Four Quarters (4Q) by Magick Balay
So a couple days ago, I received a pre-release copy of 4Q by The New York Magic Project, starring Magick Balay. If you don't know who he is, he works at Fantasma Magic in NYC and he's been on Marco Tempest's Virtual Magician. Here's the official spam from the NYMP:
The New York Magic Project is proud to bring you Four Quarters, Magick's take on the classic Mismade Bill effect. You borrow a dollar bill from an audience member. At the tips of your fingers, with the audience carefully studying your every move, the bill is folded into a small packet. When the bill is unfolded, it has turned inside out! The audience can examine the bill. You then re-fold the bill and return it to its original state.
There is nothing more organic or amazing than magic with borrowed money. Watch Magick as he takes his unique brand of conjuring onto the streets of Manhattan and blows people away. Then join him for an in-depth explanation session, including tips on motivation, audience connections, and more. Filmed in high definition and featuring Dolby Digital sound, the 4Q DVD will have you performing this amazing effect in no time. The DVD even includes a Mismade Dollar Bill, made from real US currency. The bill is truly miscut, with no tape or glue involved.
Now what makes this one different from the rest of those bill switches? Well, without exposing too much, Magick's handling of the bill switch takes all the fumbling, holding out, and pre-folds and brings them down to a minimum, resulting in a less clumsy and very quick bill switch. As a matter of fact, the time from removing the TT to doing the switch to placing the TT back on happens faster than you can say "Hullabaloo".
When you put in the DVD, you'll see a few performances in the beginning. You can actually see a full performance at the end of the trailer as seen on this link if you want to check it out. After the performances, Magick then goes over the history behind 4Q and how he came about with this handling, which is an interesting story. Then he goes on to the teaching.
I found the teaching to be very thorough, but not too thorough to the point that it gets boring. Magick color coded everything (yellow TT, red dollar bill, regular mismade bill), which helped alot in the learning process since the videos I've seen that teach the bill switch use the same color bills. After going over it step by step, he'll do it slowly and then at real time. It's all filmed over the shoulder so that you can follow along with the timing after the step by step instruction. After teaching the actual effect, he also talks about how to present it and his patter and other tips on how to make the switch look as invisible as it can. He also teaches a bonus effect (more of a gag) to do with the TT and goes over the history of the bill switch.
"But Sean, it still sounds like a regular bill switch to me. Why should I get this?" That's what I thought too until I saw how fast everything happens. Like I said before, it's probably the fastest bill switch I've seen. Now why should you get this? Think about it this way. Right now it's available for pre-order for $19.95. Once the units start shipping, the price goes up to $24.95. Sounds like the average price for a one trick DVD, but you also get a mismade bill with it. Normally mismade bills cost around $15 at any magic shop (got mine at MJM a while back for that price). So if you think about it, by pre-ordering you get a $15 mismade bill and a $5 tutorial all in one (or a $10 tutorial if you don't pre-order...whatever). In my opinion, that's a great deal.
In conclusion, if you're looking for another bill switch to try or if you've never learned any TT based bill switches, I recommend this one. Granted it's nothing "revolutionary" and there are many more switches out there (alot of them are published in John Lovick's book titled Switch), but I think that this one is the fastest and easiest one that I've learned. Like I've said before, I'm not a huge fan of TT based bill switches, but 4Q is one that I'll be adding to my arsenal.
Four Quarters by Magick Balay, along with mismade bills and Vernet TTs can be purchased at http://nymagicproject.com/products/fourquarters.htm.