Magic Tricks

The Invisible Deck is a brilliant tool to create amazing magic. Every card magician, perhaps every magician period, should own one. The question is, is this the way to get it?

My first Invisible Deck contained a booklet explaining the use and handling of the deck along with several tips on the small amount of memorization required to use it properly. The deck that comes with this DVD is a high quality Bicycle brand deck, but does not include that booklet. Not that it should be necessary: handling and mnemonic tips of Oz's own are covered, assuming zero knowledge to start. However, there is a key bit of handling that was quite different than what I learned; it is impossible to explain here without spoilers, but I will say that I would also research other explanations of handling the deck, especially if you have trouble making it behave as expected.

I got this DVD to get some ideas of alternate presentations (and to get a second deck in a different color than my original). Although he has some interesting ideas, I don't think they are the best presentations by far, and I would urge those of you new to the Invisible Deck to look for other performances with the deck for more ideas before using it. As with the other DVDs in this series, Oz performs almost exclusively on the streets of the Las Vegas strip at night, and presentation is excellent for the type of short-attention-span spectator he has to deal with; but if you are lucky enough to be doing a parlor-style performance for an attentive group, there is enormous potential for interactivity and humor that you won't see here.

So overall I'm really mixed on whether to recommend this DVD. If you are already comfortable with the deck, the new ideas might be interesting, but hardly worth it. If you are new to it, there are worse ways to be introduced, and the additional cost on top of just buying a deck isn't too high... just be sure to look further. It is nice to get the quality included deck, though.