SYMPATHY (FOR THE DEVIL) CARDS BY PAUL VIGIL
Effect: Paul Vigil takes the Sympathetic Cards plot to a whole new level with a gimmickless and super-fair version that has an incredible kicker ending.
Review: Paul Vigil is now widely known for having released some of the most clever and ingeniously thought-out effects in the past two years. His first release, Diplopia, received immense critical acclaim and praise from magicians and mentalists who considered it to be the best card trick of the year. Later on, he released ICON, an extremely powerful multi-phased mentalism effect with some pocket change that explored precognition and telekinesis in a very realistic demonstration. These were arguably some of the greatest close-up magic effects released last year. This new effect, Paul's take on Sympathetic Cards, is by no means an exception.
This effect is simply excellent... everything is so well thought-out and brilliantly constructed into true compelling magic theater. It is suspensful, humourous, and entertaining from beginning to end. It can be over ten minutes in your show... all in a deck of cards.
The ebook is well worth the asking price... in fact, at $20, it's a steal. The single effect is broken down in a manuscript of almost 30 pages. Most magic books don't take more than a few pages to describe one effect, yet Paul explains his magic in such a thorough way that it is near impossible to misunderstand what is being instructed. Everything in the ebook is crystal clear and Paul even supplies his very strong presentation. This is an excellent idea as it truly inspires you to work on your own powerful presentation for this effect.
The effect itself is as strong as card magic can get... and that is not an exaggeration. A shuffled deck is freely split in close to half by a spectator. The half she has cut is freely dealt into two more piles, and these two piles are used for an experiment in synchronicity. The spectator freely chooses one of the two freely dealt piles... this is a genuine free choice. The pile that she doesn't choose is carefully placed underneath a pocket hankerchief and never touched. A very fair and chaotic mixing procedure is then used to shuffle her cards to the point of true disorder. They are fairly tabled next to the covered pile. The covered pile is uncovered and the magician takes a single card off the top of each pile. After some dramatic suspense, the two cards are revealed to be perfect mates! They are tabled, and the next two top cards are removed from their piles and are again, revealed to be perfect mates! This is repeated with every single card in the sequence, and each and every one is a perfect mate!!
That on it's own is an extremely powerful effect, but the magician decides to take it one huge step further. One of the two piles is again chosen, the one not chosen being completely eliminated. The chosen pile is again shuffled in a fair manner. The magician asks a thrid party to take out her cell phone and get ready to punch in some digits. Ten cards are dealt off the top of the deck in a row by the spectator and each value is named out to the third party, who dials each number. Before the number is called, the magician confirms that this could be the number to any phone in the world. The number is finally called. For a moment, there is silence. Then, a ringing is heard from within the room. Inside a sealed envelope which has been in view since the very beginning, lies the magician's cellphone. The randomly generated phone number is the magician's very own cellphone number! This concludes a truly bizarre experience.
The above is just one of the endless possibilities for this effect... the final number can reveal the combination to a lock, a birth date, or even just a written prediction. The packet is never switched and is in the spectator's hands the entire time.
What I love about this effect is that most of it plays in the spectator's own hands. This of course increases the overall impact of the routine. I can imagine absolutely frying groups of laypeople and magicians alike. The method is bulletproof and everything is handled so fairly from beginning to end, the spectators will swear there are strange forces at work. Paul, in my opinion, has created some of the best kicker endings I have ever seen... from the shocking revelations in Diplopia to the startling climax in ICON, he really knows how to go out with a bang.
For $20, you get a very thorough and well written ebook, some inspiring presentational ideas, and one of the greatest modern pieces of magic theatre achievable with a deck of cards. In my opinion, Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards is very underpriced.
If you're looking for an excellent, powerful, and engaging card effect that packs very small, plays huge, and plays for nearly 10 minutes, this gets my highest recommendation.
Overall, I give Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards a 9.5/10. This will undoubtedly go into my repertoire and I'd bet it will go into yours too. This is a fantastic way to spend your extra $20.
Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards is available as a PDF download at http://emagicsupply.com/112.html
Michael Kras
Effect: Paul Vigil takes the Sympathetic Cards plot to a whole new level with a gimmickless and super-fair version that has an incredible kicker ending.
Review: Paul Vigil is now widely known for having released some of the most clever and ingeniously thought-out effects in the past two years. His first release, Diplopia, received immense critical acclaim and praise from magicians and mentalists who considered it to be the best card trick of the year. Later on, he released ICON, an extremely powerful multi-phased mentalism effect with some pocket change that explored precognition and telekinesis in a very realistic demonstration. These were arguably some of the greatest close-up magic effects released last year. This new effect, Paul's take on Sympathetic Cards, is by no means an exception.
This effect is simply excellent... everything is so well thought-out and brilliantly constructed into true compelling magic theater. It is suspensful, humourous, and entertaining from beginning to end. It can be over ten minutes in your show... all in a deck of cards.
The ebook is well worth the asking price... in fact, at $20, it's a steal. The single effect is broken down in a manuscript of almost 30 pages. Most magic books don't take more than a few pages to describe one effect, yet Paul explains his magic in such a thorough way that it is near impossible to misunderstand what is being instructed. Everything in the ebook is crystal clear and Paul even supplies his very strong presentation. This is an excellent idea as it truly inspires you to work on your own powerful presentation for this effect.
The effect itself is as strong as card magic can get... and that is not an exaggeration. A shuffled deck is freely split in close to half by a spectator. The half she has cut is freely dealt into two more piles, and these two piles are used for an experiment in synchronicity. The spectator freely chooses one of the two freely dealt piles... this is a genuine free choice. The pile that she doesn't choose is carefully placed underneath a pocket hankerchief and never touched. A very fair and chaotic mixing procedure is then used to shuffle her cards to the point of true disorder. They are fairly tabled next to the covered pile. The covered pile is uncovered and the magician takes a single card off the top of each pile. After some dramatic suspense, the two cards are revealed to be perfect mates! They are tabled, and the next two top cards are removed from their piles and are again, revealed to be perfect mates! This is repeated with every single card in the sequence, and each and every one is a perfect mate!!
That on it's own is an extremely powerful effect, but the magician decides to take it one huge step further. One of the two piles is again chosen, the one not chosen being completely eliminated. The chosen pile is again shuffled in a fair manner. The magician asks a thrid party to take out her cell phone and get ready to punch in some digits. Ten cards are dealt off the top of the deck in a row by the spectator and each value is named out to the third party, who dials each number. Before the number is called, the magician confirms that this could be the number to any phone in the world. The number is finally called. For a moment, there is silence. Then, a ringing is heard from within the room. Inside a sealed envelope which has been in view since the very beginning, lies the magician's cellphone. The randomly generated phone number is the magician's very own cellphone number! This concludes a truly bizarre experience.
The above is just one of the endless possibilities for this effect... the final number can reveal the combination to a lock, a birth date, or even just a written prediction. The packet is never switched and is in the spectator's hands the entire time.
What I love about this effect is that most of it plays in the spectator's own hands. This of course increases the overall impact of the routine. I can imagine absolutely frying groups of laypeople and magicians alike. The method is bulletproof and everything is handled so fairly from beginning to end, the spectators will swear there are strange forces at work. Paul, in my opinion, has created some of the best kicker endings I have ever seen... from the shocking revelations in Diplopia to the startling climax in ICON, he really knows how to go out with a bang.
For $20, you get a very thorough and well written ebook, some inspiring presentational ideas, and one of the greatest modern pieces of magic theatre achievable with a deck of cards. In my opinion, Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards is very underpriced.
If you're looking for an excellent, powerful, and engaging card effect that packs very small, plays huge, and plays for nearly 10 minutes, this gets my highest recommendation.
Overall, I give Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards a 9.5/10. This will undoubtedly go into my repertoire and I'd bet it will go into yours too. This is a fantastic way to spend your extra $20.
Paul Vigil's Sympathy (For The Devil) Cards is available as a PDF download at http://emagicsupply.com/112.html
Michael Kras
