GT Speedreader DVD by Kozmomagic

If you own the outstanding GT Speedreader deck, an amazing marked deck that was designed specifically for magicians and not gamblers, you’ll want to purchase the accompanying GT Speedreader DVD that explains all of the nuances of how to effectively employ it.

For some reason, I mentioned the Speedreader Deck in my report from the 2011 SAM Convention in Pittsburgh where the product was introduced, but I neglected to actually review it. Overall, I’ve been very impressed with the Speedreader deck with its altered location for the markings that better hides them from observant spectators, and the markings are clear and easy to quickly read. I’ll discuss these later in this review. First, I want to talk about the DVD.

Of course, the hidden markings of the Speedreader deck (sold separately) are an advantage in card magic and this DVD teaches you everything that you need to know to effectively employ the cards, use the markings to your advantage and enhance your repertoire of card sleight of hand moves. As the DVD demonstrates, most fun is the way that the markings can allow you to literally “jazz” up your magic - alter your routines on the fly as you want or need to by relying on the markings to identify cards. With this ability to read cards from the back almost as easily as you can from the front, the Speedreader Deck allows you to perform “jazz” magic - magic that changes as you’re working your routines.

The video footage is well shot and presented and the instruction - some hour and 45-minutes worth - is thorough and detailed. If you own the GT Speedreader Deck, you’ll gain lots of insight from this DVD. And the techniques here, along with the Speedreader Deck, can make your card magic even stronger. Of course, the marked deck is also useful in mentalism effects as well as those that employ a stacked deck.

The GT Speedreader deck offers an enhancement on a well known marking system by magician Ted Lesley. The creator of the GT Speedreader deck researched current marked decks and discovered that existing ones were marked in the upper left and lower right corners - a system that was created for card cheats and gamblers. This has remained the convention for such cards.

To be advantageous to magicians and the way that they handle and present playing cards, the GT SpeedReader is marked in the upper right and lower-left corners of each card back - the exact opposite from conventional marked decks. This way, when a magician spreads card in a common manner, the upper left sections of the cards that are closer to spectators and more emphasized will reveal no marks. Meanwhile, magicians will be able to read the lower left corner that is away from spectators and where the markings are less noticeable. The GT SpeedReader was designed to be optimized right hand overhand grip and riffling for a spectator peek and I agree that the deck succeeds in this regard.

The markings are tightly and flawlessly integrated into the Mandolin back design. One pretty much has to be looking for them in order to see them. Once you understand the marking system, the deck is indeed easy to read. As easy as reading the front of the cards as stated in the ads? Perhaps not as obvious but with a little practice you should have no problems spotting and identifying the marks with only a simple and fast glance.

The GT SpeedReader marking system provides identifiers for the jokers and gimmicked cards - cards that traditionally had no marks. This way, magicians won’t encounter situations where they may become confused when they don’t see marks or question whether they missed the marks. Every card has markings to alleviate this situation. The deck even comes with one well known gimmicked (and marked) card. Furthermore, sixes and nines, which may be confused when read upside down, have their own distinct markings.

In all, the GT SpeedReader is the finest marked deck that I’ve had the opportunity to handle and examine. If you’re looking for a marked deck, you’ll definitely want to check this one out. And when you purchase a GT SpeedReader deck, don’t forget to buy the helpful and informative DVD that opens a world of magic possibilities.