Magic Tricks

Introduction/What you need to consider BEFORE investing your money in this:

I purchased my Final Destination set in Kennedy Half Dollars from Penguinmagic back in May of 2013. My initial thoughts after purchasing this were: HOLY GOD.... $250.00 US dollars?! DOLLARS?! YOU'VE GOT TO BE SH***** ME!!!!! THIS THING IS SUPER DUPER F##=3N EXPENSIVE!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVEN PUSHED THE BUY BUTTON AND BOUGHT THIS!!!! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS I THINKING?! THIS SAME EFFECT (without the necessary supplies or gimmicks (in other words; explanation only)) IS AVAILABLE IN MATTHEW WRIGHT'S UNUSUAL SUSPECT DVD FOR ONLY $44.95 AND there are plenty of other 3 fly routines out there which are MUCH cheaper and do not require any gimmicks (but if you choose a 3 fly without gimmicks, chances are it would require some heavy practice as well as heavy sleights if you would like it to be 100% clean looking; doing it this way would give you the added benefits of an impromptu miracle as you could borrow any 3 of the same coin). If you're like me and would like a visually stunning, clean, 3 fly miracle that requires LESS (NOT zero) sleight of hand, then you should also consider Mark Mason's CFWM which is a very, very, very, VERY CLEAN and VISUALLY STUNNING 3 fly routine available at a steep price of either $325 for the Kennedy Half Dollar Set or $375 (back when I purchased it) for the Genuine Morgan Silver Dollar set (if you get Mark's, I'd recommend that you purchase it directly from him as he offers sets of GENUINE MORGAN SILVER DOLLARS which are ONLY available if you order directly from him (you could buy his CFWM set from another dealer such as this site, however, the coins found in those sets would only come in Kennedy Half Dollars which, in my opinion, are more difficult to handle/see. I also LOVE and prefer the SHEER QUALITY, LOOK, FEEL and CRAFTSMANSHIP that went into the Silver Morgans and would prefer these over the Kennedy Halfs which was why I ordered my set of CFWM directly from Mark himself back in 2008)). All that having been said, Final Destination by Matthew Wright is WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE OF THE VERY BEST VERSIONS OF 3 FLY!!! It's worth EVERY PENNY!!!!! The ending to Final Destination would make this as visually stunning and on par with that of CFWM and I truly do believe that Final Destination is THE BEST ENDING TO 3 FLY as quoted by Craig Petty! Similar to CFWM, Final Destination is available from your favourite magic dealers in Kennedy Halfs for $250.00 and only available in Replica Morgans for roughly $320~$330 (Matthew only supplies Replica Morgans (unlike Mark who supplies Genuine Silver Morgans) if you would like Genuine Silver Morgans, Matthew states you would have to provide your own or he could source them for you at a much higher price). I strongly believe that 3 fly needs to be performed in large dollars, but this is the one version of 3 fly that is the exception due to the killer kicker ending; hence the Kennedy Half set would suffice. I highly suggest that you purchase Final Destination by Matthew Wright if you have the extra cash and are serious about your magic.


Packaging:

As always, Penguinmagic gets a 10/10 on their packaging as they ALWAYS deliver my goods in pristine condition; so lets take a look at the packaging that came with my Final Destination set. We'll start off with the box. The entire box is made from black cardboard and is fairly square (like the style of box that the Nest of Wallets came in); it's also very thin (approximately 6 inches in length, 0.75 inches in width, and 5.5 inches in height). The cover of the box features a removable lid with the words FINAL DESTINATION written in capital, shiny red, bloody, embossed lettering. The top and bottom of the box are held together with a red elastic which wraps around the back of the box from the top left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner. Upon opening the box, EVERYTHING is INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED and is organized in a VERY PROFESSIONAL manner! Considering that the box is so small and thin, I'm really impressed by the individual packaging and overall look when I viewed the interior of the box! Matthew and his team really took their time to think on the packaging part of this and it shows!!!

Packaging Score: 10/10 (Keep it up Matthew!)


Materials/Gimmicks/Preparation (DVD) All in one paragraph LOL XD:

In this very well organized box (you could also check the description found on Penguinmagic) you receive just about all of the materials required to perform this miracle; the package includes: a FULL instructional DVD teaching you EVERYTHING that you need to know as well as hookups/routines, a spool of thread, PK putty, a magnetic attachment (DON'T LOSE THIS LIKE I ALMOST DID!!!!), your HIGH QUALITY, CUSTOM MADE SET OF SPECIALIZED COINS (although not as high of quality as the set of coins that are included in CFWM), as well as one other additional gimmick that makes all of this possible!!! However, what you WON'T be receiving is a PK ring which is required for this effect (no big deal if you're like me and have a few of them lying around XD). Now... Before I talk about the gimmicks, let us take a look at the included spool of thread and PK putty. You're probably asking yourself “could I use any thread? Any putty? Or substitute the putty for wax?” The answers to these questions are: no, yes and yes. I will only be discussing the question I answered no to. I own every type of thread available from the legendary levitation master himself (I won't mention his name since it's unnecessary, but his initials for those guessing are S.F.), but none of the threads I own are like the one included in the Final Destination set. The thread included in Final Destination is more visible than your average normal standard thread, but stronger; it's also more visible (but not as strong) when compared to the strongest thread that I own. So why use the spool included with the Final Destination set? The answer: the spool Matthew includes with the set is somehow smoother than standard thread as well as all of my other threads (which is weird because... Well.. Some of the threads I own are spooled a certain way to give it a certain property, but I guess straight and smooth are two different things...) making the spool of thread included in the kit a MUST if you want to make the last coin float as eerie and elegantly as he does in the trailer video. Any other thread and it won't look as good! Believe me, I've tried!!!! The preparation found on the DVD is precise and to the point. Matthew shows you the best ways to get in and out of the setup and he shows you his personal routine! He teaches you more than one hook up, more than one routine, and how to care for your coin set (as well as what's included in your set). His sense of humor keeps your interest and I've had NO TROUBLE AT ALL when it came to watching and learning from this DVD.

Materials/Gimmicks/Preparation (DVD) Score: 12/10 (The coins and included gimmicks are VERY well made and VERY well thought out! There are some HIGH QUALITY MATERIALS found within this kit resulting in HIGH QUALITY GIMMICKS as well as other materials! Matthew's teaching is also straight and to the point and he keeps you intrigued using just the right amount of humor, so you're able to learn the material quick and easy with no stone left untouched).


Practicality:

There are some VERY tiny, minor issues here.... In regards to the floating coin at the end. If you buy this without performing the end effect, well... I guess it'll still be more visually stunning and appear to be more clean than a normal 3 fly routine, but everyone that buys this (including myself) mainly purchased this for the final, killer, kicker ending. So, here it goes; if you want to perform this for people, you HAVE to worry about two things: 1.) Your lighting and 2.) Thread breakage. Although the coins make a normal 3 fly routine easier to perform, a perfect 3 fly still requires practice with or without gimmicks. That having been said, you are now presented with these two extra problems in addition to your normal 3 fly. So how practical is this? Well, in my close to one year of experience with Matthew's version, I would say it's surprisingly decent! If you have experience with thread work (remember, this is stronger thread, but more visible, meaning less breakages, but more lighting issues) and know your performing conditions/requirements, then there are NO WORRIES AT ALL when you want to perform this day to day for walkaround, parlor, or stage situations. The added bonus of that killer kicker ending can be seen a long ways away whether you have the Kennedy Half set or Replica Morgan set! Trust me, in my experience people NEVER miss that floating coin and like I said earlier, this is the ONLY version of 3 fly where Kennedy Half dollars are okay, because although they're smaller than Replica Morgan dollars (which are easier to see in a normal standard 3 fly routine), the float makes this version of 3 fly VERY, VERY, VERY VISIBLE FROM JUST ABOUT ANY REASONABLE DISTANCE!!!!!

Practicality Score: 10/10 (I forgot to mention that getting in and out of the hookup on the fly (pun intended) is also VERY practical. Matthew Wright deserves some major credit here for his cleverly planned and convenient hookup which is, again, VERY practical to get in and out of.


Performances/Reactions:

WOW!!!!! WOW!!!! WOW!!!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE REACTIONS THAT I GET FROM THIS PARTICULAR 3 FLY AND I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN THE FINAL KILLER KICKER ENDING! I first performed this for one of my friends at the bar and WOW.. WAS SHE EVER IMPRESSED! She was so impressed that she left halfway through the routine to grab her other 3 friends sitting at another table; at which point my other friend (who's also a magician) decided to come over to see what I was doing. With 5 people watching me, I decided to start from the beginning of my routine. After the first two coins went over, everyone was impressed except for my magician friend who only stated (with a normal faced expression) “nice! Very nice and very clean dude” to which I ignored and continued with the 3rd and final coin. I only got it to hover between my fingers when all of a sudden my magician friend said “nice try, but you're using your thumb to make it hover behind your fingers man” and that was when his face dropped. As the 3rd and final coin left my fingers, floating slowly and eerily to to my opposite hand, EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE IN THAT BAR FREAKED OUT (I must have heard at least 100-150 swear words in a row LOL). The only person who didn't say a word, was my magician friend that just stared at me the whole night and later on, begged me to teach this to him (I never did teach him this to him LOL). In addition to this, I've performed this at 2 banquets, and used this for 2 months straight in my walkaround street performances. Not once did I ever have a spectator(s) or audience member(s) that was not impressed by this. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM ALWAYS OVER REACTED AND ALONG WITH THAT, CAME A TON OF SWEAR WORDS AND JUMPING AROUND AND GASPS. I truly can not say enough good things about the reactions this one 3 fly version has to offer. Matthew Wrights Final Destination is without a doubt, one of the strongest 3 fly routines that money can buy (LARGELY DUE TO THAT FLOATING COIN AT THE END) for the reactions that this has been giving me are priceless!!! Those reactions that you dreamed of having are ALL POSSIBLE WITH THIS!!!! THIS, (IN THE RIGHT HANDS) IS WITHOUT A DOUBT, A TRUE MIRACLE FOR THE WORKING MAGICIAN AND A REAL REPUTATION MAKER!!!!! This WILL get you those HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER REACTIONS FROM YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!

Performances/Reactions Score: 12/10 (AMAZING REACTIONS!!!! XD)!


Conclusion:

If you're a magician that doesn't mind learning/practicing knuckle crunching/busting routines and would rather go for a more affordable 3 fly routine that is just as visual (but usually, in most cases, not as clean looking if asked to show the coins) then this is probably not up for your consideration. If you're a magician that would like to be able to perform a stunning visual 3 fly that requires ZERO practice and you just want to open up the box and go, then this (along with all the other versions of 3 fly) is most definitely not for you; however, if you're a magician that won't mind leaning a few basic sleights and a few routines and is willing to put in the effort required for this type of effect (as well as put in the effort to learn how to use/adapt to this coin set) then this is MOST DEFINITELY FOR YOU AND I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS. I REALLY CAN'T RECOMMEND THIS ENOUGH!!! This 3 fly is a game changer!!! It's like the other half to a missing puzzle!! For 3 fly now has an AMAZING VISUAL SOLUTION FOR THE LAST COIN!!!! VISUALLY STUNNING (EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW THE WORKINGS OF THIS) AND VERY CLEAN LOOKING (BEING ABLE TO SHOW THE COINS BEFORE AND AFTER EACH COIN TELEPORTS), THIS GETS MY MOST HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!!!!! MOST SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this in-depth, detailed review! I hope I've helped you decide on whether or not to invest such a huge sum of cash on an effect like this. In my opinion, this version of 3 fly REALLY IS MONEY WELL SPENT and when you get the moves down to the point where you no longer have to think of when to do them, well... That's when your magic will start to look like the real magic!!!! (As with any other trick well rehearsed trick XD).