Childs Play II

THE BLURB:
This new version is 100% electronic and is really baffling!
The idea is the same as in Child's Play, but you can wear
short sleeves, no sleeves, or perform completely nude, if
you desire. The "device" is extremely clever and
undetectable. You won't believe it yourself. Child's Play II
comes with everything you need to perform, including the
gimmick and detailed instructions and several other
routines. Magic Magazine March 2006 said, " Clever idea,good
product worthy of consideration, priced reasonable". Free
set of marbles when purchased direct from this web site or
by phone.   We now have a deluxe dress model available by
special order. If you e-mail or call I will be happy to
give you information as well as pictures.   The e-mail is
mrmagic@columbus.rr.com. We also recommend using "Scorpion"
by Outlaw Effects with our Child's Play products. This
effect makes a great add on to our product.   It can be
found at www.outlaw-effects.com . We are not responsible
for misuse of the "Scorpion" in performances.

MY COMMENTS:
If you see the package, you'd know that the gimmick for this
new version is part of a wristwatch. Even better, this
watch is a real working watch that you can wear. You can
put it on and take it off right in front of the spectators.
This is a significant improvement over the original Child's
Play and makes this a far superior tool for the working
mentalist. You can actually use this for many other
routines and not just the Child's Play routine. By the way,
the free set of marbles that are mentioned above allow you
to do Charles Gauci's Body Language (a version of Max
Maven's Kurotsoke). This model is definitely recommended
for those who don't mind using these types of utility props,
but, like I advised for the original Child's Play, it's not
for the novice performer. See below.

[NOTE: There is a deluxe dress model available for $365.
If you're interested in that, then contact the creators.]

Some of my comments on the original Child's Play still
apply. Here's an edited version of those comments:

"This is a souped-up version of Charles Gauci's Eye-to-Eye,
which became part of Jason Alexander's award-winning Magic
Castle act. The basic idea is that a spectator holds and
hides an object (or two) in her hands. The performer is
then able to identify which hand has what object. In
Gauci's version, magnets and hidden gimmicks are used. Some
found the placement of those hidden gimmicks to be
uncomfortable and looked for alternative methods. Child's
Play is one of those alternatives that was developed. Like
Gauci's version, strong magnets are still involved.

Another complaint with Gauci's version is that the object is
a marble and not something ordinarily found in one's pocket.
This version uses a package of Listerine breath strips. I'm
not sure I can rank this as an improvement or a drawback.
It's certainly a stylistic difference, though if one wants
to do this impromptu, it's certainly more believable to have
a Listerine packet in your packet than a child's plastic
marble.

Unfortunately, the skimpy two-page instructions do not
provide a detailed routine. It only details how to work the
props. Professional performers should have no trouble
coming up with a routine for this and making it a powerful
routine, but novice performers may not understand the
subtleties necessary to actually make this the stunning
performance piece that performers such as Jason Alexander
and Charles Gauci have done. And this is why I cannot
recommend this effect for the novice performer, but
experienced performers who are looking for a decent
alternative to Gauci's methodology may definitely want to
consider this."