Witness: A Review On Simplicity

Sep 1, 2007
1,529
1
32
San Francisco, CA
What's up guys, I'm back with another review. This time it's for the fantastic new effect on Theory11 called Witness, by Lee Asher. You can check it out here: www.theory11.com/tricks/witness.php.

I'll divide this into 5 sections: The Performances, The Method itself, The Explanation, The Tips, and The Final Thoughts.

The Performances

Lee only has one performance of Witness on the instant download, but man is it a good one. You can see part of it on the trailer. The girl he does it for just goes wild. It's great to see such a simple trick get such amazing reactions. You are now a Witness...

10/10

The Method

This is probably one of the easiest effects I have ever learned, but it is also one of the most hardhitting. I can gaurantee that even the most beginner magician will be able to perform it flawlessly in about 1-2 hours. What I love is that this trick's simplicity allows you to put all of your effort into the presentation of the effect, which really makes or breaks this trick.

10/10

The Explanation

Lee does a great job explaining this effect. He goes over it step by step, and doesn't leave out anything. This effect is so simple, there isn't much of an explanation needed. Well done Lee!

9/10

The Tips

After Lee goes over the method, he gives you some tips that will greatly enhance this effect. Although they are little things, they really reinforce the ideas you are trying to get across to your spectators. There is one tip in there that I will be using for all of my card tricks from now. It's that useful. If you own the DVD you know what I mean.

10/10

Final Thoughts

For all of you guys who said, "Hey! I can buy this effect as well as a few others for only 15 bucks in Thinking Out Loud," this explanatino has much more than the booklet could ever offer (I know because I own the booklet).It has some great tips, and the effect overall is one that you will definately use in the future. I love this effect! Great work Lee, and Theory11.

Overall

10/10

See you guys later!

//David.Misner::
 
Sep 1, 2007
405
1
Question: Can they examine the bag with the joker in it?

Yes, to an extent. It is built into the effect. Trust me, the effect is worth it. People have said it was revealed by poor performance in certain places, trust me, it is not, at least not really. The way Lee performs it is better than you imagine. And the effect and method are so simple it is kind of funny. Every part of the way the effect is taught is for a reason. If you do it how the dvd teaches you, you will not get caught and will have a great effect in your hands. I know it is not your aim to expose the method, but believe me the method in this effect is pretty much nothing, it is 99% showmanship, which is also explained in the dvd/download. In many cases, we as magicians try to extremely out-think the audience, believing we will find the superultra tough cookie that knows how stuff is done. And maybe we are right, as this thinking makes us better magicians. However if your showmanship can win an audience over, your effects will be greatly enhanced, even in the eyes of the perennial tough cookie.
 
Yes, to an extent. It is built into the effect. Trust me, the effect is worth it. People have said it was revealed by poor performance in certain places, trust me, it is not, at least not really. The way Lee performs it is better than you imagine. And the effect and method are so simple it is kind of funny. Every part of the way the effect is taught is for a reason. If you do it how the dvd teaches you, you will not get caught and will have a great effect in your hands. I know it is not your aim to expose the method, but believe me the method in this effect is pretty much nothing, it is 99% showmanship, which is also explained in the dvd/download. In many cases, we as magicians try to extremely out-think the audience, believing we will find the superultra tough cookie that knows how stuff is done. And maybe we are right, as this thinking makes us better magicians. However if your showmanship can win an audience over, your effects will be greatly enhanced, even in the eyes of the perennial tough cookie.

Having not seen a performance of the trick, I cannot say if I am correct, but after seeing the description of most upcoming magic tricks I think to myself "How would I pull that off?" and then come up with my own method for the trick. In this case I thought up a very easy method, the only problem is that it wasn't totally examinable and required a little setup. I'm not sure if Lee uses a different method, or somehow handles the setup on the fly (which I don't think would be hard) I won't perform this trick regardless, I just like puzzles.
 
Sep 25, 2007
96
0
Having not seen a performance of the trick, I cannot say if I am correct, but after seeing the description of most upcoming magic tricks I think to myself "How would I pull that off?" and then come up with my own method for the trick. In this case I thought up a very easy method, the only problem is that it wasn't totally examinable and required a little setup. I'm not sure if Lee uses a different method, or somehow handles the setup on the fly (which I don't think would be hard) I won't perform this trick regardless, I just like puzzles.

You probably have the same method... it is simple, not examinable, and does require set up. Why do you think you never actually see the trick in the witness trailer? Perhaps its just that obvious... sadly, it is.
 

trebmalrolyat

Banned
Sep 2, 2007
249
0
the method is so clean.. u have them open the bag, pull out the card, examine everything.. u can even let them examine the deck, thats how clean this effect is!


trust me, just buy it!!

he teaches everything so crisply plus hes a lefty like me :)
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,529
1
32
San Francisco, CA
Hey guys thanks for all the comments.

To answer a few questions:

No you cannot just pick up a plastic bag and some cards and do this effect. It does require a little setup, and you need a special something to accomplish the effect. But if you are a walk around performer, I can guarantee that you have one of these on you.

See you around!

//David.Misner::
 
Aug 31, 2007
163
0
There are very few things demos magicians will watch without finding out the method. One video of the performance is just plain exposure. Another one I have seen does a much better job which makes the method seem much less "obvious". I have no doubt that as a spectator, it is much harder, if not impossible, to reverse engineer the method.
 
Sep 9, 2007
512
0
No you cannot just pick up a plastic bag and some cards and do this effect. It does require a little setup

Not to reveal anything, but with a some work and a bit of practice, you might be able to do the setup. I'm sorta going over it in my head, and I'll try some ideas out in private, but it may indeed be doable. Tough, but doable. But posting it here will give away the effect, so I guess I wouldn't be able to.

a really neat effect, and a great lead-in for Indecent since you can give away the bag. No gimmicks for either trick and they both end clean...
 
I will admit my idea came to me from knowing how another 'similar' trick is done, I won't say which because that might help people :p I'm not so sure that laymen would work it out so easily.
 
Oct 2, 2007
67
0
Witness is amazing! I'm so happy with it, and I've already fooled my girlfriend and her friends.

Lee Asher is a true genius! :)
 
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