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TerryC · Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:40 am Post subject: 10 Ways to Force a Card

The Effect
Dex Poinjestra demonstrates 10 different ways to force a card. The target audience is clearly beginners:

Cost
About $10.00

Difficulty
The usual scale doesn't really apply because several of the forces are very easy and the classic force is much more difficult

Review
As the title says, there are 10 different forces explained:

Overall
I got this DVD as a free bonus, which is good, because after viewing it I am glad I didn't pay for it. It's not all bad. The Criss Cross force and the Slip Cut force are two useable, and simple, moves for beginners. However, he attempts to teach the Classic Force in just one minute! I challenge anyone who has this DVD claim that they learned this advanced move just from watching this.

I decided to compare the teaching on this DVD with the teaching on 40 Ways to Force a Card. I chose a force I don't like, the Cut Deeper force. (My primary concern is that an observant spectator could play back the moves in their head and figure it out.)

On 10 Ways Dex Poinjestra simply shows how to do it. Whereas on 40 Ways Gerry Griffin suggests that the force be prefaced with a shuffle. He even takes a few moments to show how to perform the very simple Face-up Hindu shuffle to retain the top stack. This alone indicates the difference in quality. But 40 Ways goes one step further, Gerry ends by showing a subtelty added by Ed Balducci that virtually eliminates the possibility of reverse engineering this force.

If you are really tight for money, or you are a beginner that just wants one or two forces then at $10 it's not too bad. However, Penguin currently sells 40 Ways for less than $20, making it much better value for your money.

Rating
4/10 (and I think I am being generous.)