First of all: EPIC NAME, RIGHT!? Haha this is an obvious play on words poking a friendly finger at "The Devil's Picture Book." I just love the name of this.


Now to the serious stuff. This is Matt Mello's newest release. Matt sent me this idea about a week ago and I fell in love with it. This is such an amazingly, stupidly simple routine but with an extremely powerful effect on laymen. Everyone I've performed it for has thoroughly enjoyed the effect.

The Effect is this: A deck of cards is shuffled by a spectator. The spectator then deals the cards into two piles thinking a positive "yes" as they deal one pile and a negative "no" as they deal another pile.These piles are dealt at random until the deck is exhausted. The "yes" pile then gets placed into the spectators pocket and the "no" pile gets held under the table. The spectator is then to try to guess the color of the top card of the pile under the table. They succeed. They try again... and succeed. And again. And again. And again. They are continually naming the exact color of the top card! This lasts for 15 cards or so then the rest of the pile is spread to show how random the cards were dealt! The "yes" pile is then taken out of their pocket and there is an amazing kicker found with that packet.

My thought:
This is BRILLIANT. As with all of Matt's stuff, this method is driven by simplicity and I absolutely love it. As I was reading Matt's original explanation he sent me, I had no clue how the effect was going to come together. I was so confused and then the sheer genius of it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is some good stuff! Matt came up with the effect after loving and using Hector Chadwick's "Reds and Blacks." Which is a routine I have also loved and used for quite a while. The only downside to Hector's effect is it required a quick memorization. This effect requires absolutely no memorization and is every bit as fair and powerful as Hector's.

As with all of Matt's PDFs, it is written very clearly and very laid back making it very easy to follow and understand.


I think I have to rate this as one of the best effects Matt has come up with. As a matter of fact, I BEGGED him to release it for more than $5, but being the generous man he is, he told me I was being greedy (as I was) and that he HAD to offer it to the community for only $5. He wants you all performing it. He has you guys in mind!


I will HONESTLY rate this a 9/10. It is superb.

Get it. I promise a grin will sneak onto your face as you read the explanation and you will get more than your money's worth out of it.

Where?

Directly from Matt!

"You can purchase this PDF directly from myself by sending $5 to mtricks16@aol.com or mattmello88@gmail.com through paypal. "

I just purchased this and Matt was able to send it over rather quickly. I took a quick read, and as Maddy stated I was wandering how it was going to come together. Then I read it again and thought to myself, "This is great! This is going to go over beautifully". Again- Matt takes a simple concept and creates a beautiful effect. The Devils Coloring Book falls directly in line with that statement. There is nothing knuckle busting about this routine and will look like a miracle in the spectator's eyes along with uplifting their confidence. As Matt suggests and briefly explains in the PDF you can go even further with this using psychological suggestion and have the spectator try to guess the suit of the card after they name the color once they have already named correctly the color of a bunch of cards.

I feel this is definitely worth $5.00 and can't wait to try it out!

RNK

Thanks, guys! I've recieved some questions that I figured I should answer here.

There are no marked cards used. No peeking or sleights. You face away the entire time as they mix the cards, have them put one pile into a jacket pocket, and sandwich the other pile between their hands. With all their cards hidden away and your hands truly empty, you can now turn around, reach into their jacket and immediately start calling out the colors of the cards. I personally prefer to have the spectator name the color each time, before revealing the surprise at the end. As RNK stated, I typically like to go a little further after they get the color, and see if they can guess the suit, or if it's a high or low card, etc.

To give you some further information, there is also no palming of cards into their pocket or switching of cards. Nor are there bumps or nicks on the card to feel inside the pocket.

I've performed this at parties with a borrowed deck of cards, and have used it in restaurants with my own deck. The reactions are always killer! And the spectator gets all of the credit, which I love.

If you have any questions that you think might expose, feel free to shoot a PM!

Matt

Well played matt - this is very good indeed...

would play out nicely with negative and positive words written on blank card stock too...you'd lose out on any extra hits that you would get with say a direct hit of a held up playing card, but it would be fun to do nethertheless...

Hi All,

Just finished reading the manuscript and have to agree with the comments above... simple, direct, great ending. Do you need more?

Regards, Steve

This is another of Matt's out-of-the-box thinking. He seems to have a knack for putting his own creative spins on methods, ideas and presentations.

Another in the collection of winners from Matt.

Greg

Matt is the only person I know who countinally creates 5$ that I know I will ACTUALLY use.

I just finished reading this. It's Matt's handling of a classic plot in magic/mentalism. It is very cleverly disguised and Matt elevates it from the original effect. The original effect is a stunner, but Matt's handling/ideas make it more mysterious in my opinion. I know I'll be using this handling from now on. It says impromptu/spectator shuffles which is true, but there is a slight set up and the shuffle is a specific kind. Overall, for $5 you really can't beat this deal.

Thanks for the compliments, guys! And to answer another question I've been getting, yes, as with most of my stuff, this will be available on Penguin. I added it yesterday morning to my log, and it usually takes a couple of days to activate. I will post the link the moment it's live!

Matt

I received this a few days ago and having been playing with it. Wow! This is really really strong. I am drawn to effects that are simple (both in method and effect) and leave a powerful impression on the spectator. This effect qualifies for both. It really improves on all the thinking of similar effects before it. It is a ridiculous steal at $5. Based on all the above it is a 10/10. Well done !

Come on Matt, really? You should slow down to make us feel better.

It sounds excellent. I agree with Greg's comment.

Sean

Seems like being (sometimes) late to the party but this is nice as well... I love Matt's idea to use the spectator's pockets. If you have it, reread it, if not you can't do anything wrong by buying this release as well. Jan

Thanks, guys!

The Devil's Coloring Book is now available on Penguin!

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/4591

Sounds interesting. I am confused about one thing. Do you need to have them put the cards into a jacket pocket? Or can they just hold them under that table as in the earlier description of the effect. Or just between the palms of their hands etc. Working in the tropics I am hard pressed to find many wearing jackets. How about shirt pockets?

Thanks.

Hi Barry,

Yes, you could do it in a shirt pocket, and I would personally only do it that way if I were you. I only use this with someone wearing a jacket pocket, because I like the fairness of it. Or you could have them put one pile into a purse, as long as they don't mind you reaching in and out. You can then reveal the bonus at the end with a pile they can hold in their shorts/pants pocket.

Must be nice working in the tropics! But it definitely has some performance drawbacks. Still, I think you should be fine! And if you have any other questions, shoot me a PM.

Matt

Barry, you could also hold the pile under the table or behind your own back.

I like this a lot. Well done Matt, nice idea😄
Best
Sean

Nothing I can add that hasn't already been said. A solid routine that will fool people badly.