Automata - Nine Self Working Miracles - DVD - Gary Jones & Chris Congreave.
The Effect - Exactly what it says on the tin - it's a DVD of 9 completely self working tricks. In 1 or 2 of them, you may have to do a VERY simple move, nothing too complicated, as I wouldn't class any of the moves as sleight of hand - just purely a move.
Cost - I got mine for £20.49 (£17.99 + £2.50 postage) from:
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/aca ... F1111.html
Difficulty - def a 1.
(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)
Review:
The blurb:
PRO LEVEL MAGIC - MASSIVE REACTIONS - NOT A SLEIGHT IN SIGHT!
NINE completely self working effects guaranteed to elicit huge reactions!
Make no mistake - these are not your run of the mill, novelty self workers. These are PRO LEVEL magic effects, straight from the repertoires of two of the busiest working magicians in the UK!
Watch both Chris and Gary completely destroy their audience with 'Metal Sheep' - an amazing multi-coin transposition, 'Fireballs' - a miniature cups and balls miracle and 'Card 2 Matchbox' - think this classic requires sleight of hand? Think again! Then there’s 'Thirty Four' - an amazing multi revelation mentalism peice! All this plus FIVE more effects that you will learn quickly (just follow the steps!) and be able to perform immediately! You’ll be getting massive reactions with none of the work in practically no time at all!
'Automata' contains a real mixed bag of material too, from mental effects, tricks with pins, a finger ring, a cell phone, coins, a matchbox, mini cups...in fact, only THREE of these killer automatic effects are card tricks!
'Automata' - a killer collection of the finest, professional grade, self working material available, all of which you will start using immediately!
FULL CONTENTS
METAL SHEEP - A stunning multi-coin transpo!
CARD 2 MATCHBOX - A classic without the sleights!
KINGPINS - a finger ring jumps from one pin to another!
FREE PHONE - Mentalism with a spectators phone!
POKER CHEAT - They choose the cards - you always win!
THIRTY FOUR - A multi-revelation mental masterpiece!
BIRTHDAY CARD - Perfect for restaurant workers!
PRINCESS REDUX - An old classic - supercharged!
FIREBALLS - It’s going straight into your repertoire!
My Review:
I don't think I'm going to be giving too much away when I say that because all of these tricks are completely self working, you kind of know that you're going to be either setting things up beforehand and/or using gimmicks.
The DVD is very well presented, each trick is fully explained and very easy to understand. I don't think I'd be exaggerating by saying a child could probably perform most (if not all) of these tricks; but do not let that detract from the fact that there are some very powerful tricks on this DVD. Okay, I'm not a big fan of all of them, but there are some gems on here.
Metal Sheep:
Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJyjcISXmgs
Nothing more needs to be said, the vid shows it all. It's very visual and dead easy to do, you just need that certain something to be able to perform it. I haven't performed this as I haven't got that certain something - but if I did, I'd def use this and expect huge reactions.
Card 2 match box:
This 1 is my favourite from the DVD and VERY easy to do.
The spec shuffles the cards and deals them into a pile, dealing cards from anywhere in the deck. They then pick this pile up and deal into 2 piles - the top cards of each pile give us a "random" card. The spec then looks for their card in the deck and it's not there - it is now in a match box that was previously shown to be empty and the magician has been nowhere near it, since it was shown empty.
The beauty of this is that the spec shuffles the deck. Some audience management is needed, 'cos if they "overshuffle" the deck, it can mess things up, although you have 3 chances of a hit (I'm afraid I can't say anymore).
Kingpins:
A borrowed ring jumps from 1 pin to another.
The ring is closed on to a pin and this pin is marked with a marker pen. Another pin is brought in to play, the 2 are brought together and the ring magically jumps to the pin that isn't marked - you end totally clean.
Not for me as I don't carry huge pins around with me, but if I did, I would poss use this as it's quite simple to do and quite visual as well.
Free phone:
The spec takes out their phone, purse (or wallet) and keys and a selection is made by the spec (free choice - no equivoque) and the magician.
A text that was previously sent by the magician to the spec's phone, matches the choices exactly.
This isn't that strong in my opinion as you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting it right anyway, plus I wouldn't advise repeating this trick.
Poker cheat:
You have 10 cards and deal 2 hands of 5 cards each. The spec chooses the cards (or so it appears). The only downside is the equivoque when there's only 2 cards left, but apart from that, everything seems completely fair.
I quite like this and I like the little twist with what hand the magician ends up with.
Thirty four:
16 cards are laid out in 4 rows of 4 and the spec selects cards in what appears to be a fair way.
A prediction is revealed and it matches that of the spectator's. I'm not a big fan of number tricks, as they appear somewhat contrived and this, in my opinion, is one of those tricks. You def can't repeat this to the same spectators.
Birthday card:
A neat trick to perform at a restaurant where someone is celebrating their birthday. A spec chooses a card and the deck is cut. Another spec then sings happy birthday to the spec and the magician deals the cards out to the beat of the song. When the spec stops singing, the card is turned over and it matches the spec's selection. I can imagine this getting good reactions when used in the right setting, etc.
You need that certain something to perform this and as I have limited pocket space when I go out, I won't be using this, but I do still think it's not a bad trick.
Princess Redux:
Magician deals 5 cards. Spec chooses 1 whilst magician turns away - magician correctly guesses the spec's card. There are now 4 cards, the spec chooses 1 and yet again the magician guesses correctly.
You need a jacket to perform this (as you need the pocket) and that certain something. The certain something is not in play at the end, so you end up totally clean.
This is another trick where you need good audience management, 'cos if you're not careful, the spec could rumble you partway through the trick if you don't tell them exactly what to do (basically, you don't want them looking at the cards - apart from the one they select).
Fireballs:
Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KntDkADNBZ8
If I did cups and balls, I'd def use this. I haven't tried this, but going off the explanation, it's quite easy to do and will prob get huge reactions. I love the kicker with the shallot - absolute quality. I might just buy some kind of cups or shot glasses, so I can perform this, I like this 1 a lot.
Overall
I give this 8 out of 10.
Some of the tricks are not as good as others, but there's no bad ones on here.
There's pretty much something for everyone on here. I'm sure you'll find 1 or 2 on here that you can use and put straight into your routine.
