theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

My Buddies and I's Honest Review of TnR

trashmanf said:
weeeeelllllll... torn is difficult in the actual performance, I mean holding those dang pieces aligned can be quite tough.
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Exposure?
I found Torn to be pretty easy with a bit of practice.

And yeah you can only change to the card your gimmick is and you can only make your gimmick as a court card or if you don't mind the construction of your gimmick getting more complicated then I think you could do it with any card.
 
thanks for answering my question. chill ... there's kids on this website wondering if they can use the term "backpalm" without exposing. you've got to be kidding me. especially when the TnR product description itself states "no holding pieces aligned!"

this is what I have to say about kids that freak out about exposure:


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even thou the gimmick is annoying to make i think it pays off all lot. you are restoring the card with no funny moves and bang it changes!!! :D
 
I enjoy reading reviews. I don't care if you like the effect or did not like the effect. Just give me your honest opinion and why.

We are all different, but It's sure nice to read honest reviews about effects you are planning on purchasing.

I hate when "The Hype" of an effect takes over the truth. I have purchased effects with Flawless reviews only to find that I really did not enjoy the trick myself.

Keep the honest reviews coming. I have actually purchased tricks due to some honest opinions of the trick and determined that it fit my style.

Your opinion counts and we should all respect our own opinions. That's what a Review is.

Thanks guys.
 
Great review, purely for the honesty.
But just so I know, what are the angles like? And once you have made the gimmick, is it practical?

Thanks
Adam B
 
I agree with every word you have said. I haven't completed making the gimmick, it's too hard and I think it's too much fidling.
 
That's not a total surprise. I bought distortion and prophet from here, and was pretty pleased with distortion, it's a pretty cool closer, but nobody mentioned to me that Prophet would require me destroying money; no I don't want to use 20's, it just is not the same effect without hundreds.
They really need to tell you these things in the description :the gimmick is not examinable, and therefore not very practical. Go for DG's torn, the original. Looks pretty awesome, sorry you lost your money.
-Sean
 
bicyclemagik said:
That's not a total surprise. I bought distortion and prophet from here, and was pretty pleased with distortion, it's a pretty cool closer, but nobody mentioned to me that Prophet would require me destroying money; no I don't want to use 20's, it just is not the same effect without hundreds.
They really need to tell you these things in the description :the gimmick is not examinable, and therefore not very practical. Go for DG's torn, the original. Looks pretty awesome, sorry you lost your money.
-Sean
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I think you can substitute some of the money to paper. Like show four pieces of paper then change them to single dollar bills.
 
bicyclemagik said:
That's not a total surprise. I bought distortion and prophet from here, and was pretty pleased with distortion, it's a pretty cool closer, but nobody mentioned to me that Prophet would require me destroying money; no I don't want to use 20's, it just is not the same effect without hundreds.
They really need to tell you these things in the description :the gimmick is not examinable, and therefore not very practical. Go for DG's torn, the original. Looks pretty awesome, sorry you lost your money.
-Sean
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Maybe that's because you don't have to destroy any money.

The gimmick can be taken apart and spent.

It really isn't difficult.

Also, yes, it's true the gimmick isn't totally examinable but most of the bills are. All you had to do was jump on the forums and you could have found that information. If you impulsively spend your money before researching what you're buying, and then aren't happy with what you end up with, that really is no one's fault but your own. There is plenty of info and reviews on Prophet here and many other places on the Internet. Next time just take that extra 5 minutes before you hit the "buy" button.

The gimmick is very practical if you know when and how to use it. If not then it wouldn't have been such a popular and ever-evolving effect for the past 40+ years. You just got to know a little bit about audience management. Watch the DVD again--Tom gives plenty of great advice on this.
 
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bicyclemagik said:
That's not a total surprise. I bought distortion and prophet from here, and was pretty pleased with distortion



They really need to tell you these things in the description :the gimmick is not examinable, and therefore not very practical.
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Errm... So... TnR isn't very practical because the gimmick is not examinable. But Distortion you were pretty pleased with? That must be because it's examinable right?

I find that those who say it's not very practical usually haven't actually tried using it for anyone other than a mirror. Granted, this isn't going to be for everyone, but to say it's impractical is bull. I've used this twice, and both times it's garnered me incredible reactions, just think about what you're doing in the mind of a layman.

"Only twice? Surely that's a testament to how useless it is because you've only used it twice. If it was that good you'd use it more often."

Or I like to save it for special occassions where I think it's appropriate. Some tricks aren't just another sandwich trick for you to do all the time, some tricks you want to save and have certain people see and let them talk about it.

Just my $0.02 from the UKizzle.

- Sean
 
Sean_Raf said:
Errm... So... TnR isn't very practical because the gimmick is not examinable. But Distortion you were pretty pleased with? That must be because it's examinable right?

I find that those who say it's not very practical usually haven't actually tried using it for anyone other than a mirror. Granted, this isn't going to be for everyone, but to say it's impractical is bull. I've used this twice, and both times it's garnered me incredible reactions, just think about what you're doing in the mind of a layman.

"Only twice? Surely that's a testament to how useless it is because you've only used it twice. If it was that good you'd use it more often."

Or I like to save it for special occassions where I think it's appropriate. Some tricks aren't just another sandwich trick for you to do all the time, some tricks you want to save and have certain people see and let them talk about it.

Just my $0.02 from the UKizzle.

- Sean
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No, distortion is examinable, because you can just do the switch. And no, I have not even practiced prohet in front of a mirror, because I haven't bothered making the gimmick, because I don't want to ruin money, and even changing paper to one's, I would need some incredibly thick paper that it's impossible to see through.

Anyways, this^ and your post was hella off-topic, let's get back to the point, I have heard from a friend that the tnr gimmick is not examinable, and therefore, not practical. In magic, you should always be prepared for the worst, and in this case, someone asking to see the 'changed and restored card' would be the worst. And there really isn't any practical solution to that problem.
When I perform regular tricks with a regular deck, people nearly always ask to examine the deck. I would not want to be caught unclean when someone asks that question, that would be the worst magic ending of performance ever. Just my 2 cents, from Canadaizzle.

-Sean
 
there's a lot of tricks that can't be examined per-se.

When being asked if they can see my deck (while it isn't clean) I just say no.

Does that erase the fact that they just saw something impossible happen?

No.

Of course they will be "There must be a trick!" but this always happens, (even before the trick starts) to me at least.

I guess it depends in the presentation, if you present yourself as an all-powerful superman, of course they'll be disappointed if they don't get to see every single thing you did. Why? Because they want to see if you really are an all-powerful superman.

just my $0.02
 
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