Price$24.99
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedMay 24, 2014
Noted 2.0 Blue
Jones, Gary
Magic Tao
(Based on 2 reviews)
You can use this in any scenario, restaurants, corporate functions, bars, partys. It is limited to your own imagination.
You can even write on the gimmick, so you can use it for example at the beginning of your invisible deck routine. You ask a spectator to name any card. You write it on the Noted gimmick. You then say I will find your card, but you need a deck of cards. You then make the note pad turn into a deck of cards and then go into your invisible deck routine.
You can see that the possibilities with the Noted gimmick are endless.
You are supplied with a universal gimmick that makes all this possible. No slight of hand needed Custom made gimmick supplied You just supply your own deck. Comes with DVD with full explanations
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Disposable Heroes by The Scorched Earth Orchestra
Noted 2.0 by Gary Jones Review:
One Gimmick, 9 minutes and $25 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect
A hand held notepad instantly changes into a deck of cards. That's it, folks. Simple.
Method
The method is a super clever gimmick that pretty much does all the work for you. You literally just have to be able to lift your finger. That's it. This method is clean, easy, and within the grasp of any skill level as far as the technical demands go. As always, you must have presentational skill to go with it.
Ad Copy Integrity
The only thing I would question is the claim that it happens " . . . right in front of their eyes." Though the needed cover is minimal, it is needed nonetheless. In the DVD, Gary Jones shows us a way to effect the change as you're handing out the marker. That is plenty of cover to do the move.
Also, the ad copy claims that you can write on the gimmick. That's true. But it must be a dry erase marker. If you're openly using a dry erase marker on the gimmick, this might make the spectators suspicious. My understanding is that SansMinds carries a dry erase pen that looks like a Sharpie. I can neither confirm nor deny if this is a good product. I've never used one and have no opinion of it. However, if it's a good product, I'd recommend you use it or something like it if you plan on writing on your Noted 2.0 gimmick.
Product Quality
The gimmick itself is perfect. It looks great, handles well, is very durable and will likely last a very long time, and is super easy to use. The DVD, on the other hand, is a totally different story. First, they barely explained anything. There was an "idea" for using this with an Invisible Deck. Rather than having an Invisible Deck on hand to show us how it might work, they just sort of talked through it.
That was a problem for two reasons. First, the audio on this (and just about every Magic Tao product I've watched) is atrocious. Even with my volume at 100%, I could barely hear anything. Further, If you know an Invisible Deck, you know that the card they name determines how you handle the deck. This means that you may have to turn the deck over to perform the effect. So when the deck "appears," it may be facing the wrong way. They give a somewhat decent way to deal with this . . . I think; it's hard to say since I couldn't hear them. Seeing an actual performance of this and the other ideas they brushed over would have made this a much better product.
Final Thoughts
This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy as a reviewer. This product has serious potential to be a 5 star product. The gimmick is smart and looks great. However, they give you nine minutes of essentially mumbling about the gimmick rather than any real training. I say mumbling due to the fact that the audio was so quiet, I could barely hear them. Invest in some microphones, people. They're very cheap. If you watch the videos I shoot that accompany my reviews, I'm assuming the audio level is sufficient. I'm just using my iPhone and that's it. No extra microphone or anything special.
I'm not even asking you to pay for this. Yet Magic Tao is asking you to pay for a supposedly professionally shot video with ridiculously poor audio. It's frustrating and it makes the final rating a bit difficult. What it comes down to is this: if you have a use for the prop or the effect of changing a notepad to a deck of cards, you'll love this product. If you're looking to learn the ins and outs of how to use such a product, you'll be a bit disappointed, but still be able to work your way through it.
Review Update (1/15/15)
Hey everyone, if you take a look at the comments below and the review above, you'll notice I had an issue with the audio. Several months ago, Costas sent me a new video where the audio was much better. They apparently had a bad batch of DVDs. This problem has been fixed. I've bumped the star rating up from 3 to 3.5 stars and the Stone Status from "gem with a super small g" to "gem with a small g."
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem with a small 'g.'
(Top ▲)
It was hard to review this because I love the idea as it would make a great opener for any magician doing restaurant work or strolling magic.
The ad copy is dead on - you get exactly what it says. The gimmick I received is good quality but if the gimmick that Gary uses in the video is anything to go by, mine was attached in the wrong orientation. This in no way hinders the use or the effectiveness of the gimmick and does not hinder performance at all. One other thing I really appreciate about this gimmick is that it can be written on, which brings even more possibilities to its use.
After playing around with this I discovered a bunch of other possibilities with this gimmick. It really is quite versatile. Having said that, the DVD is quite short (about 8 minutes long total) but the teaching was good. The menu is laid out into four sections with a Play All option - easy to use and navigate. The production quality is mixed: Everything was well-lit and the video was good, but the audio was on the low side. I had to turn all of my volume controls up to hear what was being said. NOTE: I was previously alerted that Magic Tao said they received a batch of DVDs for Noted 2.0 on which the volume was poor, so this may or may not be one of the DVDs in that batch. That said, with the volume controls all the way up, I was able to hear/understand *most* of what was being said. If the audio were better, I would probably have given this 4 stars.
Gary shows the original handling for this as well as some variations, gives a few ideas to get you started and does an all-around good job with teaching. This effect is very easy and almost works itself.
This effect is not totally angle proof and there are a couple of the handling ideas that cannot be done surrounded, but there was nothing in the explanation section that was not completely doable in most situations.
If you like what you see in the trailer or what you read in the ad copy, you will probably have a good use for this product.
3.5 stars for a versatile idea.
The ad copy is dead on - you get exactly what it says. The gimmick I received is good quality but if the gimmick that Gary uses in the video is anything to go by, mine was attached in the wrong orientation. This in no way hinders the use or the effectiveness of the gimmick and does not hinder performance at all. One other thing I really appreciate about this gimmick is that it can be written on, which brings even more possibilities to its use.
After playing around with this I discovered a bunch of other possibilities with this gimmick. It really is quite versatile. Having said that, the DVD is quite short (about 8 minutes long total) but the teaching was good. The menu is laid out into four sections with a Play All option - easy to use and navigate. The production quality is mixed: Everything was well-lit and the video was good, but the audio was on the low side. I had to turn all of my volume controls up to hear what was being said. NOTE: I was previously alerted that Magic Tao said they received a batch of DVDs for Noted 2.0 on which the volume was poor, so this may or may not be one of the DVDs in that batch. That said, with the volume controls all the way up, I was able to hear/understand *most* of what was being said. If the audio were better, I would probably have given this 4 stars.
Gary shows the original handling for this as well as some variations, gives a few ideas to get you started and does an all-around good job with teaching. This effect is very easy and almost works itself.
This effect is not totally angle proof and there are a couple of the handling ideas that cannot be done surrounded, but there was nothing in the explanation section that was not completely doable in most situations.
If you like what you see in the trailer or what you read in the ad copy, you will probably have a good use for this product.
3.5 stars for a versatile idea.