It’s hard to describe Trauma succinctly.  4 blank cards are shown and one placed in a spectator’s pocket.  Spectator imagines that they are actually four of a kind and chooses one of them.  Then the remaining three blank cards turn into the rest of the set with the card in their pocket turning into their chosen card.

Some simple sleights are used which will be familiar to most card magicians.  They are explained on the DVD – though if I am honest I have seen clearer explanations of both of these.  To be fair, Rus does point you to other resources for more details on the moves, but if you are an absolute beginner there might not be enough detail for you here.

I haven’t ‘used this one in anger’ yet (though hope to later on!) – so it is hard to comment on how laypeople would react.  It is fair to say that the final effect might be slightly different each time, with some outcomes slightly weaker than others.  But there is a good amount of magic happening – and the plot is straightforward and easy to follow.  Re-set is straightforward though not instantaneous.

If I was being really picky I would have liked to see a couple more credits since it obviously bears a family resemblance to a number of existing tricks, but I like this and think it would be a useful addition to your repertoire.  For £12.99 you can’t really go wrong.

Available direct from Magic Tao.

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