Win all of these!
Drawing on April 1st, 2024
Details

I.D.D.

Rawlins, Chris

Vanishing Inc.

(Based on 1 review)
Chris Rawlins is back with an offbeat and amazing solution to the classic drawing duplication. As in the classic effect, someone is invited to walk away from the group and draw any shape or thing she likes. You are able to duplicate what she drew with uncanny accuracy.

What makes this cool and so very different from what has come before is that you are NOT glimpsing information and then re-drawing it. You are not FORCING the spectator to draw something predetermined. Nor do you rely on any kind of pre-show at all. Instead, you rely on something so basic but also so unsuspecting that we think this will fool you. It fooled us! What you see in the trailer is EXACTLY what it looks like in real life. Nothing has been doctored or left out.

The DVD teaches the entire routine, which is easy to perform and easy to make.

Running time: 20 minutes

Reviews

Stuart Philip

Official Reviewer

Sep 03, 2016

Invisible Drawing Duplication (I.D.D.) is Chris Rawlings very clever mind-reading routine in which a spectator draws a simple object on a small white card when he is completely out of sight of the performer. The performer then informs the spectator that they will draw what the spectator drew and apparently does so on a small paper card, which is taken from a stack of cards that the performer is holding. Once the performer indicates he is done drawing, he puts his card in the stack and asks the spectator to hold the stack of cards. The performer then takes, for the first time, the spectator’s card and looks at it. He comments on it and then takes back his stack. He spreads the cards and shows a drawing that is (hopefully) a duplicate of what the spectator drew.

I.D.D. is a 20 minute DVD with a studio performance of the effect, an explanation by Chris Rawlings, a cameo appearance with some additional ideas by leading mentalist Luke Jermay and a PDF chapter that explains I.D.D. from Rawling’s book, Drawing Thoughts.

Although this routine is fantastic and very clever in applying a classic method most commonly not used in this type of mentalism, there are limitations which cause the promotional video and ad copy to be de facto misleading. In the ad-copy, it is claimed that “You are able to duplicate what she (the spectator) drew with uncanny accuracy.” That is not true. While there is a good chance that this trick will work, there is also a good chance that you will come up empty, a total fail. This trick is not 100%. While there are many outs, there are no guarantees. And if you fall, you have the potential to fall hard. The ad-copy also claims “What you see in the trailer is EXACTLY what it looks like in real life.” That again is not true for the reasons already mentioned. For example, if your spectator draws a lightning bolt, or a fork, or a hand, or a gun, you will not be impressing anyone like Rawlings does in the video. Rawlings give some suggestions on how to tweak your presentation of I.D.D. with trial and error, but if you want a guarantee that you will hit every time, this trick is not for you. Rawlings should have spent more time explaining how to cope with the total fail situation when doing this trick one-on-one and he does not.

The promo video is also somewhat misleading because it seems to be a set-up, in my opinion. The spectator drew an anchor with chain links as did the performer with the exact same orientation. This just seems too much of a stretch for the way that the routine works in real life.

The production quality of the video and instruction is top-notch and the cameo by Jermay shares some very interesting idea and how to use I.D.D. with multiple spectators.

Another negative is that when the DVD arrives, you do not have everything that you need to immediately perform the trick. Although you may have some necessary things, you will likely need to go out and buy blank papers cards and something else that makes I.D.D. possible. This is kind of like getting a present without the necessary D batteries and needing to wait to go to the store the next day (or week). Also lacking is that Rawlings refers to various Banachek sources to explain how to perform the trick (in certain instances) but does not give a full explanation. He just suggests that you pick up Psychological Subtleties.

Once you have everything you need, it will take you about 25-30 minutes to complete a one-time set up. The reset when performing this trick is about a second, but must be done out of sight.

This project really should have been a download with an indication that you will need to buy additional materials. Or, it should have had a higher price-tag and included everything that you need to get going.

Overall, this is a very clever project that can result in some mind-blowing reactions. Just take note that like many mentalism effect, there is no guarantee that you will be able to claim victory here.
(Top ▲)