I have a policy of never purchasing an effect that the creator refuses to show any part of it in the
demo video. While they may tout the effect as "The most powerful effect you'll ever perform" or "The
closer you've been waiting for", if they don't show it in the video that usually means it's so easy
to figure out you can't even watch it once and be amazed. When I saw "Til Death Do Us Part", the
demo video showed nothing more than glowing praise for how powerful it was. I went against my policy
and bought it anyway.
I should have stuck with policy.
Even the back of the box
doesn't tell you anything about the effect other than how incredibly powerful it is. Inside you find
10 old photographs of married couples, an envelope, the teaching DVD and the "gimmick". The routine
takes about 5 minutes to perform from start to finish, and if you amaze anyone with it you've found
the perfect audience for a D'Lite performance as a closer.
Hand the spectator a black
envelope to keep for later. Then you show the spectator the photographs while letting them decide
which one "gives off strong negative emotions". If they can't pick the right one, then do what they
do on the video and magician's force them into it (it's so painfully obvious too). Tell this spooky
tale about how the wife killed the husband and ask them to tear the photograph in half. She ripped
out his throat, so tell them to tear the husband's photo in half again. Have them arrange the pieces
on the table and then tell them to open the envelope.
The pieces match! Kind of.
Even in the demo video, the pieces do not match perfectly. They're close, but it's not like
"Holy cow! It's the same!" It's more like "Yep, that's pretty much how you'd tear a photograph
twice". This isn't amazing to anyone, and the storyline isn't compelling enough to make it seem
remotely spooky. They call this a mentalism routine, but there's nothing mental about it. I think
even Derrin Brown would flop with this one.
If you're doing this at a Halloween party with
the right ambiance you might get a "Huh, that was weird" kind of reaction, but it's not "an effect
that will stay with the spectator long after it's over" or anything.
I will give Alakazam
points for including the PDF files here so you can make as many "gimmicks" as you need later on, but
it's a minor thing for an effect of this price. I can pretty much guarantee you've already figured
out how to do this and create this effect on your own just from reading my description. And now you
know why they wouldn't show any of the performance online. Save your money and skip this one.
I think you're correct that this effect isn't strong as a magical effect. In Bizarre magic you have three common reactions screams, speechless, and that's weird. This fits into the that's weird category because this is more of a performance pice, you really need let your spectator believe in the story or this effect won't do well. In my opinion this is more of a performance peace than a magical effect.
*note I didn't complete my comment so ignore that
I think you're correct that this effect isn't strong as a magical effect. In Bizarre magic you have three common reactions screams, speechless, and that's weird. Plus you either categorize those effects with either a shocker or a performance. This fits into the that's weird category because this is more of a performance piece, you really need let your spectator believe in the story or this effect won't do well.
What a thorough, helpful review. Thank you. As customers we need to boycott products that refuse to show any part of the performance. Honestly, what's the issue - that someone could work it out if they watched the performance? If that's true, then it's clearly not very good is it? I'm with you on this - stick to your principles and don't get duped Brother, many of us share your point of view!
Maybe some kind of special envelope could help. Or just use 4 couples instead
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