The Hidden - by Andy Nyman

Review area devoted to tricks and effects where props are involved.

Moderators: nickj, Lady of Mystery, Mandrake, bananafish, support

Web Design for Magicians Playing Cards for Magicians Best prices around! Visit Magicbox for all the latest and best effects! Manufacturer of modern & unique magic apparatus! Sorcery Shop - Home of the ITR

The Hidden - by Andy Nyman

Postby seige » May 13th, '03, 22:41



The Hidden by Andy Nyman
£10 - Alakazam.co.uk
Card mentalism - with audience participation

Description
Imagine the scene: you ask a spectator to remove his watch, take out his wallet and a coin, and place them on the table in front of him.

Now, you take a deck of cards. You speak about 'dead' cutting - the ability to cut a predetermined stack of cards, say 12, from the deck without counting. All the time you're shuffling the deck...

You go on to demonstrate... then offer the spectator: cut 10 cards off of the deck. He does. You tell him to put them in front of the coin.

Now, you shuffle, and offer the spectator to cut 15 cards. Place them in front of the watch.

Repeat, but this time, place the final stack in front of the wallet.

NOW... tell them they had a FREE choice of cut (which they do), and they TURN OVER the top card of each pile... on the top card of each pile is a single word: Watch, Coin or Wallet. And they match the object they are in front of.

And the kicker? Every other card in the deck is BLANK!!!!

Review
Now, readers of the May 'uncrashed' forum may remember a few of us raving about a guy called Andy Nyman. Some of you will not have a clue who he is, but if I tell you he's an actor, magician, mentalist and TV producer - plus he's a major influence in the workings of Derren Brown, you'll realise that this 'unknown' is a bit of a dark horse.

And he is.

This effect was my first Nyman effect, although I'd actually heard of his reputation first, and I remember his affiliation with Brown, and that awful TV magic 'mainstream' effort, Monkey Magic.

This effect is licenced soley to Alakazam by Nyman, and was released in March '03. I would imagine by now that it's finding its way into the act of many a magician up and down the country.

If you consider the reputation of Alakazam's Peter Nardi, you'll realise that they don't take mentalism lightly, and this particular effect will NOT dissapoint.

Along with my other favourite mentalism effect (coincidentally, Nardi's Knock 'em Dead) this has to be one of the most awesome effects in my routine show.

It works EVERY time. It resets quickly for walkaround magic, and probably more importantly, it really SHOCKS.

The initial whammy is when the spectator realises THEY have cut to the only 3 'object' cards in the deck. The second whammy comes when they realise the rest of the deck is blank.

It works. And it's easy, too. Only minor card control sleights are needed, and you can even work in your own shuffle/control routines.

The quality of the effect is outstanding: good packaging, good gaffs, excellent instructions. The pack comes in either red or blue bicycle back, and includes both a blank face 'gimmick' and a regular face 'gimmick'.

You'll learn the handling in 10 minutes flat, and you'll be absolutely desparate to try it to get a reaction.

Overview
Probably the best value for money mentalism trick out there, from one of Magic's true geniuses - in my opinion, anyway (and I've been searching for something with this much impact for 10 years!).

Rating
10/10 - Hadn't you already guessed!!!

The bottom line
There's a handful of mentalism effects out there which are truly amazing... and this is one of them. I recommend that if mentalism is your bag, check Alakazam. The Nardi/Nyman effects alone could form the basis of a whole act.

If you're looking for that definitive trick for 2003, which involves audience participation, mentalism and a bit of class - try The Hidden.

It works.

User avatar
seige
.
 
Posts: 6830
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 10:01
Location: Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Postby bananafish » May 14th, '03, 09:07

so you liked it then? :)

User avatar
bananafish
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 5821
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 09:43
Location: Simon Shaw. Suffolk, UK (50:SH)

Postby seige » May 14th, '03, 09:15

8)

I've got lots of mentalism tricks - but this one really suprises me every time I perform it. It looks so impossible.

Also from Alakazam, you'll want to try the Triple Impact trick.
It will really blow your spectators away...
You show a deck to contain normal cards.
They cut the deck, choose a pack (top or bottom) and take the first three cards from the cut.
They place one on left pocket, one in right, and one in shirt pocket.
Now, you take out of your left pocket the MATCHING card, and then the right pocket is a MATCHING CARD, as is the breast pocket card.
Awesome!

Yes ... I do like mentalism!

User avatar
seige
.
 
Posts: 6830
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 10:01
Location: Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Postby Photofnish » Jan 21st, '04, 19:50

I recently purchased this trick and am working out my performance. I haven't showed it to anyone yet, because I want to iron out a few kinks in my own mind before I do.

For those of you who perform The Hidden, I'm really interested in how you elevate this effect from a card trick to a mentalist feat. What I mean is, where does the mentalism come into play? What mentalist powers are being employed? At the end, do you reveal that in giving them a task to do -- namely dead-cutting -- you have been able to misdirect their mind and thus control their actions, mentally forcing them to cut to the three "object" cards?

Thanks for any and all advice.

Photofnish
Junior Member
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Dec 6th, '03, 00:14
Location: Seattle, WA (34:AH)

Postby bananafish » Jan 22nd, '04, 10:13

"The hidden" is truly a wonderful trick, and I have performed it quite a lot.

In many ways I think we are wrong to get too bogged down with labelling tricks in particular categories. Some tricks cross the boundries as indeed this one does.

I think it's wrong to say that for example this is a mentalist trick and so it should only ever be performed with other mentalist tricks, however I also wouldn't perform it solely as part of series of card biased tricks.

The beauty of this trick (imo) is the misdirection that you are not actually showing them any magic, you are just showing a clever bit of card skill called dead-cutting, and inviting them to see if they can get the hang of it.

The most "magic" they are expecting at this point would be if they did cut exactly the number of cards you suggested - but when they realise that they have actually cut to - 3 times out of three, it almost goes beyond belief.

In my mind this is made stronger just because they weren't expecting you to be doing anything smneaky - whether it was a card trick or a feat of mentalism.

Personally I think it sells itself for just this reason, and that you shouldn't necessarily be looking to explain how it was done. Let that just be implied. Yes. Somehow you forced them to cut where you wanted, but there is no need to verbalise this, it's what they would be thinking anyway. Just leave them to their open mouths and smile knowingly to yourself that it's a great trick.

User avatar
bananafish
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 5821
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 09:43
Location: Simon Shaw. Suffolk, UK (50:SH)

Postby Adag » Jan 23rd, '04, 00:32

I hear on the grapevine that Andy Nyman has a DVD coming out with performance and explanations of his effects!!
Ade

Adag
Junior Member
 
Posts: 44
Joined: Jul 25th, '03, 23:43

Postby bananafish » Jan 23rd, '04, 10:00

Adag - by all accounts it may be two DVDs.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2563

User avatar
bananafish
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 5821
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 09:43
Location: Simon Shaw. Suffolk, UK (50:SH)

Postby Johnny Bravo » Oct 22nd, '04, 05:21

With the exception of photo finish all the reiews re this trick are from mods & long time posters.
From a beginners point of view then I have a couple of problems with this routine, which when worked correctly is great.

This is kind of hard to explain without giving the game away here, if I give away too much info maybe a mod can edit this post.

With the first cut of 12 cards that the magi does to show he can cut correctly I find the way you have to rifle your thumb along the cards funny, it's not the way you cut cards & you do have to rifle your thumb to find the correct point?
I can see that maybe I'm being to worried about this point & as your talking your fingers will just be rifling in preparation. But it's not a natural cut.

You later have to make a move [edit] where you demo a cut, taking some cards into your right hand [edit].

According to the instructions you do this move as your'e demonstrating what you want the spec to do so he's gonna have his eyes on the cards more so?

For a newbie both these moves are uncomfortable, particularly the later.

Thought I'd add that & would welcome any suggestions on the problems :D

User avatar
Johnny Bravo
Senior Member
 
Posts: 440
Joined: Oct 12th, '04, 14:57
Location: Sussex, UK (44: AH:)

Postby bananafish » Oct 22nd, '04, 09:04

Hi Johnny. You were right I had to edit that post. In fact I am not sure that I shouldn't edit it some more. :(

The good news is though I will be pm'ing you with some help... :)

User avatar
bananafish
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 5821
Joined: Apr 22nd, '03, 09:43
Location: Simon Shaw. Suffolk, UK (50:SH)

Postby dat8962 » Jul 26th, '08, 12:08

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but.............

I've had this 'hidden' ( :roll: ) away in a pile of other things for a few months and I finally got around to opening it up last weekend.

I have to agree with what has already been written - this is a great routine. It's 'stunned' everyone that I've shown it to so far and I can't leave it alone.

Has anyone come up with any variations on this principle?

I've been playing around with the three choice cards marked as lemon, lime and cup and performing it straight after a chop cup routine while the loads are still on the table.

Any thoughts?

Member of the Magic Circle & The 2009 British Isles Close-Up Magician of the Year
It's not really an optical illusion - it just looks like one!
User avatar
dat8962
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 9265
Joined: Jan 29th, '04, 19:19
Location: Leamington Spa (50:Semi-Pro)

Postby Replicant » Jul 26th, '08, 14:12

Never apologise for reviving a dead thread! (It's better than starting a new one). :D

I've been performing this for a while now and I love it; more importantly, so do the spectators. It's great. I just perform it "as is" and haven't come up with any variations, but it's the kind of routine that is flexible enough to allow for different presentations; your idea with the lemon, etc. sounds pretty good. But I'm not sure how you would link the two routines together, given the kind of trick The Hidden is. The chop cup is a piece of close-up magic, whereas The Hidden is more of an experiment in dead cutting and body language (amongst other things), if that makes sense? I'm sure you're creative enough to have the two routines flow together, but I don't do a chop cup routine so wouldn't know. Sounds pretty good, though.

User avatar
Replicant
Elite Member
 
Posts: 3951
Joined: Jun 7th, '05, 13:46
Location: Hertfordshire, UK (36:AH)

Postby queen of clubs » Jul 26th, '08, 16:57

Thanks for zombieing this up - I'm very interested in this! Is it really infallable? Even with an idiot spec? And what level of sleight of hand is required? I feel my money burning a hole in my pocket...

I guess my main question would be: Is this just an outjog/injog/short/long principle to get them to cut to wherever? If so, I'm so not interested.

"Some of those that burn crosses are the same that hold office" - Zack de la Rocha
User avatar
queen of clubs
Advanced Member
 
Posts: 1405
Joined: Feb 29th, '08, 17:14
Location: West Yorkshire (26:AH - Gynocardology)

Postby dat8962 » Jul 26th, '08, 17:43

Is this just an outjog/injog/short/long principle to get them to cut to wherever? If so, I'm so not interested.


It is a simple yet cuning method but it's the end result that counts and this is very strong indeed. What this will allow you to do is to focus on the presentation and you'll fool an idiot spec and a serious thinker alike.

As for the routine with the chop cup that I'm thinking of............

My line of thought was to perform and end the cup routine as normal but you use thye cup, lemon and lime instead of a coin, wallet and watch.

I would perform Hidden as scripted, matching the cards to the items on the table but as the specs haven't had to place anything on he table themselves the effect may work differently in their heads. It may come as more of a surprise as they will be thinking that the items on the table are 'out of play'.

Any thoughts?

Member of the Magic Circle & The 2009 British Isles Close-Up Magician of the Year
It's not really an optical illusion - it just looks like one!
User avatar
dat8962
Veteran Member
 
Posts: 9265
Joined: Jan 29th, '04, 19:19
Location: Leamington Spa (50:Semi-Pro)

Next

Return to Reviews - Tricks 'n Props

UK's Online Magic Tricks and Jokes Shop offers kids and beginner magic tricks and jokes. World-Of-Magic, Suppliers of quality Magic Worldwide Dude That's Cool Magic MagicWorld Magic Shop for Magic Tricks Aeternum Servare Secreta Best prices around! A web site set up to sell my book, THE STRIPPER DECK, and future magical/mentalism titles.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests