talkmagic.co.uk

Alien Autopsy



£11.99 / $15.00

Here’s one online shop that offers it: http://www.magicbox.uk.com/exec.php/product/Search/?category=39&keyword=alien+autopsy



3 = The trick is entirely centered around a slightly altered form of the Elmsley Count. If you don’t know it, the included instructions will lay it out for you.
(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

Alien Autopsy is a clever concept that, unfortunately, falls short in a few areas. Here is the basic concept of the effect:

Magician shows the audience a packet of cards. He talks of aliens visiting us from outer space. Counting the cards, the faces of 4 different colored aliens appear and disappear one at a time – sandwiched between pictures of the Earth and space. The aliens, now here on our planet, are caught by the Men in Black. All is not lost, however! With a wave of the hand, the alien faces change to green “immigration cards”. However, a problem arises with the immigration cards. Immediately, they turn back into the faces of the four different colored aliens, all displayed together at one time. For the finale, the magicians tells how the aliens were carted off, only to be seen again, one final time. The magician, with another wave, now reveals that all four cards have changed to pictures of the infamous “alien autopsy” photographs.

As I said before – the idea is a strong one. The cards LOOK great. Colorful and easy to see – the changes are highly visual and they WILL get you some great reactions. The instructions are good, and anyone who comes to this effect with even a little knowledge of basic handling can pick this routine up rather quickly. The booklet is well-detailed and easy to follow. Anyone who has a strong handle on the Elmsley count will find the method behind the trick easy to understand.

Unfortunately – the EXECUTION becomes tricky.

1 - The cards are not standard card stock. In order to make them last longer – the cards have a VERY thick lamination. This makes them LOOK great – but they have a terrible tendency to handle poorly as a result. They’re thicker than standard cards (NOTICEABLY so, when you pick the packet up). While the thickness of the packet can be concealed easily enough, when you perform, the thickness becomes a hindrance, and sadly, there are more problems.

2 - The lamination makes them last a long time, but they can get sticky VERY quickly, and the cards have a tendency to slip out of place at the wrong moment. I like to think I have a pretty strong Elmsley Count – and I sometimes find it difficult to perform this in certain situations (ie – if it’s really humid and you keep these in a plastic carrying case – they can sometimes stick even MORE).

3 – Another problem with the cards (at least in the three versions I’ve seen and handled) is that one side of all of the cards has the TINIEST little “ridge” to it. What I mean is, there feels like an excess of plastic sticking up from the edges of the cards. It doesn’t cause a problem THROUGHOUT – but the ridge does force you to keep your hands extra tight in phases 2 and 4.

4 – Aside from card problems, the presentation/patter that comes with the instructions is another drawback. You’re supplied with a poem for your patter. Right off the bat, I wasn’t happy about that. I was even MORE unhappy when I read the poem and realized it was a BAD poem. I couldn’t even say this is suited for children’s shows. I’ve since found other variations of patter, and now use my own story and presentation, but I find this to be a major issue. The CONCEPT of the trick is really good, but it seems like they put all of their effort into making the cards, and they tossed the patter together as an after thought. I understand that we should all incorporate our own style into the effects we use, but this comes off as a second-rate, last-minute addition.The idea of the cards fills your head with ideas almost immediately – I think it’s a poor effort to not include more interesting elements to the presentation.

5 - The biggest detractor from this effect is the cards themselves, another problem comes up with the handling. The count is slightly altered, in that you need to reposition certain cards AFTER the count has been performed. To me, this is INSTANTLY suspicious. Altering the positions of the cards isn’t always a bad thing, but in the case of this effect it serves NO purpose. It’s unnatural, and as a result can lessen the effect.

Still, it’s not ALL bad. The cards DO look great. They’re bold and colorful, which means you can perform this from even a bit of a distance and still make your revelations hit hard. When executed flawlessly, the effect IS powerful. However, even under optimum conditions, I’ve found these pesky buggers can still be temperamental! I know my complaints may sound like the ranting of a newcomer, but I stand by what I said. I’m not the greatest card man in the world, but I can hold my own. When the cards themselves seem to work against you, even practice won’t always help. To be fair, I haven’t been caught, to date – but sometimes the cards just don’t want to follow your lead. I’ve had a few brief flashes, and while I haven’t been called on them, I still find them annoying.


Overall

Great concept – not so great delivery and execution. The cards are almost unwieldy and the original presentation is almost laughable. I can’t truly recommend this effect to anyone for the effect itself – but I did find the investment was worth it, in terms of the ideas the method has brought to me. For that reason alone, I don’t regret the purchase. However, if you’re looking for a REALLY great packet effect, I would advise you continue your search. I still pull this effect out from time to time – mostly for kids. It has a great effect on children, so if you’re looking for something for a birthday party or whatnot, you might want to give this a try.

5/10

I recently bought this, and although I am usually quite good at coming up with patter, I seem to have a complete mental block. The patter included is absolutely terrible.

http://legerdemains.com/ac07002.html includes a video of Steve Simbeck doing this, but it is a .ram file, so I can't get it to open. Does anyone have an avi, wmv or mp4 file of this so i've got something to compare / base / plagerise my patter on? I've looked to Youtube, but it's just the usual kids doing the trick with a webcam and playing some Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the background.

Rufio wrote:I recently bought this, and although I am usually quite good at coming up with patter, I seem to have a complete mental block. The patter included is absolutely terrible.

http://legerdemains.com/ac07002.html includes a video of Steve Simbeck doing this, but it is a .ram file, so I can't get it to open. Does anyone have an avi, wmv or mp4 file of this so i've got something to compare / base / plagerise my patter on? I've looked to Youtube, but it's just the usual kids doing the trick with a webcam and playing some Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the background.

Download the real media player to play .ram files.