Price$15.00
Media TypeTrick
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedFeb 25, 2014
Card Cube
Arkomanis, Persus
Alakazam UK
(Based on 2 reviews)
- Michael Ammar
"Excellent!"
- Jean Pierre Vallarino
One of the best principles in magic is that of the impossible object. You take something normal and bring it to an impossible state...and then give it away as a souvenir!
The Coin Bend, Anniversary Waltz & Card Warp all fall under this category but now you can add The Card Cube to this great list of magical effects!
As one of the few full working professional Magicians in Greece, everything Perseus creates is devised for real-world audiences! Tried, tested and worked to its finest detail!
The Card Cube is one of the most original plots in magic!
There are a number of effects where the magician borrows a bill and makes an origami fold of it either visually or as a magical effect, but none has ever combined that with a pack of playing cards!
Perseus spent nearly a year figuring out an easy-to-do fold of a playing card to create a cube without any sticky stuff or glue!
Card Cube can be performed almost impromptu as the cubes only take a minute to make.
Card Cube can be performed as a stand-alone effect or as a killer ending to a card routine!
Card Cube can be performed as a magical effect or as a demonstration of skill!
The Card Cube is bound to become one of the modern magic worker's classics!
A wonderful magical moment and a great souvenir is the recipe for success!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
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Card Cube by Perseus Arkomanis Review:
One DVD, 25 minutes, one novel idea, a couple of handling ideas and $15 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned.
Effect
A selected card magically and instantly becomes an origami'd cube.
Method
Learn how to fold the card into a cube and learn some pretty simple and visual switches. There's really not much more to say about the method. If you saw the trailer, I'm sure you realized that it was a pre-made card cube and a clever switch or vanish. Making the card cube is super simple. The switches are easy. The method is very practical and very doable, and it's very likely that just about any level of performer will be able to easily master the method.
Ad Copy Integrity
There are a couple nit-picks I have about the ad copy. First, they're referring to this as an "impossible object." This is NOT an impossible object. Impossible objects are objects that the spectator "cannot" exist. In other words, something where the condition of the object is not readily explainable. An example is two linked playing cards or a coin in a bottle. This card cube is clever, but not an impossible object. The spectator may wonder HOW it got in the condition it's in, but they'll easily know that it's just some clever origami.
The other claim made is that origami has never been combined with playing cards before. That's not true either. Michael Close's classic Frog Prince effect predates this by nearly 3 decades. However, even with these two nit-pick things, nothing in the ad copy regarding the effect is misleading. It's completely legitimate.
Product Quality
The DVD is well produced, easy to navigate, well lit, well mic'd, and well taught. Perseus Arkomanis breaks down the construction of the card cube in simple steps that are easy to follow. I was able to make two with no problem while watching the DVD. The DVD also comes with two PDFs that show exactly where to properly fold the card when making the cube. You're also taught the few different handling ideas on how to accomplish the effect.
The only disappointment I had was that there were no real world performances shown. Yet the trailer contained live footage. I would have liked to have seen a full live performance so that we could get a better sense of how it would flow in a real setting. The instructional portion merely did walk-throughs and never showed anything from start to finish, but rather it just showed you how to do the moves individually. There really wasn't a good full overview of the whole effect. It was more a compartmentalized explanation of each part of the effect.
Final Thoughts
This DVD basically gives you a utility or, better said, a skill. This skill can be applied to business cards, playing cards, etc. It can be given as a souvenir or a clever way to hand out your business cards. $15 is a reasonable price to pay for the knowledge you receive. Just keep in mind that this DVD is more about "here's how to make the cube and a few ways you can use it." And it's not so much about "here are some full routines you can perform that end with this cool souvenir." If you like the novelty of handing out a cubed card at the end of an effect or show, then you'll be happy with your purchase. It's easy to do, and easy to perform.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
(Top ▲)
Origami is one of the sister arts to magic with many playing at the intersection of both. Robert Harbin and Robert E. Neale come to mind as magicians who have created and published in both domains. Cross-domain effects like Michael Close's The Frog Prince from the Workers Series use origami as part of the magic. Into this arena comes the new release from Perseus Arkomanis and Alakazam Magic UK, Card Cube.
Card Cube is a card revelation that leaves the participant with their selected card formed into a cube. Creating the cubes uses a Kirogami fold. Kirogami is Origami that requires cutting the paper.
The DVD is well made with conversational explanations between Alakazam host, David Loosely, sitting on a couch with Perseus Arkomanis. At times I wished for different camera angles rather than straight-on. Learning the fold is supplemented by two PDF files. An old deck, a pair of scissors and some focused time is all you need to master the cube. The disk is nicely packaged in a stiff cardboard sleeve forgoing the standard plastic box which is unneeded for most one-trick DVDs.
Perseus Arkomanis teaches his “snap change” for the transformation. This change is a bit angly but easily surmountable. There are two main routines: the transformation of the selection into a back-out cube and then changed into a face-out cube for the revelation or a single transformation into the face-out card. I prefer the latter as it's less back and forth to the pockets. Folding a business card into a cube is also reviewed.
The only item missing from this package is crediting. The idea of folding a playing card into a cube was first developed by UK magician, Bob Ostin, in the late eighties-early nineties. It was released in the US by Emerson and West as “Dicey” in 1991. Robert E. Neale published two methods in Life, Death, and Other Card Tricks (Hermetic Press, 2000). A little research would have made this a top notch DVD.
If turning a card revelation into a piece of gift magic appeals, then I would recommend Card Cube.
Card Cube is a card revelation that leaves the participant with their selected card formed into a cube. Creating the cubes uses a Kirogami fold. Kirogami is Origami that requires cutting the paper.
The DVD is well made with conversational explanations between Alakazam host, David Loosely, sitting on a couch with Perseus Arkomanis. At times I wished for different camera angles rather than straight-on. Learning the fold is supplemented by two PDF files. An old deck, a pair of scissors and some focused time is all you need to master the cube. The disk is nicely packaged in a stiff cardboard sleeve forgoing the standard plastic box which is unneeded for most one-trick DVDs.
Perseus Arkomanis teaches his “snap change” for the transformation. This change is a bit angly but easily surmountable. There are two main routines: the transformation of the selection into a back-out cube and then changed into a face-out cube for the revelation or a single transformation into the face-out card. I prefer the latter as it's less back and forth to the pockets. Folding a business card into a cube is also reviewed.
The only item missing from this package is crediting. The idea of folding a playing card into a cube was first developed by UK magician, Bob Ostin, in the late eighties-early nineties. It was released in the US by Emerson and West as “Dicey” in 1991. Robert E. Neale published two methods in Life, Death, and Other Card Tricks (Hermetic Press, 2000). A little research would have made this a top notch DVD.
If turning a card revelation into a piece of gift magic appeals, then I would recommend Card Cube.