Price$95.00
Media TypeTrick, DVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJul 26, 2014
Collision
Wright, Tom
Trickster
(Based on 2 reviews)
COLLISION is the ultimate ending to your favourite card routine. Have a card selected and the corner torn, or have the card signed. You can even use their very own business card. It's folded up and mixed with others. All the cards can be thrown by the spectators or released from a net. Finally before the cards hit the floor you stab one card with a Stainless steel fork that's been examined from the beginning ... Guess what?
IT'S THEIR CARD!
Gimmick included
"Tom Wright is always right! He told me he has the best card stab effect ever and he totally has!"
- TITANAS
"Organic, fresh. A classic in the making."
- KIERON JOHNSON
"It's forking great!"
- DAN HAUSS
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
Collision by Tom Wright and Trickster Magic, is touted as the ultimate ending to your favorite card routine. Collision, is actually a card stab routine which is a bit unique. Unfortunately, the singularity of this effect is counterbalanced by its impracticality. In my mind this effect is the finale to a set or at the very least a special performance for a bride and groom.Effect
Instead of the card being pierced by a knife as in most card stab routines, the card instead ends up pierced by a fork. What makes this effect unique, besides using a fork is that it must involve at least three, possibly four people to be carried off. Though some may see that as a negative, for a finale performance for a group at an affair, the involving of several spectators can create a very special and memorable moment that can be talked about years after.Method
The methods revolve around three things, two prepared cards, a simple card force and a gimmick. The card force can be as basic as a riffle force or a more complex force, whichever you are comfortable with. The force cards are prepared in advance and the gimmick ties it all together. There is one move which is a bit taunting. Not getting into specifics but if you are not dexterous with your hands or have arthritis, I would pass on this trick.Product Quality
You are provided with two forks. They are high quality, stainless steel heavy forks. One is prepared to help you facilitate the trick. The workmanship on the prepared fork is excellent. It is rare I find this kind of attention to quality in a magic trick. The DVD instructions are thorough and covers everything you need to know to prepare and perform this trick.Ad Copy Integrity
There is nothing misleading in the ad copy. Performed properly, this can be a memorable trick. Once you see the preparation and necessary items to pull this off, you can figure out where this can be used in your set.Final Thoughts
There is one caveat you need to know. It is not a practical trick for anyone that performs walk around or casually. The impractical part plays out because you need to carry with you a bag of 40 – 50 pre-folded cards to distribute out. Remember the 3 – 5 participants? This is where they come in. They will need to toss at you, all the folded cards for you to stab. The next question should be…who is picking them all up. Guess who!(Top ▲)
Collision is an airborne card stab, with a fork, created by Tom Wright and marketed by Trickster and Arron Jones. In Collision, the performer has a spectator choose and initial the corner of a card. The performer then tears off the initialed corner and hands it to a spectator to hold onto as a “receipt.” Visibly, in front of the audience, the performer does a mercury fold to the card and then drops it into a bag containing dozens of similarly folded cards. The mercury folded cards are mixed up and then poured into three spectators open and cupped hands. At some point during the routine, the magician had handed a fork to an audience member and then asks for it back as it will be used in the trick. At the performer’s direction, they throw the cards at the magician's upper chest area. The magician, who is holding the fork down at his side, as the cards are thrown, stabs the airborne cards with the fork and the spectator’s chosen card miraculously is pierced by the four prongs of the fork. When the card is removed by a spectator, the corner is compared and it matches. In addition to the torn card routine, the instructional DVD teaches a signed and untorn card routine that does not get pierced by the fork's prongs as well as a business card routine. The torn card routine is the strongest of the three.
With this purchase, you will receive a gimmicked and un-gimmicked tool, a bag and an instructional DVD. Although the gimmick is of the highest quality and will no doubt last a lifetime, the $95 price tag for this trick is too high. I would expect that this trick would sell for a bit more than half of its current price. The high price may be attributable to the manufacturing costs of the top-notch gimmick.
The promotional video claims that the trick is the “ultimate airborne card stab” and claims, by way of a Titanas endorsement, that it is the “best card stab effect.” I take issue with these claims for a few reasons. Upon the release of a new product, it is premature for a creator of a newly released trick to stake claim to first place in the hall of fame. Additionally, the trick has a weakness in its method and handling. In this card stab, the magician needs to walk around with a bag filled with dozens of mercury folded cards, as opposed to the wide variety of card stabs which use a regular deck of playing cards. Another issue with this trick is that it cannot be repeatedly performed in a table-hopping venue, and will likely only be able to be used as a finale at an event, due to the need to pick up dozens of folded cards off the floor. The third issue with this trick can be seen in demonstrations in both the promotional video as well as the instructional video. In one of the two demonstrations on the promotional video, the fork is held down at the performer’s side and partially obscured by the performer’s body just before the card stab (the demonstration is quickly edited so it is difficult to see how the fork is being held immediately before the stab). Although I believe that this would be a red flag for most magicians, with a strong enough patter and handling of the gimmick, the audience may not be bothered by the fact that the fork may be hidden for a moment before the stab. Related to this is the fact that there are some angle issues which will require the magician to make sure that no spectators are behind them or on the magician’s side where he is holding the fork. There is a sleight required, which is easy to do, but needs to be done quickly.
In the instructional video, the demonstrations are shot from an unrealistic angle which makes it harder to see the way the trick would actually be perceived by spectators who are standing directly across from the magician -- where you would expect an audience to be. In the live performance on the instructional DVD, with a real audience, the fork is held and conspicuously hidden behind the performer’s body before the stab. That handling may raise questions with the audience and definitely weakens the effect. Notwithstanding this issues, the performer can hold the fork in full view at his side, the entire time, but it increase the chances of exposure, a split second before the stab. Ultimately, this weakness in the method and handling is overshadowed by the fact that the chosen card ends up on the fork – which is a real WOW moment. I do not think that any spectators will question the performer's ability to actually stab an airborne card and have the fork's prongs pierce through all four folds of the card.
The idea behind the Collision is not a new one and Trickster credits several magicians as the sources behind the inspiration behind this trick; John Kennedy (Midair Card Stab), Bizarro (Threek), Bill Abbott (Stabbed and Shot), and Max Malini (Card Stab).
The quality of the DVD production is very good, but Tom Wright and Arron Jones spend too much time trying to be funny. In one scene, Wright plays guitar while Jones is dancing in the background in a Scooby Doo outfit. In others, the two get into a heated argument about the name of a card force, throw items when they are done using them, push each other, and mimic adolescent sitcom humor. At the end of the DVD, there is a bloopers section, which along with the attempts to be funny is unnecessary. The DVD does not suggest a strong handling on how the performer should deal with the interplay between the un-gimmicked and gimmicked tool, but that is not a difficult issue to tackle. My other criticism with the live performance is that after the performer starts to explain that the spectators will throw the folded cards at him, he starts to indicate what he is going to do, but then stops and says "I'm going to try...well actually I won't tell you, I'm just going to try it." Although it is obvious from the setup what the magician is about to do, I would use an alternative patter.
The DVD gives very clear instruction on how to create a gimmicked card for one of the three routines.
All in-all, the effect is very good, when the performer manages the audience, but, in light of the high price and the issues stated above, this new product receives three and a half stars.
With this purchase, you will receive a gimmicked and un-gimmicked tool, a bag and an instructional DVD. Although the gimmick is of the highest quality and will no doubt last a lifetime, the $95 price tag for this trick is too high. I would expect that this trick would sell for a bit more than half of its current price. The high price may be attributable to the manufacturing costs of the top-notch gimmick.
The promotional video claims that the trick is the “ultimate airborne card stab” and claims, by way of a Titanas endorsement, that it is the “best card stab effect.” I take issue with these claims for a few reasons. Upon the release of a new product, it is premature for a creator of a newly released trick to stake claim to first place in the hall of fame. Additionally, the trick has a weakness in its method and handling. In this card stab, the magician needs to walk around with a bag filled with dozens of mercury folded cards, as opposed to the wide variety of card stabs which use a regular deck of playing cards. Another issue with this trick is that it cannot be repeatedly performed in a table-hopping venue, and will likely only be able to be used as a finale at an event, due to the need to pick up dozens of folded cards off the floor. The third issue with this trick can be seen in demonstrations in both the promotional video as well as the instructional video. In one of the two demonstrations on the promotional video, the fork is held down at the performer’s side and partially obscured by the performer’s body just before the card stab (the demonstration is quickly edited so it is difficult to see how the fork is being held immediately before the stab). Although I believe that this would be a red flag for most magicians, with a strong enough patter and handling of the gimmick, the audience may not be bothered by the fact that the fork may be hidden for a moment before the stab. Related to this is the fact that there are some angle issues which will require the magician to make sure that no spectators are behind them or on the magician’s side where he is holding the fork. There is a sleight required, which is easy to do, but needs to be done quickly.
In the instructional video, the demonstrations are shot from an unrealistic angle which makes it harder to see the way the trick would actually be perceived by spectators who are standing directly across from the magician -- where you would expect an audience to be. In the live performance on the instructional DVD, with a real audience, the fork is held and conspicuously hidden behind the performer’s body before the stab. That handling may raise questions with the audience and definitely weakens the effect. Notwithstanding this issues, the performer can hold the fork in full view at his side, the entire time, but it increase the chances of exposure, a split second before the stab. Ultimately, this weakness in the method and handling is overshadowed by the fact that the chosen card ends up on the fork – which is a real WOW moment. I do not think that any spectators will question the performer's ability to actually stab an airborne card and have the fork's prongs pierce through all four folds of the card.
The idea behind the Collision is not a new one and Trickster credits several magicians as the sources behind the inspiration behind this trick; John Kennedy (Midair Card Stab), Bizarro (Threek), Bill Abbott (Stabbed and Shot), and Max Malini (Card Stab).
The quality of the DVD production is very good, but Tom Wright and Arron Jones spend too much time trying to be funny. In one scene, Wright plays guitar while Jones is dancing in the background in a Scooby Doo outfit. In others, the two get into a heated argument about the name of a card force, throw items when they are done using them, push each other, and mimic adolescent sitcom humor. At the end of the DVD, there is a bloopers section, which along with the attempts to be funny is unnecessary. The DVD does not suggest a strong handling on how the performer should deal with the interplay between the un-gimmicked and gimmicked tool, but that is not a difficult issue to tackle. My other criticism with the live performance is that after the performer starts to explain that the spectators will throw the folded cards at him, he starts to indicate what he is going to do, but then stops and says "I'm going to try...well actually I won't tell you, I'm just going to try it." Although it is obvious from the setup what the magician is about to do, I would use an alternative patter.
The DVD gives very clear instruction on how to create a gimmicked card for one of the three routines.
All in-all, the effect is very good, when the performer manages the audience, but, in light of the high price and the issues stated above, this new product receives three and a half stars.