Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
So what exactly is this blog going to be about?Well when I started this blog I wanted to share stuff with magicians with that being performance videos of magicians I look up to, advice on making magic better or reviews of products I have bought recently.
Well today I will be doing my first ever magic product review. So if it sucks please forgive me.First I would like to say the following review is my honest opinion so if it is a bad review I am just speaking my mind. So let’s get started.
Name of product: iCANDY by Gary jones and Lee Smith.
Price: £19.99 or $29.99 USD.
Available from: rsvpmagic.com or your favourite magic dealer.
Quick Description: Welcome to Lee Smith and Gary Jones’ brand new DVD set ‘iCANDY. Featuring a massive 15, yes that’s right, 15 fantastic routines for the working magician. These are all featured in their professional working sets, so you know it’s commercial, direct and to the point, this is pure ‘iCANDY’ that you will use.
Tralier:
Quality of the DVD: Well as you will have come to expect by RSVP Magic it is brilliantly produced and edited. The only problem I have is that the play all button never worked on my DVD not sure if it was just my copy or not. The DVD is laid out really well. Firstly you get a live performance in a bar. Then you get an in-depth explanation of the effect with either Lee or Gary sitting in giving extra ideas.
What effects are on this DVD?
The following section will be split into 4 sections for each trick.
1. Name of effect
2. Description of effect
3. My honest opinion on the effect
4. Rating out of 10
Name of effect: Kick Back Kings.
Description of effect: One of Lee's favourite routines. A chosen card, lost in the deck reappears between the Kings! Or does it?
My honest opinion on the effect: This effect is really good, really simple to do, and straight to the point! This is a version of Luke Dancy's Royale with Cheese but it uses no gimmicks and is 100% impromptu. Not had the chance to try this out yet but I can imagine the reactions it will get can’t wait to try it out.
Rating out of 10: 8/10
Name of effect: Kick Back Kicker
Description of effect: The selected card jumps from your pocket and back again. You’ll love the climax to this one, that’ll fry their brains!
My honest opinion on the effect: This is a trick which is similar kind of effect to Kick Back Kings but has an extra kicker. It can be used as a phase after Kick Back Kings or on its own. When I watched the performance I had an idea of what was going on until the kicker. Yet again I haven’t had the chance to try this out for spectators. Overall a really good trick.
Rating out of 10
8/10
Name of effect: T.N.T
Description of effect: A signed card is torn then restored VISUALLY! The spectator is left holding an impossible prediction!
My honest opinion on the effect: Really liked this trick because it is so visual, so clever, and the thing that would leave you dirty, is used as a prediction, making everything clean and examinable. I yet again haven’t tried this out but I will definitely do it soon.
Rating out of 10:
9/10
Name of effect: iFONE 10
Description of effect: How would like to leave your clients with the perfect memorable souvenir? Complete with additional routines and ideas by Gary Jones, John Carey, Cameron Francis and Iain Moran. The brilliant new routine from Lee Smith that's a real 'worker' for all magicians! The release for this has been slightly delayed due to the overwhelming response from professional workers that have been already featuring this routine. People such as Gary Jones, Iain Moran and Cameron Francis have all added bonus routines and ideas to Lee's original plot and these have all now been added to the project! Each DVD comes with a special PDF containing several iFONE 10 templates that you can print out yourself. You're also provided with templates that can be customised by you to add your name and contact details... imagine the perfect giveaway that can publicize you after the show!
My honest opinion on the effect: Incase you don’t know iFONE 10 was going to be a one trick DVD this is why they have include all the bits you would expect a single DVD to have. They have even included templates. This is a brilliant and funny routine! I totally will do this I have to say I think that this alone is worth the price of the DVD.
Rating out of 10:
10/10
Name of effect: Easy EyeFone
Description of effect: Gary Jones' easy to do version of EyeFone 10 that you'll master in minutes!
My honest opinion on the effect: This is an excellent version of iFONE 10 that takes away the difficult slights used in the original iFONE 10 routine. This is really good if you’re not a hard-core card guy.
Rating out of 10:
10/10
Name of effect: Scoop
Description of effect: Watch! Your signature VISUALLY jumps to the spectators signed selection. Anniversary Waltz with a regular deck!
My honest opinion on the effect: Again, another awesome trick, such a great ending to Anniversary Waltz. Has to be seen, it is so visual! I have for a while been ending my Ambitious Card Routine with something a lot similar to this trick even before this DVD was released. The reactions I have got with this trick (and the one that is similar) have been great.
Rating out of 10:
9/10
Name of effect: 3C
Description of effect: A stunning multi-phase coin routine, perfect for the strolling magician.
My honest opinion on the effect: One word AWESOME that I think sums up this routine once you know how it’s done you will smile with joy. Really like this routine because it’s easy to follow, uses my favourite thing fire and also love the Tommy Wonder moment at the end of the routine. Yet again a great trick that is worth the price of the DVD.
Rating out of 10:
9.5/10
Name of effect: No Palm Coins through table.
Description of effect: If you want a self-working, super clean coins through table with no moves? Well here it is!
My honest opinion on the effect: This trick fooled the hell out of me the first time I seen this I was thinking the method was something really complicated. After watching the explanation I was so glad it was so simple. If you want a coin thru table routine but you’re not much of a coin guy this is for you. Lastly during the performance there was a part at the end with Gary that made me laugh (if you have the DVD watch the performance of this trick you will see what I am talking about) because it’s so cheeky.
Rating out of 10:
8/10
Name of effect: Ring to purse.
Description of effect: A transposition with a borrowed finger ring and a coin purse. Using Gary's clever utility.
My honest opinion on the effect: This was the trick that sold the DVD for me. I came across a video of Gary doing this trick on YouTube and it made me want to get this DVD. Once I got the DVD I skipped to the explanation of this trick and I was not disappointed. This trick would be a great follow up to any finger ring routine. I have thought up a great routine based around this trick.
Rating out of 10:
9/10
Name of effect: No Sleep
Description of effect: One of the fastest transpositions you’ll ever see.
My honest opinion on the effect: I am going to confess when I saw this trick I was convinced it would not work because of the boldness. After playing around with it for a while I performed it on one of my friends and she was fooled. Think it’s safe to say it worked better than I thought. I now perform this a lot really glad I tried it out. Overall a really quick visual trick that would go really well with Lees Kick Back Kings and/or Kick back kicker.
Rating out of 10:
9/10
Name of effect: Vanishing point.
Description of effect: Not for the faint hearted! A very bold sandwich effect. Once mastered always performed!
My honest opinion on the effect: Yet again another amazing trick this one fooled me but once I seen the explanation I was so happy it was so simple. This trick I perform all the time and have fooled a lot of people (magicians/ non magicians) when you get this DVD skip to this trick.
Rating out of 10:
9.5/10
Name of effect: 6 Card Dunbury.
Description of effect: A great take on Charlie Millers classic.
My honest opinion on the effect: This trick really isn’t my kind of trick but I can say it is a really nice method and if it’s your kind of trick you will like this one.
Rating out of 10:
6/10
Name of effect: One Short of a full deck
Description of effect: Brainwave with no rough or smooth and an added kicker which will knock them sideways!
My honest opinion on the effect: I perform the classic brainwave deck routine a lot and I liked this because if I don’t want to carry an extra deck then I can set this up in seconds and do the same trick.
Rating out of 10:
8/10
Name of effect: Pocket 2 pocket 2 pocket
Description of effect: Gary’s famous pocket to pocket sequence, where the signed card jumps from pocket to pocket to pocket.......! Fast, Furious and real i-candy!
My honest opinion on the effect: Yet again another trick which is worth the price of the DVD. Although it is a difficult trick to pull off it will be worth all the work. Can’t wait to get it down and to go out and perform it.
Rating out of 10:
8/10
Conclusion: Well as you can see I really enjoyed this DVD and I could go on for hours about how good this DVD is. This DVD is absolutely CRAMMED full with some brilliant material. The material on the DVD is very commercial and you can see these routines have been worked over and over again. The tricks are all fun to perform, simple to follow, very visual and hard hitting (some will even fool your magic buddies).
Just to point out: If you only use 2 of these effects long term, this DVD has in a way paid for its self. Also I recommend watching all of the explanations because although you may not want to perform the trick you will learn something new.
Overall rating: 9/10 - Great tricks, good value and was really fun to watch I would highly recommend this to anyone who does magic. Either as a working professional or a hobbyist there is something that you will use no mater your style and skill level.
Well that’s it from me this review took me longer than I thought to write up. Hope you enjoyed.Remember to comment below or contact me on any of the ways listed below with your thoughts on the DVD or for more information.
Thanks
Steven Blair :) Find me on
