Double Take by Jason Knowles is a gimmick that allows you to do a triple transposition with money, a chosen card and an indifferent card all in one. The following is the ad-copy for the product:
“The spectator selects a card and puts it back in the deck wherever they want. The magician tries to find the card, but pulls out an indifferent card that the spectator confirms is wrong. The magician pulls out his wallet and offers to raise the stakes. He shows a bill in his wallet and asks the spectator to hold onto it. If the magician cannot find the card, the spectator gets to keep the bill. The magician places the indifferent card under his foot. The magician continues to try and find the card until they reach a startling conclusion… The selection has vanished from the deck! The magician opens his wallet and the spectator reaches inside to pull out the bill — but instead lies their selection! The magician steps back and now the bill is under his foot. The magician then spreads through the deck again and the indifferent card is reversed in the middle.”
With your purchase ($29.95) you get a link to a streaming, but not downloadable, 57 minute instructional video, some materials to create one gimmick (which takes quite a bit of time) and something to create a second gimmick (which takes a minute to make). You also get a 2 page PDF that helps you construct the gimmick with many different currencies. At the time of purchase, you need to specify which currency you want to use for the second gimmick.
The instructional video starts off with Knowles introducing the product and then crediting effects similar to Double Take. Then, Knowles dives directly into making of the gimmick, which is almost 30 minute long. Knowles walks you through the gimmick making construction and it is easy to follow along as the instruction is clear. The first and most important gimmick (I think you can perform this trick without the second gimmick) take at least 30 minutes to make and can take some people even longer. I am critical of the placement of this section because Knowles should have started off with a performance of the effect and then an explanation of the trick. The gimmick making segment should have been at the end of the instructional video, in my opinion, especially since that segment is so long. While there is a studio performance of the three different routines, there are no live performances, except one that only appears in the promotional video.
Unfortunately, making this gimmick will require you to commit $10 of additional real cash money to create the gimmick. This essentially makes the price of the trick $40 – which in my opinion is a bit expensive. I would have been much happier if I did not have to create this gimmick and the price tag would have been easier to swallow if you could get going out of the box. The construction here will require you to have a razor, different types of glue and some basic arts and crafts supplies.
The routine itself is good for strolling or close-up situations with some caveats; it can’t be performed in a extremely quiet environment or your spectators will hear something. The lighting also shouldn’t be too bright, especially if your gimmick has been used a bit, because your spectators may see some suspicious wear marks. Knowles addresses that in the video however in a satisfactory way.
After the bill appears beneath your feet, you cannot hand it out and you cannot let it be too closely visually inspected. This is a negative for me. The routine requires the performer to place the cards in his back pocket and remove them a second later which is something I wish could be avoided. There is also a move when displaying the cards in the deck to find the chosen card that although easy to do, I think that many spectators may have questions after seeing it.
There are no angles to worry about and the reset is very quick, but you need to turn your back or be out of sight for a fraction of a second.
There are also two additional routines, the ambitious money routine and the invisible pickpocket routine, both which are described in the ad-copy.
Now for some positives: the gimmick is very creative and works well. Double Take delivers a very visual moment of magic that looks like a camera trick. I think that you can use the gimmick in many different situations and there will no doubt be many additional uses for the Double Take gimmick. If the promotion video turned you on then you should buy this product.
This trick is available at any Murphy’s Magic dealer.