Hey fellas,
Here's the effect:
Route 1 By David Forrest
At the beginning of your card set you display a blue backed deck and place it into your pocket for later. You then remove a red deck and blow everyone away with all your hottest stuff. Just before you end you suggest an experiment, a long shot if you will. Something that, should it work will guarantee many a sleepless night. You ask a spectator to just THINK of ANY CARD. Then you ask them to just THINK of ANY NUMBER between 1 and 52. The choices are written on the back of a Joker and left in plain view for all to see. You propose that you will, through shuffling and cutting, position the card they thought of in the exact position they named. They seem unimpressed. That’s when you ask them to think back to the blue deck from way back before any of this began. That deck is removed and handed to a spectator. She counts cards to the table face up, one for each number. Everyone holds their breath as the last card is reached. When it is turned over…it is the thought of card!
Here is my review of this PDF, copied straight off my post in The Magic Cafe.
Most, if not all card men, I think, are intruiged by this plot. Lord knows how many methods there are out there, some gaffed, some stacked, some pure sleight of hand. Sadly, not a lot are very satisfying. Time after time, a new method comes out which boasts some cool new condition which makes it 'more impossible', but turns out to be 'more disapointing'.
So, how do I feel about this one? In a word: Satisfied.
Which is quite rare when you are dealing with this kinda plot.
The PDF is very well written, I didn't find any spelling or grammatical mistakes ;)
The design of the PDF was also very nice, making it a pleasure to read. The description of the construction of the gimmick and the presentation is decent.
Now, for the part you're all waiting for, the effect.
Dare I say it? The effect lives up to its description.
The best part would be the part where the spectator deals through the cards themselves. Gives it a very hands-off approach, which is the satisfying bit. All the work is done WAY before you get to the climax which is, to me, the best part about the whole thing as it lets you recount the events that have passed which allows you to heighten the impossibility of the whole effect.
The performance of it is rather simple. No knuckle busting as there is barely any sleight of hand.
So, what's the catch I hear someone yell?
The catch is that SOME might not like the way it works. Due to the nature of the gimmick, the trick is rendered angle sensitive. You can't be surrounded when you do this, hence this can only be done in a formal setting, or if your audience management is good. Forget about doing this 'on the street'. Besides, the trick needs a table anyway. Personally, I don't mind the angle problem as I feel the trick is strong enough for stand up or stage, which are the ideal situations in which you'd wanna perform this. David mentions that it's best performed at a seated table.
The method is very clever and sneaky, so for that, my hat off to you David.
The trick would take some time in front of the mirror to look good. Those who have it will know what I mean. But if you invest the time to practice this to make it smooth, you'd have a KILLER AACAAN routine that will fool audiences! Not only that, but you can also give the deck away as a souvenir!
The biggest relief for me is that there were no mathematics, no stack and most importantly, no indexes involved. I didn't mind sleight of hand, but was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it wasn't necessary.
All in all, I LIKE it! It reminds me of the Invisible Deck, presentation-wise. As you come out, introduce this blue deck and put it away. Then at the end of your set, you ask them to think of any card and any number. You write it down on a card and enlighten them about the different possibilites and combinations. You then reach for the blue deck and hand it to them and they count down and there it is. I think it doesn't get much stronger than that. No funny movements or no super-long by play before the reveal. That and the fact that you're using a deck that hasn't been touched since the beginning of the show, makes it a really strong piece of magical theatre.
Again, presentation is everything, but you already know that.
Oh yeah, and it's decently priced!
4 out of 5 from me.
Take care,
Logan
P.S. You can find it here
http://www.full52.com/