Regal makes this point very well in the explanation, but it is worth repeating. Done well, this is
an miracle that the spectators will remember for a long time.
While it takes a little bit of
preparation, and practice of what can be a difficult move, this is a perfect place to practice this
move. Some tricks lend themselves to "on the job" practice. That's how I learned the top-change.
This is a piece that will allow you to practice the bottom deal from a very small packet (the
easiest way) under pressure. I have not seen an effect better suited to learning this move.
But
the thing is that this is a great trick. In addition to allowing you to learn a move and do it
under pressure, it is a trick that will KILL under the right conditions. This is not the trick to
do when you are in a hurry and have very limited time with each group. This is a piece for the end
of the night when things have slowed down and you want to impress a small group (hopefully including
the booker).
Highly recommended for a number of reasons. Don't pass this by, it's too good.
BTW, David, SLAP
7 of 7 magicians found this helpful.
This is a really jarring effect! I love “what are the odds?” kind of tricks, but Symmetry is
seriously one of my favorites because the spectator REALLY DOES have a TOTALLY FREE choice! You are
NOT forcing any cards on them!
There is a gimmick involved, but it’s invisible and takes
no skill and about 10 minutes to make. There are only two very simple moves, so this is great for
beginners, too.
David teaches a simple little bonus effect at the beginning of the video
to introduce the method and concept, and it’s a great little trick on its own, that can be performed
with any borrowed deck.
Symmetry reminds me of other effects that require much more
advanced sleight of hand skills. So if you’re not a move-monkey, you might want to give this one a
try.
I also like that this can play so well as a magic trick or a mentalism effect.
5 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
This is a great effect. Anytime you can get away from the standard "pick a card" trick, you make
the other stuff you do even stronger so, for me, this is worth learning. However, I don't agree
with the reviewers who say this is "easy" or only requires "minimal sleights." I have been doing
card magic semi-professionally for nearly 40 years; I have never needed and therefore never learned
the one critical sleight needed here. I understand that practice is always a requisite but, IMHO,
Regal glosses over the mechanics and many, like me, will need to find another tutorial to thoroughly
understand it and get it working. Hence, I am rating this four stars. Having said that, if you're
willing to put in the extra effort this is a very strong effect to learn and perform.
6 of 8 magicians found this helpful.
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this trick with a request to write a review. With that
out of the way:
This effect is an excellent one. Very clean coincidence effect, instant
reset (if you want: see below), easy to do and looks super clean (because it mostly is). This is the
type of trick that gets great redactions.
However, I have a couple of complaints with this
download, although neither of them are with the trick itself, but rather with the presentation of
the trick.
First: the advertising demo seemed to give me the impression that there is
nothing special about the deck. This isn't entirely true, there is 'something' that needs to be done
with the deck in advance, and while technically you could go ahead and use the deck as a regular
deck when you're done with this trick, you probably wouldn't want to (will make reset a pain). The
deck is still examinable (after the trick is done), but you'll need to do a reset afterwards if you
want to preform this trick again.
Second complaint I have: there is one scenario that could
come up which throws the trick for a slight loop. Now, it doesn't entirely derail the trick (as a
matter of fact, that scenario came up in one of the demo performances and David still completed the
trick spectacularly), but should still warrant some mention in the explanation. As I was watching
the explanation, I was expecting David to mention this scenario near the end, and was disappointed
when it wasn't mentioned. Now, it's not too difficult to work around this issue (I thought up two
possible simple workarounds while writing this review), but I feel it should have been mentioned in
the explanation, since otherwise it is slightly incomplete.
Otherwise, the teaching, as
David's teaching usually is, is excellent.
In summary:
Pros:
Super strong
effect
Spectator has free choice
Easy reset (if you don't have the deck out for examination
or use it for another trick)
Everything is examinable after the fact, if you don't want to
reset.
Cons:
Requires a minimal amount of pre-work to set up the deck
Tedious reset
if you don't use the easy reset method
Very slight amount of explanation is lacking
I don't
like the demo video
In conclusion: the trick itself would warrant 5 stars, and the fact
that the only real gripes I have are somewhat tangential can attest to the strength of the trick.
However,I can't disregard my two main concerns, so that brings my score down a bit to what would
probably be somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, so I'm rounding up to 4.
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
I really like David’s pace that he performed at, and by this I mean everything is slow enough for
everyone to totally understand what is going on , and at the same time the micro movements needed
here are masked
COMPLETELY.
A utility move is also taught here and again this is expert
advice & tuition, and goes completely under the radar
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
Great trick if your hands' aren't arthritic.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I have been doing this trick occasionally for a few months but I have a question for you Symmetry
dudes and dudettes. In the trailer, the spectator, on the last card he chooses, points to the top
card of the deck instead of pointing toward one near the middle. No problem since that card matches
the bottom card of the performer’s hand. The problem is, what do you do if he points to the top card
after just one or two cards are chosen? My solution was, if he chooses the top card as his very
first card, just lay it down where his cards are going to go and proceed with the trick normally
since the bottom cards are now a match.Then, when you’re ready to turn up all of the cards after
they have all been laid down, slide both packets backward except for the bottom cards, setting them
aside, calling them predictions. Then, as normal, you do your special move, then the spectator lays
down his top card which is a match. You go through all of the cards, then, at the end, for the grand
finale, turn up the first two cards you laid down earlier, the bottom cards of each packet, showing
that your prediction was correct. I realize this is not very inventive, so I’m wondering if someone
out there has a better idea in case this situation arises. It has never arisen in the many times
that I have performed Symmetry, but you know how that goes-someday it will and I would prefer to
have a better solution instead of the rather lame idea I had of making a prediction.
Having
said all of that, it is a wonderful trick, and the reactions I have gotten from it have been very,
very good.
If anyone has a solution in case the above situation does, in fact, occur, I
would be very appreciative for that advice.
Strong effect in which cards picked by the spectator and performer match, i.e., King of Hearts and
King of Diamonds. Looks totally fair. Involves an easy sleight. Attractively priced.
Marvin
Kaye
Author, "The Handbook of Mental Magic"
An effect with an ungaffed deck. Learn basic moves and be amazing.