Night & Day (DVD) by Alan Rorrison $30.00
Running time: 25 minutes
Available at www.full52.com
Dealers purchase from Murphys Magic Supplies, Inc. (916) 853-9292 www.murphysmagicsupplies.com
This DVD contains four effects from Alan Rorrison, a young man from Scotland. This a home movie type of production, with tolerable camera work and poor sound. Mr. Rorrison is seated on a couch near a table, and performs in a short sleeve shirt. He speaks with a thick Scottish accent that requires careful listening, but I was able to follow him.
The centerpiece of the disk is his coin through glass effect called Dark as Night. This is a visually stunning piece of coin magic, using the participants signed coin. Theres a phase where the coin seems to be suspended halfway through the bottom of the glass. This is an extremely eerie image. After the penetration, you immediately hand the glass, and signed coin within, to your participant.
A gimmick is required and it is not included with the DVD. If youve been in the field for a significant amount of time, youll have one of these lying around. I have never seen the gimmick used in this manner before, and I must say it is an inspired application. I really like this part of the handling. The rest of the handling is efficient and its relatively easy to do. I like this trick.
For your perusal, Ive provided a link to a video of this effect and the following effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0stMRLBU0Vg
Several years ago, an amazing video of Cyril passing a coin through a glass table popped up on YouTube. Soon after, at least two coin through glass effects appeared on the market, Melting Point and Numismatic. Both effects look great. The ads state that both effects use gimmicks that are included with the DVDs.
Mr. Rorrisons coin through glass effect, Clear as Day, looks exactly like the others, and thus it looks great. But his version does not employ a gimmick, and I suppose that counts for something. It does require a magicians aid that you probably already own.
His methods are quite clever untilthe ending. I do not like Mr. Rorrisons ending for this effect. At the effects conclusion, he needs to get rid of something, in order to end clean. But he never gets rid of it. He talks about getting rid of it, he mimes getting rid of it, but he never gets rid of it. He states that he cant show you how he gets rid of it because he isnt dressed properly, and because the glass table he is using as his performance/explanation surface, has a raised lip around its edge, which prevents him from doing what he needs to do.
Well, whose fault is that??!! Arent major details like those supposed to be ironed out before the shooting begins? Perhaps during a rehearsal? There is another aspect of the purported clean-up that troubles me as well, but I dare not say more. I do not like this effect.
Up next is Mr. Rorrisons Card Through Glass Table, wherein a signed card passes through the glass and appears face-up atop the half deck that was pressed beneath the glass. His handling is inelegant and he exposed the method during his performance, and then again during his explanation, which is really difficult to do if you think about it. No sir. I dont like it.
The final effect is Coin Through Hand, in which the performer causes a coin to first pass through his hand, then through a participants hand. The handling is well constructed, and the effect looks good. Mr. Rorrison credits Ian Kendall for one nice move. And speaking of credits, he uses and refers to a coin acquitment, but he does not cite the source. Well, despite being a card man, I can trace the attribution back at least as far as July of 1980, when I published An Acquitment in my first One-Man Parade in The Linking Ring. No problem. I like the effect anyway.
So, I like 2 out of the 4 items. I really like Dark as Night. The disc is only 25 minutes long and it costs $30.00. Ill be honest, this is a very close call. But given the poor production values, the botched handlings, and the lack of preparation that went into the production, I cant recommend it.