Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Lightning Crashes By Live

So . . . Andrew Mayne . . . I haven't quite figured out if I'm a fan or not. I've liked a lot of stuff of his in the past, and I do like the way his brain thinks, and he's definitely come up with some killer (pun fully intended) stuff, but man oh man this one should have stayed in his journal.

I will say this about Mayne's stuff . . . it's always very inexpensive. This one is $20.00 for two effects . . . that's still a little pricey for my taste, but it's a lot better than the $30 DVDs with one effect or worse, one move. Additionally, you get a 13 minute movie of Mayne trying his hand at acting . . . acting like he's been experimenting endlessly without sleep to develop the perfect formula for what ends up being a relatively benign effect.

Stain
You put a blank piece of paper in a bag of brown/red liquid and an image appears . . . the image is a prediction. The effect is messy, not very portable, and there are many other ways to reveal a prediction that are more powerful and less messy.

Shiv
This effect is also a bit messy and cluttered. The basic effect is that 3 envelopes have straws in them, and one has a pencil in it. The spectator must then, one at a time, grab the rolled up envelopes and stab himself. Of course, the effect is that the spectator somehow never manages to grab the envelope with the pencil.

Not bad . . . a Russian Roulette where the spectator is the potential victim and he makes all the choices. It has potential, but this particular method, handling, presentation, has sooooooo many problems.

First, though the spectator will never actually (even accidentally) get the envelope with the pencil, it's still potentially dangerous to stab yourself with the straw. Mayne suggest using straws that are flimsy enough to not bruise or hurt the spectator. Yet, this flimsy straw must also pass for a pencil in the sense that if the spectator is holding a straw filled envelope, he's not supposed to know that it's not the pencil. Otherwise there is no drama. Additionally, there are scenarios where the spectator would be holding an envelope that has nothing in it, yet he supposedly thinks that there is a straw or maybe a pencil in it.

Mayne never addresses this possibility. Furthermore, if the spectator truly is unsure what's in the envelope, they'd be fools to stab themselves with it. Maybe stabbing the magician would be better drama and less strain on the spectator. I played around with the straws he recommends and it just seems, to me, that this would seem rather obvious and that it would not really entail a lot of suspense. This would be a case of the spectator just being kind and playing along.

Additionally, Mayne made a bizarre comment during the explanation . . . he said, 'you'll need a pencil sharpener for the performance so that you can sharpen the pencil during the performance to build the drama and prove how sharp it is, plus it gives you a prop.'

Plus it gives you a prop? What the heck does that mean. It's almost like he's saying . . . 'well every good trick needs a prop, let's find something to use as a prop.' I just found that weird.

Anyway, if, after watching the preview to either of these effects, you think they have potential, the by all means, risk the $20.00. However, I think you'll find the methods a bit lacking, particularly with Shiv.

For the most part, I think that these two routines are rubble. However, there is a glint of potential in both of them when it comes to presentational ideas/themes and plus it's only $20.00.

Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Grubble