Cody Fisher – Deal Sealer – Review

Deal Sealer bills itself with dramatic claims as “Cody Fisher’s closely-guarded secret for locking in a great impression and increasing your chances of new bookings.” Before we evaluate those claims in our review, we should point out that what you are actually purchasing is his presentation for the classic 3 ½ Clubs trick! Read on for our thoughts…

What do you get?

2 nicely printed 3 ½ Clubs cards. These seem to me to be very well printed and the indices and spots appear clearer/larger than some I have seen – which makes the visual gag much easier for the spectator to appreciate. You also get a link to online teaching – which runs to around half an hour.

What’s different about the effect?

Essentially, what you are purchasing here is Cody Fisher’s presentational angle and tips for this routine. I don’t want to give too much away of the routine – but suffice to say Cody has introduced a number of elements to the routine to make it seem much more impossible/surprising and gives you all the ‘work’ on the psychology of the routine to get a better reaction.

He talks you through the process of modifying the cards to make the handling both easier and also more impossible. This is pretty straightforward stuff – the ‘craft’ skills required are minimal. You will also need to be able to do some basic card handling – he teaches a couple of forces which are very effective in the context and are not too difficult to do.

And he explains how he came to develop the routine, how the psychology works, and everything you need to know to include this in your set.

What do we think?

This is another of those releases which is a little hard to evaluate. It is a very strong routine with this gaff card – and I can see it getting excellent reactions. But in one sense there’s nothing ‘new’ here – instead you are benefiting from the insight and wisdom of an experienced performer who has put together an easy yet powerful routine.

I do appreciate Cody’s style and think he is a very clear thinker when it comes to getting maximum reactions – we loved an earlier release of his which we reviewed – Killer Prediction – which was essentially a new (and to my mind brilliantly executed) platform presentation for the Invisible Deck.

Are the claims true?

I think Deal Sealer, performed well, would definitely leave a strong impression and may win you a booking or a nice tip. And at this point we have to trust Cody when he says he closes with it (In fact, he has a nice idea about returning to a table after he has already performed which is explained on the video).

So if you’re looking to learn a strong effect which is fairly easy to do then this comes highly recommended. If you’ve been around the block a bit longer and are confident on improving your own presentations, you may want to give this one a miss. But I like it – and could see myself using it.

And just maybe I’d get one of those $100 tips he talks about. Though the way the pound is going at the moment, that might only be enough for a small beer.

Deal Sealer is available direct from Merchant of Magic for £23.50 (at the time of writing).

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.