Our goal: to warn you about the worst, most unscrupulous, all 'round crummiest trick or magic vendor we've come across and hopefully spare you from getting burned.
This month's winner is:
Russini Jeanneret aka Russini Illusion Works.
PO Box 2055, Cridersville, OH 45806-0055The trick he produces and sells is Statica. You can see our review by clicking the link. Here's why Russ gets this honor?
False and deceptive advertising
Russ has a list of magician's email addresses. He sends them an email which describes his TV card trick. His description makes it sound easy, very powerful and as if it requires no more then his gimmick and a TV. (Has Russ been writing for all the mail order houses?)
Anyone with half a brain...myself included...says, "Must be a video trick. I'll write him and ask if you need a VCR? Any honest person would not take money without letting you know. Right?" Well not exactly. Russ let's you believe that only a TV and his gimmick are necessary...nothing else. So we bought one.
I think sometimes magicians forget that it's only okay to be dishonest, sneaky, clever and misdirect people in performance. In real life people expect ethical behavior.
(BTW--You never get any bull from M&M. We won't recommend or sell you anything without giving you the whole scoop. In our reviews, we'll tell you if you need special equipment to perform a trick, or years of practice to perfect it or if you must perform it for spectators with single digit IQ's only. If you want to buy something from us and we haven't put up the review yet...email us we'll give you the straight story.)
Poor Customer Service
Yikes. You get this thing and say. "Shoot. I did not want a video trick. I asked him if you needed a VCR. Let me contact him. I want to get my money back."
Well forget it. No refunds. You're SOL, sucker. In fact, good ol' Russ doesn't even respond to your request for a refund. He does take time out to let you know that saying you were disappointed with his product...hurt his feelings. I'm sure he's crying all the way to the bank.
(BTW--If you buy anything from M&M and you are not satisfied with it you may return it for a full refund less shipping and a modest restocking fee.)
Terrible Product
Okay, the guy tricked you. So what. Maybe it's your fault for being so dumb. Hey...he's a magician. He couldn't help himself. Maybe the trick is good.
Nope. Guess again. This thing stinks. How the heck are you supposed to load a video into a machine and press play without someone noticing? Even it you could, how would you know just how much time to spend, forcing the card...going through a lame routine to have the spectator mark the card without looking at it and finally throwing the deck at screen at the precise time the video shows the forced card? Beats me. But, then it really doesn't matter, because the video of the selected card is of such poor quality you can't tell what card it is anyway. There was so much color missing that the red three of hearts looked like the black three of spades.
Final Words
You are right to mistrust much of the magic hype coming your way via the internet magazine ads and in catalogs. Be real suspicious before sending your money anywhere. And whatever you do, don't buy Statica or anything else from Russ Jeanerrette or Russini Illusion Works.
Back to the M&M Magic Review © 1997