Calabrese on Cards

Amanda

Calabrese on Cards is an exceptional deep dive into card magic, offering a unique blend of advanced techniques and approachable insights from one of New York City's finest magicians. Unlike traditional online lectures, this 2.5-hour download captures Mark Calabrese live at Magifest 2023, giving the viewer an authentic, real-time experience of his workshop.

For magicians like myself, who couldn’t travel to the event, this is a rare opportunity to hear Mark’s thought process and approach to card magic up close. His stories about how he became a magician are both insightful and inspiring, adding a personal touch to the technical content.

One highlight is his discussion on the double lift. Even though this is a standard move, his tips and refinements make it feel fresh. Being new to the bottom deal, I was pleased with how clear and approachable Mark made it, especially having someone on stage to demonstrate with. His explanations felt grounded and understandable, even for someone just starting with advanced sleight-of-hand techniques.

However, I found the Super Shuffle routine a bit confusing. While it seems like a powerful effect where a shuffled deck ends with a full suit, I couldn’t help but wonder if I missed something—it feels like this might have been sold exclusively at Magifest, as I couldn’t find it on Vanishing Inc.

Beyond the tricks, Mark’s advice on audience management was gold. He emphasized the importance of making everyone feel comfortable which I personally appreciate. His insights into the hiring process and building a career as a magician were also invaluable. Mark seems like a genuinely cool guy, and his content was not only informative but also relatable.

All in all, Calabrese on Cards is a must-watch for anyone passionate about card magic, offering inspiration and practical tools for magicians at all levels.

Calabrese is pure genius!

Billy

Great download, I felt that a lot of the material was helpful to what I'm trying to improve. I think a lot of this would be more aimed at a working individual with it's content. However, there is a lot for the hobbyist as well. His thoughts on presenting yourself, and bottom deal work were very good. His presentation was very easy to listen to and entertaining as well. If you're interested in the listed topics it very well may be for you.

Jacob

Grab your cards! For 2.5 hours of Mark Calabrese lecturing for 30 bucks at about 20 cents a minute, this should be an absolute must for any card enthusiast. If you're familiar with Mark you'll know he's no stranger to sleights that take years to master, do not let this scare you. His attention to detail and the theory behind the sleights are the real work, polished over years in his own performances. This may be the only lecture I have resonated with in about a decade and it wasn't even in person! Mark is so grounded and very self-aware, it's as the description says, it feels like you're jamming with Mark and this couldn't be truer. His dive into his own performance theory is broad and diverse, from booking gigs to handling hecklers, and even how you should be practicing. As it ended I found myself sad there wasn't another 6 hours to dive into, but I have a feeling I will be revisiting this often. This lecture is full of his real-world working experience, Mark even goes over some jazzing techniques which is wonderful! This lecture is for all levels of magic, beginner to advanced, hobbyist to professional there is something for everyone here. Sure, some of the subject matter could be perceived as difficult or 'knuckle busting', but the experience and tips Mark give you will save you YEARS of hard work. 6/5 stars

Trent

Disappointed that a lot of what was advertised was not explained. There are multiple effects that are advertised in the trailer and on social media that are not explained enough to be able to perform. Mark is a great magician and it is an entertaining watch but it is misleading what you actually get with this download.

Mark

I wanted to love this, particularly because Super Shuffle sells for the same price as the lecture. Unfortunately I was left underwhelmed on almost every front.
This is not a personal attack on Mark because he is super talented performer and has a likable and funny persona.

I gained nothing in regards to double lift, deck and hand prep(usual), marketing(word of mouth), bottom deal (strike) and memorization(brute force). Although Mark does mention using a trick method he uses for remembering names in his show, but we don’t learn it here.
Super shuffle was shown as a half hearted demonstration, he briefly showed the gimmick and said that they are “special cards” and that was that. He mentions having a method for revealing any named suit from the shuffled deck, but we don’t learn it here. I guess I learned I need to buy super shuffle gimmick.
I can’t find the Mark’s ACAAN mentioned in the ad, but it’s not on the timestamp index and I’m not searching.
The go to impromptu effect is card selected, wrong card, top change. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but no touches, no presentation, nothing new.

The negative stripper was also something I was excited to learn about, but it ended up being a 5 minute overview at the very end. He mentioned having a lecture on the negative stripper. Too bad it wasn’t the one I just purchased.

Brandon

This download is good if you want to learn a bottom deal the rest of the time will be spent in a long conversation with Mark calabrese

Rajaram

Too much fluff. Too much useless talk.

Abraham

Two and a half hours of nothing. Complete waste of money.