Let's Go Dutch
Alkemade, Fritz
RSVP - Russ Stevens
Boxing Day : A Card Under/In Box routine filled with many magical moments. An entire act on it's own, this is one of Fritz' favourite routines to perform!
Another Ambitious? : Fritz' handling of a classic in card magic. A signed card comes to the top several times. Then the selection flies everywhere and eventually the cards change into a block of glass!
Y.A.M.S.M.A.T. : This effect was specifically designed to answer the question: "Can you show me a trick?" Cards change, appear, and disappear in this worker routine.
It's a Four-King Production! : One at a time, the Kings magically appear, but not in a normal fashion...
Roppongi Revelation : A selected card is revealed by the aid of four Kings in a surprising way!
Boxed Musketeers : Fritz' take on the popular four-for-one transposition.
Wallace's Opener & Tokyo Transpo : The opening effect that Fritz did every night for four weeks when he was performing in Japan. Easy and practical.
The Ace Team : Hannibal would've loved that this four card production comes together. I pity the fool who doesn't.
A Mouthful : A playing card repeatedly goes to the performer's mouth with a surprise ending!
Just in Time 2.0 : Joshua Jay said "it's an effect I immediately want to learn for my professional use" and now you can too.
Multiple Selection and Revelation Routine : Nine cards are selected, returned, and revealed in a progressively impressive manner, combined with a logical finish. Fritz teaches you his opening sequence, the control of the selections, the revelations, and how he makes the routine full circle. This routine is a true reputation maker!
BONUS
Euroutine : A coin routine where a coin vanishes, appears, penetrates, and transforms. Powerful magic that'll amaze your audience!
Running Time Approximately: 2hr 30min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
We as magicians live in A World of Fantasy (thank you Triumph) . . . A world where anything is possible . . . a world cards can vanish and instantly reappear inside of a card box that the spectator just examined . . . a world where we get to meet talented magicians like Fritz Alkemade.
This extremely well produced DVD contains a dozen effects straight out of the working repertoire of Fritz Alkemade. Let's get the formalities out of the way first. Then we'll dive into the effects a little bit. First, everything was taught thoroughly, clearly and excellently. Proper crediting and permission abound. It's well priced. $30 bucks for a dozen really good effects. Further, we get to see a real pro perform for real audiences. Unlike many performers I've seen - too many, Alkemade actually acknowledges his audience. He talks TO them, not AT them.
So putting aside the quality of effects for a moment, this DVD is exceptional already. You get to learn, from a pro, how to interact with and perform for an audience. Add to that the fact that every effect on here is very commercial, has real audience appeal and for the most part is within the grasp of most performers.
One thing I really love about Alkemade is that he is darn near a master of the art of misdirection (them Holland boys'll get you every time). He really knows how to manage the audience and work them and direct them. It was a real treat to watch the performances. As a general rule, I don't let the performance section of a DVD influence my review. I usually focus on the integrity of the ad copy and how well you can learn the effects on the DVD (i.e., quality of instructions and teacher) and are the effects actually doable.
I'm making a slight exception to that rule and allowing the performance section to impact the overall score. The reason is simple. It will teach you. Let me be clear that I don't think that everything was perfect. There were a few mistakes I felt he made in performance. For example, he asked the spectator what her favorite four of a kind was. She said "eights." Then he said, I like the Kings so we're gonna use them. Bad form for sure. But this type of thing happened very infrequently. So infrequently that it's hard to call it a problem, particularly when you consider all of the good you'll learn from watching him.It's more bang for your buck. Let's take a peek at a few of the effects:
Effect Overview
I'm not going to cover every effect. Each of you will have different tastes and interests. However, I will say this: if I were to rate each effect purely on whether or not I liked it, every effect would be at least 4 out 5 stars. In other words, I liked everything on the DVD. Not all of it is stuff that I would perform, and some of the effects had parts that I didn't like, but the happy totally outweighs the sad by a long shot.
11 effects are card effects and 1 is a coin effect. In the card work, you'll see some very visual magic, card changes, cards vanishing and reappearing all over the place. I really liked Mouthful and It's a Four-King Production! among others, of course. Both Mouthful and Another Ambitious? (another stand out piece) have a lot of similarities in effect. Both have some pretty standard moves with some great interactive moments with the audience. I love the banter with the spectator in Mouthful when the card keeps appearing in his mouth. It's so easy, and they'll never see you put it there. This is a killer effect to practice misdirection.
In the above King production, it's a simple production that has one of those great moments where the card seems to materialize right under their noses . . . so magical. Another stand out is Boxing Day. This is an excellent card to box/card under box/etc. routine. This is a perfect example of how good at audience management Alkemade is. He was able to have the spectator examine a card box, take it back from her just long enough to switch the box and put it right back in her hand.
This is not something required for the routine, but he took advantage of his surroundings and played it to his advantage. It was amazing to witness. Bottom line folks, this guy is good. His stuff is pretty simple and extremely commercial. If you need some stuff for real audiences that's tested and powerful, stop right here.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!
(Top ▲)
Fritz Alkemade’s style of card magic is very skill and misdirection based. Lots of routines are based around effects like the selected card appearing under the card box on the table, in the performer’s mouth, or wedged behind his ear.
One routine is all about the selected card appearing under the box. The first two or three reactions are really good. The next few times, the reactions get weaker in my opinion, but magic like this is very much based on the situation you are in and how the audience is responding. Some moments will get a bigger response than others, and they certainly respond when the whole deck appears under the box. Another routine is almost the exact same structure, except the selected card appears in his mouth, and the deck appears there as a finale.
There are also sandwich effects, ace routines, and a multiple selection routine. If this is your kind of material, you will definitely get some ideas. You won’t be using these routines exactly as Fritz does, because you are not him. You will have fun working on the moves, and playing with the structure, to make it fit you. This is simply an example of what Fritz does.
The best routine is Just in Time 2.0 where after the deck is shuffled face up into face down in a very convincing way, the deck corrects itself with the exception of three cards. Upon examination, those cards match the exact time! This is a worker’s dream. No table needed, can be done at anytime, and requires only intermediate skill. It also fits a wide range of performers. This is easily the best effect on the DVD, and will definitely be the most widely used routine. I have already been using this in my working repertoire.
Just in Time 2.0 gets five stars.The DVD graphics and editing get five stars. The other routines between two and three stars for me. I’m giving this a personal rating of four stars. I got one great routine out of it, and you just might get more if this is your style of card magic.