Pendragon's DVD Volume 4

The fourth and final volume of the Pendragon's DVD set. For those new to the site, I will first give a recommendation then follow with a more in depth review of the material on the DVD.

While the first 3 DVDs have provided some wonderful information and effects to add to one's repertoire there are also some that are simply out of most people's financial league. Fortunately volume 4 has a good selection of techniques and illusions for the wealthy and more modest performer. The illusions explored include, The Broom Suspension, 360 degree levitation, The Impalement, and The Election which is a Blammo production followed by a no trap person switch (Leg Drop Switch). There is also some discussion on Interlude, Steinmeyer's famous illusion seen on the cover of volume 4. If you plan on doing illusions this is be all means a wonderful volume to own. If you on the other hand do not plan on doing illusions I would suggest saving your dollars and cents for something else. That being said if you are looking to buy the other 3, it is worth getting the 4th DVD to complete the set and for the discount available from L and L publishing.

First we are presented with the Broom Suspension. A very difficult illusion to do well, it's easy to perform this poorly but to make it look like there isn't mechanical junk strapped all over the place is much more difficult. Again, this illusion is a million times better due to Charlotte and her fantastic athletic and gymnastic abilities. This will be a running theme for these illusions with strong emphasis on the person being levitated, suspended, impaled, etc.

The performance segment is quite good, and you will see why when Jonathan explains his workings. The mechanics of the Pendragon's suspensions are great! If you can get it made like that, wonderful! Jonathan takes us through a brief history of the illusion and where the name came from etc.

The best part of this is the harness explanation and the learning curve/process that Jonathan describes. While it's fun to get illusions and to play without planning to perform them it is much more difficult to recognize and realize what needs to be concentrated on and the most efficient way to go about learning the crucial steps to presenting a good illusion. Jonathan emphasizes a lot of wonderful points that need to be addressed but are often overlooked. For example, if you use a ratchet type, you will have a problem when you try to get the assistant "in place" if it moves at all you will start with a semi-suspension which shouldn't take place. Jonathan also discusses some beautiful thoughts regarding suspension vs. levitation and the strengths of both. There are many great attributes that a suspension has which a levitation does not. Presentationally speaking you need to emphasize different things in a levitation vs a suspension. This will likely be one of the most valuable sections on this DVD. If you want to do a suspension you will need a couple things, this DVD and the special design to Jonathan's harness which is fantastic! Don't get this built by an illusion builder unless they truly understand the Pendragon design. I'm not sure if you need permission from Jonathan to build this, I assume not given the depth in method and specificity of mechanics. If I am incorrect and somebody knows this for a fact please email me and I will adjust this accordingly (erdnasestudent@gmail.com).

I truly hope that more people adopt Jonathan's mechanics as I can't stand that "Click click click" we all know and love in bad broom/sword suspensions. If you perform this effect already you must own this and change your set up. It's worth the money.

Following the suspension, so fittingly, is the 360 levitation. As we have heard many times already, Jonathan consistently refers back to Richiardi and his performance of levitation effects. I have to emphasize once again, it is very important to have a dedicated Charlotte Pendragon as part of the show, otherwise you will never reach full potential. Also Charlotte is more important in these illusions than the magician posing and "acting" as though he matters. Of course he matters but your assistant will be doing the real work and is literally the living illusion. A great history of the levitation is given including a little bit about Alan Wakeling's hand playing a part. I'm a huge Alan Wakeling fan, and if you aren't familiar with him or his work I highly recommend you get his book, The Magic of Alan Wakeling.

When Jonathan explains the workings of things there is a lot of emphasis on presentation as there is in all of these DVDs I would highly recommend taking this advice to heart! Jonathan takes you through the different steps of the prop. For example, bringing the assistant to the prop, Charlotte then kicks in and starts to guide your assistant. It would be a good idea to purchase the illusions on this set and then watch these DVDs with prop beside you and work through it with your assistant.

Next Jonathan discusses the hoops and the variety of hoops you can use. A particular mention to Blaney's hoop is given. Which if you've see or used this hoop before, you know why! Jonathan teaches an original hoop pass using a solid hoop. One of my favorite parts of this DVD set is that many of the things I have only read about become very real. We see a real gooseneck and Richiardi's original hoop passing technique which is fortunately not lost to history as Jonathan feared. Jonathan recommends not stealing Richiardi's hoop pass. I would agree, but it is certainly somewhere to start learning. Try to make it your own and get a feel for the philosophy behind it.

Next we have The Impaled illusion, as I've mentioned already, it requires a very special assistant to make this illusion look as good as the Pendragon's make it look. You can love or hate the illusion itself but you would be hard pressed to say they don't do it remarkably well! It would be nice to have a performances only section instead of the lecture format, where a trick is shown then explained, performed then explained, etc. Jonathan provides a lot advice regarding the graphic nature of the impalement and the fact that it is NOT a good first illusion. Jonathan gets very artist on us here. A little over the top but his advice is sound. Wait 5-10 years before tackling this type of illusion. You require a lot of experience and as you can imagine being impaled on a stick while rotating is very scary for any assistant or magician. I'd relay my personal experience having performed it as the assistant but really that's not needed. Do NOT try this one without some experience under your belt. Being up there on that stick is very scary, it would be much better to concentrate on a broom suspension as explained earlier.

Jonathan explains some wonderful moments in the Impalement and explains that the magic moment is not the impalement it's the resurrection effect. If you dropped a melon on a knife blade and it got penetrated that's not magic, it's magic when you take the melon off and show it to be unharmed. A very good point that so many bad illusionists neglect. The effect is intense and you will appreciate it that way as done by the Pendragons. Jonathan continues to emphasize the requirements, sound acting ability, physically top shape, good flexibility, etc. You can tell this is an illusion that the Pendragon's are very passionate about.

Next we are treated to the technical aspects of the Impalement and a demonstration as well as a bit of Impalement origins. During the demonstration there is a very funny part when Charlotte releases her sword tip and you can't help but laugh at the remarkably phallic implications and the awkward camera close up. Jonathan and Charlotte admire this large phallic symbol and it's ability to wobble. Priceless! The harness will shock many of you and quite honestly your assistant needs to have very strong back and leg muscles to perform this illusion convincingly. You don't realize how much strength Charlotte has until after you get a chance to see the minimalist mindset that has gone into the body support for this and other illusions.

Nearing the end of this DVD we get to hear and then see the Blammo box, a Pendragon original based on the smaller dove to rabbit illusionette. It's truly remarkable to hear how much influence the Pendragon's have had on modern illusions as we know them today! Their music is a little dated in many of these illusions this one especially. They call this trick The Election, which is a production of a big fluffy puppy dog from a Blammo, and a switch of Charlotte and Jonathan. The switch is quite good although the audience reaction and Jonathan's "Oh come on!" would make you think it's less than grand. It feels like the timing is off a bit on revealing Charlotte. Too much time between the switch, the "come on" and the awkward call to Charlotte. Perhaps not the best clip of this but the components are wonderful.

The Blammo isn't anything new to illusionists. Jonathan doesn't explain the illusion quite yet, first, we get an explanation of where he gets his dogs and what kind of dogs they are. Thorough! The effect is that a large fluffy boa (neck scarf thing) turns into a large fluffy dog. A wonderful demonstration follows and some very valuable tips. How to handle the top and which way to move, pull the top, etc. Of course this dog production is meant to be a lead into the switch they use which involves a cape to switch Charlotte and Jonathan. They were trying to get away from that huge cloaked figure switch that always happens and telegraphs a switch and appearance of the magician. This is a very good switch in workings but you need to justify the cape. Very easy for the renaissance style of the Pendragons. A bit more difficult for you or I, but not impossible. The beauty of the switch to me is that there is no need for a stage trap, certainly a significant improvement from other switches like this. Lance Burton is another interesting switch to take note of in his now famous sword fighting vignette.

We get a good look at the Pendragons and how much fun they have so many years into being professionals. There are many people who might question the value of these DVDs but I personally have yet to find anything more in depth and up to date on the effects presented by the Pendragons. I highly recommend this DVD and the other 3. Purchase the set. If you are just working on 1 or 2 illusions then you would be silly to not purchase the corresponding DVD. While these won't be huge sellers in terms of Magic DVD sales due to their niche market, the lucky people who do choose to purchase these AND use the material in them will be light years ahead of the many hacks trying to reinvent it all and make all the mistakes along the way.

If you plan on doing a levitation or suspension, buy volume 4, if you are a hobbyist dabbling, save your money for something more fun and less practical. If you enjoy illusions and history these are invaluable. It's hard to justify NOT spending the 35 bucks on this and the other DVDs in the set. It's a measly 35 bucks! Buy it Here!

Pendragons DVD Vol 2. The Sub Trunk / Metamorphosis

Volume 2 of the Pendragon's DVD set is quite honestly the DVD all illusionists thinking of tackling the Sub Trunk should own. It goes without saying that few in the world come anywhere near the speed to visual illusion that the Pendragon's accomplish.

(Side note: One who did have remarkable speed at one time was Criss Angel surprisingly enough, performing the switch with no curtain but a line of flash pots and the cover from the pyro alone. What happened Criss?)

As per usual I am going to give a straight answer as to whether or not this DVD is worth it then we will go through the DVD contents, commenting on the good and the bad as we go. As always I will post a lengthier recommendation at the end.

Alright! Here we go, first off I can't recommend this DVD set enough. To have the two most practiced magician's on the subtrunk, performing and teaching their specialty INCLUDING the amazing curtain throws and removals is priceless. For the measly 35 dollars this DVD is worth it's weight in gold.

We start off with a performance of the illusion it self in the midst of a larger stage show. It is very clear that the Pendragon's close with this piece. The performance is good although they did seem a little bit slower than usual. Since Charlotte has recently had knee surgery, I will assume that is why. Fortunately you will see the switch a number of times through out and they certainly do it with amazing speed! If you want a lesson and motivated actions take a look at their performance and notice how everything is in it's place. I particularly mean the rope for tying the bag, the lock, sword, etc. It's been meticulously worked out.

We follow this with a general discussion on the history of the illusion with Jonathan, nothing too new here. Houdini, being the first to make it a transposition, the assistants he used, anecdotes, Houdini's method, using a tent in the original versions, etc. If you really don't care for these stories and bits of information (I love them myself) then you could skip ahead.

Next we get into the trunk props. It would have been nice to start with the switch. Quite frankly that's exactly what people are looking for and that's what people want to see. We are made to wait for this unfortunately. Jonathan talks about an initial idea to have the curtain thrown up and switching before the curtain hits the ground, which worked! A brilliant beginning which caused some stir in the magic community! The method for this is revealed and how it worked exactly. We hear about the sub trunk they are known for with the beautiful rich burgundy. This was built specially by John Gaughan for the Pendragons!

With the trunk props section, the beautiful Charlotte takes us through the bag they use and problems you will face, how to set up all the props as they do. This includes space management in the trunk, costumes if you do a costume change, AND fabric, this is one of the most important parts of an illusion. Charlotte covers what ways to test fabric, how to find the right cloth etc. Later Jonathan will talk about the foulard they use and the fabric type the specifically use, etc.

As per the first DVD the sound has good and bad moments but for the most part the sound is good. Charlotte is full of great tips that you could only really come across through years of performance. You could stop the DVD here and get your money's worth. They continue of course and Charlotte even covers tying the top of the bag and how to get out of it and have it in place for a perfect switch.

Next, we get to see the famous Pendragon Foulard and how it works, what keeps it together, the type of fabric etc. A very important aspect being how Charlotte folds the foulard up and what to use as a top support for the switching parties to hold on to. You might be surprised! Charlotte goes into such depth as to explain how to hold the curtain and have it drape properly, the psychology they use behind where the curtain goes and why it's better to not have it covering the whole bottom of the trunk the whole time. Charlotte also covers the size of the trunk and how it changes based on the size of your trunk. Also your arm span and the size of your curtain.

Next Jonathan takes us through the trunks. The styles of trunks, the different ways to gimmick them etc. My one complaint would be the god awful trunk they use! L and L has significant sales, the DVD shoots are all catered, etc. Can't they put the couple hundred bucks together and get a decent trunk for the shoot! Perhaps something with a plexi glass cut away going around the trunk. This would make it very easy for anyone watching to see the action simultaneously going on within the box and on stage.

That being said we do get Jonathan's inside work on the box, custom modifications he has made to make the box the best it can be for him. Jonathan talks a bit about lighting the trunk and being able to drop the trap with people in a balcony and them not seeing anything due to his improvement. Unfortunately I have heard from people who were at a Pendragon show that they saw what they shouldn't have despite Jonathan's statements. I'd suggest not adopting the balcony drop cover. We get a great run down of the different trunks and after seeing the Pendragon's in action you will no doubt use their method for just about everything! The Pendragon trap is the most efficient, intelligent, and well thought out method I've every come across. You will also be disappointed in seeing their locking mechanism. Which goes to show how simple you can get. This is a great section of the DVD but I would have loved to see the gorgeous Gaughan trunk in the DVD explanation section. Jonathan talks about the big old fashioned pad lock at this point and gives a great resource for finding them. If you are looking for those big old heavy locks I highly recommend you take a look here.

Jonathan takes us through the inspection process and the different magician's choices, Doug Henning chose to do a very slow, Robert-Harbin-original-zig-zag presentation where everything is very open and examined. The Pendragon's opt to not examine the box as it just takes too much time for an effect that they are famous for being so fast at! The Moment of Magic is covered very well. Including speed and how it impacts the audience perception of the moment of magic. An escape, a penetration, a transportation, and idealy a transposition. While Jonathan leads into what you assume will be the switch section and the human mechanics, instead we have Charlotte doing the the costume change section.

I'm not complaining (by now I'm sure my Charlotte Pendragon crush is publicly known). The costume change segment contains some good information and some obvious information. for example, don't change from a black skirt to a black cocktail dress. You have to have good contrast between costumes. Now an important point is covered which is your audience. Audience and the costume changed into or out of share a direct relationship. Conservative audience = conservative costume change. Charlotte now demonstrates how she changes costumes out in the open. Which is wonderful and certainly good for any assistant or magician looking for a costume change. This is one of those moments where the sound gets rough. It would be nice to see L and L purchase a professional microphone that are used in movie shoots, the big fuzzy one's on sticks instead of all Lav microphones. Since the sound varies severely from their performance to the actual L and L footage you might have the volume cranked up high to hear better then get blasted with the loud sound of rummaging, or fabric going over the microphone. Won't leave you deaf but it would be nice to not have to constantly consider adjusting sound. This costume change segment seems more like an after the main event section instead of an introduction or precursor.

For some strange reason we have an entire segment dedicated to getting in and out of the bag. I'm not sure it needed this much attention but the information is certainly pertinent. Jonathan takes use through this tips and subtleties about being in the bag and Charlotte on tying it up etc.

Earlier Charlotte showed us the bag now we have Jonathan and Charlotte. Quite frankly, this is superfluous. Although this information is better than previously given one of the two segments should have been cut.

After ALL THAT the moment you've been waiting for! The Trunk Switch! Jonathan shows his part first without any foulard covering. Charlotte gets on top and pantomimes having a cloth. We now see Jonathan's exact hand/foot placement and timing. This is the slow thorough teaching. It would have been nice to see it done full speed leading into the explanation as we have seen so much "extra" stuff so far. The only thing we don't see is Charlotte drop. We also find out Charlotte jumped on Jonathan's head, just as a dangerous quip! It is slightly awkward watching Charlotte standing through the top and Jonathan on top as they chat. There is very good contact and communication through out the switch and the actions are explained progressively with immense detail. As this is clearly the section the majority of people are curious about, hoping to learn from, etc. You will be very happy. Following the explanation we see a behind the scenes view of a full speed switch being done on what I can only assume is the L and L building balcony? This is followed by a front on clip of the switch in full speed on the balcony.

Now the fun begins with the curtain and the reveals. We are all familiar with the toss up and switch. Jonathan gives us the good on his "hour glass" reveal. Appropriately named as the curtain forms an hourglass shape before it is whisked away! There is a lot of danger involved with this reveal and we discover how to determine who should be the one getting in the box or getting locked up and getting out of the box. This is also where Charlotte covers the drop! It's truly spectacular to see! She's just gone. It takes but a second and she's done! Amazing. We get immense detail throughout the entirety of this DVD including where Charlotte rolls her bottom when she gets in the box. The drop Charlotte performs is VERY dangerous and VERY advanced so you are shown a number of progressive actions and training exercises that will get you slowly more comfortable with "The Drop." We also get some great advice on the illusion of one person being super imposed and bringing the effect to it's greatest heights. Only now do we actually go through the Hourglass reveal. The actions seem very simple but it is quite clear how easily someone could get very hurt. Please be careful if you do attempt this reveal. The beauty of this 35 dollar DVD is that with it you have assumed rights for the information FULLY taught. (Clearly Impossible, for example is protected, as it is Jonathan's idea.) We now see the action and the step by step teaching of the curtain throw. It looks great but it's not for everyone!

Next we have the Split Switch. This is the switch that everyone loves so much! Jonathan takes you through the evolution of this split switch and all the research and development that went into something as seemingly simple as a curtain the splits. The detailed explanation is great! We also get a run down of what to do in a fabric store for all magic foulards, once again with more things to consider from Jonathan. The construction details are very thorough and should you want to do this reveal you should have very little difficulty understanding the concepts and applying them to your own split cloth. Again the detail in this split reveal is fantastic. To some this might be a little too much detail. Personally the more information the better. Often the explanation is repeated 2-3 times with various ways of explaining. Redundant? Perhaps, but sometimes you need to hear something a specific way to truly understand and comprehend what is happening.

The last section is on safety. This is also full of safe tips for your box and how to be as safe as possible in all your subtrunk endeavours.

Overall this is the greatest DVD on Illusion I have ever seen to date. It is a seminal work on the subtrunk and ANYONE even considering doing it should own this. The honest truth? 35 dollars for this DVD is ridiculously low. I would have priced the DVD at 100 dollars for the SINGLE DVD. You are receiving all the secrets the Pendragons have collected over the years for under 40 bucks. Stop reading and go buy this DVD.... Here

Pendragons DVD Volume 1

L and L publishing has just released a 4 DVD set by none other than the Pendragons! Aside from this being a milestone in magic history, this is being taught for the first time by world famous and respected illusionists. The only video set that is on the same subject (roughly) is the 2nd volume of Rand Woodbury's Illusionworks videos from yesteryear.

Alright, Volume 1, what do we get? I am going to explain what is on the DVDs followed by my recommendation then a more thorough review.

Contents:
The Hindu Basket
Intro, History and Concepts, Why not to use fire, Sword choice and Safety, Basic Swordsmanship, The Foulard, How to get into the basket, Placing the swords in the basket.

Color of Emotion
Introduction, and Concepts, Materials, Preparation and Presentation.

The Shadow Box
The Work

Clearly Impossible
History and Discussion

Bonus Interview with Jonathan Pendragon by Patrick Martin

Alright, upon initially watching this DVD I was turned off, not because it was done poorly but because I could NEVER perform these illusions with the same presentational flare as the Pendragons. Honestly, while watching I was embarrassed for Jonathan at many of the poses and choreographed sequences him and Charlotte perform. Two minutes later, I realized that it wasn't awkward in performance, it was only awkward because a small segment of a much larger show with no proper video introduction to the Pendragons is presented.

Despite the lack of a full show in this DVD I have to say the information is truly priceless, To say that this DVD is thorough is the understatement of the year. Every aspect you could imagine is covered. I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who is planning on doing illusions. If you are not planning to do illusions and only want to see the Pendragons perform, these might not be your cup of tea. That being said, any interest in illusions would justify purchasing this DVD.

Alright step by step, We start with the Hindu basket, and while I find it to be a particularly weak effect, Jonathan does mention that it is a perfect first illusion and proceeds to list many reasons why. If you look at this DVD from that perspective it is an amazing introduction to illusions. It is very clear and often superfluous with information. There are great pieces of advice imparted and it makes it very difficult to review these DVDs without leaving a few of those along. A great one of course is the section on not using fire, why to not use fire and why it costs so much more to get insurance with pyro in your show.

The only thing that stuck out as strange was the lengthy explanation on swords and sword combat. That being said, anyone using any swords in a show would be stupid to not buy, watch, re watch, and take to heart all advice Jonathan has put in this section. A prime example would be, "Never point a sword towards the audience" if your hand is sweaty or the sword isn't high enough quality you might end up with a blade flying into the audience and a lovely lawsuit on your hands!

The explanation on foulards was particularly information rich, mentioning specific fabric types and what you are looking for in a proper foulard and where to find fabrics for this sort of thing. How it should flow and what type of movement you want. You also get something invaluable, insight into the mind of Jonathan Pendragon, a brilliant thinker in illusions. He mentions the logic and thought process behind the lengthy of a cloth relative to certain illusions and what you must keep in mind for successful presentations.

How to get into the basket was a difficult segment as you can imagine, Charlotte, aside from being remarkably attractive, is also very limber and able to pop in and out with little trouble. The difficulty in this section is the sound, and this is a recurring problem throughout the whole DVD set, there tends to be a lack of consistent volume levels. I'm not sure if this could have been easily rectified but it would have been nice to not have to crank up and crack down the volume from time to time.

Placing swords in the basket might sound like an unneeded section but the wisdom imparted is amazing, especially the solution they used to put flaming torches through despite the current disdain towards pyro.


Color of Emotion
This is a great trick, designed by Jonathan for Charlotte, in short, an emotion is thought of by a spectator and Charlotte paints the emotion on a canvas then writes the emotion though of on the top of the easel. A great trick if you have an assistant to perform this type of effect. This also uses a marketed item by another magician John Cornelius' Thought Transmitter. If you are alright buying it or finding another way to accomplish this, great! Otherwise you might be a bit upset as they don't provide a friendly on the spot alternative. The painting once finished is given away to the audience member. Now you have to appreciate that this is not like close up magic, the tricks are described with more information than you could ever imagine, I suppose like sitting down with Channing Pollock and him explaining the fine touches of dove work, just brilliant!
Information like, how to keep paints from drying up, how to keep your palette fresh, using gloves unpowdered, all the information you might come across if you performed this stuff for years. Truly amazing the amount of "extra" information that you are given. By extra I mean information that you don't need to perform but that makes it much easier, more complete, and more practical for the working performer.

The Shadow Box is another great illusion for the first time illusionist, it can be said that Volume 1 is a great introduction to illusions and the illusions for the most part are great for the beginner!
Jonathan explains how he made his own, perhaps a high school student student looking to build something bigger would look towards this illusion. The Work section is lacking, a lot, there is just a discussion with Jonathan and Charlotte but no prop to examine, no demonstration without paper up, nothing... I was a bit shocked at this and thought there would be more, they also reference that you can find working of a shadow box in Tarbell or Greater Magic. I took a quick look through some books and found the following for plans for the trick:

Tarbell Vol, 4 pg 413 The Girl From The Light
The Oriental Magic of The Bambergs Pg 215 The Girl From The Light
Illusion Builder to Fu Manchu Pg 58 The Girl from the Light
Great Illusions of Magic Pg. 259 Lady from Light

Clearly Impossible is The Pendragon's see through sawing in half and it is tremendous, it fooled me terribly and upon reviewing just the performance fooled me again! Only after the explanation did I have a chance in hell of seeing what was going on. Now that being said, owners of the DVD DO NOT have permission to construct their own. This seems odd to me, and I'll explain why. If you are going to product a DVD set with many of your original things on them surely since they are explaining the effects owners feel there is some entitlement to perform them as shown. That being said, it could be argued that you are purchasing The Pendragon's work on these illusions and tricks and therefore you are only privy to the information, tips, and routines presented to you by them. I tend to sway towards the latter but understand the thought of building what you see. Which is why I don't quite understand why this was put on the DVD. We have 3 wonderful tricks, The Hindu Basket and Shadow Box, for beginner illusionists and Color of Emotion for a stage or parlor piece, why would you go ahead and explain a much more sophisticated, complex, and secretive illusion on what appears to be a very beginner to illusions friendly DVD? While I don't understand or agree with it being on here I think the trick is magnificent and I am sure you will too!

The interview with Jonathan is a fun look back at starting out, meeting Charlotte, etc. Nothing too magic heavy in here.

In terms of cons, the sound could have been improved in a number of places, it would have been nice to have a full performance by the Pendragons, even if it meant taking up half a DVD. While the two intro illusions are great perhaps Clearly Impossible could have been switched out with something more beginner friendly. An actual demonstration of the Shadow box would have been great.

Despite all this I still found the DVD very helpful and worthwhile. Available from L and L Publishing for $34.95.