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Regal's Special Delivery is a killer - although it's quite hard to perform.

Upon joining the forum in March (?) I listed my favourite 'impossible' card effects... and Regal's Special Delivery was amongst them.

I would rate it very highly.

Although, adding the Predicta twist may be making one good effect out of two totally plausible stand-alone effects - which is overkill...

I agree with what you're saying, and I understand, but Special Delivery is so strong on it's own - that I would say leave it be...

Seige - would it be possible to do a full review on David Regal's Special Delivery. Thanks.

I must confess that I haven't seen the actual routine, I was just shown how to manufacture the gimmick - which I still maintain would be the strongest way to reveal predicta. It would need a smaller envelope than those used with bicycle cards - but these smaller windowed envelopes are readily available so shouldn't be a problem.

I totally accept that the Special Delivery routine is very strong as a stand alone effect, but see no problem with sharing the revelation with another trick. As long as you don't show the same trick to the same spectators. This isn't a problem for me as I don't plan on showing predicta to everyone everytime anyway.

But the original revelation of the scratch card from an envelope in your hand, or the revelation from a wallet in your pocket is just not as ipressive (IMHO) as revealing the card was in the envelope being held by the spectator. On the grounds that I don't do predicta that often I personally feel I should use the strongest method available to me to reveal the card.

In saying that my thoughts may change after I read a review of SD, as by then I may be also doing the full SD routine - in which case I agree with Seige - that both should be kept separate.

Just my thoughts..

No probs. I'll put my best foot forward on the review.

I know what you're saying, and I agree... in some ways. But SD is a real reputation-maker. It's 100% convincing as a whole routine in itself. All I'm saying is that you've got two perfectly wholesome routines in their own right - and it would not be THAT simple to make an SD gimmick out of an object which isn't rotationally symmetrical (if you catch my drift).

But, obviously I'm not saying DON'T do it... I'm suggesting you get SD first before you decide to hybridise the whole thing. You may change your mind.

I'll admit that I have no idea how Predicta is done & would love to buy, but at £25 odd pounds for refills won't.
But then is it not possible to have the contents of the scratch cards written down on a bit of paper & used as the reveal? If so then I'd probably buy it.

But then is it not possible to have the contents of the scratch cards written down on a bit of paper & used as the reveal?

No. Sorry.

The whole effect is that, the 4 numbers that they freely select are the numbers on the pre-scratched card. It gets absolutely amazing reactions.

On the downside though, you are right, they refills are very expensive, and some have argued that the lottery scratchcard shouldn't be called "predicta".

Relatively speaking I haven't performed this a lot - I am on my third set of cards, and still use it, but due to the expense I save it for special occasions. It's too much expense (IMHO) to use at tables, but the reactions! Oh boy. It just seems so impossible, and is a nice keepsake.

As for it being called Predicta. That was a lot of fuss over nothing as far as I am concerned, all anyone ever remembers is that the numbers they THOUGHT of, were the numbers on a scratch card.

Ok, I have a real problem with the props for this trick. Who has performed this? If you gave this to a spec to take home, he'll start picking at it and the magic will be gone.

I stil perform it - it still gets good reactions - people take home the card, and as far as I know - no one "picks" at anything. It all looks genuine enough.

Also I perform for more than one person - not just the person that gets the lottery card.

I thinkl you worry too much.

bananafish-in what kinds of environments have you performed it and for what age range of people?

slip it over a bottle neck and make a ball bearing or small coin, pass through the rubber.