EVOLUSHIN Magic Kit (Shin Lim)The ideal magic kit for beginners, packed with gimmicks and teaching from Shin LimOverviewThere's a lot of different magic kits for beginners on the market. I'm not going to pretend that I've seen them all, but they often show up in department stores or thrift shops. Typically, they follow a common formula: turn your child into an instant wizard by giving him all kinds of plastic magic props to use. In other words, give your kid a wand, sponge balls, cups and balls, and several other brightly coloured and cheap looking gimmicks, some written instructions, and hope for the best. The problem with most of these sets is three-fold: Firstly, the props look cheap and gimmicky, so that anyone who sees tricks performed with them instantly knows that it's a "trick vase", or some other gimmick that can't be handed out for examination. Secondly, while these sets often introduce kids to classic effects, in reality these kinds of tricks require a lot of practice and dedication to learn properly and perform well. Thirdly, most beginner magic sets focus on the method rather than on presentation, and if a child has to figure out how to perform and present a trick all on their own, they will often give up. On the other hand, even the simplest of tricks can be truly entertaining in the hands of a master magician. If there's one thing that professional magicians know, it's that `puzzle' doesn't make good magic, and that strong magic is all about showmanship.
Shin Lim is one of today's undisputed masters of entertainment and showmanship, and his credentials speak for themselves. He's been successful in multiple competitions and TV shows, including Penn & Teller's Fool Us, and America's Got Talent, where he was a two-time winner on both shows. But he's not just popular with the masses, but also with magicians. His appearances on shows like Fool Us and America's Got Talent helped him gain stardom with the public on the international stage, but this was really only after he'd already been recognized as a shining star in the world of magic. His first place result in the category of close-up card magic at 2015's FISM, arguably the most prestigious award in magic, speaks volumes.
As a result of his enormous success, Shin Lim has become the face of the modern magician. By combining flawless technical skill, wonderful showmanship, and genuine creativity, he has brought magic to a new level. He's also brought it to a new audience, rekindling the public's love for magic as an art-form. His brand of magic isn't like the stereotypical magician in a top hat and coat-tails, performing cheap looking tricks to a crowd of disinterested snotty-nosed kids at a birthday party. With his expertise as a piano player as part of his resume, and stirring music accompanying many of his performances, he's every inch the contemporary showman. Little wonder that as his success grew, he was subsequently in high demand with all the popular TV shows, successfully appearing with Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, The Today Show, and more.
With his visual and artistic style, Shin Lim is the perfect person to stir up the enthusiasm of a new generation for magic. And now with his
EVOLUSHIN Magic Kit, he's also the perfect person to teach budding magicians the basics. This is not your ordinary magic set, full of colourful and cheap plastic gimmicks, that turn out to be much harder to use than the box cover promises. With EVOLUSHIN you don't just get a box full of props and a booklet of small print explaining the moves. Perhaps the most valuable gift of all that comes with this set is the online video with more than two hours of instruction from Shin Lim himself. He's not just the face on the box, but he's actually the guy teaching us the magic. And it's high class, quality magic - that's nonetheless easy to learn and perform, for both children and beginners alike.
Here's the official trailer video, featuring of course the man himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjtt99b9oqY
Initial UnboxingSo what do we all get with this set? Let's start with the EVOLUSHIN Magic Kit's box, which makes an instant positive impression courtesy of its size and good looks, adorned with glossy colour images, and finished with gold foil and embossing. Billed as a "Deluxe Magic Set" on the box, the tag line on the front indicates that it "
includes a complete close-up act". Along with a few high profile endorsements, the back of the box tells us that this kit "
includes over 100 magic tricks", and promises us: "
Get ready to start performing Magic like a pro!"
The box cover is actually a large sleeve, and when removed we find inside a more traditional style of box, presented in a smooth finish in plain black. Staring back at us from the jet black lid is Shin Lim's classic monogram, lovingly presented in embossed gold foil for a very classy look, worthy of the master performer himself. The box is not quite as solid as I might have liked, so I'll probably keep it stored inside the sleeve for added protection and durability.
Below is a picture of our first look at what we get inside the box once we take off the lid. The whole package is rather lightweight, so your first impression may be one that borders on surprise. A slim 32 page booklet provides us with written instructions for 100 card tricks, and along with that the heaviest object in the box is a single deck of bridge-size playing cards. Besides that there's a few separate boxes containing individual packet tricks, and several other surprises, all with well-disguised names like "cloaking device" and "anti-gravity device", and a small number of other props. Most of these will turn out to be quite familiar props, but the unorthodox names have been used to give a more magical and mystical feel.
Although the box insert itself isn't the most sturdy I've seen, the presentation is very nice, and it has individual compartments and slots for all the components. It's immediately evident that this is a new breed of magic kit, with a lot of emphasis on cards. There's no bright blue or pink gimmicks like you typically find in a lot of other magic kits, and the amount of stuff included may even seem a little underwhelming. But let's not judge too quickly - this is Shin Lim after all.
ContentsThe first thing you'll notice is the printed book of instructions that comes with the set. It consists of 32 pages on thin paper, and while there are some small photos included, it's very much like the books that come with other magic kits. Yes there are 100 tricks included, all card tricks, but don't expect too much from this. The descriptions of the actual tricks are quite sketchy and minimal, and don't give any suggestions about patter or presentation. It's basically a separate bonus item that gives you ideas for card tricks with a regular deck of cards, and that's not what this kit is even about.
My advice is that you should simply ignore the book with written instructions entirely when starting out with this kit. Put this printed book aside or hide it under everything else in the box - you can always come back to it later. Just check the first page to grab the link and password you'll need to access the online video instructions, because that's where you get the real gold. The link will take you to a page on Murphy's Magic website, where you can download a complete video of instructions with Shin Lim as your personal teacher. You get three different sizes in which you can download the video, ranging from a lower res SD (534MB), to HD (1.4GB), to Full HD (2.6GB). Alternatively you can just stream the video directly from the Murphy's Magic site, and browse straight to each of the 20 different chapters that the video is divided into. Fifteen of these chapters each teach one new trick, each using a different gimmick that is included in the box. There's also a couple of introductory chapters briefly covering the props, two chapters each with a full routine, and a final conclusion.
Here's an overview of everything you get with the set, which I've arranged into categories:
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Card Magic: Svengali deck, Spirit Slate (Black Box), Card Box Vanish
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Packet Tricks: Prediction Effect, Devious Ace, Royal Flush, Mind Reader, Final Destination
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Other Magic: Tic Tac, Cloaking Device (Thumb Tip), Invisible Thread, Self Folding Bill, Instant Cash (Blank Paper to Bills), The Vanisher (Universal Pull), Anti-Gravity Device (Bottle Cap)
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Routines: Ambitious Card Act, Coin Act
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Video Instructions: 140 minutes with 15 tricks (one for each gimmick) plus 2 routines
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Written Instructions: 32 page booklet with 100 other card tricks for a standard deck (not provided)
It's immediately obvious that about half of the set is geared towards card tricks, while the other half consists of other material. None of the card tricks use a standard deck; instead you'll get a gaff deck, some packet tricks, and some related props. The packet tricks are given unique names, but most are just modified forms of some of the best packet tricks that will immediately be familiar to experienced magicians, like B'Wave, Ultimate Three Card Monte, and 8 Card Brainwave. Similarly In place of the regular name for some of the gimmicks, a more mysterious term is used, e.g. the classic thumb tip is called a "cloaking device".
Since the real value of this kit lies not the printed instructions, but in the video instructions that accompany the physical cards and props in the kit, let's take a look at each of the 15 gimmicks in turn, and tell you what you actually get, and what you'll learn by following Shin Lim's video tutorial for each. I've grouped the tricks into different categories in what follows, but note that the material on the video covers this in a slightly different order. In reality the sections on Tic Tac, Cloaking Device, and Invisible Thread come ahead of the packet tricks, presumably so that the first half of the video isn't entirely card tricks.
Card Magic●
Svengali deck: This is a perfect item to kick off the set and the video, because it is such an incredibly versatile gaff deck. As such it's an ideal inclusion to demonstrate what Shin Lim is looking for in his magic kit: tools, not toys. The deck you get is a bridge sized deck (perhaps to suit smaller hands) rather than the normal poker sized deck. It's not the highest quality product as far as playing cards go, even though it's printed by Cartamundi, because the cards are not embossed, and are smooth and quite thin. Shin performs a simple routine, which boils down to the spectator selecting a random card, and then cutting the deck, each time cutting to their own card. As part of the finale, every card changes to the spectator's chosen card. In the explanation he covers all the basics about setting up the deck, about handling and dribbling the deck, and then the routine itself. The explanation includes a more advanced palm for a nice colour change you can do as part of the routine, and sleights like dribble are also very useful for card magic generally.
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Spirit Slate (Black box): Shin Lim demonstrates this as a way of revealing a forced card, which in this case is done using the Svengali deck, although he also teaches the Criss Cross Force as an alternative way of accomplishing this. The presentation is that a blank paper is placed with a pencil inside the black box. After the spectator chooses a random card, the box is opened and the paper is now shown to have spirit writing on it: the name of the chosen card. This black box is an incredibly versatile tool, and Shin also mentions how you can use it to do other things, like make a card vanish, or a card appear. Proof of its versatility is how it's used for both of the two routines at the end of the video.
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Card Box Vanish: After your spectator selects a random card, you remove a prediction card you'd inserted in a deck within a card clip - and it's an exact match. You return your prediction back inside your deck inside the card clip, and suddenly make the entire deck vanish - except the predicted card. This is very visual and powerful, but one down-side is that you are limited to using the bridge sized force card (9 of Hearts) that matches the design of the Svengali deck, so you can't replace this with any card of your choice. I also found the gimmick a little finicky, and the way the box opened and closed was sometimes awkward and not as smooth as I'd like to be reliable.
Packet Tricks●
Prediction Effect (Red Envelope): This simple packet trick relies on gaff cards and has the feel of B'Wave, and is a great introduction to the idea of equivoque. Your spectator makes free choices to narrow down an entire deck to just a single card - which turns out to be the only card that is face-up inside a small packet in an envelope. As a twist, it is also the only card that has a different coloured back. The trick comes in a red envelope marked with a question mark, and you'll use this in performance, telling your spectator that you've made a prediction in advance using the four cards inside. The fact that the cards are in an envelope makes the trick more impressive, because it rules out the possibility of you having changed anything after the spectator makes their apparently `free' choices. It's not quite as clean as the classic B'Wave, and while explaining the handling even Shin Lim has to correct himself after messing up a couple of times! But I imagine Shin may have opted to go with a variation out of respect for the original, and the idea of making spectators choose between "men or women?" to help narrow down the options works very well.
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Devious Ace: This is a simplified handling of the classic Ultimate 3 Card Monte routine, using three cards that include the standard gaffs for this popular effect. I've always loved this trick, because it can pack a real punch. The handling can take some real practice in order to remember the correct sequence of moves, but the power of the trick makes it very worthwhile. Kids and beginners should consider themselves very privileged to get these cards and have this secret taught as part of this video. Using three cards that are all clubs does take away a little from the visuals of the usual presentation, where the money card is typically a red card like the Ace of Hearts, but it does simplify the handling for beginners, because there's less chance you'll flash the indices. The handling taught is also simplified to make it easier to learn.
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Royal Flush: This is a simple packet trick where you show a hand of five cards of varying values and suits, then instantly change them into a royal flush of the same suit. Shin covers all aspects of the handling well, but I'd have liked to see some more hints about the presentation here, to make it more interesting. When it's just presented as a simple change, as taught here, the cards beg to be examined - which of course you can't allow, given that virtually all of them are heavily gaffed. Even so it is a nice simple trick for a complete beginner, and can stun laymen.
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Mind Reader: This mentalism trick starts with three custom cards each with a different emoji (selected by Shin's wife Casey): a panda, a butterfly, and a puppy. No matter which card your spectator freely chooses (and it is a genuinely free choice), it turns out to be the very one you had predicted! One nice thing about this trick is how easy it is to perform, and after teaching it Shin gets Casey to perform it several times. Shin also uses it to explain the concept of "multiple outs", another important principle in magic, and he emphasizes how tremendously useful and worth exploring this principle is.
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Final Destination: This packet trick also uses fully custom cards, this time with eight cards each featuring a different wonder of the world. Your spectator makes a completely free choice of one of the eight cards. Now you show that all the other seven cards have the same coloured back, while the chosen card is the only one with a different coloured back. Old-timers will recognize this trick as a variation on Nick Trost's 8 Card Brainwave, which is an ingenious packet trick that I've always loved. A variation of the Flustration Count is well-explained (although Shin incorrectly calls it F
rustration Count throughout).
Other Magic●
Tic Tac: You make a coin vanish from your hand and pass straight into a sealed Tic Tac style box. This is a very visual trick, and the hardest part about it is the coin vanish. As part of this Shin Lim first teaches the French Drop, and then a simple Table Vanish using a lapping technique. It's relatively easy to learn and perform, and the secret behind the box is both simple and effective.
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Cloaking Device (Thumb Tip): Using a thumb tip, we get taught how to vanish a small silk handkerchief, and how to make it reappear from our spectator's clothing. The magic kit comes with a large sized thumb tip and a small sized one, and of course the red `silk' as well, albeit in a smaller size than usual. Besides the trick, there's some useful teaching here about misdirection, particularly about how you can cover a small action with a larger action.
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Invisible Thread: In the envelope labelled "Magic thread" you get some black thread, as well as some clear white fishing line that you'll use as replacement thread for the "Vanisher" utility device. For the Invisible Thread part of the tutorial, Shin Lim has another magician named Blaze demonstrate and teach a levitating bill trick, using the excellent hook-up popularized by Jon LeClair. It briefly covers how to strip the thread, do the set-up, and levitate small objects. Shin himself demonstrates how to use the same set-up to do the popular trick where you levitate a spinning card, ideally with the help of a pirouette flourish.
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Self Folding Bill: For this trick we get to use the fake "Fifty Credits" Shin Lim bill that is included. It is pre-folded (mine was actually pre-folded incorrectly), but Shin explains how to do it with real money, or with any rectangular sheet of paper. It's a very visual trick, where an open bill in your hand first folds in half all by itself, then in quarters, and then in eighths. Even when you know how it works, it looks fantastic. A big part of the explanation is about setting it up, and you'll need to supply your own clear thread to do that, since it's not provided with the kit. But you can do this with a real banknote, which makes it even more impressive.
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Instant Cash: On the video Shin calls this "Blank Notes", "Blank Bills to Full Bills", and "Nothing to Bills", which basically tells you what the effect is. You show half a dozen pieces of blank paper, and with a quick flick of the wrist, they all turn into "Shin Lim" $10 bills! The bills aren't real obviously, and are much like the fake banknote used for the self-folding bill routine. Unfortunately you can't easily substitute these with actual banknotes, which is a bit of a pity. You also can't hand out everything afterwards - at least, not all of it. But Shin does explain how to use misdirection to ditch the gimmick, and he also mentions how you can make your own gimmick with Monopoly money or with different coloured pieces of paper. Overall it's a pretty impressive visual trick to show people, without being hard to perform.
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The Vanisher: This was included by Murphy's Magic, and Shin admits that he's never really used it before personally. In the magic industry this prop is usually known as a universal pull, and is used to magically vanish any object that can fit inside the gimmick - silks, bills, spongeballs, and even coins. Shin also teaches a simplified variation where you tie down the object being vanished instead of using the whole gimmick. I've personally not used one of these gimmicks before either, but apparently it's a popular utility device - and the folks at Murphy's Magic would know, because they're one of the biggest magic wholesalers in the world. Check reviews of the Universal Pull by Vernet if you want to learn more. I really look forward to playing around with it given how simple it is to use, and how you can easily apply it to vanish a range of small objects in a very visual and magical way.
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Anti Gravity Device: This is another street magic style of trick, where you take a bottle of water, and turn it upside down ... and amazingly the water doesn't gush out, but defies gravity by remaining suspended, even when you push a toothpick up into the mouth of the bottle. The gimmick does the hard work for you, and the only hard thing about this trick is applying and removing it at the start and end of the trick, without getting caught. While easily done - although it won't fit every bottle - this needs to be done under the cover of some simple misdirection, which Shin Lim teaches. The anti-gravity bottle cap is a classic gimmick that has been around for a while, and I've previously read about a way to make your own in Diamond Jim Tyler's book
Bamboozlers Vol 2, but it's nice to actually get what you need so you can perform this straight away.
Routines●
Ambitious Card Act: Your spectator is shown an empty box which is given to them for safe-keeping, after which they select and remember a random card, which is returned to the deck. They help divide the deck into three piles and select pile of their choice, and amazingly the top card of that pile is their card. Now you deal the deck one at a time, and the card your spectator tells you to stop at is their chosen card. You then show the entire deck to be all the same card - their card - but insist this is just a pure illusion, because their chosen card isn't even in the deck (showing all the cards to be different), which you prove by showing it was in the card case all along. Now you vanish their chosen card and indeed the entire card case (using the Vanishing Card Box), and then show that their chosen card was in fact inside the box (the "Spirit Slate" Black Box) that the spectator has been holding the entire time.
Impressions: This is basically a Svengali routine which Shin Lim created specifically for this project, and combines three gimmicks. With his wife behind the camera, Shin really gets into performance mode for the first time, and runs through the whole routine in entirety first. It's a terrific routine that really shows how tricks can be made to feel like real magic when they're strung together with creativity and presented well. Having said that, in his performance Shin does use a few advanced techniques (e.g. a riffle shuffle with a Svengali deck) which he doesn't explain. He also includes a double lift, which is admittedly easier with a Svengali deck, but even so the instruction is really too brief, and doesn't cover how to turn the card over. To be fair, Shin encourages you to create your own routine rather than copy him exactly, but his routine is an excellent starting point.
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Coin Act: First you produce a magic wand (sharpie), which you wave over an empty box (the "Spirit Slate" Black Box), which then turns out to have a coin inside it. You take the coin in your hand and make it vanish, and then make it reappear. You make it vanish again, and this time make it reappear from inside the cap of the marker. Then you make the pen vanish, the coin vanish, and finally make the coin magically appear inside a Tic Tac box.
Impressions: It's immediately obvious when watching this routine that it's not going to be easy to perform, and that new techniques and sleights are used. The explanation for producing the sharpie is great, and is a fairly easy move to make. But the next moves all require significantly more sleight of hand, such as making the coin reappear in your hand, and then using a strike vanish to make it disappear. Shin admits this is "a knacky move", and says "
Practice it for two hours and you'll get this." Moves like this will quickly prove beyond most beginners, and I can't see too many kids putting in the effort to practice enough to master this. But it's certainly a great routine - at least when Shin performs it - and should be within the reach of the intermediate magician willing to practice.
Instruction BookI've already mentioned that the 32 page booklet has instructions for 100 card tricks, none of which are taught in the video. In fact they don't even explain anything contained in this magic kit, or anything about it. What's more, all the tricks in the book are for performing with a standard deck of playing cards - which you don't even get in this kit. Furthermore, in most cases the instructions for each trick consist only of a short paragraph or two, stating the bare bones of the method, and giving no tips about patter or presentation. For example, the section on palming is limited to three sentences besides some tiny photos, and the only actual instruction for the technique is a single sentence that says "
Basically you are gripping the card between the fleshy base of the thumb and the tip of your pinkie finger". Trick #87 "Funny Finger" relies on a "peek", but just says "
Bend the card slightly so you can secretly see what the card is". Trick #41 "Pulse" tells you to "
Place your key card onto the bottom of the deck" but nowhere previously in the description or in the book has it even explained what a key card is. Some of the descriptions don't even follow all the rules of English grammar properly, e.g.: "
"Without your friend knowing, get him to stand with a mirror is behind him" and "
Not only that but it's back has changed colour!" All this is typical of a kiddie's magic kit, and it's never enough to learn the actual technique.
I was a little disappointed with this, because all round what I was seeing here didn't seem to be much different than the instruction booklets I've seen in with other magic kits. Sure enough, when I looked closely at the credits at the back of this booklet, I found this: "
All magic tricks, parts, designs and original description of tricks are the Worldwide Copyright of World Magic International (WMI) A.V.V. (c) 1978. 1998. 2020." I discovered that WMI owns a lot of copyrights and trademarks for other magic kits, so I suspect that this collection of rules is just a compilation of materials from existing magic kits, and that Shin Lim hasn't even be involved in writing these or even choosing them. Admittedly there is also a reference to Shin Lim's own "Tune to Shin Lim" brand when it says "
Specialized Shin Lim tricks and designs (c) 2020 TUNE2MAGIC, Inc", but I imagine that this refers only to the 15 gimmicks that actually come in the box and the corresponding tricks on the video, and not the ones in the book.
That's not to say that there's nothing useful here in this booklet. One thing I did like is that these 100 card tricks are all quite simple, and should be well within the abilities of most kids to follow and perform. There's a lot of material crammed in these 32 pages, and although it's really too brief and sketchy in places, you will find some good ideas and novel revelations, and kids and beginners will definitely have fun trying some of these tricks. But they will sometimes find themselves frustrated by the lack of information about the techniques needed, and by the absence of suggested patter.
About a quarter of the tricks are just different ways of revealing a forced card, while others are simple self-workers you'll find on most websites, like the Jack Robbers (#42), the Black 6s and 9s (#65), or the common self-worker where piles of Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks arrange themselves by suit when dealt into four piles despite cutting multiple times (#17, #44, and #86 are all basically this same trick). Some are very dull and often won't even work, e.g. #21 tells you to take out a 7 card and tell your spectator to quickly name any number between 5 and 12 and supposedly "
people will nearly always say 7". In #19 you have to make your friend stand with a mirror behind him, so you can see the card in the mirror when he chooses it, and that's all there is to the trick. You'll also need many extras that you have to supply yourself, which range from common objects like handkerchiefs, drinking straws, and rubber bands, to less common objects like a miniature deck, a garden stick and blue tack, a plastic table fan, and even a custard pie! For some of the tricks you'll also have to cut cards and do some basic arts and crafts like taping, gluing, and even sewing.
At the start of the video Shin Lim himself says about the book that it's basically "
a little bonus thing". And following his tutorials for tricks with the 15 gimmicks, at the end of the video he says "
that was all the tricks in the set". So he himself doesn't even include the extra material that's in the book, and really you should just consider it a bonus item that you should only look at once you've studied all 15 gimmicks in the box and watched the video. Judging charitably, I wonder if the printed instruction book was merely added as an afterthought, to try to give the impression that you're getting more bang for your buck. I can understand why they've done this, because this kit won't have as much marketing power if it just says on the box that you get 15 gimmicks and are taught how to do 15 tricks with them. By adding a small book which teaches 100 card tricks but has no connection with the rest of the kit, they can say on the box that it has over 100 tricks, so that this magic set can compete with the others on the store shelf which make similar promises. Just don't expect too much from the book, even though it can be a good "next step" for kids who are looking to explore further on their own after playing around with the gimmicks and tricks that are the focus of the kit. But it certainly does show how versatile an ordinary deck of cards is, and gives an idea of the amount of different things you can do with it.
VideoThe video instructions are the main focus of this kit. The production values of the video are quite pleasing, and they have good visuals and (mostly) decent sound. The streaming video is organized into 20 chapters, so even though it's over 2 hours long, you can easily navigate to the part that you want, at least if you're streaming directly from the website. A table of contents with time stamps for locating each chapter would have been nice for those who choose to download the entire video.
For much of the video there's some very soft classical music in the background - very appropriate given that this is Shin Lim. The filming has the feel of an intimate setting, where it's just you, Shin Lim, and his wife in their home, rather than in a professional studio. Even though there are multiple camera angles, and the camera regularly zooms in at appropriate places, at one point he mentions Casey panning the camera. So I have the impression that Shin Lim did all the filming himself by setting up several cameras in his home. It doesn't look amateurish, mind you, and it's very well done. But it doesn't feel like an over-produced video by a commercial operator either. I actually like this, because it has the feel of being a private session with a master magician, rather than a highly polished and overly commercial product. Unlike some videos I've seen from other companies, where creators are constantly gushing about themselves, Shin has a somewhat understated approach, which fits his character. One positive about this is that he can't be accused of hyping the tricks, and making them sound better than what they actually are. If anything, the reverse is the case, i.e. you're likely to get stronger reactions in real life than what you might expect from watching the video!
I did notice several glitches with the editing and post-production. The performance for The Vanisher appears to have a small segment missing from the video (around 1:43:39). There's also an instance where the material taught about stripping invisible thread in 50:31 is repeated almost exactly in a reshoot from a different angle at 51:20. In addition, this section is introduced by Shin Lim as a "ring levitation", but the only thing shown levitated is a bill, and the ring levitation that is shown in the official trailer is never performed or taught. The trick published advertised as "Instant Cash" is called something else by Shin in the video, so perhaps the name was changed after the recording. With the self-folding bill, he says that "
the Shin Lim bill has the holes already pre-pinned for you" when this isn't the case (at least not with the gimmick I received), so perhaps that's another change that happened later in production. There's also a few instances where Shin says the wrong thing and corrects himself, and clearly they just opted to leave it that way rather than reshoot. For example, when setting up the self-folding bill he accidentally doesn't use enough thread and even says "
I totally messed this up, but it doesn't matter because this is just a tutorial." And at one point he mentions that he's been wrongly referring to "dribbling" cards as "riffling".
So overall the video has somewhat of a more casual feel, rather than a heavily polished product where every tiny glitch has been edited out or refilmed. But I didn't mind this at all, because it just helps Shin Lim come across as genuine and honest. Rather than the polished performer of AGT, he comes across as a very down-to-earth magician, who genuinely wants to get to our level, and help us learn how to perform magic. And while there is somewhat of a casual feel, it never feels amateurish, with multiple camera angles and other elements of production still ensuring a high quality video.
TeachingThis teaching in the video is fantastic, and it is the whole reason why this magic kit is so worthwhile. Shin Lim himself walks through each of the 15 special gimmicks that is included, demonstrating and explaining one trick for each. The format is roughly the same for each trick: First Shin Lim performs the trick for his wife Casey Kathleen. Casey is getting into magic herself, so what better way is there to teach others than by teaching her?! Even their pet dog joins them as part of the audience for one of the tricks. After the performance, Shin Lim then teaches his wife and us how to perform the trick, walking her through all the steps along the way, and giving tips and suggestions throughout the process. This format works really well, and having a genuine beginner learning the tricks along with Shin is something I've not really seen on an instructional magic video before. But it really works, and strengthens the result.
Shin Lim immediately gives the impression of being a very relaxed, and down-to-earth person, and it's nice to see him teaching magic in this way. His on-stage persona is very artistic and polished in terms of his magic, but in this tutorial video he comes across as an ordinary kind of guy who is extremely likeable and genuine, and that's also how he teaches magic. You don't feel as if you're being inducted into a strange society that involves secret handshakes or code words, by a cold, calculating, and condescending expert. Instead you're sitting down with a normal person, who just happens to be really good at magic, and who is helping you learn some of his skills. At times he does use more technical words like "patter" without explaining them, but for the most part everything should be very accessible and understandable for a beginner.
One thing that would have enhanced the video was to see Shin Lim performing all the tricks to a live audience or to real spectators. In quite a few sections of the video, his focus is on explaining the mechanics and handling, and the presentation suffers somewhat. For example, with the lovely packet trick Final Destination you learn how to do the moves, but it would have been really nice to have seen a performance which took full advantage of the custom cards and travelling theme, and really drew this out with some kind of narrative or related presentation. Showmanship is a huge part of strong card magic, and I feel an opportunity was missed here, especially with someone like Shin Lim, who is a master of good presentation. At times I really felt I was just being taught "tricks" rather than "magic", and more emphasis on the presentation would really have strengthened the material. Especially for beginners, this is an important element to learn, and I feel that it's one area where the teaching wasn't as strong as it could have been.
In the video explaining The Vanisher, Shin also admits that his performance was probably poor, because he's never even personally used this gimmick or done this trick before. It was only included because it was chosen by Murphy's Magic, so Shin isn't really to blame for that. And I appreciate them for trying to include a large range of different gimmicks and effects, even if it put Shin Lim out of his comfort zone for one or two of them. But for the most part he's very competent with everything, and does a great job of teaching.
DifficultyIn terms of the level of difficulty, there's nothing here that's genuinely difficult or outside the scope of the true beginner, except for the routines that make up the two acts at the end, where the level of difficulty definitely ramps up, especially with the Coin Act. Certainly some practice will be required for some tricks, but none of it involves difficult sleight of hand that is genuinely hard to master. In fact, virtually all the tricks taught can be performed quite easily. This is a welcome contrast with a lot of other magic kits, which include classic tricks like the cups and balls, which look easy to perform when they're done well, but in fact require an enormous amount of effort and practice. In reality tricks like that aren't well suited to beginners; whereas the ones chosen for this kit are very much ideal for kids and newbies.
In terms of sleight of hand required, there's really not much there at all. The video teaches you how to dribble a deck, do the criss-cross force, vanish a coin with the French Drop, and learn the basics of misdirection and equivoque, but that's about it. For the fundamentals of card handling and techniques like the double lift, overhand shuffle, riffle shuffle, and other standard sleights with cards and coins you'll have to go elsewhere. But I think that's a good thing, because it makes everything much more accessible for children and beginners. It makes the entry threshold very low, and ensures that this kit delivers exactly what it promises: a beginner can easily and quickly be performing what's inside.
Having said that, there are some advanced moves that are hinted at or mentioned and which aren't carefully explained. For example, during the explanation of the Svengali deck, Shin Lim briefly teaches a way to palm a card from the bottom of the deck. That's an advanced and technical move, and really you need much more explanation than what is provided on the video to learn how to do it. This really doesn't belong as part of a trick for beginners that is otherwise quite straight-forward. Admittedly he provides an alternative way of doing this, but seeing this so early in the video didn't seem to fit with the basic level that this kit is geared towards. Also the explanation of the Ambitious Card Act quickly teaches a Double Lift, which is made easier with a Svengali deck, but skips over important details like a good method for turning over the cards. The Strike Vanish that is part of the Coin Act will also prove beyond most people, and even Shin concedes it can require two hours of practice to master.
But those are rare exceptions, and in most instances the teaching doesn't at all feel rushed. Especially where there's a series of moves that need to be done in exactly the right order and with exactly the right handling (e.g. Devious Ace), Shin even takes the time to go over things more than once. So regardless of your ability, you shouldn't have any problem enjoying the magic within. Beginners will be able to follow things and perform them, while the gimmicks and tricks are good enough that even people who have been in magic for many years (myself included) will find a lot to enjoy, and won't feel that things are dumbed down too much.
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