So what is the effect?

A couple of different routines are taught, but the basic ‘effect’ is of a playing card appearing under the cellophane of a sealed deck of cards. It all happens in the spectator’s hands and it really is that clean.

In the original Red Pill routine, there’s a bit more to it. A card is chosen from a blue deck of cards and then disappears. A card then appears underneath the cellophane in a sealed red deck which has been freely shown. This matches the value of the card which disappeared, but turns out to be the same card from the red deck. When the wrapper is removed and the deck unsealed, the blue card is found to be in the midst of the deck! An astonishing effect.

The name of the effect is an allusion to the cult film The Matrix and that is the presentational hook Chris uses. Some sleight of hand is needed to make this work well though the handling gives you plenty of cover. The necessary sleights are all explained in a separate section which goes through the necessary moves in some detail and with multiple camera angles.

There is also a one deck variation called Secret. This is the same sort of thing as Red Pill, but the card is ‘merely thought of’. Of course this isn’t strictly true, but Chris has worked out a nice equivoque based script which will get to the card you want. It is similar to some of Mark Elsdon’s excellent work on this – and is definitely very serviceable. I’m quite comfortable with this kind of language based forcing – if you’re just starting out you’ll need a bit of practise to get confident/fluent. But if you can put this across well it is a very strong effect.

What do we think?

Chris himself is a nice, understated and funny guy. His explanation is almost like an ongoing stream of consciousness with little gags all the way. His pace of explanation is very comfortable and his style is laid back – this is easy to watch and everything is well shot and clear.

If you’ve any experience in magic you will understand that an effect like this is going to take some time in preparation. First you have to ‘finish’ a gimmick which is provided. This is very easy to do, will only take 5 minutes and minimal skill and is ‘one off’ – it should last you for a decent length of time.

However, there is also extra preparation for each performance. This more fiddly. It will no doubt get quicker as you do it many times, but to get an effect as visual as this there is bound to be some pay off.

We love the concept – it is really strong and I would say well worth the effort in preparation. The fact that is happens in the spectator’s hands increases the strength of the effect many times over. I suspect you’re not going to be doing this at every performance – and probably nor should you – Chris himself has a section where he encourages you to save it for a special moment and make much of that. He has some extra ideas on how to add even more strength to this. I can easily see how you could book many gigs off the back of a well-timed performance of this.

So if you’re prepared to invest some time in doing the necessary preparation to give your spectator a very powerful moment of magic, then we highly recommend this.

Available from Merchant of Magic for only £17.99 (at time of writing).

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

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In case you’re not familiar with the effect, it plays a bit like this. Performer introduces a deck of cards with the word ‘shuffled’ written on the side of it. Spectator chooses a card which is then lost in the pack. During a series of perfect shuffles, the word on the edge of the pack keeps changing, finally changing into the name of the chosen card. The extra kicker comes when all the cards (which have been very freely shown throughout the routine) turn into the same card as the chosen card.

It’s a great twist on a solid routine. The deck is cleverly gimmicked to mean that the final change requires no slight of hand (this is not a new concept, but has been used in various decks in the past). With any change there is a payoff. This obviously adds a strong extra climax, but also slightly reduces the freedom with which you can handle the deck on the way. At the same time it does make the force (sorry – you did realise there must be one of them) in many ways much cleaner – so there are pluses and minuses to this.

Can you shuffle?

The main part of the routine is largely unchanged from the original – and it will require you to do a perfect faro shuffle. This is not a trivial thing to get right every time, so that will put some people off. But if you’re prepared to put the work in you will have a very powerful effect in your hands.

The legend that is Juan Tamariz has come up with an alternative handling which doesn’t require a perfect faro shuffle – instead relying on a number of manual ‘interleaving’ processes. This obviously opens the effect up to a wider range of performers, however in my view the routine is made much less strong – it is a slower and clunkier handling. It also requires an extra card you’ll have to make up or buy. Although I like Morillo’s attempt to justify this with an engaging patter idea, it just doesn’t do it for me.

Teaching is provided via a link to an online video. The way you set up your deck is very clearly explained – and you will need to mark the sides of the deck yourself – you only get one chance to get that right! The teaching of the routine itself is slightly harder to understand due to Morillo’s quite thick Spanish accent – but to be honest, if you can do the perfect faro then the routine is more or less self-working. The deck itself is printed by USPCC – some people find these decks harder to do a perfect faro with but once you’ve broken the deck in a bit it should be perfectly possible.

Pros and cons

Two minor downsides would be that the continual faroing of the deck will reduce it’s life – so I hope they will make cheap replacement decks available – since historically decks gaffed in this way have been a tad on the pricey side. The routine is also really primarily suited for a seated formal setting since it is really necessary to use a table. Nick Einhorn has apparently come up with an in-the-hands handling, but I haven’t seen that so can’t comment.

So Reshuffled is a difficult one to give a verdict on. The effect is certainly astonishing and will get great audience reactions. However, you really need to put in the work on a perfect faro if you’re going to perform this – so enter with your eyes wide open! I like the extra climax this deck enables, but one could argue that it is almost ‘too perfect’ and so flags up the earlier force. If you took that view you might prefer to buy Gertner’s DVD and learn the original (which you could make up with any deck) and get some extra routines to boot.

The decision, as they say, is yours. Available direct from MagicShop.co.uk for only £21.99 (at the time of writing)

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

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The trick or treat promotion gifts will include one item selected at random from the following: discount vouchers, magic tricks, decks of cards, promotional items, trick or treat style sweets, halloween items and a whole host of other goodies as well.”

Sounds like a great deal. And we’ve always found them to have super-speedy service, very competitive pricing and just about the cheapest postage going.
What are you waiting for? Get shopping…
(Full details here).

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What do you get?

A nicely printed book. In fact, two books in one, but more about that later…

Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of written instructions, rather than DVDs and so I am so delighted this has been re-released in this format. The explanation is very good and the book is well illustrated making everything clear.

The routine has been so well thought through and that shows. It can be done in the hands (this was a big selling point for me since I was keen to introduce a chop cup routine into my walkaround set) and makes sense. There are no difficult moves to speak of – though you will need a little practise to get the handling smooth.

The big finish will require an extra something – to enable you to vanish the cup full of liquid at the end – but if you don’t have the necessary or don’t want to use this phase the routine has a strong enough conclusion without it. This is just the icing on the cake.

What’s all this about Cups and Balls?

I hadn’t realised before it arrived that the book contains not just the Micro Chop Cup routine, but also the Loomis Cups and Balls routine. In a slightly quirky way the two thinks have been bound back to back and upside down in one volume.

The Cups and Balls routine, too, is excellent. Again, it is clear that careful thought has gone into the structuring of the routine. Reasons are given for, shock horror, departing from the Vernon way of doing things, and for me they are plausible reasons.

This will certainly take more work than the Chop Cup routine, but again it is clearly explained with clear photographic illustrations showing all the moves. I was slightly amused by the frilly cuffs in evidence in the photos – but that simply dates the original pictures I suppose!

After a detailed description of the whole routine there is a really helpful ‘outline’ of the routine in note form with positional diagrams – which would be really useful for practising the whole routine.

The Verdict?

This has clearly been a labour of love for Jamie – obtaining the rights and then re-publishing these classic routines – but it is not just an exercise in nostalgia. These are brilliant, effective, well-constructed routines.

I am certainly going to add the Chop Cup routine to my walkaround repertoire. I’m not sure whether the Cups and Balls Routine will replace my much loved (and rarely performed) Mendoza routine for a Chop Cup and Balls combination set – but that is more due to me being a little lazy rather than any comment on the quality of the routine which is excellent.

So this comes unreservedly recommended. You can get it directly from Jamie for only $27 (USD) and free shipping anywhere in the world. Many thanks to Jamie for re-releasing this great routine and for supplying us with a review copy.

The post Dennis Loomis Micro Chop Cup – Cups and Balls review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

The Blades Gold Edition deck will appeal specially to the flourishers out there (though it is a nice looking deck for anyone). We love the look of the court cards and the back design is very stylish. Designed with handling in mind. £9.99

I’ve always had a soft spot for the aged/vintage look cards and some of the older designs which have been given new leases of life, so was very pleased to see the Green Bicycle Expert Back cards arrive. It ticks all the boxes, and I rather like the green colour which works well in this context. And although they look old, they handle nicely since they have been printed on the latest premium stock. Only £5.75. (also available in Red and Blue)

I feel almost contractually obliged to mention these very unusual cards in the light of my other ‘career’ – but we’ve certainly never seen a pack like these Bicycle Stained Glass Playing Cards! Looking exactly as you might expect from their name – the court cards in particular are works of art, and we love the way they have stylised the suits. Amazing colours which would look great in fans and spreads. A very unusual deck! £8.99

JP Playing Cards always seem to stock great decks, and the Bicycle Collectors Deck (by Elite Playing Cards) is no exception. A tasteful gold design in a premium tuck case in a limited edition run of only 5,000. The design work on the pips and the court cards is beautiful – worth a click through to see some more pics. £8.99 (also – don’t forget to pre-order the new Luxx Palme decks – currently on pre-order and reduced. We’ve loved all the Luxx decks so far and these look stunning!).

And last but not least (except possibly in number since this is a super-limited 2,500 deck run!), the Bicycle Spirit Blue Special Edition playing cards. Don’t know too much about this one, but the tuck case looks great (I’m a bit of a sucker for nice tuck cases!) and Gamblers Warehouse usually do a good job. £17.99

That’s our selection this month. Let us know if you’ve seen any new or notable playing cards available in the UK…

The post Latest Bicycle Cards – September edition appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

It is a beautifully produced hardback book of just over 200 pages including the index. It is well illustrated throughout with lots of interesting photographs covering ‘the life’ and clear diagrams explaining ‘the magic. The book started off as a writing project by Shaxon himself, but was cut short by his sudden death, so Scott Penrose and Steve Short took on the task of completing the book.

The first half outlines Shaxon’s life. For me, although it was a fascinating read, it was a little unsatisfactory as a biography. It read more like a list of his professional engagements – I would have loved a little more detail and personal anecdote. There were some of these, but I always love finding out more. There are some nice reminiscences – especially about his close friend Robin Harbin – himself a wonderful magician with a fascinating life. Indeed, several items explained in the magic section owe their origin to Robert Harbin. Other magicians share memories of working with Shaxon and highlight the high regard in which he was held by his peers and colleagues.

The second half explains a good number of routines which were used by Shaxon throughout his working career. There are some simple yet effective (close up) card effects, but the majority of the items are his staple cabaret/platform effects. Almost all the signature Shaxon effects are in there – including Aerial Fishing (an effect almost synonymous with him), his T&R newspaper, Hydrostatic Glass, and of course his wonderful Confabulation. There are plenty of other effects too.

Some of the presentations may be a little dated for modern tastes, but there is much to be learned here about routining and entertaining – and of course one of my own key beliefs that method is nothing and effect is everything. A number of the items well illustrate the principle that you need the simplest possible method to achieve the effect rather than the flashiest.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and there are ideas and effects that I will take away too. It comes highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in this wonderful period of magic history or the desire to learn from a master of magic.

Available direct from MagicShop.co.uk or your favourite Murphy’s Magic dealer.

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

The post Alan Shaxon – The Sophisticated Sorcerer – Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

I’m always a little nervous about recommending products I haven’t actually seen in person, but the trailer for Phantom looks really clean. If this gimmick does half the things it says (rising card, haunted deck – both with borrowed decks – also unscrewing bottle!) then it is amazing. We’ll probably take a look at this since it is so visual. But you can check it out yourself. £30.50 [UPDATE – we have now done a full review]

Here’s another one that looks good – with amazing visuals. I can imagine having fun with Antigravity at home (rather than incorporating it into a formal show) – balancing a glass at impossible angles. £21

And whilst we’re on crazy visuals, check out Impale.  The video on this has to be seen to be believed – but the illusion of the Sharpie sinking through the deck of cards looks too good to be true. And I’m told there is no deck switch involved. We haven’t played with it yet but looks amazing. £36.99

There are loads of new decks out and we’ll feature a few of them in the middle of the month, but to wet your appetite why not check out the White Spirit Deck? This is an attractive deck from Gamblers Warehouse in understated whites and golds and classical styling. I love the look of the court cards. £9.75.

And finally, can we just give another plug for the newly released Awesome Self Working Card Tricks DVD? We used a few of these on holiday and they went down very well. You can read our full review here – well worth £19.99.

That’s it for now. We’ve got loads of new magic reviews coming out in the coming month – so do follow us on twitter (@magicbikecards) or keep up to date on Facebook so you don’t miss a post.

The post Trick of the Month – September 2015 – Phantoms and crazy visuals appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

MagicTao – are are including a FREE product worth over £15 with every £30 spent in any order placed up to 1st September (and if you spend over £60 it’s 2 products etc.)

JP Playing Cards have a half price sale on certain decks (including Egyptian Legends, Onida Playing Cards, Empire Bloodlines, and Rarebit Playing Cards)  until Monday (not sure what time).

DudeThatsCool – are offering 15% off everything until 4pm Tues – no code needed I think.

Alakazam Magic – also offering 15% off – but not off everything – ends Tuesday 9am.

We’ll update this if we hear of any more.  Happy magic sale shopping!

The post Bank Holiday Magic sale appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

The effect

Screen Test is a very direct mind reading effect using props which make sense and will connect with most spectators given its subject matter of film. You display a pack of film postcards and allow them to choose one (free choice). They then read out the names of all the movies – in any order they like – and you are in the position to reveal their selected film in any way you so desire.

It really is that simple and that clean – and with a little bit of presentation could be made into an absolute miracle. You are supplied with a pack of nicely printed film postcards and an online link to the tutorial video.

The good, the bad, and the slightly ambiguous

This is an extremely strong effect and very easy to do. I love the quality of the cards, the simplicity of the method and the versatility of the presentation – it could work in a close up, parlour, or even stage setting. There are a good variety of films in different genres – and they are mostly classics of their kind – so are very likely to connect with a wide range of audience type. And there’s an ‘authenticity’ to the props – they are just the sort of thing that you might find in a cinema or film-fanatic’s shop.

As the advert states there’s no reset required and no peeks or fishing but the phrase ‘no memory work’ is potentially just slightly misleading. The memory work is very minimal (and could arguably be eliminated with the use of an ‘extra card’ which is provided) – but for the strongest and cleanest presentation you will need a little memory work. It is hard to say more without tipping the method. But in the grand scheme of things I think this is a TINY issue.

The teaching

The online teaching is about 50 minutes long and covers every detail you could need. The online format has the disadvantage that you can’t jump to particular sections on the teaching – but again, you’ll probably watch this once and not need to be watching it again – you will get the hang of this very quickly. A number of alternative presentational hooks and tips are given.

To be honest this is one of the strongest mentalism effects we’ve looked at in recent years. It is a brilliant combination of simplicity and cunning – allowing you to spend all your time on presentation and the reveal. It uses attractive props which take up little space and need no re-set. This is superb!

Please don’t go out and buy one – I want to be the only one performing this in my neck of the woods!  If you really do want to buy you can buy it at MagicShop.co.uk for £42.00 (at time of writing).

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

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