Price$25.00
Media TypeTrick
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedOct 24, 2013
Change
SansMinds
SM Productionz
(Based on 2 reviews)
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Change, as Will Tsai meant it to be, is a simple presentation combining magic and mentalism. A card is selected from a packet and all of the other cards in that packet change to match the chosen card.
The basic effect and the method are both fairly classic, the combination of the two make for a very powerful routine. On the DVD Tsai shows you 2 basic handlings for the effect, they both use virtually the same presentation but it’s nice to see some variety. Really this just barely scratches the surface. Like I said before this is a classic gaff with numerous presentations but Sans Minds only covers one, powerful presentation.
This is a nice close up packet effect. You get everything you need in the DVD including the force cards, of course the card you use can be changed fairly easily if you have the propper materials. I assume that 99% of all magicians will have what they need to change the force card.
Will explains everything clearly. The DVD is short, just over 10 minutes. He goes over the 2 methods to do the dirty work, as mentioned above, and shows us both a studio performance as well as a performance walkthrough.
The trick is best performed in a close up environment and can’t be easily seen on a stage or in a parlor setting. I suppose you could set this up with bigger cards but it may be more work than is necessary. The only problem that I had with the instruction was with the setup, it takes some time to get the cards into the initial display and while it isn’t hard it would be nice to see how one might do it in real time.
So it can only be performed close up, it works well but it is not extremely original. For those reasons I will give it a solid 3 stars.
The basic effect and the method are both fairly classic, the combination of the two make for a very powerful routine. On the DVD Tsai shows you 2 basic handlings for the effect, they both use virtually the same presentation but it’s nice to see some variety. Really this just barely scratches the surface. Like I said before this is a classic gaff with numerous presentations but Sans Minds only covers one, powerful presentation.
This is a nice close up packet effect. You get everything you need in the DVD including the force cards, of course the card you use can be changed fairly easily if you have the propper materials. I assume that 99% of all magicians will have what they need to change the force card.
Will explains everything clearly. The DVD is short, just over 10 minutes. He goes over the 2 methods to do the dirty work, as mentioned above, and shows us both a studio performance as well as a performance walkthrough.
The trick is best performed in a close up environment and can’t be easily seen on a stage or in a parlor setting. I suppose you could set this up with bigger cards but it may be more work than is necessary. The only problem that I had with the instruction was with the setup, it takes some time to get the cards into the initial display and while it isn’t hard it would be nice to see how one might do it in real time.
So it can only be performed close up, it works well but it is not extremely original. For those reasons I will give it a solid 3 stars.
(Top ▲)
Effect
This is a bit of an odd effect. Basically, you hand the spectator a few cards that are shown very clearly to be all different cards. She takes the cards behind her back and picks one, looks at it, and the puts it back behind her back. She brings the cards forward and shuffles them. You then look through the cards and put in your pocket what you think is the selected card (after reading her mind a little). Your "guess" proves to be correct. Then, however, when she looks at the cards in her hand again, they've all changed into her selected card.
Method
The method uses a smart and simple gimmick that allows you to perform the effect without switching the packet of cards. Getting the gimmick properly set up is a bit awkward and even more so if they're watching too closely. In fact, in the DVD the only time you see the set up move done is during the explanation, and even then it's done as an expose and not an actual performance of it.
In the one actual performance on the DVD, Will Tsai starts with the cards already set up with the gimmick in place. Yet he claims that you can set it up during the actual presentation of the routine. If that were true, then why was there no actual performance of him doing the set up during the routine? It's awkward to get the gimmick aligned "just so" and not the easiest thing to do in the heat of performance.
I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying it's a little tricky and the fact that you never see Will Tsai do it on the DVD is evidence that I'm right. It's totally doable, but it's a lot more finicky than you're led to believe in the explanation. Basically, when you spread the cards in preparation for displaying them, you have to very meticulously spread them. With some practice, personality and presentation, you'll be able to pull it off.
Once the gimmick is in place, the rest is super easy and very effective. The gimmick does all the work for you, and you're 100% clean at the end. The gimmick is very well made and very deceptive. You'll find a version of this gimmick in any "Universal Deck." However, this one has a few nice subtleties that you won't find in a Universal Deck. These extra subtleties make a big difference in the illusion.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy's pretty solid and accurate. The only thing I would challenge is the "angle proof." It's not 100% angle proof during the "set up" of the gimmick, but it's close. Also, the ad claims that the spectator's can keep the cards at the end. While that's true - they are not gimmicked - however, you won't be able to perform it again unless you go round up 6 more Kings of Spades (or whatever your set comes with). Also, you don't have to use the 6 duplicates that come with your DVD; you can use any 6 duplicate cards, so if you want to buy a one way force deck (i.e., all 52 cards are the same). Then you could do the effect ten times and give the cards away each time.
Product Quality
The DVD is short and sour rather than short and sweet. Eleven minutes. They could've spent 10 more minutes giving some in depth pointers on properly setting up the gimmick during the performance and actually showing a full presentation where the magician gets ready in real time.
The gimmick quality is excellent as mentioned above, and this gimmick can be used for other effects, which is another thing they missed the boat on. They should have taken a few more minutes to offer some suggestions on how to use this gimmick in other effects.
Final Thoughts
After fiddling around with the handling, I was able to get set up relatively smoothly, but it's still awkward. You'll have to put in a little extra time (nothing wrong with that) to make sure you can really handle getting set up in real time smoothly. You have to decide if you like the effect enough to put in the time. I imagine there are scenarios where you could perform this where you wouldn't have to set up in front of the audience, but generally speaking, you have to do it in their presence.
So they weren't thorough; the method is very solid once you get set up. The gimmick is well made, and the whole thing is only $25 bucks.
Final Verdict:
3 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.