The Exchange Deck
Available from www.ellusionist.com among other places ( AVAILABLE IN UK ). I got mine a while back off ebay
Price: £16.99 Deck & DVD
Category: Utility deck, used for switches and transpositions
Difficulty: 1/2 out of 5 .. if you can hold the deck in mechanics grip, you can use this.
They say:
Trick photography? Hardly. But once you witness The Exchange in action, you'll swear that either a supernatural force has possessed a deck of cards or you've witnessed a bona-fide blip in the fabric of reality.
The Exchange allows magicians to perform miracles - effortlessly. Easily. Flawlessly. Imagine outjogging a card from the pack and visibly changing the color of its back or face - without sleight of hand.
But wait, there's more! The Exchange allows you to:
-Morph four freely selected cards into the four aces
-Print your personal information on a blank business card
-Switch gaffed cards for the real thing
-Clean-up formerly dirty packet tricks - right under their noses
-Visibly heal a torn or hole-punched card
And much more - all without difficult sleight of hand.
Perhaps best of all, The Exchange can be set-up in any deck of cards without suspicion. The gaff is cleverly disguised in such a way as to be absolutely undetectable, even to spectators who scrutinize your every move! This is a devilishly clever card utility you'll put to work immediately.
I say:
When I first got this, my reaction was that of laughter. '' Oh, is that it '' but at the same time my mind opened up to the possibilities of using this deck. And that was before I put the DVD in.
The Deck
The deck is a normal deck which is cleverly gaffed to be able to use it for most of you performance. A little thought with the handling, and you can use it for most of your routine, though this would not be adviseable as it is not examinable ( not the whole deck anyway ). The deck can be ribbon spread, can be fanned with a little care and can be riffled and played with.
The gimmick isnt entirely obvious and I think that anyone would benefit from the DVD that you can get with it.
As said above, the possibilities are great. My favourite effect is you pick out the two black aces and set them down on the table. You have a spectator touch any card. You then pick out the red aces and leve them outjogged in the deck. You place the chosen card in between the two black aces set on the table. One snap of the fingers and the card dissapears. You guessed it, it is inbetween the two outjogged red aces. This effect is SOOO clean.
Another great effect. An insane ace assembly. After a couple of standard ace assemblys, you can pull this out of the bag and FRY spectators. Ok, you produce the four kings in a flourishy way.. then very clean show them as four seperate kings. You insert them halfway into the deck and leave them outjogged by half the length. Then ask the spector to wave their hand over the deck. You ASK THE SPECTATOR TO REMOVE THE CARDS. And they have magical changed to the four aces without knuckle busting sleight of hand.
Just two of many many effects possible with this deck. I havent used it for a while but have recently got it out again.
Downsides: the deck is a little fragile. I have had NO problems with mine and I have used it extensively. But for the heavy handed out there, just a little care please!!
Upsides: the deck can be set up in ANY deck without suspicion. A little thought and it could even be brought in during a performance. Maybe !!
The DVD
The DVD is presented by that nutter, Thomas Medina. He is one strange guy. But he presents the DVD very well. About 20 effects if I remember correctly including caring for the deck, repairing the deck should it arise to that, plus a TON of effects. He is imformative throughout. He breaks down each effect well, and you see a performance for each effect, which can give you many ideas on the kind of patter you can use and open your mind to the different ways you can present the exchange to give the impression it is something different happening each effect, when essentially, it is just one move.
I think the DVD is essential as it would take a creative mind to use the deck without it. There are no instructions with the deck itself. The gimmick isnt entirely obvious as to what it does.
Overall: 9.5/10
Nothing is perfect, nothing in my aresenal beside the Big Bertha deserves a 10. Even my beloved raven and Third Degree Burn. But this thing sure is close!! In the right hands and with a little creativity this WILL be a powerful tool in your arsenal. For the wannabees out there, it is essentially a deck that can do ONE move. However, throw your mind into the presentation and you can use this deck for effect after effect after effect, making this ONE move seem like one hundred different knuckle busting moves. What else can a spectator think.. except real magic!!
I do love this deck and am surprised Ive not seen this mentioned on TM before!!
). The fact that it comes with a DVD is also very good.
Happy me
