$100 deck of cards.

Now I've paid a lot to get a deck but never more than $20. And I know that some limited decks can sell for a $60+ online but usually those are decks that you can't buy anymore. But Ellusionist has a deck that is listed for $100 reading the page maybe you can get for $25 but that seems like alot considering you have to have their $150 membership. http://www.ellusionist.com/black-club-gold-artifice-deck.html

Move by Gianni Vox from Ellusionist

As you may have read on other faster sources the effect can not be done as shown in the clip. I'm not too upset about that because it's a recreation of how it should appear to the spectator if you do it right, but lay spectators should not be viewing a trailer, magicians should be. Plus doing the effect for real in the video would have resulted in another moron kicking up sand because he saw through the effect in the trailer.

The idea I had when I saw the trailer turned out to be wrong (due to faked trailer). I don't know if I'm happy about that. The idea I had was that the signature that does the jumping was on a clear something that was ditched later.  The reason I might not be happy about being wrong about the method is because the complaint I have about this effect is the same as I had with Modulate and I'm not sharing it here for the same reason. And it really does keep me from doing either of the effects until I find a solution I'm happy with. Beyond that it requires a minimal amount of props, and is shown two ways one that uses the deck and one that starts free of the deck.

The video is under nine minutes and starts with the trailer, it's the same level of quality as the other recent downloads I've purchased. I can't really say any of them really felt scripted more like they were just making up what to say as they go along. But for five bucks I see no real reason to complain about that.

Chaos Theory by Danial Madison from Ellusionist.

An in the hands Triumph effect for five bucks sounds good right. I'm not sure one could say that was delivered here. Really it's more of a false shuffle for five dollars. The download glosses over one of the most important bits, getting the selected/named card into position. Madison basically says that he knows the deck so well that finding the named card and getting it in position is no problem. Well that's well and good but what about those of us that lack Madison level skills with a deck? Without the selected card part most of the rest of the routine taught is useless, so it is a bit of hurdle. That said, the false shuffle taught seems easy but it does require getting one hands used to unfamiliar movements, and made my hands sore. Specifically my index fingers which are not used to riffling cards. It looks like a cross of two table shuffles I don't know the name of, but have seen the instructions two. Once I get it down it'll probably be my go to in the hands false shuffle.

Modulate by Dee Christopher form Ellustionist

A nice little card transposition effect, simple and cost effective (to buy, actual use may not be as cost effective).  It's visual and happens free of the deck. It's so simple that I'm surprised it's not in some old book, and it's not a magician fooler. I think that when seeing the full unedited performance at the beginning of the video most will know what's what. The download only costs $5, and it's feel like a rather versatile idea. Dee Christopher shows three variations on it. And regardless of what the ad copy says (though reading it after watching the download I think they may be saying something other than what I think the ad copy implies) I don't think it translates away from cards very easily. All the things that make it work with cards may not be present in other mediums. If two things look the same how will someone know that they switched places until the reveal. And so if you're using something like two index cards a different transposition may be better. My biggest complaint is hard to air with out exposing more than I'd like. But basically I feel really limited in the ability to repeat the effect for multiple audiences and I would have like to have seen that addressed because if Dee Christopher uses this effect with any regularity it must be an issue he has run into.

Kings Rising Levitation from Ellusionist.

I rarely say not to get something but unless you're getting this DVD as part of a package deal or you are a levitation junky don't bother with this DVD. The problem with this levitation is that it requires certain footwear and a jacket. Other than that its just as angle prohibitive as the Balducci levitation. All you really gain is that spectators see both sets of toes come up off the ground instead of both heels. If anything it's Balducci with different angles that requires special props and is harder to get into.

The teaching is good and solid and the video is good quality. You also gain access to a dead forum. Which is annoying cause its a selling point on the web page but it not worth the time to go to.

How to do street magic DVD from Ellusionist.

I think one of the most important thing to remember about this video is that it is around a decade old. Its one of the first videos Ellusionist back when it was a broke start up. Its lacks the quality that most Ellusionist's later works have. I received my copy second hand when someone I knew died. So there were some wear and tear already present so I can't really comment on the physical quality of the DVD. Also I didn't know the guys full name and so I could prove it to be a legitimate copy for access to the private forum.
It starts of with good advice delivered by a bunch of silly cutting between Brad Christian and some woman. Then another cut to another woman introduces the first effect. I quickly became tired of the clips of women that were cut to between each effect. They added nothing other than eye candy to the video. They were not professional actresses either. None of the effects are new effect or that hard. And credit for the creators is done is this weird subtitle way. But this is a good DVD for the absolute beginner. Not only does it have a lot of effects it's also contains a wide range by that I mean its not all cards and coin effect. It's not really any more expensive than most beginner magic kits. The bonus being that unlike most magic kits this DVD is not aim at the children market so the effects you learn you can show to other adults. If you think you like to try magic get this DVD and if you find nothing on it you enjoy magic may not be for you.

Burned:
This is the classic ashes on arm, in the performance part Brad's patter is a little silly but works with his I don't really know what will happen let's have some fun with this experiment character. For some reason he has the reveal set up on both arms and reveals it on both. I'm not a fan of the effect simply because I don't want to rub powdery things on my skin. In addition to telling you how to set up for the reveal Brad also teaches the criss-cross force.

Glass-Stinger:
This is the classic salt shaker through table effect. Like the last effect it well taught and this is one I've been known to do. They really spend more time than they need to teach the effect, but that's not wasted time they go over some many tips and what have you to make sure you can perform this effect and perform it well.

Sick aces:
Another classic, This is the spectator finds the aces trick from the royal road. Unlike the other effects were Brad teaches to the camera with this one he teaches the the effect to the two spectators he just showed the effect to. With this effect he teaches the over hand shuffle control.

Trace Unseen:
This is a card transportation of card from the deck to elsewhere. It uses an easy to craft gimmick and the ability to force said gimmick.

Merger:
I guess one would call this a penetration effect. You magically remove a business card from a string. Simple enough effect nothing complicated about it.

Trick Switch:
This effect is one I think of as the glimpse effect. I learned off of scam school a while ago and I feel scam school has the better presentation and better teaching.

Voodoo zone:
This is card warp by Roy Walton according to subtitle credits.

Go inside sugar:
This is a signed coin inside of sugar packet routine.

George's old trick:
Down's Palm coin concealment and production. A rub vanish is also taught.

Chance Zero:
Out of this World by Paul Curry

Print:
Self Printing Business card by Michael Ammar. This is a good one, I use it.

Melted:
In the hands off by Peter Samelson. Its nice but effect wise is basically the same as Merger just with a ring instead of a business card.

That is all that in the official tricks part of the DVD. Next is "Bonus Material" it starts with a section of flourishes. The lead in is way longer than it needs to be. First a coin roll, next is a four coin star, followed by a ribbon spread, after that is Charlier cut, and finally a card fan. The flourishes are followed by a Balducci levitation. Next up is switch that the title says is a Vegas Card Cheat but the subtitle says it a Downs change. Then we have a floating dollar bill and instead of teaching how to make IT it says get it at a local magic shop. This is followed up by two color changes and a vanish.

Like I said a good DVD for the adult looking to break into magic but not much else.

This is Mentalism Vol 2.by Rich Ferguson from Ellusionist

So nine effects that according to the Ellusionist website geared towards the serious mentalism worker. I mainy bought this as way to qualify for an LTD deck for the promotion that Ellusionist had when they released Blackmail and Lockdown. I didn't care to get Lockdown and so I just picked one of the other things I wanted that would qualify for promotion.(big fan of the eany, meany, miney, moe meathod) I ended up with "This is Mentalism Vol 2" by Rich Ferguson from Ellusionist. I'll do my best to not reveal to much but to give an honest review.

Vision:
Vision is a two prediction effect where you have two spectators think of something and you figure it out. Now there are several bits of business going on behind the scenes that make this effect work. I don't know if the really fast back and forth is just Rich Ferguson's way or if it's vital to the effect but it's not for me. Now this effect requires a force and depending on the force there's a chance the effect will half fail. Other than that all the rest of it is pretty strait forward and not too complicated. It's not a bad effect but it's not for me.

Psychometry Prediction
Three spectators think of something, write it on the back of a business cards and then seal them in coin envelopes and then performer mixes divines whose envelope belonged to who and what they wrote. Like the last effect there are several magic principles at work. You have to build a gimmick as well. There a lot of choreography going on here, and I've rarely had to blow away three spectators at once. So this effect seems like a bit much for something I may never use. It's a good effect and the principles are solid and one's a mentalist should know, but rarely can I think of a time where I've had the attention of more than two spectators. That said this could be scaled down but why would I want to go through all the trouble when the first effect on the disk is the same sort and doesn't require I build a gimmick for each performance.

Undercover
A person picks a word writes it down, the mentalist reads their minds. It's a gimmick based effect and rather strait forward and simple. Which means more than the ones before the impact of this effect relies on the performers ability to sell it. The principle could be use in other ways but here it used with a book. I know book tests are classics of mentalism but I don't like the idea of carrying around a book just for an effect, especially one like in this effect. In fact I don't like the idea of a book test in close up/strolling magic settings. I think they're better in more parlor or larger setting. If you could set this up in someone home and make it look natural and impromptu that would be awesome.

Hidden Key
Another book test with another gimmick, even if it is really clever gimmick it's still a book test. The gimmick in this one is a bit more complicated than the last but it has a longer life span. With all the ways out there to divine a word spectator has chosen I fail to see the point of carrying a book of any real size aound around unless you plan to use it to force a word.

Unwritten
A newspaper test. I can get much more behind this one in the field than a book test. This one requires you to make another gimmick but one that will last a very long time and that you make most of the way often enough I'd bet.

Way out of this world
It's a variation on the 'Out of this world' card effect. I'm not a fan of the OOTW effects to begin with and I can't say this one changed my mind any.

Recount
A bill test where the spectator takes $1 dollar bill and performer divines the serial number. A fair bit of prep required but once you have it all put together you'll be ready to go, just be careful not to spend your setup.

Lie to me
Probably my favorite effect on the dvd, although I'd may or may not use the lie detector like patter. Simple effect objects in a bag spectators each take one and the magician divines the who has the odd one out. Not really difficult but it is one of those effects where it takes acting because the performer doesn't know which one right away.

Wiregram
I'm kinda iffy on the inclusion of this on the DVD. I mean I'm sure if you own a wiregram then it's valuable information but if you don't well it does lose some value.

Shapeshifter by Marc DeSouza from Ellusionist

So I came in runner up in a contest on the Ellusionist forum and my prize was the download of shapeshifter. This download had been on my wishlist for a while and I wanted it, so I was quite happy. Old video is old at least that's what I felt watching the first half of the video. The section with Marc DeSouza has a grainy quality to it, especially next to the video of Brad Christian. But other than that I have no complaints about the quality.

First up is Brad Christian with some jibber jabber and after him is Marc Desouza and a history lesson on the move even going so far as to show you the move that Shapeshifter was based on. More info than I really needed but compared to the videos that give no credit to the people its a good thing. He does an excellent job of explaining and demonstrating the move. After teaching Shapeshifter he talks about how he does it most often and introduces another move called the 'Dribble Double' which he uses to set up for Shapeshifter. The dribble double is an OK move, not too hard but it seems like a lot of work to get a double. Next is another move and an effect based on it I prefer called the 'Cover Change'. Its a little double color change effect that I feel makes a good opener. It's quick and it visual. Following that is another color change called the 'New Theory Classic Change' It's good one but a little awkward for me as I did not have a good foundation of skills for it. Next  up came a move that I immediately added to my ACR to replace a move I was not happy with. The new move being "LePaul Side Steal". This move was a move I needed, I'll probably get more use from it than from the Shapeshifter. Next up was the 'Erdnase Palm Shift' which I felt was more of the same as the side steal. And that's it for DeSouza's bit.
Next up is Brad Christian section. He start with some advice in the keep at it and you will get it vein of advice. Then he teaches a way to get set up for Shapeshifter that is good for practice and an alternate handling for tiny hands, how to get out of it and just more advice in general. Now here comes my big complaint for this DVD, the effect Gypsy Burn. Move wise its overly complicated. It felt to me like while they were planning it someone said "What this DVD need to make it sellable is a full effect that uses Shapeshifter." and they had none so they took an effect and stuck Shapeshifter in it. The problem is that they are using it as a switch instead of the visual color change change it is. Move wise there is a lot to do so that you can use Shapeshifter which means there is a lot of area to get caught. By replacing all that nonsense with a double turnover you minimize the complexity and the chance of getting caught. Other than being made too complicated move wise its a good effect.

Overall I've very happy with the product and I'm glad I have it. What was in this download, three color changes, two side steals, a fancy double, a quick effect, and a bigger effect that needs work.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Kard Klub from Ellusionist

So I knew going in that Kard Klub was all based around the Two Card Monte effect, but I was more interested in it for its claim of being aimed improving ones performance skills. I have the same complaint for this that I had for Stigmata, cheap case that broke. Other than that the DVD was fine physically. So I have thought about learning the Two Card Monte, effect maybe it would be easier to apply the lessons of the DVD. I could even make it work easily with my character. But I just don't like the effect all that much. So I'm not going to be doing it. However in addition to a few moves worth learning there is a lot to be gained from this DVD. Of course Brad Christian teaches the Two Card Monte, that is just a small part of it, most of the DVD is clips of people with various skill levels performing the the Two Card Monte and then re-playing the clips with Brad Christian pointing out where they were good and where they were bad. For example one performer gets so caught up in playing with the spectator that she gets bored and ends up messing up the effect. The performer lost his ability to manage his audience with his goofing off. Although I felt that while it wasn't when he wanted her to turn the cards over, if he had just rolled with the punches he would have been fine. When the trick goes south he just folds up, his whole body droops, its obvious to everyone that what happened wasn't supposed to happen. He was done with all the secret moves though, the part he was at was a final build up before the reveal. So there was impact lost there, nothing he can do about that, but if had just went about the routine from the reveal no one but another magician would known that wasn't supposed to happen. While I don't care for the Two Card Monte I do like that using one effect throughout the video makes it easier to compare and contrast performances. In addition to the DVD I got a little booklet and access to the private forum. The booklet is nice, it's mostly re-iterations of the info on the DVD but it does have the routines and I've found it easier to learn a routine from a written source. The forum was active at some point in history as evidenced by the fact that at the time of this writing, it goes back 18 pages but its pretty much dead now. The last time someone made a post in it they had to post in the general forum to get attention drawn to it.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Artifice Deck from Ellusionist

So what can I say about the Artifice deck besides "Why do you hate me Ellusionist?" I mean you make this awesome deck and you make the reds limited and hard to get. It sucks. But I do have a blue and green artifice deck and I haven't noticed any significant difference between the two. Handling out of the box is smooth as silk and the look just too pretty. I love the artifice deck and after reading that all of Ellusionists custom decks had a subtle one way back I almost went crazy trying to verify this. One of things I like is the vibrancy of the court cards. They are just beautiful and the Ace of Spade is the first card I've ever considered as a tattoo. The box is as nice as one expects from an Ellusionist deck. One of the things I like is that there was no deck seal. After the clear wrap the seal was the most pain in butt part of opening a new deck. On the lid of the box is a Latin phrase "Ars est celare artem" which I'm told translates to "Good art is concealed art" meaning the how should not show in a piece of art. The Joker is awesome and contains a reveal and is one of the better looking of Ellusionist's Jokers.

I have had one problem with this deck and that is that some blue ink has rubbed off on the card above it. I think this may be do to the the cards getting too warm in my pocket and being compressed. Maybe even a little moisture from the humidity.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Bicycle Masters Edition

I had a pretty big order from Ellusionst and they through in a free deck of blue Bicycle Masters. Unlike my posts about other cards I will not include pictures I took myself with this one because with the exception of the Ace of Spades this deck looks like a regular deck of bikes. One of the things I like about the Bicycle Masters is that instead of a regular Joker and the tiny one with the guarantee this deck come with two normal Jokers. Now this deck's claim to fame is that it's tougher, that it is made from tougher card stock. I don't know if the claim that it lasts seven times longer than regular bikes is true or how they came to that conclusion. But you can feel the tougher when you're handling this deck, fresh out the box the cards are so stiff that I have trouble doing a riffle force. I have have a hard pushing the deck down with my thumb, its too tough, the deck pushes back. If I were a florisher or or extreme card manipulator this would be a great deck. But as a regular manipulator of the pasteboards this deck is just too tough for me too use. It would make a good deck to practice with just because it would last longer for only a buck more.

Also for some reason this deck came with the Ace of Spades from a Ghost deck. I guess to make me interested in the Ghost deck but if that was the case then they should have sent a red card which is where the Ghost deck stands out.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Blue Gaff Deck from Ellusionist

I got the blue gaff deck from Ellusionist. Thirty bucks is a lot of money for some cards. But some of the things you can accomplish with a good gaff are awesome. Pip matrix for example is well worth a good bit of money. So the gaff deck contains 58 cards. 20 I will never use, 20 I may use, and 18 I intend to use. Of these four of them will definitely be used. 14 were reveal cards and most of those I won't use and they weren't all that nice in my opinion. There are a few variations on the ace of spades and those seem pointless to me.There are some cards that weren't there that I felt should have been and those are double backers, a regular one and a red/blue one. Those two cards would have been more useful than most of the deck. The only utility card in the deck is a blank face. There is something in it for just about every type of cardician. But I have to say that there is not a lot in there for one individual.  There is a reveal on the tuck box but the rest of the box is reversed so meh and there's a green sticker that says gaff deck over the reveal. I think they'd be better off selling the various gaffs individually than a whole deck.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Ghost Card Clip From Ellusionist

What can one say about a card clip. It is a piece of metal bent to fit around a deck of cards. Actually, I'm really glad I got this thing. I carry my cards in my vest pocket and they get warm there pretty fast and they kinda bow, I'm not sure if this is the heat or from handling but with the clip they don't have anywhere to go. Now as for the design it has the pip from the Ace of Spades from a Ghost deck etched on one side and Bicycles Rider Back design etched in the other. They're OK and look better than blank metal. But for me the deciding factor in this clip above others is "Mundus Vult Decipi" etched on the spine. I love that phrase. Ellusionist suggest sanding the edges in the the thumb grove but I did not and have had no issue due to this. However it was holding the cards kind of loosely and I fixed that by squeezing the sides towards each other until I had the level of hold I wanted. All in all I'm happy with this purchase. It adds a touch of class and gives more importance to the magic. It shows seriousness and respect for what you are about to do. I think it has subtle effect on everyone involved. Plus people just seem to like it.
If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Ghost Deck from Ellusionist

So I have always liked the way the Ellusionist Ghost deck looked online and at $4.99 its not too bad a price. They handle well and the faces look as nice as they did in the pictures. I could see myself using this deck a lot especially if I had the gaff deck. This would be my deck of choice if not for the Artifice decks. I do have some complaints I don't like how on the Ace of Spades the A is on pip. I do not like the jokers or the reveal on them. I'm pretty sure its a ring master riding a horse that someone photoshopped the horse out of. You can see hints of stirrups and what look like a horse neck. I do like that it has "mundus vult decipi" on it. I do not like that the backs the design fades at the edges and then theres some sort of shadow. They don't hide well if I put them into another deck because of that shadow. My biggest issue is I had them open for maybe an hour and the tuck box broke. The glue on the bottom just quit holding. Its fixable but I shouldn't have to need to fix it. The tuck box also contains two reveals. I have no use for them but they are there.

So to sum up; I like the deck over all, its a good price. There is another deck I like more and if not for that this would be my full time deck.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Stigmata by Wayne Houchin from Ellusionist

So what did this cost me, nothing it was part of a prize pack from a contest. I think it cost like 30 bucks. What you get is a DVD in a very flimsy case. So the thing I like about this DVD is that the performances are in front of live people on the street. And after going over the how, they go back through the video of the street performances with voice over telling whats happening behind the scene. There is also some extra footage of live performances. And an interview with Banacheck. So what is Stigmata, at its most simple level its a reveal. What you get is three ways to set up for the reveal; one with cards, one with a peek, and one with a psychological force. Beyond this its up to you and your imagination. In addition to the reveal Wayne Houchin goes over the classic force and the Acidus Novus peek (Which is useful for so much more than just Stigmata)

In the video it appears that Wayne just walks up to people and just does Stigmata. I can't see my self doing it that way unless I knew my time was limited and I wanted to blow their minds right away. I'd either use this as a closer or as a transition effect. After doing a few regular effects I could see myself using this to transition to more heavy bizarre material after I'm sure I have them along for the ride. It starts in a familiar pick a card territory and slowly builds to bizarre.

I will say this like a lot of Wayne Houchin effects this one takes presentation. It does not work as a hey look what I can do. However if you think you have the acting skills to sell this effect and the character to support it I could see it being worth the $30. Personally I'm just happy walking away with the Acidus Novus peek but it was a free DVD for me.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Gold Arcanes from Ellusionist

So I recently won a contest on the Ellusionist forums and the prize was a deck of Gold Arcanes and a DVD. Now I know the deck is very collectible but I'm more magician than collector and I opened them. I'll be honest it took some rationalizing and bargaining on my part but we all knew I was going to open them. I have never handled the regular Arcanes so I can't compare these to them but I like these cards. My first impression was one of surprise, I expected the gold to be more shiny, but instead its a muted matte gold that works really well. Being a brand new deck it handled really smoothly as to be expected. Its hard to say why but the gold really bring something to the cards especially the face cards. It saves them from a two toned hell. The Ace of spades is unique and it looks great, I like how the outline of the spade more hinted at than definite.The joker is some sort of summoning circle summoning a demon of sexiness. The second joker contains a reveal and its so subtle that I spent a minute looking at them side by side trying to find it before it hit me. And it freaking works. When I do a force and then simple reveal with that card people are so shocked that they grab the card from my hand it works so well. The last bit of fancy to them is a double backer which is kind of useless to me but it may come in handy one day.

Now for some of the cons, there's only one really this being a black deck even with the minimal use I've put it through there's a bit of chipping around the edges. I know this can be touched up with a sharpie if I thought of it as a problem.I don't see it that way though so as long as its only a question aesthetics I'll let my black decks chip. But if card manufacturers are going to make black decks they should use black cardstock.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.