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