"The Kras Change" by Michael KrasPlease excuse any spelling errors, as I am typing this on "wordpad" which has no spellcheck.
Effect:"an isolated card, with barely a flick, visually changes to a completely different card!" See a demo here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU4JxCNJ-EUCost:I was sent a free review copy, but the manuscript is available for $10 from here:
http://magiclibrary.co.uk/products/kras-change-michael-kras/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)
This change is probably about a 3. You will be expected to know a few, very basic card sleights (I think these are all explained in "the royal road to card magic"). The change is fairly "knacky" and will require serious work to make it as rapid, fluid and visual as it is on the demo. This is one of those tactile moves that feels great to perform and, after a while, kind of just works itself in a way. Michael goes to great lengths to make this move as easy to learn as possible (even providing his email address so that you can contact him for advice if you get stuck!)
ReviewFor $10 you get a 14 page ebook explaining the change, cleanup, and 2 effects utilising the change. Everything is explained very clearly with plenty of colour photographs and, while nothing special, the 2 effects included are of high quality. My only criticism of Michael's writing is the prescence of a few, mostly unobtrusive, errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. I feel it would have added to the quality of the ebook if more of an effort had been made to spell check and proof read the work.
The change itself is excellent. The face of the card is only out of view for a fraction of a second, and it appears incredibly desceptive. There are no unnatural movements of the fingers during the change, and both the starting and finishing positions of the change appear clean from all angles (even underneath the card!), with a breif, invisible cleanup to make the deck examinable. Angles are not really much of an issue here.
OverallThis is hardly groundbreaking, but it is a lovely impromptu card change that requires no gimmicks. If that is what you are looking for, then this will probably be perfect for you. However, the move can be knacky, and you must bear in mind that you are ultimately paying for a single move. I beleive this has been previously released as the spring change, so if you bought that, you may not want the buy this as well!
8/10