Hi guys so this is my first review and I thought I would review something that is a little more underground and that is Restless by Dan Hauss. This is a 3 DVD set that goes for $99.95 over at Penguin Magic. Immediately you would think this is a little overpriced but continue reading.
Restless is a collection of 21 effects from the brilliant mind of Dan Hauss, for those of you who may not have heard of him (which is unlikely) he is a phenomenal creator and has brought some of the most innovative techniques and effects to the world of magic that are both unique and original. Listed below are all the effects and brief descriptions per DVD:
Volume 1
Box Prediction- Dan's ultra clean change of one card for another uses an incredibly simple gimmick that you can use for many different routines. This is one of the most convincing in the hands change your spectators will ever see.
Blurred- SPECTATORS WILL NOT BELIEVE THEIR EYES... seriously. In this routine a spectator concentrates on a bottle and stares at the label. Shortly after they begin to look the label becomes blurry and then back to its normal state. Unbelievable.
Torisit 1- Awesome souvenir routine, a corner of a card is torn, the card is signed as well as the one below. The restoration happens in the spectators hand and the signed card now has half of the other card permanently attached.
Unmatched- Eric Jones stops by to help us out with a great handling of Dan's awesome effect with a pack of matches. A empty pack of matches is shown very clean, front and back. The magician closes the pack and opens it to reveal that the pack of matches is now full.
Billiard- A wager is offered of a dollar that you will be able to find their card. After an unsuccessful attempt to find their card you change the wrong card into a dollar bill. This is a great, visual way to introduce money into your close up routine. Dollar not included. 2 great versions of this effect are explained.
Hello My Card Is- Super clean; super commercial routine. A signed card is found in a completely impossible location, under your name tag.
Pack Attack- A piece of gum penetrates an unopened pack of gum in the most visual way.
Running Time Approximately: 2hr 1min
Volume 2
Jumping Jacks - An old school classic gets the Dan Hauss treatment, the cards get a little funky on this one, cards switch places, they change, they have a party. Extremely visual card magic.
Refilled - Dan's way to turn a ordinary gas station coffee cup into a utility item for making items appear in an empty cup.
3C - A red backed card changes to blue one corner at a time. Finally a insanely visual color change made for real world performance.
Laced - Dans very popular effect for making a card appear on your shoelace.
Broke Band Mountain - This is another awesome contribution to the always growing number of great magic effects you can do with rubber bands. A rubber band is broken by a spectator and in a snap (pun intended) it is restored. This is just as great magic should be simple, visual and easy.
TNR Creamer - Ever wanted to have a spectator tear off the label of coffee creamer, completely empty the contents of the creamer just to have it restored by you? No, well if you get the urge here's an extremely clever method for making this effect extremely convincing.
Growing Straw - Just like the title says, a borrowed straw grows to twice its size and shrinks to its original size before it is handed out for examination. You have to see it to appreciate the strength of creating a giant straw in an impromptu setting.
Running Time Approximately: 1hr 50min
Volume 3
Puff/Smoke - This is such a powerful way to mix hard hitting mentalism with extremely visual magic. Rarely do you get such big results from such simple methods.
Coin and Marker Transpo - This is Dan's favorite non gimmicked effect, it has been his impromptu go to effect for years.
Torisit 2 - This is a TNR unlike any other. A spectator tears a card into 4 pieces and they are restored in front of their eyes. This is done in full view of the spectator and the spectator actually sees the cards melt back together.
Footloose - In a town where dancing is forbidden one has plenty of time to create new magic. Footloose is an effect that allows you to combine your laces with a spectators laces without tying them making one long shoe lace. There are lots of visual moments in this routine is miles apart from the standard card or coin trick. The best part is that this clever gimmick can be on you at all times so you can perform this whenever you want.
Lint - From an obsession with lint brushes an awesome parlor routine is born. This is a routine that has lots of built in comedy and it's definitely a worker.
Kiss The Table - A Hershey Kiss is visually smashed on top of a table and passes through the table leaving a tasty treat unwrapped and ready to be given to someone special.
Fake Take From Box - This is Dan's very special move for removing a spectators selection from anywhere in a card box with all of the cards in the box.
Running Time Approximately: 1 hr 58min
A fair whack of these effects are gimmicked however these gimmicks are all home-made and can easily be constructed with items you may already own. All of these effects are fairly easy to do, apart from the few that will take a fair amount of practice to accomplish however Dan cleverly leaves creative space with all of these effects so that you can customize the routines and gimmicks to suit your needs. All effects are taught in great detail and are really easy to understand.
Overall this set is well worth the price as there is a plethora of effects and ideas that is way more than what you are paying for. I highly recommend this as there is a heap of effects that you will definitely be able to fit into your repertoire. If you have any more questions, leave them below and I will try to answer to the best of my ability.
I give this a total 9/10