The Lee Asher Thunderbird & Diving Board Double (PDF Download Reviews)
Price: $28.98 (Both Thunderbird & Diving Board Double)
I was recently asked if I might post a review on the Diving Board Double and decided to do a combo review of both the DBDL and Lee Asher’s Thunderbird. The reason for the combo review is because if you go to purchase either download you will first be sent to a screen that asks if you would like to purchase both together for $28.98. If you are interested in Lee Asher’s magic this combo pack is the place to start so I would recommend you take him up on his offer.
A few thoughts about the PDF downloads: These are a pretty nice way to get magic quickly. Similar to instant downloads and on demand videos available from other sites except in booklet form. Both of these booklets come with video components that when reading directly from your computer you can click on and view. It is a nice system that allows Asher to give detailed written instructions and also provide a visual component to help those types of learners. After ordering a PDF download from the Asher site an e-mail should arrive within 30mn that will give you a link to the download file. Once downloaded you will have an option to save the file to your computer and either read it direct from the acrobat file or print it off and read it on paper(the option I preferred.)
The Diving Board Double PDF Download: by Lee Asher ***** (Five Stars!!!)
Price: $19.95 (Diving Board Double only)
Effect:
50 page instructional booklet that covers the following topics: One handed DL utility move. Acrobatic Diving Board Double, an advanced version of this move in which the card is launched into the air and lands face up on the deck. Bonus ambitious sequence using a Fugazzi sequence. Behind the back move. Deck vanish move using the DvB DL.
Teaching:
This booklet was very well written and described. Included in the text are over 29 full color photographs to help illustrate the moved described within the text. Also, as mentioned before, there are a few links provided that will send you to a video post of the move in action. I am personally a very visual learner, especially when it comes to learning physical skills. Therefore, I am often willing to spend a higher price to learn my magic from DVDs. Asher seems to have accounted for all learning styles in the publication of these PDF downloads and I had no trouble learning with this format. Furthermore, he devotes over 10 pages of this booklet just to learn the basic sleight. If Erdnase had spent 10 pages describing and illustrating the SWE shift maybe Chris Kenner wouldn’t be the only person to figure it out! All jokes aside, I think you will find these instructions more than sufficient to learn the sleight
Quality of materials:
While several applications for this move are described in the booklet most of you will likely be purchasing this to learn the basic sleight so we will start with that an move on from there.
Diving Board Double:
The move itself is, in my opinion, one of the most useful and secure one handed DLs available. Many may have seen the move performed in it’s acrobatic version and assumed it to be to “flourishy” to be practical for a magician. I can assure you that the basic DvB DL is nothing like the move featured on Discovery Channel’s Time Warp. It is true that there is a bit of flourish involved in the basic move but I find it to be about on par with the Derek Dingle DL or about any other one handed DL I have witnessed. It will look as if the thumb pushes a card over, the fingers on the far side of the deck will then grab the card and snap them into an out-jogged position. From there you can continue to flip the cards over with the same hand(if you are dexterous enough) or you can flip the card over with your off hand. The applications of the move are as varied as with any DL. As a general rule it will be much more deceptive than the standard DL(as are all one handed DLs) because laity generally can’t grasp the concept that such a move would be possible with just one hand. It might not be quite as deceptive a move as a push-off double only because it does not pretend to mimic the moves of a standard deal. Here is a demo I put together of the basic DvB DL. http://www.vimeo.com/9215963
Difficulty:
Expect it to take some time to master. The only other one handed DL I have worked on is the move Brian Tudor describes in Generation Extreme. The DvB DL takes advantage of a few characteristics of card construction that makes it a little more secure than the Tudor DL. Perhaps the most difficult part of this DL is that it is a no-get-ready DL. To offset this Asher does describe a way in which you can get into the DvB DL with a standard break. It took me several weeks to get the move down while using the standard pinky break and several months to get the move down using the no-get-ready approach. The good news is that, because of the standard break method, most of you will be safely performing with this long before you have completely mastered the move. There are still times where either I, or the deck I am performing with, are not in the right “zone’ for the no-get-ready but when this happens I can always revert to a pinky break. One final note on the difficulty, because this move relies on the physics of how cards move you will find certain cards will perform this move more securely than others. I don’t mean to imply that the move cannot be performed with any deck of cards but once you learn the move you will get an intuitive sense of just how freely you can perform the move and with what decks. In the demo video above I am able to flip the DL over with one hand and even give it a little spin. I would have to revert to a somewhat of a standard turnover with a Bike 808.
Applications:
Same as with standard DL
Acrobatic Diving Board Double:
This is the handling that gets the most attention. It is a nice flourish and might even be good for a card production but completely useless for magic. Basically the DL is flipped in the air and lands on the deck. Here is a performance video from the demo trailer:
Difficulty:
Getting the cards to fly in the air is no problem. Getting them to land on the deck will take some work! When you first start learning the basic move cards will launch in the air by accident so the real trick to both moves is learning to control when it launches and when it doesn’t. Controlling the flight is the most difficult part, more so if you like to play around with many different cards. Minor differences in card stock stiffness and overall card weight will change the height and power of this move so you need to get a feel for how hard to launch each card. Again, catching the card is the toughest part. I rarely bother to catch the card by having it land back on the deck. Generally if I use this move I will do it as a production and catch the DL with my off hand.
Applications:
Flourishes and productions
Bonus Ambitious:
This is simply using the DvB DL in an ACR. You flip the DL and display. Next flip it back to face down. Cut the pack placing the DL in the center of the right hand pack and then break open the left hand packet placing the right hand packet in between. As Asher explains it is a Fugazzi sequence using a DvB DL.
Difficulty:
Once you have learned the DvB DL it is no sweat.
Applications:
ACR
The Exercise:
This is just a quick deck flip I’m sure most of you are aware of. In one hand flip the deck 180 degrees. It is taught here to give you a feel for proper pressure for areal moves. When you get good at it you might be able to do this.
Difficulty;
The flip is easy. Shooting off the double, flipping the deck, and catching the double….Do I really need to say more?
Applications:
Impressing your buddies, showing off to girls, winning bar bets, and other forms of male status displays. Sadly our species is devoid of manes, antlers, and peacock feathers so we have been forced to evolve through tight jeans, gold medallions, mullets, and now this.
Behind the back:
Flipping the DvB DL from behind the back and catching in front.
Difficulty:
Lee says it is no more difficult than the Acrobatic DvB DL. Supposedly it just ads more of a juggling element to the effect. Personally I haven’t bothered with this one.
Applications:
See above.
Deck Vanish: In the action of flipping an Acrobatic DvB DL the deck vanishes.
Difficulty:
Not easy but not as hard as it sounds either.
Applications:
Vanishing a deck!
Other comments on the booklet:
Lee is great at citing his work. This is great because it not only gives you references on where moves come from but it also helps us magicians keep our history alive. In this booklet he describes some of the process by which he developed the move. The DvB DL was first released in his now out of print notes “Cutting Up a Live One”. If you are interested in just the basic move it can be found in “Le’ Asher: French Tour ‘99” http://www.leeasher.com/store/books/le_asher.html but the description within is only 2 pages and not as in depth as this. In this PDF he includes a quick history of the DL which includes a citation of the first magician ever to publish the DL. Vernon anyone? Wrong! It was Richard Neve in his book “The Merry Companion” published in 1716!
Thunderbird (the Modern Ace Production) ***** (Five Stars!!!)
Price: $14.99 (Thunderbird only)
Effect:
Four Aces appear 1 by one from the fingertips. One variation to the standard Thunderbird production is taught.
Teaching: Similar in breadth and quality as the DvB DL PDF download. Thunderbird is a 15 page manuscript with three extra pages of advertising. Again this one is a well made manuscript for the visual learner. A total of 29 photos are included and two links are provided. One link directs you to a performance video and the other shows the production from an exposed view.
Quality of Effect: The Thunderbird owes its lineage to Cliff Green’s Phoenix Aces. From outstretched hands aces appear one by one. It is a really well designed effect that is a perfect opener for any card routine, especially if the routine will involve a few packet effects. Asher originally designed it to open for his Asher Twist effect but any trick you can do with four cards would be a good follow up.(a four ace ambitious, Marlo’s four aces to pockets, The Four Queens ect.) There are other four card productions out there but I find this one to be my personal favorite with it’s blend of both flash and simplicity. Perhaps it’s best to just take a look for yourself.
There is a variation taught in which the third ace is produced back forward to the audience instead of face forward. It isn’t much of a variation and he uses it in order to accentuate the ace of spades so that it can be produced in the center of the formation and be revealed last. I personally don’t think it is necessary and I am obviously not alone as I have yet to see anyone of the 80+ YouTube performance videos use it.(not that I watched every single one of them…I’m not that lonely!)
Difficulty: This effect is not as difficult as you might think. That said it will still take a lot of practice in front of the mirror before you feel comfortable performing it to an audience. The basic move can probably be learned within a day of reading and studying the PDF however it may take weeks of practice to perform it without “flashing.” It is likely no secret that it involves some palming. Fortunately for us Lee devotes an entire section of the booklet just to learning the palm(s) used. He also devotes another section to ways in which you can comfortable “hold out” just prior to performance.
Applications: As mentioned before this is a perfect opener. It is quick and visual leaving you in the perfect position for a four card packet effect or even a deck production. In my opinion the perfect blend of flash and practicality. It can be used as a male status display for the purposes of attracting mates and intimidating competitors and also for setting up future dominance displays(i.e. More magic!)
Other comments on the booklet: As before Asher cites his work and gives a bit of history of how he created it and the moves and routines that inspired it.
Final Verdict: When you add up the simplicity in presentation and handling I would say this becomes one of the best, if not the best, four ace production on the market.
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