It is hard to know where to begin this Traveler review – except to say that as an Englishman I squirm every time I don’t type Traveller! The Traveler is a beautiful artisan coin wallet, which not only makes a beautiful place to store your coins for your magic routine, but can also be utilised in routines to make them more effective. I love the logical/organic feel of the whole thing.
Oh, and did I mention it is an artisan product? Jeff seems to go to some lengths to make this point, and actually, I’m not going to criticise him for it, because it certainly is a beautiful (handmade!) object to hold and use. It’s a very stylish piece – which would fit with either a formal or casual look so very versatile.
The Traveler wallet is not quite as innocent as it seems – and its hidden in plain sight feature make some special moves possible. As a prop, it also performs the function of shielding or shaping some of the coin moves you will use anyway.
But it should be made quite clear that the use of the wallet will not replace sleight of hand (for all but the most basic use) – and all the routines taught make extensive use of (standard) coin sleights. That being said, some aspects of the wallet make certain moves easier – can’t really explain more without exposure.
In addition to the wallet itself you are provided with a link to online teaching. This is very comprehensive – running to almost 3 hours of teaching. The online version includes bookmarks allowing you to jump to particular sections, or else you can download the video to watch offline at your leisure.
Four main routines are taught
Micro-Macro – a nice routine by Brother Jeffrey where a coin repeatedly grows and shrinks, ending with a jumbo coin climax.
Travelled Coin – this is a sort of wild coin routine with the wallet. There are some lovely elements to this – though I found a few of the segments less convincing. To be honest, if you’re serious about coins you will probably see all the routines as ‘starting points’ – and you might combine bits and pieces to make your own version – indeed Jeff actively encourages this in parts of the explanation.
Chipsy – No coins here, this is a routine with Poker Chips. A $5 bill changes into a chip which then changes to a $100 chip and back, finally turning into some high value poker plaques. In other words, this is a bit like Micro-Macro without the coins!
Fantastic 3 Coin Trick – this is a beautifully visual routine with 3 coins which vanish and reappear one by one and then travel to the coin wallet. Based on Doug Brewer Famous 3 Coin Trick (from Unexpected Visitor) – it does require some fairly advanced or knacky sleights.
There’s also an extra section on the video covering the more advanced sleights and some troubleshooting – it goes over some of the moves already taught in more detail and details a couple of extra moves/variations.
The verdict?
There is no doubt that you will find this all much easier if you already have basic coin handling skills (palming, Bobo Switch, French Drop etc. etc.). The moves you need are taught – but not in enormous detail – this video is probably not a replacement for a primer in coin magic. (If you need help with this, the classic coin magic text is Bobo; if you prefer DVDs the best of Bobo is on DVD, or David Roth’s DVD set is another classic.)
The instructions excellent and nicely shut with multiple angles used to teach the routines. Jeff Copeland has a nice relaxed manner for performing and explaining and attributes moves and routines well. And the whole thing comes in a beautiful box!
Although you will need to invest some effort to get the handling of this smooth, I think this The Traveler represents great value for money – since it is a very nice prop and excellent teaching.
The Traveler is available from MagicShop.co.uk – for only £27.50 (at the time of writing).
Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.
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