Show No Mercy by Michael Paul
Available from:Michael Paul Magic for the demo video and, more specifically, for the actual notes themselves: Show No Mercy.
Costs:$20.00
Difficulty Level: About a two or three out of five.
Preface...: For Ecko Zero's review please click here.
My Review
Flicker
Imagine what it would be like if you could make a card's colour flicker back and forth between red and blue...kinda like a color TV that has seen it's last day...
Is the premise for this effect, the opener of the notes. Old combines with new to create a visually sensational effect.
I think that Michael himself sums up this effect's strong points:
...totally angle-proof, stunningly visual, dead-easy to do, almost impromptu, and you are left completely clean!
And he is 100% right. Not a word of a lie in there at all. This is what real magic should look like. No argy-bargy messing around with all of that cutting and stuff - visual, hard-hitting MAGIC this is.
Candy Opener
A bright flash of fire transforms (mid-air) in to a fireball candy...which then vapourises from within your hand leaving nothing but an empty wrapper...with the candy reappearing in your mouth, of course.
Well, as Craig Browning says in his Forward and Michael echoes in his "Why?" and "When?" section, this is a good example of magic with a meaning. It serves a purpose and that purpose is to eat a sweet.
Two methods are supplied, one that is relatively easy and another which isn't too taxing but does require a bit more practice. Both work well, but the second is the more visual of the two in the disappearance of the sweet. It's also a nice quick little effect that actually makes sense. I really like this one...it is so simple and I think that that is what makes it so appealing to me. Perfect for one of those impromptu, casual performances IMHO.
That's Not Magic! ~ An Essay
An entertaining and thought-provoking spoof of an essay. Nothing too much to say on this bit here, except that it breaks up the effects nicely and is an enjoyable read.
Flashes and Ashes
A small piece of flash paper flares up from its place on top of the deck, burning away in to nothing and leaving just ashes behind...odd thing is, the ashes have formed the shape of an arrow, and are indicating exactly where a chosen card now lies in a row of seven!
I really like this one, too. According to Michael it is not wholly original to him but I am glad that he has included it here. I haven't had chance yet to try this one out but I am really looking forward to the time that I do. Watching the video it really does look that cool, an eerie yet simple effect.
Changing The Change ~ Another Essay with a Minature Effect
An Essay that contains a message that we would all do well to listen to. The effect contained within is deceptively simple - you may overlook it but please don't! It really does get great reactions! Try this simple idea and you will keep it in your act/set.
Reality Displacement
This is mental! To watch Michael perform this is to watch real magic. In his hands it is a miracle, and with some practice it will be in your hands too.
A playing card is freely selected and freely signed before being shown to be going very fairly in to the middle of the deck. With the faces towards the audience the performer pushes it in and in an instant it materialises in his other hand!
This description does not really do this effect justice. You have to see it performed to believe it. But you won't, anyway, it's just too impossible. This is probably the hardest effect in the book but it isn't anything too challenging. A few hours solid practice at most and you'll probably have this down pat. It really depends on your experience level within card magic. Not too easy, but worth it to get it as smooth as Michael Paul performs it.
This really is now one of my favourite pieces of visual card magic. Even when you know the method, you will still be amazed watching the video of it again and again. Slightly angle-sensitive, but nothing too extreme or bad. Some set-up, nothing too heavy, and then you are good to go.
Gets great reactions, too
- as if you need to be told that though.
Visible Coins Across
Gah! I lack the necessary item to perform this! Chances are though you might have it already. The two effects included are: a coin visually vanishes from your hand and reappears in your spectator's! Followed by a truly impossible version which is practically hands off from you - a coin yet again vanishes from your hand only to reappear back in theirs in completely, totally impossible 100% amazing circumstances!
This is another one that I cannot wait to try out. It is simple, yet reads as if it will play well - and from Ecko's and others' reviews it seems that it does indeed do just that.
~
For each efffect Michael breaks the description down in to several sections: the Why, the When, the Method and Adding Impact. So you get the logic and reasoning behind the effect, ideal situations to perform it in, how to perform it and ways in which to make it stronger. He also explains and details the psychology behind most - if not all - of the effects. Very helpful indeed.
Final Comments
Michael writes with wit throughout. So not only are the effects great, but the descriptions are also fun to read too! Not an essential quality in a magic book of course, but a nice one. Added to that the fact that the descriptions are concise yet clear and you're on to a winner.
Put simply, Michael is right to be so proud of this material. Everyone will have their preferences...for example I can see most cardies loving things like Reality Displacement or Flicker; both of these are the perfect visual and inexplicable effects.
For the coin workers, there's a beautiful coins across...bizzarists have Flashes and Ashes.
The great thing about these effects is that the coin stuff isn't too difficult for cardies looking to mix it up a bit...similarly the bizzare effect isn't too bizzare and "out-there" for card workers; likewise it will be a treat for coin workers looking to mix it up a bit too. Finally the pure close-up effects, such as Candy Opener, are perfect for everyone.
I guess what I am trying to say with all of this is that no matter what kind of magic you are in to this material is easily accessible to you, with a little bit of practice of course.
This is hard-hitting, visual magic that is simple and logical in both premise and method; the effects are not for those times when you want to do a long, drawn-out counting and dealing routine or some such. Those pieces have their places, but for visual magic of a high-calibre this will be the first place that I will look.
I don't think that I really need to say this again...but this is a treat, and one that is highly recommended.
