Trick Review: iKnow by Jason Palter

With the popularity of iPods and MP3 players, it's a natural to perform magic with these ever present devices.

With iKnow, Jason Palter has created a solid mentalism effect that allows you to determine the exact song that a spectator has selected at random and is listening to, without looking at the iPod.

There's lots to like, but I have a couple of minor reservations.

You bring out your iPod and show a spectator a playlist that contains some fifty songs. You invite the spectator to don earbuds and listen to different songs in the playlist.

You ask the spectator to place the iPod behind his back so he can’t see it, scroll through the playlist with his finger and randomly select a song to play. After listening to the song for a few moments, you ask the spectator to remove the earbuds and sing the tune in his mind. After a bit of byplay where you “listen” to the frequencies in the spectator’s ear and mind, you name that tune.

The effect is not difficult to perform and there is some preparation ahead of time that will probably take most about an hour. Your iPod is not gimmicked and functions fully as your music player. The trick is always ready to perform and you can repeat it with the same audience. You don’t have to purchase any new music-you can use your own-provided that you have at least thirty well known songs.

Palter offers thorough instructions on the DVD so you have all of the information that you need to prepare and perform the effect. He also adds a couple of bonus effects. If you don’t own an iPod, the effect can be performed with other music players, however, depending on the interface of these players, the trick may be more difficult to setup and perform. Palter doesn’t mention whether this trick can be done with an iPod Shuffle, I’m not sure.

I have two minor concerns. My first has to do with sharing one’s ear buds with spectators and strangers. I did a quick search on the web and discovered no apparent health dangers with this practice, but I can imagine some people not wanting to don borrowed ear buds. And I’m not too inclined to have others use mine.

My second concern stems from some of the situations where I sometimes perform close-up magic. iPods are expensive devices that are commonly stolen because they’re easy to fence. In the video, Palter appears to be using a Classic Video iPod that currently costs about $250 and demonstrates his effect on the streets. But does a magician really want to hand out a valuable iPod to strangers and allow them to handle it?

I’ve performed magic in situations where I wouldn’t want to show off my iPod. And when I listen to my iPod in public places, I use dark earbuds so I don’t signal to the world through those tell tale white earbuds and cables that I’ve got an iPod. Perhaps I’m a bit more cautious than most.

Palter has created a great effect with an object that’s popular and hip. And this is a great example of adapting magic to the latest in technology. I like this one, I’m just not sure that I’m ready to carry my iPod out on gigs and allow strangers to use my earbuds. -Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $19.95

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