Happy New Year from Bicycle-cards.co.uk.  This site has changed over the years, and in recent years we’ve been more focused on reviewing the latest cards and close up magic than almost anything else.  Do you know in 2015 we did 55 reviews – more than 1 a week!  So we thought we’d use this January slot to highlight what, in our opinion, were some of the best tricks of 2015 – and throw in a few more ideas for your Christmas spending money!

awesome self working card tricks review 2The DVD category has been hard to call.  There are three disks that stand out – all involving more or less self-working magic.  If cards are your thing, then it is hard to judge between two BBM releases – Awesome Self-Working Card Tricks (which we reviewed back in August) and Out of Sleight (from May).  Both full of cracking card material which is very easy to do.  Another close contender was Automata 2 – which is the same kind of quality but with non-card items.  If you don’t have these you really should.

luxx palme half fanWe started off focused entirely on playing cards so it feels appropriate to mention the best deck releases.  When we started the sight we couldn’t possibly imagine how many decks would be produced with the advent of crowdfunding and the like.  However, our top release this year would probably have to be the Luxx Palme (and not just because of my love of Paisley)  with the Number 17 Deck coming in a close second.

steve brundage cube 3 reviewFor the best tricks of 2015 it is harder to decide – there are really so many to choose from.  But three that stand out, in no particular order, are: Steve Brundage’s amazing Cube 3 – for sheer cleverness and the joy of learning a new skill; Cody Fisher’s Killer Prediction – for an outstanding take on an old effect which makes it a very powerful platform item; and I also rather enjoyed Liam Montier’s Voodoo – for a nice update to another trick with a history.

tom stone vortex - christmas magic ideaWe’ve only reviewed a couple of books this year, so it doesn’t seem fair to highlight one as a best of 2015, however, as I mentioned last month, this Christmas I have been reading Tom Stone’s Vortex – which is an outstanding book from a professional magician.  The insights into the way he creates his magic, the performance ideas and the routines make this a compelling read for anyone who loves the art of magic.

And finally, our ‘unsung utility’ item of the year goes to the Jaks Wallet – which continues to be a wonderful utility wallet consistently overlooked by people who have only heard of the Card to Wallets made by the same manufacturer.

What would you add to your list of the best tricks of 2015?  What have we missed?  What would you change?  We love to hear from you – either in comments below or on social media.

We’re excited about all the new magic we’re going to be sharing with you in 2016 – the review pile is already a foot high with some very exciting releases in the pipeline.  Follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with all our latest posts.

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