If your idea of a good trick is simple, direct, easy to do, and something with strong practical motivation then you should check out "Iced Over". Show your hands empty, open a bottle of water, and pour a little in your cupped hand. Close your fist, open, and the water has apparently turned to ice. Toss it in your drink and move on to your next effect. The effect can be repeated after a quick reset.

That's not to say there aren't a few drawbacks. The suggested routine (and in my opinion, the best one) requires that you're wearing a jacket. You'll also need a little ambient noise to cover a particular moment in the routine. Then, for the sake of motivation, you'll want to be in an environment that has drinks in play. The good news is that environments with drinks in play typically have the required ambient noise cover. The instructions also have a tip on getting rid of the noise that could be useful when needed. I found this tip a little unsatisfying in practice but you might have better luck.

What you get are good looking gaffs with three pages of instructions providing six routine ideas and some handling tips. The first and main effect is described above. Other included ideas are "Ice to Candy", "Ice to Ice Sculpted Coin" (which requires a separate five dollar dealer item), "Ice to Drink", "Sleeveless Iced Over", and "Sleeveless Iced Over with Clear Glass".

The astute observer will note that two of the routines provide for a sleeveless performance. While this is a nice option to have, and I applaud the authors for stretching to include more performing conditions, I suspect that after trying the main routine you'll probably stick with it.

Overall, a solid product. If you get one of these given the above caveats I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Four stars