The Effect
What they say: A spectator selects a random Sudoku puzzle and copies it onto a large blank grid so that everyone can see the puzzle. The magician studies the grid for a few seconds and then turns his back to the puzzle. The magician then begins to instantly call out numbers to the spectator and the entire Sudoku puzzle is completed 'blind' by the magician.
As an extra challenge, the spectator can even be instructed to lie and miswrite the puzzle on the grid at the beginning of the routine - not only will the magician be able to tell which digits are incorrect - but also what they should be!!!
Cost £79.99 (Yes, £79.99!)
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)
This is a tricky one. The method is very easy so I'd say 1. But, being able to present this convincingly is going to prove a major hurdle.
Review
I quite fancied including a Sudoku type effect for my stage set. I think the magic square can be a bit outdated and something like this is topical and will chime wth spectators - ie it has context and may be relevant in their lives. Most people have heard of sudoku or played it. However, I don't know what I was expecting when I bought this but I was praying that the method wasn't what I suspected it was. Sadly, I opened the parcel, looked at the book, and quickly discovered the method. It was indeed what I had feared. The method will baffle laymen, but magicians should be very familiar with it.
This whole effect is basically The Knight's Tour but with Sudoku. Like The Knights Tour the performer is faced with a number of presentational options that all have their own problems built into them. You don't need to do any memory work with this effect and it is self working. However, if you present it in this way you'll have to be pretty ballsy. In reality, I'd probably present this as part of a blindfold routine. That will at least take away 'some' of the heat. There are other develish methods but you'd have to get down to hobby craft.
This is more suited to stage/parlour. You could use it for closeup or strolling but I really do believe that you'd have to spend a couple of weeks doing some serious memory work in order for it to be worthwhile.
I have two gripes with the effect. Firstly, if you want to present this on stage then you'll have to buy a whiteboard, draw a load of squares on it, and get a spec to fill in the numbers. This will need some padding out performance-wise so maybe a good opportunity to dust off all those old gags. Secondly, for the princely sum of £79.99, all you get is the book, and a piece of A4 paper with the explanation on it and a bare-bones presentation. For the hugely inflated price I would have expected a lot more. On the A4 sheet there is a website URL which apparently has free blank Sudoku grids for you to download and use. The website is dead and no longer exisists! - a minor point but one that I found slightly annoying.
I can't comment on audience reactions since I've never presented it. However, I imagine the reactions will be similar to magic square/knights tour presentations.
Overall
This is really a demonstration of a memory feat. You need to be solid performer to pull something off like this with any degree if authority. I can only assume that the price is to restrict the amount of people who own the performance rights, because it can't be anything to do with the product, albeit the book is very professionally presented and looks the part. I do intend to use it, but I'm going to wait until I've got more 'hang time' on stage so that I can do the effect justice.
It's very expensive for what it is, but I doubt many people own it, or have seen it performed. I'll re-post if I ever get round to using it on stage and let you all know how I got on. I won't give a mark out of ten until I've road tested it fully.
K
