Price$35.00
Media TypeTrick, One-Trick DVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 25, 2010
This, That, and The Other
Stephen Tucker
Martin Breese
(Based on 3 reviews)
Martin Breese: "I released this trick by Stephen Tucker back in the 1980s and discovered that someone, who should know better, had taken it, had it demonstrated by a good performer and then was selling video downloads explaining how to do it. What a cheek. And worse still the pirate video was the most viewed trick on YouTube ever! Not fifteen hundred viewers, not fifteen thousand viewers but fifteen Million! I had it taken off YouTube as soon as I knew! I had to do something about it! I got Stephen Tucker, who created and invented the effect, to put it all on DVD for me."
There is a fabulous booklet of instructions and the three special cards you need (printed on Bicycle stock) and of course the DVD!!
Running Time Approximately: 10mins
Reviews
(Top ▲)
The review end with, "There is no other way to replace these cards but buy another set at $35 which comes to $11.67 per card. A bit steep for a packet trick if you have to replace it."
I've always heard that you pay for the instructions/secret, not the materials. In this case, the reviewer even suggested a solution in the previous sentence and forgot it by the time he wrote this one. You can replace the three provided cards with three blank facers and five seconds of Sharpie work.
That said, this is still too much to pay for Dollar Monte and some less effective patter.
(Top ▲)
Overview
This, That and the Other by Stephen Tucker is a twist on the Color Monte card trick. However, in this version the spectator is supposed to be amused by constantly being wrong in locating a card. Three cards are shown and the spectator is required to keep track of where their assigned card is despite all the performer’s legerdemain. It isn’t surprising this is presented as a sucker effect since the arrogant attitude of Tucker is on full display in the first 10 seconds of the DVD. After spending $35 on what is a three card packet trick, you are greeted not with “Thank you for purchasing…..” but Tucker standing against a dark backdrop, stoically looking at his watch and telling you “You’re late, but now that you are here, I might as well show you this trick”. Is this humor? If it is, explain it to me.Effect
This, That and the Other takes you on a tongue twisting, linguistic roller coaster ride trying to keep track of a card with the word “This” on it. You never can figure out where the “This” card is because the “That” card seems to always get it in the way. After a confusing bout with the cards and losing, it is clearly because you weren’t keeping your eye on the “Other” card.Method
The method is basically using some easy to do sleight of hand. The necessary sleights are the Glide, Incomplete Marlo Three Way Display and the Stanyon Two as Three Count. Of course the required cards are needed and they need to be in the proper position to start.Product Quality
What you get for your $35 is the three required cards, a small 8 page pamphlet (there are really 10 pages but two are completely blank) and a DVD. The cards are printed on Bicycle stock so there are no quality issues there. The pamphlet is cleanly laid out and explains the moves required as well as the script. The DVD as we say in Brooklyn is “from hunger” in other words it is horrible. The DVD is 10 minutes of some of the worst filmed video I probably have seen put out by a well-known performer. Not only is the video so poorly filmed, Tucker is using cards that have labels stuck on them.Ad Copy Integrity
Marketed as “a miracle trick from the fertile, inventive and, dare we say, dangerous mind of Stephen Tucker” that alone should give you fair warning as to what you are purchasing. Miracle trick? Think about that one statement by itself.Final Thoughts
If you decide to purchase this, I highly recommend you practice with blank face cards with the words This, That and Other written on them. I say this because like any packet trick you will probably soil these trying to nail down the handling and patter. There is no other way to replace these cards but buy another set at $35 which comes to $11.67 per card. A bit steep for a packet trick if you have to replace it.(Top ▲)
The DVD appears to have been filmed with a home VHS camcorder. The booklet, however, was sharp, well produced and a solid looking product. The cards that you get are decent . . . they've just had the words printed on them.
However, even if the quality of the DVD and cards were perfect I still would not, likely, be recommending this for many reasons.
First of all, when I spend $35 on a DVD, I expect either a DVD with multiple solid effects (not one so-so effect) and/or a solid specialized gimmick (not 3 silk-screened cards). Secondly, the effect is not that entertaining and frankly a bit confusing to follow.
The presentation given by Stephen Tucker was basically the standard 3 card monte type routine . . .
You think the "this" card is on the bottom . . . well you're wrong . . . you think the "this" card is on the top . . . well you'd be wrong again . . . oh is it here . . . WRONG! . . . You stupid spectator you're wrong . . . you're always wrong . . . I'm the magician, and I'm always right . . . HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
Ok . . . I hyperbolized a little bit, but not much. That's the message that these types of routines send. Then after showing that the spectator is wrong multiple times, the "routine" continues with a bunch of quick slide/glide/display/count moves that don't "prove" anything except my thesis that this is a non-entertaining confusing routine. This portion of the routine comes across as a hyper-active new magician trying to show off all of his false counts and displays in one routine . . . there's no time for the spectator to register any effect.
In my less than humble opinion, the effect along with the relatively poor quality "package" you get is not worth the price of admission. Sorry Mr. Tucker. I do like some of your other stuff, but not this one so much. I would have found this to be more valuable as an "idea" or an aside in an essay discussing presentation where maybe the author mentions that the Color Monte doesn't have to be done with the goofy cards and suggests trying it with a This, That and Other presentation.
However, if you really must learn a Color Monte style effect, then spend your cash on R. Paul Wilson's DVD Knock 'Em Dead. It has, in my opinion, the best presentation, performance, variation and kicker of all Color Montes. It is the Holy Grail of Color Monte.
1 star . . . rubble