Title: Ocular
Artist: Alexis De La Fuente
Producers: Alakazam Magic UK
Link: Can be purchased at any of your favorite Murphy?s Magic retailers.
Retail Price: $37.05
Learning Difficulty: Easy
Length of DVD: 30 minutes
Notes: None
Features:
? Titles
? Introduction
? Live Performance
? A Closer Look
? Basic Handling
? Double Trouble
? Additional Ideas
? Goodbye
Ocular is a visual production of a playing card inside an envelope.
When I saw Ocular demo?d online I couldn?t believe my eyes. The dude just flicked the envelope, an empty envelope, and BAM! There it was, the selected playing card. It was a visual punch to the gut I tell you. I was sold immediately.
When my Ocular arrived in the mail there wasn?t much to it. It was just a cardboard square just large enough to hold a DVD. Inside the cardboard square were the instructional DVD and the gimmick. Gimmick wise there?s not much to it either. It comes in either a red bike back or blue, I opted for the red one. It?s simple to operate, and surprisingly well built. Provided you take care of it the gimmick should last you a long time. The envelope on the other hand, depending on how much you use it, will wear out before the gimmick will. The good news is that the envelope is just a pay envelope so finding another, and cutting the hole out of it should be easy. Or if you prefer go to Alakazam?s website and you can buy more envelopes specifically for Ocular from them. As for the Ocular gimmick itself it would be possible to construct another at home if you really wanted to, but there is some precession work that went into its construction so I wouldn?t recommend it.
Ocular is easy enough to figure out on your own after having watched the online demo and spending five minutes with the props but just in case you get lost the nearly 30 minute DVD is there to give you a helping hand. The DVD will teach you the handling for their suggested performance routine called ?Double Trouble? in which a spectators selected card first appears as a prediction inside the pay envelope, and then as an added kick their signed card is made to visually appear before their eyes by use of the Ocular gimmick. It?s a quick bit of magic that?s pretty damn cool. You also get a couple of other handling ideas too for producing the card from the Ocular gimmick, which honestly I prefer the alternative handling better myself. In the alternative handling you just open the empty envelope and dump a card out of it that visually appears in a snap before their eyes. If magic were real, this is what a card production would look like.
Ocular is a very nice effect to have as a walk around performer. This thing will just sit in your pocket waiting for you to devastate someone?s mind. Clean up is quick, and resetting just takes a few seconds, but you?ll have to do that out of sight. Overall I?m in love with it. I?m glad I picked it up.
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: 9
The price isn?t bad, and the gimmick is of sturdy construction.
Teaching Quality: 9
I liked the tutorial on the DVD. Some of the additional handlings are brilliant.
Video & Sound Quality: 9
No sound or video problems on my disk.
Overall Quality: 9
Why don?t you own this already? Go get one!
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