"Watch" the hell!...

[Paco Nagata]

I'm pretty sure that it's very difficult to find an amateur card magician more devotee to Tamariz Mnemonica than me, but this is TOO MUCH:

https://www.ellusionist.com/stack-watch ... urner.html

I knew that Tamariz's stack was quite famous, but don't you think that this cross a "little bit" the line?

[Joe Mckay]

I can't believe Andy was involved in the production of this.

I used to be a big fan of his...

http://www.thejerx.com/blog/2020/4/23/i-feel-like-a-proud-papa

[Richard Kaufman]

I don't do memorized deck work, but this seems like a clever idea. It's exactly what Theodore DeLand did in 1914 with his Card Locator dial.

I also think Andy is being sarcastic.

[Dave Le Fevre]

What Richard said. It's a clever idea. And Andy is obviously being sarcastic.

[Q. Kumber]

I do memdeck work and I see this as a curiosity and a money-making toy. Anyone of average intelligence or even Ellusionist customers can be up to speed (not an expert but up to speed) doing 30 minutes a day for a month.

[Brad Jeffers]

It's a clever idea.

Yes!

It's both clever and dumb simultaneously.

A rarity in most fields of endeavor, but not so uncommon in the creation of items for sale magicians.

We love clever!

[Brad Jeffers]

Andy did an excellent job with this one.

My favorite of his FAQ about the Stack Watch was this ...

The cards on the bezel. They’re in an order I don’t know. So if someone says the Jack of Clubs, I’m just supposed to stare at my watch, scanning my eyes around until I find it?

Oh, of course not. That would be ridiculous. We recommend you memorize the order of the cards on the watch so you can find them quickly.

[erdnasephile]

Perhaps the most practical use for this device might be for someone who has a disease or condition that has corrupted their memory. (Sadly, I've noticed that as I age, I have to strive that much harder to retain information.)

However, when I first saw this, I instantly thought that this is another example of how we spend so much time coming up with ways to avoid the hard work; hence, the plethora of "easy to master" lies the dealers sell us as well as endless arguments over classic shift substitutes.

I know I sound churlish, but to paraphrase one of my heroes, Mr. Kam: "Just memorize the *&()$#$ cards!"

[Zig Zagger]

I agree.

Both fascinating and absurd to what great lengths some lazy magicians are willing to go in order to replace the necessary manual or mental feats with mechanical aides!

[Paco Nagata]

Perhaps the most practical use for this device might be for someone who has a disease or condition that has corrupted their memory.

Good point. That's the only real utility I can find in this device.

I know I sound churlish, but to paraphrase one of my heroes, Mr. Kam: "Just memorize the *&()$#$ cards!"

Amen!

A rarity in most fields of endeavor, but not so uncommon in the creation of items for sale magicians.

The most rarity thing I've ever seen in card magic is an amateur that practise A LOT and memorise WELL a mem-deck before performing.

Andy did an excellent job with this one.

My favorite of his FAQ about the Stack Watch was this ...

The cards on the bezel. They’re in an order I don’t know. So if someone says the Jack of Clubs, I’m just supposed to stare at my watch, scanning my eyes around until I find it?

Oh, of course not. That would be ridiculous. We recommend you memorize the order of the cards on the watch so you can find them quickly.

I laughed a lot with that one too.

[Curtis Kam]

Before we get too smug about this, does anyone remember the Paul Fox Miracle Gimmick? What did that do, again?


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[erdnasephile]

It's a good point, but at least Fox, Dew, et al took the time to figure out how to get the Miracle Gimmick in and out of play and how to use it in a natural manner in the context of (allegedly) reading the card indexes to the spectators one at a time. In comparison, fiddling with your watch bezel would seem kinda suspicious (although I suppose one could manage to conceal it given some thought).

However, since the Paul Fox effect can be achieved using memdeck, wouldn't it be a better investment to put that time and effort into actually learning a stack, since you could eliminate all of the procedure necessary to ring in and ditch the gimmick (or goof with your watch)?

It occurred to me as I was typing this that perhaps the watch could usefully serve as a bridge when first learning the stack and might give a performer confidence that if they ever got lost in memdeck, they would have a memory crib there just in case. In time, hopefully the need for the crutch would go away so the performer could access an entire world of magic.

Otherwise, the performer would be stuck with the additional action to look at the crib. The memdeck folks repeatedly say that hesitation with the memdeck will just kill the effect. Depending on that watch is gonna add that, even if it's just a glance (or in my presbyoptic state, a stare) and that tell is probably going to affect the effect in a bad way.

I don't begrudge those who want the watch (and I apologize for seeming smug--I really don't mean to be), but personally, I rather pay the price and learn the stack.

[Paco Nagata]

Our Fellow Jason Ladanye illustrates us how does it "work":
https://www.facebook.com/jladanye/video ... 712257321/
Seriously, I think that this device wasn't created for performing, but more like for helping to memorise the stack anytime and wherever you are/go.

[Dave Le Fevre]

I'd seen that Jason Ladanye video via The Magic Café. Hilarious!

[Richard Kaufman]

I could have read the tiny lettering when I was 30, but at 62 there is no chance in hell that I could read it!

[chetday]

I could have read the tiny lettering when I was 30, but at 62 there is no chance in hell that I could read it!

Richard, I sympathize. At 72, I can barely see the watch, even though its almost the size of an Idaho potato.