Britain's brightest independent magic magazine

Issue 20 - May 08

Review

The King Of Custard DVD

Featuring Colonel Custard
Available from: www.colonelcustard.com
Price: £20.00 + £2.00 P&P  

Making a DVD about entertaining children is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult to do well. The reason is that unlike every other branch of magic, it's not really the methods of the tricks themselves which need running through, it's more a case of having to explain how to present the magic effectively and how to create an exciting and marketable party product. Paul Megram (aka Colonel Custard) has been a full time pro for over a decade, and in that time he has, through the performance of many shows, come to understand what it takes to provide a great children's party, and like several others before him (myself included!) he has decided to put his thoughts down on DVD .  

To help him do this he enlists the help of his good friend and fellow children's entertainer Magic Dave, and this DVD is essentially a recording of a conversation between the two of them. In systematic fashion, Dave encourages Paul to explain everything that goes into his shows, right from the first enquiry through to the moment of being paid at the end of another successful performance. Viewers will hear how Paul keeps track of bookings both past and present using computer software, what paperwork he uses in confirming the arrangements, how he organises the booker on the day of the party to ensure that everything runs smoothly, what type of material he uses in the games and magic sections of his show, how to collect the fee, plus countless other important and well thought out pieces of information.  

Interspersed amongst this informative chat the DVD contains short segments of Paul performing some of his material. We see him doing a short sponge ball routine, Misers Dream, Aerial Fishing, a simple change bag routine which culminates in him getting a custard pie in his face (!), plus we see flashes of him on a huge unicycle, juggling and organising a couple of games. It is interesting to note that at no stage do we see a stock dealer children's effect, and Paul mentions in his conversation that he even does Nicholas Einhorn's Self Levitation as an act closer on occasions, which gives you an idea that it's unlikely that Run Rabbit Run will feature too often.  

I said at the start of this review that I think it is difficult to make a DVD on entertaining children, and in many ways this DVD illustrates why. This is not a product for people looking to add new tricks to their repertoire because there are no explanations and although experienced entertainers would not really need any to replicate most of the tricks that are shown, this is not the point of the DVD . The benefit of this title is supplied through the great advice that Paul gives for being a professional party organiser, and for anyone new to the children's party scene, there is a lot to be gained from listening to Paul talk. The trouble is, it's not easy to make chat exciting or engaging viewing, and since Paul talks directly to Dave the whole time and at no stage does he address his remarks to the camera, as a viewer I felt slightly ignored and disconnected from the conversation, which is a pity because the information is excellent.  

So, who should buy this DVD ? Well, novice entertainers looking to get themselves organised would certainly benefit from the advice, although as already stated they will not really get any new effects. More seasoned entertainers will find themselves probably nodding in agreement with much that Paul says as it is clear that he talks from solid experience, but they are unlikely to hear anything particularly new, because to be honest, common sense and good planning go a long way to getting the job done well, and Paul is simply making a clear case for what needs to be thought about. I think if Paul could have included two or three strong routines for people to add to their repertoire, it would have made this DVD of more universal appeal. As it is, I feel it is perhaps going to be of value to less people than would otherwise have been the case. Nevertheless the production quality is very high, and RSVP Magic have done a good job of blending the chat and the live bits in order to give a flavour of what Colonel Custard gets up to on a commercial booking. ML  

What's Hot: very good, commercial advice
What's Not: could perhaps have done with some routines being taught
Star Rating: ***

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