THE BLURB:
Asi's reputation maker is now released for the first time. A
utility device for magicians and mentalists that enables you
to secretly switch one book for another in full view of your
audience.
Effect: A spectator chooses one book from a stack of books;
then he chooses and tears out any page. The page is marked
and burned. Finally the spectator finds the page restored
and bound back in the book which he held throughout the
routine. The book may be given as a souvenir.
Includes a DVD with a live performance and in-depth
explanations. Plus bonus routines.
"Asi's performances and creations elevate the art of magic."
- David Blaine
"You should have released this in a limited edition, one for
you and one for me."
- Jon Armstrong
"No misdirection, no blackout, Switcher is the covert
utility device for any professional mentalist or literate
thief."
- Apollo Robbins
MY COMMENTS:
This is a utility device that allows you to switch books.
The routine described and taught is a magic routine. It's a
stunning routine, by the way, just not mentalism. However,
there are uses for this gimmick that a mentalist could work
out. And, of course, it's possible to switch other things
besides a book, or even use it for different purposes.
The switching device, which looks like one in a stack of
books, does not look like a normal book title, nor is it
examinable. This is not a criticism since you really don't
want them examining the books, anyway. It's merely an
observation that must be noted as I describe what you get.
The instructional DVD is quite well done, though Asi
explains the aforementioned magic trick and not any other
routines. At least you get to see the key move in action.
Besides the instructional DVD and the gimmick, you get two
copies of a very cheap paperback to use with the effect. You
must destroy one copy during each performance, but that's
only a concern if you wish to perform the included routine.
My main concern with this is the amount of space that the
switcher uses. It won't use most ordinary paperbacks,
because they are way too thick. You need books that are a
maximum of about 150 pages. That doesn't allow for a lot of
flexibility. Still, the gimmick is well-made and if you can
find a use for it, I'm sure you'll get quite a bit of
mileage from this.
