Exploring Magical Presentations

THE BLURB:
An intimate opportunity to learn from one of magic’s
greatest teachers, this DVD will help you think about your
performing style, and grow as a magical presenter.

We all know plenty of tricks, but how can we turn them into
memorable magic? In this DVD session, Eugene Burger explores
that topic, and provides specific examples—including fully
developed routines that you can adapt for your own
performances.

THE BLACK ENVELOPE VARIATIONS A classic (and amazing)
prediction of a playing card, explained in detail with
discussions of eight different presentational approaches,
including:

A DREAM OF YOU • THE DEATH CARD • THE GAMBLER’S FATE and
Eugene’s favorite, INEVITABILITY

plus—

FADING COIN

Imagination becomes reality! Invented by Tomoyuki Takahashi,
and taught with his kind permission, this astonishing
routine is nearly impromptu, and truly astonishing. Eugene
has invested a great amount of thought into getting the most
impact out of his presentation, and now he shares it with
you.

plus—

INVISIBILITY POWDER

Discover how a simple presentational premise can turn a good
trick into great one.

plus—

OB-SER-VO

Inspired by a Robert Neale effect, this was developed as a
“message” routine for corporate performances. Over time it
has evolved into one of the strongest audience participation
routines in the Burger repertoire.

plus—

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Years of exploring countless versions of this Paul Curry
classic have led to this approach. Eugene explains that
journey. Problems are solved and strengths are emphasized,
and the results are both practical and impressive.

Running Time Approximately 71min

MY COMMENTS:
Eugene Burger has become well-known, not only for being a
brilliant thinker and magician, but knowing how to make his
performances meaningful. This includes knowing how to
construct a tight script that keeps audiences interested.
This DVD comprises material that Eugene has included in his
lectures for a few years now. It's not only intriguing, but
an important look at how one presents magic and makes it
meaningful. To that end, Eugene stresses the differences
betweeen stunts and meaningful presentations. Though Eugene
points out that many magicians (and I'd add that some
mentalists) certainly are content with presenting stunts,
I'd posit that mentalism loses so much more when presented
as a stunt and the lessons Eugene teaches to help avoid that
are invaluable.

Interestingly, most of the effects he presents on this DVD
can be considered and performed as mentalism or magic,
depending on your style. The Black Envelope Variations is
an effect using a Koran Deck, a mentalists favorite. Eugene
demonstrates and discusses eight very different variations
of this one effect and how each one can have a different
meaning and a different impact on audiences. Fading Coin is
an effect that Eugene has been using in his lecture for
quite some time. Basically, a thought-of coin is revealed
to be the only coin in the performer's hand. Ob-Ser-Vo is
an exercise in demonstrating that different people will
witness the same event differently. And, Out of this World,
the Paul Curry classic, is one of the all-time great
mentalism card effects.

There is no question that I agree that a well-scripted
presentation is essential to the success of any mentalism
routine. Not having a tight, well-thought script is the
bane of most mentalists as one of the very biggest problems
with most mentalists is that they bore audiences by
overtalking. I'll be even more daring and say that there
are many mentalists who feel they know this but have a
difficult time seeing that they can use this information.
This disc is an invaluable lesson in how to present routines
effectively. If you've never seen Eugene lecture on this
material, you should. And, even if you have, this disc is
well worth having in your DVD collection. I'd recommend any
good DVD or book on presentational theory over one with
dozens of tricks. It's one thing to know routines. It's
quite another to know how to present them, and that's the
point of this DVD. Highly recommended.

By the way, even though most of the effects deal with cards,
the point is the presentational theories. In other words,
if you don't like using playing cards in mentalism, this
disc still has a lot to offer.