talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect

A coin bends in the spectator's hand (and other strange things happen too)

Cost

£29.99 (Alakazam)

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)

I will give this a 4, not because of sleights but because this is a DVD about psychology and suggestion and is only really suitable for performers with a bit of experience in these approaches to effects.


Review

This is Ben Earl's take on the coin bend. There is a pulse stop and some Jermay-style hallucinatory fun in there too, but the coin bend is the main 'effect'. Some have criticised this routine as being 'too much' but the few times I have tried it so far, it has got great reactions and have not seemed to bear this out.

It opens with a performance in its entirety at what appears to be a pub, with a group of ladies. It is fair to say it goes down well and the reactions are excellent.

The routine is then broken down and discussed in detail, with every nuance covered, including the rationale for it. A few alternative options for some stages are covered too.

Overall

I was expecting great things from Mr Earl as I was very impressed by his previous offerings. I was slightly worried that I would be forking out £30 for some mumbo-jumbo but trusted Alakazam to deliver. I was not disappointed. As stated above, if you buy this, do not expect the latest gimmick or spectacular apparatus - it comes with none. The techniques are not for beginners and will require some performance experience to pull off satisfactorily. Having said that, if you are after some solid thinking from a great magician and are into this kind of approach, I recommend it heartily.

my problem with psychological coin bending is this...

unless you have a very tight script AND explanation...

how the hell do you cause the coin to bend using psychology?!

at least with derren's fork bend/non fork bend,we see the item stay normal throughout, its just in the participants minds....

but to bend a coin inside someone else's hand, which, even that - must be (surely) a display of the power of the mind somehow...

it doesnt quite gel for me...plus, for me - a mix of kenton and jermay's work is strong enough as far as im concerned...

Iain,

No explanation is offered to the spectator of how the coin bends, at least not in the routine as is. My 'psychology' comments were to make sure people did not buy the DVD expecting to be taught how to create a clever gimmick. The Jermay work is the basis of this (I do not own any of Kenton's stuff), so prob not worth it if you are already familiar with this type of methodology. Sorry if I did not make this clear.

Merlin

THIS IS ACE!!!

have been performing it since It came out, very good ideas and stopping the spectators pulse is a nice little kicker....The only reason a person couldnt perform this would be due to lack of spectator awareness (for example picking the correct spec) the one thats easily gonna fall for it....if you can pull it off its a lovley effect...very strong...I love when the date of the coin forms through their veins and they can actually see it....and so can you which is odd...

at least with derren's fork bend/non fork bend,we see the item stay normal throughout, its just in the participants minds

the spec can look at the coin and see it bending!!!

t doesnt quite gel for me

your over think things matey, their spectators not magicains/mentalists...they shouldnt be asking questions...

Yeah to clarify this you don't offer any explanation as to why the coin bends, the method itself is purely psychological. Anyone who's read Building Blocks will see immediate similarities (I was informed by someone who should know recently that Ben and Luke were good buddies during their formative magic years and the waters are a bit murky as to who exactly came up with some of the ideas used here and elsewhere, I'm only saying that in case you might think some copying has gone on after viewing the dvd) and some say that if you know enough about this type of routine you should be able to come up with it yourself.

I have a couple of answers to that. Firstly your 30 quid gets you a routine that has been worked and reworked and refined over years of performance and thousands and thousands of real world demonstrations. If you have never even thought of suggestion or it's applications before you can pick this up and get a complete multi stage effect that uses nothing else and be taught it utterly thoroughly without having to refer to any other sources. You get the hows and more importantly the whys in a lot of detail and you should be able to go away and perform the routine in whole or in any particular part you choose.

However it will require study. I always whip merrily through dvds taking a quick look at the explanations then setting about brushing up my sleights if need be before performing the effects I like. This is the only dvd that I've actually taken notes while watching to make sure I get the little bits that otherwise fly by in seconds but are the making or breaking in performance. Again if you're adept at this type of material you wouldn't need to but if you're new/inexperienced then you really should.

I'm an unashamed magician and though the mental side of things intrigues and interests me I can't imagine doing much other than the odd bit of mental magic. I've been taking more and more of an interest in suggestion from a theoretical stand point over the last 18 months or so as a means to increase the power of my magic but pure suggestion is still difficult for me. I'll get there in the end I suppose but at the moment I certainly couldn't perform the routine as it stands, for a multitude of reasons. For someone in my position though I couldn't recommend Skin highly enough.

if youre coming along to the next TM meet bronzy old son, i'll give you two quick tests you can do that'll help this kinda thing along a treat...and will let you segue into this effect nicely (by the sounds of it)...

I'll be there dagnammit. Maybe not 'til slightly later on due to the usual bloody work stuff but if your tests work for me and I can select a suitable victim to suggest up I'll give you a nice mystery surprise.

It's not an evening out with Greedo by the way in case you were going to scrub up.

greedo doesnt like me to scrub up...he prefers my natural odour

He smells like a naughty copperpot . MMMMM