Rune Klan Review
Rune's World - The Magic of Rune Klan - Book & accompanying DVD
Written by Rune Klan, Andi Gladwin & Josh Jay
Available at
http://www.mapromagic.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss000001.pl?page=search&SS=Rune+Klan&ACTION=Go%21&PR=-1&TB=APrice: £39.99
This book is written in two parts. The first half of the book is written (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) with vivid descriptions and very accurate depictions.
It takes the reader through some solid routines. They've been divided into routines consisting of 3 to 4 tricks which run together smoothly suited to different performing situations, including some using only cards, some using coins, some using both and even one using stuff that can be borrowed at someones house with no gimmicks, and is completely impromptu.
Rune Klan (creator of 3 Pieces of Silver - the rare & sought after VHS, now widely available on DVD) is known for his impeccable work with coins, and his ability to perform otherwise impossible sleight of hand flawlessly. He is also a total purist. He refuses to use gimmicks at all. His work is done entirely gimmick free and with the exception of an extra (hidden) coin, his routines can be done any time, anywhere with borrowed objects.
The second half of this book is quite the opposite.
To the world of magicians, he is known for his devilishly difficult coin sleights and his flowing routines, however to his native Denmark, Rune is as famous as Derren Brown!
I was going to compare his performing style to someone, but upon thinking about it, there isn't anyone. The closest I could think of, would be perhaps some sort of Tommy Cooper/Les Dawson hybrid, although his loud, confident style, usually ending with tricks going monumentally wrong (while Cooper-esque) is so uniquely performed, I cannot compare him to anyone.
His close-up magic (gimmick free, impressive and straight magic) is the complete antithesis of his stage act. The second half of the book portrays this through a comic book/graphic novel style of drawing. His somewhat surreal sense of humour is shown through this author annotated frame by frame run through of his stage show as a whole, including explanations (this however seems a little irrelevant, as so little of his magic actually works.
A human figure hunched over and covered with a sheet walks onto the stage. Upon approaching the front of the stage, a foot from under the sheet pokes out, and a voice asks the pointed at spectator to name a fruit or vegetable. Let us say that a zucchini is named - the sheet is whipped away to reveal Rune Klan standing underneath the sheet dressed as a tomato - "dammit, I was so close!"
He also has a smashed and restored mobile phone, a "really boring" cut and restored rope routine, an ambitious slice of ham that was performed to the queen of Denmark and a giant cup and ball routine - ending in a final load of a person dressed as a chicken. All very silly, all hilarious!
If I wanted to perform any of these stage effects, I couldn't. These are very personal, and very much Rune Klan.
So scores!
1st half:
Effects: 9/10 - powerful, graceful strong magic, let down a little by the lack of variation in the coin routines (from a lay point of view)
Difficulty: 9/10 - experienced coin workers will be alright with this after some practice, beginners will be busy for a while.
2nd half:
Effects: 10/10 for creative thinking, entertainment value and presentation of the book itself!
Difficulty: 2/10 for actually performing the effects, 11/10 for being as good as Rune.
Value for money: 9/10 - Im such a fan, I was always going to buy this book, but I can see the price putting some magicians off. This is a shame, as you get some utility moves, some solid routines, something to practice and something to laugh at for a long while. And a DVD with some very silly performances, but some beautiful effects.
Overall - 8/10 - I think the difficulty let it down a little here. But if you know a decent amount about coin magic, this will give you something to practice!
All the best,
Croz
Topic: Rune's World - Magic of Rune Klan - Book & DVD (Read 52 times)