Scribble by Jeff Prace

[Tom Frame]

Scribble (Download) by Jeff Prace $9.95
Running time: 37 minutes
Available at: http://thebluecrown.com/scribble.html/


I’ve mentioned that I don’t own and will never own the Insidious Narcissism Generator and Destroyer of Intelligence and Intimacy known as a cell phone. Unfortunately, my wife owns one of the wretched devices. So, being a selfless and senseless reviewer, I forced myself to use the ghastly gadget to test drive this material. I feel soiled and diminished.

Wunderkind Jeff Prace discovered a clever, magical principle tucked away in an application called Scribble. His seminal effect based upon the principle, “Scribbles of Destiny”, first appeared in the January 2010 issue of Genii.

In this download, Mr. Prace offers an updated version of that effect, plus several other magical applications. Basically, any personal information that you secretly acquire about your participant, or any object that you furtively force her to select can be magically revealed on your iPhone.

The production values of the download are very good.

Mr. Prace does a fine job of teaching the material.

To perform these effects, you need to download the Scribble application to your phone. You can download Scribble Lite for free, or you can buy the full Scribble application for a mere 99 cents. To get the most mileage out of the principle, you’ll want to splurge and invest the 99 cents.


Scribble: A participant selects a card, say the Two of Hearts, and buries it in the deck. The performer inserts the deck into the card case. He whips out his phone and opens the Scribble application. He hands the phone to the participant and she draws a number of random, dots and lines on the screen.

The performer holds the deck beneath the phone. The participant names her card as she simultaneously shakes the phone. The random doodles visually transform into an image of the Two of Hearts.


I like it.


Rising Card: A participant selects a card, say the Four Hearts, and buries it in the deck. She mentally transmits the identity of her card to the performer. He opens the Scribble application on his phone and draws his impression of the participant’s card on the screen.

He reveals that he has drawn the Three of Clubs. The participant informs him that isn’t her card. The performer retorts that he has drawn a deck of cards and the Three of Clubs is merely the face card. The participant shakes the phone and the Four of Hearts pops up out of the deck.


In this cool, low rent version of Martin Lewis’s “Cardiographic”, the selected card doesn’t visibly rise out of the deck, it merely appears up-jogged within the deck. Just so you know.

I like it.


Snow Globe: The performer draws a snow globe, complete with dots of snow, on the screen of his phone. The participant shakes the phone and the identity of a forced selection appears inside the globe.


Nope. Huh-uh. Snow globes are a bit too cutesy and hokey for my tastes.

I don’t like it.


Ink Blot: A participant selects a card and buries it in the deck. The performer places the deck into the card case and disposes of it. He opens the Scribble application on his phone and hands it to the participant. The participant draws a bunch of random, Rorschachian dots and squiggles on the screen.

The performer holds the phone’s screen toward a second participant, or in this case the viewer. Within the random dots and squiggles, rough images of a “4” and a heart can be seen. The second participant announces the Four of Hearts and the first participant verifies that it is her card.


Ah yes, this is right up my alley.

I really like it.


Coin: The performer draws the word “coin” and an image of a half dollar on the screen of his phone. He plucks a real half dollar off of the screen, leaving only the word “coin” remaining.


I like it.


Power: The performer turns off his phone and displays the black screen. He holds the phone with his fingers away from the on/off button. He shakes the phone and his fully functioning home page appears on the screen.


This isn’t a magic effect that evokes amazement and entertainment. It’s merely a technological puzzle that challenges the participant to solve it.

I don’t like it.


If you’d like to use your contemptible contraption to perform some surprising, visual magic, I must grudgingly admit that you’ll enjoy Scribble.


Recommended

[Jeff.Prace]

Thanks for the great review, Tom! I am very glad you liked the magic - even with your strong grudges against Apple products.

I have been working on this principle since I published the beginning concept in Genii over 3.5 years ago. The original set-up completely disabled your device; you were unable to access your phone unless you wanted to destroy the set-up. All the new handlings allow you to use your device as normal, while simultaneously being ready to perform.

Also, the updated handlings include routines where the spectators are unaware that anything changed on the doodle screen, and in one variation, the spectators do not even know that a doodle application is involved.

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For those that bought the download or are currently on the fence, here is a fun idea:

Use the doodle application as an "organic" (sorry Tom!) add-a-number pad. A few spectators write down chosen numbers, and a different spectator adds them all up. The sum is always and instantly your force number.

Jeff