York Scotty n. 1, n. 2, n. 3 A1 Multimidia.

With two-hours of close-up performances and explanations, it’s worth spending time with veteran Scotty York on his Vol.1 - Professional Tricky Bartender. York has performed bar magic for some 15 years in Washington D.C. and the effects that he explains here are baffling, entertaining and commercial.

In particular, York has a particular commercial sense about him and talks about promotional giveaways, an aspect that I’ve rarely seen discussed on magic DVDS.

In the performance-only “Counterfeit,” York borrows a dollar and declares it to be counterfeit. He rubber stamps “counterfeit” in bold letters onto the bill and then says that he can remove the ink. At the end, he changes the bill into a blank piece of paper that still has the word “counterfeit” on it. It’s a hilarious gag.

After showing a spectator how to lick a nickel and stick it to his forehead, in “Spin the Nickle Top,” York then offers the nickel to a spectator to try and spins the nickel on the bar top. But when the nickel stops, it’s found to have a nail sticking out of it. This one is not hard to do and is visual and funny and York explains how to make the prop.

“My Lady's Teddy Bear” is York’s non-gimmicked “chop cup” style routine that uses an ordinary coffee mug. The routine ends up with a stuffed teddy bear that York gives away as a souvenir. This multi-phased routine is good.

In “Fast Eddie Smith,” York tells a story about a debt incurred by his mentor. The mentor, one “Fast Eddie Smith” keeps miscounting a series of dollar bills. Here, York offers a great presentation for a trick that is often tedious in the hands of lesser magicians. And he offers a kicker at the end where one bill changes denomination.

With origami as the theme, “Froggy Goes A'Courtin” has York folding a tiny frog out of a playing card and at the end, the frog turns into another card. This one is reminiscent of Robert Neale’s “The Frog Prince.”

Just as the name implies, “Marked Coin in Sugar Packet” makes a signed coin somehow appear in a freely selected sugar packet. In another coin effect that is performance only, “Coin in Wristwatch,” a spectator’s signed coin becomes the face of York’s watch. Still another coin effect, “The Numismatist” offers a routine with standard gaffed coins that continually change places.

As the name implies, Scotty York Vol.2 - Hisownself is the second in a three DVD set of first rate lessons that follows his excellent Vol.1 - Professional Trick Bartender. York has performed bar magic for some 15 years in Washington D.C. and the effects that he explains here are baffling, entertaining and commercial.

A performance only effect, in “$20 to two $10's,” York borrows a $20 bill and changes it into two $10 dollar bills. This is good, visual material for the bar.

York merges three great and audience pleasing effects into a logical progression in “Cut to the Aces,” “Twisting the Aces” and “Pineapple Twist.” Spectators shuffle a deck of cards and the magician quickly cuts to the four aces. With the four aces, he performs a “twisting” sequence where the aces turnover one at a time and then a second twisting variation with “Pineapple Twist.” Finally, with “Last Trick of Jacob Daley,” York performs a transposition between the red and black aces.

I independently came up with a similar set of effects that I perform together (Nathan Gibson’s NFG), Andrew Normansell’s “Twisting Dai Vernon” and (John Carney’s Sanverted). I can personally attest to the strength of combining these effects.

“Just Tweezing” is a sandwich effect where a spectator’s card ends up between four aces that are quickly swept through the deck. Just as the name implies, in “Card in Drink,” a spectator’s card ends up folded inside of a wine glass and dunked into the wine. You’ll have to buy the spectator another drink after this one, but the revelation is a good one if you don’t mind messing with spectator’s drinks.

In “High Jumper,” a selected card leaps out of the deck. “The Warpedist Cards” is York’s version of “Card Warp” where a card appears to turnover as it’s pushed through another, folded card.

“The Warmest Card” offers lots of bawdy humor. Here, York has a woman put a card under her blouse and after returning the card back to the deck, he states that he will find the card based on its warmth. In the end, the trick turns into a sucker effect that makes it appear that the magician has found the wrong card but reveals that he knew all along the right card.

A great effect to quell a smart aleck, “The Fist O'Doom” relies on a prop that finds a signed card in a manner similar to a card stab with a sword, but it’s a paddle in the shape of a hand that “stabs” the card while displaying a rude gesture. York specifically uses this one to quell amateur magicians who have brought their own cards and are trying to perform tricks and invade the space of the magician. (It’s hard to believe that someone could be so clueless and rude).

Not only does York flip the amateur “the bird,” he destroys the magician’s deck by having a card signed and throwing the rest of the cards on the floor, which in a bar is typically wet. The only problem with this effect is that it uses a specific non-magic prop that may be hard to find.

“Kinky Queens” is an entertaining packet effect that uses kings, queens and aces that transpose between the hands, on the table and in a wallet. York dresses this one with a good story.

“The Rose Trick” gets its name from the fact that York gives away roses to spectators, but it’s actually a killer mentalism routine. York brings out a room key and lays it on the table. Spectators cut and deal cards from a packet to form three, two-digit numbers. When the numbers are added up, they add up to the number that’s shown on the key. This one is good.

In “Poor Charlie,” York tells of a hapless gambler who brings different cards into a game of poker. Even though the cards are different, they form a key hand. I was very aware of the moves used on this one and I think that sharp-eyed spectators may catch them as they are repeated several times.

Bar magician extra ordinaire Scotty York indeed "strikes again" in his third volume . The follow-up to York's Vol.1 - Professional Tricky Bartender and Vol.2 - Hisownself , York offers another collection of powerful effects. Two that are particularly impressive include: "Card on the Ceiling" and "The Ring in the World."

"Card on the Ceiling," of course, is a bar magic staple and York's version, according to his account, is the method that the best known bar magicians such as Bob Sheets are now using. It's indeed a visual and entertaining effect that's worth the price of this DVD.

From Doc Eason to Johnny Ace Palmer to Bob Sheets"Card on the Ceiling" is a fantastic and memorable effect. A signed card is lost in the deck which is then wrapped in rubberbands and a borrowed dollar bill.

As the magician tosses the deck towards the ceiling, a helper throws a thumb tack. The banded deck falls down but the card remains impaled with the bill on the ceiling. This is not only a fantastic effect, it's a money-maker for bar magicians.

The oddly titled "If They're Wet, It's an Inside Job" is York's version of a "hat tear." In this case, two sheets of contrasting tissue paper are torn and then restored to form a pair of women's underwear that York says belongs to an audience member. York then reaches into the "shorts" to produce some sexually suggestive items.

The second impressive effect on this video is York's "The Ring in the World." A borrowed finger ring is destroyed in a cleaning device and turns up inside a small globe that's been sitting on the bar the entire time. This routine resembles David Rothâ's routine with coins that's explained in his "Expert Coin Magic" book. Apparently, York and Roth worked together on their respective routines when they discovered that they were both working with the same prop.

While "The Ring in the World" is a great effect, finding the necessary props will be a challenge. Since this video was originally shot during the Clinton Administration, this task may be even more difficult now.

"Lucille" is York's version of Martin Lewis' "Sidewalk Shuffle." It's a "find the ace" trick where spectators can't find a single ace among four jumbo cards and at the end, three of the cards somehow turn into aces. Here, York tells a rather unpleasant story of a spurned lady that he is not interested in and uses the gambling routine to make her go away. York performs the basic phases of the original Lewis routine with some modifications of his own.

The DVD offers two packet card tricks: "Mr. Lucky" and "Come to Casey's," where York shows a series of cards that ultimately change to spell messages such as the bar's name. These are commercial effects that play well.

As the name implies, "Copper/Silver Transposition" is a standard, well known effect where a silver coin that's held tightly by a spectator in her hand switches places with a copper coin held by the magician. Finally, York offers an explanation of his "Bill in Cigarette" effect with no performance segment.