This is very very good. Drew did a good job of breaking down the contents. I will use the invisible book test right away. But the first ACAAN is my absolute favorite. Simple and beautiful. Btw, ordered from Penguin this morning and was able to download right away - feel bad for the guys still waiting. It will be worth the wait.

Been wanting to dive into this for a while now. Finally sat down to watch it.

I love this project. Those who are familiar with the original and have used it will know how powerful this material is.

Gerard's Invisible Book test is fantastic. It flips the Hoy principle on its head. It very much reminds me of something Chan Canasta would have performed. It's bold, but certainly packs a punch. The plus of this version over others is that you don't have to touch the book before the effect at all. Genuinely any two random books can be selected and used for this. Gerard presents a very nice mindreading process which helps the spectator forget about the book all together. I really like this idea as it is theatrically very appealing and should implant a false memory in the minds of the spectator. It's a nice routine.

Gerard then walks through a very simple presentational idea which transforms the traditional Hoy book test into a drawing dupe. It's a minor change, but I think it's still a valid one to include. However, there's not my revilutionary here. It's the traditional effect just with a minor change. Fine to include in a project like this one. Definitely couldn't have been released on its own.

Now for my favorite part: the ACAAN's

The first ACAAN method Gerard teaches uses a single, ungimmicked and shuffled deck of cards. They think of a card from the pack, they shuffle the deck, they name any number. They fairly deal down to the number, their card is at that number. It's SUPER bold. Like... SUPER bold. But it works. Gerard says he has tried this out in sort of test conditions by testing the spectator at the end and they have passed the test proving that they bought into it 100%. I would say this requires the right type of spectator to perform it for though. Also it wouldn't be good to use as an opener or a closer, but after you've established credit as a mindreading, this would be a great inbetween effect.

The second ACAAN is my favorite. It is bold as well, but in a different vain than the first. In this one, you use two decks of cards. One stays boxed. The spectator freely names any card and then selects a random number by cutting off cards from the second deck. They unbox the deck which has been on the table the whole time, count to their number, and find their freely named card. I LOVE this one. It is bold, but not too bold for me. It has a very nice convincer that makes it seem like you're truly doing everything fairly. And honestly, I don't think anyone would ever question you about it. Again though, I'm not sure I'd do this under test conditions or as an opener as it requires a certain level of trust which isn't acquired immediately from a magician haha.

All in all, this project has 4 very solid ideas. I would say all of them work better if you've already established a bit of trust, and they all work better if you're a good actor (just like the original.) I'm very happy with this and definitely am not disappointed. You get your money's worth for sure.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions! I'll try my best to answer.

Madison

I liked this download too, all good ideas. The book test is a nice variation for when you haven't been able to look at the books at all.

One thing to consider about the second ACAAN is that it's probably not the best idea if the person names one of the first couple of cards.... Obviously if they name the first card (or last one for that matter), different effect. Perhaps the second too, with a DL. But the 3rd,4th, or 5th is probably a little sketchy. But that is probably a minor issue and a good performer should be able to jazz this anyway...

Great point! It's good to just be aware of that. You could always spell their name if it's in a close enough position to get away with it.

Also you could add the jokers to the top of the deck and have them remove those. That gives you another 2 card leeway. Just being aware of these options will make it simple.

Madison

Thanks for the review and your ideas Madison. Was very happy Gerard agreed to release this! and believe me when I tell you it is the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for some more brilliant material from him sooon.

About this BOLD move for the first ACAAN method:

I'm not asking for the secret, but how difficult are the sleights involved? And what level of ability with card magic is required to do this effect?

No sleights - just balls of steel

Best,

Drew

Somehow I missed this when it came out. I have been doing the Hoy book test forever.