Review: Master Card Routines by Chris Priest

A second winner from magician Chris Priest, this time it's his take on playing cards. I thoroughly liked Priest's sponge ball routine as taught on his "Protons" DVD. This title offers his commercial and entertaining routines with playing cards that feature lots of audience interaction.

If you already have four ace and ambitious card routines, you can skip this DVD. But if you want to see and learn powerful versions of these routines, or can perform version of these routines and want to improve them, you will probably find lots to like on this DVD.

Ace Reception is a four ace routine that combines several well known four-card effects. The entertaining and commercial trick begins with you handing a deck to a spectator to be shuffled. After shuffling, you immediately produce the four aces.

The second phase is a transposition between the red and black aces that occurs as spectators hold the cards.

The third phase involves classic "twisting the aces." The four aces are counted from one hand to the other and a single ace turns over each time. The second segment in this phase is a well known version of "twisting" that isn't Priest's to teach. Thus, he only performs this segment on the DVD and refers you to the published materials.

The third phase is an "everywhere" effect. After a spectator chooses an ace, you make it appear as if every card in the four ace packet becomes the spectator's choice.

In the final phase, the spectator places the four aces back into the deck and the magician finds them in a flashy manner.

The second routine, JFK, is classic ambitious card with a killer, two-phased ending. A selected and signed card repeatedly rises to the top of the deck. The signed card then ends up clipped to your business card, which is inside of an envelope, which is inside of a zippered compartment of your wallet.

Before spectators can catch their breath, in the second stunning phase, Priest makes use of the Kennedy box to cause the folded card to end up inside of the box as a spectator holds it.

You may already know an ambitious card routine, but Priest offers some creative approaches to avoid using the usual sleight. He offers a fresh variation on the tilt move, and employs other techniques that aren’t often used in ambitious card.

As you've probably concluded, the tricks requires lots of sleight of hand. While Priest briefly talks about the moves, it's best if you already have the basics mastered.

Another consideration, although there are only two routines on this DVD, Priest offers lots of phases and employs different sleights, which means that you are free to pick and choose and apply the techniques that you wish to your other card work.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $30

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