by magikmax » Oct 29th, '07, 14:50
Very strong effect in the right hands this. I must say, I would agree with previous comments both for and against, but personally, I won't have any problems performing this, and I don't think my audience will twig either, despite the very easy method that the trick employs.
With regards to the balls, as other people have said, there is a difference between the black and the white, however, the balls should really only be like a marker as far as the spectators are concerned, the magician is doing the magic, not the balls.
If you dress it up right, and employ Max Maven's idea on Videomind of having the spectators keeping the ball to themselves, this won't be a problem. If you're getting the spectator to put the ball back in the bag after you have revealed that they do not have the black ball, there's not going to be a problem, as the spectator only handles one ball at a time.
This would be a trick whereby the old 'don't perform the same trick to the same spectators' rule comes into play.
I'm happy with it, I will be performing it, all I need to work on is the patter side of it, as to how I want to present it. Personally, I prefer Derren Brown's presentation over Gauchi's (after viewing the demo on magicshop.co.uk) and over Max Maven's presentation of Kurotsuke.
Definite 8/10 for me (loses 1 point for not being repeatable on the same day, and 1 point because the white balls are slightly semi-transparant), and I'd recommend it as a killer effect for anyone, given the right presentation.