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Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review

One DVD, over a dozen effects, $35 bucks and one Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review: Effect

The effects are all somewhat "familiar" feeling. Many of them are Solomon's take on the plot. Everything uses just a normal deck of cards. There are prediction effects, spelling tricks, a clock trick, poker routines, elevator cards, spectator cuts the aces, etc.

Don't let that scare you off, however. In every single case, Solomon has added some little touch, method enhancement, subtlety, etc. to improve, simplify and/or clarify the effect. If you're familiar with these plots, you may very well be interested in his updates.

Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review: Method

The methods are probably somewhat less familiar feeling. There are some great methods lost to the annals of history that have resurfaced here. Many of the effects can be done from a borrowed shuffled deck. Some are more intricate and tricky than others. In just about every situation, Solomon's methods solve a problem with the original method. He has added a very clever subtlety to the standard clock effect that makes for an impossible seeming revelation of a thought of card.

His technique for Spectator Cuts to the Aces is one of the cleanest I've ever seen, and one of the most deceptive methods I've ever seen. He's come up with a version of the classic Aronson effect, Shuffle Bored that can be done from a completely borrowed and shuffled deck.

He's creating a smart addition to Bannon's Dear Mr. Fantasy folding the cards concept. He's got a super clean and clear method for a follow the leader style effect. Some of the effects require running and stacking cards, while others are much simpler. There's a range of techniques for every single skill level. All of the techniques are legitimate and real world techniques that can actually work and be performed for real people.

Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review: Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy is very accurate and correctly describes what you're getting. Of course, they claim that all of the effects will fool you. Even that was pretty close to the true. Many of them did fool me. Either way, fooled or not, the rest of the ad copy is solid.

Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review: Product Quality

It's no secret that I've secretly planted video cameras inside of all the trees outside of Owen Packard's house . . . not in a stocker kind of way but more like a curious kind of way. You know, curious what he's doing every minute of the day, curious what his every move is . . . you know, normal healthy stuff. That being said, this product is, of course, a Big Blind Media production, and therefore top notch production quality.

I will say, however, that the teaching segments could have been better. David Solomon is extremely knowledgeable, and sadly, the rest of us are nowhere near as smart as he his. That creates a small barrier of assumptions. He made way too many assumptions that we were keeping up with him, were familiar with the original versions of the effects, and knew the moves/concepts he was referring to. Liam Montier did a good job of stopping this and backing things up for clarity, but it still wasn't quite enough in many cases. That being the case, you may have to rewind a few times on some of the effects.

Solomon's Secret Subtleties Review: Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a solid product. If you're a card guy/gal, then I'm very confident that this DVD will appeal to your inner Marlo(ette). If you don't mind having to back up and rewatch a few explanations, you'll be very happy with your purchase. For the amount of stuff you're getting, $35 bucks is a small price to pay.

Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.

Available at your Favorite Magic Dealer. Dealer's see Murphy's Magic for details.