Gambling Card Sleights
The remaining portions of the second disc teach the bottom deal, one-hand shifts, a card switch and palming techniques. "Earl's Grey Shuffle" is a fantastic false riffle shuffle and is a variation on a Lennart Green false shuffle.Earl teaches a bottom deal that's based on the Erdnase technique. Some years ago, I worked on mastering a similar move, but never got it working to the point that I could demonstrate it to audiences. I've had more success with a bottom deal that works from a mechanics grip that I learned from Jeff Wessmiller’s Weapons of the Card Shark (please click here to read our review.
Earl shows how to palm off one or several cards from the bottom of the deck by using only one hand. I'm sure that many card workers would love to have this move in their arsenals. However, I found this one extremely difficult, a real knuckle buster.
Card Mentalism
Disc Three covers Earl’s mentalism effects with standard playing cards. Playing cards often don’t seem suited for pure mentalism because lay audiences are familiar with concepts of cheating and sleight of hand. However, Earl offers a series of baffling effects and supporting moves that make the mentalism completely feasible.I particularly liked "Ramjollock," an effect where a spectator selects a card by cutting the deck and then cuts and shuffles the deck. At the end, despite not having touched the cards, you can identify the selected card.
Many of the other effects that involved freely selected cards and the formation of poker hands tend to involve lots of cutting and back and forth. Despite this, they are powerful effects to use in situations where you have the time.
Earl takes classic "card to pocket" and turns it into a stunning mentalism feat. He also tips a strong card transposition that is probably more magic than mentalism, but is quick and convincing. I particularly enjoyed the section where Earl explains several peek techniques. While he didn't explain the peek that I normally use and prefer, he offered several that I hadn’t seen before.
Worth the 100 Bucks
A hundred dollars is a lot to pay for a DVD set, but with Benjamin Earl's Past Midnight, you're getting a comprehensive library of moves, techniques and routines that will strengthen your magic and keep you practicing for a good long time.While there were many effects that I felt weren’t all that practical or commercial, and the teaching segments could be more thorough, the high points on this DVD set make it worthwhile.
I know that I'm carrying around my playing cards again trying to work up four or five moves that I learned from Earl on this DVD set. I’m inspired.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
MSRP: (US) $100
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Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
