Description

On his newest DVD, Thom Peterson promises “magic that will knock the wind out of your audience…nine great sneak attacks to daze and amaze.” Peterson is a creative performer with a quirky sense of humor. There are only nine close-up and stand-up routines here, but there are some definite gems.No Lemons HereI particularly liked Peterson’s stand-up lemon production that later produces a glass of lemonade and then a bottle of hard lemonade. There’s also a cool revelation with a fortune cookie that is a gift to the magic community and a funny marked card routine. Peterson says that three of the routines: Pit Boss, Lemonade Racket and Fortune 500, were originally planned for stand-alone DVDs. This DVD is for intermediate magicians and above. For most of the effects, you’ll need a foundation in sleight-of-hand.In “Lemonade Racket,” the magician shows a sign advertising lemonade and suddenly produces a lemon from it. This portion of the routine was inspired by Jerry Andrus’ “Mylar Mystery.” After tossing the lemon into the air, the magician then produces a glass of lemonade. The glass is real and ungimmicked. At the end, the magician takes off his shoe and produces a bottle of “hard” lemonade. (Yes, the bottle is real.) This is a commercial and visual stand-up routine.Fortune Cookie in Your FutureAnother winner, “Fortune 500″ offers a routine where a couple of torn-halves from borrowed bills vanish and end-up inside of a fortune cookie that’s completely sealed inside a clear wrapper. The fortune cookie has to be broken open to reveal the payoff. This one will work in close-up or intimate stand-up.While Peterson’s bill routine is very good, it’s his loading of a fortune cookie that is the true revelation. The possibilities of this secret make me downright giddy-something I haven’t felt with a magic effect in some time.Gambling Prediction“Pit Boss” is a gambling-themed prediction routine that plays well to lay audiences. The magician asks a spectator to roll a pair of dice in his mind to reveal a number, spin an imaginary roulette wheel to reveal a second number and visualize a blackjack table and a single playing card sitting on it. Each time, before the spectator states his choice, the magician writes a prediction on a piece of paper and inserts it into a clear glass.At the end, the magician shows that he has correctly predicted the two numbers, and then asks the spectator to produce an envelope given to him earlier that proves that the magician foretold the card. Peterson offers suggestions on using this routine to strong effect, particularly in corporate shows. Most magicians will see right through this one, but it’s strong for lay spectators.A TriumphMy favorite effect was “Marked Improvement.” In fact, I’m ready to alter cards and make my own set. It’s a close-up, table-based color-changing card routine to which Peterson has applied a gambling theme. The routine is funny and has a strong outcome.The magician brings out a deck and says that she is using marked cards. A spectator selects a card and then the card is mixed into the deck while it is being shuffled with packs of cards face-up and face-down, “Triumph” style.After the shuffle, the cards are shown to be straightened-out, all facing the same way, except for the spectator’s card. After this, the magician shows that the spectator’s card is the only card with a normal back and all of the other cards have their names written on their backs. There are some clever moves here to perform the “Triumph” effect and still allow for the killer ending.