Pseudo Pickpocket

Christopher Congreave; Gary Jones

(Based on 2 reviews)
This is a brilliant and commercial plot that Chris Congreave and Gary Jones have been performing at their gigs to fantastic spectator reactions. Imagine being able to get a signed, or a merely thought of card, into a spectators wallet. For the professional there is also a method of getting your contact details into a spectator's wallet! Pure gold to the working pro.

CC Pickpocket

A card is signed and lost in the pack. Two aces are placed in to the spectators wallet, and you tell them you will pick their pocket. The wallet is placed where you can't possibly reach it...or can you? The aces are visibly produced. Then the spectator removes their wallet thinking the aces will be there... wrong, it's the signed card!

GJ Signed Card to Card box

Dr. Daley's last trick meets signed card to card box! The best bit is NO PALMING!

Also includes:

CC Thought of Card, GJ KickBack Pick Pack Pocket, Cash Credit Card Pickpocket, Wallet Transpo, John Carey's Signature Transpo.

Bonus Ideas:

GJ Delusion, Touch Card to Wallet, Top Con Control (A new, easy and deceptive way to control a card to the top of the pack.)

Running Time Approximately 2hr 21min



Reviews

Zardoz

Sep 22, 2014

The cameraman was drunken.
(Top ▲)

David Acer

Official Reviewer

Jul 20, 2009

While "Pseudo Pickpocket" is the title effect on this new collaborational DVD by Gary Jones and Chris Congreave, it's actually only one of 9 routines taught here, which gives the collection more of a "session" feel than a "one-trick DVD" feel. To me, that's a plus in a market that's seriously oversaturated with the latter.

"Pseudo Pickpocket" (the trick) is a very commercial card-to-wallet routine wherein a signed, selected card appears in a spectator's wallet. If you're trying to work out how this might be possible, note that the presentation is integral to the methodology, which means the effect is less likely to fool magicians, but no less astonishing for laymen.

Gary and Chris also offer a handful of variations, including "Wallet Transpo," wherein a card that's been freely chosen for you and a card the spectator has chosen for himself transpose between your respective wallets; and "Thought Of Card," a handling for the card-to-spectator's-wallet wherein the card in question is merely "thought of," rather than physically removed from the deck. I found some (though certainly not all) of these to be a little complicated, thus potentially confusing for an audience, but I'll give you an example in case you might disagree. During "Signature Transpo," the magician loses a signed selection in the deck, then signs the back of an indifferent card and places it in the spectator's wallet. Then he says he's going to try to steal that card out of the wallet without the spectator feeling it. He gives the deck a few cuts, then produces the card that was just in the spectator's wallet, but shows that his (i.e., the magician's) signature has vanished from the back. The spectator is directed to open his wallet, where he finds his signed selection inside, which now sports the magician's signature on the back. I'm not saying it isn't magical, and it will absolutely fool laymen, but I'm not entirely sure what the effect is here.

Regardless, every variation Chris and Gary offered inspired me to investigate other possibilities along the same path, which resulted in some fun presentational and methodological discoveries of my own (as they would for you).

There are also a couple of tricks on here that have nothing to do with the card-to-wallet plot, including Gary's "GJ Delusion," a nice, compact way to frame the classic Dunbury Delusion plot, and "Signed Card to Box," wherein a signed selection appears sandwiched between two boxed Aces.

The DVD seems to have been shot on the fly and suffers from a few minor technical problems, like some camerawork that occasionally misses a critical bit of action, or worse, stays focused on the hands at a moment when it shouldn't. But these negatives are offset by the quality of the ideas and, even moreso, the reasonable price ($20 U.S.). It should also be noted that this material will require at least an intermediate skill level with cards, since the required sleights (e.g., top palm, Elmsley Count, Vernon’s Illusion of Depth) are shown, but not taught.

Walkaround performers looking for a card trick that extends beyond their personal space (i.e., hands, table-top) should seriously consider Pseudo Pickpocket.

David Acer
(Top ▲)