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.

Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Vol IV – review

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The post Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Vol IV – review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.

We’ve been sitting on this 2 disk DVD set for a while – but it was well worth waiting for. Though it hurts us to say this on bicycle-cards.co.uk, I should warn you at the outset, that Liam uses Aviator cards all the way through! And whilst we’re on full disclosure he has a slightly unsightly plaster on his left hand thumb nail which I found slightly distracting as I watched. But don’t let these things put you off!

The Elmsley Count is undoubtedly an important move in card magic. But Liam argues that as a group, we magicians have often done it without thinking carefully about it. So he has researched lots of the literature on the move, and tried to bring together lots of tips and his own experiences to explain the move exhaustively.

So after a short history of the move, he moves on to teach it. The count is taught in painstaking detail – with each tiny step explained and analysed. Every beat of the count has its own menu entry so it is easy to come back to the details. There is a helpful discussion of the movement of your hands, rhythm (which is usually the ONLY thing talked about), and the use of the count with larger and smaller packets.

The next section looks at a number of variations on the count. Each one is first demonstrated, and then explained carefully.

Ed Marlo’s Opec Count is a kind of ‘out of position’ Elmsely.

Jack Parker’s Outjogged Elmsley – I’d not seen this one before and it is a very fair looking variation.

Pinch Grip – this is the version I first learned in my first trick with the count – Walton’s classic Rainbow Cascade. On a slightly geeky magic note, Liam says this was originally a Jack Avis handling with jumbo cards – but I first saw it in Ed Victor’s EYE trick – which I think might have predated, and possibly been part of the inspiration for the Elmsley count. But either way, Liam clearly doesn’t like it!

Snap Count – this is an Elmsley with sound effects! Particularly useful when you are emphasising the number of cards.

Dai Vernon’s Twist Grip – to avoid some of the problems of repositioning cards between different count grips. [If you listen carefully on this explanation you can hear someone’s kids in the background!]

Underground Elmsley – leaves packet in original position. (good for practising)

Vertical Elmsley – a variation for use when seated at a table – I’ve also used it with jumbo cards when standing up.

The next section includes some Other Counts

Jordan – this classic goes with the Elmsley like horse and carriage.

Spirit – this is more related to the Jordan count and shows 2 as 4.

Discrepancy City Display (Bannon) is used in one of my favourite impromptu tricks (which is explained later on the disk).

Siva Count (Jack Avis) sort of a combination of the Elmsley and Jordan counts.

Bullet Party Display (Bannon) – this displays 1 odd card and 3 duplicates whilst actually concealing 2 faces.

In all this is a really useful set of counts and variations. Time for a quick bit of nostalgia by way of approving of this disc. One of my earliest and most treasured books was the classic counts, cuts, moves & subtleties. It was about 20 years ago I first laid my hands on that and it was a fantastic way to learn some of the most useful moves in card magic. If I was starting all over again, this section of the DVD would be a really serious alternative – especially for those that don’t like books so much.

Disk 2

After a brief tutorial on making multiple lifts in a small packet (using a Bro John Hammon technique) we get into some really strong tricks which utilise the count.

Four Card Trick – Alex Elmsley’s classic. If I am honest, I didn’t really enjoy Liam’s presentation of this. But it remains a great trick with a kicker ending and ends clean. You can also enjoy the sound of sheep bleating in the background of this and many of the following effects!

Twisting the Aces – Dai Vernon’s classic. A wonderful economical effect. Hard to know what to say, except everyone should know this routine.

The Odd Man Out – Liam Montier – I’d not seen this before. But it is a nice engaging presentation with lots of magic. And it ends clean. Great stuff.

One Too Many – George McBride – close up version of classic 6 card repeat. This is a whole pack trick not a packet one and can therefore be performed anywhere. It’s a great routine – and in Liam’s version has no need for palming. A real worker.

Que Sera Sera – John Bannon – this is one of my favourite impromptu effects. A really cheeky (in method!) prediction effect which is strong in performance and easy to do. I can’t remember where or when I learnt this – but the presentation on this disk works better than the one I had remembered from before!

Jacks in the Box – David Solomon – here’s a clever sandwich and transposition effect which all takes place in the card box! Some clever routining enables a lot of magic to take place with very little work on your part.

Whisperstition – Liam Montier – this is another clever bit of routining, which shows you the power of the Elmsley count in the context of a whole deck routine. You get 2 revelations of selected cards plus a clever transposition in this conjoining of a number of different effects.

Jazz Aces – Peter Kane – another classic routine – the aces transpose with 4 indifferent cards in the cleanest possible way. A variant handling is also included.

In Conclusion

I have always loved packet tricks. This set has got me to revisit the wonderful world. Although I often think of the Elmsley count as something to use with a special set of gaff cards, some of these really strong and impromptu effects show how versatile this count is.

The explanations are very clear, and a pdf is supplied with all the credits for the routines (though it does reference one trick ‘The Montinator’ which does seem to have made it to the final cut of the DVD!).

Whilst this would be a brilliant set for someone just starting out in card magic and wanting to learn the move, I think even experienced magicians would pick up some useful tips, or learn a couple of strong routines from this. So it comes highly recommended.

Available from MagicShop.co.uk for £22.99 (at the time of writing). Many thanks to BBM who suppplied the review copy.

The post The Elmsley Count Project – Review appeared first on Bicycle Cards.