Hi, Phill here - at blackpool this year I launched my new product, Switchblade. Switchblade is a simple utility app that allows you to force and peek anything. It's super simple to use but hugely flexible, with a raft of modules at launch from emojis, flags, and numbers to ESP symbols, celebrities and runes, plus 3 user editable modules. It's a really fun little system that lets you do a lot of strong, new magic, running on Android and iOS.

I have thought a lot about this and I think perhaps the best way to describe it, and my philosophy in building it, is that is is a virtual deck of cards for magic. On one module, that deck of cards is literally a deck of cards, on the other they are ESP cards, number cards, zodiac cards etc. They can be shuffled, and selected, remembered, forced, peeked etc etc. and there are some obvious differences, but the core is this idea.

Instead of having, for example, a card selected and placed next to a key for later finding, the system has a simple way to visually know the card they picked, whether its an actual card or a city, or name or whatever. Rather than having a bunch of cards chosen and returned and using clever sleight of hand to keep track of each selection, you can use the Switchblade peek history to see who picked what in what order. Instead of forcing a card from a shuffled deck by ringing in a forcing deck the system lets you do an invisible force of anything at any time.

In the same way that a deck of cards can be reimagined and made into number cards or personality reading cards to create new and unique presentations, so Switchblade has a completely flexible approach built in so you can build your own routines - you can use it standalone of course, but it is intended to be used as a single element in your own unique pieces of magic, a simple tool to get over the technical hurdle of forcing or peeking a piece of information.

If that sounds like something that you might be interested in, here's the link!

https://phillsmithcreative.com/collectio......lity-app

Super quick update: I just added a video explaining all the main features of the app to the instructions site, I know not everyone is into a wall of text explanation!

Phill

This sounds pretty awesome. I've never been disappointed by anything produced By Phill. On my shopping list.

It looks great. -are there any reviews yet?

Absolutely:

"A great tool for creative magic, I love it! ***** 10/10" - Phill Smith

(so... no)

Phill

Phil demonstrated this for me at Blackpool. I'll be honest I am not an app user ...but... this is incredibly clever and especially customisable.
I don't have anything to compare it to so all I can say that typical Phil Smith, its looks and functions REALLY nice... and all for £20 !!!!

Thanks NB: I get it, app magic isn't for everyone, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to build Switchblade - it started as a tool for me to explore a way of performing with the phone that felt natural *for me*. If you aren't about that app life, Switchblade probably won't revolutionise your opinion. "Typical Phill Smith" is the gold standard I strive for too so I'm glad it hit the spot, lol!

Phill

Never say never ... for £20 I'm currently doing some serious chin scratching. I really liked the utility aspect of it

Just pushed V2 of the app to users - I've been able to revise some features based on feedback from users and add some extra stuff that makes it better overall. Great to be able to that, far easier with an app than with a deck of cards ????

Actually just got 2:

"10/10 I recommend this app" ZD on FB

"For the price, this is a no-brainer. You get a full working web app and the ability to use the presets or create your own. There's plenty of presets already installed from playing cards to celebrities to flags and countries plus many more. There's two peek options and the ability to force any item from whichever preset you're in. Phill's customer service is also excellent. You also have access to a Facebook group which also has some great ideas. 5/5 from me. I highly recommend Switchblade." GDF on my site

That's an average score of 7.5/7.5!

Phill

Is this solely a utility app for which you need to use something else to perform an effect or can you use it to do stand alone effects? Thanks.

You can perform all kinds of stuff just with the app - predictions, mind-reading, psychological control, divining the future, etc, without having any other props. The only reason I refer to it as a "utility app" is because it's not tied to any one trick or even really built around one type of trick.

Phill

Thanks Phil. Will purchase and report back.

What is this supposed to be? What are spectators supposed to perceive it as?

Phill, if you could give an example of what one routine would look to the spectator, that would be great. Thanks!

I bought it this evening and will play with it in the next few days and will report back. In Phil I trust!

Joe: in terms of what it is supposed to be, I either present it as a mobile game, a memory app, or a decisions app (or a different one of the 3m+ apps on the Play store). I generally just refer to it in passing, like "I've got this memory training app and you're going to use it to make two decisions: one conscious, and one sub-conscious." So I'm not really explaining what it is, just using that phrase 1 time and moving into the trick, the punters don't care, it's just some app? They want to see the piece you are actually performing.

I am actually quite happy to not frame it as anything. In the same way that a performer might say "OK so you are going to randomly pick a country somewhere in the world" and offer a blank deck with countries written on, or a spiral bound notebook with a country on each page, with no explanation as to why that might exist other than as part of a trick: It is a macguffin that exists to allow you to make this choice, but as a stylistic tool I am using a phone instead of a deck of blank cards or a L&S book.

I'm not sure if that's a great answer, it's visually very simple you can just pick a kind of app for it to be, call it that once and that's it. "So I've been on this starsigns app, actually look, you're going to pick one of these star signs but don't show anyone..." "I've always dreamed of going on safari, and I take every opportunity to learn about animals, and I can even pick up the vibe when someone is just thinking about animals. In fact, look you're going to randomly choose one of these guys from my animal app to concentrate on..." "There's a cool mode on this sign-language app which has got, instead of American Sign Language or British Sign Language, it has what they call Universal Gestural Signs, so they're all like, a finger pointing or a thumbs up - things that everyone knows. So I want to do an experiment, and, er... Madam, you are going to pick one of these at random..."

Hopefully you see what I mean, it's just a generic tool that you reframe in performance.

Phill

So I've got the app and I like the Mneumonica option. I present it as follows;

I introduce a deck of cards, which are shuffled and left on the table.

Now you introduce your phone. Explain how sometimes coincidence's happen, and there is one classic coincidence that has always been regarded by magicians as somewhat as the Holy Grayle. This is called Card at Any Number.

Hand them the phone and they see a screen full of random numbers. As them to think of a number between 1 and 52. If they see their number they simply select it - if not, they press shuffle until they see their number. Once selected, they then swipe to the right or left to see some random cards. Ask them to shuffle the cards as many times as they want and then when they are happy, to look away and click on the screen to select a random card.

So they have freely selected a number and a random card - you haven't touched the phone. You have NO IDEA what they have selected!!!

You pick up the cards (or get them to do it, after they have remembered the card!) and ask them for their number - you count down... One card... They now name their random card and it matches.

What makes this very strong is the hands-off handling.

Hope this helps?

Of course, if you know the mneumonica stack or have a great marked deck (just saying Phill) then you can also do the reveal before they say their card too

This is a really great and super clean presentation and it is a good example of using Switchblade kind of as methodological mortar to easily fill in gaps in a routine - Sean's routine isn't a 'phone trick', the phone is just there as a clear and simple way to help them make their selection. It's not the perfect textbook ACAAN from our perspective but I'm sure it will hit spectators nicely. Thanks for sharing it here Sean!

Phill