Issue 22 - September 08
Prestidigital No 5
& 6 The Digital Magic Review
Tim Smithies and Russell Hall
Available from www.prestidigital.tv
Price £8.50 per issue or £30 subscription for 4 issues
Tim Smithies and Russell Hall’s DVD magazine
Prestidigital promises 4 issues a year and has now reached the number 6 edition.
It’s a (mostly) DVD video format magazine for magicians featuring an
eclectic mix of magical interviews, teaching section, trick reviews but also
contains some DVD Rom content which includes some classic magazines and
publications from the past. You can watch it on your television set or view it
on your computer which you will need to do to access the DVD Rom content.
Strangely for a DVD format you get a written ‘magazine style’ editorial on
one of the several PDF files attached which opens up on your computer screen.
The editorial also gives you links to various websites such as youtube to watch
video clips so you need to be online to access the links. Playing time is around
the 90 minute mark.
Issue numbers 5 and 6 follow the format of two lengthy
interviews with some rising stars in the magic world. Number 5 has Irish
mentalist Keith Barry in very chatty mood being interviewed just before his sell
out shows in
‘Mystery Theatre’ is the trick section with no 5
showing Roy Johnson’s Coins Through Table
from a past video. No 6 show’s Roger Curzon performing and teaching his
devilishly clever Perfect Prediction.
Balloon modelling expert David Grist appears on several previous issues
including 5 and 6 with some unusual models – an easy motorbike model on 5 and
a dinosaur hat on 6. Each issue
contains a trick review including a live performance and number 5 has John
Bannon’s Stranger’s Gallery and no
6 is Outlaw Effects' Panther Wallet, a
very usable peak wallet. The reviews
take place in a dealer’s studio which I don’t recognise so it’s not clear
how independent the reviews are! Reviewers Adam Bell and Ian Baker however, seem
to give an honest and personal opinion of both products.
‘Retrotastic’ is the fourth chapter on each issue and
features some curious ‘vintage’
footage of some magic related film clips, both using camera tricks.
You may like this but both clips will test your interest in some
tenuously linked old film clips from 1904 and 1951 – or not! I would have
preferred vintage film clips of classic magicians like Blackstone, Dante and the
like which would have been more relevant!
‘The Vault’ is the section containing the DVD Rom
content and here each issue gives a bundle of e-books, like a vast selection of
heckler stopper lines, work related gags, Stanyon’s Magic Magazine from 1900,
Issues 1-3 of the classic Gen magazine as well as some other vintage
publications – The Golden Book of Chemical Experiments and Hoffman’s Haunted
Hat to name but two. Some of these E-Books provide a fascinating trip into the
archives of magic’s past.
As with any magazine, each issue will vary with its content
of interviewees, tricks and places that the editors travel to and the video
format is a great opportunity for live footage of current events.
Prestidigital provides a variety of magical content from current magical
personalities to dip in to the magical archives with something for everyone to
enjoy. The website www.prestidigital.tv
will show you a useful issue by
issue list of contents of previous editions. PP
What’s Hot Interesting
interviews with current magical stars
What’s Not Too much old
material
Star rating ****
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