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The Underground Collection Volume Two
By Jamie Badman & Colin Miller
From The Underground Collective
£10.00


The Effect
Not an effect, as such, but an e-Book containing nine outstanding original card effects and one bonus routine for those of you that own the Simon Aronson book, ‘Simply Simon.’ I don’t own the book, unfortunately, but the bonus routine is an alternative presentation of his effect ‘Past, Present and Future.’ The bonus routine reads so good that I may have to investigate some more of Aronson’s work…


Review
Well, what can I say, except that these do not disappoint, as is the case for all UC products I have bought thus far (Cheetah’s Handbook, Sensory Projection, Heirloom, Henry Sugar).

As there are nine different effects detailed, I won’t go into them all here – there is a brief synopsis of each on the UC website but my favourite so far is Lisp Aces. Here’s how it pans out:

Lisp Aces:
Basically, the four aces are cut to by the spectator – no ‘Poker Player’s Picnic’ business here of counting out three cards to put on the bottom of each pile etc etc, the spec cuts, undeniably, to the four aces. Straight off. No need to hunt through your deck for the aces, the spec cuts to them for you! Then you clearly lose the aces into the deck – this is where the fun begins!

The aces are found again, one by one, by the spec shouting at the deck of cards. The patter supplied is somewhat non-pc, but incredibly funny with the right crowd around you. Thsoe of you that aren’t quite as daring can easily adapt or create your own patter to aid the reveals of the now lost (again) aces. It’s a great, humorous climax to a fab little routine of two effects.

The rest of the effects detailed within the book are sublime, and the book is worth every penny.


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)
3-5. Some of this stuff is for serious cardicians, some is for those with intermediate knowledge – sleights are named, but not explained, so if you’re not too hot with your cards, expect to be cross-referencing a few of the mentioned moves.


Overall
I love it. 10/10. The material gifted to you is original, useable and highly presentable grade-A card magic. I know that I can’t perform some of the stuff within, but only because I’ve not learnt the sleights required. This e-Book, along with the Cheetah’s Handbook (unavailable at present), are stored together to remind me of just how much potential lies within 52 cards. They are a standard that I hope one day I can reach. I may not be able to perform the effects now, but they are most definitely the point at which I am aiming.

Brilliant. I’ll be looking back at this manuscript time and time again.