by fishistheice » Apr 29th, '07, 12:45
Barking Dog by Etienne Pradier
The Effect
The magician selects a card from the deck, which is kept secret from the spectators. He folds it into quarters, with the back outermost, and places into the grip of a bulldog clip. He explains that this card is a prediction.
A spectator then picks a card from the deck and signs it on the face. The card is returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled. The magician now draws attention to the bulldog clip once again, which has been in full view for the whole trick - he picks it up, removes the folded card from it's grip, and unfolds it. It is the spectator's signed card.
Cost
I found this for £12 on magicshop.co.uk
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)
I would rate this between 2 and 3, because there is only one sleight which might require a lot of practice to go unnoticed.
Review
The trick comes with instructions and the gimmick, which is good quality since despite using it a lot, I have not yet broken it/worn it down.
The gimmick itself is a very clever piece of apparatus, and the excellent thing about it is that it is more of a utility, which you can slip into almost any trick to add a touch of mentalism. I personally no longer use the performance as outlined in the instruction booklet, although it provides a good starting point.
The effect is very strong on the audience, as they all saw the signed card shuffled into the pack, and provides a nice alternative to simply revealing predictions written on a blank card.
As I said, there are a few sleights, but there is one sleight which is key to the operating of this gimmick, and does require practice.
Overall
A very versatile gimmick, which with a little bit of imagination can be integrated into other card tricks. I give this a 9/10, simply because it is not entirely angle proof, which has been pointed out to me in the past.