Light Year by Kyle Purnell Live Review

Hello, welcome to Real Magic Review. My name's Steve Faulkner and today we're going to be reviewing Lightyear by Kyle Purnell. Before we do that, hello, welcome. This is an unscheduled one so, well, I scheduled about an hour ago. So if you're here, thanks. Hey, there's people here. So let me get on with the thing that I've got to say at the beginning, the things I've got to say about the things. Like and subscribe if you like it, you want to subscribe to it. Very importantly, I hope I pressed the right one, check out onlinemagic.co. That's my online magic course, over 600 videos, 700 videos, live sessions every week then uploaded. So you get at least four hours of live footage every year. There's one of them, that's one of my live sessions. Look, coin magic course, rope magic course, hundreds of card magic videos because that's what it started out as and loads more cool stuff. Don't trust me, have a look at the Trustpilot reviews on the site onlinemagic.co. If there is no that, there is no this and if you love this, you'll love that. Learn from a pro. I can't remember things. Oh dear. Yeah, I thought it was Thursday and then lost a couple of days. Yes, it isn't. I'm doing some live reviews because it's half term, I haven't got time to edit and I kind of like these. Some people say they like the live ones better than the edited ones, let me know. But one of the problems with the live ones, if I can kind of waffle too much. And so what I'll try and do is do the review first of all, then do the questions and the waffles. So if you're here just for the review, just watch that and then you can, I hope you do stay. I want you to stay because you'll learn more at the end because we can go into other subjects. And also I do forget stuff quite a lot when we do the live reviews because Stevie has ADHD, which is now an excuse for everything. Sometimes I'm just nearly going to forget things. So I'm a bit late to the party with this for a very good reason, because I wanted to learn it and play with it and do it and perform it. I haven't got any performance footage. I have got a bit, but I can't find it. It was on my GoPro and it's a tiny little SD card. I can't find anywhere, but it wasn't great footage anyway. But I will promise you that I have spent a lot of time with this. I've learnt it so I don't have to think about the thing you have to learn. And I think it's hard to review this sort of thing unless you've done that. So let's look at the trailer. I will comment on it, pause it, that will annoy you if you just want to watch the trailer, but you can do that on loads of other places. But here's the trailer and I'll kind of half review it as we go through. Right, so on that never discovered before new concept, it is Kyle is incredibly proud of this. Now I know a lot of people, if you watch the tutorials, they start off by saying I'm really proud of this. Everybody says that. But you know he is. He is really excited about this. It's something that you can tell is his baby. He's worked so hard on it. He's had loads of sort of input from other magicians you would have heard of. I won't go into who they are because I can't remember them mostly, but I do remember some of them. But I don't want to leave anybody out. Don't know why, doesn't really matter does it? But that's the way my brain works. But he says this lovely thing about his dad helping him out and there's been so much time spent on this. Now it doesn't really mean it's any good of course. There's been so much time spent on a lot of things. If you've seen one of my favourite bad movies, worst movies of all time, The Room, there's a lot of time spent on that. But there has been a lot of time spent and I will tell you in a minute whether I feel it's been worth it. It's not quite cut and dry but yeah let's go with it. Oh maybe I pressed the wrong button. And there's the effect. Okay someone, I'm not going to go through the whole effect. The trailer is quite long so I might cut it when we get the idea. But someone writes down a number. Now they could even tell you a number really. It could weaken it. But the idea is that you have a presentation around that and you show them these cards which again we'll talk about. They're very unusual. Lay them down in a very fair way. You know nothing dodgy going on. I don't see anything dodgy going on at all. And you do that on your phone or in other ways. Again I'll talk about that in a minute. And it shows you their number, their two-digit number. Oh my gosh I nearly pressed the finish live stream button then. That would have been terrible wouldn't it Steve? Yes it would. A two-digit number. Then you introduce your, get pushed together. They will reveal a lot of numbers every single time. The spectator can make all the decisions. I promise you this, they have never seen This is the process you go through as you're showing them. You lay them down. It's all very fair. You're not moving things around. Boom. Right that'll do. You can watch the rest of the trailer in your own time. But then you get the idea. So there's been a lot of talk about this. I have purposely not read a lot of it. All I've seen is positivity. I haven't read the forums. I don't know how people are finding it once they've played through it because they didn't want that to get skewed. I recorded a review of this when I played with it a little bit but I decided not to do that review until I played a bit more because I was, I got caught up in this brilliant, brilliant, brilliant and then I wanted to really not find fault in it but see if there was any. See if there's any challenges. And there have been a couple that I think are important to talk about. First up Kyle should be proud of this. I really love it. I love learning it which some magic I do find tedious to learn. This has been, I've really enjoyed the process especially because it requires thought. It's not sleight of hand. That's a first for me. I usually find it quite challenging to sit and think about things but there's something about this. Well as he says it's intuitive. The way this works is intuitive and I think when something's intuitive and it kind of makes sense it's easier to learn because you feel like you can grasp something. You know when you're just learning sort of random numbers it's dull you know but this is something that you and importantly when you start learning this if you're like me I really freak out about numbers. It's not, there's no maths or anything like that but when anything's got anything to do with numbers I have almost like a phobia. I go oh I'll switch off. I found this, I learned this quick really unusual and that goes back to it being intuitive. It was just quick. I just knew it. Now it doesn't mean I didn't then spend a long time really nailing it and then it doesn't mean even then that I didn't make mistakes which I have done a few times but I think it's great. I think it's different. I think it's unique. I think it feels good to do. It's fun to do and it's really versatile. Let's go into some of the challenges some people might have with that. So first of all you know these are these are you know odd things right. You look at that and and a lot of you will think as I sometimes do is that well I like doing things that kind of people can relate to but what you have when they can't relate to it is this open this sort of blank page. You can go right what can I call these and and I find that hard sometimes but ideas have just been flowing out of me for these. I think because of what they are people are curious about them. You can tell stories about them. You don't have to use some bad metaphor that something that they recognize means something else. This is like they don't know what these are. So Kyle uses this idea of these are these are what you know mind reading training tools and he puts them up and he says right think of your number and and sort of trace it out on here and I'll try and follow your gaze and all this sort of stuff. I tried that. It didn't really work for me. I think it was something else about the presentation that didn't work for me. So and this isn't saying there's more for him it clearly does but this is where your individuality comes in. I was doing this and then saying the number and then I'm going to getting the number in a minute and there was just it was almost like the last bit was almost weakened because the strength the strong reaction was how did you know the number and this bit in the end was like oh no cool. Then I changed it a bit and I thought about what am I interested in confirmation bias so you can use this if you want it's not great presentation but it just made all the difference for me. I said that these were and he does mention this actually these were stargazing tool sort of thing and I thought I said you know get them kids you look up and you can see the stars and it shows you the pattern and and what people do with confirmation bias sometimes they'll look at stars and they'll see patterns when they're they're not really there because they want them to. It's like when you look at a cloud and you look for a face you'll see a face. So you look at this and look at the stars and you'll see certain numbers and some people that are obsessed with that certain numbers will see them you know people that are really into kind of conspiracy theories and that. So I say I want you to think about your number and see if you can see it in there and they go no you know whatever and they go maybe a bit and I'll go right but maybe I've enforced you to see it in a different way in strong way or whatever I haven't got any decent practice um scripting but then I do the phone thing and I say what can you see in the stars now and it says their number so I don't tell them their number it's revealed on here on these and it's it has that sort of backstory. Backstory's a bit strong you know weak scripts about confirmation bias but it really worked for me that word then it was like bang whoa it came from nowhere they didn't know that I knew the number before that happened but they were seeing the number in the stars and that was inspired by him saying in one of his presentations he does say see it in the stars. Anyway it's I'm not saying that because it's a great presentation I'm saying that because it was a different presentation that works for me and that's what I think is important for this. This requires presentation I really think it does because of they're so odd and they they you know you can create something around these if you just get them out and show them yes it will get a reaction but people go well you know it's it's one of them and I'm I'm all for using things that aren't recognizable but I think sometimes you have to justify it and it would be a shame not to with these so that's where the thought is going to come in. Now the way you do it as I said is easy it sounds difficult at the start but it's really really easy but you've just got to be on it yeah I would if you're going to perform it you haven't done it for a week just run through very very quickly in your head and you'll be able to do it. Now for some reason every now and then I would just I'd kind of mess it up and I don't know why and now I'm not messing it up I don't know what happened I seem to be doing everything right so I'd say you know spend a bit longer than you think you have to and I suppose the good thing is about saying what the number is before you reveal it that's one of the routine the tricks the effects and then they can look at these and if you get that wrong or it comes out a bit weird it's not a good thing to happen but at least they've got that one effect where you got the number and actually weirdly enough um one time I was a couple of numbers out just because I'd done it wrong but it was a real number and they said well you were so close out of all those numbers so it still got an effect it's not it wasn't ideal but that can happen let me just check if I've uh oh yeah getting the number that's really important I think this is going to be actually get tied up in how to actually do this with the props and by the way you get these props in a lovely box um I don't know I didn't get a little bag with it I think that would have been nice because I think it's nice to stick them in a bag but you can have elastic band around them I just found a little cloth bag at home and it gives them a little bit more um I also would have liked I think it's a good idea of maybe something to think about in the future or actually you could make them once you've bought these and use them as templates because it would be nice to have a kind of something that was a bit more rustic that you can make the same thing um now they're not gonna last as long these are gonna last a long long time they're gonna last for life there's not they're not brittle they're gonna they're great so you don't never gonna have to buy other ones but I think something rustic if you had a more a different story maybe talking about the old kind of music note things where you you know the scrolls that went through the the pianos you could talk about them but I think there's something in them being rustic which could have a lot of potential as well for storytelling and that really magical thing at the end so getting the number as I was gonna say I think though the way Kyle teaches it is a simple way to do it I'm not that good at it I've done it and when I've got away with it I've kind of got away with that but then people who know me have been looking for certain things if they've seen a lot of magic so I'm thinking I might use a different technique for that so I don't want to go into different things but you can use technology for it you can use things like a center tear which I'm happy to say because a lot of people won't know what that is you shouldn't know what it is or you can use the way he does it and and if you do kind of get people to see then it doesn't really matter because you've still got this effect but I think them not knowing you've got the number is a nice thing but it's that's not a criticism of the the way he does it because I know loads of people use this technique Luke Jermay uses it loads it's brilliant but I'm just not very good at it so if you wanted to go straight out you might want to think about doing something else but the that's going to be totally fine there are different presentations on the download there are different ideas there's an idea from Mike Close which is really nice how to do it slightly differently but to me they don't see anything when you're putting those tiles down or when you're going through the process that would create any suspicion whatsoever and and it's a solid solid routine the reset I don't usually talk about resets but I think it's valid with this one this will be a quick reset once you've played with it a lot now when you first do it you'll think oh the reset's a bit but actually when you've done it a lot and you start understanding it the reset's going to be really easy actually you just sort of do that do that and it's it's kind of there so you'll be able to repeat it now Kyle is someone like Roddy McGee for me he doesn't his routines aren't something that they're not kind of blockbusters you know if you like movies you've got your blockbusters and you've got your indie movies I went to see the um Banshees of In a Shearing last night in a sharing that's right isn't it into that and it was lovely but it's not for every moment it's not for every mood and it's not for every body and these tricks I think are there it's one of the best films I've seen in ages but I wouldn't say it fits into I couldn't watch it at any moment after being the right mood for it and this trick is like that they're kind of like indie tricks his and Roddy's and many other people they're quirky they're different they're good and they're strong but they are for a certain moment for me where you've got time to sit there and just relax after dinner or when you've got the time on that table and the focus is there and I that is not a criticism actually at all I don't want constant closes all the time I've got enough thinking what I want is interesting things to get people talking and to make sure I enjoy my magic and that's what these are Kyle is a great thinker I love all this stuff it's not saying it's not flawed I want more of it you know I say I love it I like it but I haven't played with all of it so you know it's he's an exciting person a bit like Roddy and a few other people do come up with exciting ideas that I really enjoy I really like this I think if you get it spend time with it don't let the easiness and it is easy kind of attract you from the time I think you have to spend with this to feel really comfortable to feel confident and to be able to talk and chat through it there are a couple of ways to reveal the number there's the phone one that's fine but incidentally it's not as easy it takes practice to do that thing where you kind of put them on the phone and they get into position you know if you rush out and do it and you think it's all about the other bit you might do it and it kind of doesn't show and you spend loads of time getting into position that's actually depending on what phone you got may be a bit sticky for you but I really like actually just holding them up which he says is a way to do it you hold them up to the sky or the light and you see them there's a lovely thing as well when you hold them up and get someone to shine the the torch off their phone through it and it shows it on the wall which I think is really nice actually and as soon as I saw that and played with it I thought that's got loads of potential it kind of made me think of Tobias Dostal's um silhouette which because it was a silhouette obviously but I also thought maybe you could pull something do something with that and it could or can merge into another trick brilliant so loads loads to be to talk about that's positive a few things you're going to find challenging doesn't fit to every situation and you might have to play around with the timings and the different presentations to really get that hit it's not kind of built in you've got to work at that and a lot of that that is just relaxing and making sure you've got the beats right and whether or not you reveal that number before you show it on your phone and he does go into how to you know how to sort your phone out and do it with that as well right that's the review let's have a look if they're on the giveaway Began Bros is I'm going to do the giveaway of Orbit on Thursday so if you haven't entered that yet you can go under the video that says about giving away stuff and the idea is you come up with an idea of something that I could do regularly on the show there's a lot of great ideas I'm going to pick them by random but most of them require quite a lot of work I haven't got time to read more books and things like that so if anything you like as a regular on the live show whether it's just emails or whether it's anything like that let me know and on that if you want me to talk about something on a live show or anything you've got challenges with email me steve at onlinemagic.co steve at onlinemagic.co and I can use that as content I'm always looking for content so don't hold back even if you think it's a silly question or you're a beginner just ask me anything I'm not saying I can get back to you straight away but I'll try and create content for the channel based on that um right uh hi Anthony how are you doing um we used to waffle and waffle on thanks Philip and Gary how do you choose what to review is it random or do you pick your favorites it's difficult um I have a pile of stuff which I want to get through over there which is some stuff I haven't heard of I like doing that I like just looking at stuff I haven't heard of that I get sent but obviously if there's something that gets if I can time it with a release and you know honestly to get more views because a lot of stuff I want to review doesn't get loads of views because it's not you know pushed by the big companies but I want to do it for that reason really obviously it doesn't get the interest so I do like the odd thing of timing it with a release which I didn't do for this but I think it's I just want to spend time with it uh and why I don't you know a lot of people send me pdfs and stuff that's been made on their phone and some of it's all right but I just get I just get inundated so I like someone that's you know it doesn't have to be like a really posh we've loads of posh packaging or something but someone that's just put that effort or sent me an email or something that means a lot to them but sometimes people just chuck something together in two minutes because they want to sell it and I just can't keep up with it um I like the fact of the different presentations and reveals sounds great yeah Gary it's I like that too I think it's um it's a it's a good thing right well that's the review if there are no more questions I will be back with a live one on Thursday it's uh unless something goes wrong like it did last Thursday apology for that last minute family thing had to run out and um and sort that out so that was that so thank you very much I just checked there's no other um questions there isn't so please go and check out onlinemagic.co just have a look at that now won't take long it'd be great if you could just have a look at it um onlinemagic.co look at the trust pilot reviews on that and like and subscribe and if you think this is it would be of interest to anybody feel free to mention it I'm not saying share it all over your socials it's not really that sort of thing you can if you want um but if you want to tell people about the channel a lot of people still don't know about it and that'd be great I'm on 8.25 thousand I'd love to get to ten thousand I don't know why it just seems like a yay kind of thing and have a look at the YouTube shorts that I do as well if there's a question or something I haven't talked about I will make a quick short and put it up and have a look at the tricks on that as well and again if you've got a quick question I can do a quick YouTube short put it up there for you so do check them out all right thanks a lot everybody have a great one take care and see you later which one is it is that one