talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect:
A 2 disc collection of card effects from the Big Blind Media. www.bigblindmedia.com
This is a collection of some new effects, some older reworked effects and some from the book 'Dear Mr Fantasy.' Running time is 2H54M.
Big Blind Media tells us: 'Bullets After Dark is a treasure trove of workable, awe inspiring magic from self workers (that will fool you) to deviously construsted sleight of hand routines. This is a veritable master class in contempory card magic.'


Cost: £24.99

Difficulty 2 and 3
(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)

Review

Dead Reckoning Skill level 2
A spelling effect where so much takes place in the spectator's hands.
A great almost self working card trick that I had to try myself to convince me that it would work. Some set up required.
Rating 8

Dawn Patrol Skill level 4
Spectator’s selected card is lost then3found in a sandwich effect. Some skill required for this location of the spectator's card. (Clue - The Algarve).
Rating 7

Doctored Daley Skill level 2
Bannon's version of the Last Trick of Dr Daley. Nice presentation but nothing new here.
Rating 6

Power Of Poker Skill level 2
This Poker effect is absolutely stunning. Another one I had to try to believe. Although the outcome is inevitable the spectator makes so many choices throughout. One of my favourite effects ever.
Rating 9.5

Counterpunch Skill level 2
Biddle style trick. OK
Rating 6

4 Faces North Skill level 2
4 Aces reverse in pack. OK
Rating 6

Watching the Detectives / New Jax / Full Circle Skill level 3
Sandwich effects where aces are lost and found by Jacks. These form a routine following on from previous 2 effects, ok as a filler but a bit repetitive. (In my opinion).
rating 6

Origami Prediction Skill level 2
Another effect where so much happens in the spectators hands. The cards are shuffled and mixed face up and face down and dealt into 4 rows. At the end the cards match the prediction. Some set up required.
Awesome! For the third time on the DVD I had to try the effect to believe it.
Rating 9.5

The Einstein Overkill Skill level 2
Spectator takes a number of cards and then the magician makes some statements about the number of cards which become true. I thought this was quite weak. The statements are verbal and made after cards are chosen so adaptable. I was surprised at Einstein being fooled by this.
Rating 5

Bullet Train (Iconoclastic Aces - Syncopated Aces - Interrobang Aces) Skill level 3
4 Ace Assemblies; 16 cards dealt into 4 piles, the aces move to the same pile. This is done 3 times in a routine with the same outcome; a nice set of effects for a card classic.
Rating 8

J.B. Flytrap False Cut Skill level 3
A false cut worth adding to your arsenal
Rating 7

The Bannon Triumph
John Bannon’s take on the classic triumph, again some set up is required. It seems everyone does a triumph variation these days which is a trick I consider near perfect anyway. This one is a good variation with a nice twist in the tail that made me smile.
Rating 7

Overall
I really enjoyed this DVD although I felt the mix was uneven. Power of Poker and Origami Prediction are 2 instant favourites for me and I'll use Dead Reckoning as well. Doctored Daley, Bannon's Triumph and and the bullet Train effects are also well worth putting in your arsenal but lost marks because they were unoriginal.
Bannon's style is exactly how I want to present tricks. Easy going, laid back and with the Spectator really getting involved.

Overall rating 8 out of 10.

Wow. All the stuff you gave 5s and 6s too were my favorite tricks! I LOVE Counterpunch, New Jax and Bannon Triumph. Different strokes, I suppose...

Hi Cameron. Naturally the scores are just my personal opinions and I know that not everyone will agree. My scores were quite influenced by originality. I think the Biddle is a great impromptu and as I do this I wouldn't do Counterpunch as well. I'll have to try it as an alternative sometime to see the reaction. New Jax is nice but my sandwich effect of choice is based on Iain Moran's Concrete Sandwich (still from the BBM stable) whilst Doctored Daley is just a presentation change to the original effect. Even the voluptuous Sammie seemed to agree with me. Her reactions changed from 'Oh My God - that's crazy' for my preferences to just 'Oh, very clever'.
The only 5 I gave was for Einstein Overkill and I can't believe you 'LOVED' this.

Actually, I need to watch the set again. But if it's the one where you predict how many cards and four Aces at the end, then, I did think it was pretty cool.

Honestly, I love all of it. Doesn't mean I'll perform all of it but I appreciate all of his thinking on these tricks. Everything is just so well thought out. As I stated on another forum, the set reminds me of the Tommy Wonder set. Not because the material is at all similar (it isn't) but because John makes you think deeply about structure and effect.

I think you need to realise that Bannon intends his work to be developed and suited to your presentation.

Was that addressed to me...? If so, I don't get it. I never said one should perform these tricks like John. I merely said that his thinking inspired me to think more about my own magic.

It was addressed to the original poster Cameron. I can see you appreciate his effects whereas the OP seems to be mildly disappointed!

I was extremely disappointed when Bannon released this set as Dead Reckoning is probably one of my favourite card effects of all time!

As some of you will know, this effect (and some others) were in his amazing Dear Mr Fantasy book.

Power of Poker is outstanding - but for some reason Bannon seems to complicate the wording when performing the effect on the DVD. This is only my opinion, but the wording he gives in the book is far superior. Obviously you can adapt the presentation to your own personal style so it's no big deal (ho ho!).

Anyway, back to Dead Reckoning... What an effect. What I will say is that the key moment is when the spectator mentally thinks 'stop' and you stop dealing. On the DVD Bannon instantly goes 'wow, I felt that over here!', but if you deal the cards then pause on the 'stop' card and just freeze for a few beats without saying anything the effect is far more profound - trust me! After the pause you then make eye contact with the spectator and nervously ask 'did you think stop there?'. This makes the effect more believable - if what you want them to believe happened did just happen you would be quite shocked.

Overall 8.5 out of 10.

PS - the DVD is very slickly put together, probably one of the best I've actually seen. It felt like I was watching a Hollywood blockbuster at the start!

I definitely won't be buying this DVD as it has just made me get up and dig out JB's Dear Mr Fantasy off the shelf.

What an amazing piece of work.

...and best of all, if I spill my tea on it, it's still usable...

Yeah "Dead Reckoning" is a monster - and to me it's about the only card spelling routine that seems like magic rather than a "clever trick".

And I'd agree that Dear Mr Fantasy (thanks to Traffic!) is the essential Bannon purchase.

TheStoner wrote:Yeah "Dead Reckoning" is a monster - and to me it's about the only card spelling routine that seems like magic rather than a "clever trick".

And I'd agree that Dear Mr Fantasy (thanks to Traffic!) is the essential Bannon purchase.

for some reason, I'm picking up on A, D and G..does that make sense to you?

As a guitarist - yes!

Thanks for the very helpful review! I think I might still purchase this yet, though as a very newbish cardician I am wondering exactly how much I can do.

Just a quick question though, and I hope it doesn't sound "revealing" - when you say "some set-up required", does that mean that that the deck has to be prepared slightly beforehand? I'm not entirely sure I'd like to do a trick that involves that since I'd rather someone hand me a deck and I'll say to them, "Oh let me show you something."

Hi Twotonedskazn
When I said some setup required I mean the deck just needs some arrangement so those tricks could not be done with a deck handed to you.
I believe this would only affect Dead Reckoning Origami prediction and The Bannon Triumph. The Power of Poker effect has some arrangement but since you need to pull 10 cards from the pack this could be done quite openly.
The other effects could be done with a deck handed to you.
I recommend the DVD as there are only a couple of tricks which need advanced skills and there are some great effects here that you will use.

PS: IAIN. What is the reference to A, D and G about?

from memory, a,d,g are the three major chords to play Dear Mr. Fantasy by the group Traffic...