I saw this today in a CVS for 30 bucks and thought it might be a good buy for me (I like to do simple magic tricks, such as those that don’t require much sleight of hand), but the box didn’t really tell me a lot.
So I thought I’d ask here: do you have the kit and how do you like it?
Thanks
Q
I wish I could help you but I’m hopeless with magic. I remember when I was a kid I saved up to get those Marshall Brodien Magic Cards. (Brodein played Wizzo on Chicago’s Bozo’s Circus)
I never could do one trick with them despite the directions :smack:
Magic kits are just props. Magic is in the perfomance, and can be done with any items you find around, or specialized props rarely found in these kits. If you’re really interested, find a magic store where someone can demonstrate the trick, and explain the art.
Just to let you know - the Cris Angel show here in Las Vegas has been savagely reviewed, with almost everyone agreeing the dude is anything BUT a magician. Hopefully his kit is better, but just do a quick search on Google to see how many people really, really hate his show in Vegas.
Judging from the commercial and the “tricks” laid out/included. It seems to be all of the classics of the old fashioned TV magic kits of my youth just rebranded with Kriss Angel’s likeness and fromage du mode. So, if you remeber those and don’t expect too much, then knock yourself out, and I know the standard Five and Dime and TV magic kits have been around since at least the 60’s … just updated/promoted by different magicians (The first one I had was hawked by Marshall Brodien). Juding from the demonstarted tricks and the layout I noticed Angel’s kit probably/maybe has a Vernet thumb, some classic spongeballs, and a svengali deck… so that right there is a solid basic, and classic magic kit, and actually a bit better than the classic TV magic kits I grew up with. Although, those require some practice outside of the svengali deck… so they do not satisfy the simple requirement.
Oh, there is also apparently some invisible thread in the kit as well (whether that comes with a retractor, I don’t know?). Man, he’s selling all of the classics of my old bar act at wholesale… oh well, it’s going to be almost impossible for any magician to do levitations anymore with out some wisecrack stickin’ his hand in.
Actually, after finding a site to view the full contents of the Kriss Angel Platinum Magic Kit, which didn’t lock up my computer, I conclude it is an excellent kit for 30 bucks… it has some of the old TV magic kit standards but it also has some excellent “newish” illusions. A couple of those illusions and secrets in there would cost you around 30$ or more by themselves at a magic shop. It has some very simple tricks and some more advanced, but overall it is a better deal than the Marshall Brodien magic kit I got as a kid. As a magician though it is certainly going to oversaturate the market and the bar is going to be set a bit higher, but that might be a good thing.
Oh, I was mistaken about the vernet, it seems it contains a silk loader. I kinda like his update of the old TV magic kits because of this- It teaches you how to vanish a silk, sponge ball magic, and some simple card magic, which were exactly the three fundamentals that my first “magic mentor” and teacher started me out on, The basic fundamentals- he supplied me with the sleights and knowledge through those three tricks… of course I had the advantage of him being there in person, but even this kit does have a video to teach levitation. It’s sorta “half cheap-half good”, a split between TV magic and something better, a big factor in a lot of these kits are the magic books or instructions… some descriptions are excellent and illustrative and informative, others aren’t worth a damn. I’d like to see Angel’s magic book to really pronounce judgement as a whole.