Magic Tricks

I usually love Mario Lopez's routines and find him to be a refreshingly eccentric magician and an expert craftsman of effects in his own right. Unfortunately, I was left wanting a bit after purchasing this effect.

The instruction for the effect is well taught, though challenged a bit by a language barrier. I like the effect as presented in the trailer but the limitations of needing to be seated and the fact that cleanup is not covered in the teaching leaves this effect with a bit to be desired.

Really, the bottom line is perhaps this was not an altogether well thought out purchase for me. I wanted to like this effect but I don't smoke and honestly know very few smokers anymore. Also, while the description says this could be adapted to use crayons, there is no mention of this in the instruction at all. Pretty self-explanatory, I know, but a little thought and presentation on alternate versions of this effect and how it could be adapted to suit other needs would not have gone amiss.

Overall, this is an enjoyable, if somewhat overstated, effect. As packaged, it is sadly limited to seated performances for smokers or children. Could this be adapted for other uses? Yes. Is the end result really worth it when other effects achieve this already? Not really.

If you already do cigarette tricks and can afford to work your way through the limitations of this effect OR if you want a starting place for working, this may be worth it to you.