Anima: A Breath of Life
Michel & Greco
Vernet
With ANIMA:
- You'll give it for close examination after the performance.
- You'll perform it under any light condition with plain sunlight or in a room with a strong spotlight.
- And you'll be always ready.
- You'll not be hooked up.
- Anima gimmick will give you absolute freedom.
- You'll perform it in any condition: sitting, standing up, outdoor or indoor.
- Perfect for strolling magic.
- This is an angle proof version, for one to one setting or surrounding.
Two selected cards are lost in the deck. The cards are placed in the palm and it moves in a spooky way. Part of the deck moves sideways, then moves back revealing the selected card. Now you repeat it with a second card. Now with Anima you'll perform the strong classic effect but:
- With a borrowed deck.
- With Anima there's NO SET-UP.
A box of wooden matches is animated in an incredible way. It slides around your hand, flipped over by itself and the drawer opens and closes under your control. It's hard to imagine until you see it yourself.
Includes:
1 Special Anima Gimmick
1 Special Matchbox (No matches)
1 Hour full instructions and live performance DVD
Anima is the safest method with no risk. The most practical and useable version.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Products like this really give me a run for my money as a reviewer. They're tough to properly judge. Let's try to break it down together and discuss a few things.
- Product Quality
- Method Do-Ability
- Advertisement Integrity
Product Quality
The Anima gimmick is well made. It's concealed inside of what appears to be a automobile remote control that you might have on your key ring. It's well made, and I believe that with the proper care and handling it will last quite a long time. However, I will say that if you actually have it on your key chain, you'll be taking a risk that may cause the gimmick to break (more on this later). The matchbox that comes with the kit is also well made. It's been slightly modified, but done well.
Method Do-Ability
The modification on the matchbox is meant to allow it to work in conjunction with the Anima gimmick. The demo video looks great, but I could not get it to work. Often times when testing out a product, I may struggle getting it just right the first few times, but usually, I can "see" it working . . . in other words even though I haven't quite "got it down," I can see that with some practice it will do what the ad copy claimed. However, in this case, I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just could not get it to work at all.
Regarding the main effect, Al Baker's The Pack The Cuts Itself, I can appreciate the goals they wanted for an "improved" version of the effect. However, they only weakened the overall experience. The problem with the gimmick is that it is very awkward to work with. There is constant tension on the deck, and you never really get a squared deck look. Also, putting the cards in the deck after they're selected is tricky, especially the second card.
The 2 main points that they were trying to "overcome" were a constant hook up, and the ability to use a borrowed deck. There are methods for doing this with a borrowed deck that are much easier and way less awkward than this version. Second, the constantly hooked up thing . . .
To me, they went the wrong way. If you use the original Baker method, the hook up is just part of your wardrobe and very easy to access. It does not hinder anything at all during your performance. In fact, I don't think I've seen a variation where the hook up is a problem. However, in this case, you have dig into your pocket and set the gimmick up on your hand in an awkward way. It's so much easier to just have a piece of thread hanging down your coat than it is to get this gimmick to the ready position. Bottom line: this gimmick, though well made, only complicates the performance of this classic effect. I'm not saying it's not doable. I'm merely pointing out that it overly complicates the whole thing with really nothing gained by the complication.
Advertisement Integrity
The ad copy was pretty fair, I'd say. However, I do take issue with the claim that it's angle proof and lighting proof. It is not. In fact, on one of the performances, I clearly saw the gimmick which means that it was neither angle proof nor lighting proof. Further, you'll have the exact same lighting and angle issues here as you would with the original method. In fact, many of the modern handlings of the effect are much better with lighting and angles than this one is.
The ad copy claims that "you'll not be hooked up." Sure that's true, but you still have to have the gimmick in your pocket. It's either this gimmick in your pocket or a piece of thread (or hair) wrapped around a button on your coat. Either way, you have to have the gimmick with you and nothing is obscured by either this or the original hook up. The one advantage to this (if you can properly control the gimmick) is the fact that you can just stick this in your pocket and you're theoretically ready to go. However, that's not true either, because getting the gimmick ready for performance requires and awkward maneuver in your pocket. Again, the original method is much easier to get in the "ready" position.
Final Thoughts
This gimmick is well made, and may be useful for other applications. It's portable. However, you have to keep it in one pocket and your keys in another pocket, so you can't actually use its camouflaged concept. If you hook your keys up to it, you'll risk breaking the gimmick when you use it. Frankly if you're already doing The Pack That Cuts Itself, then your method is probably better. If you're not currently doing the effect, then you'd do better by looking elsewhere for a way to perform this effect.
Final Verdict:
2 Stars with a Stone Status of grubble (gem of a gimmick that may have other uses, but way too much rubble to recommend).
(Top ▲)
Anima is an ingenious and well-made but expense tool to deliver the necessary motivation for both effects. When I opened the box, I had a surprise as the tool is cleverly disguised as a remote control key fob. If you are caught with it, it looks like something one would have on their person. You carry it in your pocket and in a moment's preparation, perform the The Pack That Cuts Itself or as its also known, The Haunted Pack.
The tool is easy to use but needs care and audience management in getting ready and cleaning up. I feel it's best suited for the intermediate magician - who doesn't already have a preferred methodology to the effects. For me, this is a catch: one needs a level of experience to perform this but performers who achieved this level will most likely have their own approach.
Anima is nicely packaged with the Anima gimmick, a prepared matchbox and a well-produced DVD. As expected the DVD is bilingual with Spanish and English. The latter is accomplished by voice over. The demonstrations, instructions and history of the effects are informative, well shot and easy to follow. My only compliant with the disk is the lack of a Play All option.
My only other complaint is that there are no instructions on how to care and maintain the Amina gimmick. We all know that something is bound to happen so knowing how to fix it would be helpful and necessary. At this price point, I would expect these instructions.
If you want a clever tool to accomplish these classic effects and are not scared by the price point and the lack of maintenance instructions, then I would recommend watching the demo video to see if Anima: A Breath of Life is for you.
(Top ▲)
The Haunted Pack, and it piqued my interest. He knew nothing about it, nor did I being that it was SOOOOOO new. I had him order it on the spot. I bought it mostly because Vernet products are generally quite good. This is what I wrote Barry, and will share with all of you.
"Less than overwhelmed with it. But for what I want, it will do. I hope you took the liberty to open it and see what it was. If not, it is just another take on the ITR without invisible thread… and a very short length of line at that. Nicely built into a "remote" on a key fob, but I don't think it improves the haunted pack much, if at all. The claim on the back that "you'll perform it under any light condition with plain sunlight or in a room with a strong spotlight" just isn't true… I guess you COULD perform it in any light, but the shiny (I think nylon) "thread" would definitely pick up light and flash. I'm not so sure that the "This is an angle proof version for one to one condition or surrounded" claim is accurate either… again, because of the shiny "thread." In a surrounded condition, someone could be at just the right angle to see a flash. And when you disengage, the little plastic tab doesn't go IN your pocket, but hangs out (most of the time). Good audience management would take care of that, but still, for the price, one would think it would be a little less obvious...I know the old haunted pack used a gob of wax. This, with its small plastic tab does make the disengagement much cleaner. Still… $80? You may have different feelings about it, but I think he overpriced it. Perhaps $45 to $50 would have been about right, since there is some nice engineering done with the fake remote."
The claims on the box:
"You'll give it for close examination after the performance"... absolutely true.
"You'll perform it under any light condition with plain sunlight or in a room with a strong spotlight"... not without some good audience management.
"And you'll be always ready"... absolutely true.
"You'll not be hooked up"... depends on what you think hooked up is... you must have the gimmick on you to perform, but you are not "hooked up" like the normal Haunted Pack.
"Anima gimmick will give you absolute freedom"... absolutely true
"You'll perform it in any condition: sitting, standing up, outdoor or indoor"... absolutely true
"Perfect for strolling magic"... this is it's strong point... the gimmick can be left unused as long as you like... it will not snag... it will be ready to ring in when you want.
"This is an angle proof version for one to one condition or surrounded"... again, depends on the lighting and where people are around you... there could be a flash.
All in all, I really don't think it improves the Haunted Pack (maybe the one with the entire bottom threaded). It was a nice idea, but in the real world, I'm not sure you would want to spend $80 for a gimmick that will do what a spot of wax and some thin black thread will do. It, as I said above, does make disengagement quite clean, and to ring it in is a breeze.
The DVD is well done. Teaching is good. History of the Haunted Pack good. The Acrobatic Matchbox is good, and the one supplied is easily handed out... even the above average spectator will not see the gaff. Interesting way the menu works, but it does work, and it works well. This could be used for other "animation" effects, and I think you might find one or two effects that it will make easier. I just feel that $80 is a bit high. I'm giving it 2.5 stars because it could be used easily in walkaround, and because it was engineered quite nicely.
One last comment... whenever English is translated, there can be some chuckles... and while the box front says: "Anima... a breath of life"... the DVD says "Anima... a blowing of life."