DVD Review: Sucker Punch-Thom Peterson

Delving into the paranormal, “E.S.P. Your Pants” uses two sets of ESP cards. The magician lays his set of cards face down and the spectator randomly places a single card on top of each. At the end, the magician shows that the spectator correctly coordinated ESP symbols-the paired cards each match. This is a strong ESP style effect that offers lots of interaction and an involving theme, and it’s doesn’t require any sleight of hand.

“Pocket Lint” is an offbeat and quirky standup routine where a small bundle of lint turns into a full missing sock, and finally, a set of keys is found inside of the sock and dumped out. “Bounce” is an another odd effect that is more of a comedy sequence than an astounding magical effect. After the comedy setup, the magician lights a dryer sheet that burns and turns into a ball. This one is more for laughs, not mystery.

Most conventional is “A Hole.” Using a series of flashy moves, the magician quickly finds four aces, which are reinserted into the deck. At the end, the entire deck is shown to be in new deck order.

The effect requires lots of card moves. Interestingly, Peterson teaches his variation on Chris Kenner’s “Sybil” (five-way cut) that maintains the entire order of the deck (Kenner’s original version displaces the middle sections of the deck). Peterson got me thinking and while I didn’t want to re-learn “Sybil,” I came up with my own way of performing the classic cut that maintains the deck’s order. I don’t want to tip it here, but you can e-mail me and I would be happy to pass it on.

Finally, in “Nokito,” three half-dollars are placed inside of an Okito coin box, and, one at a time, end-up under a playing card that’s sitting on the table. As you would expect, you’ll need a foundation in coin work.

While this effect didn’t appeal to me, it requires a move that would discourage me from even considering the trick. Obviously, Peterson can perform it, but I think it’s a move that can easily go wrong during performance.

In “Sucker Punch,” Thom Peterson offers some great effects. Buy this one for “Lemonade Racket,” “Fortune 500,” “Marked Improvement” or “E.S.P. Your Pants” and maybe “Pit Boss.” That’s five great effects out of nine, and the remaining four aren’t bad.

-Wayne N. Kawamoto

MSRP: (US) $35

Dealers can purchase from Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.