Pit Boss Junior
Wong, Alan and Peterson, Thom
Alan Wong Magic
You show some napkins or Post-It notes and point out that they are numbered 1, 2 and 3. Take a napkin or Post-It note #1, pretend to read their mind, and then write down the total of the dice as you visualize it in your mind. Then ball up the napkin or paper and drop it into an empty cup. Now that your prediction is captured, ask them to announce the total of the dice, so they cannot later change things. Then ask them to imagine going further into the casino and visualize a spinning roulette wheel with the ball starting to slow down. Have them visualize where it lands from 1 to 36, but do not say anything. You write down a prediction on #2, ball it up, and toss it into the cup. You ask him to announce the spot on the roulette wheel where the ball ended, so that they cannot change their choice later.
Finally, you ask him to imagine moving on to a Black Jack table and to visualize the dealer's cards with one card face up and one face down. You now ask him to imagine walking behind the table and behind the dealer to peek at the face-down card. You write down a prediction on #3, ball it up, and toss it in the cup. Now ask them to announce the face-down card that he peeked at. Lastly reveal all three predictions and show that all three are correct.
Supplied with instructions and special gimmick for the fantastic mental routine, and many other possible uses that you can carry with you in your pocket.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Well...sort of. The last prediction is wrong but with the help of a mini version of a standard gaffed deck you probably already own, all’s well that end’s well.
For $15.00, you receive a gaffed mini-deck, a nice leather case and a page of instructions. This effect is the work of Alan Wong with routining help by Thom Peterson. The deck I received in the set needed a little more treatment but it worked satisfactorily.
This isn’t earth-shattering but a fun mental magic effect. If the effect appeals to you and it fits your style, then it's a good deal.
(Top ▲)
Well . . . 15 bucks ain't that much money, but what do you really get for it? You get a miniature version of a very common gimmicked deck. You get one page of instructions, and a leather case to carry your mini deck. The best part of this is the little "leather" cased. If you use a miniature deck for any routine, this might be a nice little case that you would use. It has a hook so you can put it on your key ring.
The instructions you get are VERY confusing to follow along . . . maybe I'm slow, but I had to reread it several times before I could follow along with what was being explained. The special deck you get is one you've definitely used before, but using a miniature version of the deck is actually quite difficult. This routine and method is really nothing new. It's a pretty standard Mental Epic style of effect. If the best thing about this product is the mini card case, the second best thing is that I didn't actually have to buy it. Someone sent it to me for review.
Frankly if I were to do this effect (I might), I would not use a mini deck. I'd use a regular deck. The only thing I can think of that they were trying to accomplish with the mini deck was possibly that it's more portable so you could do it anytime you wanted since the deck is on your key chain.
However, there is still some set up with the papers that you'll use to do the effect. If after reading the effect you think it's a good effect and can see yourself doing it, then it's a small risk. I will say, however that the ad copy sort of left out a small detail . . . without the special deck, you can't do the trick. The ad copy may lead you to believe that you write down the three predictions and when they're turned over for the reveal, it's all shown to be accurate . . . that's sort of true.
You still must use the special deck to pull this off. Overall, the method, and handling are a bit awkward with the mini deck and the "using napkins to write your predictions." The one thing that I did find valuable is the way that the handling of the numbered napkins was done. I would never do it with napkins, but using double blank playing card stock or 3x5 lined cards . . . maybe. One problem with napkins (other than it looks tacky for this type of effect) is that they're see through . . . that makes the method a bust for the most part. However, the concept would work really well with blank playing cards. I might use the concept (with cards) in a routine, but not with napkins because it just won't work.
They also suggest you use post it note. My guess is that Alan Wong meant something else when he said post-it notes . . . because you cannot do this with post it notes (at least not the kind that stick to each other). You have to actually do a DL at one point . . . really . . . try doing a DL with post it notes or napkins . . . ridiculous.
When all is said and done, you're not getting much bang for your buck even though the "buck" is pretty minimal.
Final Verdict:
1.5 Stars with a Stone Status of rubble.