These days are a different time for magicians. If you want to put food on the table, strolling is out. Zoom is in.

Westview by Jon Armstrong is an awesome trick for those of you who love do-as-I-do tricks. Think about this: Your spectator performs the trick as you do with his or her own cards. It works flawlessly!

When I saw the trailer, Jon Armstrong got my attention. But as I watched the full performance, knowing what was going to happen, I was like: there's no way. No. Way. But yes, sure enough... he pulls it off just as you see in the trailer.

No secret moves. Nothing weird to tell the spectator to do. To be honest, I fully expected him to tell the spectator to do some weird and hard-to-justify move. That never happened.

I mean, when you think about it, this is a trick you've probably seen before. But for some reason, adding the element of tearing the cards and then having those pieces match up makes this seem just that much more magical. Haha! I have no idea why! But it does.

Anyway, this is a self-working trick that's easy to do. The only two downsides are that, for me, it's a little long and boring in execution (but it's totally worth it when you get to the ending) and there's a quite a few steps to learn and remember. Is it a fooler? It's a layman slayer, but to a magician, I think it's obvious that it's a mathematical type trick... but yeah, it still is pretty satisfying.

So, to sum up:
- selfworking
- easy to perform, but it'll take some time to learn and remember
- looks great
- slays laymen
- Zoom friendly
- no angles, no gimmicks, no sleights

Personally, the price is slightly on the high end of about right, though $4.95 would feel a little better. I'm very happy with it. No regrets.

Now the trick is to find spectators at home who happen to have a throwaway deck of cards that they don't mind ripping up. That may be the true trick here. LOL!

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.

If you don’t want to look like the most amazing performer on the planet. This is the best, easiest and entertaining “Do as I do” you will find. It looks totally amazing and impossible yet you will totally blow away your spectators as they made all their own random choices. And not only that, THEY make choices for you too and after all of this, both your cards match. How the heck is this even possible? You can do this live like we performed pre-COVID but is also awesome on Zoom or any streaming service you use.

The nice thing about this is the spectator can use there own cards whether it is a live in person or on Zoom, just tell them in advance to have about 12 cards ready … and willing to destroy. If you feel uncomfortable doing this in a live performance, just bring some extra cards and have them randomly pick 12. The other nice thing about this effect is that it is so easy to learn, just get out some cards and follow along with the video. No sleighs to learn needed, just a simple process of instructions for them to follow to remember.

Jon does an amazing job of teaching this effect, just remember the process and it will work ALL and EVERY time. You will amaze your spectators ALL and EVERY time. If you do it for multiple spectators, have different spectators help make or change the decisions. It will engage everyone involved making the effect seemingly more impossible.

I love it and can’t wait to start performing it … so will you! Thanks for sharing Jon.

Love this , easy to follow, easy to learn , zero set up , people will creatively use their own theme script , eg families , sports , politics, religion , 5 stars all day long 👌

This is one of my favorite effects that involves spectator participation online. I was familiar with the principle, but never would have thought to use it like this. The effect takes place for both the magician and the participant at home. The handling feels so fair. They can really shuffle and cut how they choose, but still an impossible coincidence takes place in their hands.You could even have multiple spectators follow along. I feel like this would be a great effect to end a zoom show with. If you like the effect and don't mind destroying a few cards, you should check this out.

This a great effect. It’s the subtleties and small nuances in the handling that make this a fooler. The hardest part will be coming up with patter that suits you and engages your audience, and this is really only an issue if you’re performing for more than 1-2 people at a time. If more than that, I would definitely pass out enough cards so everyone can play along. This a gem and I will use it!

There have been a lot of Zoom tricks lately and many of them are not very good. This one is really good for a variety of reasons:
1. While it is unlikely, if you are in controL and the spectator mixes up the instructions, you still have a climax.
2. It does not feel mathematical, but rather allows a number of choices by the spectator.
3. There is a double climax. Not only do your cards match, but the spectator's cards match. It is clear that you have had no control over their choices.
4. Jon wraps this in a good story of parallel worlds. Something that many are aware of and thinking about now.
5. This can be done with many different people who are watching in separate Zoom rooms (i.e., their own computer) and if they follow the instructions, their cards will match, even though they are different from the cards everyone else used.

All in all this is gold for anyone who uses Zoom; teachers, speakers, presenters, etc. can all make use of this in any Zoom meeting. I plan on wrapping it in a different presentation and using it for a summer school Greek class I am teaching.
In fact, one could use this in a live audience if cards were passed out. You run the risk of some participants not following directions and the cards not matching, but this could make the trick stronger.
This is an incredible bargain for ten bucks. It can be done anywhere and makes the spectator into the magician, always a great presentational move. Buy it, you won't be disappointed and the small equivocal move may fool even magicians.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Jon Armstrong has come up with another winner. I love his stuff!

This is exactly as described. Self-working once you memorize a little bit of procedure. Great for Zoom calls, or can be done in-person. I think you will like this.

With all props to the origins of this routine Jon Armstrong has tweaked this into a true two-phase gem.

It's pitched as a Zoom trick - which it most certainly can be - but I can't wait to try this in person with someone. The instructional vid runs 27m, and Armstrong is simple and clear and concise on the how-to, and provides some nice tips on spectator control, too. He even includes a clean finish if the spectator somehow doesn't follow the steps.

No gimmicks. No stacks. No sleights.
A winner X100.

Well done, Jon. I love this.

This is Superb !!! A genuinely entertaining, self working miracle. This will work every time if you make sure you have everything down exactly as explained before you try this. The tutorial is excellent, I recommend you write down all the steps and study them instead of trashing a bunch of cards while practicing. If you use 12 cards you can do this trick twice with one deck. I recommend using cheaper cards, not only cost effective but easier for your spectator to tear. This is excellent and doable in cyber space or up front and personal.

I really like this. It's a Do as I Do/Gemini Mates which is Self Working and perfect for Virtual Shows. Jon does a great job explaining how the effect works. I will be using this!