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Got A Light?

Matt Wayne

(Based on 1 review)
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The 21st Century Three Shell Game

Matt Wayne's Got a Light? is a classic effect with a high-tech twist. Challenge your audience to "find the pea" among three clear shot glasses. One glass contains a green LED, the other two contain red LEDs. The audience attempts to track the green light but may find it's not as easy as it sounds!

Matt wanted to create a routine that offers all of the impact of a cups-and-balls, monte, or three-shell-game routine with none of the sleights or tricky angles. Tested and refined in front of live audiences for years, Got a Light is perfect for use in restaurants, bars, close-up, parlor, strolling and more. The entire routine fits into your pocket and plays big, thanks to the high-quality, super bright LED lights.

Ideal for beginners and for advanced magicians alike, Got a Light is easy to master, allowing you to focus on your presentation instead of your hands. The instructional DVD comes with the LED lights and micro battery - a complete kit so you can start working with the routine immediately!

Filmed in high-definition in the heart of New York City, magician Matt Wayne shows you the complete performance, then a detailed explanation in wide-angle and close-up. Pristine imagery and Dolby digital sound allow you to follow the routine effortlessly. You'll also see several bonus handlings so you can customize your performance to match your own unique style.
  • Complete Routine and Explanation
  • LED Lights and Battery Included
  • Use Any Three Glasses or Cups
  • Shot in High-Definition
  • Region-Free DVD Works in DVD Players World-Wide
  • Dolby Digital Sound
  • Closed Captioning for the Hearing Impaired
"Matt's 'Got a Light' reilluminates the three shell game."
- Eric DeCamps

"Bring magic out of the dark ages - let there be light!"
- David Roth

"Fun, commercial, new, and different. Any magician that does even one gambling routine. . .could add this to their repertoire."
- Gregg Webb

". . .A real colorful, mystifying effect. An "outside the box" fooler!"
- Tom Craven, Linking Ring Magazine

"Matt Wayne's "Got a Light" is the next logical step in the famous shell and monte genre. It combines a quick witted operator and a challenge to the audience that can not be beat. And it is soooo fair it's scary. "
- Justin Miller

"Matt Wayne has taken a classic of magic and brought it into the twenty-first century."
- David London

Running Time Approximately 27min

Reviews

Joe Diamond

Official Reviewer

Aug 19, 2010

Matt Wayne does something on this DVD that I haven’t seen in a while: He comes across as a decent, genuine human being. He is charming, sincere, excited, and very thankful to the viewer for buying his product. He is also very comfortable in his own skin on camera, and doesn’t try to be funny or goofy like most magicians on the DVDs I’ve seen lately. He seems like a great guy and I really hope I don’t hurt his feelings in this review.

Matt may be a great guy, but what you are paying for when you buy a magic product is a magic effect, and this one is not very good. The basic effect is that you have three LED lights and a battery, along with three shot glasses. Two lights are shown to light up red when they are made contact with the battery, and the other lights up green. They are then covered with the shot glasses and mixed around for a monte style shell game where the spectator is always wrong. At the end, the spectators are left with a choice: Was it magic, sleight of hand, or was there something tricky with those lights? I’m pretty sure they’ll go with the last option. While this effect may fool some people, it won’t give a sense of mystery that good magic should produce.

You are supplied with a DVD, four LED lights, and a battery. The DVD is 28 minutes long, and you can feel that they are trying to stretch it to make it seem more substantial. There are two performances. One is a wide shot where you can see Matt and his very attractive female spectator. The second performance is the same, but it’s a close up shot of his hands and the props instead. He then teaches the routine with his lady friend still sitting beside him. This would have been useful if he had taught her the routine, but instead she just sits there while Matt teaches us the routine.

The ‘bonus’ routines are just tips to add to the routine we’ve already been taught. One of these ‘bonus routines’ is just him talking about using this as an opener. He explains how he goes up to a group and asks, “Got A Light?” as he searches his pockets. He then says, “Found one” as he takes the three shot glasses from his pockets so he is now able to go into the routine. That’s it. The DVD moves on to bonus handling number two, which is a little longer, and only adds the fourth light to the routine we’ve already learned.

The LEDs are special. I won’t expose how they work, but I will say you need to use the ones included. Although, I talked with some of my technology savvy buddies, and apparently these lights can be found somewhat easily in certain electronic stores, and are pretty well known to people who work with electronics and lights. So, in theory, the best group of people to show this routine to will know exactly how it works. Furthermore, an audience doesn’t need to know exactly how the lights work in order for them to feel they’ve figured it out. All they have to do is think that it’s a trick light, and the illusion of magic is gone.

I think the lights are cool, and could be used for some neat effects, just not the one provided. The DVD is well produced and shot in HD. The DVD case has quotes from David Roth and Eric DeCamps on the back. These quotes are really just ‘cute comments’ and neither have the feeling of a genuine endorsement.

I hope this review doesn’t discourage Matt. I also hope that he will continue to work on his creativity and not lose his excitement. If he is planning on releasing something else to the magic community, I hope this review has helped him learn form his mistakes and avoid problems in the future.

Here is what I feel people should do before releasing a product: Have someone extremely critical, intelligent, and honest look at your next product before you release it. Then ask them for their honest opinion, and genuinely listen. If they truly care about you, they’ll tell you if it’s not that good. I feel this product is the result of people not being completely honest with Matt or themselves. While positivity is important, honesty is always the best policy.

I wish I could recommend this well produced product put out by this really charming guy. If you think you could use the LEDs for other magic effects, then this is something you may want to consider. Otherwise, save your money in the hopes that Matt’s next release is much better.

Two Stars for Personality, Effort, and a kinda cool electronic toy.
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