MAGICIAN
LEODINI (Filipino Professional Magician) source: FSM Forum March 10, 2005. 10:30AM Here are my first impressions of the Raytrix DVD. This is going to be a long read, so you had better get a bottle of Coke while I’m revving up the computer keyboard. Here are the tricks you will find on the Raytrix DVD: Not so Gaffless Hopping Halves - This one goes directly to my repertoire. The trick follows the general plot of the classic Hopping Halves, but the coins are gimmicked differently from the usual set we get from the magic dealers. I’m a firm believer of the principle “economy of motion”, so I hate extra moves that many magicians are so in love with when performing. This routine has no such extraneous, roundabout motions. All the moves are as compact as you can get. Also, no knuckle-busting sleights, thanks to the gimmick (which is a close cousin of E Pluribus Unum and Aldo Colombini’s Snappy). This routine is short and sweet. There’s nothing to ask for, especially because the gimmick can be easily made at home with very little cost. RR Signed Card in Balloon – This is chosen-card-to-impossible-location, and what could be a more impossible location to which a card can end up than inside an inflated balloon held by the spectator even before the card is chosen? Rannie credits Mark Jennest for the inspiration, but the method could possibly pre-date Mark. Barrie Richardson, in his book “A Boon for All Seasons”, wrote in 1982 about the same principle for use in a prediction effect. Anyway, the method of making a vanished object appear inside an inflated balloon is devilishly cunning---and super easy. Yet the effect is astounding. In Rannie’s routine, the only possible stumbling block for the beginners is the Mercury Fold, a sleight that is easy to learn but difficult to execute without being caught. It’s a useful sleight that needs a good dose of misdirection to get pass sharp observers. My advice to the seekers of greater magic wisdom: study this trick not only for its beauty and powerful effect, but also for the opportunity to learn misdirection and audience handling. And here’s a bonus not touted on the DVD: this trick is a portal to other, even more amazing “object-to-inflated-balloon” variations. Once you learn the principle, and using almost the same handling, you can vanish finger rings, marked bills, marked coins, and even cars ---provided the brand is “Matchbox”---and reveal them inside an inflated balloon. Coin Bend - Enough with expensive coin benders! Here’s a coin bend that doesn’t need one. Rannie offers three variations, but of course, the first method looks the most magical and natural. Look yourself in the mirror as you go through the motions, and I’m sure you will even fool yourself. Easy to learn, this is an all-terrain magic gem. Do it table hopping or on the street with very little worry, because the angle is quite forgiving. In tight situations, just keep your hands near your body, and you’ll get pass the closest scrutiny from the sides. The Godfather’s Invisible Palm – A whimsical card-to-pocket trick that you can milk for laughs. In the process of explaining to the spectators what the Godfather’s Invisible Palm is, the card ends up inside the performer’s back pocket, and then goes back into the deck and found reversed among the other cards. A crystal-clear plot that lends to many opportunities to drop laugh lines and tongue-in-cheek comments. You should enjoy performing this. If not, get a laugh doctor to check up your humor level. Overcooked - Here’s a short-and-sweet card trick without convoluted moves or belabored plot. A freely chosen card is placed faced down inside the deck, and even before the spectator can say, “What the heck”, the whole deck turns face up, except for the chosen card which remains faced down in the middle of the deck. A great opener effect that quickly establishes you as a magician. Mr. Picasso - The only card trick in the DVD that needs a gaffed card, namely, a blank one. The blank card is not introduced secretly into the performance, but rather is made the center of attention. It becomes a canvass, in which the performer, a budding Picasso of sort, draws the chosen card using a marking pen. Alas, even before the ink dries, the drawing turns into the real chosen card! This is how magic should look like. If, after doing this trick, you don’t get people kneeling before you in adoration of your magic powers, shift to other hobbies instead, like knitting or star gazing. Just kidding. But seriously now, this is an eye-candy trick. Very pleasing to the eyes, indeed. Do yourself a favor. Learn this trick, buy a supply of blank cards from Doc Ronnie and make people swoon over your magic. Raytrix - I saw the forerunner of this trick maybe about a decade ago, when Rannie first originated it. If memory serves me right, he did it using a gimmicked close-up pad. The final routine is a big leap from the original that I saw many years ago. As Rannie admitted it on the DVD, the routine went through many permutations, and happily the result is astounding. I’m glad to see the routine had been far more streamlined than the one I last saw. I should say that the Raytrix is the Cups-and-Balls of coins. It’s a symphony of sleights and movements. It’s a study in misdirection. It’s a mini-course in close-up magic. You can’t learn it in a short time (unless you are already adept with Topiting and sleeving), but the routine is within the reach of the serious students of coin work. The Raytrix is a Matrix effect using one card, wherein four coins placed in each corner of the table migrate one by one and end up under the one card in the middle of the table. Visual plot, and a strong version of a classic effect. The sleeving techniques used in the routine make the vanishes more visual, while the use of the Topit plays a consistent role to the object of the routine---namely, to end up clean! However, if one is willing to sacrifice visual clarity and the end-clean objective, one can easily dispense with the coat and Topit and perform the trick in short sleeves, using various coin sleights, dodges, and subtleties. With a little experimenting, a “coat-less” variation is not beyond an average magician’s reach. Before you play around with the routine, though, I advise you to learn it the way Rannie teaches it on the video, just to get the hang of the built-in misdirections of the routine. Once you have mastered Raytrix, all the other Matrix routines will be a breeze to learn. Bonuses – Now as if all these outstanding effects are not enough, you get one bonus trick each from Noli Aurillo (The Clever King) and Michael Calibara (Perspective). They’re both worth your while to learn and a respite from the heavier stuff on the DVD. I’m
not sure how much exactly Rannie is selling the Raytrix DVD. As soon as you
have the dough, buy it, learn the tricks on it, and build a head start over
your competition. |