Magic Tricks

You could use electronics. Or you could go low-tech at a fraction of the cost and not worry about the electronics failing you. Both approaches have their merits. X-Ray, a low-tech way works and won't require a second mortgage.

You get basically an Altoids tin with four white balls, one black ball, a black velvet bag, a few gimmicks, and card to access the on-line instructions. (Actually,to be precise, this effect uses three different gimmicks.) I had an excellent idea how this was done from watching the video and reading "no electronics." Let's be honest. If you have been around the mentalism block a few times, how could this possibly work without electronics? Yep, that's exactly how it does. You'll either shriek with delight or disgust, depending, I think, on how experienced you are when you open up the tin.

Anyway, I like it a lot for Kurutsuke because it's almost self-working in the handling that Rasmus demonstrates. For which hand, it takes a little practice to master the "reading," but it's doable, though less impressive.

Is X-Ray worth the seemingly high cost for what you get? Probably. The one gimmick is handmade and another actually has an expensive element, literally. The last one will cost you about $3.00 if you need to replace it, but I don't see anything wearing out in my lifetime. If you want to do Kurutsuke or just want a collection of good utilities for other effects, this is a nice purchase.