Virus Card
by Mark Leveridge
The Effect
"The performer shows a deck back and front and complains that when he bought this pack he discovered that there was something wrong with one of the cards. Running through the deck face up he comes to a blank faced card which is dropped out onto the table. This card, the magician explains, behaves most strangely when mixed with the other cards.
To illustrate, three cards are taken from the top of the deck and the blank card placed face up amongst them. A snap of the cards and when they are counted all four cards are now face down. The pile is turned
face up and the blank card, which is second from the bottom is removed and clearly shown to be the same way round now as the other three.
But there is worse to come. Placing the blank card face to face with the bottom card of the pile, the card face is wiped away! Then placing the blank card on the top of the pile and snapping the cards, causes all the faces of all four cards to become blank. The blank card is like a virus, it seems to affect everything it touches!
The Virus Card is touched against the top card of the deck and it is flipped over to reveal it has turned blank. Then the Virus Card is rubbed across the back of the next few cards, and they lose their faces too!
Finally it is dragged down the entire deck, and as the cards are turned face up every one becomes blank until the entire deck is ribbon spread across the table to reveal nothing but blank faces!
So where have all the faces gone? Ah, well, the Virus Card has got them, and when it is now turned over it is seen to have every card face from the deck on it!"
Cost
£15
Only available from Mark Leveridge Magic. To my knowledge, all of Mark's effects are exclusives.
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
Virus Card (VC) uses a few basic sleights, which should be within the ability of all but the most novice of magicians; that is, the EC, DL and Glide. A brief description of the EC is given in the instructions.
Review
Included in the package:
Gimmicked Bicycle deck (mine came with red backs)
VC is a great trick that uses a gimmicked deck of cards. With only a few exceptions, I am not a huge fan of card effects that utilise an entire deck of gaffed cards. However, the handling throughout the routine is structured to look as natural as possible; without labouring the point, you can display the cards both front and back to be just a normal deck of cards. The series of moves and sleights blend smoothly together as you recount a story of how your blank card goes on to "infect" every other card in the deck, turning them blank, too. At the end, you can even ribbon spread the deck to show that the face of every card has, indeed, turned blank. Like any effect, give VC the practice it deserves and you will have an excellent card trick with which to amaze your spectators.
In common with many of Mark's effects, VC comes with a set of quite superb instructions. Printed on two sheets of A4-sized paper, the effect is first described (in some detail!) followed by the setup of the cards. Mark then goes on to give step-by-step instructions on the presentation and method. Twenty-six steps in total describe every move in Mark's very readable and easy-to-follow style. For those of us who need it, Mark gives a brief description of the EC at the end.
Overall
VC is one of those card tricks that I think is strong enough to finish on. I own a number of Mark's effects and VC is one of my favourites for the reactions it produces. The deck cannot be examined and reset takes just a few moments (but must be done out of sight unless you possess supernatural sleight-of-hand skills!) If you want to end clean, you'll obviously have to switch the deck out. I should add that more often than not spectators do not ask to examine the cards. My opinion is that VC is one of Mark's best effects and I would recommend it.
Score: 8/10
