Close To Death By Black Hart

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Close To Death By Black Hart

Postby Stephen Ward » Oct 14th, '06, 14:38



The Effect

The magician passes a pewter locket to the spectator and tells them it was a gift from Satan to a Witch. The spectator chooses a card from a deck and is told that every gift comes at a price. inside the locket is a curse but thankfully the spectator has picked the only card that does not subject them to a horrible death.



Cost

£28.50 exclusive to http://www.blackhart.co.uk/closetodeath.html



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)

No skill needed except presentation

Review

The package comes with a pewter locket, the curse, a deck of cards and an A5 booklet with routine and instructions.

The first thing that struck me when i opened the package was how stunning the locket is. This is really something you could wear and always have a bizarre effect with you. It really is a lovely looking locket and is nice and solid.

The effect itself is very easy to perform, you will perform it straight away with no problems. Even a complete beginner could perform this effect as soon as they open the package. The script is very dark and disturbing. i was very impressed with the little story Keith has created to go with the effect.

This really is a Real World, chilling and disturbing effect that you will be proud to add to your performances. Another great product from the Black Hart!



Overall

10/10 and worth every penny. It gets 10 due to quality of props and the way this will really chill the audience.

Last edited by Stephen Ward on Oct 14th, '06, 16:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Markdini » Oct 14th, '06, 15:06

I ve been wanting to get this effect, I have an intrest in this type of magic allthough it may not be the most comerical its certialy fun to do and i ve allways had intrest in things of a esoteric nature so i shall be getting this. Great review Mr Ward.

I am master of misdirection, look over there.

We are not falling out young Welshy, we are debating, I think farlsy is an idiot he thinks I am one. We are just talking about who is the bigger idiot.

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Postby lindz » Oct 15th, '06, 10:58

oh damn you stephen you have to keep reviewing these blackhart products and everytime you do it goes on my wish list. I was saving for three of there products and then you start reviewing there products and now i have about six. If you keep reviewing them at this rate in about six months im gonna have the whole shop on my wish list (i dont know whether this is a good thing or not well maybe to me it is but the missus will probally kick me into the street if i buy 1 of everything. Oh well the street aint that bad). :D

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Postby Stephen Ward » Oct 15th, '06, 11:48

Just performed this to a test audience. They freaked :lol: so it gets great reactions. Looking forward to adding this to my paid shows

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Postby Markdini » Oct 15th, '06, 11:58

Are you on a commison Stephen :P It looks like one of them effects that can be played to 2 people or 200 upwards. I get the feeling by looking at the site that all of Black Harts stuff is like that. Probley not the effect to play down the old folks home tohugh :lol:

I am master of misdirection, look over there.

We are not falling out young Welshy, we are debating, I think farlsy is an idiot he thinks I am one. We are just talking about who is the bigger idiot.

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Postby Stephen Ward » Oct 15th, '06, 12:00

Markdini wrote:Are you on a commison Stephen :P


Not at all, i just think quality effects should be talked about on Talk Magic. :lol:

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Postby Markdini » Oct 15th, '06, 12:09

I cant agree with you more there. How many times have we all brought a gimmick , book , effect. That will allow us to levitate an elephant whilst sawing a lady in half and have doves do card magic? And what do we get? usually a "flesh" toned peace of placstic and a bit of string connected to it. When i first learnt Card manipulation i got a couple of things called a card appear. HMMM then again what do you want for £2

The magic world is awash with so so effects or ones frankly that say they are 100 times better then they are. I know showmanship etc etc comes in to it. But I can see the quality of the effects on Keiths site.

As David Dickinson says "Buy quality" and i dont mind paying a little bit extra for something that A will get used B will give me confidace to perform it because it looks so good and C inspires the reactions I want from an audiance.

I am master of misdirection, look over there.

We are not falling out young Welshy, we are debating, I think farlsy is an idiot he thinks I am one. We are just talking about who is the bigger idiot.

Vincere Aut Mort
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Postby leighton » Oct 15th, '06, 15:10

Thank you for a great review Stephen,

Allthough it is not helping us C.U.P.S sufferes :lol:
I performed the Weeja and Museum of Antiquities from BlackHart last night along with a load of other prediction style effects (using the Psycho Deck also), they were very strong and the scripts supplied by Keith are very chilling and easy to remember.

My wallet is now officialy "empty" untill the end of the month.

I made my wife dissapear just by arguing with her!!!
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Postby black hart » Oct 15th, '06, 18:08

Hello all

Please let me explain to you all Black Artefacts (Black Hart Productions) policy on effects for review.

We never give out effects free to magazines, websites or anywhere else for that matter (although I am often asked to). The only people who review any of our effects are people who paid their own money for them (including Stephen). We do not ask reviews and we do not arrange for them to be done. If you see a review of any Black Artefacts product you can be sure that it is a truly independant review by someone who has paid their own money for the effect. This I believe is the only way that your potential customers can believe what they read about the effect. If the reviewer does not like the product then they are entireley free to say so.

We do pay to advertise in magazines and on the internet but if I were to submit an effect to someone who we pay for advertising how likeley are you to see a truly independant review? Or at least there may be the suspicion that the review was not unbiased.

We welcome comments and informed critisism about our products. It is YOU our customers and potential customers who pay our bills. It is in our interests to keep you happy.

I understand that any comments that Stephen is on commission were 'tongue-in-cheek' but it does give me an oportunity to clarify our position regarding reviews.

BTW we also monitor our web stats and keep a check on where the hits are comming from, which is how I get to know about any comments made on magic websites.

Thank you for talking about Black Artefacts - you talk and we will listen.

Keith Hart

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Postby leviticus » Oct 16th, '06, 13:31

I would like to point out a couple of things on Black Hart items as I have a few

Firstly The prices are very good value for money
All props are made to last and attention to detail is awesome

This next point its my personal oppinion and not a dig at the products

All BH items are easy selfworking items. Its not super strong amazing magic.
You really need to tell a story and build atmosphere.I know all magic is in the presentation but BH items need excellent presentation. If you cannot tell a tale without looking cheesey or unbelieveable these tricks will not work.
The script with each item is perfect but if you are going to read verbatim in a boring monotone voice forget it.
Some BH item's work great for me others don't its my fault I'm not up to the job.
Just bear this in mind when buying. I wouldn't want anyone to buy these who cannot act as they will be a waste of money.
Also I'd like to point out Keith's (The Black Hart ) post how often do you see creators actively showing interests on the boards without a single plug to products or coming items not even a link to the website.
A very professional post let the products speak for themselves.
Again if you can act and set the mood BH will serve you very well if you cannot you will be wasting your money
Andy

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close to death

Postby roddy » Jul 10th, '07, 11:06

Mine came this morning and as soon as I opened it I was impressed. None of that I've wasted my money feeling - quite the opposite. The locket is very well made and would sell as a piece of jewelery in its own right.
The effect - very easy to do - is all in the presentation and great fun to perform. I wish other dealers were as reliable as Blackhart ! ( see his returns policy )

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Postby lozey » Jul 10th, '07, 19:42

Iv been looking at this effects for ages but Iv heard a few stories of long waiting times for this effect because Alchemy Gothic who make the lockets have an incredibly slow service (as i recently found out after waiting 11 weeks for 2 rings!)

(C, AH)
If you have a quality,let it define you no matter what it is-Doug Bradley
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Postby roddy » Jul 10th, '07, 20:56

Maybe you should ask Keith - he's very reliable. I ordered mine and it came
within a week. I notice he does say the ring takes ten days to order and manufacture but that's a question of size whereas the locket is one standard size

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Postby black hart » Jul 10th, '07, 21:24

Iv been looking at this effects for ages but Iv heard a few stories of long waiting times for this effect because Alchemy Gothic who make the lockets have an incredibly slow service


Like all Black artefacts effects, 'Close to Death' is exclusive - we only sell our own effects and we do not wholesale to other dealers. I can assure you that no customer of ours has ever waited 12 weeks for this effect. In fact I generally keep the 'lockets' in stock so I can despatch CTD asap.

As Roddy says the rings are made to order because of the different sizes. I am at the mercy of the manufacturer with these. However as with any BA item if there is a delay we will inform the customer and give them the chance to cancel or modify their order.

Anyway back to the effect. This is a real favourite of mine and I'm very pleased at the twist in the use of a o**-**y deck. This was one of those ideas that came in a flash of inspiration. I wish it was so all the time!

I am developing an effect at the moment that I've been working on for a few months and right now I've got the method and the outline but I'm trying to write the script and inspiration is proving difficult.

Life as a magic manufacturer/inventor/dealer has it's difficult side. :wink:

Keith Hart

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