Magic For Kids With Zippo the Clown & Herbie the Magic Rabbit: Vol. 1

Hokey smoke, Mr. Peabody, we just went back in time to 1955! The effects and titling may be computer generated, but from every other respect, this show could have been made 40 years ago. It's basically a `point the camera and go for it production.' Zippo does teach some magic tricks that are well matched to his audience level, but the sound quality is muddy, and the edits might have been done on a $200 deck. There are 6 minutes of filler at the end of the show where Zippo does off-the-shelf commercial magic tricks, which kind of makes everything the kids have been shown using paper and Scotch tape appear tawdry. In this day and age, a camcorder and an Atari just don't cut it in the video business. Not recommended. Ages 6 and up. (E. Swanson)