Review: Liquid (Card Through Window) by Taylor Lewis

"Card through window," which is something of a variation on "card on ceiling or wall," is a lofty goal. While traditional card on ceiling has a spectator's card somehow sticking to the ceiling after the deck is thrown, "card through window" involves a similar effect where the card not only sticks, it's found to have passed to the other side of the glass.

Many in the lay public recall the version that David Blaine performed during one of his early specials. It was a true stunner.

This version offers an angle that I have not seen before. With a gimmick that comes with the DVD, a spectator's selected card not only isolates itself from the rest of the deck, but appears to pass through the glass. The spectator can tap his finger on the card to verify that the card is "on the other side." It's an intriguing concept, but the effect feels rather insecure to me.

A spectator freely selects a card and signs it and it's lost in the deck. You bring out a cocktail napkin and cover a window with it. After springing cards towards the napkin, the rest of the deck falls to the ground while one is now seen behind the napkin. You rip away the napkin to reveal the spectator’s chosen and signed card.

While holding the napkin in place, you encourage the spectator to feel the card to verify that it's behind the glass. You then pull the card through the glass and back to the front and give the card to the spectator for examination or keeps. The window may also be examined.

On the plus side, there's no need to prepare the window and you can pretty much perform this on any glass surface as you don't need access to the opposite side. This means that you can perform the trick on car windows or even on windows on tall buildings that don't open.

On the downside, the card only temporarily resides on the opposite side of the glass. At the end of the routine, you bring the card back to your side. The most stunning version, as Blaine performed it, and many approaches have tried to mimic, leaves the spectator's card on the opposite side of the glass for all to see.

Furthermore, I'm not convinced as to the credibility of the card's passage through the glass. I think that you're going to get caught by a certain percentage of spectators.

Taylor explains a version that leaves a card on the opposite of the glass, but you must have access to the other side. This one is ideal for a glass door where you can easily walk to the other side.

An offbeat third version has the card apparently passing through a target that’s been drawn on the window with a marker. At the end, the card is removed, leaving the marks on the glass.

The DVD also teaches a routine where the selected card appears to pass through the glass of a coffee table. This one requires no gimmick.

While the method for the main effect is clever, the working feels clumsy. Unfortunately, the performance segments on the DVD only show the revelation without showing you the setup that leads to it. The publishers have not done themselves any favors because they haven't presented the routine in its entirety as it appears to spectators.

And without this, there's no telling how this effect actually plays. It's almost as if the publishers didn’t want to show this to us, which makes the whole method seem suspect.

By the way, the effect is called "card through window," not "card temporarily through window."

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $34.95

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