I had the good fortune to spend some quality time with Jon the week I spent at IBM in San Diego this past July. I found him to be friendly, generous, and very prolific when it comes to good solid magical thinking.

Jon was kind enough to send me one of his latest effects, and so I offer you, the reader, my humble opinion.

Double Back by Jon Allen
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Effect: The magician removes two pairs of cards from the deck, say two fives and two kings.
The two kings are both placed face down in the spectators hands, while the five's remain in the performers hand.
Instantly, the two pair switch places! The spectator has the fives, and the magician now holds possesion of the kings.
That alone is a miracle, but wait, there's more! Immediately the cards switch back to their original positions. It must be magic.

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Recognize the plot? You should. This is essentially Jon's take on Dr. Daley's last trick. But what a take it is.

The advantage that Double Back has is the fact that the switch is instant, and I do mean instant!
It looks so good I was fooling myself with it, often forgetting which pair I was holding at the moment. It's that visual.

The little manual Jon provides does explain the mechanics very well, complete with photographs to help you along. Anyone with even the smallest amount of magical experience will have the basics working smoothly in a very short time.
The moves used are all easy to do, and Jon provides an alternative handling for those who do not use the Elmsley Count.

My only complaint is that the instructions are printed in a very small type font, making reading a little labored for us folks over 40.

Does the effect use gaffed cards? Yes it does, and thankfully Jon provides Bicycle's.

Can the cards be fully examined? Yes and no. If your audience management is good, a switch to ungaffed cards should be fairly easy. Further, removing the pair from a deck you have already been using should pretty much take the heat off the cards anyway.

What more can I say? The effect is strong, the handling is pretty much idiot proof, and the effect instantly resets. A plus for you table hopping guys. Bottom line, I like. Highly recommended.

My rating:

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Available through your favorite dealer, or directly from Jon.
Suggested retail is $15.00

You can contact Jon directly at: jonallen@close-upmagician.com
To visit Jon's site: Click here!