I really like this - both the effect and the handling. It's along the lines of a twisting the aces
routine, but with some extra elements & surprises.
The handling is pretty easy to learn. By
the time I was done with the video (about 30 mins long) Erik and John had gone through the sequence
enough times that I had put it to memory.
The sleights are at a low difficulty level. If
you can do an Elmsley count, you can do this routine.
You get all the cards you need, but
there are no actual 'gimmicks' in play. At the end, you're left clean - all the cards can be looked
at & examined.
I've been doing Twisting the Aces for nearly 30 years, and I think I may
just take to performing Spin Doctor instead.
11 of 11 magicians found this helpful.
This is an amazing packet trick. You get all the cards you need to perform this effect. Nothing to
add, and nothing to ditch. Once you know how the method is done you can use other cards, like kings,
queens, and other colored back cards too. The video instructions are very clear. Easy to follow step
by step. It's very nice since they will take their time to show every detail for each sleight. I do
this trick in my weekly restaurant shows and everyone seems to love it. I like to take it a step
further and make the ace "vanish" in a spectators hand instead of on the table like they show in the
video. The best part is that you will end clean because like I said before, there is nothing to add
or ditch. The spectators can examine all the cards because they are just regular cards. Did one of
your cards rip or get ruined? No problem, just replace it with any colored back card. I highly
recommend this trick. It's very fun, easy, and visual to perform. My olny advice would be to keep
them in a card wallet, which you can buy manly different versions of from Penguin Magic, to keep
them safe and secure. Best of luck everyone.
6 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
In my packet wallet I just carry a few tricks - I'll have them with me to be ready all the time to
show some of my art and it's my closeup foundation I can always rely on...
In it are Max
Maven's B'Wave - Paul Gordon's Corner of Piccadilly - Peter Kane's Gypsy Curse and John Bannon's
Spin Doctor.
Those are all heavy weights in their own rights and get great reactions - Spin
Doctor combines easy handling, innovative ideas with a hard-hitting triple effect at the end.
If you don't have a deep dislike against packet tricks you should definitely get this one - it's
a killer...
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
Practice the needed moves for the routine and you’ll have a real worker. Been playing around with
this the past couple of days and tried it out for real people at a gig last night. The kicker ending
floors them. Also, don’t underestimate the strength of the Ace of Spades vanishing and reappearing!
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
It's great to see Spin Doctor available again. This was the first of his "Fractal" packet tricks,
but the original had been out of print for quite a while.
In the interim, he brought it
back as an extra trick included in the Fractalicious set that he did with Liam Montier (available
through Penguin), and it was featured in his first Penguin Live lecture (not the Live Act one).
Keep those in mind when choosing your purchases, as you might prefer to get Spin Doctor as part of
one of those sets rather than on its own.
As for the trick itself, you can see from the
promo video that it's Vernon's classic Twisting The Aces with a couple of kickers.
There's really just one true move involved (the one you'd expect to do in Twisting The Aces).
The rest is all in the presentation.
I love that the clean-up is turned into one of the
effects. You actually show off the "dirty" card rather than trying to ditch it. That's the
brilliance of Bannon.
There are two BIG discrepancy moments that aren't shown in the promo
video. Bannon points them both out when walking through the trick with Cameron Francis in the
Fractalicious video. He emphasizes that no one ever notices.
I'm finding that's true if
you have the patter down. But it means you really do need to practice your presentation, because
you're vulnerable in a couple of places if you rush things.
(If you're a beginner, don't
worry, you can do this. Just know that you need to practice the TALKING part of it as much as you
practice handling the cards.)
Great trick. Fun to perform. Recommended, though I'd get it
as part of the Penguin Live lecture or Fractalicious rather than on its own.
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
I've got lots of tricks that utilize a similar routine. Nothing new here and you need to be good at
double lifts. Not one of my favourites.
8 of 14 magicians found this helpful.
This routine has one of the best psychological effects in play, which makes the spectators go nuts.
The ending kills, every single time. But the whole routine is pretty amazing.
Also, the joint
teaching of Erik and John is really good and understandable. This is now one of my go-to's. Very
good.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Of course anything from John Bannon is going to be good but I learned this a while back & I like the
new handling a little bit more.. Well worth the money & then some!
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
This trick is the only one I keep in my wallet. I have done it numerous times and I love it! The
kicker ending is just so magical. And of course, everything is examinable at the end. This is
forever one of my favourite tricks to perform.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Granted I'm a newbie, but I find it confusing that Eric Tate and John Bannon give different sets of
instructions, and I'm supposed to know what a "Elmsley move" is supposed to be? OK, so I'm new but
without explanation I'm stuck. More complete instruction for newbies like me would have been
helpful.
4 of 7 magicians found this helpful.