talkmagic.co.uk

It is a horrific, unpalatable CRIME that John Bannon's Royal Scam has yet to be reviewed on Talk Magic, and this state of affairs is certainly unfathomable as to induce a public inquiry as to why this has occured. This effect is so strong and intelligent that I feel compelled to redress the balance by writing my first review of what I feel deserves to be placed on the same pedestal as Twisted Sisters and Colour Monte. Whilst this effect is crying to be shouted about from the rooftops, there is an equal desire to keep it secretly handcuffed and guarded in a basement, as subconcsiously every magician wishes the effects he shows to be unique and fresh.


The Effect

As seen here:

http://www.johnbannonmagic.com/fractalc ... lscam.html

The blurb...

Beginning with a number of idential red-backed Aces of Spades, the performer magically causes the packet of Aces to turn all face up and then and all face down. All of the faces and all of the backs are shown repeatedly.

Unexpectedly, four face up Aces are turned face down and now have different colured backs. As a complete surprise, the remaining Aces now become a Royal Straight Flush in Spades.


Cost

About £10.99, for which you get the cards, a DVD explaining the effect, an Ebook which you can access on your PC and a bonus "pick a card, lose the card, find the card" type effect, although the effect this is actually quite fresh and charming.


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)

I would have to say 2 - 3 for most people, although I personally didn't struggle with this, there are several sleights used, which are detailed in the Ebook and DVD. John Bannon succintly illustrates his handling on a much valued sleight, and goes on to discuss finesse. There are alternative sleights to assist if you are having difficulty with the handling, although the recommended handling is by far superior.

Review

The beauty of this effect is the engineering of the patter and the whole design of the structure. For me, as with Colour Monte, this effect is a masterpiece because the plot is not convuluted, but elegant in its simplicity and explanation. The theme of the effect is along the lines of magicians practising with a bundle of discarded Aces of Spades to practice moves, misdirection and ways to make money, as can be seen from the demo video, which is certainly a plausible reason. Whilst some would argue it is best to develop your own patter, i find that the supplied patter is a great concept, which you can mould to your own personality. For instance, the rationale for collecting several Aces of Spades, I say, is because there are pros and cons in performing magic in public. The pros are that it is a great ice breaker, etc. but the con is that often an "alpha male" will occasionally approach you and try to nick your deck or even try and nick cards. In short, you accumulate several decks, and I have a penchant for the Ace of Spade as it's a beautiful card....

And so, the premise of this trick is the story telling hook. The display of turning face up aces into a pack of face down aces is highly visual, and I find piques their interest. However, you will have nothing but respect for the creativity of Mr Bannon when the first climax of revealing different colour backs is revealed. It is done in the fairest of conditions and yet spectators will be scratching their heads and looking suspiciously at your sleeves, before making the presumption that bona fida magic has taken place. WIth the second climax, you can see how the whole routine has been cleverly paced to that moment, and the easy handling at this stage gives you ample opportunity to really relish the effect by seeing their reaction.

Combine this with being examinable and you have a true masterpiece and true feat of intelligent card magic. The downside to this is requiring a table space, or on one occasion on a night out, at a take away as me and some friends were eating our chips in a heightened state, a closed donner kebab tray (incidentally, Jim Pace's The Web got a great reaction when my knowing friends overhead me command a spectator to initially "wave the donner kebab over these cards)... BUT i digress...

Overall, the best testimonial is the fact that I have shown my close long-suffering friends several tricks, and even the most seasoned and sceptical did have to agree that this is a great effect. It is also the visual concept of a magician carrying out the 2 climaxes of this effect: it smacks of being a committed magician, who has invested time and devotion into performing magic and not someone doing a cheap trick. The instructions are clear and the ebook is of help in refreshing what you need to know if you lack the patience to sit though the DVD instruction 3 or 4 times. The handling combines several sleights that were chosen for their naturalness and logic. In summary, the sopistication and natural, elegant handling gives this a strong 9.4 on the magic scale.

and soz for the long winded review, i got a bit excited there.

About £10.99, for which you get the cards, a DVD explaining the effect, an Ebook which you can access on your PC and a bonus "pick a card, lose the card, find the card" type effect, although the effect this is actually quite fresh and charming

Quite a lot for £10.99!

Why do you need an ebook and DVD? £10.99?

The DVD explains the trick and the Ebook is essentially the written form of instructions, as a recap. Similarly, it's possible to do the effect from reading the Ebook. It does help, as it's a guide. I think this is becoming the norm (that is, the single effect DVD). It's about the same price as most packet tricks I'd say, but as a package you do get good value. The only thing that would have been the icing on the cake would have been a nice plastic wallet a la Twisted Sisters. Call me a pedant, but that plastic wallet was really quite nice. Sadly this effect is missing a plastic wallet.


On the John Bannon website it's $15 plus internationsal shipping of $3. I was jammy and fortunate enough to get this for £3.99 on Ebay!

I've bought this effect twice now and have lost the cards... I miss this: does anyone know where I can purchase the special cards without recourse to buying the effect again? I would simply throw the DVD away otherwise

I would contact John or whoever runs his website and see if they would be willing to sell you another set, or at least point you in the right direction.

Great deal for this effect. I haven't performed it yet only because that key sleight isn't up to par on my end.

For me i learnt the sleight through this trick and it was worth the price of the effect alone (to use magic speak), as the way it is used really is a piece of clever artistry.

Have emailed John Bannon via his website address, but an out of office type response (until 29 June) suggests it may be some time. I may end up buying the whole lot again before then.

Hmmm seeing that the above post makes no sense I can only guess this is pure spam (Message from Mods - it was pure Spam !). I haven't even bothered to open the link. I couldn't wait till 29th June so I ended buying Royal Scam off eBay again.

I've had this for a while now and thought that I'd reviewed it on TM

Never mind...........

This is a great packet trick that has NEVER failed to get a marvelous reaction. It's similar in some ways to Gerry Griffin's Queens out of Control and John covers the similarities on the DVD.

This is one of the best tenners that I've spent and bought mine from Magic Nevin whose delivery was very speedy.

Having only started practicing magic 18 months ago, I have been perfecting card and coin tricks purely for my own and my children's amusement. Feeling ambitious, I bought Royal Scam from Davenports in London and proceeded to master the trick. After three days of going through it about 8 times a day I had it nailed and could complete the trick five times consecutively without a mistake.
Royal Scam has been a great confidence builder and I now feel I might be ready to go live and perform to people. You just get such a lot going on in one trick, from the faces up-backs up section to the seemingly inexplicable changing backs of the face-up aces. Just when you think the trick is done, you then blow it out of the water with the straight flush!