I was really taken by this effect and the "cleanness" of it. I was looking for a "quickie" effect
to learn and use in short order, as are most of the "deal of the day" inexpensive downloads. This
ain't that.
First of all, I do like the effect. I have no doubt it works if mastered.
Would have preferred much more info as to the level of expertise and setup required. That is the
major reason for the low rating: lack of disclosure on the requirements of the effect.
I
don't think this is giving anything away because I won't go into actual details. However, this
effect requires a memorized, marked deck, and not just any marked deck. You have to mark it
yourself using a "Braille" technique according to his system. This is tedious at best even if you
have a device made for such work (and trust me, hardly anyone will!), but if you have to do it by
hand, it will be difficult to do consistently and not mess up the cards until you learn the knack.
Not to mention memorizing the deck - he says you can learn it in a week and teaches you his
approach. Maybe.
Then there is some Binary math involved in the markings and their
interpretation.
He teaches you how to do all of the above as part of the download, but
sheesh...even HE gets confused trying to predict the card which will come up, and gets confused more
than once with his own system that he has used for years and years. Given the ease of
re-filming/editing, not sure why the failed attempts were even included, but glad they were.
So if I go to the trouble to make this deck up and learn the routine, what chance do I have to
get a confident and successful performance in less than a year or two?
If you can get past
the above and want a refresher in binary and work diligently, you may be able to do this effect in
due time, and it will be something no other kids on your block are doing...
Before the
flames start, let me say that I have been doing magic for over 30 years and have a minor in math. I
LIKE math and already know binary. I like combining principles and I enjoy practicing and working
on effects to get them down properly. You have to weigh the time investment versus audience
entertainment value and decide for yourself. If I had known the above, I would not have bought the
download. If the balance of effect vs. technique is right for you, go for it!
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
Properly performed, this will definitely fool your audience, magicians and layman alike, and, in the
right hands (such as Ian's!) will be tremendously entertaining.
Ian credits Simon Aronson and
Michael Close for precursor effects, but Ian's method has a significant extra subtlety which leads
to a significantly cleaner effect.
As close to pure mind reading with a pack of cards as you're
going to get.
Recommended!