Ok, as you know from my reviews, I'm a big fan of Paul Gordon. But in the interest of being totally honest in my reviews, Middle Earth is just not my favorite.

Middle Earth is a sandwich effect that any intermediate magician (or experienced beginner) can perform. I'm torn because it's actually a good trick... but there's something about it that just isn't working with me. Not sure if it's the presentation or what. I just feel like it's lacking something. There a a few easy moves the magician will have to make... nothing major. I can't quite put my finger on why I'm not into this trick. All I know is when I watched the demo and the method, I was like "meh" the entire time.

If I was brand-spanking new to this, I think this would have impressed me more.

Anyway, I give Paul 3.5 stars for this trick. Mind you, 4 stars is generally what I'll give any really good card trick, as I generally reserve 5s for visually mind blowers. I docked a half star just because I just feel like this trick doesn't do anything for me... for Paul, I think it's not as impressive as his other tricks. However, I didn't take off a whole star because the fact is that Paul does do a fine job of teaching it. I'm always impressed with his knowledge of sleights as well as who the sleights came from.

In a nutshell:
1. If you're a beginner, get this trick. Consider this a 4 star trick (on my scale anyway). Intermediates and up, it's up to you, but you might feel a little "meh" about it like me.
2. The price - a little high for what you get. It's not wayyy over priced, but I think a little bit. This $9.95 trick would have felt more right at $5.95.
3. The trick itself isn't bad... perhaps with re-thinking the presentation, this has some real potential. Just my opinion guys. I know some of you will love this trick. To each his own.
4. Would I perform this? Sure, I guess. Once I figured out a presentation that fit my style.

(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 realize that magic is all about deception and I think Penguin should identify when they use it in their video "demos" when selling tricks. In this case thanks to fast cuts (video, not card) and missing parts you never get to see the full presentation. Perhaps it's by coincidence that they leave out when certain moves and slights are performed, either out of concern that someone will figure out the trick or determine it is too complicated (after figuring out the trick).

Some might say that's good business. Me, I look at the way magic used to be sold, by showing the trick as it would be seen by a spectator and then letting me make the decision after seeing the whole thing.

In this case several moves are left out that are quite old and to some not very deceptive.

Given you can't perform this with a borrowed deck and need to to have something extra handy it might be worthwhile considering Monkey-in-the-Middle (as recommended by another reviewer) for the same effect that's more powerful, has a more direct handling, is angle proof, and doesn't require a doctored presentation video.

In my opinion a bit overprized for what it is. I have been doing sandwiches using this method, it's not new to me.

It's a good effect and the teaching is well, but if you spend a bit more to get a good live lecture you will learn multiple effects for less money.

First, Paul teaches the required card handling thoroughly and completely. I'm not a big fan of Sandwich effects so that loses a star for me, and the claim to introducing a new method doesn't sit well with me. This didn't fool me or surprise me in the least, although I've been doing card magic a long time. Second star gets lost because I expected more of a patter tie-in to a Tolkien-like story. I suppose, "Middle" refers to the selection appearing in the middle of the Jokers. Still I expected more for the price and the title. $4.95 would be a more apt price point I believe.

On the plus side, this is a very clean handling with minimal sleight of hand. It should work well for a beginner to get some basic card handling skills under their belt with a nice effect.

Can’t beat Paul Gordon!

I've been playing with this for a while - not sure what it is, but this FLOORS. Absolutely recommended!!!

I enjoy Paul's work. He's thorough in teaching his tricks and you could see he puts some thought into his tricks. I've read in other reviews about ending dirty. I haven't had a problem with that because of the type of tricks I've been using as a follow to Middle Earth.

That being said - I feel this is a great beginner's trick that has a positive impact on the audience. Presently It's not something I would do all the time since I do a lot of themed story telling magic and I don't have a story for it yet but I have used it when folks hang around after a show and want to see another truck or two.

Paul Gordon always does an awesome job of teaching his effects. Middle Earth is no exception. It is a great effect and can be learned quickly. There really are no difficult moves but Paul does provide alternate methods for moves that you may not yet be comfortable with. Recommended!

As usual per Paul Gordan, everything is well thought out and he leaves no stone unturned in his tutorial. I didn't give it 5 stars because I didn't see anything new as far as sleights or the method.

That said, it certainly doesn't take anything away from the trick. It will completely baffle your spectators. It's fast and hard-hitting, easily resets and can be added into your set at anytime.

It's not an opener or a closer. It's part of your set. This is a strolling trick so you don't want it to drag on and on...and it doesn't. The sleights are easy to perform, even for a beginner, and Paul covers every nuance of them.

Although the method is nothing new to a pro, beginners will find it refreshingly easy to master quickly. It's much easier than other sandwich effects without any of the usual moves which don't make complete sense.

Every move Paul makes with his hands and gestures have a reason so no one suspects anything sneaky is going on. If you're new to sandwich effects, skip the others and do this one. Yes, it's that good.

I'm not a big fan of sandwich effects. That being said, this is a pretty solid method.