Price$34.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryGeneral, Close Up
Date AddedAug 06, 2015
Revolution
Wilson, Gregory
Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
(Based on 3 reviews)
Revolution shortcuts the years of practice and allows you to look like a Shaolin Spin-Fu Master in just minutes. Spin any standard deck or standard playing card on the tip of your finger in a mesmerizing display of playing card dexterity.
Part sportsmanlike skill and part unsportsmanlike gimmick, you'll have everything you need to get instant attention, including trick playing cards for tons of routines, expertly taught by Gregory Wilson. Greg will teach you how to spin like a Globetrotter in no time.
JOIN THE REVOLUTION
90 minutes of video instruction from top pro, Gregory Wilson. Specially designed and precision-engineered gimmick for weight, balance and spin time. 3 special trick playing cards to turn Revolution into a full magic routine. Easy to learn, easy to do, looks incredible. Instant Reset Makes a stunning ice-breaker
How hard is it to perform? Just check our degree of difficulty scale:
1. Broker Peace In The Middle East
2. Build A Suspension Bridge
3. Translate Sanskrit
4. Hit A Major League Fast Ball
5. Solve A Rubik's Cube
6. NY Times Crossword Puzzle
7. Train A Ferret
8. Raise One Eyebrow
9. Ride A Unicycle
10. Juggle
11. Hang Wallpaper
>>> 12. Spin A Card Box On Your Finger
13. TV Guide Crossword Puzzle
14. Tie Your Shoelaces
15. Build A Popsicle-Stick House
16. Connect The Dots
17. Gargle
18. Use A Stapler
19. Chew Gum
20. Breathe
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Revolution by Gregory Wilson
This item was a bit of a hot commodity when it first came out and it is still going strong. It is easy to see why because though it takes a bit of a knack to get it to work, it is very doable.
You get a nicely made gimmick that should last you forever if you take care of it and do not drop it repeatedly on hard surfaces. Even then, as long as it does not hit the surface directly, it should be just fine. Instead of a DVD you get a link with a password to an online instruction video with the option of downloading it. As such there are no chapter lists, but you can skip through the video if you want to. You also get a few playing cards which are used with a bonus idea.
The ad copy is mostly accurate but there are a few points that could be a tad misleading, but nothing that was done in dishonesty in my opinion. The ad copy has this list that supposedly shows the difficulty rating of learning/using Revolution, but because of certain things on the list I think this was just humorous. As far as the mechanics are concerned it is not hard, but it is not easy either and it is knacky and will take some playing around with to get it just right.
The video was very well shot with excellent video, audio and lighting quality. It was shot in a studio and I really liked the style of this instruction because it was shot almost like a candid video, but it was well-structured. Gregory Wilson talks about the developement of the gimmick and how it came about, he talks about various points that will make it easier to do, he talks about what to do and what not to do and then he shows you how to go about figuring out how to actually do it. Read that last part again and if it sounds strange, it should. That is because the basic mechanics of using this gimmick are very easy, but it does take a bit of a knack to get it down because you have to figure out the sweet spot on your finger(s) where the gimmick works best, i.e. the area on your finger with the least amount of friction. Typical of a Gregory Wilson video, the teaching is absolutely fantastic and very clear and he leaves nothing to be desired.
He shows you different ways to deal with getting the gimmick in and out of play, ways to disguise it if you feel you must and gives you a few different ways to do that. As for the gimmick there are have been people that say using it is painful for them and it might be for you, but it is not like getting stabbed or cut or stubbing your bare toe on oak furniture. If you have dry hands it might be painful to a degree, but again, nothing major. Personally I did not find it to be painful. This is really a non-issue so do not let this be a deterrent for you in deciding whether to purchase this product.
Gregory walks you through just about everything he could think of to make it easy for you to figure this part out. One thing he does stress though is centering your gimmick in the card case. This is a physics thing, it is made easier because of the design of the gimmick, but it is necessary to get it quite precise in order to get the best balance and therefore the longer spin times. Once you do get the knack for spinning the case on your finger, you will not be doing 20-second spins right away - that will only come with time and practice. Once I got it down myself, which only took about and hour or so, I was getting three or four-second spins. My current record as of this writing is 8.348 seconds. It is not necessary to spin for long periods of time, but it does look very cool if you can. Greg even talks about the spin time, that is to say longer vs. shorter, for various reasons.
To prove a point about how easy the mechanics are and how relatively easy it is to learn, Greg sat down in the studio with Chris Oberle to teach him how to use Revolution. Chris had never played with it before filming and you get to watch him walk Chris through from the beginning, stopping him whenever he made certain mistakes (things that would cause off-center spins, etc.) and letting Chris figure out how to fix the problem. This was nice because you get to see this process as Chris then talks about what he is learning as he goes, which makes the viewers at home almost feel like they are in the room with Chris and Greg. They do not show the entire hour or so that it took for Chris to get the knack down, but he did say that is about what it took him to get it. After that point, Greg asked Chris to talk about what he learned/figured out as he went through the process that may be helpful to viewers at home.
Other parts of the video show Greg spinning other objects and having some fun in the studio. There are a bunch of different ideas that he teaches too, different ways to present the spinning. He talks about using Revolution as a show-off stunt type of thing, an attention getting, a quick little bit, etc. There are lots of existing card effects for which Revolution can be a lead-in and the cards that come with this are used to make it look like the spinning of the cards caused the ink to swirl. All but one of the cards are examinable but none of them are mechanically gimmicked in any way (think the Shattered Pips card that Daryl put out years ago and still sells). There are some other very clever ideas that are taught as well.
The gimmick can be used with any poker sized deck of cards, but because of the way it was designed it is made to find the exact center of any card box printed by the USPCC. That is not to say it will not work with other brands, because it does.
This product should come with a warning label because whether or not you will use it in performances, this thing is very addictive and hard to put down! Once you get the knack you just keep trying and trying for better and better and longer and longer spins, and whether you progress quickly or not, you will still have a lot of fun. This thing is like an addictive drug and unlike those things, this will not put a huge dent in your pocketbook. The price point is very good for what you are getting!
This is not really a "typical" magic product per se (like a card or coin effect) but it can be tied into them and even used as one. That said it is something you will have to judge for yourself as to whether you purchase this or not. If you have a place or use for it, you will be very happy with it. If you just want to have something that is fun to play with and maybe even pass time with, you will still have fun with this. If you have no place or use for it, even you would still have fun with it!
So my point is, if you like what you see in the trailer, you will definitely like this!
VERY Highly recommended!
This item was a bit of a hot commodity when it first came out and it is still going strong. It is easy to see why because though it takes a bit of a knack to get it to work, it is very doable.
You get a nicely made gimmick that should last you forever if you take care of it and do not drop it repeatedly on hard surfaces. Even then, as long as it does not hit the surface directly, it should be just fine. Instead of a DVD you get a link with a password to an online instruction video with the option of downloading it. As such there are no chapter lists, but you can skip through the video if you want to. You also get a few playing cards which are used with a bonus idea.
The ad copy is mostly accurate but there are a few points that could be a tad misleading, but nothing that was done in dishonesty in my opinion. The ad copy has this list that supposedly shows the difficulty rating of learning/using Revolution, but because of certain things on the list I think this was just humorous. As far as the mechanics are concerned it is not hard, but it is not easy either and it is knacky and will take some playing around with to get it just right.
The video was very well shot with excellent video, audio and lighting quality. It was shot in a studio and I really liked the style of this instruction because it was shot almost like a candid video, but it was well-structured. Gregory Wilson talks about the developement of the gimmick and how it came about, he talks about various points that will make it easier to do, he talks about what to do and what not to do and then he shows you how to go about figuring out how to actually do it. Read that last part again and if it sounds strange, it should. That is because the basic mechanics of using this gimmick are very easy, but it does take a bit of a knack to get it down because you have to figure out the sweet spot on your finger(s) where the gimmick works best, i.e. the area on your finger with the least amount of friction. Typical of a Gregory Wilson video, the teaching is absolutely fantastic and very clear and he leaves nothing to be desired.
He shows you different ways to deal with getting the gimmick in and out of play, ways to disguise it if you feel you must and gives you a few different ways to do that. As for the gimmick there are have been people that say using it is painful for them and it might be for you, but it is not like getting stabbed or cut or stubbing your bare toe on oak furniture. If you have dry hands it might be painful to a degree, but again, nothing major. Personally I did not find it to be painful. This is really a non-issue so do not let this be a deterrent for you in deciding whether to purchase this product.
Gregory walks you through just about everything he could think of to make it easy for you to figure this part out. One thing he does stress though is centering your gimmick in the card case. This is a physics thing, it is made easier because of the design of the gimmick, but it is necessary to get it quite precise in order to get the best balance and therefore the longer spin times. Once you do get the knack for spinning the case on your finger, you will not be doing 20-second spins right away - that will only come with time and practice. Once I got it down myself, which only took about and hour or so, I was getting three or four-second spins. My current record as of this writing is 8.348 seconds. It is not necessary to spin for long periods of time, but it does look very cool if you can. Greg even talks about the spin time, that is to say longer vs. shorter, for various reasons.
To prove a point about how easy the mechanics are and how relatively easy it is to learn, Greg sat down in the studio with Chris Oberle to teach him how to use Revolution. Chris had never played with it before filming and you get to watch him walk Chris through from the beginning, stopping him whenever he made certain mistakes (things that would cause off-center spins, etc.) and letting Chris figure out how to fix the problem. This was nice because you get to see this process as Chris then talks about what he is learning as he goes, which makes the viewers at home almost feel like they are in the room with Chris and Greg. They do not show the entire hour or so that it took for Chris to get the knack down, but he did say that is about what it took him to get it. After that point, Greg asked Chris to talk about what he learned/figured out as he went through the process that may be helpful to viewers at home.
Other parts of the video show Greg spinning other objects and having some fun in the studio. There are a bunch of different ideas that he teaches too, different ways to present the spinning. He talks about using Revolution as a show-off stunt type of thing, an attention getting, a quick little bit, etc. There are lots of existing card effects for which Revolution can be a lead-in and the cards that come with this are used to make it look like the spinning of the cards caused the ink to swirl. All but one of the cards are examinable but none of them are mechanically gimmicked in any way (think the Shattered Pips card that Daryl put out years ago and still sells). There are some other very clever ideas that are taught as well.
The gimmick can be used with any poker sized deck of cards, but because of the way it was designed it is made to find the exact center of any card box printed by the USPCC. That is not to say it will not work with other brands, because it does.
This product should come with a warning label because whether or not you will use it in performances, this thing is very addictive and hard to put down! Once you get the knack you just keep trying and trying for better and better and longer and longer spins, and whether you progress quickly or not, you will still have a lot of fun. This thing is like an addictive drug and unlike those things, this will not put a huge dent in your pocketbook. The price point is very good for what you are getting!
This is not really a "typical" magic product per se (like a card or coin effect) but it can be tied into them and even used as one. That said it is something you will have to judge for yourself as to whether you purchase this or not. If you have a place or use for it, you will be very happy with it. If you just want to have something that is fun to play with and maybe even pass time with, you will still have fun with this. If you have no place or use for it, even you would still have fun with it!
So my point is, if you like what you see in the trailer, you will definitely like this!
VERY Highly recommended!
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Impossible by Christina Aguilera
Revolution Review
One gimmick, three specially printed cards, $35 bucks and one Revolution Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Revolution Review: Effect
Spin a playing card or a deck of cards (in the box) on your finger tip like a Harlem Globetrotter effortlessly spinning a B-ball.
Revolution Review: Method
You're supplied with a special gimmick that can be adapted to a deck of cards or a single (apparently) card. The gimmick can be set up to spin the "single" card and still be used for spinning the deck. You don't have to pick one or the other.
The rest of the method is mostly practice, and it will take a fair bit of practice to get good at this. Also, if you have fingertips that tend to crack due to being overly dry, you may struggle a little bit with this. It will actually be a bit painful. Even without the dry skin, there's a mild bit of pain involved . . . nothing major, but it's there. This will definitely take some patience, practice and knack, but it can be acquired.
There are also a few card routines taught that require the use of supplied specially printed cards. The techniques involved (other than spinning the deck) include relatively standard card moves. I would say that a fair amount of the material on here is for the intermediate (and above) magician.
Revolution Review: Ad Copy Integrity
Though the ad copy is just being cheeky with their "difficulty scale," I think their claim is a little off. They claim that it's easier than solving a Rubik's cube, raising one eyebrow or building a suspension bridge. Speaking as one who has done all three — granted, the bridge was a small scale model — and this is definitely harder than those three things. They also mention that this is easy to learn. That's a bit iffy too.
I think the concept is very simple, but "easy to learn" is a bit of a stretch. Like the pass with a deck of cards, the concept is simple, but learning to (properly) do it is not easy. Revolution, for me, fits that category (pass-like) enough that I feel saying it's "easy to learn" is a little bit inaccurate. However, everyone will be different, so it's hard to make a hard line call on this claim. Watch the ad trailer, but keep in mind that Greg Wilson is very, very good at this. It will take a lot of practice to get to that level.
Revolution Review: Product Quality
The production quality is excellent. Well lit, mic'd, filmed, etc. The video is stream-able and download-able. It's loaded with details and finer points and tips and more. You even get to watch Chris Oberle learn it in real time. The two of them work together and cover all the mistakes Oberle made while learning. This is taught in about as much depth as you can possibly teach something. Further, there are several bonus ideas, routines and effects taught as well.
Revolution Review: Final Thoughts
If you like the idea of being able to spin a deck of cards or a single card on your fingertip and you're willing to put in some time to get it right, you'll love this. The method is absolutely solid, doable and realistic and can be kept in your deck of cards at all times.
Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.
(Top ▲)
PROS
The effect is beautiful! However, is this an effect or a flourish? Perhaps a flourish, but who cares. If you think this can add to the value of your performances, it is great!
The gimmick is very good quality and should last a very long time with just a bit of care.
The instruction is very good. He covers very thoroughly how to learn the spin and how to practice. He also teaches how to disguise the gimmick and several ways to bring the gimmick in and out of play. There is a really cool method for using the gimmick with a single card and you can spin the single card for a very long time. Using a Joker, you spin the card and pocket the Joker.
There is also an explanation for a great effect called Hypnotism. It is a card to pocket routine that starts will a deck spin as you explain you are going to hypnotize them to name a specific card. That card disappears from the deck and appears in your pocket. The effect is very doable, but will take some practice. Also, he goes over a few intermediate moves very quickly, not a detailed description of some of the moves.
This is something that could be applied to any setting, close up, walk-around, street magic, parlor, or stage.
There are a few really good effects:
Revolution Revelation: This effect is a great trick using one of three gimmicked cards printed to look like the ink has spun. I really like his instruction on this as he demonstrates an alternative way to spin the card in the air to “restore” the spun ink. In the description, he says that he has a hard time spinning a single card on his finger without any gimmick. I find that many magicians have a hard time with this knacky spin move, myself included. The alternative spin is very easy to do.
Absolute Miracle: The product also includes a commonly named card gaff (QH) with the ink “spun” so you can perform an amazing routine on the coincidence that they name as a freely named card. In addition, it comes with another gimmicked card with the face ink spun (8S) which can be used for a force card or if someone randomly names the Ace of Spades.
Unshuffled: There is a bit of a bonus effect that uses a gimmicked deck from a separate effect called “Unshuffled” where a shuffled deck is spun and then all the cards are in new deck order.
Bar Bet: An idea to incorporate the spin in a bar bet.
Floating Spin: A very short idea without any explanation to use Revolution in conjunction with the Hummer card.
Invisible Revolution: A very nice application of the invisible deck and the Revolution gimmick. This is a great version of the invisible deck, now with a cool spin move.
Brains and Brawn: A great effect where the participant cuts off any number of cards, you place them in the box, give it a spin, and you know the number of cards they cut to. This effect requires a separate gimmicked deck that does not come with this product.
The difficulty of this is hard to say. I would say medium level difficulty as you are not likely to just pick it up and start spinning. You are likely going to have to put in a bit of work. Some of you may get it right away. I think because I first watched the video and then tried it, it worked right away for me on the very first try. I will say that my first try I give it a relatively moderate spin and it spun for about 3-4 seconds. Enough to be quite impressive right out of the gate. I would agree with the video that most everyone should be able to get quite proficient with this within the first hour of practice.
CONS
Just a few things to be aware of:
First, this does use a gimmick that you will be bringing into play and out of play. He does a thorough job teaching how to do this.
Second, this is really more of a device to add a bit of a flourish to your performances, so in that light, it is really more of a device/skill/method that you could use with any number of effects. However, he does teach several pretty good effects to do with this method and device. However, the explanation on some is VERY brief and depending upon your level of knowledge and/or skill, you may need to resort to other products for further explanation. Also, some of the explanations involve other products, not included with this effect, such as the invisible deck, a mem deck, and the hummer card. Having said that, I don’t see this as a huge negative, as he is demonstrating some unique ways to perform other effects incorporating this method and device.
Third, it comes with a download video that didn’t work for me, so I was able to watch it, but not download it. However, I think I was one of the first to try this, so the dealer I got mine through tried it and had the same problem and is in contact with the distributor who will likely fix this pretty quickly. I was able to watch the video.
VERDICT
While there are some effects taught on the video, I see this as a method for a flourish that can be used with a wide variety of card effects. It is superb!
The effect is beautiful! However, is this an effect or a flourish? Perhaps a flourish, but who cares. If you think this can add to the value of your performances, it is great!
The gimmick is very good quality and should last a very long time with just a bit of care.
The instruction is very good. He covers very thoroughly how to learn the spin and how to practice. He also teaches how to disguise the gimmick and several ways to bring the gimmick in and out of play. There is a really cool method for using the gimmick with a single card and you can spin the single card for a very long time. Using a Joker, you spin the card and pocket the Joker.
There is also an explanation for a great effect called Hypnotism. It is a card to pocket routine that starts will a deck spin as you explain you are going to hypnotize them to name a specific card. That card disappears from the deck and appears in your pocket. The effect is very doable, but will take some practice. Also, he goes over a few intermediate moves very quickly, not a detailed description of some of the moves.
This is something that could be applied to any setting, close up, walk-around, street magic, parlor, or stage.
There are a few really good effects:
Revolution Revelation: This effect is a great trick using one of three gimmicked cards printed to look like the ink has spun. I really like his instruction on this as he demonstrates an alternative way to spin the card in the air to “restore” the spun ink. In the description, he says that he has a hard time spinning a single card on his finger without any gimmick. I find that many magicians have a hard time with this knacky spin move, myself included. The alternative spin is very easy to do.
Absolute Miracle: The product also includes a commonly named card gaff (QH) with the ink “spun” so you can perform an amazing routine on the coincidence that they name as a freely named card. In addition, it comes with another gimmicked card with the face ink spun (8S) which can be used for a force card or if someone randomly names the Ace of Spades.
Unshuffled: There is a bit of a bonus effect that uses a gimmicked deck from a separate effect called “Unshuffled” where a shuffled deck is spun and then all the cards are in new deck order.
Bar Bet: An idea to incorporate the spin in a bar bet.
Floating Spin: A very short idea without any explanation to use Revolution in conjunction with the Hummer card.
Invisible Revolution: A very nice application of the invisible deck and the Revolution gimmick. This is a great version of the invisible deck, now with a cool spin move.
Brains and Brawn: A great effect where the participant cuts off any number of cards, you place them in the box, give it a spin, and you know the number of cards they cut to. This effect requires a separate gimmicked deck that does not come with this product.
The difficulty of this is hard to say. I would say medium level difficulty as you are not likely to just pick it up and start spinning. You are likely going to have to put in a bit of work. Some of you may get it right away. I think because I first watched the video and then tried it, it worked right away for me on the very first try. I will say that my first try I give it a relatively moderate spin and it spun for about 3-4 seconds. Enough to be quite impressive right out of the gate. I would agree with the video that most everyone should be able to get quite proficient with this within the first hour of practice.
CONS
Just a few things to be aware of:
First, this does use a gimmick that you will be bringing into play and out of play. He does a thorough job teaching how to do this.
Second, this is really more of a device to add a bit of a flourish to your performances, so in that light, it is really more of a device/skill/method that you could use with any number of effects. However, he does teach several pretty good effects to do with this method and device. However, the explanation on some is VERY brief and depending upon your level of knowledge and/or skill, you may need to resort to other products for further explanation. Also, some of the explanations involve other products, not included with this effect, such as the invisible deck, a mem deck, and the hummer card. Having said that, I don’t see this as a huge negative, as he is demonstrating some unique ways to perform other effects incorporating this method and device.
Third, it comes with a download video that didn’t work for me, so I was able to watch it, but not download it. However, I think I was one of the first to try this, so the dealer I got mine through tried it and had the same problem and is in contact with the distributor who will likely fix this pretty quickly. I was able to watch the video.
VERDICT
While there are some effects taught on the video, I see this as a method for a flourish that can be used with a wide variety of card effects. It is superb!