"Hallucinations" by Black's Magic
Suggested Retail USD$19.95
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 4 Out of 10

"Hallucinations", Black's Magic's update on Eddie Clever's original idea, is a good idea with a good handling but blows it with an incredibly weak gaff.

The plot of "Hallucinations" is as can be expected if you're familiar with Clever's original "Hallucination" (no "s"). An envelope is given to a spectator or placed on a table. A card is chosen from the deck and shown to four spectators by letting them peek at the card's index. When the spectator's are asked to name the card they've all seen, each names a different card. The card they peeked at is shown to be none of the named cards; it's the Joker. The envelope is opened and, inside, are the four cards the spectators named.

There's a lot to like about the theme. It plays big, it's possessed of a good amount of spectator involvement, and it's incredibly different from what we think of as "pick a card" tricks. It's gorgeous in its simplicity and packs a punch.

Unfortunately, "Hallucinations" gaff pretty much negates all those pluses.

It pains me to say that because I love Clever's idea (you can find it in "The Jinx"; it's the very first effect there) and I've been doing a flavor of it for years in the form of Harry Anderson's "Shadow Card". When I read about "Hallucinations", I had high hopes because it sounds so streamlined, so direct, that it would go into my act almost immediately.

Well, "want" in one hand... And in the other hand is "Hallucinations".

That's a bit harsh, I know. On the plus side of things, "Hallucinations" does have a good handling, a logical one, and it's presentation, though a bit long, is a good one for the effect. But the gaff sinks everything good about "Hallucinations".

You see, the gaff is made a bit -- how shall I say this? -- too well. It's so well made I almost tore it in half getting it out of the envelope. I did manage to bend it in a few different directions in the process and then played devil with it trying to straighten it out. Then, when I went through the instructions -- and what a nightmare that was -- I found the gaff made things incredibly hard to pull off if not downright impossible. Beyond all of that, I began thinking about how much care this gaff is going to take if I planned on carrying it with me and slipping it into a deck and that was that.

I was done with "Hallucinations" as shipped. I applied a little thinking, went into arts-and-crafts mode, and made the gimmick work enough for me to give this a shot. I did, it worked fine, the effect scored points with the spectators and all was right with the world.

But, as consumers, we shouldn't have to go through all of that. We shouldn't have to re-tool gimmicks because of packaging issues and design problems. We shouldn't have to pull instructions apart to put them in the right order and the correct orientation to learn the effect. As consumers, we should have our bare minimum expectations met and that doesn't happen with "Hallucinations".

Bottom line: get this if you really, really are intrigued by the effect and don't mind the work you'll have to put into this above and beyond practice and rehearsal. Otherwise, save the frustration and walk past this one.

"Hallucinations" by Black's Magic
In a Blink: 4 Out of 10

Practicality: 5
There's a small set-up (that hampers the deck a bit for other things), reseting is going to require a trip to the bathroom, and you'll have to be careful about repeating this one in some venues. The biggest problem is workability; as is, "Hallucinations" is a tough piece to do simply because of the handling requirements of the gaff.

Workmanship: 1
The gaff -- printed on Bicycle stock -- is just fine, but the other piece of this is simply horrible. The care you're going to have to take with it is insane and making it work according to the instructions is pretty much a no-go. You can get it to work, but you'll have to figure out a few things on your own.

Documentation: 2
The instructions are written well enough, but they are assembled horribly. We're talking double-sided sheets stapled every which way: backwards, upside-down... you'll need to do a little re-assembling of your own to make sense of things.

Effect: 10
"Hallucinations" does play huge, that's for sure. If you perform for small groups, this is definitely worth checking out.

Presentation: 5
The presentation is all about hypnotic suggestion... and I do mean all about it. At times it feels like you're giving a lesson on the subject instead of performing. Trim it down and you've got a great presentation that makes sense of the effect.

Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.