Please go easy on me as I'm a review virgin. I did search for this effect in reviews and drew a blank.
The Effect
Taken directly from the blurb:
Five blank cards and one 8-Ball card are shown. The spectator chooses one card from six. Their choice is the only odd card - the 8-Ball! The spectator chooses again from the six cards. The magician triumphantly shows the face of the chosen card without looking and states, "Again, you have chosen the one odd card!" However, the card is blank. When the 'error' is called to the magician's attention, he shows that the blank card is, in fact, the odd card by revealing that the five remaining cards have magically changed to 8-Ball cards!
Cost
£6 - Merlins Wakefield (http://www.merlinswakefield.com/). I want to just say that I enjoyed dealing with Mark on the phone, ordering via their website and in person in the shop and will be happy to spend more with them in future.
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'd say definitely 3 for this, possibly 4 or even 5. You need to know various techniques (all named in the instructions) to perform this.
Review
This one looked to be very easy in the description (don't they all?!) as you only have 6 cards to keep track of and "manipulate", along with a simple plastic wallet. The instructions are on a sheet of A5, fill both sides in small type and consist of 15 very detailed steps.
I suspect someone with little or no experience of sleights (like me) would not have a hope of performing this. There are two different sleights and two other handling techniques specifically named in the steps at various points. Sadly, only one sleght is described in detail. The others are merely named. I haven't heard of either sleight and cannot comment on their complexity in performance. I hope I haven't given too much info here. Apologies if I have and please edit this paragraph accordingly.
There is one step in the performance that does worry me quite a bit. It mentions a possible boo boo if the spectator erm...does something you don't want them to, but is a real possibility....but it does not give any indication of what to do if they do. I know that's cryptic, but even to me as a novice, it reads like a cop-out. I'd like to be corrected if I'm way off here, but I suspect not. If you have this effect, see the part in brackets at the end of step 8.
The cards look to be on bicycle stock (complete with go faster air-cushion) and are standard poker size. The wallet is just simple plastic with 2 clear inserts inside to hold the cards.
Overall
As a beginner, I think this would really be a complete waste of money. If you've worked through Royal Road or Tarbell and like cards, you may find this enjoyable. You will need to remember quite a lot of actions and steps, which all must be in the correct order. I get the impression it's a bit fiddly and overly complex, but what do I know?
