Review of iUtility by Sam Rubman
Magic sometimes has a bad reputation for being old school, not really keeping up with the times. That is true to an extent: needle swallowing dates back to the Fahkirs of India, sleight of hand came from Ancient Egyptians stealing from the Pharaohs. This release by Sam “The Gambit” Rubman attempts to take magic to the modern age. Released in 2009 (though The Magic Attic’s website says the product was added to their catalog in 1970 haha), this release was one of the firsts for iPhone magic, with later releases by Shin Lim in 2014, Cesar Alonso in 2012, Mark Elsdon in 2013, ect., though there were releases by Nicholas Byrd, Gerald Kirchner, and James Coats around the same time Sam Rubman released his DVD.
Though the release was early (meaning the app effects created by Rich Ferguson may not have been “in style” yet), I still don’t believe there was that much new material from it. A lot of the moves used by Rubman were from previously created effects for cards; the only difference was that Rubman used an iPhone instead of a deck of cards. Also he does not really give much credit to the inventors of the moves or where the moves were found in... slightly disappointed in that.
The DVD was a bit hard to watch. Rubman’s performance was very dull and not entertaining at all, and his explanations were average (average meaning he just runs through the moves once or twice and moves on). Each performance and explanation lasts about 2-3 minutes (the DVD is only around 45 minutes long) so the explanation part was only minimal. However, the explanations were just enough that the viewer should know how to perform the trick (though all the tricks were very, very basic).
Either way, here’s a list of the tricks:
iAppearance #1: With a wave of a fan of cards, Rubman transforms half a pack of cards into an iPhone. Or you can make the iPhone appear onto the pack. Method is not new...
iVanish #1: Done on a table, you clasp the iPhone in between your hand and it vanishes. Very, very old method that every magician already knows. Again, nothing new.
iAppearance #2: With a wave of the hand, the iPhone appears. The move is yet another old move created a while ago... and Sam Rubman’s performance of this was not the best since it flashed...
iVanish #2: You put the iPhone in the other hand and it vanishes. A variation of a coin move that did not really work with his iPhone at all...
iPhone Thru Table: Literally the same thing as above.
iBlister: Let me just say again that Rubman’s performance is not the greatest. Effect is simple, a blister appears on your finger when you touch the iPhone. I think this is the cleverest effect from this DVD, though it’s not saying much. It is a variation of an old effect but I enjoyed it. I haven’t tried this on the streets yet (honestly I haven’t actually used any effects from this DVD and there’s good reason why as proven by this review), but my assumption is that a decent amount of college kids can easily work it backwards and figure out the method.
iVoodoo: A variation of the effect above. Concept and method are pretty much the same, just different performance.
iPregnant: A gag pretty much. I’ve seen variations of this trick many, many times before. Not sure which trick came first; it could have been this DVD. However, the usage of this method was not that great since there’s so many possibilities. Casshan Wallace’s variation of this on his At The Table Lecture is my personal favorite, but I’m sure Rich Ferguson, Calen Morelli, and many other artists have their own variation of this effect.
iPression: A kind of clever effect where the spectator writes down a number and you divine it. The idea stems from a common mentalism effect, though the gimmick is new. The handling needs improvement from Rubman’s because I fear the spectator will easily notice the gimmick (Rubman used his girlfriend as the spectator on the DVD and it seems obvious she knows the methods).
iRing: A fun little gag where you pretend to answer your ringing iPhone but it is just a piece of paper. I liked the effect.
iShiner: A useful utility using your iPhone for glimpses. Okay I admit it, this is actually something useful, so one effect out of too many not so useful effects.
iSwitch: A utility move for switching things such as bills or cards with the iPhone. Also something useful that I might use. Can be used for appearances or disappearances too.
iThru: A trick where the spectator’s chosen card passes through the iPhone when the magician dribbles the deck. The move is a decent one, not sure if it is original but I am not familiar with it (that I remember).
iPeek: Another utility move to “glimpse” something. I say glimpse with quotes because it’s kind of a glimpse in a way but kind of not.... hard to explain. He uses it to divine a serial number. Idk if I’ll use this though.
Overall there’s some redeeming qualities to the DVD... some. But a lot of the DVD was not that great, just old moves done with an iPhone instead of cards or coins. The presentations of these moves aren’t anything special either; in fact, I would argue Rubman’s presentations were a bit dull. I may sound harsh, but honestly this DVD is something I regret purchasing.... Was it worth $15, no probably not. However, if you are interested, you can get it at Penguin Magic here: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S11490