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!

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).

British Close Up Magic Symposium

I reckon in this time of credit crunch, e-books may well be the way forward (though I will always prefer the real deal…).

Anyway, our friends at Trickshop.com have just released The British Close Up Magic Symposium
– a big e-book of over 300 pages covering 16 years of the British Close Up Magic Symposium.  Loads of great card and close up magic by all the greats.  Well worth a look at $49.95 and instand delivery!

I got an email about a new trick called ‘Flickr‘ today and it certainly looks like an interesting concept. Involves flash paper, so may not be for everyone, but could be worth a look. An instant download for £11.99.

But as I was investigating, I discovered his earlier DVD – IMPACT – at half price. This got an excellent review at Visions and also at TalkMagic so at £11.74 I’m quite tempted…

(Thanks to MagicWeek for the heads up on this)