Magic Tricks

A few years ago, Luca Volpe released The Fox, which was a beautiful leather portfolio with included props and routines. It was like buying an instant mentalism show. The Fox is beautiful but pricey. This is similar but on a more inexpensive scale. When I opened it up, I immediately recognized the effects. Indeed, I had already made up a few of them myself. There's nothing new here. These are all standards: a few optical illusions for fun, a variation of Richard Osterlind's Bank Night combined with Alakazam's Executive Suite, a picture version of Ed Marlo's Eight-Card Brainwave, the Target Word book test, and a lite version of Volpe's DTC drawing duplication, which is a lot like Osterlind's ODD). While you don't get anything earthshattering, the props are just gorgeous. All the cards are hard plastic. They can be wiped down and will last you a lifetime. The Bank Night envelopes are sturdy Tyvek. Plus, if you didn't have one in your drawer already, you get a classic gimmick. If you've seen Osterlind's Bank Night routine on his DVDs, you know what it is. (Wink, wink) And they throw in a cute little notepad and a Sharpie marker, so you're ready to go. The only thing you need to supply yourself is a book for the book test. The props are great, and they all fit a cool zippered bag. Then again, I'd expect nothing less from the brilliant Alan Wong, who makes the best stuff around. Add Volpe and McCaig, and this trio gives you something that every mentalist can love. I'm carrying it everywhere. I think it's going in the glovebox of my car.