Price$10.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryGeneral, Close Up, Stage
Date AddedAug 06, 2006
Premise Power & Participation Vol. 4
David Regal
L & L Publishing
(Based on 1 review)
REGAL STANDS ERECT
The Stand-Up Magic of David Regal
Journey to Love (from Constant Fooling) - This impossible prediction injects comedy and audience by-play into Don Wayne's "Room Service" plot (based on a wonderful Larry Becker method).
Swindle Transpo (from Close-Up & Personal) - Subtlety is layered upon subtlety in a playing card transposition that can play on the largest stage.
Got a Light? (from Close-Up & Personal) - Two matchboxes are examined, then proceed to perform an incredible series of animations. A combination of the "Sympathetic Matchboxes" and "Acrobatic Matchbox" plots. Perfect for walk-around.
The Very Last Card (from Constant Fooling) - A card-elimination routine that utilizes test conditions to create a devastating outcome. This will bother people.
Bonus Routine:
After Hours (from Constant Fooling) - Regal's contribution to the full-deck story genre, this is distilled entertainment guaranteed to generate applause.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
David Regal might be Superman . . . He looks like two different people with his glasses on and off . . .
So, Volume IV, eh . . .
Production quality - As with pretty much all L&L DVDs the quality, lighting, menu navigation, etc are all top notch. No complaints here.
DVD Concept - The concept of Premise, Power & Participation is that once you've reached a certain level of competence in your technical abilities, what will separate you from all the other magicians who are also good technicians? Answer . . . How well you present the magic.
We learn from David Regal how to figure out how to present magic. He suggests that we start by analyzing three basic areas (premise, power and participation). Volume IV, the "Plus," DVD Focuses on a handful of standup effects and doesn't really hone in on any one (premise, power or participation) specifically
Teaching - How good of a teacher is David Regal? Excellent. Putting aside the quality of the effect for moment, if there's anything you like on this DVD, you will learn it very well while being entertained and engaged by a very smart, funny and clever guy.
The Effects - Below is a list of each effect with a rating (1 star = lowest; 5 stars = highest) along with brief commentary on each one.
Journey to Love (3.5 stars) -
This is David Regal's handling of Larry Becker's Room Service. Regal basically adds three things. First a comedic change to the prediction and second a big display of the prediction at the end. Additionally he brings in some presentational differences that suit his personality including "music" by The Carpenters. This is a fun routine that gets a lot of people involved. The presentation shown here is one I would NEVER use . . . way too flirty and bordering "risque." But that's a personality thing. Overall the effect is pretty solid.
Swindle Transpo (4.5 stars) -
If I ever decide to replace Paul Harris's cards across (i.e. Las Vegas Leaper) in my repertoire with another cards across routine, it will be this one by David Regal. The handling looks so fair and so clean, and the effect is very clear. There are two discrepancy moves, both of which he claims will fly by. On the second of the two, he's dead right. On the first one, however, I'm not convinced. But the good news is that on the first one, just a minor bit of fiddling and playing to tweak the handling can fix this.
Got a Light? (2 stars) -
Probably the weakest piece of the whole series. It's a combo of Sympathetic Matchboxes and Acrobatic Matchbook. Both effects are good effects, I just didn't really care for Regal's handling of them. The presentation was very rushed and flurious and not very convincing. I never really felt a moment of magic in the whole routine.
The Very Last Card (4.5 stars) -
A very fun, engaging, energetic, bordering on spastic (in a good way) handling for the Last Card plot. The entire audience looks at every card in the deck and throws their cards in the wastebasket leaving only one card. Everything is a free choice. There is no equivoque yet you predict ahead of time what the remaining card will be.. It's one of the cleanest handlings for this plot that you'll see. I'm seriously considering this one for my stand up act.
After Hours (3.5 stars) -
Regal's take on the story telling deck (e.g. Sam The Bellhop, Sam Spade, etc). It's not clear if this story is Regal's original. It's a pretty decent version with a bit of risque scripting, but all and all, not bad).
As I've mentioned before, David Regal is a top notch thinker and teacher of magic. He's also a very smart script writer and entertaining to watch. However, he often get's a little too excited in the performance section . . . not always a bad thing, but often is. It gets in the way of the magic and sometimes squashes the "mood" or makes the effect less clear.
The average star rating of the effects is 3.6. However, consider that this DVD has only half the amount of effects (and not the best selection) as the other DVDs in the set, and I'm having a hard time giving this DVD much more than a 3 star rating with a Stone Status of still a gem.
So, Volume IV, eh . . .
Production quality - As with pretty much all L&L DVDs the quality, lighting, menu navigation, etc are all top notch. No complaints here.
DVD Concept - The concept of Premise, Power & Participation is that once you've reached a certain level of competence in your technical abilities, what will separate you from all the other magicians who are also good technicians? Answer . . . How well you present the magic.
We learn from David Regal how to figure out how to present magic. He suggests that we start by analyzing three basic areas (premise, power and participation). Volume IV, the "Plus," DVD Focuses on a handful of standup effects and doesn't really hone in on any one (premise, power or participation) specifically
Teaching - How good of a teacher is David Regal? Excellent. Putting aside the quality of the effect for moment, if there's anything you like on this DVD, you will learn it very well while being entertained and engaged by a very smart, funny and clever guy.
The Effects - Below is a list of each effect with a rating (1 star = lowest; 5 stars = highest) along with brief commentary on each one.
Journey to Love (3.5 stars) -
This is David Regal's handling of Larry Becker's Room Service. Regal basically adds three things. First a comedic change to the prediction and second a big display of the prediction at the end. Additionally he brings in some presentational differences that suit his personality including "music" by The Carpenters. This is a fun routine that gets a lot of people involved. The presentation shown here is one I would NEVER use . . . way too flirty and bordering "risque." But that's a personality thing. Overall the effect is pretty solid.
Swindle Transpo (4.5 stars) -
If I ever decide to replace Paul Harris's cards across (i.e. Las Vegas Leaper) in my repertoire with another cards across routine, it will be this one by David Regal. The handling looks so fair and so clean, and the effect is very clear. There are two discrepancy moves, both of which he claims will fly by. On the second of the two, he's dead right. On the first one, however, I'm not convinced. But the good news is that on the first one, just a minor bit of fiddling and playing to tweak the handling can fix this.
Got a Light? (2 stars) -
Probably the weakest piece of the whole series. It's a combo of Sympathetic Matchboxes and Acrobatic Matchbook. Both effects are good effects, I just didn't really care for Regal's handling of them. The presentation was very rushed and flurious and not very convincing. I never really felt a moment of magic in the whole routine.
The Very Last Card (4.5 stars) -
A very fun, engaging, energetic, bordering on spastic (in a good way) handling for the Last Card plot. The entire audience looks at every card in the deck and throws their cards in the wastebasket leaving only one card. Everything is a free choice. There is no equivoque yet you predict ahead of time what the remaining card will be.. It's one of the cleanest handlings for this plot that you'll see. I'm seriously considering this one for my stand up act.
After Hours (3.5 stars) -
Regal's take on the story telling deck (e.g. Sam The Bellhop, Sam Spade, etc). It's not clear if this story is Regal's original. It's a pretty decent version with a bit of risque scripting, but all and all, not bad).
As I've mentioned before, David Regal is a top notch thinker and teacher of magic. He's also a very smart script writer and entertaining to watch. However, he often get's a little too excited in the performance section . . . not always a bad thing, but often is. It gets in the way of the magic and sometimes squashes the "mood" or makes the effect less clear.
The average star rating of the effects is 3.6. However, consider that this DVD has only half the amount of effects (and not the best selection) as the other DVDs in the set, and I'm having a hard time giving this DVD much more than a 3 star rating with a Stone Status of still a gem.