The Effect
Transfigured by Raven Magic
Cost
£49.95 from Merlins Wakefield
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)
Technically = 1, very easy. Practically = 2 or even 3 maybe. See below for why.
Review
Here's the blurb, directly from the Raven Magic site:
'Transfigured' is an effect based around the real life events of the Pendle witch trials of 1612. The performer introduces a black wooden box. Out of the box, the performer takes five antique cards that have images of animal familiars on them. The witch in the story transfigured herself into an animal in order to hide among her familiars. A spectator is invited to play the part of the witchfinder and guess which of the animals is actually the witch in disguise. Their intuition turns out to be correct.
You are supplied with a handpainted WoodenBox, 'aged' Witchfinders Warrent, Holy Talisman (in silver bag), Five 'Antique' cards (wrapped in brown material) and Instructions Scroll. This effect is completely hand-made by Raven.
As time goes on, I am drawn more and more toward the darker, bizarre side of magic. I still love cards and other "normal" magic, but mentalism and bizarre is the most interesting to me and what sets my pulse racing.
Some time ago, whilst visiting Merlins shop, I spent quite a while looking longingly at effects by Raven Magic, locked safely away inside a glass fronted cabinet. This weekend, I had the honour of meeting the person behind Raven Magic (our very own lozey) and treated myself to Transfigured.
Now, I'm originally from a town not far from Pendle and grew up intimately familiar with the Pendle witches, as they play such a large part in the history of the area. In fact, the first (of many) books I read about witchcraft was Mist over Pendle, when I was a young teenager and it always stuck with me. Anyway, sorry...the fact that this effect is based on the Pendle witch trials really resonated with me.
The first thing I'll talk about is the quality of the props. It's obvious they are all hand made, and lovingly so, by someone who takes care over the details. The instructions are in the shape of a ribbon tied scroll and printed on heavy, manuscript stock, with a nice, ornate typeface used for the printing - it could just as easily been a booklet, but the scroll just adds to the feel of the whole thing. The instructions include a description of the effect, the method and a script you could easily use straight out of the box. They are very easy to understand and well thought out, to make it sound as authentic as possible. Inside the box, you have a lovely, aged scroll (again, ribbon tied) with the text of the warrant. There's a small, silver bag containing a hand made talisman and an old looking cloth wrap, made from a coarse, sackcloth material. Within are the cards, aged and stained, showing various images relating to the transfiguration of the witch.
I'll briefly mention the difficulty here. This is a bizarre magic effect. It's not something you can or should take 30 seconds to perform and expect a rousing reaction. To get the most out of this (and any bizarre magic), you need to set the scene properly, with the right venue (a dark, candlelit room would be good!), an interest in storytelling and even better, some fun with a bit of role playing. The more you can get the participant into playing their part of the witchfinder by setting the atmosphere, the better this will play out.
So, although the method is very easy to do, with a tiny bit of memory work, I'd say this does require that something extra from the performer to get the most out of it.
I'm already thinking about my first foray into performing something properly and this effect is right up my street. I feel far more confident taking the part of a storyteller with something like this than performing a few card tricks, despite my love of cards. This just fits me as a person.
I also know the after sales support for this effect is very good. Raven stands behind their product and is more than willing to discuss anything relating to it.
Overall
I'd highly recommend this for anyone interested in bizarre magic. The price is excellent considering what you are supplied with and in comparison to some other bizarre magic effects and props I've seen.
It has to be a 9.5/10
Honest reviews (if they are good ones of course) go a long way towards developing a good reputation.
) I also try and make them easy to learn and remember. I took hints from Eugene Burger about editing, so I always try and use as few words as possible, while still telling the story.
