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jhoff New user 16 Posts |
Review of Wunderkind by Andreas Dante: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/11705
I promised in another Café thread (topic=691539) that I would write a review. Here it is: In summary: Underpromised, overdelivered! Easy and versatile. Audience: Hobby mentalists & occasional performers. Not a trick to impress Peter Turner and the likes. Effect summary: You ask your spec to create a random number on her phone calculator and to pick a random digit from that random number as her secret digit. Your spec then names all the other digits in random order. You show everyone that those digits give no hint about her chosen digit and immediately go into the revelation: Ask your spec to count up in her mind while you look into her eyes or feel her pulse and check for reactions. Then, while she thinks of her secret digit, you reveal it! He also shows alternative revelations using the magic square and a card revelation. Effect history: The theory behind the trick apparently dates back 300 years. I have seen the effect once or twice in the community. Wunderkind's unique selling point is that you can now perform the effect without doing any maths. He also included solutions when your spec tries to fool you and just multiplies the same digit, such as: 8x8x8..x8 Pros: - Extremely easy (no maths required), yet great reactions - Specs can follow the plot easily - You don't have the usual limitations: angles, no repetition, setup time, ... - Works for street and stage - You get really a lot of extras for the price (magic square, card revelation, ...) Cons: - You can't fool seasoned mentalists with this one - You need to find a spectator that carries a smart phone OR any type of calculator. - You can repeat it twice or three times to the same audience but then the amazement wears off. Conclusion: - A real worker - Great value What do others think? (Snippets from recent Penguin reviews): "Worth far more", "This is TV show level for one person or a group.", "You get so much more than you expected", "If I could give it 10 stars, I would!", "This is a bargain", ... Have you used it? What do you think? |
LenaTom New user 9 Posts |
Thanks for this really good review!!!! It tells everything about this trick!
I used it and I like it very much!! As I just mentioned in another thread: The explanation video is well done and understandable. I like it very much, it is repeatable, self working and you do not need a setup! For at the moment less than 10.-$ you get a great mentalism effect. It is really near "Think of any number" ... depends how you present it! I think the sticking point is the presentation. How do I motivate a calculator to be brought out and multiplications to be performed? So, how do I bring it over well that the chosen digit is selected through this process? It is right that you cannot fool a seasoned mentalist. But for a layman it is good! ... and usually we do magic for laymen. ;-) |
jhoff New user 16 Posts |
@LenaTom:
You are welcome! Thanks for adding your views, which I share. Actually, in the mean time I managed to fool quite a lot of people with it and I even tried it on people who are experts in mathematics. It always went well! And I cannot say this for a larger number of other tricks that I own. I feel it doesn't need much motivation to let them take out their phone and open their calculator. For me it simply starts with: Do you have a phone on you? Does it have a calculator? Both times I get a yes. And then I give them a feeling of control by allowing them to enter THEIR choice of numbers into THEIR phone calculator to create a random number that cannot be influenced by me. You could even start as Andreas explains: First ask them to quickly think of any number between 1 and 10 and then explain to them that most people will automatically pick the number seven because we are psychologically influenced in that situation. Then you simply say that multiplications of random digits on their calculator produce unpredictable numbers and they are fully with you. Hope this helps. And hope you have as much fun with it as I have... |
Slim King Eternal Order Orlando 18012 Posts |
I performed this on the radio about 15 years ago. I've included it in several releases. I spoke with Martin Gardner about it before the release. It's in one or two of his books.
THE MAN THE SKEPTICS REFUSE TO TEST FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS.. The Worlds Foremost Authority on Houdini's Life after Death.....
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jhoff New user 16 Posts |
@Slim King: Great that you agree about the strength of the effect. It's a classic effect with a completely new method.
Andreas' method finally allows EVERYONE and not just pros to perform the effect. Because Wunderkind cuts out the heavy burdon for the performer. Did you perform Wunderkind's method 15 years ago? I'm afraid it's IMPOSSIBLE! When you see the way Wunderkind works you will know why. Therefore, I'm 100% sure that this method was not in Marin Gardners books. |
rowdymagi5 Inner circle Virginia 3613 Posts |
Quote:
On May 7, 2019, Slim King wrote: I learned this from one of your earlier dvd's. The little nuances you use makes this a killer effect. Wunderkind is different in that it uses an app. Slim King did this over the phone. Super cool! |
Hushai Elite user St. Louis, Missouri, USA 459 Posts |
I don't understand from the video how you use the magic square that shows up on your calculator. Do you just show it to the spectator? Or do you somehow copy it quickly to a card and show it to her that way? If you show it on the calculator you're admitting that the app does the whole thing for you. Same with displaying the playing card on the calculator screen. ? ? ?
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jhoff New user 16 Posts |
@Hushai: I guess it depends on your audience: Some audiences just enjoy the show and don't try to connect the dots when they see a magical miracle, others drill down until they know the secret. E.g. the latter group are people to whom you can't show gimmicked card tricks because they will always want to check the cards afterwards...
Regarding Wunderkind, when I am with easy audiences and I show them the magic square I simply say: "Look what I found on the Internet". With the playing card I just pretend to open another app where I selected the card. With difficult audiences I might not do the magic square at all as they know the concept of the magic square anyway. Regarding the revelation of a playing card I briefly look at the playing card shown on Wunderkind, close Wunderkind and open the iPhone calculator. That way all traces are wiped out. Then I put my phone aside and draw the playing card on a napkin or use sugar to draw it on the table (out of sight of my spectator). Then I ask my spec to name his card and look at what I have written on the table. That always hits hard! |
Hushai Elite user St. Louis, Missouri, USA 459 Posts |
Thanks, jhoff.
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gibby357 Veteran user The Woodlands, TX 344 Posts |
This effect is strong strong strong strong. Old principle brought to the masses in an easy to use app that does all the work for you. I had a person reboot their phone because they thought I somehow influenced the phone, LOL! Just a note but I do not use any of the other stuff like the square and card display. I feel it calls too much attention to my phone. But the initial effect of getting that number from them is killer. I love travel effects so I use this to get an amount of spending money for the trip. If you manage the person properly, you will leave a big impression on them with this.
Leo |
thekillingjoke33 New user 50 Posts |
I showed it some very clever people and nobody had a clue. The only downside is that I had some misunderstandings with the very last step after the spectator choosed his number, but possible its rather my scripting which arises that problem!
I really like the effect! |
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