Price$35.00
Media TypeComputer CD
CategoryStage
Date AddedOct 04, 2012
Santa Appears
Kaplan, John
Abracadabra Show Productions, Inc.
(Based on 1 review)
John Kaplan has. On many occasions for the same client, which meant that it had to be done differently each time. Here you will find a half-dozen of John's favorite "appearance" illusions... proven practical, real-world methods by which you can make virtually anybody magically appear!
SIX SPELLBINDING STUNTS that'll enable you to make the "Guest of Honor" magically appear...
- in a FLASH!
- from an EMPTY SCREEN!
- via "SPECIAL DELIVERY"!
- with a "STORYBOOK" ending!
- through a startling TRANSFORMATION!
- from John's completely original and unique "TRIANGLE" Illusion!
- construction details
- complete descriptions
- photos of the actual props
NOTE: The disk is a CD ROM and requires a computer for viewing its contents.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift
John Kaplan: Santa Appears Review
One CD-ROM, one PDF, a handful of production illusion plans, $35 bucks and one Santa Appears Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
Effect/Method/Ad Copy Integrity
Making someone appear is what this is all about. It can be Santa, the CEO, guest of honor, yourself, etc. You are given the very brief descriptions of 7 different illusions for causing a person to appear. These are all very much stage illusions and will require someone handy with construction. The first six illusions include a video embedded in the PDF document so that you can see a live performance of the illusion.
Then following the video is about a page of brief instructions followed by a handful of photographs which is followed by a basic sketch on grid paper of the dimensions that are kind of quasi-blueprints. There's not much to say about the ad copy. It just tells you what the illusions are. You can get a sense of the venues by watching the video trailer.
Santa Appears Review - Product Quality
The real issue here is the product quality. First of all, it's simply a PDF file on a CD-ROM. This could have easily just been a download. Second, the embedded videos only work if you use Adobe Acrobat Reader. I don't like that software. I prefer Nitro, so it was a little annoying that I had to download software that I don't want.
Next, the video quality is pretty darn grainy. The instructions range from unclear to somewhat clear for the most part. Oddly enough, the seventh/bonus illusion did not have a video, but it was the most clear in the instructions. Some of the illusions, I'm still 100% unclear how they work even after reading the "description" and looking at the pictures and "blueprints." Some of them made sense; others did not. Further, one of the illusions only gives general information and does not give detailed "blueprints" but rather, sends you over to Paul Osbourne's site to spend $27 to figure out how to build the illusion in detail.
Santa Appears Review - Final Thoughts
This one's somewhere in the middle for me. I think that in some cases, it would be helpful to have someone who knows his/her way around the woodshop and blueprints. However, these are not overly detailed blueprints, and I think that even for someone skilled in this area, some of this stuff would be confusing.
If you're looking for a way to make Santa (or anyone) appear in a big stage illusion, you might find what you're looking for here, but if you do, it'll be vague for the most part.
Final Verdict:
2.5 Stars with a Stone Status of grubble.
Available at your favorite magic dealer.
Magic Dealers see Murphy's Magic for details