talkmagic.co.uk

This is a review of the new Trilby Deck dvd not the earlier printed version that is already reviewed.

The Effect

Like it says on the back of the cover this is a whole gaffed deck system. There are loads of different effects ranging from svengali, stripper and colour changes.


Cost
£24.99 online at http://www.bigblindmedia.com/product-trilbydeck.html


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 say overall this would be a two. There are double lifts involved but the sleight is added by the functions of the deck. Liam explains all the ins and outs of both the svengali and the stripper so even someone with no prior knowledge will feel comfortable displaying and shuffling the decks.



Review

Where do I begin, its 2 decks rolled into one with 3 killer functions. I admit I was confused at first as to why I had purchased a deck of cards and recieved 2 but all became clear as soon as I pressed play. Theres so much on this dvd in terms of effects such as svengali card at any number, stripper ace assemblys and colour changing decks. The first deck of cards I purchased was a stripper deck and to be honest it nearly put me off magic and consequently put me off the trilby deck. The problem is though I was watching the trailer over and over again so I just had to know how the tricks were done. Im glad that my curiosity got the better of me because this deck is a god send. Not only that but the teaching on the dvd is first class and goes in to every detail of handling all the decks which is great since I have never looked at the svengali or stripper in years.

I admit I have not switched the parts of the deck out on spectators yet but I can see by the DVD that it can be easily achieved. The best part about the deck switches is you will never dread the words 'thats them long and short cards' or something like that because by the time they have said this your already on to the stripper deck and performing routines with that.

I will tell you my favourite effect from the dvd and that is John Bannans Triumph. This is a fantastic effect that I would not have even attempted using my current skills but with the trilby deck you achieve the same effect with very little effort. If you would like to see the effect in action then checkout the trailer on youtube.

There are many other effects such as brainwave type effects that can be achieved also.

The great thing about the dvd is that it is modular so it allows you to create your own routines using the 3 parts. You could start svengali then move on to stripper or vice versa.



Overall

10/10 its the first time I have ever felt like I wanted to review a product. I now feel comfortable using these gaffed decks that are so common Im suprised they havn't been given away in happy meals yet, and know that to the spectator this is just an ordinary deck of cards.


I dont know if I have done this justice so if anyone wants to chip in with some more of the effects or even there favourite effect from the dvd then feel free. Anyway Im off to practice.

I know all about this deck and have done for decades. It is nice to see it back. It is so old that it is new again. It was invented by Joe Stuthard and he wrote a little book about it which I possess. It is a combination of a kind of stripper deck and a svengali deck. Oddly enough it is written up in Ken Brooke's "The Unique Years" book but under a different name. The Trilby Deck is not mentioned but it is certainly the one described.

Many of the moves used are described in my "The Long And the Short of It" svengali book. For some odd reason nobody, especially in North America (but in the UK too) uses these moves even though they have been around before even I was born. Joe Stuthard first described them in 1939. For years I was virtually the only one using these moves until I described them in my book.

Kaymar Magic who are putting this out was first started by Harry Baron and Joe Stuthard. The "Kay" was taken from the first name of Joe's wife and the "Mar" was short for Margaret which was the first name of Harry's wife. I knew Harry well. And Joe Stuthard was a great inspiration for me. I saw him work at an exhibition and it was the greatest performance of card tricks I have seen before or since. And I am quite sure I will never witness anything like it again. And the only card trick he was doing was the svengali deck. He also did the wonder mouse quite brilliantly. I have written up my own routine with this little seen trick in my "Marmaduke the Wonder Mouse" book.

The Trilby deck fell into disuse while the svengali deck kept going. I suppose the trouble with the Trilby was that it must have been hell on earth to make up the special decks. I am pleased to see it revived and I wonder if it will last. I expect it won't because sadly nowadays these things come and go fairly quickly. Still we can always hope.

It's worth pointing out that the book is on the DVD as a PDF too.

Yeah man just got round to viewing it. cheers

Can some of the effects be performed walkaround or do they need a table?

There is a good few you could do walkaround. It teaches a great way to spread a svengali in to a fan, so the spec sees all diff faces and when you bring the fan down so it is facedown for them to select they can only pick the force card. But to be honest the majority of effects are table but where there is the oppurtunity they suggest alternatives.


Hope that helps