Price$9.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryGeneral, Close Up
Date AddedJun 17, 2015
Search Engine Pen
Jeff Prace
(Based on 2 reviews)
A spectator selects one of the colors on the pen's multi-colored logo. In a flash, the entire logo changes into the selected color! The pen can be displayed on both sides and be handed out for examination at the end.
INSIDE THE PACKAGE:
-Hot Rod pen
-Additional examinable pen
-Written instructions by Genii columnist Jeff Prace
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Self Portrait by Rainbow
Jeff Prace: The Search Engine Pen Reviewed
Two pens, less than one page of instructions and $10 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect
You show a pen with the colorful (i.e., different color for each letter) Coogle logo. No; That's not a typo. The spectator "chooses" a color. Suddenly all of the letters change to the "chosen" color.
Method
The method is given in the ad copy. It's a hot rod. If you know how a hot rod works, then you know how this works. One of the pens is the hot rod, and the other pen is normal with the single colored logo only.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is a little loose, with the claim that "the pen can be displayed on both sides and be handed out for examination at the end." No. You have to switch pens before handing anything out. Other than that, the ad copy is clean.
Product Quality
There's just not much to say here. The pens standard ballpoint BIC pens. They're as good of quality any other ballpoint BIC pen. The instructions are pretty minor. It's barely a page of information. It basically says, here's a pen that you can do the hot rod trick with. It gives a quick overview of the paddle move and the hot rod "count" and that's it.
Final Thoughts
There really is nothing special about this. Other than the fact that the name of a search engine is on the pen, this really has nothing to do with search engines. It's almost a non-sequiter. There's really no rhyme or reason for the pen, no suggested presentational reasons pen changes. There's just no meat to the product. If you know how you would use such a prop you'll be happy with it, if you don't mind that it says "Coogle" not "Google." For a small fee ($9.95), you're buying a prop/gimmick and pretty much nothing more. If that's what you need, you'll be happy with your purchase. If you need more, you won't.
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem — with a little g.
(Top ▲)
PROS
What a great and novel idea! It’s not that the hot rod idea is novel or new, but how Jeff incorporated the idea into a pen is clever. In fact, the idea of a hot rod pen is not new either. However, past hot rod pens used colored dots. While not a bad idea, the “Coogle” pen looks so much more natural, and in my opinion, is much stronger
The effect comes with two pens. One very normal looking, examinable pen, and one gimmicked as a hot rod pen. The quality of the pens is excellent. They look exactly like promo Bic pens.
The effect and materials are very true to the ad copy with very simply states you are getting a hot rod effect with a gimmicked pen and an un-gimmicked pen.
The effect comes with very brief written instructions, no video. Both a pro and a con. On the pro side, the effect itself is explained in a very concise manner.
CONS
On the con side of the instructions, it doesn’t cover how to perform the hot rod moves. Maybe this seems like something even most amateur magicians would know, but beware that these basic hot rod moves are not explained. If you are not familiar with the hot rod moves, you will need to get another source to learn this. However, he does cover the handling of the routine, just not the handling of the hot rod moves. At that point in the routine, he says: “perform the paddle move”. If you don’t know “the paddle move”, you will need to learn it elsewhere.
Also, you should know that the pens say “Coogle”, not “Google”. Clearly this is for copyright reasons. Some may view this as a negative, so I’m putting it in this section. However, I really don’t see it as a problem at all. I have seen suggestions to lightly scrape the bottom of the word to make it look like the whole thing has a bit of wear. Not a bad suggestion. However, I think it would be way more interesting to incorporate the discrepancy into some sort of comedy bit.
You should also know that the routine involves a very simple force that involves a bit of magicians choice where they can say any number they desire within a range of numbers and you will either count or spell to a desired outcome. I personally think this is usually pretty weak magic because it doesn’t seem natural when they say “2” and you spell to the third item by spelling”T.W.O.”. I think even some of the dimmest bulbs realize something was not quite right there. There are other methods of eliminating selections to arrive at a desired choice. For example, you could have them pick two letters and you eliminate one, then you pick two letters and they eliminate one, and so forth. With this method, it would be important that they start with the selection of two so you can end with the final elimination. This method seems more random and less forced.
VERDICT
I normally don’t consider price in a review, because I figure each person can determine if an effect is within their budget or not. However, this product has such a low price and the quality of the gimmicks are simply tremendous. While I felt I had to knock off a few review points for lack of instruction, I think this is really a must have for anyone who has any interest in hot rod routines.
What a great and novel idea! It’s not that the hot rod idea is novel or new, but how Jeff incorporated the idea into a pen is clever. In fact, the idea of a hot rod pen is not new either. However, past hot rod pens used colored dots. While not a bad idea, the “Coogle” pen looks so much more natural, and in my opinion, is much stronger
The effect comes with two pens. One very normal looking, examinable pen, and one gimmicked as a hot rod pen. The quality of the pens is excellent. They look exactly like promo Bic pens.
The effect and materials are very true to the ad copy with very simply states you are getting a hot rod effect with a gimmicked pen and an un-gimmicked pen.
The effect comes with very brief written instructions, no video. Both a pro and a con. On the pro side, the effect itself is explained in a very concise manner.
CONS
On the con side of the instructions, it doesn’t cover how to perform the hot rod moves. Maybe this seems like something even most amateur magicians would know, but beware that these basic hot rod moves are not explained. If you are not familiar with the hot rod moves, you will need to get another source to learn this. However, he does cover the handling of the routine, just not the handling of the hot rod moves. At that point in the routine, he says: “perform the paddle move”. If you don’t know “the paddle move”, you will need to learn it elsewhere.
Also, you should know that the pens say “Coogle”, not “Google”. Clearly this is for copyright reasons. Some may view this as a negative, so I’m putting it in this section. However, I really don’t see it as a problem at all. I have seen suggestions to lightly scrape the bottom of the word to make it look like the whole thing has a bit of wear. Not a bad suggestion. However, I think it would be way more interesting to incorporate the discrepancy into some sort of comedy bit.
You should also know that the routine involves a very simple force that involves a bit of magicians choice where they can say any number they desire within a range of numbers and you will either count or spell to a desired outcome. I personally think this is usually pretty weak magic because it doesn’t seem natural when they say “2” and you spell to the third item by spelling”T.W.O.”. I think even some of the dimmest bulbs realize something was not quite right there. There are other methods of eliminating selections to arrive at a desired choice. For example, you could have them pick two letters and you eliminate one, then you pick two letters and they eliminate one, and so forth. With this method, it would be important that they start with the selection of two so you can end with the final elimination. This method seems more random and less forced.
VERDICT
I normally don’t consider price in a review, because I figure each person can determine if an effect is within their budget or not. However, this product has such a low price and the quality of the gimmicks are simply tremendous. While I felt I had to knock off a few review points for lack of instruction, I think this is really a must have for anyone who has any interest in hot rod routines.