Sucker Punch by Mark Southworth Reviewed: Real Coin Magic?

Sucker Punch by Mark Southworth is a great set of gaffed poker chips that gives you access to a whole bunch of awesome coin routines that could otherwise end up costing you a heck of a lot of money!

In this review I’m going to be breaking down what exactly this product is, and why it’s such good value for money.

Plus, read until the end for my NEW ultimate guide to learning magic….

Product: Sucker Punch by Mark Southworth

Difficulty: Medium (shouldn’t be hard for experienced coin workers, might be a learning curve initially for beginners)

Best place to buy: Amazon

What do other magicians think? 5/5 Stars on Amazon, 4/5 stars on Penguin Magic.

Here’s the actual trailer for this effect. I think you’ll agree that it looks really good on first impressions! Watch how clean the color changes are…

What is Sucker Punch?

Sucker Punch is meant to be an ‘all in one’ set of coin gimmicks for magicians who can’t afford to buy them individually. For me, that’s a great idea.

Picture this: An amateur magician saves up so he can afford an expensive coin gimmicks that costs him hundreds, only to realize that he isn’t a fan.

Sucker Punch solves this problem. Instead of you needing to pay huge amounts for high quality coin gaffs, you get a set full of decent gaffs for a very low price. You’ll be able to experiment and see which work for you without the huge price tags.

What do you actually get?

You get a pack of poker chips, with all kinds of different gimmicks and gaffs that enable you to do some really cool coin tricks:

• 3 Fly

This is a classic coin routine in which the magician transports 3 coins from one hand to the other under seemingly impossible conditions. This is great for most situations; close up, street magic, stage. If you wanted to buy this trick on it’s own it would probably cost you around $15.

Total so far: $15.

• Sun and Moon

This is a copper/silver coin trick that has been specifically adapted for this set. The Sun and Moon coin trick usually involves two coins swapping places in slow motion. It looks like real magic! If you bought this trick somewhere else it might cost you $30 or so.

Total so far: $45

• Circular Change

This routine is all about color changes. The Sucker Punch set comes with red and blue poker chips, making for some incredibly visual routines (as you saw in the trailer). If you bought this somewhere else, it could cost you $20

Total so far: $65

• In the Hands Change

This trick is a transition routine that happens in the spectator’s hands. I’m really glad that they included this bit because every coin magician worth his stuff knows that in order to create a great coin routine, you need to get the audience physically involved. While this isn’t possible for a lot of the other tricks, this one makes a nice addition thanks to the variety it offers!

Price if you bought it somewhere else: $20

Total so far: $85

• Trinity

This routine involves a production and vanish of three coins. When you pull out some coins as a magician, this is exactly the kind of trick that the audience will be waiting for. Just a classic ‘here’s an empty hand…wait, now there’s a coin…wait, now it’s gone’.

Nothing too fancy, just a great tried and tested routine! Price elsewhere: $15

Total so far: $100

• Through

Talk about visual magic! This trick fooled me so bad the first time (and second, and third…) I saw it.

The magician takes a poker chip and taps it against a class table to demonstrate that both items are real. Then he places the chip flat on the table and takes his hand away.

One hand goes under the table, the other simply reaches over and taps the coin in full view. You physically SEE the coin melt through the glass and drop down into the waiting hand beneath.

This trick was done in the trailer if you want to watch it again (minute 0:20). This is the kind of trick you would use to close your shows; it’s incredibly visual and looks absolutely impossible. Reactions are guaranteed!

This is probably my favorite effect of the set, and I would be happy to pay more than $20 to buy it independently.

Total so far: $120

Plus, you get 14 physical gaffed poker chips that are worth probably $30 alone.

Total: $150

So, this set should cost around 150 dollars if you were to buy the tricks individually (and I was aiming low with my estimations; it probably would wind up more than this!).

But, you can get it for only $39.95. That’s about a quarter of what it should cost!

Now that we know the tricks included and what this set is valued at, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons.

Pros

• Great for magicians who want to get into coin magic without spending crazy amounts on high quality coin gimmicks.

• Eric Jones. Did I mention this bit?

Oh yeah, you also get an instructional DVD with teaching by Eric Jones himself, one of the best coin magicians in the world. His teaching and handling of these gimmicks is incredible, and boosts the value of this set by a solid 50% in my eyes!

• Solid tricks. The tricks involved contain classics of coin magic and are tried and tested crowd pleasers.

• The color. This hadn’t even crossed my mind until I read about it somewhere else! Think about it; most coin magic is done with silver and copper coins. This makes it really difficult to create any kind of visual contrast for color changes and the like.

With these red and blue poker chips, they really ‘pop’ visually and look much better with the color changes too.

Cons

• Lower quality gimmicks.

The only issue some people have had with this set is that the actual poker chips and gimmicks themselves are not as high quality as they would have liked. Some people have reported that some of their gimmicks felt cheap.

For me, this isn’t a problem.

Why?

Well, the whole point of this set is that it provides access to expensive coin gimmicks so you can try them out and get some practice before you pay out.

Of course they aren’t going to be as high quality; but that isn’t what they were designed for. They were designed to have fun with.

For example, you might get this set and decide that you really enjoy the gimmicked coins that enable you to do the 3 Fly routine, but you aren’t a fan of the Trinity gimmicks. In that case, you might decide to buy the higher quality gimmicks for the 3 Fly routine.

Think of it like food tasting; you don’t get the whole meal but enough for you to figure out which dishes you like most! That’s why I always recommend this product for people who aren’t sure which coin gimmick to buy; they get to try all the different ones out and figure out which style they like the most!

So, if you have a decent amount of experience with coin magic and want really high quality gaffs for your routines, you’re probably best off investing somewhere else. This set might seem too basic in terms of gimmicks (although you might learn some new tips on the handling).

But as a beginner coin magician, this set is IDEAL.

You don’t need to worry about ruining the gimmicks since they weren’t even expensive to purchase in the first place, and you get to get access to all different kinds of gaffs to see which suit you best.

About Mark Southworth

Mark Southworth is a pretty well-known creator of magic tricks that is an established and trusted face within the magic community! He is well-known for his other work including the highly popular Double Cross.

What do other magicians have to say about him?

“Mark is probably the most creative guy I have ever met in magic. I get crazy jealous of his ideas every time we speak.” Magician Matthew Wright.

Another great magician who features on this product is Eric Jones. Anyone who’s a fan of America’s Got Talent might remember Eric from his appearances on the talent show in which he progressed to the semi-finals through some awesome coin magic.

I personally am a huge fan of Eric and his work and so I was super happy to see him featuring on this product. He actually fooled Penn and Teller on their hit show, Fool Us back in 2015 (before this product came out).

He is well-known across the world of both magicians AND non-magicians alike for his incredible coin handling and sleight of hand work.

What do other magicians have to say about him?

“Eric Jones does some of the cleanest, smoothest, and most artful magic I’ve ever seen. And if that wasn’t enough, his magic also happens to be totally mystifying!” Magician Ken Weber.

Where can you buy this trick?

This is a pretty popular piece of kit, and so it’s available at quite a few magic stores online. But, I think it’s easier to just go through Amazon.

Although it currently is low in stock so if you’re considering buying it then you should probably act quick! (4 left in stock the last time I checked…)

==> Check it out before it’s gone here! <==

The reviews on Amazon are all 5 stars. Most reviewers made a lot of the same points as this one; you get access to otherwise super expensive coin gimmicks and awesome teaching by Eric Jones.

Final thoughts

So, let’s sum it all up.

For under $40, you’re getting:

– 14 gimmicked poker chips than enable you to experiment with routines that would otherwise cost you hundreds, created by an expert magician and taught by an expert coin magician.

Sounds pretty good to me.

“Sucker Punch is a real world answer for those who want to perform gaffed coin magic for a fraction of the cost of traditional coin sets.”

– Eric Jones

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Did I cover everything about Sucker Punch by Mark Southworth? If you still have any questions, feedback or general comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section just below or get in touch with me using the email form at the bottom of the page.