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Deep Astonishment by Paul Harris
A superb mentalism/card trick by Paul Harris

Cost: $20 (£13)
Contents: Gaffed deck, gaffed wallet, instructions

Effect
A spectator cuts the deck to a random face down card. The card is covered with your wallet to keep it safe. You then ask the spectator to dig deep into her mind for a personal magic word.

She has a free choice of almost any word she can imagine! Let's say her word is "rose". You then use her magic word "rose" to help you find the "soul mate" of the card that's under the wallet. It's a very cool trick! But what's in the wallet?

You open the wallet. Your fingers reach into its inner pocket and removes a packet of spare cards that you placed there last night. Their backs are of a different color than the deck you've been using!

You slowly and cleanly deal these cards from the wallet on to the table. The first card has a large "R" hand drawn on its back! The next card an "O"! The next an "S"! The final card an "E"...spelling out her magic word, "ROSE"!

No one says anything for a very long time. Finally a single word escapes your spectator's lips, "HOW?!"

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Review:
Utterly awesome trick. Simple handling, well-scripted patter and quality gaffs. Got the handling down in 10 mins, performing within 1/2 hour.

10/10

Sounds fantastic!! -Even too good to be true. Does this rate in your top 5 card tricks?

Quite often, a trick comes along which blows me away.

I've been 'in the know' about magic's secrets for over 10 years, and when I read about this, I knew I had to have it.

Paul Harris is a modern-day genius of unpredictable and clever magic. His card work is superb - I'd even go as far as to say 'real' in terms of it's magical qualities.

This trick is definately one of my favourites. It works every time, and will absolutely knock your spectators for six. The presentation is key here, and I suggest you do some research into Harris if you've got five minutes to spare - he's really got the 'Astonishment' thing down to a tee.

I've got his Art of Astonishment books, and I'll just say that the sheer magnitude of this guy's creativity is shocking, and the diversity in his magic has been recognised by many modern magicians (Blaine, for instance was heavily influenced by Harris).

Buy it, try it. If it does not totally stun the first spectator you try it on, I'd be totally shocked.

must admit this sounds too good to be true..... will have to see if i can get hold of it from someplace...worst thing is , im sure i was offered this as a swap ages ago and turned it down

Mog

Think of all that money you've saved on M5's!!!

It's less than the price of a DVD... go on, treat yourself...

Firstly is the wallet the best of quality and secondly does the trick depend on the spectator chosing a certain lettered word such as a 4-5 letter word for the second part of the trick to work???

1: Wallet is plastic. It's pretty bad quality - but as it's never handed out for inspection and it's an 'aside' item, this has no bearing on matters.

2: The trick has successfully been performed by myself with words as low as 2 letters and as high as 7, although there IS a threshold.

I also think Deep Astonishment is a Great trick, I must admit I wasnt too keen on the handleing at first but it sure did grow on me.

As for the wallet...YUK...I hate it....I did make another on form a cheap (£5) wallet which is just so much better but you can also buy one from Paul himself from the Deep Astonishment web site which also includes some great tips and advise on performing the trick so go check it out.

Paul

Hmmm...

You made another wallet???

A bit dedicated - quite a task, to get it to function correctly, I assume???

Just to clarify - the wallet plays a significant role, but only for the last 1/5 of the trick.

Therefore, I see no need to replace it. It has no bearing on the aesthetics of the trick, as it's purely a functional item. The necessity for a credible, examinable wallet is non-existent, as the wallet is handled for about 5 seconds in total by the performer, not the spectator.

The final kick in this effect is the revelation of the chosen word.

Please don't be put off purchasing this just because of the wallet. It is built for a purpose, and it works like a charm - every time.

It's the right size, weight and build for the effect.

Just in case folks aren't aware, there's a superb tips & hints website for this effect. Check out http://www.deepastonishment.com/Tips.html but be prepared for a lot of reading!

Have just received my Deep Astonishment and, as it's a busy day at work, have only had time for a quick run through to get the feel of this item.

I can now officially declare that I've just had an experience so deep and profound that I'll probably go and join a Nunnery (I'm not daft!).

Yes, it's a bit fiddly in some respects but the specs won't be aware of this and you can always use your persuasive patter to fill in. As Seige says, don't worry about the quality of the wallet because it's far better than I expected and is far better than those supplied with many other effects. It's certainly good enough for professional performers to use. As a double whammy kind of effect, the first reveal is good but the second will mean a lot of specs going home with wet underwear. It's that good.

And if I'm impressed at this stage, just think how good it will be when I've practised and sorted out the routine to suit the Mandrake way.

Excuse me, I need to go and meditate for a while....

(Mandrake gestures hypnotically, adopts the guise of a medieval monk, walks through nearest wall and scares the hell out of everyone watching.)

I've just tried the link on this thread re: the deep astonishment tips and it loks like the page has either changed address ot been deleted. By chance does anyone have a copy of this?

Thanks

Cliff

Have PM'd you!

Hi All
I did exactly the same thing with the wallet.
Purchased a leather wallet with a zipper compartment in the centre, then gaffed the wallet as the plastic one, now the prediction comes from inside a compartment in a normal looking wallet which at a pinch I use as a regular one.
Another tip put a post it note into the wallet write my prediction on it, put it sticky side down under the question mark card, this now sticks to the card with the first letter on it!
Cheers

I have just got to grips with this trick and it is fantastic. If you enjoy watching peoples' jaws drop this is a good starting point. I know it has been touched on earlier in this thread but I do think the wallet is a minor hinderance. This is purely from a performance perspective. I am definitely going to keep my eyes peeled for an old wallet in a charity shop which I can adapt. I think the one supplied is a bit tacky. I'm not sure what type of wallet people carry but mine doesn't look anything like this one and therefore it is incongruous with who I present myself as. I think that this is important however small a part of the trick this prop takes up. If people watching look at it and say 'that looks out of place' it is going to detract from the performance. Knowing the mechanics of the effect is only half the job; the performance is just as important.