Blank! DVD – Craig Petty
Available from World Magic Shop (http://www.worldmagicshop.co.uk) - £15.00/approx. $30

Wait a just a second. These are the strangest looking coins I’ve ever seen. This seems to be a Craig Petty DVD, and I distinctly remember other DVDs by Craig packed with tons of coin magic. I can only conclude that this DVD features Craig Petty’s evil twin, doing card magic with blank cards. It’s the only logical explanation. Now that I’ve settled that argument, I can get onto more important things, like reviewing “Craig Petty’s” newest DVD (Don’t worry, Craig’s evil twin. Your secret is safe with me).

I was extremely lucky to get an advanced copy of this DVD. Those closest to me know that card magic is one of my true loves, second only to a perfectly toasted smoked turkey sandwich (and since this is the Magic Café and not a deli, let’s gloss over that one). Like many other magicians, if I find one trick in a book or on DVD that I’ll use, that purchase was worth the money. If I find two tricks, that’s a tremendous value. Three or more? Forget about it! I’m happy to report, this DVD falls into the “Forget about it” category. Before I dive into the material, I also want to note that World Magic Shop has included the necessary blank cards that you will need for these effects. This really is pretty cool because it saves you: A.) the time and effort of gathering them up from the bowels of your magic trunk, or B.) the time and money from buying the gaffs from a magic shop. It really gives you no excuse not to watch this DVD with the cards in hand and trying the material out along with Craig’s evil twin. No, you can’t just be lazy and say your scooter was out of gas or your mom wouldn’t take you to the Mystic Marco’s Magical Manor of Mystery. You’ve got the cards when you bust open the DVD case. And that’s exactly what I did. Here’s what I saw:

- MISPRINT -
Four cards are shown blank on both sides. Then a back is printed. Then backs are printed on all of the cards. Then four faces are printed. Then they all go blank again on both sides. Then they disappear. Then the trick is over. Then you go onto the next one. Then…

The dilly: This is one I will do. It’s quick and visual. It’s got a Mental Photography feel to it. The vanish Craig’s twin uses in the performance on the DVD will only work if you’re seated. It’s based on a Pat Page idea. In the explanation, Craig’s twin gives some other solutions. Most likely, I won’t use the vanish. It doesn’t really make sense to me in the context of the routine. I may use a wallet switch as suggested, so the cards may be examined at the end. This is a really visual packet trick. Do it.

- FACE OFF -
Three cards that are blank on both sides are introduced. (Three blank cards, meet everyone. Everyone, meet the three blank cards.) A card is signed on the face by a spectator and the card is left sticking out of the pack. The pack is set aside, and you request that one spectator keep an eye on the selection jutting out of the center of the deck o’ cards. Another spectator chooses any one of the three blank cards and draws a picture on it. You explain what a transposition is. You then explain what a partial transposition is and then demonstrate this novel idea by causing the face of the signed card in the pack to change places with the blank face of the double blank card with a drawing. It’s possible that that is the most confusing thing I’ve ever written, but it makes sense when watching. The spectators find that the signed card that was sticking out of the pack now has a blank face. They turn over the blank card with a drawing on one side to find that the spectator’s signed card is now permanently fused to the other side. This must be the anniversary of something great because I feel like doing some sort of a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.

The dilly: Cool trick. It’s got a few bold elements that will fly by the spectators. It requires a table to set the deck down and the blank cards down, so for that reason it probably isn’t for me. I supposed with significant adjustments to the routine, it could be done in your hands and the spectator’s hands.

- THE SPADE TRICK -
You offer to demonstrate how a magic photocopier works. You show a card that is blank on both sides, and it is examined. To demonstrate how it works, you have a card chosen a returned to the middle of the pack. You place the blank card in the pack sticking out halfway. The spectator holds onto the edge of the card. You pull the deck away, claiming that you’ve printed a back. They see nothing. You explain that the back is on the back, which they find to be true when they turn the card over. You take the card back and wave it and visually the card prints on the face…BUT there’s a problem. While it’s the correct card, it’s not an exactly duplicate. The face is a poorly drawn replica of the card. You visually fix the problem, by snapping the card against the deck, showing it has turned into an exact replica of the chosen card. You then explain that you don’t really have two of the chosen cards because the blank card copier “stole the essence” of the chosen card. You spread the pack to show that the chosen card that was placed in the middle is now blank on both sides.

The dilly: This is another one that I could see doing. The bit about the poorly drawn face is right up my alley. I like the idea about having the copier “steal the essence” of the selection at the end. It uses the method of the previous phase as an additional kicker. It also helps in the reset. Craig’s evil twin even shows you an easy way to clean up at the end, so you can go onto other tricks with a regular pack of cards.

- MYSTIQUE -
You bring out four blank faced cards with regular backs. These may be thoroughly examined. You have a card selected and signed. This card is placed into your pocket to isolate it. You set the deck aside and only use the four blank faced cards. You print a duplicate of the signed card on the first blank card and place it aside. You do the same with the second, third and fourth, all extremely visual changes. You explain how that you now have five total signed cards as you retrieve the original from your pocket and add it to the stack. To conclude, you rub the duplicates across the original, and they all revert back to blank faced cards.

The dilly: This is the one that I will probably use more than any another. It could be tacked at the end of any routine with a signed card. Possibly a faux explanation for The Ambitious Card? Also, instead of placing the “printed” cards on the table, the cards could be placed sticking out of the breast pocket on the jacket. BAM. Converted to walkaround with no table. Lex Luthor, the greatest criminal mind of our time!

- SPEED CAMERA CARDS -
You explain that speed cameras are causing people to get banned from driving, like a driver’s license suspension. You introduce two cards that are blank on both sides to represent the speed cameras. (Two cards that are blank on both sides, meet everyone. Everyone, meet two cards that are blank on both sides. Overdone? Okay. My apologies.) A card is selected, signed and lost in the pack. Almost immediately the signed card jumps up between the blank cards that are on top of the pack. That’s three points against your license. You place the signed card sticking out of the middle of the pack and hold the speed camera cards in the other hand. You slide the signed card into the deck, and it jumps to the other hand between the speed camera cards. That’s another three points. You put the signed card out jogged from the deck again. You place the speed camera cards on top of the deck with the one on top down jogged. The card visually jumps up between the blank cards. This looks fantastic! Now that’s nine points on the driving record. For the last time, you remove the blank cards and place them on the table. You spread the pack and the spectator may place the card anywhere in the spread, and the card is pushed flush. You riffle the pack towards the blank speed camera cards. They flutter and separate. Unbelievably, there’s a face down card between them. You pick up the speed camera cards and spread on the table and show that the cameras actually caught every other card in the deck. The entire deck is between the blank cards and you are left holding one card, the signed selection. You explain that even though the cameras didn’t catch you the last time, the spectator still got banned. You flip the signed card over and the back has changed from blue to red and it says “BANNED” written across the back. The spectator has lost the license, but you can give it back to them for now. You reach into your pocket and pull out your wallet. You remove their signed card and return it to the spectator.

The dilly: This is a cool sandwich routine. The blank cards make it very easy to see the card between them. The phases flow nicely into each other, but I do think the routine is a tad long (not entirely unlike my reviews). Once the entire deck goes between the cards, I think I would end the routine. The color changing back is nice, but there are a few bits I don’t like. First, the “BANNED” card cannot be examined. Second, the card to wallet doesn’t fit entirely with the theme. Craig’s evil twin tries to justify it through the presentation, but it’s a little bit of a stretch. Third, the card that is removed from the wallet has the normal blue back, even though moments before, it was shown to have a red back and say banned across the back. Additionally, the “BANNED” card, which is supposedly their signed card, is sitting on the table while the actual signed card is removed from the wallet. Craig’s evil twin says that spectators don’t notice the discrepancy, but I found it pretty glaring.

I really feel that there’s a little too much going on at the end. That said, I love the sandwich portion of the routine, and the premise is great. One other complaint before I move onto the next trick. I found the explanation portion of this routine tough to watch. The teaching is clear, but unfortunately, Russell (who has been playing the part of the spectator during the explanations and adding insights) is playing with rubberbands throughout the explanation. This is all part of a joke where the payoff comes during the next explanation, but it is completely distracting during this routine. The joke would have been just as effective without all of rubberband distractions during this explanation and only in the next. Whoa, I’m not even sure I can see the ground from way up here on my high horse.

- WILD BLANK -
This is basically a wild card routine where four blank cards become duplicates of the selection. Briefly a card is chosen and set aside. You show four blank faced cards with regular backs. You rub the selection on the blank faces and all of the blank faces simultaneously turn into duplicates of the selection with no funny moves. Quick, simple and stunning.

The dilly: This is a beautiful packet trick. It’s a trick that Russell Leeds has created, and it’s a winner. One moment the cards are seen to be blank, and the next moment, they are duplicates of the selection. For me, the downfall of this trick is the reset. When I’m working, if I can’t toss it back in my pocket ready to go instantly or with a casual one-second adjustment, I can’t justify carrying it around with me. I don’t want to risk bringing it out without it ready to go, and I refuse to disappear to some corner of the room after every group that I entertain. If I can work out a way to casually reset it quickly in front of the audience, I will definitely consider performing this one, but until that, I don’t foresee myself taking this one with me to a gig.

- CLONE CARD -
The clone card is introduced. It is shown to be a blank faced card. You set it off to the side. Three cards are chosen and laid out in a row next to the clone card. You tap the first selection against the clone card. You use the card to flip the clone card and show that it has made a duplicate. You set the selection back at its spot. You proceed to do this with all of the selections. Then you show that you can do it with more cards in the deck, but when you tap the clone card against the deck, you flip the clone card to find that it says “Too Many Cards”.

The dilly: This is a cool trick. It is pretty easy to do, but due to the nature of the trick, it must use a table. Even though this isn’t practical for working conditions, this is one that I might consider doing casually.

As I was viewing this, I had an idea. While Craig’s evil twin mentions that he likes to go into this from an ordinary, shuffled deck in use, I realized you could add to the kicker that would include the full deck, if you made the trade-off of using a gaffed deck. I’ll briefly describe the idea here. Once you view this routine on the DVD, you’ll be able to understand how to make it work. The routine would start basically the same and would continue till the point where you tap the clone card on the deck at the end. However, when you turn over the clone card, instead of it saying “Too Many Cards”, it is a 52 on 1 card, where you have cloned every card in the deck onto the clone card. The three selections are blacked-out on the 52 on 1 card. Simon Lovell has a routine where the 52 on 1 card is produced, the two previous selections are blacked-out with a marker, and the deck is shown to have gone blank. This is essentially the same idea here. You show that you were a little too ambitious and not only has this broken your clone card, it also broke the deck. You spread the deck to show that the entire deck is now blank. This is routine would be enhanced if you were doing card tricks with a normal deck prior, putting the deck away and doing another trick or simply waiting for someone to ask that you do one more. Basically, it’s Simon’s kicker from his routine on the end of this routine. If it helps, you can call me Dr. Frankenhince.

BONUS ROUTINE::WIPEOUT:
You bring out a deck of cards. A card is named from the spread, and it is removed from the deck and placed aside. You’ll handle the selection last. Three other cards are selected to demonstrate. You show the three demonstration cards have different faces and blue backs. You wave your hand over the three cards, and they all go blank on both sides. You then move onto the deck. You start with the back. You rub over the blue back and it goes blank on the top of the deck. You spread through to show that all of the cards have gone blank on the back. You turn the deck over to show that the faces of disappeared too. Last you show the selection. Flip it over and have the spectator wave over the card. The face disappears. You pick up the card and wave it, and the back disappears, leaving you with 52 cards that are now blank on both sides.

The dilly: This is Craig’s evil twin’s take on Mental Photography (without rough and smooth). I imagine that this was considered a bonus routine because they did not include all of the cards you would need for this one. You need to gather a bunch of gaffed cards and assemble a gaffed deck. World Magic Shop could have assembled the deck and sold this as an individual trick (they still could). This is a cool routine, and it resets in a few seconds. A trick that could have been marketed separately and an easy reset: now that’s what I call a BONUS!

BONUS ROUTINE::BACK TO THE FACTORY:
Three cards are selected and set aside. You show two cards that are blank on both sides. You cause the two blank cards to print duplicates of the first card only on the faces. Each of the blank cards is shown to have made a copy of the card on one side. This is repeated for second and the third selection. You pass your hand over the photocopy cards and cause them to both go blank on both sides again. You then give the spectator a chance to “photocopy” the deck by waving the blank cards over the deck. It doesn’t work, and they flip over the blank cards and see that it now says “Out of Order” on the opposite side. You turn the deck and spread to show that it caused the cards to all go blank.

The dilly: I like the bit where each of the three cards get copied on the two cards. This is pretty clever. The bit with “Out of Order” is a nice touch too, but the blank deck portion isn’t all that clean. A certain clean-up is necessary that isn’t needed in other tricks. I’ll most likely stick with those routines.

(It must be springtime because I found an) EASTER EGG::DOCTOR WHO CARD TRICK:
Despite what the name suggests, this is a trick with a Doctor Who theme (more on this in “The dilly”, yo!). You introduce a small packet of cards with red backs (Small packet of cards with red backs, meet…nevermind). You explain that three cards are Jokers, one is blank on the face. The blank card will represent the TARDIS (the Doctor’s space and time-ship). This card is placed face down on the table. You show the other cards are Jokers. The Jokers represent the Daleks (the Doctor’s enemies). One spectator will play the part of the Doctor and is given a “Sonic Screwdriver”, an instrument to defeat evil (but it looks to me like it may be a pen with a light on the top, but I digress…). You lay one Dalek face down on the table and hold the other two face-to-face in your hand. The Doctor uses the “Sonic Screwdriver”/"instrument to defeat evil" to blast the face-to-face Daleks. You turn one over to reveal that they are now blank. Success! You flip over the Dalek that you left on the table and show him still to be a Joker. You then lay him back face down on the table, the Doctor blasts this Dalek with the “Sonic Screwdriver”/"pen with a light", and the card is flipped and is seen to now be blank too. Now that the Daleks have been eliminated, it is time for the Doctor to fly away in his TARDIS. You confess that the previously tabled blank card doesn’t look like a real TARDIS (which looks like a police box on the show). The Doctor/spectator is told to demand the TARDIS, the card is flipped and a crudely drawn TARDIS/police box is now on the card. But this is not good enough. The Doctor demands a real TARDIS, you flick the drawn card and a miniature metal police box falls to the table, and the card is now blank!

The dilly: The spectators really enjoyed this routine. They were laughing throughout the routine. I’m sure children would love the routine too, that’s assuming that the children have any earthly idea what Doctor Who is! Since I did not, I was completely lost with the Doctor Who references. Truthfully, had I not spent ten minutes learning about Doctor Who on Wikipedia, my description probably would have read “This is a Doctor Who routine, where some stuff happens relevant to Doctor Who. End.” But, I care. I really do.

I could be wrong (it happened once before, but I actually thought I was wrong…), but I don’t think Americans are all that well versed in Doctor Who. Americans could make the routine less specific, and I think it would play really well for kids in the US.

IN CLOSING (Yes, so soon!):

There’s a lot of quality material on this DVD. Craig’s evil twin has PACKED it with two hours of footage. The teaching is clear and like their other DVDs, there’s a “Sleights” section, which details all of the sleights used in the routines.

Craig and the folks at World Magic Shop have another winner here. As usual, the material is top-notch, and like their past releases, I will easily add two or three items into heavy rotation. That’s so much Craig Petty material that I could probably start to fill-in as Craig. Possibly for an evil twin role, that I’ve been working to create a need for the better part of this review?

Recommended!

Thanks,
-AH

Thanks, Adam...Now get some sleep after all that typing.. ..
This will be in my Xmas stocking soon...

Once again Adam you have proven that you can write the funniest review on the planet. By the way I thought you weren't going to tell anyone about my card loving evil twin - I trusted you!!!!

Seriously, I am glad you liked the material - the stuff on the DVD is stuff I use all the time - really commercial. I love your idea about using mistique as a blow off to an ACR routine - GREAT THINKING. I am off to one of my residencies now and I am going to try that out. Thanks

By the way - did you get my pm??

Speak soon

Craig

Craig,

Thank you for the compliment.

I know I promised, but out of respect for card magic brethren, I thought it was time that the truth be told.

I got a PM from you a month ago...

Thanks,
-AH

Hi Adam,

Sent you one a lot more recently than that - I will pm you again tonight.

Thanks again for your review

Craig

Craig Petty.

Craig Petty Craig Petty Craig Petty Craig Petty.

Might as well get used to it, this name is here to stay. So we all knew the guy can handle his coins. Just when you have finally learned a small fraction of Craig's awesome coin material, now he goes and puts out an equally commercial collection of magic with cards. More specifically, blank cards.

As Adam said (and he pretty much said it all) Craig in fact does have an evil twin. I know some people on this forum will think we are joking about this but I can assure you if you watch all of Craig's material and realise the short space of time he has released it in, you will be forced to come to the same conclusion.

So the material itself? Very original plots and it all looks as Adam described so thoroughly above. Wipeout is a gem of rare finding and it did surprise me that Craig felt this was a 'bonus'. I thought it was one of the most eye catching routines on the disc. Perfect example of how to apply Daryl's concept of "effectless method" or let their assumptions fool themselves.

Misprint is a wonderful reason to consider doing one packet trick in the repertoire. Mystique and Face off both offer fascinating plots and strong moments of magic. Having picked out a few favourites, all the material is very workable and offers plenty of value as usual with Craig. No matter what are the strengths of your sleights set, there will be something that suits you.

Having most of the cards included is fantastic (only some bonus items require additional cards). I actually got a lot more involved in the disc because of this and immediately wanted to try things Craig was teaching.

What else can be said? Another great value and high quality Craig Petty release! For strolling workers who require a variety of solid, practical material and enough to keep them going for repeat gigs, Craig's series of excellent, inexpensive discs is a godsend.

Cheers,
Al

Thanks so much for your review Al.

I am really glad you enjoyed the DVD. I really think that everyone will enjoy the material on the DVD. Blank cards have been ignored for too long and I am trying to change this, one person at a time.

Wipeout is a great routine that I pretty much carry with me all the time. We did consider releasing it as a seperate item for a while but we wanted this project to be really good value for everyone (hence the reason for supplying the cards with the DVD).

Anyone, thanks again Al

Craig

Looking forward to this. Craig's other dvd products are all highly recommended from me. (I never thought that he'd convince me to perform with a coin bag. But I do and to great audience reactions).

Unfortunately Blank still seems to be on Pre-order. Looking forward to the website being updated to say that this new dvd is in stock.

...also looking forward to Craig's mentioned e-book (mentioned on split happens dvd...I think). Craig - any news on this?

Looking forward to picking this up, not long now I hope till they are sent out?
craig, how many of the routines can be done strolling without a table?
cheers
matt

Hey Matt,

How's it going?

Good question about which routines don't require tables, lets see:


Misprint - No Table Required

Face Off - Need's a table but with a little thought could be easily adapted to be used without a table. In fact I have performed it this way a few times. Let me know if you need help working out how to do this (but you shouldn't have any problems)


The Spade Trick - No Table Required

Mistique - No Table Required


Speed Camera Cards - No Table Required. The second to last phase does require a table but this can either be missed out or you could again adapt it for walkaround conditions.

Wild Blank - No Table Required


Doctor Who Card Trick - No Table Required


BONUS ROUTINES


Wipeout -You need a table for this routine.


Back To The Factory - You need a table for this routine.


Clone Card - You need a table for this routine.

Also, any routine that does use a table DOES NOT need a close up mat. SO these routines can work in bar and restaurant environments (which is what they were developed for).

Hope this answers your question Matt. Let me knowhow you get on with the routines!

Craig

Hi Sorry I missed your post - my bad!!!

Glad your liking the coin bag - I love the prop and to me it feels so natural.

Anyway!!!

I have a couple of book projects in the works. One is an actually printed book on a subject you would never guess in a million years. The other is an e-book which has been on the back burner for the last few months but hopefully I will get round to finishing it soon. Keep checking the Café and I will keep you posted.

As for Blank, I am as exciting about it coming out as anyone. Trust me, it will be worth the wait!

Thanks again

Craig

Thanks for the answers craig!
looking forward to it mate........
cheers
matt

I've meant to post on this DVD for awhile but have been just crazy busy. There are some really nice routines on here that are worthy of adding to your repertoire. My favorites were Speed Camera Cards and the Wild Blank routines. SCC is a bit longer but has some surprising sequences in it (it's the sandwich effect). The Wild Blank routine is a bit more visual and quick and is the one that stood out to me for doing at the bar. Overall, though, quality routines using blank cards.

Cool

Just wanted to chime in with my 2 pence worth.

Although perhaps everyone on the Café knows that I am biased towards Craig's material I just wanted to say that this material really is top notch. I have seen Craig perform all these routines live at one point or another and they really do kill. This is magic designed to be performed to real people.

My Fave routines are Wild Blank, Face Off, Misprint and the Dr Who Card Trick. I also love Wipe Out and agree with Al that Craig is mad not to have released this as a seperate effect - it's that strong.

So there you have it, less of a review and more of a endorsement. This DVD is highly recommended.

Russell

Well my pre-order has finally(!) arrived..
My mini review as follows:
Negatives:
The naturally backlit windows in the performance are not good (like in banding around - a quality release by Craig's mate Russell). Next time WMS, get the pub/bar to buy some blinds!
All routines use gaff cards (doh! of course they do.. I'm struggling to find any constructive points here - but you can't use a friend's impromptu fluffy old deck..)
Positives:
Varied, interesting routines with a plot.
Most suitable for walkaround.
Relatively easy.
Varied, interesting routines with a plot (yes, I know that's twice I've mentioned it now).
Sleights section - I knew all the sleights here, but they were well taught (even a quick run through a DL). I also find that different performers teaching moves sometimes allow me to learn a bit of finesse, perhaps a tip that helps with a move; so well done Craig for going to the effort.
Overall:
I'm becoming a WMS convert. A fantastic - sorry, a FANTASTIC - buy for the money. Material I WILL use, Craig's performing style is likeable & charasmatic.
Consider £10-20 for one effect, compared to what you get here. 'Nuff said.

Thanks Russ, Doug and Puggo.

I am glad reviews are coming in and cannot wait to see what people think.

We really wanted to make this DVD value for money which is why we jammed the DVD with effects and included a sleight section as well as supplying the cards. This way the DVD is accessible to even a beginner as they can learn the sleights from the sleights section and then they have the cards to perform the routines as well.

Most importantly the material on this DVD is stuff I do perform or a regular basis. Until I shot the DVD I had performed Wild Blank much (as this was Russell Leeds effect). However I now perform it all the time. What I have done is to use business card stickers stuck onto the front of Blank cards. When someone asks foe a business card a bring out one of these cards and show it and then bring out the packet of blank cards. I comment that I only have one business card and then perform the move and BANG, all the Blank cards are business cards and I hand them out to everyone on the table - works really well.

If anyone has any performing stories regarding the routines on this DVD please let me know.

Thanks again

Craig

Good detailed review Adam, but just to let you know, the idea of tagging on a deck and having that go blank to a packet cloning routine is not new. I did it to Peter Duffie's 'Clone Zone' packet effect and called the routine "Killer Clone Zone". It was briefly marketed but can now be found in my book "Magic From The Overground" and also demonstrated and explained on my "Clever Card Magic" DVDs. Peter's original "Clone Zone " routine (which is very clever) is described in my earlier book on packet tricks "Small But Deadly". The cloning theme has been visited by a few of course, Steve Tucker and Mike Close to name a couple. The 52 on 1 card in conjunction with a blank deck was also used by Mark Leveridge (the routine may have been called The Virus Card). The packet cloning idea I took full circle and recently made available Peter's idea again but with animals on the cards (seems more logical for cloning. )

Those that like Speed Camera Cards might also like to check out Mark Leveridge's "Cars Deck" where he also uses a couple of blanks as speed cameras, but supplies some camera stickers too for one of his routines with the cards.

The spectators signature appearing on various blank cards sounds a little like Stephen Tucker's "The Xerox Effect" Vol. 19. no.8 of Apocalypse magazine(1996)although Steve later marketed a variant called something else.

Blank cards turning into copies of a selection is a plot visited by Peter Duffie several times (Peter certainly hasn't ignored blanks) and a wild card idea with business stickers on the cards I recall being done by Roberto Giobbi at a British Close Up Magic Symposium some years ago.

Four cards blank both sides becoming printed with back and fronts has been approached a few times too, Rudy Hunter's "Printer's Demon" (over 10 years ago) and Phil Goldstein's devilishly clever "Oomph" where each face is a different one. My own approach was "Something From Nothing" which I consider a bit whimsical (part of the packet trick treasures series, it's paired up with Water To Wine).

So you can see I had a slight feeling of Deja Vu in reading the review. I am not suggesting there is anything untoward here, great minds think alike and plots become somewhat common and interpreted in different ways. It sounds a good compilation of material and having the cards included makes it great value and a good introduction to those who hadn't thought of using blank cards in their card magic. They are oddities which naturally arouse interest amongst lay folk.

Hope to see Craig do some of this stuff at Blackpool. Will you be there Craig? Some of these might be woth giving a mention when I write the sequal to "Small But Deadly".

Paul.

Has anyone in the US received their pre-order yet?

thanks

Hey Paul.

Thanks for your message.

I would love to meet you at Blackpool. I will be on the World Magic Shop Stand during the day and in the Ruskin in the evening and would love to show you any of the material off the DVD. On the DVD there is an extensive credit section plus myself and Russell Leeds discuss many of the inspirations for the routines during the explanations.

Virus Card by Mark Leverage is one of my favourite routines ever. I remember many years ago Mark frying me with the routine and begging him to sell it to me there and then. Also regarding his Park of Cars, I brought a set of these when they just came out and although the idea does not appeal to me, I think it is fantastic and I actually recommend looking into these to perform the speed camera routine with. I have been performing the Speed Camera routine for years and I like the fact I can get into it with just a regular deck of cards and a couple of cards in my wallet but if you are willing to dedicate a full pack of cards to the routine then his set of cards is brilliant.

Although I have seen Oomph and Printers Demon by inspiration for Misprint is Darwin Ortiz excellent Museum Piece which I fell in love with the first time I read it. When I watched him perform it it looked as good in person as I imagined it would do from reading it in his book.

I must admit to never having heard of The Xerox Effect but a quick look in my 4th Volume of Apocalypse fixed that. What a great trick, the idea is the same (in that signatures are duplicated on various cards). Steve's routine seems more like a packet trick to me (there is no deck in play) whilst mine uses a deck of cards and four other cards which are used in conjunction with the deck. Also the methods and the visuals are totally different. Thanks though Paul for pointing this routine out to me, I think I will have a go at this and see how it plays. It amazes me that however much I read Apocalypse and study it I will always find great routines that I have missed time and time again.

ANyway thanks for your comments Paul and if you get the DVD I hope you enjoy the routines. If not please come and say hello at Blackpool, I'll buy you a pint and we can discuss how wonderful Blank Cards are!!!!

Catch you soon

Craig