talkmagic.co.uk

Wow by Masuda

Available from
http://www.alakazam.co.uk/acatalog/Hot_List_1.html#a95

They say

Your spectators will be saying "WOW" when they see this incredibly visual card change, which happens right in front of their eyes!

If you saw this on TV you would be sure it was a camera trick!

Imagine having a spectator freely select any card (no force). The card is signed and replaced back into the deck. You state that by magic you will make their card rise to the top of the deck. You snap your fingers and turn over the top card, while you are waiting for your big applause your spectator tells you it's not their card.


This indifferent card is slid into a paper-thin clear black plastic sleeve just large enough to hold the card.

While the sleeve is held between thumb and forefinger, and with no hand movement of any kind, the indifferent card slowly and visibly changes into the signed selection!

The spectator can remove the card himself. There is nothing else in the sleeve!

This is one of the best effects I have seen in a long time and the guys here in the shop can't wait to get their hands on one!

Cost
Well here's the hard bit! - £39.99

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 - Even someone with no previous magical experience should be able to perform this with minimal practise.

Review
WOW - what a gimmick! Well done Katsuya Masuda for inventing this one. Apparently this was named by Lance Burton because 'Wow' was the first thing he said when he saw this effect performed for the first time.

Pros:
There is truly no sleight of hand required. The gimmick does all the work for you and it does it beautifully. It is such a pleasure to watch the card change happen right in front of your eyes, and theirs, especially if you can make the change happen really slowly. You can remove the single card from the plastic sleeve and show the sleeve to be empty. Your spec can then handle the card. It is the card they chose. Works with any card the spec chooses. No need to force a card. It can even be a signed card if you want. Afterwards, you can show them both sides of the plastic sleeve and they can see right through it and see that there is no other card involved.

Reset is instant. In fact there is no real reset required. You can move on to your next table or group and do this again straight away. (You do not want to do it again to the same group though as some aspects may start to seem very familiar).

Works with a normal deck - a beginner may want to do a small mod to their deck but even that is not essential if you can control cards. For the working performer the only extra pocket space you need is for the sleeve, which is minimal.

Cons:
The price. I don't know if the price is consistent with the cost of the technology required to make this gimmick but do you know I don't really care. I knew as soon as I saw the demo that I had to have one and I'm sure glad now that I've got one!

You can show the specs the sleeve but you would be unwise to let them handle it.

Overall
9/10
Good on its own or will fit well into any routine of effects with a normal deck. Go on - you know you want one.

nice review, but it is so expensive! Plus spectator cant handle the gimmick.

mine's on order from joke box magic.

woo hoo cant wait

I think mark charges's £37.99 www.jbtv.co.uk

Well, based on this review I'm ordering it.

Hope it's as good as you say

I saw this demmed in Alakazam yesterday and it really is very purdy lookin'. A lot of money for what it does though, not from the technology point of view (I'm vaguely aware of what could be going on but I don't know how much such things cost to manufacture) but more from the aspect that it is not much more than a colour change.

Also, the first thing I'd think if I was a layperson would be 'Let me see that sleeve', but I'll have to see what the workers say about that type of reaction and if it occurs.

I was at the Ipswich Magical Society Annual Convention yesterday, and Peter Nardi was doing great demos of this all day. The visual transformation from one card to the signed card is truly magical! The whole convention was talking about this effect.

Sounds like a lot of money just to do a colour change. Learn the Erdnase/Houdini change , it looks just as good and will last forever, and not get broken.

I agree with you. People are going to suspect the wallet - what else are they going to want to look at when they see their card visibly morph in front of them? It seems to me to be one of those things which gets magicians excited because they are so accustomed to gaffs and gimmicks that they look at it as being this incredible mechanical device, but to an unitiated audience...

i am also a proud owner of WOW, and for those of you who seem to think that this effect is on a par with the erdnase colour change, i have to tell you that you are kidding yourselves. The erdnase change, while being a pretty move, looks like exactly what it is, a clever peice of sleight of hand. The effect of WOW is completely different- it looks dangerously close to being REAL MAGIC.
if i was going to list colour changes in terms of the impact they have on an audience, it would go as follows

no.1 WOW - unexplainable, the audience dont seem to care about the plastic wallet, as only 1 card is cleanly pulled out of it, their suspicions are focused on the card, which of course is completely examinable!

no2. Shapeshifter- flick! WTF did you just do!! everyone loves it, and no layman can figure it out.

no.3 Axis Change- although the angles for this change are a serious restriction, when ever i can get away with it i will use it obscenely. This has a real visual quality, that looks like magic, not clever hands. very easy too (available as download from ellusionist.com)

no.4 Turdnase- "if i just wave my hand over the cards in this sort of weird unatural way, (slide up, slide down, slide up again)we see the card has changed! -the audience looks at you like 'hmmm nice slieght'.

I would love to know what people think of this little top 4, its only my opinion but i from what i have experienced WOW does exactly what the title suggests -" WOW!!!! what the hell just happened- (they take out their one card, then look you in the eye like your the devil) no, no , no (denial, then finally-) that was CRAZY!!!!!!!! "

those are the sort of reactions that i personally am happy to pay for, put it this way, instead of buying 2 tricks, just buy this one, it pretty much kills everything else that i know of with cards except perhaps Sankeys Paperclipped.


Atomo sits back, bracing himself for the wave of angry Erdnase fans.

peace

Atomo wrote:i am also a proud owner of WOW, and for those of you who seem to think that this effect is on a par with the erdnase colour change, i have to tell you that you are kidding yourselves. The erdnase change, while being a pretty move, looks like exactly what it is, a clever peice of sleight of hand. The effect of WOW is completely different- it looks dangerously close to being REAL MAGIC.

No, it looks like an expensive mechanical device. There is NO WAY you can say that the Erdnase looks like sleight of hand (which it is) and then say that WOW does not look like some prop (which it is).

no.1 WOW - unexplainable, the audience dont seem to care about the plastic wallet, as only 1 card is cleanly pulled out of it, their suspicions are focused on the card, which of course is completely examinable!

'Seem' being the operative word. How do you know that they don't go away and wonder about the wallet? You have to have a pretty good justification for using it.

no.4 Turdnase- "if i just wave my hand over the cards in this sort of weird unatural way, (slide up, slide down, slide up again)we see the card has changed! -the audience looks at you like 'hmmm nice slieght'.

Funny how performers have been using it for many years to great effect then isn't it?

Actually you can do an Erdnase, throw in some suggestions afterwards to change their recollection of what exactly happened.

The only difference is is instead of thinking "sleight of hand" they think "what's that wallet all about?".

We were discussing the possible heat on the gimmck yesterday, but the fact that one and only one card comes back out seemed to quell most doubters. I think we simply have to wait for more feedback.

Erdnase is great. WOW is great. Each may well suit different situations.

Funny how performers have been using it for many years to great effect then isn't it?

Actually you can do an Erdnase, throw in some suggestions afterwards to change their recollection of what exactly happened.

The only difference is is instead of thinking "sleight of hand" they think "what's that wallet all about?".

Which raises an interesting point to do with the psychology of what we as magicians are trying to acheive. are we happy to accept that the audience is aware of sleight of hand, and sit back and take credit for being a skilled card handler. OR do we want to create a magical mystery which cannot be attributed to sleight of hand.

And this is where opinions become divided, i imagine that performers who are of the first school of thought (pro sleight of hand) are also the type of performers who enjoy flourishes and aim to be seem as highly skilled with cards. I personally feel that any effects which can move away from the easy conclusion of " he did some sleight of hand" are more powerful, as the mystery they are left with will itch at their brains for much longer.

I dont want to get into a anti-erdnase rant, but i would like to put forward an experience of mine as Exhibit A against Erdnase:
Recently me and some mates sat down to watch Dynamo's Underground Magic DVD, in which he frequently performs the Erdnase change. One of my friends, who has no knowledge or even a particular interest in magic, grabbed his poker cards and after a while said " hey look i can do that thing he was doing" I.e The Erdnase colour change. It was a pretty clumsy performance but he had sussed the method.

I perform WOW as a transposition effect, where their card changes places with the card in the wallet. This way you can turn the wallet into a plus rather than a negative point by saying " now we'll put this card in here to make sure i cant touch it". No one goes near the wallet, it is transparent, they can see right through it, what is there to suspect?in over 10 performances, so far no one has even asked to look at it....what does that mean? well if my psychoanalysis is correct it means that they attribute the workings of the method to something else entirely. I think it helps to leave the wallet lying on the table as if your not bothered about it, this bluff adds to the illusions that the wallet is beyond suspicion, you dont care about it so why should they? its just clear plastic right?

peace Atomo

Atomo wrote:

Funny how performers have been using it for many years to great effect then isn't it?

Actually you can do an Erdnase, throw in some suggestions afterwards to change their recollection of what exactly happened.

The only difference is is instead of thinking "sleight of hand" they think "what's that wallet all about?".

Which raises an interesting point to do with the psychology of what we as magicians are trying to acheive. are we happy to accept that the audience is aware of sleight of hand, and sit back and take credit for being a skilled card handler. OR do we want to create a magical mystery which cannot be attributed to sleight of hand.

And this is where opinions become divided, i imagine that performers who are of the first school of thought (pro sleight of hand) are also the type of performers who enjoy flourishes and aim to be seem as highly skilled with cards. I personally feel that any effects which can move away from the easy conclusion of " he did some sleight of hand" are more powerful, as the mystery they are left with will itch at their brains for much longer.

Nope, not for me. I am very anti obvious sleight of hand and not a flourisher for this reason. The way I do it, however, I later reinforce the idea that they saw it change without me even touching it. So they do not attribute it to my sleight of hand but they also know that there was no gimmickery involved.

I dont want to get into a anti-erdnase rant, but i would like to put forward an experience of mine as Exhibit A against Erdnase:
Recently me and some mates sat down to watch Dynamo's Underground Magic DVD, in which he frequently performs the Erdnase change. One of my friends, who has no knowledge or even a particular interest in magic, grabbed his poker cards and after a while said " hey look i can do that thing he was doing" I.e The Erdnase colour change. It was a pretty clumsy performance but he had sussed the method.

I perform WOW as a transposition effect, where their card changes places with the card in the wallet. This way you can turn the wallet into a plus rather than a negative point by saying " now we'll put this card in here to make sure i cant touch it". No one goes near the wallet, it is transparent, they can see right through it, what is there to suspect?in over 10 performances, so far no one has even asked to look at it....what does that mean? well if my psychoanalysis is correct it means that they attribute the workings of the method to something else entirely. I think it helps to leave the wallet lying on the table as if your not bothered about it, this bluff adds to the illusions that the wallet is beyond suspicion, you dont care about it so why should they? its just clear plastic right?

peace Atomo

But then you have to think about the logic behind that. So you don't want to touch it? Why not put it in someone's hand? If the wallet doesn't mean something, then why do you not give it to someone to hold and it changes in their hand, indpenedent of any other device which would be a much stronger effect? Why as a magician would you water it down if you could do it for real?

Now maybe they don't attribute the workings to the wallet at all. Maybe they don't but once they go home and think about it some more they do. Who can say? My point is I would rather save £40 and let some basic sleights and psychology do the work. It may not be as instantly visual, but if they recall it as visibly changing then surely it is, in the long-run, the same effect?

I have done a few magic shows for fans of magic...they all think it's amazing slight of hand or the 'heat' in my hands.

The truth is, all the tricks I used are gimmicked! Most people don't appreciate that and until 2003, I thought all magic was either 'magic' or slight of hand. I had no idea gimmicks were used, particularly for card tricks. Instead I just looked in awe and said 'wtf?'

Sometimes you have to put yourself into the position of the audience...

yoshi wrote:or the 'heat' in my hands.

I get that a lot too .

I think audiences know a lot more as a whole than we give them credit for. I have seen many performers, and have had it happen to me, be accused of using 'tricked cards' or 'special devices'. They definitely have a concept of such things.