What The Audience Sees:
'This week Jamie let me shuffle his deck of cards. He then had me follow some instructions to select a couple of cards so that he could try and determine their colour. The third card, however, he not only knew the colour, he knew the card!'
How It Went:
What makes Magic Friday really nice for me is that I don't actually review an entire book or DVD. I only review one trick at a time so I have the luxury of only performing tricks that I know will play well and that I think are the best. That said, I bought Jack's manuscript last week and, even though I usually wait quite a while before performing recent purchases, I decided to give one of his effects a go because it's practically self working. However, I didn't (in my opinion) choose the one I thought was the best. That would be his Remote View. Instead I chose to perform FPE after reading some posts here on the Café. I foresaw some difficulty but I went against my judgment...
Now before we get into it, I would like to say that I liked Leap Of Faith. I am a firm believer in supporting Café members and I think Jack's 'Note from the other side' is some of the best three paragraphs I've read in quite some time. Also, his RV is a great effect that I'll probably actually use.
Okay, here we go. The premise behind the Fantasy Phone Experiment is brilliant in its presentation. The creation of the Dual Reality is quite effective and serves a wonderful purpose. I just think that the actions necessary from the spectator, well I know actually, that the actions won't always work. After a total of 29 times on Friday- 21 groups of regulars and 8 groups of strangers- the actions were either messed up or needed my involvement a total of 19 times. Don't get me wrong- Jack's instructions are clear and should be easy to follow but I found that they weren't. Also, to ask a spectator to manipulate a deck of cards when my back is turned is a recipe for disaster as far as I'm concerned. Many times the specs would replace the first move after they've done it or perhaps would flip the deck unnecessarily.
I'm afraid you're going to have to trust in my ability as a performer and as a professional that I tried every wording I could think of to make it crystal clear what they should do. And, again, what they are asked to do isn't difficult by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that people aren't familiar with a deck of cards other than shuffling and dealing.
Okay, after all that, when it did work people liked it. Any time you let the spectator shuffle the cards is a bonus and the effect, when it works, plays strong.
Best Lines:
"I bet you always know what you're getting for Christmas too!"-hmmmm, I wish.
"Go next door and call me and we'll do it again..."-this goes under the Best Lines because it was brilliant move by the spectator. I couldn't, however, because we never repeat an effect. I told him I'd call him next week.
Angry Bob Rating:
I have a co-worker (Bob) whose uncle was a magician and thereby has a good working knowledge of how magic works. He's pretty grumpy but likes Magic Friday's because he can tell me how he figured out how the effect is done... A high rating means he'll never figure it out.
"%#^# dude. You know better %$^$&^% tricks than that."-what can I say, I have to be honest, right. 0/5. Angry Bob knew the dealio.
My Rating:
This is hard for me. I don't like giving 'bad' reviews and I don't want to discourage anyone from buying Jack's manuscript because I think it has some positives. Also, I'm sure Jack, and others, are able to destroy with this. I couldn't though. 6.5/10.
The JDG Tip:
Angry Bob brought up a good point. I do know better card tricks. But this isn't, and shouldn't, come off as a 'trick'. It should come off as a serious bit of mind reading and Mentalism so perhaps it's a bit of my own fault that it didn't play as well as it should have. I played it serious but I'm not the most serious of individuals, so maybe it's best left in the hands of the Mentalists. Besides, I have dimples. Mentalists shouldn't have dimples.
Closing Thoughts:
I encourage you to give this a try and keep me posted on how you make out. Who knows, maybe it's the trick that'll become your all time favourite. You never know until you try.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
Jamie D. Grant
Vancouver Magician
visit: www.whatizit.net
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