…the tricks

Dedoner
I missed what the effect was first time because I was so amused by the idea of Cameron performing to himself! You’ll have to watch it to see what I mean! This is a kind of triumph meets colour changing deck card location. A strong effect with only basic card handling. Neato!

Collins Thing
Think ‘4 Ace Trick’ but with the kings. But instead of the Kings coming together in one packet, they all disappear in slightly different ways from their packets. And then they are found again in an increasingly more surprising way – the final one appearing in the card case. Minimal set up (you can probably guess what that is!) and pretty easy to do – if you know the most common packet trick count. Beautifully structured, I really like this and will try to keep it in my repertoire.

Switch Jack II
Two cards are chosen and replaced in the deck. Two jacks are placed under the card case, the other two ‘catch’ cards from the deck. The first ‘catch’ is the first selection. But the second is the other two jacks. When the card case is lifted, there is the second selection. A brain frying miracle Love the silliness incorporated into the explanation. You guys rock!

Thanks to Walton
A clever impromptu packet trick where you show 4 red cards and 4 black cards. The black cards are inserted into the red packet one at a time and keep changing colour to red. And in a final kicker four of the cards turn into the aces. This is a neat trick with lots of magic which is fairly easy to do – but you’ll need to work a bit to remember the order of the moves. I think that some spectators might need a little help remembering which packet is which – so clear signalling/presentation required. But a great effect. And it sets you up nicely for…

Precursor
This is the cousin of a 4 Ace trick, where each individual ace performs a different ‘effect’ before all instantly gathering together with the Ace of Spades. A typically whimsical presentation from Cameron and fairly easy to do if you have any familiarity with packet tricks. These two routines do flow really nicely and give you a great impromptu set.

Easy Hof
A card is chosen and lost in the deck. The four aces are used to identify the card. First spelling suit – and revealing the suit of the card. That ace is placed face down on the table. Then spelling value – at this point all the aces turn into the mates of the originally chosen card. And the tabled card turns into the selection. A fun routine with some moves – but not what we used to call finger-flinging!

The Super Mega Card Miracles keep coming – all on one DVD!

Mercury Card Load
So you’d guessed right? This is a way of loading a folded playing card into a playing card box (previously seen on his Murphy’s At the Table Lecture) Nice climax to a ambitious card routine or any other routine where you end up with a MCFed card! This kind of ‘impossible location’ is always powerful – and a big plus of this one is that no special props are needed – just practising a little move. Yet another reason to learn the Mercury Card Fold!

But Not Least
This is a triple card location (really a sandwich effect) where the Jokers do all the work – capturing the selections one by one – the final one turning first up on the way. There’s some really sneaky routining here which means that your work is done before they even know what the effect is. And oodles of misdirection for the only real move. This is top class Cameron.

Stand Up Christ Aces
The Four Aces are placed into the deck according to the spectator’s merest whim. Yet you can locate them in increasingly baffling ways. Nice use of an easy but fooling move from a Colombini routine. I’m running out of superlatives here – but again this is so neatly constructed – John Bannon would be proud. Great routine which you can do (as its name suggests) in the hands or at a table.

One flew over at my behest
This is a card across effect where the spectator’s freely thought of card jumps from one half of the deck to the other half. Invisibly of course. It uses a clever Bannon Move from Mentalissimo (which is always a good start). Clear effect, easy to do. Not the biggest mystery on the selection, but worth watching the performance if only to enjoy the goofy spectator!

Collectors Item
This is a super-smooth collectors plot. Another Bannon move gets you so far ahead you wouldn’t believe it. Everything seems so fair – yet the three selections which have been shuffled into three separate packets all end up ‘caught’ by the four kings. Brilliant construction – not too difficult to do – worker!

Captivated
A packet trick with 4 Kings and 4 Aces. It starts off like a ‘twisting the aces’ effect – but then halfway through the Aces and Kings swap place – and then instantly the Aces sandwich the Kings between them. Think Paul Harris’ Reset with a twist. There’s some clever thinking here, but for some reason this one didn’t captivate me.

Final Thoughts

I’ve seen a lot of Cameron Francis’ work but I really do think that Super Mega Card Miracles is the best collection of his work to date. As I write, another BBM volume featuring Cameron has just arrived through the door – so watch this space to see if it is immediately superseded!

Although the effects aren’t self-working, none of them require really difficult moves and with only a small amount of practise would be within reach of any but the absolute beginner. I don’t want to keep repeating myself, but these routines all show the signs of having been worked over to the last detail – they are brilliantly constructed to maximise impact and minimise effort.

Super Mega Card Miracles comes highly recommended. You can pick it up from BBM (who kindly supplied the review copy) for £21.99. If you prefer a download that is available for £19.50.

Cameron Francis – Super Mega Card Miracles – review

4.6 / 5 Reviewer

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The post Cameron Francis – Super Mega Card Miracles – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

Contact Colours (Aldo Colombini)

This is apparently one of Iain Moran’s favourites. A pack is shuffled, then a chosen card is found in the fairest way, and is compounded by a 4 ace discovery and a separation of the pack into the colours. Needs a table, some set up and a bit of drawn out dealing, but a nice and impressive looking effect.

Impossible (Mike Austin)

A ridiculously fair looking card location where the spectator seems to do all the work. Quite likely to fool any magicians that haven’t watched this DVD too! A really neat, also genuinely impromptu effect.

Shuffling Lesson (Chad Long)

Unfortunately the explanation button for this one takes you to the explantaion for Shuffleboard! The boys at BBM have been informed and I believe they may re-issue it.[UPDATE 12/07 – BBM tell me these have now been replaced] But you can actually get to it by using ‘play all’ and skipping through the chapters. This is a really cool effect (previously published in the classic Art of Astonishment Vol 3). Under a story of explaining how to handle cards and loads of fair mixing, the spectator manages to locate the 4 aces. And they won’t have a clue how they have done it. A small set up is required (and a table needed) – but the payoff is massive! Love it.

Henry Sugar (Liam Montier)

This is one of the newer tricks on the collection! It has a nice hook/story and an impressive feat of ‘seeing without seeing’ – all looking very fair. Well constructed routine with a big finish – and essentially moveless. A bit of set up required, but again a very strong effect which is worth it.

Pre-prefiguration (Larry Jennings/Mark Elsdon)

Spectator finds 4 of a kind from a borrowed shuffled deck. I particularly love the cheeky (and highly efficient) way the set up is done before their eyes. It does need a table but I just love this. In fact by this point on the DVD I am struggling to decide which is my favourite routine!

Your Aces are Marked (Terry Lagerould)

This is a triumph-esque effect with a 4 ace finish. It is very visual and really convincing. The routine easily lends itself to a patter line and is easy to set-up. A table is needed but this is very strong and ridiculously easy to do.

Shufflebored (Simon Aronson)

Shufflebored is one of the most well known effects on the disk (originally published in a booklet of its own, then re-published in Bound To Please). An amazing effect where in spite of very fair shuffling and mixing you have predicted the final state of a deck of cards. Needs a bit of space to perform, but will leave them floored.

The 716 Club (Alex Elmsley)

This is a clever little prediction effect where the spectator does all the work. For me it is a little ‘procedural’, but it is the sort of trick that you will fool yourself with. Easily set up on the fly. In the right place and with a lively presentation this could be a winner.

Impossible (Larry Jennings)
As Iain Morain says – Larry Jennings is not a name you usually associate with self-workers – but this is a blinder! Like the previous effect, it is slightly procedural. However, for my money the impact is much greater than 716 Club. (You can see this in print in The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings)

4,5,6 (Al Thatcher)

This is a really fair looking card reveal. A spectator freely cuts to a card which is lost in the pack. Cards are dealt into some playing card hands and you can then locate their selection. It uses a borrowed, shuffled deck – with no set up. But there’s a lot of dealing going on, so you will need some good audience management to keep the interest going. You won’t really understand how it works even when you know how it works!

Unbelievable (Bascomb Jones Jr/Michael Shields)

An intution testing effect. A shuffled deck is separated into two sections by suit which are then dealt out and end up in pairs. Takes a lot of space, requires a lot of setup, there is a lot of dealing and a time-consuming separation of the pack.. This is really the only trick on the DVD that doesn’t tick any boxes for me. I may be guilty of not reating like a lay-person here, but this one isn’t for me. Liam and Owen keep telling me it’s a killer but…

Extras
Some false cuts and shuffles are taught so you can add conviction to any routines which require a setup. There is also an interview/tip sections which address some of the concerns folks might have about ‘self-working’ tricks. There is a good emphasis on the need to put in thought and practise on the presentation in order to sell them. Don’t ignore this section – there is some key information here – especially if you are new to performing magic. Lots of valuable tips from a variety of performers.

Anything else to say?…
I really like the titles on the disk, but the nit-picker in me spotted that there are some variations in the way names are spelled etc. [UPDATE – I double checked this and in fact there is only one name which is spelled differently between the menu and titles] It doesn’t really matter, but combined with the wrong link on the menu for Shuffling Lesson this just makes me feel like there wasn’t quite enough attention to detail. But these are really very small niggles, and the quality of the magic more than makes up for it. I also appreciate the way that most of the effects have a brief introduction about their inventor. There is also a tantalising credit at the end about returning (volume 2?) with a Bannon!

For me this is one of the stand-out releases of 2012. Loads of good magic that is within the reach of magicians of all standards. But please take the time to come up with a decent presentation so that you don’t squander the goods…

Available direct from the Merchant of Magic (£19.99) or all your favourite dealers…

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