Price$29.95
Media TypeOne-Trick DVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedNov 17, 2010
Paul Harris Presents Justin Miller's Freedom Pack
Miller, Justin
Hugh Phoric, Inc.
(Based on 2 reviews)
Justin Miller has created an astonishing in-your-face card case production that ALWAYS leaves you with a NORMAL ready-to- perform deck. One moment it's a normal spreadable deck...then in a blink, the deck is magically packed in its cardboard case!
Here's just one of the many Freedom-Inducing options:
Whenever you feel like it, do a killer ambitious card sequence...then BAM!...the box INSTANTLY appears around the deck! Take off the box, hand out the deck. You now have the happy and glad blue sky freedom to do any other card effect...or just hang out and enjoy the view!
Prepare to be blown away by the Demo!
Feel the Freedom
ALWAYS leaves you with a normal ready-to-perform deck
Uses only one deck and one box
No palms or switches
Resets from zero to 3 seconds
Adapt to any deck
Perfect for walk-around
Super Easy to do
Complete with Justin Miller's Freedom Pack Gimmick and DVD
Reviews
(Top ▲)
REVIEW (5)
PROS
First of all, I really like that he teaches how to make a replacement should your gimmick wear out.
The effect is really good and the method is simple and practical.
He not only teaches how to use the gimmick very well, he teaches some excellent handling ideas. The whole thing is really thought out well, from when and how to perform the effect to how to get into and out of the effect.
The get ready and reset are very easy.
I really liked the B. Smith move.
CONS
There are a ton of chapters and I didn’t see a “play all” option. A bit annoying.
It seems to me that it would have been clever if the gimmick could go into a card box so you can make the card box appear twice. You might be able to figure out a way to do this after you see the gimmick.
It was amusing that much of the DVD was filmed outdoors where apparently a rogue squirrel was pelting them with acorns. Don’t let this be a distraction to the great content of the DVD.
One of the challenges of this is getting the gimmick into play without having to turn your back to the audience. See the Suggestions section for an idea.
VERDICT
A great effect, simple and practical gimmick, and great instruction.
PROS
First of all, I really like that he teaches how to make a replacement should your gimmick wear out.
The effect is really good and the method is simple and practical.
He not only teaches how to use the gimmick very well, he teaches some excellent handling ideas. The whole thing is really thought out well, from when and how to perform the effect to how to get into and out of the effect.
The get ready and reset are very easy.
I really liked the B. Smith move.
CONS
There are a ton of chapters and I didn’t see a “play all” option. A bit annoying.
It seems to me that it would have been clever if the gimmick could go into a card box so you can make the card box appear twice. You might be able to figure out a way to do this after you see the gimmick.
It was amusing that much of the DVD was filmed outdoors where apparently a rogue squirrel was pelting them with acorns. Don’t let this be a distraction to the great content of the DVD.
One of the challenges of this is getting the gimmick into play without having to turn your back to the audience. See the Suggestions section for an idea.
VERDICT
A great effect, simple and practical gimmick, and great instruction.
Suggestions
One of the challenges is getting the gimmick into play without turning away from the audience. One way to accomplish this is to start with the gimmick in play and do what appears to be a riffle force, but then pull the card they stop on out and show it to them. Ask if they would like that card or another. If they want a different one, riffle a bit more. Hand the card to them and you don’t have to turn away to get the gimmick into play.(Top ▲)
It's rare that I get to review something that I was almost ready to purchase. The demo video is pretty amazing and I've always liked the cards-to-card-case premise as a finale to a card set.
You get a DVD with full instructions as well as one pre-made Freedom Pack. Happily, there are no special gimmicks to lose or damage. When your Pack wears out, you can make another one from brand new deck of cards in a matter of minutes.
I think the first person I saw do this effect was Michael Ammar. Over the years, I've seen several other versions from other performers. Of course, each on has its own benefits and drawbacks. For me it comes down to three issues: how free you can be with the pack, how difficult it is to ring in and/or hide the "case," and how free you can be with the cased deck. I have yet to find one that gets high marks in all three areas. Luckily, most performing situations are not going to require perfection in all three. For instance, if this is the very last thing you do, there's no real reason to hand the box out for examination before you put it away. You want them to be left with the surprising moment.
Freedom Pack works with a regular deck of cards, so you have complete freedom with the deck. The cased deck can be viewed from all sides and the cards can be removed from the case just like normal. The cased deck (or the case without the deck) cannot be handed out for examination. I don't find this to be a real problem since the whole point (I think) is to have the case magically reappear around the cards and then put them away.
Where this method has some issues is in ringing in the feke. Justin explains what he does with his ambitious routine. If you can work in a moment where you turn around to "not look," then you're golden. In fact, you still have a lot of freedom with the deck after the case is introduced. Case in point: Justin continues with a couple more phases of the ambitious routine once everything is in place.
If you can't contrive a reason to turn around or put the deck out of sight, life's not going to be easy for you. In fact, I have yet to come up with a way to get the case into play without taking the deck out of visual range.
I know this is probably going to sound all New Age-y, but I really enjoyed watching Justin. He obviously takes this work very seriously and you can tell he's spent time with Paul Harris. He has a few monologues that are obviously heartfelt. It's nice to see a passion for creating astonishment.
The DVD teaches several "changes." Paul's Spirit Freedom Change is quite elegant and provides a truly magical moment for one person. B. Smith's Pause Change is a thing of true beauty.
Don't forget the Bonus, Brain-Freeze. It's a complete color-changing deck routine that uses Freedom Pack.
You get a DVD with full instructions as well as one pre-made Freedom Pack. Happily, there are no special gimmicks to lose or damage. When your Pack wears out, you can make another one from brand new deck of cards in a matter of minutes.
I think the first person I saw do this effect was Michael Ammar. Over the years, I've seen several other versions from other performers. Of course, each on has its own benefits and drawbacks. For me it comes down to three issues: how free you can be with the pack, how difficult it is to ring in and/or hide the "case," and how free you can be with the cased deck. I have yet to find one that gets high marks in all three areas. Luckily, most performing situations are not going to require perfection in all three. For instance, if this is the very last thing you do, there's no real reason to hand the box out for examination before you put it away. You want them to be left with the surprising moment.
Freedom Pack works with a regular deck of cards, so you have complete freedom with the deck. The cased deck can be viewed from all sides and the cards can be removed from the case just like normal. The cased deck (or the case without the deck) cannot be handed out for examination. I don't find this to be a real problem since the whole point (I think) is to have the case magically reappear around the cards and then put them away.
Where this method has some issues is in ringing in the feke. Justin explains what he does with his ambitious routine. If you can work in a moment where you turn around to "not look," then you're golden. In fact, you still have a lot of freedom with the deck after the case is introduced. Case in point: Justin continues with a couple more phases of the ambitious routine once everything is in place.
If you can't contrive a reason to turn around or put the deck out of sight, life's not going to be easy for you. In fact, I have yet to come up with a way to get the case into play without taking the deck out of visual range.
I know this is probably going to sound all New Age-y, but I really enjoyed watching Justin. He obviously takes this work very seriously and you can tell he's spent time with Paul Harris. He has a few monologues that are obviously heartfelt. It's nice to see a passion for creating astonishment.
The DVD teaches several "changes." Paul's Spirit Freedom Change is quite elegant and provides a truly magical moment for one person. B. Smith's Pause Change is a thing of true beauty.
Don't forget the Bonus, Brain-Freeze. It's a complete color-changing deck routine that uses Freedom Pack.