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Chris Congreave – Omen – review

Phil Sweeting — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:01:35 +0000

Omen is a very clever recent release from the devious Mr Chris Congreave. I can’t wait to tell you about this great effect.

The Effect

To a theme about the difference between magic and mind-reading you manage to locate a card chosen by the spectator. Then show you had already predicted it. And then show that you had also predicted a card they only thought about! This is a really strong effect which is easy to do.

What do you get?

Omen comes with a very special deck of cards which does most of the work for you. Also (a novelty in these days) a DVD which runs to just over half an hour. As with all Alakazam releases you can also register for online updates – so if you don’t have a DVD player you could watch the instructions online if you prefer.

What do we think?

Although Omen doesn’t seem to have made a huge splash in the magic world, it is to my mind one of the best releases I’ve looked at this year. The effect is incredibly strong and clean looking – lots of freedom for the spectator and only a few constraints on the handling. You can do it with one or two spectators – so there is good audience interaction too.

You’ll have to do a small amount of one-time setup – which is easy to do and will only take you five minutes. The routine is easy to learn – the hardest part is remembering the thought of card while you perform the next part of the trick!

For the big kicker at the ending you’ll need some pocket space or wallet space, depending on which route you go down. Neither are excessive. But you will need the special deck just for this effect. I’m not normally a fan of special deck tricks, but this is such a strong effect that I would make an exception.

Re-set is pretty quick – little more than cutting the deck. But you wouldn’t want to perform this more than once with the same spectators.

The only negative thing I could find to say is that it would have been nice to see a live performance or two on the DVD. As you’ll see below – a video is available – so it seems strange not to have included it on the DVD.

All in all, I think this Omen is a fantastic effect which will definitely be finding its way into my close up set. You can pick it up from the Merchant of Magic for £36.99 (at the time of writing).

Here’s a performance of Omen to wet your appetite…

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

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