Nothing DVD Set by Max Maven

The premise is simple: Max Maven spends a few minutes in the supermarket and comes out with a complete act. And believe it or not, that's exactly what happened.

If you're into mentalism, then you've heard of Max Maven. Actually, even if you aren't, you've probably heard of him. Max is somewhat famous for his sinister-looking appearance, which actually covers an incredibly intelligent man with a passion for magic. This DVD set shows you exactly what can be done when you have to come up with something quickly and can only use the items on hand.

There are several effects taught here, and the amazing thing is that the teaching DVD (the second in this 2-DVD set) is so in-depth you'll know every nuance of Max's routine and why he chose every particular action. This isn't just "here's how it's done", but is more like "here's why it's done"--which helps you as a magician to create your own effects later.

Most everything here can be done within a few minutes of watching it. While you probably won't do his complete routine, you'll probably find parts that immediately resonate with you. He does a sort of book test with magazines that I particularly liked.

This is an expensive set, but worth it.

Boris Wild Marked Deck

If you're looking for a marked deck that you can use for mental effects or the casual card trick, Wild's deck is a good choice. It is a Bicycle deck that looks and feels like the real thing. You can use the deck for several effects before going into the marked deck trick and you might be safe. The marking system is relatively easy to learn (about 10 minutes to get really good at reading the card backs without looking like you're doing so), which makes this perfect for hobbyists or someone just needing a marked deck for a new effect they're working on that has almost a zero chance of failure.

Unfortunately, the ease of reading the marks is the major weakness of the deck. While you can spread the cards and have the spectator choose one for any number of effects beforehand, it will only take them a few seconds to find the mark and even if they can't figure out what it means they'll know the deck is marked. To be fair, Wild includes 3 unmarked Jokers in the pack, so if you're slick enough you can pass these off to the spectator who wants to examine the cards. Still, it won't fool everyone every time.

That being said, if you've always wanted a marked deck but didn't want to spend hours learning the markings, you'll love this. Likewise, if you want a marked deck that you almost can't miss the reading on, this is for you. Most everyone else, however, will probably want to move to a more professional marking system that's worth the effort to learn.

Ringtone

I am a huge fan of mostly everything coming out of Ellusionist.com lately, though there are a few effects here and there that aren't as good as the others. Fortunately, Ringtone is one of the good ones.

In essence, you are changing the spectator's ringtone on their cell phone to a new song--preferably one they didn't already have on their phone. The spectator believes they are the ones who came up with the song randomly, which adds to the strength of the effect.

Here is the key: you must have a combination of guts and technical skill to pull this off. The dream setting for this is to find someone who uses either the iPhone or the exact same cell phone you do. Both are ideal, but not necessary. You just might have to spend a little time in Best Buy playing around with their cell phone displays to learn the key factor you need to know about each phone to make this work. Once you have that one move nailed, the rest is performance.

The "gimmick" that makes this work is nice. I've only had mine about three months but it's held up well and was easy to set up. Even though the demo video shows them going with "The Star Spangled Banner" as their song choice (and the teaching video does the same), you can actually use any song you choose. Set it up once and you are ready to go from that point on. You can't change the song on the fly, but you aren't locked in to anything. You can change it before you go out so you're using a different song every day if you so choose.

Handling is good, and the angles are fairly safe (though you can't perform this surrounded or even for a group that's getting too close). Adam Grace does a great job of teaching you how to handle everything and set it all up. There are several ways to help the spectator to choose the right song, and they are explained in detail. Clean up is safe as well. The best part is that you don't damage or even do anything to their phone that could cause it to get messed up. You're safe.

Pretty close to perfect once you spend time learning the moves you need. It's just that element of possible failure that makes it lose a star. Grace gives you ideas of how to get the information about the phone from the spectator themselves, but it's still a little chancy.

Ghost Vision

I've been brutal to Andrew Mayne in the past, but as I've said before when he's made something good, it's really good. "Ghost Vision" is that "really good" effect. You borrow someone's cellphone and ask them to put it in video mode. With them watching with you, suddenly they see a ghostly form move across the screen. The beauty is that they have recorded it so they can show it to friends and others to prove what a supernatural time they had with you.

As you expect, this is an effect that will require a good deal of showmanship on your part. If you just say, "Hey, watch this!" it's going to be useless to you. If you incorporate it into a mysterious evening or spooky environment, you're going to do some serious damage to the spectator's sense of reality. This effect is easy to perform and it leaves the spectator with a lasting souvenir of the performance. It uses something perfectly normal--the spectator's cell phone--and gives them a moment of the surreal. There is only about 2 seconds of set-up you have to do, and it can be done while you're talking about the ghostly experiences you've had or heard of or whatever.

The effect also comes with ways to make a chosen card show up, and just a ghostly face if you want to go that direction. Whichever way you choose, this is definitely something that will set you apart from any other magicians your spectators may have seen before.

Pyro Perception

While the "make a blister on your finger" trick may be a little old, this effect puts a new twist in it. The spectator chooses a card, you bring out a lighter and proceed to light it up, "grab" the flame, and then show your fingertips to show them their chosen card.

The nice thing about this trick is that you can repeat it four times with different results. In truth, if the setup is right you can actually switch around the pips to get more combinations, but that will require a little more wiggle room when the spectator isn't watching you closely.

The gimmick is very well made and fits reasonably well in your pocket. You're better off putting this in your jacket pocket as it gives you more room to "do the magic", but if you wear loose pants you can make it work in your pants pocket as well. There is something special about the gimmick that allows you to pick the right card to blister simply by touch.

You need to be able to force a card, and above everything else you need to be able to sell what you're doing. Performance is key here. You're trying to push some supernatural event, so this needs to be a bit mysterious.

For the price, this is a nice effect that offers something different than the usual card trick.