I have made over 500 purchases at Penguin Magic through the years and many of them have been card routines that never saw the light of day. I purchased all 5 of these effects over the past few months at $9.95. These are pure gold because they can be done with a borrowed deck without difficult sleight of hand. Larry Hass is an excellent teacher. We all buy magic that we will never use but I’m willing to bet you will use at least one of these effects. Trust me for a mere $26 for 5 really good effects you are risking very little. By the way, this is probably my third review on Penguin and I will not write something unless I really feel strongly about the product one way or another. Other people’s reviews have influenced whether I make a purchase and I appreciate the reviews before making the purchase.

This is simply a superb set of effects that can be done with a borrowed deck of cards. There is minimal to no set up for each trick--in most cases the deck is deliberately shuffled by a spectator before you begin--and there is minimal to no sleight of hand. These tricks are suitable for beginner or more advanced magicians. This is a great project by Larry Hass.

Larry Hass has pared down on the mechanics of the effects by playing with the psychology behind the magic. He is very careful to make sure that every part of the procedure is motivated and constructed the tricks so that they are very difficult (if nearly impossible) to back track.

Hass is a very careful, thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate teacher. His style is decidedly low key--he is more keen on putting the magic, rather than force of personality, center stage.

My Way Out of This World, is an impromptu OOTW effect. Most magicians will know a version of OOTW that can be done from a shuffled deck. What Hass adds here are a lot of hints as to how to make the effect more stunning and he has solved the problem with the end reveal of the cards. I like his approach to the performance--Ryan Schlutz has a very similar version--but I think Hass's subtlety in the ending is a little better. Obviously, this owes a lot to U.F. Grant's impromptu OOTW (who Hass mentions) and Harry Lorayne's impromptu OOTW.

The Intuition Test has the spectator pick a prediction of two different endings and then proceeds to have the spectator make a series of decisions in selecting cards and then trading cards, face down, with the magician. In the end, the selected prediction correctly predicts the number of black vs. red cards held by the spectator vs. the magician. I haven't tried it in the real world yet (so I could be wrong), but it is one of those mind blowers that probably more stunning to magicians than lay people. The outcome is a brain teaser, even once you know how it is done, but I don't know how impressive this would be to lay people.

In the Friendship Game the magician sets aside prediction cards and the cards shuffled and laid down by two spectators result in a match. The trick itself is a good one, but Hass also teaches you a boatload of how to construct a magic effect and gives a mini-master class in equivoque. The trick is a good one, for sure. It definitely seems impossible. I know some magicians really love this kind of effect, the problem is that I get 'okay' reactions--but never over-the-top, gasps--for card cognate (e.g. 2H matching with 2D) prediction-type effects. In spite of the improbability of the effect and the seemingly arbitrary, spectator driven decisions to get to the end point, the matching card prediction at the end surprises but--at least in my hands--does not blow spectators away. Still, this is about as good as it gets for this kind of trick (for me anyway) and, again, you will learn a lot about trick construction and how to build an effect from Hass.

Pure Magic is a little obscure. It has zero sleight of hand but relies a lot on precise procedure. This is one you need to get down 100% before you show it. Once you get used to the mechanics, it looks totally impromptu. You pick out 9 random cards from a shuffled deck and place in two piles. The audience member shuffles one pile and picks a card and coalesces the piles as you are not looking. You then walk the spectator through some dealing with crazy choices--that seem random--in terms of the cards dealt to the table... in the end you find the spectator's card. It may not sound like much when read on paper, but it is a major stunner.

One Card and One Card Alone is easy to do but is a seemingly impossible way for the magician to find a selected card. There are layers in the presentation that totally hide the 'secret' but also the suggested presentation makes this more of a mentalism trick than a simple find-the-card trick. Devious thinking and excellent presentation. This one definitely hits spectators right between the eyes. For me, it is the best of the best in this project.

Again, this is good for beginners and good for more experienced magicians. Any set will benefit from a few effects that have low or no sleight of hand. It throws off your audience as they keep looking for something to catch you on where there is absolutely nothing to catch you on. You get credit for major card handling when there really isn't any.

This is a great package deal at $24 for 5 effects, especially as they sell individually for $9.95 apiece. 3/5 can be done with little or no practice and the other 2 once you go over the procedure a number of times. There is lots of great thinking and lots of great teaching here. Best of all, you will use these. Recommended.

These effects are both very good and well taught. Is this stage show material? no. Is it very very good closeup material? Yes. Most clear, non-fluffed instruction I have seen in a video format. Incredible citations and history to boot.

This is the best deal on Penguin.
A lot of outstanding magic at a fantastic price.
I now have several stunners I can perform with someone else's deck.
And they shuffle the cards!
Thank you, Larry and Penguin!

Terrific card tricks - not difficult, but totally awesome in effect. My new favorites!

Larry Hass is a name I‘ve long associated with great insights and his two posthumously published books of Eugene Burger’s works, so I was immediately intrigued. This digital download of five card effects all done with a borrowed deck surprised me. Each of the effects are well thought out routines that require little to no dexterity (which is one of the reasons I was intrigued after suffering a massive stroke 10 years ago , my hands don’t perform well anymore)! That said, I REALLY LIKE the five routines and even believe that I,too,
can perform them with a bit of practice and patience. Take a chance on this material, I’ve spent a lot more and have gotten a lot less before!

Don’t normally leave reviews but these are such amazing value and so easy to learn and great effects I couldn’t not leave one, you will not be disappointed!!

I noticed that Larry Hass uses a similar method to Rob Zabrecky's "Another World". I am equally impressed with Larry's method, as he maneuvers flawlessly through his
well-thought-out method and delivery.

Great little stunners. Personally I only jive with 2 of the tricks, and a 3rd one kind of on the back burner. Larry does a great job explaining the tricks and tips on how to make your performance hit. I’m docking a star just because the entire thing wasn’t my cup of tea, and sometimes Hass’ delivery doesn’t sit right with me. Nothing against him personally, just seems a little cheese ball to me. Overall, wonderful tricks.

This set consists of card experiments that can be done with minimal or no setup with a borrowed deck of cards.
They truly amaze. What more could you ask for? Awesome!