"Pop Card" DVD by Steven Pignataro and Michael Pignataro
Suggested Retail USD$19.99
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In a Blink: 6 Out of 10

"Pop Card", a DVD by Steven Pignataro and Michael Pignataro, is a neat idea, an interesting step in "card-to-foodstuff" evolution, but ultimately fails to live up to the hype.

The plot is standard "card-to-impossible-location" fodder -- a card is chosen from a deck, signed, vanished, and found to be inside a Pop-Tart -- so there's no need to beat the theme to death here. There are some nice piece that "Pop Card" brings to the table though.

First up, there is no force; any card is selected and signed. The card really does leave the deck -- no need for being careful about displaying the deck, managing the spectators, or the like. And yes, the card really is inside the Pop-Tart, complete with being covered with the sticky filling. "Pop Card" is also very simple to do, though you'll need to be aware of a few sleights -- controls and the like -- to pull it off (one sleight may cause a bit of cringing from newer card folks, but it's easy and standard for this kind of effect). Yep, that about covers it for the pluses.

The minuses start with the handling. This is a two-handed load, which I don't like, and getting to the climax can be a messy business (both in terms of getting it to work and the mess you can make of the Pop-Tart). Then there's the practicality side of things: trying to find someplace to do this one. Most close-up work is out: restaurants and strolling situations would be problematic to say the least. That leaves stage and platform work and, honestly, that's where "Pop Card" begins to gather a little respect: it could be a neat, different effect on the stage, as part of a street show, or maybe even a children's show.

The Pignataros have thought of that, apparently, and have included a different handling for those venues. Essentially the same effect, the method is different from the first taught (you'll have to forget about the "no forcing" benefit, but you'd lose a sleight) and would work better in a larger venue. And perhaps, as with "bill-in-lemon" and the like, "Pop Card" would leave it's mark there.

But is "Pop Card" worth it? If you've been around the block once or twice, then you can figure out a method of doing this one yourself without plopping down the bucks and your version will likely be as good -- if not better -- than "Pop Card". After all, it's not like magicians have never made things vanish only to appear in weird places (a coin showing up in a roll comes immediately to mind) and most of those methods can be adapted to this. If you're lost on how to possibly do this, then "Pop Card" is certainly cheap enough that you won't feel the sting too badly when you slap yourself upside the head at the method.

Otherwise, it would be smart to give this one a pass and find another "impossible location" effect without the baggage.

"Pop Card" DVD by Steven Pignataro and Michael Pignataro
In a Blink: 6 Out of 10

Material: 5
Well, it's pretty much what you would expect: a method for loading a Pop-Tart with a selected card. It's not rocket science, but the Pignataros make it easy. The routines they supply are fine, though one of the methods is simply bad as loads go. Still, for some workers in some venues, this can be a killer effect.

Practicality: 5
The reset is easy enough: you just need a pile of prepared Pop-Tarts since you'll go through one every performance. That is, of course, also the problem with repeating it. The real trick, though, is figuring out where you can perform this one: restaurants are out (yeah, I'm sure the restaurant manager would be thrilled to see you giving away food items) and strolling is out (multiple-Pop-Tarts problem), but for stage or possibly children's shows, this could be something neat and different.

Quality of Production: 3
It's a single-camera shoot in the kitchen. I can forgive the kitchen location given the topic, but the camera constantly shifting up and down, missing the action at times and zooming into somebody's nostrils as they talk down to the camera was enough to make me stop watching and just listen to a lot of this.

Quality of Instruction: 5
The level of instruction here is very good, if a bit long-winded at times (you'll learn more about the packaging of Pop-Tarts than you'll ever want to know) and lacking in details in a couple of places. All in all, you'll have little problem learning the material.

Presentation: 10
It's a card-to-impossible-location plot and it's a good overall idea that will play as well as similar routines. The novelty factor here is huge and that carries a lot of weight with any routine.


Shane

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