Howdy all. Just got finished watching discs 3 and 4. I'm liking TA more and more as I work my way through it. Once again, some valuable stuff lurking in the "Cookies", so make sure you hunt for them, or you'll miss some good stuff!

Disc 3 starts with:

-Cassanova Inc.
This is a cool little principle from Steve Haynes. Basically, 2 business cards are signed by a spec. They sandwich one in their hands, while you have the other, and then the cards inexplicably change places. While this would perhaps seem to be a "normal" transpo, that fact that each card is signed by a spec, who you've never met before, brings this effect to near-miracle status. There is a bit of prep involved, but it's nothing extreme. You could sit down for 5-10 minutes and do enough prep work to perform this all night long, and you'll want to.

-Halfmoon Trading Co.
A spectator thinks of a card out of the deck, and imagines writing her name on the back of it. She invisibly takes the card out of the deck, and throws it to the card box. The card is inside the box, with her name on the back. No kidding.

This effect uses PH's killer Halfmoon principle, which I think is going to be very versatile. I predict a lot of people coming up with other good effects that use the principle at work here. This is powerful stuff, and the audience does the majority of the handling, giving this effect a very fair and hands-off feel.

-Halfmoon Voodoo
The Halfmoon principle is applied to Guy Hollingworth's Voodoo effect. Another great one with just a little bit of prep, but for a killer result. Some "Voodoo" applied to one card magically gets applied to it's mate in the deck. Again, the audience does most of the handling, making this that much more fair and magical

-Pack of Lies
The newest take on the PH Vanishing Deck. As Paul says in the Phoote Note, "You're going to do this, I can tell." Boy is he right! I didn't know that the Vanishing Deck was the first trick PH ever released. I've played with the principle in the past, but it never found it's way into my repertoire.

The gimmick has been tweaked to a much higher level of practicality than past incarnations (The work of PH, Bro, and Ben Harris are all at play here), and it's now virtually angle-proof. A killer presentation has been added as well that brings the effect from "Here's a deck, now it's gone" into a fully interactive piece that your specs will really love. I can see myself doing this one a lot. 2 gimmicks are included with the set.

-Solid with Happy Ending
A new take on the Solid Deception deck. Solid Deception is something I've done in the past with great result. With this new version, the deck gets unstuck at the end. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I always liked the idea of the deck ending up as the single stuck mass, and being done with it. But, Paul explains his reasoning for wanting to unstick the cards at the end, and I think it's sound. I'll play with this one to see how the reactions are, but I don't think I'll be giving up the original version quite yet either. I do think this one is more practical to carry around though.


That's disc 3 in a nutshell. On to Disc 4!


-Dr. Fun
I know this one was highly anticipated by many. It's a really powerful bit of mentalism, that happens to use a deck of cards. This one really isn't so much about what you do, but the spectator's own internal experience as they think of their happy memory. This is a great one to watch for performances and reactions. People are really attached to these memories and emotions, and it all comes together for a really strong moment of astonishment. Very tiny amount of prep (literally seconds, can be done on-the-fly), and a pretty easy handling to boot.

-Name Dropper
I never had Deep Astonishment, so I can't say how this compares. Basically, you print a spectator's name, letter by letter, onto the backs of playing cards. I think some people might be afraid of doing this one, but I also think it'll be a purely mental block. I'm looking forward to trying this one, because the reactions to it in the performances were killer.

-Lubor's Lens
I never purchased Reality Twister. The main reason was because the pen looked like some bizarre reject from the Playskool factory. Paul acknowledges the odd pen in the Phoote Note.

However, I am so glad it's now included in TA. In addition to supplying you with the lens, they now show how to make your own twisted pen out of a regular pen. And, if you don't like the pen aspect at all, they cover a couple of other neat presentations that can be done with the lens as well. I'm looking forward to trying them all.

Just playing with the lens is a blast. The look of having a pen on your fingers, and making the center disappear, while still seeing your fingers, just feels like real magic. This is going into my wallet right away. This may just be my favorite thing on Disc 4. I think all of us who overlooked Reality Twister before will be singing a different tune this time.

-Naked Strange
Lots of people know that Strange Travelers is Blaine's favorite trick. Now you can achieve the same effect with no gimmicks. A card that a spectator is thinking of invisibly travels from one packet of cards to another. The original gimmicked version has some elements that aren't found here, but the fact that you can do this one with any borrowed deck is also nice. I'll still keep my gimmicked version handy, but I'm glad to have this new one in my arsenal for those times where I don't have the gaffed one on me.

-Stapled Warp
Andrew Gerard's take on Roy Walton's Card Warp. I've been doing Card Warp as taught by Ammar on ETMCM Vol 2 for just about as long as I can remember. And based on the performance section of Stapled Warp, I wasn't sure if I'd stray. However, once I got into the explanation section and Phoote Notes, I couldn't wait to give this version a try to see how it compares. There's a really fantastic phone call involved here that everyone will get a kick out of. If you already do Card Warp, you can do this version. There's some new presentational stuff at work that I do believe can elevate the strength of the effect over the classic handling. Now I need to go buy a stapler...


So, there ya have it, initial impressions of Discs 3 and 4. Once again, some really clever principles at work throughout the discs that I'm really looking forward to trying, and at least a couple effects that I can't wait to start performing on a regular basis. I'm sure that as I perform the effects and get some "real world" tests, I'll post back with additional feedback.

Kevin

Another great review Kevin! Thank you so much for taking so much time and effort to satisfy the needs of all the TA-aholics who are checking their mailboxes every hour on the hour!!

Thanks,
Justin

Thank you Kevin! Man I hope my set arrives tommorow, I don't think I can wait any longer.

Thanks, Kevin!

Kevin, thanks for the great effort on these wonderful reviews!

Excellent!

Nathan

Kevin, thank you so much for taking the time to review these discs so carefully! I am really excited to get mine!

Kevin, your work is highly appreciated! Thanks!

-Aleksi Hietanen

Much appreciated! Thanks! I like the aspect where you list how many gimmicks are included. This is useful info to some who hasn't bought the set yet.

Anyone know if this set is likely to be available at Blackpool?

I got told it would be, but I don't think it will be a lot cheaper than you buy from the dealer's website becasue I don't know who will be sellign them in Blackpool.

Im hoping it will be availible from blackpool.It may not be much chaper but you'll save on the shipping costs.

Dan

They shouldn't be more expensive than RRP, although UK sellers are selling them at different price. But I think between £210 - £220 is a good deal. Anything below that is a BARGAIN!

Haven't finished watching yet, but I'd say the climax of Halfmoon Voodoo is definitely a step backward from Guy's original version. Go back and read it in AOA. Much, much cooler than writing on the card and much more in keeping with the voodoo theme.

I also think that Paul's original handling for Twilight Angels is superior to Houchin's performance. There's an entire extra visual beat that Houchin completely bypasses (not to mention some very cool alternate approaches to the effect). I also don't like the way he scratches the Angel off the card. That makes no sense to me. It's far more cool to see an empty space where the angel was, instead of a big scratch mark.

I must be one of the six people that Paul mentioned who bought it when it originally was released. I immediately stockpiled the angel cards so I could continue to do the effect. It's still one of my all-time favorite pieces of card magic.

And for some real fun, have a look at Paul's Naked Angels on Bikes.

Don't miss the Easter Egg on disc 4 from Chad Long about a Shuffling Lesson. It's one of the strongest and most deceptive self workers I've seen in some time. It'll definitely be going into my repetoroire.

You can find Shuffling Lesson in 'The Art of Astonishment'. It's been hidden in plain sight for over a decade. I've been doing it since then and I rather wish it had stayed that way.

I can't see how Half Moon Voodoo is a step back from the original. Maybe using fire is better than drawing on it (although it's more practical for an on-the-fly preparation to use a drawing), with Half Moon Voodoo they can shuffle the cards and make sure they are all facing the same way before you begin. They also get to cut wherever they want in the deck to select their card.

I have a problem with the Half-Moon principle as applied to half the deck. There's no motivation for picking up the box along with it. The motivation is better with a single card in Half-Moon Trading Co., as you are attempting to conceal the card from the other spectators.

Now, will lifting half the deck, along with the box fly right past laypeeps? If done casually, you bet it will. And I fully admit I take pleasure in getting away with such things. I do stand by my original point that it's unmotivated, however that may be moot.

As for shuffling, making sure the cards are all facing the same way, etc., I don't believe this strengthens the effect except in the eyes of someone who is comparing both versions, which would exclude the laity. I can have the deck just as convincingly shuffled when performing the original version. And why should your audience suspect any reversed cards? They shouldn't. People make a lot of general assumptions and these can be used to your advantage. When performed properly, they will be convinced that all is as it should be, whether they've handled the cards or not.

Simply because a viewer can shuffle and handle the deck does not a better trick make.