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Details

Sticky

Schaller, Kevin; Smith, Oliver

Titanas

(Based on 2 reviews)
Sticky is a DVD by Kevin Schaller and Oliver Smith that contains 4 strong effects that you can perform using chewing gum. All the effects are very practical, organic, easy to perform and will leave your spectators astonished.

MentalGum:
Explain that there is only one piece of gum left inside the pack and have a spectator freely select a row and a compartment. Display that the last piece is sealed inside the exact location they just chose.

Torn & Fuzed:
Show a silver pack of gum and a blue piece of foil from another pack. Visually make the blue piece fuse onto the silver foil, leaving it completely examinable and hand it out as an impossible souvenir.

Marked:
You mark one compartment of the gum pack as your prediction and have a spectator draw an X onto any compartment on the other side and it matches with your prediction.

Push Through:
Display a piece of gum inside one compartment. Have a spectator cup his hands underneath and visually push the gum through the compartment without any holes or slits.

Reviews

Joe Diamond

Official Reviewer

Oct 23, 2013

First of all, before we ever see a full performance, the performer introduces himself three or four times, and describes each effect. The live performance of the first effect shows him ‘fusing’ a piece of foil of one gum wrapper onto a different gum wrapper, and leaving it as a souvenir. The spectators don’t react, they just try to peel the piece of foil off.

The method is actually kind of clever, but it’s not a particularly amazing souvenir. It’s not something that the spectator will keep and remember forever, nor does it really mean anything.

We are then treated to another explanation of the effect instead of just being shown the effect. However, once I was finally shown the second effect, it was actually quite deceptive, and quite practical. There aren’t any gimmicks, but there is a slight preparation that takes maybe 30 seconds maximum. It’s a visual piece of incidental magic, where you give someone a piece of gum by causing it to penetrate through the packaging. The perfect thing to do while hanging out with friends.

For the third effect, we are once again treated to a description of the effect, rather than just being shown what we’ve paid our hard earned money for. This is a mentalism effect where you show you predicted what piece of gum your spectator will ‘choose.’ My main problem with this is that it uses another prop (a marker) and it uses a gimmick that is a little obvious in my opinion. I might be thinking like a magician, but I spotted the method for this right away. However, there’s a bigger issue. If you have the mental powers to predict a spectators decision, why something as meaningless as what piece of gum they will choose?

The fourth effect is basically the same effect, you predict what piece of gum they’ll choose, but the image here is a bit stronger, and gets the strongest reaction from the live audience. I’ll also admit this puzzled me the most, and I think it’s the most clever. I had an idea of how it worked, but there are some logical disconnects. The presentation is that you only have one piece of gum left, and if they guess which compartment it’s in, they get the last piece as a prize. Not a bone crushing piece of mentalism, but a fun game, and a clean effect that makes sense. It’s also a nice effect to ‘test’ a spectator’s psychic ability for a bigger effect like Out of the World.

The price is a little steep for four effects, especially when I feel only two are worth it. However, the two effects are REALLY good, so if you want some nice incidental pieces of magic with pieces of gum, you will get your money’s worth!
(Top ▲)

Jeff Stone

Official Reviewer

Apr 08, 2013

Another "gum" DVD? Really? Do we really need one? YES!!!


This DVD is awesome. Four super easy, super practical effects using just a blister pack of gum. I love stuff that you can just carry around with you that is normal stuff that everyone else would have . . . things above reproach, like a pack of gum.


The four effects are excellent. You're left completely clean or "clean enough" at the end of every effect, and each effect is extremely powerful. Only one of them (Torn and Fuzed) is not really conducive to multiple performances in a strolling gig. Also, keep in mind that you wouldn't do all four effects at the same time. Pick one and go with that.


All of these effects are great for your professional repertoire, but in my opinion, they really shine in those casual just-hanging-out-with-friends environments. They're perfect bends.


The production quality is on the low side, but certainly does not interfere with the learning experience. They are taught and performed by a sharp and clever young magi named Kevin Schaller. I hope this isn't the last we see of him.


All four effects are worthy of your time and money in my opinion. There is no filler. Each effect, method, plot and handling is well thought out and well taught. If you carry gum around you might as well be doing these effects with it. And if you don't carry gum around . . . maybe you should.


Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!

(Top ▲)