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Jim Critchlow’s – Til Death Do Us Part
Jim Critchlow has seamlessly blended magic, mentalism and storytelling to create a unique moment of astonishment that leaves spectators truly stunned. When performed at the right time, there is absolutely nothing that can follow this effect.

Using some old wedding photographs of married couples from the last 80 years and a presentation that simply has to be true (doesn’t it?) Jim has devised one of the most extraordinarily powerful prediction effects that you will ever perform.

The memory of witnessing ‘Til Death Do Us Part resonates with spectators long after the performance is over and most who watch it don’t perceive it as any kind of ‘trick’ at all. It is simply an incredible story with an absolutely inexplicable ending.Complete with all the necessary photos, full DVD instruction and discussion and PDF files to print more photos as required

Difficulty Level (1-Easy, 5-Advanced)
The trick itself probably constitutes a 1 because there are no sleights involved at all. However, your presentation/story telling skills will need to be well developed in order to adapt to the different possibilities that can be thrown up in performance.

Price - £17.99 from Alakazam.co.uk

Review
Having performed Jim Critchlow’s White Star to death (excuse the pun), I was really looking forward to seeing this new effect. Like many, I was disappointed by the trailer that was released earlier in the year because it didn’t show any footage of the trick actually being performed.

It appears that there was a good reason for this – if I’m honest, the performances shown on the DVD aren’t of the highest calibre. This is not an effect to be performed in a table-hopping, pub environment. This is an effect that needs to be performed at the end of an evening once you have established a suitable atmosphere and have maybe been persuaded to show a group ‘one more trick’, or maybe to involve the VIP (corporate exec, birthday boy/girl,etc).

So, how is the effect performed? Well, you display a set of ten wedding photos that have all been taken at some point over the last eighty or so years. You also provide the spec with a black envelope at the beginning of the routine that you instruct them to put in their pocket. As you begin to tell the associated story, the spec chooses which pictures to eliminate until one a single picture remains. It is then that you instruct them to tear the picture up while you impart some truly horrifying details about the couple in the picture. You finally direct the spec to open the envelope you gave them earlier – and it is revealed that not only does the envelope contain a copy the same picture but it appears that it has been torn up, years before, in exactly the same way. This leads to a truly creepy climax with both pictures on the table – with matching tear lines.

To be honest, when I first got the routine, I was a little disappointed and it wasn’t until I watched the DVD and the performances contained on it that I started to get excited. The DVD itself is functional at best – as someone else mentioned on the board, someone like Marc Spellman would have been the ideal choice to present this effect as it suits his style perfectly. However, Jim Critchlow and Mark Elsdon do a perfectly fine job talking you through the routine, highlighting the pitfalls that can occur. Jim actually says a couple of times that the routine is “Seat of your pants” magic because so much of it is controlled by the spectator – if they make a ‘wrong ‘ choice, it’s up to you and your presentation skills to manoeuvre the routine back on track. This element of ‘Spectator Management’ really appeals to me and I can’t wait to get out and start performing it... No two performances will ever be the same. I’ve already mapped out my patter (based around Scotland Yard’s ‘Black Museum’) and have done some research into historical times and dates that will provide some extra authenticity. I’ve aged some of the pictures and made some extra modifications to the presentation to match my own stylings.

This routine will not appeal to everybody – it’s essentially a prediction routine that utilises a small number of forces to end up at the correct outcome. It will take time to develop you own story into your patter and you will need to invest a fair amount of time in doing this. The DVD contains a brief outline of both Jim and Mark's presentation but I would imagine that most people would want to put their own spin on the story. This is not an effect where you can follow a set of instructions and immediately perform a great trick. As I said before, neither is this an effect that you will find yourself repeating over and over during a single evening. Some might find that the investment in time a little too much for an effect that you’re only likely to perform once in an evening. It’s also fair to say that this effect won’t ‘work’ every single time. Because so much of it is driven by the spectators actions and choices, some performances won’t be as effective as others.

But, trust me, when this effect hits... it’s an absolute killer!

Good review - thank you!

Without giving anything away, would it be possible to do this with a completely different set of photos? I'm thinking here of perhaps finding and using all Victorian era wedding pictures to take the idea back to the days of J.Ripper and S.Holmes .

Oh yes.......! As I say, it's really the story that makes it. So - as soon as your story doesn't fit the photos, it's time to change them!

I can see myself performing this for years and changing pics as I go along

Sean

Thanks for the review! I wasn't sure whether this would suit me, but now I'm thinking it actually will. Cheers.

Klangster1971 wrote:Oh yes.......! As I say, it's really the story that makes it. So - as soon as your story doesn't fit the photos, it's time to change them!

I can see myself performing this for years and changing pics as I go along

Sean

Curses. I was hoping you'd say it wouldn't work under any circumstances. Now where's that credit card.......

yes i would much rather use more modern photos say from 70's up till now instead of the very old photos supplied with the effect, as i just think having a photograph taken from 1920's printed onto quality photo paper for me just seems a little - bought from a trick shop sort.if anyone can understand that, almost the same feeling as the photos supplied with 'heirloom' there just seemed something odd with it for me, and not convincing enough.

Good review. Sounds like an interesting effect.

I'm waiting for the postie with the jiffy as we speak and this review has just made me lick my lips in anticipation a little more!

After buying this and watching the DVD I was not over impressed....BUT..Just performed this for the first time and ...damn it actually works!! ( I think its one of those tricks that as magicians when you know how its done you are a little disappointed, but to the audiance if it works then its one to remember)

As the DVD mentions you need to be bold and go with it, but def. worth the money, going by the reaction I got.

I finally got this and I like the idea but there was just one major thing missing........ A GOOD STORY......

I was waiting to hear a really good story and all I heard was rambling with no interesting plot at all. I like telling stories and was really expecting one that I would feel proud in telling. No hook, no emotion, no nothing, just a guy who seems to be incoherent as he presented his patter, OH, I mean story….. Who am I kidding, there was no story.

The effect is cool, but I will have to make up a better interesting moving story. Maybe someone else can come up with a REAL story!`

On the back of the DVD cover it saids that he blended magic, mentalism and storytelling to create a unique moment...... Somehow the storytelling got lost.


Ray

The first thing I did (and I suggest that everyone should do the same thing) was create my own story. Sometime, we rely too much on a trick to give us everything we need to perform it - maybe that says something about the world and the culture we live in today, I don't know.

As I said in my review, this isn't an effect that you will rush out and perform straight away - for example I spent a few days doing some research on Scotland Yard's Black Museum as background to my story. I wanted to make sure that my story was as realistic as possible.. in fact I actually used a real murder case as the basis for my story in case anybody wanted to do some basic checking after they had seen the trick.

I've only performed it a handful of times because you have to pick your time and place for it - this isn't a trick that will form part of a standard routine. But, again as I said in my review, when the trick works there is really nothing that can follow it.


Sean

theres lots you can do with this to suit you better...i personally wont use a real life murder case though...doesnt feel right for me...

you can add newspaper clippings and make it LOOK real, and there's some things you can write on the back of the other photos too...

and also, if you buy the 40 extra photos from alakazam, i thought 3.50 was good value for a lazy swine like me, you can also make a forcing deck too...

I like the routine because I like to fly by the seat of my pants but what is the reason of the routine?

With all the hype you would have thought that there was a story! I really like storytelling and this was misleading. I would have paid just for a good story and then made up my own routine. I would have been happy with that and this is why I bought this effect. I really didn’t care what the effect was, I was after a really good story to tell.

This effect can be played with strong emotion, if you had a GOOD story. This is what I thought I was buying, something that had a story with teeth. All I got was gum all over, and that wasn’t fun. This is. ‘One of the most extraordinarily powerful routines YOU WILL EVER PERFORM’… heck, I have a better routine and story using a pea can.

The add states, ‘an inexplicable ending’ ….. really? What was the REASON of having the photo torn and in the envelope? Better question is why. Even that WASN’T thought out completely and this was supposed to be the KICKER ending! This is nothing more than a half baked idea. We don’t have an ending like this because we are not given any reason for it. How did the photo get torn?

I mix story telling with my mentalism and bizarre and was really looking forward to the story of this routine.

Sean, you stated that, “We rely too much on a trick to give us everything we need to perform it - maybe that says something about the world and the culture we live in today.” I wasn’t thinking that when I bought it. I didn’t buy this for the TRICK, I was after something more important…. A story….. After all, as a performer we need to inject our personality and presentation plus a good story can be used for other routines with a twist here and there.

This was like watching a magician explaining his routine. No impact, no reason, no hook. There is so much that could be done here, and this is an area that I will explore.



Ray

That's actually a fantastic idea to add newspaper clippings, You really couldn't get more realistic than that.

Here is what pops in my head this very minute. Introduce a finger ring and begin a story of love and death. Have the spectator hold the ring in their left hand and you then guide them in selecting photos. Once you get to the last two selections, instruct the lady to place the ring in her right hand (the hand of power and emotion) and ask all spectators to slow their breathing.

Ask her to concentrate as you tell the 2nd part of your story of betrayal between a man and women, which was the cause of her tearing the photo so many years ago. Rage, jealous, feelings of lost and hope of forgiveness motivated her.

The man had tried for so long to get back with the women that he betrayed but still loves and in a finally act of showing his love his spirit hopefully will guide the ring to the ONE photo of them. Now, ask her to let the ring and her feelings guide her, and to lay the ring on one of the two remaining photos.

She does, and you open the envelope letting a photo slide out unto the table or onto her open right hand face down. Grabbing her left hand, you look her in the eyes and end your short story. When she turns the photo over, it will tie the ending of the story in a nice little bow.


Here is another way to do it while throwing in a little bizarre. Same story only a different presentation.

Introduce a finger ring and tell a story of love and death. Have the spectator select five or three of the photos, and then place them in a circle.

Place the ring in the center of the photos and ask for the spectators to slow their breathing. Holding hands (if you want) the ring starts to move and finally rest (bumps) against one photo. Pick this photo up and tell the ending of your story, and the reason of betrayal between the man and women, which was the cause of her tearing the photo so many years ago.

The man has tried for so long to get back with the women that he betrayed but still loves and in a finally act of showing his love his spirit guides the ring to the ONE photo of them.




I also think that having the spectator tearing the photo isn’t needed. You have already mention that the women in the story had torn the photo in halve (one tear is all you need). It might be better to just keep the selected photo intact and have the one in the envelope AGED and yellow.


Ray