To Tell The Truth (Gerald Kosky)
Two spectators secretly decide which one of them will be the truth-teller and which one will be the liar. Then a ring is secretly placed into one of their fists. The magician asks one question and he is able to immediately know who has the ring. You may have seen other effects like this out there, but I believe this may be the first version. Please correct me if I'm wrong. To me it just seems not so impressive. I mean, if you can read minds, why do you need to ask them any questions? The methods have developed over the years and I would suggest you check out a modernized version of this effect if you like the plot.
Interlocked Card Production (Vic Sendax)
Your hands are interlocked and shown on both sides; you produce a card from them afterward. God bless you card manipulators out there, I could never do the mechanics of this move! Obviously I won't use it, but if you do card manipulation you should learn it, maybe you'll want to add it to your act. Have fun practicing!
Four by Four (Scott Weiser)
This is not an effect but rather a four for four coin switch. As in four coins are switched in for four other coins. This change can be used as visual coin change or a secret switch. You do have to be seated at a table, but it is a pretty good switch. It ma come in handy if you want to switch out some of those gimmicked coins you use (Don't act you don't know what I'm talking about!). What else can I say? A utility move is a utility move. Just learn it cause you might need it when you're "under fire".
Monte Plus (or Hallucination) (Trevor Lewis)
This is monte move, but not like the usual three card monte type toss move. This is an in the hands monte move. What happens is you show the audience an ace of spades in the middle of two queens, then turn the cards over and the middle card has been switched in the process. This is a nice little move, but just wait a few more issues from now and there will be a variation on this that makes it SO much better!
Hanging Coins (David Roth)
This is a classic! Variations upon variations have been developed, and if you have not seen any version performed before, you must have never seen a coin at all! The basic effect, for those of you who don't know what the effect is, (Lord, help us all) is that you show four coins, then vanish them one-by-one, and then reproduce them one at a time. The patter is that you're hanging them on invisible skyhooks, which doesn't make too much sense to me, but the routine is good. Sure, better versions have been developed, but it can never hurt to learn the original routine, right?
Columns:
Editorial
An editorial about why copying Apocalypse is bad! Curse those Xeraniacs!
Tidings
More books are talked about, some talking about how some effects are buried in books, and some more talking about an effect's unknown roots.
Closing:
Three of the effects in this issue have been improved over time, but it is still really cool to see the original product and the different thinking processes involved. If anyone else has tried To Tell the Truth (Miniserb), please tell me how it went over. Harry says it's a strong piece, but I still think a spectator wouldn't go crazy over it.
Learn the basic Monte Plus move in preparation for the new addition that is coming very soon in the next few issues. (That comment was directed to anyone with the Apocalypse book)
If you have any comments, as usual, just write them below. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Buy Apocalypse!
Past Review Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.4
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.5
December 12, 2009
November 19, 2009
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.5
Noah's Mix Up! (Gene Castillon)
Five red backed cards and five blue backed cards are shown. Each card has an animal sticker on its face. You ask two spectators to each think of an animal from the card set they were given. They mix the cards, you mix the cards, and somehow, you are able to tell them the animal they're thinking of! This is pretty cool, and even though the animal stickers may seem childish, there's some great presentation ideas that could revolve around those stickers. Something about how you were going through a box of old stuff from when you were a kid; think about a happy thought from your childhood, these stickers will get you in the childlike state, etc. I imagine this having a good effect on an audience. It's like an ESP card trick but more fun. Obviously, you'll have to decide if it fits your performing style.
Hi Ho Silveroon! (Ken Krenzel)
A card is selected and lost into the deck. A coin is placed on top of the deck and vanished in a very convincing way. You cut the deck and the coin has arrived at the selected card. This is a variation of Paul Harris's "Hi Ho Silver." There aren't any huge differences between the two from what I can tell. The vanish is a nice one, and if you put this into a larger routine, this can be good.
Zigs and Zags (Herb Zarrow)
A spectator thinks of a card at a certain position and the magician does the same thing in the other half of the deck. Both you and the spectator deal to your cards and they transpose. Sounds confusing, doesn't it? Well to be honest, I think it is a little confusing. If you're going to make two cards transpose, why not just show two cards, and make them change places? Instead you have to have a spectator think of the position as well as the name of their card, and your card is not even shown...you get my point. In my opinion, it's just a little too confusing. It would take a very good performer to present this right.
A Bird in the Hand (Sol Stone)
I am not a "coin guy" at all, so I can't compare this to any similar routines or give you the difficulty level on a lot of coin routines. I find most all coin routines to be very difficult for me! So, I'll just describe this effect and give you the stripped down details of it. A silver dollar is split into two half dollars, and then melted back into one silver dollar. That's it. It's a quick effect that you might want to incorporate into a larger routine, or just do it as a "quick trick." There are no gimmicks, and it's based on one fairly simple move.
Dream Deck Switch (Richard Kaufman)
Sorry guys, this is not the perfect deck switch that you all have been trying to find for so long. This is a supposed expose of a deck switch that "a gambler might use under fire." In effect you show a red deck and a blue deck. The blue deck is placed into your pocket and the red deck is on the table. You spread the red deck and when you square it up you, apparently, switch the decks at lightening speed. Now in your hands is the blue deck and in your pocket is the red deck! All can be examined. You have to be standing at a table to do this. It is a startling routine that makes sense and is just good overall. What a great routine this is!
Marksmanship Bill(et) Switch (Dennis Marks)
This is a switch to be used for folded dollar bills (in eighths) or similarly sized billets. It can also be used for coins, although it is harder to execute using coins. This is very nice, and it is great for switching in a flash bill, or for a serial number reading of a bill. And as I said, you can use it with billets, so all you mentalists may find this useful. There is no TT and no folding like the $100 bill switch. This really is a wonderful switch that I will definitely practice up on and put into my "bill switch toolbox."
Columns:
Out To Lunch
Harry tells a story about a bill to lemon routine that he once saw and he also shares his way that he used to make tips "back in the day." Honestly, you could use his approach in a restaurant today!
Additions
Gene Castillon provides several tips to avoid making a mistake when performing Noah's Mix Up. Read this addition if you are going to perform Noah's Mix Up, because it will help you avoid any potentially embarrassing situations.
Tidings
A bunch of upcoming(?) books are listed and comments are made about them. It's slightly useless now, but it still is fun to read.
Closing:
If you are a mentalist, there are two good effects that you can use in this issue, which I think is quite good. Zigs and Zags, as I said earlier, seems confusing to me. Let me know what you think about it, because I feel like maybe I just don't "get it."
We're five weeks into this series and I'm going strong! To be honest, I wasn't sure whether I would get past the first one!
As always feel free to leave your comments about Zigs and Zags, or just anything else, below.
Buy Apocalypse!
Past Review Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.4
Five red backed cards and five blue backed cards are shown. Each card has an animal sticker on its face. You ask two spectators to each think of an animal from the card set they were given. They mix the cards, you mix the cards, and somehow, you are able to tell them the animal they're thinking of! This is pretty cool, and even though the animal stickers may seem childish, there's some great presentation ideas that could revolve around those stickers. Something about how you were going through a box of old stuff from when you were a kid; think about a happy thought from your childhood, these stickers will get you in the childlike state, etc. I imagine this having a good effect on an audience. It's like an ESP card trick but more fun. Obviously, you'll have to decide if it fits your performing style.
Hi Ho Silveroon! (Ken Krenzel)
A card is selected and lost into the deck. A coin is placed on top of the deck and vanished in a very convincing way. You cut the deck and the coin has arrived at the selected card. This is a variation of Paul Harris's "Hi Ho Silver." There aren't any huge differences between the two from what I can tell. The vanish is a nice one, and if you put this into a larger routine, this can be good.
Zigs and Zags (Herb Zarrow)
A spectator thinks of a card at a certain position and the magician does the same thing in the other half of the deck. Both you and the spectator deal to your cards and they transpose. Sounds confusing, doesn't it? Well to be honest, I think it is a little confusing. If you're going to make two cards transpose, why not just show two cards, and make them change places? Instead you have to have a spectator think of the position as well as the name of their card, and your card is not even shown...you get my point. In my opinion, it's just a little too confusing. It would take a very good performer to present this right.
A Bird in the Hand (Sol Stone)
I am not a "coin guy" at all, so I can't compare this to any similar routines or give you the difficulty level on a lot of coin routines. I find most all coin routines to be very difficult for me! So, I'll just describe this effect and give you the stripped down details of it. A silver dollar is split into two half dollars, and then melted back into one silver dollar. That's it. It's a quick effect that you might want to incorporate into a larger routine, or just do it as a "quick trick." There are no gimmicks, and it's based on one fairly simple move.
Dream Deck Switch (Richard Kaufman)
Sorry guys, this is not the perfect deck switch that you all have been trying to find for so long. This is a supposed expose of a deck switch that "a gambler might use under fire." In effect you show a red deck and a blue deck. The blue deck is placed into your pocket and the red deck is on the table. You spread the red deck and when you square it up you, apparently, switch the decks at lightening speed. Now in your hands is the blue deck and in your pocket is the red deck! All can be examined. You have to be standing at a table to do this. It is a startling routine that makes sense and is just good overall. What a great routine this is!
Marksmanship Bill(et) Switch (Dennis Marks)
This is a switch to be used for folded dollar bills (in eighths) or similarly sized billets. It can also be used for coins, although it is harder to execute using coins. This is very nice, and it is great for switching in a flash bill, or for a serial number reading of a bill. And as I said, you can use it with billets, so all you mentalists may find this useful. There is no TT and no folding like the $100 bill switch. This really is a wonderful switch that I will definitely practice up on and put into my "bill switch toolbox."
Columns:
Out To Lunch
Harry tells a story about a bill to lemon routine that he once saw and he also shares his way that he used to make tips "back in the day." Honestly, you could use his approach in a restaurant today!
Additions
Gene Castillon provides several tips to avoid making a mistake when performing Noah's Mix Up. Read this addition if you are going to perform Noah's Mix Up, because it will help you avoid any potentially embarrassing situations.
Tidings
A bunch of upcoming(?) books are listed and comments are made about them. It's slightly useless now, but it still is fun to read.
Closing:
If you are a mentalist, there are two good effects that you can use in this issue, which I think is quite good. Zigs and Zags, as I said earlier, seems confusing to me. Let me know what you think about it, because I feel like maybe I just don't "get it."
We're five weeks into this series and I'm going strong! To be honest, I wasn't sure whether I would get past the first one!
As always feel free to leave your comments about Zigs and Zags, or just anything else, below.
Buy Apocalypse!
Past Review Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.4
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.4
Intro: Thanks for all the great feedback last week guys! It helps me feel like I'm writing to some one out there! I can't think of too much else to say so I'll just shut up and let you read on to the really good stuff!
Effects:
The Armchair Bowler (Max Maven)
A spectator plays an imaginary game of bowling in a chair you have up on stage. You ask them how many pins they knocked out. They name any number of pins, in this example, six pins. You ask them to reach under the chair and pull off the envelope that has been under them the whole time. They open it and on it is printed, "Six!" You can perform this in somebody's house, all the way to a full size stage show. It's a good piece of mentalism! It's not a closer, but it is something that I think people will remember if you present it right. You need to form a picture of a bowling alley inside people's minds. Bring them TO that bowling alley. Use some of those descriptive writing techniques that we all learn about in school, and you'll create a strong impression.
Quarters (Bob Hyans)
A card is fairly torn into four quarters and then from under those pieces of card, you produce four quarters (pun intended)! This doesn't appeal to me very much just because you have to rip up a card every time. It's certainly a good idea, and the whole "quarters" pun is cute, but most of the time I would probably use another four coin production, because of the practicality factor. It is non-gimmicked, so that's a plus. It also looks quite natural. If you don't mind tearing up the card, you'll like this.
Kenomental (Looy Simonoff)
This is a principle that can be used to create many effects. In one of them, a spectator marks a card and then REALLY shuffles it back into the deck. No crimps, palms, cops or anything. You immediately snap your fingers, and spread the card to show their card has vanished! You can even have the spectator count the cards; there are only 51! This principle is a situational effect because of one thing that is involved in the method (not a gimmick) that you most likely don't see everywhere you go. Restaurant workers could get some mileage out of this though. I can't say anymore about it because it would totally give away the method. I like it, but I couldn't use it a lot of times. P.S. No DST, can be a borrowed deck, no gimmicks, impromptu.
Marionette Coin Vanish (Ken Krenzel)
Essentially, four coins vanish from your hand. You'll see why it's called the "Marionette" Coin Vanish when you read the method. The entire vanish seems fair and motivated. This could take some time to work on the timing aspect of it and some of the movement, but it shouldn't be too terribly bad for you. I was able to get the feel for it pretty quickly. I wouldn't perform this as a standalone piece, but rather as part of a larger routine. I like it!
Hole Card (Trevor Lewis)
You show a playing card with a nickel size hole in it. You fold it and place a quarter inside, saying it won't go through the hole. You do the old puzzle where you bend the nickel and cause it to go through the hole. Then you do it again but this time you don't bend the card, and they see the quarter go right through the too-small hole. I haven't had time to this one out yet (even for myself!), but it does seem to have a good presentational line, which you'll see when you read it. I'm afraid this may come off more as a puzzle though. Also the card is not examinable, which I don't like because the card does happen to have a hole that the audience may be intrigued by. This didn't do much for me.
Gene Maze Predicts (Gene Maze)
A red deck and a blue deck are given to two spectators. They both shuffle their decks and take any five cards from their decks without looking at them. The decks are non-gimmicked and there are no stooges. The person with the red cards lays their cards in a row on the table, then the other person lays their blue cards on top of the red card row. You ask the spectator's to decide on which pair they would like. They choose a pair and the other pairs are shown. They contain indifferent cards, but the pair they selected turn out to be the same cards! This is a stunner! It really is a strong card trick/mentalism effect. The presentation is great and it's really fun to do for couples, saying how "connected they are", etc. Check this out, don't pass go!
Columns:
Unlabeled Columns
These weren't really columns, but more of asides within the magazine. We won't see this type of thing throughout the whole series. Ken Krenzel makes two good suggestions on the Two Card Trick by J.K. Hartman. Also, Harry shares a card cutting principle.
Editorial
A thought-provoking article on exposure that you should definitely read.
Tidings
Here's a funny/heart-breaking story about a magician exposing magic (and himself!) in an adult magazine. Also, a story about a man who took advantage of exposure and made his audience think he was one of the best magicians in the world.
Closing Thoughts
Gene Maze Predicts and Armchair Bowler were my absolute favorites in this issue, with Kenomental close behind. This was a good issue, but a lot of the material in this issue was a bit more situational, which is certainly not always a bad thing. All in all, another good issue.
And, as always, if you have anything to say, make sure to post it below.
Here is the link for Apocalypse.
Buy Apocalypse!
Past Review Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
Effects:
The Armchair Bowler (Max Maven)
A spectator plays an imaginary game of bowling in a chair you have up on stage. You ask them how many pins they knocked out. They name any number of pins, in this example, six pins. You ask them to reach under the chair and pull off the envelope that has been under them the whole time. They open it and on it is printed, "Six!" You can perform this in somebody's house, all the way to a full size stage show. It's a good piece of mentalism! It's not a closer, but it is something that I think people will remember if you present it right. You need to form a picture of a bowling alley inside people's minds. Bring them TO that bowling alley. Use some of those descriptive writing techniques that we all learn about in school, and you'll create a strong impression.
Quarters (Bob Hyans)
A card is fairly torn into four quarters and then from under those pieces of card, you produce four quarters (pun intended)! This doesn't appeal to me very much just because you have to rip up a card every time. It's certainly a good idea, and the whole "quarters" pun is cute, but most of the time I would probably use another four coin production, because of the practicality factor. It is non-gimmicked, so that's a plus. It also looks quite natural. If you don't mind tearing up the card, you'll like this.
Kenomental (Looy Simonoff)
This is a principle that can be used to create many effects. In one of them, a spectator marks a card and then REALLY shuffles it back into the deck. No crimps, palms, cops or anything. You immediately snap your fingers, and spread the card to show their card has vanished! You can even have the spectator count the cards; there are only 51! This principle is a situational effect because of one thing that is involved in the method (not a gimmick) that you most likely don't see everywhere you go. Restaurant workers could get some mileage out of this though. I can't say anymore about it because it would totally give away the method. I like it, but I couldn't use it a lot of times. P.S. No DST, can be a borrowed deck, no gimmicks, impromptu.
Marionette Coin Vanish (Ken Krenzel)
Essentially, four coins vanish from your hand. You'll see why it's called the "Marionette" Coin Vanish when you read the method. The entire vanish seems fair and motivated. This could take some time to work on the timing aspect of it and some of the movement, but it shouldn't be too terribly bad for you. I was able to get the feel for it pretty quickly. I wouldn't perform this as a standalone piece, but rather as part of a larger routine. I like it!
Hole Card (Trevor Lewis)
You show a playing card with a nickel size hole in it. You fold it and place a quarter inside, saying it won't go through the hole. You do the old puzzle where you bend the nickel and cause it to go through the hole. Then you do it again but this time you don't bend the card, and they see the quarter go right through the too-small hole. I haven't had time to this one out yet (even for myself!), but it does seem to have a good presentational line, which you'll see when you read it. I'm afraid this may come off more as a puzzle though. Also the card is not examinable, which I don't like because the card does happen to have a hole that the audience may be intrigued by. This didn't do much for me.
Gene Maze Predicts (Gene Maze)
A red deck and a blue deck are given to two spectators. They both shuffle their decks and take any five cards from their decks without looking at them. The decks are non-gimmicked and there are no stooges. The person with the red cards lays their cards in a row on the table, then the other person lays their blue cards on top of the red card row. You ask the spectator's to decide on which pair they would like. They choose a pair and the other pairs are shown. They contain indifferent cards, but the pair they selected turn out to be the same cards! This is a stunner! It really is a strong card trick/mentalism effect. The presentation is great and it's really fun to do for couples, saying how "connected they are", etc. Check this out, don't pass go!
Columns:
Unlabeled Columns
These weren't really columns, but more of asides within the magazine. We won't see this type of thing throughout the whole series. Ken Krenzel makes two good suggestions on the Two Card Trick by J.K. Hartman. Also, Harry shares a card cutting principle.
Editorial
A thought-provoking article on exposure that you should definitely read.
Tidings
Here's a funny/heart-breaking story about a magician exposing magic (and himself!) in an adult magazine. Also, a story about a man who took advantage of exposure and made his audience think he was one of the best magicians in the world.
Closing Thoughts
Gene Maze Predicts and Armchair Bowler were my absolute favorites in this issue, with Kenomental close behind. This was a good issue, but a lot of the material in this issue was a bit more situational, which is certainly not always a bad thing. All in all, another good issue.
And, as always, if you have anything to say, make sure to post it below.
Here is the link for Apocalypse.
Buy Apocalypse!
Past Review Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
November 10, 2009
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.3
Intro: This is the third in my weekly series of the Apocalypse project! One thing I wanted to say is that only about two people (Miniserb and Matthew) have been commenting about it. I know more people than that are reading them, so make sure to post some comments! What do you want to see in the future? Is the format good? Does this help you at all if you are already an owner of Apocalypse? Does it help the people who don't have Apocalypse? These are the things I want to know and more! That said, on with the review!
Effects:
Slydini Kills Time (Slydini)
You borrow a spectator's fancy watch and say you are going to pass it through the table. You slam it onto the table but instead of going through the table it smashes against the cold, hard wood with a horrifying crash. Your hand is lifted to reveal to the trouble spectator that his watch has somehow turned into your keys! You then stand up and cleanly reach into your pocket and remove his unscathed watch. This is such a fun trick to do after dinner and if you ever want to REALLY scare your spectator, this is great! No gimmicks and impromptu too.
Decking-Hofzinzer Deluxe (Jon Racherbaumer)
A card is selected and the aces are removed. As per the original Hofzinzer ace plot, the ace that matches the selection' suit turns face-up. You then cut the face-down ace packet into the center of the deck. You spread the deck on the table and all three aces that don't match the suit are face-up. The one ace that is face-down is turned over to reveal that it is the spectator's selected card. The missing ace is found in your pocket. I can see myself doing this quite a lot. I think with some good presentation you will have a winner of a card effect. There's also a good variation using two cards at the end of the description.
Grand Slam (Frank Garcia)
A magician shuffles and cuts the deck and then shows that he has controlled and found the thirteen spades to the top of the deck. He then hands the deck to the spectator who gives the deck a riffle shuffle. He has still maintained the thirteen spades on top. This requires a set deck that you can't really use for many other tricks. It's not gimmicked but requires some special things. To me if you're going to let a spectator shuffle a deck, why not let him do it however he wants and however long he wants. To me the effect is so short that I think it needs something else after it. I haven't tried this out yet so I don't know how it plays, but it's just not my cup o' tea. Harry and Richard really seem to like it though so you may like it.
The Strung Coin (Sol Stone)
A string which has been tied into a loop, as well as a chinese coin are displayed. The coin is then visibly linked onto the string, and then off again. This is a great, quick effect that you could easily add some other moves into, like Jay Sankey's "Leaving Home." Liam Montier also has a take on this plot, which you may want to check out. The switch in this is unique and a fooler. The whole routine is something that I think people will remember.
The Two Card Trick (Bro. John Hammon)
Two blue-backed cards are shown; the ace of spades and the queen of diamonds. You ask the spectator to name one of them. They name the queen of diamonds which you then cause to be the only card of the two that has a blue back. The ace has a red back. You explain that you lie a lot and actually the queen is the one with the red back, which you show. Then you show that they couldn’t have even picked the ace because both of the cards in your hand are queen of diamonds! This is a simple trick that, to be honest, I overlooked for a while. I still haven’t tried it out, but I do think it would have a good effect through a laymen’s eyes. It’s an easy routine that is pretty easy to follow, as well. Try it out (I’ll join you!)
Invisible Salt Extraction (Eric Meredith)
A half-full salt shaker is shown and then placed under a handkerchief on the table. You cup your hands over the handkerchief, and a steady small stream of salt starts to flow from them. This goes on until a big pile of salt is on the table and your hands are empty. You lift the handkerchief to show that now there is no salt inside. I love this effect! I think it’s something that will stick in your spectator’s heads for a long time! Obviously, this is an after-dinner type trick, so this may not work in some venues, but in the right circumstances, it’s a killer!
Columns:
Lorayne Storm
Harry tells a funny story about a thumbtip breaking during a performance!
Out To Lunch
This is the first in a series of columns about doing close-up magic for a living. It starts off with a story about the first table-side magician Harry Lorayne saw, and how he became himself.
Razzle Dazzle
Funny little story about a magician who had a lion devour an audience member in his act.
Tidings
An interesting way of doing J.K. Hartman’s “Goody Two Choose” from a reader, Harry tells about a session with Slydini, an article about Paul Curry’s book Special Effects, an update on The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel, and finally a funny card in balloon dog routine!
Closing Thoughts:
I really liked this issue and I got a lot out of it! The columns were great, the tricks are high quality, it’s just a very good issue overall! I will use a bunch of the material in this one and I think you’ll like a lot of it too.
And once again, I’d like you to post your comments below! Seriously, I want feedback! Tell me if these suck, or if you like them, I don’t really care, just say something.
If you want to purchase Apocalypse, here is the link.
Buy Apocalypse for everything you saw in this review and TONS of other awesome effects!
Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Effects:
Slydini Kills Time (Slydini)
You borrow a spectator's fancy watch and say you are going to pass it through the table. You slam it onto the table but instead of going through the table it smashes against the cold, hard wood with a horrifying crash. Your hand is lifted to reveal to the trouble spectator that his watch has somehow turned into your keys! You then stand up and cleanly reach into your pocket and remove his unscathed watch. This is such a fun trick to do after dinner and if you ever want to REALLY scare your spectator, this is great! No gimmicks and impromptu too.
Decking-Hofzinzer Deluxe (Jon Racherbaumer)
A card is selected and the aces are removed. As per the original Hofzinzer ace plot, the ace that matches the selection' suit turns face-up. You then cut the face-down ace packet into the center of the deck. You spread the deck on the table and all three aces that don't match the suit are face-up. The one ace that is face-down is turned over to reveal that it is the spectator's selected card. The missing ace is found in your pocket. I can see myself doing this quite a lot. I think with some good presentation you will have a winner of a card effect. There's also a good variation using two cards at the end of the description.
Grand Slam (Frank Garcia)
A magician shuffles and cuts the deck and then shows that he has controlled and found the thirteen spades to the top of the deck. He then hands the deck to the spectator who gives the deck a riffle shuffle. He has still maintained the thirteen spades on top. This requires a set deck that you can't really use for many other tricks. It's not gimmicked but requires some special things. To me if you're going to let a spectator shuffle a deck, why not let him do it however he wants and however long he wants. To me the effect is so short that I think it needs something else after it. I haven't tried this out yet so I don't know how it plays, but it's just not my cup o' tea. Harry and Richard really seem to like it though so you may like it.
The Strung Coin (Sol Stone)
A string which has been tied into a loop, as well as a chinese coin are displayed. The coin is then visibly linked onto the string, and then off again. This is a great, quick effect that you could easily add some other moves into, like Jay Sankey's "Leaving Home." Liam Montier also has a take on this plot, which you may want to check out. The switch in this is unique and a fooler. The whole routine is something that I think people will remember.
The Two Card Trick (Bro. John Hammon)
Two blue-backed cards are shown; the ace of spades and the queen of diamonds. You ask the spectator to name one of them. They name the queen of diamonds which you then cause to be the only card of the two that has a blue back. The ace has a red back. You explain that you lie a lot and actually the queen is the one with the red back, which you show. Then you show that they couldn’t have even picked the ace because both of the cards in your hand are queen of diamonds! This is a simple trick that, to be honest, I overlooked for a while. I still haven’t tried it out, but I do think it would have a good effect through a laymen’s eyes. It’s an easy routine that is pretty easy to follow, as well. Try it out (I’ll join you!)
Invisible Salt Extraction (Eric Meredith)
A half-full salt shaker is shown and then placed under a handkerchief on the table. You cup your hands over the handkerchief, and a steady small stream of salt starts to flow from them. This goes on until a big pile of salt is on the table and your hands are empty. You lift the handkerchief to show that now there is no salt inside. I love this effect! I think it’s something that will stick in your spectator’s heads for a long time! Obviously, this is an after-dinner type trick, so this may not work in some venues, but in the right circumstances, it’s a killer!
Columns:
Lorayne Storm
Harry tells a funny story about a thumbtip breaking during a performance!
Out To Lunch
This is the first in a series of columns about doing close-up magic for a living. It starts off with a story about the first table-side magician Harry Lorayne saw, and how he became himself.
Razzle Dazzle
Funny little story about a magician who had a lion devour an audience member in his act.
Tidings
An interesting way of doing J.K. Hartman’s “Goody Two Choose” from a reader, Harry tells about a session with Slydini, an article about Paul Curry’s book Special Effects, an update on The Card Classics of Ken Krenzel, and finally a funny card in balloon dog routine!
Closing Thoughts:
I really liked this issue and I got a lot out of it! The columns were great, the tricks are high quality, it’s just a very good issue overall! I will use a bunch of the material in this one and I think you’ll like a lot of it too.
And once again, I’d like you to post your comments below! Seriously, I want feedback! Tell me if these suck, or if you like them, I don’t really care, just say something.
If you want to purchase Apocalypse, here is the link.
Buy Apocalypse for everything you saw in this review and TONS of other awesome effects!
Directory:
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
November 7, 2009
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.2
Intro: Well, I'm back with the second edition of this continuing series of reviews. If you haven't seen the first review, you can find it here. Vol. 1 No. 1. I won't bore you any longer, so let's get on with the review, shall we?
Effects-
Poker Challenge (Harry Lorayne)
Five hands of poker are dealt and one card and it's position is remembered. For example, the second card in the second hand, which we'll say is the queen of spades. These piles are gathered up and the magician explains how if a sixth person were to join a poker game at the last moment, it would ruin the gambler's full stack. The magician deals six poker hands fairly and shows that he has controlled the second card in the second hand to still be the queen of spades. He then shows that the rest of the second hand is a royal flush. To me the magic is not that impressive and it seems like there are much better gambling routines out there. I passed on this one. UPDATE: Check three posts down from this one to see what Harry Lorayne had to say. I think this is a routine that just doesn't fit me personally.
Sokito Box (David Roth)
At the end of an okito box routine, the magician causes the four coins in the box to penetrate through the table. Then when the spectator tries to pick up the box, it has transformed into a solid piece of brass. If I did an okito box routine, I would TOTALLY end with this! It's so unexpected, and it solves the, "can I look at that box" problem. You must be working on a table. The switch is invisible and you might find it useful for other things. You do have to specially make the gimmick, of course, but I think it's worth it.
Card in Balloon (Derek Dingle)
A card is freely selected and signed. Then it is fairly shuffled into the deck, and placed into the case, which goes inside your jacket pocket. Three not-blown-up (I can’t think of the word) balloons are shown and each is blown up. You ask a spectator to select a balloon and after some comedy, you pop the balloon between your hands and there is the spectator’s selected card. This is a funny routine that is pretty easy to do and the openness of your hands really makes this look good. You do have to make a simple gimmick which is made out of household materials. You do also have to be wearing a jacket. It’s a very funny and fooling standup piece!
Four Coin Vanishes (Ken Krenzel)
This is actually four different items, as you probably already guessed. The effect is pretty much the same in each one; a coin vanishes in some way. I’ll review them separately.
-Rear Exit-This is my favorite of the four. The coin vanishes super cleanly with the help of a “magic wand” (pen).
-Hookless Hook Coin-The coin vanishes as it is thrown into the air. Mimics the use of a hook coin, but there are no gimmicks. Seemed a bit awkward to me, but who knows, maybe somebody will come along and fool me with it someday.
-Kicked Thru!-Pick up a coin from your open hand and it vanishes. Angles are a biggie on this vanish. Plan to do some mirror work.
-Persistence Placement-A retention type vanish that looks super good. This is my second favorite, and it may come in handy in some other routines.
Columns-
Razzle Dazzle
Here you get a funny story about Frank Garcia and Harry going to a seance and wrecking havoc. Also, Richard Kaufman writes three short reviews of The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne, Paul Harris's Super Magic, and Wildcard Miracles by Frank Garcia.
Additional Comments-
Since I'm a big "card-guy", I didn't like this issue as much as the first one, but I have to admit that there's some good stuff in this issue.
Here's just an overview; I don't really like Poker Challenge because it's not that magical and I don't usually go for gambling routines, I can't do Sokito Box because I don't have an okito box, I can't use Card in Balloon cause I don't wear a jacket, and I won't use the Four Coin Vanishes that much because I don't do much coin work, but the coin vanishes might come in handy sometime. As you can see, most of this material IS good, a lot of it just doesn't really fit me for the above reasons. Others of you will use this material way more than me.
As always you can find this issue, and all of the issues that I'll be reviewing inside of the first volume of Apocalypse, which I've provided a link to at the bottom of the page. If you have any suggestions or comments about what you would like to see more or less of in the future, feel free to post them below.
Until next week, go through your magic books and read them again! (Always good advice)
Buy Apocalypse!
Effects-
Poker Challenge (Harry Lorayne)
Five hands of poker are dealt and one card and it's position is remembered. For example, the second card in the second hand, which we'll say is the queen of spades. These piles are gathered up and the magician explains how if a sixth person were to join a poker game at the last moment, it would ruin the gambler's full stack. The magician deals six poker hands fairly and shows that he has controlled the second card in the second hand to still be the queen of spades. He then shows that the rest of the second hand is a royal flush. To me the magic is not that impressive and it seems like there are much better gambling routines out there. I passed on this one. UPDATE: Check three posts down from this one to see what Harry Lorayne had to say. I think this is a routine that just doesn't fit me personally.
Sokito Box (David Roth)
At the end of an okito box routine, the magician causes the four coins in the box to penetrate through the table. Then when the spectator tries to pick up the box, it has transformed into a solid piece of brass. If I did an okito box routine, I would TOTALLY end with this! It's so unexpected, and it solves the, "can I look at that box" problem. You must be working on a table. The switch is invisible and you might find it useful for other things. You do have to specially make the gimmick, of course, but I think it's worth it.
Card in Balloon (Derek Dingle)
A card is freely selected and signed. Then it is fairly shuffled into the deck, and placed into the case, which goes inside your jacket pocket. Three not-blown-up (I can’t think of the word) balloons are shown and each is blown up. You ask a spectator to select a balloon and after some comedy, you pop the balloon between your hands and there is the spectator’s selected card. This is a funny routine that is pretty easy to do and the openness of your hands really makes this look good. You do have to make a simple gimmick which is made out of household materials. You do also have to be wearing a jacket. It’s a very funny and fooling standup piece!
Four Coin Vanishes (Ken Krenzel)
This is actually four different items, as you probably already guessed. The effect is pretty much the same in each one; a coin vanishes in some way. I’ll review them separately.
-Rear Exit-This is my favorite of the four. The coin vanishes super cleanly with the help of a “magic wand” (pen).
-Hookless Hook Coin-The coin vanishes as it is thrown into the air. Mimics the use of a hook coin, but there are no gimmicks. Seemed a bit awkward to me, but who knows, maybe somebody will come along and fool me with it someday.
-Kicked Thru!-Pick up a coin from your open hand and it vanishes. Angles are a biggie on this vanish. Plan to do some mirror work.
-Persistence Placement-A retention type vanish that looks super good. This is my second favorite, and it may come in handy in some other routines.
Columns-
Razzle Dazzle
Here you get a funny story about Frank Garcia and Harry going to a seance and wrecking havoc. Also, Richard Kaufman writes three short reviews of The Magic Book by Harry Lorayne, Paul Harris's Super Magic, and Wildcard Miracles by Frank Garcia.
Additional Comments-
Since I'm a big "card-guy", I didn't like this issue as much as the first one, but I have to admit that there's some good stuff in this issue.
Here's just an overview; I don't really like Poker Challenge because it's not that magical and I don't usually go for gambling routines, I can't do Sokito Box because I don't have an okito box, I can't use Card in Balloon cause I don't wear a jacket, and I won't use the Four Coin Vanishes that much because I don't do much coin work, but the coin vanishes might come in handy sometime. As you can see, most of this material IS good, a lot of it just doesn't really fit me for the above reasons. Others of you will use this material way more than me.
As always you can find this issue, and all of the issues that I'll be reviewing inside of the first volume of Apocalypse, which I've provided a link to at the bottom of the page. If you have any suggestions or comments about what you would like to see more or less of in the future, feel free to post them below.
Until next week, go through your magic books and read them again! (Always good advice)
Buy Apocalypse!
November 4, 2009
Apocalypse Vol.1 No.1
Apocalypse: Vol.1 No.1
History Class... This is a series of reviews which provides a detailed review of one monthly issue of the magazine Apocalypse each week. For anyone who doesn't know, Apocalypse was a magazine started by Harry Lorayne and Richard Kaufman. After the first year, however, Richard Kaufman left the magazine because it was beginning to become a burden on his own pursuits. (He was still in college at the time!) Anyway, Harry Lorayne continued the magazine every month for another 19 years! Apocalypse always provided an average of 7 different close-up effects that usually were very diverse. That's just a little bit of history, but now onto the stuff you really want to hear about; the effects!
Effects-
Interlaced Vanish (Paul Harris)
Three face-down aces are interlaced between four face-up kings and the last ace is placed in between the spectator's filthy, grease-ridden hands. The three interlaced aces instantly vanish in a flash and the ace in the spectator's hands has turned blank! Three of the aces are cut to in the deck and the last one is found in the closed card case, which the magician has not even touched! The vanish of the three aces is truly startling and super convincing. Now, imagine being able to do all of this with no palming, no lapping, impromptu, and no extra cards! What a fantastic start to a fantastic issue!
Visual Drop Switch (Richard Kaufman)
This is a very nice, coin switch that happens as a coin is dropped from the fingertips, to the other hand (or wherever really). This can be used a a visual change like in a Spellbound routine or as a secretive switch.It's so nice because the coin apparently never goes out of view. Plus, it's super easy, in fact, it's practically self-working. You'll fool yourself in the mirror with this! It's definitely one of my favorite coin switches.
Instant Sandwich Catch (Harry Lorayne)
A spectator names any pair of mates and the magician picks a card which he fairly buries into the deck. The two face-up mates are then run through the deck and, of course, they have "caught" the face-down selection between them.There's nothing really new here method wise, but as Harry himself said, "It's the presentation and the handling that fools." It's a layman pleaser and a good effect to do as a "warm up" or just a quick trick.
Chink A Chink (David Roth)
Four coins are placed into the typical square matrix pattern. They jump around the table, and gather into one corner of the square as the magician just simply waves his hands over the coins. This is the standard Chink A Chink that everyone should learn. A lot of magicians have come up with their own versions, but you really need to learn this one. The magic just seems to "happen." It's quick, visual and certainly a crowd pleaser!
Goody Two Choose (J.K. Hartman)
The deck is shuffled by two spectators and they each cut to a card and merely peek at it. This happens as your back is turned. After the spectator allows it to be okay, the magician turns around and looks into the eyes of the spectators. He then is able to divine both of the cards they merely looked at! I really, really like this because of the complete and total fairness of the procedure. They really shuffle the deck and you barely touch the cards at all.If you provide a good presentation with this, man oh man, you are going to FRY some people with this!
Okito Opener (Geoff Latta)
An okito box is shown to be completely empty and then four coins are instantly produced from the box. I don't have an okito box so I couldn't try this out, but if you do have one I think you'll like this. It's quick, and easy for spectator's to understand. It makes for a good "okito opener" *wink* *wink*
Columns-
Editorials (Harry Lorayne and Richard Kaufman)
This isn't an effect obviously. It's just a little letter to the readers from Harry and Richard. They just talk about the starting of Apocalypse and what to expect in the future.
Razzle Dazzle
Here you'll find a brief review of the Tannen's Jubilee magic convention, a story about Martin Nash doing fifth deals, and a short write-up of a move by Geoff Latta to secretly toss a coin into an okito box. This is a fun little section to read, and there isn't really anything else I can say about it.
Additional Comments-
This was a great issue and I think almost everybody will find at least three effects or sleights that you might want to use. Personally, I found five of the items to be useful to me, which is sometimes more than an entire dvd!
As always you can find this issue, and all of the issues that I'll be reviewing inside of the first volume of Apocalypse, which I've provided a link to at the bottom of the page. If you have any suggestions or comments about what you would like to see more or less of in the future, feel free to post them below.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Apocalypse: A Look Back! (I can call it whatever I want, okay?)
http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorderproduct.php?ID=5296
History Class... This is a series of reviews which provides a detailed review of one monthly issue of the magazine Apocalypse each week. For anyone who doesn't know, Apocalypse was a magazine started by Harry Lorayne and Richard Kaufman. After the first year, however, Richard Kaufman left the magazine because it was beginning to become a burden on his own pursuits. (He was still in college at the time!) Anyway, Harry Lorayne continued the magazine every month for another 19 years! Apocalypse always provided an average of 7 different close-up effects that usually were very diverse. That's just a little bit of history, but now onto the stuff you really want to hear about; the effects!
Effects-
Interlaced Vanish (Paul Harris)
Three face-down aces are interlaced between four face-up kings and the last ace is placed in between the spectator's filthy, grease-ridden hands. The three interlaced aces instantly vanish in a flash and the ace in the spectator's hands has turned blank! Three of the aces are cut to in the deck and the last one is found in the closed card case, which the magician has not even touched! The vanish of the three aces is truly startling and super convincing. Now, imagine being able to do all of this with no palming, no lapping, impromptu, and no extra cards! What a fantastic start to a fantastic issue!
Visual Drop Switch (Richard Kaufman)
This is a very nice, coin switch that happens as a coin is dropped from the fingertips, to the other hand (or wherever really). This can be used a a visual change like in a Spellbound routine or as a secretive switch.It's so nice because the coin apparently never goes out of view. Plus, it's super easy, in fact, it's practically self-working. You'll fool yourself in the mirror with this! It's definitely one of my favorite coin switches.
Instant Sandwich Catch (Harry Lorayne)
A spectator names any pair of mates and the magician picks a card which he fairly buries into the deck. The two face-up mates are then run through the deck and, of course, they have "caught" the face-down selection between them.There's nothing really new here method wise, but as Harry himself said, "It's the presentation and the handling that fools." It's a layman pleaser and a good effect to do as a "warm up" or just a quick trick.
Chink A Chink (David Roth)
Four coins are placed into the typical square matrix pattern. They jump around the table, and gather into one corner of the square as the magician just simply waves his hands over the coins. This is the standard Chink A Chink that everyone should learn. A lot of magicians have come up with their own versions, but you really need to learn this one. The magic just seems to "happen." It's quick, visual and certainly a crowd pleaser!
Goody Two Choose (J.K. Hartman)
The deck is shuffled by two spectators and they each cut to a card and merely peek at it. This happens as your back is turned. After the spectator allows it to be okay, the magician turns around and looks into the eyes of the spectators. He then is able to divine both of the cards they merely looked at! I really, really like this because of the complete and total fairness of the procedure. They really shuffle the deck and you barely touch the cards at all.If you provide a good presentation with this, man oh man, you are going to FRY some people with this!
Okito Opener (Geoff Latta)
An okito box is shown to be completely empty and then four coins are instantly produced from the box. I don't have an okito box so I couldn't try this out, but if you do have one I think you'll like this. It's quick, and easy for spectator's to understand. It makes for a good "okito opener" *wink* *wink*
Columns-
Editorials (Harry Lorayne and Richard Kaufman)
This isn't an effect obviously. It's just a little letter to the readers from Harry and Richard. They just talk about the starting of Apocalypse and what to expect in the future.
Razzle Dazzle
Here you'll find a brief review of the Tannen's Jubilee magic convention, a story about Martin Nash doing fifth deals, and a short write-up of a move by Geoff Latta to secretly toss a coin into an okito box. This is a fun little section to read, and there isn't really anything else I can say about it.
Additional Comments-
This was a great issue and I think almost everybody will find at least three effects or sleights that you might want to use. Personally, I found five of the items to be useful to me, which is sometimes more than an entire dvd!
As always you can find this issue, and all of the issues that I'll be reviewing inside of the first volume of Apocalypse, which I've provided a link to at the bottom of the page. If you have any suggestions or comments about what you would like to see more or less of in the future, feel free to post them below.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Apocalypse: A Look Back! (I can call it whatever I want, okay?)
http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorderproduct.php?ID=5296
October 28, 2009
DVD Review: Hemispheres
Hemispheres by Jay Sankey
Price: $30
Where: Penguin Magic
Demo: Hemispheres Demo Video
Introduction-
A few years ago Jay Sankey released his first dvd focused solely on his style of mentalism, or "mental magic" as he called it. It was entitled Boris Pocus: Extremely Mental and some people liked it and others found the dvd to be "too wacky" and "crazy." Then several years after that Jay released a more serious dvd on the same subject of mental magic entitled 22 Blows to the Head. That dvd was received a bit better in the magic community. Then a couple years later, Jay released his third dvd dealing with mental magic. It's called Hemispheres, and here, are my thoughts on it.
The DVD:
The Layout-
Unfortunately, I did not like the layout of this dvd. Sure, the menu worked fine and it was easy to access, but if you just hit the "Play All" button you expect the dvd to show you a performance of an effect then explanation, but instead, It plays all of the performances in a row and then all the explanations in a row. In other words, by the time you get to the explanations, you've already forgotten what the effect even looks like! To avoid this forgetfulness aspect, I found myself clicking into the menu then the explanations/performance section, then having to find the effect and keep doing that every time you switched between a performance and explanation. There are 20 effects on the dvd, so that means I had to do that about 40 times, back and forth. Just an annoying pet peeve of mine.
Quality-
There were no quality issues on this dvd. In fact, the picture is very clear and the whole set at which Jay shot the dvd is pleasing to the eye and gives a “clean look” to the whole dvd.
Teaching-
Jay is an excellent teacher and did a great job teaching all of the effects. You should not have a problem understanding any of the effects taught. Also, Jay is a little less crazy on this dvd than some of his others, however, he still made me laugh out loud several times while watching the dvd with his quick with and improvisational jokes. I found it to be very entertaining.
Difficulty Level-
Most of the tricks are very easy and a lot of them require almost no sleight-of-hand. Group Hypnosis is the hardest effect on the dvd but even that isn’t too hard. I wouldn’t worry about the difficulty.
My Rating System-
I rate on a scale of 1 to 5. It is broken down like this:
5-Awesome
4-Great
3-Okay
2-Bad
1-Awful
Now that you know the rating system, I’ll describe and give my thoughts on each of the effects presented on Hemispheres.
The Effects:
Director’s Cut
In this one, you have an envelope and say you have three things in the envelope, but you’re only going to show the audience 2 of the three items for now. You take the items out, and it is a list of 20 or so words on a strip of paper and some scissors. You slowly run the scissors down the list until they say “Cut!” You cut the strip right where they said to and you show that you cut right through the word “comb.” Then with empty hands you reveal that inside of the envelope is a cut in half comb. You get CRAZY reactions with this. It’s so fair and it has an awesome presentational hook built right in. 5/5
Choice Effect
You write a prediction on a post it note, fold it up and place it inside an otherwise empty envelope. You then show nine tarot cards and let the spectator have a completely fair choice (really) of which tarot card they think best fits their personality. They choose, for example, the moon card. You open up the envelope, take out your prediction and on it, it reads “You will choose the moon card.” The effect never misses, it’s really a free choice and there is no multiple outs. 4/5
Dollars & Sense
You hand a spectator a ball of cash, which they hold tightly in their fist, and have at least 6 different receipts on the table. They freely choose a receipt and all of the other receipts are shown to be from different stores and have different totals. When they look at the total of the receipt they choose it is $15.36 (or whatever)Finally they open up the wad of cash that they have been holding the whole time and it is shown to contain exactly $15.36. I really like this effect, but one thing about the handling needs to be changed, IMO. Other than that, it’s a really pure, creative effect. 4/5
Third Eye
A doll’s glass (or plastic) eye is introduced and placed inside a paper bag. A deck of cards which is shown to be mixed is mixed some more by the spectator behind their back. When they are satisfied, the spectator takes three card from the top of the deck and dumps them, sight unseen, into the brown paper bag. The spectator closes up the paper bag and hands it to the magician. The magician has turned away during all of this. The magician claims he can see inside the bag, by looking through the glass eye. He covers one of his eyes begins to “look around the bag.” He of course is able to name all three cards. This is so simple and so deceptive, plus the presentation is just ingenious. Spectators go nuts over this one and you can either make the effect creepy and mysterious or just have fun with it. Either way it’s a 5/5
How Fortunate
A spectator freely selects a fortune cookie and the magician make a prediction of what he thinks is the fortune inside the cookie is. The magician breaks open the cookie and pulls out the fortune. His prediction matches the fortune. This is a really cool premise, but the method is not very good. It doesn’t look natural and it’s not very clean. I give Jay kudos for coming up with the idea for the effect, but I think I’ll come up with my own handling. 2/5
Child’s Play
A spectator correctly divines the color of a ball of play dough, inside of the container. This is a quickie effect and would be great for kids shows. However, the method needs work. Don’t think you’ll be able to do this walk around, on the street (that would be a funny sight), at school, etc. Pretty much only at a small stand-up show will you be able to do this and for the most part you’re going to want to do it with kids. Overall, a cute little throwaway effect. 3/5
Lottery
You have a spectator shuffle the cards thoroughly as you talk about the lottery and how impossible it to win/predict the lottery. You explain to them that the deck of cards is a bit like the lottery, the cards are the numbers, the spectator is mixing them up like the machine, etc. You then write down five numbers on a piece of paper. The spectator randomly chooses any five cards, or lottery numbers, and you then have them determine the order of the numbers. Despite their shuffling, thier random number selections and random order, you one-by-one reveal that the “lottery numbers” you wrote down, down to the order of the cards, matches the pile of five cards the spectator picked. All of this with a borrowed, shuffled deck and a piece of paper! Just try this out once on a spectator and they will go crazy! Again, a wonderful presentation and a killer effect. 5/5
X-Ray Vision
You have a stack of about 10 or so of you business cards. You draw an X on the printed side of one of the cards. You turn the cards face down and mix them up so you and your spectator don’t know where the X is. They touch the back of one of the cards and you show that none of the business cards have X’s before flipping over their card and showing that somehow they picked the card with the X. This is sort-of a warm-up type effect or opener. It’s a very simple concept and can be used as a way to test if you have a “connection” with one of your spectators. I kind’ve have a bit of a problem with the method but it probably isn’t as big as a problem as I think it is. I think it’s just my magician mind showing through :) 3/5
Nonexistent
You write a prediction, fold it up and set it on the table in full view, in a glass, on top of a spectator’s hand, etc. You then ask them to make up a character who has never existed and give them a name. They name him (or her) Say Jankey. You slowly and carefully pick up the prediction that has been in full view and unfold it and show that the prediction says, “His (or her) name will be Say Jankey.” Gasp! What a totally impossible effect and it’s so easy! Predicting the name of someone who never existed is such a good presentation too! There’s some very clever thinking in this and I give it a 4/5
Hypersensitive
You have a bunch of spectators gather a bunch of their own change and put it inside of a glass or just in their hand. You reach into the change, while your head is turned and after showing a truly empty hand, and then pull out a coin, name the date and then do this two more times. Pretty cool impromptu effect. You need nothing more than borrowed coins and nothing is added or taken away. 4/5
Witching Hour
You ask a spectator to think of the hour they were born. You then show a “card clock” printed on a piece of paper. You ask them to think of the card at their hour. You fold up the round card clock and put a paperclip on it. You hand the paperclipped clock to them to hold. You ask them to imagine what life would be like if they were gone, gone, gone. You ask them to name the hour and card they were thinking of, and without you getting anywhere near the clock, they open up the card clock themselves and discover that the card at the hour they were thinking of is gone. Such a cool presentational premise and a great effect. Plus they name the card they were thinking of AFTER you already handed it to them. 4/5
Alphamail
You mail a big envelope to an organizer and inside is a magazine and another envelope that says “Do not open!” You call the organizer once they get the package ask them to take out the magazine and circle any word they want. When you have the event, you ask them to bring the magazine and the unopened envelope. You invite them on stage during the show and you ask the organizer to tell the audience, and you, what the word they circled was. They say, “Eternity.” You tell the organizer to open up the sealed envelope that has been in their possession at all times. Inside is a smaller envelope and you rip open that envelope you dump out the contents. It is a small folded up, crinkled packet, and then you let the organizer open it up and they see that the folded piece of paper is the receipt for the magazine and on it is written “Eternity.” This is just CRAZY! No stooges, no forces, no gimmicks, it’s just awesome. Perfect for a big corporate event. 5/5
Constellation
You ask a spectator to hold a marker and a business card behind their back and make about 15 dots on the business card anywhere they want, as you do the same thing. You both show the business cards and the pattern of dots is strikingly similar to each others. This just doesn’t seem too convincing to me. Maybe I’d have to try it out first, but I just don’t think it seems to likely or realistic. 3/5
Secrets
A simple peek-at-a-card, and then the spectator finds it, type effect utilizing some old as the hills methodology and a brand new, great presentation. The actual effect is pretty bad, but I at least got a very good presentational idea out of it. That makes it worth it to me. So a 1.5/5 for the actual effect, but it gets an honorable mention for giving me a good presentation to use with some of my other mentalism.
Group Hypnosis
The magician picks out any card, looks at it and places it in his pocket. He then cuts the pack into three piles and one at a time you have three spectators select three different cards and you ask them to name the cards they saw at once and they all name the same card! You then say that’s not possible because that’s the card he took out of the deck earlier! You show your hand empty, go into into your pocket and pull out the card which of course is the card that everyone named. It’s a little difficult to get the moves down smoothly, but when you do you have a super cool impromptu card effect that you can do anytime, anywhere. 4/5
Reception
You draw a glass of wine and try to “send” the image of the wine to them. They draw a glass of wine and try to “receive” your thoughts as they draw the wine level anywhere on their drawing. Of course, the wine level in your drawing matches theirs. Uses a very clever gimmick, and with a little bit of thinking you could make this examinable. (PM me if you already have the dvd but you want to know how to make it examinable. Just tell me the first 5 words he says in the explanation part of Reception.) You’ll smile when you see the method. 4/5
Painkiller
You introduce a paper clock and a real broken watch. You move a hole punch slowly around the face-down, paper clock and the spectator asks you to punch anytime they want. You show the face of the broken watch for the first time, and the hands are at 4:15. When you flip over the paper clock, they see that the hole punch is unbelievably close to 4:15. Everything can be handed out and a spectator can keep the paper clock as a souvenir. I love this one, it fooled me BADLY when I saw the performance. Once again, a great presentation and a fantastic effect. 5/5
Intersection
The magician shows a stack of business cards with lots of different names on them. The spectator freely selects a name, for example, Liam. They then select any playing card. In this case, they select the four of hearts. You open up a separate deck of cards, which has been sitting on the table the whole time and spread through to show that one card is reversed in the deck. You flip it over to show that it is the four of hearts with Liam written on it’s face. It’s the ONLY card flipped over and the ONLY card with writing on it. Good for a set show, probably not walk-around because there is too many things to carry and plus this is the sort of routine that really needs time spent on it. It’s just super powerful, people don’t know what to do. And the fact that they have a truly free choice makes the effect so much stronger. 5/5
X’s & OhMyGod
You predict the outcome of two spectator’s game of tic-tac-toe. I love this! It’s so easy and very clever. This is not the old Mark Wilson Tic Tac Toe prediction effect, in case you were wondering. This is just so much fun to do with friends at a house party or whatever because it’s just so much fun to do! I mean, you’re having your spectators play a game that they know and love from their childhood! And you don’t have to do anything, except for a tiny little thing that if you can move your fingers, you can do easily. 4.5/5
Photo Finish
The spectator freely cuts the deck into four piles, and the cards that they cut to, match the cards in the photograph you have with you, plus an extra kicker. This is a very cool routine that builds wonderfully. The spectators never see the ending coming and it hits them right between the eyes. This is something that is probably best done at a casual event. And just for personal taste, I changed the handling a little bit to make the whole process seem even fairer, and I changed the presentation to make it more of my style. It’s a very versatile routine and I can see myself doing this one at a lot of house parties or similar venues. 5/5
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Closing Thoughts
If you want a good dvd filled with wonderful presentational ideas and awesome effects that you can easily incorporate into your repertoire, get Hemispheres. I absolutely loved this dvd and I think it is probably one of Sankey's best dvds.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Price: $30
Where: Penguin Magic
Demo: Hemispheres Demo Video
Introduction-
A few years ago Jay Sankey released his first dvd focused solely on his style of mentalism, or "mental magic" as he called it. It was entitled Boris Pocus: Extremely Mental and some people liked it and others found the dvd to be "too wacky" and "crazy." Then several years after that Jay released a more serious dvd on the same subject of mental magic entitled 22 Blows to the Head. That dvd was received a bit better in the magic community. Then a couple years later, Jay released his third dvd dealing with mental magic. It's called Hemispheres, and here, are my thoughts on it.
The DVD:
The Layout-
Unfortunately, I did not like the layout of this dvd. Sure, the menu worked fine and it was easy to access, but if you just hit the "Play All" button you expect the dvd to show you a performance of an effect then explanation, but instead, It plays all of the performances in a row and then all the explanations in a row. In other words, by the time you get to the explanations, you've already forgotten what the effect even looks like! To avoid this forgetfulness aspect, I found myself clicking into the menu then the explanations/performance section, then having to find the effect and keep doing that every time you switched between a performance and explanation. There are 20 effects on the dvd, so that means I had to do that about 40 times, back and forth. Just an annoying pet peeve of mine.
Quality-
There were no quality issues on this dvd. In fact, the picture is very clear and the whole set at which Jay shot the dvd is pleasing to the eye and gives a “clean look” to the whole dvd.
Teaching-
Jay is an excellent teacher and did a great job teaching all of the effects. You should not have a problem understanding any of the effects taught. Also, Jay is a little less crazy on this dvd than some of his others, however, he still made me laugh out loud several times while watching the dvd with his quick with and improvisational jokes. I found it to be very entertaining.
Difficulty Level-
Most of the tricks are very easy and a lot of them require almost no sleight-of-hand. Group Hypnosis is the hardest effect on the dvd but even that isn’t too hard. I wouldn’t worry about the difficulty.
My Rating System-
I rate on a scale of 1 to 5. It is broken down like this:
5-Awesome
4-Great
3-Okay
2-Bad
1-Awful
Now that you know the rating system, I’ll describe and give my thoughts on each of the effects presented on Hemispheres.
The Effects:
Director’s Cut
In this one, you have an envelope and say you have three things in the envelope, but you’re only going to show the audience 2 of the three items for now. You take the items out, and it is a list of 20 or so words on a strip of paper and some scissors. You slowly run the scissors down the list until they say “Cut!” You cut the strip right where they said to and you show that you cut right through the word “comb.” Then with empty hands you reveal that inside of the envelope is a cut in half comb. You get CRAZY reactions with this. It’s so fair and it has an awesome presentational hook built right in. 5/5
Choice Effect
You write a prediction on a post it note, fold it up and place it inside an otherwise empty envelope. You then show nine tarot cards and let the spectator have a completely fair choice (really) of which tarot card they think best fits their personality. They choose, for example, the moon card. You open up the envelope, take out your prediction and on it, it reads “You will choose the moon card.” The effect never misses, it’s really a free choice and there is no multiple outs. 4/5
Dollars & Sense
You hand a spectator a ball of cash, which they hold tightly in their fist, and have at least 6 different receipts on the table. They freely choose a receipt and all of the other receipts are shown to be from different stores and have different totals. When they look at the total of the receipt they choose it is $15.36 (or whatever)Finally they open up the wad of cash that they have been holding the whole time and it is shown to contain exactly $15.36. I really like this effect, but one thing about the handling needs to be changed, IMO. Other than that, it’s a really pure, creative effect. 4/5
Third Eye
A doll’s glass (or plastic) eye is introduced and placed inside a paper bag. A deck of cards which is shown to be mixed is mixed some more by the spectator behind their back. When they are satisfied, the spectator takes three card from the top of the deck and dumps them, sight unseen, into the brown paper bag. The spectator closes up the paper bag and hands it to the magician. The magician has turned away during all of this. The magician claims he can see inside the bag, by looking through the glass eye. He covers one of his eyes begins to “look around the bag.” He of course is able to name all three cards. This is so simple and so deceptive, plus the presentation is just ingenious. Spectators go nuts over this one and you can either make the effect creepy and mysterious or just have fun with it. Either way it’s a 5/5
How Fortunate
A spectator freely selects a fortune cookie and the magician make a prediction of what he thinks is the fortune inside the cookie is. The magician breaks open the cookie and pulls out the fortune. His prediction matches the fortune. This is a really cool premise, but the method is not very good. It doesn’t look natural and it’s not very clean. I give Jay kudos for coming up with the idea for the effect, but I think I’ll come up with my own handling. 2/5
Child’s Play
A spectator correctly divines the color of a ball of play dough, inside of the container. This is a quickie effect and would be great for kids shows. However, the method needs work. Don’t think you’ll be able to do this walk around, on the street (that would be a funny sight), at school, etc. Pretty much only at a small stand-up show will you be able to do this and for the most part you’re going to want to do it with kids. Overall, a cute little throwaway effect. 3/5
Lottery
You have a spectator shuffle the cards thoroughly as you talk about the lottery and how impossible it to win/predict the lottery. You explain to them that the deck of cards is a bit like the lottery, the cards are the numbers, the spectator is mixing them up like the machine, etc. You then write down five numbers on a piece of paper. The spectator randomly chooses any five cards, or lottery numbers, and you then have them determine the order of the numbers. Despite their shuffling, thier random number selections and random order, you one-by-one reveal that the “lottery numbers” you wrote down, down to the order of the cards, matches the pile of five cards the spectator picked. All of this with a borrowed, shuffled deck and a piece of paper! Just try this out once on a spectator and they will go crazy! Again, a wonderful presentation and a killer effect. 5/5
X-Ray Vision
You have a stack of about 10 or so of you business cards. You draw an X on the printed side of one of the cards. You turn the cards face down and mix them up so you and your spectator don’t know where the X is. They touch the back of one of the cards and you show that none of the business cards have X’s before flipping over their card and showing that somehow they picked the card with the X. This is sort-of a warm-up type effect or opener. It’s a very simple concept and can be used as a way to test if you have a “connection” with one of your spectators. I kind’ve have a bit of a problem with the method but it probably isn’t as big as a problem as I think it is. I think it’s just my magician mind showing through :) 3/5
Nonexistent
You write a prediction, fold it up and set it on the table in full view, in a glass, on top of a spectator’s hand, etc. You then ask them to make up a character who has never existed and give them a name. They name him (or her) Say Jankey. You slowly and carefully pick up the prediction that has been in full view and unfold it and show that the prediction says, “His (or her) name will be Say Jankey.” Gasp! What a totally impossible effect and it’s so easy! Predicting the name of someone who never existed is such a good presentation too! There’s some very clever thinking in this and I give it a 4/5
Hypersensitive
You have a bunch of spectators gather a bunch of their own change and put it inside of a glass or just in their hand. You reach into the change, while your head is turned and after showing a truly empty hand, and then pull out a coin, name the date and then do this two more times. Pretty cool impromptu effect. You need nothing more than borrowed coins and nothing is added or taken away. 4/5
Witching Hour
You ask a spectator to think of the hour they were born. You then show a “card clock” printed on a piece of paper. You ask them to think of the card at their hour. You fold up the round card clock and put a paperclip on it. You hand the paperclipped clock to them to hold. You ask them to imagine what life would be like if they were gone, gone, gone. You ask them to name the hour and card they were thinking of, and without you getting anywhere near the clock, they open up the card clock themselves and discover that the card at the hour they were thinking of is gone. Such a cool presentational premise and a great effect. Plus they name the card they were thinking of AFTER you already handed it to them. 4/5
Alphamail
You mail a big envelope to an organizer and inside is a magazine and another envelope that says “Do not open!” You call the organizer once they get the package ask them to take out the magazine and circle any word they want. When you have the event, you ask them to bring the magazine and the unopened envelope. You invite them on stage during the show and you ask the organizer to tell the audience, and you, what the word they circled was. They say, “Eternity.” You tell the organizer to open up the sealed envelope that has been in their possession at all times. Inside is a smaller envelope and you rip open that envelope you dump out the contents. It is a small folded up, crinkled packet, and then you let the organizer open it up and they see that the folded piece of paper is the receipt for the magazine and on it is written “Eternity.” This is just CRAZY! No stooges, no forces, no gimmicks, it’s just awesome. Perfect for a big corporate event. 5/5
Constellation
You ask a spectator to hold a marker and a business card behind their back and make about 15 dots on the business card anywhere they want, as you do the same thing. You both show the business cards and the pattern of dots is strikingly similar to each others. This just doesn’t seem too convincing to me. Maybe I’d have to try it out first, but I just don’t think it seems to likely or realistic. 3/5
Secrets
A simple peek-at-a-card, and then the spectator finds it, type effect utilizing some old as the hills methodology and a brand new, great presentation. The actual effect is pretty bad, but I at least got a very good presentational idea out of it. That makes it worth it to me. So a 1.5/5 for the actual effect, but it gets an honorable mention for giving me a good presentation to use with some of my other mentalism.
Group Hypnosis
The magician picks out any card, looks at it and places it in his pocket. He then cuts the pack into three piles and one at a time you have three spectators select three different cards and you ask them to name the cards they saw at once and they all name the same card! You then say that’s not possible because that’s the card he took out of the deck earlier! You show your hand empty, go into into your pocket and pull out the card which of course is the card that everyone named. It’s a little difficult to get the moves down smoothly, but when you do you have a super cool impromptu card effect that you can do anytime, anywhere. 4/5
Reception
You draw a glass of wine and try to “send” the image of the wine to them. They draw a glass of wine and try to “receive” your thoughts as they draw the wine level anywhere on their drawing. Of course, the wine level in your drawing matches theirs. Uses a very clever gimmick, and with a little bit of thinking you could make this examinable. (PM me if you already have the dvd but you want to know how to make it examinable. Just tell me the first 5 words he says in the explanation part of Reception.) You’ll smile when you see the method. 4/5
Painkiller
You introduce a paper clock and a real broken watch. You move a hole punch slowly around the face-down, paper clock and the spectator asks you to punch anytime they want. You show the face of the broken watch for the first time, and the hands are at 4:15. When you flip over the paper clock, they see that the hole punch is unbelievably close to 4:15. Everything can be handed out and a spectator can keep the paper clock as a souvenir. I love this one, it fooled me BADLY when I saw the performance. Once again, a great presentation and a fantastic effect. 5/5
Intersection
The magician shows a stack of business cards with lots of different names on them. The spectator freely selects a name, for example, Liam. They then select any playing card. In this case, they select the four of hearts. You open up a separate deck of cards, which has been sitting on the table the whole time and spread through to show that one card is reversed in the deck. You flip it over to show that it is the four of hearts with Liam written on it’s face. It’s the ONLY card flipped over and the ONLY card with writing on it. Good for a set show, probably not walk-around because there is too many things to carry and plus this is the sort of routine that really needs time spent on it. It’s just super powerful, people don’t know what to do. And the fact that they have a truly free choice makes the effect so much stronger. 5/5
X’s & OhMyGod
You predict the outcome of two spectator’s game of tic-tac-toe. I love this! It’s so easy and very clever. This is not the old Mark Wilson Tic Tac Toe prediction effect, in case you were wondering. This is just so much fun to do with friends at a house party or whatever because it’s just so much fun to do! I mean, you’re having your spectators play a game that they know and love from their childhood! And you don’t have to do anything, except for a tiny little thing that if you can move your fingers, you can do easily. 4.5/5
Photo Finish
The spectator freely cuts the deck into four piles, and the cards that they cut to, match the cards in the photograph you have with you, plus an extra kicker. This is a very cool routine that builds wonderfully. The spectators never see the ending coming and it hits them right between the eyes. This is something that is probably best done at a casual event. And just for personal taste, I changed the handling a little bit to make the whole process seem even fairer, and I changed the presentation to make it more of my style. It’s a very versatile routine and I can see myself doing this one at a lot of house parties or similar venues. 5/5
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Closing Thoughts
If you want a good dvd filled with wonderful presentational ideas and awesome effects that you can easily incorporate into your repertoire, get Hemispheres. I absolutely loved this dvd and I think it is probably one of Sankey's best dvds.
Overall Rating: 9/10
"Mentalism is the art of exploring and revealing hidden connections." - Jay Sankey
Featuring OVER 3 HOURS of outstanding "magic of the mind," HEMISPHERES is an ingenious collection of 20 startling psychic effects, many of which Jay is sharing for the very first time. This exciting dvd includes "experiments and demonstrations" with business cards, coins, watches, playing cards, fortune cookies, photographs, magazines, notepads, paper money, tarot cards, play-doh and even a doll's eye!
And thanks to Jay's philosophy of "mind over muscle," the majority of these truly startling routines require VERY LITTLE SLEIGHT-OF-HANDABILITY! Instead, the emphasis is on full presentations and nurturing a REAL connection with your audiences. Jay even includes an enormous amount of scripting right out of his own professional repertoire!
Jay also discusses the importance of making your mentalism as visual as possible, deflecting focus away from yourself, the relationship between simplicity and flexibility, the power of the implicit, and the performance of what Jay calls "meaningful mentalism."
Jay even shares "The Punch Principle" and "The Billet Delivery System" two exciting new techniques he's been keeping to himself for years!
And as a very special ADDED BONUS Jay has included a professionally printed, full-color photograph for his incredible PHOTO FINISH routine!
Here are JUST A FEW of the 20 incredible routines:
NONEXISTENT
The mentalist predicts the name of person nobody has ever met!
THIRD EYE
Three randomly selected cards are "seen" with a doll's eye!
DOLLARS & SENSE
From several different receipts, an audience member chooses the receipt matching the exact amount of money held in their own hand!
HYPERSENSITVE
The dates of three borrowed coins are divined in an exceptionally fair fashion!
CONSTELLATION
With just two business cards and two markers the mentalist reveals an inexplicable connection between himself and a member of the audience.
RECEPTION
The psychic successfully "sends" a mental image of a glass of wine, right down to the exact level of the liquid!
Running Time Approximately 206min
October 22, 2009
Book Review: On Mephisto's Shoulder
Intro: I will be upfront about the fact that I received this book for free in a contest; however, I do not know Paul Brook at all. We have never met or spoken to each other online. This is a completely unbiased review that is of my opinion only. That being said, let's get on with the review!
Where You Can Purchase This: http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/oms.htm
Price: $60
What They Say:
Okay, so onto my review of each effect in the book. First up we have...
Dearly Departed: This exceeded, high and above, my expectations that I had for it. This is an effect that can make a grown man cry. Read that last sentence again. It is that powerful. It is definitely something that takes time to perform and should not be rushed. As it said in the description, you have to wait a week after you give the spectator the photograph and then perform it. This is probably something you would only perform with a very small group. It would, technically, work on stage, but you would never want to. You'll see why when you get the book. I heard someone else on another forum say this and I will agree with them, they said, "If I could go back in time to when I wasn't a magician and have one effect performed for me, it would be this one." The psychology behind the effect is brilliant this effect should not be overlooked by the simplicity of the method. This effect can affect a person in an extremely strong way. 10/10
Telepathic Touch: Another brilliantly simple effect to perform that will strongly affect your audience. Once again, the psychology and boldness of the routine is so wonderful and really makes the routine special. This seems like it is the real thing when performed right and it is sure to be a favorite of the book among many mentalists/magicians. The effect is so easy to perform a trained monkey could do it. There are no sleights, but again, it will take some performance chops to make this thing look real, otherwise it will come off as a cheap card trick. 9/10
Fair is Fair Switch: This is a billet switch where you never touch the billet, really. You do have to make a simple gimmick that doesn't take very long to make. Oh, and once you have made it, you won't have to make another gimmick for a long time. Plus, it won't require you to buy any strange materials, most likely. And if you do it will only cost you like $3. It is actually quite simple and it does appear very, very fair. It will not always be appropriate to use this billet switch, but when you can, it will be extremely effective. There isn't much else to say about it so I give it a 8.5/10
Your Word, Corinda! This effect is an advancement of a routine in 13 Steps To Mentalism that uses the Fair is Fair Switch and has some psychological advancements as well. Basically, a spectator writes down a page number, line number, and word number on a piece of paper. It is brought up onto stage without you ever touching it and then a spectator opens up a selected book to the corresponding page/line/word that the audience member wrote down. Sure enough the word matches your prediction that is in an envelope and laminated. It is kindle bold, but I don't think it would present any problems. Personally, I'd rather just do a thenceforward type book test, not this type. If you like the premise, then you will really love this effect and perform it. It appears, again, very fair and out of your hands. Just because I'm not a fan of the premise, I give it a 8/10
Serial Killer: OK, when I read the hype and saw the demo, I thought, that could not happen without some kind of pre-show. I thought there must be a gimmick or some mirror or accomplice or something! Well, what you read and what you see in the demo is exactly what you get. Like I said, no gimmicks, no stooges, no peeking, no writing down, you never touch the bill, etc. This is the best serial number reading I have ever seen. That being said, you cannot use it in all environments. I obviously can't go into detail, but this is more of the type of thing you would do to get booked rather than after you have gotten booked. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. Anyway, this will get you booked. This is about the most amazing thing you could do to someone and they will not forget it. Try to perform this as often as you can, and you'll be getting booked very, very often. It's pure genius and I love it! 10/10
On Stage Killing: Well, just read the description. IMO there is no need for this and I don't think it would be something that I or anybody else would really want to do. It's not bad, it just seems unneeded. I don't really want to give a rating on this because it is more of just an optional add-on to Serial Killer.
Final Thoughts:
As I said in the beginning, I did receive this book for free, however, if I had paid the full $60 for this book, I truly believe that I would've been just as happy. The psychology in each of these effects is excellent. He gives you lots of subtleties and different options at the end of each effect. These are A+ effects and you can tell that he has thought out, and used in the "real-world", all of the items contained within the pages of this book. It has my highest recommendation, and I think you will be very pleased with your purchase.
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Where You Can Purchase This: http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/oms.htm
Price: $60
What They Say:
A number of strong and eerie effects that will put your spectators on edge!
Effects Include :
Dearly Departed:
A volunteer is given a sealed envelope and a photograph of a dead person; they are to look at the photograph at any opportunity they can for a week.
After the week has passed the volunteer makes a time prediction. Once the prediction is made the envelope is opened to reveal a death certificate showing a time of death for the person in the photograph that matches their prediction.
Telepathic Touch:
You explain that a single touch is enough to change destiny if we allow it to. A sealed envelope is handed to a person to keep safe. You look into the eyes of a volunteer and touch their shoulder. A deck of cards is then displayed openly and fairly and four cards are selected randomly by this person, without you touching the cards. Each card is placed into an envelope and numbered.
Another person is asked to join the two of you. The first spectator touches the new spectator in the same way you touched them. The new spectator chooses any envelope they want, when the envelope is opened the card is displayed and eerily matches the card within the envelope that you handed out to a neutral party from the start.
Fair is Fair Switch:
A wonderfully fair and deceptive way of switching billets.
"Your Word, Corinda!":
An evolution of "My Word!" by Corinda, using the 'Fair is Fair' Switch and other astonishing methods.
Serial, Killer!:
You approach a person that you have never met before, you ask them to take out a bank note while you turn away. You never touch them, their belongings or the note, yet you can tell them the unique serial number on the bank note.
Watch a video of this effect by clicking here.
On Stage Killing:
A large scale variation of "Serial, Killer!" with a surprise Revelation that proves the serial number prediction was made days before.
Unique psychological subtleties are included for each effect, to the in-depth standard now expected from Paul.
BONUS: Interview with James Brown, the Magic Circle's close-up magician of the year 2006.
136 page, perfect bound soft cover book.
Okay, so onto my review of each effect in the book. First up we have...
Dearly Departed: This exceeded, high and above, my expectations that I had for it. This is an effect that can make a grown man cry. Read that last sentence again. It is that powerful. It is definitely something that takes time to perform and should not be rushed. As it said in the description, you have to wait a week after you give the spectator the photograph and then perform it. This is probably something you would only perform with a very small group. It would, technically, work on stage, but you would never want to. You'll see why when you get the book. I heard someone else on another forum say this and I will agree with them, they said, "If I could go back in time to when I wasn't a magician and have one effect performed for me, it would be this one." The psychology behind the effect is brilliant this effect should not be overlooked by the simplicity of the method. This effect can affect a person in an extremely strong way. 10/10
Telepathic Touch: Another brilliantly simple effect to perform that will strongly affect your audience. Once again, the psychology and boldness of the routine is so wonderful and really makes the routine special. This seems like it is the real thing when performed right and it is sure to be a favorite of the book among many mentalists/magicians. The effect is so easy to perform a trained monkey could do it. There are no sleights, but again, it will take some performance chops to make this thing look real, otherwise it will come off as a cheap card trick. 9/10
Fair is Fair Switch: This is a billet switch where you never touch the billet, really. You do have to make a simple gimmick that doesn't take very long to make. Oh, and once you have made it, you won't have to make another gimmick for a long time. Plus, it won't require you to buy any strange materials, most likely. And if you do it will only cost you like $3. It is actually quite simple and it does appear very, very fair. It will not always be appropriate to use this billet switch, but when you can, it will be extremely effective. There isn't much else to say about it so I give it a 8.5/10
Your Word, Corinda! This effect is an advancement of a routine in 13 Steps To Mentalism that uses the Fair is Fair Switch and has some psychological advancements as well. Basically, a spectator writes down a page number, line number, and word number on a piece of paper. It is brought up onto stage without you ever touching it and then a spectator opens up a selected book to the corresponding page/line/word that the audience member wrote down. Sure enough the word matches your prediction that is in an envelope and laminated. It is kindle bold, but I don't think it would present any problems. Personally, I'd rather just do a thenceforward type book test, not this type. If you like the premise, then you will really love this effect and perform it. It appears, again, very fair and out of your hands. Just because I'm not a fan of the premise, I give it a 8/10
Serial Killer: OK, when I read the hype and saw the demo, I thought, that could not happen without some kind of pre-show. I thought there must be a gimmick or some mirror or accomplice or something! Well, what you read and what you see in the demo is exactly what you get. Like I said, no gimmicks, no stooges, no peeking, no writing down, you never touch the bill, etc. This is the best serial number reading I have ever seen. That being said, you cannot use it in all environments. I obviously can't go into detail, but this is more of the type of thing you would do to get booked rather than after you have gotten booked. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. Anyway, this will get you booked. This is about the most amazing thing you could do to someone and they will not forget it. Try to perform this as often as you can, and you'll be getting booked very, very often. It's pure genius and I love it! 10/10
On Stage Killing: Well, just read the description. IMO there is no need for this and I don't think it would be something that I or anybody else would really want to do. It's not bad, it just seems unneeded. I don't really want to give a rating on this because it is more of just an optional add-on to Serial Killer.
Final Thoughts:
As I said in the beginning, I did receive this book for free, however, if I had paid the full $60 for this book, I truly believe that I would've been just as happy. The psychology in each of these effects is excellent. He gives you lots of subtleties and different options at the end of each effect. These are A+ effects and you can tell that he has thought out, and used in the "real-world", all of the items contained within the pages of this book. It has my highest recommendation, and I think you will be very pleased with your purchase.
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
October 21, 2009
Review: Pierced and Punctured
Pierced & Punctured
I recently recieved a review copy of this effect so thank you to Kip for letting me review this product!
The basic effect is that a signed, selected card is stapled onto the card box. Then a second selection is made and signed as well. Then, visually the card that was stapled onto box is now in your hands, with holes to prove it! And the second selected card that was on your hand is now stapled onto the card box!
That really is how the effect plays out. This is a stunner for sure and I think a lot of people will really like this. The method is very devious and the spectators the card stapled to the box up until the last moment! There are some fantastic convincers in this effect, especially with the addition of using signatures on both of the cards.
You do have to make a gimmick to perform Pierced & Punctured and will have to make it again after about every two or three performances. Oh, and most likely you will have to buy a few items from the office supply store, and don't worry, they're not very expensive.
Now obviously you are going to have to destroy several cards every performance and a card case about every two or three performances because of the use of staples. Needless to say, this is one of those effects that you might save for those "special" performances.
Pros:
Will fry spectators
Graps attention quickly with use of stapler
Cards can be signed
No angle problems
Awesome convincers
"Magician fooler"
Cons:
Destroys several cards and the card box (of course if you're worried about that, you shouldn't be buying a card trick involving staples)
Will have to remake the gimmick often
Possibly not as clean as some people would like it to be
Overall: I really think this is a great effect and it's only problem is the remaking of the gimmick, which as mentioned before, since you are using staples that should be obvious and there's nothing you can do to prevent that! So, I give Pierced & Punctured a...
Score: 7/10
UPDATE: In the original review I forgot to include where to buy the trick! Here is a link Pierced and Punctured
I recently recieved a review copy of this effect so thank you to Kip for letting me review this product!
The basic effect is that a signed, selected card is stapled onto the card box. Then a second selection is made and signed as well. Then, visually the card that was stapled onto box is now in your hands, with holes to prove it! And the second selected card that was on your hand is now stapled onto the card box!
That really is how the effect plays out. This is a stunner for sure and I think a lot of people will really like this. The method is very devious and the spectators the card stapled to the box up until the last moment! There are some fantastic convincers in this effect, especially with the addition of using signatures on both of the cards.
You do have to make a gimmick to perform Pierced & Punctured and will have to make it again after about every two or three performances. Oh, and most likely you will have to buy a few items from the office supply store, and don't worry, they're not very expensive.
Now obviously you are going to have to destroy several cards every performance and a card case about every two or three performances because of the use of staples. Needless to say, this is one of those effects that you might save for those "special" performances.
Pros:
Will fry spectators
Graps attention quickly with use of stapler
Cards can be signed
No angle problems
Awesome convincers
"Magician fooler"
Cons:
Destroys several cards and the card box (of course if you're worried about that, you shouldn't be buying a card trick involving staples)
Will have to remake the gimmick often
Possibly not as clean as some people would like it to be
Overall: I really think this is a great effect and it's only problem is the remaking of the gimmick, which as mentioned before, since you are using staples that should be obvious and there's nothing you can do to prevent that! So, I give Pierced & Punctured a...
Score: 7/10
UPDATE: In the original review I forgot to include where to buy the trick! Here is a link Pierced and Punctured
October 20, 2009
Review: Mirror
Intro: I was lucky enough to receive a pre-release copy of this effect so thank you to all the people at Mental Playground Productions.
Trick: Mirror
Creator: Matthew Mello
History: Matt credits Derren Brown as the starting point for this trick and also credits Banachek for another part of the trick.
Price: $15.00
Where Can I Get It? http://www.thementalplayground.com/mirror.html
Effect: Give your mind reading ability to any spectator. They will read your mind with 100% accuracy, and you can prove it!
Offer to teach your mind reading skills to the spectator, for a price. Ask to borrow a bill, as it will be important later. You tell the spectator you are thinking of a two digit number. The spectator then makes a guess and is correct! To prove it you show the first two numbers of the serial number on the borrowed bill. You say this is how you thought of the number. They match!
• No Stooges
• No Pre-show
• No Electronics
• Nothing is ever written down
• No Force?(And No, you aren't walking around with 99 different bills on you.)
Format: This 16 page PDF comes with 2 alternate handlings, which create seemingly different effects. This along with 12 photos gives you the tools to bring your mind reading routines to another level.
Quality: It’s a fairly normal PDF. Nothing fancy here but it teaches you everything you need to know. The pictures do help out quite a bit as well.
Method: There is a small “gimmick” that is used and might I add, very, very clever. It’s easy to make and can be used for many other things besides this specific trick. Fairly simple and nothing super involved or complicated here.
Preparation: There is a one-time preparation for this effect that should not take you more than probably 15-20 minutes. After that, you can perform this effect as much as you like. Although, eventually you will probably want to remake your gimmick since it might wear out a bit.
Gimmick: Obviously since this is an instant download, you will have to make the gimmick. As said above, it won’t take you long to make and most likely will not have to buy anything to make it. This is a very versatile gimmick and can be used for lots of other mentalism type tricks.
Alternative One: This isn’t as strong as the original serial number variation and I’d rather just use a swami gimmick to achieve this effect.
Alternative Two: This is more of a novel drawing duplication type effect that can be very strong and also a perfect lead in to “Improv Nightshades”. As stated by Matt, this is the version that a lot of people might use and like even more than the original routine. I think I would agree with that. Definitely a good alternative to the original.
Additional Ideas: Here Matt gives some ideas to make your presentation a bit better. He also gives another idea that uses the serial number but in a different way than the original. Both are worth a read.
Angles: There aren’t any angle problems to worry about here. Yay!
Difficulty: On a scale of 1-10 (Ten being the hardest) I’d give this about a 2 or 3. If you run through this a couple of times and get yourself familiar with it, you’ll be fine. There really aren’t any “moves” either.
Overall: The power of this effect can be extremely strong. Don’t underestimate it. This is a “winner” and even if you don’t like that original routine idea, Matt has provided enough additional ideas to make everybody happy. Plus, you learn how to make a really cool gimmick that you can use in other mentalism! So even though I received this for free, I truly think that if I had paid the money I would’ve been pleased with my purchase. It’s only $15.00 and you can’t go wrong with such a powerful effect.
Score: 8/10
Trick: Mirror
Creator: Matthew Mello
History: Matt credits Derren Brown as the starting point for this trick and also credits Banachek for another part of the trick.
Price: $15.00
Where Can I Get It? http://www.thementalplayground.com/mirror.html
Effect: Give your mind reading ability to any spectator. They will read your mind with 100% accuracy, and you can prove it!
Offer to teach your mind reading skills to the spectator, for a price. Ask to borrow a bill, as it will be important later. You tell the spectator you are thinking of a two digit number. The spectator then makes a guess and is correct! To prove it you show the first two numbers of the serial number on the borrowed bill. You say this is how you thought of the number. They match!
• No Stooges
• No Pre-show
• No Electronics
• Nothing is ever written down
• No Force?(And No, you aren't walking around with 99 different bills on you.)
Format: This 16 page PDF comes with 2 alternate handlings, which create seemingly different effects. This along with 12 photos gives you the tools to bring your mind reading routines to another level.
Quality: It’s a fairly normal PDF. Nothing fancy here but it teaches you everything you need to know. The pictures do help out quite a bit as well.
Method: There is a small “gimmick” that is used and might I add, very, very clever. It’s easy to make and can be used for many other things besides this specific trick. Fairly simple and nothing super involved or complicated here.
Preparation: There is a one-time preparation for this effect that should not take you more than probably 15-20 minutes. After that, you can perform this effect as much as you like. Although, eventually you will probably want to remake your gimmick since it might wear out a bit.
Gimmick: Obviously since this is an instant download, you will have to make the gimmick. As said above, it won’t take you long to make and most likely will not have to buy anything to make it. This is a very versatile gimmick and can be used for lots of other mentalism type tricks.
Alternative One: This isn’t as strong as the original serial number variation and I’d rather just use a swami gimmick to achieve this effect.
Alternative Two: This is more of a novel drawing duplication type effect that can be very strong and also a perfect lead in to “Improv Nightshades”. As stated by Matt, this is the version that a lot of people might use and like even more than the original routine. I think I would agree with that. Definitely a good alternative to the original.
Additional Ideas: Here Matt gives some ideas to make your presentation a bit better. He also gives another idea that uses the serial number but in a different way than the original. Both are worth a read.
Angles: There aren’t any angle problems to worry about here. Yay!
Difficulty: On a scale of 1-10 (Ten being the hardest) I’d give this about a 2 or 3. If you run through this a couple of times and get yourself familiar with it, you’ll be fine. There really aren’t any “moves” either.
Overall: The power of this effect can be extremely strong. Don’t underestimate it. This is a “winner” and even if you don’t like that original routine idea, Matt has provided enough additional ideas to make everybody happy. Plus, you learn how to make a really cool gimmick that you can use in other mentalism! So even though I received this for free, I truly think that if I had paid the money I would’ve been pleased with my purchase. It’s only $15.00 and you can’t go wrong with such a powerful effect.
Score: 8/10
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