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Just had an email from Merchant of Magic and really like the look of this one; seems like another take on the OOTW premise, along the lines of Dan Baines's From Hell but not quite as morbid. I wonder if the reality of the method lives up to the promises...

The cards REALLY are completely mixed up and shuffled by the spectators. The performer does not change the order of the cards AT ALL once the spectator has mixed them, or after the spectators have chosen the cards they want to keep!

No switched or swapped cards or packets. The spectators decide if they want to keep the cards or discard them and that's FINAL. The performer does not need to do any sneaky switches or adjustments to the cards the spectators have chosen!

If anyone gets this, I would appreciate your thoughts on it. Exclusive to MoM at the moment.

got a link there bud

it does not use the ottw method and is nicely produced

Sorry, matey...

http://www.magicshop.co.uk/p2944/White_ ... _info.html

DrTodd wrote:it does not use the ottw method and is nicely produced

Now I'm really intrigued. The props do look like good quality, too.

not much of a video, lets hope its not just another hyped card effect.

FRK wrote:not much of a video, lets hope its not just another hyped card effect.

It's not...many years of hard work went into it, and it is getting fantastic responses on the less public traffic among mentalists and bizarrists...

That looks pretty good. Too good to be real, without any gimmicks and being fully examinable.
Now if only I had the money to spend that amount on one trick. It would be very tempting.

I'm intrigued. The vid doesn't give anything useful but from the description, this sounds very much like a variation on OOTW which, if memory serves correctly, was published in Magic or Genii magazine a couple of years ago. Whatever the method, full marks for tying it into such a strong and powerful story.

If anyone is interested, there's a discussion on White Star over at the Cafe (with lots of helpful input from Dominic Reyes)...

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view ... rum=218&23

The blurb is 100% accurate.

No gimmicks.
Beautifully produced pictures with full biographical details on the back.
Great and all-improved method
Everything is completely examinable

You get 28 cards and 21-page booklet with the original routine and 4 additional routines.

Jim has pondered and cogitated for many years and come up with a wonderfully ingenious method for this effect. But beyond the method (which is both straightforward and devious), you get a great set of collector-style photos and a true story in which to couch your effect.

Yes,it is an OOTW plot,but in my view a better method and better premise than From Hell. You can use any two objects and dress this up as much as like. I could see this is a classic example of a Chelman-esque 'Hauntique' with assocoiated props one would have found on the Titanic.

Superb product and well worth the expenditure.

10/10

Well, there you have it, folks. A glowing endorsement from DrTodd himself. This one is now on my wish list.

And you can apply the method to OOTW or From Hell,so in many ways,you are getting quite a lot!

I had a private event last night with some after dinner entertainment and I used White Star as my closer. I did about 25 minutes of material that gradually got more implausible and then performed White Star.

I used an English penny from 1899 and a gold and ruby ring from 1910 as 'markers' for my participants, I used a couple that had been going out for over a year and made a lot of that fact to explain that this particular demonstration would be most successful with a couple.

I chose the man for the 'died' and the woman for the 'survived'. The beauty of this routine is that for most of it they have no real idea what is going on and are intrigued with the props and the premise. The guests were fascinated with the pictures and at times chipped in facts and details about the Titanic, so it really did become a group effort. The final sets of revelations can be done in a really nice slow fashion as you show each photograph and how they have been amazingly separated. You can finish by picking up the pace a bit to increase the sense of impossibility of the feat.

You then are left with a table full of totally examinable props. Lovely!

HI Dr Todd

Glad your enjoying White Star. I've been having a lot of fun with it too.

Had a few discussions about ways to allow a fun/light hearted version of the effect and came up with an idea I though I would share here.

As there is no reason why you can't use the method in White Star with different photos, it might be funny to perform on the right group of girls. Show photos of guys, and have two girls choose which ones they want to keep. One of the girls ends up with Millionaires the other with guys that are broke. That presentation would get some great laughs from the group, and allow plenty of fun/gags along the way. Ties in well with the 'Joe Millionaire' style TV Shows.

I'm still up against a mental wall trying to think of an actually useable presentation for weddings ( avoiding the married/devorced seperation that automatically springs to mind) Any Ideas?

Best wishes and good luck with your magic
Dominic