Plastique by Larry Becker, Lee Earle

The sub-title for Plastique could not be more accurate: An Explosion of Entertainment Possibilities!. Embodied within these cards are many subtle codes and systems that the mind boggles how Larry Becker and Lee Earle could have come up with so many ideas. Well if you are familiar with their previous output it won’t surprise you at all. These guys are geniuses, and this little collection shows that very clearly.

The package comes with 11 “gimmicked” credit cards, but you would never know. They are amazingly subtle until you know how. The instruction details 5 routines that are wonderful. Some can be combined to bring your audience to a fever pitch. Wherever possible they have incorporated the memory work into the cards themselves, so you have to learn very little to perform any of the effects.

There are no switches or sleights (well one routine has a tiny move, but sleight is too big a name for it!). The other great thing about these cards is because they have so many features built into them creating new routines from them becomes something that is very possible and exciting. These cards are simply frothing with potential!

They are very high quality cards, and easily pass for real cards. You’ve just got to love these guys’ minds!

Effect: From the fertile minds of Larry Becker and Lee Earle comes an unbelievable mental experience that is contemporary, clever and classy. Plastique is the perfect choice for every close-up magician, mind reading act or platform mentalist!

It sounds good so far. But is Plastique versatile? You bet! The cards are commercial quality, very colorful and totally different on the front side. These have been designed with multiple principles to handle the wise guys. There’s not enough room to list all the details, but start with that fact that Plastique resets instantly, is fully examinable and is repeatable also.

With Plastique you can . . .

• Predict the grand total of a dozen digits chosen at random by several people!
• Discover the false signature of a participant “guilty of identity theft” – blindfolded!
• Confound the audience’s senses with an amazing coincidence as a finale after the participants call the shots all the way!
• Baffle their brains out when a participant adds up his choice of four digits from any card (you don’t even know which one), yet you open your hand to show that exact amount of pocket change! Think about it . The sum of his four digits exactly matches the amount of pocket change you are holding in your hand!

Well, there you have it – professional material for a professional performance. I know. What you’ve just read seems hard to believe. But, it’s all true! Larry Becker and Lee Earle are nothing short of genius! I’m serious when I tell you that Plastique is a sure fire reputation maker.

You receive ten full color commercial quality credit cards and detailed instructions for these easy to master miracles. Plastique actually does pack flat and play big. You won’t be disappointed!

Plastique uses 11 specially manufactured credit cards. Actually, only ten cards are visible to the spectators. The eleventh card is used as a cue card. The plastic cards are credit card size, but they are designed as phone cards, medical cards, frequent flier cards, etc.

With these cards you can do a variety of mental tests, including a number prediction along the lines of Randomental or Jack London’s Almost Real Prediction, a coincidence effect using coins, a variation of Pseudo Psychometry, a routine based on Becker’s Will the Cards Match, and a clairvoyance effect in which the performer locates the card that has been signed by the spectator. As with Double Vision, there are a lot of different principles built into Plastique. The cards are professionally made and they look genuine. None of the routines explained are particularly difficult.

I see this trick as being in the realm of mental-magic rather than pure mentalism. It simply feels too prop oriented. However, the cards themselves would be easy to carry around, and you would be set to do some impressive tricks on the spur of the moment. I’m completely impressed by this trick. It is not inexpensive, but the quality is first-rate, and the ingenuity involved is remarkable. If the effects appeal, I don’t see that you can go wrong.

(Michael Close – Magic Magazine, 2004)
Text Source: michaelclose.com – click for details

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