The Effect
From http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-arsenal/wallets/showdown.html
They say:
Showdown is a bi-fold hip pocket dual billfold wallet
2 billfolds and ALL pockets are HORIZONTAL either way you open it! None of those odd vertical pockets. This gaff has never been done before in a Sho-Gun style wallet!
The horizontal pockets are an original Outlaw gaff design!
Single flap
2 Peeks!- inside and an outside closed wallet peek!
You can swami or PW with the wallet closed- Load with the wallet closed
It's also a two way switching wallet
Secret locking duplicate side
I.D. filters
Hidden index!
Super thin and sleek! Only 4 inches vertical and 4.25 inches horizontal when closed
Showdown is a completely normal looking wallet designed to be used as your everyday billfold
We designed a wallet that combines the best principles of our Outlaw wallets to create the Swiss army knife of wallets! For those of you that want to incorporate mentalism, swami, cards, peeks, hidden index, loads and switches, and the Sho-gun function into one wallet, this is it!
Cost
$125.00
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)
1-3: Depends entirely on you and what you'd require. Many perfectly good effects can be done very easily, but with a bit more thought and application the Showdown could be used for some very sophisticated deception.
Review
I've had this for some months now as I wanted to really road test it to see just what it was capable of. I'm aware that there are many mentalists out there who have perfectly valid objections to the use of wallets in the discipline and don't wish to open that particular discussion here as it's more than adequately covered elsewhere on the forum. In my view, though an almost propless mentalism is the ideal (barring paper, pencils, envelopes, etc.), for casual day-to-day use, with a bit of care to make sure it doesn't become the centre of attention, the Showdown is a great mentalists'/magicians' wallet.
Firstly, it looks nothing special - just an average bi-fold hip wallet, made from nice soft leather. Unlike some other gimmicked wallets on the market, the thing looks totally innocent with no odd pockets or flaps that might make a spectator suspicious. It is a lot like my previous, ungimmicked wallet, which was one of the reasons I went for the Showdown. That said, you wouldn't want to put it in the hands of a spec as its main secret which enables switches and the open wallet peek would be very easy for them to discover. But then, I'm not in the habit of handing my wallet to others anyway.
The internal, open wallet peek is very clever and simplicity itself to operate - the manual also gives very good tips on how to disguise it further. The external, closed wallet peek doubles up as a method for closed loading and switching and is also simple to use with a s**** and I would imagine p***** w****** though I haven't tried the latter.
The external peek proved very useful to me recently when a sceptical family member asked me to determine which card he'd picked from the deck. With no planning, I said I wanted to put the card in my wallet which I would then put inside my pocket so that he couldn't switch it after, if I got it right. He seemed to accept this as ensuring fairness on both our parts - bwah-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! As I needed but a split second peek to ID the card before it went in my pocket the wallet was away and forgotten about almost immediately, whereupon I asked him to "not react" to a series of questions I asked him, pretending that I was reading his tells and being all psychological about it. After naming it, the card was whipped from the wallet without looking at it again and handed to another spectator who showed it around. I don't think he's quite the sceptic he was.
The other feature that I've used a lot is the hidden index. When I initially got the Showdown I kitted it out with a half deck Kolossal Killer, which worked very well, though I've since used it with billets and ESP cards to equally good effect.
In addition the "normal" credit card and money slots are of ample size to fit a standard Bike deck sized playing card, business card in, which enables you to get up to all sorts of jiggery pokery. Mine is stuffed with blank business cards at the moment, always on hand to use either with or without the wallet. One small drawback, though easily avoided by careful handling (i.e. grip it tightly), is the tendency for money to fall out of the duplicate side. But this is a very minor quibble.
In addition, though the delivery time took a while (it did come from the States), Rick Roth was quick with his responses to queries and the manual given is thorough with some good handlings by the wallet's co-creator Ran Pink. And, as with all Outlaw products, you get access to the relevant product forum which has a lot of good additional ideas.
Overall
I've used it in a fairly casual manner to date, but could see it working well for walkaround or table hopping if used among other effects. When it comes to stage performances, I couldn't really imagine it being of much benefit. In that context it would seem too gimmicky and suspicious, but to small groups with a bit of misdirection it has worked very well for me.
It arguably lacks some of the sophistication of, say, the Stealth Assassin with its multiple indexes (indices?!?), but that said, you can do most of the same things and in my opinion the Showdown looks a lot less weird and a lot more innocent.
The construction is excellent, it holds loads and if used with care so as not to draw attention to it, I've found it wonderful to use.
I'd give it a 8.5/10.
