Many pluses: Easy to learn. Very little to remember.
Can be impromptu. And as he shows, this can
be done with many things: Playing cards, photos, borrowed business cards, "Cards Against
Humanity"... Nothing is marked!
The only minus I have is I'm not sure it's that strong a
trick. Plus I think the audience will assume you are using marked cards, even though you are not.
(Personally, if I'm going to do a trick that looks like this, I probably would use marked cards
and present something that looks more amazing.)
Like most tricks, this comes down to
presentation style.
If you like the idea of doing a matching trick that uses un-marked things
other than playing cards, this could be a worker for you.
10 of 13 magicians found this helpful.
The hype seemed too good to be true, so I bought this routine. I mean who doesn't want to be able to
pick duplicate cards out of an assortment laid out on a table. It would be pretty impressive. Well,
there are a few things one should know about this trick before purchase. If you still like the
concept after learning what I have to say, then this is for you! You really cannot do this twice in
a row for the same person, unless they are not paying attention, because the matched cards are
always in the same locations if you use the routine described in the video. Also, and this turned me
off the most, the spectator cannot handle the cards. You have to control the cards and they have to
be set up before hand. It requires knowing how to do a false shuffle, which is not too hard, but the
fact that you handle the cards 100% of the time until they are laid on the table inevitably leads
anyone watching to believe that you know where the matching cards are ahead of time, probably
because they are marked in some way. The irony is that they are NOT marked at all. It's just that
you know where they all are because of the system you are taught for arranging them prior to the
performance. It only works with 12 items, 6 pairs. It is interesting and the secret moves are fun to
know but the problem is that the people I did it for believe the cards are all marked, even though
they are not, and there is no way to convince them otherwise! Probably the one way to get the
biggest effect out of this routine would be to tell them how it was done after the fact! Oh well. It
is a conundrum. The tecnique is interesting but the spectator can't appreciate that part. This is
not something I will be doing.
8 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
I will admit a bias, since I'm SYZYGY's editor and publisher. That aside, the presentation beyond
tearing pairs of business cards adds another entire dimension. What's more, it is entirely
impromptu (using business cards or similar) so for the price, it's unbeatable. Good quality video,
clear instruction, great concept. Go ahead and buy it; you'll thank me.
9 of 12 magicians found this helpful.
With 3 simple things in your head you have a wonderful tool to entertain at a moments notice for the
rest of your life!
Psychometry? CHECK!
Prediction? CHECK!
Mentalism? CHECK!
Fun? CHECK!
Baffling? CHECK!
Easy? CHECK!
Entertaining? CHECK!
Love it? YES!
Recommended? GET IT NOW!
8 of 11 magicians found this helpful.
A great way to achieve the matching of 6 pairs of cards, photos etc. It really looks as tho the
cards must be marked in some way but they are not. How do you CONVINCE spectators that this is not
the case? "I assure you...." or "I promise...." is a bit lame. At least you can ensure that the
backs are monochrome and totally plain.
This is easy to learn and a strong pacy presentation,
with some humour if that is your style, will result in a good effect.
The video quality is
excellent but it suffers because only one camera is used. At times Alexander is looking down at the
table and frustratingly we cannot see what be is looking at! Also there is a nice variation using a
prediction, but shot in a kitchen with a lot of echo. I found that hard to follow.
In spite of
my reservations it just makes the 5 star standard.
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
This is SO GOOD! I’ve been looking for an easy, yet powerful mentalism effect that uses no gimmicks,
devices or preshow set up, and now I’ve found it!
I carry playing cards with me at all
times, of course, so with this technique, I could perform this amazing effect at a moment’s notice,
but I absolutely love the effect T.J. performs with photographs. It’s just fantastic.
Since I do think people will suspect the cards or photographs are marked (they aren’t), I think
I might go the extra step to put each card or photo into opaque envelopes. This would allow for odd
shapes photos that maybe are not the same photo, but are of the same person or item. Maybe a young
photo of grandma matches a recent photo, or maybe a photo of an arrow matches with a quiver, or
something like that.
T.J. gives a few options and ideas, including a “Cards Against
Humanity” prediction. It’s funny and obviously startling to see that he had predicted all of the
questions and answers to what seemed to be a randomly played game. I do think that trick is almost
too good, if I may say so, because it’s so spot-on that I think it could make people suspicious that
you somehow set it up ahead of time. Maybe it would be good to not get it so perfectly right. Maybe
the predictions are more thematic or they are written “live”
after the cards are matched, but
before they are turned over.
All that to say though, the possibilities really are endless
and could play as humorous or as serious or even as scary as you like. I highly recommend this
effect.
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
Great little impromptu effect that can be performed anywhere, anytime using borrowed objects. Once
you learn the clever secret you'll always be ready when someone says "show me a trick".
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
Dowsing Duplicates is a clever way to have some fun with your audience. The dramatics involved in
the presentation are a little overdone. It's easy to be dramatic for a couple of cards, but
sustaining the drama for 6 cards is not easy. However the trick itself is great, and you can perform
multiple versions of it. The tutorial is also great. Everything is explained and you can perform it
immediately. I'm adding it to my close up Mentalism act.
4 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
I first learned a version of this trick over 50 years ago. Five cards per row. Four rows. Same
process, different wording. It was played as a mentalist's version of the TV game show
Concentration.
One star for the memories
One star for it being well taught
One
star for the Cards Against Humanity presentation
Will I perform it anytime soon? Not as it
is. But if I could come up with a presentation that fits my show and character that is similar to
the Cards Against Humanity presentation it would garnish more stars.
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
The video of the actual performance of this piece moves pretty slowly. I think that with the proper
scripting and cards with some inherent comedy it could be better. All in all the routine is clever
and could be a really nice "impromptu" piece for at the bar or in a small situation. Matching
business cards has a lot of potential and could be a nice trade show piece if the pacing were picked
up and moved much faster.
All in all, worth a look if you think that this effect could fit into
your style and character.
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.