Magic For The Shortsighted by Pipo Villanueva review

Much to my chagrin, I had not heard of this release or even of Pipo Villanueva until a good friend and member of my magical inner circle suggested I check it out. I’m happy that the request was made as without it I would have missed out on some nice magic and a great creator..

What is Magic For The Shortsighted?

It’s a download and/or DVD that contains some great routines by Pipo Villanueva, with a detailed explanation of each and a section on theory to round things off at the end. With a runtime of two hours and forty minutes, you’ll certainly get your monies worth.

Coins to the Mug:

This is a coins through table effect using a clear glass/mug. I really like this one, it’s ideal for impromptu bar performances and will work great with a half-pint glass with a handle. I tested it with one I happened to have one in my cupboard (Yea, I have no idea why I own a HALF-pint glass either). Many pubs will have these and let you borrow one if you ask. You could use something else if push came to shove, but these glasses really are ideal.

The Quantum Monkey:

A card is selected, three cards removed, a money is drawn on another card which is added to the three packet, the drawing duplicates itself on to all cards, then vanishes from all but the chosen card. It makes much more sense in performance than it does trying to explain what happens. It’s a reworking of a David Acer effect which you may or may not know, but Pipo has made it his own. I’m not really a fan of this one, but I’m sure many will love it and consider it the stand out effect of the set. It’s great for table hopping as it resets ready to go again, or can be used to set up another trick to follow where you need certain cards in place.

The Atomic Coin:

Nice little wild coin effect where the ‘Atomic Coin’ turns into other coins one by one with a really nice kicker ending. If you like transforming coin effects, or want to add one to your set, this may be the ideal quick routine for you.

Cutting 3 Aces:

One spec selects a random card that is left face down on the table, the other spec cuts the remaining cards into three piles. It turns out the top card of each pile is an ace and the original selected card is the fourth. I’m not usually a big fan of ace cutting assembly routines, but may well add this to something I already do. It’s also ideal for practicing a sleight you may be struggling with in a reasonably safe manor.

Reset 180°:

Transformation of each of a set of four of the same to another four of the same then back again. This can be used as it’s own thing but will also work as a great follow up to the preceding Cutting 3 Aces effect.

MiniCup & Balls:

Nice little routine with invisible balls becoming visible and magically moving about and transforming.

A Little Bit of Theory:

Although there are nuggets of theory dropped throughout the above explanations, this section allows Pipo to go a little deeper. I know many of you will want to skip this section, but I beseech you not to. There is some great stuff here, and not just for these effects, but all your magic.

Overall:

The crediting and history of each effect is great. I wish more people would follow Pipo’s example when releasing stuff.

English is not Mr Villanueva’s first language, but yet he is very clear in his verbal delivery and teaching. Better than many native English speakers who release stuff. The instruction is well paced and reasonably easy to follow. Moves are shown at a gentle pace and the MiniCup & Balls routine is first taught as a shorter routine to make it easier to follow. 

Most of the explanations are well taught, but some bits will require multiple viewings to get exactly what he means. In some places there is a little too much explanation, but as it’s better to have too much than too little, this can easily be forgiven.

In one of the effects, he needs to keep things pointing in the same direction. To allow him to do this, he has an indicator pointing in the opposite direction. This is a rather odd choice, as the indicator does nothing other than let the magician know the direction of other cards. It’s not really an issue, but it amused me, so I thought I’d mention it.

Conclusion:

I like this release a lot. There are some things I probably will perform, others I probably won’t, and some I may or may not, depending on my mood or what is requested of me. There is enough variety in the effects to make it of interest to most performing magicians, well worth picking up.