Magic Tricks

This has a collection of tricks that anyone can do, but the real treasure here is the lesson in presentation as well as his thoughts on the trick designs. But I'm sure you want to know about the tricks, so here goes:

COLLUSION: pure gold. This is Bannon's variation on ACAAN (any card at any number). You can see the performance for yourself in one of the trailer videos.

It's simple to do, and the explanation has a performance tip on how to set it up (or reset) on the fly. Just set aside the jokers ahead of time and Collusion is ready to go whenever you like.

SORT OF PSYCHIC: an expanded (improved?) version of an old Max Maven trick called "Out of Sorts". Bannon's version lets the spectator choose from a larger packet of cards than the original.

It's not my style, but it showcases the presentation and interaction with the spectator. It also makes great use of techniques featured on the disc to spice up an otherwise weaker trick.

Unfortunately, the camera missed a ridiculously good "move" in the performance that he described in the explanation. Bannon took the top card and put it on the bottom - in plain sight. I think that's the biggest lesson for this trick and perhaps for the whole disc: with the right presentation, you can be utterly brazen in your misdirection.

ULTERIOR: pure "magician's choice", which is NOT a Good Thing. It's on the disc as an introduction to equivoque, and he says this particular trick is also useful for setting up other tricks. Still, I can't imagine performing this, and I doubt many others would want to perform it either.

PROPHET MOTIVE: I didn't consider the trick itself to be all that strong, but the explanation section has a fantastic walk-through of techniques that could be used here.

ION MAN: really quick, really easy, but really lame. It's easily the worst trick on the disc. You could impress a child with it - but only once, and only if you let him/her keep the quarter.


BAN-NIHILATION: Bannon's adaptation of "Annihilation Deck" by Cameron Francis, which you can see here:

https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S27948

Bannon's version is simple to set up, and his method doesn't ruin any cards. I think the presentation could be jazzed up a bit more but is a real winner once you work out a presentation style that fits you.

FOUR SIDED GEMINI: Collusion was largely adapted from this. It's a "production" - turning up the four aces, for example - where Collusion is ACAAN. But they use exactly the same method, so you would never perform them together.

All the same, they are both very strong tricks, and for educational purposes it's great to see how a method can be used in different presentations.

PERENNIAL: Bannon's version of a birthday or diary trick. Not bad, and it's nice to see a demonstration of giving a presentation a more personal angle. But otherwise this is just another prediction. The others on this disc are stronger.

I suspect that even after I master far more advanced tricks, I will likely still want to perform a couple of these from time to time. In the meantime, this is a great lesson in interaction and performance, and the presentation and design tips already have me thinking about ways that I would modify the tricks to suit my own presentation style.

Highly recommended.