Gemstones is Jeff Stone’s follow-up DVD project to his debut DVD, Stone Cold Magic. It could have been named Stone Cold Magic Volume II because like the former project, it has a ton of magic (over an hour and a half), it is all well-taught in a magic lesson format, and contains something for everyone. Unlike Stone Cold Magic, Gemstones does not contain just card tricks. In Gemstones, you will learn tricks with cards, but also coins, keys, and a Twinkie….yes, a Twinkie. This is a fantastic project.
The DVD has over a dozen effects, tricks and routines. The performances are recorded with Stone in a studio setting behind a table. The explanation and instruction tracks immediately follow each performance, which makes this DVD very easy to watch. There are portions of the DVD where Jeff touches upon various magic techniques such as coin vanishes, back palming, ditching and card splitting.
Although the DVD was filmed in Jay Sankey’s studio in Canada, sometimes the camera drifts off the background to expose the side of the backdrop. It does not interfere with your learning or enjoyment of the magic. The DVD also comes with a link to a website that gives additional ideas, although it has last been updated in 2009 as far as I can tell.
Among the stronger effects that are taught is Under My Skin, an effect in which a spectator’s coin vanishes and appears inside (yes, inside) a playing card. Also joining the ranks of “awesome” on this DVD are the Most Triumphant routine and Bill in Twinkie. Yes, if you have never heard someone talk about a “Twinkie force”, you will now.
Quasi Photo is a very good and clever trick, but it is somewhat obsolete because you need to use a 35mm roll of film. No one has rolls of film anymore and I don’t even know if you can easily buy rolls of film in the digital age. Once omnipresent, rolls of film have been replaced by flash drives and SD memory cards. With that being said, I still love this routine and think it can play very strongly to an older audience.
As part of Quasi Photo, Jeff teaches how to build a utility device out of a box of cards that can vanish small items such as torn bills or ripped playing cards. It is very easy to make and it can help create some powerful illusions.
This DVD reminds me of the type of magic that is taught on Murphy’s Magic excellent At The Table lecture series. Come to think of it, I am wondering why Jeff has not yet taught some of this magic in his own At The Table lecture….???
And of course no Stone Cold Magic DVD would be complete with a SPAM reference. He has a magical guest star with an expressionless face staring into the camera and holding a Spam sign. Of course, it is Sankey.
The promotional video shows you accurate snippets of what you will be taught on this project.
You get a great bang for your buck on this excellent DVD and it is well-worth the purchase.