Chain Reaction Review
Chain Reaction by Andrew Mayne
Price: $15.00
Available at: The iTricks.com store
I’ve had this DVD sitting in my laptop bag, waiting to be reviewed for a while now. Every time I would try to start, something would come up. I didn’t want to half-ass it, so I hope the review is worth the wait. Sorry to everyone who’s been waiting!
The effect of Chain Reaction is incredibly easy to describe. The performer tears the centers out of some playing cards, which instantly become linked together in a long chain. For those of you not interested in simply linking cards, a method is also shown that uses the chain as a card revelation.
Like all of Mayne’s products, the teaching is superb. He takes you through the construction of the gimmick step by step, covering any questions and problems you may have along the way. He also gives a different way to construct the gimmick that will allow it to stand up to closer spectator scrutiny. Honestly, this is the method I would prefer to use, but it is going to take more time to construct. If you’re not doing this is a close-up situation (and quite possibly even if you are) the normal gimmick will more than suffice.
Next, Mayne thoroughly teaches you the basic version of Chain Reaction, the one you’ve seen in the demo videos. Just like with the gimmick construction, he goes into deep detail to make sure you know what you’re doing. The effect is not that hard to perform, and with Mayne’s excellent teaching you’re sure to have no problems. He also teaches a clean version, where you don’t need the gimmick in your hands at the beginning, and the card revelation.
The DVD has a cool feature I haven’t seen before called Replays. (Doesn’t mean it’s new, just means I haven’t seen them.) It lets you view a slideshow with captions that highlight the important steps in performing each version of Chain Reaction. This is a great tool for when you’re just learning, or if it’s been a while and you need a refresher. (And while I’m thinking of it, the background music that plays during the replay clips and other places in the video is really catchy and I really like it. I could sit and listen to it on a loop. Is that weird?)
So what’s the downside? Frankly, there is none. If. If you’re a fan of Andrew Mayne’s effects and think you’d enjoy being able to produce a card chain, pick this up. You’ll probably be able to have the DVD watched and a gimmick made in under an hour, and from there you just keep it in your pocket until the time is right.
This is a nifty, weird little effect that I like a lot. Andrew Mayne describes it best as a newspaper tear meets the linking rings. I don’t really like giving things a numbered rating because I think that’s way too subjective. Instead, I’ll say that I highly recommend this if you even slightly think you’ll like it. Pick it up, make the gimmick, and give it a shot. I’m sure you’ll like it just as much as I do.
Andster