4 Stars

Review by Michael Easler for Arcade Dreams by Jon Racherbaumer, Ed Marlo

4 out of 5

A Surprising Stroll Through Marlo’s Mind

This is a volume that breaks the usual mindset magicians hold toward Marlo’s work. Far from the usual sterile descriptions of Marlo’s card effects, this intriguing volume offers his handling for some common, non-card items. Having briefly worked in a friend’s magic shop myself, I was surprised to learn that Marlo had been a demonstrator in a Chicago magic shop peddling slum magic to the masses. This book reveals many clever variations Marlo developed to deceive even the wise ones with items like the ball and vase, and color-vision.

While not diminishing his rightful iconic status, this book embues Marlo with a surprising humanity. The anecdotes included demonstrate he was quite a rascal, intellectually obssessed with fooling all and sundry.

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reviews April 8, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, Michael Easler

Review by David A Seebach for Rabbit Rising Cards by Owen Magic Supreme

4 out of 5

Cute-Cute-Cute

Here’s an over-looked novelty.
It’s probably best done with an assistant to operate the rising cards and the surprise finale`, but it’s sure to delight both children and adults.
To be sure, this is NOT the rising cards effect for a solely adult crowd, but it lends itself well to use with easy-to-identify alphabet cards for the kiddies.
It’s small to pack, but easily seen and very light weight.
Look at the photo: It’s a good looking prop.

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reviews March 14, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, David A Seebach

Review by David A Seebach for Ultimate Lie Detector by Unknown

4 out of 5

Creativity+Prop=Entertainment

When this prop arrived it failed completely almost immediately. A replacement was sent and has worked fine.
Suggestion: Obtain ‘flashers’ from your hardware store that drop into light sockets so the bulbs flash for animation.
This prop does what it’s advertised to do, but it requires clever and original thinking to make it entertaining.

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reviews March 14, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, David A Seebach

Review by David A Seebach for Tel's Bells x 3 by Terry Herbert

4 out of 5

Use Your Imagination

I’ve owned one of these for years and used it with children for a very funny reaction. It is NOT a trick in itself, but a supporting prop. In this use it’s a humorous item.
It’s also been featured in my annual Halloween show with an adult, but in a much different, darker manner. It was not —and wasn’t meant to be— funny at all.
It’s well made and works well, too.

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reviews March 14, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, David A Seebach

Review by David A Seebach for Viper Pro by Terry Lunceford

4 out of 5

Really Terrific

If you can create a clever presentation, this is a very well thought out prop that —with one exception— works exceedingly well.
The clever arrangement that allows a non-forced —but signed— card to wind up in the serpent’s mouth is genius. However, the concept hasn’t been engineered to the degree of being foolproof. The very smart inventor devised a method for the signed card to appear along with the serpent, but the thread that facilitates this tangled with the coiled spring of the snake. My personal routine, using children and alphabet cards, doesn’t require the actual selected card to be in the snake’s mouth so I just removed the thread.
The supplied basket is fine, but I found a more exotic one. The self-contained mechanism can be placed into anything.
The SUDDEN appearance of the snake is a high point for audience reaction.
This is a great prop.

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reviews March 13, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, David A Seebach

Review by George Guerra for Chinca Chinca by Tommy van Rhee, Anverdi

4 out of 5

Unusual props for a popular effect

This is quite a collectible, but only because it’s an Anverdi. I have always been interested in the matrix assembly effect and these Oriental "stones" are an offbeat set of props to perform this trick. One problem I have with these small stones lies in their handling throughout the effect. A semi-close fist is recommended in the instructions for that special move and that looks suspicious to me. I would prefer a more flat hand approach but it’s difficult with these small cylinders. It could be just me but clearly plenty of practice and skill is needed; certainly not an apparatus for beginners. I do like the clever "locking" feature in the main gimmick so the "stones" can be passed out for examination at the end.

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reviews February 25, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, George Guerra

Review by Scott Snider for I've Got Your Number by Bruce Bernstein

4 out of 5

You look like a 39!

This card trick is just one of Bruce Bernstein’s great card magic. All of his magic is strong and relatively easy to do but packs a wallop with its effect. This is no different. You can use this in a resturant situation whereby you can approach the table or person with a simple ‘hello’. Then tell them they look like a 39 (or some other number). After a lot of byplay, they select any card chosen that will be their favorite. It will then have their number written on the back of a card. You can then show them that all the cards are numbered from 1 to 52 and that they chose " their number" that you first spoke to them about. This is a great "approach" trick for the working person whether it be club, party, corporate or bar. It never fails to put a smile on the faces of the one you show it to. Powerfull stuff and highly recommended.

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reviews February 24, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, Scott Snider

Review by Tyler Downs for Vanishing Deck (Ultra Slim) by Rob Bromley

4 out of 5

Soooo many possibilities with this one!

This item is really cool and effective. I use it to apparently vanish my regular deck of cards to have them appear elsewhere, when in fact this item allowed me to switch seamlessly to another trick deck (rising card, etc.) I would have given it 5 stars if it was sturdier; however, it is made of cardboard and can easily be damaged.

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reviews February 19, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, Tyler Downs

Review by Andy Martin for The Squeeze by Paul Mims

4 out of 5

Great story line, Great Surprise, and good handling.

This new routine by Paul Mims holds great promise and almost delivers! It has an entertaining poker based story line and a very visual transformation from 4 aces to a royal flush, it is also fairly easy to do, with an almost instant reset.

Unfortunately, for me a couple of the moves to get to the end don’t seem to flow as well which makes the counting seem a bit inconsistent. I’m sure there is a solution to the handling, and I intend to continue to work on it because I really like the overall routine. In fact, I’m quite sure that lay people probably love this routine as it stands, but for me it just seems a bit inconsistent. It could just be me of course!

I am keen to see more from Paul and his good friend Doug Gorman as they do seem to be producing some clean, strong effects that have great visual impact and interesting storylines. Keep them coming guys!

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reviews February 17, 2006 Reviews 4 Stars, Andy Martin

Review by Caine for Card Magic of Nick Trost by Nick Trost

4 out of 5

Good material – However, not hard hitting…

I originally purchased this book because it discusses many slieghts used in most card magic. I was also short on budget and couldn’t afford the entire "Card College (Volumes 1-5)" by Roberto Giobbi at the time of purchase.
The routines contained within "The Card Magic of Nick Trost" are great for the historical card magician. There are lots of references to Dai Vernon and other past greats. Many of the routines are older and have been reworked by Trost to take on a contemporary flair at the time of publishing. However, due to the fact that most of the routines are fairly old they are somewhat lengthy and cumbersome in contrast with today’s fast paced, hard hitting street magic as seen by David Blaine or T.H.E.M.

If you’re looking for a nice collection of older, less common routines, this is a great book. I have adapted many of the routines for my own personal tastes. I find many of the routines contained herein work great with an older crowd, especially when you are in a sit-down, close-up environment where their attention is all yours.

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reviews December 17, 2005 Reviews 4 Stars, Caine

Review by Michael Easler for Arcade Dreams by Jon Racherbaumer, Ed Marlo

Review by David A Seebach for Rabbit Rising Cards by Owen Magic Supreme

Review by David A Seebach for Ultimate Lie Detector by Unknown

Review by David A Seebach for Tel's Bells x 3 by Terry Herbert

Review by David A Seebach for Viper Pro by Terry Lunceford

Review by George Guerra for Chinca Chinca by Tommy van Rhee, Anverdi

Review by Scott Snider for I've Got Your Number by Bruce Bernstein

Review by Tyler Downs for Vanishing Deck (Ultra Slim) by Rob Bromley

Review by Andy Martin for The Squeeze by Paul Mims

Review by Caine for Card Magic of Nick Trost by Nick Trost

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