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Paltergeist Special
This is a special post because rather than reviewing one trick, I will be reviewing three! The thing these three items have in common is that they are all tricks by Jason Palter of Paltergeist Unlimited.
You may recognize the name Jason Palter from his appearance on Fool Us, but he has also created a dozen or so magic products with his most well known probably being Third Degree Burn.
Today I’ll be taking a look at three of his lesser known items: T.U.R.N., Kings Crossing, and The Red Carpet. The descriptions in italics below come from the item’s product page.
T.U.R.N.
You display a 4-digit Master® adjustable combination lock that has 10,000 possible sequences, set the lock to a number that only you know, and then mix up the dials. A spectator inputs as many combinations as they’d like—proving that the lock really is LOCKED, and that not just any 4 numbers will open it.
The spectator chooses 4 random audience members, who each call out ANY number between 0 and 9. There are no forces or influencing of any sort, and during this time, the spectator has been holding the lock on stage while he/she dials in the 4 numbers that are announced.
Then to everyone’s complete astonishment, the spectator pulls on the shackle and the lock opens with a resounding “click”—an amazing climax that will leave your audience stunned!
I’ve had a couple of different gimmicked combination locks in my lifetime, but this one offers some unique attributes. My favorite thing about it is that you are in complete control of when the lock opens. The spectators can genuinely try any combinations they want and the lock will never open, but whenever you’re ready, the lock will open with any combination entered. There is a “move” required to take the lock from “locked” mode into “ready to be opened” mode, but it’s over in an instant as the performer hands the lock from one person to the next, and once you’ve done that move, you never have to touch the lock again.
Obviously with a lock like this, what you do with it comes down to your personal preference, but the flexibility of the method means it can pretty much do anything you want as long as you can justify touching the lock for just a moment before you’re ready for the big reveal. Jason does cover some ideas in the tutorial including how to “set” the lock to a specific combination on stage in front of everyone. His teaching is clear and to the point–just how I like it.
Overall, I think it's a great combination lock for these types of routines and it will be replacing my current go to which is the Dream Lock.
T.U.R.N. is available at the link below for $195
Kings Crossing
You show a stack of 20 jumbo-sized cards, and explain how you are going to simply transfer a bit of LOVE in your show. You bring onto the stage a couple of star-crossed lovers—or in a pinch, a married couple will also do.
Very fairly, deliberately, and separately, you count out the 20 jumbo cards onto the table—there are no false counts or sleights. You spread the top 10 cards in a fan, and show everyone including the volunteers that they are all King of Spades—everyone can clearly see 10 separate King of Spades. You close up the spread and give them to the man to hold safely in his hands, against his heart—all in the name of love! You then spread the other 10 cards in a fan, and show them all to be Aces of Diamonds—again the volunteers and audience can clearly see 10 separate Aces of Diamonds. You close up this spread and give them to the woman, who also holds them in her hands, against her heart. Note that from this point on, you never touch the cards again!
After a series of by-plays and funny bits, you then declare that you have now transferred 3 cards (bits of “love”) from the man’s pile to the woman’s. To prove this, the man himself now counts the cards one at a time onto the table. There are only 7 cards. The woman is now invited to count out her cards onto the table, and incredibly there are 13! As a stunning kicker, she herself picks up the 13 cards and spreads through them, showing them to the audience. Incredibly, everyone will see that there are now 3 King of Spades mixed into her spread—they are interspersed between the 10 Aces of Diamonds! An amazing and baffling magical transposition with a fun and interactive presentation has just taken place!
If you’re going to do cards across in your program, I think this is really a great one to use. The problem with most cards across routines is two fold 1) the size of the cards 2) the need to palm. And really, problem number 2 is the reason for problem number 1: You can’t typically do cards across with jumbo cards because in most handlings, you have to palm the cards that are going across.
This version offers you a hands off cards across that is totally self working. The cards do all of the work for you. There are some really clever things going on–even more clever than you may first realize that allows the handling to be so clean. The spectators actually do all of the dirty work for you. Jason teaches his presentation that’s all about love, but that’s not really my cup of tea. Fortunately, there's nothing about the method that requires you to use that presentation, so you can use any standard presentation of cards across. The one thing to know is that the cards can’t really be examined (well actually, the Ace pile can be examined at the end, but the King pile can’t be.) The cards are well made, gimmicked well, and will last as long as you’d expect jumbo cards to last.
Kings Crossing is available for $60 here:
The Red Carpet
We are a society that is obsessed with celebrities and famous people. Their sometimes fairy-tale stories are published all over, and many of us seem drawn to these reports. Everywhere we turn there is some story about someone famous doing something! You display a large sketch book of celebrity and character illustrations drawn by your friend. No, your friend is not a stalker; just an admirer of the rich and famous! The book contains 40 different images of famous people and personalities.
An audience member is brought on stage and allowed to randomly select one of the images from the book. The spectator mentally focuses on their chosen icon. Then, while you are blindfolded by the “Red Carpet” (actually a red fabric bag that covers your head to prohibit any peeking!), you actually fail to find the name. After what appears to be a botched attempt at entertaining and mystifying the crowd with an experiment in telepathy, you whip off the hood to reveal you have now transformed into the exact likeness of the chosen celebrity. A hilarious smash climax that will bring the audience to their feet!
This is a full performance piece with a solid (practically self-working) method, and a surprising/visual reveal. It’s rare to see mentalism that is visual or surprising. So often mentalism is “Think of something,” writes something down “Is this what you were thinking of?” The visuals develop the sameness of being something written on a pad of paper and there is hardly any surprise. They expect you to read their mind…and you do.
But this offers something different. The visual is unexpected and so highly visual that even those who can’t read will instantly be able to see you’ve gotten it right. It can play for crowd of literally a thousand or more--it's THAT visual. The props are all well made and the method is a very reliable method that means you don’t have to worry about anything during the performance. I really like the look of the sketch book. It doesn't look "proppy" at all, and despite what you may suspect, it's totally ungimmicked.
I like this so much that I recently used it as my penultimate effect for a crowd of six hundred fifth graders. The final reveal (punctuated by the theme song of that character) really took it to the next level and generated a huge reaction from the crowd. It’s mentalism that plays great for all audiences no matter what age. The only thing that actually takes some practice is putting the bag on your head while secretly putting the mask on as well. It takes doing it a few times to find the way that feels comfortable without the bag slipping off and exposing anything too soon, but literally after putting it on and off 5 or 6 times, I had it down.
I think anyone could add this routine into their show regardless of the type of magic you do or the age you perform for, and that’s very rare. This is a full routine and it’s guaranteed to get big reactions. I love it.
The Red Carpet is available for $220 here:
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