"Snapped" DVD by Cameron Francis
Suggested Retail USD$30.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

"Snapped", the latest DVD by Cameron Francis, is a cute, commercial, and unique piece of work that, while it may not bring the house down, will certainly shake the foundations a bit with an entertaining premise that is pleasantly surprising.

"Snapped" looks like this: the performer removes a photo of the four Aces from a wallet and has it examined by spectators. A card is selected, signed, and buried in the deck. Explaining that the "lucky Aces" will reveal the suit of the chosen card, the photo is shaken and one Ace turns face down in the photo. It's the Ace of Hearts. After verifying that this is the suit of the chosen card, a full-sized playing card is pulled from the photo, leaving a space in the picture where the face down card was. This card is turned over and seen to be the signed card.

Now, I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for this kind of thing. It's so different it's unique and so unique it's odd. I like that kind of thing and fall for it every time. Such is my feelings toward "Snapped": I love the darn thing.

And Francis has built a lot of little things into this that make it easy to love. It plays very well, if not as a solidly magical piece of business; at the very least it's entertaining and that's not too shabby at all. It's easy to perform, has some neat visual pieces, and is very practical. All in all, this is a great trick for those strollers among us.

If that's all we got with "Snapped", it'd be worthy of serious consideration. But Francis went further than I've come to expect from magic creators: he includes not only the gaffs and gimmicks to get you started straight-away, but also includes a variety of handlings and themes using those things and then throws a PDF into the mix that contains even more flavors of the gaffs, giving you what amounts to an endless supply of the things (desktop publishing gear allowing, of course). To give you an idea of what you're getting here with Francis' extra effort, one of the routines requires a gimmicked envelope. On the PDF is the template for making the envelope so all you have to do is print, fold, and glue and you're ready to go. I can't praise Francis enough for putting that all together for the consumer, and all those extras are wonderful additions to the disc and make this a very good value (but then, more bang for the buck always does).

But therein lies my only and only gripe with "Snapped"; some of those variations are, if I were being charitable, not easy to get to. I'm not feeling charitable though, because this thing rubs me the wrong way. You see, there are some alternate handlings that are "easter eggs" or, to quote the ad, "Unlock the Secret Hidden Menu and Access Amazing Alternate Handlings by Three Guest Magicians! All you have to do is find it!".

No, I don't. I put my money down and bought the contents of the disc. I shouldn't have to dig around for what I bought, or pop the thing into my computer to dissect the files to get to it. I don't have the time or the inclination to go through any of that, so I don't, and I think, instead of being "fun" or "clever", it's stupid and distracting, just as if the navigation system itself was broken or flawed.

And now I climb off the soapbox, having felt better for the venting.

Back to "Snapped"...

This is one that, while it might not be all that powerful, is certainly entertaining. As it so happens, it's a good fit for me and fits my needs perfectly. And, as Francis planned it, it gets good, solid responses. That is none too bad at all.

"Snapped" is one I recommend to anyone looking for something different, something that plays well, and something that gets nice, solid reactions. It's a good piece of work.

"Snapped" DVD by Cameron Francis
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Material: 8
This is a good little trick, with enough different themes and handlings given to make picking and choosing a pleasurable task. While it may not be one of those things that will bring spectators to their knees, it's still entertaining, commercial, and unique magic.

Practicality: 9
It packs small -- the "photo" is really all you're adding to things here -- and the reset is quick and easily done going from group to group. If there is a drawback, it's that the "photo" is a bit small and hard to see by more than a couple of people, but Francis has a variation that makes that a non-issue. All told, this is a very practical piece of work.

Quality of Production: 5
The production values here are very high, with only the odd camera angle disrupting things a bit. You'll have no serious complaints here. My only complaint is the usual one for such "easter egg" things; I paid for all the instructions and I want to navigate to them easily, not spend my time hunting for them.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Francis and his crew of thinkers teach their material extremely well and, even better, quite entertainingly. Picking up the handlings and routines is easy and, yes, even enjoyable. Big thumbs up here.

Presentation: 7
This is not something designed to knock 'em dead or allow you to "start your own religion" -- it doesn't pack the punch for that. But as an entertaining piece of commercial magic, this ranks up there as a unique piece of work.


Shane