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The Blurb
From the creator of DEEP comes The AAA Book Test. The book test has been around for years, but now there is finally a book test that can be done with modern and popular books your friends already have.
The Effect
It's a book test. They chose a page at random, and you can tell them the first line on that page!
Cost
£31:00
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)
1 - This really is very easy
Review
I've had this for about 3 or 4 years, and have been considering reviewing it for quite a while. I've held off because I really don't like saying bad things about a product. It's someone else's hard work, and that should be respected. And what's not right for one magician, could be perfect for another... But really, I feel that I have to put this review out, if only as a sense of responsibility towards other magicians.
I essence, this should be good. An anytime, any place, any book routine! What could be bad about it?
In a nutshell...
It's not anytime. You need a specially prepared note book (the "cool" note book that they supply).
It's not any place. Anyone stood behind you will immediately see how this is done.
It's not any book. Well... it is,as long as it's one that you've prepared for!
As soon as you put the DVD in your DVD player, while the menu is on, in the background, you see a different trick done to a group of students... a bottle vanish! (It's actually quite a nice bottle vanish!) Surely if the AAA book test is that good, they wouldn't need to have this bottle vanish right here!
There is a performance by Trynt Harris doing this routine, to the same group of students. He's using "Twilight" to relate to his audience. I've never seen such an unimpressed audience in a demo on a DVD! It's quite amazing! - In fact, one of them clearly challenges him "You memorized that, it's your book," ... And to me it looks like the audience at the side can see exactly what's been going on.
I guess I should run through what you get for your money. You get the DVD, which is well enough shot. There's clear instructions on how to do the trick, and the previously mentioned demo... You get a blank note book, and you get a printed out sheet to prepare the notebook for Twilight, plus a numbered "bookmark" (It should be noted here that you're not restricted to Twilight. You really can use any book - as long as it has a minimum of 369 pages, and you've done the required prep for it)
It's hard to talk about this much further without tipping the method. A lot of mentalism uses methods that can feel very transparent, but are never seen by the audience. For me this method crosses the line from transparency to just plain obvious!
Overall
I paid £10 for this in a sale. I paid £10 to much for it.
The reason I've put this review up is to hopefully avoid others making the same mistake as me. I'd heard the AAA book test was superb. And it is - providing it's the one by Marc Paul. That one truly is any book, any time and any place. (The Hoy book test is the other one you should know)
This is one trick that is to be avoided.
