Gilligans Prediction

THE BLURB:
This effect is extremely strong and seems unbelievable when
described. Red it carefully. This is exactly what happens:

The magician shows a small corked transparent glass bottle
lying on the table. Spectators can see a rolled paper
inside the bottle, the famous message in a bottle.
the magician asks a spectator to name a card; any card.
There are no forces, no psicological gambits, nothing.

When she names the card, the bottle is uncorked and the
spectator herself takes the paper roll out of the bottle.
When the roll is unrolled by the spectator... the name of
the thought-of card is written on it! Everything can be
examined.

-- No forcing. The selection is really free. Actually,
it's not a necessarily "card" trick.
-- You may also make other predictions, with small objects,
ESP cards, characters, etc.
-- There are no switches of paper.
-- The corked bottle is permanently in sight of the
audience.
-- A new and clever method.

You receive everything you need to perform this miracle,
including the bottle, the cork, papers, a very useful tool
to roll the papers, a Video CD (.mpg) with routines and
instructions in English, printed instructions in English and
all the necessary gimmicks.

SOLD OUT AT BLACKPOOL, THE LARGEST MAGIC CONVENTION IN THE
WORLD -- FEB. 2005

MY COMMENTS:
This is a very elegant and well-made product. But first,
let's get a few things out of the way. If you watch the
video that's on several websites, you need to totally ignore
the presentation. Combining Gilligan's Island with a poker
playing theme is a pretty outlandish idea, even for
magicians. See past this and focus on the possibilities and
the beautifully made props.

Now let's get to the ad (it contains poor spelling which is
noted but not something to hold against it). It claims that
this is a "new and clever method." The principle, or basic
idea, is not new. It's the method in which it's
accomplished that's new and clever. Also, the "no switches
of paper" is semantically correct, but may be misleading as
there is a switch involved. Finally, the Video CD does NOT
include routines and instructions in English. There is a
demonstration of the routine with voice-over English (which
is the one I just referred to). The video section that
explains the effect is actually shorter than the
demonstration and is silent or, if you will, mimed.
Experienced mentalists will understand what's going on, but
everyone else will need the printed instructions for details
on the handling. Having the visuals of some of the actions
on video will help, though.

The ad mentions that there are gimmicks but I have to
mention that some of the gimmicks involve the use of a
pocket. There are two of these gimmicks involved and they
measure approximately 3" by .75" by .75". (Annemann
famously made this type of gimmick out of a matchbook.) If
you use playing cards as your prediction, then you'll need
both of them. Otherwise, you can certainly design a routine
in which only one is necessary. You'll want to consider this
if you plan out the use of your pocket space. You might even
consider designing your own gimmick, if you choose.

For an even stronger effect, consider having more than one
item written on that paper, such as a playing card, a coin
and a date (experienced magicians should know various
methods to accomplish this). Oh, with practice, it is
possible to do this surrounded. Unfortunately, this is
probably not good for walkaround because you must have the
tool handy to be able to re-roll the paper after the effect.
Although some people may be able to do it manually. Still,
as you can tell, I was very impressed with this
fairly-priced product and see some very nice potential for
this.