Once you know what the gaff is, Richard Sanders' frustration at not being able to ship on time makes more sense. I feel for him.

Also, as a good Canadian, I'm sure he would rather have had Identity in the hands of those attending the CAM convention in Montreal... rather than have it arrive after they return from the convention.

Just got mine in the mail a minute ago! Can't wait to rip it open! Just like a kid at Christmas!

After opening I am quite puzzled at why he had trouble...extremely common gaff...(I make them myself for certain effects, and also buy them by the gross from online magic shops like Hank Lee)...but nevertheless, be that as it may, that doesn't detract from the effect. I think it's going to be killer...can't wait to get into it!

Thanks Richard, man, you rock!

Still nothing in the mail from Sanders here. When did you order yours? Do you live in the states? A person I know said he ordered it from Penquin and received it already. WOW. I am sure I will get my order but I am going out of town soon and I hope to get it before I do....this will be a second event I was unable to bust this out on....

I didn't get it yet either. I live in Florida and I ordered it on around may 12th or so I believe. Can't belive that people who ordered it from penguin are getting it already. Oh well!! That's usually the way it goes.

V.

As Richard just wrote me when I asked him a similar question, the post office is something of a crap shoot. I ordered several things from him and thought that might be holding up shipping. I was wrong.

I've never been able to see any reasonable pattern on when postal deliveries occur. Two people living in the same town can be sent the same item at the same time from the same shipper and there can be as much as a week difference in delivery dates.

Sigh.

Penguin just added it today to their website, so I kinda doubt someone placed an order and it shipped to them already.

I preordered on day 1, and received the DVD today. Sat down and watched it tonight.

The gimmick and basic handling are pretty much what I expected them to be. That's not a bad thing.

Even if you think you know the basic idea of what's going on here, the DVD is a worthwhile investment. Richard has absolutely packed the DVD with handling tips, variations on the presentation, etc. You can tell Richard's been living with this effect for quite awhile and knows all of the ins and outs.

I personally like the "Maxed Out" version of the effect the best. It involves a little more gimmickery than the standard verison, but provides the cleanest presentation.

There's something here for everyone. Short presentations, long presentations. With a table or without a table. Using the included gimmick, or doing a more "impromptu" version. All of the sleights are well-taught. Most of the card work involved is stuff that any moderate or intermediate card worker will know and be able to pull off with a small amount of practice. If you've never seen some of these moves before, Richard covers them well.

The "color change in question" that's been such a topic of hot debate is taught on the DVD. If it's in the preview, it's on the DVD. It's a cool change. A bit knacky, but I think it looks great.

The effect for me has kind of a Sankey/Paul Harris feel. The overall presentation and several of the sleights used feel very Sankey-ish with the marks on the back of the card, while the 'name' aspect seems like something right up PH's alley.

All told, it's a practical effect that can be done anytime for total strangers and resets instantly. There are a lot of visual punches, and good emotional attachment by using their name.

Richard keeps knocking them out of the park: Interlace, Extreme Burn, Tagged... Need I say more?

Get Identity. You won't be disappointed.

Kevin

Kevin, thanks for your professional critique. It's what I have guessed it to be form Richard: another worker effect straight from is own set.

A close friend wrote, that just got this. He's a VERY TOUGH guy on stuff. He loves it and told me why. So, I'm very excited about getting mine and adding to NAMED, that I already do.

Well, look, I hate to rain on the parade, but I must say I was quite disappointed with Identity. Richard Sanders is one of my top 5 magicians around -- I absolutely love Extreme Burn and Tagged, use them all the time to killer effect. Love his rope stuff and think his ring on the shoelace is brilliant. His "Assassin" video is phenomenal, one of my favorites (and I have hundreds). So, believe me, I am a huge fan and have bought tons of stuff of his without ever having been let down. But I was expecting a lot more because of the demo, which I think is very misleading -- particularly the description of marking the card and the reappearance of the marked card in the middle of the deck. The demo perhaps shows those events as many laypeople will perceive them, but certainly not all. That seems like unfair advertising to me. Compare that demo to Extreme Burn, Tagged or the shoelace trick, all of which show events as they actually unfold. I also was expecting a lot more because I assumed the method would match the brilliance of his Extreme Burn and Tagged. Unfortunately, there was nothing extraordinary here. (Also, not that I care about the delay in shipping, given the ordinariness of the gimmick, there's no reason there should have been a delay -- they're readily available at any decent magic shop.) Sorry, Richard, but I'm a bit bummed by this one.

I received Identity a couple days ago, five days from canada to Holland. That's very fast service!

Sadly, I have to say I was a bit dissapointed with identity too....
What is this? A negative review? Well, that depands on how you view it, there is a reasoning behind my dissapointment.

First of all, let me say, that I consider Richard Sanders a creative genius, and besides that a very nice, funny and patient guy (I've met him a couple of times during lectures). I have a lot of his products, and one of those is The Richard Sanders show. On one of the dvd's is an effect called 'Named.'

After first seeing this effect (Named) on the dvd and then live on a lecture, I immediatly fell in love with it. Great effect, right up my alley, and if you can pull it off, astonishment is garanteed. The premise (the same as Identity's premise) was amazing, but the handling was a bit cumbersome to me. I played with the effect and tried to come up with a more economical handling, but it didn't worked out. Sadly, therefore it never went into my working repetoire.

Then I read about the release of Identity. Identity was based on 'Named' but it was nothing like it! Well, I personally disagree with that statement. It think Identity is a lot like named (not only in effect, but also in handling).
Identity is more streamlined, but the methodology hasn't evolved very much since named (in my opinion, maybe some will disagree). That doesn't mean that Identity isn't a great effect, on the contrary, I can see this becoming a worker in the repetoire of professionals, but I don't see the revolutonairy difference in methodology compared to 'Named'. Named used the exact same gimmick, there is nothing added, but some technical details.

The maxed out version has great potential, and when I saw Richard performance I wondered why he didn't considered that the main version of Identity. But then....The ending leaves a lot to be desired. Richards handling on the dvd is very smooth, but it is my opinion that this handling will create serious (sound)problems in real world settings.

What you get when you order Identity is a dvd with a very nice effect, multiple handlings and subtleties. Richard's teaching is great. So, al in all, I think magicians who were not familair with Named will love this. Those who own the Richard Sanders show and are familair with Named might be a bit dissapointed.

Just my two cents.....

regards
Simon

I am also disappointed!
The DVD is outstanding produced. 9,5/10 !!!
But for me it is to 85% Named!
It should be called: "Named 2.0" or "Named extended!"
The selling price is ok! Therefore I am also not annoyed!

Completely examinable – ???
NO SWITCH – ???

I have mixed feelings with the purchase!

But no matter, Richard is great!

marc

Posted: Jun 25, 2009 5:46am
The explanations on the DVD are worth the money!

The CARD WITH THEIR NAME ON IT is completely examinable. There is NO SWITCH. He never lied. I agree with Simon; if you own The Sanders Show then you may very well be disappointed (this is Literally Mr. Stickman and Named used together in a routine) but if you don't own the set then you'll definitely love it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the effect, it's just that I didn't really learn anything new because there wasn't much that was new on the Identity DVD that wasn't already in The Sanders Show!

Regarding the impossible looking change; I won't be wasting my time practicing it. I don't see the point. It's VERY difficult to get down and even if you do, a layman won't give a poop. To him that change and the shake change are exactly the same. You take the card, shake it at the fingertips and the marks change into their name. Sure maybe if you showed them both one after the other they may say they thought the impossible looking change looked a bit more impossible, but you won't be doing that and so I think for the amount of practice needed to get this change down, I find it unworthy of my practice time.

I live I Indiana..and I pre-ordered as soon as the announcement was made that Richard was releasing this...hang tight..I'm sure yours is on the way as I type...



U.S. Postal service? SNAFU.

Posted: Jun 25, 2009 10:48am

Personally, I really liked what I received. I own the "Sander's Show" set, too, but still felt Richard made significant evolutions with the premise. I felt he offered a lot of value for the money cram packed into that DVD. I'm pretty darn happy with my purchase. Thanks Richard!

I am really crazy about the psychological subtleties he outlines for getting a spectator's name without them hardly realizing that you asked for it. Way cool! I know he went over these on the "Named" effect. But it was great hearing him expound on them in greater detail and conviction. Some guys may have cold feet when it comes to that, but Richard is right on. If you do it his way and "fear not", it will fly right past them, creating the coveted P.H. moment of astonishment at the last moments of the effect.

Overall, I am really going to love this effect. I'm dropping "Named" from my repertoire, and replacing it with "Identity" today.

And that's MY opinion.

We have this in stock now! Get it from your favorite magic store world wide!

BTW: I thought of the following regarding Identity:

When you write the person's name write it with a line under it.
You can openly draw the line on the card first(make sure there is a line on that place on the gimmick card, just to be sure) and maybe draw the first stripe of a letter of the name openly as well. Then proceed to write the rest with the card facing you as in the original handling. Then do the move and show the lines card.
It isn't necessary perse, but it can subtly reinforce that you actually drew the lines card on the spot.

About getting the name: When I'm performing and am about to do a card effect I always ask if there are people in the audience that play cards. Usually someone responds by pointing to a person and saying: Peter (or whoever) overthere plays a lot of cards!
With Identity, obviously you can use this in your advantage.

Simon

Well, I perform Named and Mr. Stickman, so I'm looking forwad to seeing any improvement. Why?

Well, I've gotten dvd's that 99% of which held nothing of real interest. But, that one thing, a sleight, a move, a different handling, etc. improved the effect I was doing. When you do effects 100's, 1000's of times, you get looking for anything that may take it to another level.

Tommy Wonder never stopped tweaking his material. He was a perfectionist and wanted it to be perfect. Most likely, you can never reach that goal, but...it's wonderful trying.

The dvd's "The Richard Sanders Show" are no longer produced. So, allot of folks don't know about Named or Mr. Stickman. Identity looks like a full course on them.

I have friends that felt Named was a little too move intensive and passed on it. They missed out on a miracle because people freak when their name appears. Unless you have performed it for people you don't know, you can't imagine the impact it has.

So, I'll see if Identity has that special thing that makes me ad to Named.

If I don't, this still stands out for me because after 40 years, I still don't know very much and need all the help I can get:

Over 2 hours of no holds barred, DVD training:

* Identity Extended: The full monty, multi-phased effect.
* Identity Condensed: Short and sweet, go straight for the jugular!
* Identity Maxed Out: This is a take no prisoners, maxed out version of the effect. This will fry magicians!
* Plus: A special surprise addition, sleight of hand workshops, bonus moves, psychology, handlings tips and more.

I received it. For people whose first intro to Richard was XB they are getting an excellent practical multiphase card trick. Folks familar with the Sander Show DVDs(fantastic value DVDs but that is life and buisness) but feel the money is modest for any additional routining, tips, dose of Richard, etcwill be pleased(this is my situation). The only people likely to be disappointed are those that are familiar with Named/Stickman and are expecting revolutionary differences (which there are not) and still staying up at night trying to figure out if there is a different gimmick (there is not). I thought the quality and amount of material makes Identity a reasonable value but the worth of a one trick DVD that is essentially upgraded and combined older materal will always be a personal choice

I have read every entry on these threads regarding Identity. The person who consistently makes the most sense and and shows good judgment is Christopher Kavanagh. I have never met Christopher but would like to some day.

BTW I have just received Identity. I didn't want to open it until I was brought up to date with everyone's comments. I am very much looking forward to learning the effect whatever I can learn from the Richard Sanders.

Richard probably ordered his gimmicks directly from the USPCC, who are well know for being a pain in the arse to deal with. I think this is a valid excuse for the delay. It would have been cheaper for him to get directly from them and I doubt many shops would have stocked the quantity he needed. Maybe I'm wrong but I doubt it.

Darius