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Details

Maxi Twisto

Nick Trost

L&L Publishing

(Based on 2 reviews)

In effect, the performer shows four Aces. The Ace of Spades—the master Ace— is openly turned face down. Now, one by one, after the packet is “twisted,” the other three Aces turn face down. When the cards are dealt face up, there are now five cards—a Royal Flush!

Reviews

Stuart Philip

Official Reviewer

Feb 10, 2023

Overview

Maxi Twisto is another great Nick Trost packet trick that magically transforms the Aces into a Royal Flush. It's quick, direct and very entertaining. What you get is the specially gaffed cards and a small pamphlet that explains the trick.

The trick is easy to perform as long as you know how to do a certain magical count. Not really a surprise for the Trostophiles among us!

$10 bucks is a great deal for a superb trick.

Effect

The effect is a gambler’s effect which although is not for everyone, it has a great appeal due to the spectacular change in cards.

Method

The method employs several specially printed gaffed cards so you cannot hand them out when the trick is over. You just need to drop them in your pocket and move on to another trick. It’s a quick hit and run.

Product Quality

The issue I have with this trick is that they are printed on Hoyle cards and not on Bikes. I don’t love the texture of the cards which makes it a bit testy when I am counting the cards – and not in a good way.

The one page of instructions are easy to follow and pretty clear and the other page of instructions of how to do a special count are ok, but not the greatest.

Ad Copy Integrity

Not much to say cause it is a bland description. Here it is: In effect, the performer shows four Aces. The Ace of Spades-the master Ace- is openly turned face down. Now, one by one, after the packet is "twisted," the other three Aces turn face down. When the cards are dealt face up, there are now five cards-a Royal Flush!
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Thomas Sciacca

Jun 07, 2010

This is one of five Nick Trost packet effects that I own and perform for people-that is, Nick's gaffed packet tricks. I perform others culled from his lecture notes/booklets published in the mid nineteen seventies. I'll get one gripe out of the way, and it couldn't be about Trost's work-it is about the fact that L+L publishing prints Trost's packet classic in Hoyle brand cards-which counter the bulk portion of ALL of my cards (gaff deck, packet, and regular). I point this out for two reasons: not only do many gaff effects come in Bicycle, most convenience stores carry Bicycle. They are more commonly known I think than other brands of cards. So, point two is that when I pull out a packet trick on Hoyle cards, it immediately raises the issue of 'well...he couldn't pull these out of the Bicycle deck he was just using...so, what...are those 'special cards?!'
I can sometimes get away with stacking a normal deck with gaffs-or, sneaking them in. Performing numerous effects with normal cards, examinable, then slip in gaffs and use them with impunity! For me to do that with Trost's gaffed cards, I'd need to use Hoyle cards. Forgive the hair splitting, but performing mere inches from people makes me quite aware of such details.
I can also say that Maxi-Twisto has a gambling flavor to it. It makes little sense to perform on it's own. One way I connect it to something is to first do a three or four card monte routine-with ungaffed cards-and then offer to show another gambling type of effect, Maxi-Twisto. Or, vice versa.
The effect is a classic, and is a visual mind blower. Trost's inspiration for Maxi-Twisto, was Mike Gallo's "A Twist on Maxi"-Mike Gallo based HIS trick on Roger Smith's "Maxi-Twist". I have not studied Gallo's or Smith's versions, but consider it, as they use regular cards...pulled from any deck, (including Bicycles! :)
(Gallo's "A Twist on Maxi" was published in Genii, August 1986). I doubt that I'm alone in this regard, but I'll guess that a potential problem with gaffed packet tricks, clever as they are, is that they don't seem to have the 'legitimacy' that showing a series of card tricks with a regular deck does. In order to show 3, 5, 7 such packet effects in sequence, I'd be flipping to a different part of my wallet every time, which SEEMS to be filled with...trick cards...because it IS! Less to worry about with one straight deck.
Anyway, I love this trick, but as with most other gaffed packet tricks, I use it sparingly. In this case, I justify four isolated aces as easier to carry than run through the deck for, and/or-four aces that a card magician pal gave to me.
I'll carry four/five packet effects at a time, and switch one out for variety.
This trick, appeals to that earlier me, that loved gaffed cards, that can do things normal cards can't. A somewhat more experienced me, appreciates the work involved in making normal cards do impossible things. These packet tricks give a kind of instant gratification to a beginner, and/intermediate magician-veteran too, I imagine. But learning WHERE these gaffed effects came from, I think will always offer greater rewards, than relying too much on the former. This is probably directed to any magic 'newbies'. One final thought is that Nick Trost, no matter what he produced, made card magic I think more accessible and less daunting then say, Marlo or Vernon. I'm sure it's why his work is still so popular.
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