Next Door To Ellis: A ReviewInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

24 Years of Living Next Door to Ellis – DVD

?Hi, I?m Tim and I?m a Cross-Addicted Ellis & Webster Abuser.?

?Hi, Tim.?

?Thanks. I am grateful to be here. I have been in and out of the program for a while and I know that I?ve got another bender in me but I don?t know if I have another recovery out there.

?It started out pretty simple. But I guess everyone says that. No one ever says, ?I?m going to be addicted to everything done by two magicians from some country where the water runs the opposite way down drains, has weird animals and cold summers.? But you know what they say, ?one video is too much and a thousand are not enough.? It is bad but I know I have control whether to pick up that first one.

?I received the DVD 24 Years of Living Next Door to Ellis. I looked at the outside and opened it up. It looked professionally produced. There was a picture of Sue-Anne on it but before you start talking about my infatuation and weakness for her, I should tell you that she was made-up like the snoopy next-door neighbor. (You could still see her beautiful blue eyes ? they match a thumb tip later in the DVD). I thought I could resist it pretty easily. I didn?t think I would have a problem with it. The lies we tell ourselves, right?

24 Years of Living Next Door to Ellis – DVD

?Hi, I?m Tim and I?m a Cross-Addicted Ellis & Webster Abuser.?

?Hi, Tim.?

?Thanks. I am grateful to be here. I have been in and out of the program for a while and I know that I?ve got another bender in me but I don?t know if I have another recovery out there.

?You know how they say ?the best thing you can do is not do it, and the best thing you can have is an empty DVD player?? That is so true. I should have stopped but I didn?t. I got into the ?Stinking Thinking.? ?Oh, I deserve to watch their video. They?re really good and I could learn so much from them.? I figured I work hard and deserve to watch one gosh darned video. It won?t kill me.

?Do I need to tell you it almost did kill me? It certainly poisoned me from watching any other magic DVD again. It did. I knew it would end up that way but my ?Stinking Thinking? led me the wrong way. Rather, I allowed myself to be led the wrong way.

?The DVD starts off with their lecture from the last tour of the States. It was the innovative one where they show the effects and secrets through the eyes of the nosey neighbor ? Sue-Anne. I knew what to expect so I didn?t think it would blow me away. But it did.

?First of all, the production values are so good that Tim and Sue-Anne seemed different than normal DVD stars. I mean, there weren?t any of the single camera, bad lighting, limited view, no audience scenes I?m used to in most magic DVDs. It was like, I don?t know, like a Hollywood production. They had animated logo graphics, great sound, tons of camera angles, a great and innovative way to show the trick, and the best method I?ve ever seen to teach it. Tim would do the trick for his audience and Sue-Anne, as the ugly neighbor (with the beautiful eyes), would teach it by either stopping the live action (everyone in the scene would freeze and she?d invade to show where the gimmick was or explain the upcoming move) or she?d teach it while reproducing it.

?I don?t what I was supposed to do. I mean, I knew after the first segment that I was hooked into watching the whole video. I knew I wanted to learn Tim?s incredible Broken and Restored Rubber Band effect. It is too cool. He breaks a rubber band and shows how it can come back together by magic. Then he lets a spectator break the rubber band, ties it together and makes the knot shoot off the newly restored band held by the spectator. (The out-takes on the DVD show the work and fun Tim and Sue-Anne had in filming this segment).

?Sue-Anne taught how to do the trick so well that even I learned it the first time through. She even showed how Tim can perform it impromptu. This trick alone is worth the pain and suffering I would later suffer as I regretted my lack of control.

?Their Hi-Tech Deck was too cool! A spectator is handed a special ?computer card? that controls the rest of the deck. She selects one of the cards, it is lost in the deck and the card responds to the spectator?s input on the computer card. The strange thing, to me, was that when Sue-Anne explained it, I thought it couldn?t be right. She must have the wrong trick. After all, there were no sleights to be learned. None. In fact, it is almost too simple.

?The performance piece of the famous Soda Resurrection is another moment that makes the DVD worth the price and the regret I would have for giving in. A can of Pepsi (yech!) is poured out, and the can is crumpled up. Mysteriously, and I mean, mysteriously, the can visibly restores itself, refills with Pepsi (still yech but amazing), the pop top is restored, the can is seals itself and returns to its former perfect condition. Tim then opens the can and pours out the contents again. This is too much! I?m shooting straight with you, too much! I am pretty sure you could do this with a Coke can. Sue-Anne tells you how to order the effect.

?So you?re probably thinking, like I was, this is just another average one-in-a-million, high-quality, magic DVD. But there is more. In addition to the tricks they show and teach, the DVD also has so many features, I felt guilty pleasure watching them, then just pleasure, and now, just guilt.

?There is a tutorial on how to set-up for a floor show. There?s a travelogue with Tim and Sue-Anne as they travel the world doing lectures and shows. You even get to see the famous College of Magic in South Africa. There?s a preview of their other DVDs and their promo video. I?d book them just on the basis of the promo video. Speaking of booking, Tim and Sue-Anne gave me the cleverest method ever for getting an agent. Again, if you needed just one reason to buy this DVD, this is it.

?The quality of the floor show tips section is like a network news product. I mean, it slips up on you. You don?t even know that it is a magic DVD. I mean, who can watch Sue-Anne explain the way to negotiate logistics of your first floor show and not get hooked. I can?t. I know. I shouldn?t compare. It?s me not you. I can?t regret the past nor shut the door on it.

Sue-Anne Webster as Jeannie

?There is even a special section of photos of Sue-Anne dressed up as Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. You tell me. Is it me? Is it my fault? How could it be? I?m not trying to cast blame on the dealer instead of the junkie; but, seriously, how could you not want to buy and see this DVD just for that? Maybe you are someone who doesn?t like beautiful women who are accomplished actresses, presenters and magicians. That?s okay, I think you might find Tim Ellis attractive but he doesn?t dress up as Jeannie. Thank goodness! He does wear a negligee and garter belt in the promo video. To each his or her own.

?I?m not saying you should or I should buy it because of the high production values, the great tricks, the great explanations, the pictures of the lovely Sue-Anne dressed as Jeannie, the really funny road show video, or even the floor show tutorial. I know there is no ?good reason? to give into an addiction no matter how good it might make you feel. None.

?But that?s why I?m in this program to deal with my addiction and am not walking the streets free of the addiction that chains me to Tim and Sue-Anne. I want to quit. I really do. I want to tell you that I will not pick-up today. I will not indulge today. But, man, I know I?m just doing it a day at a time and when it comes to this DVD, it is more like three hours at a time.

?I?m thankful for this meeting and these tables of fellowship. I know the rest of you have ?real? addictions like gambling, drugs or booze. But to me, this is just as devastating. I can?t do it alone. I need a higher power to which I can turn over my weakness and seek strength.

?I will seek out that higher power ? as I understand Him ? after I watch the main video tutorial part of the DVD just one more time. I got needs, man! I got needs!

?I also need your help! I am thinking of getting the Ellis in Wonderland DVD and reviewing it. Not just because of my whole Alice in Wonderland fetish and my inappropriate but overwhelming feelings about seeing Sue-Anne Webster dressed as Alice ? but mostly.

?Thank you, my brothers and sisters.?

If you have the same kind of needs, or even if you can control your addiction to this incredible couple who do everything with quality and substance, you can buy the DVD from Tim and Sue-Anne by clicking here.

Notwithstanding the horrible temptation this represents for many of us; for those who can handle this kind of quality in both substance and production, Inside Magic gives its highest rating: FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS!

There is simply no better way of learning great magic. Tim and Sue-Anne do it perfectly and with class we don?t expect in magic DVDs. They outshine all other productions on the market. Thank you, Tim and Sue-Anne.