What is the Sharpie Quickie?

The effect is simple. You take (or borrow) a Sharpie and snap the clip off the cap. In an instant the clip is restored and everything can be examined – before and after!
Sounds too good to be true? That really is what the audience sees.

What do you get?

You’re supplied with a special gimmick which makes the magic possible and also a link to the instructions (26 minutes online video).

The gimmick is simple and brilliant. It is hidden in plain sight, is well made, and takes up very little space.

What do we think?

You can imagine this effect in two parts – the ‘break’ and the ‘restore’. The break is brilliant – it looks superb, and the thing which really sells it is the sound. The spectator can actually hear the plastic breaking. This is super-clean and convincing.

On the video they taught four different methods for the restore. The first looks the best to me – and relies on a version of the Williamson Striking Vanish. If you don’t know this it is briefly taught – but you will need to practise a bit to get the knack. Very pretty to watch!

Method two is called Magic Fingers. This is probably the easiest to do, but requires an extra bit of preparation which makes it less impromptu. Old Faithful is the third and utilises a magic gimmick with a long history. I thought this was the weakest of the four – to me the handling looks really awkward. The final version, Blow Wind Blow, involves a little “sleight of mouth”. This is pretty good, as long as you’re confident…

The video is simply shot but perfectly clear. Very conversational – like a one-to-one tuition setting.

Sharpie Quickie is a great release. It has minimal preparation and pocket-space requirements is extremely visual and very effective.

If you use a Sharpie in your existing routines – you need to get this. It is only a small bit of magic, but very effective. If you don’t use a Sharpie – still get it! You can borrow someone else’s pen and do it with that for a superb ‘impromptu’ bit of magic.
You can pick up Sharpie Quickie from MagicShop.co.uk for £22.49 (at the time of writing). What are you waiting for?

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

Platt Magic – Sharpie Quickie – review

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The post Platt Magic – Sharpie Quickie – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

I’m always a little nervous about recommending products I haven’t actually seen in person, but the trailer for Phantom looks really clean. If this gimmick does half the things it says (rising card, haunted deck – both with borrowed decks – also unscrewing bottle!) then it is amazing. We’ll probably take a look at this since it is so visual. But you can check it out yourself. £30.50 [UPDATE – we have now done a full review]

Here’s another one that looks good – with amazing visuals. I can imagine having fun with Antigravity at home (rather than incorporating it into a formal show) – balancing a glass at impossible angles. £21

And whilst we’re on crazy visuals, check out Impale.  The video on this has to be seen to be believed – but the illusion of the Sharpie sinking through the deck of cards looks too good to be true. And I’m told there is no deck switch involved. We haven’t played with it yet but looks amazing. £36.99

There are loads of new decks out and we’ll feature a few of them in the middle of the month, but to wet your appetite why not check out the White Spirit Deck? This is an attractive deck from Gamblers Warehouse in understated whites and golds and classical styling. I love the look of the court cards. £9.75.

And finally, can we just give another plug for the newly released Awesome Self Working Card Tricks DVD? We used a few of these on holiday and they went down very well. You can read our full review here – well worth £19.99.

That’s it for now. We’ve got loads of new magic reviews coming out in the coming month – so do follow us on twitter (@magicbikecards) or keep up to date on Facebook so you don’t miss a post.

The post Trick of the Month – September 2015 – Phantoms and crazy visuals appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

I didn’t see the original Sharpie but it appears that this is literally a pocket-sized re-release of an earlier effect. Given the nature of the effects you can perform with this pen, it makes a lot of sense to have it in a portable size. They say it allows you “to perform impossible ink moving effects on the fly” – and to some extent that’s true. But to be honest I haven’t been that impressed with this.

First of all the effectiveness of the ‘moving’ part of the effects relies much on the surface you use and other variables like your skin type. In my experiments I rarely got as ‘clean’ an effect as on their videos (though they have a ‘tip’ for this – based on the fact that no one has ever seen moving ink and so it is entirely logical for there to be residue… really?!).

Secondly, I think that for many spectators the method for these effects will be fairly obvious to re-construct. Again, this may be cultural – perhaps in the UK the ‘permanent’ nature of Sharpies isn’t so well established – but I just think that most intelligent spectators will get right there.

And finally, the I am slightly underwhelmed by the effects on the DVD. There’s a moving symbol effect – on a table. A prediction effect, where the ‘wrong’ prediction magically changes to the right one. A symbol prediction. A routine where a coin drawn on the table disappears and re-appears in an empty mug (a bit of preparation needed – but some nice moments). An effect where a symbol drawn on the back of a spectator’s hand ‘penetrates’ to the palm of their hand.

For me the strongest effect is the one where a picture of a coin turns into a real coin after being ‘dropped’ into the pen lid – this has a nice ‘organic’ feel to it and has potential. Apparently there are more ideas on the original SansMind Sharpie DVD – but I won’t be rushing out to get a copy.

It was disappointing that there were no ‘live’ performances – and I think that is in part because the pen requires very specific performing conditions to work right. Many of the routines needed a glass table-top which isn’t that common in the sort of places I normally perform. And I’m still not convinced about the etiquette of writing on your spectator’s hand – especially without much warning.

I don’t want to become a grumpy old SansMind man – but I’m underwhelmed by this – and really hope they put something out I enjoy soon!

If you want to make up your own mind, it is available at MagicShop.co.uk for only £21.99.

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

The post Pocket SansMinds Sharpie – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

In essence this is a sharpie that will re-cap itself. Kieron has an amusing presentation about being the world’s no one one-handed sharpie re-capper – and then lifts it to the next level by doing it ‘no-handed’ with the sharpie and cap held in his mouth.

It’s easy to do – you can do it pretty much straight away. You’re provided with a gimmicked sharpie and materials for repairing it or making a new one (you could make it in other styles of pen with a little thought).

My hesitation about this effect is this. James Brown – who’s opinions I usually take seriously – says “you would be a fool to underplay this.” But I struggle to see how to ‘overplay’ it. It feels, to me, like a nice extra addition to a routine – an amusing bit of business – but not a stunning effect. Yes, Troy used it on his TV show, but I’ve watched the clip (see below) – it takes less than 18 seconds!

The only other small negative (and it is a very small negative) is that there’s a little ‘talk’ on the gimmick – which will hardly be noticeable in most performing contexts but is worth mentioning.

The DVD explains a few extra bits you can add to your routine. It details some switches – to help you incorporate it into, for example, a signed-card routine. It also teaches a kind of ‘cigarette up the nose’ type move but with the sharpie. Instructions are included for constructing or repairing your own gimmick but unless you’re really good at this kind of thing I would suggest just buying a spare!

I haven’t yet had a chance to road-test this with real people – and so it may be that the reactions generated are (as Kieron repeatedly insists on the DVD) out of all proportion to the ‘quickie’ nature of the effect. But until I have established that I remain slightly underwhelmed…

Frea-capped is available from Merchant of Magic (with thanks to BBM (who kindly supplied the review copy). £19.99

The post Frea-capped – Kieron Johnson – Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.