A Glimpse
A utility move, Draun’s powerful “Fan Glimpse” lets you riffle through a deck, have a spectator peek at a card, and then, during the process of forming a fan, glimpse the card. It’s similar in method to a well known glimpse and is a powerful variation. Draun also teaches his card control that quickly brings a selected card to the top of the deck and a blind riffle shuffle that’s based on a Giobbi technique (the order of the deck remains intact).Draun’s approach to Paul Curry’s “Out of this World’ is good. Like the original Curry effect, there’s still a gutsy “clean-up” at the end that requires some misdirection. In “Out of This World,” a spectator freely deals cards from the deck into black and red piles, guessing as he deals as he can’t see the cards. When the cards are turned over, the spectator finds out that he has correctly dealt the cards.
Overall, I’m not inclined to move to Draun’s routine and will stay with the Harry Lorayne version (“Impromptu Out of This World,” My Favorite Card Tricks, Louis Tannen, 1965) that I occasionally perform.
Fast Aces
A fast four-ace trick, “Face-up Aces” is based on a routine that was taught to Draun by Ed Marlo. Here, four aces are placed into the deck at different locations and they quickly find their way to the top of the deck, face-up.The lone non-card trick, “Tenkai Pennies,” despite its name, uses two half-dollars. This is a quick coins across routine where one coin joins another in the hands. Draun has made changes to the technique that results in a more natural look to the hands. However, this is a short, single-phase routine that could use some additional phases. A better bet for coins across is the “Coins Across (World’s Greatest Magic)” DVD (please click here to read our review).
In “Memory Trick,” Draun asks a spectator to try and memorize a series of random cards and then turns the whole lot into a straight. This stunner employs culling and bottom-dealing.
Powerful Stuff
In “Deck Vanish,” Draun repeatedly pulls a chosen card from his pocket and then causes the entire deck to disappear. Here, Draun teaches a powerful longitudinal palm. I’m working on this technique and aiming to incorporate it into my “card to pocket” routine. I think that in Draun’s routine there’s a lot of heat during the moment when the deck “vanishes,” but it works for Draun who is a miracle man.For serious card workers, Draun’s “Web Shuffle” offers a technique that allows you to cull cards as you riffle shuffle them. It’s an amazing technique and an entertaining gambling demonstration that allows the performer to repeatedly shuffle a deck and then deal a full house in a four-hand poker deal.
Under seemingly controlled conditions, in “Unexpected Location” a spectator shuffles and cuts the cards, freely chooses one and then mixes it back into the deck. The magicians doesn’t even touch the cards. Despite all this, the magician somehow finds the card.
Cutting to Aces
A bonus trick that’s not listed on the main DVD menu, in “Portent Aces,” Draun explains how to cut to aces without resorting to a marked deck and instead relies on an intriguing shuffling control. In the final segment, Draun offers solid advice on Classic Pass, Table Pass, Herrmann Turnover Pass and the Midnight Shift. I can vouch for the power of the Midnight Shift as it’s the pass that I use in all of my card work.Draun’s Volume 2, Standing Room Only is for serious card workers. Here you get to learn and perform second deals in the course of a card trick, cull out cards that you want as you shuffle and control cards using crimps. It’s a DVD for those who have mastered fundamental card sleights and want to go to the next level to learn and employ gambling and other techniques in their magic. I found lots to like here.
-Wayne N. Kawamoto
MSRP: (US) $34.95
Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
