The Introduction to this e-book immediately appealed to me – since Andrew and I both believe in the process of building upon and developing existing routines to suit your own style and capabilities. I love his humility in considering himself a ‘student first’ and a ‘performer/creator/teacher’ second – and his recognition that this is just another step on a wonderful shared journey.

But enough of the love-up. What about the routines?
[the descriptions of the effect are Murray’s own]

FTW
Effect: Three signed selections transpose with three cards previously placed into your pockets.

This is really strong. I don’t bandy around phrases like ‘Bannon-esque’ very quickly – but I put this in that category which is one of the biggest complements I can give. In fact, a key move owes something to the Bannon/Aronson/Solomon stable – so perhaps it is no surprise.

As only a mediocre card-technician, I am pleased to say this is technically undemanding (NO PALMING!). It does require some confidence and good timing – but if you haven’t got that why are you going out and doing magic?

Thought of Card to Wallet
Effect: you can guess can’t you?!

This one owes something to a Ben Earle routine. I find it hard to know what to say here. The routine is well constructed and logical, but I’m not too sure what is new. And (because we’re not REAL magicians) the thought of card obviously has to be named. And you have to be good at palming. All that being said, I appreciate Andrew’s thoughts on the way in which the whole routine should be performed – and if you perform anything similar (even a Card in Wallet ending to an ambitious card routine) then worth a read of what he says.

Twice as Nice
Effect: Two cards are chosen and are shuffled back into the deck. Each participant holds a black king between their palms. Instantly, the black kings appear in the magician’s hands and each volunteer is
left holding their selection.

He likes transpositions doesn’t he? This is a great effect which is made so strong by appearing to take place in the spectator’s hands. Some intermediate card-handling skills are required to produce the effect – but the construction of the routine means you are way-ahead of them in terms of the dirty work.

Three
Effect: Three coincidences occur with a shuffled deck of cards – each one more inexplicable than the last!

This is another nicely constructed routine – could be done impromptu with a borrowed deck and ‘builds’ nicely. Top marks here for audience involvement. Again, intermediate card-handling skills required, but nothing too arduous. I think it would play very well.

Propulsion
Effect: A playing card is chosen and signed. A balloon is inflated and held by an audience member. When they shake the balloon they hear something inside. The balloon is popped and inside is a folded playing card – their signed card!

I love this. This seems to be a great example of what Murray is best at – there is nothing radically new here, but it has been well thought through and constructed and leads to a visually impressive and very magical effect.

Reset Redone
Effect: You show four Kings in your hands. One by one they change in to Jokers then instantly change back to the Kings. You show the four Jokers were in your pockets all the time and retrieve them one by one. Instantly the Kings vanish from your hands leaving just the four Jokers. One by one each King is retrieved from a separate pocket!

This is a variation on a David Stone handling of the ‘Reset’ plot. There is a lot of magic happening here – in fact you will have to present it really deliberately in order to make it all register with your audience. Not for the feint-hearted, involving amongst other things 2 ‘gamblers cops’, but no extra cards are used which tells you from the outset that this is more great routining.

VIP (Visual Instant Production)
This is a ‘bonus’ item – a four of a kind production which would make a good lead-in to one of the routines. I’ve got to be honest – this isn’t really my kind of thing – but if it’s yours, you’ll enjoy it!

There is a ‘Sleights Bibliography’ – sending you to other resources to learn the sleights used in the routines. I’d always prefer to see a work complete in itself – but I think for the target audience this is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Final Thoughts
This is a well written (apart from an entirely unnecessary use of the word ‘copacetic’ – which I had to look up!) and clearly presented e-book. I appreciate the way in which he attributes the influences on the different routines – this is always good magical etiquette. For me one of the greatest strengths of the book are the notes after each routine which demonstrate that he has actually thought carefully about (and even more importantly actually performed) all the effects described.

It’s not for the absolute beginner, but if you have been doing card magic for any length of time I can almost guarantee you will get at least one and probably several workers from here. And at only £10 for the whole book, that works out at very good value per effect.

Only available directly from the author. Payments for £10/$15 via paypal to magic@andrewmurray.biz.

Since David Blaine is such an ambiguous figure – especially in the UK (I think he may be rather more popular in the US) it will be interesting to see how these fare and whether they make it into the high street.

Ironically several ‘proper’ UK magic suppliers are stocking them. Alakazam seem to be the cheapest at the moment. And at only £4.99/deck they probably come in cheaper than a USPCC factory prepared equivalent. Might make a great Christmas present for a child wanting to get into magic? But we haven’t looked at a deck in person yet so can’t comment on the quality. Do let us know if you see them first.

A few general observations up front.  Ollie comes across as a very nice guy and has a straightforward and unassuming presenting/explaining style – which makes this very easy to watch.  I love the wonderful cheesy plugs for Karnival Decks on the way through!  And Cameron Francis adds his own blend of oddness to some of the explanations.

The Moves…

SeeSaw peek – very doable double peek which leaves you in a nice position for a range of effects.

Pit Control – a clever move where a freely selected card is controlled to second from top whilst apparently being pivoted round into the middle of the deck.

Barrier Shift – for me this looks a little contrived, but it is a new take on the pass.

Station Double – a technique for making a double lift from the middle of the pack.  A good idea and not too tricky.

Clay Switch – a very sneaky way of switching a card, right in front of them, but looks perfectly fair.  Very versatile.

The Tricks…

Constructing the Deck – a double backed pack becomes a blank faced deck becomes a normally printed deck.

Four Sugars – a chosen card disappears from the pack and reappears in your pocket. Then the rest of the pack turns into the chosen card’s three mates.  Strong!

Triple Coincidence – spectator cuts to three cards which in turn reveal the suit and value of the chosen card – the third is the chosen card.

The Sandwich Meal – a sandwich trick on steroids!  Two selected cards are individually ‘caught’ by the black aces.  Each time the black aces change into the three mates of the selected card.  In a final kicker the black aces themselves appear reversed in the deck, trapped by the red aces.  Lots of magic!

King of Clues – (one of only 2 performed ‘live’ on the DVD) – I must confess that I got rather confused in the live performance about what the effect actually was.  However, it was clearer in the ‘studio’ version.  Essentially 2 black kings swap places with 2 red kings and with 2 selections in turn – each time appearing in the card box.

Impromptu Stunner – after a deck is freely shuffled, 3 chosen cards are revealed in increasingly surprising ways.

Flat Pack – (live performance) – 2 freely chosen cards (from a shuffled pack) are used to create a new card which appears within the box.  The effect is immediately repeated with the other card which is possible from combining the suit/value.  Then the whole pack disappears and reappears in the box.

Graffiti Sandwich – the jokers find a freely chosen card,which is openly placed into the middle of the pack  – very quickly!  A more straightforward plot than some on the disc and very visual if you can master the move required.

Conclusion

I have to admit that this is one of my least favourite BBM DVDs.  I feel a little bad about reaching this conclusion since it probably says more about me than the DVD – because I am a very lazy magician, and I do not have the patience to learn the moves properly.

However, I would add to that that for me, some of the effects are too convoluted for my performance taste.  Were the effects more straightforward (what the dear departed Arthur Setterington used to call ‘Straight Line Mysteries’) I might be more inclined to put in the effort.

All that being said, I think the See Saw Peek, the Station Double and the Clay Switch are versatile moves which would certainly be worth a little investment of time to master. There will be lots of people who will love this, but it didn’t do it for me!

It’s £19.99 from BBM.

What is Cardio? It is an e-book of 7 effects – all cards. Like me, Liam is a big John Bannon fan, and there is ’something of the Bannon’ in the way he has clearly thought carefully about the structure and impact of each effect. But what of the effects?

The Other Thing
This is a 4 King location where the cards appear in ‘impossible’ locations. It is a nice routine – and I love the way much of the work is done before the effect has even started from the point of view of the spectator. It requires a few moves, but is within reach of most card magicians.

Pop Hoff
As the name hints, this is a very visual take on the Hofzinser Ace Problem. Essentially the four aces help to find the spectator’s card – eventually fusing into it. Again, I like the routine. It does require a flat palm which may put some off – but you are getting a lot of pretty visual magic without too much hard work here.

Backhand Slap
A spectator’s card is revealed in a dramatic way, with a 4-ace kicker at the same time. For me this is not one of the stronger routines in the booklet. But it might play well for a poker-loving audience, and would follow on (in terms of set up) from Pop Hoff quite easily.

The Swing of Things
A pendulum both ‘divines’ and reveals the chosen card. I really like this. It is technically very simple and the use of the pendulum gives a very different feel to this ‘card trick’. A great little idea which will play well with laypeople.

Twisted
This is a twisting the aces routine with a strong extra double climax. What I like about this is the structuring of the effect and the way that both gives the whole ‘twisting’ routine a purpose and sucks the audience in. Again, very visual magic without too much hard work. A great routine.

Scam Royale
With a nod in the direction of John Bannon… This is a ‘collectors’ type plot with a twist. If I’m honest, I’ve never enjoyed the Collectors plot so this didn’t do much for me. The Royal Flush finish is surprising, but there is a bit of set-up for this one. Would be interesting to see what a layperson thought, but I’m never likely to show one!

Reality Burp
The plot here is all about hypnosis – two spectators see their card multiply and then swap places with the Kings in a surprising way. There are a fair few moves in this routine – though again, they would be in the reach of most (a bit more palming required here too). It is a strong effect with a nice premise and the ending is certainly a kicker.

A word on format/style.
The book is very simply and clearly produced (no flashy graphics – just well layed-out text) and well written. Each effect begins with a description which also serves to outline the suggested patter/routine. All the ’sources’ and inspiration for each effect are clearly described, and he takes the time to explain the reasons for particular actions and steps. Where there are ‘moves’ they are clearly described – but in such a way as they are easy to skip if you already know them. For me it is a model of how such booklets should be written.

In conclusion…
There is some great magic within the pages of this booklet – and even if you don’t like them all, for £10 it is not much per trick. I think the hallmark of this work is simplicity/clarity of effect – and the routines are worth studying for what you can learn about structuring a trick if nothing else. So if you are a cardman, this comes recommended.

You can pick it up direct from the author himself – which is always a bonus – at http://liammontier.webs.com/.

[UPDATE BBM have sold out but it is now available from Merchant of Magic]

I like John Bannon’s work (I came clean on that one when I reviewed Bullets After Dark) so it is probably no surprise that I enjoyed this book, which was first released at Blackpool earlier this year.

It’s 75 pages long and contains 7 tricks (all cards, all ‘packet tricks’) – so it is only just over £1 a trick which is a bargain. They are part of his ‘fractal magic’ thinking – packet tricks which end clean and examinable (like Duplicity or Spin Doctor). Here are my thoughts on the routines.

Mega ‘Wave – is a close cousin of Steven Tucker’s Omega series of routines (in its latest incarnation that is available in another BBM DVD – Alpha to Omega) which in itself has some links to Max Maven’s B’Wave. The plot is a bit like Twisted Sisters but ends clean, and unlike Omega requires no palming. I will probably say this again, but much of the value here comes in reading Bannon’s thinking on plot, effect and method. Learn from this man! But it is a great trick and not too difficult to do.

Fractal Re-Call – a no-gaff version of his Call of the Wild effect – or Wild Card with a rationale (and some extra magic!). A few more moves here though still do-able. I like the plot but am not convinced that the original Wild Card presentation was as week as Bannon suggests. Also, it is a bit of a set-up to go into from a normal deck (which to my mind is necessary for the presentation he suggests). So for me, this is not one of the strongest items in the book.

Short Attention Scam – this is a re-mix of his Royal Scam. In brief, from a set of 9 red-backed Ace of Spades, 5 turn into a royal flush, and the other 4 get completely different back designs. I love this routine – lots of magic in a short time, and not too difficult to do. It uses the same set of cards as Royal Scam so if you already have that you are on to a winner.

Mag-7 – a streamlined handling of The Magnificent Seven (from Smoke and Mirrors) which is essentially a no-gaff Wild Card routine. Not much to say here. It builds on a number of the concepts in the previous effects and works well.

Poker Pairadox – a re-working of Nick Trost’s classic Matching Court Cards. This is not the most mystifying effect for the audience, but it has a nice patter and routine and is all but self-working making it very clean from a presentation point of view. My only real gripe would be it isn’t an instant re-set (though the re-set isn’t difficult) – so not ideal for walkaround.

Fractal Jacks – almost an oil and water routine where the Jacks keep on returning to the performer’s hand (in spite of being dealt into two hands) – with the kicker of the other cards being the four aces, and as usual all examinable. For me, this wasn’t too magical. It did contain an interesting digression on why Bannon didn’t go with Simon Aronson and David Solomon on a plot variation here. I think I’m with them…

Wicked – this is a transposition effect where a card travels from between two black queens to between two red queens. I have mixed feelings about this one. It is a pretty clean transposition. But in the first phase, the ‘extra’ card (the one which transposes) is not actually shown until after the transposition has taken place. Given Bannon’s own comment that “in any transposition, it’s important that the spectators know which cards are where” this seems like a bit of a problem. On the other hand, I like the fact that the second phase ‘happens in reverse’ – since it is always good to keep the spectators guessing!

General Thoughts

There are seven effects here – I think most people would find at least a couple that would suit them. Several of the effects require a table which may be a problem for some contexts. Some require a set-up (though with the more truly ‘packet trick’ ones – that is to be expected). As ever, I enjoy Bannon’s thinking and discussion of the evolution of the effects almost as much as the effects themselves. They will, I hope, help you think more about your own magic – the why and the how.

For the price I think it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Get it! Especially while BBM are throwing in some free cards. And if, like me, you are a bit of a book collector, the you’ll want to get one before they’re all gone!

UPDATE 12/2/11 – Now available at Merchant of Magic for £9.95

Some years ago, he published Card College Light where the emphasis is on subtlety and presentation and hardly any sleight of hand is required. These, he suggests, are good routines to develop performing confidence, without needing to worry about the technical aspect of our art.

This first volume was followed up by Card College Lighter, and the final volume of the trilogy is now available in the UK.

Card College Lightest is available now for only £24.99. Another 18 routines taught in the same clear style as the previous two books – this comes highly recommended.

It isn’t possible to review in detail the whole DVD set since it contains 47 tricks (covered in almost 5 hours), but I will start with a few general observations. Some of the live performance segments will be familiar to you if you have seen Paul’s earlier set ‘Live in Action’ but it is great to see how a lay audience reacts to Paul’s magic. The explanations, however, have been newly recorded.

Without doubt, a large part of the magic of Paul Gordon is Paul Gordon. So there is real value in watching him in action before real people. His personality and rapport with the audience is excellent, and even without the explanations of the tricks, most of us could learn about making card magic entertaining from watching him. (I am not, obviously, saying we should all copy his lines and mannerisms – we need to work within our own personalities and characters – but there are principles here we can learn from.)

Secondly, Paul’s explanations are very clear. They have been filmed in a nice uncluttered set with little to distract. Occasionally the camera work doesn’t quite keep up with Paul’s explanation – so sometimes we hear him explaining a different view he is giving us before we actually see it. But this is a minor niggle and doesn’t get in the way of the explanation. It goes without saying that Paul is an extremely accomplished card-man, so he makes all the moves seem very easy. He does repeat moves multiple times to facilitate learning, but if you are a beginner you may still need to watch segments more than once. But that is the beauty of DVD.

A word on style. Although I am quite a fan of the ‘high concept’ DVDs being put out by people like BigBlindMedia, there is something pleasing about the simplicity of the production on this set. There is no unnecessary filling or fancy editing – after a brief introduction it is straight into the magic. And there really is a lot of it! The title menu is presented on the face of a blank deck of cards held over a card-table, and contains the inevitable plug for the website.

What about the tricks? If you’re familiar with Paul’s books then there will be plenty of material you’ve seen before – but as much as I love books, there are times when seeing a move and an effect is a distinct advantage. Old favourites like Diminishing? Not Likely! (I do like this one) and Easy Ace Estimation re-appear, but there is plenty of newer material too.

The ‘difficulty’ of the material ranges from the virtually self-working (like the Bannon-esque Carbon Footprints) to material which requires a reasonable familiarity with standard card moves. Almost without exception Paul performs with an regular (borrowed) deck – and so there are a few more technical demands than with some other creators.

A few highlights

I particularly liked Totally Baffling Card Control, which though apparently an old trick was new to me. (I think it is in Protean Card Magic – which I do own – a reminder how easy it is to miss ‘goodies’ in a book – see comments below!)

Emulsion Cards is a really nice oil and water routine. For a similar effect with a kicker ending see Fry Them with Oil and Water. Powerhouse is a really clever card revelation – it has two good twists, can be performed with a borrowed and shuffled deck, and is technically very straightforward. Shocked Aces is a largely self-working but entertaining little routine involving the location of the 4 aces and two spectators’ chosen cards.

There are also some handy sleights and moves. The Four-Way False Cut and Control is particularly useful (and straightforward) – which does what it says on the tin – a four-way cut which maintains deck order and can also be used to control a chosen card to the top of the deck.

There are also a few performance only effects, most of which are marketed separately – Corner Of Picadilly, The Gordon Diary Trick, Laymen Assembly, Dazzler. Some of these are live performances where the quality of the filming is less good – but then you’re seeing a real performance – you can’t have everything!

One of the interesting things for me, was to see how Paul takes a method and plays with it and creates a family of effects from the same starting point. As you watch more of Paul’s work (and there is plenty here!) you will see something of this ‘evolution’ in play.

The final disc ends with an interesting interview slot. It includes a bit of Paul’s personal history including some of the performers who have inspired him. He also talks briefly about how he goes about creating an effect. There is a defence of mathematical tricks – with Paul’s motto that it’s the performance that matters. Non-mathematical tricks can be dull when performed badly and vice-versa.

As a fellow magic book collector and enthusiast I enjoyed his comments on buying and reading magic books. However, his insistence that you should make time to read and try everything in every book (easily done in a couple of hours a day for a week he says!) is a luxury the amateur may not have.

That being said, we often have a bit more time at home at Christmas, so I think this 3-disc set would be an ideal way to while away that post-Christmas lull! Buy it for anyone who enjoys good quality card magic.

You can buy the set directly from Paul and he has some special offers on the set too. The base price is only £38 which on a £/trick basis is a bargain!

For the card-aholics amongst you, Paul Gordon continues to offer various reductions on bundles of his excellent books and tricks. I am still intending to put a review of his new Card Startlers up, but have not had a minute to look at this yet. Watch this space…

Also, although we are primarily focused on the UK market, for those who are into Ellusionist, you will no doubt have heard about their annual holiday giveaway. If you are prepared to wait for your order to ship from the States, they are offering some good prizes – see their Holiday Giveaway page for more details. Of course they also sell a variety of custom Bicycle Decks for your performing pleasure.

That will do for now. Keep enjoying your Card Magic!

These are not new, but I just love the idea, and they are not always available in the UK.

A factory sealed pack of Bicycle Cards in an ordinary milk bottle. Wonderful way of adorning your magic den and reminding you that anything is possible…

Wayne Dobson has some at the moment – visit Dtrick and look in the Close Up and Stand Up section.

(Thanks to MagicWeek for the tip-off that they were back in stock).