Random Thoughts about a Random Trick

When my time on Planet Earth comes to an end, I secretly hope my funeral has two acts with an intermission. Act One: me lying face-down in the casket, so all the two-faced magicians can line up to kiss my ass one last time. Act Two: face-up, eyes fixed on the path above—gotta make sure I don’t bump my head on the way to meet the Magic Gods.

That’s right, folks: I’ve pre-determined my own divine finale. Talk about pulling off some God-tier shit, huh? Definitely not the healthiest trick in the book. But hey, we’ve all got our demons.

Random Thoughts about a Randomly Selected Trick by my Little Cousin

Yesterday, my little cousin dropped by. He’s in the eleventh grade and torn between becoming a neurosurgeon or a magician when he graduates. Clearly, at least half of his brain is working on a higher level than mine.

Anyway, I opened my laptop, pulled up VI’s site, and told him to pick any product he saw, and I’d give him my thoughts on it right here (since he follows me on the site).

He chose Examinable Box by Blake Vogt -

A helluva choice, no doubt.

He picked it because he knows I'd never buy it, and he knows my stance on overpriced magic props (and shitty magic pouches).

$74.95 for a gimmicked box that’s “handmade” and “folds flat”?

I get it—paper and cardboard are distant cousins. But slapping a gimmick on a box doesn't justify putting them in the same sentence as “seventy-five bucks.”

And if I’m wrong, I’d hope there’s something on the page that justifies the price. But there isn’t. At the same time, this could be a clever marketing tactic: "We’ll overcharge for this so you’re more likely to subscribe to our Masterclasses, where you get this and a whole lot more for free, making the lifetime value of you as a customer much higher!"

Here’s the thing-

I actually like Blake Vogt. A lot.

He has his own Shopify where you can support him directly.

He’s one of those guys that’s hard to dislike. Watching someone like Juan Tamariz might tighten up my backside more than I’d like to admit, but Blake’s vibe feels like the pre-rough-Alonzo days—you know, before life’s rough edges started sanding us down to reality.

The Good News about this OVERPRICED Box

Blake does have a great VI Masterclass.

Seriously, it’s worth every penny if making gimmicks is your type of thing. Not only does it teach multiple effects that would cost you an arm and a deck to buy separately, but an identical (or exact same?) effect as the "Examinable Box" is the first thing taught in Week 3.

For the same price as a single gimmicked box, you can learn to fish—and by “fish,” I mean make your own gimmicked boxes for life {and a lot more}.

It’s been a minute since I last revisited the masterclass, but I distinctly remember Blake’s card-splitting tutorials being some of the best in the game. His teaching is top-notch, and he dives into small but crucial details that most others gloss over. For instance, the "flick of the wrist" while rubbing a card corner on the table while splitting cards (IYKYK) -

I don't want to go All In and take this post too far, but some people create good magic products, some people are just genuinely good people, and a rare few are both. Blake is one of those rare individuals who seem to tick all the right boxes. He probably has good Kar[x]ma. Not everyone does (cough, cough).

-A.