Card Through Window Booklet
David Forrest
The CTW document is a 20 page manuscript describing in very fine detail how to construct the clever gimmicks which will allow you to perform the classic Card through Window effect using 'desktop technology' (scissors, tape, glue, etc.) and materials included with this booklet.
Each step of the process is very easy to follow thanks to clear and concise text, assembly diagrams and cutting templates, making the construction of the gimmicks simple and straight forward.
Effect 1:
A spectator selects a card from a deck. A corner is torn from the card and given to the spectator as a receipt. The magician claims he will make the card completely disappear and, after some by-play does exactly that! "Do you know where it went?" he asks. The spectators confess that they do not. "Look over there, do you see what's taped to that window?" The spectator turns around to find their selection taped firmly to a nearby window, the corner receipt matches perfectly! "That's pretty weird how I made your card appear there isn't it?" The spectator agrees. "I'll show you what's even weirder though." The magician passes a fan of cards over the selection and it very visually jumps right through the window! The tape is removed and the spectator can remove the card from the other side of the glass! The corner still matches perfectly!
Effect 2:
A spectator selects a card from a deck. A corner is torn from the card and given to the spectator as a receipt. The card is placed face up into the middle of the deck, the deck is bound with a rubber band and the spectator holds it between her palms. The magician leads the spectator to a nearby window where a small 'curtain' bearing a large question mark is seen.
He explains that earlier on in the day he taped a playing card on to the window as a prediction, the tape is seen to be protruding from either side of the curtain. After a suitable build up the magician lifts the curtain and a card matching the spectator's selection is seen to be taped firmly to the window. The magician points out that his prediction card also has a corner missing and asks the spectator to go through the deck and find his face up selection. The spectator finds that his selection is gone! The corner receipt is compared to the card on the window and they are seen to be a perfect match! Here comes the best part:
The magician passes a fan of cards over the selection and it very visually jumps right through the window! The curtain is removed and the spectator can remove the tape and the card, which really is on the other side of the glass, and everything is examinable. The corner still matches!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
David is offering a manuscript, with supplies, for a do-it-yourself gaff which allows one to duplicate the effect of the marketed Kennedy version of Card through Window. While he does mention Kennedy late into the text, he does not state that he received permission for this offering. Of course, does he need it?
If you copy someone's "effect," with a different method, is that fair game? What if it is someone's handling of a preexisting effect? You duplicate their handling, but with a different method...same?...different?
Many have thought long and hard about the card through window. Different concessions are made. Different scenarios are devised. Kennedy came up with a clever handling which Forrest's duplicates "in effect". Many of the blocking details are copied. As the "blocking/scenario concept" is integral to this trick, and Kennedy offered some ideas not seen before, shouldn't those ideas be proprietary to Kennedy?
Personally, I think so.
But let's consider the trick on its own.
A card is selected. Corner torn. A card, taped to the inside of a window, is revealed. The card then seems to pass to the outside. (The idea of the card beginning on the inside and passing to the outside is Kennedy's. He came up with it using the corner, and alludes to making a moment of the card itself passing through in the instructional DVD. Forrest says he saw the performance clip of the Kennedy, but he may not have seen the entire DVD).
Anyway. The gimmick allows the card to seem to pass through. However, I don't think it is needed. Having used the Kennedy, and done my own versions of the original Hummer, I think the audience believes the card to be on the inside of the window when it is revealed. You merely have to say it is passing through and the "effect" to them is that was the moment it went. The card can be on the outside the whole time. They will "see" it on the inside, because that's the power of the brain when it comes to perception and expectations.
While I think David's gimmick is workable, for the reason stated above, I don't know if it is needed.
The Kennedy trick has the nice touch of having this moment, and then passing the corner through which confirms one's ability to do that which is claimed. Further, the grail moment of the card through window is going from the blank window to the card being where it wasn't. Forrest does not solve that problem, he just offers a way around. Of course, the same can be said of the Kennedy, but at least in the latter the corner DOES go through.
So, in short, I think for CTW fans, you need to get this to play with it. However, it is not THE answer.
Personally, I would like to know what Kennedy thinks of this.
For what it is, on its own. 2.5 stars.