TAPE ONE: Award Winning Close-Up Magic

Marc DeSouza, who has won more awards at close-up magic competitions than probably anyone, performs and teaches some of his favorite routines. The routines on this video are right out of his act... Not just tricks, but full performance pieces incorporating multiple phases and great story lines.

INCLUDES:
• Magicash: A four phase coin routine with an ATM cash machine and banking presentation where four coins appear under four playing cards, they jump across — gathering under one card, magically jump back under their original cards and for the finale they vanish one at a time to appear in a glass which is covered by a scarf.

• Morphing: A morphing and special effects presentation is used to change a coin into a metal container used to make soap bubbles. One of the soap bubbles is caused to solidify into glass. The glass ball is blown into a test-tube. Salt is poured into the tube. The tube is magically sealed and visibly twisted into a small hourglass.

• The Thing: A visual handling of the classic Universal Card plot with a science-fiction presentation, which reenacts the story of The Thing. The alien card assumes the identity of three different selected cards and finally ends up losing its own identity and turns blank.

• Quad-Ringle Plus: A multiphase ring and string routine where a borrowed finger ring repeatedly escapes, seemingly penetrating the center of the rope. For the finale the ring vanishes and appears inside a card case, which is in full view.

• Curse Of The Rasta: A wild card type of routine, based on the work of Peter Kane and  Fred Kaps, with a gambling theme. Eight fours and a queen change into eight queens and a four... and everything is examinable.

• Alice Through The Window Pane: The classic story of Alice Through The Looking Glass is used as a presentation with a deck of cards and a mirror. A selected card shrinks to a quarter of its size and grows back, it then grows to twice its length and returns to normal. It finally vanishes and appears inside the mirror. The deck is spread and now all the cards are mirrored.

TAPE TWO: Prize Winning Stage Magic

Marc DeSouza, who has won more competitions with his stage acts than probably anyone, and the first person to ever win the SAM Stage competition more than once (1978 and 1989), performs and teaches his audience tested stage routines which have taken him around the world. You are treated to a performance of his manipulative act followed by a detailed explanation of its routines.

INCLUDES:
• Ball and Rose Routine: A white rose is plucked from it’s stem and turns into a white billiard ball, which vanishes and is reproduced as a silk scarf is waved in front of it. There are several more vanishes and reappearances, then the ball changes color. The new red ball now becomes white then red and continues to change several more times. As a finale the red ball becomes a red rose which appears back on its stem.

• The Linking Ring Routine: This is the routine that DeSouza has used professionally in all of his stage, platform and formal close-up shows. It is a beautifully choreographed three-ring routine with a bonus four-ring sequence.

• Diminishing Cash and Coins: A performance only tribute to the late Fred Kaps. This routine incorporates a shrinking bill sequence and jumbo coin manipulations culminating with a jumbo coin star.

• The Zombie Rose Routine: The finale to DeSouza's act is a romantic rendition of the classic Zombie routine. A large rose bloom is balanced on your arm, the edge of a scarf, floats between your arms, playfully flies around the scarf and finally vanishes.

Sleights, gimmicks and concepts explained and demonstrated within routines: Rose Bud, Ball Clip, Silk Roll, Classic Palm, Changeover Palm, Slap Vanish, Hand-To-Hand Transfer, Toss Change, Spin Link, Crash Link, Vernon Link, and many others.

Also taught are several standard billiard ball vanishes, color changes and productions. Dozens of tips on performing a Zombie routine and methods of vanishing it at the end of the routine. You will also be treated to solid advice on the performance of magic, illustrated by real world examples.