Review by Andy Martin for Mind Control Remastered by Bill Abbott
5 out of 5
Great Mentalism You Will Use!
Bill Abbott has a winner here with Mind Control Remastered. It is not a particularly new method or effect, but his routine and the cleaness of his props makes it something that you will use. I have already added it to my christmas show short list.
It comes with a number of handlings, but for my money the one out of six outcomes is the most workable and convincing.
The DVD is well produced and I like the way that Bill also recommends other items, not produced by him, that complement Mind Control. That is a nice touch.
Review by Andy Martin for Charles De Quercy's Curse by Francois Danis
5 out of 5
Beautiful and Charming Collector Magic to Get Exicted About!
With his latest creation, François Danis has dug deeper still and created a unique marvel: Charles De Quercy’s Curse. What a beautiful and charming piece of magic this is. Although I love his fabulous Wandering Mummy, this is now my new favorite from his growing line of collectable magic.
This box of tall tales talks about the great explorer Charles De Quercy. As you read the story and play with the props it all comes alive in your hands. One of the problems with collectible magic that uses interesting props is that without a compelling story they can fall flat on audiences. But with François (with the help of Ian Buckland) you always get a great story to tell and of course great props to boot.
In a nutshell the effect talks about the great explorer who buys a cursed Mummy from the filthy, but wise, merchant Al Dinn. The mummy parts are well used and move around from top to bottom where upon the head is finally placed in a box for safe keeping. In the end all ends well with the mummy back where it belongs and Al Dinn’s head safely in the box!
The two methods used for this miracle are simple but effective, although not new. However, in combining the two methods with the beautiful props and entertaining story François has a real winner on his hands. I predict this will be his best seller, until of course his next marvel … yes you can’t get enough of this young French Craftsman. Keep them coming François!
Most Highly Recommended for the discerning established collector, or for those new to the field who want to get involved before this guy gets too expensive!
Review by Andy Martin for Demon Deck by Larry Becker, Lee Earle
5 out of 5
A Brilliant Marked Deck + Extras
Of all the "easy to read" decks out there, I think this is the best Marked deck around – you wouldn’t want to gamble with them, but for magicians they are perfect! Not only are the markings easy to read but you can also tell the card next to the chosen card too. This is made possible because Richard Osterlind’s beautiful Breakthrough Card System has been embedded into the deck too. And for grins they even employ the one-way deck principle.
Naturally all of these markings are subtle if you don’t know what you are looking for. I prefer this to the Boris Wild Deck, the Ultimate Marked Deck, and even the Ted Lesley deck.
Review by Andy Martin for Gamblers Touch by Precision Magic
1 out of 5
Dreadful Gimmick!
I have seen this effect done in a number of ways, but this version is the worst method by far! The gimmick is poorly made and the method is very impractical. Save your money!
Review by Andy Martin for Jumbo Mental Jackpot by Astor
5 out of 5
Wonderful, Clean, Easy Mentalism!
I love this product from Astor! The props are first rate and durable, the method is clever, and it is easy to do. Most importantly the effect is very clean and easy to understand, and can be repeated with a different outcome. But in every outcome you know in advance which color they will choose.
This is right up there with Astor Mental, another perfect prediction effect.
Review by Andy Martin for Loaded Dice by Alan Wakeling
5 out of 5
Beautiful Box and Great Routine!
When George Robinson at Viking Magic puts his mind to it he produces beautiful and functional magic. This is a very wonderful little box that creates a miracle.
I remember having great fun with Tenyo’s Flash Dice when I was a kid. This box is so much more than that. Its not only very beautifully finished in bloodwood, it has some very neat features that make it possible to do some things that seem impossible.
I can’t recommend this enough. The woodwork is exquiste and the routine by Alan Wakeling is huge.
Review by Andy Martin for Mental Post It by LabcoMagic
5 out of 5
Perfect Walk Around Mentalism!
Labco Magic make some very fine, and expensive, electronic mentalism. This item is not electronic and is probably their cheapest effect, but what a wonderful effect! In essence it is mental epic with cards, chips and a die. But the whole routine is very portable with an instant reset and just fits in the pocket so neatly.
The poker chips and royal flush really adds interest to the effect and everything about the routine makes sense. The props are high quality and durable too.
This is another item for my Xmas show this year. Perfect for the walk around performer!
Mark Mason puts out a lot of "cool" magic effects, most of which are easy to do and demo really well. Unfortunately, I often find that I don’t perform them. Well this one is different and is already short-listed for my christmas close-up this year.
It really is one of the cleanest transformations of two cards changing from two nines to two tens to a straight black jack where the final two cards can be freely shown from fully from both sides and thrown onto the close-up pad.
The cards are so well made and the gimmick is so clever it is hard to see how you cannot amaze them with this. I’m amazed I missed this before!
Nearly all of Masuda’s effects are clever, but not all of them are going to be performed particularly in a walk-around setting. Not only is this one going to be performed, it can be performed in a walk-around setting because there is no reset.
It looks as clean as the demo – you show a photo of a wine bottle and a black dot on your finger. You place the dot on the photo and it suddenly starts moving around on its own, and you can even see your finger beneath the photo thanks to the hole you’ve just placed on it. Then you can just as easily pull the hole from the photo and the hole is once again on your finger and the photo can be shown cleanly on both sides.
It does take a little practice to get the timing right, but once you have it down you have a mini-miracle that works everytime!
Review by Andy Martin for Hi-Low Spinning Tops by Stevens Magic
5 out of 5
Great Quality, Rare, and Perfect for Gambling!
Joe Steven’s puts out some great, high-quality magic, much of which you don’t see at the other guys. When I saw these Hi-Low Spinning Tops I was very excited – they looked different and I knew they would be high quality.
These spinning tops are designed to roll high or low depending on which way you spin them MOST (about 75%) of the time. They are specifically not designed to spin high or low 100% of the time as that would be too easy to spot. Well this is certainly true if you were gambling with them. However, if you are a magician and wanted to use them for a force, you will need to know that they only land high/low about 75% of the time. I verified this by spinning them around 150 times and they are quite amazing.
However, if you were planning on just spinning them once, be ready for an alternate out, because every now and then – to throw off the wise – they will change.
The quality and consistency of these items are great however, and if you’re looking for something different and have a use for these babies you will be hard pushed to find anything like them anywhere else.
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