Paradox Cube by Crazy Sam

Coming in hot today is this brand new Rubiks Cube routine where the spectator solves the cube in their own hands. It fooled several notable names at Blackpool, and is already causing a stir in the magic community.

The basic routine is that you give a spectator a Rubik's cube to mix under the table, behind their back, or under a handkerchief. The performer also mixes a cube. The performer instantly solves their cube, and without the performer ever touching the cube or switching anything, the cube in the spectator's hand is also solved. There are other things you can do with it as I'll discuss below.

First off, the tutorial is in Chinese with english subtitles. It is not an issue at all for me personally, but if you care about those things, then it's good to know. It's also about 40 minutes long.

It comes with a normal RD Cube, a gimmicked RD Cube, and a handkerchief. The cube is gimmicked in a very simple and clever way; as soon as I saw the basic method, I couldn't help but laugh. I can see how this would be VERY fooling if you were holding the cube in your hand and doing the mixing yourself. The cube is not gimmicked in any mechanical way, so it doesn't affect how it feels to the spectator at all. It's not like it's held together with rubberbands or electronics. They're not going to feel the cube turning by itself in their hand or anything. There's also no angle issues. It can be viewed 360 degrees. (Well, only if you're using the handkerchief or table for cover. You wouldn't want anyone behind someone who's doing the behind the back mixing.) You just can't let the spectator examine the cube or they could potentially find the secret. But truthfully, this method never would have crossed my mind, so I don't think anyone would find the secret if handled as shown in the video.

Right off the bat, I have to say the spectator doesn't get to mix the cube however they want. The performer guides them through the mixing procedure. I know that doens't sound very good, but the spectator does get complete freedom over which side they mix and they never have to tell the performer which side they are mixing. The "stipulation" is that the spectator only mixes one side at a time. I don't want to say too much, but the spectator can choose any side to turn in any direction, and they can mix it for as long as they want. The only other stipulation is how many times they can turn each side. But it's nothing for the performer or spectator to keep track of, and once the spectator understands the instructions, they are allowed to "mix freely" following the stipulations. And just to be clear, if they followed this procedure with a normal cube, it would trully be mixed. But with the gimmicked cube, you essentially get a cube that can't be mixed.

We do get three different routines included. Each one includes a studio performance, live reactions of the specific routines from Blackpool, and the explanation.

The first routine is Do as I Do, which is the routine outlined above. Sam does teach the super visual Akira solve later in the tutorial. It's got a clever mixing procedure that allows you to "mix" your cube in the same way as the spectator without actually mixing your cube.

The second routine is Double Miracle. One cube is handed to a spectator to mix behind their back. It is removed and clearly seen in its mixed state as they are given another cube to also mix behind their back. They keep the second cube behind their back in one hand, and the other mixed cube is given back to them behind their back. When they bring both cubes forward, they see both cubes are now solved. I think this one is really clever because it builds in a convincer that the cube is in a mixed state before it solves itself and having two cubes (one gimmicked and one normal) takes some heat off of the gimmicked one.

The last routine is Surprise Paradox. This is a clever way of using this procedure as a switch to create a cube matching effect. It's essentially the same method from Double Miracle, but in the middle of the routine, you show that the first cube they mixed matches your prediction. I think it's clever as well.

At the end of the video Sam teaches The Akira Solve which is used in the first routine, and he teaches the One Handed Stack which is used in the other two routines. He also discusses how to fix the cube if it accidentally gets mixed up (spoiler alert: take it apart and put it back together.)

There's also a quick bonus idea to do a matching routine. This doesn't work with the Paradox cube as is, but the idea is to modify two cubes to turn them into a mixed version of the paradox cube. So the paradox cube is a solved cube that can't be mixed. This idea is to make a mixed cube that can't be mixed. This means that despite the spectator really "mixing" up a cube, it will always be in the pattern that you've predetermined. I think this has great potential. As I watched the earlier parts of the tutorial, this idea was already in my head, so I'm glad they covered it here as well. In truth, I think this may actually be the best use of it and I think they've hidden it away at the end hoping no one sees it or thinks much of it. Imagine a cube matching routine where you hand two cubes out to two audience members, and they each genuinely mix the cubes behind their backs. Without the performer ever going near the people or the cubes, they take both cubes out from behind their backs, and both of the cubes match. That's kind of holy grail type stuff. As I said, this would involve you making up some gimmicks on your own, but I could really see someone getting a lot of mileage out of that. This would also have the advantage of the fact that it would be MUCH more difficult to discover the secret with these mixed up cubes. Smart stuff.

That pretty much covers it! The tutorial does end with a quick discussion from Sam and Henry where they basically say you should have a back up plan because the spectator shouldn't mix up the cube, but if they don't follow directions, or they accidentally mess up, there's a very small potential that they could actually mix the cube. I think this is valid and it's always good practice to have a back up plan.

Overall, I think it's a smart and simple trick. It's great for the price, and if you think you have a use for a cube that can't be mixed up, this is a really clever way to do that.