Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Naturally By Selena Gomez

I hate packet tricks! You pull out a packet of gimmicked cards and you do something with them, then you put them away, and people say, "can I look at those" and you say, "don't be retarded... of course not!" Yet, I, Jeff Stone, open just about every close-up strolling set with Max Maven's B'Wave... I'm so conflicted!

So I get "Mona Lisa's Secret" in the mail and open the package and think that it's going to be some cheesy printed pictures of art work and some silly routine with a bunch of stupid counting and displays and illogical non-sense... boy is my face red!

This trick Rocks. The effect is simple and straight-forward (more on that in a moment), and has huge presentational potential. On top of that, the cards are beautifully made. They look like canvas paintings, yet they are the same size and texture as Bicycle playing cards ... it's a thing of beauty. It's $26.00 smackers which you might think is a little high for a packet trick, but when you see the cards, you'll realize that you got a screamin' deal.

I'm tempted to buy another set and put the cards into teeny frames and hang them up in my office right next to my shirtless photos of Siegfried and Roy. I hope I didn't say that out loud!

So here's the effect in a nut shell: A card is 'picked' (if you know what I mean). Four pictures of famous pieces of art are shown (little card-sized pieces of art). One of them is the Mona Lisa. A moment later the Mona Lisa is shown to be holding a playing card which turns out to be the selection.

At first glance, I thought this was just an average trick. However, a few moments before writing this review, I had a cool presentational idea that I will be using in my close up work. Sorry, I won't be sharing that idea ... But those who know me, know this: I don't do packet tricks, so if I'm going to be adding a packet trick to my repertoire, it has to be kick-butt, and this is.

As for the package you get: A ziplock baggie with the cards you need, plus a few extras so you can change out the 'selection' for each performance if you'd like ... and you can change the color of the back of the card in the picture ... either red or blue. The cards come with a small envelope-style vinyl wallet and full color four page instruction booklet. The instructions are simple an clear.

At the end of the instructions you'll find some basic info and background on each painting to spark presentational ideas. I see no downside to this one gang. If you like packet tricks (or even if you hate them more than you hate watching Barney do the Hokey Pokey) this is one you'll want to give some serious consideration to.

Final Verdict:
5 Stars with a Stone Status of GEM!