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Street Thief Review
One special Wallet, five "million dollar" bills, 40 minutes of streaming video instruction, $40 bucks and one Street Thief Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect
The spectator places your wallet full of cash in her pocket. You, quite obviously, fumble around in her pocket and "pickpocket" her stealing back your own wallet. Then in the blink of an eye, you are no longer holding your wallet, just the cash. The wallet is back in her pocket without you having gone anywhere near her pocket.
Method
The method uses a specially gimmicked wallet and a "principle" that has stood the test of time. It's a very effective method for accomplishing this effect, and it's being applied in a unique way that I've not seen before. There's a one time 5 minute arts and crafts project. The reason for this is that you can make your gimmick up using any kind of bill you want. You can use the included million dollar bills, or you can use real money.
The performance itself requires minimal skill and is very doable for just about any skill level. The gimmick does the majority of the work. This method is very practical and will work in both close up and stand up settings. I think this would even play well on a stage.
The method requires that you carry the special "Street Theif" wallet with you which is very small. If you happen to have an unusually small normal everyday wallet, then you could, likely, just use your wallet and the special gimmick. However, in most cases, I would expect that your wallet is too big. As long as you have the Street Thief wallet on you, you are set to go any time under just about any circumstance.
Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is, surprisingly, modest for what you're getting. It makes no outrageous claims and really is a simple as they say. The video trailer is also accurate. It accurately portrays moments of the routine, but you never see a full routine from start to finish. I'm erring in the favor of "they were protecting the method." But to be clear, read my description of the effect above. That is exactly what happens.
Street Thief Review: Product Quality
The wallet and gimmick are both well made. Included with the wallet are several fake million dollar bills. They show you how to complete the gimmick using the included million dollar bills. They also have a smart presentational idea that justifies the use of the million dollar bills in the performance. Using that presentation allows you to have your Street Thief wallet ready without having to sacrifice actual cash to keep in the wallet.
The instructions were clear and easy to follow with relatively decent lighting and sound — I've seen better. The only complaint I have about the instructions is that they never show you how to set it up with real money. The million dollar bills provided were already slightly gimmicked in a certain way. If you are using real money, you'd have to create a gimmick out of your real money. You can, probably, figure it out by dissecting the included million dollar gimmick, but it would have been a simple thing to include for the sake of completeness. That aside, I think that the million dollar bill presentation is better anyway, so there's really no need to use real money.
Also included on the training website you will find printable million dollar bill sheets that you can download and take to any FedEx/Kinkos/copy shop. If you happen to have a good quality color printer, you don't even have to leave your house. You can print million dollar bills in your underwear any time you want. The ones included should last a while, but they'll eventually wear out. When they do, you'll want to rebuild your gimmick.
Lastly, there is a minor, minor "issue" with the included wallet. When the cash/gimmick is in the wallet, it doesn't quite fold up as cleanly as I would like. There's really no easy way to explain exactly what I'm referring to, so your best bet is to watch the review video above. It explains what I'm talking about.
Street Thief Review: Final Thoughts
If you like the effect and the presentational premise of picking a spectator's pocket and then "magically" replacing the wallet in their pocket, then this is about as simple and as clean of a way to do that as I can think of. I think you'll be very happy with your purchase if you go for it.
Finally, as an added bonus, each product is personally tested by someone on the Paul Harris Presents team, and if you have any issues with it, they will "make sure you are 100% taken care of."
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic For Details.