The red pill, and its opposite, the blue pill, are a cultural meme. The red pill represents reality and truth, while the blue pill stands for beauty and illusion. The red pill was featured in the movies “Matrix” starring Keanu Reeves, and “Total Recall” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In this effect “Red Pill”, I believe its creator, Chris Ramsay, meant it to refer to the special feeling experienced by a spectator when she witnessed an impossible thing happening in her own hands!
In short, Red Pill is a chosen card to impossible location effect, with a de-emphasis on the word “chosen”, and a very strong emphasis on the word “impossible”.
There are 2 possible presentations.
In Red Pill, a spectator is given a new and sealed deck of red back cards. The cellophane wrapper as well as the pull strip are shown to be intact. The spectator guards this deck closely by placing it between her 2 palms. A blue deck of cards is given to a second spectator. A card, say, the Queen of Hearts, is chosen from this deck. It is then lost back into the deck. The performer causes the chosen card to vanish from the blue deck and to reappear inside the sealed red deck. The blue deck is examined, and the chosen card has indeed vanished. The red deck is examined, and the Queen of Hearts mysteriously appears trapped between the cellophane wrapper and the card box. The wrapper is destroyed and the Queen of Hearts is found to be of red back. This appears not to make sense. The box seal is broken and the cards inside are taken out. There is another Queen of Hearts in the deck, but it is found to be of blue back. The chosen card has indeed transported from the blue deck into the red deck and displaces the red back Queen to outside the box. This happens while the red deck is held all the time by the spectator, and the deck was checked initially and confirmed to be completely sealed so that nothing can get out or in!
The second presentation, Secret, involves only one spectator. After confirming that the deck is completely sealed, she holds it in-between her 2 palms. She names any one of the 52 cards, and this card appears trapped between the still intact cellophane wrapper and the outside of the card box. In this case, this impossbile object can be kept as a souvenir for the spectator to remind her of having witnessed an impossible effect. Or, like the first presentation, she can destroy the wrapper and open the box and finds that the named card outside is indeed missing from the deck inside in the box!
You receive a special Bicycle gimmick and a well-produced DVD. You have to supply your own Bicycle deck(s) of cards. In the DVD, Chris Ramsay shows you how to use the provided gimmick to construct the necessary gaff. You will also have to prepare your own deck of cards.
The 2 presentations are equally powerful in their impact to the audience. The name Red Pill is meant to refer to either one of these presentations. The strong feature of Red Pill is that the magic happens in the spectator’s hands, and under impossible circumstances (the box is shown and confirmed to be completely sealed). It is so strong that it can and should be used as a closer.
Please note that everytime you perform Red Pill, the wrapper and seal are broken and you have to prepare another new deck of Bicycle cards. However, the gaff, once constructed, can be used over and over again.
The first version of Red Pill requires some basic knowledge of card handling. Chris teaches the riffle force, the double undercut and how to cop a card in the DVD.
The second version, Secret, requires a verbal force of a card. Here Chris gives a thorough and excellent discussion on the use of Equivogue of a single playing card.
Chris also teaches his “Instant Change” move, which is usually available separately as a download, and how to use this in another version of Red Pill. Chris offers other intereating ideas with Red Pill, such as a personality read of the spectator and the use of the Bicycle’s advertisement card and the performer’s business card.
Red Pill allows the spectator ot experience impossibility and magic first-hand in her own real everyday world! (9/10 star rating)