Price$29.95
Media TypeDVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedMay 28, 2014
Montoro, Julio
SM Productionz
(Based on 2 reviews)
All the way from Spain, Julio Montoro shares a brilliant utility system that allows the visual magic to happen in an isolated space that's away from magicians' hands. Hands off color changing deck, blank card to your business card, visual money change, you name it. It leaves plenty of room to adapt your own presentation, definitely a must have system for close-up & stroll-around gigs.
Contents:
Special Gimmick
Instructional DVD
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Master of Puppets by Metallica
Pocket by SansMinds Review:
One gimmick, two specially printed cards, one DVD, and $30 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect
The visual hands off change of a playing card while sticking out of your coat pocket.
Method
Basically, a small modification to your suit coat allows you to do this. You can have your coat modified in about 15 minutes. Then it's permanently set up . . . until you dry clean your coat. Then you'll likely have to remove the gimmick and set it up again. The method is simple and will very likely be within the reach of most performers.
Ad Copy Integrity
The written ad copy is dead on. The video ad trailer is pretty accurate. They do cut the camera a time or two, but in my opinion it was not a cheat, but a method preservation. The only thing that I found a little misleading is a scene near the beginning. There's a close up of a blue backed card that changes to a red backed card. The red card is then removed from the pocket and thrown toward the camera. The handling to be able to do that is not quite as clean as they portrayed. However, it can still be done very cleanly.
Product Quality
The DVD is well shot, well mic'd, well lit, etc., and it's even long enough to teach you some stuff unlike many SansMinds products. I felt they were pretty thorough. There are two big problems, however. First, in the trailer they show a bill change (a five changes to a twenty). Based on the way the gimmick works, I'm not sure how it would be possible to do that effect. And it's not taught anywhere on the DVD.
That's a huge issue. Secondly . . . There's no way to say what I'm about to say without sounding like a jerk, so I'm just gonna say it. Chris, the guy hosting the DVD, is extremely annoying. It made the video almost unwatchable. I have nothing personal against him and he seems like a decent person, but his on camera skills/personality are quite annoying to watch. You kind of get a sense of it during the trailer, but multiply the most annoying thing in the trailer by 10 and that's how annoying the DVD is. Sorry, Chris.
Final Thoughts
If you need a super visual card change, this can do it for sure. It looks as good as the trailer, and it's super easy to do.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
**This review was edited after further consideration**
I do not even know where to begin with this one...
How about I start with the one redeeming quality about it? The instantaneous and visual change you see in the trailer is exactly what happens. One star for that.
The production quality of this disc is great - it is well lit, the audio and video are clear and crisp and everything is explained well. 1.5 stars for that.
The host of this video is Chris and he is one of the most annoying people I have ever had to listen to - his exuberance (enthusiasm?) was way over the top to the point where it came across as very bad overacting. It was truly very hard to watch this video because of that. To be quite honest, I would rather watch Jay Sankey doing his goofiest other-worldly antics and bits as a squeaky, prepubescent teenager. Please note that I have nothing against Chris as a person - I have never met him. It is just his personality on camera that I cannot stand.
The ad copy is not fully accurate - they do not teach you everything listed in the ad copy but they do point out the possibilities as they exist. For the bill change, it would have been nice for them to show you how to set it up - paper (or even the plastic Canadian and Australian notes) are a lot flimsier than playing cards and would act much differently than a card with this gimmick. Further it mentions a "hands-off color changing deck". Only part of the deck changing is "hands-off" and that is the card in the pocket that changes.
You get everything you need to make the gimmick along with the DVD. That is where the primary problem lies with this product - you have to gimmick a jacket, which requires a pretty good amount of work, though not difficult. If you use a topit, this gimmick may or may not interfere with the use of it. I use one particular design of topits in all of my suit jackets and with that design, it is not possible to set this gimmick up the way it is shown and have it work, at least not reliably.
There is a live performance on the trailer of the effect and kudos to them for that, but they do not show you the whole body of the performer. I would bet it is because the motion needed to activate the gimmick 'can be' quite obvious. There are ways around this of course, but it is something to keep in mind when performing this.
Another thing that just adds to the pile here is that not only do you have to set up a jacket, but you have to set up a deck to do this. It was quite the procedure to get this and that correct card in the right place for the effect. Anyone that has done card magic for a even a short while will immediately come up with much better and cleaner handlings for the cards.
There was a "bonus" handling for the gimmick that shows you how to do a color change with the gimmick, which ultimately causes the whole deck to change color as well. The idea is nice. The horribly routined method was not.
At the end of the day, this is a color change of a playing card. For $10/USD more, you can buy a very nice book with close to 50 different methods for doing a color change with cards.
If you like what you see and do not mind setting up a jacket just to do a color change, then you may like this product. If you use your breast pocket for other things you may or may not be able to use them with this gimmick installed in a jacket.
2.5 stars.
I do not even know where to begin with this one...
How about I start with the one redeeming quality about it? The instantaneous and visual change you see in the trailer is exactly what happens. One star for that.
The production quality of this disc is great - it is well lit, the audio and video are clear and crisp and everything is explained well. 1.5 stars for that.
The host of this video is Chris and he is one of the most annoying people I have ever had to listen to - his exuberance (enthusiasm?) was way over the top to the point where it came across as very bad overacting. It was truly very hard to watch this video because of that. To be quite honest, I would rather watch Jay Sankey doing his goofiest other-worldly antics and bits as a squeaky, prepubescent teenager. Please note that I have nothing against Chris as a person - I have never met him. It is just his personality on camera that I cannot stand.
The ad copy is not fully accurate - they do not teach you everything listed in the ad copy but they do point out the possibilities as they exist. For the bill change, it would have been nice for them to show you how to set it up - paper (or even the plastic Canadian and Australian notes) are a lot flimsier than playing cards and would act much differently than a card with this gimmick. Further it mentions a "hands-off color changing deck". Only part of the deck changing is "hands-off" and that is the card in the pocket that changes.
You get everything you need to make the gimmick along with the DVD. That is where the primary problem lies with this product - you have to gimmick a jacket, which requires a pretty good amount of work, though not difficult. If you use a topit, this gimmick may or may not interfere with the use of it. I use one particular design of topits in all of my suit jackets and with that design, it is not possible to set this gimmick up the way it is shown and have it work, at least not reliably.
There is a live performance on the trailer of the effect and kudos to them for that, but they do not show you the whole body of the performer. I would bet it is because the motion needed to activate the gimmick 'can be' quite obvious. There are ways around this of course, but it is something to keep in mind when performing this.
Another thing that just adds to the pile here is that not only do you have to set up a jacket, but you have to set up a deck to do this. It was quite the procedure to get this and that correct card in the right place for the effect. Anyone that has done card magic for a even a short while will immediately come up with much better and cleaner handlings for the cards.
There was a "bonus" handling for the gimmick that shows you how to do a color change with the gimmick, which ultimately causes the whole deck to change color as well. The idea is nice. The horribly routined method was not.
At the end of the day, this is a color change of a playing card. For $10/USD more, you can buy a very nice book with close to 50 different methods for doing a color change with cards.
If you like what you see and do not mind setting up a jacket just to do a color change, then you may like this product. If you use your breast pocket for other things you may or may not be able to use them with this gimmick installed in a jacket.
2.5 stars.