THE BLURB:
The SANDA-Panda Mystery Box is an ungimmicked 6"x 4"
cardboard box. It is always in full view and gives you the
ability to make near impossible predictions. No pre-show
work and all are ONE-MAN effects. No secret assistants or
stooges are used in any of the effects. NO FORCES of any
kind are used in any effect.
IMPOSSIBLE CARD PREDICTION: Two participants form a card to
ensure the choice is random. One chooses the suit and the
other the value with no restrictions. You take the lid off
the box - inside is a deck of cards and a folded 8" x 5"
piece of paper. The participant unfolds the paper. Written
on it is THE CARD JUST NAMED IS IN POSITION 14 FROM THE TOP.
The participant removes the deck and counts down to the 14th
card from the top. It is the same card just formed at
random. No switches or sleights used. The participant takes
out the paper and deck from the box. THE PERFORMER DOES NOT
STICK HIS HAND INSIDE THE BOX, NOR DOES HE TOUCH THE PAPER
OR DECK!
LADYLOVE: The closed box is on a table in full view. Any man
stands and is asked to tell you the first name of his wife
or girlfriend. Assume he says, "Sandy." He comes forward and
takes out a rose from inside the box. ATTACHED to the rose
is a note that reads, "Give this rose to Sandy." This is an
amazing, but romantic bit of business that is very strong
and involves no pre-show work. The magician never touches
the flower or note. Everything can be left for examination.
UNCANNY BOOK TEST: A small book is inside the closed box.
Anyone calls out a page number. Another participant comes up
and takes the book out of the box. He turns to the page
number just named, looks at the first word on the page and
reads it aloud. You instruct him to take out the folded
paper from the box and unfold it. Written on it is the word
he just read aloud. Baffling beyond words!
If the performer wishes, any of the above predictions can be
INSIDE AN ENVELOPE that is inside the box. This adds yet
another layer of mystery to the effect.
DEAL OR NO DEAL: The performer says that he took a picture
earlier of what is inside the box. In the picture is a
hundred-dollar bill wrapped around a deck of cards and one
folded playing card. The performer says he folded the card
so the person cannot see what it is. The performer offers to
play a game of chance with the participant. All the
participant has to do to win the $100.00, is to select any
card which is NOT the same as the folded card inside the
box. His odds are 51 out 52 of winning the money.
A deck of cards is spread face-up. The participant is given
a free choice of any card. NO FORCE. That card is left
face-up on the table. After some byplay, the performer
offers the participant a quarter to give up his chance.
Whether he accepts or declines, the participant (not the
performer) opens the folded card that was inside the box. It
is identical to the one he freely selected. He does not win
the $100.00. If he looks through the deck in the box, he
will find the folded card is MISSING FROM THE DECK! At no
time does the performer touch either the folded card or the
deck inside the box! There are no switches of the folded
card.
PRECOGNITIVE COLD-READING: A detailed (not vague) answer to
a question asked by the client is found inside the box. The
performer apparently wrote the answer before the person even
asked it. This will convince the skeptics you are psychic.
Takes cold-reading to a new level.
In all these effects, everything can be left for
examination. This effect comes complete with the box and
detailed directions on how to perform all these effects. The
effects possible with the SANDA-Panda box are unlimited.
MY COMMENTS:
Perhaps this should be subtitled, "5 Really Cool Effects
With an Ordinary Prop and a Classic Mentalism Gimmick." Of
course, the ordinary prop is the box, which as the blurb
admits, is totally ungimmicked. And since the blurb does
not mention the classic gimmick, I'll only provide the hint
that most mentalists should already own one, that Corinda
covered work with this gimmick in his famous book, and that
Osterlind has covered it repeatedly in his DVDs and books.
What Devin Knight has done here is to explore the use of
this box with a classic mentalism gimmick. Most of the
information that Devin is imparting is the ease of using the
gimmick with the box and the effectiveness of it.
Experienced professionals won't find any new principles
here. What they will find are some solid, practical, and
entertaining routines ready to be put into one's act. The
blurb describes all the effects discussed within the
manuscript. Mentalists who are not quite so seasoned will
definitely enjoy this and learn much from what Devin has to
say.
As you might expect, it is the 21 page, stapled 8.5" x 11"
instructions that contains the real value, but having the
right type of box included and ready for practicing and
performing is certainly a plus. In addition, if you don't
have the gimmick, there's one included in the package, too.
