Larry Jennings - A Private Lesson DVD

Larry Jennings was one of the greatest sleight-of-hand artists who ever lived. Over the course of his 64 years, he developed many classic plots in card and coin magic. Lots of Larry's magic has been described in books, videotapes, and DVDs. But, the books often failed to capture the nuances in his work, and he was usually nervous during the shooting of the formal videos and DVDs.

During the early 1970s, Larry left his home in Los Angeles—where he had moved to study with Dai Vernon—and relocated to Lake Tahoe, California, to open his own plumbing business. There he met Louis Falanga, who became Larry's student and friend. One day in Louis' living room, Larry allowed himself to be videotaped describing 12 of his favorite routines:

* Jennings' Chop Cup
* Don Alan's Lump of Coal (LJ. Version)
* Peripatetic Coins
* The Chinese Connection (explanation only)
* Cigarette Manipulations
* Larry's Linking Ring Routine
* Coins Through the Table (with Pop-Up Move)
* L.J. Four Coins Across
* Coin Through Spectator's Fist
* Open Travellers
* Nowhere and Everywhere Again
* The Visitor

This was the perfect setting for Larry—he was relaxed and in his prime, just making a personal video for a friend. The quality is exactly what you'd expect from a 30 year-old home video made in someone's living room, and you can even hear someone frying up some bacon in the background. Considering that great material, we can forgive the technical shortcomings (though the tape—original Beta master—has been put through a state-of-the-art digital clean-up).

At the time, few of the routines on the videotape were in print. It is now a quarter-century later and Larry Jennings has been dead for a decade. Most of the items on the tape were later published, but some details and fine points were inadvertently omitted. Other routines, such as the Linking Rings, Lump Of Coal, Coins Through Table using the Pop-Up Move, were never published. All of the routines are superb examples of the finest in close-up magic and some of these, such as the Chop Cup routine, benefit from the best recorded explanations Jennings gave.

Having had the pleasure of watching a copy of this videotape many times over the years and now, through the generosity of Louis Falanga, you will too. So slip the DVD into your player and step back in time to when Jimmy Carter was President of the United States, men were visiting the moon on a regular basis, and Larry Jennings was knocking'em dead.
- Richard Kaufman

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REVIEW BY NING of THE LITTLE MAGIC SHOP

Larry Jennings - A Private Lesson

Here's what you get:
This DVD is over an hour long and is the latest offering from L&L. Recorded over 25 years ago, the video on this DVD is a snapshot in time intended to be a private magic lesson for Louis Falanga. So, originally shot on video, it is informal (almost like a home video) with some parts out of sync (if you notice, sometimes the lips and words do not match but it's no biggie) ...but it is still VERY good stuff!

Now this is what's great about it:
Great care has been taken in the video editing to make the teaching material easy to follow still, despite the video generation loss. I must say that Larry Jenning's magic is SUPERB, in case you don't know who he is or if you're unfamiliar with his magic... this humble DVD is packed full of his original routines, which is truly strong magic!

I'm really glad this DVD has been produced to leave his legacy behind. He has been revered by master magicians like Dai Vernon and Johnny Thompson on his remarkable sleight of hand skills and rightfully so! :) Larry Jenning's a master at parlour and close up. I completely enjoyed watching this DVD. It's not snazzy or MTV like, but the content is solid!

If you're a coin worker, you'll surely appreciate the gems in the later part of this DVD. He has wonderful chop cup & linking rings routines and I enjoyed his cigarette manipulation teach in. His presentation is so natural! If you're a cardician, well, of course there's plenty for you to enjoy in this DVD as well. Be prepared to be slayed by his impressive Open Travellers routine ;)

So, in a nutshell:
If you're looking for snazzy MTV editing with a hip, young magician with show off attitude... this is so not it ^_^ What this is, is complete magic gems from the late Larry Jennings who is an EXCELLENT performer and teacher. So, if you're a performer looking for good tested material that looks impressive, this DVD comes highly recommended. His teaching style is relaxed and easy to follow, with a good smattering of close up, stage and parlor so it provides a well rounded magic education *grin* Yes! This DVD has got my thumbs up!

Cheers,
Ning ^_^

Now available at
www.TheLittleMagicShop.com

Dealers can purchase this directly from Murphy’s Magic Supplies, Inc. www.murphysmagicsupplies.com