Curtis Kam – Palms Of Steel (5 DVD)

It was summer 2002 and the West was filled with brawls, bordellos and treachery. A motley crew of would-be train robbers packed a local saloon (strangely resembling the IBM convention) and called themselves “magicians”. Cards flew and coins changed hands, but it all stopped when sheriff Curtis Kam walked in. They could tell he was a professional who did miracles. But before they could thank him, he and the money were gone. Here’s what they saw:

 

Volume 1:

Adventures In Advanced Coinwork!** If you long for firm, tight classic palms and huge powerful muscle passes, then Palms of Steel I is just what you need! Master coinman, Curtis Kam leads you through three feature-length routines that are tough enough to make your palms sweat blood! Along the way, you will learn over a dozen new moves and techniques of cutting edge coin magic! Take A Peek… New York Spellbound: In this perfect opener for restaurant work, Curtis takes Scotty York’s “Triple Change Spellbound” and adds the Twist ( a visible change at the very fingertips)! In addition, Curtis tips the real work on *Townsend’s Circulus Switch *The Twist Change and *The Backpalm-to-backpalm change. The Silver Circle: Three silver dollars appear, multiply, travel visibly from hand to hand, hang in the air, return and then vanish. This routine showcases the Twist, as well as some of the most difficult (yet useful) moves in all of coin magic!: *Twist Production, Shuttle & Addition *Visible Coins Across *Visible Vanish Medley *Steeple Shuttle *Vernon Wandspin Changeover *Audible Hanging Coins Chinese Silk and Silver: The perfect closer to any show! A commercial handling of the Dai Vernon routine, coupled with the coins through silk, and ending with the production of a giant coin over 5″ in diameter! Plus, the Harbottle Rolling Discrepancy, Falling to the Fingertips and other goodies from the underground! Palms of Steel I is 75 minutes of exquisite pain. Feel the burn!

 

Volume 2: Fists of Fury

 

Beijing Coins Across- Three silver coins shimmer into mirage-like existence, dance from hand to hand, then suddenly transform into ancient brass Chinese coins. They change singly back to silver, and visibly flash back to brass. This opening attack from Curtis Kam’s formal parlor show is the showpiece for his signature ‘Fingertip Wildcoin’ sequence.
Coercive Purse- Cited by Tommy Wonder for its construction, this routine uses psychological warfare to beat skeptics into submission. Imagine the copper/silver transposition warped through a purse frame, by way of a Jedi mind trick. The final stroke of oriental deviousness is the production of a coin larger than the purse frame, from the purse frame.
The Goblet- Six coins transpose, transform and transport in, over, and around a stemmed metal goblet as Kam’s pioneering techniques turn this under-used prop into a dangerous weapon. The Goblet allows the elements of Beijing Coins Across to be re-sequenced for greater killing efficiency.
Tiananmen Square- For his final blow, Kam added a coin purse to Fingertip Wildcoin, punishing the audience with a standing handling of Roth’s classic ‘Purse and Glass’ that goes way off the deep end, ending with 13 Chinese coins covering the tabletop in a dazzling display of mysterious metals.
East met West as two masters of the unusual stepped upto the mats. Kainoa Harbottle met Kam’s attack with a production sequence not for the queasy – ‘Repeat Coins from Nostril.’ Stunningly grotesque, it uses parts of your face not normally involved in western presentations. He then staggered the others by tipping his groundbreaking work on the underground Mutobe Palm and an ingenious ‘spider’ application of the otherwise ludicrous ‘over the top’ vanish from Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic.

Finally, from the exotic, mysterious land known only as ‘Portland’, came western master Reed McClintock, who delivered the deathblow by actually performing ‘International Dissolve’ from his aptly named manuscript series, ‘Knucklebusters. To rub salt in the wounds of the disbelieving, he then explained how it was done, and made it seem easy. The ending to this routine will pummel you, so be prepared to defend yourself

 

Volume 3: Silverado

 

• Through and Through Folks back East call this a “Karate Coin”, you’ll call it a coin that just won’t stay put. It comes out through the bottom of your pocket, passes up through your fingers, then down through your left hand, up through the right, then gets lost inside, honest! Finally, it pops out STUCK ON YOUR FINGER! You pull it right off, and then stick it back on real slow!! You try to put it away, but it keeps on slipping through your pockets! Finally, you leave it for the buzzards to pick at. Experienced hands will realize that you’re reset, and back in the saddle again.
• Triple Alliance A newfangled, ground breaking Copper/Silver/Brass routine with a triple transposition climax, without the usual gaff, and none of that “If the silver is here, then what’s in my hand” nonsense. This is magic, not a gol-darned guessin’ game!
• 4 Co Pro and Super 4 Co Pro Marshall Reed McClintock stepped up to defend the town with the scariest production of four silver dollars ever seen. The first version is his original handling from “Knucklebusters” and it’s enough to clear the room. The “Super” is the top-secret improved handling that he didn’t tip in the book because it’s just too darn good. Learn to do either of these and you can ride with me anytime.
• Inverted Matrix A four-coin gaffless reverse matrix that has things no other reverse ever had. It works on any surface, has the world’s easiest retention pass, employs a new pickup move that shows both sides of the card, AND, you hardly ever touch the coins, so sleight-of-hand seems impossible.
• Copper Silver Bent The cleanest version of the classic transposition ever seen. Your hands start palm up and empty. You don’t just repeat the trick, you top it by having the spectator unwittingly bend the silver coin in their own hand! For tablehoppers, there’s no lapping, sleeving, or sneaky trips to your pockets. Warning for tenderfoots and greenhorns- You have to backclip a coin-but don’t cry mama. It’s just one, and thanks to the gaff, it’s 98% angle-proof.
• Sandwich Move-a-thon Even a rootin’-tootin’ funslinger has to do a card trick every now and again. This is the six-phase routine to keep in your back pocket for times when your shootin’ irons are too hot. Six tasty sandwich effects all done up pretty so they flow like a river. Do all six, and you’ll ride out of town a card-handling legend. Or stop at one, two, or three if the crowd gets ugly. Combines the work of Earl Nelson, Robert Walker, David Solomon, John Carney, Martin Nash, Harry Lorayne, Derek Dingle and Larry Jennings into a relentless feast that you can pick up and take with you. It’s not just a trick, it’s a whole act!
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Volume 4: Cashablanca

 

Ilsa’s Appearance: 
The audience is teased into watching you pull invisible coins from the air, and spread them into a fan. Just when they’re convinced that your hands are empty and you’re pulling their legs, BAM–three silver dollars pop into view.
Cashablanca Coins Across: 
Follow Ilsa with the perfect working man’s coins across–three ordinary coins, no risky moves. Do it standing, sleeveless, table-less, topless, for brooding loners or the whole German army. Features the latest in American edge grip technology, (but the angles are 100% practical) the revolutionary “In Closing” steal, and a new breed of retention pass that fools the mind, not the eye.
Three Coins Across, sweet and simple. Americans love simple things with money. Paris Hilton, for example. We’ll always have Paris.
The Greatest ($3) Show on Earth: 
Three coins take the stage like clowns from a tiny car. The youngest tumbles and rolls; his brothers do a fingertip trapeze act. Put away in your pockets, they jump back to the stage then fly like human cannonballs, appearing under, on top of, and inside a coin purse. A full routine with all the action of a three-ring circus, daring new techniques, and a built-in storyline that can be either circus or Cirque, as you wish.
Play It Again, Kam (Another Hard Way) / Excellent Birds: 
Seven coins ooze out of your empty hands, into a nifty display position, no less. From there, you perform the classic “Flying Eagles” with an upgrade to the 21st century. A new take on a classic, with killer convincers and a Harbottle finish.
I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little coins don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. But seven coins, now that gets my attention.
Triple Alliance 2.0: 
This advanced, enhanced handling of Triple Alliance (from Palms of Steel 3: Silverado) is the only Copper/Silver/Brass where the audience hears the first transpo, sees the second, feels the third, and then experiences the rare and elusive triple transposition. Brought to you through virtuoso routining and the simplest of gaffs, it’s a visual, audible, tactile feast for the senses that stops short of total sensory immersion only because the coins all taste about the same.
BONUS: International Solid ThreeFly (Reed McClintock): 
Three different coins fly from the fingertips of one hand to the other. That simply. No moves, no feints, no pauses, no dumb gags, no trips to the pockets, all visible, and when the last coin goes, you’re clean. Reed figures that the only reason to use a gaff is if it produces an illusion this good. Why pay more for gaffed coins that do less?
If you don’t get this video, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. Here’s looking at you, kid.

 

 

Volume 5: Pirates of the Rising Tida

 

Firing a shot across the bow of conventional coin magic, Curtis “Captain Morgan” Kam leads a crew of cutthroat coin effects in a broadside attack on the overworked classics. Join him as he rides the tide of bold new magic that shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. Coins Through the Table, Flurry, Hanging Coins, Copper/Silver Transpo, Coins Across-prepare to be boarded!

Laser Coins: Three coins vanish as they become suspended in a beam of light. When the light’s turned off, they fall from the sky. Finally, a new and compelling effect in coin magic. The edge grip technology used here is twenty years beyond what you’re doing now. Plus there’s a moment where you actually show the coins to the audience, but they just can’t see them. That will make you smile, which is good, because the rest of the moves will make you cry. Man up to the miracle, lads.

Standing Coins Thru Table: A swashbuckler’s handling that allows you to pull up broadside to a table and push three coins right through it. No gaffs, no wax, no extras, no counting or fooling around. Each penetration is better than the last and everything builds to a surprise ending.

Copper/Silver Flurry: Only a pirate would cross the Flurry, the classic one-coin routine from Davey Roth’s locker, with the copper/silver transposition. Now, instead of ending the Flurry like everyone else, you can end with a memorable miracle in the spectator’s hands.

Table Hopper’s Jumbo: Straight from the Captain’s working repertoire, a lesson in how and when to produce a jumbo coin, and more importantly, what to do with it once you have.

Table Hopper’s Trio: Mindless repetition walks the plank in this, the first routine to embrace the pirate’s love of anarchy. Free your coins from the tyranny of having to all do the same thing.