Lumber by Mr. Pearl is an extraordinarily fantastic take on Paul Curry’s Out of This World behemoth card trick with the addition of poker chips and a super germane patter! It is a dark horse. Having heard no hype about this trick, I was blown away by its’ cleverness and how unbelievably fooling it is in its’ construction. I dare say that Mr. Pearl’s enhancement to this classic trick makes it more astounding, more fluid and more magical.
With your purchase of Lumber, you get 4 poker chips a small cloth draw-string bag and a double-sided page of teaching instructions. There is a gimmick here, but I don’t want to describe it so that the secret stays in the vault. On the written instructions, you get a two QR codes; one for a performance by Mr. Pearl and one for instructions that are taught by him. First off, the poker chips are excellent quality chips. He did not cheap out! Mr. Pearl could have charged more for this trick and it would still have been a great value. The chips are red or black that obviously correlate to the red and black sorting of the cards. The chips are not only excellently made, but they are smart in a few secret respects. When you buy this trick, and you should, you will understand what I mean. Significant thought was put into the creation of every aspect of this routine. The included bag is big enough to hold the chips and a deck of cards. As with many versions of OOTW, the deck requires a set-up, unless you can do the set-up on the fly. 
The written instructions are very clear and easy to follow despite the fact that sometimes the English translation from Korean is not natural. The only criticism I have for this trick is the name; Lumber. It really doesn’t translate into English and it doesn’t describe what the trick is about in any respect. Purchasers of magic often have an idea about what a trick is about by its’ name and explore further based upon any interest that they may have in the description. This trick suffers from poor marketing in that respect, but selfishly, I don’t mind… now that I know what it is all about and I have it!
The performance video is 5 minutes long and shows Mr. Lumber performing the trick for a spectator in Korean. This video is available online because it is the promotional video. There are English sub-titles that are easy to follow. The explanatory video is 22 minutes long and Mr. Pearl teaches the trick step-by-step. Again, there are English sub-titles as Lumber is taught in Korean. The instructions are also easy to follow. Both video are no frills.
Some of the aspects of this trick that I enjoy are that the spectator is involved in the trick when they shuffle the deck by pushing together the cards in a Rosetta shuffle and also handle some of the chips during the routine. From a magician’s point of view, I am impressed with how the creator cut down on the sorting time by only using a portion of the deck in a way that is not lacking in motivation. Mr. Pearl has devised a brilliantly relevant patter that justifies everything that happens. Too often suggested patter or storylines leave subconscious questions with the spectators which mostly don’t surface because of the feeling of astonishment that washes away those doubts. This is not an issue here. Also, the method to switch dealing from the original two piles to two new piles is the most natural and understandable I have seen for any OOTW version.
This trick is easy to learn and easy to perform. Although there is a moment of misdirection needed, it is invisible due to the gimmick and the shock that your performers feel from the trick itself.
This product get the highest rating because of the quality of the chips and gimmicks, the great price for what you get ($34.95) and the fact that Mr. Pearl’s new and improved developments breathe updated life into a legendary classic.
This outrageously amazing trick is available at your favorite Murphy’s Magic dealer!