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X Coin Bend Review
One DVD, $20 bucks and one X Coin Bend Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
X Coin Bend Review: Effect
Borrow a coin, have it signed, very cleanly bend it (in your hands or the spectator's) all the while showing your hands freely, fairly and cleanly to (apparently) have only one coin in play.
X Coin Bend Review: Method
After my experience with Spinnerets by the same creator (Steven X), I was extremely hesitant and nervous about this one, especially after seeing how clean the effect looked on the ad trailer. I figured that, best case, the method would be so impractical that it wouldn't work, or worse, the ad copy would just be a lie.
Man . . . was I pleasantly surprised. The method is very simple and very clever, and very doable. The beauty of this is that you can, most likely, add this to your already existing coin bend routine. This is basically a super, super, super clever way to switch a borrowed coin for a bent coin and ditch the borrowed coin. There are several methods/techniques taught on the DVD. They all rely on one main principle which, as far as I know, is brand new and original with Steven X.
Some of the variations are more practical than others. There are variations for just about every environment. Some are for standing, sitting, in the spectator's hands, not in their hands, signed, not signed, borrowed coins, not borrowed coins, etc. For some variations, you just need to carry the pre-bent coin in your pocket. That's it. Others require carrying a prepared coin and an extra something on your body. Others, still, require the use of Octopalm or something similar. He recommends Karo Syrup (no joke).
This is the only method that I have a problem with . . . more on that in the product quality section. The final verdict on the method is this. With minimal coin handling skills, you can create a very strong illusion of a coin being magically bent in about as fair of a manner as possible. Most of the methods are totally practical. All of them are doable, and whatever venue you work, you'll find a method that fits it perfectly.
X Coin Bend Review: Ad Copy Integrity
While the ad copy is mostly accurate, there is a glaring moment of dishonesty in the first few seconds of the ad trailer and a related mis-claim in the ad copy. Let's talk about the overall claims first.
Below is a bullet list of the main claims. Next to each claim you'll see either "TRUE", "FALSE", or "SORT OF" - following the bullet list, I'll explain the ones that I did not mark as "TRUE."
- No misdirection required! - TRUE!
- No need for expensive gimmicks. - SORT OF
- No worries of gimmick breaking or leaving it at home. - TRUE!
- No threads, elastics, or memory metal. - TRUE!
- Use any coin, any currency. - SORT OF
- Simple, easy, and direct! - TRUE!
- Seven methods taught to keep your spectators guessing - TRUE!
- Real coin and real bend. - TRUE!
- Magic happens in the spectator's hands. - TRUE!
- New principles in coin magic! - TRUE!
So as you can see, there are no blatant lies. However, let's look at #2, the claim that there is "No need for expensive gimmicks." This is true. You can do many of the versions of this without any expensive gimmicks. However, a couple of them require a very expensive gimmicked coin. The cheapest I've found is about $75 for this type of coin. However, most versions do not require this special coin.
Let's look at claim #5 that "you can use any coin, any currency." This is actually true. However, the catch is that you have to have a pre-bent version of that coin. So you can't literally just use any currency unless you've planned for that in advance. Let's take American common coins. In any given spectator's pocket, you'll find pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. That's it. So make sure you have at least one of each of those coins in your pocket ready to go. If you go to Canada, you better get a loonie, toonie, penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half. etc. So the claim is true, but you have to be ready for it well in advance.
Speaking of "well in advance" preparation, the ad copy mentions that you can let the spectator keep this as a souvenir. This is true, but if you give out the bent coin every time, you'll need to be prepared with a buttload of bent coins in your pocket.
That covers the written ad copy. What about the video. Well, this is where the most egregious error occurred. In the first few seconds, they begin to demo one of the versions. The screen overlay text says, "borrow a coin." Then he borrows a coin from a spectator. Then he uses a method that requires the use of the expensive gimmicked coin I mentioned. So the coin he was using was very gimmicked and not an actual borrowed coin (unless he is in Canada).
The rest of the versions shown on the ad video, however, were exactly as they claimed. The third one on the ad video has a brief cut in it, but it was not done as a "cheat." In the end, the general claims of the ad copy are true; just some clarity was needed. The video is mostly clean. If they would have just left out the text that says "borrow a coin" for the first version, they would have had a perfect video trailer.
X Coin Bend Review: Product Quality
Overall, the product value is decent. The lighting is fine. However, the audio was all over the place. One second, I can't hear anything; the next second I'm going deaf from the volume. The teaching is pretty good. However, the one method that uses Karo Syrup, though legitimate, he gives no details on when to apply it, how long it can stay in place before it no longer works, etc. You can't exactly walk up to a table and pour syrup on yourself (unless you work at Denny's where that kind of behavior is encouraged) right before doing a coin trick.
Also, there were quite a few places where text popped up on the screen, stayed for a second, and then was gone. It required rewinding, and it caused me to miss parts of the explanation. The teaching, overall, was pretty good, but there were some minor issues.
In the ad copy, they mention using a penny, dime, quarter, etc. They even show footage of each. However, on the DVD, they don't go over any handling with those coins. Granted, the method is still the same, but I think some tips on handling the two smaller coins for signed versions would have been useful. I'm not even sure the signed version will work with the smaller coins due to their size. He does a good job of showing you how to bend the coins a certain way to make the main principle work properly.
X Coin Bend Review: Final Thoughts
All of the versions use one common principle which I would say is a new thing in coin magic. This new thing is what allows you to hide the bent coin in plain sight. It's very simple, very clever and will work for everyone. Secondly, each variation consists of a way to secretly switch the non-bent (often borrowed) coin for the bent coin. And each variation also consists of a way to secretly ditch/hide the non-bent (often borrowed) coin. The switching and hiding part is what varies in each version.
Some methods (only one or two version) require that expensive gimmicked coin while others do not. Just the plain non-gimmicked versions are super clean as is. Frankly I see no need to introduce the gimmicked coin versions. The real gem of this set is the secret method of hiding the bent coin.
If you are looking to add a bent coin effect to your repertoire, this is one of the best methods I've seen for using pre-bent coins. If you already do a coin bend using pre-bent coins, then this is also for you because the method for concealing the pre-bent coin will definitely improve your current handling.
Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem.
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.