I think this is one of the all-time best bargains in magic. A fantastic, professional routine (Props included) for only twenty dollars! Thank you, Mr. Harlan!

I've finally found time to make video instructions for The Awakening. I'm offering these FREE to anyone who owns this effect. I've already sent the link to everyone who ever ordered directly from my site, but I'd like to make sure everybody else can get them, too... regardless of where you purchased The Awakening. If you're interested, simply contact me through my email address below and tell me how many illustrations are in the original printed instructions for The Awakening. If you've lost them, you can still contact me and include a small picture of yourself with the ropes. I'll respond with a link to the video.
--Dan Harlan
danharlanmagic@yahoo.com

I use this as a do as I do routine. All in the end I do professors nightmare with their ropes.

Extremely generous offer!

Thanks Dan!

Jim

And 8 years later Penguin is pitching it through email as their deal of the day for 39.95 with free shipping. I ordered one. A classic is always a classic.

I just don't understand the hoopla around this effect.

The right hand is so obviously concealing something throughout the routine.

A prerequisite of this type of routine imo is that all three ropes are shown (or apparently shown) clearly and singly as equal or unequal. This simply does not meet that requirement.

I open many of my smaller kids shows with Professor's Nightmare. The last time I did it some kid knew how it worked and shared that as well as the basic idea behind the method with the whole room. Shows are simply not the same when the opener is ruined that badly. I considered purchasing the Awakening so that would never happen again but then I realized that much stronger than the trick itself is the fact that they can examine the ropes afterwards. They're shocked that the ropes are ordinary. Even when I let someone inspect the ropes before they still want to inspect them again afterwards. You can be super clean but until they examine the ropes, they'll still think there is something fishy with them. If even Nick Locapo thought that there's something fishy with the ropes - https://www.facebook.com/penguinmagic/vi......9914938/ , your audience is likely to as well.

Have to think about it more. For $20 (as most of you paid), I would just buy it. For $40 I'm not as sure.

I think this trick is a great magician fooler but I am not as enthusiastic about it for laymen. Its effectiveness as an instant transformation is almost detrimental, because it's over so fast that the only way to make a whole routine out of it is to repeat it over and over again, which can get old. Other tricks that require repetition (such as the egg bag) can get away with it by changing the conditions each time, getting the spectators involved, or a surprise ending. None of which can be done really in this case (other than the phase with the psuedo-explanation of the "classic method")

I think those are interesting and valid points Geoff.

I picked this up at Magic Live last week. It's certainly a different take on the Professor's Nightmare plot and I think Dan does a nice job presenting it. While parts are repetitive his "I don't know how this works" patter adds enough comedic lines to keep the audience interested. It certainly did for me and that's one of the reasons I bought it. I would definitely recommend this.

To me it's a classic example of a fun piece of magic that wouldn't baffle anyone watching closely.

If that right hand could be opened and the rope in it shown, well...that would be another matter.