Magic Tricks

As other reviews have noted, if you're seeking an all-around good Penguin Live lecture, this isn't it.

Part of it is that the "Live Act" format is a poor fit for Bannon, as he's mainly a writer and trick developer who doesn't actually do performances.

And part of it is that this one is WAY too short to justify the price tag. There are only five tricks - four in the act, and one demonstrated later in the interview. The bang for the buck is really bad, so it deserves the bad reviews that it's getting.

But there's one reason why someone might want to jump on board and get this...

First note that the "act" he performed here is actually the second section of the book Dear Mr. Fantasy, called "Secrets and Mysteries of the Four Aces". In the product description for this video, that name is given to the closing trick. In Dear Mr. Fantasy, that trick is called "Beyond Fabulous", as it is based on Henry Christ's "Fabulous Four Ace Trick".

If you aren't familiar with that one, it's a strong production of the four aces. Bannon's version adds a kicker ending where he also produces the rest of a royal flush.

Keep in mind that the entire routine is designed to be done impromptu with a borrowed deck. Beyond Fabulous does require setup, but that's one of the main points of that section of Dear Mr. Fantasy - if you script the routine well, you can actually do the setup (called Cull de Stack in the book) on the fly as you come out of an earlier trick.

The deck is shuffled or appears to be shuffled several times throughout the act, making Beyond Fabulous a mind-blowing conclusion to the routine.

You probably wouldn't buy this for any of the other tricks, and three of the five total tricks are also on other videos. The Line Of Sight opener is on Fire When Ready. Directed Verdict (which he also calls Final Verdict) is on Bullet Party and was also part of his previous Penguin Live lecture. His take on Dai Vernon's "Twisting The Aces" is new, but you've probably seen too many other variations of it before to care all that much about another one. He throws in Doctored Daley (his take on Dr. Daley's Last Trick) when talking with Dan Harlan (it's not part of the live performance). That's on Bullets After Dark, was also on his first Penguin Live lecture, and was also included as a bonus on the out of print DVD of the "Spin Doctor" trick. (Note: Spin Doctor is another take on Twisting The Aces. It's now available on the Fractalicious DVD.)

So... if you specifically want a video version of Beyond Fabulous and the Cull De Stack setup, here it is. Otherwise, skip this one and put the money towards something else.

For that matter, Penguin might as well rename this video "Beyond Fabulous" and list his Twisting The Aces variation (aka "Plot Twist") plus the other three tricks as bonuses. Maybe get Dan Harlan to film a new intro and demonstrate the "Mark Of The Fabulous" alternate variation from the book.

If they did that and cut the price to $20, this would be a five star winner.