I'm getting into the whole magic thing as a hobby, and I have dealt primarily in card magic. Some of the tricks I already own are the Stripper, Svengali, Rising Card, Invisible, Brainwave, Mental Image, DeKram, Ultimate Monte, & Color Monte, and maybe a couple of others, to give you an idea what I've dealt with so far.

Now, I'm considering a few new tricks. Please give me any opinions you may have, especially as it relates to (a) ease of use, (b) flawlessness, (c) reset time, and (d) audience impact. Rank them if you wish. It would help a lot.

Blizzard
Cardian Angel
Club Sandwich
NFW
Public Transit
Deep Astonishment
Slither
Stand Up Monte
Twisted Sister
Ultimonte

Thanks!

I don't have any of those. You should consider getting a card magic book too, like card college or royal road.

i know this advice sucks, but i had about the same stuff u did just a couple of months ago, and i would reccomend not getting anymore gimmicked stuff for a while.....get card college vol.1 , and michael ammar's easy to master card miracles vol.1, itll cost about 60 bucks, but it is so worth it. u get about good tricks in all, and learn many invaluable sleights

i second that. but it wouldn't hurt to get just on little gimmick. once you can do an elmsley count NFW is supposed to be good and blizzard and club sandwich are supposed to be good to.

I third that.

Ace's in Thier Faces is a great self working trick. It take maybe a few minutes to learn. Club Sandwhich is a great trick also. If you are looking for a book i heard Royal Road to Card Magic is great!

Definitely go down the Royal Road to Card Magic, there is a wealth of info in there, enough for literally hundreds of tricks, for the price of one packet trick. If you are thinking about Cardian Angel I would suggest you think again and go for Card Toon (1 or 2), similar effect but much more effective, much more visual and much more fun.

Keep it real

The only one I have on the list is Twisted Sisters, which is okay....

Get the Royal Road to Card Magic, I have had my copy for about a year and a half now, and I don't think I have bought a single gimmicked card trick since.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to find a copy of that Royal Road to Card Magic and check it out. I've been interested in some sleight of hand stuff anyways ever since I purchased the Color Monte trick. Does it also show some fancy deals, shuffles, spreads, etc etc??

I have tosay, I'm not sure Penguin is going to like you guys telling me not to buy any more gimmick tricks though.
I can't say I understand the bias against gimmick tricks. They are fun, but then again I can onyl say I'm a poseur at this point, and far from a true student of magic. But I am willing to heed the advice of those more experienced than I & check it out.

Gimmick tricks are fun, yes, but will never get you anywhere in magic. If you really want to excell in magic you must get into some sleight my friend. Sleight of hand is great for many reasons. One of the best reasons is a borrowed deck or examinable deck.

Oh, I just realized he said he only wanted to do it as a hobby.
You should still get Royal Road, but I also hear that Twisted Sisters and Slither are good.

club sandwich is good, I have that

it resets instantly, is very powerful
however, it requires the ability to force and control cards
and there are some minor discrepancies that aren't noticeable

watch the demo, if you like it, get it

cardian angel looks stupid to me i didn't even consider it

Twisted Sisters is a killer effect. Get it, along with some books, or downloads

Yeah, I would get Twisted Sisters and then some of the books or videos/DVDs listed above.

all look good to me and maybe get some dvds...i know me and my brother want to split born to perform....