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Reshuffled by Pedro Mejores

Mejores, Pedro

Vanishing Inc.

(Based on 1 review)
Every once in a while, you see an effect that is so astounding that you just can't get it out of your head. "Reshuffled" is, for us, that kind of trick. We saw it at the home of Juan Tamariz, when Pedro Morillo, his close friend, was asked to "do the thing." This "thing" was so stunning, so memorable, that we never forgot it. In fact, we pursued releasing it, and that day is here.

It's quite easy to visualize. It is, mostly, Paul Gertner's wonderful, classic, and perfect effect, "Unshuffled" (which in turn is based on a Michael S. Ewer trick). But the new ending takes this amazing trick to soaring new heights.

You display a deck with strange markings on the edges. A card is selected in the freest possible manner, and then, through a series of shuffles, the markings on the edges of the cards align to spell the word "Unshuffled." It is as if you are unshuffling the deck of cards. True to form, every card in the deck is now shown to BE IN ORDER. You really have unshuffled the deck. Then, you cause the markings on the side of the card to visually rearrange themselves to spell the name of the selection. That is the fabulous "Unshuffled" routine, and where it ended originally. In this version, you spread the deck one last time to show that now EVERY CARD IN THE DECK HAS CHANGED INTO THE SELECTION.

Some things to consider: we love this routine because carrying "Unshuffled" always necessitated carrying a deck devoted to just this trick. So, why not add some special features into the deck that will allow you to force the card in the freest possible manner, and end with an all-as-one ending? Now you can.

The faro shuffle is usually required to perform "Reshuffled," and that is how we perform it. However, a non-faro, totally self-working method is also included, created by Maestro Juan Tamariz.

You receive the special "Reshuffled" deck and a complete video tutorial with instructions on every phase of the routine, including Juan Tamariz's non-faro handling.

"Killer Ending! I can't wait to try Reshuffled on my clients"
- Paul Gertner

"Pedro's effect is the best handling of Paul Gertner's classic and so clean it would fool anyone."
- R. Paul Wilson

Reviews

Dr. J. M. Ayala De Cedoz

Official Reviewer

Nov 25, 2015

First off, I will give you a bit of a warning about this effect just in case you are not familiar with the effect that inspired this (which is called 'Unshuffled' by Paul Gertner): To do the standard effect you need to be able to do perfect Faro shuffles, and 8 of them no less. This means a perfect split in the center and a perfect 26 and 26 weave of the cards. Only three of the Faro shuffles are done in performance, but you still need to be able to do them. Also, there is a bonus handling from Juan Tamariz that does not require this, but the effect is not quite the same and it is not as direct as the regular handling with the Faro shuffles.

Second, the cards are specially printed for this effect and though they may have been punched using the Phoenix deck standards, unlike Phoenix decks they will require breaking in before they faro smoothly. The stock is standard Bicycle quality, not the same level of quality as used for Phoenix decks.

The instructional video is a streaming video to which you are provided a link, but I am pretty sure if you Googled it, you could find and watch it because it is not password-protected. The video is not the greatest quality but it everything you need to know is explained, and you have an option of watching it in Spanish and English. I watched both and though you can understand the English version just fine, the Spanish version is much clearer because that is the native language of Pedro Morillo and Dani DaOrtiz.

Kyle Marlett appears in the video but only his arms, hands and voice as he shows you how to set up the deck properly and how to go about putting the necessary words on it. Watch this section carefully more than once and be sure to use a pencil first as instructed. Once you mark the cards with a marker, that is it - it is permanent with no way to erase or remove it.

The video shows Pedro performing the effect for Dani DaOrtiz, and then moves on to Kyle Marlett showing you how to set up the deck, followed by Pedro explaining the main handling, and then the bonus Tamariz handling.

The cards do not come with the writing on them - you have to do that yourself. Just like with the Gertner version, if you want to use a different language and the words will fit on the edge of a deck, it can be customized.

With this particular deck, the card "chosen" and revealed at the end is always a King of Hearts. Personally I think the way they chose to print this deck was a poor choice and it should have been printed with a different configuration and if not that, then they should have used a different force card. I cannot really say much more without giving anything away, but I am sure if you watch the demo video and think about it, you will know what I am referring to. As it is, you do not have as free a handling with the cards as you do with the Gertner version because the Gertner version uses a normal deck. With this one, when you spread the cards on the table to show the normal pips at the beginning and after the shuffles to show it back in new deck order, the spread has to be very tight or you will expose everything. Only at the end and after the kicker can you spread the cards quite normally, showing 98% of the cards.

This deck can be used to do the original Gertner handling with the added bonus of the finale that is built into this deck.

The Tamariz idea is a great alternative presentation in my opinion - I really liked it but as I said before, it is not quite as direct as doing the effect with faro shuffles and the effect is, overall, slightly different. It does however lend itself to some great story presentations.

I came up with a way to do this in-the-hands, which allows for an apparently cleaner (read: freer) handling than you would have by using a table with this. You may well decide to go this route yourself.

As for which version is better, the original 'Unshuffled' by Paul Gertner or this version, that is up to you. They both have their merits. This one has a great kicker ending that even Paul Gertner praised, however, it comes with the price of not being able to freely spread the pack throughout the entire routine as you can in the Gertner handling.

The other thing you must consider is the fact that since you are doing Faro shuffling with this deck every single time you use it (and again, 8 Faro shuffles every time), it will wear out eventually and you will need to replace the deck. I have not heard anything about whether replacement decks will be available or not in the future. As of this writing (24 of 11 of 2015) they have not even been mentioned. If they are not offered separately, you will have to make the judgment call as to whether the effect is worth $25/USD every so often for a specially printed deck of cards.

Speaking of cost, for what you are getting, I think the $25/USD price point is rather fair, but I would liked to have seen some more ideas put into this and a better design of the deck as far as the printing design is concerned. It is not a matter of quality as it is typical USPCC Bicycle card quality.


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