Price$25.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedNov 15, 2012
Of the Little Things Vol. 1
Alan Rorrison
(Based on 2 reviews)
Through: An easy to make gimmick that will allow you to pass any object that will fit into a folded bank note, through it. Clean direct and simple. And if you really want to, you can borrow the bank note!
Pulled 2.0: Over 8 years ago Alan released a linking ring pull effect. The only issue with it was the way you made the gimmick. You needed an extra something BUT NOW this issue is solved. You will be able to make these gimmicks in the field with nothing but your bare hands and in less than 2 seconds. Then you will be able to link ANYTHING that will fit in to the ring pull, to the ring pull. Again, simple clean and direct magic.
Cardexx: This is Alan's solution to the card to pocket/wallet. With this super simple and super cheap gimmick you will be able to do a NO PALM CARD TO WALLET style effect. Using a Kleenex pockets! Treated right this gimmick will last you a life time, it will let you load anything that will fit into the slot and you can even place it in the spectators hand when It is loaded and they will never suspect a thing!
W.Y.L.F.W.T: Every magician loves the McDonald's aces. But Alan wanted to add a little extra. Imagine being able to do the standard McDonald's aces with minimal work. One easy to learn sleight in fact. But then have it back fire and have every Card move back to its original pile/hand. With this easy to make gimmick which there is a PDF included to do so, you will be able to do the aforementioned and so much more
These truly are the little things that kill and have been pet effects/hidden gems of Alan's for years. Now these hard hitting pieces of strange are in your hands to have fun with.
On this DVD there is also a few hidden little secrets... Some are obvious and some are hidden well. Will you find them all? We will give you a little hint. The music is like that for a reason!
Also keep your eyes peeled for Vol 2 coming soon which will include the best ring flight out there
Enjoy...
Running Time Approximately: 1hr 23min
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon
The Little Things by Alan Rorrison Review:
Four effects, 90 minutes, 1 DVD and four hidden secret effects. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay Tuned.
Effect
You get four effects: a bill through "anything", signed card to tissue packet, linking soda pull tabs (or link a borrowed ring to a soda pull tab), and "McDonald's Aces" style four ace routine with a back fire ending. All the effects look clean and are very deceptive.
Method
Each effect requires you to make a relatively simple gimmick that'll take you about 5 minutes and cost you a few bucks each. To be clear, there are four different gimmicks needed. Each effect relies on a different gimmick, each of them will cost you a few bucks, and each will take about 5 ish minutes. Also, the gimmicks are one time set ups; so you make them once and you're done. All of the methods are very doable, simple and very clever. They're easy to do and within the reach of just about any performer's grasp.
The bill through anything gimmick allows for a very clean display, and at the end of the routine, you can hand out everything. The gimmick is easily removed with no suspicion aroused. The gimmick for the pocket tissues effect is essentially a Mullica Wallet type of effect build into a packet of pocket tissues. There are several advantages of this method. First, the tissue packet allows for a very clean display of all sides of the "packet" as the card is being removed from the packet. It also allows you to not have to carry a special wallet.
The linking soda pull tabs effect gimmick will take two seconds to make. The best thing about this method is that at the end, you are left clean and the soda tab has magically re-attached itself to the soda can. Finally, the McDonald's Aces effect does not use the traditional gimmicks that you may be familiar with. It uses a different gimmick that you might already own, but if not, Rorrison has included a PDF of the gimmick that you can print out and use to create your own gimmick.
All in all, the methods are very simple and very doable if you don't mind a few small one-time craft projects to get you set for the effects. Two of the four effects are the kind of thing you can just carry around in your every day normal attire. In other words, the gimmicked bill can be in your wallet and the tissue packets in your pocket. It's also not a stretch to have a few gimmicked soda tabs in your pocket just in case you find yourself in that situation. The fourth effect requires that you carry a deck of cards with a gimmick inside of it. So if you throw that in your pocket, then you've got all four effects at the ready, anytime.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is mostly solid. There is only one issue I had. The effect "Through" claims, ". . . and if you really want to, you can borrow the bank note!" I'm not sure how that's possible with the gimmick that is used. Getting the gimmick loaded onto a borrowed bill would be nearly impossible to do in front of the spectator, and you certainly can't borrow the bill and then go hide in a corner while you load the gimmick. Further, there was no discussion or explanation on the DVD showing us how to do this. Other than that, I felt the ad copy was honest, accurate and fair.
Product Quality
The DVD took a little hit here. It was poorly lit in some places, poorly mic'd in almost all places, and there was an annoying music track that was too loud making it hard to hear Mr. Rorrison on several occasions. My understanding (according to the ad copy), is that the music plays a part in finding the bonus tricks, so I'm assuming that's why it's there, but that doesn't make it any less annoying and frustrating to watch the video.
Also, four tricks for $25 bucks is a bit steep. Compare that to J.K. Hartman's Book Card Dodgery with over 60 effects for only $40 bucks. The cost to produce a book of that high of quality is much more than the cost of producing a DVD of this low of quality (production-wise).
For 10 more bucks, Michael Ammar and L&L Publishing gives you 6 more effects, a supplied gimmick, 3 different camera angles, perfect lighting and sound and much more. I get that this DVD is different and maybe even for a different audience/demographic; but for the price, you should get a much better production quality and a lot more effects. At the very least, he could have included the special gimmick needed for the McDonald's Aces routine. In my mind, that would have gone a long way to justify the price tag.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the methods for every single effect are very doable and easy to add to your repertoire. The production quality was not the greatest, but you'll still be able to learn what you need to. Lastly, let's discuss the bonus effects. On the DVD you are given instructions to find the first bonus effect. I followed them, but it was not working. So I contacted Mr. Rorrison because I thought the web page where the bonus effect was found was not working. He was very reluctant to tell me anything. At first he was polite about it, but then when I mentioned I was reviewing the product, he said, "Feel free to moan about them [the bonus effects] man." Then when I told him I was doing exactly what the instructions said, he said, "But the idea about the puzzle is that you are supposed to solve it. Not swindle the answer."
Ultimately, the problem I was having was that I wasn't using the proper capitalization of the website address. As a web programmer, it is known as "best practice" to make your URLs case-insensitive. In other words, regardless of the upper and lower case usage, you always end up in the same place. The bonus effect isn't like this. However, in Rorrison's defense, this was less about a URL and more about solving a puzzle, so I'm not too put off by that. I just felt that him referring to my asking questions as "moaning" and "swindling" was less than professional.
But as proof that I live by my Magic Reviewed Mission of " . . . reviewing magic products with an eye toward advertisement honesty and method practicality, not feelings about the effect or creator," I'm giving this product a solid rating because the ad copy is honest, and the methods are practical regardless of how I feel about Rorrison's response to my request.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
Alan Rorrison has released a fairly priced DVD that teaches you how to put together some interesting ‘make at home’ gimmicks that are used for some interesting effects.
The best trick is where you link a borrowed ring onto a pull tab from a soda can. This is clean, clever, and a perfect ‘street’ trick that can be done at a party, in the cafeteria in school, or anywhere that has soda cans around.
The only effect I wasn’t a total fan of was a version of McDonald’s Aces. Maybe I’ve just seen too many versions of this trick lately, but the ‘kicker’ in this version didn’t excite me too much.
The asking price is only twenty five dollars, which may seem a lot for only four tricks, but considering Alan goes into great detail in both making the gimmicks and how to perform the effects, you are getting a good value. The DVD runs almost ninety minutes so that you are sure to be able to make the gimmicks properly.
All in all, if you are fan of Mr. Rorrison’s work, and want some cool ‘street’ style effects to play with, this DVD is worth the humble asking price.
The best trick is where you link a borrowed ring onto a pull tab from a soda can. This is clean, clever, and a perfect ‘street’ trick that can be done at a party, in the cafeteria in school, or anywhere that has soda cans around.
The only effect I wasn’t a total fan of was a version of McDonald’s Aces. Maybe I’ve just seen too many versions of this trick lately, but the ‘kicker’ in this version didn’t excite me too much.
The asking price is only twenty five dollars, which may seem a lot for only four tricks, but considering Alan goes into great detail in both making the gimmicks and how to perform the effects, you are getting a good value. The DVD runs almost ninety minutes so that you are sure to be able to make the gimmicks properly.
All in all, if you are fan of Mr. Rorrison’s work, and want some cool ‘street’ style effects to play with, this DVD is worth the humble asking price.