Product description: Magic Square is a very famous plot in magic, well, it’s mathematical idea but it has been taken by magicians and they have turned it into a magic routine. The idea is simple, somebody is writing a number between 1 and 100 down on a piece of paper, you then draw a 4 by 4 board and you fill it in with numbers. When you add the 4 numbers of the first row, it gives the number chosen by the spectator ! But it’s the same with the second row, the third and the last one ! It also works with the columns, the diagonales etc.. It has been released by many magicians but is Matt Johnson’s version is good ? 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 cardboard box, very nice packaging, with inside a clear plastic box, in order for you to carry your business cards, and it also acts as a tool in one of the routine. You get 20 to 30 gimmicks, which can be put literally anywhere and will work in any language ! They’re very well made and should last a long time so I don’t see anyone running out of gimmicks. You also get a link to watch a 1 hour explanation video which is really well made with live performances. Matt is a very good teacher and I think this is the perfect source for you to learn the magic square. But if you already do a magic square routine, this won’t be helpful.
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:
I wish they had included EVERYTHING we need to remember on the gimmick, you still have a little bit of memorization to do.
Most numbers on the square will be the same so I don’t recommend you to do it twice to the same people.
This is not for people who already have a magic square routine.
THE PROS:
Matt is a true pedagogue, I really liked learning the magic square from him. His routine is interesting because people don’t give you their number, so it reinforces the magic square.
The gimmick does most of the work for you, you have very minimal things to remember and to do. If I can do it, you can too !
The gimmick can be put anywhere, from the smallest objects to the big whiteboard you’re using on stage. This is a strength of the routine too, it can play close-up as well as on stage.
I think the most boring thing in a magic square is having to remember all the numbers, I can see myself having the “In Plain Sight” gimmicks all around on every object in my close up case.
I always have a sharpie with me so now I will always be ready to perform the magic square.
Overall rating: This is a very good release, which is for me a very good thing if you want to learn the magic square along with gimmicks which can help you, I can see myself using this, a lot ! 4/4 hearts.
As for the difficulty level, as I said, the gimmick does most of the job for you, 2/5 stars.
Similar products: Tenyo has released a Magic Square routine, Luis de Matos too but I haven’t seen them so I can’t tell what I think about it.