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The Effect

http://www.danielmadison.co.uk/IRREVERSIBLE.htm

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THE CARD-TRICK TO END ALL CARD-TRICKS // FORCE ANY CARD ON ANY SPECTATOR WITHOUT EVER TOUCHING THE DECK
A killer close-up effect for the PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLUSIONIST // MODERN MAGICIAN // MENTALIST // CARDSHARK

A deck of cards is handed to a spectator - the performer never touches the cards again // The deck is thoroughly examined and shuffled
The performer writes down a prediction and shows it to everyone other than the participating spectator // The performer does not touch the prediction again
The spectator holds the deck behind his/her back so that nobody can see it
The spectator takes a card out and places it back into the deck upside-down (all still behind their back)
The spectator brings the cards back into view and searches through for the reversed card
The card is turned over and revealed to be the very card predicted by the performer
 
 
There are no words that will justify how powerful this piece of magic is     Ash Singleton – (Author of The Broken Magician)
 
You may have discovered the card-trick to end all card-tricks     D Stone – MAGIC
 
My head is going to explode unless you tell me how you did that     Françoise Belle – Manhattan Magic Mania
 
Once again, Daniel has broken the rules and proven that there are no limits in real magic     Bob Martindale MBE – E Group
 
This is a reputation-making effect and by far your greatest offering to date     Trick Lewis - Magician
 
Absolutely mind-boggling, you had no control over the deck so it can’t be trickery…  This is something else     V Raven – Clairvoyant
 
This is the goalposts for which all other magic tricks will be judged     Xander De’ath – 13th Sign Productions
 
There are magic tricks, then there are magic tricks, then there’s Irreversible; a planet unto it’s self     Randall Freeman – dap
 
Daniel has reached the end of discovery in his art…  Magic doesn’t get better than this, simply because it can’t     Prof. Christopher French

The performer never touches the deck // The deck is fully examinable // No fake/double/stooge writing gimmicks
Can be performed fully surrounded (as long as the deck is out of sight (behind the back / held under a table)
No sleights required // Instant reset


Cost

£8 instant download PDF

Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

Well seeing as you just stand there while the spectator does all the work I'd say 0/5 (maybe 0.5/5, since standing can be straining on the lower back. Consider sitting down to reduce fatigue)

Review

When I first read the product description on Daniel's site I thought that he must be exaggerating; making his effect look stronger than it is.

He isn't.

The effect is exactly as strong as it sounds. It's the ID but it all happens in the spectators hands. You hand a deck of cards to the spec. He takes it behind his back and turns over one card. The spec spreads through the cards face up to find one card face down. The face down card matches your prediction.

When purchasing the effect you get the basic principle behind the effect and six different presentations, ranging from the basic handling, a "do as i do" type effect, a version using two spectators, to a more direct straight up mind reading type handling. The sixth handling is my favourite, even if i can't pull it off (at least yet). The spec holds the cards and is asked to name a card. He then takes the cards behind his back and reverses one card. The spec spreads through the cards to find one card face down - his thought of card. All this happens with the performer never touching the cards.

One minor qualm - the reset is not instant - it takes about 1.2 seconds-ish.

Making the gimmick takes about seven seconds, plus/minus two seconds. You need an ID (mods: not exposure since Daniel mentions this on his site as well).

Overall

For £8 I can think of absolutely no reason why you wouldn't buy this. Easy 10/10.

Wow, I'm a big fan of Madisons work, and this certainly does look promising...
However, I may just wait until Memento comes out

Mr Ben wrote:Wow, I'm a big fan of Madisons work, and this certainly does look promising...
However, I may just wait until Memento comes out

Memento is available from www.magicbox.uk.com. However, Irreversible is so much better than Memento.

I'd like to add my comments on 'Irreversible'.

It is a great trick. Very good. Takes an old effect/gimmick that you almost certainly own, twists it around and uses it in a brilliant way. The magic happens in the spectator's hands and they're very unlikely to find anything amiss. It's possible, but unlikely, and of course the fact that you give the deck to the spectator removes pretty much all suspicion.

However, I would have to say that the deck really can't be 'thoroughly' or 'fully' examined. Not before the effect (unless you sneak something in after the examination) and not after.

Difficulty 1.5/5
Rating 9/10

This sounds my kind of trick! But...with so many forces out there and I have enough to almost guarantee they pick the card I want...isit really worth it?

Hmm, unless I'm missing something this is a routine that features in most standard beginner card books (such as the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks) and what's more can be done impromtu without any gaffs, borrowed deck if need be. What is it about this that maks it so much better?

bronz wrote:Hmm, unless I'm missing something this is a routine that features in most standard beginner card books (such as the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks) and what's more can be done impromtu without any gaffs, borrowed deck if need be. What is it about this that maks it so much better?

I'm not personally familiar with the standard, beginner effects you mean. In Madison's effect you hand the deck to a spectator, have them turn a card over behind their back or under a table or whatever, then they themselves spread the cards to find the one reversed card which of course is the one you predicted/divined/whatever. You don't touch the deck during this process nor to reveal the card.

If there is a way of doing this without any gaffs, with a borrowed deck and without touching the deck during the process, and it's in beginner books, I definitely wanna know about it !

This is actually one of the first tricks I ever learned that gets such a good reaction. It is indeed able to do with no gaffs, gimmicks, hard sleight of hand or anything.

Edit: sorry, the trick I was thinking of has the randomly inserted face up card end up directly above the chosen card, but not the chosen card itself is face up.

Aha you could be right King Jeux, that may be the one I'm thinking of. I can't find my Encyclopedia of Card Tricks but that was probably it, in which case I am wrong and this is a new and wonderful routine!

Bronz, I know the effect you are thinking of and when I read the review I thought exactly the same as you. It may be a different method but it acheives the same end result. You can do it with either a normal deck and one simple move beforehand or just one gaff card (D/F).
I'm dubious about spending £8 on a variation of something I can already do.

The trick you're referring to is Get Thee Behind Me Satan and it's a good trick, but for the kind of person who sees card tricks as puzzles it's backtrack-able. Irreversible is a better trick imo, but I think it's poor value. This kind of trick should be packaged up with ten or a dozen other quality tricks and sold at £15 for the collection. Buying single tricks is almost always a bad idea.

If anyone cares, I've had second thoughts about this.

I think Derren Brown used this effect on Jonathan Ross and his girlfriend.
Or maybe its a different effect I am thinking about? I disagree that ID is one of the strongest effects you can do with a deck of cards. Derrens effect is in my mind significantly stronger than the traditional use of ID.

The weakness with the ID is that the cards are handled by the magician. Magicians can make money change, make peoples finger rings merge together or things disappear and reappear right in from of you. So for the lay person the magician can of course also make a card that already have been named turn over.

Well, with some handlings of ID is an incredible strong effect. It is really a matter of the presentation and how convince the spectators are that their card were turned over BEFORE it was named.