Revolution

This may seem a little pricey for what is essentially a two-trick DVD, but it does give you over an hour of teaching covering the revolution color change. Aaron Fisher is an incredible teacher, and there is literally no nuance left out of his teaching of this move. I promise you that with a few minutes practice you'll have this one down.

The beauty of this DVD is how he not only teaches you the move, but then goes on to show you a few effects (including a color-changing deck routine you'll use) that incorporate the move. With your imagination seeded from there, you can easily see where you can use this for a number of possibilities.

While I feel Fisher's "Search and Destroy" is a superior effect to own, the camera work on the teaching part of this is much better. The camera man on SaD kept wandering around during the filming like he'd lost interest and had better things to do. Here the camera is more stationary for the most part and the close ups help you see the moves clearly. I still feel this costs a little too much for what you're getting (even though it's the same price as "Search and Destroy"), though the move you'll learn here is invaluable.

The Hawk 2.0

This is another case of where watching the demo video might make you his "Add to Cart" immediately (as it did with me). After all, a card very visually changes right in front of the spectator's eyes while you have left the deck on the ground and are a few feet away...how much more powerful does it get than that?

Unfortunately, this is also one of those effects that leave out a few rather vital caveats that change this from an "anytime/anywhere" trick to one for a specific time and place.

First, the gimmick. It's not indestructible, but it appears rather sturdy (after you finish building it). Yes, it's one of those tricks where you get some parts and are shown how to finish the gimmick up and prepare the deck you supply for the effect. While I don't mind this on tricks where I could build my own gimmick later if the supplied one breaks, I don't think most people could create this gimmick from scratch.

The setup is another issue. You won't do this one impromptu or in a quiet room. You'll need a least ambient noise to keep the gimmick's sound from registering with the spectator. Also, you'll need to be the one grabbing the deck from the ground. You can hand the spectator the card that appears at the top (they can even have signed it), but the gimmick needs to be ditched before handing the deck out for examination.

Does that mean you should avoid this effect? Well, the payoff for it is a very visual card change that looks like real magic and can be done even in a street magic environment. You just have to know you probably won't be doing this at the office for a friend (a small crowd that's talking, sure).

Crush

This has to be the first time I've ever seen a magic trick where the "impromptu and ungimmicked" version of the effect is more powerful than the gimmicked version. Don't get me wrong, both will play big to the right audience in the right environment, but the gimmick itself is a little hard to manage. This could work very well in a casual restaurant magic environment though, especially if they sell bottled water so you can adapt your gimmick to the standard bottle.

The impromptu version though is so much better. Yes, there is a little setup involved, but honestly it's nothing difficult and can be done in literally seconds. Then you can walk up to the spectator with your bottled water and talk for a few minutes before launching into the trick. Can they figure out how it's done? Yes, some of them will...but many will not--especially if you've been holding the bottle for a while and appearing casual throughout. You put the bottle in their hands and it crushes...that plays big.

The key to the impromptu version is knowing which type of bottled water is going to be the most impressive. Deer Park water has a very thin plastic, and when it crushes it seems to really implode and is very visual. Dasani, on the other hand, barely dents. It's something you'll play around with and figure out for yourself.

The price for this is all right, I suppose, though I doubt very many people will use the gimmick often (unless you perform in a jacket).

Tear Down

This was one of the first Andrew Mayne effects I could actually use. Most of the DVDs or books I have purchased of his contain concepts that could never work real-world, and I've often felt burned and have stayed away from many of his products because the descriptions don't tell it all. That being said, I love this trick. If you're looking for a torn-and-restored-newspaper routine that's relatively easy while still playing big, you'll love this.

For one thing, it's impromptu. I mean that. Unlike other TnR routines that require some setup of a particular section, this one is good to go at any time with any newspaper.

Second, it involves a signed newspaper. You have to admit that's pretty unique for a routine like this. You can even hand out the paper at the end for the spectator to keep (or read again if they don't mind it being crumpled up).

It plays relatively great, but there's a horrible moment where you have to ditch the paper shreds and it doesn't look good. The clean up offered here is completely unbelievable, and you'll notice how awkward the moment is while watching it demonstrated in the video. It's as if he had a great concept up to that point, but ran out of ideas for the finish. You'll have to tweak this part to make it clean. Other than that, this is pretty good for the price.

Boris Wild Marked Deck

If you're looking for a marked deck that you can use for mental effects or the casual card trick, Wild's deck is a good choice. It is a Bicycle deck that looks and feels like the real thing. You can use the deck for several effects before going into the marked deck trick and you might be safe. The marking system is relatively easy to learn (about 10 minutes to get really good at reading the card backs without looking like you're doing so), which makes this perfect for hobbyists or someone just needing a marked deck for a new effect they're working on that has almost a zero chance of failure.

Unfortunately, the ease of reading the marks is the major weakness of the deck. While you can spread the cards and have the spectator choose one for any number of effects beforehand, it will only take them a few seconds to find the mark and even if they can't figure out what it means they'll know the deck is marked. To be fair, Wild includes 3 unmarked Jokers in the pack, so if you're slick enough you can pass these off to the spectator who wants to examine the cards. Still, it won't fool everyone every time.

That being said, if you've always wanted a marked deck but didn't want to spend hours learning the markings, you'll love this. Likewise, if you want a marked deck that you almost can't miss the reading on, this is for you. Most everyone else, however, will probably want to move to a more professional marking system that's worth the effort to learn.

Wild Poker Trick

With the recent surge in popularity of poker, there's no shortage of poker packet tricks out there. If you're willing to take the time to learn the moves you can amaze some folks and make them think you're a master gambler.

WPT--for "Wild Poker Trick" from Boris Wild--is a packet trick that fits that description. You show the spectator five indifferent cards that would make you an automatic loser in a poker game. Bringing the cards together, you spread them out again and you are holding a royal flush.

There's no difficult sleight of hand here. It can be done with minimal practice. While this is a very visual card trick, you do not end clean and the spectators can't touch the cards when you finish.

For the price, this is a decent effect if you're wanting some sort of poker miracle in your bag of tricks.