When I first saw this trick, I have to be honest. I was like, "meh."

I guess it's because, to me, the presentation seemed a little lackluster. I kinda assumed that all 4 cards were in his pocket the whole time. I think that, as a spectator, I might have came to the same conclusion... but I'm a tainted spectator (i.e. I'm familiar with magic now, so...), so it's really hard to know for sure what I would have thought. That said, the fact that this truly is a REAL card flight... well, when I realized that on watching the explanation, I was like, "Well ok then" and I sat up and paid more attention.

By the time Paul was done, I was impressed, as I always am with his tricks. He's a great teacher and, I'm not gonna lie, I wish I had his accent.

So, let's answer some important questions:
1. Is this for beginners? Yes and no. Yes, if you've been a beginner for a while (having practiced and performed at least some) and you're ready to go towards the deeper end of the pool. No, if you don't want to practice and practice first. You actually have to work to be good at stuff, ya know? Imagine that. :-) That said, with practice, this is doable.
2. Is there sleight of hand? Yes. A little. As Paul said, this isn't a knucklebuster. Of course, that's Paul saying that. A beginner would definitely disagree. But I do have to get on my soapbox and say, if you really want to be a good magician, you should willing to EMBRACE and MASTER knucklebusting sleight of hand, or at least some basics. Yes, it's frustrating (I'm not even there yet)... but practice makes better. Unless you just want to impress Grandma. Then, no, you don't need sleight of hand. Stick to self-working only if you're satisfied with mediocrity. (And before any self-worker lovers attack me, I agree that there are TONS of AWESOME self-working tricks! I love self-workers! I'm just saying that a real magician won't, in my humble opinion, avoid learning sleight of hand... that would be a disservice to his or her potential as a magician.)
3. Is this easy? Not to be redundant, but there will be practice for the beginner. For the experience beginner who knows some basic sleights and above, yes, this is easy. Just please practice.
4. Are there any cons on this trick? Yes. Again, I do feel like the presentation (IN MY HUMBLE OPINION) could be improved upon. I think that there is at least one point where time could be taken to sign one of the four kings. If that is done, then the fact that this is a true flight and that it is obvious would take the reveal to another level. I'm gonna try to incorporate having a card signed. Another thing is that, immediately after the explanation, the explanation is again showed from a different camera angle... which is a good thing, but it was weird how it was done... There was nothing that said "Explanation from a different angle." So I was confused at first. I was like, is this the same thing? I think it would have been good to use editing to combine the two views and felt is was kind of a lazy way to approach this, since, to benefit from both views, I literally have to watch or shuttle search the whole explanation again. That's really the only negative criticism I have. But I will say that I certainly DO appreciate the second camera angle. It was definitely valuable. I just wish it was all part of a single explanation edit.
5. Was it everything you dreamed of and more? It was BETTER than I expected. Again, I thought the trick was simpler (no real flight... just having cards in the pocket to begin with). Paul never disappoints with his teaching.
6. Will you perform this? Yes, with a signed card. I would like to see the reaction as he performs it and then try to incorporate the signed card. I'm guessing it'll make a huge difference. I'd probably favor the signed version, but I'll still try this as he performed it a coupl times to see how it goes. This would be a good opener. I don't feel it's the best closer... but as an opener, especially because of the setup, this would work. Restaurant workers will want a quick few seconds of privacy or a little boldness or sneakiness (if in public) to set up. Yes, it can be done for restaurants. You will need a table down, as is obvious from the presentation. I suppose you could do a strolling version, but there are better tricks for strolling.
7. Do you recommend it? Yes. I think this is a legitimate $9.99 trick, as it is priced.

So I give Paul a 3.75 stars. I was expecting to give a 3 star... but it really is a good trick, so I feel like it's about a four star. But I docked a quarter star just because of my impression I was left with that the cards were already in the pockets. Yes, he does use that assumption for the final kicker when he shows that the kings are not in the deck... but again, my feeling when I first saw it was that he simply dumped those kings somehow. I dunno... the more I think of it, the more I think I'll just give him four stars.

So scratch my original rating... a solid four stars for this trick! (I reserve fives for tricks that blow my mind, especially visually.)

(By the way, I always try to be honest and straightforward in my reviews, while being respectful to the magician. If you appreciate my reviews, can you please click the "Yes" button below beside the question, "Did this review help you?" It's not like I actually benefit in any way by your clicking it... but it would be nice to see if my reviews are helpful or not. I hope they are. If you ever have suggestions or comments or questions about my reviews, please feel free to leave me a constructive comment. I'm just trying to be helpful. I love the Penguin community and hope that I can someday contribute my own product. :-) Thanks for reading and for any (hopefully positive, but either way, at least kind) feedback!)

I'm basically agreeing with everyone else's review!

Yes, Paul Gordon is a great teacher, easy to listen to. He gets to the point, isn't repetitive, and is very encouraging. He offers some subtleties to help you have a successful performance.

This isn't exactly a beginner's trick; if you have never heard of a DL or know how to do one, Paul isn't going to give you a crash course in this topic. Similarly, one should be able to take a card and p___ it with ease.

Paul's focus here is not to teach you how to best perform these particular moves. He shows you what is happening, and you can figure it out. But if you are a beginner, you'll find it worth it to go to other resources to perfect these sleights. It's well worth it, though; it's how you move from beginner to intermediate and beyond.

(To be clear: Mr. Gordon teaches you everything you need to know and doesn't leave anything out. It's just that the basic moves of card work are best taught elsewhere, not here.)

Why not 5 stars? This is completely subjective. I personally am just not "wowed" by the effect as much as I thought I'd be. That said, I was fooled. (I thought duplicate cards were in use, and they aren't.) YMMV.

Other considerations: you have to be wearing a certain wardrobe to best do this trick. Depending on your style/character, this may or may not work best for you. You'll probably want a table. It's pretty much angle-proof and can be done with only a very small amount of set up. Depending on your level of audience management (and card) skills, it can almost be done impromptu; set up is minimal. (Very skilled performers will have the know how to do setup in front of spectators.)

All in all, another good winning "hand" from Paul Gordon.

I normally write reviews fairly quickly, but when I got this I wanted to make sure I gave it the due diligence it deserved by fully learning all the moves and performing it some beforehand.

Paul correctly states that he teaches a knuckle-busting version of this in his Penguin Live lecture and this version is much easier.

That doesn't mean self-working, though. There are some moves that must be learned if you don't already know them. I would classify this at the advanced beginner level. As always, Paul does an outstanding job of teaching all the requisite moves.

Magician audiences will be more impressed with the harder version (taught in Paul's Penguin Live lecture)... but at a significant increase in difficulty of learning. For the layperson audience, if you are willing to put in a little practice, you'll get a great 4 card magic trick.

Overall, a solid 4 star trick.

First off, I love Paul Gordon's approach to card tricks. He is clear and concise, a great teacher in my opinion. I try to keep practiced up on about ten card tricks for my shows. Right now five of them are taught by Paul Gordon. "Flight of the Kings" does not disappoint, it isn't hard to learn, but very effective. I think you will enjoy learning this, after you have done it several times you will start to see the flow. It will definitely take practice to iron everything to a smooth efficiency. I feel all Paul Gordon tricks are worth the money !!!

Paul Gordon strikes again. This trick is not for the beginning beginner. However, it allows the beginner to learn and practice some beginning moves which are moves he/she will use often in the future. Paul explains these in such a way they are easily learned. It will make you look like a knucklebusting master.

I am a big fan of Paul Gordon and his work. This is a stunning trick that will leave watchers completely smacked. It takes a little work (there is a palm) but it is done at the perfect time. If you want to learn your palm in front of real people after you have practiced it in the mirror, this trick is for you. It is very well constructed and has a great finish.

Card to impossible location times 4. This is not a magician fooler, it was pretty obvious what was happening after watching the trailer, but this is much easier than I thought it would be.

Paul is a great teacher, everything is repeated multiple times, various options for the (potentially) scary move is taught. There is even a no-palm method. For the layman the only explanation is multiple kings which you can prove is not the way it is done.

If you want people to think that you're a knuckle-busting card guy but you're really all thumbs the is the trick you need to be doing.

A nice effect with a surprise ending that will delight your spectators. Paul does an excellent job teaching this using multiple camera angles to make it easy to see what he is doing. He clearly explains every sleight required, and even shows a variation that eliminates one of them that some beginners might be uncomfortable with.

I love Paul Gordon's tricks! Some that I have & recommend are: Muldoon Match, Head to Head Poker, Final Destination, and Paul Gordon LIVE.

I agree with Race Blakhart's suggestion that ending with a blank deck could really make this a Killer!

Firstly this is a very well presented effect both in the way it flows and the way Paul has taught this in his video.
Paul has put great thought in to what he is teaching, so what ever level you are with card magic, this will not be too difficult. Of course if you can handle cards this will be easy to learn.
There are many ways to do this effect but Paul has made so user friendly you can have fun with your presentation.
There is a small amount of set up and can be done on the fly if you have the confidence. If not you can use this effect as an opener.
All in all this is fantastic and if you do this type of work, buy it!

Paul Gordon has done it again. In his superbly taught routine, you use simple moves to make it appear as if your spectator freely chose the 4 kings and then magically disappear into one of four pockets. The moves are relatively simple and are well taught in the instructional video. I might add a bit of a story to the routine about the Kings seeking adventure. Then as they appear in each pocket, you can speculate on what they discovered. Bravo Paul!