Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Darryl and Joe (Krush-Groove 3) by Run DMC

This trick hits the mark (pun fully intended... in fact I thought long and hard about what to open this review with that would be relatively clever and sort of puny. But I digress, and I do digress quite well I might add).

Anyhoo, you didn't have to read that last bit, after all, it was a parenthetical statement. So if you haven't hung up yet, you'll be glad you're still here. I know I'm rambling, and I haven't said anything about the trick yet, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm stalling hoping to get a bunch of people to stop reading out of boredom.

See if people quit reading now, they'll never know how good this effect is, and they won't buy it, and I'll have it all to myself (insert your own 'my precious' joke here).

Alright, alright, I'll review it, otherwise Bryce will stop sending me stuff to review. So in a nutshell: Get this trick!

Here's why:

First, the illusion is P.E.R.F.E.C.T! It absolutely looks like you threw the dart at the fluttering cards and pinned the selection. You truly only need a deck of cards and a dart and something to stick the dart in (like maybe the detached Ricky Jay head prop from the X-Files set).

Just for clarity, here's the effect:

Spectator picks a card and signs it. The spectator shuffles the deck and hands it back to you. You spring the cards in the air and throw a dart through the fluttering cards. The dart pins the signed card to the dart board. No palming, no stooges, no switches. It really is the signed card on the dart board, and once the dart impales the card and is on the board, the spectator can remove it from the dart board. There are no duplicates and no switches.

I know it sounds impossible, but it's not. Fork over the 30 bones and you'll see for yourself.

As for the product quality itself, the lighting and sound are a little amateurish at times, but the navigation and the content covered are excellent. Brent covers every detail you can imagine for this effect. How to do it close up or on stage. How to do it with an assistant (not a stooge) or without. He tips a bunch of fun comedy bits you can throw (yes... I said 'throw') into the routine, and so much more.

I'm not a fan of one-trick DVDs usually, especially for $30.00 bucks. I'll make an exception if it's more that you're buying a prop that comes with an instructional DVD. However, just one trick (no props, etc) for $30.00 bucks seems to be a bit over priced. However, there is always the argument that if you use the effect, it's worth the expense, and this is the kind of effect that can be a reputation maker for sure.

I'm seriously considering adding this to my stand up act. It makes a 'simple card trick' play huge and fills the stage. Highly recommended... lost a .5 point for price...

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM.