"And now for My Next Piece..." by Ecko Zero
I got this pdf simply because it was there, and I was intriuged to find out what was going on in our Ecko Zero's mind. As it turns out, the answer is "a hell of a lot"...
The Effect
You receive a great 14 page PDF with photographs to help you with performance. The book contains a collection of magic and sleights that are great to perform.
1 flourish and 7 effects are explained.
Cost
£8.00 from Flash Magic
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)
1-3
Most will find it all pretty easy with a bit of practice, although there are some more tricky bits.
Review
Ok so what effects are in here? Are they any good? Will you like them? All will now be answered...
Rosette Fan
The first trick in here is not a trick but a flourish. A pretty flourish that is pretty easy. While it is quite nice, if you like to fiddle with cards then you may already know it - although it's nice that it's in here.
Mid-air Card Flip
In this trick the magician boasts his card skills explaining that he can turn over a card in the mere cutting of the deck... only to fail. But of course he recovers and takes the glory!
A classic trick structure with the apparent failure of the magician to enhance the climax. A nice trick well thought out. You will need to know the shapeshifter change to do this one (or an equivalent).
Tabled Card Flip
This is similar to the above trick although a little more direct maybe. Bascially you push in their card and then spread the deck and its turned up the other way. I think it's a bit easier than "Mid-air Card Flip". Both are good for different situations.
So far we have 2 nice clean effects. So what's next?
Cut to the Chase
This is my favorite one here. Why didn't I think of that?! Wow this is really great, I just love it... Ok ok! Yes lets cut to the chase! It goes like this. The spec can name any card and the magician uses his incredible skill to cut to it. Yes! Owned!
You will require a special deck of cards for this one, that most of you will already have. If you get the pdf and you don't have the deck then this is a great excuse! So as you have probably guessed, I like this one. A cunning use of a tool that has been sitting under my nose for all this time.
Messing with Coins
A coin is displayed then tossed into the air only to disapprear. The coin is then retrieved from spectators clothing. Phase 2 involves clumsily dropping the coin only to retrieve it out of thin air using magic!
Yes this one is as the name suggests. Messing with coins. Some coin slieghts are used here but they are both more basic ones so you don't have to be a coin pro to play. If you are already into coin magic, then I'm sure you will already have your own ideas, otherwise it's a nice little coin routine. Probably one children would enjoy.
Go Jokers Go!
A sandwich effect with a twist, where the 2 face up 'bread' cards(Jokers in this case) vanish, before returning with the selected card sandwiched!
Explained is the "SAC" move (spread anglejog concealment) for consealing cards in a spread. A useful little thing to know if you don't know it already.
Coin to Glass
Ecko's coin to glass effect. Thinking about it you could do this without a glass also (if I'm reading it right?!). The trick goes like this. The magician not so skillfully sneaks a coin into the glass. The crowd laughs. But wait! The Magician tries again, this time slamming the coin through his hand and into the glass! Impossible!
I played with something similar myself by never performed it, I must have been underestimating it's power! This is just the kind of impromptu magic you can do just chilling out in the pub or whatever. A good fun trick. You will need to be quite adept with coins for this one, a classic skill is needed here. It's a nicely structured trick.
Hang ‘em high
Ecko seems to love this one. It's a card trick where the spectators card becomes the 'criminal'. A card is selected and signed on the back then lost in the deck. The 'Sheriff' (the Joker) is called in to capture this ciminal card. He fail s to find it though. When the deck is spread out however, the selected card with signature on the back, now has a disturbing image on it's face! Death has caught up with him, a drawing of a hanging man is on the card with the words "We got him first!".
A cool trick, but I guess I will have to perform it to realise its full potential. Only a basic card sleight is needed for this one.
Overall
A pdf with some well thought out tricks in there. The difficulty level varies quite a bit however. While some more basic sleight of hand is taught for some tricks, others will expect you to know it already. My review should address any worries you may have on the ability level though. Another little neg point is the layout of the explanation of teh tricks. Just a small thing, but it is sometimes hard to follow. As the effect is not always described prior to the explanation, you don't quite know what you're working towards. But that's just a little bit. When I got the pdf I didn't know what to expect so I hope I have left you with a good impression of the kind of material. Ecko seems to be very good at working simple ideas into proper, full, tricks. Nothing really groundbreaking is in here, but then it never gave that impression. What we have here is a talented magician saying "hey this is some cool stuff that works for me". Probably a bit pricey, but some lovely little bits in there that I will surely use.
Rating
I'm going to give this a 7/10.
It could be better. Knock a few pounds off the price and its an 8! There are definately people out there who could get a lot more from this. I have picked up some pretty useful little tricks, a few sleights and some cunning ideas. Cool beans
