Dan & Dave Buck and David Jade's Pixl

Thanks for subscribing to the Magic Portal/Magic
Reviews newsletter. I appreciate your support and
responses to my newsletter and blog postings. This
week I want to tell you about my recent experience
with Dan & Dave Buck's web site and a new card
effect called Pixl by David Jade.

For those of you who have been long-term
subscribers, you know that I have reviewed Dan
& Dave Buck's materials ever since they first
emerged as young teens. Early on, they sent me
their first spiral bound set of lecture notes as
well as a VHS video of them doing strange things
with cards while trying to explain how to do them
in a dull, monotone style.

At the time, I was impressed with their acrobatics
with cards, but could not get into it because the
explanations were so difficult to follow.

Obviously, they have come a long, long way since
those early days. Now they produce DVDs with
top-notch packaging and presentation. You know
going in that you are going to get a great
product. They've learned how to teach and taken
advantage of the newest technologies to produce a
superior DVD product. I purchased their last set
of DVDs and had nothing but good words to say
about it.

Last Saturday I decided to visit their site to
see what was new. There I discovered an effect
called Pixl by David Jade. I watched the demo and
must confess that while I had some suspicions as
to the handling required to bring about the
effect, I was fooled and found it to be a perfect
ending for The Ambitious Card routine.

Pixl enables you to shuffle a selected card into
the deck, wrap the deck with a rubber band, place
it on the table, and then slam your fist on the
table to cause the selected card to rise to the
top free from the rubber band. That is to say, the
selected card actually appears on top of the
banded deck. Looks fantastic.

So I decided to spend $8.00 on the streaming
video and paid for it with PayPal. Now while I was
surfing the site and making the purchase, I
experienced some issues with the site's
functionality and payment process. Database and
SQL statements crossed my screen more than once,
and after the PayPal transaction was over, I was
informed by the D&D site that my purchase did
not go through.

Well, not according to PayPal who debited by
account $8.00. So I sent an email to D&D. No
response. Then I submitted a trouble ticket. No
response. Then I posted a message in their forum.
The only response I got was that D&D were
probably tied up in Texas on a video shoot. After
four days of non-responsiveness, I decided to try
attracting their attention by filing a complaint
with PayPal.

This morning I found out that they refunded my
$8.00. But I still don't have access to the video
I wanted. So even though they gave me my money
back, now I'm pissed because I never got the trick
I wanted to buy. Bad, immature customer service.

So I did what anybody else in my shoes might do.
I went to YouTube and searched for Pixl. There I
found a dozen bad performances of the trick by
young kids trying to show off the effect they had
no doubt only learned minutes before shooting
their YouTube video.

The comments posted on each video explained how
the trick was done. Within minutes, I was
recreating the effect. For free.

Now I am not condoning this, but I think there
are a few lessons to be learned here. First, if
you are going to run an online business, you ought
to have at least one dedicated person monitoring
the site. When I created EbookoMatic.com, I
designed it to be a passive revenue machine
capable of publishing and selling ebooks while I
sleep.

Still, I created a very sophisticated back
end that empowers me or anyone working for me to
monitor transactions and correct problems through
a web-based administrator's interface. At the very
least, D&D need to have someone watching the
shop while they are away. If you have an online
magic shop, please consider your customer service.
It takes one bad transaction to get someone angry
enough to dedicate a newsletter and write a
negative blog review, and that gets read by
hundreds, if not thousands of people over time.

Second lesson to be learned is that magic
societies ought to include some language about
revealing secrets via online videos. It's one
thing to teach online, but if it's not your effect
and you are doing this for your 15 seconds of
fame, then SAM and IBM should boycott YouTube and
put something into their rules and regulations
that puts members on probation for this type of
activity. Think of how embarrassing this would be
for their magazines to have a probation page with
a list of members who are revealing secrets
online. It's kind of like a newspaper publishing a
"John's list" for local guys seeking out the company of
prostitutes in your city.

As for Pixl, I think it is a good trick -- very
visual. I liken it to Darryl's effect "Ultimate
Ambition" where the deck is tied up with a rope, and
when the selected card is clearly slid into the middle
it still jumps to the top of the tied deck. It would
be very easy to have a card selected, top changed
for an indifferent card, the deck wrapped with a
rubber band and tabled, and the "selected card"
slid into the middle, only to have it rise to top
quickly and visibly. A poor man's approach,
totally impromptu, and only $8.00. I like it.

I do recommend you visit D&D's site as it has
a lot of interesting and provocative effects. They
have become a force to be reckoned with. I only
wish they handled their business as well as they
handle a deck of cards.

Until next time,


Steven

Review of the M5 System from ellusionist

Well, I just spent a good part of my weekend
watching the Basic and Advanced M5 DVDs from
ellusionist. Not being familiar with M5 I wasn't
sure what the DVDs would be all about. For those
of you like me who live in a dark cave and rarely
come out, M5 refers to a powerful magnet that
may be worn around your wrist, beneath a jacket.
With this magnet in place, you can accomplish
miracles.

The Basic DVD covers the general use and
performance of effects with the M5 system which
includes the magnet, an elastic band, a safety pin
and other accessories required to perform some of
the illusions. The material in both the Basic and
Advanced DVDs is presented by Justin Miller who is
on the ellusionist team. Justin is a
straight-shooter, and some of the best tips come
as apparent after thoughts as he is demonstrating
and teaching the effects.

The Advanced DVD focuses on the use of the M5
system and the Raven. As Justin explains what
comes in the kit, he refers to additional notes
from both Chazpro and ellusionist. They include
shims and steel coin shells and gaffed objects.
You get everything you need to recreate the
effects on the DVDs.

Justin says that ellusionist challenged him to
play with the M5 for a few weeks to see what he
could create. Some of the material on these DVDs
is very, very good. Spooky, visual magic.

Now the last time I played with magnets and magic
was the old Poltergeist effect that started it all
several decades ago. It consisted of a heavy and
bulky magnet that many people strapped to their
legs or put inside their cowboy boots. For me, it
was impractical.

Since then magnets have gotten stronger and
smaller and thus easier to conceal and use. I've
seen David Blaine and others work some apparent
miracles. These DVDs have some reputation makers
on them, but they will take practice. Too many
magicians, especially the younger set, will
probably rush out to perform these effects and
draw suspicion. It's all in the finesse. And that
takes time to develop and master.

Among Justin's better effects is a Haunted Pack
where a deck cuts itself inside a ziplock bag to a
selected card. I've always liked self-cutting
decks like the Cobra Deck but hate ending dirty. This
is a way to get a similar effect and end virtually
100% clean.

Another effect he got a lot of mileage out of was
a dime and penny exchange. I laughed when he
performed it because most of us have an old
shimmed penny shell somewhere in our drawers, and
probably forgot how great an effect this can be. I
think my penny shell came from an old Adam's Penny
and Dime trick, but now I have an actual way to
use it to accomplish a real neat exchange in the
spectator's own hands and end clean. This is
simple but powerful magic.

Justin shows a few effects where he stops the
hands on a borrowed watch and shuts down a cell
phone. Both are returned unharmed to their owners.
This is where I draw the line. He says you can do this
without harming either device, but he advises not
to try it on an iPhone because you might wipe the
micro hard drive. A lot of devices these days have
micro hard drives, so this kind of scares me. It
looks freaking great, but I'm not sure it is worth
the risk.

He gets an amazing amount of mileage with making
a gaffed matchstick stand up in a spectator's
hand. This is the effect that started the whole
Poltergeist thing so many years ago. Justin is
doing it in people's palms while the old effect
had the match rising and falling under a glass.
Both look good, but having a spectator involved is
stronger.

Since no M5 kit was included, I could not try
performing any of these effects, but they all look
doable and commercial. One of my only complaints
about the kit they show on the DVD is that Justin
goes through a very thorough explanation about how
to modify the elastic strap to resemble Brad
Christian's set-up. This requires you to sew a
pocket into the strap to hold the M5 magnet and to
add some velcro straps to secure it around your
arm.

My question is would it have really cost that
much to include a prepared elastic strap? When you
are going to spend almost $100.00 for the two DVDs
and advanced kit, one would expect to be ready to
go when the stuff comes out of the box. It might
be a disappointment to those who make the
investment to have to first make the modifications
to the elastic strap themselves. It doesn't
require a lot of effort, so why not include a
properly prepared elastic band to begin with?

Other than that, I found these DVDs to be
well-produced and the material well thought out
and implemented. If you want to add some powerful
effects to your magic, then the M5 DVDs might be
the way to go.

If you want to receive a 5% discount on your
purchase of the m5 system and DVDs or any ellusionist
merchandise, please click here.

Until next time,

Steven

Sudden Deck 2

Good morning. Today I wanted to send you another
review of an effect I recently picked up from
David Regal. It's called Sudden Deck 2, and if you
want to see it in action, go visit his site at
DavidRegal.com. Videos also are available on
YouTube.

The premise of Sudden Deck 2 is simple: you show
a disassembled, blank card case as it comes from
the factory before printing and assembly. With a
snap of your fingers, you print the card case
design. You then fold the case up like a normal
card box, open the top flap and pull out a real
deck of cards.

If I were shopping for tricks online from
descriptions alone, I may not have jumped at this
one, but watching the online videos got my
attention real fast. The printing of the card case
in plain view looks amazing. The production of the
deck has some angle limitations, but it looks
great when done dead on.

One of the reasons I am taken with this effect is
that I am always looking for an ice breaker. I
hate just coming out with a deck of cards and
doing some flourishes. That comes across weakly as
if I am trying to show off.

I have always thought if I was a real magician,
wouldn't I make my deck of cards appear magically?
And so, this is a simple way to do it. The effect
is self-contained. You will be able to set this up
with your own deck in about 10 seconds. Learning
to print the case is nothing. Learning to produce
the deck is everything.

You obviously could not do this very easily with
someone standing behind you or to your sides.
You'd have to play it very close to the vest to
get away with it and use some very bold
misdirection. However, in a controlled performance
environment like a stand-up performance and
perhaps in some walk-around or close-up venues
where you can block your angles, you can have a
miracle on your hands.

I think one of the neat things about this effect
is that your audience will assume that the
transformation of an unprinted card case into a
printed card case is the actual trick. By the time
you are folding the case up, they will assume the
trick is over, and the sudden appearance of an
actual deck of cards will absolutely stun them
with a one-two punch.

Additionally, people will assume the deck - not
the case - is the gimmick. So as you place the
deck down on the table or hand it to the
spectator, you will have all the time in the world
to pocket the card case. Can the case be examined?
No, that would reveal how the transformation and
appearance work.

David is kind enough to provide two blank cases
and two pre-printed, gimmicked cases, one red and
one blue Bicycle. The instructions come in an
over-sized 4 page booklet format with photos. I had
a little difficulty setting my gimmick up, but an
email to David cleared up my confusion quickly. He
is accessible which is much more than I can say
about other professional performers and lecturers.

You will find Sudden Deck 2 available from many
dealers, both online and in your local store;
however, David sells it direct from his site for
$25.00 with postage and handling included, so you
might want to start there first.

Next time I will send you a review of Captivating
and then a review of the M5 kits from ellusionist.

Until next time,

Steven

Magic Review: David Stone's Window

Good afternoon, magic buds. Today I want to
provide you with the first in a series of new
trick reviews. A few weeks ago, ellusionist
contacted me and asked me to review a new effect
from David Stone called "Window."

Frankly, when I watched the introductory videos I
was quite astonished. There were several
variations on a theme, and each one looked more
and more like real magic.

The basic premise is a card taped to the back of
a window changes to another card. This can happen
in many different ways including with a pass of
your empty hand, by rubbing a handkerchief against
it, and by waving a fan of playing cards. Each one
looks distinctly magical in its own way. In fact,
when you watch the demos, you will be convinced
that it is trick photography or CGI, but the plain
fact is you can accomplish this new illusion
without anything quite so complicated.

My DVD and kit arrived last Friday and the effect
is quite ingenious. It involves a special gaff,
and when you play with it, you will smile to
yourself. It looks as good as it does in the
video. You will want to immediately show every
relative, friend and layman within distance what
you have learned, but do yourself a favor and give
this one the practice it deserves.

Stone and his colleagues are French, and so the
demo videos and the DVD teach by way of pantomime
and graphics to highlight certain things. That's
not a problem for me. In fact, I would guess that
all of the video doesn't run more than 15 minutes,
so if you can't get the hang of this effect in
that time frame then you are doing something
wrong. It's that easy. Tape the gimmick to the
window and watch the magic happen.

Now "Window" is not angle-proof. How many effects
are these days? Still, you can get away with this
one from some pretty wide angles with the right
performance and blocking. Obviously, no one can be
behind the window, or inside the car or telephone
booth unless they are a stooge. You need your
audience in front of the window, and preferably
dead center to see the effect head on.

This is something that does not require a great
deal of set-up and could be carried in your wallet
or pocket and set-up when the environment is
right. That by itself makes it a great trick. The
five performance ideas that are explained on the
DVD are quite good. My favorite is a version with
the revelation of two different selections in a
very clever and simple way.

Best of all, the clean-up is quite good, allowing
you to remove the taped selection from the window
and apparently hand it back out for examination or
as a souvenir.

I highly recommend David Stone's "Window". If you
would like to purchase this effect and receive an
immediate 5% discount on this or any other effects
from ellusionist, please click here.


Until next time,

Steven