Bring me the head of a packet trick - a review

horgan_p

Title : Bring me the head of a packet trick
Available from : www.alakazam.co.uk
Cost : £14.99 (shipping extra)

Plot : spectator is shown 8 cards - 10 of spades ( 4 red back , 4 blue back) the cards are split , the blue backs being given to the spectator , the reds stay in your hands.suddenly the cards which were blue are now red , with the cards changing position as if they have a mind of their own.next they change to green backs and finally you wind up with 4 green backed 10 of spades , and 4 blank backed cards.

The working : Horribly horribly complex for the effect. the explanation ( such as it is ) is all of 10 minutes long and makes huge assumptions on the performer.to be honest if the performer knew the moves involved then he'd know better than to buy this.the gimmicks included are of fine quality , printed on bicycle stock.

Is it worth the money ? : by jimminy it isnt.sorry to be harsh but this dvd and others like it are why i want to get some reviews up here.this is not a dvd for beginners even though with "packet trick " mentioned in the title you may think its a more or less self working effect.far from. it incorporates 3 different counts , switches and other nonsense.it assumes you are well accquainted with mr. helmsley and can pass oranges.;)

For the love of saint michael , go out and get yourself a gimmick deck of bicycles for about a quarter of the price , sit down with the royal road and learn 20 times as many effects in a quarter of the time it'll take to muddle through this.again , sorry to be harsh , but this dvd is one of those that you'll stick in the drawer and forget. It isnt for beginners and once you've worked through the royal road , you'll know 5 far superior ways to produce exactly the same effect.

P.S. - yes i did buy this - to my shame , however in my defence it was quite a while back

oeb

horgan_p wrote: »

For the love of saint michael , go out and get yourself a gimmick deck of bicycles for about a quarter of the price , sit down with the royal road and learn 20 times as many effects in a quarter of the time it'll take to muddle through this.again , sorry to be harsh , but this dvd is one of those that you'll stick in the drawer and forget. It isnt for beginners and once you've worked through the royal road , you'll know 5 far superior ways to produce exactly the same effect.

This is part of the reason that I stay away from these one trick pony DVDs. More often than not, you end up with something you will never use, or something you may use once or twice. However a good book? You could be finding new things in that for years!!!

If you want a packet trick that has real impact I suggest some of the following classics.

Colour Monte - Available from most magic stores (online and brick and mortar) for less than a fiver. Three cards are held in the magicians hands, two with a blue spot, one with a red. The magician talks about meeting a gambler in a pub once and as the story progresses the cards change to all red, then all blue, and it follows with a surprise ending. This is a 'story' type effect. Because it only needs the three cards it can be done standing and only takes a minute or two. No gimmicks are involved, the cards supplied could be switched out if you wished (Although the big bright spots give more impact in my opinion).

Twisting the Aces - A Dai Vernon classic. This can be found in 'More inner secrets of card magic', which you should be able to easily find for less than twenty euro (lybrary.com has it in PDF for a tenner). The magician holds four aces in his hand and turns them all face down. One by one the aces turn over to be face up. Very visual, perhaps my favourite packet trick of all time. Ungimmicked.

McDonald's Aces - Also found on 'More inner secrets', this is another fantastic routine. 4 aces are put face up on the table. On top of each is placed 3 random face down cards. Visually, and in various ways the first three piles are picked up and the ace contained within is vanished. Finally, the last pile is lifted and the three face down cards are turned into aces. This does require a gimmick, but it's something most magicians should have anyway.

horgan_p

as i say , just going through my dvds at home - sometimes its as important to review the bad stuff as it is the good.

oeb

horgan_p wrote: »

as i say , just going through my dvds at home - sometimes its as important to review the bad stuff as it is the good.

Don't worry, I'm not picking on your choice of purchase, or your reviews (Which I think are excellent). I am merely posting advice for others who may read this thread!