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Standing Room Only: Volume 2

Steve Draun

L&L Publishing

(Based on 2 reviews)
Though long acclaimed as a cardman, Steve Draun has approached dice, coins, linking rings and virtually all substrates of magic with equal passion and perseverance. It's for this great effort, and for his long-time experience, that such a high degree of bafflement permeates the magic of Steve Draun. This is also why his material is so greatly worthy of study and appreciation by anyone who seeks to better their own performance of magic.

OUT OF THIS WORLD - If you could accomplish this classic effect by real magic, it might look very much like this - the clean-up is that good!

FAN GLIMPSE - If you are not already familiar with this now-standard method of glimpsing a peeked card, you are in for a real treat. If you already use it, you'll find some interesting presentational ideas.

FACE-UP ACES - A quick, surprising trick taught to Steve Draun by Ed Marlo. Some original ideas were added and what emerged impresses all who see it.

TENKAI PENNIES - An impossible-looking technique is used to accomplish this standard, but still powerful, trick.

MEMORY TRICK - A long-forgotten plot is updated and you're going to love the results!

DECK VANISH - A stunning trick that features several new palming techniques. Also, a well-kept secret move for showing your pocket empty is revealed that you will use all of the time.

WEB SHUFFLE - A great method for simultaneously culling and stacking using the riffle shuffle.

UNEXPECTED LOCATION - The spectator is in control throughout. They shuffle, cut, remember a card, and then cut and shuffle some more. After all of that, the performer, after some amusing by-play, reveals the selection!

BONUS TRICK: PORTENT ACES - One of Steve Draun's best items! An Ace-cutting trick par excellence! MASTER PASS CLASS WORKSHOP - Learn the moves that Steve Draun made his mark in the world of card magic with including his touches on the Classic Pass, the Table Pass, the Herrmann Turnover Pass, and his own remarkable Midnight Shift. You'll also learn Jack Sandwich, a strong trick that incorporates some of the powerful techniques taught in this special workshop. If you've ever wanted to learn, or improve, the Pass, you'll find this Workshop to be an invaluable resource.

Running Time Approximately 1Hr 15Min

Reviews

Doc Johnson

Official Reviewer

Mar 28, 2015

PROS

I’m going to review the three DVD set in one review. One could review it in one word… outstanding!

The thing that I so much like about Steve Draun’s work is he has hard hitting magic that does not involve knuckle busting moves. There is a bit of practice required, but nothing impossible.

In the three set DVD, he covers card magic, coin magic, ring magic, etc.

CONS

He doesn’t cover every type of magic, but he covers a lot of ground that he uses in his professional work.

Many of his routines are his versions of classic routines, but he also has some unique and very interesting routines of his own.

VERDICT

Steve is a master magician and this DVD set is excellent.

(Top ▲)

David Acer

Official Reviewer

Aug 12, 2007

“I’d like to try an experiment... I do require a subject—it could be either a man or a woman. Several of you qualify.” -- Steve Draun

Longtime fans of Steve Draun will be happy to hear (I’m considering ending the sentence there) that this second volume in the Standing Room Only trilogy contains a greater sampling of his original work than Volume 1, and (more importantly) that work is excellent.

His “Fan Glimpse” is arguably the cleanest, most imperceptible method for secretly glimpsing a selected card, and if you’re not familiar with the technique, its performance here will fool you. Other foolers include “The Memory Trick,” a significant upgrade of a Jack Merlin plot (from And a Pack of Cards) in which a small packet of indifferent cards is cut from a shuffled deck, then turned face up and fanned, whereupon the audience is invited to try to memorize the order of the cards like it’s a telephone number. Most are unable to remember past a few cards, “which is strange,” the magician comments, as he counts the cards face down onto the table, showing there to be 13, then he turns the packet face up and says, “Because they’re all in order.” He counts the cards into a spread, showing that they are now in numerical order, Ace through King. The work here is extremely clever, and does NOT involve a packet switch.

And “Deck Vanish” is a quick, crisp card-to-pocket routine wherein, at the end, the entire deck vanishes except for the selection. Even if you already perform a version of the plot, Mr. Draun’s disappearing-deck ending is well worth your attention. The audience is left with an image that seems to preclude the possibility of the vanished deck having been disposed of in your pockets. Also, although it isn’t mentioned in the ad copy, this routine features Mr. Draun’s excellent (and extremely practical) Draun Control, which was published in Genii (December, 2005).

Apart from these, and a few other fun Steve Draun tricks (an unusual Ambitious Ace routine, a ridiculously fair selection location, etc), he performs a version of Paul Curry’s “Out of this World” and a handling for “Tenkai Pennies” that works out of Deep Back Clip rather than Tenkai Pinch. Finally, anyone interested in studying the Pass will have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Draun perform and explain several classic versions, including his own “Midnight Shift” (first published as “The Graveyard Shift” in Richard’s Almanac), which (along with its inspirations and variations) could have formed the basis for an entire DVD.

Overall, one gets the sense that Mr. Draun performs the material on this DVD less often for laymen than the material on Volume 1, but in terms of a magic lecture, the tricks here are more unique, more original and more interesting.

David Acer
(Top ▲)