Issue 27 - July 09
A
Journey Through Angels & Demons
Paul Sharp
17pp PDF eBook effect available from: www.trickshop.com
Price: $7.95 (approx. £5.00)
It is time once again for the cultural snobs to get on their high horses
and sneer condescendingly at the populist icon of Dan Brown, with the cinematic
release of Angels & Demons – a
pre-Da Vinci Code caper of silly but
enjoyable proportions. It is also thus a time for magicians to be inspired by
Brown’s seductive blend of ciphers, symbols and sensational secrets. Paul
Sharp has constructed an effect utilising an old principle, echoing Robert
Langdon’s desperate dash across
Available from www.trickshop.com as an instant download, and containing
all the artwork you need to print out the necessary props, A Journey Through Angels & Demons is, in short, a prediction
effect. Slightly less shortly, you are able to reveal at which Dan Brownesque
location-card your spectator will end up at, after following a sequence of clues
associated with each of the other eight themed cards that are arranged in a grid
at the outset of the effect.
Whilst the basic effect itself can be found online in self-working
effects - along with the many variants of the Princess Card Trick - the novelty
is, of course, the opportune tie-in with the movie, (though the book was first
published nearly a decade ago). The eBook is, on the whole, nicely produced,
with good quality photographs for the fronts of the cards and an
Illuminati-style ambigram appearing on the backs of the cards. There is one
horrible typo I spotted, where “itself” is spelt “it’s self.”
Unfortunately, this is part of the wording on one of the special cards that are
to be printed and used, rather than merely in the text of the instructions. Yuk.
A Journey Through Angels &
Demons is, for me, a little
unsatisfying. Yes, the spectator can pick any one of the nine cards from which
to start his journey, but the first clue card you read and eliminate will not
follow from that initial free choice, and you will proceed down exactly the same
sequence each time, irrespective of where your spectator chooses to begin his
Robert Langdon adventures.
However, this is a timely and interesting use of the matrix principle,
and I note that since receiving my review copy, the package provided is now
bigger and includes the artwork for two different sets of cards to use. (I hope
they’ve amended the “it’s self”
typo). Obviously, some table space is needed to perform this, though in
performing this you will not upset the
What’s
Hot – Up-to-date, and the
elements of secrets and symbols are a boon to the mystery-maker.
What’s Not – Lacking the
miraculous, so nobody is likely to be canonised as a result of this.
Star Rating***
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