Thanks for bearing with me. I watched the DVD 2 more times, did some experimenting, and finally
figured out how to make both the gimmicks. It was not easy, and quite frustrating. I wonder how long
it takes Mr. Chatelain to make these gimmicks? They are not very durable and not all that convincing
up close, unless you can make them perfectly: which, my friend will take you a long, long time to
accomplish.
WHY? Because, if you have ever tried to match up the design patterns on Bicycle
playing cards and USA currency you will quickly discover, as I always have, that the patterns from
card to card and bill to bill (which we assume to be the same) are NOT the same and they rarely
match up. You have to experiment with many dollar bills and many cards before you find two that come
close to having just the border thicknesses match up! That can get to be pretty expensive and waste
a lot of cards.
I also thought of something you should remember. To make these gimmicks you
have to cut pieces out of dollar bills (if that is what you use, obviously). This will leave more
than 1/2 the bill intact. If that is the case you can take that bill to your bank and exchange it
for a new uncut bill. So DON'T throw the left over cut bills away: turn them in for new cash!
I do not like this trick any better now than I did in the first part of this review. Save your
money.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I have watched the DVD that comes with this trick 4 times now, yes FOUR, and I STILL have no idea
how to make all the gimmicks you need to perform this, and I still do not understand how to do the
entire routine! This is the worst instructional DVD I have ever viewed. The presentation is too fast
and annoying (the background music is too loud, parts of the filming are over exposed, and it was
filmed in a parking garage with traffic noise in the background!) and Mickael, because of his thick
french accent, is hard to understand and uses incorrect terminology to describe what he is doing!
The gimmicks do NOT come ready to use: they are only partially assembled. He does NOT show
you how to make them: they use pictures on the DVD that are not very useful. I have contacted
Penguin and asked them to tell me what to do. Hopefully they will help, otherwise this purchase goes
in the trash!
Mr. Chatelain does not slow down enough to explain how to do the forces he uses
or any of the other subtle parts of this trick he uses to perform it. For instance, I received a
card with two magnets attached to it. Nowhere in the dvd does it say where or how this is used that
I saw.
You also have to cut up a dollar bill to make one of the gimmicks for the dollar bill
change into a playing card routine.This is somewhat impressive, BUT, realize that you start the
routine showing only one quarter face of a dollar (you do not show an entire dollar and fold it in
quarters) before changing it into a full size playing card.People find it a little peculiar that you
pull a bill already apparently folded out of your wallet: there is no explanation for this offered.
Also, in the first routine where a card changes into a full dollar bill you have to be
careful of the lighting you use. Watch closely and you will note that you can see the folded playing
card (that supposedly changed into the dollar) behind and through the bill he is holding up!!
I wish I could be more upbeat about this trick, but I just cannot figure it out: I don't even know
how many tricks came in the package, and I cannot figure out the different names of them: the names
all sound the same to me!! It is packaged poorly, recorded poorly, written and performed poorly, and
just down right confusing.
I am hoping that Penguin can set me straight. IF they can I will
write another review and give you an update. If you read this far, Thank you!! But as this stands I
know my money would have been better spent elsewhere.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
First, get used to listening to a Frenchman giving instructions with a very heavy accent: it was
hard to understand at times, and his instructions were very disjointed. I watched the entire DVD and
still had no idea what I was supposed to do with what I received!! The card he used was totally
different from mine yet nowhere did he mention that was okay. There is also, among other things, one
double back card included: I STILL have no idea what that is used for!!
They use pictures to
illustrate how to assemble the gimmick. It is not demonstrated, nor are you TOLD how to do it. I
found that somewhat disconcerting. I will have to watch the video several more times to be able to
figure out what exactly his routine is: it just seemed peculiar to me and more complex than it
needed to be. HOWEVER, you can use his gimmick, which IS quite original and works well (except
for reasons noted below), to make a card turn into a bill, or vice versa, instantly in front of
someone. If you can figure out exactly how he flips the card and bill around showing all sides it
will be an even better illusion! It is just presented and taught in a confusing way.
The
gimmick will wear out fairly quickly if you do it often as it involves folding a playing card into
quarters (try it, you will see). He offers a way to reuse the gimmick, BUT, it makes the final
product thicker and more cumbersome. You would only be able to do this one time as well. So use this
trick sparingly.
It does make noise when executed, and no one can be behind you while
performing, or too close. I would NOT call this a close-up trick unless there is a lot of background
noise.
You will have to cut up one or two one dollar bills to make the gimmick (even that was
hard to figure out), but it is worth it for the final result.
I think the concept is very
good and his handling of the completed gimmick is very nicely done, BUT it will take you a long time
to perfect it and get to that level.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I wouldnt buy it again. You are never clean. hard to hide.
.....and i am good with cards!!!!!
DONT BUY, its not a worker.
Complementary with Money shot.
Amazing !
I have been performing Bill Flash Reverse at some of my gigs recently. It's a real working effects
and the laymen really love it. I would highly recommend this effect to any working pro! It gets my
10/10.
This is a unique approach to instantly changing a PIECE of currency into a playing card, BUT not
worth the money. It is VERY difficult to make the gimmicks properly. I worked on it for 4 hours and
still was unable to get border lines to match up. Playing cards and currency have borders around
them that are NOT uniform: it may take you twenty one dollar bills before you find two with borders
that match. The gimmick is not very durable and wears out pretty quickly: think about it, how many
times can you fold a playing card into quarters before it tears. The instructions tell you how to
remedy this but it is a one time poor fix.
The BIG problem here is you have to cut currency up
to make the gimmicks. I THOUGHT because only a small part of each bill is used that you could get it
replaced at a bank free of charge with a new whole bill. WRONG!! There are new laws now. In order to
get a replacement bill for a damaged one 3/4's of the damaged bill has to remain, and BOTH serial
numbers have to still be on it!!! Consequently, you canNOT get replacement bills for this trick. You
lose what you cut up.
Last thing, as hinted at above, this trick does NOT change a full faced
piece of currency into a playing card. It only changes a PIECE (about 1/4) of currency into a card.
There are much better tricks out there that do this much more believably.
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