Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Speak Now by Taylor Swift

Foresight by Oliver Smith Review:

One gimmick, one DVD and $35 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Effect

You predict one of six ESP symbols named by a spectator. If you get it wrong, that's okay because the Cross (your wrong guess) morphs visually into the square (their selection).

Method

An arts and crafts project that is a bit of a royal pain to make. However, once it's made, it does work like shown in the ad copy. Keep in mind that the morphing cross to square is not always required. If they happen to select the cross, then you're done; no morphing needed. You are supplied with almost everything you need to make the gimmick. You'll need to supply the tape/glue/etc.

This method is very finicky and will take some serious practice to get right. Also, you won't want to be too close to the spectators. If you're too close, you run the risk of exposure.

Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy is pretty solid; however, there is a distinct possibility that the photos on the DVD cover are not actual images of the gimmick. The gimmick viewed that closely does not look that good. Also, you cannot hand out the card without a sw***. The trailer leaves that out, which I think is okay. Just keep in mind that you'll need to do a sw*** first. The provided envelope does most of the work for you when it comes to this part of the performance.

Product Quality

The DVD is produced well and taught well for the most part (see note below), but you do have Chris (I don't know his last name) up to his, seemingly, usual antics that will, likely, drive you mad. The stuff supplied to make the gimmick works as claimed. However, the instructions were a bit unclear and confusing in some places. As a result, I screwed up my gimmick. It wasn't quite right. So I had to remake part of it. Then I screwed up again on a different part. So if I'm going to use it in the real world, I'll have to tear it apart and rebuild it. It was close enough for me to prove the concept, but not good enough to actually use in a performance.

Final Thoughts

Once you make the gimmick (maybe 20 to 30 minutes), it's pretty solid. However, it's just not as clean in real life as it is on camera. You'll need a bit more distance from the audience and a little bit more misdirection than the trailer would lead you to believe. One last thought: the trick you're actually doing is a prediction of one of 6 cards places in a row. If you're familiar with a hot rod "selection" process, you'll be using a very similar technique here. What you're really getting is two outs for that trick. You get a cross or a square (the cross magically becomes a square).

The bottom line is that the trick can look pretty good but it's distance sensitive and requires a sw***. If you're okay with those things, then you'll be just fine with this.

Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem with a little g.