I’ve had this since it first came out. As a matter of fact, I purchased it from John Bannon at one of his lectures when he first released it back sometime in 1992 or ’93 and I’ve been using this in my repertoire since then. No doubt about it, this is indeed a real killer and an all time favorite of many magicians. Someone mentioned that it is well worth your time to learn an Elmsley and a Jordan count. Both are very easy to learn and should be a basic move that everyone should know if they are doing any card magic. However, in all the years that I’ve been performing this I’ve NEVER had the need to use a Jordan count, nor can I see why on earth it would be needed. Just a simple Elmsley count will suffice nicely and that’s all you need albeit both moves are very similar and both should be learned anyway. As a matter of fact, only the Elmsley count is mentioned in the instructions and there is no reference to the Jordan count whatsoever. Although this trick can be performed without the use of an Elmsley count; in my opinion it will lose 99% of its impact and you might as well forget it. Either do it right, or don’t do it at all. If you are going to show the backs of four cards....then SHOW them! Someone else also mentioned as to the Elmsley count being difficult!!!??? If you can count out four cards....you can do an Elmsley count.

As to why Oz Pearlman refers to this trick as a mentalist effect in the Penguin demo is beyond me! It is NOT a mentalist effect, nor was it ever intended as being so by John Bannon. I’m not all that much into packet tricks, and God only knows we have way too many of them. But if you’re looking for one that is worth ten times its weight in gold and is a no brainer to perform, this is the ONE! It is pure and simply one of the most amazing packet tricks on the market....PERIOD!

Hi! This is your official PenguinMagic reviewer, B_Magic.

Twisted Sisters has been in my Absolute Arsenal for as long as I can remember, and this effect along with Color Monte and Ultimate 3 Card Monte may be rated among the best packet tricks ever created! This one is a must buy!

The effect is VERY simple to do, but if you really want ultimate reactions it wouldn't hurt to learn a couple of sleights to really clean this up (mainly either an Elmsley Count or even better, a Jordan Count). That said, it isn't NECESSARY to learn those sleights to perform the effect, but I think the effect gets MUCH better having learned a Jordan Count (and the count isn't very hard with a little practice).

The trick can get killer reactions and really be a reputation maker for you. Again, like most other packets I give this four stars because I found that using my own set of blank cards works better than jokers for an ending. It's more shocking to audiences and really works better for my particular presentation of the effect. With practice and really good presentation (this trick is HIGHLY presentational), you will have a killer effect you can do anytime.

Add to cart.

B_Magic

This trick got me a standing ovation. Add to cart for an effect that will give YOU a standing ovation.

this trick BLOWS the spectators' minds out of the water.

Add.To.Cart.NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you enjoy doing packet tricks, then is one of the best out there. Two piles of four cards. Four blue cards in one pile, and four red ones in the other. Each spectator freely picks a queen. The cards are spread and suddenly the queens they've named are face up. Not only that, but they have switched piles. The real kicker is that the other cards are revealed to be Jokers. This trick will work every single time and it instantly resets. The downside is that the cards can't be examined but who cares. Just put them away after and move on before they can even ask.

I'm not a huge fan of packet tricks but when this came along I nearly changed my mind. It is a great little effect which is pretty easy to perform and amazes spectators!

John Bannon has a truly magical thought process. This trick glorifies this tremendously. Such a fair choice. NO MAGICIANS CHOICE OR EQUIVOCATE! They think of one...it turns over....it changes places...SO DIRECT AND TO THE POINT. A piece of close up gold!

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Twisted Sisters is John Bannon's masterpiece packet trick. This is my favorite trick ever. You'll learn the Elmsley Count which is a key false count used in many packet tricks. This is a great trick to throw in your pocket when heading out to social settings. You can play it as a serious mentalism effect or something lighter. They best thing about Twisted Sisters is the multiple climaxes, each more shocking than the one before.

Don't fear the Elmsley! Some people will tell you that the trick is just as strong without the Elmsley. Wrong! It's worth learning and really convinces the spectators that the cards have changed places.

Also check out John Bannon's other fine effects such as Duplicity, a non-gaffed version of Twisted Sisters and The Royal Scam. Bannon's book called Impossibilia is also highly recommended.

for starters...im an anti-packet trick kind of guy. however this is an exception, it is visual and brain blowing. it is more than a card trick, it is a mind reading miracle that your audience wont soon forget. leave your fancy gaffed packet tricks at home and stun your audience with this bad boy

One of my first card tricks; so easy to do and so good! Perfect for beginners! It makes your audience go wild! You need an escape plan however, because the cards are not examinable!

TITLE and Creator: Twisted Sisters by John Bannon (http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=24)

Effect: Two spectators each pick a packet, then each pick a queen. Those queens then transport, one from a blue packet to a red packet and one from a red packet to a blue packet. Then for the finale the two queens that were chosen are the only two queens that were actually there, because the other six cards are all jokers.

Price: $15.00

Teaching: The documentation that comes with the effect is very good. I was able to figure out the trick quickly and easily with the included instructions. There is a fairly difficult sleight that you need to do in order to do the count of the cards, but in the instructions and in the Penguin's Only forum I found that if you are having trouble doing the count you can just skip it, and the effect doesn't really lose any of it's impact, in my opinion.

Add to the good documentation the aforementioned Penguin's Only forum AND a Penguin Video tutorial and you have several very good ways to get this trick perfected. I found that the documentation was probably the best overall teaching aid for myself, but others might find the video to be the best. Whichever you choose, there will be a teaching method that you will be able to follow pretty easily.

Quality of materials: The gimmicked cards are made VERY well. They look just like the other cards in the packets on the back, and the gimmick is very well printed and made. I would imagine that even if you managed to somehow flash for just a split second, the spectators wouldn't catch on because the gimmick is so well made. It also comes with it's own little carrying case, so you can keep the packets all set up and ready to go if you wish. I personally carry this trick in the case with it set up in a specific way so that I can always take it out and have it ready to go right off the bat.

Difficulty: If you use the Elmsley count that I mentioned earlier, the trick could be a bit difficult. If you already know how to do the Elmsley count, then it will be very easy for you. If you can't learn the Elmsley count, then you can just skip it and the trick will be very easy for you. Don't worry if you skip it, I find that the trick still hits pretty hard. Overall, it's an extremely easy trick to perform.

Applications: I think this trick would be great for most kind of close up work. Restaurants, parlour, pretty much anywhere that you can do a card trick you can do this trick. You may have to set the cards down to do part of the trick, so a table might be necessary...however, I think if you are savvy enough you can make do with having them be in the spectators hands the whole time. I prefer to use a table because I don't like making people hold onto things...it seems like most of the time that I do that they instantly want to look at the face of the cards. But regardless, you can use this just about anywhere that you do card magic. It could work on a stage, but obviously you would have to have a video system to show the effect to the actual audience.

A Note About the Count: I have found that I like using the trick better without the count. Why?? Simply because I think the trick flows better without it. If you watch the demo of the trick on this site, you will see that Oz says "I want you to imagine that we have four red backed cards and four blue backed cards." While he does this, he uses the count. He then says "Now I want you to imagine that the four cards in each packet are queens."

Well, the problem that I had with this concept was that in the event of the count you are asking someone to imagine something then showing them that it is in fact true, but in the other event of asking them to imagine that they are all queens you aren't showing that to be true. So I found that spectators would ask why you can't just show them the four queens when you then ask them to imagine that there are four queens.

I tried doing the trick a few times without the count at all and I found that I didn't run into the problem of people asking to see the four queens. The way I do it is I just say "I want you to imagine that there are four cards in each of these packets...which isn't really much of a stretch because I assure you that there are, and you will see when we're done. I also need you to imagine that those four cards in each of these packs are each of the queens...one heart, one spade, one diamond, and one club."

I have found that by using this patter, people don't ask to see the four cards at the beginning, so you can avoid the count, and people also don't ask to see the four queens because you haven't given them proof of one thing they are "imagining" and then avoided giving proof of the other thing they are "imagining."

In Closing: Believe it or not, this trick seems to get the best reactions of any of the tricks that I have. It's easy enough that people really don't expect the very end when you show all the other cards being jokers. For some reason people just seem to be really baffled by this trick. I enjoy performing it, as well, because it's just a fun effect. I recommend it to anyone that is looking for a fun, easy to perform, simple trick that gets some good reactions.

Overall Rating: I like this one a lot, so I'm going to give it a 10.