Review by Andy Martin for Haunted Bottle (Ebony) by Viking Mfg.
4 out of 5
Grab these while you can!
This little bottle is a wonderful piece that you will be proud to own. It is easy to do and comes with some great ideas. I suggest you snap these up because I don’t know how George is able to offer these at such low prices. For the amount of work involved they are a huge deal!
Review by George Guerra for Blasted Jr. by Tannen's, Bob Swadling
5 out of 5
Ahh..junior is still good magic
Wow..I had reviewed elsewhere Blasted, by England’s Harry Stanley, and mentioned Blasted Jr. in the review. Well, looks like Andy found one. As I stated in my original review, this is a very visual effect that I have very fond memories of being bewildered at Hollywood Magic when the staff magician at the shop fooled me badly with it. This was many years ago and I have owned both.
This version is not as "dramatic" as it’s bigger brother. The use of half dollar sized coins and the champagne glass really adds to the overall magical effect. If there are two strong points to this version, they are 1) the effect is more "compact" and can probably be carried in your pocket, and 2) the smaller coins probably are easier to handle, especially the "vanish" of the copper coin moments before the "penetration".
Still, it is Blasted and one of my favorite coin effects..so, it gets 5 stars.
Review by Andy Martin for Card Dice by Vienna Magic
4 out of 5
Surprisingly Nice!
When I purchased this effect on ebay I wasn’t sure how good it would be. When it arrived I still wasn’t sure. But after playing with it for a while I’ve decided it really is a nice peice of magic.
The card dice are well made, the box they come in is practical, albeit not beautiful or solid wood, and the gimmicked cards are preprinted on bicycle stock and look great.
The basic effect is as follows: you show 6 card dice on all sides and assemble them into a card shape. The card showing on both sides is all mixed up of course and you cover the whole stack with a silk. A spectator chooses a card (forced) and the silk is lifted and the card dice have transformed into their chosen card! The magician offers to perform it again but this time they choose a card and don’t look at it. The magician then reveals the card dice again and amid giggles from the audience he notices that instead of being a complete card it is a jumbled up mess. But never mind because when the spectator turns their card over it too is a jumbled up mess.
The effect requires two cards to be forced and a simple move which is certainly not big enough to call a sleight, plus you have the full cover of the silk to do it under. After thirty minutes you’ll have the workings of this down pat, and then of course you’ll just need to focus on your overall presentation.
Review by Anonymous for The Cervon File by Bruce Cervon
5 out of 5
Great Book!
I was quite surprised to read the previous review, it is obvious that this person knows very little about magic or didn’t actually read this book. I have been lucky enough to have seen Mr. Cervon perform at the Magic Castle and he is truly one of the best. I have also seen him fry magicians and layman alike with some of the tricks in this book. There are nearly 70 items and if you only got the "Devil’s Elevator" you would have gotten your moneys worth. It is a very easy and an extremely commercial trick. Looking at the contents I see many items that I use but will only mention a few of what I think are "classic" tricks. "Perfect Speller" (a killer for magicians and layman but be sure to use the option to tell the spectator if he lied or told the truth), "Aerodynamic Aces" (the original invisible palm ace routine, a great trick no matter how you cut it) and try his "Open Prediction" I saw him do this on TV once and thought it was a stooge. It’s that good.
In short this is book that any magician should not be without, I own all the books with his name attached as I find them to be FULL of top quality practical professional magic.
Review by Andy Martin for Predicta by Gilbert Raimond
5 out of 5
Wow! This is Amazing!
This effect is beautiful, clever, and convincing, but does require getting very comfortable with the method by practicing it enough so that it is automatic – it is not hard and the impact is so huge the effort is more than worth it. In fact the more convincing your presentational skills are the easier you will find this.
Once you get it smooth I defy you to find a more convincing piece of mentalism. Now factor in that it costs less than $50, packs flat and doesn’t need any pesky batteries (as so much "mentalism" does these days), you just can’t go wrong!
As for the method, you will just die when you see it – very clever indeed. I believe you can fool anyone who is not in the know with this. But you do need to spend a few hours so that it is second nature.
I am sure you will not be dissappointed with your small investment on this one.
Review by Andy Martin for Crystal Dice Cabinet by Selecciones Magicas
4 out of 5
No new concepts here, but beautifully made all the same!
This is a dressed up version of an old principle that works very well. The block and cabinet are very solid and beatifully made. The doors are a bit too tight when you first get it but after a few practices this loosens up ok.
The effect is certainly easy to do and it is a real fooler. You simple show the cord running through the cube and box, then close it all up and on your command the cord penetrates the box, and everything can be examined.
Some good news: it doesn’t use any threads, there is nothing to switch, and reset takes about 10 seconds.
Review by Andy Martin for Chinese Economy by Henry Evans
3 out of 5
Loads of Shells, but quality is not Johnson!
These jumbo coins from Henry Evens are a little dissappointing. They look pretty good even close-up, but when you actually handle them they are only ok. The coins themselves could be a bit thicker and the stamps more central. The shells feel flimsy and although I’m quite sure they look superb in Mr. Evans’ hands I found them just a bit too light.
The instructions that come with the package are poorly printed and short. When you’re paying this much the least they could have done was throw in better instructions with some step by step photos.
Review by Andy Martin for Rising Coin Castle by Mikame Craft
5 out of 5
Different from Douglas-Wayne Illusioneering, But More Practical!
Ok so if you have ever seen the Douglas-Wayne Illusioneering version of this effect you will at first be a bit disappointed. The Douglas-Wayne Illusioneering version is a faithful reproduction of the drawings in Hoffmann’s Modern Magic. It is smaller, particularly the tower the coin rises up on, and it is slightly better made. However, it is quite a big pain to set-up and how the coin rises behind the window can be seen in certain lighting conditions.
With the Mikame version, reset is much, much easier using a clockwork mechanism and the coin rises in broad daylight with no clue as to how even with bright lights shining on the tower. It is also wide enough so that the coin rises without touching the sides so it really does look like it is rising unaided.
The kicker of course is that when it gets to the top you hear it hit the top and then find it in the little box that is locked and on top. The coin can be signed if desired.
To the audience this Mikame version probably looks better and since it is much easier to reset, I believe it is more likely to be actually performed, rather than sitting on the shelf looking cool.
The collector will certainly prefer the Douglas-Wayne Illusioneering version, however if you really want to perform this more than once a year I think you are better off with the Mikame version. Although the craftsmanship doesn’t quite measure up to Douglas-Wayne Illusioneering Quality it is still a very nice piece and something you will be proud to own and perform.
Review by Andy Martin for Cocktail Shaker by Viking Mfg.
4 out of 5
This Makes More Sense than a Niffen Tube!
So the problem with a Niffen Tube is that it’s a Niffen Tube – what the heck is one of those? This Cocktail Shaker on the other hand will pass for a real cocktail shaker and can be used to transform liquids, silks, or anything small that will fit in the tube. You could transform a red silk to red wine and many other combinations of transformations. I believe the transformation is also more convincing than a regular tube too.
This device is very nicely made using stainless steel and will last a life time. I found the screw on lids to not screw down all the way, but that looked like it was done by design.
This effect is made in Germany and is distributed by Viking Mfg and it’s ever growing dealer network.
Review by Ken Driscoll for Reflecta-thot by Larry Becker
5 out of 5
Reflecta Thot’s Great
We recently purchased the manufacturing rights to this effect from Helene’s Magic and it is great… If I had enough money I would stop production and keep this one all to myself. As for now we are selling the remaining of Helene’s stock at an unbeleivable low price of just $12.50 each for the first 50, then back to $15.00 for the rest. This is a great effect, we have some additional thooughts that might make this even easier to perform, as if that would be needed.
Anyway this is a great effect and if anyone can get their hands on a set they should grab’em up
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