Review by Andy Martin for Kronos by Yves Doumergue
5 out of 5
What a Wonderful Magical Effect!
A few years ago there was an effect called Futour by Bazar de Magia. It required a card case to hold the gimmick, and it allowed you to borrow almost any watch and it would cause the watch to run very fast.
This effect is streets ahead of Futour – you can make the watch, stop, change time, and move forward all at your command. The gimmick is in plain sight all of the time and is really an amazing piece of micro electronics. By removing the need for the card case and givng better control of the watch this has turned a curiosity effect into some mind-blowing magic!
It appears to be very reliable and works every time. This is something you will really use.
Review by Andy Martin for No Chance by Peter Nardi, Marc Spelmann
5 out of 5
Great Gimmicked Dice, Great Routines
Peter Nardi and Marc Spelmann are two funny guys with some great magical ideas. This particular die I have used for years in an effect called Turning Stone by Jack Ruda. Max Maven used one in his recent Nothing DVD. One of the things that these boys have added is to use three dice, instead of one. If you are familiar with the method you will see how this can really speed things up as you wait for the last numbers to be rolled. It is a great refinement on an already wonderful ruse.
The routines that come with this are also first class and it is truly an effect that packs flat and plays big. The version of Nailed that appears on the DVD is one of the most fool proof you will find and is certainly recommended. There is also a great version of Bank Night.
The dice are very well made and look like normal dice – there are six dice included, but I have never seen the need to switch the three gimiicked ones for the three normal ones since they really are above suspicion.
A really wonderful utility item that you will find many uses for.
Review by Andy Martin for Dramatic Envelope by Masuda
4 out of 5
Very Clean, but harder than it looks!
If you watch the video for this it looks incredibly clean. There is one envelope sticking out of the wallet and the spectator can choose any of the 5 ESP symbols, and when the envelope is handed to the spectator it clearly has one card only in it, and it is their chosen card. It can be this clean for sure – the method is clever and the props are well built.
However, I have found to perform this as flawlessly as the video it requires hours of practice. For me the envelope sticks easily in the wallet and when it does come out you have to be sure that the gimmick does not show up. The reset is fairly easy but I have found that the whole gimmick needs to be reset each time, it is not just a matter of slipping one card back and you are all set to go. For this reason, I would not recommend it for walk around situations. It is best suited to the one off as shown in the video demo.
I really like Masuda’s magic, but this one I found to be not as practical or as easy as it looked. It could be me, but I spent a lot longer practicing this than normal and still found it difficult to make it flawless everytime.
Review by Andy Martin for Ring n Wallet by Doug Malloy
5 out of 5
Doug Malloy always GIves the Goods!
All of the Doug Malloy effects I have purchased have three things in common: they are complete entertaining routines, they are made very well, and they are easy to do.
This Ring ‘n’ Wallet is no exception. The wallet is very nice indeed – and after performing it for over Twenty years Doug has filled it with all of these gags, tips, ruses and otherwise useful stuff.
If you bother to follow along in the well produced video you will have another killer routine at your disposal. Learning all the bits of business will take you some time, but not because its difficult, just because there is a lot to pull together. But if you want a full 5 minute routine of anything it will take some practice. Doug provides everything you require to make this a true feature of your act.
If you are a performer then this is precisely the sort of magic you will use and will love.
Review by Andy Martin for Just In Case by Joe Porper, Pete Biro
5 out of 5
Another Really Wondeful Porper Production!
With this latest fine quality miracle from Joe Porper he has teamed up with magic legend Pete Biro and what sweet magic they produce together.
There are a number of routines you could perform with thie outfit from a straight ring flight (without a dangerous and risky reel) to a clean key off rope penetration.
But when you combine them together you have a real magical mystery: you borrow a ring and throw your key case onto the table. You then hand a shoelace to a spectator and say you are going to make their ring magicially appear on the shoelace under cover of a handkerchief.
Things go badly wrong and you find instead of the ring appearing on the string that your key does! This key is incredibly well made by the way. Then you open up the key case that has been in view all the time and find dangling from the chain is their ring firmly attached to the clasp inside.
Great entertainment, great props, great method, and easy to do!
Review by Andy Martin for Stealth Assassin Wallet v1.1 by Peter Nardi, Marc Spelmann
5 out of 5
Great Wallet the way it should have been made!
This is a great wallet, and now made the way it should have been in the first place. If you have 1.0 and don’t use it very much, then it probably is not worth upgrading since the changes though nice are relatively minor. However, if you do use the wallet then the upgrade makes more sense. Of course if you don’t have the 1.0 version then you are in for a real treat with this version.
The Stealth Assassin is very well made in England – not quite as good as Jerry O’Connell’s work, but still very fine, and it has a heck of a lot built into the one wallet. Most wallets you can set-up for one trick, and it does it well, but then you are done. With the Assassin you can set it up for 3 or 4 effects with little trouble and each one uses a different feature of the wallet.
You can use it as Peek Wallet, a Mutiple out prediction Wallet, an Out to Lunch Wallet, and even a card to wallet with variations on these themes. I could easily see you building a whole act around the wallet, and in such a way that the wallet does not seem like a prop. It is just a wallet for holding predictions and cards for the effects.
The wallet looks very normal and easily fits in your shirt pocket – Peter says you can use it as your real wallet, and I have no issues with that – you really could. The two DVD’s that come with it have Peter Nardi + Marc Spelmann in fine form, and they made me feel a bit homesick for sunny old London. They detail many routines, tips, and ideas in over two hours of video.
This is a wonderful package with which you can build some very sweet magic and it all fits into a neat little space.
Wow! This is the way to do Perfect Match! If you like the old Kovari effect but were never too happy with the method then this should make you very happy.
It is 100% the way the trick should have been created originally. The props are very well made – even the cards are made of plastic, and the effect can be repeated straight away if so desired.
You take out both sets of 5 esp cards and give one set to the spectator to hold and shuffle. You place your 5 cards into the other side of the frame with the backs out. Then you add the spectators cards into the frame at the precise number they request.
The spectator can change their mind as much as they want. But when they are finally done you turn around the board and the cards match perfectly! You can immediatelly do the effect again with a different outcome.
There is nothing added or taken away, no memory work, and it is 100% fool proof.
Review by Andy Martin for Bromley Deck Penetration by Rob Bromley
5 out of 5
Very Convincing Effect!
What a wonderful effect this is: the spectator sees the box with the bolt running through it. You unscrew the bolt and push a clear plastic rod through the hole. All sides can be see and there is no doubt that the rod is going right through the middle.
Yet when you take the rod out and shake the box, you hear something inside the box … it is a full deck of cards, filling the box, and when you show them they clearly have no holes. It is a very convincing effect.
This is a method I have not seen before, and although it is not really suitable for walk around, since the set-up takes about a minute, it is brilliant for that one time close-up performance.
The deck is gimmicked, but even up close it looks like a normal deck. Nothing is added or taken away and it is very easy to perform!
Review by Andy Martin for Fanciful Nest of Boxes by Paul Lembo
5 out of 5
Wonderful Boxes that are small enough to use!
I was very pleasantly surprised when I received these boxes from Howie – the Hobbit’s Best Friend – at The Trickery. I have been a bit dissappointed with some of his wood work, ever since the wonderful Jerry went AWOL. However, this set is almost where Jerry was – not quite, but close enough to get 5 stars. They are not GG Standard, but with some relatively minor effort they could be.
What is particularly nice about this set of boxes is that they are really quite mini – the largest box is about the size of the middle box of the most beautiful Mel Babcock Nest of Five. This makes them more practical if you were planning on actually using them. The "locks" are also very easy to use since they are just strong magnets and the lock itself is more for decoration. This makes for fast set-up and presentation. The method employed is the Berg method, although unlike other sets I have seen the 3rd box is gimmicked, not the 4th. But this might be a useful improvement, since you are free to hand the last two boxes to the spectator. Of course if you have the new Mel Babock Nest of Five then this is not a problem anyway.
The inlay work looks very nice and when displayed there is no doubt these boxes are very pretty. They make a very striking display when laid out on your table. They are not quite as good as Mel’s set, and the woodwork is not as precise as Alan Warner, however with just a little more attention to detail I think they could be. Most people would be very, very happy with this set, and at the price they do represent good value for sure.
The thing about getting into the GG Standard is the little things, its not enough to just do some really nice wood work, you need to make sure everything is high quality – the brass fittings, the finish, the consistency of each piece, etc. These boxes look really nice from the outside. Inside they are not finished aswell as they should – just an extra 30 minutes of rubbing and cleaning would have made all the difference. The brass locks and handles are a mixed bag for sure – most look fine, but for example on my large box the clasp holding the handle is two different sizes – not that noticable unless you are trying for the GG Standard – then it sticks out like a sore thumb. Clearly, using two clasps the same size would have been just as easy as slightly different sizes, but the attention to detail was not there. Finally, the lock on the 4th box just looks odd, its placement is inconsistent with the rest.
Again, these are minor points, but when you start to enter this market it is precisely the minor points that become major issues. However, I am very pleased to see Howie has stepped up his game, and if he can keep this wood guy around for a little longer I have no doubts that he will become a serious player in the fine wood collectable market!
Review by Andy Martin for Horwitz Wallet (Improved) by Basil Horwitz
5 out of 5
The Best just got Better!
So you already know how much I love this wallet! It is one of my favorites and I still use it today. Well Martin Breese, with the help of Tony Curtis, has remade this wallet to be about as perfect as you could imagine.
The weight has been decreased by about 30% from 3.6oz to 2.6oz, the gimmick is now sewn in, and it is even stronger than before. If you already use this wallet all of these improvements will mean something to you. If you don’t then you are in for a real treat!
The original version is still a fabulous wallet, but if you have a choice of either one, then this is clearly the one to go for.
Thanks Martin for striving and achieving perfection!
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