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Details

Octopus Deck

Bill Abbott

(Based on 1 review)
You begin by fanning the deck before two spectators and ask each of them to think of any card. After two questions you instantly name the two freely thought of cards.

Wrapping rubber bands around the deck you toss it to an audience member across the room and ask them to peek at any card. The deck is then passed to another person to do the same. Without any questions you name their selected cards.

Finally you ask two people to join you on stage. Removing the rubber bands from the deck you hand half the deck to each spectator and ask them to place the cards inside their pocket. The two spectators reach inside their pockets and remove any card and place it in another pocket, without looking at it. You write something on a piece of paper and hand it to an audience member. Both of the unknown cards are removed and named out loud for the first time.

Your prediction is an EXACT MATCH!

OCTOPUS DECK DETAILS
  • The Octopus Deck can be freely shuffled by a spectator between each phase.
  • There is no miscalling of the selected cards.
  • The cards they see are the cards you name.
  • Can be performed close-up and surrounded.
  • Resets instantly for walk-around performances.
  • The Octopus Deck is a complete mind reading act in 3 phases.
  • The Octopus Deck can play to the largest audience, involving as many as 6 spectators in a single performance.
  • Surefire and reliable so you get the right cards every time.
PACKAGE INCLUDES
  • 2 Handmade Decks In Red Backed Bicycle Cards
  • Rubber Bands
  • Metal Card Guard to protect your Octopus Deck.
  • A 17 page illustrated instructional booklet with detailed script, routines and ideas along with the complete history of the Octopus Deck researched & developed over the past 7 years.
  • Bob Farmer's "Fishing For Octopus" pumping system
  • Paolo Cavalli's "Radarama" script & pumping system
Production is limited to 500 decks numbered and signed by Bill Abbott!

Reviews

Christopher Carey

Official Reviewer

Nov 07, 2008

First of all, this is a card routine. It's not a quickie, but by controlling the pace you should be able to grab the audience's attention and keep it. Bill Abbott has combined many principles here and it's so refreshing to see him take the first couple of pages to describe the evolution of his creation, but more importantly, to credit fourteen magicians, alive and dead, who were instrumental in the development.

Fourteen!

If all creators were this thoughtful!!!

Mr. Abbott originally sold this for $100.00 and included the gimmicked deck. For what you get here, $50.00 is more than fair. Abbott takes you through step-by-step in the construction of the deck. You'll need two decks of regular cards, a two-way forcing deck, double-sided tape, an X-Acto knife and a nail trimmer. You'll also need about half a deck of special cards which are included with the manuscript.

Here's the effect:

You fan a deck of cards and allow two participants to each mentally select a card. You are then able to name the suits of the cards right away and with some additional pumping, finally reveal the values.

You then wrap rubber bands around the deck and toss it to another participant. They peek at a card and pass it to someone else who does the same. You immediately name the identities of these two cards.

For the final phase, you have two more audience members join you on the platform. The rubber bands are removed and you hand half the deck to each helper and they are instructed to place their halves in their pockets. They are then told to remove one card without looking at it and transfer it to another pocket. You write a prediction down and when the chosen cards are removed, it's a perfect match.

Again, this is a routine, and it will take a lot of real-time performance in front of real people to pull off. It's not a sleight that you can practice over and over in front of a mirror. It resets and one could present it in a walk-around situation, but I think this works best as a stand-up piece. Abbot has combined the best elements of the Tossed-Out Deck routine with mental revelations and predictions and I think it's worth your time. Bob Farmer includes an idea on his fishing technique as an added bonus.
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