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Card To Wallet

Various

L&L Publishing

(Based on 1 review)
Imagine the best magic, the best magicians, and the best producers all in one place.

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If you could have one set of magic DVDs, this would be it! This benchmark collection features just about all of magic's most enduring and classic effects and routines. It's a fabulous compendium with many of the top masters in the world of magic teaching their handlings and routines for some of magic's classics. Linking rings, sponge balls, metal bending, cups and balls, thumb tips, Zombie, color-changing knives, and many, many more topics are all gathered in this one terrific DVD reference set. Each volume covers a specific subject and features new, old, and sometimes rare footage by some of the top video producers in magic.

The card-to-impossible-place plot is almost as old as card conjuring itself with the earliest ancestor of the trick we now call the Card To Wallet appearing as "The Card in the Pocketbook" in early magic literature. Over the next two centuries, magicians devised a myriad of ways to create the effect of a selected playing card appearing mysteriously in the performer's wallet and in this collection, you'll find an amazing variety of methods for all skill levels. John Mendoza begins with two selections appearing in the zippered compartment of a wallet that was in plain sight throughout the routine - and there's no palming involved. Likewise, Alexander deCova has devised a way of recreating the famous LePaul effect of a signed playing card appearing inside an envelope and, once again, there is no palming involved. Michael Ammar is next with an extremely logical approach to the effect as a torn playing card visibly changes into a credit card while, naturally, the playing card is found restored in the performer's wallet in the space previously occupied by the credit card. Then, Eddie Tullock, the king of trade show performers, demonstrates how to turn a basic card-to-wallet effect into a powerful promotional tool. Dan Fleshman offers his take on the classic Red Hot Momma effect with a socko wallet finish while Alex Elmsley demonstrates a card-to-wallet effect that uses no gimmicked wallets and is virtually always ready to perform. Finally, Eric DeCamps presents his card in wallet routine with three selections that can play in a stand-up as well as close-up situation.

The discovery of a chosen - and oftentimes signed - playing card in the magician's wallet is a centuries-old crowd pleaser and if you're looking to add this all-time audience favorite to your repertoire, you won't find a better starting point than this collection.
  • Bendix Bombshell - John Mendoza
  • Professional Card to Wallet - Alexander deCova (courtesy of Murphy's Magic)
  • Card In Wallet - Michael Ammar
  • Card In Wallet - Eddie Tullock
  • Momma In My Wallet - Dan Fleshman
  • Card To Wallet - Alex Elmsley
  • Card In Wallet Routine - Eric DeCamps (courtesy of Murphy's Magic)

Reviews

James Sanden

Official Reviewer

Aug 18, 2008

I’m a big fan of the World’s Greatest Magic series of DVD’s, particularly those that focus on a single effect. Rather than dwelling on the secret, these DVD’s give the viewer the opportunity to see how different performers approach the same effect. This is an invaluable lesson in how to perform, create material and define one’s own approach to magic.

I believe two of the most important factors in how effective a performance of “Card to Wallet” is are whether the appearance of the card in the wallet comes as a surprise and how cleanly the card is introduced into the wallet. In every approach offered on this DVD the introduction of the wallet is organic and motivated, and in each case the load of the card was well hidden with effective misdirection. In fact, in John Mendoza’s and Alex Elmsley’s performances, I missed it completely.

Some highlights include John Mendoza’s presentation, which has the appearance of the card come as a total surprise, and EddieTullock’s effective, alternative approach of using an ungimmicked wallet and using “Card to Wallet” as an out. However, the highlight of the DVD for me was Alex Elmsley’s version which absolutely fooled and floored me. It was clean, simple and direct. I was waiting for the load to happen and it flew right by me. And like Mr. Tullock’s version, it uses an ungimmicked wallet!

My only complaint is with the Michael Ammar version. Rather than using a signature, he uses a torn corner to “prove” the chosen card has actually appeared in the wallet, an approach I believe weakens the effect significantly. He also combines “Card to Wallet” with the torn and restored card, which makes it more difficult for the audience to appreciate what has happened and dilutes the impact of each of the individual effects. While there were some strong elements in Mr. Ammar’s construction of the routine, they didn’t make up for the 2 major flaws as I saw them.

That complaint aside, if you are interested in adding “Card to Wallet” to your repertoire, this DVD is an excellent resource. In addition to the magicians I mentioned, three other strong versions of “Card to Wallet” are presented, two of which are entire routines, the climax for which is “Card to Wallet” (Eric DeCamps version is a particularly strong sequence of dynamic, effective card magic.) If you’ve never performed this effect, this DVD will give you the information and inspiration you need to not only present it, but also to do it in a way that you can call truly your own.
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