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Mindfreaks Vol. 8

Angel, Criss

Angel Productions Inc.

(Based on 1 review)
13 MINDFREAKS Criss teaches you to perform

Considered the most influential performer in magic today, Criss Angel releases a new volume in the widely acclaimed DVD Instructional Series MASTER MINDFREAKS. Each DVD is filled with new mind-blowing MINDFREAKS performed with households items.

Volume 8 DVD includes 13 killer effects. Many have been featured on the worldwide #1 TV series, Criss Angel MINDFREAK. Criss performs and teaches each MINDFREAK with legends of magic, Joe Monti and Johnny Thompson, who share their many years of insight, expertise and practice tips. Each effect is expertly performed and clearly explained from start to finish. Whether you are 8 or 108, a beginner or the most advanced mystifier, enter the exciting and mysterious act of magic, illusion and mentalism as you learn to master each demonstration. Beautifully shot in the Criss Angel BeLIEve Cirque du Soleil Theater at the Luxor in Las Vegas.



  • In Your Head
  • Coin Premonition
  • Kinetic Straw
  • Black Jack Pays
  • Match Box Monti
  • Transformation
  • Instant Pen Vanish
  • 142857
  • Black Sheep
  • Choose We Lose
  • Match It

Included MASTER MINDFREAKS Bonus:



  • Black Sheep from Volume 8
  • JT's Dream from Volume 6

Running time: Approximately 107mins

Reviews

Christian

Official Reviewer

Sep 17, 2010

This DVD is top notch. The editing, producing, and quality of the DVD is outstanding. However, I do have a problem with it. It’s more of a marketing problem as opposed to a magic problem. You see, I’m not sure who this DVD is for.

The contents seem too advanced for mere slag or back of the room sales. If you consider this a DVD for the magic community, I would say the material lies somewhere between beginner and intermediate. However, there is no crediting of the material at all. This will be bothersome for most serious students of magic. The material on the DVD is eclectic, although much of it has been used on Criss’s show. Some of it will take practice and other pieces are relatively simple. There is not much in the way of presentation as the tricks are performed in front of a few very stylish looking people in Las Vegas, in a very simple way. The girls in this small audience are, of course, very beautiful.

Criss explains most of the tricks himself. The video has a very beginner feel to it, the way it is laid out and explained. I just can’t get a bead on what Criss’s aim was in making these videos. I’m not sure who he was making them for.

Now, of course, if you’re going to talk about Criss Angel, you know you’re going to be talking controversy. I would say this . . . if you like him already, then you will continue to like him. He was personable and likable on the DVD. If you already dislike him, then you will find things in the DVD to reinforce that feeling as well.

Now the material, there was quite a mix of it. I will highlight a few of them.

Kinetic Straw: This is a demonstration of Psycho-kinetic power using ordinary straws and a shot glass. I would place this definitely in the beginner category, yet it could still be a fun effect for those impromptu moments.

Black Jack Pays: This is another simple yet direct effect. A Quarter vanishes and appears between a blackjack hand on the table. Again, I would place this in the beginner category but at the right moment this is a nice television piece or quick head scratcher.

142857: This is a pseudo math effect. Used in a simplistic way on the DVD, this is a very old and very powerful effect. Taught well and with many subtleties, I would say this is definitely an intermediate effect, but made to seem more beginner like.

Matchbox Monti: If you have been in magic for any length of time, you should be familiar with this routine and some variations of it. It’s very clever and with a good script this would be a lot of fun.

Match it: this is a matching card routine. It is clever and simple. Card handling skills required are intermediate. Again this is a fun and quick routine.

Transformation: This is right out of most beginner magic books. However, he adds some subtleties that make this fun and interesting. Basically, it’s the old broken toothpick put in a napkin effect. Criss changes it a and gives you some ideas for other ways to present this.

Although it seem like these are nothing more than beginner tricks, Criss used them on his television show to create gasps. More experienced magicians might get some real value out of these DVDs by looking at this DVD and then going back and watching how he used them in the television specials.

When you are asked to be on Television many times you have only 90 seconds to show something. This is a great DVD to get a feel for what you might perform.

Good example is the pen vanish on the on the DVD. This would be a great piece of magic for those 90 second television spots.
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