by Michael Kras » Jul 9th, '07, 19:29
Martin Lewis has created THE best reaction getter! Nothing impresses my family anymore, but when I did Cardiographic for them at the end of my Mentalism Show, they went crazy! They started screaming and cheering, and were totally amazed, especially when I tore the sheet out of the sketchpad and gave it away, showing it to be a normal drawing! The effect is as follows:
The Effect
After a card is selected from a jumbo deck of cards, the magician says he is going to try to capture the spectator's thought-of card in an art drawing. He points all direction over to a large sketchpad resting on an easel. The magician opens the pad, and draws a large playing card in it with a marker. Unfortuantely, the drawing is incorrect! But never fear! The magician shows that he didn't just draw a single card, but a whole deck. All of a sudden, something is seen to emerge from the deck IN the drawing! The drawing is literally coming to life as a drawing of the selected card is seen to rise of of the drawn deck. The magician then instantly tears out the sheet with the card still risen up, autographs it, and gives it to the vounteer as a keepsake.
Cost
Varies... Normally around $100.
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)
2- only real move required.
Review
When I received my package, I received detailed instructions, the gimmicked sketchpad with the special Rising Card page, duplicates of the final product of the page, markers, and templates to draw more of ypur own to give away as souvenirs. Obviously the page must be switched when torn out at the end, but the gimmick involved is ingenious... so clever, and very well made.
This should last you for many, many performances with the same gimmick, and when you run out of sheets to give away, you can just go buy another sketchpad of the same size and use those sheets in the gimmicked sketchpad after you use the template to draw the image again. When I first saw this effect, I didn't think it would be worth it to purchase because I thought you could only do it a certain amount of times. But, as long as you can get your hands on sketch paper this should last you for as long as the gimmick will last.
Trust me, this never fails to get a very strong reaction. Unless the spectators are robots, they will never spot the gimmick as long as you keep the agic moment slightly brief. And HOO BOY, when you tear out that sheet and give it to the spectators, the shock they experience is so worth the price of this effect. The perfect giveaway in one of the strongest magic effects out there. This can be done in stage, close up, mentalism, and even kid show acts. Highly recommended.
Gimmick Durability: 7/10- the materials can be easily broken if mot treated correctly.
Reactions: 10/10- You will want to do this all the time when you see hw much people react to this. Priceless.
Price Justification: 8/10- If it werent for all of the extra stuff you get, and everything included, this wouldn't be quite worth the price. I would charge maybe about $20 less if the extras weren't there
Audience Participation: 7/10- Basically the same amount of participation as in any pick-a-card effect.
Overall
Overall, I give this product a rating of 9/10. Some may be disappointed with the gimmick, but that will soon change when you actually start using the thing. Highly recommended!!
Michael Kras
Last edited by
Michael Kras on Jul 10th, '07, 01:20, edited 1 time in total.