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The Complete Boris Wild Marked Deck Book and Companion Dvd. (and Kiss Count Essentials Booklet).

The Effect
An introduction to the marked deck principle perfected by Boris, how to the apply marks and how to use them within your own magic and within the effects described in the book. He then goes on to described the ‘Boris Wild Instant Memorized Deck’ which takes just 15 minutes to learn. You learn a few mathematical rules, quite easy to remember with a bit of practice.

The Kiss Count Essentials Booklet describes Boris’ famous Kiss Count, a version of the Flushtration count, which is far superior, and more aesthetically pleasing, and the Elmsley count.

Cost
$49.95 (£27.81)

http://www.a1magicalmedia.com/prod_temp ... uctid=1326

Brought from America, so it was a little cheaper, because of the exchange rate. It’s good value for money. You get marking materials included, so no need to buy anything extra (except cards). You can get the book and dvd separately but you get Kiss Count Essentials Booklet free, if you buy them together.

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)

3 – There are only a few sleights mentioned in the book. You could get through with a basic knowledge… A knowledge Hofzinser cull and a few false shuffles would be really useful, and you might want to brush up on your 4 times table…

The Kiss Count Essentials Booklet is easy peasy. Just a bit of practice – ok, the Elmsley count might be a bit trickier, but I already knew that! The Kiss and Flushtration counts are simple.

Review
Book – I think it is worth getting. I’ve added marks to most of my cards and you can use them just as a check in your normal routines. Imagine an ambitious routine, where you are not sure if the card you need is on top, just check the marks…
The marks are easy to apply, and you get enough marking material for three decks. They are well hidden into the back design but still easy enough to find if you know where to look. The book uses only bicycle cards, but I think it would work just as well with other reasonably complicated back designs such as Tally Ho Globe.
The effects in the book are generally good. Some of them I can never see myself using, (maybe just my opinion) but others really stand out as brilliant pieces of magic – Made For Each Other, Out Of This Deck, and Pure Telepathy. A point to note is that a few of Boris’ tricks try to empahsise a feeling of emotion, and this is something that I was interested in when buying the book.
Another excellent thing about the book, is Boris’ notes at the end of each trick and the Psy-Show which tries to explain some of the psychology behind how the trick works. Psychology of magic is becoming ever more popular and I really liked this addition which explains how tiny nuances can really kick a good trick into a great one.
I did find a couple of the tricks in the book a bit difficult to understand where they were going or what I was supposed to do, but a few read throughs and trying it out with the cards in hands can sort out this small problem.
The book is very nicely presented in hardback form with dust jacket and I recommend it.

Dvd – One disappointing factor about the companion dvd is that it only contains 10 effects from the book, (Performance Only) Out Of This Deck, and Pure Telepathy are there but why not include all of them?
The dvd is useful because it shows how the tricks should play and suggests a line of patter you may wish to follow. I think the dvd is a useful tool to help understand the meaning of the tricks.
The Dvd includes a performance (only) of ‘The Kiss Act’ which won Boris the card magic section at F.I.S.M. 1997 in Dresden, Germany. – This routine is absolutely fantastic. I saw it at Blackpool, but having it on Dvd means I can watch it again and I can show it to my friends. Again it is pure emotion and drama, brilliant.

Kiss Count Booklet – It’s only about 10 pages long and it’s free when you get the book and dvd. Describes Kiss Count, a new flushtration count and the Elmsley count. It’s useful and the counts are well-described point by point with a few pictures to help.

Overall
I’m not sure it would suit everyone but, I really like the style of magic that Boris Wild creates. It’s entertaining and dramatic. I like the products here and would recommend them. If you are looking for a way to boost your card magic, then a marking system is useful and the possibilities are here for making your own effects and routines.