Price$40.00
Media TypeTrick, DVD
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJul 24, 2012
One
Underhill, Matthew
Wizard FX Productions
(Based on 2 reviews)
A card is signed back and front by the spectators. Two of the hearts are initialled. One initialled heart is then visually pulled across the face of the card until it rests side by side with the other. In a beautiful and artistic piece of magic created by Matthew Underhill, the two hearts become ONE. This provides the spectator with an incredible souvenir that freezes the moment of magic perfectly.
What people are saying:
"Matthew has taken the anniversary waltz, the most classic of all the plots in card magic, and not just given it a new method, but he has given it a face-lift every worker will LOVE!"
- Justin Miller
"Didn't think anniversary waltz could have a substitute until I saw this effect. A perfect giveaway! I'll be having a lot of fun with this one!"
- Alex Pandrea
"What a truly astonishing moment for the unsuspecting participants - this is a perfect wedding/anniversary card trick which leaves them with an impossible object to remember you and your magic long after the event. I want it in my close-up case - send the first one to me!"
- Nicholas Einhorn
"Great! Love it! Awesome give-away and a perfect magic trick for a couple."
- Bill Abbott
"I can't imagine that this would fail to get strong reactions!"
- Tom Stone
"I really think this is a brilliant effect that leaves the spectators with an impossible souvenir. Thumbs up to the young creator!"
- Alexander Kolle
"An effect that has the potential to be the new Anniversary Waltz - if I can't have that in my working set, nobody can!"
- Mark Waddington
"It looks like an illusion but its pure magic for the spectators: a gift that will last and a reputation maker"
- David Ethan
"Simple, effective and most of all, very commercial. I can see myself performing this routine for wedding close up gigs, the perfect memento to give to the married couple. Very nice!"
- Luca Volpe
"WOW! That is great! So visual and it will connect with the audience! I can't wait for this!"
- James Atkinson
"A beautiful routine that will go straight into your act. Get this NOW!"
- Kevin Schaller
"Wait till you guys see the NEW handlings for this. It is a rare thing for me to perform other magician's effects, but ONE is definitely going in my real world repertoire!"
- Justin Miller
Reviews
(Top ▲)
PROS
The effect is very strong. The method and handling is good. The gimmicks are well made. The routine is pretty simple, with just a bit of practice.
They present different handlings and several bonus ideas.
CONS
You will need to purchase something from a hardware store. This item is something you could use for other card effects as well.
You get 20 Mandolin gimmicked cards, one additional card, and a handful of additional gimmicks that are re-used. However, you get what is needed for 20 performances. After that, you will need to purchase refills. When having to purchase refills, you must think about not only the cost of the refills, but the hassle of getting them, and the possibility that they may be discontinued in the future.
You will need to hold the card as they sign it. Some may object to this, I don't see it as a problem. Simply place the card on the deck and offer your hands as a table, with your thumb on the card to hold it steady.
VERDICT
Very nice routine, good handling, but you will need to get refills after 20 performances.
The effect is very strong. The method and handling is good. The gimmicks are well made. The routine is pretty simple, with just a bit of practice.
They present different handlings and several bonus ideas.
CONS
You will need to purchase something from a hardware store. This item is something you could use for other card effects as well.
You get 20 Mandolin gimmicked cards, one additional card, and a handful of additional gimmicks that are re-used. However, you get what is needed for 20 performances. After that, you will need to purchase refills. When having to purchase refills, you must think about not only the cost of the refills, but the hassle of getting them, and the possibility that they may be discontinued in the future.
You will need to hold the card as they sign it. Some may object to this, I don't see it as a problem. Simply place the card on the deck and offer your hands as a table, with your thumb on the card to hold it steady.
VERDICT
Very nice routine, good handling, but you will need to get refills after 20 performances.
Suggestions
If you want to avoid running out of gimmicks, once you purchase the effect, you could make your own gimmicks, but it would be quite a project. However, you could apply the same concept to a variety of cards, such as the two or three of hearts. For example, you could use a three of hearts and have one heart move next to another and have the third heart disappear. In addition to what is taught, you would need to use nail polish remover to remove one of the pips from a card, and you could make a stencil to spray paint a heart or two on the card.(Top ▲)
Effect
The effect is inspired (as Underhill states) by Doc Eason's Anniversary Waltz. The effect is different, but the affect is very similar. A Four of Hearts is "selected" and shown to the spectator. Front and back are signed. Then the magician visually slides one of the heart pips from one corner to another. The card can then be immediately handed out and kept by the spectator as a souvenir. Not too shabby as card effects go.
Method
Well . . . the method is good, but has a few issues but nothing insurmountable. Basically, you get a special playing card that allows you to do it. The cards don't have to be signed, but whether you sign them or not, the spectator will likely want to keep the card. So no matter which way you slice it, you're going to have to give the card away. Thus for $40 you can only do this effect 20 times - a refill pack of 20 can be had for $20.
The gimmicked card must be held in that ever so awkward "here sign this card while I hold it because I need to hide something on the face of the card" position. Also, the way the performers held the card to display the face was a bit awkward. I think some better handling would be needed before I could perform it.
There two bonus handling ideas one of which allowed for a bit of a cleaner handling, but the effect suffers a little. There is also a bonus handling by Justin Miller, but the only way to get it is to go to the World Magic Shop site and get it. That's an adventure I'll explain in a moment.
Overall, the method is good and easy and doable. You'll have to either use the slightly awkward handling or come up with your own. If, however, the fact that you have to cover part of the card while they sign it is a problem, then I'd pass. Frankly I'm surprised that this "cover part of the card business" is even on this product. It's a Wizard FX Production. Craig Petty is, as I understand it, a representative of Wizard FX Productions. Just yesterday in a video of Craig Petty's (Pentacle 2000), he very specifically points out that he hates it when magicians do this (cover part of the card while holding for a signature). He said it's obvious that the magician is hiding something, so I found it comical, to say the least, that this awkwardness was "allowed."
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is accurate, but sneaky. It says that the spectator signs the front and back (true). Then it says that two hearts are initialed. While that's also true, it could certainly be inferred that the spectator signed the hearts. Nope. Those must be done by the magician. The video trailer does a pretty good job of conveying the effect without really exposing the method. Ad copy: honest.
Product Quality
As is common with Wizard FX, the lighting on the cards in the magician's hands is terrible. There's a huge glare on the cards making it hard to see. There were actually a couple of times, specifically, where I could not tell what they were pointing to on the back of a particular card. The glare was so bad that it just looked like a red blur.
The gimmicks, however, are excellent. The rest of the DVD and menu, etc. were fine. The gimmicks are printed on Mandolin back Bicycles. However, Matthew Hill makes the outrageous claim that if you're using Rider back cards, don't worry because nobody will notice the difference. Um BEE ESS. They will definitely notice the difference.
And the worst offender of all . . . when watching the DVD via "Play All," first, it does not play all. It skips the trailer which is the only place you actually get to see a real performance. Secondly, when you get the section labeled "Bonus Presentation" a message flashes on your screen that says "An additional bonus handling of One by Justin Miller is available as a FREE download at www.worldmagicshop.com. Be sure to get this exclusive presentation to add to your routines. Refer to the menu screen for further details."
That's an exact quote. I referred to the menu screen and all I found was this: "For bonus handlings from Justin Miller please visit www.worldmagicshop.com." That's the same information as the other screen, but only with less detail. So I went to the aforementioned web site, and saw nothing on the home page. I then decided to use the site's search engine and search for the word "one." It returned a few products, but not "One." Next I searched for Matthew Underhill. That returned a result that showed the free download as a product.
That means that I had to create an account (full name, email, mailing address, phone number, user name and password, etc.). Then I was able to put the product in my shopping cart and go through the checkout process. I wasn't charged. However when I go to download the product from my account, I get this message: "As soon as we process your payment, we will notify you via e-mail and you will be able to download your software. Thank you for your patience." I've checked my email. It's been over an hour . . . still nothing which is odd since there is no payment to process.
They should have just made a simple page that allows you to download it without having to go through all that crap. By the way, the only reason I went through the crap, was for you guys. I wanted to review Justin Miller's handling. I would never have done this if I wasn't reviewing the product. But since I don't have that Miller part, I can't review it.
Final Thoughts
The gimmick is well made. The DVD teaches the method very well. But there were many parts of the product that were annoying. I've already mentioned the major ones, so I won't dwell on them. I do think the price is maybe a little high, but with the gimmicks, maybe it's fair. But for that price, you'd think the packaging would be better. It was just plastic flimsy case with the DVD in it and the gimmicks.
Because the product is doable and workable and the gimmicks are good, I can't totally destroy this product. But since part of the product required you to jump through annoying hoops, and because there is some awkwardness in the handling of the gimmick, I can't totally praise this product either. Thus . . .
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.