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Get Nyman - Andy Nyman - 3 DVD Set
Produced by Alakazam Magic
Reviewed
by Chris Jones
Take your front row seat for a private performance at an exclusive nightclub in
London's West End. In his unique and inimitable style, Andy Nyman performs some
of the most direct and powerful routines that have earnt him a reputation as one
of the world's leading mentalists and creative thinkers in the world of magic.
From numerous appearances across the globe Andy has performed in a way that
always leaves a lasting impression on those who witness his style of work and
here he shares invaluable tips and tricks that will help you to achieve similar
results. Andy's thoughts and advice on spectator management are alone worth the
price of this incredible three-disc set and will be invaluable to the working
performer.
Disc One - The Show
The Hidden, No Way Out, Chair Swindle, Kick In the Head, Deep Red Prediction,
The Dead Zone, Mr Saturday Night, Charade, Magicians Graphology, Dead of Night
Disc Two - The Explanations
Andy explains every routine in full detail from the technical aspects, right
through to the routining and patter that make each effect impactful and
entertaining; no stone is left unturned.
Disc Three, The Extras
Over 80 minutes of extras including - "Inside the Mind of The Diamond" an
exclusive 45-minute interview with Andy by Marc Paul. "The Secret to Spectator
Selection" - Andy's highly regarded work on audience management. The extras also
include: "The Nyman Cut," a performance of Andy's world famous "The Sophie
Trick," plus, Andy's legendary Svengali Demonstration. And "???" - The mystery
clip you will not believe!
Most of us know Nyman from his 'commercial' effects, such as Diceman, The
Hidden, Killer Elite, and his lecture notes. Others of us will know of his
acting ability, his production and writing skills for theatre, TV and other
magi, and his close friendship and affiliation with such dignitaries as Derren
Brown. I was far from disappointed, although reading the ‘itinerary’, I was
quite upset to see that a lot of the material was stuff I already knew and
owned... and stuff that I actually use in my performances. However... to see
Andy PERFORM the effects which I knew, loved and had made my own, was simply
breathtaking. And I do mean, breathtaking.
It's pure entertainment. Nyman's cheeky, cheesy smile and his undisputable
acting ability set in motion the belief that yes, I think he may really be doing
amazing acts of real mentalism.
Of course, this is not true – or is it?!?!
He's an incredibly talented, convincing showman. Plain and simple. And knowing
the plots of such effects as 'the dead zone' and 'the hidden', I was absolutely
gobsmacked at how well he suckers the audience in by the weaving of very clever,
articulate and almost 'throw away' lines and gestures, which not only cover, but
JUSTIFY the moves and reasons for his actions. This is truly performance art.
Everything which is done has a reason, and it is all rich with feeling and
emotion.
I have already learned so much from the performances alone. For instance, the
Hidden - which involves 3 spectators giving up a coin, watch and wallet
respectively - and then 'dead cutting' to a single card each (which bears a
printed NAME OF THE ITEM THEY SUMBITTED) - from a blank deck. My performance of
this is quite dead, compared to the energy I saw—and perhaps here, I was seeing
the trick in the ‘vision’ that Andy wrote it with. This was perhaps like
watching a film after you’d read the book – except conversely, the film is very
rarely better than the book, as is the case here – these performances outshine
the expectations I had from reading Andy’s notes and manuscripts. By a long,
long way.
The subtle intonations, the suggestions, the fleecing and the ‘rewriting
history’ - Andy even double-bluffs to the speccys about - 'Well, all that
dead-cutting thing was baloney, there was no sleight of hand or trickery - it
was all about me influencing you.' - class. Sheer class.
And on the subject of cheek, you will see things done that you just would never
imagine you'd get away with... down to my personal favourites - Mr Saturday
Night, Deep Red Prediction, and Dead of Night. Unless you’re familiar with
Andy’s lecture notes, these are effects that will leave you wondering how on
earth this was accomplished, and yet, I was still amazed after watching the
explanations on Disc 2, which is equally as well performed and amply
entertaining. We also get an insight into Andy's passion for acting, and his
love of cinematography - which is evident in the naming of some of the effects,
and indeed, their nature. His style is quite dark, and the plots and patter for
his effects are strangely familiar if you're a fan of gangster/violent movies.
I’m sure Andy could actually pen a ‘one-man-show’ with a complete plot. Would be
very good, actually!
There's a nice split in the effects themselves, which lie somewhere between good
old sleight of hand, gaffs and actual psychology. Oh, and as with a lot of
mentalism, there is a little stooging in there too - but you would never know
from the performance!
There's comedy. There's trickery. There's some genuinely 'weird' moments. But
the underlying magic of both the effects and Andy's persona are what carries the
torch. The word ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ are not usually something I’d use
together with this type of material – usually, a ‘quality’ production is
compromised by ‘quantity’ and vice-versa. However, this is not the case with Get
Nyman. The quality and sheer quantity of magic and performance simply ooze from
every part of the DVDs.
This is great stuff, very powerful, very direct. Audience participation in
mentalism is usually very necessary (mentalism = mind reading... i.e. you can't
do a solo performance, you need a mind to read!) and yet Andy manages to
facilitate this without seeming obtrusive, or embarrassing his audience. There's
no real pressure, and no real delving. This is just poetry. In fact, it becomes
apparent that he respects his audience – and they obviously respect him.
The explanations and the performance notes are very well explained... and any
gaffs/props needed are detailed well. I especially like the boldness of Andy's
gaffs, such as his keycards and 'short' cards - you will have a hoot at the
audacity and plain barefaced cheek of the obvious nature of these! You will
learn the ins and outs of each routine, and more, although these are not the
sort of explanations I would imagine someone who’s starting out in mentalism
would appreciate.
And there’s more! Add to this a small ‘out-takes’ section, which is not only
amusing, but also gives more insight into the wonderful character of Andy, and
what you have is over four hours of sheer entertainment which you will watch
again, and again.
Overall
Difficulty? Hard to gauge, really. It's like most mentalism - you don't just buy
it and perform it like a packet trick - as you need a lot of experience to be
able to sell the effect. Anyone who's read the work of Brown, Jeremay, Knepper,
Corinda etc. et al, will be familiar with some if not all of the principles
involved. But what we have here is an utterly fresh approach to mentalism - a
fun approach! The actual personality, charm, dynamics and fluency of Andy’s
performances, down to even the smallest psychological touches, are something we
can all learn from. It’s a hugely entertaining, sometimes weird, box of
entertainment. His insights into handling the spectators, pacing the
performances and being ‘believable’ are worth the price alone. Add to that the
awesome routines you’ll be performing and the sheer entertainment value, and you
got yourself one serious ‘lump’ of magic.
This isn’t just your regular magic DVD… this is an awesome and intimate evening
in with one of our modern-day magic marvels. And it will sit between two of my
other ‘magic marvels’ - Green Magic and The Devil’s Picturebook - quite nicely.
Congrats on your first DVD Andy. Can't wait for Part II - "Got Nyman? - Get
More" (or something like that!)
10 out of 10 in all departments, as far as I'm concerned.
Available from www.alakazam.co.uk
© Chris Jones, March 2004