Do you really need to rea
d this review? Uh, Bannon and uh, Big Blind Media…Bandwidth release number 4…I think not! But, writing this review gives me something to do on a Friday night so you might as well confirm what you would suspect, that this latest Bannon/BBM collaboration is another stellar card trick download.
Let’s recap, shall we? The Bandwidth series of single card trick downloads is designed for the performer that wants to amaze over the internet. The tricks are adaptations that have been designed to do over ZOOM or Skype or FaceTime or whatever video conferencing platform that you use. First came Zoombaya (excellent), then The Untouchables (awesome) and then No No No No No No No Maybe Yes (another goodie). Talking Sense does not disappoint! It’s called Talking Sense as a take-off on the predecessor trick, The Thirty-Second Sense, from Bannon’s fantastic 2015 book, Destination Zero.
If you are familiar with Bannon’s work, this trick will not be new to you, but you will love it anyhow. If you have not seen a trick with the automatic placement in action, then GET READY TO HAVE YOUR SOCKS BLOWN OFF and have the roof come down on your head! This trick is really a POWERHOUSE effect that you can do anytime and anywhere with any shuffled deck.
With your $9.99 purchase, you get a download with three files. The first is the Performance (it’s 5 minutes), the second is the Explanation (10 minutes) and the third file is called the “Pre-Determinant Version” (which is 12 minutes long). I am totally jazzed about the last video file and will describe that below.
First, John Bannon performs the trick to Liam Montier over ZOOM. You can see both screens at the same time on the download as if you are watching the trick live, or watching a trick on tv. So, obviously the performer never touches the card because he is not in the same room. The spectator cuts a bunch of cards and counts that number of cards. The performer does not know how many cards are cut because the spectator keeps that secret. Then the spectator looks through another set of 20 freshly shuffled cards and picks the card that is in the numbered position that the spectator is thinking of (and only he knows). For example, if the spectator cuts off 16 cards, he deals down a bunch of cards and the card at the 16th position (from the shuffled bunch of 20 cards) is his card. Then, another bunch of cards are dropped on top of that packet of cards and no one knows where the card is. Bannon then pulls out a bunch of change out of his pocket and counts down the value of the money in his pocket. So, for instance, if he had a dime and a nickel, he would count 15 cards down. During the course of the counting, Bannon builds in an instance of ‘magician in trouble’, but he quickly saves himself with the audience smiling. Amazingly, when one card is dealt to in the end, it is the impossibly chosen card. It is an effect that is impossible to fathom.
The explanation is Bannon teaching Montier how to do the trick and let me promise you that you will be totally amazed at the method. It is so incredibly fooling. Once you know the secret, you will not understand how the trick works and you will amaze yourself in practice. In fact, I can confidently say that you will perform this trick to yourself over and over again and be thrilled each time. The trick is sleight free, easy to learn and easy to perform. There is a tiny amount of audience management just making sure that they follow your instructions – which is the case with all video conferencing magic. The only real issue is that the deck has to have 52 cards and no jokers. The trick does not feel mathematical or formulaic at all, although is quite a bit of card counting involved, as mentioned earlier in this review.
The Pre-Determinant Version is super awesome. Instead of counting the change that was in the performer’s pocket, the spectator pick several numbers and deals down to that number. Let me explain, the performer has a pad with a bunch of numbers written down on a grid. When the spectator picks a number, the performer circles the selected number and then crosses out all the other numbers in the row and column with that first selected number. The spectator keeps going until there are no numbers that are not crossed out or circled. The total of all the different numbers that are circled is the number that the spectator deals down to. The spectator has a true free choice in which numbers to select and circle. It is fail-proof and mind boggling. You can apply this number selection tool to many other tricks.
So what can I say? This trick is the best of Bandwidth and they are all super. Big Blind Media really nailed the fourth and final trick with the help of our favorite card magician. This is a money back guaranteed fooler. It’s a winner. Best of class! You won’t regret it… thank me later. 10 OUT OF 10!
