDs it is a nice gesture to have gotten the props with them so you do not have to go out and buy anything extra, even if they are easy to find. As for the props with this DVD, the rope is easy to find but you will probably have to visit or order from a specialty store to find the size of hex nut used, should you ever need to replace either of them. In my opinion, this DVD was closer to the right price than 'Salt & Silver', regardless of premiums placed on the effects - more on this later.
Whew. Having said that, the quality of this DVD is right up there with his first release - everything clear and crisp - the video, the lighting, the sound, etc. The menu is also easy to navigate and is well laid out.
As for the routine itself, everything is clearly explained and if you are a ring and rope performer, the moves will not be anything new to you. Here is where my star rating comes in: There are three phases to the routine but the first two are identical with not much impact as far as progression in/building of the routine is concerned. In my experience you need to continually give your audience a reason to keep paying attention to you by making each step more interesting, or at least, a bit different. If I were to base the entire disc off of the routine itself, it would get 3 stars, however, this is not a problem if you just do a little thinking - it is easy to change these phases to suit.
Now, that is not to say that the routine is not strong, because it is. Giovanni is an excellent example of proper routining via misdirection and timing, and teaches both aspects here with an expert touch. Even if you do not perform the routine on this disc, practice and retain the lessons in misdirection and timing.
If you ever have performed (or do perform) the Relentless Ring & String Routine by Bob Miller, you will be familiar with one of the techniques taught here by Giovanni. In the Miller routine it is referred to as "snapping the knot" and is a really cool little flourish if you take the time to master it. The way Giovanni accomplishes and teaches it is a bit different but it achieves the same result.
Another ultra-cool thing you will learn on this DVD is a sound effect as he teaches you to make a "rewind" sound with your mouth (think of the sound made by rewinding a cassette tape without pushing the stop button; you do remember cassette tapes, right?). He uses this sound effect in the routine and it gets a great laugh from his audiences. Once you learn it you will think of plenty of other effects or routines it can be used with great comedic effect in. For the record, he teaches you how he does it, then teaches an "easy" cheaters version. Learn the first one.
One thing on the 'Salt & Silver' disc you did not see in any of the shots was the cameraman in the mirror behind Giovanni in the explanation section. In this DVD, there are a few shots where you get a glimpse of the camera and operator. If you have seen that disc, another thing you will notice that is a bit different is the slightly different formatting used in 'Rope, Nut & Knot'. Also, during a few of the explanation shots he uses an assistant.
Giovanni also presents some extra ideas on where to find the rope if you need to replace it, other materials to use besides the included nut, how to fit the routine to your style, etc.
On the 'Salt & Silver' disc there was a very cool option to view a flip screen shot for the explanation because Giovanni is left-handed. With a routine like 'Salt & Silver' that option makes sense but on this disc you will not find that option because it is much less complex and you can just mirror his actions if you are right-handed.
Earlier I said I would touch once more on the price point of this disc. Upon doing further research, it is my opinion that this DVD is much closer to what I would consider proper pricing for the material on it and for the props included. In my local area, supposing that the DVD had been priced at $35/USD, a hex nut of the same size ($4.11 incl. tax) and a 3-foot length of rope ($1.02 incl. tax) would have put my total investment just a hair over $40/USD.
All in all, for the things you can learn from it and for the props included this is a nice DVD for the price. Even if the moves used in the routine are nothing new to you there is something on here for most magicians that work with ring and string/rope. Recommended.