Boris Wild Archives - Bicycle Cards

The Boris Wild Marked Deck Project – review

Phil Sweeting — Wed, 22 May 2019 20:19:45 +0000

The Boris Wild Marked Deck Project is a 2-DVD set (or download) from the excellent chaps at Big Blind Media which explores in great detail the magic you can create with this excellent tool. Boris Wild’s name is more or less synonymous with the Marked Deck – so you already know that it’s going to be a worthwhile resource. The 2 DVDs run to over 4 hours playing time – so we’re not going to be able to cover ever last detail. With that in mind, let’s get straight into our review.

Disk 1

The first DVD starts by explaining a little about the history of the marked deck and how and why Boris Wild created this deck. He explains exactly how it works and how you can make (or customise) your own – although these days you would probably find it just as easy to buy one ready printed (also available in Red Backed Bicycle or in Phoenix Deck Standard or Large Index).

Basic Uses

After the history come lots of helpful handling tips. These are great especially if you’ve never used a marked deck before. But even if you have, they also cover some specific aspects of this system.

The next section is really a bit of a plug for further resources. All the effects taught on this DVD can be done with a shuffled deck. But when you add other ideas such as a stacked deck then the possibilities really do multiply. And so Boris points you towards his book, Transparency, which explores some of these things in more detail.

Incidentally, if you like the idea of combining marked and stacked decks, you might like to look at Luke Jermay’s Marksman Deck – which is a bit like the Boris Wild Marked Deck on steroids!

More General Ideas

Boris also explains how his deck can function as a Safety Net. Yes, that’s right, a marked deck in everyday use can be useful when falling off a tight rope. OK, so not strictly speaking for falling off a tight rope – but it can be helpful as an ‘out’ in other magical disasters.

Boris also covers some work on the cull – which I as far as I can recall is identical to the material on his Sensations DVD.

Lots of routines

There are several really strong routines taught over the 2 DVDs. In truth a marked deck is one of those things that laymen think they know about. So a good presentation which completely obscures what you might be doing is a massive bonus. And you have that in spades on this set.

In one routine you appear to memorise a deck. In another incredible trick the spectator literally does all the work and yet still locates their card. And then another version where they repeat it!

These are all very simple in method and yet the presentation sells them and makes them remarkable.

There’s a very clever sandwich location effect – which also teaches you another sly way of allowing the spectator just to peak a card and yet for you to know its identity.

Inexplicable is an exceptionally strong prediction effect. You’ll need to be comfortable with a bit of jazzing– but the result is an absolute corker.

Invisible but marked is a very clean invisible deck type presentation using the Boris Wild Marked Deck.

Puracaan – which also on Sensastions set – as we’ve said before is a neat solution to the classic ACAAN effect.

I don’t know how many of these effects have been taught before on Boris’ earlier releases (apart from the ones I have mentioned) – but they are all worth spending some time on.

Final Thoughts

The performance setting can often make a big difference to a release like this, and I love that most of the performances are live (with the remainder in the studio).

Boris’ style is very different from most of the magicians releasing effects these days. His routines tend to be longer because he talks a lot! Perhaps it is the ‘French’ way? But I really enjoy the change of pace. And you will learn a lot about presentation and audience management by watching this experienced magician perform. And given that most of the effects are all about the sell it is great to see him work his magic!

If you don’t yet do any marked deck magic, this would be a great place to start. It will get you working like a pro! ~~My only frustration is that there doesn’t seem to be a bundle including the deck – so you will have to make a separate purchase.~~ EDIT – D’oh – yes there is – the link below is to the bundle including the deck!

If you already do some marked deck magic then it is still well worth a look – because there are some very different kinds of routines on here and it is a great chance to learn from someone who lives and breathes marked deck magic.

All in all another great release from Big Blind Media. You can pick up the Boris Wild Marked Deck project direct from Big Blind Media (who kindly supplied the review copy) for £34.99 at the time of writing.

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Boris Wild – Sensations – Review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 00:01:07 +0000

Sensations is a double disk DVD in which the incomparable Boris Wild explores effects related to our sensations. It’s been sitting in the review pile for a while but I’m so glad I opened it today… Let’s get in to the tricks.

10 Max – this is a great ice-breaking opener where the spectator gets the chance to win money. The spectator chooses 5 cards for themselves and 5 for the performer but somehow all the ‘money cards’ end up with the performer. A really nice twist on a trick you may already know – but taking it to a completely different place. Easy to do so you can concentrate on the performance. And there’s scope for a lot of fun with the presentation. He also suggests a few variations using other themes – but if you want to explore this in more detail he has published a book of the same name.

Blind – a borrowed deck, shuffled blindfolded card location! Impressive.

Show Off – this is a sort cousin of the venerable Ambitious Card, but instead of a selected card repeatedly jumping to the top, it repeatedly reverses itself in the middle of the deck with no apparent moves. This is repeated several times and in the final phase the whole deck dramatically turns itself over in an instant. A well constructed routine which does indeed make a pleasant change from the (dare I say it?) over-performed ACR. Also provides a great use for a gaff you may well have sitting around. A great routine.

IPOP (Impromptu Perfect Open Prediction) – this does what it says on the tin. The performer makes a prediction and openly displays it at the start of the effect. The cards are shuffled and then the spectator deals through the cards one by one face up stopping whenever they like. The card they stop at is kept face down and the rest of the deck dealt face up. The predicted card is not seen amongst the face up cards. With no funny moves at all the stopped at card is shown to match the prediction. Very clean!

This is an impromptu version of POP which Boris released a few years ago. There is a tiny set up – but easily done on the fly. The method is clever and doesn’t require lots of sleight of hand but you will need to practise the moves which are used. A great take on the Open Prediction.

Symbiosis – is a very clever coincidence effect – where two cards at freely chosen numbers from freely shuffled packs match – and then you have predicted the card in advance. It is very rare for a trick to fool me these days, but this one got me in the sense that I didn’t see the move at all. When I reflected upon what I had watched I could only conceive of one possible method which did pretty much turn out to be the solution. But it is a very clean looking and strong effect. He provides some helpful thoughts on different scenarios and performing the effect in different circumstances. And as he points out, it would make a lovely wedding effect!

PURACAAN – is really a one deck version of Symbiosis which looks more like a traditional ACAAN. This is a nice solution to the classic plot with very few restrictions. Call me set in my ways, but I still think Barrie Richardson’s method is the best impromptu ACAAN I’ve ever seen But this is a very workable alternative.

In addition to the tricks there is a useful 5 minutes tip section on the cull. This is a technique which is used more than once on the DVD and he has some helpful things to say. As a double DVD in some ways I was quite surprised by how few effects are taught. But they are all strong effects and worth the time devoted to them.

Are they all Sensations?

I really enjoyed Sensations. Boris has a quite different performing style from many magicians working today – he often takes his time and slows things down (some of the routines are nearly 10 minutes long in performance) and I appreciate that more gentle pace. The DVD includes plenty of live performances with only one (or two?) studio ones. I always think this gives you a better sense of the ‘feel’ of a trick.

Explanations are clear with plenty of detail and the whole DVD is produced to BBM’s usual high standards.

I’m still not sure that I understand the link to ‘sensations’ – it feels like a concept album where the concept isn’t really there. But the strength of the effects shines through regardless. You may not use all of these, but I can almost guarantee that one or two will find their way into your repertoire. If you appreciate strong, direct card magic then you can’t afford to miss this one. I’m also looking forward to getting stuck into his other recent release on the Boris Wild Marked deck later in the year.

You can pick up your copy of Sensations direct from BBM (who kindly supplied the review copy) for only £26.99

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Luke Jermay – Marksman Deck – review

Phil Sweeting — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 23:01:47 +0000

I’ve seen lots of marked decks over the years. Some of which I even use. So is it worth looking at yet another marked deck release? When Luke Jermay’s name is on the release it definitely is.

The Marksman Deck is not just marked for value, but it also has a whole series of other markings which give you an enormous amount of information (it is a descendent of the venerable Deland deck – but with other features too) which is of use in a series of very powerful effects. It also has a very subtle one way feature.

And as if this was not enough, the deck is also stacked in Mnemonica order – which opens up a whole world of other options if you’re familiar with that system (and if you’re not then Juan Tamariz’s Mnemonica and Mnemonica Miracles are both highly recommended).

Jermay is very persuasive in his own promotion of the deck, but in this case I really think the hype has some substance since with a modicum of presentational skill this deck really does open up an almost limitless world of possibilities.

The Marksman Deck itself is high quality – printed beautifully by the USPCC on mandolin backed stock. It comes nicely packaged in a small cardboard box which also contains a link to the online teaching. And there is LOTS of this.

The teaching is split into two parts. There is nearly 1 ½ hours of teaching – well-filmed in a ‘studio’ setting – in which Jermay introduces the various markings, discusses some of the possibilities and teaches some effects. Then there is a second, nearly ¾ hours ‘performance documentary’ and accompanying 34 page pdf – about which more later.

The main teaching material

The first 20 minutes provides an overview of the deck and the range of information that the various marks contain. Even here Luke chucks out loads of ideas for other possibilities with the deck. This is followed by a further summary/overview for a more succinct 5 minutes which recaps on meanings of the marks.

The next 8 minutes or so discuss techniques for reading the marks in a variety of contexts. There is some great thinking about different techniques and covers for reading the marks – like everything that Jermay puts out you can see this is material he has used in the real world and there is much to learn here. This section runs into an explanation of the first effect taught (which is then actually performed in the next section).

The effects

The next 50 minutes or so contains performances and explanations of 5 effects to wet your appetite.

Intuition – reveal a load of really weird information about a chunk of cards cut off by the spectator. This is an unusual effect – which (as the live performance on the ‘performance documentary shows) has a strong impact on the audience if performed well. But perhaps the best thing here is the detailed performance tips you will pick up from both the explanation and performance.

Easy to read – a routine based on the premise that you are simply reading a spectator’s thoughts. Teaches you some great ways of using the deck.

Dowsing – finding the ‘twin’ of a freely chosen card by ‘dowsing’ over the rest of the deck which has been split into several piles. Think about this – they haven’t even told you what their card is and yet somehow you’ve impossibly located its mate. Some nice presentational variations are suggested too.

Card Calling – is a remote viewing/telepathy routine where you can divine a series of cards cut to by the spectator.

Card Memory – very fair looking demonstration where you appear to locate a card in three different ways from a shuffled deck which you have apparently memorised. This is a very strong routine with some lovely subtleties (which would also have application in other routines).

Final Thoughts

The main teaching video ends with some final thoughts and references for material to read if you want to explore marked deck work in more detail. He mentions an older work by Kirk Charles which has now been revised and released as Hidden in Plain Sight and also Boris Wild’s epic, Transparency. I understand that Jermay is currently working on a book which will describe some of his routines with the Marksman Deck in more detail – and that will definitely also be worth a look.

Performance documentary

This is an almost 45 minute video which intersperses a live close up performance by Jermay with the deck, and sections where he discusses the development of the deck and some ‘reactions’ from the audience. Jermay is such a consummate performer that this is simply a joy to watch and will give you a real feel for the potential of the deck. The accompanying pdf takes you through the methods used and some thoughts on the rationale for the various choices made. It contains plenty of detail to understand what is going on and why – though you will have to join a few dots yourself. This is an excellent addition to the release.

Scratching around for negatives

I am generally so impressed by the thought that has gone into this release that there is very little negative to say about it. If I was being really picky, then many routines will benefit from a decent false shuffle. Although Jermay points you to a few suggested resources there is barely any specific teaching on this on the video material. Also during one of the explanations the sound goes a bit echoey! I told you I was scratching around!

The Marksman Deck is a superb addition to the world of marked decks. It opens up an enormous amount of extremely powerful magic which is essentially self-working– only requiring some presentational skill to really sell them. Highly recommended for performers of any ability. At £32.99 it is not the cheapest marked deck around – but for me the quality and depth of the teaching make it well worth the price.
Pick up your Marksman Deck from MagicShop.co.uk for £32.99 (at the time of writing).

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

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Trick of the Month – November 2012

admin — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:01:08 +0000

Remember, remember buy tricks in November…

If you like card magic the chances are you have probably hit the point where you would find it useful to switch a deck in or out of play – but have you ever found a decent method? Christian Engblom has come up with something very clever in the Cooler to do just that. A clever gimmick plus a bit of practise… £41.50

Whilst we’re on the subject of accessories rather than effects or books etc. you may be interested in this clever item. I have come across a lot of effects recently with rough and smooth decks of various kinds. In the past these were a messy and fiddly business to prepare, but Harry Robson’s Roughing Stick promises to change that. Just rub the back of the card with the stick and you are good to go. £14.50

And now for something completely different. A really visual card revelation – on the side of an electric fan. What a great idea – and can be used for all sorts of other revelations too… £9.50

Although we usually stop at 3 items, here are two quick plugs for books which are well worth a look. Experience: The Magic of Jon Allen is a first class book with all kinds of magic from the innovative mind of Jon Allen. It is now available in paperback and in our opinion you should snap it up! A great read. £27.99 And if you are in to using a marked deck, you must have come across the name of Boris Wild. He has just released a new book all about using a marked deck which should definitely be on your list. £34.50.

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