Magic Tricks

I'll admit, I don't like the Svengali deck much. It can't be examined by the audience, is difficult to use for more than one effect in a performance, and an effect like the one in the teaser video practically gives away the gimmick. (It also seems, well, gimmicky.) But I was determined to give the famous gimmicked decks a fair shake, so I got this (and also the Invisible Deck and Stripper releases in the series).

The signature effect shown in the teaser is a ballsy choice, given that it flies in the face of other wisdom I'd seen about being so obvious. It also doesn't require any teaching; if you have a Svengali deck, you can do the effect. However, the real pearls are buried on the DVD when he shows you how a beginner can do a simple ambitious card routine; or, like his other releases in the series, when he shows you a clever effect that involves using the deck in a nontraditional way.

It still seems like you will need a deck switch in a card-heavy set, and the problem of doing multiple effects with the same Svengali deck is still present. However, this DVD does show some clever ways you can use this deck to perform miracles with very little sleight-of-hand. I'd recommend this to beginners doing a mixed set of effects (not all cards) or to those comfortable working in a deck switch before and after using this (which depends on your working conditions). Like the other releases in this series, Oz assumes the layperson is completely unfamiliar with the gimmick; this goes against some conventional wisdom but may well be safe to assume as true for you.

Like all the releases in the series, the included deck is a high-quality Bicycle deck. You can't go wrong there. If you are buying your first Svengali deck anyway, it does make a lot of sense to get it in this package.