Magic Tricks

Overall, I love this idea. I believe that the concept is genius, and wish I had thought of it. However, I have a couple of issues with using it on a regular basis. One of the issues I identified pretty quickly, and the other took me awhile to put my finger on.

1) While this is a spectacular effect, it isn't exactly something you want to attempt on every single person for whom you perform. There's definitely a specific type of person you want to look for. This is not an effect you're going to perform 100 times per week necessarily. I believe that this should be used like a nuclear weapon. Instead of fired at every opportunity, it should be saved for the right moment to bring down the house. Given the relatively obscure nature of Polaroid cameras these days, and the fact that an extremely inquisitive person is going to want to look it over pretty thoroughly, you seem to do better performing this for spectators who tend toward the naive in the first place. If that sounds condescending, then let me put it a different way. Perform this when you have spectators prone to big reaction, and willing to submit to your spectator control methods. I would NOT perform this for anyone who appeared grabby or standoffish. It's simply too "technological" to go over well in that instance. (I've had a few people think iPhone iForce style technology was in play)

2) I touched on the second issue a bit at the end of the 1st. It took me awhile to realize what was bothering me, but I finally decided that I believe it's simply TOO gimmicky for me to be 100% comfortable with. Again, don't get me wrong, with proper care towards your performance, it's excellent. However, it just makes me picture a man standing in front of an LED television, waving his right hand around the screen with his left hand in his pocket on the power button of the remote, saying, "In a moment I will make this regular run-of-the-mill black box show you glimpses into a world different than your own. You'll see wonderous lands, amazing people, and the 6:00 news, as soon as I complete my magical chant."

I suppose if anyone still carried around a Polaroid camera, it wouldn't give me that pause, but I guarantee you that when you bring out a Polaroid film someone is going to want to see it. You have to have control, and be good at handling misdirection and "outs" to get through this without having to outright say, "No no ... nobody touches it but me."

Overall I would recommend it, because the presentation possibilities are simply endless, but don't be fooled, you need to be good at what you do to make this really work well.