Product description : I think we’re all familiar with the pen through bill, or key through bill. It’s a famous trick which we’ve all seen once in our magician life. Push takes this famous plot, and Sultan has adapted it to a playing card which is very nice idea. The basic idea is simple, you take a bill, fold a corner of a card and push the card through the bill ! There is no simpler than that, you remove the card from the bill and you can directly hand it out for examination. Is this worth your hard earned money ? Let’s find out.
Price and where to buy it : This is sold at $24.95 and you can find it in nearly every Murphy's magic partner !
What you get : You get a very small cardboard sleeve with inside everything you need to prep the gimmick. You receive the link for a 10 minutes video which teaches you how to construct the gimmick and several ways of performing the trick. The video is done with subtitles, the music is quite annoying and too loud but you can just shut down the sound. You get some parts in order to make the gimmick, it should take you between 5 to 10 minutes making the gimmick, nothing really hard but you have to be precise if you want a good one. You should have all the stuff at home to make it. Overall, the price is quite low and the packaging small but the gimmick, once made, is very realistic. I’m honestly surprised by this, I think I was gonna hate it but it works and works well.
The pros and the cons : Here is the core of my review, let's begin with the cons, as I will usually be doing, I prefer to keep the good things for the end.
THE CONS :
As I said, you have to build your own gimmick. But this is also a good news because you can then make it out of the card you want.
You have to watch your angles, it’s not something you will do surrounded.
THE PROS :
It’s very visual, and Jordan from PCTC Productions teaches you several ways of performing the effect so you can chose which one looks the best for you.
The gimmick is very realistic, it looks like the corner is going through the bill !
You’re ending clean, there is no switch to do, you can hand out the card and even have it signed before the routine.
I think it adds something to the whole “Thing through bill” plot, because you could start with a card made out of cardboard and then going with a pen or a key to show that metal can also work. You’ll have a full routine, and with a good patter, you can fry people with it.
You can make the gimmick again once it becomes worn, out of a different design if you want.
Overall rating : I do think this is a worthy addition to the magic community, the effect is visual and you end clean. But I won’t carry it on a daily basis, 3/4 hearts
As for the difficulty level, it’s pretty easy, you should pick up the move quite quickly, 2/5 stars.
Similar products : Ignition by Magic Smith is the key through bill I’m using all the time but you also have the original pen through bill which is a good routine.