Liam Montier Archives - Bicycle Cards

Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Vol IV – review

Phil Sweeting — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 00:01:56 +0000

The Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks series is one of the jewels in the Big Blind Media crown. It’s some years (2014) since we looked at the last volume in this series – though there have been some side volumes (a bit like the Star Wars spin offs) focused on individual creators. But it was worth the wait. Let’s get straight into…

The Tricks

Karmatic by John Bannon
The DVD starts with a corker. This is the Mighty Bannon’s sort of take on the Trick That Cannot Be Explained. Which is to say that it relies on a certain amount of ‘jazzing’. But the premise and method mean that the jamming doesn’t require any sleight of hand – only a bit of on your feet thinking. In effect the spectator shuffles the deck and yet you have successfully predicted the outcome. I like this a lot – and it is dead easy – the only possible negative is that it does somewhat depend on the spectator being able to riffle shuffle.

Coincidence by Bill Simon
The spectator spookily finds two matching pairs without ever knowing how they did it. That bald description doesn’t really do justice to what is a very strong bit of magic from the ingenious Mr Simon. The bad news is there is some set up required. But it is worth it for a really fooling bit of magic that is very easy to do. I love the construction which makes the effect build to an apparently more impossible second phase.

Five Nine King by Martin Gardner
In this clever mathematically based trick, in spite of a high degree of freedom of choices, the spectator manages to find 4 of a kind. It relies on a clever set up and is pretty fooling. For me it is a little on the procedural side, but nonetheless a clever effect.

Company of Three by Roy Walton
This is a Roy Walton classic – where you can locate two different spectators’ cards by spelling and counting. As taught it requires one very simple bit of sleight of hand – but a truly sleight free handling is also taught. I like this. A very simple set up does all the work for you. A lot of bang for your buck.

Sorta Swiped by Jack Tighe
This is a clever and easy take on the mystery card idea. The spectator chooses and signs a card – and through a slightly ‘sucker’ presentation your different-coloured-back ‘lucky card’ morphs into their selection. Two versions are taught – one of which includes the use of a man-servant! This is a strong routine – but you’ll need some extra cards beyond your normal deck to bring it about. But you leave your spectator with a nice souvenir they can keep. There’s a really nice force taught that I’ve not seen before which would have other uses – especially in an Anniversary Waltz type routine.

And there’s more tricks!

Miracle Aces by Stephen Tucker
Another take on the ‘spectator cuts the aces’ type routine. The spectator seems to have a fair degree of freedom and yet still all comes good. A small set up is required and then the procedure is very simple. A clever self-working solution.

Baker Street by Liam Montier
Baker Street is a two-phased mind-reading effect where you can reveal two cards chosen by two spectators. Again, a small set-up is required. I love the way the construction enables you to deduce both selections in an impossibly fair way. Great little worker.

Third Attribute by Michael Breggar
A really nice routine where a card from a borrowed shuffled deck is selected in a fair manner – then shuffled into a face up and face down deck. The spectator picks three random cards from the deck and then you ‘deduce’ their chosen card. The presentation provides beautiful distraction from the very simple method. I’d not heard of Michael Breggar but this makes me want to investigate his work some more.

Swindle Conincidence by Peter Kane
A fantastic combination of ideas which produce the effect of two spectators selecting the same card in the fairest possible way from two borrowed shuffled decks. Although I knew the principles involved this one flew past me first time. I love the sneaky procedure. Fantastic effect.

Card U Reka by UF Grant
A triple prediction effect with a pseudo-card-reading presentation. There’s some set up required to make up the decks for this effect. But you’ll then have a powerful effect without any hard work at all. Sneaky.

Final Thoughts

One of the many things I like about this series is that they don’t just teach some cracking new tricks, but they unearth and polish up some classics (hence here tricks by UF Grant and Peter Kane etc) which may have passed you by. I’m a firm believer that in our attention to all the new releases all the time we often overlook gems from the past.

The teaching is clear and everything you need to know is explained. If you can’t get at least a few routines from this that you will use then I don’t know what you’re doing! This volume reminds me particularly of the strength of even a small set up in terms of getting you so far ahead. Although these are self-working, it would be of real benefit to get your head around a false shuffle or two in order to add another layer of convincing to them.

It is a while since we looked at the last volume, but Ultimate Self-Working Card Tricks Volume 4 feels like it is the best in the series so far. Full of fantastic, workable material.

What are you waiting for? Go out and buy a copy!
You can pick it up direct from BBM for £21.99 or the download for only £20.50 (at the time of writing).

Many thanks to BBM for supplying the review copy.

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Liam Montier – The Seer Deck – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:01:52 +0000

With the Seer Deck that clever man Mr Montier has combined two old ideas that you may well already be familiar with in a way which opens up a whole load more possibilities…

The Seer Deck core effect

The main effect Liam teaches goes something like this. Two spectators each glimpse a card as you riffle through them. You are then able to read the mind of the first, and then show the second that you had already predicted their choice in advance! This plays even better than it reads – you will get great reactions!

Liam explains the method clearly in conjunction with John Carey who adds some helpful observations. As with many mentalism effects you will need a little confidence/practise to perform this well – but it doesn’t require sleight of hand, rather a small amount of sleight of mouth. And it is routined in a way which makes even this easier than it might be.

The deck is heavily gaffed – so is not really any use for other routines. But you could come up with alternative applications of the deck supplied with a little imagination..

What do you get?

In addition to the cleverly gaffed deck, you get a link to an 18 minutes teaching video. That may sound quite short – but it is ample time to explain all the necessary. You also get (hurrah!) a small sheet of printed instructions. These are written in quite a small font – but I’m always a fan of clear written instructions too.

What do we think?

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet because the effect is. A powerful routine with a clever deck that does most of the work for you. What’s not too like?

The Seer Deck is a real worker – and you can get it from the Merchant of Magic (also available in Red Bicycle cards) for£22.99 (at the time of writing).

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

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Liam Montier – Mojo – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 23:01:08 +0000

Mojo – is one of the latest releases from Liam Montier’s excellent Kaymar Magic Studio. I love Liam’s passion for magic and his desire to educate magicians and put out quality pieces – rather than just turning out another 10 pieces of old tat. So I was looking forward to reading Mojo. Liam – I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get round to it in the midst of all the chaos of our recent move. But at last, here goes, the Mojo review…

After a brief introduction, it’s straight in to the tricks. There are 12 of them. I’ll comment on them all in turn…

The Tricks

Biddle Print

A lovely shuffled deck impromptu routine sort of combining the Biddle Trick and the Finger print trick. A card is selected and lost in the pack. Some ‘indicator cards’ are cut to which reveal the location of the card. Which seems impossible because one of them is the chosen card. But all’s right in the end as the chosen card appears where it was indicated and vanishes from the indicator packet. A great little impromptu trick with pretty straightforward handling. Don’t miss the Killer tip on the Biddle steal in the footnotes!

In Decision

Liam has combined to 2 John Bannon effects (a good starting point!) to make something really special. To a fun presentation you read one spectator’s mind and a second spectator locates their own thought of card themselves! I love the subtle way that this has been built (including a genius John Gusastafarro idea). There’s a slight knack to making the final revelation work – but worth a little practise for a super practical effect. This is a great example of Liam’s genius for ‘cross-fertilizing’ ideas from different books and effects to build a killer new idea.

Hofferoom

A card is chosen and lost in the pack. Then the four aces are openly displayed. In a flash the one matching the suit of the spectator’s card vanishes and reappears in the centre of the deck right next to the selection. This is another strong effect. I think you need to be a slightly more confident card man to do this well – but it doesn’t require any real finger flinging. A solid effect.

Hand Clap

Liam’s take on the Alex Elmsley classic Between the Palms. Two cards are selected and one signed. Both are lost in the deck. The first card is located by counting down to a number indicated by two cards from the top of the deck. The second is found between the spectator’s hands – where a single card had been isolated before the trick began. I wasn’t so fond of the handling of this one – though I liked the presentational hook.

Selective Touch

This is a very clever take on an old effect and utilises more sleight of mind than hand. The spectator names any card – then you cut to two cards which represent it’s suit and value – and show that the actual card is in your pocket. This is a really interesting effect which has been well structured. You may have to perform a gamblers’ cop – which may put some off – but there is a fair bit of misdirection at that point so it shouldn’t be too intimidating. Unusually for Liam the description is slightly confusing at one point when he switches between the names of two different cards. I’m sure that will be corrected quickly.

Ink Thief

A neat signature transpo effect which is dead easy to do. And best of all – the signed card ends up being a Joker – so you can use up all those spare jokers that are knocking around and not trash a deck! This is based on a Roy Walton effect and is a really efficient handling. Good sstuff.

Baker Street AKA Kings Cross

This is an interesting premise where a spectator deals two hands of poker and then he and the other spectator both choose a card from their hands. Both cards are revealed in completely different ways. There are some nice ideas here – including an interesting take on the venerable PATEO force. I think this is really rather effective.

Ambitious Burier

This is an idea for a phase in your Ambitious Card routine where the card travels in ‘slow motion’ through the deck. Dare I say it, the Ambitious Card bores me. But if you perform it (and most people seem to!) then this could be a nice little extra element.

Ace Ripper

Three cards are lost in the deck and then found amongst a packet of four kings. And in a surprising climax the kings visually turn into aces in a very nice display. This is another interesting plot using some pretty moves. Liam details a number of alternative handlings to cover all abilities and tastes. Nice!

To the Untrained Eye

Four kings are lost in the deck. You instantly find them – but one is actually an ace. In an instant they all change into aces. I really like this (based on a trick I must have overlooked in my old copy of Cy Enfield’s Entertaining Card Magic!). There are a couple of moves to get your hands around – but really nothing too tricky and clever construction makes it very convincing.

The Twin Peeks

Two cards are chosen and returned to the pack. You read the first spectator’s mind. Then their card appears reversed in the deck. An instant later the second selection also appears in the same way. I haven’t had a chance to try this in anger and I suspect it will play better than it reads. Bold and cheeky!

Vacuum

A very visual transposition of a chosen card and indifferent card – with an amusing patter idea to support the mechanics. Pretty simple mechanics for a pleasing effect. Give it a go! And here’s a video – since I couldn’t describe the effect succinctly!

Final Thoughts

This is a solid release. There are some great effects here – and even if they don’t all suit you I would defy you not to find at least 3 that you will use – which makes it pretty good value!

The magic is good and it is a well written ebook. I enjoy Liam’s slightly quirky patter and also the many insightful comments and observations. The magic geek in me also enjoys reading about the development of the tricks – and how Liam’s twisted brain came up with the ideas.

Buy it, read it then read it again.

Mojo is exclusively available from Kaymar Magic for £11.99 at the time of writing (though they often have deals on!).

Many thanks to Liam for supplying the review copy.

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Stephen Tucker – Aces from the Fore – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 00:01:42 +0000

Aces from the Fore is a new release from Stephen Tucker put out on a BBM DVD. It is a lovely visual effect. After claiming you will locate the four aces, you actually produce a 4 of hearts. But then you ‘split’ the four into four aces, one at a time. It really does look like you pluck the pips off the card.

You are provided with some specially gimmicked cards and an instructional DVD. You will need to provide your own deck of Bicycle (or equivalent) cards.

The DVD teaches a very simple handling which is so easy to do – yet still looks very impressive. If you have greater card-handling expertise there are a few options – including a really nice extra display (which actually requires very little extra work).

Another great feature of the routine is that it sets you up perfectly to run into McDonalds Aces. If you don’t know this routine (where have you been?) it is an absolute classic – and incredibly clean looking four ace trick. Liam’s handling is very nice and I like the way that he uses a slightly different set of moves for each Ace.

Liam also teaches a regular deck (ungaffed) version of Aces from the Fore. This is a sort of combination of the title effect and an ambitious card routine. If you already perform an ACR you will be able to do this no problem. And if you don’t, everything is taught clearly. The gaffs definitely allow for a cleaner/clearer routine – but if you want to be able to perform this anywhere it is a nice inclusion. It does require a set up. If that puts you off fear not! He also teaches an impromptu version – with a borrowed shuffled deck!

The impromptu version actually has a slightly different – but no less effective – effect. From a (borrowed) shuffled deck, two spectators each choose a card. You then promise to find it – but actually locate a different card. This card is equivalent to their two cards ‘added up’ – and you proceed magically to separate the card into their two choices. Nice

Aces from the Fore is – on its own – a great trick. It is very easy for the spectator to follow i.e. the effect is clear; it looks very magical; and it is very easy to do. The possibility of running straight into MacDonalds Aces means you’re ready to go for a powerhouse card routine with almost no effort required.

Unusually for a BBM release there are a couple of minor ommissons on the explanation side. For example, I didn’t see an explanation of the Elmsley Count which is used in the McDonald’s Aces routine. Nor the force used in some of the variations. However, you will probably already have ‘your favourite method’ for the latter, and teaching for the former is easily available.

On the plus side, it was nice to see Liam back on form with more energy in his teaching than the last release of his that we reviewed.

This is a really great release and comes highly recommended. Aces from the Fore is released tomorrow available from the Merchant of Magic for £18.50 (at the time of writing).

(With thanks to BBM who kindly provided the review copy).

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Liam Montier – Cardio DVD – review

Phil Sweeting — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:01:36 +0000

Cardio is an odd release for us to review – because we’ve already reviewed it! But not quite in this form. Back in 2010 (yes – we’ve been going that long!) we reviewed the Cardio ebook. Now Liam has re-released the material as a dvd with some small (but occasionally significant) updates.

Let’s talk about the tricks…

Back Hand Slap – a spectator chooses a card which is lost in the deck. Then performer chooses some random cards to make a ‘poor poker hand’ and gives them to the spectator to hold, and promises to extract the spectator’s card from the deck and sneak it into the cards they’re holding. With a ‘slap’ their card appears in their hand – and the remaining four cards instantly transform into a Royal Flush. This need a modicum of basic card-handling skills – breaks, transfers, forces, controls – not all of which are taught in any detail. It feels like an OK trick but didn’t rock my world.

Twisted – a brief ‘twisting the aces’ leads into using the aces locate two previously chosen selections. I really like the twisting sequence here – but the routine does require a few more moves than some of the others on the DVD.

Reality Burp – to an amusing hypnosis type presentation you make a packet of four cards turn into four copies of two spectator’s selections, then in an instant they change into four of a (different) kind and swap places with some cards under the card case. Did that make sense or are you feeling sleepy? What a lot of magic with only slight set up and some fairly straightforward handling.

The hof – a chosen card swaps places with the corresponding ace from a packet of four aces. Simple and direct. Nice.

The other thing – the four kings are lost around the deck and then are instantly found in unlikely and impossible places. The sneaky set up is done in plain sight – so it could work nicely impromptu.

Swing of things – a quirky routine which requires very little effort to produce some entertaining magic. The title comes from the use of a pendulum which first reveals the identity of a ‘random’ card which then instantly turns into the spectator’s earlier selection. Liam thinks this is the most commercial routine on the disk and I think he could be right. With such a simple method there is plenty of scope for presenting it in lots of different ways.

Pop Hof – a card is selected and lost in the deck. The four aces have been laid aside earlier. One of the aces disappears, then reappears. Then in an instant all the other aces ‘merge’ and transform into the spectator’s selection in your hand. I rather like this – an unconventional feeling plot which should be quite memorable for your audience

The conclusion?

Although I generally LOVE Liam Montier’s releases, this one left me slightly underwhelmed. It could be that my familiarity with the original ebook meant I was less excited by the content – though my memory isn’t so good that I could remember it in detail.

Liam himself seemed almost bored in some of the performances and explanations – he wasn’t working with another person (apart from Owen’s contributions from behind the camera) – so perhaps that reduced is energy levels.

Compared to many of his recent releases the explanations seemed more brief. Perhaps the DVD is aimed at more experienced performers than some of the ‘self-working’ releases – but even so, it felt poor form that some moves (e.g. the Lovell Easy Riffle Force which is used in a number of routines) aren’t even taught.

All that being said, there are some good routines here and some improvements in handling over the original ebook. So if you’ve not seen the material first time round it is well worth a look – Liam always produces effective magic with the minimum amount of effort.

Cardio is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £20.99 (at the time of writing).

If you’d rather test the waters with the ebook that is only £9.99.

(Review copy kindly provided by BigBlindMedia)

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Liam Montier – Spell-O-Matic – review

Phil Sweeting — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 23:01:52 +0000

We’re a bit late to the party with Spell-O-Matic which was released about 6 months ago. But now we’ve finally had a look at this excellent release, we thought you’d like to know what we thought of it.

The basic effect is (as its name suggests) is a spelling routine. Your spectator names a card – and you can spell to it instantly. You can repeat this a number of times. Liam adds a final phase where two spectators create a card by choosing a suit and a value – without telling you anything about them. Even so you are able, instantly, to spell to their card without even touching the cards.

What do you get?

You get a specially prepared deck of cards (which makes this all very easy to do) and some, wait for it, printed instructions! For me, this is great news, because I’m one of those odd people who really likes printed material. But don’t worry if you’re not – because there is also a link to a 20 odd minute online video so you can learn that way too.

What do we think?

Spell-O-Matic is a very clever re-working of a Hen Fetsch idea from the 40s (which was itself updated in the 80s by Ken de Courcy). The deck itself does all the work for you – all you need to be able to do is to cut the deck! It would also be very helpful if you can do a convincing false shuffle. One is taught online – or you could do a lot worse than to take a look at the False Shuffles and Cuts Project (you can read our review here).

If I was being really picky, you’re not exactly spelling the card. However, this really is a tiny point, and the cleverness of the method (and so simplicity of the handling) depends upon this. I suspect that unless your spectators are regularly choosing court cards, this will fly by.

The deck could be used for other effects afterwards, but there is a set-up to the deck, so you would have to re-set before you could perform this particular routine again.

Liam’s tweaks to the method have really increased the ease of performance and I think his subtle final phase really helps to cancel out possible methods which might be in the spectator’s mind.

You’ll be able to perform Spell-O-Matic very quickly with only relatively little handling practise. A clever, workable release. Available from MagicShop.co.uk (or in red here) for £24.50 (at the time of writing).

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

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Jimmy Strange – Parallax – review

Phil Sweeting — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 00:01:14 +0000

When new five pounds notes arrived in the UK, I remember thinking “How long will it be until magicians start releasing new effects which take advantage of their features?” To the best of my knowledge Jimmy Strange’s Parallax was one of the first.

The idea is very simple – the hologram on the bank note is used to reveal a chosen card. Of course – how you dress up that idea into a decent routine is up to you.

What do you get?

You get the very simple gimmicks – I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say they are holographic stickers which have been designed to fit on a note. I say they’re simple – but they’re not the sort of thing you’re going to be able to make yourself! There are 2 different stickers – to reveal 2 different cards – and you get 2 of each. A steady hand is needed to set up!

You also get the link to about 36 minutes of online teaching. This is un-flashy shooting but perfectly adequate for the task. On the parts featuring Jimmy Strange you don’t see anything other than his hands – which I always find slightly disconcerting. But explanations are clear enough.

Routines and Teaching

You will have gathered, I hope, that to perform Parallax it is going to be necessary to force a card. Strange teaches four simple forces – a slip cut force, a riffle force, a Hindu shuffle force and one he has no name for but I am going to call a kind of static cull!

If you’re a complete beginner you will find these explanations helpful – if you’ve been around in magic any length of time you’ll probably already have a favourite force. He and I definitely have different views about what looks ‘natural’ in this area – but find something that fits you. (If you need help with learning how to force a card, we recommend Liam Montier’s excellent Forces Project – you can read our review here)

Four different routines are taught. The first uses a kind of challenge/bet mind-reading presentation. You may say I over-think things, but to me having the reveal on the note at the end slightly takes away from the ‘mind reading’ aspect. Perhaps another alternative would be to present it as some kind of subliminal influence?

Towards the end of this routine he teaches a method to transform the ordinary hologram into the prediction one – that feels like a more ‘magical’ effect which could make a good kicker to more of a mentalism approach.

The next routine uses both predictions and two chosen cards and uses a stripper deck.

The third starts with a coin bend (and you’ll need your own method for this) – which then had the name of the chosen card appear on it – which was then found on the fiver too. To me this was just a totally incoherent routine.

A fourth routine involves two spectators choosing the same card – which is then revealed on the note.

Final Thoughts

I really like the concept and the gimmick is well produced, and with a good presentation should receive strong reactions. But if I’m honest (and I always try to be on my reviews) – I don’t really like any of the presentations on the instructional video. The best things about the routine are a couple of little tips on the way and a wonderful story about exploiting the Parallax gimmick at an opportune moment. But I don’t see this absence as a major problem – you simply need to come up with your own routine – which is always the best way anyway!

I like the idea of keeping a ‘loaded’ note in your wallet so you are ready to perform an apparently ‘impromptu’ miracle at any opportunity. But make sure you don’t spend it – since it would be a shame to have to buy some new gimmicks!

If you want to come up with your own routines for Parallax it is available from Merchant of Magic for £20 (at the time of writing)

Many thanks to MagicShop.co.uk who kindly provided the review copy.

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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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Liam Montier – Any shuffled deck, self working, impromptu miracles – review

Phil Sweeting — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 00:01:30 +0000

BBM have a solid reputation for releasing quality self-working type material so I had high expectations when Any shuffled deck, self-working impromptu miracles turned up on the review pile. And in spite of its less than catchy title, I’m pleased to say my expectations were more than met on this great new release.

Let’s talk about the tricks

Interstellar OOTW
Here’s Liam’s handling and get in to Paul Curry’s classic OOTW. It’s got a nice presentational premise, works with a shuffled deck and is easy to do – though requires some bold handling! OOTW is a fantastic effect – and even though it takes a while to perform, there is little to beat it from a pure magic point of view. Liam teaches some neat handling subtleties on the way and using the first effect as a way to set up ‘in plain sight’ is genius – a superb start to the DVD!

Mates
This is a funny and clever way of producing four of a kind from a borrowed shuffled deck. You start by reversing three ‘prediction’ cards without changing the order of their shuffled deck. After an amusing start, you reveal their chosen card, and then the earlier predictions reveal the three ‘mates’ of their chosen card. I was caught out by the second phase – though it is actually delightfully simple. Love it! (If you get to the end of the review I’ve included a performance video!)

Gemini Location
This uses an old principle in an unusual way. Under the premise of reading ‘body language’ or ‘vocal tellls’, you are able to correctly identify 3 different cards that spectators have looked at and lost in the deck. Liam teaches 3 phases but you could easily just use one or two of them if you prefer. I like this – and may well use it as an alternative to another routine I often perform with the same principle.

Silly Questions
The spectator’s chosen card is placed within a small packet, then a series of silly questions are asked which result in one card being found – the chosen card. This one didn’t really grab me, but I haven’t road-tested it with real people so it might come across better in the real world.

Wheel of Fortune
A pseudo fortune telling demonstration in which you manage to predict two cards at random locations from a selection from a shuffled deck. There feels to be a lot of freedom in the spectator’s choices and if you can do a little bit of cold reading too, you’ll have an entertaining and fooling routine.

Jack’s Poker
From a well-mixed deck, the spectator gets a poker hand worth of cards and merely thinks of one card which would improve their hand. They then manage to cut to their merely thought of card! Some lovely subtleties going on in this very effective routine.

Salto Triumph
This is a very easy routine with a triumph kind of feel to it. You and the spectator each take half the deck, and choose a card behind your back. You insert your cards into each other’s section and then shuffle the two halves into each other, half face up and half face down. With a click of the fingers, all the cards turn the right way round, with the exception of your two choices. Variations of this effect have been around for a while – so it doesn’t feel radically new – but it is nonetheless a great easy effect.

Last to Turn Up
This is the least ‘movey’ and most ‘procedural’ effect on the DVD and is based on an old Ken de Courcy effect (which immediately took me on a nostalgia tour). A card selected by the spectator is lost amongst three poker hands and then the spectator finds it themselves by following a simple procedure. I think you’d need a pretty compelling hook to make this one truly entertaining, but a completely self-working surprise.

Invisible Dice
An imaginary dice (die, technically!) is used to help the spectator merely think of a card from a random selection of six. The cards are then lost in the deck and the spectator pushes your ‘lucky’ card into the deck and manages to locate their merely thought of card. This is probably the most complicated effect to perform and is definitely pushing the limits of ‘self-working’ – since it requires a couple of ‘procedures’ one of which needs to be done somewhat covertly. That being said it is still not ‘difficult’. However, I personally didn’t much like the ‘outs’ used in this one.

One over the Eight
To a presentation about the so called ‘butterfly effect’ several spectators all deal random quantities of cards from a shuffled deck, and the card finally reached matches your prediction. In some ways it is a self-working CAAN effect. Entirely self-working but not, perhaps, the greatest mystery in the world.

So is it any good?

For me the disk falls in two uneven halves – six of the first seven effects are brilliant and though you may have seen some similar things before, they each merit inclusion on the DVD. The last 3 all feel a little weaker to me – but some real world road-testing may prove that wrong. The fact that all of them can be done with a borrowed shuffled deck is amazing!

As ever I appreciate Liam’s self-deprecating style, clear teaching and the little tips along the way. All the effects and explanations are shot with classic BBM clarity – even if I do find the lightly jigging Liam on the DVD menus slightly disconcerting!

I’m always on the lookout for routines I can perform on the spur of the moment when challenged to ‘just show us a trick’ – and several of these would meet my criteria. So for the small cost of a DVD you’ve got yourself a lot of credibility!

Any shuffled deck, self working, impromptu miracles is available direct from MoM for £28.99 (at the time of writing).

Review copy kindly provided by BBM.

Mates video as promised…

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Liam Montier’s Essential Card Magic Toolbox – mini review

Phil Sweeting — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:30:43 +0000

The Essential Card Magic Toolbox bills itself as ‘a complete course in the art of card magic’ and I have to say that I entirely agree with that description. This 8-DVD set is essentially a compilation of some of the DVDs we’ve reviewed over the years, nicely packaged in one of those snazzy four-section cases which open up to display all the disks. We’ll make a few comments on each disk and link to our more in depth reviews, and then finish with some final observations.

Ultimate Self-Working Card Tricks – this is a super disk which we loved full of strong but more or less sleight-free effects. Rather like the Card College Light concept, the idea is that you can gain some valuable performing confidence and skills with some effects which are easy to do, yet still pack a punch.

The False Shuffles & Cuts Project – being able to appear to mix the deck up whilst retaining its order is a valuable skill in its own right and adds extra conviction to many of the other routines you’ll learn.

The Double Lift Project – more or less the most useful sleight in the repertoire – this comprehensive treatment will teach even an old hand some new techniques. Some great techniques and some excellent effects.

The Forces Project – again an indispensable skill (how often have you read ‘force a card using your favourite method’?) and covering a wide variety of methods from the more or less self-working to the more skillful techniques like the classic force.

The Controls Project – this is the one disk on the project we seem to have missed out in our detailed reviews – but even sight unseen I would recommend this. A recurring theme of our other reviews is the quality of Liam’s teaching, so I have no doubt that this will cover all you need to know about controlling and moving selected cards around the deck.

The Elmsley Count Project – the wonderful method behind so many amazing packet tricks – this DVD teaches you not only the basic count, but many variations and other counts, to say nothing of some awesome effects using them all.

Ultimate Impromptu Magic – this is another cracking disk in which you’ll learn some astonishing routines you can perform at the drop of a hat. Being able to perform some stunning magic when someone hands you a deck and asks you to show them a trick is an essential skill for any would-be card magician and you’ll learn some brilliant material here.

Ever since these disks started appearing individually (back in 2012 I think) I’ve had the sense that they would be worthwhile gathering together, and I’m so glad they finally have done. If you’re just starting out in card magic, I would be hard-pushed to suggest a better place to start. The quality of the teaching is excellent and the routines have been hand-picked to be both strong, but (mainly) relatively easy to do. If you devote yourself to mastering the 16+ hours of material on these disks you will be well on the road to being a card magic pro. And you’ll probably find some deals which will make this an even better value investment than buying them individually.

Unreservedly recommended. Available direct from Merchant of Magic – currently at the bargain price of £64.99.

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