Issue 29 - Nov. 09
Bullets After Dark
John Bannon
Available from: www.bigblindmedia.com
Price: £24.99
First of all I must tie my colours to the mast and admit
that I am a big John Bannon fan. Ever since I read his books Impossibilia and
Smoke And Mirrors I have had a huge admiration for his way of thinking and for
his impressive ability to find elegant and workable solutions to magic plots.
When so much published magic can seem to be thrown together and perhaps display
an appalling lack of real insight and knowledge, in complete contrast John
Bannon's material provides a solid body of ideas and methods, and so it is a
total delight to be able to review this latest DVD from BBM who have caught the
maestro in full flow.
Bullets After Dark is a two disc set featuring three hours
of John's routines and thoughts. John is a wonderfully relaxed performer (unlike
the 'spectators' who he is obliged to perform to on this DVD, most of whom look
almost totally immobilised with fear, despite the fact that most of them are
good card magicians themselves) and his explanations are lucidly expressed and
thus clearly understandable. His methods, on the whole, do not require difficult
sleight of hand. He never puts in a move for the sake of it, and his style, in
terms of handling, is one of understatement rather than overt dexterity. The
result is that his magic is very accessible to most performers interested in
card magic.
And card magic is what it is in entirety. John performs and
explains 10 routines, some of which comprise of two or three effects blended
together, plus he also explains an excellent up-in-the-hands full deck false
cut. The magic is a mixture of his version of classic effects such as Doctored
Daley (his take on The Last Trick Of Dr. Daley), clever use of established
principles such as in The Einstein Overkill and Origami Prediction, and great
methods for popular plots such as with his Power Of Poker. I am not a great
lover of cards, cards and yet more cards, but there is something about John's
material and the way he performs and explains it, that can make even someone
like me want to watch the whole thing from start to finish. It really is very
good.
As usual with BBM DVDs we get a certain amount of intrusion
with deliberately wobbly camera work, a very stylised overall setting for the
DVD which involves gun shots, and the rather silly looking guys sitting with
dark glasses on, but all of this fails to knock John out of his polished and
smooth style. As well as the actual routines, we are also treated to John's
thoughts on a whole range of questions, some on general magical topics, others
on themes directly pertinent to the effect the viewer has just seen, and as
always, I found John's answers to be both illuminating and considered. He is an
intelligent man and so what you get when he speaks is a coherent answer which
shows a huge depth of understanding and knowledge.
John Bannon is not a professional magician in the sense
that he earns his real money in the United States as an attorney, but in every
other way he is totally professional. He creates really fooling card magic using
straightforward methods and presents it all in charming, relaxed style, and as
such I find him a real pleasure to watch. In a range of DVDs which has already
included some strong titles, in my opinion this is one of the very best that BBM
has released so far. ML
What's Hot: great card magic from a relaxed and highly
gifted performer
What's Not: rather 'silly' looking assistants
Star Rating: *****
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