Woodyland-Disc 2

If you've been clamoring for explanations, disc 2 is where it all kicks off. Each of the tricks explained on this disc have a core theme in common; they are either interactive or automatic. After explaining his feelings regarding this style of magic, we are presented with the first set of explanations for the interactive tricks, "The Other Half", "Ring Divination", and "The Man With 3 Hands". The first two tricks are excellent. I have been using "The Other Half" since first reading it in "A Book In English". More recently, I used this as part of a routine presented to the Newcastle Magic Circle, for which I was awarded the Maurice Lennox Shield, an award presented each year to the winner of the circle's close-up competition. "The Other Half" is fantastic. It gets everyone involved, it's funny, and it is certainly fooling. What's more, it's super easy to perform! "Ring Divination" was presented here for the first time, and it had me from the minute I realised what was happening. As mentioned earlier, I really don't want to give anything away, but I can see many many people starting to use this. If I'm being totally honest, "The Man With 3 Hands" didn't really excite me that much. As an apparent demonstration on the ability to control cards, I think Woody has far better examples on the set than this. I found it a tad too procedural for my liking. Will it suit someone? Definitely! Will I use it, probably not! But hell, I'm being picky here; this is one 4 minute section I'm not so keen on on a DVD set that runs for over 10 hours, bah, so what! Forget I mentioned it!

The "Automatic" section explains one of my personal favourite routines of Woody's, adding some great subtleties not explained in the book. My personal favourite is Woody's handling of the ACAAN plot, and whilst the routine as taught in "A Book In English" was great, the DVD version has made it something I feel even more comfortable using. Whilst "Australian Poker", "Blessed Poker" and "The Impossible Sum" are all excellent effects, I paid most attention to "Weighing the Cards". As I mentioned in my previous post, this is a plot that really appeals to me. Woody's performance on Disc 1 was excellent, and the explanation reveals some great thinking that elevate this from being a simple trick, into a real crowd-pleaser. I believe I've also mentioned it prior, but "Weighing The Cards" is something that I can really see myself using.

The production quality of the DVD's are excellent. Once again, another top product from Luis de Matos and all the team at Studio 33. Woody's explanations on DVD 2 were very thorough, and share not only the bare methodology, but more importantly, the why behind certain moves, actions and structural choices. As a huge fan of his book, I still found I was absorbing a hell of a lot of new material and ideas from the DVD set. There are some effects in the book that I had shunned as being impractical, and after having seen Woody handle them PROPERLY, I totally revoke my original opinions. In fact, I have started to re-read the book with more vigour, now that I can better visualise some of the routines.