Haven’t had chance to mention this DVD which was released I believe at Blackpool. I haven’t seen a copy, but I can relate to you how it was to take part in the filming. This is probably the first and only magic DVD I may appear in, but that shouldn’t stop you buying it Basically it was filmed at Colin Rose’s on 11th December last year when he hosted a Workshop/Lecture with Alex Elmsley.

When I saw the advert on MagicWeek I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity of a lifetime to meet with one of the greats of Card Magic, and the venue was fairly close to where I live (or so I thought!) So myself and another member of HMC (Rex Stott, who has somehow managed to get a quote on the DVD cover!) set off one cold Saturday morning into the wilds of Lincolnshire, and literally into the back of beyond to meet with Mr Elmsley. After arriving at Colins studio/house we were ushered in, and introduced to Alex. Now I’m not one of these people who will do anything to meet the celebrities in magic, I don’t go to conventions and seek out the big names, in fact quite the opposite… so I am being sincere when I say it was a humbling and slightly nervous experience just to be in the presence of one of my hero’s… to sit and listen to his stories, and watch his magic is a memory that will last a lifetime.

The workshop itself was basically a mix of a teach-in on Alex’s false counts and stories and memories of his meeting famous magicians, and his thoughts on magic in general. Plus performance/explanations of amongs other things his Everchange count, Twisters Flush, One Poor Lion and an in-depth look at his Kasual Kosky swtich which is a great re-thinking on the Kosky Switch. To finish the workshop we were talking about the inherent discrepancy in doing the Ghost Count face-up and someone mentioned that you could do some routines with Jokers, and casually asked Alex if he had any such routines. Mr Elmsley stands up and without any build-up launches into a performance of his Dazzle routine, with the original cards, and blew us all away! What a way to finish the workshop… then it was down to the local pub whilst Colin and Sharon reset for the lecture. Now there is no truth in the rumour that Alex was supposed to rest-up but instead chose to come to the pub with us for more stories and whisky! Also chat about computers which was interesting to hear about his days as a mainframe programmer.

Then back for the night lecture, and what a lecture! It was basically his ‘Alex is at it Again’ lecture which he has recently presented down in London. I was sat on the front-row and got to help in a couple of things, didn’t quite practice my L&L style reactions, but I hope I did it justice! I won’t detail all the material, the highlights for me were Power Poker which is a great poker routine where the spectator can choose his own hand, yet you still end with a Royal Flush.Colour Filter which is Oil and Water meets Cards through Handkerchief. His Kasual Kosky (as mentioned a great casual alternative to the Kosky Switch) and his Andrews Colour Change (hmm can you work out what this is?) Three in Hiding is a great routine based on the spectators hiding objects in their pockets, and you divining what they are, here done with playing cards, also supplied is a great way to frame this around poker. I got to help Alex with his Oyster Shells routine which is a brilliant way of having some fun and letting the spectator take the spotlight for a bit, won’t say much more than that, buy the DVD!

Alex finished off his lecture by taking questions, and then a request for him to do Dazzle, mainly from the guys who hadn’t made the workshop and heard us ranting! Again an excellent performance, which earned him a well deserved standing ovation. It was a true honour and pleasure to spend the day with this legend, and you lucky people get to see it for the price of the DVD available from Hocus-Pocus.