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[Mandrake]

The Effect: Pen ULTIMATE The Easy To Do Pocket Miracle By Nicholas Einhorn

Cost: £9.99 plus P&P

From: Alakazam

Difficulty: 1
(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)

Examinable: No.

The Blurb: Pen-ultimate is a special pen, which houses its own roller blind. The roller blind is pulled open to show the indices of a deck of cards haphazardly spread upon its surface. The spectator thinks of just one of these cards and you instantly reveal their thought! Also included is a simple but worthwhile tip, which leaves your business card in their hand! There is no set-up required and with just a little practice you will have a fun and baffling piece of magic which you can take anywhere. Be ready to amaze and amuse with PEN-ULTIMATE in your pocket. Bonus Cabaret Routine included.

Review: The pen looks remarkably ordinary and it really is ordinary, there’s a metal strip running down the side which, when pulled, reveals the roller blind which measures about 5” x 3” or so and it is festooned with playing card symbols. Not the full cards, just K and the Heart symbol, 10 and the Clubs symbol etc. The idea is that you refer to having the smallest and most convenient deck of cards available, pull out the roller blind and let the spec look at it for no more than about 2 seconds. They fix one of the cards in their mind and, by use of no more than 3 carefully worded questions, you can divine which card they thought of. It’s quite likely that you will get it right first time which would be pretty amazing! The principle is one of limited actual choice, hence the limited time for viewing and selecting a card, all the rest would be presentation and showmanship and this is where the effect would stand or fall. Perhaps this is a bit 'gimmicky' – after all, how many other pens do you know which have this roller blind feature – but it can be made to work in the right environment. You’d need to be very sure of your routine (not difficult at all) and be confident in your presentation. Whilst I’m not over the moon with it (yet), I’m certainly not going to be offering it for sale at a knock down price! This is one to have in the pocket ready for impromptu use.

Value for money: 7 out of 10
C.U.P.S.Rating: 4 out of 10