Anonymous
I have never given any product five stars before, I take my ratings very seriously and wait months, even years to make a full decision on how many stars I'm going to give something. I wrote a review for this longer than some short stories originally, but that got lost and it was probably too long anyway. I'll try to make this one short and to the point while at the same time; sincere, and believable.
First off I'd like to make a little disclaimer; If you do not have much experience with card magic yet, I feel that I should tell you that you will need to learn "some type" of pass to perform "some" of the material in the "same way that Irving does" in the trailer for this Collection. (and don't think I'm biased not taking a star away for that, I was not very experienced when I got the Collection and was upset when I found out that I needed to learn a pass. Don't be naive about it, if you are going to do card magic you are going to have to learn some kind or type of pass. It is more crucial than the double lift, I found that this is a rule that has been accepted for hundreds of years).
Now onto the rating of the material itself:
The Distribution Technique
Practicality
I'll start with the practicality as I have heard many negative or doubtful things about the sleight in this regard. I?m telling you all right now that I have done this maneuver right in front of peoples faces several times in a row? as they stare dead into my hands; only to have them honestly confess that they didn't see me do anything but what I said I was going to do (rub the deck little). I have left some people who are familiar with sleight of hand so oblivious that they though it was some kind of joke, as I did the same exercise with everything face down over and over again telling them to be more and more observant each time, and to try to catch what I was doing. I could tell, they simply didn't believe I was doing anything. If you practice well enough, that is the level of deceptiveness you can bring to this sleight.
Difficulty and Teaching
I never try to discriminate a sleight based on its difficulty, but I must say that I was relieved that mastering this move has been such a breeze, this is because of the moves organic design and Irving?s unbelievable teaching in the Collection. It?s the most addictive move I have ever come across, it is so simple to learn and practice, as you can do the move the same way with your body in nearly any position, sitting or standing or crouching, ect., the angles are totally intuitive, and it's fairly easy to get them right in a simple and deceptive manner. I have never enjoyed learning something quite this much.
Collection
Collection and Material Quality
This is probably the best quality teaching Collection? there is, out of all the Collection?s I?ve gotten, this by far has the best menu set-up?s, the best HD video and auto resolution, and the best lighting (important!), I mean the best, it?s good! The material (tricks/effects) is no different, I found at least 95% of the effects in this Collection to be really good effects that I wanted to do, and easily could do with the Distribution Technique (and most of it without having to learn a pass), which is so rare among Collection releases.
I?ve seen allot of top magicians say that "this move or that move" has unlimited utility and use?s, and that it will take you?re card magic to the next level_.. Well this move, is the only one so far, that I?, will say such a thing about. It will not only change and elevate you, your magic, and your whole perspective in the art forever, but it has silently done so to the art itself. It truly has.