Arron Jones has released a few effects over recent years, but the Magicianary Position is the first we’ve looked at and as you will see from our review we were very impressed.
We’ll get the only real downside out of the way up front. This is not a professional studio production, but was filmed last year at a UK magic convention called LADS. So the quality of the video is not the highest we have ever seen. However, at no point does this get in the way of understanding what’s going on. And because it was filmed at a magic convention, there are quite a few ‘in jokes’ which might make you chuckle!
Arron himself is a great performer – very entertaining with a ready wit – so it is a joy to watch him perform – and even the explanations were entertaining. Let’s run you through the effects.
Anniversary Salsa
This is a lovely take on the Anniversary Waltz – which doesn’t use gaff cards and all happens in the spectators’ hands. It’s a really nice routine which has a great premise (it is a different ‘plot’ to the anniversary waltz – though the climax – with the two spectators’ signatures ending up on a single card). Not difficult to do – and with plenty of built in entertainment. A real worker.
Antelope Principle
This is a technique to ‘vanish’ a coin from a small pay envelope. Could be useful if you need to vanish a coin! A couple of nice details which make this more convincing. Not a major mystery but potentially a useful weapon.
Card 2 Pocket
Does what it says on the tin. This is a move which helps you load a card into a spectator’s pocket. There are a few details on the psychology provided, but the routine itself is a bit ‘vanilla’ – you might want to incorporate this into a longer routine.
OXO
Based on an idea by Martin Gardner, this effect starts with a prediction of the outcome of a game of Tic Tac Toe (Noughts and Crosses). Arron has added a few extra elements and subtleties to improve the routine, and it now finishes with the revelation of a serial number on a banknote. Whether or not you perform this routine (and it is quite easy to do – so you probably should!) you need to watch this just to enjoy Arron’s interaction with his spectator who manages to make a complete mess of things first time round!
Tworn
Routines that enable you to give away your business card are always useful – and when that business card is an impossible souvenir you can guarantee they will take it with them. And that is exactly the premise of Tworn. The spectator chooses a business card and signs it – you then tear off the corner and restore the card with the corner the wrong way round! Easy to do – powerful effect – and a souvenir with your contact details. I love this and am definitely keen to make it up.
The DVD only runs to one and a quarter hours, but in addition to the effects described Arron shares some of his thinking about the purpose of a magician and therefore the reason he structures his magic as he does. It is definitely worth listening to this advice from a working pro – and remembering that magicians see things differently from normal people!
The stand out effects on here are Tworn and Anniversary Salsa – both so practical and powerful – that (though I hate the phrase) they are worth the price of the release. They also make me want to check out his other recent release with Tom Wright – Completely Mental.
The Magicianary Position is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £27.99 (at the time of writing).
Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.
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