Price$34.95
Media TypeTrick, Utility Props
CategoryClose Up, Mentalism
Date AddedJan 10, 2014
Void
Skulkor
(Based on 3 reviews)
Have the spectator choose a card, and holding on to it so no one can tamper with it. The moment you pull the information out of their mind, the card turns into a blank card...and so does the rest of the deck!
The human mind is fragile, there's a fine line between imagination and reality.
This is exactly what Void does.
It alters the very fabric of reality that your spectator believes.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I think Void is the perfect example of everything that is wrong with the magic market place. For $35 you get a NINE minute DVD, and a gimmick you need to assemble. What you do NOT get is the blank deck needed to perform the effect in the trailer, where a selected card, and the deck, turn blank.
The trailer is not too dishonest, that’s the one thing I will give it. It excludes the ‘sneaky’ stuff that makes the effect work, but it shows that the effect DOES work for an audience. The reactions are good, because the effect is solid. However, there are dozens of cleaner ways to accomplish this effect. There are two other effects taught with a normal deck and the gimmick, but these also are classic effects with cleaner methods already in the literature.
The teaching is a shot of only two hands, no face, and text on the screen. This is stupid. Why have a DVD if you’re just going to have text on the screen? Why not include written instructions with color photos, and include everything you need to do this effect! That would at least be worth the asking price. The gimmick does not deliver a clean effect, and it isn’t particularly clever either. If a magician with intermediate experience and knowledge saw the full performance, they’d have a pretty good idea of how it works, and probably a few methods that would make the trick cleaner. I think even a layperson would catch this a second time around.
The DVD is shot with good cameras, and made to look very slick. This, unfortunately, is where most of your money is gonna go. Unless you purely collect card gimmicks, I can’t recommend this on any level.
One Star
The trailer is not too dishonest, that’s the one thing I will give it. It excludes the ‘sneaky’ stuff that makes the effect work, but it shows that the effect DOES work for an audience. The reactions are good, because the effect is solid. However, there are dozens of cleaner ways to accomplish this effect. There are two other effects taught with a normal deck and the gimmick, but these also are classic effects with cleaner methods already in the literature.
The teaching is a shot of only two hands, no face, and text on the screen. This is stupid. Why have a DVD if you’re just going to have text on the screen? Why not include written instructions with color photos, and include everything you need to do this effect! That would at least be worth the asking price. The gimmick does not deliver a clean effect, and it isn’t particularly clever either. If a magician with intermediate experience and knowledge saw the full performance, they’d have a pretty good idea of how it works, and probably a few methods that would make the trick cleaner. I think even a layperson would catch this a second time around.
The DVD is shot with good cameras, and made to look very slick. This, unfortunately, is where most of your money is gonna go. Unless you purely collect card gimmicks, I can’t recommend this on any level.
One Star
(Top ▲)
Overview
One gimmick, one DVD and $35 bucks, and 1 review of Void by Skulkor. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.Effect
A card is chosen. Then it turns blank and so does the deck.Method
A crappy gimmick that is awkward to handle and makes no sense to use. When the card is selected from the deck, the spectator cannot look at it. You have to take the card they touch and place it on the card box. Then while holding the card box, you lift up a small corner of the card to give them a small peek at what card they selected. Then they can take the card.Product Quality
Though the DVD is well produced, the overall quality of the product is not great. Sure, the thing they give you to make the effect work is made well enough, but then your card box looks gimmicked after you've put the gimmick together.Ad Copy Integrity
You'll notice in the ad trailer that not once did they show the spectator looking at the selected card they chose. That's because if they showed that, then you would have a hint of the method and would realize how bad of a method this is. Further, the main touted effect (that of a deck and selection becoming blank) is basically brushed over as if it were an afterthought on the DVD.Further, if the "effect" as claimed in the written and video ad is that you end up with a blank deck, it would seem to make some sense that a blank deck is included, but it's not. You get a card box (ungimmicked) and a gimmick that you attach to your card box that allows you to make it appear as though the spectator selected a different card from the one they actually selected.
Final Thoughts
If you want the effect of a selected card going blank and the deck going blank, I can think of at least two or three better ways right off the top of my head. The bottom line is that in order to do the effect the way they're suggesting, first you'll have to buy a blank deck, and second, the handling makes no sense and is awkward at best. For leaving out way too much information, for claiming an effect that you can't even do with the supplied props alone, for awkward senseless handling, and for so much more, I cannot recommend this product.Final Verdict:
.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Rubble.
(Top ▲)
When I was a young budding magician I would pour through catalog descriptions dreaming of the perfect trick for me to spend my decidedly limited finances on. About eight out of ten times I was disappointed with what I got. The catalog description was so much better than the actual trick. Things have not changed much except now you “see” the trick presented via video. The eight of ten however has not changed and so it is with Void.
The biggest part of the illusion is what you think you are going to get compared to what it actually is, is like night and day. I should have seen the first red flag when the boys on world magic review did not demo the trick as it may give away the method. Yet both gave it a rating in the mid to high 90% The signature trick does not play the way the video suggests and to add insult can not be performed at all unless you invest in a blank face deck – not included. Truth be told it is an okay trick, but not a great trick. And certainly not the trick they suggest in their “catalog’ description. All in all – disappointing.
Especially at over thirty dollars.
The biggest part of the illusion is what you think you are going to get compared to what it actually is, is like night and day. I should have seen the first red flag when the boys on world magic review did not demo the trick as it may give away the method. Yet both gave it a rating in the mid to high 90% The signature trick does not play the way the video suggests and to add insult can not be performed at all unless you invest in a blank face deck – not included. Truth be told it is an okay trick, but not a great trick. And certainly not the trick they suggest in their “catalog’ description. All in all – disappointing.
Especially at over thirty dollars.