Michael Ammar: ETMCM Vol. 9

Open Production (Paul Harris)- An elegant four of a kind production from two one hand fans.

4 Card Reverse (Larry Jennings) - This is one of my favorite effects off of the new tapes. Four cards are clearly placed into four different places in the deck and are later revealed to be reversed in four different parts of the deck with no apparent manipulation on the part of the performer.

The Visitor (Larry Jennings)- Larry Jennings's legendary effect. A signed card seems to impossibly be in two places at once.

Impromptu, 1/2 Deck/ OOTW Plus (Michael Ammar, Paul Curry, Harry Lorayne, Aldo Colombini)- A nice handling of the Out Of This World plot. The spectator magically separates the black cards from the red cards. Well all except for the two that the magician predicted before the trick started. Totally impromptu.

Vacuum Cleaner Cards (Paul Harris)- A wonderful Paul Harris trick where the aces disappear from one half of the deck and appear with the leader ace in the other half. Michael's presentation isfull of puns that may go over in some situations, but I doubt you will ever find an audience that will respond as well as the L&L group.

21st Century 21 Card Trick (Ed Marlo)- A card effect with a presentation centering around the old 21 card trick that many laymen seem to know.

Socrate's Cards to Pocket (Philippe Socrate)- If you're scared of palming, this is a wonderful place to start. All of the palms are wonderfully covered with misdirection. Three cards are selected. Two travel individually to your pocket. Next, the whole deck (except for the last selection) travels. A wonderfully constructed routine.

The 110 lb Card Trick (Irv Weiner, Michael Ammar)- This is basically a presentational hook more than a new card trick. An Ace of Spades is place under the spectators foot. When the spectator lifts his foot, the ace has changed to the spectator's selection and the Ace is found reversed in the middle of the deck.

Triple Prediction (Brother John Hamman)- A simple routine using Balducci's Cut Deeper force to good effect.

Also included...
Fists Of Frost (Michael Ammar)
All The Non-Conformists (Michael Skinner)
Deception Perception (Allan Ackerman)

Overall the material is good, but not great. However, a few classic routines are taught. This volume will be a great asset to the beginner who may not be familiar with such routines as Out of This World, The Visitor, etc. Still, most experienced magicians would be better served purchasing another product (perhaps even a different volume of this series.)

-Available from www.llpub.com

Michael Ammar: ETMCM Vol. 8

Comedy Rising Card- A very funny, entertaining quickie. A card is selected and returned to the deck. You hold the deck in your hand and a card begins to rise out of the pack. It keeps rising until it actually appears to be floating in mid-air. The illusion is broken, however, when you turn to your side and the audience sees that the card is actually stuck to your magic wand which is tucked under your arm.

Card On Tie (Dan Korem)- This is probably the best EFFECT on the whole series. A corner is torn from a selected card and handed to a spectator as a reciept. A safety pin is inserted into the deck which is handed to a spectator. The cards are thrown at the magicians chest and the selected card appears pinned to his shirt. Of course, the corner matches.

Caller I.D. (Eric Allen)- An over-the-top yet super simple way to reveal a selected card. The phone rings during your card trick. When the spectator looks at the caller I.D., the phone displays a message that says "Incoming Call from (name of selection)."

Card In Balloon (Derek Dingle)- Won't fool magicians, but I'll have to try it in front of lay people to see how well it could play.

Impossible Miniature Rising Cards (Martin Lewis)- If you've seen this effect, you know how magical it can look. Two cards are selected from a miniature deck. A handkerchief is placed on the table with an ashtray on top. The cards are replaced in the card box and placed in the ashtray. A tall glass is then placed over the card box to prevent any tampering. One by one the selected cards rise out of the box. Everything may then be examined. WOW!

Spectator Cuts to the Aces (Elmer Biddle, Bob Veeser)- An easy to do miracle. Your audiences will love it. Created by Elmer Biddle and Bob Veeser. If you know much about magic, that pretty much tells you what moves are involved.

Weiner's Miracle Princess Cards (Irv Weiner)- A clever mentalism, thought of cards effect that, unfortunately, Michael's performance does not show. It was long and drawn out, and when it was time to reveal the selections, Ammar actually missed two times. He did a wonderful job covering his mistake with a production of the two misses from his fly. Sadly, his out was more entertaining than his attempted effect. I just don't think his performance did this bit of magic justice.

Also included...
Larry's Favorite (Larry Jennings)
Mona Lisa Card (Michael Skinner)
Anytime 4 Aces (Frank Garcia)

The performance sections are a little disappointing. I don't think Michael is as comfortable with these effects as he is with the ones in the other volumes. The teaching portions however are incredibly well done. If the effects appeal to you, this DVD is definitely worth your consideration.

-Available from www.llpub.com

Michael Ammar: ETMCM Vol. 7

Let me preface this by saying that I am a big fan of ETMCM Volumes 1-6. Where else could one learn so many classic routines in one place. The "bang for your buck" ratio was definitely a plus. The latest three volumes in the series, however, do not live up to the standard set by the first six. I am not saying that the DVD's aren't worth your consideration, but if you are new to magic, you are better off purchasing the first 2/3 of the series first.

2 Shuffles Harry (Harry Lorayne, Brother John Hammond)- This is an amazing Triumph effect with a great kicker ending. Two cards are selected and lost in the pack. The deck is then shuffled face up and face down. Finally the cards are magically caused to all face the same direction except for the two selections. It is then revealed that not only are all the cards facing the same way, but now the reds and blacks have separated. Michael teaches the Zarrow Shuffle which is needed for the effect.

Perfect Stop Trick (Ed Marlo)- This effect is similar to the Lazy Man's Card Trick taught in an earlier volume.

The Smith Myth (Fred Smith)- The effect is somewhat interesting. Two spectators select a cards which are returned to the deck. The deck is cut into two piles. One at a time cards are dealt face up from each halves. The two selections have somehow managed to arrange themselves in the same relative positions in their respective packets.

Mind Reading Chicken (Lamont Reams)- This is a very amuzing effect. It's a very cute, funny trick absolutely amazing to a lay audience. In short, an egg is broken and the name of a (forced) card is written inside in yolk.

Always Cut Cards (Larry Jennings)- A great four ace trick that could definitely be used with a gambling theme. Very simple and direct, but very impressive.

6-Cards Royal (Doug Edwards)- This is similar to Dan Garrett's Four Card Reiteration. Three Cards are removed from the deck, but when they are counted, the magician has four. He removes a card, but again the cards are counted as four. After a few such instances, the four card packet is changed into one card: the spectator's selection. Finally, the discarded cards are shown to form a Royal Flush.

Future Deck (Jack Fosberg)- I used to love this effect as a beginner. Definitely Easy To Master. This will appeal to many people. The spectator freely selects any card which you inevitably show you predicted from the very beginning.

Cards Across (Michael Ammar)- I've never used a cards across handling in my act. I've seen a few different versions, and this stands out as one of the best, but it's still not my style. This version uses envelopes.

$2,000 Transpo- Most people will have already seen this somewhere or another, but for the uninitiated, this is a very impressive feat. David Blaine even used this on one of his television specials.

Cheaters Poker (Jim Steinmeyer, Alan Wakeling)- For me this was a dissapointment. I've heard good things about the trick, but I was very unimpressed at least with this handling. Furthermore, it is not practical in most situations as an assistant (stooge) is involved.

Color Changing Deck (Paul Curry)- For those familiar with Dai Vernon's color changing deck routine taught in volume 3, I think you'll find this to be a superior version.

Overall this volume has some good material. As always Michael's teaching is superb. His style is relaxed and straight forward. Even when difficult material needs to be taught (i.e. the Zarrow Shuffle), his instruction is clear. If these effects sound interesting to you, you'll probably enjoy this volume. However, if you haven't picked up the first six DVDs, you may find your money is better spent by purchasing some of the previous volumes.

-Available from www.llpub.com