Anyone else here excited as hell to rip open the new Bannon DVD?! Yes, of course we all are because its Bannon and Big Blind Media. So what do you get for $20 (just $20). You get six (6) Bannon routines in which he presents the trick, mostly to a layperson or small group and then explains it to a magician. In addition to the tricks, there is a control, that he calls the “screened control” that is real cool.
Triangulator is the last trick on the DVD, but the first one I am going to talk about because it is so damn awesome. You ask a spectator to name any four of a kind and then you find them and put them down on the table. The next spectator names another four of a kind and they are removed from the deck and placed in a pile. The top card on each pile is face up and the three lower cards are face down. The top card from two piles are switched and the face down cards miraculously follow the leader. Then, the deck is cut and four more cards are dealt into a pile of four and the top card is turned over. The top cards from the remaining piles are switched and the bottom cards follow the leader so that no matter where the top cards went, the bottom cards in the four of a kind remained together. Really very surprising and mind blowing. The patter presented is about a four-sided triangle, but this is one in which you can make up your own. There is the smallest amount of set-up needed, but you can easily do it on the fly.
The one control, the Screened Control is a very quick, awesome and easy way to move a card from the middle of the deck to the top. Bannon does not really discuss the origin of this control, but it is my new favorite thing. Love it!!!
Infinitum is another beaut! I have seen many versions of this trick before and this sort of tops them all because of the Bannon twist he adds in at the end. Basically, the spectator puts down a card face down and asks the spectator to name every card. They think you have predicted the card they will name and you apparently miss when you remove the named card and place it face up on the table across from the face-down card. The performer repeats this twice, missing everytime. But, then it appears that the mates of the named cards were the foretold and placed face down from the start. However, just when the spectator expects the third face down card to match the last named card, it doesn’t. But, when you deal the value of the card that was face down, the mate is at that position. Totally cool, easy and can be done impromptu with a spectator shuffled deck.
Sly Dog is a real fooler! It is a Cameron Francis trick and it is great! Basically, a selected card is places in the middle of the deck, but appears in a packet of a four of a kind with a kicker surprise ending. You keep your spectator on their toes until the final moment. Bannon labeled this trick as one of his favorite tricks to do.
High Five Poker is great poker trick in which the performer deals five hands of poker after it has been shuffled face-up and face-down and cut with significant audience decision making on when to deal, stop, flip and cut. The, miraculously, all five hands are examined and one after the other the hand gets stronger until you get to the performer’s hand, which is a royal flush. What a great gambling display! The way that these cards are mixed in this trick is truly unbelievable and even when you know the method you will be fooled yourself. The only downside to this trick is that there is a bit of a set-up, but it is worth it.
Last Call is a cool narrative in which the performer tells the story what happens when a poker player meets a magician and they deal and compare hands. It is a nice gambling story and a quick and fun presentation.
The first trick on the DVD, Miracle Whip, is a great one-at-a-time Ace production between two Jacks. It is based upon Bill Goodwin’s Hold The Mayo card trick. This is another fun trick. Well done!
The production quality of this DVD is super excellent as per usual with a Big Blind Media production. The trick demonstrations are filmed excellently and the explanations to fellow magi, James, Liam and Jack are great and easy to follow.
We have all come to expect great things whenever John Bannon gets together with Big Blind Media. In this case, if you bet on the duo, you would have won, big time. They don’t disappoint and boy do they deliver with DWI3! Great effects, great price and more Bannon Greatness! Thanks BBM for squeezing these projects out of JB.
