I just received Dead Ringer today and have already starting playing around with it ... I love it! Yes, this spooky mentalism trick is perfectly themed for Halloween but I can see so many opportunities to performing this anytime of the year.

This is a really unique effect that is not another 'card trick' and you can do this anywhere, anytime, strolling or parlor with no reset time just gather everything up and you are ready to go. The nice thing about Dead Ringer is that you can do this to some of the same spectators another time with a different outcome. Another really nice thing about this trick is that your spectator basically does all the work, shuffles the photos, makes all the choices and all you have to do is develop and perfect your presentation. Yes, you do have to do a little something but no big deal, you will learn it in minutes even if you are new to magic.

The instructions are very clear and concise and the props you receive especially the photo cards are of very high quality, not flimsy and will last for many performances. However if you want, it is mentioned that you can ‘rough them up’ a bit to add a little character making them look old and worn which adds to the spookiness. This is a definite buy, well worth the investment. You will not only have fun performing it and making it your own but will really freak out your audiences making them believe you actually have psychic powers!

Dead Ringer by Jeff Stone is a small and pocketable bizarre magic routine which will allow you to spotlight your story telling skills. If you are not familiar with bizarre magic it is a branch of mentalism whereby the emphasis is not on flashy eye catching magic but on the ability of the performer to engage the mind and the imagination of the spectator with a story. The magic typically happens at the end and the presentations are usually woven around tales of the arcane, the strange and the mysterious.

Dead Ringer is typical of these types of effects and the methodology in play is not new to card magicians or bizarrists. What is a bit different with Dead Ringer is the education in the history and variations of using said method. Most often there is only one way to attain the outcome but Jeff Stone elucidates variations which not only can be applied to this particular effect but other presentations you may have that use similar methods. You are also given choice of you killers and victims. Perhaps one day you feel that the evil ones should be men and then another day you feel they should be women. You are given enough props to change up the presentation as you see fit.

What you receive are high quality photos and an amber colored vial which houses the skull shaped markers. Small and portable you can take your bizarre magic show on the road.

I don't give many things 5-stars. I almost NEVER give any magic effect 5-stars, to be certain. But Jeff Stone has knocked it out of the park on this one. For the money, and mental effort required to learn/perform, this one is a grand slam! Bizarre effects with clean, well-designed props have always been my kryptonite! If you are like me, this will be right up your alley.

Included in the small, hard plastic case is: 12 well-designed auntique portrait photos (think early 1900's or late 1800's), an old-fashioned brownish glass medicine bottle, a small black envelope, and 5 tiny skulls. There is also a card/label with a QR code which will lead you to a mini web site with a trailer video, instructions in PDF form, and some other little clever bits and amusements. The written instructions in the pdf are clear and (per his usual), Jeff explores all manner of weaknesses/strengths/quirks in terms of the effect and the history of the method used to deliver the effect. You really have access to some of his interesting thoughts. Jeff has performed the heck out of this one, and it shows.

If you do walk-around at Halloween, or at cocktail mixers or restaurants or darned near ANYWHERE, this is a great trick! No, it isn't entirely "in-the-hands", but only requires a tiny bit of table space to perform. It re-sets in all of 6 seconds. This would play for that LOUD table of patrons, or for that quiet, melancholy group of retired teachers. The 2nd-graders and below crowd? You might want to pass on this one for them...it is a twinge on the darker side.