Well in response to my somewhat scathing comments regarding the demo video for this effect, Cameron sent me over a free copy of Driven and some of his other effects (which I will review when I've had a chance to practice them enough to perform them. Early indications are though, this guy deserves some hits on his web-site, http://www.cameron-francis.com because the effects, especially Fresh Mint are some real gems.) He did this seemingly knowing that I wouldn't pull any punches if the effects were whack, which I won't, but thus far they have impressed me.
What I love about what I've seen of his effects are the classical feel to them. They read and perform like something out of the annuls of Huggard, with some satisfying twists and turns to make them appeal to a modern audience. Some of his thinking is a bit off the wall, which I think makes some of these so appealing.
Anyway, I digress, Driven is basically a pen through bill effect. No gimmicks, no set up, borrowed bill, borrowed pen, completely examinable. When I first saw the demo video, I thought it looked awful. I'll be honest. The reason being, what makes this effect so convincing when its performed are the parts that he felt he couldn't show on the demo video. My opinion is, he could, because frankly the moves are devilish.
The effect is in 2 stages.
1) you seemingly slam a pen through a folded bill
2) you saw through a bill, when the spectators have just seen the pen resting inside the folded bill, with no visible moves taking place, and then open the undamaged bill.
Throughout he's thrown in some suggested patter, which I wouldn't use personally, but then I don't perform at gigs where that kind of patter would go down particularly well.
So the question is, given how simple this effect is, is it a worker? Or a shelver?
Well when I first read through it, I thought.....this is a shelver, it just seemed too simple, and too obvious to me. Then I practiced it, and worked on it for a day or so and tried it out on some of my toughest critics. (Close friends who know every trick in the book, well my book.) Basically not since Panic has an effect been so simple, but so powerful when performed correctly.
They were looking for a bill exchange (there isn't one), they were looking for a gimmick, (there isn't one) they were looking for a second bill (there isn't one). Not one of them had the faintest idea how the effect was done. I was shocked, so I tried it again, this time as a bit of street magic, just after performing Tom Isaacson's Prophet which I find is a great hook to any bill effect, and it results in you having a one handed out for examination. I then got it back from them and performed Driven. The reaction was pretty damn good.
The next time I performed it as a prelude to Fraud by DG. A 'borrowed' bill, signed a-la fraud, then Driven, then ending on Fraud. Absolutely fantastic reactions. The fact that you don't need a gimmicked bill for Driven means that when I have to use one for another effect, I can use that bill for Driven unaltered. In short....the perfect pen through bill effect, as part of a street or close up bill routine, which naturally and perfectly fits into a routine.
Basically I wouldn't recommend just rolling up to someone and bussing this one out on its own. It's just not that kind of an effect, but as part of a bill routine, this definitely warrants attention. Is it worth the money? I don't know how you'll feel, but personally I think it is. As a first bill effect, I'd recommend this. It gets your mind working as to how to manipulate a bill with nothing added, at all. It produces an effect that is near identical to a version that is gimmicked up the wazoo in both look and feel and to me that makes this a welcome addition to any library.
Basically....don't let the demo video fool you. For some reason Cameron is paranoid about showing the full effect on the demo because he believes the method is transparent enough that you could guess it if you watched it enough. I disagree completely, but there you go.
I think this is a welcome addition to my bill repertoire, and would recommend that people check it out. I'd also check out some of his card magic too. I've read a couple of the .pdfs and if you like some classical feeling card magic, these are winners. (reviews will come.)
As a point, if all you want is a pen through bill as a stand alone, then get a gimmicked version of it, because frankly, because they're gimmicked, they work better, lol. If you want one to be part of a completely clean open routine that is only marginally less hard hitting, then get Driven, because its hard hitting, impossible looking and more than that, can be naturally progressed into anything with no bill exchange and no nonsense.
I'd give it an 8/10. Check it out.
What I love about what I've seen of his effects are the classical feel to them. They read and perform like something out of the annuls of Huggard, with some satisfying twists and turns to make them appeal to a modern audience. Some of his thinking is a bit off the wall, which I think makes some of these so appealing.
Anyway, I digress, Driven is basically a pen through bill effect. No gimmicks, no set up, borrowed bill, borrowed pen, completely examinable. When I first saw the demo video, I thought it looked awful. I'll be honest. The reason being, what makes this effect so convincing when its performed are the parts that he felt he couldn't show on the demo video. My opinion is, he could, because frankly the moves are devilish.
The effect is in 2 stages.
1) you seemingly slam a pen through a folded bill
2) you saw through a bill, when the spectators have just seen the pen resting inside the folded bill, with no visible moves taking place, and then open the undamaged bill.
Throughout he's thrown in some suggested patter, which I wouldn't use personally, but then I don't perform at gigs where that kind of patter would go down particularly well.
So the question is, given how simple this effect is, is it a worker? Or a shelver?
Well when I first read through it, I thought.....this is a shelver, it just seemed too simple, and too obvious to me. Then I practiced it, and worked on it for a day or so and tried it out on some of my toughest critics. (Close friends who know every trick in the book, well my book.) Basically not since Panic has an effect been so simple, but so powerful when performed correctly.
They were looking for a bill exchange (there isn't one), they were looking for a gimmick, (there isn't one) they were looking for a second bill (there isn't one). Not one of them had the faintest idea how the effect was done. I was shocked, so I tried it again, this time as a bit of street magic, just after performing Tom Isaacson's Prophet which I find is a great hook to any bill effect, and it results in you having a one handed out for examination. I then got it back from them and performed Driven. The reaction was pretty damn good.
The next time I performed it as a prelude to Fraud by DG. A 'borrowed' bill, signed a-la fraud, then Driven, then ending on Fraud. Absolutely fantastic reactions. The fact that you don't need a gimmicked bill for Driven means that when I have to use one for another effect, I can use that bill for Driven unaltered. In short....the perfect pen through bill effect, as part of a street or close up bill routine, which naturally and perfectly fits into a routine.
Basically I wouldn't recommend just rolling up to someone and bussing this one out on its own. It's just not that kind of an effect, but as part of a bill routine, this definitely warrants attention. Is it worth the money? I don't know how you'll feel, but personally I think it is. As a first bill effect, I'd recommend this. It gets your mind working as to how to manipulate a bill with nothing added, at all. It produces an effect that is near identical to a version that is gimmicked up the wazoo in both look and feel and to me that makes this a welcome addition to any library.
Basically....don't let the demo video fool you. For some reason Cameron is paranoid about showing the full effect on the demo because he believes the method is transparent enough that you could guess it if you watched it enough. I disagree completely, but there you go.
I think this is a welcome addition to my bill repertoire, and would recommend that people check it out. I'd also check out some of his card magic too. I've read a couple of the .pdfs and if you like some classical feeling card magic, these are winners. (reviews will come.)
As a point, if all you want is a pen through bill as a stand alone, then get a gimmicked version of it, because frankly, because they're gimmicked, they work better, lol. If you want one to be part of a completely clean open routine that is only marginally less hard hitting, then get Driven, because its hard hitting, impossible looking and more than that, can be naturally progressed into anything with no bill exchange and no nonsense.
I'd give it an 8/10. Check it out.
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