"Cell" by David Stone
Suggested Retail USD$49.95
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

"Cell", a new effect by David Stone, turns your cell phone into a devilish device for pulling off a powerful effect, but a fragile gimmick and your own phone may cause more migraines than miracles.

The effect of "Cell" is simple: it's a "card to impossible location" plot involving your cell phone. A card is chosen freely and signed. The card vanishes (there are a couple of ways of doing this on the disc, but regardless, the card goes bye-bye) and the performer picks up his cell phone which has been in full view the entire time. The performer opens the battery compartment of the phone, revealing a folded playing card resting inside. This is dumped out and unfolded by the spectator and it's seen to be their signed card.

Considering the ads, it's not tell tales to say that this is, basically, Kennedy's "Mystery Box" built into your phone. The supplied gimmick can be installed in about a minute and doesn't affect the function of the phone at all; it still works perfectly and functions normally. This thing makes your phone a very useful prop indeed, and the effect it has on spectators is as strong as you could reasonably ask for.

On the method side of things, once the gimmick is in place you're always good to go. It's really the only set-up you do. Reseting things takes less time than it does to talk about it and you can even reset in front of spectators with no problem: do a little something, close the battery compartment, and you're ready to go again. You will need to execute a certain sleight or two, but it's fairly common and simple with a bit of practice.

With all of that going for it, this should have been a perfect piece of magic for just about anyone who does card effects.

Note I said "should".

There are problems with "Cell" and, unfortunately, they are fairly big.

The first thing is that it won't work on all phones. Naturally, you'll need a phone whose battery compartment you can actually open, but there is more to it than that to be considered before you purchase "Cell". You'll need a phone where the battery compartment is large enough to accomodate the gimmick. Unfortunately, there's no way of figuring this out without tipping it except in a "ballpark estimate" kind of way, so try this: take a spare Bicycle card, fold it into quarters, and put in on top of your battery. If you can put it there and still close the battery compartment and open it again, then chances are "Cell" will work with your phone. Unless you have a phone where there's a small plastic post in the door of the battery compartment (to hold the battery securely in place), in which case you're out of luck entirely. Another consideration is the battery size; if the battery is too small (read that as smaller than your folded-into-quarters card), then "Cell" won't work either.

If you've got the phone and find it works with "Cell", the other problem crops up. The gimmick is fragile. Now it's not easily breakable, but after a couple of dozen run-throughs practicing with it, a part of the gimmick began to wear and make itself known. While I'm sure its appearance would go by a spectator with little problem, I began to worry it would eventually come from together apart and took it upon myself to fix it before things get worse. A simple operation, sure, but something you should be aware of.

So is "Cell" worth the hassle? If you've got the right phone and you don't mind servicing the gimmick every once in a while, then you won't see a hassle; you'll be right at home with "Cell" and it certainly is a slick piece of work. If you've got to buy another phone (or doctoring the gimmick is something you don't want to do), then you might see "Cell" as nothing but a hassle and opt for another "card to impossible location" effect of some sort you already know and do.

"Cell" by David Stone
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Practicality: 10
Easy to put to use, extremely easy to reset (right under the spectators' noses, even), great angles, easily repeatable... And all packed into something you carry with you anyway.

Workmanship: 5
The gimmick is made well enough, but after a few uses a part of it began to become visible, requiring some re-assembly.

Documentation: 5
The documentation is provided entirely without spoken instruction. Sometimes this works well, sometimes very well, and sometimes it barely works. This is, unfortunately, a case of the latter.

Effect: 9
The "card to impossible location" plot almost always seems to blow spectators away; this one does as well. It hits very hard for lots of reasons.

Presentation: 8
Stone's routine here is all based on the element of surprise, first using the phone as a harmless prop and then as the climax. It works and works very well.

Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.