I must start off this review with a few points...

First, it has been YEARS since I paid full price for a DVD. I always wait until at a convention or a lecture with a sale to pick up something (or buy it on eBay). However, upon seeing the trailer and some reviews for this one, I had to have it. I went online and picked up a copy as soon as I could.

Second, I am not a huge Dave Forrest fan. I have a few of his items and I have never been incredibly impressed (as I always felt they would do much better in a larger volume). So, when I saw the trailer for this and though "I NEED THAT", it was a shock to me too.

Third, for the sake of reading, this review will be a bit shorter than my usual reviews.... Though I guess I could sum it all up in one word... BUY THIS NOW.



Dave Says:



And everything they say is true. This DVD is one of the BEST I have seen in a very long time.

The Effects:

ONE:

The spectator is asked to "create" a card by naming a color, a suit and ANY value. In the card case (that is in full view the whole time) is ONE card that ends up saying the one they thought of.

THIS is really clever thinking. I got the DVD, watched it, and this is the effect that I could perform 20 minutes afterwards. It's VERY strong, and even fools magicians. In fact, after I finished watching, I called my friend Mark Tirone (fellow penguin, Girspiggy on the forums) and showed him the effect via Skype. He was fooled and equally impressed by the method.

Worth the ENTIRE price of the DVD.

Matrix:

This one is neat, and in Dave's hands, looks fantastic. It's not the most original premise (four X's moving from the corners of a signed card to one corner) but it's good.

The handling is VERY move-oriented which I think could have been avoided, but you end with a great giveaway for spectators.

Piccallili:

This is a sandwich effect, kind of combined with cavorting aces. It's good, visual and I am sure it would work for a lay audience.

...I just don't like sandwich effects. I have seen a few that totally rock, but this is too... move-y for my taste. Too much going on visually for the concept to really be seen. Easily the weakest on the DVD (but it was still not bad).

S.C.T.A:

A very fair version of Spectator Cuts The Aces.

Unlike the above trick, Spectator Cuts The Aces is a plot I absolutely love... and Dave's handling is great. It's very fair but REALLY well thought out. If you like this plot, you will like this handling.

Mentholism:

This is a cool trick where a selected and signed card VISUALLY appears in a tic-tac box.

When I saw the performance, I was fooled by a few aspects. I knew the general handling, but the gimmick is something I haven't seen before. It's really neat and well thought out. A little fidgety, but no question this would FLY for laypeople.

DALI:

I LOVE this effect and have already started performing it... a TON. The spectator selects a card, and on the back of your business card, you have a drawing of it. In an attempt to hand it out, you visually POP the drawing out of the business card and hand both out.

This looks awesome, and feels awesome to perform. Plus, the way it is scripted and set is a PERFECT situation to give away a business card.

The Spectre:

I have said this before, but THIS is worth 3x the price of the DVD. Hands down.

The effect he teaches is a card is selected and maybe signed. It is lost in the deck, and with a snap, he shows that in the card case (on the table, untouched) has 2 jokers and a face down card inside. After pulling them out (fairly), the face down card is turned over to reveal their signed card.

This COMPLETELY fried me. I had NO idea, and then after learning the secret, I couldn't help but wonder why no one had created this. It's INGENIOUS. I recommend the DVD if only for this effect, as it is the fairest effect of it's kind out there.

Discarded:

Not bad; the aces switch places in a context of a sandwich routine. Psychologically interesting to the spectators, but nothing really jumped out at me with this effect.

Problem Solved:

This is Hofzinzer's Ace Problem redone. Much like other of Dave's things, this is move oriented, but it looks great and is worth the practice. I have studied MANY versions of this effect, and this has to be one of the best. It makes more psychological sense to the audience than most.

R.S.M.S:

Four cards placed in the center (or however many) are squared, and the deck is riffle shuffled... When you show all four on the bottom.

This is a REALLY great idea, very justified, and a control that doesn't call any attention to itself. It is one of the few times when you can say "and to mix them up further, I will shuffle the cards" with it actually looking like you do what you said. Pretty sure this will become my GO-TO control.

Don't Blink:

This is a color change, that is peculiar. The handling is nice, but the one that they show on the demo video is... not my favourite. It looks knacky. Then, on the actual DVD, it shows a "variation" that looks FAR better than the original.

It's a clever change, and one I might use, but I recommend highly that you check out the variation first.

Final Thoughts:

This is a REALLY valuable DVD. GREAT moves, tricks, subtleties, and something for EVERY card magician out there. It sparked tons of ideas for me, and ONE and Spectre are going into my act. I would have gladly paid 3x the price as any of these effects could have been sold on their own.

I can't wait for volume 2.

Nice review Chris! This looks interesting!

Thanks!

It is absolutely fantastic. I have been using Dali to hand out business cards, and MAN does it leave an impression. Also, Spectre has fooled EVERY magician I have shown it to... and that is in addition to the fact that it is a trick built for laymen!

It's a great DVD, which we now have at penguin! http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S13175

Hey, for the effect "one" j k q also can be named?
I saw the demo, and it was supposed to be 6 of hearts, but the card was 7 of hearts and behind it wrote " off by one". Can it just be one single 6 of hearts w/o anything writen behind? Or a blank/special card with its back writing " you will choose 6 of hearts" , isit your free choice of revealing the card?



PS: I saw spectre demo , and seriously i don't see anything special about that. Isn't it the same to use a simple method of sandwich effect method to achieve the same thing to lay people?

There are two additional effects that didn't make it on to the DVD that are available as a FREE download. http://www.full52.com/deception.htm

Believe it or not.

That's a tough question about One. The effect appears amazingly fair to laypeople (and magicians alike!). It's a great effect.

Spectre is absolutely AMAZING. It shouldn't look any different to an audience, true, but this is no palming, no "switching", just amazingly genius gimmickry.

Ok thank you. I guessed i am not getting this dvd.
"One" does not look fair enough to me

So whats so special about spectre? Why would you say it worth 3x the dvd, when can be achieved easily with other methods :O.

One does not look precisely fair to you because you are watching a trailer. At a show (I saw someone perform this), even magicians are fried.

Spectre is incredibly because of how clean it is. It could be achieved with a palm, or a cop, sure. But who wants to do that kind of work when you can do it with NO moves?

I just dislike the "off by one" thing for "one". Because it could be decrease by one/ increase one by value. If it is revealed directly i think it would be much better.

Hmm, for spectre i saw the trailer, it would look much better if it is just removed directly from the box, and not having the deck close to it. But i doubt its possible to achieve that.

PS: Not being unreasonable and not challenging you, just my personal opinions. I really wanted to buy the dvd, so i kind of want you to convinced me .

It is for sure possible to remove it from the box away from the deck. You just can not do the SUPER fair reveal without deck in hand (as it also removes justification).

So spectre actually looks really fair to the audience? Did u get any reaction from just this one single effect?

Really like "one" but i just hate it that words have to be written at the back of card.

Hey, guys. I co-created the "One" effect with Dave. I have to tell you, "Off By One" plays GREAT for lay people. As magicians, we can over-think these things but if you do it right (and set up the premise by doing the "think of a number" thing before the routine) people will be blown away. Trust me. I open my lectures with this effect and it fools a lot of magicians, too. Even magicians who are familiar with KK are fooled because there's nothing else inside the box!

As for Spectre, think about it: you FAIRLY show a face down card sandwiched between two Jokers inside of a card case. You then slide the sandwich onto the deck and fairly spread the cards. The spec can remove the card and turn it over to reveal the signed selection.

What makes it better than a standard sandwich effect is that the card appears in an impossible location. Again, think about this from a lay person's point of view. The only card sandwiched between the Jokers inside of a card case is their signed card. It's completely impossible. It's a very clean looking effect.

Just food for thought, guys. Dave is a good friend but before we were friends, I was a huge fan of his work which is why I was so surprised by PopChris' comments. I think Dave has released some of the best tricks on the market today; Color Burn, Nothing In Transit, DeLorian, CTW, just to name a few. He is seriously one of the best thinkers out there and this dvd rocks.

Hey Cameron! Thanks for giving us your insight into these effects! You made me want to buy the dvd even more now.

Then my work here is done...

Kidding.

You should pick it up, It's an awesome dvd.

Hey, just pmed you


I guess i am skipping this one, hopefully deception vol 2 will be something i like, any ideas when is it out?