Finalizing two sets--can they be stronger?

[Brett H]

That's true, but man is Clean Cut expensive for what it does.

Yes because it is quite difficult to obtain nowadays I believe.

There are knock off versions for this....quite many....the china version are super cheap but we can forget them. Rubbish.

The better one I saw made by DiFatta Magic.
http://www.difattamagic.com/index.php?p ... h=cut&vai=

I believe it has similar dimension with the original CC. I`m not sure for that but it is definitely cheaper.

I got mine from Magico-Japan last month. I only went after it because I got one for my daughter from Magic Geek (they had a picture of the Tenyo one and it was selling for 9 bucks.)
The one I got WASN'T Tenyo and worse, the gimmick couldn't flash any harder. I threw it away--worst 10 bucks I ever spent, I'm only getting Tenyo, anything from here, and MAYBE local area stuff for me and the daughter.

The one from Magico is expensive, but they are the only gig in town and I can say it's worth it if you want to use a trick with a mind blowing routine. I will say that you will need practice with it--but not so much with a routine, but because it's REALLY easy to flash the gimmick. I was surprised, the thing works real smooth.
It would work A LOT better with a locking device.

I did the routine in the video for a couple of little girls and about 6 adults waiting in line in Disneyland and their layman minds were just blown!

I can tell you where the minds get blown apart too.

When you take the little rope out and loop the long rope back into the device and put it back together.

They will not be able to mentally comprehend it and all they can do is watch until you're finished.

It's worth your time if you want one, just pool your efforts into the Tenyo one. Magico has one available.

[VictorS]

Cool thanks for the info Brett

[Brett H]

All right.

So I've been mulling back over the sets and working on trick cohesion and script strength and consideration of the audience they are meant for. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get any videos up because...I only have a couple of the tricks (which I practice like a madman) and I don't have a full set yet. I now have 3 sets (little girls, little boys, older kids/teenagers)

The biggest one I'm worried about is the older kid/teenager set.

I've been toying with the idea of 'magician in trouble', but from what I understand, it doesn't really work in a set if you do one trick where 'all of a sudden' the magician becomes incompetent. What if the magician can DO the tricks, but the result of all the tricks in a set is less than optimal. With that, I came up with this (and I'm going strictly off of the videos for each particular trick:

Security Lock
Clear Surprise
Millionaire's Dream
Ghost Card

The trick would start with me lamenting about how I can't get my card out to get some food from the vending machine. (this would be using the 'gimmicked' first routine for Security Lock) I can't pull the card out and neither can they. I find that the lock is actually locked and proceed to unlock it. I cannot get the card out, but they are able to. Puzzled, I lock it and now neither of us can get it out again.
Frustrated, I pull out Ghost Card (with the Credit Surprise 'card' in between the deck and the cover), the Clear Surprise Envelope and the clip.
I clip the Security Lock card & sleeve and the Clear Surprise card together and proceed to pull out....a $2 bill.
Even more frustrated that I can't use a $2 in the snack machine (since they only take $1 and $5), I go into Millionaire's Dream (more than likely with a bill switch--still looking into this one)
I get excited that it's producing 4 coins--but find that it's only producing Canadian currency--and a Canadian bill to top it all off.
Completely defeated, I eat the deck of cards (Ghost Card). I offer if they want to take a bite (giving them a look at the bitten cards and feigning to have them inspect the deck), if they try to go for the deck to inspect it, I pull it back saying they shouldn't eat a strangers food and that they could have food allergies.


I think the cohesion works, I'm left with a couple of things:

1) I haven't heard much of Millionaire's Dream. What I have seen, apparently it's really bad. If it's really bad, I could switch it out with Funnel Vision and have the final effect of the trick turn the coins into a $1 coin--which do not fit in any machine whatsoever in the US

2) Is this...too slapstickish for an older kid/teenager/adult crowd? I felt that the 'magician in trouble' COULD work if the entire set is around the idea of magician in trouble. It's using commonly used items (credit card and money). It's ridiculous, but I'm not sure if it delves into 'stupid' territory or if it's a joke that goes on too long.

[JohnM]

I would stay clear of Funnel Vision, to me it is a hit or miss trick with a lot of misses.

[SimonC]

Agreed, the rest sounds great though. Funnel vision is an odd one, I LOVE the workings and concept, especially the design in the back and how it's incorporated, and it has a killer finale too. But it's never 100% performance wise so it sits in my "I fiddle with this when I'm pissed/bored/stressed-out" pile as opposed to taking residence in my magic man bag (I really need to give that a new name)