Hey Guys,

Vogue and I spent the last few days reviewing all the reviews. We received several reviews and all of them came from Singaporean magicians. It was a tough call because there were many reviews whom we thought was awesome. But alas, there can only be one winner.

As such, the RDM crew is proud to announce that…

(drumroll please)

The winner of the Great RDM Contest is:

Lee Wei Liang – Singapore

Congratulations. Appended below is his winning review:

FLASH By Chad Long

Once in a while, a brilliant performer would challenge the classics, and make magic relevant again.

Chad Long’s FLASH is a refreshing concept of using “Flash Drives” or Thumb Drives in place of the classic color changing knifes. You may be like me. Someone who has never found the color changing knifes or any paddle routines appealing enough to be added to the regular working repertoire.

But trust me. Let the DEMOs
do the talking (Do me a favor and watch the Demo, skip the trailer) -
http://www.chadlongmagic.com/page8/page1/videos.html

Whether you’re a professional close up magician, or a serious hobbyist who does tricks for your friends and family, I am sure you can relate to the patter or find it insightful enough to script your own. The beauty of this effect is not only in the potential of its presentational ideas, but also because it looks good enough for professional situations. (Unlike some other cheap plastic paddles which is a questionable taste for serious magicians).

Package Deal / Quality of Product :

What you will get is your nicely packaged Flash Drives along with a nice bag for you to keep them together. You will find in your
package one jumbo black drive, one black drive and one red/black drive. I am not conscious about taking care of my props, this quality made product will probably last a life time even if I don’t handle it with care. Excellent choice of colour for the Flash drives; Vibrant Red, Classy Black.

Chad also added that much effort has been put into the manufacturing of the product made from moulds of CAD drawings.

Method/Teaching:

Flash also comes along with FULLY COLOURED detailed instructions and photos. Adding on to that, free explanations demos are available on Chad Long’s website too! If you are reading this, chances are you have enough experience to play around with this gem right after you get it even without the explanations!

While there is much potential to this versatile prop, the basic routine only requires the paddle move. The sleight is in no way difficult to master, and it is absolutely effortless to execute thanks to the optimal size, shape and texture of the Flash Drive.

Bonus ideas are also provided by Chad. If you are a seasoned performer, you probably have a million ideas in your head already adding other sleights like the flick stick move, strike vanish etc can turn this effect into a more dynamic routine.

Final Words:

Jon Racherbaumer has used the acronym S.A.V.O.R to describe the qualities of a classic effect in magic,

Simple – The props are simple.
Flash Drives are very much a daily part of our lives. It is probably
going to only get more common from here on! They are not only
instantaneously recognizable, the patter behind it makes it a very
motivated routine too!

Ageless – The color changing knifes
routine has been around since 1960s, and there must be a reason why
basic effect never fails to survive through time even till today.

Visualness
- Paddle routines have always had a very visual nature. Especially with
the Jumbo ending as the finale!

Open – As mentioned, this
versatile prop allows for countless of variation not only in terms of
presentational ideas, but also with incorporating different sleights to
provide a more complete routine.

Recurring – This is probably
the reason why the Jumbo finale works well! Despite the recurring
effect, the routine is well structured to ensure a motivated finale!

I never found a reason to carry around knifes in my pocket. Flash Drives other hand, makes a whole lot sense.

WOW Factor : 9/10
Durability : 9/10
Practicality : 9/10
Value for money : 8/10 (Including shipping, it costs $40 USD)

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Congratulations Wei Liang! An excellent review. We will be contacting you soon. A big thank you also to those who sent in your reviews as well! Expect more Contests organised by Red Dot Magic in the near future! =D