Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Today’s post is a review of a PDF that my good friend Kyle MacNeill recently put on the market and he kindly donated a copy to me for review so as I promised him I will be doing a review of his PDF. I just want to point out two things before I start just because Kyle is friend of mine it doesn’t mean I will be nicer to him in my review. The second thing I want to point out is that I hate reading PDF`s because for the past few years I have learnt from real books and I find it difficult to read off a computer screen. Ok that’s my rant over now on to the review.
Name of product: Card Shark Issue 3
Available from: http://www.lybrary.com/card-shark-issue-3-p-132658.html
Quick Description: Welcome to issue 3 of Card Shark, the highly anticipated monthly card magazine that contains awesome tricks from magicians around the world. Issue 1 (which is currently on top of the ‘Hot list’, meaning it is the bestseller in the last three months!) contained 5 tricks, Issue 2 (also in the Hotlist) contained 5 tricks, but this Christmas special contain 8 great tricks from well – known young magicians.
- Edgy by Kevin Schaller – This could have easily been marketed as a single trick download, it is a very clever and visual prediction effect, where the card visually changes colour, and so does the face. (This first appeared in Kevin Schaller’s EBook and DVD Void).
- Jazz Club by John Gelasi – A version of Jazz Aces with a very nice twist. Filled with magic and it has a great ending. (This first appeared in John’s EBook: Fit for Kings).
- Quadratic 3.0 by John Gelasi – A very clever Fulves – Esque routine, where a largely hands off trick leads to a fantastic surprise ending. A maths trick on steroids. (This first appeared in me and John’s Ebook: 2 Can play at that Game).
- Elm – Zinser by John Gelasi – Loads of magic with four Kings and a selection, concludes with the classic Hofzinser Ace trick. Clever stuff as always. (This first appeared in me and John’s Ebook: 2 Can play at that Game).
- Fine Feathered Finks by John Gelasi – I like this one a lot! It is from his new upcoming Ebook Just Cards Vol.1 and it is a fantastic version of John Guasteferro’s Homage to Homing. A card flies from packet to pocket with no palming. (This will appear in his upcoming Ebook: Just Cards Vol.1).
- A Christmas Carol by John Gelasi – A brilliant Christmas themed trick with a kicker ending. This concludes John’s awesome submissions to this issue. (This is new).
- Return of the ‘Cycloptic Jacks’ by Kyle MacNeill – A version of Harry Lorayne’s One Eyed Jack Sandwich that is a real fooler – even to magicians. (This is new).
- Barrel Change by Lloyd Barnes – To wrap up this Christmas bananza, we include the complete PDF of Lloyd’s beautiful gimmickless change – The Barrel Change. (This appeared in Lloyd Barnes’ Ebook: Rebel).
As this is a PDF this product dosnt have a trailer but almost all the effects have demos that are included in the PDF.
Quality of the PDF: The quality of the PDF is really good and the photos that are used in the PDF are really well shot. 8/10
What effects are in this PDF?
The following section will be split into 4 sections for each trick.
1. Name of effect.
2. Description of effect
3. My honest opinion on the effect
4. Rating out of 10
Name of effect: Edgy by Kevin Schaller
Description of effect: This could have easily been marketed as a single trick download, it is a very clever and visual prediction effect, where the card visually changes colour, and so does the face. (This first appeared in Kevin Schaller’s Ebook and DVD Void).
My honest opinion on the effect: I played around with this trick for ages before I had the chance to perform it. I will be honest the few magicians I showed this to said it sucked and the spectators would work out how the change works but that wasn’t the case. I performed this for a friend of a friend who had never seen me do magic and probably had never seen real live close-up magic and the reaction he gave me was excellent. The gimmick is a really smart idea and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before. I have however made a few changes to the gimmick to make it better and also I have added in a huge convincer that I feel makes the effect more convincing.
Rating out of 10: 8/10
Name of effect: Jazz Club by John Gelasi
Description of effect: A version of Jazz Aces with a very nice twist. Filled with magic and it has a great ending. (This first appeared in John’s Ebook: Fit for Kings).
My honest opinion on the effect: this trick is a great trick however it doesn’t fit my performance style. With that said I have performed this a lot for people and they really liked it. I think if this trick fits your style then you will like it.
Rating out of 10: 5/10
Name of effect: Quadratic 3.0 by John Gelasi
Description of effect: A very clever Fulves – Esque routine, where a largely hands off trick leads to a fantastic surprise ending. A maths trick on steroids.
My honest opinion on the effect:
This trick is a really nice trick but yet again it is not really my style. I do think it would get great reactions and if it fits your style then you probably will like it.
Rating out of 10:4/10
Name of effect: Elm – Zinser by John Gelasi
Description of effect: Loads of magic with four Kings and a selection, concluding with the classic Hofzinser Ace trick. Clever stuff as always. (This first appeared in me and John’s Ebook: 2 Can play at that Game).
My honest opinion on the effect: This trick is really nice I have had a lot of fun playing around with this trick. I performed this for a few friends at a party we were at and it got a fantastic reaction.
Rating out of 10: 8/10
Name of effect: Fine Feathered Finks by John Gelasi
Description of effect: I like this one a lot! It is from his new upcoming Ebook Just Cards Vol.1 and it is a fantastic version of John Guasteferro’s Homage to Homing. A card flies from packet to pocket with no palming. (This will appear in his upcoming Ebook: Just Cards Vol.1).
My honest opinion on the effect: This trick is fantastic I really like it a lot and is one of the highlights of the PDF. However this isn’t as good as John Guasteferro`s Homage to Homing but it would be hard to top that trick. If you would like to do the trick without palming then this trick is perfect for you
Rating out of 10: 9.5/10
Name of effect: A Christmas Carol by John Gelasi
Description of effect: A brilliant Christmas themed trick with a kicker ending. This concludes John’s awesome submissions to this issue. (This is new).
My honest opinion on the effect: Although the description of this trick says it’s a brilliant Christmas themed trick you could change it a little bit for it to fit in with any time of the year. One of my ideas was for teenagers you could have the top 10 songs printed on the cards. This trick is also a highlight of the PDF for me.
Rating out of 10: 9.8/10
Name of effect: Return of the ‘Cycloptic Jacks’ by Kyle MacNeill
Description of effect: A version of Harry Lorayne’s One Eyed Jack Sandwich that is a real fooler – even to magicians. (This is new).
My honest opinion on the effect: I love most of Kyle’s work and he is really creative.when I saw he featured in this issue I just knew it would be good and guess what it’s not good it’s great. As the description says it is a magician fooler I showed this to one of my close magician friends while we were sessioning via the internet and it fooled the hell out of him. Also for laymen its great I did it for a friends sister who isn’t really a big fan of magic but this one fooled her bad and she now loves seeing me do magic. Another one of the highlights of the PDF
Rating out of 10: 9/10
Name of effect: Barrel Change by Lloyd Barnes
Description of effect: To wrap up this Christmas bananza, we include the complete PDF of Lloyd’s beautiful gimmickless change – The Barrel Change. (This appeared in Lloyd Barnes’ Ebook: Rebel).
My honest opinion on the effect: This card change looks really good and if you like learning changes then it will be for you. Just not my thing.
Rating out of 10: 3/10
Just to point out: The crediting in the PDF isn’t super great but it covers everything that should be said. Also for the price it is well worth the money there will be at least one thing you will use.
Overall rating: 8/10
Well guys thats it from me for this post.If you have any questions regarding the PDF be sure to contact me by commenting below or sending me a message via any of the ways listed below.
Thanks
Steven Blair :) Find me at:
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