General Card Magic Archives - Bicycle Cards

David and Sarah Trustman – The Memory Arts – review

Phil Sweeting — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 00:01:19 +0000

The Memory Arts is a book I might never have picked up, had it not been on my magic review list. But I’m very glad I did. And very glad that I waited until the beginning of January to do so. As I will explain in the review that follows…

What is it?

The Memory Arts is a beautifully produced (Vanishing Inc do produce nice magic books!) book which is all about how to develop a memory technique with specific reference to helping magicians memorise a deck of playing cards – though its applications are much broader.

The technique is based around the ancient technique of Mnemonics. It builds on a variety of ancient and more recent wisdom and packages it all in a highly accessible way. After a fascinating discussion of the history of this kind of technique, the book is straight in to a system of remembering 26 locations in a ‘Memory Palace’.

Memory Arts or Science?

This is facilitated by a unique drawing for each location alongside text to help you fix the image in your mind. In fact the use of illustration is a significant part of this book. You’re trying to remember images and pictures – which really helps the process. This view of the side of the book will give you a clue about how many pictures there are – the darker pages are all ones where the majority of the page is taken up with a picture.

After learning the 26 ‘locations’ there is a section on how you can turn any playing card into a memorable image. The next step is combing the card image with its location image.

The good, the bad, and the not so obvious…

The book has clearly been written with magicians in mind as the primary audience – so once the elements have been taught there are sections working the whole thing out for both the Aronson and the Mnemonica stack. The principles taught could be adapted for any stack you work with, but these are probably a good call as the most well known stacks used by magicians. (Although the Redford stack, and Woody Aragon’s Memorandum which builds on Mnemonica, are well worth a look in my opinion).

There are a few sections thinking about how you can use the technique in different ways – and I for one might well try it just to memorise the Kings of England in order, since that’s something I’ve always wanted to know!

The Memory Arts is well written, brilliantly illustrated and makes me believe that I could actually manage to memorise a deck – something I’ve always wanted to be able to do. That is why the timing is significant for me – it feels like a great New Year’s Resolution. And I currently believe I will be able to get this nailed within a few weeks or not much more. In fact, I have made an agreement with my 8-year old daughter and we’re both going to try to memorise it together! I’ll give you an update in a few weeks!

That takes me to what is probably my only minor criticism of the book. One or two of the images are not as immediately accessible as the others. For example one of the pictures includes a winch. My daughter had no idea what a winch is! Similarly there are one or two which have cultural connections or references which might not work for every reader. This is a tiny point – but worth mentioning. Of course, you can always come up with your own images. But half of the value of the book is that the images have already been done for you…

All in all, this is a great book, which comes highly recommended for anyone who would like to use their memory better. As I’ve said, it is well aimed at the magician who wants to learn a specific stack, but could also help memorise all kinds of other information easily.

You can pick up a copy of The Memory Arts from Merchant of Magic for only £37.50 (at the time of writing).

You can also purchase ebook editions for the specific stacks for £19.50 – but I’d always prefer a real book!

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

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Crash Joker 2.0 – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 23 Nov 2018 13:34:26 +0000

Crash Joker 2.0 is a really fun effect for anyone who uses Bicycle Cards. The plot is simple – with a shake or a flick you cause the bicycle to ‘fall out’ of the Joker’s card. You’re left holding a cut wooden cut out of a bicycle and the King on the Joker is left sprawling in the mud!

What do you get?

You get the really nicely produced wooden joker, the necessary specially printed Bicycle cards and a few other special somethings. The cards are in Red Bicycle stock, though you could make your own gimmick in Blue if you’ve got time for card splitting…

It all comes in a neat cardboard box, which also contains a link to the online instructions. These run to about 48 minutes and contain plenty of detail. The largest chunk of this – about 15 minutes – is taken up with explaining how you construct your gimmick. This is a little bit fiddly and is worth taking your time over. It isn’t overly difficult, and the instructions are probably more detailed/drawn out than they need to be – so don’t be daunted by this.

I love the quality of the bicycle, and the humour of the specially printed card supplied.

The instructions detail a few variations in handling, but the basic effect is very easy to perform requiring little skill. You would probably just need to play with it to experiment with what feels natural for you.

What do we think?

Crash Joker 2.0 is another of those effects that I am slightly in two minds over. I love that the effect is clear and strong and visual. It is quirky and appeals to my sense of whimsy. It is easy to do.

On the other hand, it feels slightly strange that the Joker starts off under the cellophane around the tuck case. There are ways of explaining this in your presentation, but it feels a little unnatural to me. At the same time, since the mechanics of this mean you would almost certainly want to use it as an opener, there may be some sort of weird internal logic to the starting position.

Part of me wonders whether there would be a ‘bare hand’ version using a much simplified gimmick where you just ditch the necessary from your hands – something which would be easy to do given the misdirection of the appearance of the bicycle. But you will need to come to your own conclusion.

All in all Crash Joker 2.0 is a nice effect which appeals to me in many ways. If the effect fits with your character and style then I would recommend checking it out. You would certainly find that it grabbed people’s attention at the start of your set.

Crash Joker 2.0 is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £26.99 (at the time of writing).

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

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Brandon David & Chris Turchi – Project Swiss Army – review

Phil Sweeting — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 23:01:57 +0000

Project Swiss Army is a gaffed deck and card box which opens up a range of magic options for you largely without the use of sleight of hand. Here’s our review…

What do you get?

A nicely produced and printed cardboard box which houses your deck, and also has details of the link to the online teaching. Everything is well made and the teaching – which runs to a little over an hour – is clear and detailed.

In one sense with Project Swiss Army you have two utilities for the price of one. First the card box, which enables you to secretly extract (or insert) something into the sealed deck. I’ve never handle the Extractor Deck but I suspect it has at least some overlap with that – which they reference several times during the teaching. However, in addition to this you have the specially gaffed deck – which opens up a whole range of effects with barely any sleight of hand. So this appears to be more versatile (and much cheaper!) than The Extractor.

The Effects Taught

Time Out – The ‘basic’ effect – a card is chosen and signed, and returned anywhere in the deck – no break! The deck is then returned to the case (and freely shown all around) and put in your packet – whereupon you can instantly produce the selection however you want. Their presentation is a kind of ‘challenge’ one – how quickly can I do this. Simply, clear, magically strong, but an uninspiring presentation for me. But so easy to do – this would be the starting point for any presentation you fancy.

Utility Strip Out – this is a way to use the deck to instantly retrieve any set of cards you wish. It is taught with the four aces – which are clearly show throughout the deck – and then very visually can be removed in a flash. Could be a neat way into a packet trick – even the trusty Twisting the Aces.

Flick Out – a card is chosen and signed and returned to the deck. And then you visually locate it by flicking the deck – and it flies out! Again, simple and direct and visual. Maybe good filler in a longer routine?

They also teach a couple of handlings for using the deck to force cards.

A Bonus Ideas section outlines a few variations and begin to help you think ‘outside the box’ in terms of extra phases and options for the deck. Nothing hugely grabbed me here – but it is probably helpful to get your own ideas flowing.

What do we think?

This is one of those things where I am slightly in two minds. I can see that Project Swiss Army could be very appealing for the beginner – because it enables you to do some very useful things with very little sleight of hand. For someone who has been around longer, pretty much all of the effects could be produced with only basic sleight of hand.

The nature of the Project Swiss Army deck means it is slightly angle-sensitive – and you can’t really use it for any other routines requiring a ‘normal’ deck. As I write I can think of two other gaff decks which would enable you to produce very similar effects but which would also let you handle the deck more openly (and use for other ‘no gaff’ routines). But the advantage here is that the gaff makes the handling incredibly easy which would make it particularly helpful for a beginner. And you also have the benefit of the cleverly gaffed case – which could be used with any deck and routine you like.

I also like the idea of using it in a mentalism context where you are only using cards once – you could use this for a really easy multiple force as part of a mind-reading routine. And the simplicity of the procedure would enable you to concentrate on performance.

The teaching is very clear – possibly slightly on the long side – but it is probably better to be clear and longer than the opposite. I would, however, have really have liked to see some live performances.

So all told this is a pretty good release. I think it is more likely to appeal to the beginner than the pro – but I can see useful applications for both. Let us know what you think…

Project Swiss Army is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £33.50 (at the time of writing)

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

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Anthony Owen – Secrets – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 31 May 2018 23:01:11 +0000

Anything with Anthony Owen’s name on it is bound to be worth a look – and the wonderful book Secrets is no exception. It is a curated collection of the best of his magic from the last 25 years – and it is full of gems. Some of them have been published before, or even released as stand-alone effects, but there’s plenty of new material too.

If you’re new to this magic business, Owen’s may be the best known magician you’ve never heard of – since for the last few years he has spent more time behind the camera and creating magic for other more well known magicians. Odds are you’ll have seen some of this material on TV!

The book itself

Like all of Vanishing Incs’ books Secrets is beautifully produced. It is a 237 page hardback book (no dustjacket) with a simple, stylized cover, clear and helpful illustrations from Tony Dunn. The writing style is crisp and engaging with a gentle humour often thrown in.

What about the tricks…?

These are spread over 8 chapters – and there is some brilliant stuff here. A review of this length can’t go into exhaustive detail about all the effects. Instead I will make do with drawing attention to some highlights. But I really don’t think I found a bad trick in here.

In the first chapter he gets stuck in (did you see what I did there?!) to an area he is well-known for developing (see for example the Sticky Blue Book). It starts with his super-clean and super-easy Oil and Water routine (and some developments by others of that routine) but there is so much more. A brainwave type effect with a borrowed deck; a super prediction effect using Ikea products, a signature transfer effect, the fabulous Miracle Monte 2.0 and much more. Strong stuff.

Chapter two looks at a sleight and some variations on it, followed by some routines (by card magic luminaries Roy Walton and Peter Duffie) using it. A nice move, but the effects felt a little contrived to me.

The next chapter is all about the coins. It was interesting to read a routine using the cigarette through coin gimmick which I don’t see used so much these days – perhaps because it is increasingly difficult to smoke in public places. Anthony’s routine uses a pencil so may yet breath life into that clever gimmicked coin. Some nice touches here. There’s also a clever matrix routine – where you don’t touch the coins with your hands!

Chapter four is devoted to variations on that all time classic – Out of This World. Some clever thinking on an already devious trick here. Worth a ponder.

A variety of card effects fill the next chapter. There are some killer effects here. I particularly like the John Lenahan collaboration called the Miracle Card which is a version of Alex Elmsley’s Between Your Palms. It has a whimsical plot and the climax is strong. The Birthday Deck is also a great distant cousin of the diary effect in which you accurately predict someone’s birthday. Definitely worth making this one up.

Anthony’s opener (from when he performed more often) will teach you some useful things about approaching a group in a strolling situation. This and a couple of other unusual tricks fill chapter 6. I was intrigued by the collaboration with Marc Paul which I can best describe as the Anniversary Waltz with a matchbook! It is guaranteed to score you a perfect date!

I have a fondness for mentalism which is the subject of chapter 7. It starts with an excellent take on the Kolossal Killer – which has some very nice touches. Then a very bold take on Eddie Joseph’s Premonition, a variation on the ACAAN plot which is really sneaky and a great Lottery Prediction.

The final chapter covers tricks inspired by or for performance on television. One of my favourites in this chapter is the Ring on Notepad in which a notepad of instructions for a new trick becomes the final destination of a spectator’s borrowed ring. There’s a highly involved routine in which the performer takes a gulp of coffee and then proceeds to ‘separate’ it into its constituent parts -water, coffee granules, sugar and milk!

There are also some fun routines which can be done interactively – over the phone, via skype, or on screen when you get your own television series! The chapter ends with some tips on performing for television (or YouTube, etc.) – and if you want to do any of this you really should listen to Mr Owen who has decades of experience in the field!

In conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Secrets. Owen’s enthusiasm for his art seeps through the pages and I sense a kindred spirit in one who loves to read magic books and come up with new ideas. I don’t think there is a weak effect in the book (though obviously not every effect will suit every performer) and there is something to learn for everyone.

There are some great little performing hints and tips hidden in the instructions – so a careful reading of this book will pay dividends even if you didn’t end up using a single effect from the book. But I think you probably will.
Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it. Make up some of the effects and fool your audience badly.

You can pick up a copy of Secrets from MagicShop.co.uk for £41.99 (at the time of writing).

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

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Mickael Chatelain – Travel – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:01:03 +0000

Travel is the latest release from Mickael Chatelain’s Gimmickmagic company. Perhaps our review will help you decide whether to make the journey to purchase it…

The effect

The spectator chooses a card (which is a free choice, and they may sign) and it is placed on the top of the deck. It then ‘visibly’ (more or less!) vanishes – and appears in the card box.

So yes – it is another signed card to impossible location effect. As the company’s name suggests, this version relies on a heavily gimmicked ‘card’ to do most of the work for you. I have to confess, when I looked at the gimmick, without watching the video, I had no idea what it was for!

But the gimmick effectively allows a sort of sleight free version of the Findlay Tent Vanish – where the card disappears under the slight cover of your hand. The gimmick also makes it possible to produce the card from the card case without any sleight of hand.

What do you get?

You get the specially gimmicked card. A not quite so gimmicked card case (flat packed – so you will need to glue it together). And a link to a short explanatory video online. The first 11 minutes or so explains how the whole thing works, and includes a slow motion performer’s eye view. Then there is a further 5 minutes of visual explanation (no words) about how to repair the gimmick. You are provided with some material to do this, but to be honest it looked quite fiddly to me!

The English explanation involves Mickael’s rather quirky accent which I am growing to love!

What do we think?

Travel in some ways seems like quite an elaborate solution for an effect which could be performed with sleight of hand. Now for the beginner this might be really quite a bonus. And there is a certain economy to the way the card reappears in the box in particular. In fact that’s probably my favourite part of the effect. The ‘vanishing’ part does feel slightly like overkill to me.

Probably not an effect for the more experienced magician. But might be of interest to someone just starting out and looking for a visual effect that’s easy to do.

Travel is available from the Merchant of Magic for £27.86 (at the time of writing)

[Bizarrely, as so often, the blue version is a cheaper price at £27.50!]

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

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Patrick Redford – Temporarily Out of Order – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 23:01:06 +0000

I have often observed that there appear to be trends in magic, and Temporarily Out of Order is the latest of a series of books to have been published in recent years on the Memorized Deck. We recently read and enjoyed Woody Aragon’s excellent Memorandum. And we will be doing a review of Atlas Brookings fine release The Solution any day now. I will try and make some comparisons between these works as we go (and if you are serious about getting into memorized deck work then you really need to consult the classic work of Tamariz and Aronson too).

Never judge a book by its cover

The old adage about judging a book on its appearance is true, and nowhere more so than with Temporarily Out of Order. I found the front cover unimaginative and the back cover rather stark, nor do I like the glossy paper on which the book is printed or the font used. Sorry! But don’t let this put you off – because the content is brilliant and more than makes up for these assaults to my aesthetic sensibilities! And in its favour it is well illustrated throughout.

Do we need another stack?

Many readers will already be familiar with either the Tamariz or Aronson stack and so this question is inevitable. The Redford Stack has been built from the ground up to enable a number of features not so obviously present in other stacks. It is loosely based on the well-known Si Stebbins stack, but this has been in altered in various ways to hide some of its more obvious features.

The design means it is very easy to get into the stack from new deck order (and back again), or from Si Stebbins order. There are multiple spelling and poker effects built in, and also numerous other features which make it a very powerful tool indeed.

The tricks

There are plenty of tricks – far too many to describe in detail. They are gathered in collections – spelling/location effects, gambling demonstrations/deals, faro effects (requiring perfect faros), and a couple of chapters of more general effects. One chapter includes five effects which are not stack-dependent – so you could use with an alternative stack you’ve already learned.

The title-routine, Temporarily Out of Order, is a very strong five phase effect in which a series of more and more incredible coincidences take place and the deck ends up being in full deck order. He even teaches a version which can be done without memorising the stack and is therefore more or less self-working.

Another chapter includes three ‘story’ effects – where a story is told as you deal through the deck. I like the way that he includes some magical effects to add further interest to the story, though one of the routines is sufficiently ‘adult’ that I wouldn’t use it in performance myself.

And there’s more

A short chapter explores combining the stack with other principles – notably the idea of end strippers. Then we hit some really useful ‘utilities’ chapters. The first teaches a brilliant false overhand shuffle and series of different false cuts. Another contains several deck switches – which are also very deceptive.

In a very generous idea, the final chapter which shows how to get into the setups for a ranger of effects by other people. It doesn’t teach the effects, but does give full references which you may well want to chase up on the strength of Redford’s recommendation!

On the subject of references – everything contains highly detailed references which I appreciate and enjoy reading. There is also a very helpful online ‘toolbox’ – with videos of some of the effects and techniques.

Final Thoughts

A good number of the effects can be performed without actually memorizing the deck. But for those who are going to put in the hard work, there is plenty of help in teaching memorization techniques and mnemonics.

There are also loads of great performance tips and wisdom buried away in the descriptions – so even if you don’t perform any of these effects you will still learn some useful stuff.

We often like to comment on the skill level of items we review but that is difficult in the case of a book like this. Some of the effects are essentially self-working and others require a high degree of proficiency with a deck of cards. And the process of memorization itself – if you decide to go down that route – will be harder for some people than others.

Comparisons are difficult, but my sense from a distance is that Memorandum contained more effects, but the effects in Temporarily Out of Order were of a more consistently strong character. I also felt that some of the extra techniques and ideas in this volume would be relevant whichever stack you choose to use – indeed even if you don’t perform mem deck work yourself.

For this reason I would strongly encourage you to add this volume to your library, in spite of the cover…

Temporarily Out of Order is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £45.50

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

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Christian Engblom – Triple C – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 08:40:21 +0000

Triple C is billed as Christian Engblom’s prized and closely guarded secret which he is releasing to the magic fraternity after years of keeping it (largely) to himself. So what is it? Find out in our review…

What is it?

Triple C is actually an idea that has been around for a very long time – it is a particular way of gaffing pack of cards which enables you to control one or more cards very easily. It also enables an extremely ‘free and fair’ handling of the deck which makes the idea that you are controlling anything seem impossible.

Although the idea was published a long time ago, as the saying goes, the easiest way to bury an idea is to publish it. And in 30+ years of reading magic books and magazines I have never seen any significant routines utilising the principle. Engblom has refined his own techniques which work with this principle and, by way of a taster, given us three great routines using these.

You receive a factory prepared deck of Bicycle Cards, and a link to online video instruction. Unusually, this has been split into several different videos – performances, introduction, explanations, etc – which makes it quite easy to watch just the bits you want.

Three strong effects

Name Spell – spectator freely shuffles the deck and removes and remembers a card. Then they return it to the deck which they can shuffle and cut again. They then spell their name to locate their card. It looks quite impossible. And it does require a little bit of ‘jazzing’ on your behalf. I would say this is not an effect for the absolute beginner – but it is so strong if you can get it down. There are some really clever ideas in the explanation which will help you with the jazz!

Poker Demo – the spectator chooses any four of a kind and loses them in the deck. They then specify any number of hands of poker and indicate which is to be the ‘lucky’ one – then as you deal out the hands, their four of a kind all appear in the hand they have specified. The technique involved in this may initially put you off – but the way the deck is gimmicked actually makes this easier than it would be with a normal deck. Another real fooler, but not for the beginner.

He Knows – this is a great two spectator routine. The first spectator chooses a card and loses it in the deck. Then the second spectator is able to name the card! A lovely ‘instant stooge’ kind of effect which could be a lot of fun with an obliging spectator. This is probably the easiest of the three routines taught.

Triple C or A minus?

The teaching is clear – but some of the more advanced moves are only briefly shown. For this reason I would recommend it to an absolute beginner. Although the special deck does some of the work for you, the core technique which Engblom teaches will require a fair bit of practise to get it smooth. I hope you’re not the kind of magician that a bit of work would discourage! And there are more simple techniques you could use to get started with the deck.

The additional ideas section teaches a few other techniques which could take advantage of this special deck and should spur you on to think of other applications.

I really love the tricks which all fooled me on first viewing – these are ‘magician foolers’ for sure. The way the deck is gimmicked does allow a significant degree of freedom in the handling which is wonderful, but you will need to bring to this a certain amount of sleight of hand too.

You can use it as your ‘regular’ performing deck with no concerns and the way it is gimmicked makes it very versatile. Refills decks are also available at a very reasonable price.

All in all there is a lot to like here. If you’re prepared to put in the work, Triple C will enable you to perform some real miracles.

Triple C is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £27.99 (at the time of writing). It is also available in blue. Refills can be found here.

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

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Woody Aragon – Memorandum – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 14:34:59 +0000

Memorandum is a big book (not too far off 400 pages) which covers dozens of effects and ideas and concepts with Woody’s memorized deck (hereafter mem deck). So this Memorandum review can only begin to scrape the surface of the book – and my aim is to give you enough information to decide whether or not the book is worth your investment of time and money.

Woody (or his translators) write well in a very conversational style which makes the book a joy to read. He is a real enthusiast and that enthusiasm is infectious as a reader. However, don’t expect to sit down and read this book in a sitting. This is a book which will repay careful study over time.

I am increasingly convinced that mem deck magic is amongst the most fooling that you can perform – and there is also some satisfaction in the brute achievement of having memorized a whole deck! But beware. Although a few routines in this book will work without having put in the hard work of memorization, this is a serious work for serious magicians who are prepared to invest time and effort for their art.

Before I forget

Woody is very well read and I really appreciate the way he carefully attributes inspirations and techniques in the different routines. In any field of magic we are all standing on the shoulders of giants, but nowhere is this more true than for the mem deck. Juan Tamariz is clearly a huge influence on Woody Aragon and Woody himself encourages you to buy and familiarise yourself with Juan’s magnum opus – Mnemonica – if you really want to appreciate some of the subtleties and techniques which really make mem deck work fly. He also refers to Simon Aronson’s collection Bound to Please as another invaluable resource.

The first thing the book covers is the development of Woody’s stack. A LOT of thought has gone into this. The book is the result of years of study, experimentation and performance. And this is very reassuring – if you’re going to make the investment of time to learn the stack you want the reassurance that the material actually works!

As well as being a joy to read, throughout the book amusing illustrations help you to learn the stack pictorially – although they do not (if I have counted correctly) cover all of them. Perhaps they will be finished in the project volume 2! Plenty of other line and photographic illustrations make sure everything you need to understand is very clear.

Another early chapter describes the method (he calls it a game!) he uses to teach the stack to classes. If you’re familiar with memory techniques, there’s probably nothing new here – but it is a helpful summary nonetheless. He also gives some tips to help revise stack etc.

A plethora of effects

He starts by teaching tricks which don’t require the stack to be memorized – simply to be in order – as a way to help you learn the stack. He then moves on to the idea of the half stack – an incredibly powerful idea. It is easier to learn than the full stack – and the first half of Aragon’s stack has all sorts of clever attributes which open up many strong effects. These include spelling effects, gambling effects, weighing the cards, matching the cards etc.

There are then plenty more effects using the full stack – including more poker effects, some very clever prediction and ‘fishing techniques’ and other more original ideas.

He has a section on effects which aren’t dependent on the stack you use – so even if you already use a different stack there are ideas here for you. And in another chapter he specifically explores how to move between the Memorandum stack and the Tamariz or Aronson stacks. Unless you are a very competent handler of cards (and audiences) I would suggest this might be overkill – though if you have a particular favourite tricks you perform with different stacks I can see why you might want to do this.

For me, one of the most brilliant and exciting concepts in the book is the Siamese deck. I don’t want to give away the details here – but to my mind it opens up some amazing possibilities. I would like to devote some time thinking this principle through in relation to non-memorized deck work too since I think there is a lot of scope with this idea.

In addition to teaching the effects he also teaches how to reset the deck (and some intriguing rules about ‘undoing’ the effect of dealing various hands of poker etc.) – there is something verging on the fanatical in the depth of understanding he has of the mechanics of both his deck and the effect of various shuffles and combinations on a deck order.

There is also a chapter covering some false shuffles and cuts and the explanation of a clever little device you can make yourself with fairly simple craft skills which will help you to switch half a deck for another.

So who is this book for?

Potentially several different people. If you are already a user of mem deck material, then this book is well worth a look. Even if you don’t want to learn a new stack, there are ideas for routines and techniques which you may be able to develop or add to your existing stack and effects.

If you’ve not yet memorised a deck then Woody’s stack would be well worth the investment of time. You may wish to consult some of the other standard works referenced above in order to gain more ideas and techniques, but the Memorandum stack itself is a very powerful tool all on its own. And the book covers all you need to know to get started.

You may never want to memorise a deck but simply (like me) enjoy reading widely in magic to broaden your repertoire of techniques and influences. If that’s you, there is much to commend about this book. As I have mentioned, it has opened up a load of ideas and possibilities in my mind – if I ever get round to spending some more time on them. (To that end, it would also be worth looking at this book in relation to the Marksman Deck we reviewed recently.)

In fact, Memorandum would be well worth a read for anyone who shares my passion for good quality card magic. Don’t bother if you’re a hobbyist who just wants to perform tricks which require no effort, but if you’re prepared to make an investment in your art, then this comes highly recommended.

You can pick up a copy of Memorandum from magicshop.co.uk for £46.50 (at the time of writing)

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

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Matt Johnson – The Journey – Review

Phil Sweeting — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 00:01:12 +0000

The Journey is the second ACAAN release from Matt Johnson – but it’s the first I’ve seen to review. It turns out that doesn’t matter since the original is one of five versions of this plot that is taught on this this roughly one-and-a-half-hour long DVD. For an ACAAN-aholic like me this is a wonderful thing!

In case there is anyone reading this who doesn’t know what ACAAN is – it stands for Any Card At Any Number. In the purest form of this plot, a spectator simply names any card and then any number (up to 52) and the deck is dealt to show that their card is located at their freely chosen number.

If you give the idea any thought, you will see that is a miracle. For magicians – it has achieved the status of something like a holy grail, and I have lost track of the number of versions I have seen over the years. I still have a standing question about the impact on laypeople – but like most magic, presented well it will be astounding.

A Journey of five versions

On this release, Johnson teaches five versions. They are all related to one another – but some use more sleight of hand than others. The main sleight used is the JB Card Cop – or longitudinal palm. Matt’s handling of the sleight is superb and he explains the move clearly– but it will take most of us a significant amount of practise to get it looking this good.

Version one can be done with a borrowed and shuffled deck – which is astonishing! It is an elegant and direct solution but is technically CAAN – since the card is selected before the deck is fully ready to go. But as you will see all versions of ACAAN make different compromises to reach their solution – and choosing an ACAAN often comes down to what set of compromises you can live with. This version does require mastery of the palm but you will have a cracking effect if you can get this down smoothly.

The second version utilises the same sleight but brings in some clever sleight of mouth from Joshua Jay, and some specially prepared cards to make some things easier. There’s a detailed explanation for how to make/prepare the special cards (though you could buy these if you prefer). This is better than version one (in that the cards are fully ready to go from the outset) but the compromise here (which the spectator should never notice) is that in fact you are working with a limited range of cards. You also need the specially prepared deck rather than being able to work with a borrowed shuffled one.

Versions 3 through 5 don’t require use of the sleight – which also means the spectator can (with care) do all the dealing. They take the Joshua Jay subtlety and the specially prepared cards and produce a very clean looking handling. Once you have removed the cards from the deck, the spectator can do all the dealing. These three variations are very closely related – simply involving different numbers of decks depending on the levels of freedom you want to give the spectator in their choices. Johnson teaches a great little ‘subtlety’ for re-setting in plain sight – though those who criticize the whole concept of ACAAN on the basis of all the dealing involved may not like it!

These last three versions particularly appeal to me – since sleight of mouth is one of my special gifts and I can be a bit lazy when it comes to practising sleights! You will need to be confident in your spectator handling to allow them to do the dealing, but you probably shouldn’t be performing any kind of ACAAN if you’ve not got some level of confidence there. Although you are well covered for all the most likely outcomes, a couple of the scenarios ‘at the extremities’ are necessarily going to be slightly less clean to my mind.

Other thoughts

Matt Johnson has a Great beard/tache! I know that shouldn’t make a difference, but it is rather fine. Versions 2-5 will take some set up time and may require you to buy some extra decks of cards – unless, like me, you have several boxes lying around permanently.

The advertising talks about “Custom gimmicks” – these are essentially nicely printed stickers which contain various cribs to help you perform the effect – cunningly designed to look at a glance like a Bicycle Cards box.

One of the things I enjoyed most about The Journey was the insight it gives into the creative process. As you see how the different versions have evolved (as the name implies). Explanations are very clear and the performances are ‘live’ which is always a bonus. Sleights and inspirations are well attributed (including Marc Paul’s Affected by Berglas – which kicked the whole thing off for Johnson).
The Journey is a great release for anyone with an interest in performing this reputation making effect. The variations mean it should be within reach of any level of performer with a little practise.

Available from MagicShop.co.uk for £39.50 (at the time of writing).

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

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James Went – Meditations – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 00:01:05 +0000

Meditations is a double DVD set, the debut release of the very talented Welsh magician, James Went. In spite of my age, I first came across James through the wonderful children’s television series Help My Supply Teacher is Magic. But as this set demonstrates, he is a very clever and thoughtful magician in his own right.

This releases oozes class (is that even possible? Can class be oozed? Or is oozing not classy?) – even from the DVD cover. I love the simplicity and elegance of the tree silhouette on the outline of his jacket. But that’s enough about externals, what about the content?

Right from the introduction, James’ passion and concern for the details of an effect comes through. He’s read widely (and attributes brilliantly) and has clearly worked at the routines at length. The DVDs are shot to BBM’s usual high standards, and each disk contains effects, techniques and some interview sections.

The effects

Inevitable
James starts with a really strong routine – a distant cousin of the open prediction plot. A spectator chooses one of two decks of cards and it is set aside. Then the other deck is shuffled and they get to select any card. This is turned over and the value of the card is counted down in the deck to reveal another card. These two values are added together to create a new number and they count down to the card at that number in their deck. This is the card you predicted at the outset. A clean and strong routine, easy to do – definitely worth playing with.

Roy’s Sandwich
This is a nice sandwich routine where the two red aces, inserted at random locations near the top and bottom of the deck manage to move to capture a card merely glimpsed by the spectator earlier. In the (optional) second phase this is mixed with a kind of triumph effect where the deck is mixed up (face up and down) and instantly righted at the same time as locating the chosen card. This is heavily influenced by a Roy Walton routine as its name implies. This requires a little more technical skill (the moves are explained in another section of the DVD) but the second phase, in particular is extremely easy because of the structure of the routine. Beautiful magic.

For Krenzel
A card is merely peeked by your spectator – you’re then able to read their mind and reveal the card, which then instantly reverses itself in the deck. This is basically a routine which showcases a move which James created. The choreography beautifully covers the move – which is worth a short investment of time to learn.

Conditional Triumph
This is a great example of how presentation is king. James justifies the ‘Triumph’ plot by making a ‘find a card’ trick seem more and more impressive. This really works well with James’ personality and the premise primes your spectator for a good reaction. It can be done with a borrowed, shuffled deck, and doesn’t require too many knuckles to be busted for a great effect.

Sandwich Thing
A quick sandwich routine – combining a number of ideas by other people into one snappy routine. A card is selected and lost in the middle of the deck, and a face up king placed on the top and bottom of the deck – these instantly locate the chosen selection in the middle of the deck. Then the two kings visibly jump out of the deck trapping the selection a second time. And then a moment later the kings are back on the top and bottom of the pack and the selection is in your pocket. Again, there’s a little card handling required. But if you’ve been doing card magic for any time it should be within reach.

Poker Con
In this entertaining routine, the spectator is involved as your ‘confederate’ in a poker routine when, from a well-mixed deck, the performer manages to deal four cards to complete a perfect hand with a card the spectator chose at random. Requires some setup but utilises a lovely simple but convincing false shuffle which is justified by the plot narrative.

Selected Daley
This is the first thing James published (in a lovely ebook I own – Celtic Cabal). A selected card is lost in a deck. Four Aces are discovered in the course of a faux gambling demonstration (during which, a la Daley’s Last Trick, the red and black aces repeatedly transpose) and then the selection appears in the middle of it. A nice technique for controlling the chosen card from the middle of the deck which will require some practise but is worth the effort.

Broken Triumph
Another take on the Triumph plot. A spectator glimpses a card and then shuffles the deck. The performer can then both read their mind to reveal the card and then perform the standard Triumph effect – where a mixed face up and face down deck instantly rights itself with the exception of the chosen (“merely thought of”) card.

Collectors
This is a traditional collectors plot – but what makes this so nice is again James’ presentation and the routining which is very slick.

Searchers
Like a slow motion version of the earlier sandwich trick where the 2 aces move towards the spectator’s selection in two stages! Fair bit of handling required.

The Techniques

4 of a Kind Production
Does what it says on the in – a fancy way of producing four of a kind. Not too tricky and nice if you like this kind of thing. And if you do, there’s another version too!

Tit Peak – Tabled Injog Turnover Peak
This is a move to peek a card in the move of handing a deck out to be shuffled by a spectator. A little bit of a knack, but pretty straightforward and versatile move. There’s also another variation taught which can be done standing without a table and without being contrived at all, the acronym this time is TITTIES…

Top Card Production
This is a way of producing the top card apparently from the middle of the deck. A useful and fairly easy little technique.

Jack’s Ginger Snap
A variation on a Jack Tighe move – again making a card look a lot like it comes from the middle of the deck. A nice little move.

Spread Peak
Again, does what it says on the tin – a peak which is made during a spread on the table. This man is obsessed with peaks. This is quite disarming.

Relaxed Pass
The pass is another move James rates highly – interesting how some sleights come in and out of fashion. As its name suggests this one is deliberately casual to avoid the awkwardness sometimes associated with this kind of move. James has combined parts of two other moves to make this pass and it does achieve he casual feel he is aiming for.

Thoughts on Controls
James teaches a couple of controls whilst explaining his thinking around this key area of card magic. Nodding his head in the direction of a Roberto Giobbi essay (from Confidences) there are some helpful tips here around the psychology of making your controls more convincing.

Spread Pass
It’s another pass people. The selected card is passed as the spread is squared up. You’ll need to work at this to get it smooth but it is a very useful move and James gives you several tips born of playing with the move incessantly.

Spread Half Pass
This is the technique used in Roy’s Sandwich (and turns up quite a bit in Roy Walton’s work). A potentially under-used move and well worth getting your fingers around.

The Interviews

As much as I love magic, I enjoy getting to know people even more, so I always look forward to interview sections on these kind of DVDs. They contain and nice mix of serious and light-hearted questions. You do get to see a bit of the real James and he comes across as a really nice guy.

One major encouragement to any aspiring professionals is that he started out in magic (relatively) late in life an yet has achieved a great deal in a short time. It’s never too late to learn. Oh, and like me, he’s a big fan of magic books – what’s not to like?!

The story behind how he got involved in Help My Supply Teacher is Magic is also really fascinating and he comes across as a very humble guy. I really enjoyed these sections.

Any Final Thoughts

This is an impressive debut and I hope it brings James more recognition in the magic community. There are some great effects and useful techniques.

Whilst I love his relaxed and personable performance style I don’t think his teaching is quite as clear as that other BBM stalwart, Liam Montier. James often goes a little quicker and seems to assume more. To be fair, many of the releases Liam has taught on have been aimed at beginners and Meditations is probably a little more advanced than that.

Some of the more complicated routines have a nice feature – an extra fast recap for practise purposes so you can refresh your memory or practise without having to go through the whole teaching slot. And as often on BBM disks, there are some fun messages on screen and little bits of banter – as if the magic weren’t enough.

A great release for any lover of card magic. Meditations comes recommended and is available direct from the Merchant of Magic for £34.50 (at the time of writing).

Many thanks to BBM who kindly supplied the review copy.

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