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Blind Luck & Pure Skill DVD by Dan Paulus
available from http://www.alakazam.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ealakazam%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fsearch%2ehtml&WD=luck%20blind&PN=Hot_List_4%2ehtml%23a1603#a1603

They say:
The DVD includes two of the coolest tricks!

Blind Luck

Effect: A spectator freely chooses one of two decks, red or blue (not a force.) Whichever deck he chooses will be the deck he will use, the other deck will be placed aside. Our spectator reverses one card sight unseen from his chosen deck. The deck that was placed aside is now spread on the table by the spectator to find the exact same card is reversed in this deck!


Now the kicker!- The two cards are turned over to show that not only do they match, but each card has the back design from the opposite deck!


No sleights, no trick decks, no extra cards!

Everything seems to work in the spectator's hands!


Blind Luck has fooled and impressed some very well known and knowledgeable magicians!


Cost £14.99 Note:You will also need to provide 2 ordinary packs of bikes, or similar, in different colours.


Difficulty=2, a couple of 'moves' but no card sleights as such.
(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)


I say:
I've been meaning to post a review for Blind Luck for a while. Peter Nardi did this on me at the Top Secret Magic Day so I knew I had to have it then. I've used this in the pub for a while since and been getting some strong reactions.
It plays just like it says above. Without giving too much away, as far as the spec is concerned, she has a free choice of deck and then a free choice of card. If she chooses the blue pack and her, sight unseen, chosen card turns out to be the the 4 of hearts say, then you open the red pack and with no funny moves spread the red pack to show the 4 of hearts is the only face up card in that deck. In fact the spec can do the reveal herself if you want!
It uses two ungaffed regular decks and you end clean so you can let the spec examine everything afterwards. There's nothing to find. The secret is all in the routine which is pretty straightforward to learn and once you know it you can reset very fast. A different card can be chosen every time so you could, if you wish repeat it a couple of times in an evening.
I haven't attempted Pure Skill as yet but IMHO the price for Blind Luck alone is well worth the cost of the DVD.

Overall:8.5 / 10

So what is Pure Skill then?

I'm sure I've seen someone do this with two spectators each with a deck behind their backs. They both find the same value cards, and they are both odd coloured backs.

The blurb for Pure Skill says (roughly) a spectator chooses a card from one deck. Another spectator chooses a number from 1-52. The magician shuffles a different deck. He then finds the card of the chosen value at the chosen position. Uses ungimmicked deck.
I would be curious to hear more details from those who own this. EG is the card chosen an entirely free choice?

Derren Brown did something like Blind Luck with Jonathan Ross and his wife, they both chose the same card. Completely different method, though.

I have done Blind Luck several times now in my gigs and it always goes down extremely well. It has a kind of brainwave effect on people or is sort of a full deck version of Twisted Sisters. I highly recommend this. You only need two different coloured decks and the spectators do the work for you. It is truly ingenious and very easy to do! I do this along side The Eliminator, which is also very strong.

I've been trying to use a deck that's still sealed in the plastic wrapper, and the spec opens it to reveal the reversed card. I just need to find the right glue to reseal it, and then I should be set.

That's a really cool idea!

What about the other trick then?

Here is the sales blurb:
"Pure Skill: One spectator names any number between one and fifty-two. A second spectator chooses a card from a red deck. Using a blue deck, the magician shuffles only once and skillfully gets the chosen card to the chosen number! Any number can be named! As in Blind Luck no trick deck of any kind is used!"

Sounds like a version of Any Card At Any Number.
Any comments from anyone who has this?

Pure Skill is nice but somehow less powerful than Blind Luck and requires more of a set up. It is super easy to do, but somehow I like Blind Luck better.

See, I was interested in this until I saw the video - and then I could think of a really simple way that, admittedly needed a gaff, to do it. I'm sure most magicians would know what I mean, and obviously this is a better version of that...but the question is, how much better is it?

But can the gaff be handled and examined by a spectator?

I always prefer an effect without a gaff....

Cardza wrote:See, I was interested in this until I saw the video - and then I could think of a really simple way that, admittedly needed a gaff, to do it.

Actually I saw the video & figured out a really simple way to do it without any gaffs. I can't see why you would need a gaff to do this trick?

[Also I have to say, I can't see why they are charging this price for two tricks, when you can spend less to buy a book with dozens or hundreds]

No gaff for Pure Skill, just a nice system.

The price for two tricks does seem a bit high. I think I got mine for 10 quid, but I have to say, the reaction I got this weekend with Blind Luck was really good. I had a little bit of a tough customer sitting off to my right last night and I had him come up and do Blind Luck, while his wife held the other deck. The first revelation was received with tremenous applause and firm handshake from the spectator. The second revelation was greeted with absolute disbelief! This will be a staple effect from now on! I did Twisted Sisters in the second half of my act and they got all fired up again!

Sorry for bumping an old thread. I don't know how Blind Luck works (well I have two methods I thought of after seeing the performance) but Irreversible by Daniel Madison could work very well with this. I'm not sure whether it would improve the handling at all but it might be worth checking out (Irreversible is fantastic anyway so you won't regret it).