"Snap" by Jesse Feinberg
Suggested Retail USD$20.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 2 Out of 10

"Snap", one of the latest by Jesse Feinberg, is a double-barreled problem of a pedestrian working and a pathetic gaff that seems intent on doing one thing: separating consumer and money as efficiently as possible.

Harsh? Not at all. Feingberg's work here is so atrophied in creativity I wondered -- aloud, mind you -- how anyone could use this thing and even hope to fool anyone, let alone entertain them.

Okay, okay, let's be fair here. Here's the routine, according the ad copy (I refuse, you see, to put more effort into this than Feinberg did):

"A regular pencil is shown all around. When you wave your hand over the pencil, the eraser jumps from one end to the other! Give the pencil a shake, and the eraser jumps back to the other side... SNAP the pencil in half and the eraser jumps from one half to the other! You can even cover one end in your pocket, and the eraser jumps back and forth! The two broken pieces are immediately handed out for examination... You are left totally clean!"

Now, seriously, what was the first thought that popped into your head as to the working of this little thing? If you honestly -- and I do mean honestly -- couldn't come up with a single solution, then you need to go buy a beginner's book or two or look up a really old chestnut called "Hot Rod".

Otherwise, yes, folks, the working is exactly what you thought it was. Congratulations. Move on, now. There's nothing to see here.

Boy, how I wish I could just end it there, but I've got to give you at least some details, I guess.

Okay, first the working is nothing new. At all. I wasn't kidding before. I think everyone that ever learns that particular move tries it with a pencil or pen at some time. Nothing to see here.

Then there's the gaff, which is so obviously fake I don't see how it could fool anyone. Seriously, it's just bad. You're given a good supply of them, though, so that's something, I guess, but a very small something.

Lastly, there's just the workability of the thing. The gaff may be a joke, but the angles are killers. Think about the working, then think about what it would take to pull that off without an edge for cover -- you know, with an essentially round object -- and you'll see that there's a ton of management that's got to be done to get this one to fly.

I have to wonder (aloud again) if Feinberg ever performed this for paying audiences or is just releasing it to keep his name out there. I'll be nice and refrain from voicing my opinion; I'll just say avoid "Snap" like the plague.

"Snap" by Jesse Feinberg
In a Blink: 2 Out of 10

Practicality: 1
Using the supplied gaffs? You're going to get busted, pure and simple. Going the extra mile and making the version suggested by Feinberg but strangely enough not supplied? You've got very severe angle issues to say the least.

Workmanship: 1
The supplied gaffs are so obviously phony... well, you know the rest. Forget about it.

Documentation: 3
Well, there are instructions but not a word about overcoming the problems. Considering the working here, more time and energy should have been spent with that than the "ideas" and "tips" to the working.

Effect: 1
Forget it. This one is just too weak and too easily seen through.

Presentation: 3
The idea is good, if not frightfully common, but the problem is the execution: this is just not going to fool.


Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.