talkmagic.co.uk

The Blurb
The magician introduces a sealed envelope, which contains a prediction (in fact, this can be mailed to the organizers of your show weeks in advance!). Three spectators are then asked to write 3 numbers between 100 and 999 on a note pad. The pad is then handed to a fourth spectator, who adds the numbers. When the total is announced, the envelope is opened, showing your prediction to match! Remember - the spectators handle the note pad themselves, and you never touch the envelope!

Price & From
http://www.world-of-magic.co.uk £27.21 (free postage)

Ease Of Use
1/5 i.e. very easy.

I Say
I think I came across this effect on one of Banacheks DVDs & it was an effect I liked very much so, but involved a small amount of time making something up. Saying that the something you would have made isn't quite what you get here.

The way this effect works means you'll need a big dinner tables of 10 or so people or maybe a large crowd of people standing in a circle together, it's not really something you can achieve with 3 - 5 people.

The something itself is very simple & something I can feel very secure in using, concentrating on presentation & not worrying about props. The instructions that came with are pretty basic with a few photos, all on one A4 sheet. An email is given for refills as you will use two pads of paper each time you perform this. I would imagine that most stationers would sell the required refills though.

Having twiddled with this I'd be happy for each spec to have this "to themselves" while they fill in the numbers & to just casually pass the pad to the final spec to tot up the total. They can't examine it but hey, it's a notepad, why should they want to?

Reset is easy but will take a minute or so & is one of those things I will nip to the loo for as it can't be done in front of the spec.

I would imagine there are other uses for this pad too but it's late, I only opened it an hour ago & I can't think right now.

Rather pricey for what you actually get but then I guess it's that "your paying for the secret" bit!

Gonna go with an 8/10, great effect but more for crowds than close up.


Side note
The web shop I bought this from, above, initially let me down. I ordered & paid for this on a weds afternoon. Nothing arrived on Thursday, nothing on Friday? Phoned up fri evening & was told it should be in the post for me to get on sat or mon. It didn't arrive either day.

Nothing Tuesday & nothing Wednesday. So weds I phoned again, no reply so I left a message canceling the order which I also repeated via email. I wouldn't have minded a delay if I knew what was happening but phone calls on mon, tues & weds were all going to answer machine & I wasn't being called back.

Thursday the effect came. And later that day so did an email apologizing for the delay, apparently the chap had been on holiday & his staff had not been running the business correctly. As an apology they refunded my credit card thus I received the effect free.

So while the delay wasn't good the shop certainly made up for it with the credit refund & in the end I felt a bit guilty, so I shall give them another try if they stock whatever it is I happen to want next time!

I have the Kozer pad and it works fine. However, I have seen other, better, pads available. Worth shopping around I think.

Hey S. Lea, can you elaborate on what different pads there are, what's better, why there better etc & maybe with a few links, would make for some fun reading as I'm not averse to upgrading when better stuff comes along.

Thanks.

This may or may not be the pad that Abraxus showed me a while back.



I much prefer the look fo this pad to the Kozar.

yeah it was..i think?

i've got that and the wallet, both very nice and leathery...like the back of an old woman covered in gilt...

I haven't seen that one before, but it looks very nice. There are loads more, though. I think there's one called the Mento pad, the Vernet one, the Jerry O'Connell pad and the El Duco one, to name but four.

I have the last two and, while the J O'C version is excellent (very well-made as usual, and with a clever method), the El Duco one (which uses a Post-It note holder) is quick to reset.

if you buy a certain jon riggs booklet, he has a heath robinson version that you make for 50p...unfortunately for you, i cant remember which one...but its a good 'un...

seige has also got a cheapo innocuous looking pad - ipocrita, thats useful too...i wonder if it would work nicely applying the padgali principle to an ipocrita model?

Thanks for the suggestions.

Problems really arise here outta funds, take the Horwitz pad. Now at £45 I am not going to buy that on the off chance that it might be better than my £27 Kozar pad.

However if I could see the workings & knew it was better then I have no problems with spending the money on it.

So as I already own the Kozar pad and have been on this forum for a few years now does me asking for someone to tip the method (via PM) make me bad?

There is a couple of niggles on the Kozar pad which if another item has eliminated them I would go with. They are only tiny niggles but I will always improve upon my props where possible.

i personally wouldnt feel comfy tipping the method..sorry...

maybe look on the martinbreese.com site, or even e-mail him instead and ask?

I personally wouldnt feel comfy tipping the method..sorry...

No problems I understand.

But it is something that is a pain.

When we buy any other item we are allowed to examine it & understand it's features & benefits before buying.

With magic we cannot!
Therefore the only way to really find out about an effect is to buy it.

And this was okay when I started out, I must have spent around £500 - £1000 on various effects & from all of these only really a handful or so have I settled down to & use regularly when I work. But I don't begrudge spending that money as it was fun & also an investment.

But now I want something that will make my (magical) work easier & I want the perfect impression pad, but there are so many out there, so having read up on reviews I settled on the Kozar pad, thus this thread.

Only to be told there are better ones out there.
Apart from the niggles I mentioned above the Kozar is a one trick jobby so are these other pads that are out there useful for other effects or are they also one effect wonders?

Anyway I'm just having a little moan, I suppose if I had a magic shop local to me (Sussex) I could go in, make myself known & then find this stuff out but for now think I'll take your advice & email Martin Breese.

ah good..he's a good chap too, you'll get an honest response at least...

as for imp pads, my personal faves are the jon riggs ones, he does all sizes and shapes dependant on what type of situation you peform in...

pretty damn cheap considering too...i love jon riggs' work in many many ways...

In my experience, you really don't need to personally visit a magic shop, but you do need to have been a customer over the phone (online orders should count too, depending on how good their records are).

I know of a few dealers (and only a few because I buy 90% of my stuff from the same four shops) who are more than willing to give you advice, or even a hint of the method, certainly if you come across as knowledgeable.

I have had a couple of dealers warn me off buying items certain from them! It's called customer service and it still exists.

The problem is in finding shops that do that, and someone with the right experience to advise you. If, for example, the best impression board is one by John Riggs, if the shop doesn't stock them, and the person doesn't even know the item, you're unlikely to get complete advice.

Welcome to the wonderful world of magic!

Problems really arise here outta funds, take the Horwitz pad. Now at £45 I am not going to buy that on the off chance that it might be better than my £27 Kozar pad.

However if I could see the workings & knew it was better then I have no problems with spending the money on it.

THe main difference is in the look of the pad. I have the Kozar and won't be buying the Horwitz simply because the Kozar works well and I've never had any problems with it.