Price$25.00
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 25, 2011
3
Ross, Eric
Eric Ross
(Based on 1 review)
3 tricks, designed to astonish and stun even the most skeptical of spectators.
EACH one of the effects packs enough punch to make your reputation as an entertainer, even stronger.
Eric has fooled the most knowledgeable entertainers in the magic field with these effects, and now, he shares them with you.
Chapped - A ChapStick is presented. The spectator is asked to think of a card. The spectator reads the text aloud, "ChapStick". Then, with just a rub, the text rearranges itself into the spectators thought of card. The ChapStick is then handed out for Full examination.
Shades - A spectator selects a court-card from the deck. The spectator SIGNS their name across the face. You then take the card and, in plain sight, draw sunglasses on one of the faces. Then you VISUALLY move the sunglasses, across the court card, to the other side. You hand out the card for immediate examination. Your spectator gets to keep the card as a reminder of you.
Watermark - Previously released in Eric's Lecture notes, "Watermark" is one of the most talked about effects that involves a BORROWED dollar bill. A card is thought of. A bill is borrowed. As the Magician points to the face of the bill, he asks the spectator what card they were thinking of. At that moment, INSIDE the bill, appears a WATERMARK of the thought of card. Hand right out!
*ChapStick gimmick included
Reviews
(Top ▲)
For $25 bucks you get a short DVD with three really good effects and the needed gimmicks for the effects . . . all in all, not a bad value.
Before the review, however, I must vent, and Eric Ross, I'm speaking directly to you; please read this article I wrote called There is No "X" in "Especially."
I'm really bothered by the decline in the ability of young Americans to speak English. Please folks, when you're learning from DVD, don't pick up the bad habits of the magicians you watch. The only other complaint I really have is that two of the three effects (even though they were magical) were presentation-less. For example, in Chapped, the presentation is this: "Here, hold this Chapstick by the lid right here like this." Then he proceeds to have a card selected and moves into the trick. It just made no sense. Watermark had a similar problem.
It wouldn't take much to justify either situation and turn it into a more than just "here hold this. pick a card. now your card is written on the chapstick label." Mark Jenest has a great in-line for using Chapstick that would work great for this effect. In fact, combining Jenest's routine called Chaptrick with Ross's Chapped would make for a solid piece of magic with some logic and meaning.
[Jeff Steps Down From His Soapbox]
The menu was easy to navigate; the included gimmicks are great; the video, however, looks like it was shot with an original 1980s home VHS camcorder. Oddly enough, however, it didn't really impact the learning of the effects. The shots were close enough and lit well enough that it's not much of a hurdle.
So, on to the tricks (1 star is crap; 5 star is killer):
This effect is very magical looking, and if you use Chapstick already, then you'll always have this card revelation on you at all times. There are two reveals. One is a visual change of the Chapstick Logo to the name of the card. This one is good and very doable, but not as practical as the other reveal which is to simply have the Chapstick in view and at the right moment, point out that the label says the name of the card on it. Both are good and worth performing. Also, the DVD comes with enough labels to make 4 red Chapsticks and 4 Black ones.
This is a beautiful, yet a bit unpractical effect. A king is signed on it's belly. The magician draws a pair of shades on one of the faces of the king. Then he very visually slides the drawing of the shades across the card to the other end of the card onto the other face and immediately hands the card out to be kept. Very much inspired by Paul Harris's work with his various Nightshades effects. The effect is very visual, is motivated, and even somewhat logical. The gimmick is easy to make, but you won't be able to do this one at every table and the handling is a little bit awkward, but again, still very doable and mostly practical. If I were to add this to my repertoire, I'd slightly modify the method. But Ross's method is pretty solid as well.
I really like this effect and the method is pretty good too. However, this is the kind of thing that the spectator would very much want to examine and look at closely . . . not to "bust you" but because it's so unbelievable that they want to touch it and see it because it's so cool. Therein lies the problem; this cannot be examined. Or it can be examined, but when they examine it, the magical-ness is no longer there. The effect is that you hold a $10 (or whatever amount) dollar bill up to the light, and inside the bill, you can see the watermarks. One of the watermarks happens to be the selected card. This is a borrowed bill, and you can show both sides of the bill, and the spectator can even touch the bill on the face while it's held up to the light. When they touch it, they'll see that it's not something "ON" the bill, but rather, something "IN" the bill. So when you hand out the bill, either you leave the gimmick in place and you're busted, or you remove the gimmick and they will no longer see the watermark. However, most of this stuff can be remedied with a little thought and thus are definitely worthy of consideration. Another solid effect.
The average star rating is 4.3 . . . that's pretty solid. Considering that the DVD is only $25 bucks, all three effects are gems, it comes with the gimmicks, it's hard to give this anything less than 4 and half stars even with the poor video quality. Final Verdict 4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!
Before the review, however, I must vent, and Eric Ross, I'm speaking directly to you; please read this article I wrote called There is No "X" in "Especially."
I'm really bothered by the decline in the ability of young Americans to speak English. Please folks, when you're learning from DVD, don't pick up the bad habits of the magicians you watch. The only other complaint I really have is that two of the three effects (even though they were magical) were presentation-less. For example, in Chapped, the presentation is this: "Here, hold this Chapstick by the lid right here like this." Then he proceeds to have a card selected and moves into the trick. It just made no sense. Watermark had a similar problem.
It wouldn't take much to justify either situation and turn it into a more than just "here hold this. pick a card. now your card is written on the chapstick label." Mark Jenest has a great in-line for using Chapstick that would work great for this effect. In fact, combining Jenest's routine called Chaptrick with Ross's Chapped would make for a solid piece of magic with some logic and meaning.
[Jeff Steps Down From His Soapbox]
Product Quality
The menu was easy to navigate; the included gimmicks are great; the video, however, looks like it was shot with an original 1980s home VHS camcorder. Oddly enough, however, it didn't really impact the learning of the effects. The shots were close enough and lit well enough that it's not much of a hurdle.
So, on to the tricks (1 star is crap; 5 star is killer):
Chapped (4.5 stars):
This effect is very magical looking, and if you use Chapstick already, then you'll always have this card revelation on you at all times. There are two reveals. One is a visual change of the Chapstick Logo to the name of the card. This one is good and very doable, but not as practical as the other reveal which is to simply have the Chapstick in view and at the right moment, point out that the label says the name of the card on it. Both are good and worth performing. Also, the DVD comes with enough labels to make 4 red Chapsticks and 4 Black ones.
Shades (4.5 stars):
This is a beautiful, yet a bit unpractical effect. A king is signed on it's belly. The magician draws a pair of shades on one of the faces of the king. Then he very visually slides the drawing of the shades across the card to the other end of the card onto the other face and immediately hands the card out to be kept. Very much inspired by Paul Harris's work with his various Nightshades effects. The effect is very visual, is motivated, and even somewhat logical. The gimmick is easy to make, but you won't be able to do this one at every table and the handling is a little bit awkward, but again, still very doable and mostly practical. If I were to add this to my repertoire, I'd slightly modify the method. But Ross's method is pretty solid as well.
Watermark (4 stars):
I really like this effect and the method is pretty good too. However, this is the kind of thing that the spectator would very much want to examine and look at closely . . . not to "bust you" but because it's so unbelievable that they want to touch it and see it because it's so cool. Therein lies the problem; this cannot be examined. Or it can be examined, but when they examine it, the magical-ness is no longer there. The effect is that you hold a $10 (or whatever amount) dollar bill up to the light, and inside the bill, you can see the watermarks. One of the watermarks happens to be the selected card. This is a borrowed bill, and you can show both sides of the bill, and the spectator can even touch the bill on the face while it's held up to the light. When they touch it, they'll see that it's not something "ON" the bill, but rather, something "IN" the bill. So when you hand out the bill, either you leave the gimmick in place and you're busted, or you remove the gimmick and they will no longer see the watermark. However, most of this stuff can be remedied with a little thought and thus are definitely worthy of consideration. Another solid effect.
The average star rating is 4.3 . . . that's pretty solid. Considering that the DVD is only $25 bucks, all three effects are gems, it comes with the gimmicks, it's hard to give this anything less than 4 and half stars even with the poor video quality. Final Verdict 4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!