Some Beginners "Goods", "Bads" and "

[Dal]

Hi guys,

OK, this post is pretty much only relevant to the beginners out there (like me). I started getting into close-up about six months ago and have had some very positive experiences with effects and some pretty bad ones..

This is (I suspect) the first post in a chain that may run for a while (not least of which because what is contained here are MY opinions on some products that I have purchased as part of my intro. to close-up).

Anyway, I thought that this might be useful to those of you who would like to build a little set of 3-4 beginner-friendly effects but want to avoid the "86 % Crap". You should be able to find these effects pretty easily with a google search.. Again, all opinions expressed are my own..etc.etc.

The "Good"..

Coin Unique (Eddie Gibson) - A beaufully engineered coin vanish effect that requires virtually no mis-direction or sleights.. A bit expensive but it does what it says on the tin and is perfect for building a bit of confidence before moving on to bigger and better things.

3 Ring Circus (Jay Sankey - There you go, UKG!) - Nice adaptation of the classic linking rings using those horrible-to-handle rings used on your keyring. Could for learning some very basic sleights.

Pengiun Monte (Penguin Magic) - Nice little packet trick. Classic "3 card monte" effect with well made props. Good trick for applying some first patter to your effects. Makes you look like a card genius but is actually fairly simple to get your knuckles around.

The Royal Road To Card Magic (Book - Hugard & Braue) - Keith and Andrew did not choose this as the first Beginners Series for no reason. If you want to learn cards, it really is a must.

Invisble Deck (Bicycle Deck) - I don't think that I will get any disagreements from the forum here. You must own one of these starting out.

The "Bad"..

Hover Card - It's cheap..'nuff said.

Incredible Shrinking Finger - No. Just no.

Mind Bender - I think that this got onto "Hype of the Week". It's rubbish as well. My 5 year old daughter figured it out as soon as she saw it and now does it to every card she finds... I go through a lot of decks..!

King Rising Levitation - HYPE, HYPE, HYPE, HYPE.. My very first purchase only to realise that I had actually been taught this at the age of 12 in the school playground. Idiot.

The "Ugly" (Tricks that could probably work but that I found to be unworkable and....well, ugly).

The Raven - Ooooh, I'll get some flack for this. A lot of people swear by it. I tried and tried. I just found it un-usable. Maybe i'll go back to it but, for now, it's in the juck drawer

PK Ring - Again, just didn't work for me. My friends know me too well and the sudden appearance of a frankly HUGE chunk of metal on my finger was never going to work for me.

Pena-Coin - This is not a bad little effect for a "Parlour" type setting I suppose but it takes some setting up....and it's ugly.

That will do for now, I just wanted to kick this off with a few observations..

Hope that some of you find some of this useful.. Let me know if you are considering buying a beginner-level effect.. I may well have been there..

Take care,

D.

[Robmonster]

Thanks for this post, very useful.

so far I've shied away from buying too much stuff for fear of overload. I own a cuplke of DVD's and a few books.

The only 'props' I've bought are an invisible deck and a small set of gaffed cards (which I've never used)

I've seen a very good Monte effect presented by Michael Ammar, awhich I believe is sold at Penguin by a hispanic looking magician , the name of whom temporarily escapes me.... Jay someone-or-other. I wonder if that is the same one you mention above?

RM

[Snicket]

Your bad tricks are mostly Ellusionist Exclusives.

Hover Card- is beautiful when performed correctly.  I don't reall like the gimmick all that much, but I have altered one of mine and added a lot to the trick.

Incredible Shrinking Finger- I agree with you on this one.

Mind Bender- It was a good idea, but has a very cheap solution.  I think there is prolly a better way to do this without using the "stuff" (It's hilarious to call it "stuff") to do this trick, that is just waiting to be discovered.

King Rising-  It is a good-looking levitation.  I haven't bought it, so I don't know the teaching, but I know how to do it.  I did it on a demo video one time and it turned out good, but it's really stupid when performed in the real world.  In this way, it is very much like Ultimate Card Through Window.

As for the ugly...

The Raven-  Is an awesome vanish, but I don't like the way the gimmick is made and I don't like the power of it or of The Bat.  I perfer the M5 for all of my vanishes like this.

PK Ring-  There are some newer ones that are less gigantic.  I don't have one, but it prolly works  awesomly for "coin through" effects.

[UKGareth]

Thanks for this post, very useful.

so far I've shied away from buying too much stuff for fear of overload. I own a cuplke of DVD's and a few books.

The only 'props' I've bought are an invisible deck and a small set of gaffed cards (which I've never used)

I've seen a very good Monte effect presented by Michael Ammar, awhich I believe is sold at Penguin by a hispanic looking magician , the name of whom temporarily escapes me.... Jay someone-or-other. I wonder if that is the same one you mention above?

RM

That will be Jay Noblezada  

[Robmonster]

That's the fella!

[McAig]

i've found pena coin to be ok... it takes a few seconds to set up, but the fact that it's so up-front and visible as you actually perform the trick makes it something that gets people really scratching their heads over how you could have possibly done what (they think) they just saw. i wouldn't say it's a must get, but it's definitely a good and simple trick

[Mike]

Pengiun Monte (Penguin Magic) - Nice little packet trick. Classic "3 card monte" effect with well made props. Good trick for applying some first patter to your effects. Makes you look like a card genius but is actually fairly simple to get your knuckles around.

This is really the only thing that I really had to say something about. The "Penguin Monte" is one of Penguin Magic's most blatant ripoffs, and a perfect example of magic thievery.

Both the gaff, and effect belongs to Michael Skinner, and it is known as "Michael Skinner's Ultimate 3 Card Monte". The penguin magic version differs only in that they have changed the position of the gaffed pips from right hand to left hand side. Variation? I don't think so.

If you're going to do this effect, I can't say it enough, Do not buy it from penguin magic, please purchase the original version and support the REAL creator.

P.S. If you're going to split hairs, i'm sure that someone could trace the exact same gaff to something like "Discovery of Witchcraft" or "Greater Magic", but the fact of the matter is, that as a marketed packet effect, Michael Skinner was the first.

Mispipped cards are as old as the hills anyway.

[Binary]

NFW - add it to the list for awesome effects. End of story.

"If you don't know what it stands for, you will after the first time you perform it." And that really is true, my innocent mind did not pick up what it stood for until I performed it for the first time to lay people, and got that reaction.

[McAig]

errrr... "not for wusses"? i'm easily shockable

[Binary]

errrr... "not for wusses"? i'm easily shockable

No fricking Way

[UKGareth]

:shock: