Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Hey by Mitchel Musso

Most of the products I review are sent to me by a third party (Murphy's Magic) or I purchased them myself. However, occasionally, a magician contacts me directly and sends me product to be reviewed. It's always a little harder to give criticism to those who contact me directly.

They're usually loyal subscribers to my Magazine and even fans and sometimes customers of mine. However, this site is meant to give you the truth and an honest and direct review. The goal is to separate the gems from the rubble. This review is a case where I was contacted directly by a magician asking for a review (Jeff Prace).

Unfortunately Jeff may not like what I have to say.

Imagine that you're at a restaurant enjoying a nice meal and some good conversation. Then suddenly a magician appears at your table and wants to show you a magic trick.

Then he takes a moment to 'not be rude' and removes his chewing gum from his mouth. It sticks to his fingers and makes a stringy mess between both hands. Finally he gets the gum all wadded up into a nice neat ball, and he places it on the lid of a 35 mm film canister and sets the canister on your table. Nice visual, huh?

In my opinion, this is disgusting. The irony is that the 'gum' removed from said magician's mouth (unbeknownst to the audience) is not actually gum and was never in the magician's mouth. The illusion is perfect, but the visual is disgusting.

In 3 of the 4 effects, you get the sticky, slimey, chewy, yucky visual of the magician playing with his gum. Again, in each case it's only an illusion, however, from the audience perspective, it is really gum that was really in your mouth.

The one exception to this is Orbit which I'll discuss more in a moment. There is also a hidden (Easter Egg) effect called No More Card Tricks which I'll also discuss in a moment. First, let's discuss two things: The magician and the production quality. First the latter . . . it's a Kozmo Magic production, so you know that the production quality, team backing this, customer service, etc. is top notch. It's very well produced no doubt about it. So what about Mr. Prace? Jeff Prace, is, in my estimation about 16-ish years old, and is an incredibly smart kid.

Although 75% of the effects are disgusting looking, they are extremely clever and well thought out. The methods are brilliant; the handling is brilliant. So my criticism of this product is not a reflection on Jeff or Kozmo Magic, but rather on the effects themselves. We did a brief survey of a few people (non magicians) about the effects on this DVD and the reaction we got from each one of them was the same . . . 'You're kidding, right? That's disgusting.'

It's unfortunate, because these are clever effects. I have no problem with gum as long as it stays in your mouth. I chew several pieces a day myself, but I don't show it to people. That would be just plain nasty. During the performance segments, particularly the ones that took place in a restaurant setting, you can see it in the eyes of the audience. At the end of the performance, Jeff has won them over to a degree, but there's still a sense that they more or less are just trying to be supportive because he's a young, nice kid.

Let me address each effect for a brief moment.

Back in Time is the effect I was describing in my opening rant. The effect is brilliant, and might even be ok in a certain venue, but that venue is NOT restaurants. The plot is clever, well thought out and well constructed. It's funny and has a lot of presentational potential, but there's the issue of the gross let-me-put-this-chewed-gum-on-your-dinner-table-after-I-play-with-it. Oh and by the way, don't shake my hand; I was just playing with my ABC gum.

Orbit is a nice effect and there is no chewed gum being used, so the effect is clever and pretty and magical and most importantly, NOT disgusting. However, there is one flaw, and it's a big one. The premise is that you open your pack of Orbit gum (my favorite by the way) to share with the group, but there's only one piece . . . alas, not enough for the group.

However, you magically cause the empty pack to suddenly be full of gum. That's a nice practical use of your magic powers. However, one problem . . . the pack is completely gimmicked, and only one piece of gum can be handed out, so you still only have one piece to share, and you've drawn attention (heat) to the pack. The audience is expecting a piece of gum. After all, that's why you magically produced the full pack . . . so you can share.

Re-Wrapped starts with Jeff asking if you want a piece of gum. You say 'yes.' He then pulls the gum out of his mouth to offer it to you. When you decline he balls it up and magically and visually turns it into a wrapped piece of gum which, in the performance, he hands to the audience member who opens it and eats it . . . gross.

The method is clever as I've mentioned. However, in the view of the spectator, you just handed them a piece of wrapped gum that you were touching with your saliva and gum-laden fingers. Gross! This is not something for a show. However, it might be perfect to gross out your friends or family members.

Insta-Wrap is basically the same effect as Re-Wrapped only with a lot more work and effort in the gimmick. It's kind of a pain and probably not worth the extra effort for such a similar effect. Of course there's also the whole let-me-give-you-this-gross-piece-of-chewed-gum-from-my-mouth thing.

No More Card Tricks This was my favorite effect on the DVD. It has a funny presentational hook. It fooled me. It's clever, and is a great way to close a set of card tricks. The basic effect is that the deck that you've been using the whole time suddenly and visually becomes wrapped in electrical tape. I don't know if I could feel good about recommending this DVD under the guise of this-one-trick-is-worth-the-price. However, it's close.

Whether you're gun-shy about gooey gum effects or not, there's no denying that Jeff Prace is an up and comer in the magic fraternity, and it may be worth ordering the DVD so you can meet him. So what's my recommendation? Well it's hard to say. If a trick is clever, brilliant, and diabolical in method, but the effect involves you stripping down to your birthday suit at Bob's Family Restaurant, should I recommend the trick? Where do I draw the line?

Here's what I'll say . . . for another venue (other than restaurant), 1 or 2 of these might be perfect. Putting aside the gross factor, the tricks are good. However, including the gross factor, they are impractical. So based on the fact that they're smart, but relatively not-usable, and given the fact that Jeff is a bright young magician, and given the fact that there is a really good card trick on this DVD, I'm going to offer up a rating of rating right down the middle. You have enough information to make an informed decision.

Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of grubble (part gem, part rubble).