Extreme Burn 2.0

If you've ever become jaded with magic and just can't appreciate that "WOW!" moment the spectators feel anymore, then this is the effect for you. In all honesty, I've watched the change happen dozens of times and even though I know how it's being done, it still blows my mind each time. "Extreme Burn 2.0" is easily the most "magical magic effect" I've seen this year.

You read the copy of some tricks saying it'll even fool you and such, but this one really can. With the 2.0 version, Sanders has taken every weak spot of the first presentation (and there weren't many) and fixed them. Now you can hand out the bills when you are finished with the transformation and have no fear of anything being discovered or said since you are handing the normal, ungimmicked money. You can perform this effect completely surrounded if need be, though the best changes are the ones you can do with the spectators in front of you.

And speaking of changes, Sanders offers you more than you'll ever use. He even updates some and adds a few more from the original. No matter what your performance style is, I promise you there's one in here to fit it. This will require a lot of practice to begin with, but just watching the demo video will show you how worth it the practice will be.

The gimmick is fairly easy to construct and will take you about 15 minutes or so. If you treat it well, it will last you a very long time. The gimmick construction will depend on the amount of money you're wanting to change ($1 to $20, or $1 to $100, for example) but nothing is permanent you can you spend the cash later if need be.

I'm usually not a fan of pricey DVDs with only one effect on them (and the gimmick here would cost you less than a dollar at a hardware store), but just the wealth of information on this makes it worth it. Sanders takes this amazing effect apart piece by piece and gives you everything you need to adapt it to your style of performing.

I promise you when you get this down smoothly and perform it for the first time, you'll keep this one close forever. This truly is as close to real magic as you'll ever get as far as your spectators are concerned.

Silver Dream

If you watch the demo video for this, you're going to immediately be thinking this is done with gimmick coins. You would be incorrect. What you see is done with 3 coins, and only 3 coins, and it is done in such a way as to make it completely clean when you are done.

Justin Miller has created a symphony of coin manipulation with this routine. Watching it performed is like watching some piece of fine art being sculpted from nothing. You think it's amazing when you see it? Wait until you see what it takes to make it happen!

Miller gives you a wonderful play-by-play breakdown on how to accomplish this miracle. His work on sleeving is incredible, and the moves are so smooth you'll never get caught once you get it down pat. The only "iffy" move was the final vanish which you'll probably catch right away when watching it. Every other movement is perfectly subtle and impossible to catch, but that final vanish is a little obvious. Granted, the spectators will probably never catch it though.

If you decide to do this in a warmer climate using short sleeves, you can still make the magic happen if you use an expanded coin shell. This will give you some angles to worry about that the long-sleeved version doesn't have, but it's more practical in some situations.

This will take practice, and lots of it. The sleeving moves alone will have you picking coins up off the floor for quite a while, but once the move is smooth it can even amaze you when it happens! Major props to Justin for sharing the work on this incredible routine!

Digital Dissolve

While the Copper/Silver Transpo isn't a new effect, "Digital Dissolve" add an element to it that makes this version stand out among the rest. Steve Dusheck has tweaked this effect to turn it into an instantaneous miracle in your hands.

Watch the demo video and you'll see how fast this happens. Literally in an instant the English penny becomes the half dollar right before the spectator's eyes. And as soon as the transformation occurs you can drop the coins into the spectator's hands and they can examine them all they want to. There is only one move involved and it's really easy to learn. Once you get it down you'll be performing this effect over and over again.

I keep this one close, and I often just do the effect for myself--and it still gets me even though I know how it's being done! That doesn't happen often. It's so strikingly visual that is just begs to be performed.

The coins are high quality, and the gimmick needed looks like it will last forever if treated right. The instructional DVD gives you everything you need to know about the effect and the move involved. It also helps with ideas for the clean up at the end. If you're into coin magic or just want something to sprinkle into your routine that's different from cards but you don't want to spend days learning the sleights, this is something you must own.

The Plot Thickens

I call this book a "firestarter". That's not because it should be burned; on the contrary, I think this is a fabulous investment. This is the kind of book that gets you thinking outside the box in a lot of ways. Once you see how some of the effects are done, it's very easy to take those principles and move them to other effects or create your own. Meech has come up with some very interesting ideas, and it's fairly safe to say you'll find at least a couple of things in here you can add to your set.

There are mentalism effects, card tricks, coin tricks, and other various goodies that will make you fly through this rather thin book quickly. There is an effect where you cause a fish drawn on one side of a quarter to jump into the fishbowl drawn on the other side as the coin is spinning on the table. Another effect has you making the spectator believe they must be invisible since another spectator can see the card they chose even though they are holding it close to their chest.

There are several things to enjoy here. Some of them you'll perform immediately, while others might just sit on the back burner for just the right occasion. And then, of course, there are those that will just be read over and forgotten. Meech is currently working on a second book to follow this one, and if it's as promising as this was I'll be buying it as well.

Coin Flux 2

This is powerful close up magic. If you watch the demo video, you're probably thinking it couldn't be that simple, but it is. This is done slowly with no strange out of the way moves, and it will impress even you while you're doing it. This is an excellent close up trick for magicians of all skills, and it is one of the few that you can actually repeat a few seconds later and still fool them. As a matter of fact, that actually builds the strength of the routine!

I had to take off one star simply because you don't end as clean as I'd like to. This is a "look but don't touch" type of effect, which can cause problems in the wrong crowd. But on the plus side, it sets up quickly and takes very little practice to master.