Holy $@*%!

I haven't seen the original Melting Point, but I'll be buying one immediately. This DVD is Mariano Goa's additional routines, moves and gimmicks for the original.

If I had to pick one word to sum up this work it would be "clean." "Beautiful" would be a second runner-up.

Here are some of the routines shown on this DVD.

Up & Down: A coin visibly penetrates a glass tabletop, first from the bottom up and then back down. There are no weird moves and no cover other than your hands. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Violent Pass: You toss a coin down onto a glass tabletop and it visibly penetrates as it hits the glass.

Card Changes: New takes on several standard color changes that allow you to keep you fingers open.

You'll also find applications to some of the classics that you already do, such as Matrix and Cups & Balls.

As a bonus to me, Mariano has some work on a really old gimmick that I tend to use now and then.

Note that this DVD does not come with the original gimmick, so you'll need to pick one of those up. You'll also need some gimmicked coins to produce some of the effects on this DVD.

If you aren’t yet the proud owner of Mariano Goñi’s and Cesar Alonsois’ “Melting Point,” you will have absolutely no use for this follow-up DVD other than academic. If, on the other hand, you’re in possession of the original gimmick, you may be interested in exploring some (maybe all) of the new and novel applications presented here. The bulk of these are common and/or classic plots performed with the Melting Point gimmick. Of course that begs the question - are any of them better for being executed with said gimmick than they would be using prior methods? In many cases, I’d have to say - not so much. The coin changes, coin vanishes, card changes, card peeks, add-ons, false transfers and matrix all look fine, but every one of them could be performed just as effectively (and in some cases just as easily) without the gimmick.

However, there are also several instances where the gimmick helps to generate an effect that might not otherwise be possible. For example:

• “Violent Pass” is a striking (and muscle-passless) version of John Cornelius’s “Glass-Topped Coin Through Table” (Coinmagic, Kaufman, 1981), wherein a coin appears to be thrown (and hard!) through a glass tabletop with a resounding “clank,” yet impossibly, the glass remains both unmarred and unbroken. Admittedly, the trick is angly, but if you have the opportunity to perform it under controlled conditions (e.g., on TV), it could be a reputation maker. Similarly, “Coin-Up,” wherein you appear to push a coin up through a glass tabletop, also looks very magical. In fact, combining these two sequences with the original “Melting Point” would make for a powerful routine - first you push the coin down through the glass, then back up, then finally you throw it back down and through for the most shocking penetration of all.


• The cup-and-ball changes, vanishes and reappearances are all extremely visual, and some would likely fool even those “in the know.” Mariano does not provide a full routine, but the sequences he demonstrates could enrich your existing cup-and-ball work. As a sidenote, William Zavis should have been credited for the idea of using an external magnet to make any cup a Chop Cup (see Divers Deceits, 1969).


• “Mystery Thumbtacks” is a chink-a-chink routine using thumbtacks tacked to the fabric-covered seat of a chair. This struck me as one of the more clever applications for the Melting Point gimmick, as it stretches the chink-a-chink plot by adding an additional challenge (the fact of the items being pinned to the surface).


• And finally, “Coin Through Handkerchief” is a very pretty way to achieve an effect similar to the original “Melting Point,” but this time through a semi-transparent handkerchief on the palm of your hand.

In terms of value for money, I wish this DVD had been included with the original product (or vice versa) - that’s a release I would have given five stars. As it stands, I find $35 a bit steep for an “applications” DVD sans gimmick (the Pen Thru Anything DVD, for example, is only $9.95). On the other hand, there are enough good tricks on here to make the DVD worth your while, and as a whole it goes a long way toward affirming just how versatile this gimmick really is.

David Acer