Price$100.00
Media TypeDVD, Prop, Gimmick(s)
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedFeb 10, 2010
The Pandora System
Black, Shane
Paper Crane Magic
(Based on 1 review)
The Pandora System is handmade and designed with the worker in mind. Each piece included in the Pandora System has been designed to make using the system as easy as possible. The routine was designed to make the effect as close to self working as possible. This effect is the stuff that dreams are made of and The Pandora System is a dream to work with.
Q&A
Is it a difficult to perform?
Nope, in fact it's real easy. If you can control a card you can use The Pandora System.
Do you have to force a card?
No you can perform the effects on the DVD with any card the spectator chooses.
Do I waste a deck every time I perform the effect?
No, the system works on old decks of cards just the same as it works with a brand new sealed deck. It's just really cool when your spectator finds the card with her signature in a sealed deck.
Do I have to wear a jacket?
No, we teach a method that uses no jacket.
Are you freaking kidding me?
No this thing is really that awesome.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Hey if your part of the crowd who thinks that wearing your had sideways and the waste of your pants is down to your knees so that we get a full view of your skid marked boxers, then you might think that trailers like this are cool. Most of us are just annoyed.
In short, the opening is way too dramatic and annoying.
To be fair, Shane Black is definitely not in the crooked-hat-boxer-showin' crowd. He has much more class than that. His DVD trailer, however did not. So how 'bout the effect itself?
The effect is solid. Forget about presentation, method or anything else, and just focus on effect, you've got a good effect for sure. The effect is this: A spectator breaks the seal on a brand new red deck. In side it, he finds his signed card from a blue deck that he's holding. That's a powerful concept. But something that powerful definitely raises some questions:
- Is it practical?
- Is it deceptive?
- How clean does it look?
- Can it be quickly/easily reset for strolling situations?
I'm sure you can come up with other questions as well. In one broad stroke, I'll attempt to answer those four questions. It's not for strolling. The methods Black shows for reset and strolling either are awkward or weaken the effect. Is the effect deceptive? Yes in the sense that the spectator is very puzzled by the appearance of their card in the new deck. However, it's not the cleanest looking effect. Even Black, the inventor of the effect, was clunky, awkward and not smooth when performing the secret move. It was quite obvious that something was going on. The simply act of removing a deck from your pocket becomes an awkward unsmooth procedure that takes way too long.
Is it practical? Well, if you overlook the aforementioned clawkwardness (I just made up that word right now), then it's practical for a stand alone set, but not for strolling. Putting aside the flaws of the method, this is the kind of effect you might do to the event planner or restaurant manager to try to land a gig. Or if you end up on TV you might do this to the host. However, there's that one big flaw: clawkward (that's the root of the word I made up a minute ago) handling.
Could the method "issues" be resolved? I think so. But I would have thought that the inventor of the effect would have a leg up in that race, so it may take a lot of effort to overcome these challenges.
On to the presentation. I really felt presentation was way to put-and-take-ish. You'll find that many adult magicians were very shy as kids and teenagers. Often, the magic helps them cope with the shyness - I lump myself into this category. The problem is that the temptation to inflate the ego with the attitude of look-what-I-can-do or I-know-something-you-don't-know or I-am-the-magican-obey-me becomes too difficult to resist. This can lead the magician to inadvertently appear arrogant or pushy. I felt that at many points in the presentation Black came across that way. Bordering on insulting his spectators and telling the what to do in a bossy sort of way.
However, in his teaching segment, he was very nice and genuine. My gut says that he's a really nice guy, but in performance for whatever reason, he gets a little bossy and slightly arrogant. Performance persona problems aside, the presentation needs more. It's meaningless -
Here sign this card. Now open this sealed deck. Now spread the cards. Look; your signed card is in here.
So!
Additionally, the effect is a bit long, boring and illogical. His "patter" and actions are all functions of the method rather than the effect. Additionally, during his presentation he'll ask questions of the spectator such as "is the card high or low." But before they even have a chance to answer he's moved right past them and on to his next question that he claims is there for misdirection. I've no doubt that Shane Black has a lot of performing experience, but I also have no doubt that he's picked up some pretty bad habits over the years of performing. They were quite prevalent in the DVD.
As for the explanation/teaching segment . . . well . . . now were back to the really bad lighting problem. The glare on the cards was bad; the close ups were blurry and the lighting was just overall dark. On top of that, Black shows us how to connect a black pocket onto the inside of a black jacket. Due to the lighting and all black nature of things, I couldn't see a thing. I had no idea what or how he hooked it up. To add insult to injury, Black makes a point of saying that we need to pay very close attention to this part (the attaching the pocket) and that we must look at exactly where he says to put it very closely. Then as he starts to show us the black on black explanation, he says that we'll figure out where to put it when you wear it . . . so which is it? Do I watch exactly where you say to put it or do I figure it out when I wear it?
I'm a fan of seeing the effect performed on a DVD, but in this case, I felt that he way overused the performance segments and that he had way too many of them. On at least one occasion (maybe two), as he claimed to be teaching us, he just performed the effect again, this time for Eric Ross rather than the street strangers.
Additionally, in a couple places during the explanation, Black claimed that he would show us how to use patter and misdirection. He did no such thing.
Black covers a couple of variations. One is a no palm method which is totally illogical. He teaches a no jacket method where the new deck of cards is in his back pocket. Part of the so-called misdirection Black uses when loading the card is this statement "I've got a new deck of cards around here somewhere." This works ok when you're sort of fishing around inside of your coat. However, when the deck is simply in your back pocket and you use a line like that while you're fidgeting around . . . it's just too obvious
At this point, you may think I don't like Shane Black or that I think he's not nice or incompetent. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I think Black is a very skilled technician. His palming skills are S.O.L.I.D. The Pandora effect is a very clever idea. He's a nice guy who is smart and creative and has a true passion for the sacred art we call magic. Does he have some bad performing habits? Yes. Who doesn't!? Are there some issues with this effect? Yes? Can they be overcome? I think so.
Forget about whether or not Black's performance of the effect was good, bad or indifferent. Everyone will have his or her own style. So in my mind, there are two big questions for the potential Pandora purchaser:
1) Can the method kinks be ironed out?
2) Is it worth $100?
I can answer #1 for you. And that answer is "probably."
I can give you my opinion of #2: "Probably Not."
For $100 you get a poor quality DVD, a decent quality cloth pocket, a few card box seal stickers, and the "OK" quality "gimmick" that is made out of a pretty flimsy material. There are many methods you could use to achieve this effect that would be as effective or even more effective for a lot less than $100 bucks.
Summary: Shane Black is a nice guy with a really good idea that has a partly-flawed method. I normally don't apologize for my final rating, but in this case, I will. I really wanted to give this one a better rating because I really liked the idea and I really liked Shane Black. However, this is not a popularity contest or an idea contest. It's a product "contest," and when you combine the high price, average quality gimmick, poor quality production with a nice guy and a good idea, I end up with an unfortunate final verdict of 2 stars and a Stone Status of Rubble. Sorry guys.