Reviews

Bill Malone "On the Loose 3"

Like all of the On the Loose DVDs, this one is definitely worth picking up. In this review I will give a description and rating for each effect.

Direct From the Factory (Mental Photography Deck): Bill takes an already strong effect and turns it into a miracle. If you have ever been to Houdini’s Magic Shop in Vegas, you have probably seen the Mental Photography Deck performed. This routine in my opinion is much better than the original.

8/10

The Kings Produce (Ace Production): This is a revision of a classic effect. The original effect was a good one, but like in the previous effect, in this one, Bill changes the routine so that even those who think they know how it done will be fooled by the last production. A good routine that is made better when performed as part of an ace routine, rather than by itself.

7.5/10

Maxi-Twist: My favorite Twisting the Aces type routine. The performer shows all four aces face up. Each time he snaps, one ace turns face down. At the end, the four aces turn into an ace, two, three, and four. Two of the aces are found in the middle of the deck face-up, which the performer cuts to, the third ace is with the two, the three, and the four, and the fourth ace is split from the third one. A great ace routine, and makes a great follow-up to The Kings Produce.

9/10

Apex Aces 2002: Another great routine. The performer shows all four aces and one at a time, the first three clearly disappear from the deck. Even when the performer spreads through the entire deck, the aces are not found. The performer then waves over the deck and causes the last ace to visually disappear. Finally, the performer makes a magical gesture over the cards and causes the aces to visually appear face up on top of the deck, one at a time. This is a very visual routine that will take some practice to perfect. The main downside is probably that there are some places in the routine where you can be caught, but if you go through the routine smoothly and without pausing a lot, then you will have nothing to worry about.

8.5/10

Count On It: The performer has a spectator select a card from the deck. The spectator then names a number between 10 and 20. The performer cuts the deck and has the spectator count the cards. Not only do the number of cards equal the spectator’s number, but also the last card turned up is the spectators selected card. A decent effect, but should be performed with cutting tens rather than by itself.

7/10

Cutting Tens: The performer cuts about ten cards from the deck and has three other spectators do likewise. The performer uses math to determine how many cards should be left in the deck, but when the performer counts through the deck, it is found that unfortunately, the spectators didn’t cut the right number of cards. However, each top card is turned over and it is found that they are all tens. I didn’t find this trick anything special, but it is a strong effect when performed as a climax to Count On It.

5.5/10

Cards Across: The performer has a spectator count ten cards into his hand and has another spectator sit on them. The spectator counts ten more cards into his hand and another spectator sits on them. The spectator calls stop as the performer cuts small packets of cards onto the table. The card that is stopped at is used to determine how many cards will travel from one packet to the other. When the spectators count their cards, the selected number of cards is missing from one pile and found in the other. This is in my opinion the best effect on this video, perhaps even the best in the four-volume set. What I like about it is that the spectators are so involved; there is no noticeable part of the effect where the performer can do anything tricky. The whole effect involves the spectators, and up to four spectators can be involved in the effect, making this one of the strongest card effects you can do, with a lot of audience participation.

10/10

Standing Ovation Invisible Deck: Most everyone agrees that the Invisible Deck is one of the strongest effects in magic. Bill’s presentation takes the Invisible Deck to a whole new level. It uses a spectator who does everything in the effect, and gets a few laughs because the spectator is using an, “Invisible Deck.” I won’t go into the details but this is a funny Invisible Deck routine that guarantees a standing ovation.

9.5/10

Overall, this is a great video and I highly recommend it.

9/10

If you have any comments, questions, or criticism about this article, send an e-mail to:

feedback@magicshane.com

Be sure to include, "Bill Malone On the Loose 3" in the subject line.

Shane Wiker