Steve Draun's Real Man's Wallet

[Guest]

Can anyone give me a review of this wallet, i have heard it is the best on the market, but there are so many out there you have too many to choose from.

Does this wallet need to be loaded while in the back pocket, or can it be loaded from the breast pocket also?

Thanks
Daren

[Anthony Brahams]

The wallet is excellent. As it is a hip wallet, and sized and shaped accordingly, it would be awkward to use in a regular inside jacket pocket. However you could fill up the bottom of the pocket to make the wallet higher or use a side pocket of the jacket or trousers.

HTH

I plan to be at the International convention on the Sunday so if you are, and I remember to bring it, I can show it to you.

[Guest]

Steve Draun's "Real Man's Wallet" is, as Mr. Braham says, excellent. The loading is smooth and the leather is very high quality (unlike too many magician's wallets, with cheap shiny leather which might as well be vinyl). The routine included is also very powerful, allowing you to seemingly produce the card from your wallet with an empty hand. This is, as they say, "diabolical thinking" from one of magic's cleverest performers.

Your post suggests, though, that you're looking for a breast pocket wallet. If so, I wouldn't recommend using the Draun wallet. Randy Wakeman makes a wonderful secretary-type wallet which is, like Draun's wallet, of high-quality leather and which loads very easily, using a credit card as a guide rather than a checkbook or notebook. You might want to check this out before making any final decisions.

I own both of the above wallets and think both are great. For me, though, the advantage of Draun's wallet is that you can use it anytime, anywhere, regardless of whether you happen to be wearing a jacket. In this sense it strikes me as a more versatile prop. On the other hand, you can do certain "dirty work" more deceptively with a secretary wallet,under cover of a jacket (especially if you're working surrounded)than you can with a hip loader. Also, if you're familiar with Darwin Ortiz's "Dream Card", or similar routines, you will find Draun's wallet to be an ineffective substitute, since you can't conceal other objects in the compartment. In short, your performing conditions, your usual way of dressing and the effects you want to perform should all enter into your decision.

[mrgoat]

Originally posted by Anthony Brahams:

I plan to be at the International convention on the Sunday so if you are, and I remember to bring it, I can show it to you.

I have no idea who you are, but I will be going on Sunday and am also thinking baout getting this wallet. Can I have a look? please email me at meetoddblokeoffgeniiforum@damianjennings.com if you can be bothered ;)

[Guest]

This is definitely going off on a bit of a tangent, and I have no doubt this discussion has probably surfaced somewhere on this site before, but........

Overall favorite wallets?

My vote is for the Mullica wallet. It's just so cool to do a card to wallet in which the card is never actually inside the wallet.

Other votes?

[mrgoat]

Originally posted by Anthony Brahams:

I plan to be at the International convention on the Sunday so if you are, and I remember to bring it, I can show it to you.

I have no idea who you are, but I will be going on Sunday and am also thinking baout getting this wallet. Can I have a look? please email me at meetoddblokeoffgeniiforum@damianjennings.com if you can be bothered ;)

[El Mystico]

Be Careful of Mr Goat - my mum always warned me against meeting strangers from the internet.

[Guest]

Fraser:
As a fellow gaikokujin in Japan, I'd like to know how you justify the Mullica wallet in a country where personal checks are pretty much unknown. Do your audiences question the wallet? Personally, although the Mullica wallet is ingenious, the idea of taking a wallet from a wallet has always struck me as "gilding the lily" (see Jerry Sadowitz's hilarious comment on this in "The Crimp"). I agree with Sadowitz's point that a Balducci wallet, which you can hand to the spectator, is more natural and convincing. If you add Giobbi's touches in "Card College 5", you've got an unbeatable wallet IMHO. I'll mention in passing that Alexander de Cova describes a great wallet in one of his "Treasures" videos and it has all the advantages of a Mullica wallet without the shortcomings.
Disclaimer: although I'm familiar with the workings of the Mullica wallet, and know some of the outstanding routines (Burger, Jennings, etc.)I've never actually used one myself, so I can't honestly compare.
On a separate note which probably deserves a separate thread, it seems to me that there are all kinds of routines that have to be adapted for life abroad. In some cases they won't play for cultural reasons (e.g. in Japan excessive touching of the spectator is inappropriate); in other cases a "natural" prop becomes suspect. And, just as some words can't be translated from one language to another, some routines are just too culture-specific to adapt without losing something in the translation. Any thoughts on routines which cross (or don't cross) the cultural divide? Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

[Guest]

Hey Shawn,

Glad to see a fellow gaijin on the board.

In all my years of using the Mullica wallet, I've never once had someone ask to see/handle the wallet itself. I usually use it at the end of an ambitious card routine - by that time, spectators have given up on the idea of a gimmick at play - they are witnessing a card that appears in increasingly surprising locations. That said, I have used the wallet on its own before, and still have never had anyone question it.

How many people still use personal checks back in N. America? I've never once considered the Mullica wallet (the main wallet or the inside one) a "check" wallet (although that may have been the original intention). When the spectator reads the playing card "Machigatta! Chigau saifu ni mitte!", I point out that I actually have two wallets, and the second one is kept INSIDE the first one. There's no reason for having the second wallet inside the first other than to make the appearance of the card more impossible. The same could be said of a nest of boxes, right?

Finally, the Mullica wallet is perfect for table hopping. No palming (actually no traditional loads at all!) and instant reset. I've never used a Balducci wallet (I've seen them used, but never held one), so I can't really make an objective comparison either, but I don't really have any reason to "upgrade". I doubt Barry Price's super expensive card to wallet would be any more astonishing than my Mullica wallet (in my hands at least).

A very good (and pertinent) question about cross-cultural effects. Do you think we should make a new thread dedicated to a discussion of this? We might be able to get more ex-pats involved.

If you'd like, send me an e-mail telling me about your "situation" over here. Like I said, it's great having contact with another "gaijin-magi".

[Jim Morton]

I've used one of these wallets for awhile now. I like it a lot. For a long time I used it as my everyday wallet. In this capacity it was very handy at airposts because it was easy to get my driver's license out on demand. :)

Jim