Product description: This is my first item from Sonny Boom, I have not heard about any other products. Crash Joker 2.0 is a routine which will play on the fact that the Joker is on a bicycle, and if you remove his bikes, he falls down. By saying that, you product a real wooden bicycle and the card has changed, the Joker is now on the floor. The idea is nice, but is the gimmick as good as it seems ? Let’s find out.
Price and where to buy it: This is sold at $29.95 and you can find it in nearly every Murphy's magic partner !
What you get: You get a really nice and thin cardboard box, with inside all the props you need. You just have to add a regular deck of cards and “construct” the gimmick with what’s provided. The explanation video is well shot with multiple production ideas for the bike. The gimmick is clever in its working but for me, it’s too clever. I think Sonny wanted to fool magician and therefore, he complicated the gimmick and made it hard to use in a regular situation. That’s my whole point with this trick, it’s clever but too gimmicked for a real world use of it. The wooden bicycle is cool and is also gaffed but I wouldn’t use his idea for the hold out, just palm it in your pocket. Overall, it’s not that expensive and it’s ingenious but I don’t see many people that will actually use it.
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, he wanted to add the pull out thing with the joker in the cellophane which is completely pointless for lay people and complicates a lot the gimmick.
Your deck of card is completely gimmicked, you can turn it, you can’t show it, it’s awful.
The hold out idea is good but I don’t think it’s the best since it adds gimmickery to the whole thing.
THE PROS:
I like the fact he played with the design of the joker to come up with a fun trick.
I think this can please children and adults alike, it’s fun, the production of the bike is unexpected !
The printed “fallen” joker is really good and I can see myself using the card and the bike but not the complicated setup on the card case. Just do a double lift, a top change or anything else, it will still have the same impact and you’ll be more free in your routine.
The gimmick, while not very usable at a gig, is clever and there actually maybe something else to do with it.
Overall rating: I think this effect is great, the method not so good, I maybe keep the bike and the custom printed joker and make my own routine, 2/4 hearts.
As for the difficulty level, the method provided is easy to do but quite hard to setup, 2/5 stars.
Similar products: I don’t know any other product which can achieve the same thing.