Price$29.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 04, 2014
Extortion
Kun, Patrick
SM Productionz
(Based on 2 reviews)
Extortion by Patrick Kun & SansMinds has taken bill changes to a new level.
Imagine with a gentle FINGERTIP touch, magically change a $1 to a $20 with a CLEAN display from beginning to end.
Also a powerful new method to visually transpose the bill from yours to the SPECTATOR's hands!
1. Take two bills of different value.
2. Your spectator takes one of the bills and clinches it in their fist.
3. YOU unfold the other bill...slowly, gracefully show your bill from all sides.
4. With a light shake, your bill morphs into YOUR SPECTATOR'S bill!
5. Your spectator opens their hand and the bills have impossibly CHANGED.
"I was looking at the camera monitor when we filmed this effect live. Holy sh@t it totally looked edited!"
Herman H., Creative Director from SansMinds
"I saw this live. This looks like CG!"
- Will Tsai Fully examinable. Thin, flexible gimmick which makes the operation simple and natural. Gimmick included. Make your currency in under 10 minutes. Works with foreign currencies and other paper objects. In-depth DVD instruction by Patrick Kun.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: What is Eternal by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Extortion Review
One DVD, one set of stuff to make the gimmicks, $30 bucks and one Extortion Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Extortion Review: Effect
Two effects are taught. One is a bill transpo where you apparently put a $20 bill in the spectator's hand while you hold a $1 bill. Then your $1 instantly becomes a $20. They open their hands to find the $1. The other effect is just the simple visual change of the $1 to the $20.
Extortion Review: Method
The method relies 95% on the gimmick that you'll need to construct and 5% on your handling of the gimmick and/or any other bills in the routine. They give you everything you'll need to create the gimmick except for the glue and the actual money. You'll need to sacrifice some money. Let's say that you're making a gimmick that changes from $1 to $20. You'll need one $1 and two $20's. The $1 and one of the $20's will be destroyed. However, if you keep the parts that you don't use for the gimmick and someday want to have your $20 back, then you can take apart your gimmick and tape your money back together.
The gimmick is very simple to operate, and very clever. It creates a perfect illusion and will take you about 20 minutes to build it. To be clear, the gimmick consists of a full $20, part of another $20 and part of a $1. If you decide to do the transpo effect, you'll need another $1, which could be borrowed. If you want to hand out the bill after the change happens, you'll need to have a third $20 ready for a secret switch.
I'd say with just a little bit of practice, anyone can do this. Once you've mastered it, you can carry it in your wallet and be ready to go any time.
Extortion Review: Ad Copy Integrity
So . . . I'm going into this with an open mind. The video trailer does a good job of showing you exactly what the change looks like. The only part that's questionable is when they show the one dollar bill at about 8 seconds in and at about 12 seconds in. In both cases they are displaying a normal dollar bill in a way that you cannot display the gimmick that will turn into the $20. The dollar bill shown in those two moments is clearly and definitely a normal dollar bill.
Granted, there is a routine where you do pull a normal dollar bill out of your wallet just like that. However, due to the way they cut the trailer together, it felt like they were "saying" that the bill pulled out of the wallet is then changed into the $20. Nope . . . not until a switch is done. The switch is good, easy and happens in the spectator's hands. However, wanting to give them the benefit of the doubt, I assumed that they were not trying to mislead you.
Then along comes the written ad copy, and what happens . . . a lie. Every single thing stated in the written ad copy is 100% true, except for one thing. The bullet point that says, "Fully examinable" is a complete crock! They do teach a handling for secretly switching the gimmicked just-changed $20 for a real one, but if that's the case, then anything is "fully examinable" as long as you don't examine but switch it out.
Extortion Review: Product Quality
The DVD is very well produced, and Patrick Kun does a great job going into depth about how to build your gimmick. He also gives a lot of excellent pro tips along the way that let you know he really does perform this. The only head's up you'll need is this. Make sure you watch the section about creating the gimmick completely before building your gimmick. Once you watch it, then go back and re-watch it second time while building the gimmick during the second watching of the instructions. This will prevent you from making some mistakes while creating your gimmick.
Extortion Review: Final Thoughts
If it weren't for the fishy moment in the ad trailer, and the obviously false claim that it's fully examinable, this would be five stars. It's hard to give a final rating on this one. Do you support SansMinds, a company known for making fools of their customers by dishonest ad copy? The ad copy is 95% accurate. It's just that one claim. So if I give the ad copy 2 stars and everything else 5 stars, we're still left with a solid product. The change really is as clean and visual as the ad trailer shows.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.
(Top ▲)
Wow! Just 'wow'!
There are a lot of visual bill changes out on the market but this is probably one of the fairest ones out there and it looks every bit as good in person as it does on video! Very visual, very magical and if you compare it to other similar changes, it is quite open.
Patrick Kun is an excellent teacher and covers everything very well. He teaches you how to make the gimmick and though the gimmick was designed for use with U.S. bank notes, he shows you how to modify the construction to do this with other currencies as well. You get everything you need to make the gimmick, but you only get enough to make one gimmick. I am not sure how long one gimmick will last or if will ever need replacing - I would imagine they might eventually but it is not mentioned on the DVD. In relation to that aspect, I am not sure how easy it would be to salvage the gimmick components if you ever need to make another gimmick, or if you want to make one in a different currency. For what they are, I think it would have been nice to get a few extra pieces of the special something (they cannot be all that expensive for what they are) to make at least two or three gaffs. Maybe they will eventually offer additional pieces on the SansMinds site, which at the time of this writing, they do not offer. Just a minor point I thought I would bring up.
The production quality of the DVD is typical of SansMinds - top notch and very well done. The menu is easy to navigate. The construction of the gimmick, the different ways to use and handle it and other ideas are all very clearly explained and easy to understand. For what you are getting, the price tag is fantastic!
I know you are thinking that there are "cleaner" versions of this effect out there, and that is true in certain contexts. You cannot really compare this to things like 'Extreme Burn/E.B. 2.0, the Pat Page 'Easy Money', 'Hundy 500', etc. because those are the visual change of multiple bills at once. 'Extortion' is comparable to things like 'Skullkracker' by Bob Sheets or 'Grandpa's Dollar' by Lonnie Cheverie because those are singular bill/note changes. 'Extortion' can also be compared to the classic '5 and 1 Bill Transpo' because it can also be used as a transposition rather than just a change of a bill.
The differences between 'Extortion' and the Sheets/Chevrie methods are minimal with the exception of the fact that the Sheets/Chevrie versions are not gimmicked but are also not totally impromptu. Those two methods also use two hands, 'Extortion' uses only one.
There are many, many different things you can use this gimmick for if you put your mind to it - the possibilities are limitless. The change is very magical and very visual and it is pretty easy to do once you practice to make it flow.
If you are looking for a multiple bill change, this is not it. If you are looking for a clean and magical change of a single bill, whether you already do another version or not, this is the one for you. Even if you prefer non-gimmicked versions like the Sheets/Chevrie versions, the open nature of this version puts it just a step up from those two as far just changing one bill into another. My personal philosophy is that if something can be done with sleight of hand, skip the gimmicks. That is, unless the gimmicked version is cleaner or adds something to the visual nature/openness that sleight of hand alone cannot accomplish. I believe 'Extortion' fits snugly into that category!
Very highly recommended!
There are a lot of visual bill changes out on the market but this is probably one of the fairest ones out there and it looks every bit as good in person as it does on video! Very visual, very magical and if you compare it to other similar changes, it is quite open.
Patrick Kun is an excellent teacher and covers everything very well. He teaches you how to make the gimmick and though the gimmick was designed for use with U.S. bank notes, he shows you how to modify the construction to do this with other currencies as well. You get everything you need to make the gimmick, but you only get enough to make one gimmick. I am not sure how long one gimmick will last or if will ever need replacing - I would imagine they might eventually but it is not mentioned on the DVD. In relation to that aspect, I am not sure how easy it would be to salvage the gimmick components if you ever need to make another gimmick, or if you want to make one in a different currency. For what they are, I think it would have been nice to get a few extra pieces of the special something (they cannot be all that expensive for what they are) to make at least two or three gaffs. Maybe they will eventually offer additional pieces on the SansMinds site, which at the time of this writing, they do not offer. Just a minor point I thought I would bring up.
The production quality of the DVD is typical of SansMinds - top notch and very well done. The menu is easy to navigate. The construction of the gimmick, the different ways to use and handle it and other ideas are all very clearly explained and easy to understand. For what you are getting, the price tag is fantastic!
I know you are thinking that there are "cleaner" versions of this effect out there, and that is true in certain contexts. You cannot really compare this to things like 'Extreme Burn/E.B. 2.0, the Pat Page 'Easy Money', 'Hundy 500', etc. because those are the visual change of multiple bills at once. 'Extortion' is comparable to things like 'Skullkracker' by Bob Sheets or 'Grandpa's Dollar' by Lonnie Cheverie because those are singular bill/note changes. 'Extortion' can also be compared to the classic '5 and 1 Bill Transpo' because it can also be used as a transposition rather than just a change of a bill.
The differences between 'Extortion' and the Sheets/Chevrie methods are minimal with the exception of the fact that the Sheets/Chevrie versions are not gimmicked but are also not totally impromptu. Those two methods also use two hands, 'Extortion' uses only one.
There are many, many different things you can use this gimmick for if you put your mind to it - the possibilities are limitless. The change is very magical and very visual and it is pretty easy to do once you practice to make it flow.
If you are looking for a multiple bill change, this is not it. If you are looking for a clean and magical change of a single bill, whether you already do another version or not, this is the one for you. Even if you prefer non-gimmicked versions like the Sheets/Chevrie versions, the open nature of this version puts it just a step up from those two as far just changing one bill into another. My personal philosophy is that if something can be done with sleight of hand, skip the gimmicks. That is, unless the gimmicked version is cleaner or adds something to the visual nature/openness that sleight of hand alone cannot accomplish. I believe 'Extortion' fits snugly into that category!
Very highly recommended!