Hey everyone! This is one of our most popular posts on Google. But it’s not one of our better ones, and we don’t reveal the trick! Go to the homepage and check some other posts out where we do! Yes, I’m talking to you, guy who Googled “crazy sam’s mind revealed”.

If you didn’t know, Crazy Sam’s Mind is a trick by Sam Huang released through Hanson Chien that debuted at Blackpool and seemingly gives you the powers of (weak) telekinesis. It’s been getting a lot of love from professional magic reviewers, and a lot of hate from many others. Now, I’m not trying to claim this is uncommon, don’t get me wrong. Tricks that professional reviewers love and others hate come out like clockwork. Yet, I do feel that the situation here is a little unique.

If I hadn’t given it away yet, I’m not one of those who hate it. But I don’t love it either.

Caveats

First, some major caveats. The supplied gimmicks simply won’t work if you have hands that are too big. That’s really bad, and there should absolutely be size options. I hope that concerns about exposing the gimmick didn’t have anything to do with the choice to not offer this. There’s also noise, which can be a big or a small problem depending on the effect (more on this later). So that covers some ground, but neither of these are what most people complained about.

Why People Hate It

So, what’s going on? Well, the big effect that everyone is excited about is exploding a potato chip (or crisp, at Blackpool) in your hand. It looks really good, for what it is at least (exploding a snack). It looks like it would if you could actually use telekinesis to explode a snack. Reportedly, there was lots of crisp explosion at Blackpool.

This explosion of snacks is the easiest and most authentically noisy part of the entire project. “Flicking” the card is harder, if only because you have to learn to match the sound when flicking the card for real. Launching things is harder than that, and picking them up (or more accurately, launching and catching) is harder still. Vanishes are not feasible in real life unless you have a LOT of time on your hands. All of this is freely admitted during the tutorial, but not at the start of the video, because that would be weird.

So people get this and they’re excited. They learn the setup, which is at the start of the video, and they try to explode a potato chip. Unless they have potato chips that are too strong or they haven’t paid attention to the instructions, they’ll probably get it in the first few tries. (I got it first try. Not to brag. I can’t brag about it, because I squealed like a schoolgirl when it happened.)

It’s reasonable to incorrectly assume that the rest of it will be this easy. It’s not reasonable, however, to claim that it’s impractical because of this.

The Actual Product

Let’s talk about launching things. You can’t do this with a mechanical pencil, or a Sharpie, or thick spectacles. All are too heavy. You can’t do it with spectacles that are shaped a certain way either. In short, you can’t do it impromptu unless you wear spectacles that work for this effect or carry a normal pencil with you. (In 2024, this is a tall order for some.) You have to plan out which exact items you’ll be launching. Oh, you want to do it outside, with a twig? A twig is too light. With a twig, everything looks like exactly what’s going on, some tiny thingy invisibly whacking it really hard so it flies up.

You can, however, do it with a straw. So there’s that. It’s light, but the air resistance allows it to launch in a less suspect way. There’s more on my presentation using a straw below.

But you’re supposed to flick a card from afar, then launch and catch an object, then explode the chip. This is the recommended routine. The lifespan of the gimmicks is measured this way, with claims of 30-50 uses per gimmick. I counted 151 uses before it broke, which would come out to about 50 full routines. At 100 uses, wear was visible and I would probably have swapped it out if I were actually performing and not testing.

Is the full routine even feasible? Yes, if your misdirection skills are up to snuff and you aren’t performing for a lot of people. You have to reset for each use, and it’s not exactly a subtle setup. Most people are probably just going to set up beforehand and do one effect, not reset twice under all that heat.

Should you even do the full routine, setting aside all of this? Maybe. I’ve already talked about the magician’s weakness for playing cards, perhaps there should be a post about the magician’s propensity to stuff playing cards into everything.

What I Like

So what do I like about it? For one, I hate my pinky finger. The more circulation I can cut off from my pinky finger, the better.

But no, seriously, it’s a fine trick in some ways. Once you do get good at launching items, you can leave the setup for upwards of 30 seconds depending on your finger strength, and do a sort of The Artist Distracted performance. If someone asks what the hell you’re doing, you can explain that you’ve been practicing telekinesis, but you aren’t very good at it.

Or, you can do a James Hydrick-style presentation, as I do with the straw from my drink at a cafe, or have done twice at least. First, you blow air to move the straw. Then you position the straw for launching, which makes it impossible to roll by blowing on it. Then you blow on it and launch it at the same time. I do this and act confused, as if I don’t know why it launched like that. It’s been a hit so far.

Watch the ten seconds I linked, or watch more if you have the time. It’s worth it. It’s from a lecture of Randi’s. It isn’t just the same clip you might’ve already seen and it features Randi’s commentary.

So, to recap, people easily learn the most exciting part, then find out that the rest is way harder. Wah wah wah.

The criticisms I’ve made above seem far more useful.

What I Don’t Like That I Haven’t Mentioned Yet

I lied, I don’t hate my pinky finger. It hurts!

The instructional video is not as clear as it could be. There are no over-the-shoulder views and little elaboration when it comes to the more difficult effects.

In Conclusion

The haters are mostly misguided. The reason for their hate can mostly be summed up as such: The most talked-about effect is the easiest, and everything else varies from easy-ish to damn near impossible. However, the lack of size options is bullshit.

This thing will make your pinky ache, if your hands are the right size to do the effect in the first place.

Each gimmick lasts for about 100 uses, or 33.3̅ routines, before wear starts to show.

If you’re a fan of exploding snacks or the James Hydrick presentation, it’s fairly easy to wear the gimmick around and have it as an EDC.

I rate this release a Worth It for the Right Person out of 10.