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Details

The Red Herring

Gordon, Paul

Paul Gordon

(Based on 1 review)
This fun UNIQUE and NOVEL packet card trick is easy to do (standard sleights) and beautifully made. Top-quality card stock and printing. Instant reset, too.

A three/four-card monte trick is magically performed but ends up with a true Red Herring of a surprise!

Those who have seen Paul's recent lectures will remember the fun & laughs derived from this quickie.

Comes complete with instructions and required cards.

Reviews

Joe Diamond

Official Reviewer

Aug 08, 2013

This is the second packet trick from Paul Gordon I’ve received for review. I decided that maybe I should broaden my horizons, and see if there was something in these packet tricks that I was missing. So I got the included cards, followed the instructions, polished my Elmsley Counts, memorized the script, and showed it to the person who has seen every card trick in the book, my MOM!

She knows every trick in the book, and knows to give it to me straight. No matter how slowly or clearly I did them, she couldn’t follow where any of the cards were supposed to be during the Elmsley counts. I had a feeling that laypeople wouldn’t be able to follow the counts, and even my mom said those counts weren’t right for this kind of effect. Finally, she said the ‘climax’ of a red cartoon fish printed on the card was a little cheesy and dorky.

She summed up the routine with these words: “If you were 14 and came up with it, I’d be kind of amused. If you bought it at a magic shop for fifteen bucks, I’d say you wasted your money.” Sadly, it costs two dollars more than that.

The instructions are printed on two pieces of paper, and staple bound into a ‘booklet.’ This has to hold the record for the shortest instruction booklet I’ve received with a product. Although I got the routine within two readings, the effect is just too confusing for an audience.

Unless you collect packet tricks, want a card with a cartoon fish on it, or like your magic to be confusing and corny, I can’t think of a reason you’d want to buy or perform this.

Half Star
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