Title: Holely Change
Artist: SansMind Creative Lab
Producers: SansMind
Link: Available At Your Favorite Murphy’s Magic Dealer
Demo Video Link:
Retail Price: $29.99 USD
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Length of DVD: 15 Minutes (Approx.)
Notes: Red and Blue Gimmicks Available.
A red backed card is selected and signed by a spectator, it’s sandwiched between two blank cards with holes in them, and visually the red backed signed card turns blue! The card is examinable at the end leaving your spectator with a memorable keepsake of their magical experience.
SansMind has been hit and miss with me this past year. They’ve had a few duds, but then again, they’ve also had some cool tricks too. This Holely Change is one of them. As far as magic goes this one is as strait forward as it can get. There really isn’t a lot of need for long presentations, and a look-see-do approach for this illusion is perfect for eliciting strong, if not in some cases violent reactions from your spectators. True Story: I got my arm slapped, as a reflex, from a coworker the first time I showed her this trick. Note to self: For such a little thing, she hits hard! But I digress.
The product comes contained inside a DVD box. You’ll get an instructional DVD, and the gimmick. As a note to magicians: the gimmick works on a very old principle in magic, and will need to be touched up from time to time with the special something that makes it work. If you’ve been around for a minute you probably have everything you need. If not, a quick trip to your magic store and less than twenty bucks later you’re set. I had to touch up my gimmick out of the box, just because I was not happy with the way it handled when I got it.
The gimmick is a pair of blank face, blank back, playing cards that have a rather large hole cut thru them on one end. The gimmick comes in two options, Red or Blue rider back Bicycle playing card. I do not like how flimsy the upper portion of the card is, above the cutout hole. I’ve had that little section get weak, and want to give crimp on me during practice. And I can assure you, crimping is not something you want to do to the gimmick if you want to perform this trick! This maybe a design flaw, but it also maybe a limitation of the illusion that is not going to have much of a work around. Maybe if the gimmicks were made from a sturdy plastic it may have a longer shelf life, but if so would the gimmick still work right? I feel this is a question for R&D. As it is, you’re going to be doing a lot of double lifts to perform this trick, so these hole cards are going to get a lot of constant wear and tear from being manipulated. If you do this trick a lot you’re going to eventually have to replace the hole cards. This means either you’re making yourself a new gimmick on your own, or you’re buying the product all over again because SansMind does not offer a gimmick “refill” on this product as of yet.
It takes all of about five minutes to learn the trick, and this one doesn’t need a lot of presentation so it’s ideal for the novice. Just get out there, sign a playing card, sandwich it, and presto! Instant magic. Reactions have been strong, and angles are nonexistent. The sleights involved aren’t hard, a basic double lift is all you really need, but the trick does have a bit of a reset. The reset isn’t hard, nor is it long, but it can’t be done in view of the audience so table hoppers need to beware. It is a very fun trick to perform, and I think it’s position within SansMind’s “Workers Series” is justly made.
At the end of the day you have a very fun, very visual illusion ideal for a novice, and powerful enough for a working pro at your fingertips. Give this one a look. You may even fool yourself.
When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The three points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, and Overall Quality.
Product Quality: 7
The price is on par with other products of this caliber, and the illusion is solid. The construction of the gimmick gives a little to be desired and will ultimately wear down/out with frequent use causing need to be rebuilt/ replaced.
Teaching Quality: 8
Easy to learn.
Overall Quality: 8
Fun, Quick, and Ends in a souvenir for the spectator. You can’t go wrong with Holely Change!
Do you have a product you want reviewed? Want to see if it will stand up to the Draven Seal of Approval? Contact me directly at thewilliamdraven@gmail.com to find out how your product could be on the next Draven Reviews! Don't forget to like my blog where all my reviews are posted at www.williamdraven.wordpress.com.
Artist: SansMind Creative Lab
Producers: SansMind
Link: Available At Your Favorite Murphy’s Magic Dealer
Demo Video Link:
Retail Price: $29.99 USD
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Length of DVD: 15 Minutes (Approx.)
Notes: Red and Blue Gimmicks Available.
A red backed card is selected and signed by a spectator, it’s sandwiched between two blank cards with holes in them, and visually the red backed signed card turns blue! The card is examinable at the end leaving your spectator with a memorable keepsake of their magical experience.
SansMind has been hit and miss with me this past year. They’ve had a few duds, but then again, they’ve also had some cool tricks too. This Holely Change is one of them. As far as magic goes this one is as strait forward as it can get. There really isn’t a lot of need for long presentations, and a look-see-do approach for this illusion is perfect for eliciting strong, if not in some cases violent reactions from your spectators. True Story: I got my arm slapped, as a reflex, from a coworker the first time I showed her this trick. Note to self: For such a little thing, she hits hard! But I digress.
The product comes contained inside a DVD box. You’ll get an instructional DVD, and the gimmick. As a note to magicians: the gimmick works on a very old principle in magic, and will need to be touched up from time to time with the special something that makes it work. If you’ve been around for a minute you probably have everything you need. If not, a quick trip to your magic store and less than twenty bucks later you’re set. I had to touch up my gimmick out of the box, just because I was not happy with the way it handled when I got it.
The gimmick is a pair of blank face, blank back, playing cards that have a rather large hole cut thru them on one end. The gimmick comes in two options, Red or Blue rider back Bicycle playing card. I do not like how flimsy the upper portion of the card is, above the cutout hole. I’ve had that little section get weak, and want to give crimp on me during practice. And I can assure you, crimping is not something you want to do to the gimmick if you want to perform this trick! This maybe a design flaw, but it also maybe a limitation of the illusion that is not going to have much of a work around. Maybe if the gimmicks were made from a sturdy plastic it may have a longer shelf life, but if so would the gimmick still work right? I feel this is a question for R&D. As it is, you’re going to be doing a lot of double lifts to perform this trick, so these hole cards are going to get a lot of constant wear and tear from being manipulated. If you do this trick a lot you’re going to eventually have to replace the hole cards. This means either you’re making yourself a new gimmick on your own, or you’re buying the product all over again because SansMind does not offer a gimmick “refill” on this product as of yet.
It takes all of about five minutes to learn the trick, and this one doesn’t need a lot of presentation so it’s ideal for the novice. Just get out there, sign a playing card, sandwich it, and presto! Instant magic. Reactions have been strong, and angles are nonexistent. The sleights involved aren’t hard, a basic double lift is all you really need, but the trick does have a bit of a reset. The reset isn’t hard, nor is it long, but it can’t be done in view of the audience so table hoppers need to beware. It is a very fun trick to perform, and I think it’s position within SansMind’s “Workers Series” is justly made.
At the end of the day you have a very fun, very visual illusion ideal for a novice, and powerful enough for a working pro at your fingertips. Give this one a look. You may even fool yourself.
When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The three points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, and Overall Quality.
Product Quality: 7
The price is on par with other products of this caliber, and the illusion is solid. The construction of the gimmick gives a little to be desired and will ultimately wear down/out with frequent use causing need to be rebuilt/ replaced.
Teaching Quality: 8
Easy to learn.
Overall Quality: 8
Fun, Quick, and Ends in a souvenir for the spectator. You can’t go wrong with Holely Change!
Do you have a product you want reviewed? Want to see if it will stand up to the Draven Seal of Approval? Contact me directly at thewilliamdraven@gmail.com to find out how your product could be on the next Draven Reviews! Don't forget to like my blog where all my reviews are posted at www.williamdraven.wordpress.com.