“I’ve always considered myself an outlaw. An outsider to the magical mainstream. Growing up in West Texas I experienced an isolation that caused a certain type of originality, due mostly to necessity.”
Lonnie Chevrie

Some of magic’s most innovative creators began their unique explorations of the craft as a result of being geographically removed from other magicians – Jay Sankey and Stewart James come immediately to mind. Lonnie Chevrie, it would seem, arrives with a similar background, but unlike what one might expect from his aforementioned peers, he does not introduce himself on this DVD with an assortment of new sleights and plots. Instead, he offers five trim yet rich routines that are borne of existing work - a bill change, gypsy thread routine, coin in bottle, card stab and a chop cup routine – all of which bear the mark of an intelligent, insightful professional who knows how to make people care about a trick, keep them caring about the trick, then finish the trick before nobody cares about it anymore.

Lonnie’s version of the Gypsy Thread using dental floss (“String ‘Em Up”) will be of particular interest to restaurant magicians – it’s perfectly constructed to suit the venue, and Lonnie’s clever, real-world presentation motivates both the segmenting of the floss and its restoration like no other I’ve ever seen. I’m also a fan of his approach to the bill change, a smartly built, extremely magical transformation of a bill-size piece of paper into an actual one-dollar bill. The latter is then given to a spectator as a souvenir because, Lonnie says, “I have lots of paper at home.” These two routines alone are worth the price of the DVD for a working performer. In addition, the coin-in-bottle and card stab both offer unique handling touches and quick, get-to-the-point presentations that will serve you well under the most demanding conditions.

Conversely, I wasn’t as enamored with the chop cup routine (“Game of Chance”), which, in my opinion, lacks a logical flow, and is presented without any kind of motivation – i.e., the patter is purely descriptive. However, I will say that there are different schools of thought with regards to the chop cup – some magicians prefer to motivate the vanishes, reappearances and transformations, while others are content to simply bombard the audience with surprises. Lonnie’s routine caters more to the latter. You start by introducing the cup and two one-inch (or so) balls. You hold one ball in your hand and put the other one in your pocket, then the ball in your hand vanishes and reappears under the overturned cup. The second ball that was introduced at the outset is never shown or spoken of again, nor does it seem to have served any purpose. The remaining ball is then caused to vanish again, but when the overturned cup is lifted, a red sponge ball is found beneath it. You then introduce a second red sponge ball by removing it from your pocket and cause it to travel invisibly from one hand to the other. You return one sponge ball to your pocket and enclose the other one in your fist, whereupon you apparently toss that ball invisibly towards the overturned cup, showing your hand to now be empty. Finally, you lift the cup, revealing a potato.

Now I’m not saying the routine isn’t magical – I’m sure every sequence fools laymen. I’m just saying it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’m also not convinced that it’s worth burning your sponge ball routine by doing it during your chop cup routine. But I know that there are others squarely on the flip side of this debate, and that’s fine with me – there’s more than enough great material on Outlaw Magic to make up the difference.

This is a DVD that’s well worth your attention by a magician we would all benefit from seeing more of.

David Acer