Magic Tricks

Don’t let the fact that there is no demo video available deter you from buying this effect. I was hesitant at first, but after reading various reviews from different sources, I decided to take the plunge. I’m glad that I did. Even though there is no demo video, the effect as described above is EXACTLY what the spectator sees, no lie (if only all ad copies of effects were as transparent with their descriptions, we would probably all have less junk collecting dust in our drawers)!

If you are familiar with other “OOTW” effects, I think you will really appreciate this routine’s structure and methodology in many ways. Being that only 20 cards are used (yes, 10 red and 10 black), the effect is not long and drawn out and very easy for the spectator to follow. Also, the move used to reveal the separation makes so much sense and does not bring about any suspicion, unlike other “OOTW” effects. There is also a real nice kicker with an ace that provides a nice close. I also enjoyed reading Mr. Bernstein’s additional thoughts, as they open up all sorts of interesting performance possibilities.

The instructions are very well written and come with various embedded videos to help further illustrate the necessary moves (these are not sleights, by the way, and are super simple to execute, especially with the recommended enhancement to the cards). You can of course perform this effect totally impromptu should someone throw a deck of cards at you. But personally, doing so seems unnecessarily cumbersome unless you are very good with arithmetic under pressure.

The only criticism I have, frankly, is the price. It is set a little high for a one trick download. It would have been nice to have included some additional effects for this price, even if it was just one more. The only rationale that I could see for setting the price so high is to deter too many people from buying this gem. If that was the rationale, I can understand why the effect is called “separation anxiety” for if I was the creator, I too would be hesitant in unleashing this killer effect to the public!