What’s the effect?

A freely chosen card vanishes from the deck and visually (more or less) appears in a see-through ID holder which has been shown empty. With certain handlings you can even hand this out.
So it’s a simple effect (which is good) – easy to follow and understand.

What do you get?

You are supplied with a simple but clever little gimmick (and matching ordinary ID holder) and a lanyard. You also get a gimmicked card which will enable you to force a card on the spectator and then have it vanish from the pack in their hands. This is provided in Bicycle stock so you can just add it to any deck (if you use this version of the routine).

Also included are basic printed instructions and a link to online instructions. Some people have mentioned finding it difficult to watch the online explanations – but we had no problems with this. The videos have subtitles for English-speaking magicians. Unusually, these are very good translation and are easy to follow. Each part of the explanation includes a review sections to go over all the moves. The background music was (for me) irritating and slightly sinister cumulatively.

What do we think?

On the plus side there are a number of different handlings provided. There is a force and a non-force version – and I’m sure you could come up with your own variations on that if you’ve been in to card magic for any length of time. There are also a number of different handlings for the ‘appearance’ of the card in the ID tag.

We have got to say that the whole thing is somewhat angle-sensitive. And the handling is necessarily somewhat unnatural – you really would never hold a name tag holder like that in real life! But, that may just be “magicians’ guilt” talking since magicians do everything in a slightly odd way, right?

If your sleight of hand is up to it Zero Set is a very clean card to impossible object. It really does appear right inside the holder which you have clearly shown empty beforehand. But it will take you quite a bit of practice to get the loading and displaying move smooth. His handling very smooth, but still looks a little unnatural.

The non-sleight version is easier. The card is chosen by just riffling through deck. It vanishes and reappears inside holder. As mentioned a special forcing gimmick is included though you could easily make your own (or use an alternative method).

If you’re doing the sleight of hand version, you’ll also need to be able to do a Mercury card fold. This is taught on the videos, and pretty much all of the card to impossible location effects rely on this.

So there are pros and cons to this. The visual appearance is pretty good, and the non-sleight version is not too tricky to get down. If you are regularly performing in a venue where these things are used (e.g. lots of trade shows) then this would be an obvious fit for your set.
If not, then I would be less swift to order it. There are other card to impossible location effects out there which are less awkward. On the other hand, the teaching is very clear and it is relatively inexpensive if you want to give it a punt.

Zero Set is available direct from MagicShop.co.uk for £18.50.

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

The post Limin – Zero Set – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

Name Tag is a sort of utility device hidden in plain sight and it allows you to do some clever predictions (predicting an ESP symbol or playing card chosen by a spectator) or some incredibly visual transformations of one card into another – visually a lot like WOW if you have seen that but with the potential for up to 5 changes.

What do you get

A nicely produced plastic name tag complete with clip and lanyard, several cards/inserts which you can insert into the tag – a couple printed up to look like a name tag on the back and a couple to look like Bicycle cards on the back.

You also get a DVD which is a little on the basic side. The visuals are fine, though not spectacular, but the audio is all in Chinese (I presume) meaning English speakers will have to rely on the somewhat quirky subtitles. This is not a problem – in that the operation of the effects is simple so the DVD is easy to follow – but it does mean you have to watch it carefully.

My bigger reservation about the DVD is that the menu has links to a couple of trailers and then all the explanation comes in one hit. So if you want to go back and look at a particular bit it is difficult. Now as I’ve mentioned, it is not a complicated effect to learn, so you probably won’t need to do too much of that. But it wouldn’t have been much harder to divide the explanation up into sections.

The good, the bad and the questionable

The gimmick is very clever, and all works well and as it should. There is a little bit of a knack to working this – but that would soon come with a little practise. It is extremely visual (if you do the change) and very clean (if you do the prediction).

A few minor quibbles would be the design for the name tag itself feels a little bit naff – I’m not sure it is quite the look I would want at a smart corporate do – though I’m sure it would pass muster. Also the whole tag feels just a little bit too big. I understand why the size is as it is – since it perfectly fits a Poker sized Bicycle card – but in my experience most real life name tags are a little smaller.

As is almost compulsory the advert states something along the lines of you’re only limited by your imagination. Whilst this is almost true, in fact you need some cleverly printed cards to make this work well – so unless they start releasing variations, you are limited to ideas involving the 5 esp symbols or the cards provided.

I would also, and this is a very personal thing, like to have seen a few more credits in relation to the concept itself.

So all in all, this is a good release. I love the concept and the possible effects are excellent. My only question mark comes because the ‘organic’ nature of using something as natural as a name tag, is slightly undermined by the fact that it looks a bit too big and a bit too basic. But I am probably over-thinking this, so it is well worth a punt.

Available direct from MagicShop.co.uk £32.99 (at the time of writing).

(If you like this concept you might also want to check out Hello My Name Is – by the legendary Cameron Francis who’s work is always worth a look – £19.99)

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

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