Great Gimmick but ruins a perfect trick. Free Will by Deddy Corbuzier is the perfect strolling miracle! All props are 100% normal with zero reset and no moves whatsoever. What Fair Play has tried to do is “improve” Free Will. But to my mind it is a huge step backwards. The gimmick itself is well made and works well once you get the knack, but for this effect not only is it unnecessary it makes a simple premise – the fact that no matter what the spectator does the outcome is always the same (i.e. they don’t actually have any Free Will), but it also adds some necessary reset into the mix and now relies on the props to be in your hand when you do the reveal. Worse, if anyone ever sees the same trick twice they’ll want to really examine the gimmick because it changes based on the outcome – when it is meant to be a fixed piece of paper.
After speaking to Paul Richards at some length about Free Will I know a lot of Magicians don’t get it at first (if ever), but it is not a prediction, it is about the Spectator’s ability to exercise Free Will, which is why it is important the outcome is in fact always the same. I know it took me a long time to fully grasp this. In fact I used to carry two different outcomes around! When I had that mindset I would have given this item five stars, but now that I see the light I will stick with Free Will every time. It is one of my favorite strolling items and doesn’t suffer from any of the problems that Fair Play is attempting to solve.
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