Aldo Colombini has been publishing magic like crazy over past few years. Tricks with cards, coins, rope, you name it… Aldo has a product for you. What’s perhaps more interesting is the sales model he has chosen to distribute his work: everything is just $10. This includes both DVDs and eBooks. I’ve been a fan of some of the stuff that Aldo has put out in the past, so I thought it was finally time to revisit some of his creations.

Baroque Cards is a 26 page eBook featuring 27 effects. There are no illustrations and the descriptions are very concise. As with most of Aldo’s work, there are no difficult moves required for these effects. If you are comfortable with Elmsley Counts, Double Turnovers, Ascanio Spreads, etc. you should have no problem with any of the routines. Here are a few of the highlights:

Allegro- This is one of those tricks where you deal the cards in a certain way and then reveal a magical result. The method is really almost non-existent. You just follow the procedure and it works. If you were able to throw in a few false shuffles/cuts, this could really be played up to be a lot more than it is.

Fuga- This is a verison of the Jerry Sadowitz’s “Whispering Queen.” Three cards are selected and placed on the table. The magician “listens” to the Jokers who tell him the name of each of the cards. To finish, the cards on the table are revealed to be the Jokers and the selections are found in the magician’s pocket. This isn’t bad, but it does require that you add three extra Jokers to your deck.

Aria- An Ace Assembly based on a J.K. Harman effect that starts with the four Aces legitimately placed on the table in the standard T-formation. It features an interesting, easy way to steal each Ace from its packet that I’d never seen before. While the packets must come back to the deck for the switches to take place, the sequence’s ease of execution may make it appeal to some.

Toccata- A card is selected and lost in the pack. The top card is turned over to reveal the King of Hearts, not the selection. The King is placed on the table. The magician counts off one card for each letter as he spells H-E-A-R-T-S. These cards are given a down-under deal to arrive at one card: it’s the King of Hearts that was supposed to be on the table. The card on the table is revealed to be the selection. What you see is what you get here. If the effect appeals to you, the method is a piece of cake.

Minuetto- A spectator cuts to two cards. One represents the value and one represents the suit of a hypothetical third card. The deck is spread on the table and this card appears face up. I think this is a pretty cool effect. If you are familiar with Steve Beam’s “Easy on the Curry” from one of his Semi-Automatic Card Tricks books, this is very similar. Aldo’s version does end clean with no reversed cards left in the deck at the end.

Vivace- This is an outstanding effect that I’ve been performing in a different form for a couple of years now. The spectator cuts the deck into four piles. The magician places a King on top of each one. Magically, the cards all assemble to the top of one packet. Then, the spectator turns over the top card of each of the four packets. It turns out, he cut to the four Aces. This is easy to do, powerful magic. While Aldo’s routine adds only a little something to the original, it is a nice improvement.

Capriccio- This is another great effect that is perfect for walk-around. A card is freely selected, signed by a spectator, and replaced in the deck. Four cards are taken and on the back of an indifferent card the magician places a sticker. One at a time, stickers appear on the other cards. At the end only one card remains with a sticker…you guessed right…the signed selected one! Aldo has taken a David Acer routine and simplified it to create a cute little effect that would play equally well for children or adults. I really love this trick!

If you usually like Aldo’s material, you’ll surely find a few items of interest here. If you’re not a fan of Aldo’s style of magic, this won’t convince you to change your mind. The effects are easy to do but most aren’t blockbusters. That’s to be expected in a $10 eBook featuring 27 effects. On the other hand, there are a few stand out items that make this more than worth the $10 asking price. I think you’ll find this book to be a very good value.

Recommended.

- Available for $10 from http://www.lybrary.com

For more magic reviews and information on my magic, visit http://www.CalebWilesMagic.com

I am a big fan of this book as well. Vivace and Capriccio are outstanding!

Aldo also did a dvd of this book (also $10). Great material.

Yeah, there's lots of good magic in Baroque Cards. I've long been a fan of Mr. Aldo Colombini

I have Aldo Colombini's 'Cards dot com','Fireworks' and 'Final Cut'. They are very good books in my opinion. Will probably get this one too. I cannot find the book 'What's up Deck' though. It isn't available as an e-book at WildColombini.com.

-octave

Hopefully What's Up Deck will become an e-book. I am a huge fan of Aldo Colombini and What's Up Deck is not only my favorite book from him, it is among my all time favorite books period!

अहिंसा

Vlad

I have a copy of Baroque Cards (with the glossy covers) that I purchased from Aldo when he lectured at our club in Providence RI. An excellent book. The DVD covers some (but not all) effects and makes a nice add-on to this work.

This is one of my favorites in his large catalogue. The work on Ose's Addition (I think it's in this one) is top notch.