Without giving too much away:
If you want an effect that's easy to comprehend, easy to alter
based on your performance style, can be shortened to a couple minutes or lengthened to 10ish
minutes, and is pretty much impossible to backtrack unless the audience already understands multiple
magic principles, BUY THIS!
I do basic things (mostly basic mentalism and card tricks) in a
casual setting. Even though most people can be entertained and fooled by most tricks, there are
still a lot of people who clearly feel let down when things are too simple. They're not like 95% of
people who just want to be entertained: they want to be PUZZLED. Watching audience members huddle up
and try and figure out what I did immediately after an effect is one of the most amusing parts of
performing for me.
Pros:
-If presented properly, with the right verbal subtleties,
pretty much impossible to backtrack.
-They do most of the handling and make most decisions.
Larry actually handles the deck a lot in the performance but in person, you can let suspicious
participants do a lot of the work.
-No sleight of hand moves.
Cons:
Not really a con
but
-You have to practice. In private + get experience doing it in person.
-You have to pay
attention. No spacing out for half of the trick and treating it like it's purely self-working.
-You probably can tell from the trailer: it's not going to look exactly the same every
performance. So, you have to be HAPPY to get good at verbally holding their attention, directing
their focus, and explaining what's going on. That's true of a lot of Hass's material. Weird comment
but some people hate having a dialogue with participants. Of course, use your own personality and
words. This is a trick for people who have fun talking with participants.
I'll be checking
out more instant downloads from this site. But so far: This is my favorite, and in my opinion (with
the right verbal presentation) the most overpowered for a skeptical audience member.