Magic Tricks

First the bad news, the effects that you mostly won’t be learning. You get to watch Suzanne perform her four-trick Magic Castle act. The four effects are:

Let’s Play Together: an ambitious card-like presentation. This one *is* taught in detail, and you are not likely to perform it in its entirety due to some specialize apparatus. However, Suzanne explains the simple slights she uses so effectively, and you can fold them into your routine.

Coming Home III: this is Frank Carlyle’s Homing card with an extra phase. This is also taught in detail and the easiest of the bunch to attain. I’ve been performing this trick for 30 years, successfully for about 25, and there were subtleties presented here that I will start using. Not the extra phase because I’m not worthy, but the two phases I do perform will be much better for it.

A Mother’s Love: is her take on Joe Givan’s Band-Aide Transpo, couched in an enduring story. The effect isn’t taught however you might be able to figure it out from watching the presentation or you can learn the handling from Givan’s lecture notes.

Cups and Balls: is cups and balls, again with an enduring story. (All I remember from Mystery School is the drum circles) She doesn’t teach this either but if you do some other version, then you can easily learn hers. Except for the final load. I have to wonder if Penn and Teller will be fooled by it.

Now, the good news…

In addition to seeing each effect performed, and sometimes performed several times, you also can run through them with her voice-over commentary. It’s like climbing into the head of a real pro and learning the “why’s” the lead to the “whats.”

Another valuable lesson is the real secret behind how she palms card, even with her teeny tiny hands. Turns out that method also applies to passes, top changes, multiple lifts, and watch steals. Guess you could say that tucked away in this two-DVD set, or more appropriately spread throughout, is a single concept that is easily worth its price.