Dan and Dave Buck's

The Trilogy

Price: $85
Available: www.dananddave.com
Format: 3 Disc DVD Set

Alright I will be reviewing the trilogy disc by disc so that way you get a good idea of what this MASTERPEICE is like. This disc has 13 GREAT effects on it, so here we go:

Trilogy Disc One: Tricks

TiVo Transpo- A great, in-the-hands transpo of two cards, that’s looks SO good. They seemed to have added a slight modification to the original handling, but I believe it is for the better.

TiVo 2.0- I guess this is just another version of its predecessor, TiVo. Now is it better than the original……you decide. I still prefer the original handling to this, but I am sure it will find a home in a lot of people’s repertoire.

Subway- “A completely modernized version of Earl Nelson's 'Submarine Sandwich'.” WORD! This is a great, commercial effect that is fairly easy to do. And it teaches the DMB Spread Control which is so cool!

Card Across- An awesome “Quick Trick” that you can do anytime. It teaches a wicked move called FLOOP, and it looks so tight! Perfect for the “show me a trick” scenario.

Hand to Mouth- The classic card to mouth with a flourishy undertone. No difference in effect really….

Déjà Vu- Woah! Love it, Love it, Love it. I am pretty sure this is a variation of the Buck’s other effect called Transpositionings, but this effect is done with two selections instead of one. I think this one is slightly easier than Transpositionings, there was one move in that effect that was killing me, but in this effect it is hella easier. Uber Cool!

Twinsplit Remix- Shazam! Man this looks like trick photography! It looks like you really pull off the pip of the 3 of clubs. Damn! Then you, just as visually, throw the pip back on and “heal” the 3 of clubs. The only real hard part to this effect is the “healing” part, but I have come up with an easier way to do it, and it looks the same. Added to my repertoire immediately.

Fission for Aces- An 8 is split into two 4s. One of the 4s is split into two 2s. And finally, one of the 2s is split into two Aces. Super slick effect right here! It looks so clean and fair, a bunch of great moves are involved. A great lead-in to a sandwich effect using the two Aces.

Hofzzy Osbourne- Award for best name goes to this effect! And a lot of the effect happens in their face, and then the climax happens in their hands. I don’t think that spectators deserve this much magic!

The Queens- DB2’s handling of Bill Goodwin’s now classic effect. The queens one by one vanish and then reappear all at once. For those of you wondering, no the Clip shift is not explained, it is only shown in the performance. With out the Clip Shift is effect is very workable, most of the vanishes are easy and look great.

Swiss Made- The Buck’s version of Steve Freeman’s Back in Time effect. It teaches a nice control and a GREAT Color change. This effect also went by the name of Greek Time Machine in Sleightly Magical. I kinda wish they put Game with a Ghost on this DVD too, that effect rocks! But so does this!

Collectors- The selections are collected AS the aces are produced, I am pretty sure there are not many collectors like that, and wicked visual. The effect is fairly simple, but there are some things that may take a little time to get the hang of. Oh and by the way this is actually the “Double Sandwich” handling from NR1.

Hedberg’s Peak- I loved this effect ever since I read it in Sleightly Magical. So when I saw it on the performance I thought: “Damn! They changed it”. But after I learned it, it really isn’t all that different, the handling is slightly modified. But the good-side to that is that in one part there is a better cover for the h*** Pa**. This is a great follow up for TiVo.

Sixty Nine- This and Jumping Gemini are probably the only packet tricks I do. I really love the Dracula Count and this effect is super quick and simple. So for those of you that needed to visualize this…here is your chance.

Wow! That word can probably sum up the entire set. The DVD packaging is so slick and professional. It’s like you got the special edition of the Lord of the Rings DVD. The Menu for this disc is great, just a list of all the effects. When you click the effect you want. You get a new page with a video box playing a silent performance of the effect, performance button, explanation button, and an Over the Shoulder view button. The teaching is SUPERB; they go over everything great, plenty of recaps and slow-motion. The camera work was great in each explanation also. The over the shoulder view is great, but there is no speaking in this view. I guess it is mainly used as a tool for clarity after you watch the explanation part. The picture is great too, so clear and beautiful. And for me, best of all, all of these effects use a normal deck of cards, and that is just what I am looking for! Now most Dan and Dave fans will know most of these effects already but I suggest you watch them anyway because it is wicked awesome. And I really loved just watching the performances of the effect The Buck’s do the effects so smooth and make them look so good. I was just sitting there mesmerized; even though I knew everything they were doing it was just so beautiful. Bravo Dan and Dave, Bravo!


Yes the Jerry’s are back! This is the disc that most people have been waiting for, so let’s not waste time:

Trilogy Disc Two: Flourishes

Carnahan Fan- Straight out of Sleightly Magical, this is a great fan. It happens so fast and looks so nice, how could you not like it!
Difficulty: 4/10

Molecule_4_False- This is the easiest variation of Molecule 4, as the name says it is false, and also fairly easy.
Difficulty: 5/10

Molecule_4_Tokyo- This is “bigger” variation of the previous cut, it also stems from the Molecule 1 cut. A little bit more flashy but not too much more difficult
Difficulty: 5.5/10

Molecule_4_NY- For those of you that have seen the video “Dan at the convention” this is that molecule 4 that he does. Super bad and wicked nice, really nice ending to it, probably the most difficult of the 3.
Difficulty: 6/10

Pandora- OH SNAP! This is so sick! Pandora is like a Tornado dipped in multiple illegal drugs and then after you give it a couple of shots. This is a super bad combo that also includes Crabshak and Molecule 3. Lots of spins and hand movements, definitely one of the hardest cuts on there.
Difficulty: 8/10

Jackson 5- The Cut. The Legend. This cut eats Babies! Now this is what most of us have been waiting for since we found the Easter egg on The System. Woah! A Wicked long combo that includes: Madonna variation, Sybilism, Skater Cut (AKA Joey Burton Display), 5 Faces of Sybil, 8 Packet Leno, and Genesis. I feel bad for my carpet already, I have dropped so many cards doing this. But it is too wicked not to learn it!
Difficulty: 9/10

Erdanse Go Round- Starts the Rev. E then the packet on bottom “jumps” out and does a somersault and lands on top. I am sure many have already figured this out and done it, but it still looks cool!
Difficulty: 4/10

Erdanse Go Round_V2- Just a slight variation of the previous cut, except instead of somersaulting the packets spins out and does a 360 degree rotation and lands on top. NIZE! Difficulty: 4/10

Vertigo- SO SICK! We all know this from Five, and we all know how cool it is. Has Showstopper written all over it! Fairly Difficult to get the knack though.
Difficulty: 6/10

Eko- They could have named this “Pop and Lock”. Because there is a lot of pauses and fingers switching involved in this cut. When I first saw it I thought it was gonna be cake, but this is actually giving me a little bit of trouble. But I feel it is definitely worth the effort cause this is just schmooove.
Difficulty: 6/10

Mecka- One of my favorite cuts on the disc. Fairly easy going, nothing too hard about this cut, but it has got style! I think this and Molecule 4_False are the only false cuts on this disc. Difficulty: 5/10

Akira- A Super quick cut, I see this only as a fairly flashy way of closing the Tornado cut. I Love the little whip action at the end!
Difficulty: 4/10

Tectonic Verb- Another fairly quick cut, I don’t think I have seen a cut like this, kinda funky. And it has a neat little display in the middle that I really like.
Difficulty: 5/10

YEAH!!!!! Another great disc! I really liked all the cuts on this DVD, they all were wicked cool, and varied in difficulty. Now is this as revolutionary as The System……probably not. But that is because The System came out just when Flourishing was starting out, now more and more people get involved in flourishing and are pushing it further than ever before. Though I do commend the Bucks on giving us some new concepts/moves, because now it is getting harder and harder to come up with original material, so to me this was refreshing. The Menu again looks great, and when it starts up all these little boxes showing each flourish comes up. Then you click on one, brings up a Performance button, and an Explanation button. Some times the cuts are a little too big, so you can learn some cuts in “phases” which I thought was great, especially for J5! And then some cuts have variations, which also appear on their little page. The teaching is a lot better. When you click explanation it first goes into an overview of the cut, which is basically the cut in slo-mo, which I guess is for the more experienced flourishers. Then it goes into full on instruction mode, still no speaking though, but little sentence blurbs come up to help you along. The cut is done in like super slo-mo also, and there are plenty of recaps for each part. Actually that was the only annoying thing about it, you would be in the middle of a move then they go back and do a recap while you are stuck in one position. But I am just being nitpicky . Well done Gents!


The final disc of the Trilogy, hope you enjoy:

Trilogy Disc Three: Everythingelse

A Few Modern Classics

TG Deck Flip- The classic flourish by TG Murphy, just about everybody probably knows this, and knows its usefulness in the flourish world, it’s a must.

Hugh Scott Shuffle- The only way I can describe this is an upside-down riffle shuffle in the hands. It looks really nice when done right.

LePaul S Formation- Straight up cool! This is an addition to the already cool LePaul Spread, where you actually add another curve to the spread to make an “S” shape. And it is surprisingly easy.

360 Deck Spin- This is basically an addition to the All Around Square Up move, where you add another rotation so that the deck spins 360 degrees and lands back in your hand. Another move I will end up doing hypnotically.

Under Pressure- Wicked! You start to perform a fan and then they all “spring” back into place. We all have probably seen this and know how cool it is.

Table Work

Heap Snatch- A real nice and elegant tabled false cut. It looks just like the Thricenator Remix cut in the Vault. Actually it probably is the same cut….

Blackjack Production- A Double Production! First the four aces are produced then…..four perfect hands of Blackjack, matching suits too! Not too difficult and a GREAT intro to a Reset routine.

Shuffled Aces- This is an in the hands 4 ace production in the action of shuffling the cards. On the DVD they said this was a way to do Ace Production from the previous effect in the hands. I think I like the previous one better though.

The Forte Flourish- I really liked the look of this ever since NR2, But for some Reason I could never do it. But with the visuals, I got this down, so easy and so cool.

Random Cool

Click Change- a one-handed Snap Change...while still holding the deck. Now this is giving me some trouble, but it looks so gangsta!

Jones Change- Wickedly Cool! We know this one from the Teaser, where the card is twirled around and then finally changes. It is so damn tight! I really like this one a lot.

Center Double- This is the Flip Center Double, which is a centered double lift that comes from the top. Yeah I know that sounds weird but it looks real nice. And as fast as DB2 do it, it looks like a card just appears in the middle.

Queens Transition- This one comes from our own Aethan Friday! He came up with a way to go from the last vanish in The Queens directly into the Collectors effect. Pretty schweet.

Real Time- THE most ballin’ Ace production ever, IMO! This looks just like real magic, with just a wave of the hand 4 Aces appear. For me it is sort of difficult, but nothing impossible.

Molecule Revisited

Molecule 2, 4 card Production- A smooth 4 card production that comes right out of the Molecule 2 cut, and keeps the entire deck in order.

Molecule 2, 1 Card Production- This is just Uber Cool. Again this is one of those things I was never able to do, but now I got it and it looks so awesome!

Molecule Double Lift- As far as originality goes…meh. As far as looks go….cool.

Molecule Spring Flourish- Straight G! At the end of M2 a packet is sprung into the middle of the deck and a card reverses itself in the middle. Knacky but looks great!

Finger Exercises
In this section Dan and Dave go over various exercises for your fingers, obviously. These are ways to Strengthen your fingers and increase coordination. Heck, I’ll do anything to get that fast!

Flourishes 101
This is a great resource for most of the basic flourishes. Is it the “end all” solution to learning them…no. But it is a great tool none the less. .No speaking in these explanations either.

This is it people… the end. Do I really need to reiterate on how good this DVD Set is? The Bucks really upped the ante with this one, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. *Thunderous Applause for the Bucks*

Final Score / 10.0