Welcome to Bicycle-Cards.co.uk. Bicycle ® Cards are the cards of choice for magicians throughout the world. This site provides information on the latest Bicycle ® Cards available in the UK, and also provides links to books about playing cards and magic, and retailers where you can purchase Bicycle ® Cards.
When I was a kid I used to wait expectantly for packages to be delivered from the magic shop. As an adult, even with my passion for magic, it is rare to feel like that. But I have to confess that I couldn’t wait to rip open the packaging when Industrial Revelation – Jamie D Grant’s wonderful effect arrived all the way from Canada.
From the moment you open the package the trick screams ‘class’. It comes in an elegant presentation box, sealed with a real coin – in our case an ‘old’ five pence piece. Open up the box, and you are presented with a Bicycle Card box and a small black envelope sealed with a stylish clip. Although these things are irrelevant to the trick itself, they are signs of the great care that has gone into the production of this effect – in our experience a relatively rare feature in modern magic marketing.
The instructions are a simple A4 sheet with 8 stylish illustrations and clear text underneath. In addition to explaining the mechanics of the effect, there are some tips on keeping it working well, and each one appears to be individually signed and approved by Jamie. He also supplies extra thoughts and tips by email to any purchasers.
Jamie is clearly someone who loves his art (back in 2009 we raved about his wonderful Bicycle Cards in a glass bottle – which are still available) and he has taken great care to produce a wonderful product. It is based on the old (though still great) matchbox penetration – but is bigger and better and made of steel not brass.
What do we think?
For a non-smoker, using a card case rather than a matchbox makes much more sense for me. And it makes the whole thing more visual – you could use it at a table and folk across the table would be able to appreciate the effect.
It is beautifully made, and is certainly going to withstand reasonable inspection. The mechanism is already good – and I suspect will improve with use.
We struggled to use it with a coin, which feels a little wide for the working. But we like the idea (and it seems kind of logical) that we saw on the World Magic Shop review of this trick – using a folded playing card to push through the box.
Minor quibbles for the walkaround context which is my domain:
It will be very heavy in your pocket! You may need to attach it to a belt or something rather than trashing your pockets!
Re-set will take a moment or two. This may become easier over time, but you certainly want to be doing the re-set in a bit of privacy. So you might save this one for special occasions.
But all in all it is a lovely effect. If you switched in the box you could use it as a SPECTACULAR finale to any card routine. It comes highly recommended and is available direct from Jamie at http://www.sendwonder.com/ for $125 + shipping.
Christmas is on the way. Here are some more ideas for your wish list from Bicycle-Cards.co.uk
The badge ‘Paul Harris Presents’ is usually a guarantee for something rather special, and Ink is a really creepy effect where a prediction written on a card case visually turns into the correct card. It promises a 10 second reset and the videos look pretty good. Works with Bicycle or Mandolin back cards. £37.50.
Card to Wallet is a classic effect in magic. Any Signed Card to Any Spectators Wallet takes this to a new level by doing just what it says on the can. This is getting great reviews around the forums at the moment as a clever utility gaff. £31.99
Here’s something a bit different from Nathan Kranzo. How about, at the end of your card trick, the deck of cards turns into a stack of bank notes? That’s exactly what happens in Pimpin. And it is currently HALF PRICE at only £8.50.
If our memory serves (!), this is the first time we have reviewed an instant download on Bicyle-Cards.co.uk – so here are our thoughts on More Memory Man by Joel Givens from Vanishing Inc.
The Effect – this isn’t just an effect it is a whole routine which gives the impression that you can memorize a whole deck at speed. There are multiple phases which logically build – and perhaps best of all it doesn’t feel like a magic trick – getting away (largely) from the ‘pick a card, any card…’ formula.
First Thoughts
Advertising is sometimes deceptive, but this routine can genuinely use a borrowed deck – it is entirely impromptu in the classical sense of the word. It is an entertaining routine – which has been really well constructed. Each phase builds upon the previous one – and the climax genuinely packs punch. Overall it has the feel of something which has been honed over time, and we are glad to see Joel crediting the various sources/inspiration for moves and ideas.
Who’s it for?
More Memory Man definitely requires intermediate card handling. This will not suit the complete beginner – though the sleights used, once learnt, will serve you well in many different ways. But wonderfully there is hardly any memory work!
A few niggles…
As a UK-based magician, I suspect there may be some problems with the very first phase – which requires your spectator to riffle shuffle the deck. This is a cultural thing – but in the UK spectators are less likely to be able to do that than in the US. The phase may require a small re-think for a UK context. Or, you could only perform it in contexts where card-handling is more common – at a Poker club for example!
Another minor niggle is the quality of the video. It is a bit grainy, sometimes out of focus and (on my download at least) lip-sync was out. This is not a DVD quality studio production. That being said, at no point is it difficult to follow the action or instructions. And the folk at Vanishing Inc put this down to it being filmed at Fetcher’s famous international convention. So you could say it adds authenticity!
The Verdict
At current exchange rates the UK price for this download is £6.26. We feel that this represents good value for money. It is possible to pay a lot more for a one-minute wonder. As we have already said, what we really appreciate about this download is that you are paying for a whole routine – which will play for several minutes. Download it, study it, and give it a go! Available at Vanishing Inc.
The crazy boys at BBM have just launched a new TV service on their YouTube channel. Every two weeks there will be a new episode. The first one features a new card trick called Litterbug from Liam Montier (a neat twist on an old Alex Elmsley idea). There is also a discussion of some new Karnival cards that are in the pipeline, a performance of Joshua Jay’s new Prism effect, and all sorts of suitably random bits and pieces. You can watch it below, or head over to http://www.youtube.com/bigblindmedia/ to subscribe for future updates. Enjoy…
Noted, by Gary Jones, is the third of MagicTao’s latest clutch of magic releases.
Here’s the effect. The magician is holding a small spiral bound notepad – the kind a waiter might take your order on. It visually changes into a pack of Bicycle cards with which you can go straight in to your favourite routine.
This is going to be a pretty quick review because there’s not much to say! It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a simple gimmick (which is always a good start) and very easy to use.
The DVD contains a short performance section and a careful explanation of all the necessary, including an idea or two to get your imagination running with other performance options.
You could perform this in a variety of situations, and reset is very simple. It would suit any kind of walkaround performance very well. A nice, quick, visual opener. Great fun. And only £10.99 direct from MagicTao.
Stick-It is another new trick from MagicTao. The basic effect is simple to describe – a spectator merely thinks of any card, and when that card is removed from the deck it has a sticker on the back of it, clearly showing you predicted this in advance. And everything (essentially) can be examined. Variations are possible – for example a very clever 2 person version where the sticker on the back of the freely thought of card says the name of the second person’s card.
What’s the verdict?
We really like the effect and think it is very strong. Depending on which version you perform (at least 3 different versions are on the DVD) you will need some basic sleght of hand – but nothing too difficult. Everything is explained very clearly on the DVD supplied. It is one of those methods which is exceedingly ingenious – and you will love performing it. So what are our reservations?
Depending on your performance context this may have some limitations. One of the versions requires a table, though a different version could be performed in the hands. Re-set is straightforward, but you would probably want to be on your own to do it. And though you could use the deck for other effects, in practise there would be a few limitations on you, depending on which version you performed and at what point in your set you performed it (difficult to say more without exposure). Finally, the stickers themselves are not re-usable – so if you are performing this regularly you will certainly need to buy refills. These are available at £17.99 for 50. Oh yes, and you’ll need to do a small amount of ‘craft’ for the initial set up. It’s not too tricky, but I wonder, at this price point whether that could have been supplied already done.
So it boils down to whether you think the strength of having a sticker on the back of the card (which would certainly make a good giveaway) is more powerful to a layperson than the effect you can achieve with an invisible deck – which in terms of effect is essentially the same to a layperson – freely thought of card reversed in deck (hence known in advance). With an ID, you get more or less instant re-set, and no re-fills – though of course the deck couldn’t be examined as it could here.
So as ever, you pays your money and you takes your choice, but we think this is a clean and powerful effect. Available now at MagicTao – for £21.99.
The good old Karnival Midnight – one of the earliest incarnations of the Karnival Deck – have been given a bit of a facelift (or technically a backlift!) and a posh silver foil tuckcase. We haven’t looked at them in person yet, but head over to BBM for more information and to buy!
Gambit is the first of a trilogy of new card magic effects just released by MagicTao. The effect is an extremely clean prediction of a chosen card. Essentially 5 random cards are dealt on the table, the spectator places a poker chip on one of them (no force) and when the chip is turned over it has a sticker on it with the name of the selected card.
This is a great little effect. Whilst not quite self-working, the handling is not complicated. The use of some gaffed cards (all supplied in Bicycle stock) makes the moves easier – and so only elementary card-handling skills are requred.
The instructional DVD is very clear and covers all elements of setup and handling very clearly. The necessary moves are clearly explained and it also covers a number of perfomance subtleties too.
The DVD gets small minus points because the ‘reset’ isn’t explained though it is mentioned. It should be fairly obvious, but a few words on that would have been helpful. Also, there is an ‘advanced handling’ – which offers the possibility of an extra kicker – but this is not linked to directly from the DVD menu – you have to go to ‘play all’ and wait to the end. But these are small niggles.
We like the concept and routining – misdirection is strong and largely built in. The effect is simple for the spectator to understand and appears very free. The only real downside for us is that you need a table to perform it – so it is not ideal for all performance conditions.
All the necessary props and gimmicks are supplied (you can choose red or blue backed bicycle cards) – though you will have to supply a matching ordinary deck.
So if you like card magic with a mental twist (and we do!) then it is well worth a look at Gambit.
It’s only £10.99 from MagicTao – and if you pre-order it you can get double reward points.
Thought this was the sort of thing our readers would like. Don’t know much about this site, but it is being promoted by MagicTao so I trust it is legitimate. And you should never turn down the opportunity for some free magic!
And on the subject of MagicTao – they have got three cracking new effects coming out soon – which we will be reviewing over the next few weeks. So watch this space…
Here are some more recommendations from Bicycle-Cards.co.uk
There are many monte effects out there, but Garrett Thomas’ new Stand Up Monte seems to have been getting some rave reviews as a really practical walkaround version of the classic effect. The DVD edition rocks in at £24.99 – but if you’re like me and are quite happy with printed instructions you can get it for only £12.50.
A good marked deck is a valuable tool in the magician’s armoury Here’s a clever twist using a Ted Lesley concept to provide a spectator-safe speed reader deck. This is in the new Mandolin back design. £17.99
If you’ve been in to close up magic and especially card magic for any time, you will be familiar with the name of Dai Vernon. Here is a wonderful brand new complete biography of one of magic’s biggest legends. A great read for all lovers of the art. £28.50.
From the moment you open the package the trick screams ‘class’. It comes in an elegant presentation box, sealed with a real coin – in our case an ‘old’ five pence piece. Open up the box, and you are presented with a Bicycle Card box and a small black envelope sealed with a stylish clip. Although these things are irrelevant to the trick itself, they are signs of the great care that has gone into the production of this effect – in our experience a relatively rare feature in modern magic marketing.
Jamie is clearly someone who loves his art (back in 2009 we raved about his wonderful Bicycle Cards in a glass bottle – which are still available) and he has taken great care to produce a wonderful product. It is based on the old (though still great) matchbox penetration – but is bigger and better and made of steel not brass.
If our memory serves (!), this is the first time we have reviewed an instant download on Bicyle-Cards.co.uk – so here are our thoughts on 
Here’s the effect. The magician is holding a small spiral bound notepad – the kind a waiter might take your order on. It visually changes into a pack of Bicycle cards with which you can go straight in to your favourite routine.
This is a great little effect. Whilst not quite self-working, the handling is not complicated. The use of some gaffed cards (all supplied in Bicycle stock) makes the moves easier – and so only elementary card-handling skills are requred.
