"Cash Card" by Jesse Feinberg
Suggested Retail USD$20.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 6 Out of 10

Jesse Feinberg's "Cash Card", is an interesting take on an older idea that, ultimately, suffers one too many glitches to be the worthwhile investment this could be.

In the best Vernonesque tradition, "Cash Card"'s effect is that of a playing card visibly and quite visually penetrating a dollar bill. At it's heart, that's certainly what it is, but there's a bit more to it than that. A dollar bill is signed and a card selected. The bill is then folded in half and the card placed within the folded bill. Both sides of the bill and card are shown, confirming that the card is trapped within the bill. Quite slowly, the card is pulled through the bill until they are completely separated.

I always liked that plot and I always loved the method. In fact, it was the first routine I ever worked on out of "The Close-Up Magic of Frank Garcia" (volume one, just to be picky). In that routine, "The New York Puzzler" by Tom Ogden, two bills go through each other in much the same manner and using much the same method as "Cash Card". Somewhere along the way, though, something must have gotten lost in the translation because "Cash Card" possesses drawbacks not evident in Ogden's creation.

Let's get the particulars out of the way.

You're supplied with a gaffed red-backed Bicycle card and it's very well made. Any dollar bill can be used, including a borrowed one if you so desire (and can find a bill in the same condition as the gaff). Sleights are minor -- a force here, a double-turnover there, nothing taxing -- and required if you want to get to the point of handing everything out for examination. And it does look very good.

Those are "Cash Card's" positive features. Regrettably, there are a number of negatives.

First, this is one of those things that you've got to be careful of performing. The heat is turned way up on things and a spectator paying too close attention will spot that something is going on. That's a recipe for disaster. While Feinberg doesn't mention it, keeping things in motion can alleviate that a bit or putting a bit of distance between you and the spectators will work. This is something you don't have to deal with when using two bills as the original does, but introducing a playing card to things and a different handling produces the problem.

Second, the ads are misleading. True enough, you can do this with any paper currency and "even your business card", but not without going to the trouble of making up the gimmicks yourself to pull those off. I know, I know.. for most people this is not even an issue, but with over-the-top ads proliferating like cockroaches, things like this deserve to have the light turned on them.

Third, this is not something you can carry in your pocket and whip out at a moment's notice, at least not out of the package. You'll have to have a deck at hand and the gaffed card ready to be put in play and that's a bit too much for something like this.

Fourth, the instructions supplied with "Cash Card" are woefully inadequate. Feinberg seems to realize that, pointing the consumer to an online demo video to get an idea of how things should look. That's all well and good if the purchaser is online, but if they're not? Well, they're now stuck trying to figure out one too many vagaries. Feinberg's instructions are usually either quite good or quite bad; the lack of real instruction here places this one in the latter category.

So where does that leave us? "Cash Card" does look good; that's a given. But for a better appearance, a cleaner handling, a more practical take on things, well, spend the money on getting your hands on the original Ogden routine and all's right with the world.

If it's instant gratification you're after, and you can put up with the short-comings, "Cash Card" might possibly make you happy.

"Cash Card" by Jesse Feinberg
In a Blink: 6 Out of 10

Practicality: 5
Reseting and setting up are non-issues; what is an issue is that you'll need a little distance between you and the spectators to perform this one well. Repeating this can be problematic since you're forcing the gaffed card. The biggest problem are the mis-leading ads: yes, you can do this with any brand of playing card or business cards, but only if you make up the gimmicks yourself (not a difficult task, but one that should be mentioned somewhere).

Workmanship: 10
Feinberg's gaff is very well made from red-backed Bicycle stock and a U.S. dollar bill. It should last quite a while with reasonable care.

Documentation: 1
Feinberg is either hit or miss with his documentation. Unfortunately, he misses here. The descriptions of the handling are vague and dismissed simply with instructions to watch the online video. You'll definitely have to do that to get an idea of Feinberg's handling.

Effect: 7
The effect is a good one and it will get reactions from spectators -- it's too visual not to -- and with a little work the effect can only improve.

Presentation: 8
It's about the visuals here and they are sharp, if a bit degraded by using a card instead of the original two-bill version. Still, it looks very good done properly and deserves a look and some playing.

Shane