talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect

Click here for the blurb

http://www.mikedanatasmagicstudio.co.uk/new/justin.htm#9

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

1. Virtualy self working - some initial memory work and the it's down to presentation and confidence.

Review

You get a printed 14 page manuscript that's easy to read and which details the effect and how it works, along with the psychology behind presenting it in fairly good detail.

You also get 12 genuine USPCC cards and a 18" square cotton cloth. The cloth is black with a white print design (spoilt with the wording 'Made in China' in white print along one side that's far too large for my liking). Overall it's adequate but personally I will be swapping this out for a much better quality cloth (crushed blue velvet with a silver embroided pentangle or similar (joking) ) when I decide to perform this for others.

It's a very simple yet surprisingly little known principle (claimed) that makes this work and it's cunningly clever. It will take you about 15 minutes to learn this if you skip past the history of the technique although the manuscript is a good read from cover to cover.

What you end up with is virtually what it says on the tin. I performed this on Mrs dat this evening and both she and the daughter were totally baffled, both looking around for hidden mirrors, secret cameras etc.

The only thing is that you CANNOT perform this a second time to the same audience as they will know how you did it (a hint in there somewhere for the wise amongst you )

Overall

This is a routine that begs to be performed and although it's a sly technique, I will make my mind up about it after a few more performances to a proper audience. I think that this has a great deal of potential but may not suit everyone's style.

Therefore at the moment I'll give it 8 out of 10.

Hmm this sounds really good. Is there a catch? Is it a keeper?

How do you mean?

Excellent review dat, something I've been wanting for a while now. Seems very reasonably priced too. One question - the image shows those weird Bicycle cards with the borders and the big pips - are the cards like this or in the normal standard?

Yeah - I noticed the jumbo index cards on the promo slip that's inside of the bag but they are normal faced cards.

On the price, you couldn't make up the contents for the price of the effect and when you buy it and know the secret you will understand why.

Thanks for clearing that up!

I gave this it's first outing today in the 'real world' and I can say that it got everyone scrathing their head. The debate literally went on for a couple of hours afterwards with people offering all sorts of bribes to find out how it's done .

I can see just why the instructions say that this should be the ONLY card trick that you perform.

It's a real beut and I'm doing a birthday party tomorrow night and I'm considering performing it then.

dat8962 wrote:How do you mean?

Oh sorry, I mean will it be something you think you will use on a regular basis. Also, is the only downside that you can't repeat it? Is there a set up or anything?

Sorry I wasn't very clear, maybe it was a silly question...


[edit] Actually I have another question. Can the idea be applied to things other than playing cards? Like ESP cards or photographs etc.

I think that I would use this on a regular basis although it's not one to use for table hopping in my opinion. It's definately suited more to parlour or as a showpiece effect.

The only downside that I can see is that you can't repeat it which I have to say, many will see this as a positive as you don't want to be repeating ANY tricks too often. Leave them stunned is what I say

There is a set up but to be honest, it's minimal and the set up is merely used as a disguise to make everything look normal and random. This is no more than adding the provided cards to a deck (minus the case). The depth of the instructions explain the psychology behind everything and it's apparent that this has been thoroughly tested before being brought to market.

There are a number of different presentation option, some which will require some setup such as using the effect as part of a prediction in a sealed envelope but there's enough choice from the suggested performance variations to make this look totally impromptu.

Finaloy, to answer your last question I would say that there are possibilities here but using the secret would make anything other than playing cards seem suspicious - perhaps.

There are many weaker effects than this being brought to market that cost a lot more. If you were to try and put this effect together yourself it would cost quite a bit more than the asking price. It's hard to find anything negative to say abouth this effect - the more that you play with it the more that it grows on you.

This really is a very clever effect...not at all what I was expecting, but having said that it makes perfect sense.

The rationale and performance nuances are "worth the price of admission" alone!

This is ideal for intimate settings and for small audiences, perhaps smaller stage settings. I got it for impromptu-ish close up performances and it just isn't gonna fit into the performance oppertunities I get. (the occasional dinner time or pub effect)...DAMN!!! It is so good as well.

nice to hear from you Tom - long time no see around here

Thanks for that dat! This sounds really really good, but I'm going to try and hold off buying it for at least a few weeks (I've been spending loads recently!)

i've just searched for a review on this and here it is! I am still undecided though.

But thanks for dat!

(gettit? thanks for "dat" instead of "that" That/dat? oh never mind...)

Yes - I got it

... is it still a keeper?

Piers.