When one releases a magic DVD with the word “Awesome” in the title, you better be damn sure that the product you are selling is in fact “Awesome.” With Awesome Self Working Card Tricks, Big Blind Media did just that. This DVD contains 11 easy to perform card tricks, from a range of creators including Dai Vernon, Wayne Dobson, Paul Curry and others. All the tricks are guaranteed to fool your spectators. As is typical with Big Blind Media, the production quality is excellent and the performances and explanations are of the highest quality. The DVD is easy to navigate and each trick contains 3 tracks; an Introduction which gives some background and commentary on the trick, a studio performance (usually performed to a spectator or two (usually one of the BBM Ladies)) and the explanation.

Liam Montier demonstrates Your Thoughts Are Mine by John Carey. Although it is not totally impromptu and requires some set-up in the absence of your audience, it is easy to prepare and requires something that you already have in addition to the 52 cards in a deck. The trick is explained by Liam and Cameron Francis in one of their kitchens. Montier teaches a very simple false shuffle that is needed to execute the trick. Francis and Montier are a great teaching duo with good chemistry and natural humor.

Compatability, by Wayne Dobson, is one of two tricks by Dobson. It is performed by David Forrest to one of the BBM ladies. The trick is completely impromptu, so long as you have a Sharpie (or other marker) and can be performed with a borrowed deck. It is a very strong trick that will result in one card being marked up. Many spectators won’t even see the climax of the trick coming. This trick was previously released on Look No Hands by RSVP Magic. In the book version of Look No Hands, Dobson credits Harry Lorayne for devising the predecessor trick to his version.

The second of the two Dobson tricks, Wayneman, is performed by Francis to one of the ladies. It is an apparent deck memorization trick that is easy to perform can be done impromptu with a shuffled borrowed deck. The trick is explained by Montier and Francis and credits Peter Nardi for the patter in the reveal of a card (which was used in Nardi’s presentation of Eliminator). This trick, like Compatability, was previously released on the Look No Hands DVD.

Future Deck by Jack Vosburgh is borrowed from Scarne on Card Tricks and it is a killer card-prediction routine. It is presented by Liam to two young women and he blows them away. This trick requires about 5 minutes of set-up and will need a dedicated deck and cannot be repeated to the same spectators. It is worth the full-deck set-up. You will need to have fine tipped marker to perform this trick.

Automatic Ace Triumph by Kuniyasu Fujiwara was originally published in Richard Kaufman and Steve Cohen’s Japan Ingenious (not “Japanese Ingenious” as it is incorrectly indicated on the DVD). This is a mini Triumph routine with the four aces that is easy to perform and is mind boggling. After mixing, dealing, twisting and turning, the four aces all turn face up while the rest of the select handful of cards turn face down. It is very fooling and completely impromptu. It is a packet trick that can be performed with any deck.


Emotional Reaction by Dai Vernon is such a simple and easy to perform trick, which is performed by Steve Dela to “Delia.” It is totally impromptu and can be performed with any borrowed deck. It will fry your spectator and it is so easy it will make you laugh.
Power of Thought by Paul Curry is presented to “Chili” and requires two decks. Both decks are in play from the beginning of the trick and this is an absolute knock-out punch. It will require about 5-10 minutes of set-up and can be reset in a few seconds.

What A Turn Up by Kaymar Magic is a quick and easy packet trick performed by Liam Montier with 10 cards. This is not impromptu as it requires specific cards, all of which don’t come in a single deck. It is as easy as easy gets and is very powerful. It has a kicker ending that will confuse your spectator.

Route 1 is a David Forrest trick that is performed by Forrest to one of the BBM ladies and then taught to Montier. This trick is not impromptu as it requires a one-time 10-20 minute arts and crafts project before-hand and some additional arrangement. The trick openly uses two decks, requires a seight and is a very fooling any card at any number routine.

Double Salto is credited to Walter Gibson. I recall learning this trick in the 1970’s from Scarne on Card Trick, which credited the trick to Francis Carlyle under the name The Upside-Down Deck. Some quick research seems to indicate that the trick was published by Gibson in an issue of Jinx in 1940, ten years before the publication of Scarne of Card Tricks. Notwithstanding the question of its origin, it is a very easy card trick that requires the smallest amount of misdirection to create a surprising outcome. This trick is easy to perform for a beginner and young magician.

The final trick, Further Than That, by Stewart James, is a multi-phased routine that requires a bit of a setup before performing the trick. It is not entirely a gambling trick because it has various aspects to it and is completely surprising to your spectator. It requires some basic magic techniques that are easy to learn, even for beginners. You have four rounds of surprises which ends with revealing a Royal Flush.

The only issue with this product is the ad copy claim that the tricks are awesome (which they are) “yet do not require a single sleight or move. Yep - these are 100% sleight free.” This is not accurate. Some of the tricks require false shuffles, some moves performed on the off-beat, or a peek. I am surprised that this claim made it into the advertising as the required moves are so basic and easy, it is just unnecessary to misrepresent.

Overall, this DVD compilation of tricks is a great reference for stellar routines, some of which you may have heard of and others you may not have. It is a great product.