Magic reviews by Dr. Joaquin Ayala

The method for this one really was a complete surprise. This effect is not well suited to repetition in a live performance, but it is not impossible. In my opinion, it is one effect you do not want to repeat, and Brett even says as much. This is one of those great hit-em-hard effects, but it is not necessarily ideal in every situation or condition.

The effect is very well presented and the description is very clear. The idea is awesome and when done properly, it does get spectators thinking (or apparently in some cases, screaming). I just got this yesterday and performed it this early afternoon in a restaurant for some fellow magicians at our weekly lunch gathering. It floored them all - especially the one that loaned me his ring. He immediately grabbed the ring back and tried to see if it would work with his finger...

The effect is very easy and really the only thing you need to work on is your presentation. After playing around with it last evening for a couple of hours, I had easily come up with 3 or 4 different presentational angles to use for it. Speaking of angles, theoretically, this could be done surrounded but I think it is better performed for a small group of people in front of you because that is where all the action happens. Anybody standing any wider than a 30 degree angle to either side of you will not really see what is happening.

As was stated in a previous review, it really is not what you think. Even if you do not use this one a lot, you cannot go wrong for the price but I know this effect will definitely be in my repertoire.

I think the video was well made and the instruction was very clear. It covered a lot of nuances of the use of this utility, as I would categorize it. I say utility because it can be used as a sleight, it can be used as a flourish to pop any card out of the deck, and it can be used, of course, as a way to reveal a selected card or four. I was particularly entertained by the four card production sequence - that is something I would love to use in one of my card sets.

Now, my own results with this have not been great. I am not really much of a cardician, although I do perform some of the classic card effects now and then. The actual mechanics of this are not difficult at all, and is in fact very much within the reach of a beginner. I had to find a different way to make this work for me just because of the nature of my fingers, and I have not gotten it to the point of being able to do it consistently just yet. If I try to do it as described in the video, I get it to work, weakly, maybe 1 out of 10 attempts. If I do it in my modified position, I can get it to work better about 5 our of every 10 attempts.

Regardless of my own results thus far, I still say this utility has a lot of potential and is a very cool, very visual and rather unique way to reveal selected cards. Overall, I give it my full rating because of those characteristics and features, including those listed above.

I am not a card guy, but this is a neat little flourish.

When you first start doing it, you might think it is impossible, but it just takes practice. It is a little on the knacky side, but once you get it down, you are good to go.

If you are the type of performer that likes things that do not take up much table space (if any at all), this does not fit into that category. Even though with practice you can do this whilst using a smaller amount of table space, it still requires a good bit to execute.

Vanishing Inc. Magic has done it again - with this video they have added another superb routine that looks great, is clean and easy to do and is very well taught.

As I have said in other reviews, I am not much of a cardician, but this is one of my favorite card bits to practice and perform. Ben does a great job in describing all the necessary details, moves and subtleties that go into making this a very clean, very effective and superb assembly. He also gives a few ideas with which to further explore the possibilities in its presentation.

The name "Bold Assembly" actually fits quite well because it is quite bold compared to other assemblies (because it is so open, comparitively), but that should not scare you away. If you use the techniques and subtleties as they are given, you will have no problems.

I highly recommend this one!

This should be considered a classical treatise on routining and redirection (as opposed to misdirection). I have had the book for the longest time and it is among my most prized posessions. I wanted to have the video to complete the 'set', as it were.

Albert has long been respected as one of the finest teachers in magic history, as well he should be. If you really sit and watch his performance, even if you know what he is doing, he still catches you off guard. His timing and his routining are unmatched and is extremely well thought out.

Even if you do not use any of the material on this video (and why would you not?), it is well worth having in your collection just to study his psychological principles, his routining and his (re)misdirection.

I have never really been a hardcore mentalist, but I do love the genre. My biggest influence in said genre has always been Max Maven (Phil Goldstein), and it started with his Videomind series (I got them when VHS was king).

This book is a veritable treasure trove of material, all based on the same idea and principle. There is a little bit of remembering which routine uses what moves and which way, but it is not a memorization issue. It is very easy to understand and pick up. As a matter of fact, if you have ever more than dabbled in mentalism and used cards for any effects, you already know of at least one variation on the principle covered in this book. There are a lot of magician-foolers in this book, but there is also a lot of metalist-fooling material in it as well. That was not necessarily the intended effect, but because (at least that I have heard/noticed) this is not a book that has been read by a wide spread of performers, it ended up being so. I rather like that though...

The work and the history of the principle is well detailed, and there is plenty of room of reworking the presentational angle of each of the routines to make it your own, or to suit your needs. Even if you do not perform mentalist per se, there is still something for everyone in here - even magicians who do card work with a gambling theme.

I cannot believe I forgot to review this. I have been using this one for a while now, and even though I am not a cardician, I love it!

I had to rework a part of the handling to suit me, and I always get great reactions with it. I cannot quite decide which handling I like better - the impromptu involves no clean-up afterwards, but the prepared version is so clean it is eye-popping - very well thought out and routined!

I am a coin specialist, so I really enjoyed his work with the coins that is offered here, especially his impromptu handling of Digital Dissolve. If you are a coin worker and do not perform card effects at all, this video is worth the price for that alone. The reverse is also true. I highly recommend this!

Quite an interesting thing you have here, and in my opinion, quite powerful. This is a great utility because it can be used in many different ways, and with many different routines. It can be used to reveal a selected card, you can use it as a color change, it can be done as a penetration effect of sorts, and it can even be used as a perfect finale for your ambitious card routine!

As far as my own work with this is concerned, I use it occasionally as a color change, but most often I use it as a finale to my ambitious card routine. This is even more powerful than the WOW gimmicks (do not get me wrong - WOW/WOW 2.0 looks great, but it uses an extra object that you have to bring into, and take out of, play/use). The motivation is built-in and the work is quite easy, but as Patrick says in the video (and other reviewers above), it is a bit knacky. Once you get it though, you got it.

As a coin specialist, this is one of my favorite DVDs available, and just think - it almost did not exist. I am sure Rune could have reconstructed this DVD because I still see him performing the effects and routines on this DVD today, but it would not quite have been the same.

If you are a serious coin worker, this is one of those must-have DVDs. 95% of my work is done with sleight-of-hand (I always follow the rule that if it can be done and made to look as good/magical without gaffs, stick with that, but the other 5% of work I do uses gaffs where it looks better), and I really love the routines and effects on this DVD because you can actually borrow the coins required to do most of them. You do not have to use half dollars or even silver coins for that matter - clad coins of any sort and even quarters will suffice. It is simple, direct and very clean.

It is not simple in the way of skill level - this is not meant for beginning coin workers but rather for those with more intermediate to advanced skills in coin work. Some of the sleights will take a fair amount of practice to get them down smoothly, but it is all very much worth it.

Another product I would highly recommend to the serious coin student.

This is one of those little packet effects (as despised packet effects are these days) that are a must have. Eugene Burger says that everyone should have and perform this (now) classic that is B'Wave, and I quite agree.

It is simple, direct and very powerful - I have always certainly gotten the best reactions with it over the years. You can present it in so many different ways to suit your needs that its potential is limited only by your imagination.