World's Greatest Magic: Card To Wallet (DVD)

World's Greatest Magic: Card To Wallet

One of the most beguiling effects in magic is "card to an impossible location;" card to shoe, card to pocket, card through window, card on ceiling just to name a few. One of the most stunning of the card-to effects would be the card to wallet (CTW). This DVD is a treasure trove of CTW effects by some of the best magi in the world.

This DVD is yet another fine release in the World's Greatest Magic by the World's Greatest Magicians (WGMBTWGM) series. This is the third DVD that I have purchased in this series and it won't be the last. L&L Publishing have taken the best routines from their catalog and created a themed set of DVDs. Each DVD focuses on a particular form of magic; linking rings, ambitious card, zombie ball, stand-up magic, etc. Incredibly, these DVDs are typically priced at $16-$18 per DVD!



Tim's Tip: If you don't already have a wallet, buy this DVD first and then decide which style of wallet is going to work for you. Each magician uses a different style wallet so you may end up needing 2 or 3 different wallets to pull off each routine. Realistically, you're only going to be able to do one CTW in your show. So watch the DVD a few times, pick the routine that fits your style the closest and purchase a wallet that works for that routine. I like the hip pocket, Fred Kaps style wallet the best and the Dan Fleshman routine.

Degree of Difficulty

Intermediate to Advanced. The sleights are not super, knuckle-busters but you'll need a lot of practice to polish these routines.

Teaching

Good to Great. I really enjoyed wathcing Alex Elmsley as he is a legendary figure in card magic. Eddie Tullock is perhaps the hardest to follow simply because of his age; but he's still very sharp and Micheal Ammar interviews Eddie on the finer points of his routine. Micheal Ammar also has his own routine on this DVD and appears or is mentioned is several other routines on the DVD.

Quality of Effects

Average to excellent. A couple average routines but they are a couple killer routines as well.

Quantity of Effects

Realistically, you're only going to use one of the seven CTW routines but you've got some great material to choose from.

Jon Mendoza starts the fun with the Bendix Bombshell. This trick relies on a himber style of which John doesn't really explain the mechanics because it is a marketed item. Even though this is a good routine, I think it is the weakest since there doesn't seem to be any motivation for the trick. It starts with two signed cards. Two other cards are in play and they make up a very basic two card transposition effect. Then the routine abruptly ends with the two signed cards revealed from a zippered compartment in the wallet.

Alexander De Cova presents his Professional Card to Wallet routine. DeCova does demo this for a studio audience so you get a condensed demo presentation of his effect. He gets a signed card from the spectator. De Cova explains that he has a (large) wallet with an enveloped letter from his friend. DeCova opens the wallet, opens the envelop and remove a letter and some varied, casino playing cards that his friend has sent. The signed card is the last card in the small stack of cards. It's a novel effect and the most elaborate set-up of the seven routines.

Micheal Ammar presents his Card in Wallet routine that is really a torn and restored card effect where the almost restored card appears in his un-gimmicked wallet. A spectator is asked to tear their selected card into eigths. The spectator is given a piece of the card as a reciept. Ammar paperclips the pieces together. A wave of the hand and the paperclips turn into a credit card. Hmmm....if the credit card is here then the card must be in my wallet. Cleanly and in full view, Ammar removes his wallet and produces the card. The card is restored except for the corner that the spectator is holding. As you would expect from Ammar, this is a very entertaining routine.

I'm not familiar with Eddie Tullock but apparently he specializes in tradeshow magic. This is a good routine but not my favorite. The specatator scans a quickly spread deck of cards and is asked think of any one card they see. Eddie guesses wrong the first time which gives him an oppurtunity to patter a bit and set up the climax. He then asks the spectator what their card really was. Eddie opens his wallet and removes their thought of card. I think this could be a winnner with a creative presentation. The wallet is un-gimmicked.

Dan Fleshman's Momma In My Wallet is my personal favorite routine on this disk because it is accessible (not too difficult) and has two nice effects. The trick is basically the Chicago Opener that ends with a CTW. The Chicago opener is a two phase routine. One minor problem, the card selected in the first phase has transformed into the second card. What happened to the first card? Fleshman attempts to tie up that loose end by revealing the card from a zippered compartment in his wallet. He has taken a classic trick in card magic and made it one phase better!

Alex Elmsley presents an ultra-fast signed CTW routine that looks pretty impossible. This is probably the most technically challenging routine but it te pay-off will be worth the effort.

Eric DeCamps presents the final routine which looks to have been filmed in the early 1980s.
Obviously DeCamps is extremely talented but I felt like I was watching Dean Martin do magic. Of course, this is obviously a very old video tape so perhaps his style played well back in the 80s. DeCamps instruction is very good though and he provides some great CTW tips and psychology. He has 3 spectators select cards with one of the specs signing the card. After shots the first two cards spinning into the air, he follows a great full deck vanish. This motivates the question; where is the third card? In the wallet of course. Old video and style aside, this is a well taught routine.

Production

Well the minor downside to a "greatest hits" format is that L&L Publishing is pulling material from many different productions from different time periods. Most of the clips are of good quality however the Eric DeCamps is very dated looking. You'll feel like humming the theme to VH-1's I Love The 80s.

The menu system is simple and very functional. L&L provides extensive previews from their product offerings.

Overall: 9/10

Yet another great addition to the WGMBTWGM series by L&L Publishing. The low price on these DVDs make them a great buy. Collect 'em all!