Magic Tricks

Introduction:

Let me start off by saying that I'm a HUGE fan of this effect made popular by the highly respected FISM WORLD CHAMPION Mr. Shawn Farquhar (if Shawn ever released his version of this effect, I wouldn't even bother thinking if I should purchase it or not as it's a no brainer!!!! YOU JUST HAVE TO PURCHASE IT!!!). That having been said, Mark Mason's version of this effect known as “Fully Loaded,” is nothing short of a miracle! I have performed this at tables and a few times on stage ever since I've bought this (I have purchased 2 Fully Loaded sets (hey, you could always use an extra set!) on April 22nd 2013, so I've had ample time to test Mark Mason's take on this trick). Without further delay, here's my review.


Packaging:

After receiving my order from penguinmagic (PENGUINMAGIC.... REALLY WEIRD NAME AS THEIR DELIVERY SERVICE IS OPPOSITE TO THAT OF A PENGUIN! SHOULD REALLY BE CALLED A CHEETAH ON A JET OR SOMETHING SINCE THEY'RE SO FAST ON DELIVERING MY GOODS) I opened the box and saw my 2 Fully Loadeds neatly packaged in the box that my goods were shipped in. Grabbing hold of one of my Fully Loadeds, I inspected the cardboard, enveloped, box. The front of the enveloped box contained a loading bar with the words “Fully Loaded” written under it in yellow letters, and under that, Mark Mason's signature on the 3 of diamonds placed on top of a closed card box (there's also a description of the effect under that card box). On the back of the enveloped box is a description of the effect, again, as well as a statement that all necessary custom made gimmicks are included within the package. The back also contains a delicate tab to open the flat enveloped box. Upon opening the my Fully Loaded package, I found that everything was neatly packaged and thought out; from the gimmicks, to the included DVD, and even as far as the “coming soon” advertisement printed on the inside of the Fully Loaded enveloped box, was again, well thought out. This is exactly what I would expect from Mark Mason and his team.

Packaging Score: 10/10


Materials/Gimmicks/Preparation (DVD):

Before I begin, I need to make clear that you will need your own decks of cards for this effect. Within the Fully Loaded package, you will receive exactly what you need in order to accomplish this effect. The so called “locking” and “unlocking” gimmicks as well as the “overlap” gimmick and even the deck holder (mentioned in Penguinmagic's description of this product) are ALL EXTREMELY WELL MADE and TRULY UNIQUE, but are rather unnecessary for this type of effect (although these custom made gimmicks do aid in making this type of effect slightly easier, however, that having been said, if you do choose to use these gimmicks, then you won't be able to repeat this type of effect for the same crowd of people (if you own this, you will know exactly what I'm referring to) unless you choose to do this without the gimmicks or to use the gimmicks later on in your performance). The preparation found on the DVD (I know I should be starting another paragraph for this, but what the hey lol) was not too bad! Mark Mason shows you EXACTLY what to do as if you had ZERO experience in magic what-so-ever and the contents on the DVD are SO WELL ORGANIZED that it's IMPOSSIBLE for one to not make sense of something!

Materials/Gimmicks Score: 10/10

Preparation (DVD): 10/10


Practicality:

This... Is where I ran into some issues as it's not as practical as it may seem. This effect is moreless a special, one time effect, that takes some time preparing (unless you're a psycho and manage to prep and somehow carry more than enough stuff to do this more than once). When using the custom supplied gimmicks, I have found this type of effect to be relatively fast and easy, but man... This effect takes up a lot of essential pocket real estate and requires one to wear a blazer. Also, when this effect is being performed, the deck is examinable, up to a certain degree, and there is no instant reset if you were to do it again. Still, I really love the concept as well as the effect and because of that, I have found a more practical method (upon experimenting) that requires absolutely no gimmick and a full proof method for handing out the card box and the deck both before and after the effect (my method is 100% examinable whereas Mark's method is 90% examinable). Regardless of my 100% examinable method, the practicality for this type of effect moreless remains the same; I've decided to save this type of effect for those “special occassions.”

Practicality: 7.2/10


Performances/Reactions:

WOW.... Regardless of it being a table, or on stage (I've never done this for walkaround due to practicality, mainly regarding the reset for this trick) this trick just BLOWS THEIR MINDS!!!!!!! Words cannot describe how amazing this type of effect is to an audience except the audiences' reactions! When this effect hits, it HITS THEM HARD!!!!!! Not only is a shuffled up deck magically put back in new deck order, but THE SPECTATOR'S SIGNED CARD IS FOUND TO BE IN THE EXACT POSITION OF THAT NEWLY ORDERED DECK!!! Oh ya.. AND IT'S A BRAND NEW, SEALED DECK OF CARDS WITH THE STICKER/CELLOPHANE AND EVERYTHING INTACT!!!! OH AND YES, THE SPECTATOR CAN EXAMINE, OPEN THE CELLOPHANE, BREAK THE SEAL AND DO EVERYTHING THEMSELVES!!!! IT'S JUST INCREDIBLE AND MIND BOGGLING TO THE AUDIENCE!!! I KNOW THIS FOR A FACT, AS ADULTS MY AGE ARE JUST JAW DROPPED (LITERALLY JAW DROPPED) AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS EFFECT!!! When I did this on stage, my random volunteer was just WOW and the audiences' reactions were just out the door!!! I even overheard someone in the audience state that they don't need to even look at the deck beforehand because it was passed around on stage and verified by everyone else!! (Also, they've probably come to realize that this isn't your normal “pick a card, any card trick” and you'll find it XD).

Performances/Reactions Score: 12/10 (Reason: Just look at all the capital letters found within that last paragraph LOL).


Conclusion:

If you're one of those performers looking for a trick that could be performed straight out of the box, then this isn't the trick for you; however, if you're a performer looking for that special one time trick that will knock your performance out of the park (and you also wouldn't mind some preparation prior to your performances) then this is definitely one trick you should consider! Despite some issues in regards to practicality, THIS STILL GETS MY MOST HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!!!!!!! MARK MASON AND HIS TEAM HAVE DONE A FANTASTIC JOB AND HAVE PRICED THIS PRODUCT AT A VERY REASONABLE PRICE!!!!!

Conclusion: I'm still giving this a 10/10!!! XD