This new gimmick has arrived in our headquarters. Well, I write reviews only rarely, but will do on this one. At least, this is a 70 € investment. First, take a look at the trailer:
Basically, this is an index system concealed in a card case. The holder for the billets is made out of metal and VERY well made. The idea is to have an open index with 48 outs. More than enough to produce an impressive feat of mind reading!
Obviously, the billets have to be VERY small, in order to fit into the slots of the index. The folding has to be precise, otherwise they don’t fit. It took me almost 2 hours to get them folded. Once done, they fit tightly, for me even too tightly, because removing them needs some force.
The whole concept and idea is nice and surely there are people out there who can and will use it – not me, simply because my fingers are too thick! The concept Rodrigo offers for orientation is very well thought out and surely works. The point is that the whole index is small, therefore everything has to be tiny. You really need thin and sensitive fingers to get the proper slip of paper. Under fire in real live performance, this could be a challenge.
Also, better to have some experience in Origami paper folding. You will need the preciseness to prepare the billets.
Rodrigo shows on the accompanying video all the preparations, moves, switches and some routines and applications. Very well done and nice. Done in close-up environment, possibly in the context of a one-ahead 3 billet routine, this can be nice. There won’t be a force on the third one. Comes in very handy.
In these close-up conditions, I don’t mind the smallness of the billets. I would have preferred, if the index were capable of taking the regular small sized post-it notes (2″ by 2″), because these look natural to me and I would carry these with me. But they don’t fit into the index …
So, there is nothing wrong with this, except I cannot use because of my finger size (I have normal hands).
Amusing and annoying
In the green cafe there are already long threads on this, and this is the reason I posted this review. Again, we the dealer’s language and the ads are misleading. It is showcased as if it were something more or less revolutionary, enabling you to predict any country called for, etc. Well, it can be done, but then, you’ll have 48 possibilities, which is enough, actually. Some guys on the forum thought they could predict anything and shine like the new mind reading stars. Not so! And again the endless discussions started. And always that stupid question whether this can be done „walk around“ or table-hopping. When do these morons learn that not all effects can be done anywhere, anytime?
This is it: a (very well constructed) index with 48 possibilities, cleverly concealed in a card case. It is difficult to handle, if you don’t have thin fingers. If you haven’t read the basics of mentalism literature, then do this first and then go for an index system. Otherwise, you are lost on the concept, the presentation and the construction of a routine with it. Do your homework first!
Personally, I will stick with my time proven, reliable and home made index system, which I described in detail in my BURNERS book. It is an open index, the billets are bigger and – most important – when taking the billet, I actually SEE it.
It could be „updated“ to 48 possibilities as well, although I don’t need that. On the front of the cardboard, there is the picture of a „psychodelic spiral“, which the spectators gazes at to „free his mind and get the brain waves going“ (or other mentalism blahblah). So I can take the billet in full view (the spectators cannot see me gazing at the index, because the board shields it). For me, much more practical and trouble free …
