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The Extractor

PostPosted: May 3rd, '08, 23:37
by Tom Lauten


The Extractor

Available from http://www.alakazam.co.uk/acatalog/Hot_List_1.html

Price £50

Card utility

Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5 . You will need to learn a bit of handling of cards but no hardship and THIS is the gimmick to learn with.

They say:
The Extractor is the latest brainchild of mad genius Rob Bromley. Refined and streamlined over the last year by Rob and Peter Nardi, this fabulous utility item is now ready to be unleashed to the magic community.

Up until the 2008 Blackpool Convention only five people had ever seen the final Extractor gimmick. Then, at that convention, Peter demonstrated the power of The Extractor by performing his signature effect - "Impossible Card to Pocket." This incredible trick was the talk of the convention and the exciting news is that Peter's trick is just the tip of the iceberg...

The Extractor is a true utility item for the astute magician and each unit is painstakingly hand-made by Rob and is a piece of master-craftsmanship. The card effects possible with The Extractor are only limited by your own imagination.

Your Extractor comes complete with an in-depth companion DVD full of tips and effects by Peter Nardi, Mark Elsdon, Gary Jones, Chris Harding and Chris Congreave. The effects include Peter's signature effect mentioned earlier, Mark's show-stopper version of 'Harry In Your Pocket', an unbelievable red and blue deck transposition/prediction guaranteed to melt your audiences' brains, plus fantastic handlings of card to wallet, card to spectator's pocket, card to shoe, in fact, card to almost anywhere!

As with our recent Riser Deck, due to the complexity of the Extractor's construction, it won't always be in huge supply, so don't miss out on your chance to own one of the effects of the year and one that has baffled some of the top magicians in the world.

I say:
OK...all hype aside... it's true. This thing is a serious boon to card magic. It takes the almost prison-like situation of a card placed into the middle of a cased deck... placed there by the spectator themselves... and lets you ignore that seemingly impenitrable fortress. Yup, the card is slipped into the cased deck.... basically ANYWHERE into the cased deck, BY THEM, it is cleanly closed up and you put it away...done. Well... they've been done!

This is a fairly 007 device but without batteries, electronics, readers, Bluetooth or any such nonsense. It is good old fashioned engineering and craftmanship.

I won't say anymore about the Extractor unit itself as it could tip things but you WILL be happy playing with what you get!

The routines and explainations on the DVD are plentiful in the extreme and there are sure to be more to come. Peter Nardi and Marc Spelmann do a superb job of demonstrating, instructing, explaining and coaching. They sure don't leave you guessing as to what to do or what the possibilities are.

Overall:
Wow... impressive! I am super-happy with this and can't wait to have a play witha number of the routines and even more excited about making up my own... there are a million possible uses for this bit of kit.

Wanna spend some dosh and be happy that what you get does what it says on the tin? Get Extractor.


Rating out of 10: 9/10


PostPosted: May 6th, '08, 19:35
by russpie
I agree, it's a fantastic piece of kit which benefits even more from not having to rely on electrics or the need for clothing amendments. I used this at my gigs at the weekend & got great reactions. I only used the card to pocket routine as the others need more practice & this fitted easily into my set. I have plans to use the card to spectator's pocket at a booking this Thursday as it is walk around.

I have said very complimentary things about it in another thread but it really is that good. Great review by the way.

Russ
www.smartmagic.co.uk


PostPosted: May 12th, '08, 12:14
by Chris
Got this on Saturday from Peter at Alakazam...

I dont usually do card effects! but this stuck out as one I should be doing!

Unfortunatley I sat on the deck when I went out that eveing! Bummer


So my box is slighlty warped but, what the heck......... :lol:


PostPosted: May 12th, '08, 21:31
by taffy
Hi guys,
I'm still undecided on this and was wondering if any one could offer any advice?

How does this actually perform and compare to using sleight of hand for the same effect such as on James Brown's Still Fancy A Pot Of Jam?

I use James's techniques for card to my pocket, specs pocket and shoe, but was wondering if this would actually benefit me? and if so in which way?

I look forward to hearing from people who actually own this utility device and who actually use it in a commercial way.

Please pm me if you feel that you may be exposing anything!

Cheers
Taf


PostPosted: May 13th, '08, 09:18
by russpie
It actually creates another obstacle to trap the audience if they want to rerun the effects in their mind afterwards. You never touch the cards, they take them out of the box, shuffle the cards if they want, they put them back in the box & they push their card in the middle of the boxed deck.

No more watchful eyes when you're trying to palm a card for a 'card to anywhere' routine. Having never handled the deck it makes these kinds of effecst that much more unthinkable. If you are a working magician i'd suggest getting it as there's so many uses. If you're a hobbiest with £50 going spare, still get this.

Russ
www.smartmagic.co.uk


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 12:52
by Jerome the French
hi guys! I saw that and was wondering how solid is the gimmick...
I am a semi pro and am thinking about getting that...


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 13:14
by russpie
It's slightly more robust than a normal cardboard bicycle box. Peter states that he's been using his for over a year. I suppose it just takes a bit of care, not sitting on it etc.

Russ
www.smartmagic.co.uk


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 13:17
by Jerome the French
thanks man!
Actually, I had a few other questions to ask, that I forgot:
- can it be used with any cards? (bicycles, tally ho etc etc)
- do you have to have a full deck to use it?
I understand that the gimmick is the card box, and I understand what it does, but does the 2 factors above play a role?


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 17:44
by Tom Lauten
You have a choice of red or blue Bicycle cards. The Extractor is an intrinsic part of the deck/box so those are your choices. You could put another brand of poker size card into it and suggest the effect is that the deck of Bikes have rejected the mismatched card and then remove the stranger card from you pocket...HEY, I like that one!

If you want a custom made Extractor you could always contact Peter at Alakazam, he might be able to special order one for you in a deck of your choice...worth an ask.


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 18:09
by Jerome the French
thanks for that! and does it work with an incomplete deck? or do you have to have 52 cards?


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 18:16
by russpie
Better to have a near full deck, if there's lots missing then the participant COULD suspect something. Exactly what they'd suspect though would be nowhere near what it actually going on. I reckon you could get away with 10 cards missing.

Russ
www.smartmagic.co.uk


PostPosted: May 17th, '08, 20:09
by Jerome the French
thanks for that!
I will go and purchase mine right away!
:D


PostPosted: May 18th, '08, 20:22
by Martin Le Guerre
This is a little beauty. Took mine out on the streets for the York Carnival recently and did signed card to pocket many times over with no problems.

Works like a dream and comes with a DVD that has loads of ideas and numerous other presentations to try so you are not restricted to card to pocket only, but its a good place to start from.

One of my best purchases this year.


PostPosted: Jun 3rd, '08, 21:05
by JD
Do you have to be wearing a jacket for this? I only ask cos I'm a jeans n T-shirt man!


PostPosted: Jun 4th, '08, 10:41
by Marvo Marky
This sounds fantastic. I'm sorry I don't have anything to add to this review just yet, but if I have the pleasure of a spare fifty quid then I may be adding something soon

I love 'card to-' effects and this sounds like it could knock things up several notches.

Bam.