Bog-O-Me by Andy Clockwise :: A review by Jamie Daws

Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmYufPyrJdY

We all have our own little styles of magic. Some like to read the minds of the spectator and freak them out. Some magicians like hearing the gasps of the audience. Some like to gross them out by pulling thread from one’s eye or cutting a coin from ones arm. But I think I can safely assume, we all enjoy making the spectators jump out of their skin from time to time. Thos worshipers of Jim Pace’s “Web” will know the pure joy of when the spectator flips her hand over, jumps around erratically trying to shake the spider from her hand. This moment is priceless but comes at a cost. The problem with the WEB besides it’s bold handling, is that once you have performed it for the person, your forever burdened with them saying “Don’t put a spider on me”. They know the ending. As soon as you pull those spider web cards out, they automatically know what’s going to happen. Likewise, the trick is a little pointless. It’s more the trick being built around the climax as opposed to the climax being worked into the trick. This being said, I still LOVE the Web but wanted to wait for the day that someone came up with something that stepped the idea up.

Then came Andy (slightly nutty) Clockwise’s Bug-O-Me. It is essentially a card trick by which the spectator selects a card from a deck of 52 specially printed cards. Why so special? Each card has a different “creepy crawly, insect, bug or beetle” on it. Once the card is selected, it is lost back into the deck and the deck is mixed. The spectator draws her interpretation of the bug on a pad. The magician then places the entire deck in her hands so that it is sandwiched. Just from looking at the drawing the magician must work out what the bug is, reach into her hands and pull the selected card from the deck. He plunges in, pulls out one card and luckily enough, it is her selected card. That’s cool, but now for the kicker. You ask her to open her hands and look at the deck. She glances down and see’s a REAL bug on her hands! She throws up her hands and her blurry eyes refocus to realise it is inside a block of glass.

This is “WEB” and “Omni Deck” mixed into one. What I love about it is even after the screaming, there is still a lasting effect. They still react to the deck turning into a block of glass. Priceless!! A scream AND a really strong effect. The quality of the products is brilliant. Although the deck is not bicycle or poker size, those small details get lost in the strength of the effect. The Omni deck block is slightly thicker than your average Omni deck to accommodate the bug. The block is also bridge size. But everything works together to make a brilliant effect. The DVD quality isn’t over the top or flashy but it does teach you well and you get all the information you need. They even supply you with a post it note pad.

The reactions are absolutely brilliant. While the spectator holding the block is freaking at the bug, the rest of the room are wondering how on earth you turned it into a block of glass.

I recommend this whole heartedly, and with Halloween just around the corner, this could be a real hit at gigs!

5/5 *****

Available at http://www.magicbox.uk.com

Price is £29.99 for the cards, block, DVD and pad.

Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmYufPyrJdY

Best Wishes,

Jamie Daws

Just saw the trailer for this and looks like a fun effect to perform

also tricks like this were a spectator can scream lets the rest of the function know your there, all they see/hear is a scream lots of laughs, perfect introduction, you've broken the ice dispite being across the room!

I know this is an old thread, but I got hold of this great effect recently and can echo the comments above. This plays really well with spectators and has a double kicker. Well worth the money and something you will use in your performances.

Hi Freddie,

This is brilliant mate, in joke shops they sell plastic Stag Beatles, think of all the other possibilities ;-)

Gary.

Ordered this today , look forward to receiving