Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: The Fightin' Side of Me by Merle Haggard

A simple (nearly instantaneous) effect that's pretty darn easy to do for a decent price . . . Let's break it down that funky way we break it down 'round these parts.

Effect

The effect is very visual. Hold a deck of cards in your hand. The edge of the cards is clearly seen to be normal looking with no writing on them. Drop the cards on to the table (in the spectator's hands) or wave them quickly or snap your fingers . . . suddenly out of nowhere writing appears on the edges of the deck. The writing can be anything you want as long as it'll fit on a deck of cards. That's it. This would be used for revealing a "chosen" card, or any other "prediction" you'd want to make.

Method

The handy little gimmick does all the work for you. The gimmick can be added to the deck easily at any time. The gimmick is super easy to use, and very convincing. My guess is that you were fooled by the video teaser. Or at the very least, you didn't see the gimmick.

One complaint on the method: There's a brief moment where Will Tsai mentions a way to modify the gimmick to make it easier to handle for beginners. The problem with this modification is that it makes the gimmick much less hidden, and makes it to where you cannot drop the cards into the spectator's hands. Also, the handling to conceal the gimmick is much more awkward and seems to be harder than the standard version. Further, this is so briefly passed over that I felt it was not covered clearly at all. I still had some questions about the modification that were left unanswered.

Ad Copy Integrity

And here we go again with misleading ad copy. It's only 3 lines long for crying out loud. You think they could be honest. Slightly Misleading: The spectators cannot "feel the ink appear." They can see it appear. By the way, putting the deck into their hands has a small risk associated with it. The gimmick will be under the deck on their hand. However, unless they pick up the deck and look at the bottom card they won't see it, and even then, it's hidden pretty well and still will likely sneak by them undetected.

Big Lie: The ad copy says, "Customize Your Own Message at a Moment's Notice." That's just not true. Look at the picture on the product image or look at the video trailer. You'll see what the final result looks like with something written on the side of the deck. That cannot be done at a moment's notice. First of all, you need to secure the deck with rubber bands or clips or something so that you can write the message. Secondly, it takes quite a bit of time to neatly and smoothly write the message on the deck so that it's legible and so that the ink doesn't bleed too much. Also, once the message is written, the deck is basically useless for anything else other than that trick.

You can't use it for any other effects because the message will be seen and/or if the deck gets out of the order it was in when the message was written, then you've lost the ability to do this effect.

The video trailer says, "Fully Examinable." That's not true either. You have to remove the gimmick before allowing it to be examined.

Product Quality

The DVD is 13 Minutes long. The teaching is clear, and the DVD menu is easy to navigate. It's not the most amazingly produced DVD, but it certainly gets the job done. The gimmick is beautifully made and will likely last you quite a while. If it does give out, refills can be purchased from Sans Minds Website for $25 each or 3 for $60. That does seem a bit pricey, but these things are hand made, and very clever.

Everything covered on the DVD (setting the gimmick, releasing the gimmick, a basic handling, a card fo***, making a new gimmick, modifying your gimmick and how to write on the edge of the cards) is all covered in 13 minutes. So you can imagine that no single thing really gets a lot of attention. However, even with that being the case, after watching the DVD, you'll be able to easily perform the effect (with a small amount of practice).

Final Thoughts

The method is super simple and super solid and very doable for any skill level. You'll need practice obviously, but not much. The gimmick does all the work and is very well constructed. It's ready to go, right out of the box. No assembly required. Even though the DVD was very short and very not-detailed, you get what you need for the most part. I think the price is fair simply due to the fact that the gimmick is very well made and hand made. You saw the ad trailer. The effect really is that visual and that clear and that clean. It's also that short.

If you like the effect and think you'll use it, you'll be very happy with this and will likely be adding it to your repertoire within a very short time after purchase. I'm being very lenient on the ad copy integrity. The main big problem I had was the claim that it could be done at a moment's notice. That is simply not true. However, the product is so well made and the effect is as clean as it claims. It just can't be done on the spur of the moment. That big mistake cost this a full star.

Final Verdict:

4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.