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Along For The Ride

Nardi, Peter

Alakazam UK

(Based on 2 reviews)
"Along For The Ride" is a fun new effect from Peter Nardi using four Bicycle backed jokers.

Two jokers are held by your spectator and two are held by the magician.

The magician explains that the jokers from his hands will vanish and appear in his spectator's hand. Both the magician and spectator cover the cards in their hands. After a second or two the magician states that his jokers have traveled to join the jokers in his spectator's hands.

The magician now opens his hands BUT the two cards are still there? Ah but remember he said the Jokers would travel! The magician turns over both of his cards to show they still have the word joker and the surrounding detail but the joker itself has vanished.. If that wasn't visual enough the spectator now turns over his cards only to discover that each card now houses two Jokers riding side by side!

**Along For The Ride Is Easy to do, Perfect for any close up environment, Comes with custom printed cards on Bicycle stock and Access to full streaming video instructions.

Reviews

James Sanden

Official Reviewer

May 18, 2022

In Peter Nardi’s “Along For The Ride” you take four jokers and put two of them face down in the spectator’s hands, keeping the other two for yourself. Placing your jokers face to face, you do the obligatory magical gesture, and when you separate your cards the images of the jokers have vanished, leaving only the word “Joker” behind. When the spectator looks at their cards the images of the missing jokers are seen to have joined the printed jokers already on their cards, leaving two magically altered objects in their hands.

The routine comes with the necessary gimmicked cards as well as a link to an online instructional video. Mr. Nardi cites NFW by Gary Freed, Double Back by Jon Allen and Ace by Richard Sanders as inspiration for his effect. Comparing “Along For The Ride” to the other routines, Double Back is more of an approach to Doc Daley’s Last Trick, while NFW and Ace both transform the jokers into aces. Not only does “Along For The Ride” change the effect completely, it’s also much shorter and more direct than the other routines, the trade off being less effort is taken to convince the spectators of the ordinary nature of the cards. The video instruction is short, but complete and clear, which isn’t a problem because the method is extremely simple. In fact, if you watched the trailer, it’s more than likely you already know the method, so what you’re really purchasing is the cards themselves.

The effect is quick, punchy and very strong. The displays used, while discrepant, if performed casually will fly by the spectator. And while the cards you hold at the end cannot be examined, they can be displayed quite freely and openly. But more importantly, all interest will be on their cards, which they can examine as much as they like. And while the magic is good, I think it’s important to note it’s not mind blowingly impossible. However, not all magicians are concerned with their magic being that strong, and even for those that are, there is space for variety and texture, particularly in the middle of a set. In fact, Mr. Nardi explains that he stores the jokers in a packet trick wallet labeled “Spare Jokers” and performs this routine after another of his called “Runaway Joker.” I’ve not seen that effect, but the idea of performing several routines with a packet of extra jokers is a great idea. (In fact, you could end with Wild Card and have a complete three trick set with a killer ending.)

Mr. Nardi says he created the routine as part of his search for a fun, walk around effect that happens in the spectator’s hands and leaves them with a physically altered object. That is exactly what you get with this purchase. The method is by no means revolutionary, but it is undoubtedly effective. To be frank, what you are really paying for is the specially printed cards, so if you like what you see in the trailer, you’ll be happy with your purchase.
(Top ▲)

Doc Johnson

Official Reviewer

Sep 26, 2015

PROS

This is a variation of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick, but with gimmicked Joker cards. From the audience’s perspective, you show four Jokers. You lay down two Jokers face down and hold two for yourself. You say you are going to make your Jokers travel from your hands to theirs. You do the magic move, but apparently the two Jokers didn’t budge. You then reveal that you have two blank cards and they have two cards with two Aces on each.

I like the use of Jokers because I think it better justifies why you are using a packet of cards and not cards from a regular deck.

The instruction is VERY good. He uses some different moves than the traditional Dr. Daley’s Last Trick moves. They look very good.

The difficulty level is pretty easy.

The effect does play out exactly as described in the ad copy and it can be done completely surrounded.

The quality of the props is very good with one little issue:

CONS

He explains that the cards are printed on card stock, so you have to be careful to not remove the Joker images if you need to do some maintenance to a gimmicked card. I think this was a design deficiency because this means that you are likely going to need to re-purchase this effect when your cards wear out. I removed the certain thing as soon as I received it and it didn’t peel away the print. I then placed regular invisible tape on the card and then the certain something on top so I could replace it when it becomes soiled and/or worn.

You need to keep in mind that eventually, you will need to replace the gimmicks when they become too worn. With this sort of effect, it is best to do the effect with cards that are not too worn out. While I don’t care for effects that I have to repurchase if I am going to consistently perform, you can decide for yourself.

I think it would have been much better if the developer included a way to end clean. This could be done by simply having a single regular Joker in your pocket. The performance Jokers go in the pocket at the end of the routine, and then come back out for a follow-up effect. I think it would have been nice to have a good bonus follow-up routine that uses four regular Jokers. This would serve as a reason to get the two Jokers back out of the pocket and provide a convincer to the audience you are using regular cards without making a point of examining the cards. When I do something similar, I take out the regular cards, tell the audience as an afterthought that we are going to need these cards and ask someone to shuffle them into the deck. I do this even if I am just going to spread the deck and remove the same cards they shuffled into the deck. It is way humorous. Another approach is to have them shuffle the cards and then have them remove the four Jokers. This serves as both a bit of humor, but also a way to sell the fact that there aren’t any additional Jokers in the deck.

VERDICT

A great routine with excellent instruction.


Suggestions

I think there is an opportunity for an additional magic kicker and a humorous moment. When you take the two cards into your hands, cup your right hand over the two cards in your left hand. Talk about how they are going to vanish from your hands and re-appear in their hands. Palm the cards and show your left hand empty. Then, quickly drop the cards for a little gag, or bring your hands together again, spread your fingers and say: "And... they are back!". Then show your blank cards and have them reveal their cards.
(Top ▲)