Dan Harlan - R&B

Sometimes I just LOVE e-mail. Since I am single at the moment, I love it even more when a surprise pops up with its come hither subject line. Yes, it chats me up and seduces me and I HAVE to look! Then I fall in love and I have a new "special" friend. Okay, enough with my lackluster dating life. Dan Harlan is back and he is back with a vengeance with this DVD download titled R&B. When I say he is back, I am not kidding or playing on words.

This DVD download is PACKED with effects utilizing a common gaffed card that many of us have but use very little. After purchasing this download, you are going to be busting out that rather curious gaff and you are going to fry minds; every effect in this download is a worker and there is something for EVERYONE regardless of skill level. [N.B. Astute readers will have already sussed out the gaff by now].

Harlan seems to be of the Harry Lorayne school of offering even more than what is advertised. Let me explain: the video opens with a ton of performances in real world situations. The advantage here of course is that you see the effects under conditions that YOU will be performing under rather than the safe environment of a shoot with L&L. Magic needs MORE of this type of video instruction. Now to the Harry Lorayne analogy: the effects Dan performs - and there are a LOT of them; don't go by the Paper Crane description of 9 effects - there are MANY more - are not the sum total. In the instruction portion of the video, Harlan teaches quite a few variations and offers some very tasty finesses.

With this unassuming gaff that you have lying around in your magic drawer you are going to perform VERY strong card magic.

This is one of those instances for me where I cannot name an effect that really stands out above the rest because frankly, ALL of the effects are worthy of any worker's repertoire. But, I SHOULD mention a few of the possibilities just to whet your appetite.

Imagine that you spread a pack of red backed cards face up on the table. From a blue deck you have isolated ONE card. The spectator freely slides one of the face up red backed cards out of the spread - yes it IS a free choice me hearties. Needless to say, your isolated blue backed prediction and the spectator's red backed choice match! I am a HUGE fan of T.A. Waters' and he has a similar effect I Mind, Myth, and Magick. Harlan's two approaches are clean and the second, called Prediction 2 leaves you SQUEAKY clean. The Waters effect requires a full gaffed deck; Harlan's does not.

How about doing Aaron Fisher's Search and Destroy - excellent effect as I am sure many are aware - but streamlined and with card backs that contrast the deck in use! This effect is actually a culmination of increasingly impossible sandwich plots. This finale is nothing short of stunning.

There is even something for Star Trek fans in this wonderful collection!!

Other powerful effects to look out for include: Trading Places, Turning Blue, and Make a Bet.

In addition to the myriad effects and ideas there is a bonus effect titled The Cut Deeper Reading impromptu fortune telling effect. This is VERY VERY strong and I believe you will have a blast with this one.

Since this is a video download you will not have the sexy menu options of a DVD, so you can't just jump to the explanations. However, using VLC media player it is easy to find what you want fairly easily.

Café member John Wells recently created a thread which discusses the ridiculous nature of many magic videos that attempt to make a video into a full length feature film. R&B does NOT do that. Instead, the focus is on the M A G I C so no stupid sick inducing camera angles and you will NOT see the Rohirrim sweeping down en masse to rescue Helm's Deep. (AWESOME scene by the way in LOTR!!)

So to recap: Dan Harlan offers a slew of effects for a common gaff that will get your creativity flowing. The effects looks so impossibly clean and all are hard hitting practical workers that deserve your consideration. Whether you have serious chops or you are new to the art and cannot DO sleight of hand yet, R&B offers a feast of miracles. I purposefully have omitted descriptions of many of the effects because I want you to enjoy the effects and the surprises Dan Harlan offers in the performance and instructional sessions.