First, I do own this routine, but I have not performed it. If I do, it will be DRAMATICALLY different than the demo. I have NOT seen Mr. Kaplan perform this live, and it may be different than in the demo - I don’t know.

Second, I have read many rave reviews of this routine, and have yet to read a bad one. That says something - I’m original! Of course, these reviews are from magicians who as a group, I hate to say, love low hanging fruit. I have come to be very leery over what another magician says is funny because most “comedy magicians” I have seen were not very funny or very magical. . . This, of course, can be saying more about me than other magicians. . . I do LOVE comedy, love stand-up comedy. I LOVE good comedy magicians . . . just most I have seen I would not say are good when compared to a stand-up comedian you may see on TV. Perhaps the joke is on me . . .


Ok, This is marketed for all audiences, including kids. I have done thousands of birthday shows and school shows, and I cannot see it going over that well with kids. The demo lacks the pacing, and visual humor. Will kids laugh at it? Sure, but it is hardly “A” material for them. Much of the “humor” will pass right over the 4-10 y/o’s heads. He also uses cards, which in more ways then I care to recount, are generally a bad prop for kids entertainment.

A few things I found disturbing. First, he put eyes, glasses and a nose on an orange, turning it from a inanimate piece of food into a personality (although not much of a personality, he could have done a much better job). He them sticks it with a needle and cuts it in half. I personally don’t think skewering a personality and then cutting this “being” in half particularly funny . . . and I think it is totally unnecessary. With all the cartoons of animated fruit and veggies today, I could see a little child becoming very disturbed.

For adults, it is a bill in lemon routine. That part of it is fine, but not original. What is original is the humor is all play-on-words . . . and really, really corny. IMHO the demo is way too slow and drawn out. He tries to squeeze every last laugh out of it and forgets to be funny while doing it. To me, it was almost painful. Now a few corny jokes delivered in a much more up-beat way would be FAR better. What can you expect, he warns his audience what to expect. Once again, he has received rave reviews over this routine, perhaps I am just plain stupid or something . . .

The demo did not make me laugh, although I did smile a couple times. I don’t like Mr. Kaplan’s performing style - but that is me. I have tried to wrap my head around so many positive reviews, and can’t - not with his demo anyway. He did get an applause at the end, but that was probably for the surprise of the card in the orange - not for the humor . . . or it could be because the routine is over.

On the other side, I think it has possibilities, they just are not fleshed out yet. I think the idea of the animated fruit is good, and the humor could be presented MUCH better.

I don’t know if the method for delivering the corner is original with Mr. Kaplan or not, but it is a good idea.

It packs fairly small, and can play in a living room or on a stage. It is VERY easy to do the mechanics of this. If you did not care about presentation, you could perform this immediately.

I have read how successful this has been in shows by many magicians. I think, if presented as in the demo, their “success” has a very low bar. Now if they speed it up and changed it, who knows.

I do not think it is a waste of money because it does get me thinking in a different way, and that is priceless.