Reflection by Bill Goodwin

Hi folks

I first met Bill Goodwin when Paul Wilson organised for him to present his magic lecture in Glasgow a number of years ago.  The lecture he gave that day was nothing short of brilliant.  A full 2-and-a-half hour lecture was presented in about 1 hour 20 minutes!  Now, that is not anything against Bill, his lecture or his way of teaching.  He was so thorough in his lecture that we didn't need to ask any questions.

Other than a few sets of hard to find (but well worth looking for) lecture notes and the odd thing or 3 published in various magazines, including the brilliant (and well worth waiting for) Penumbra, Bill wasn't one to release large amounts of material.  He certainly did not come across as someone who would bring out a DVD but that he has done and what a DVD it is!

Reflection is a DVD that I feel any and all card magicians must - not should, MUST! - have in their collections.  The material, ranging from fairly straight forward to technical, is of the highest quality.   This 2-and-a-half hour DVD not only explains the 9 items that are listed on the back of the DVD's case but also a number of alternative endings and/or handlings for the items on the disk.

The DVD was filmed in the library of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, which happens to be Bill's workplace (how cool is that?!), and produced by Dan and Dave Buck.  It looks fantastic!  Most of the time, Bill performs for the camera with a hand appearing now and then to take out a card on the rare occasions that's needed.  It gives the DVD the feeling of a one-on-one lesson from a master with a deck of cards.  The DVD also comes with a booklet giving information and full credits for each effect that supplement and expand on the already full crediting that is done on screen by Goodwin.  If more DVD producers and performers did even half of the crediting that Goodwin does here, the magic world would be a much happier place.

I'm not going to discuss the material in length - I don't want to spoil any more surprises for you than I need to - but my favourites include "Off Balance Transposition", "Twisting The Kings" and Goodwin's solution to "Spectator Cuts The Aces".  The stand-out of those 3 for me was "Off Balance Transposition" which is one of the most visual and baffling pieces of card magic I have seen in a long time.  Simply brilliant.

I urge you to find this DVD and buy it.  It may not be the cheapest DVD you will buy, but it is worth every penny and you will not regret it.  The only thing I regret is not buying it sooner!!!

You can find the video trailer below and you can buy the DVD directly from Bill's website.  If you live in the UK, speak nicely to your local magic supplier - I bought mine in Tam Shepherd's in Glasgow.

Speak soon.

The Cardman :-)