I received a copy Donny’s e-book a while back and, I must say, I’m impressed. Below is a highlight of some of the effects along with some of my thoughts on them. First are the effects copied exactly as found in the e-book:

SUPERMAN - A drawing of a lump of coal is squeezed in the magicians hand where it changes to a drawing of a diamond! The drawing then becomes a REAL DIAMOND!

FUTURE BURN - A spectator chooses any finger on a drawing of a hand. The magician opens a sealed envelope and reveals that he correctly predicted which finger would be chosen. Then he reveals a REAL BLISTER on his own corresponding finger!

SOUPED CAN - Two selected cards are lost into the pack. Both cards are then found through a random number offered by the spectators. The cards are lost for a second time and the spectators proceed to find both cards with the deck in their own hands!

JUST IN CASE - Three cards are chosen and returned to the pack. One card appears under the card case but, it’s the wrong card. With a snap, another card appears under the case and this time, it IS a selection! Then, the first ‘wrong’ card changes into a selection and finally the whole deck appears under the card case except for the final selection!

FOILED - The magician demonstrates how an impression of a coin can be made in tin foil. Then he proceeds to ‘mint’ a second coin right out of the mold! Cautioning that it is a fake he then SCREWS THE COIN INTO A TIN FOIL BALL AND HANDS IT OUT FOR EXAMINATION!

CHERRY THING - The stalk of a cherry is plucked from the fruit and knotted in the magicians mouth! The knotted stalk is then magically.

My Thoughts:

Superman:
I love this idea! I love it for several reasons. First, I’m a huge Superman/Smallville fan, so the name alone wins points. I really dig the presentational hook of being able to use superhuman strength to accomplish something, then having the drawing change, then having it change into something real.

There are so many moments of magic that are happening here. I’m guessing that the method was inspired by Jay Sankey’s effect from Secret Files called “What if?”

I liked the effect from Jay, but I never saw the potential of using that method for any other effect. Now that I’ve seen Donny’s idea, my mind has been opened to the thought of “what else can be done with that method?”

Future Burn:
Yet another cool idea. One thing that mentalism lacks is a visual element. This effect takes mentalism and adds some visual and psuedo-mind-over-matter stuff by causing your skin to “grow a blister” or a burn mark. They freak out, “Hey he knew which finger I would choose.” But then they reaaaaaly freak out, “Hey, he has a REAL burn on that same finger!”

Foiled:
Excellent presentation. This is the kind of stuff that I like, a premise that borders on being credible sort of psuedo science that will capture people’s attention.

Cherry Thing:
A torn and restored cherry stem (sort of). Who woulda thought. Very cool. I love how organic and natural this is. During the summer, we always get fresh cherries, so I’m going to have to try this one.

I’m actually pretty good at the whole knot the stem in the mouth thing, and I always do it when there are cherries around, so this will be a nice addition to it. It’ll be like this: “Oh look, Jeff’s showing off again by tying a knot with his tongue. We see it every year… holy crap, did he just reattach that to the cherry!”

Probably my favorite thing about this book fits well with the title “Inside the Head of Donny Orbit.” I really got to see how he thinks about things. That was cool. I also love the presentations he comes up with. That shows a guy who’s a real worker who’s worked for real humans (not magicians).

I'm a big fan of off-beat premises with everyday items and this little booklet is full of them. Oh, and there are also two card tricks.

Superman is my favorite. You draw a lump of coal on a little notepad. Wad up the paper and turn it into a drawing of a diamond. Squeeze again and you've got a real diamond. Not only is it clever, the method has applications far beyond this one trick.

Futureburn is yet another version of the predicted-blister-on-a-fingertip effect. The only real difference here is that it includes an actual sealed envelope prediction. The blister is used as a kicker ending.

Soupedcan is one of those two card tricks I mentioned. Two selected cards are found using two random numbers chosen by the audience. I found it a bit muddy and hard to follow, but I'm guessing it's a fooler... especially for magicians.

Justincase is the second card trick. This is like a multiple (three) cards-to-pocket routine except the cards end up under the card box instead of in your pocket. Like other great cards-to-pocket routines, it ends with the entire deck under the card box, leaving the final selection in your hands.

I've seen several effects over the past decade that use foil to make an impression of a coin (I think Paul Harris might have started it, but don't quote me on that). Foiled adds some nice touches by utilizing a feke you probably have sitting in your magic drawer.

One of the reasons I married my wife is because she can tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue. Cherrything takes that one step further by reattaching the stem to the cherry. Lucky for you, this one doesn't require any special tongue dexterity.