Magic Tricks

Initially you should ignore the printed book of instructions that comes with the set, which promise 100 card tricks. It's sketchy and not covered by the videos or anything else in the kit. But what you get is over 2 hours of only video instruction from Shin Lim himself, teaching you how to use the 15 excellent gimmicks included.

Here's an overview of everything you get with the set, which I've arranged into categories:
● CARD MAGIC: Svengali deck, Spirit Slate (Black Box), Card Box Vanish
● PACKET TRICKS: Prediction Effect, Devious Ace, Royal Flush, Mind Reader, Final Destination
● OTHER MAGIC: Tic Tac, Cloaking Device (Thumb Tip), Invisible Thread, Self Folding Bill, Instant Cash (Blank Paper to Bills), The Vanisher (Universal Pull), Anti-Gravity Device (Bottle Cap)
● ROUTINES: Ambitious Card Act, Coin Act
● VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS: 140 minutes with 15 tricks (one for each gimmick) plus 2 routines
● WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS: 32 page booklet with 100 other card tricks for a standard deck (not provided)

My impressions:

1. CONTEMPORARY RATHER THAN OLD FASHIONED: Instead of traditional magic props like a wand, ball and vase, and the classic cups and balls, it focuses on street magic style tricks often seen in TV specials, like a levitating bill, a self-folding bill, blank papers turning into bills, an instant vanishing device, a coin vanish using a Tic Tac style box, a Card Box Vanish, and the anti-gravity bottle trick.

2. GIMMICKS RATHER THAN STANDARD CARDS: Everything relies on the gimmicked props that you get, and tricks with a standard deck aren't really covered on the video instruction or the items included.

3. TOOLS RATHER THAN TOYS: Shin Lim makes this point very deliberately and often, that the things included aren't flashy items that draw attention to themselves, but are intended to be tools with multiple uses.

4. EASY-TO-PERFORM RATHER THAN DIFFICULT SLEIGHT-OF-HAND: Unlike a lot of other magic videos I've seen for beginners, the focus isn't on teaching sleight of hand with a deck of cards, because the aim is to get people performing magic without worrying about complex moves - very little sleight of hand is taught.

5. TECHNIQUES RATHER THAN ONLY TRICKS: Besides the tricks, he does teach some some techniques like dribbling cards, a Criss Cross Force, the French Drop, and a few more.

6. PRINCIPLES RATHER THAN ONLY GIMMICKS: Shin Lin covers a lot of general magical principles in the process of teaching the different tricks covered on the video, such as misdirection, equivoque, and multiple outs.

7. AN EXPERT TEACHER RATHER THAN AN AVERAGE AMATEUR: You get good teaching from Shin Lim himself, which is a far cry from the very average youtube tutorials commonly relied upon by many youngsters today.

8. STRONG MAGIC RATHER THAN MEDIOCRE MATERIAL: This is a carefully curated set that includes really good material, because all the tricks are strong, and are ones you'll want to do.

9. PROVEN CONTENT RATHER THAN PASSING FADS: What you get in this kit are only familiar gimmicks that are tried and true props, and even the packet tricks are mostly familiar items, e.g. a B'Wave style effect, an Ultimate 3 Card Monte effect, and something reminiscent of Nick Trost's 8 Card Brainwave.

10. HONESTY RATHER THAN HYPE: Some magic products claim that every trick is "super strong", guaranteed to "slay people", all while being "easy to perform"; this doesn't give false expectations, and Shin himself is very honest and down-to-earth.

11. VARIETY RATHER THAN OVERLAP: There's very little sense of duplication or overlap between the different items that are included.

12. VALUE RATHER THAN LUXURY: For the price, you get a stunning array of different gimmicks and tools, and while they're not the top-of-the-line quality, you do get a very solid collection of goodies to play with, without requiring you to spend a fortune.

This magic kit is good. Very good. And it definitely stands out from your average magic kit. But it is important to come in with the right expectations. Do realize that the printed instructions are at best an extra add-on that you should initially ignore. Do realize that you won't be taught how to do any tricks with a regular deck of cards. Do realize that this is a modern magic set, not a traditional one. Do realize that you won't get a ton of brightly-coloured plastic toys inside the box. Do realize that there's a heavy focus on gimmicks. Do realize that the gimmicks you get are tried and true, and most of them are very versatile. Do realize that the box and even the components included aren't the highest level quality. Do realize that most of the tricks included are strong - very strong. Do realize that the real value is on Shin Lim's 2+ hours of online instruction. He focuses on putting some powerful gimmicks into your hand, and teaching you how to quickly and easily do powerful magic with them.

Shin Lim's EVOLUSHIN Magic Kit gives children and beginners a real chance to develop their abilities in magic, and to get a taste of what it's like to entertain people by doing amazing things. Even people who have been in magic for a while will want to snap up this set due to the great value of all the gimmicks it includes, and the many solid tricks you can do with these.