Glass by ellusionist

I do have Glass by Ellusionist. I attempted an audio review, but couldn't seem to get my levels right, so I'll just post one here.

This is a DVD with around 15 effects involving glass and a dry erase marker. If you have any experience with dry erase markers, you know its most distinctive characteristic: it may be erased from any non-porous surface by simply rubbing across it. Adam Grace, the author of this DVD has simply played around with this idea and come up with a number of effects.

You can purchase this DVD alone or with two small squares of glass such as that seen in the promotional video. If this interests you, I would suggest going ahead and picking up the glass squares as a number of the effects require squares of glass of this approximate size and if you don't get them with the DVD, you'll have to make them yourself. I am not Bob Villa, and so opted for the pre-made squares.

These are close up effects. Little of this material would be effective in a stage show of any size unless you have cameras zooming in with huge monitors behind you. I don't, but if you do, more power to you.

The effects can, with a few exceptions, be categorized into the following: card tricks and tricks involving transpositioning dots. The card tricks may, for the most part, more properly be categorized as "kickers" on existing routines or ways to make your cards predictions seem more impossible and more unusual (when was the last time you saw a prediction written on a piece of glass?). Most of the card effects require you to force a card and then reveal the prediction. If you perform a lot of card magic, then I think this material would make a useful addition to your arsenal, since it breaks up the ordinary routine and adds something unique to your presentation.

I thought the dot routines were the best, as they were simple to perform, well thought out, and would appear mystifying to most spectators. They would also allow you to routine in a lot of humor. One effect involves the dots disappearing one by one. Another involves them appearing appearing one by one. Another involves them moving from one square of glass to another. Okay, so the theme is the same, but they're good nonetheless.

The first effect on this DVD, Stained Glass, is one that Grace sells individually and appears to be the effect that started him on this project. I didn't feel that it was that impressive and thought it was pretty easy to figure out. That gets me to an important point -- these effects will be strong to your audience in inverse proportion to their familiarty with dry erase markers. IMHO, the strongest effects don't draw attention to the fact that the ink can be wiped away and use the glass as just another medium for the effect rather than drawing attention to it. A few of the effects can be easily explained by anyone that understands the dry erase principle. These might be effective on kids, but not on even the most obtuse adults.

One effect featured prominently in the DVD has Grace drawing letters on a shop window and having them move to the other side of the glass. If you are buying the DVD for this effect, DON'T. You will NEVER perform this, as there are so many preconditions and required setup that it would be virtually impossible to replicate. It does look cool, though.

Grace performs many of these effects on a pool table, which allows him to move the glass across its surface and erase what is underneath. If, like most of us, you don't perform your magic over a pool table, you will need a close up mat that is not black to perform these effects. See if you can find one the size of a pool table.

All that being said, I would recommend this DVD to most close up performers. It does have a decent amount of material and would allow you to incorporate an unusual element into your routine. I wouldn't think many people would want to make an entire routine around these effects, as most of them involve the same principles, but the addition of one or two can spice up your show. The glass and marker are also easy to carry around with you.

The production values on this DVD are very good. Adam Grace is a likeable host and teaches the effects quite competently. If you have any specific questions about Glass, you can email me.

	Author	Topic: Glass by ellusionist (Read 2296 times)
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