Title: Ignition
Artist: Mechanic Industries
Producers: Mechanic Industries
Link: http://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=52699
Retail Price: $35
Learning Difficulty: Easy to Medium.
Length of Download: 8 Minutes
Notes: Tutorial/Instructions is/are download only.
Includes:
? Key Chain
? Medallion
? Download Link to Instructions
Street magic these days seems to be constantly moving in the direction of more visual impossibility with props and items that aren?t immediately recognizable as magician?s props. It?s sort of spawning the entire underground urban shaman movement by doing magic with things everyone is already familiar with, and isn?t necessarily a deck of playing cards. Ignition is a close up visual miracle that explores, in one possible presentation style, what happens when you magically pull the hole and chain out of your key chain, and then magically reattach it right before the spectator?s eyes! With Ignition that effect and many more become a possibility and only your imagination is limiting you to what you can use the props for.
Ignition is designed by Mechanic Industries which seem to be a startup company producing magic tricks with an industrial either steam punk or car/mechanic feel to it. It?s hard to say because their website www.Mechanicindustries.com is still under construction and just redirects you to either their YouTube page or other social media outlets like Facebook and Flicker. You may already be familiar with their custom mechanic deck which works like a flipbook when you riffle the cards. The gears on the back all turn in formation. Pretty neat little trick if you ask me. Then again I?m a sucker for nuances like that.
What you receive when you purchase Ignition is a custom made solid medallion, a key chain with a grommet at the end, and a keychain version of the Ignition medallion with the chain and grommet attached to the medallion. The medallion seems to come in either gun metal grey or brass colors. The medallion has the Mechanic Industries logo on one side and the company name written around the outer part of the other circling the outer edge of it, having said that I can say that one thing is certain. Performing magic with this prop will only serve to further advertise brand and name to other magicians wanting a slice of the close up pie you?ll be serving. This may serve to deter some magicians though who aren?t comfortable with gratuitous displays of product placement during their performances.
The medallion and keychain are well machined. The medallion, since it?s just slightly larger than a silver Morgan dollar, fits nicely in the hands and feels good. Any standard coin sleight would work well with the Ignition medallion which widens the range of magical possibilities you can do with this prop above and beyond the outlined effect at purchase. I would imagine that Mechanical Industries plans to sell medallions by themselves and probably in a half dollar size as well. If they didn?t then they are missing out on something here. The medallion is heavy, and rolls very nicely across the fingers. It also stands up well against drops on solid ground, concrete, wood, blacktop, and marble with minimal if any noticeable damage to the medallion itself
The instructional video is a download link and may differ from the link I received when I reviewed this product. The link I received sent me to a private YouTube video. That alone makes me wonder if I?m not going to be seeing thousands of tutorial / reveal videos online within weeks of this thing launching. The video was short, and gave a few ideas on what you could use Ignition for. The video felt very open ended, and to that I believe is the goal of the creators. That is to say they wanted to provide you with a product that could be used to perform a simple miracle strait out of the package, or could evolve and become more useful as you create your own magic to be done with it. If you are already a coin worker, then you may find these medallions fit well with what you currently do. If you don?t use a lot of coins in your magic, then picking up a copy of BoBo?s Modern Coin Magic along with your Ignition trick maybe the way to go.
I like the practicality of this trick because it packs small enough to go anywhere with you. You can even put it on your key chain and use it as a conversation starter that turns into a powerful visual mystery before anyone realizes you?re doing a magic trick to begin with. For walk around, or street magic settings it?s a wonderful addition because it can be visual, it is certainly flexible, it doesn?t take up a lot of pocket space, and the reset is damn near instant. It will require you to be useful with sleight of hand though? oh damn! Guess you can?t be lazy with every magic trick right? Go drag out your mirrors and video camera?s boys, you?ll want to practice this till it?s polished; and the polished effect is a pretty one too!
Pricing for Ignition is a bit steep. You get a medallion, and keychain set for only $35 bucks. By comparison the Artifact custom coins that Ellusionist puts out that are about the same size as the Ignition medallion are only $11.99 each, which is half the price. Even if you get two you?re still paying less than the price of Ignition and can do roughly the same things. If you have a drill press and a couple old key chains you can do the exact same thing. So I?m not sold on the price.
Overall I don?t think you can go wrong with picking up Ignition. Obvious branding ploy by the company aside the magic you can do with it is solid. It gives you something other than coins to do coin magic with that has an urban or industrial feel to it, and for some people that?s just all they need. If you are into the steam punk aesthetic at all, then Ignition will be a must have. I liked it!
When I give my product scores below I am measuring them on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 Being absolute the worst score possible, and 10 being the absolute best, making a score of five average. The four points that I grade upon is Product Quality, Teaching Quality, Sound & Video Quality and Overall Quality.
Product Quality: 7
Solid medallion and key chain. Takes a beating, and doesn?t scrape or ding up easy. Visual magic, and versatile. Price though, bit steep for what it is.
Teaching Quality: 6
The initial keychain link effect is taught well enough but the full potential of this product is yet to be realized and the creators leave a LOT up to individual personalization.
Video & Sound Quality: 5
It?s a YouTube video. Nothing spectacular or studio quality about it.
Overall Quality: 7
I like the product. Hate the product placement, but not enough to not use it when someone asks me if I?m a magician and will I show them a trick. It packs small, doesn?t take up a lot of pocket space, is very visual, versatile, and instantly resets. I didn?t like the price either. I thought it was too much for what you get given what?s available on the market but in the end I couldn?t think of a reason why I wouldn?t want one or recommend one to someone else. So if you?ve got the spare $35 dollars to spend on a magic trick that you will keep with you at all times, and always use, then go for it!