John does a fantastic job of teaching an EXTREMELY fair, ungimmicked 4 aces routine. Yes, any deck. The only prep is figuring out how you'd like to produce the 4 aces to start your routine.

Though this isn't the "visual stunner" that I tend to gravitate toward, I'll tell you... this trick is a must have for any beginner. The trick itself is easy, as long as you practice. Always practice, young 'uns! But what I personally feel makes this trick what it is is the fact that John does a great job of teaching it. To me, that's more important than the trick itself. I felt like he was strengthening my foundation skills in magic.

I will say that the patter is, to me, not my favorite. The presentation is a little dry. But to each his own. The fact is that you can easily make the trick your own. It's mostly self-working and, once you've gotten all your cards laid down on the table, you're basically done and can focus on presentation. I love tricks like that because it can take the pressure off and you can stretch it out if you've got the personality for it.

My only other constructive point I'd like to bring out is that, for the important move, it would have been nice to have a second close-up camera view. The good news is that he performs the move at least three times, and it was on the third time that I got what he was doing.

Should you get this trick? Yes! The trick itself, honestly, I think is a little on the high side as far as pricing goes... I think this is a nice $5.95 trick. However, John does an excellent job teaching, which justifies the higher price.

A solid 4 stars to John.

(By the way, I always try to be honest and straightforward in my reviews, while being respectful to the magician. If you appreciate my reviews, can you please click the "Yes" button below beside the question, "Did this review help you?" It's not like I actually benefit in any way by your clicking it... but it would be nice to see if my reviews are helpful or not. I hope they are. If you ever have suggestions or comments or questions about my reviews, please feel free to leave me a constructive comment. I'm just trying to be helpful. I love the Penguin community and hope that I can someday contribute my own product. :-) Thanks for reading and for any (hopefully positive, but either way, at least kind) feedback!)

I'm honest here and I love John's work, normally. This one is not a keeper. It is long, involved, and unnatural looking. There is a huge discrepancy with the aces packet where it should be FACE UP (watch the video) and it is NOT when you get to the final packet that should be aces. IF you could do this for real, you'd SHOW the aces going down. Ultimately this is useless for me. I hate packets, especially 4 of them. There's no reason to do it. The audience is just confused and even the marks in the video show confusion not wonder. There is much better out there and this is just too far afield from anything "magical" to me. Sorry to break with the pack that seems to love this effect but count me out.

A four ace assembly with a borrowed and spectator shuffled deck … impossible? Not! Yes, this amazing trick is possible with a regular deck of cards, nothing to add, take away, no gaffs or anything extra to buy, just one simple move and I mean simple … and it's not even a sleight. Even if you are just starting to learn card magic, you WILL be able to perform this in a very short time. If you are a card person, this is a no-brainer to start performing. I was doing this minutes after I received the download. John does an excellent job of teaching this effect. This is a killer trick and you don't want to pass this one up. I am definitely adding this to my routine now. If you do any four ace trick and they are already out, you are ready to go! You won't be disappointed with his purchase.

As others have said, this is a classic plot of which there are many versions. For me, this one is not distinctive enough to replace the best of the existing bunch.
John teaches it well but I agree with other reviewers that the plot is not very clear from the outset so that when the aces appear, the magic moment is not as striking as it might be. Some clearer signposts in scripting would help a lot I think.
The moves are not at all difficult so no worries there.
$10 as the starting price for a single downloaded card trick is on the high side for me unless it is absolutely brilliant!

This trick really reminds me of McDonald's Ace's but without gimmicked cards.

The main difference to me, in effect, is the Aces are placed down last in this version and the changes aren't as visual.

What you do pick up is the ability to use a borrowed deck and at the end everything is examinable.

For my paid gigs, I'll still use McDonald Ace's... My audience reactions are better and I've built an entire routine around it.

For impromptu work, I'm really glad to have learned this. I'm hoping with more performance experience I'll dial in my presentation because the workings for this are done before the audience is even aware the trick has begun. At that point they are so far behind it's just fun.

The necessary move(s) are taught well and this is a solid 4 star trick.

You will want to watch the last 5 minutes of John Carey's Stealth Aces video a couple of times. Through simple misdirection and without difficult moves, you can create a pile of Aces from a freely borrowed deck and after a spectator freely shuffles a dozen cards chosen from the deck. It really works. I learned a long time ago that the best magic is simple with the quality of the effect dependent on the patter and presentation. Stealth Aces clearly falls in this category. It is easy to pickup and can be done impromptu with any un-gaffed deck.

Sorry but absolutely not my cup of tea. I purchased this expecting some little idea I could use but....
There is 4 Ace tricks that are impromptu and virtually self-working as well, but far more visual. Then there is impromptu versions with some sleights, that I love, for instance Modern Jazz Aces. Not quite as visual as McDonald's but still very clean. Beginners, learn a DL and an EC and go for the real stuff. And yes, learning a good card routine can take more than watching one short video.

As much as I like John Carey's card effects, this one, I have to say, is JUST o.k. It's been stated that there are a million different ace assemblies, this one lacks the powerful visuals of most of the others. It certainly doesn't suck, but I don't get the bug eyed reactions that I get with other methods of this classic. However if someone's shoving a deck of cards in your face declaring, "Do a trick" this will DEFINITELY fit the bill!

John Carey is a great cartomane but, he produced a version of the more simplistic of the ACE leader. The presentation is kept to a minimum and the weak climax. Better work versions calling for more manipulations to achieve the same result with a lot more impact on the public. Trying to make it too simple to avoid for beginners too difficult maneuvers, we lose his soul. Keep John Carey, Mr. Carey and do you not compromise in routines too commercial to please the most lazy

Simple is powerful. With one subtlety and one simple slight you can do a great four ace assembly. I personally love doing AFTUS move packet switches because I derive private pleasure from such a beautiful move that fools people so badly. BUT, you don't need it here. With one simple basic, easy move you've got a great fooler. Any beginner can instantly add a great ace routine to their act.