SO - get this - the deck they send you. It doesn't work - and if you order it and write in to
Penguin they will not refund you.
They said it's up to you to do some work on the deck -
but the deck that was sent - had weird gimmicked cards that are not even a part of the trick - for
instance there were multiple blank faced cards in my deck and that has nothing to do with the trick.
So basically whoever packaged the trick messed up - threw in cards not even part of the trick - so
you cannot perform it and will have completely wasted your money.
Kinda not sure what's
worse - Penguin is still selling this all the time without correcting the problem or the fact
Penguin won't even refund ya.
I offered to send my deck in for a new one and they still
said no. Clearly by now they know this trick is junk - was kinda surprised by how bad the experience
was with the trick as I have otherwise had good experiences from the site.
43 of 50 magicians found this helpful.
Not only is his explanation poor and incomplete (language aside) but the supplied materials are
different than what he shows and require additional cards to be added...if this is how he does
business, it is the last business he will get from me...I'm p***ed
32 of 37 magicians found this helpful.
I was disappointed to find that the included gimmick deck is insufficient to perform the trick. Note
that you must take two cards from another deck in order to have the full set of cards required for
this.
The trio itself is nice, but it is unfortunate that you can't perform it without
first adding cards from another (which is now incomplete itself). The deck also includes some cards
that need to be removed to do the trick. None of this is explained by the DVD or any other
documentation.
This could be a great trick if Penguin put a little more effort into
packaging it to include the required cards and a few words of explanation.
25 of 31 magicians found this helpful.
I don't know what's up with all the bad reviews. The trick itself is amazing and so simple to do.
They're are so many complaints about extra cards and such, but that's exactly what they are, extra
cards. I do find it confusing why they're confusing why people complain about it.
This
trick also comes with an impromptu ver. which is pretty cool
This trick seems pretty over
priced, but that being said, this trick has been on the Cool Box twice in a week, so you could get
it for much cheaper.
That being said, I love this effect, some work needed on the deck, but
nothing to be worried about.
11 of 12 magicians found this helpful.
If you are going to sell me a trick, make sure it is complete. This trick is missing certain cards
which turned me off right away. Second, while I think the trick has a nice patter routine, listen
carefully to how Dani presents it......if you are comfortable with that pace, great, otherwise your
spectators heads will explode (as did mine) and not enjoy the ending.
9 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
Let's start with the deck. You'll get a standard, gaffed deck that will need extra cards before you
can work the effect. I found this mildly annoying, but even a beginner or hobbyist should be able to
piece together a working deck if they step through the video and set up the gaff as shown. (minus 1
star)
Then there's the video. Dani DaOrtiz has an infectiously fun personality and that, plus
the spectacular effect, makes Part one of the video totally fun to watch. It's so good, you could
probably show it 'as-is' to friends and family and they would enjoy watching DaOrtiz' performance
all by itself.
Regrettably, the teaching part of the video isn't as remarkable; it's unclear,
disorganized, and incomplete. I found this a major issue. Just when DaOrtiz was about to make a
point, he would either bounce to another subject or backtrack to a prior topic because he suddenly
realized that he had forgotten to pass along an important piece of information. Also, perhaps it's
only my bad ears, but DaOrtiz' narration is hard to follow. It would be a major improvement to use a
professional voice over to provide an intelligible explanation. Finally, the video needs a simple,
static shot showing the entire deck in it's pre-performance order. There is always the need to reset
the deck for the next performance and it would really help to know exactly what that looks like,
card-by-card. Here also, you can step through the video and piece that information together, but
shouldn't DaOrtiz have done that for his students? (minus 1 star)
When exhibiting this, you
won't be able to pass out the cards for examination and you'll need to do the reset 'behind the
curtain'. My grumbles aside, this effect is relatively easy to master and packs a punch, so it's
worth getting, especially if it's on sale.
5 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
At the right time and place, this is spectacular. Unlike Paul Curry's iconic red and black color
separation, done by the spectator, the DaOrtis color separation can involve the spectator who
acdtually mixes up the two piles into blacks and reds but then it is the magician who assembles the
two piles and with a time pause and magic gestures or words causes the two mixed up piles to
separate into red and black. This is a definitely a 'switch in - switch out' effect but the visual
impact is incredible and the magician's very obvious 'doing nothing' adds to the fun. It is easy to
do and that allows the performer to put all of her/his attention on the performance and not on
making the magic happen.
8 of 12 magicians found this helpful.
I'm just barely getting to this illusion and am, like those that precede me, frustrated. I am not a
professional, and for the moronic comments that a professional wouldn't/shouldn't care about a
screwy deck is...
I like Ortiz, I like Penguin (evidenced by the crazy amount I spend
here!) but to send this out like this is simply sloppy business. Increasingly sloppy once they were
aware of the issue.
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
Trick is exactly the way I thought it would be but I got this on sale and I needed the deck. But
what the hell are these people talking about that deck is not complete or adding extra cards?????
I'm surprised these people can't even understand a simple trick and they are calling penguin bad. I
have ordered so much stuff from them, never had a bad experience. There's no way these people
writing these bad comments are professional magicians.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I WAS FALLING A SLEEP WATCHING ,THIS IS A OPEN BOX AND I STILL FEEL LIKE I WAS ROBBED.
2 of 3 magicians found this helpful.