For $25 bones you get a very clever gimmick with lots of potential, and a well produced two disk set that should have been only one disk

DVD #1:

This is the main DVD. It's 17 minutes long, and it thoroughly explains and teaches how to construct the gimmick if you need to make another one, how to do the effect, etc.

It's very well done. Additionally, the DVD comes with an already made gimmick plus the stuff to make a couple more. The effect is knacky and will take some practice, so don't expect to get this today and put it in your act tomorrow. The practice time will be well worth it. Does it live up to the ad hype? There are two paragraphs in the ad copy. The first one pretty much lives up to its claims. Though, in my opinion, the effect is not quite as visual as the ad copy says.

The card is partially covered when it shrinks, and it's a bit angly and a bit fidgety . . . just a little. I really liked Brandon and Christyrious. They both seemed like genuine guys who weren't over-selling and trying cram down our throats how "street" this is and how much it "kills." They were a nice change of pace.

If you liked the effect as you saw it in the demo, then you'll love this. Nothing is hidden in the demo trailer. You see it exactly as it is handled. Other than a few awkward moments in the handling, the method is pretty darn solid. It looks as clean (or not clean) as the demo shows. So again, if you're ok with the demo, you'll be happy you got this . . . especially at the price.

Then there were two . . .

DVD #2:

In paragraph two of the ad copy, Paper Crane basically claims that the product was good before, but they made it even better by adding a whole extra DVD with . . . "over an hour of additional ideas." That's simply not true. What it really is is an hour of Justin Miller rambling incoherently about stuff that either makes no sense or is irrelevant. Without exaggerating, there is maybe (and I mean maybe) 10 minutes of good material on this DVD. It should have been added to the first and the other 50 or so minutes should have been scrapped.

The second DVD contains three bonus effects:

1. The X - A convoluted, over-handled very unclear mishmash of a so called plot that is a step in the wrong direction.


2. Ode to Bernard - A decent handling of an old Bernard Bilis cut and restored card that takes almost 30 minutes to teach.


3. Color Change - Short, sweet and practical method for a color change, and it only took 5 minutes to teach.

As I've mentioned before, I don't let whether I like or dislike an effect impact the rating. However, when the effect is so convoluted that I'm not sure exactly what the effect looks like because it was so messy/movey or unclear, then I have to a) mention it, and b) let the rating be impacted by it.

That said, there are sooooo many things about The X that annoyed me to no end.

First, the premise. Justin opens with this effect at a table as he says that his wife threw out all of his stuff and that the only thing left was this card (two pieces of a card taped together). In the explanation, he goes on and and on and on and on and on talking about how to "sell" this premise. Then after he "convinces" the audience that he only has this torn card left, he brings out a deck of cards and a sharpie marker . . . I thought your wife through that stuff out.

The trick is a convolution and fidgety handling of the original XPAND that takes a couple of extra (and unnecessary) minutes to perform, requires a bulky set up, some awkward handling and has a not very quick or easy reset plus the destruction of a gimmick after each performance.

The whole thing method, effect, performance everything is just ugly. Then to add insult to injury, the explanation took over 25 minutes. It was riddled with mindless ramblings that made no sense, "pieces of advice" that sounded more like they were created by dumping a bunch of magic jargon into the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator, and as a topper, we're treated with overly complicated dissertations on the human psyche that are just a load of crap.

As a small sample of what I'm talking about, Justin talks about the question he ask in the performance - "What are the odds that the red card you're thinking of in this deck will be the same as the blue card I've placed on the table?" His first bogus claim is that EVERY time they will answer by saying, "1 in 52." Although those are the true odds, most people (in my experience) don't say that. Next he says that he tells them that the odds are greater than 1 in 52 because each deck has 2 colors and each suit has 13 cards, and each deck has 4 suites. Sure, I get that lay people may or may not catch on that this is BS. However, the problem is that Justin believes that "some of it is BS" thus implying that some of it is not. Actually, Justin, it all is BS. The actual odds really are 1 in 52 (or 54 if you have Jokers).

You, my loyal review readers, may wonder why I'm pointing out this "odds" thing. The answer . . . simply to point out that most of what he says in the explanation is meaningless, inaccurate, overly "driven home" as being the "most important" thing ever. I don't care that he may think the odds are more than 1 in 52. And I wouldn't even mention it if it didn't go on and on and on and on about how important this "point" is. Almost everything he says in the explanation is like this . . . it's so "critical" that he must wax on and on about it . . . just wasting time about something that is basically pointless.

Furthermore he starts off the explanation talking about it as an opener. Then later at the end of the "teaching" section, he claims that he has this trick on him quite a lot . . . followed by him saying that he would never do it as an opener. He says, that he would probably do it as a middle or maybe a closer, he's not sure . . . more rambling . . . he then concludes using language that would imply that he's never really done it for real people and that he has no idea when he would use it.

I'm not saying he hasn't done it, but man he sure implies it. Sorry for the rant guys, but this type of garbage must be stopped. He's pretty much wingin' it the whole way through, and that one explanation of that one effect was one of the longest 25 minutes of my life.

The effect is actually pretty solid and the method is very practical, but the explanation cost me some drywall repair and medical bills from banging my head against the wall trying to get through it.

During the explanation, it takes 10 minutes to get to the point where you remove the deck from the box to do the trick. Then he still rambles on about stuff that just is ridiculous. I don't know what this is all about with him but he's trying to give advice on things that people just don't need advice on.

Then in one breath he'll talk about how spectators don't pay attention to things and therefore they won't notice the big gap in the deck, or the slit in the card box, etc. But in the same breath he claims that this particular trick is so much better than other tricks because it offers a free choice rather than a force, and that lay people will notice this. He even went as far as claiming that the next time a magician shows this lay person a card trick that the lay person will say "hey the last time I picked a card he let me do it like this [i.e., free choice]." Do you really think that spectators compare how they've picked cards from this magician or that? Justin thinks so . . . in fact he claims that this one thing (a free choice rather than force) will give you that competitive edge against all the local magicians in your area.

Really Justin . . . Really?

He spends what seems like an eternity on this so called point . . . and on and on it goes. I like Justin. He and I have talked on the phone a few times and I have nothing personal against him. It just seems that on this video he's trying to give the impression that he is some wise guru of magic psychology who has mastered every angle of every psychological point that can possibly exist in magic.

For ever single thing he does he spends waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time explaining why he does it. It's beyond overkill. It's maddening to watch. It, literally, gave me a headache.

Having said all that, this effect is practical and the method is pretty clean. There are three methods given. All of which are very doable, and in fact, the most visual one (the third version) is probably the most doable. It just takes forever to learn it from this DVD, and you may never learn it because you just might shoot your TV before the explanation is finished . . . it, too, was over 25 minutes.

Aha . . . maybe he picked up on my vibes because this explanation was less than 5 minutes. It covered the handling details plainly and it's a good solid method for an in-the-hands change that is very strong.

In my opinion, if you like the effect, then it's most likely worth the $25 bucks to get the included gimmicks and disk one. Regardless of disk two, the basic original disk and the props are a good value (if you like the effect). Throwing in the second DVD believe it or not does not kick this out of the "you should buy it" category.

The color change and the Bilis-inspired effect are both worthy of consideration with good methods. It' just so darn difficult to get through this DVD, that I almost am afraid to tell you to watch. So folks, hunker down and force yourself through the painful explanations on disk two and you'll get a payoff in the end with a couple of cool uses for the gimmick, and for those idea, I have to give Justin props . . . they are very clever uses of the gimmick (Ode to Bernard and Color Change).

If I just rated the cool things that you'll learn (assuming you like the effect) this would probably be a 4.5. But knowing that I recommending this to you, my readers will cause you both joy and pain, I must sound my warning by docking the rating for the pain it caused me and the pain it will cause you.

Final Verdict:
3.5 stars with a Stone Status of gem. A gem that requires a lot of digging and squeezing to find, but a gem nonetheless.