John Carney - The Master Sessions

[Bill Evans]

I just received the first DVD installment of John Carney's new project, The Master Sessions and it is absolutely fabulous. The first "session", not the first DVD, but the first "session" on the first DVD, is worth the entire cost of the project for me, because I have a routine using the same props. My routine is not near as strong, but this material will enable me to improve upon it to make it much more magical. There is so much good information that John gives you if you just listen to what he says.

Mike Skinner and I were close friends and some of his very important thoughts and ideas, along with other magic greats, have been molded by John into some very magical moments. That's the key to this DVD. John has been a serious student of magic all his life and his assocations with the greats have made him one of the very top performers in the world. He reached this position not by copying what they did, but by incorporating what he learned from them into his own ideas and unique presentational traits. He thinks hard about this stuff. The challenge here is to take this important information and work it into your own style and effects. And a challenge that is, because you wonder how it could be possible to improve on what John has put together. It would be so easy to exactly copy what he has done, but one would miss the point.

If you enjoyed the challenges John put forth in his Book of Secrets, you will enjoy working on this material. It is so practical! I'm really glad he is doing this in 4 installments rather than as a set, as it gives you time to work on this without being overloaded, which in my case leads to important information being overlooked.

The entire 4 volume series is $99 if you order before Jan 31. I've received my money's worth already. It's that good.

[Jim Maloney]

I don't see any info about this on his website. For those interested, where can this be ordered?

-Jim

[Joe Pecore]

http://www.hahnemagic.com/

[Richard Kaufman]

Mine came in the mail today as well.

[Bill McFadden]

Mine arrived yesterday, December 9. Do you think it would have killed them to include a separate printed index for what's on this first disc?

[Richard Kaufman]

Do I think it would have killed them? No.

But what's the point? You can see what's on the disc by looking at the menu.

However, since there are going to be four discs in the set, and it is not precisely known what will be on the remaining three discs (to be sent throughout the year), you're asking for a sheet of paper with the contents of only the first disc. I don't see that as being helpful. If they sent you a new sheet with each disc, then there would be four sheets of loose paper to fall out of the box when the set is complete.

Paper is so ... 1990s. C'mon, Bill, it's the new century!

[Matthew Field]

Paper is so ... 1990s. C'mon, Bill, it's the new century!

Down, boy!

Matt Field

[gberard]

I really like John's approach to magic and he has always done an excellent job of teaching. I also received the first disk last week and think that the material is excellent. My only complaint would be that the collector case for holding the four disks does not "hold" them. The one disk is very loose and it fell out when I opened the case. As a result, I now store it in a normal CD hard plastic case. Just wondering if others have experienced this or is it just my holder. Having said this, if the quality of the remaining disks is anything like this first one (and I suspect that they are) then I would recommend that you get a set while you can.
-Gary Berard

[Richard Kaufman]

Gary, this is not the normal digipack: if you look, there is a curved slit in the plastic just below center on both sides (that is, on each two-disk side). The lower end of disc one is slipped into the curved slit and then the center is pressed onto the post. This holds the first disc securely in place in one of the upper positions. The second disc will be placed in the lower position. There is no way the first disc can come loose.

It is possible that during shipping the disc's lower end was jarred loose out of the slit. This happens all the time when DVDs in digipacks are shipped (take a look at any amazon.com page for a multiple-disc set--they note that discs can be dislodged during shipment). This won't happen when the case is handled normally once you've received it.

[gberard]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the information. I'll take another look at my holder when I get home. Again, it's no big deal and the content is excellent.

Best wishes for the holiday season,
Gary

[gberard]

You are correct Richard. I was not smarter than the holder. I hate it when that happens. Thanks for the help.
-Gary