The Effect
Signed bill in fruit effect. Any banknote can be used. Any fruit chosen, and there's no setup required.
Cost
£46.99 from Magic Nevin
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)
An easy 2. Not self-working, and some prop management is required. No tough sleights though.
Review
This isn't my usual kind of effect, but I just got booked for a corporate gig with a company that makes tennis supplies, and was asked to base my magic around their products.
A vanish and reappearance of a spectator's something inside a tennis ball seemed like a good idea, and after a bit of hunting around, I found Fruitfull by Juan Pablo - released through Bazar De Magia.
This is one of those tricks that makes your heart sink when you first open the box and examine the props, then restores your faith when you sit through the explanation.
In essence, this is a big scary kitchen knife, gimmicked up for use in a signed-bill-to-fruit effect. It's a bigger beast than most of you will want to carry at a strolling close-up gig, but I'll be dissecting tennis balls, so it's not really overkill in that context. Its size also gives you an excuse for not handing it out for inspection. It's not that I work for a tough crowd, but I hate to imagine what would happen if if one drunken exec decided to play sillybuggers with something like this. It also lends itself to nice gags - such as explaining why it is that you never get heckled.
The knife comes in a well-made, heavy-duty leather sheath, which itself is instrumental in the effect's workings.
There's also something else in the box. It's something you'll all already have, and one look at the demo video will be all it takes to work out what it is, but it's there for completeness' sake.
Instructions are provided on DVD. Fair enough. It's a short video, shot in Spanish, but also dubbed into English and Japanese (at least I assume the Japanese is dubbed - I didn't look). Explanation is good. It could have been explained on one side of A4 paper, and it would have been nice to have a printed set of instructions in the box for immediate reference for an eager mind, but as it is, everything's well explained.
The first thing to point out with regard to the supplied apparatus is that this is a low-tech device, in that there are no moving parts. The kitchen knife is a genuine kitchen knife (albeit with some modifications). The upside of this is that there's nothing to prime, nothing to reset, nothing to jam, and (fingers crossed) nothing to break.
Looking at the props on their own, you'd be forgiven for feeling underwhelmed.
After watching the instructional DVD, though, it becomes apparent how much thought has gone into the design of the modifications. Everything is well routined, and designed to follow a path of least resistance between the start of the trick and the final ta-dah. All 'moves' are justified and worked into the normal handling of the props.
Experienced magi will (and have) scoffed at the effect and the price, but I don't perform for magi. So there.
Overall
This isn't revolutionary. But it is well thought-out, and it's as clean as you could possibly hope to be in an unprepared bill-to-whatsit effect. The size and sharpness of the blade makes it useful for reveals in objects tougher than fruit (my sole reason for purchase), although any street magicians would probably be arrested if they whipped out one of these in public.
One (or maybe two) views of the demo video will be enough for most of you to understand what's at play here, but remember that the people we perform to don't have the same frame of reference to ourselves. And a little playtime between the vanish and the reveal (possibly a bill switch, a vanish and a comical failed recovery) will be enough to take the heat off any obvious workings. Let's be honest - a little fun and entertainment is all it takes to take the heat of everything.
This isn't a magician fooler.
It's also an intimidating prop, and you need justification for carrying it.
It is, however, a well thought-out utility, well suited to repeat performances and a resonable degree of improvisation (you can decide at the last moment which piece of fruit, bread roll, tennis ball or internal organ the banknote will reappear in).
It's not something I would add to my close-up case under normal circumstances, but as a Get Out Of Jail Free card when the client wants you to play with its balls, I'll give it:
8/10
