Magic Tricks

A big hurdle for beginner magicians is adding tricks that require sleight of hand. Doing self-working tricks or depending on gimmicks that do everything for you become a crutch and an obstacle to growing as an artist.

At the same time, when one tries to break free from that limitation, finding a trick that can produces satisfying results with just a simple sleight to start may be a challenge unless you have a mentor to recommend a trick for your first trick requiring any moves.

This trick isn’t NOT a sleight of hand trick. Let me be clear of that. This trick is pretty darn simple (dare I say practically self working). But it does require one move. That’s all. For a beginner ready but scared to tackle a trick requiring one or more moves, this is a very nice trick to start with.

The move itself is simple and doable, practically immediately. But you’ll want to practice. This is your first sleight. Why not embrace it? This is the perfect time for new habits... practice it. Master it.

This trick is definitely a keeper. When you are finally the master of sleights, this is a trick you’ll possibly still use in your repertoire. Tricks don’t have to be hard to be good. This is one of those.

Ready to grow? Get this trick!

Here is a quick Q and A:
- Simple? Yes. But you’ll want to make sure you’ve got it down... especially the script or at least the logic behind the script. If you don’t practice, this trick is one of those you can easily flub up or at least make look suspiciously unnatural if you have to “think” too much. In other words, if I haven’t said this yet, practice. If you’re intermediate (or an experienced beginner), this trick will be a cinch as you are likely already familiar with the move and method.
- Arts & Crafts? No. But you’ll have to buy blanks if you don’t already own them.
- Preparation/Set-Up? Super quick. Simple. Like a matter of arranging the packet in the right order. Only preparation is, if I didn’t mention this already... practice.
- Angle sensitive? No. Perform 360. No worries here. Just make sure you practice so you’re comfortable with the move.
- As good as the demo? Yes. What you see is what you get.
- Repertoire worthy? Yes. It may be a boring or stupidly simple to perform, but it’s very impressive to the layman. Even if this trick is a little meh for you, it’s at least not a junk-drawer trick. I’m happy with it.
- Teaching quality? John, as usual, does a great job as a teacher.
- Priced right? Yes and no. This is really the only negative I have. It’s a good trick, so I’m ok with the current price. But to be honest, I feel that, for the $9.95 price, John really should have included the blanks. Since I’m writing this review with beginners in mind, I’m thinking many beginners might not have blanks (let alone in two colors).

Overall, I award this trick a 3.5 stars out of 5. Usually, I save my 5 star ratings for extremely visual mind-altering tricks. This, in my opinion ,is a 4-star trick, which is the top of the charts for this sort of trick. But I do ding the trick a half star for the price verses what you get (or rather, don’t get). Great job, John! If you’re a beginner, get this trick. (More experienced ones will probably know how this trick works... if that’s you, save your money for a different, more advanced John Bannon trick. (I personally figured it out on my first viewing of the demo.) honestly, though, I’m still very pleased with the purchase as I always like to hear the explanations for different tricks. Even with tricks I know, there are always little tidbits, style notes, convincers, etc. to pick up from the various talented artists, even on the same trick. So I’m happy.)

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.