Price$24.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryGeneral, Close Up
Date AddedFeb 25, 2015
The Impossible Box 2.0
Ray Roch
Paul Romhany
(Based on 3 reviews)
In this DVD Ray teaches how to quickly build the card box, as well as giving away his in depth secrets, which turns the Impossible Box in to an amazing device for producing, vanishing and switching. Not only does Ray share two very magical and entertaining routines, but he also give you the ability to easily create an instant cost-nothing working prop that you can give away to the spectator as a souvenir.
Version 2 offers Ray's signature 'chop-cup' style routine that he fooled top magicians with at FFFF Convention when he performed it and for the first time Ray shares a revolutionary NEW move that makes it possible to do your favourite chop-cup routine without using any gimmicks. The design of the box allows for some very clever sequences that will fool your audience and keep them entertained.
CLOSE-UP & PLATFORM ROUTINE: Ray teaches his routine that can be performed at Trade-Shows, Restaurants or any close-up condition. You build a box from six cards and then produce a small object. This object is placed in your pocket but jumps back under the box. This is continued until you magically produce three large objects, such as an egg, die and lime.
WALK-ABOUT ROUTINE: Perform a chop-cup in the hands of a spectator without any tables. While the spectator is holding the box a ball jumps back and forth until three large objects are produced. This routine is ideal for any walk-about gig.
BONUS: bonus performance with a 3 year old - making this a very versatile routine for both adult and kid shows.
BONUS: Interview with Ray Roch on the history and background to this effect that he has been performing for over 20 years.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Overview
Impossible Box V2.0 by Ray Roch is a cute, assemble on site, chop cup routine with a chop cup box made from playing cards. The routine is commercial, entertaining and the box can be given away since its made with ordinary playing cards.Effect
The performer approaches a table and inquires if they would like to see a bit of magic. As he is talking, he is folding a few playing cards. As the guests watch, he now has an origami box made from six cards. He opens the lid and out comes a ball. The ball disappears and reappears several times. Then a lemon and a lime are produced. The box is taken apart and handed to the spectators.Method
The chop cup box is made out of ordinary playing cards, and the chop cup routine is a standard routine developed over years of playing around with the box. What makes this trick unique is the building of the box in less than a minute and producing items from what was just six playing cards. In addition, the ability to leave behind a memento of the performance is pricelessProduct Quality
The DVD was a VHS transfer and even though that is the case, the quality is very good. The performance and explanations are thorough but brief. There is no wasted time and no superfluous chatter. Keeping in mind that this was an old production the quality is very good.Ad Copy Integrity
What you see is what you get when it comes to ad copy. You can make a box and start performing this trick, moments after approaching the table. It is actually a great value for the potential of leaving behind something.Final Thoughts
If one were to have packets of six playing cards rubber banded together with your contact info as the back of the playing card. I can see a tremendous opportunity for leaving your contact info at every table. Just let them keep the box.(Top ▲)
PROS
This is, by far, the most ingenious chop cup ever! Ray has spent some 150 years perfecting this. OK, that’s an exaggeration. I have his original Impossible Box DVD from a few years ago. I liked the original, I love this one. He has really changed the handling.
The quality of the instruction is excellent.
He teaches a variety of moves and an entire routine.
This is perfect for close-up, walk-around, and parlor.
The best part is all you need is a deck of cards, even an old deck and you are ready to perform anywhere. You can use any number of things that are handy for loads. This chop cup doesn’t use any magnets or any other form of gimmick. The routine is all sleight of hand. The moves will take a bit of practice, but are easily mastered in short order.
No special clothing requirements, you can perform this in short sleeves.
You can perform completely surrounded if you are careful with your handling.
CONS
The only con is you will have to assemble the cup every time you perform. However, you can make this part very entertaining, and it really makes the first production very magical as you never reach into your pocket for that first load.
VERDICT
By far, the most original chop cup ever!
This is, by far, the most ingenious chop cup ever! Ray has spent some 150 years perfecting this. OK, that’s an exaggeration. I have his original Impossible Box DVD from a few years ago. I liked the original, I love this one. He has really changed the handling.
The quality of the instruction is excellent.
He teaches a variety of moves and an entire routine.
This is perfect for close-up, walk-around, and parlor.
The best part is all you need is a deck of cards, even an old deck and you are ready to perform anywhere. You can use any number of things that are handy for loads. This chop cup doesn’t use any magnets or any other form of gimmick. The routine is all sleight of hand. The moves will take a bit of practice, but are easily mastered in short order.
No special clothing requirements, you can perform this in short sleeves.
You can perform completely surrounded if you are careful with your handling.
CONS
The only con is you will have to assemble the cup every time you perform. However, you can make this part very entertaining, and it really makes the first production very magical as you never reach into your pocket for that first load.
VERDICT
By far, the most original chop cup ever!
(Top ▲)
Many products over the years often have a rehashed version of whatever original version was marketed previous to that. Since I never saw the first one I cannot directly compare this version to the first one, however, based upon reviews from reliable resources I can draw certain conclusions.
The first thing I want to get out of the way is the DVD quality. This DVD is burned and not pressed, so as usual if I tried to pause it, I had to start the DVD over from the beginning because it would freeze up on me. It is very annoying.
The video quality was great but the audio was so-so; there did not seem to be any microphones used in this production other than the internal camera mic. This did not necessarily hinder your ability to learn anything, but it did make it difficult to hear at times what was being said. The menu was easy to navigate and the sound was perfect there. Go figure.
If you watch the ad trailer for both versions (the original and this version, Impossible Box 2.0) you will see a distinct difference in the handling of the box. You will also notice different effects being performed. I cannot comment on what is on the first disc as I have not seen it, BUT having watched the ad trailer, they suggest to me that none of the effects from either version cross over. That is to say, the effects shown/explained on Version 1 will not be seen/explained in Version 2 and vice versa. Be that as it may, if you already own version 1, the only difference you will notice, from what I can gather, is the new and smoother way of taking items out of the box.
Now on to the bulk of this DVD: The camera work was awful in my opinion. There were times where the camera and Ray were both trying to find a good angle to show something more clearly, the camera would zoom in, change angles and at the same time Ray would be moving around trying to show the optimum angle. [Side note for future productions: One of you has to stay still for that to work.] It was just frustrating at times to watch because of so much back and forth, but again you will still be able to get the jist of what is supposed to happen.
The concept of this whole product is very solid, however, I fail to see where even Ray Roch has demonstrated it to its fullest ability. He does teach you how to fold the cards and how to assemble the box, which is not all that hard if you follow his instructions. What I really, really appreciated about the teaching segment of this DVD is that he used two people who were learning how to assemble the box and use it in performance at the same time as you were. They caught on quickly enough and where they were not doing the moves precisely or accurately, Ray was able to step in and help them. It is always nice to see someone else learning it along with you and even though they did not really ask the questions that you at home might ask, the help that Ray provided them was enough to cover most questions people would think of.
The most notable improvement here over the original handling is that in the first version, the objects that were produced were "dumped" out of the box, with some force. In this version you can still do that, but Ray has come up with a move that makes the illusion of objects coming out of the box even better without having to "dump" (or assimilate a dumping action). It really looks quite good and you can fit some sizable objects in this box once constructed.
There is the idea of using your business cards for this which was mentioned in the original version as well, but I cannot recall him mentioning it here.
I just have to say one thing of note: Personally I would never do the effects shown on the DVD using this concept and I have some big hands myself. What does the size of my hands have anything to do with this? I will tell you: Ray has a rather bold sequence where he produces three fairly sizable objects from the box: An egg, a die about the size of an egg and a lime. These are final loads to his "chop cup" effect. While it can be done the way he does it, I would argue that his hands must be pretty big because he can hide two of them at once in his hands. Many people will not be able to do it that way because of their hand size. It is still a pretty bold handling but is doable, routining necessities aside.
I just want to also point out that the "Chop Cup" effect as taught by Mr. Roch is very rudimentary and I would question whether it really plays like a Chop Cup as magicians understand the definition, but it certainly contains the punch of three different and seemingly impossible items being produced from it at the end.
The interview is just what you would expect and the video/audio quality and lighting are a bit more like a home video level of quality.
There are loads (pardon the pun) of applications you can use this concept for and I truly believe that someone out there will eventually come up with a really strong idea for this that will take it light years beyond what it is now.
The concept is solid, the teaching is good, the video is good, the audio is so-so and I applaud the fact that this upgraded version costs the same as the original, although, again, the items taught here are not the same as in the first version. Once more, the concept and its mechanics have not changed so once you know how the box works, you should be able to figure out how to do most of the effects by reading a description or watching just the ad trailer, if that makes sense.
If you like the concept and want something different and unique to add into your sets, this would fit the bill nicely. It may not be earth-shattering, but it is a solid idea with lots of uses and possibilities.
4 stars.
The first thing I want to get out of the way is the DVD quality. This DVD is burned and not pressed, so as usual if I tried to pause it, I had to start the DVD over from the beginning because it would freeze up on me. It is very annoying.
The video quality was great but the audio was so-so; there did not seem to be any microphones used in this production other than the internal camera mic. This did not necessarily hinder your ability to learn anything, but it did make it difficult to hear at times what was being said. The menu was easy to navigate and the sound was perfect there. Go figure.
If you watch the ad trailer for both versions (the original and this version, Impossible Box 2.0) you will see a distinct difference in the handling of the box. You will also notice different effects being performed. I cannot comment on what is on the first disc as I have not seen it, BUT having watched the ad trailer, they suggest to me that none of the effects from either version cross over. That is to say, the effects shown/explained on Version 1 will not be seen/explained in Version 2 and vice versa. Be that as it may, if you already own version 1, the only difference you will notice, from what I can gather, is the new and smoother way of taking items out of the box.
Now on to the bulk of this DVD: The camera work was awful in my opinion. There were times where the camera and Ray were both trying to find a good angle to show something more clearly, the camera would zoom in, change angles and at the same time Ray would be moving around trying to show the optimum angle. [Side note for future productions: One of you has to stay still for that to work.] It was just frustrating at times to watch because of so much back and forth, but again you will still be able to get the jist of what is supposed to happen.
The concept of this whole product is very solid, however, I fail to see where even Ray Roch has demonstrated it to its fullest ability. He does teach you how to fold the cards and how to assemble the box, which is not all that hard if you follow his instructions. What I really, really appreciated about the teaching segment of this DVD is that he used two people who were learning how to assemble the box and use it in performance at the same time as you were. They caught on quickly enough and where they were not doing the moves precisely or accurately, Ray was able to step in and help them. It is always nice to see someone else learning it along with you and even though they did not really ask the questions that you at home might ask, the help that Ray provided them was enough to cover most questions people would think of.
The most notable improvement here over the original handling is that in the first version, the objects that were produced were "dumped" out of the box, with some force. In this version you can still do that, but Ray has come up with a move that makes the illusion of objects coming out of the box even better without having to "dump" (or assimilate a dumping action). It really looks quite good and you can fit some sizable objects in this box once constructed.
There is the idea of using your business cards for this which was mentioned in the original version as well, but I cannot recall him mentioning it here.
I just have to say one thing of note: Personally I would never do the effects shown on the DVD using this concept and I have some big hands myself. What does the size of my hands have anything to do with this? I will tell you: Ray has a rather bold sequence where he produces three fairly sizable objects from the box: An egg, a die about the size of an egg and a lime. These are final loads to his "chop cup" effect. While it can be done the way he does it, I would argue that his hands must be pretty big because he can hide two of them at once in his hands. Many people will not be able to do it that way because of their hand size. It is still a pretty bold handling but is doable, routining necessities aside.
I just want to also point out that the "Chop Cup" effect as taught by Mr. Roch is very rudimentary and I would question whether it really plays like a Chop Cup as magicians understand the definition, but it certainly contains the punch of three different and seemingly impossible items being produced from it at the end.
The interview is just what you would expect and the video/audio quality and lighting are a bit more like a home video level of quality.
There are loads (pardon the pun) of applications you can use this concept for and I truly believe that someone out there will eventually come up with a really strong idea for this that will take it light years beyond what it is now.
The concept is solid, the teaching is good, the video is good, the audio is so-so and I applaud the fact that this upgraded version costs the same as the original, although, again, the items taught here are not the same as in the first version. Once more, the concept and its mechanics have not changed so once you know how the box works, you should be able to figure out how to do most of the effects by reading a description or watching just the ad trailer, if that makes sense.
If you like the concept and want something different and unique to add into your sets, this would fit the bill nicely. It may not be earth-shattering, but it is a solid idea with lots of uses and possibilities.
4 stars.