Armchair Mindreading – Caleb Wiles

I recently picked up a copy of Caleb’s High Spots book so was pleased to see first item on disk was his. Spectator freely cuts to a card in the deck then shuffles their cards (and puts the rest of the deck out of sight in the card box). You then successfully read your spectator’s mind and reveal their card. Some set up required but a really sneaky method which you will love to perform.

Self Control – Simon Aronson

It’s quite rare for me to be completely fooled by a magic trick – but I didn’t have a clue what was going on here. Encouragingly neither, apparently, did James Went or Liam Montier when they explained it! There is a mathematical principle at work but it is not as ‘procedural’ as this kind of effect sometimes is. It looks very fair and is a real fooler.

Rising Card – Daryl

This is a really visual rising card effect which pretty much works itself. It looks great and is very easy to work. As Liam comments on the introduction, it is rare for a self-worker to be so visually impressive. You have to try this one out.

Memory Opener – Sal Piacente

A pseudo-memorised deck routine – nicely constructed with three phases. I feel like Ryan Schultz overplays this in performance but it is a great effect. There is a set up required, but it would (as its name implies) make a great opener because of that.

Casino Clock – David Solomon

Solomon’s twist on the classic ‘Clock Trick’ (you can find it in The Wisdom of Solomon) with a slight gambling theme. It brings it out of the ‘puzzle’ category and gives it a bit more justification. If you can deal cards you can do this one and there’s a nice (and very cheeky!) extra ‘prediction’ which makes the effect even stronger.

Quadruuple Matchup – Nick Trost

A brilliant example of Trost’s cunning – the spectator has a very free selection and yet manages to locate 3 cards which form a set with your prediction set down earlier. You can work it from a borrowed shuffled deck. Love it. (Well worth checking out his books if you like this).

The Stapled Card – John Scarne

This is a really clever routine where a chosen card swaps places with a joker and ends up stapled to another joker. There’s a lot of magic going on here – far more than seems possible for a self-worker. We liked it last week when we read it in Liam’s Shazam and it is still good!

Devestation – Geoff Williams

This really does look completely fair – the spectator seems to make all the decisions to choose and lose a card (with a borrowed and shuffled deck) and you can still locate it. Uses a principle you probably read about in your first magic book, but so well disguised this is a genuine killer! This goes straight in to my impromptu set.

Impossible Divination – Larry Jennings

A classic from Jennings 67 – this is almost entirely hands off, and yet you manage to locate a card selected by the spectator from a borrowed shuffled deck. It shares many of the strengths of Devestation, but feels slightly more procedural to me.

The Red and The Blue – Alex Elmsley

In this clever effect from Alex Elmsley a card chosen by you and the spectator swap places by magic – or rather the decks containing them do! And the set up is accomplished by performing the venerable ‘Do as I do’ effect. Not only does the ‘Do as I do’ set you up it creates a routine which builds together nicely.

Final Thoughts

It is hard to make absolute comparisons, but I felt the material on here was slightly stronger than the material in volume 2. There are some cracking effects which require nothing in the way of sleight of hand allowing you to concentrate on the presentation. As the quote from the legendary Dai Vernon (which appears on the cover) says: “In magic, today as always, the effect is what counts. The methods used are always purely secondary.” Well you get some GREAT effects which require very little technical effort. If you’ve got an ounce of performing skill you will be getting some brilliant reactions from this material.

Highly recommended and available from MagicShop.co.uk (with thanks to BBM who kindly supplied our review copy).

And as our summer competition we’re offering you the chance to win all 3 volumes of the Ultimate Self-Working Card Tricks series – so what are you waiting for?

The post Ultimate Self-Working Card Tricks Volume 3 – Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

Mind Mirror (Jack McMillan)

A really clever and very fair looking card discovery (originally published in his Expert Card Technique).  Some set up required but beautifully simple.

Convergence (Cameron Francis)

This is a really commercial version of the ACAAN type plot.  If you have a long memory you will remember this was released on the Annihilation Deck and for me (you can see our review here) it was stronger than the main effect.  This is a brilliant solution which you can just concentrate on presenting.

Stock Exchanged (John Gustaferro)

Here’s how it plays – a pack of cards is well shuffled and mixed with the help of two spectators face up and face down.  At the end of the process two predictions match and the rest of the cards right themselves and separate themselves into reds and blacks!  Triumph meets OOTW meets a double prediction.  Very clever routineing combines some principles you will probably know for a great effect.

Sense-Sational (Ryan Schlutz)

Crazy levels of very free-looking mixing end up with the location of 3 randomly chosen cards.  There is a setup required but it is well worth it for the power of the effect.  There are three phases to the routine each utilising different principles all of which are well concealed.  You may well find yourself incorporating some of them in your own effects.

Poker Pairadox (John Bannon)

A mixed up set of cards instantly separates out into matching pairs with a nice presentational angle.  Insanely easy and very visual looking.

Four Most (Peter Duffie)

This is a clever twist/extension of an effect you may have done before.  Three spectators stop you at random points as you deal out some cards and insert bank notes to mark the spot.  One of them stops during dealing for your note and at the end you have located the four aces.  Showy, easy to do, engaging.  This one is going straight into the working set!

Password Fallacy (Jim Steinmeyer)

Whilst I’m a big fan of Steinmeyer’s books, I must confess I’ve never seen any of his close-up effects, so I was curious to see what this was like.  It is effectively a spelling effect – but the method is such that with care it could be done over the phone or in any other entirely hands off way.  It’s not a massive mystery but it is a puzzling little effect with a logical premise and if presented well it should go down very nicely.

Amara Rises Again (Ryan Matney)

I’d never heard of Ryan Matney before, but this is a nice little effect.  The spectator ‘goes digging’ in the pack of cards and by a very fair looking process manages to identify the card which matches one isolated in the card box, and also find its three mates.  An engaging plot helps keep this otherwise slightly ‘procedural’ trick moving.  The ‘force’ is very clever.

Blind Choice (Roy Walton)

A clever little colour-matching effect involving five spectators.  Think OOTW but without such a lengthy dealing procedure and involving more people.  Compact, clever thinking as you would expect from Roy Walton.

Final thoughts

I think there is some really strong material on here which would be really helpful for someone just starting out, and in the hands of someone with a bit more performing experience they would become miracles.  I will certainly be using some of these.

If I had a minor niggle, it is that a couple of the effects have been released before – on BBM disks – but at least they have re-filmed them so it isn’t just a cut and paste job  More positively, as we’ve probably said before, Liam Montier has a real gift for explaining things very clearly – so full marks on the explanations.  I also note the blatant use of attractive women on the main menu without making comments!

All in all, a great disk – go get it.  The release date is 17^th June and there are all kinds of pre-order deals on – we’ve highlighted a couple below.

(Oh – and for the next week you have a chance to win it and a bundle of other goodies in our competition!)

You can get it direct from the horse’s mouth at BBM.

Merchant of Magic are offering a deal with Volume One and Volume Two together with 25% off.

Freepostmagic are offering a free deck of Karnival Hornets or Karnival Deathheads with pre-orders while stocks last.

The post Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 – Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.