Price$34.99
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJul 09, 2014
The Heinous Collection Vol.1
Hein, Karl
Koppertop Entertainment Inc
(Based on 2 reviews)
- Richard Kaufman
"In Karl's hands, this is the most deceptive in-hands false riffle I have witnessed in the 30 years I've been involved in card magic."
- Paul Cummins
THE HEINOUS COLLECTION VOLUME 1
This DVD contains the wickedly deceptive false shuffles and cuts that Karl Hein uses throughout his professional performances. V1 includes 10 false shuffles & cuts, varying in degree of difficulty from beginner to advanced. All video has detailed and easy to follow instructions with close-up multi angle views of the moves and finger positions. All of these false shuffles and cuts can be done in the hands without the need of a table. You will learn how to do false dovetail shuffles with a bridge, overhand shuffles, one-handed shuffles and flourish cuts.
1. Heinous Shuffle - Simulates a dovetail shuffle with a bridge that is ideal for strolling cocktail hour environments.
2. Heinstein Shuffle - Considered by many top card men to be the best and only in the hands false shuffle that you need.
3. Truffle Shuffle 2.0 - Karl's variation of Derek Delgaudio's Truffle Shuffle that utilizes a deceptive new technique.
4. False Overhand - A relatively easy false version of the shuffle commonly used in home card games.
5. Lavand2 Shuffle - Simultaneous one handed false bridge shuffles inspired by Rene Lavand.
6. Transformer Cut - A five packet flourish cut that has many applications and really looks like it mixes up the packets.
7. Swing Kids Cut & Production - A fast and flourish cut with a flashy production and one handed spin out.
8. Equilateral Cut & Production - A unique flourish cut with a design and an instant flash production of a selected card.
9. Doublemint Cut - Combines two easy one handed cuts in a very deceptive way.
10. Charlier Shuffle - A sloppy version of a classic way of falsely mixing cards in a very casual but extremely convincing way.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Cry Tough by Poison
Karl Hein: The Heinous Collection Review
Volume I: False Shuffles & Cuts
One DVD, ten false cuts & shuffles, forty minutes and $35 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method/Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy accurately depicts what you'll be getting: 10 false shuffles and cuts. That's the "effect" and "method." All ten of the cuts/shuffles are extremely deceptive, but of the ten, nine of them will require a pretty hefty time commitment on your part. As Karl Hein says in the DVD, it may take you years to master these, so what it all comes down to is the teaching experience.
Product Quality
The DVD is well shot, well lit and easy to navigate. What it is not, is easy to follow. All the details for learning the cuts and shuffles are there, but it's a bit trick to glean the information. The entire teaching section is extreme close ups on somebody's (I'm assuming Karl Hein's) hands sometimes from the front, sometimes from the back. The film is played in slow motion with text on the screen.
There is absolutely no talking during the performances or the explanations. This is not the best way to learn complex and intricate techniques like this. The problem is that on the right of the screen is some pretty intense, intricate and complex action happening, but I can't look at it because I'm trying to read the text, position my hands/cards and watch the screen. It was an extremely frustrating experience.
Obviously, I can pause the video and replay as needed. However, it's kind of tough to pause and replay every few minutes when your hands are trying to keep together an awkward position of cards in the middle of a false cut/shuffle/etc.
Further, this kind of stuff requires some pretty detailed explanation. It would have been very helpful if he, orally, covered some of the finer points, common mistakes people make when learning the techniques, tips on how to practice, etc., etc. This is a case (like many) where a book would have been much, much, much better. It would need to be a well illustrated book, no doubt, but I think it would have been a much better learning experience.
Learning this kind of technically demanding magic is hard enough already. It's much harder when you're trying to keep up with moving images and text that could disappear off the screen any moment. One of the things that I thought was helpful, was the various camera angles, slow motion filming and the fact that the fingers/parts of the card/deck lit up as they were being emphasized in the text.
However, Of course, looking back and forth between the two (text and images/video) is a bit tricky as mentioned. There's no doubt that a lot of effort went into the production and teaching. However, it seems that the effort was directed down the wrong path slightly. "A" for effort, "C" for delivery.
Final Thoughts
One the one hand, the learning experience will be difficult. On the other hand, due to the nature of the techniques, you're already in for a difficult journey, so maybe the fact that the teaching method is a bit hard to follow doesn't matter that much because it's already gonna be hard. On the other hand — I have 3 hands — if the journey is already gonna be hard, why make it even harder?
Can you learn these moves from this DVD? Definitely. Will it be easy? No. Will it be frustrating? Very much so. Is it worth it? That's up to you. These are certainly some of the most deceptive false shuffles and cuts out there. So if you're looking to learn them, this may be the right place to look. Nowhere have I seen a collection of so many good and deceptive false shuffles.
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.
(Top ▲)
Following the release of “Heinstein’s Dream” and “Catch-Up,” Karl Hein has now released a 3 DVD set on his card work. The set covers a range of material, including a number of new ideas, as well as handlings of some classic effects. The DVD’s also include live performances of every routine for real world audiences, allowing the viewer to see genuine reactions and how the handlings are adjusted for the spectators.
Volume 1 covers false shuffles and cuts, beginning with an overview of false shuffles, approaches to shuffling and how to make false shuffles effective in performance. The shuffles taught include an overview of Mr. Hein’s popular “Heinstein Shuffle,” an in the hands complete false riffle shuffle. While he doesn’t explain the shuffle in depth, he does discuss some common pitfalls, as well as how the sleight has evolved over time. He also teaches the “Heinous Shuffle,” another false in the hands riffle shuffle, the “Truffle Shuffle 2.0,” a version of Derek Delgaudio’s “Truffle Shuffle” with a cover card, a false overhand shuffle sequence, the standard Charlier shuffle, and Lavand(squared), a complete false one handed weave shuffle, done simultaneously with both hands. As with his other releases, the instruction is clear, filmed well and edited intelligently. He includes all the work and tiny details necessary to perform the shuffles correctly, which are all practical , deceptive and look like standard shuffles, with the exception of Lavand(squared), which is designed to be impressive and look difficult, and it’s that very appearance of difficulty which would prevent an audience from ever imagining the performer isn’t actually shuffling the cards.
The disc continues with a number of flourishy false cuts. The cuts include a Sybil like cut, a deceptive multiple swing cut, an unusual cut that displays the packets in a pyramid, a two handed cut and he ends with the Charlier shuffle. All the cuts are false, a couple can be used to produce a card, and, while some look more difficult than others, with the exception of the Charlier shuffle, all appear at least a little bit flourishy.
The level of detail, work and thought found in the explanations demonstrate how much effort Mr. Hein puts in to his work, as well as how carefully he thinks about teaching his effects. This is a great resource for anyone looking for some interesting and effective in the hands false shuffles and cuts.
Volume 1 covers false shuffles and cuts, beginning with an overview of false shuffles, approaches to shuffling and how to make false shuffles effective in performance. The shuffles taught include an overview of Mr. Hein’s popular “Heinstein Shuffle,” an in the hands complete false riffle shuffle. While he doesn’t explain the shuffle in depth, he does discuss some common pitfalls, as well as how the sleight has evolved over time. He also teaches the “Heinous Shuffle,” another false in the hands riffle shuffle, the “Truffle Shuffle 2.0,” a version of Derek Delgaudio’s “Truffle Shuffle” with a cover card, a false overhand shuffle sequence, the standard Charlier shuffle, and Lavand(squared), a complete false one handed weave shuffle, done simultaneously with both hands. As with his other releases, the instruction is clear, filmed well and edited intelligently. He includes all the work and tiny details necessary to perform the shuffles correctly, which are all practical , deceptive and look like standard shuffles, with the exception of Lavand(squared), which is designed to be impressive and look difficult, and it’s that very appearance of difficulty which would prevent an audience from ever imagining the performer isn’t actually shuffling the cards.
The disc continues with a number of flourishy false cuts. The cuts include a Sybil like cut, a deceptive multiple swing cut, an unusual cut that displays the packets in a pyramid, a two handed cut and he ends with the Charlier shuffle. All the cuts are false, a couple can be used to produce a card, and, while some look more difficult than others, with the exception of the Charlier shuffle, all appear at least a little bit flourishy.
The level of detail, work and thought found in the explanations demonstrate how much effort Mr. Hein puts in to his work, as well as how carefully he thinks about teaching his effects. This is a great resource for anyone looking for some interesting and effective in the hands false shuffles and cuts.