Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind Media

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Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind Media

Postby artychris » Jul 3rd, '13, 11:35

ULTIMATE SELF WORKING CARD TRICKS VOLUME 2 - BIG BLIND MEDIA available for Instant Download at Talkmagic TV - click here for details

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The Effect

A second disc of self working card awesomeness!


Cost

£19:99 at dude that's cool magic

And

£19:46 from TM TV!


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)

1.5


The advertising blurb

Featuring creations from some of the greatest minds in magic, Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2, is jam packed with incredible card tricks that require NO sleight of hand.

The nine stunning routines on offer prove that it's not HOW the trick is done - it's 100% about WHAT your audience perceives. None of these tricks require sleight of hand, but they are absolutely, mind fryingly awesome. Some of the methods are so devious that you'll fool yourself when you perform them.

From John Bannon's self working, instantly resetting packet trick 'Poker Pairadox' to Ryan Schlutz's three phase masterpiece 'Sense-sational' to Peter Duffie's ingenious 'Four Most' - these are tricks that you will perform again and again and again.

So grab a deck and join your hosts James Went (from the smash hit BBC show 'Help, My Supply Teacher Is Magic'), Liam Montier, Iain Moran, Ryan Schlutz and Owen Packard, and prepare to learn some of the greatest Self Working Card Tricks ever invented.

Tracklisting
1. Mind Mirror (Jack McMillan)
2. Convergence (Cameron Francis)
3. Stock Exchange (John Guasterferro)
4. Sense-sational (Ryan Schultz)
5. Poker Pairadox (John Bannon)
6. Four Most (Peter Duffie)
7. Password Fallacy (Jim Steinmeyer)
8. Amara Rises Again (Ryan Matney)
9. Blind Choice (Roy Walton)


Review

I was rather excited when this was released! The first volume was easily the best DVD I purchased last year, and quite possibly the best magic DVD I have! So not a lot to live up to then... However, after the success for Big Blind Media of the first volume, this was always going to be a tough one to follow. If this was a music review, I'd be using the phrase "difficult second album,"

So what do we have then? There's 9 tricks on here (2 less than on volume 1) + for some reason, the classic Gemini Twins.

As with all Big Blind Media products, it's extremely well put together. Nicely filmed, good sound quality, and absolutely superb tuition. It' a joy to watch. And also bonus points to the presenters, James Went, Liam Montier, Ryan Schultz, Iain Moran and Owen Packard, who are all on top form and make this a very easy DVD to watch! (And as with the first volume... if only all my audiences were like the audiences here! :) )

Let's run through the tricks.

1 Mind Mirror - Jack MacMillan: This isn't bad. It's a pick a card, shuffle the deck. Now I've found your card type of trick. The shuffling process is certainly deceptive enough.

2 Convergence - Cameron Francis: This is a two deck card at any number trick. It is self working, and it's very easy to do. In short, a blue deck is place to one side. The spectator names any card they want, and then picks a card at random from a red backed deck. Each of the red cards has a different number on the back and the number of the randomly picked card is dealt to from the blue deck, revealing the first named card. The trickiest and most time consuming bit is setting up the two decks in the first place. I like this trick a lot (it's far better than my plot description!), so I immediately dug out two decks of cards and a sharpie and set this up. The first time I performed it, it got the desired "Wow!" The second time though was for TM's Mr Alfred Borden, who straight away said "To much dealing, mate..." And he's right! Especially if the card they pick has the number 49 one the back! So maybe not one for the table hoppers among us, even though the reset is instant... I have used the since, and it does get good reactions, but I do need to pick and choose when and where I perform it.

3 Stock Exchange - John Guasterferro: The seems like a combination of Shufflebored (Aronson) and Contact Colours (Colombini), both from volume 1! The shuffling procedure is similar to Aronsons, and the final reveal is similar to Colombinis! I'm not sure if this is good or bad... It's certainly a decent trick to have in your repertoire, but not maybe one I'd use as a "go to" piece in the way that both Shufflebored and Contact Colours can be. Plus there's one move in there that occurs just after the shuffling, when the magician recaps what has happened and how fair it all is that really sits uncomfortably with me. However, I'm fairly sure the final reveal is so strong that the stunned audience will forget the suspect incident...

4 Sense-sational - Ryan Schultz: For me, this is the best trick on here, and worth the price of the DVD/Download on it's own! It gets a few people involved, there's a fair bit going on, and it's excellently performed and explained by its creator, Ryan Schultz. It's 3 cards picked, and 3 cards located... but it's so much more! I haven't performed this yet, because it's one that I think is so good that I want to practice for a while first so that I can do it justice. Here's a link of Ryan performing this (it's not the BBM performance...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGiH20gmCWA"

5 Poker Pairadox - John Bannon: I love Bannons stuff! Twisted Sisters, Spin Doctor, Smoke and Mirrors, Dear Mr Fantasy are all superb! But this... this really feels like filler! (Especially if you compare it to Unbelievable, by Shields, Michael and Jones on Volume 1, where cards also pair up, but in a truly miraculous way!). On the plus side, it is different to the other tricks presented, but I'm sure that there's far better from Mr Bannon that could have been used. It's a spread of all the high value cards, in a sort of gambling presentation, that suddenly become paired up. The spectator doesn't get to handle the cards, and it's a bit of a "look at me," trick.

6 Four Most - Pete Duffie: A handful of spectators chose a card, and as if by magic, they've all chosen aces! This is ok... not the best thing here, but not the worst either! I like the presentation with the money being used as a Gemini twins style marker, and that for me would make it seem to be one of the more workable tricks given here... But something about it, even in the performance, makes the finale seem an anti-climax. (Let's see who wins... Oh, it's a draw...)

7 Password Fallacy - Jim Steinmeyer: The plot... 9 cards taken at random, one selected, and then a password secretly chosen by the spectator. After a bit of a spelling procedure, the chosen card is found by use of the secret password. For me, this is a really interesting trick, if only because it seems to have so much potential! The way it's been presented here is an excellent concept, and works great in the context of the DVD (or Download!), I'm just thinking that with some work (and to be honest, dropping the spelling thing! Just some simple shuffling should suffice!) this could be great!

8 Amara Rises Again - Ryan Matney: I'm not sure where to start on this... If Sense-sational on it's own is worth the price of this disc, this trick makes me want a refund! Far to much procedure to find a playing card. To long. To drawn out. And just boring! (Ryan Schultz is performing this on the disc, and he does a great job! I really like his style, and I don't want this to be a reflection on him. It's the trick that's poor, not the magician) The other thing that comes to mind is that Liam Montier introduces it saying it has a really cool story line... I'm sorry Liam, as much as I love your magic, it doesn't! It's just a bit cheesy!

9 Blind Choice - Ray Walton: This is quite nice! It's a colour separation trick, and Liam performs it with 5 spectators all getting involved. Certainly one of the better tricks on here... although as I went to write about it, I realized I'd forgotten what it was, so had to hit the play button to remind myself! Maybe it hadn't left that much of an impression!


Overall

I know that in places here I'm being a little harsh, but Big Blind Media really set the bar high with volume 1, and this can't be reviewed without a comparison being made. Had this been a stand alone product, I'd probably be writing a little kinder about it. I wanted to like this a lot! I really did! And in places I do. It does have some extremely good pieces of magic on it, it's just a little to hit and miss at times... but when it does hit, it really does work!

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby Johnny Bravo » Dec 25th, '13, 01:38

Just got this last week & been watching the last couple of days.

Have to say I disagree with artychris on Poker Pairadox & Amara Rises Again, haven't performed either yet but straight out I really like these two along with Mind Mirrors. Very easy to do & great endings I think. Really allows one to have fun with the trick & not worry to much about how it all works.
Rest of the stuff is good but those 3 are the ones I'm working on.

The DVD is def worth a buy, now gonna have a read up on USWCT 1 & probably get that :-)

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby Mr Grumpy » Sep 28th, '14, 09:21

Great review.

My problem with card tricks is that when I'm tired or hungover, I can't remember procedures. To me a 'self-working' card trick wouldn't be a card trick with no sleights, it would be a card trick with little to remember. (This isn't a criticism of these DVDs, it's just a personal thing.) Do most of the routines on these Ultimate Self-Working DVDs require that you remember a complicated procedure? How many of them are easy to do when your mind is a foggy haze of un-rememberance?

I tend to find that sleights are like riding a bicycle: once you can do them, you just do them automatically, so even if you're half asleep or unwell, you can still do most of your sleights. Complex procedures, that's another matter. Example: the Oil & Water that I perform (from Aldo Colombini's A Few Good Cards DVD), phase 1 and 2 are for the most part identical aside from one move (if I recall), and when I'm not at my best, I sometimes perform phase 1 twice by mistake (fortunately I'm aware of this and do not perform tricks like this when I'm below par!). The routine has some slightly tricky moves, but it's not the moves that suffer.

Again, not criticising the DVD, just wondering if it's worth me buying it or not...

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby artychris » Oct 7th, '14, 15:34

Mr Grumpy, from what you've said, I'm not sure if these discs are quite what you're after... Possible the two John Carey DVDs, 24-7 might be though???

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby JAQK » Oct 7th, '14, 21:49

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby Mr Grumpy » Oct 12th, '14, 18:16

Yeah, I don't think it's for me personally. I need the opposite, card routines with sleights but very little to remember.

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby m0lsx » Dec 21st, '14, 15:08

Thank you for the above, I have both volume 1 & 2 heading my way for Christmas. Last year I was brought a copy of the Royal Road to Card Magic & I loved that, but I am terrible at slights with cards & just could not make too much sense of some of the instructions, so when Merchant of Magic sent me a free self working card trick, to plug volume 3 of the self working series I got Karl Fulves book out & put volume 1 on my Christmas list.
I am looking forward to Christmas day even more now, even if it is mainly for volume one...Thanks.

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Re: Ultimate Self Working Card Tricks Volume 2 - Big Blind M

Postby Mr Grumpy » Dec 21st, '14, 15:28

I'm having a lot of success with Search & Destroy by Aaron Fisher, and Metal Sheep from Automata, as both have fairly straightforward structures, but beyond that I'm pretty much giving up on self-working routines! It's great that they work for you thought, m0lsx.

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