U. F. Grant 3 - DVD Set (MAK, 2009) Vintage U. F. Grant, Props Etc. Viewed 1 Time
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:50255405 | Type: Magic Trick |
I purchased this DVD set a month ago, watched all three one time, and enjoyed them immensely. They are in pristine condition. The DVD case has a chip out of its right front lower corner - see photo- it arrived to my home that way. It was shipped media mail, so maybe it was handled roughly. I will ship this set to you Priority Mail for just $5.00, in a good sturdy box.If you are of an age, (by which I mean about 45 years or older), then you no doubt have fond memories of going to t...he magic store in the 1970's and 1980's, and looking at all the amazing colorful boxes and tubes produced by Mak Magic in its heyday. Mak Magic was started by U.F. Grant, who was also a name that was inescapable in those decades (and a few preceding them). Grant created (probably) more magic effects and methods than anyone else in magic history.Grant passed away in 1978, and so for a 30th anniversary of his death, Mak Magic produced a documentary movie about his life, and also collected lots of old movie footage of Grant demonstrating his latest creations. It seems that Grant was a You-Tube star decades before YouTube existed! In the 1940's and 1950's, he would film demos and lectures of his tricks. Then he would send the films around to magic clubs all over the country. Helped him sell a lot of magic, but also (lucky for an magician now, who is interested in the history of our Art), the films remain and give a rare glimpse into Grant's personality and magic.And although the footage is sometimes pretty rough, and the magic is from 50+ years ago, there are a few real goodies in the lectures that you will no doubt consider working on and placing among your performance effects.Besides vintage footage of Grant performing and lecturing, there is the documentary I mentioned, which is about 60 minutes long. I found it very interesting, giving insights into both Grant's creativity as well as his drive to be successful in his chosen world of magic. There's also some footage of special events honoring Grant, which have rare footage of a young Jay Marshall and also Frances Marshall performing.The third disc has more demo footage, and a narrated slideshow of many, many of those wonderful boxes and tubes that entranced us from the shelves of the magic store. Lots of fascinating history and insights into how they came about, the difficulties with building some of them, etc. Includes stories of some of the famous "flops" as well as some of the rarer items that you would never see anywhere else but on these DVDs.BONUS: I know that all that stuff I just described is plenty, but... the set also includes pdf and doc files of about a dozen classic UF Grant/Don Tanner publications: 6 modern levitations, Brilliant Card Magic, Grant's Encyclopedia of Magic, Fab Feats of Mental Magic, Grant's Manual of Magic, Illusion Secrets, Victory Carton Illusions, Magic Made easy lecture Notes, Flying Carpet, Rope and Chain escapes, and more. Many of the files are in Word doc format, so you could edit them down to just the items you want to save, add your own performance ideas etc. All the publications have been re-set with a word processor, so if you (like me) struggled with those hard-to-read vintage Grant manuscripts that Don Tanner typed up on a typewriter and mimeographed, rest assured, these are A LOT easier on the eyes!
If you love magic, and are interested in those who made our Art much more wonderful, you will love this DVD set. These sets did not get too much notice when they came out 10 years ago, probably because they were pretty expensive -- $80-$90 retail.
If you love magic, and are interested in those who made our Art much more wonderful, you will love this DVD set. These sets did not get too much notice when they came out 10 years ago, probably because they were pretty expensive -- $80-$90 retail.
