THIS might be going in the desk draw ,there is a lot of moves and what gos behind trick they should
tell the moves just in case you can not do or you do not like doing that move and having to wear a
jacket,this has been edited ,the trick is longer then he shows on demo a lot to remember with out
making a mistake ,this trick is once you stop for a week how dose this work and he has been doing
this a lot when he made it up probably weeks a course ,this should have come whit DVD ,a lot to
remember.
8 of 8 magicians found this helpful.
Here is my in-depth review of Invisible Deck Kicker by David Penn
REVIEW PHILOSOPHY
When I review a product, I’d like to judge the product by itself per se, but not putting past
record or creator’s name/reputation into consideration. As I have no affiliation with any magicians
or dealers, I am free to give my readers full information about the product. I will provide what is
not said on the advertisement and details beyond the product itself.
You will have
everything good and bad about the product. Almost nothing is left out.
I believe by giving
you the most transparent information, you will become a well-informed buyer in long run.
And this is the goal of my reviews, and I hope you will agree in-depth and unbiased reviews are
good for the community.
Before we dig into the review, I would appreciate it much if you
support by subscribing and follow at the social media below.
WHAT YOU GET?
You’ll
get a custom deck of cards with fifty-two 52-on-1 cards, each with a different facedown card. And
three additional normal 52-on-1 cards.
A link to the online tutorial on Vimeo is included.
Unlike most other online tutorials, this cannot be downloaded easily on your device.
QUALITY OF THE GIMMICK
The deck is printed by USPCC in Rider back. Printing time is
2019.
The back design is printed nicely without any off-center issue.
While for
the front design, I hope the whole 52-card image can be shifted upwards and left-wise for 0.05mm for
the aesthetic reason. It’s because on one side, the distance from edge to the card is 4mm while it’s
3mm on the other side. Likewise for left and right. To untrained eyes, it is not an issue at all;
but it is little bit obvious for those who can spot off-center issue.
Not a serious issue,
but could have been improved as it is kind of obvious.
QUALITY OF THE TUTORIAL
The effect is well explained in the 17 minutes & 57 seconds long video. It is shot from behind
David Penn with only the hands visible to the learners.
The quality is ok but definitely
home-made standard. It’s not a studio production.
Length (in minutes) of the main parts (I
literally counted):
Introduction- 2:55 (exactly the same as trailer)
Explanation-
9:19
Second Routine- 3:21
Uncut Live Performance- 2:22
In ‘Explanation',
the main routine is explained in details. It follows the performance you saw on the trailer and
explain it step-by-step. There are occasional cut-in scene of live performance so that you can learn
the timing of moves.
Many people on forum have guessed that top change is used but it is
not the case. I prefer the method taught in the tutorial because it’s easier and more user-friendly.
If I am not mistaken, this is also the favourite move of David Regal.
Reset and details
about card orientation (not a big issue if you don’t care instant reset and the final visual change)
are also taught. The explanation is clear but not many tips are given.
In ‘Second
Routine’, a second routine is taught. It is not something you saw on trailer. This routine is way
better than the main routine and it will illustrate a point I am going to discuss in ‘Analysis of
The Effect’.
In ‘Uncut Live Performance’, you will see the uncut version of the performance
done for the younger standing male in the trailer. Everything uncut, everything is crystal clear.
To conclude, the whole is 17 min & 57 sec but there is only 12 mins & 40 sec explanation in
total. It’s really too short and I think David should give us more advice and idea on using these
cards.
As the video is home-made, there should be no restriction for David Penn to shoot a
longer video talking about an effect he really cares (I’m surprised that most of my magic reviews
are longer than this :p)
So, the teaching about the core mechanism and the bonus routine is
good. But not too satisfactory in terms of advices and tips given to learners.
DIFFICULTY
There is no difficult move at all. Most beginners can handle this effect with ease.
Definitely no top change!
The routine is flexible enough if you want to use difficult
sleight-of-hand though.
PERFORMANCE ANGLE
There is a very short moment of angle
requirement in the routine. It happens when you are locating a card.
Interestingly, David
Penn has this problem (he is not aware when performing) during the uncut live performance. I think
one audience saw something. But that is not a strict requirement, it always happen in card trick. I
believe you can handle it.
CLOTHING REQUIREMENT
You want a pocket to do something.
ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT
I will include my analysis of the effect in my product
review. In this analysis, I will present my view on the strength and weakness of the effect. And
will also go deeper with magic theory in mind.
There are two ways to look at this product.
Either you view it as an effect, or view it as a gimmick deck of cards.
As an effect, it’s
done as a kicker for Invisible Deck. However, in a strict logical and coherent way, there could only
be 2 real kickers for Invisible Deck. Either you make the rest of the cards blank, or make the whole
deck the same selection.
David Regal somehow presented the best solution for the
blank-card kicker in his effect ‘All Alone’. And we are still waiting the all-the same-card-solution
(somehow I have a solution but haven’t told anyone yet, so that doesn’t count).
Therefore,
I think David Penn’s solution is not a real kicker, but just another effect imitating Invisible
Deck. In that sense, I won’t say it’s a very good effect.
However, if you look at this as
a deck of 52 gimmick cards, It’s another story.
As I mentioned earlier, the second routine
is good. It’s good because it utilizes the possibility brought by the gimmick deck. And it’s only
one of the many possibilities. I’ve already come up with some effects with multiple selections and
they work well.
So, how we perceive this product mainly depends on how we view it. For me,
it’s a gimmick deck and I love how versatile it is.
IDEAS
* Have 2 spectators
picked different cards. Then you reveal the 52-on-1 card as gag. Then the first selection is
revealed. Ask the 1st spectator to pass the card to 2nd spectator, the facedown card changes to the
2nd selection.
* Though sound stupid, but you can use them for Ace Assembly. Since the Aces and
Kings are at the extreme ends of the cards, you can do a fake display of ‘Aces’ very cleanly. It’s
like having a double-face on a single face of a card.
* After the Invisible Deck routine, you
squeeze the deck into a single card, leaving an impossible object on spectator’s hand (you can use
pocket index to achieve this).
PROS ABOUT THE EFFECT
* High quality gimmick cards
* A strong and unexpected routine is included.
* The price is reasonable
* The deck can
be used for other routines
CONS ABOUT THE EFFECT
* Very minor issue on the
printing of the cards
* Not much advices are included in the tutorial
FINAL VERDICT
The product is printed with high quality USPCC cards. And the cards are very versatile in
other effects.
There is no difficult sleight-of-hand involved and therefore suitable for
any levels of performers.
I am satisfied with the quality of the product. At about US$33,
it is a good buy if you want is the gimmick cards.
Product Quality: 8/10
Video
Quality: 6/10
Effectiveness of Tricks: 7/10
Practical: 8/10
Creativity:
5/10
Cost Performance: 8/10
Final Score: 7/10
Thank you for reading.
Alex Hui Magic
8 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
OK folks.. I'll be Frank...
This card trick is absolutely First Class but...... You.. And I mean
you as the performer need to know from the outset that....
Your eyesight will... And I I am
emphasising Will.. Determine how you perform it..
You see the indices on those small cards
may be difficult to read if you are suffering from presbyopia... This happens to us all when we
reach the 40plus years in life...
However this should not hold you back from performing it...
So when I purchased this trick and went over the method, a 48 Yr old with perfect 2020" vision
who doesn't wear glasses aside from reading, I discovered I was having a hell of a time trying to
see what I needed to...
I was doing my noodle in..
What's more when I viewed tge demo in
its entirity looking for suggestions to overcome this I didn't find any...
David Penn wears
glasses do he is accustomed to this and probably able to discern the small cards quite easily with
his bifocals but I don't tend to need to wear them.
It's a big tell to anyone if you have to
put your specs on for a certain part of the trick that your looking very carefully at something..
I don't wear glasses as a norm do it would certainly telegraph something.. So what am I to do..?
FIX IT.. of course... and Fix it I did...
I am trying as I type during Lockdown
to get hold of David to add my alteration to this miracke card trick do that those of you who do
struggle with small text don't have to...
What's more you can get twice the mileage out of this
deck... If you use my alterations...
This does not and I emphasise this Does Not detract
in anyway shape or form from the outstanding work David has put in but instead allows us with lesser
sharp vision at close up distance the freedom with which we probably performed when we wee younger
and with which we are more used to.
So in my opinion.. If you want a Top Notch effect that
you will 100% carry around with you and perform close up.. Which resets easily in seconds and the
card can be different everytime.. Get This and then contact David through Facebook for my addition
to give you FREEDOM... No matter what your vision...
Thanks Nic
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
This is a nice fun trick only if you can see the names of the cards fast enough. I hope if a rerun
of these decks are made they will redesign them and only have 2D...7S...AC...etc etc.printed at the
top of each card. There would be plenty of space for an increased size to identify them much faster.