"Black[Deck]Magic" by Chris Jones
£5 from Nothing Up My Sleeve (NUMS)

Overview
Simply put, this manuscript gives you a real reason for owning a Black Tiger Deck. It comprises of four effects designed solely with these beautiful cards in mind.

Like many others I am sure, I bought several packs of BTD’s only to realise that in the real world they were (imo) self defeating. The whole strangeness of the deck yelled “trick cards” to lay people and consequently made the job of wowing the audience actually harder and not easier.

For me they went straight into the draw of lost magic never to be seen again. Or so I thought...

After my first read of "Black Deck Magic", my BTD’s were quickly retrieved from their hiding place so I could immediately run through the four routines.

I have had the document for awhile now, and have been having huge amounts fun performing the routines.

Difficulty. 3/5
1=Even I can do it, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)
Obviously there are four effects and they all differ slightly in difficulty, but although there are sleights, I doubt there is anything anyone will find too taxing.

The Effects.

a) "Persistence of Vision".

The magician takes a deck of rather curious looking cards from their box. The cards are all inverse, white on black compared with a normal deck. The black/white reversal, the magician says, has been developed to uniquely display how the eye sees what it wants to see. He demonstrates…

This is just plain weird, and frankly not just a nice opener but an excellent way to introduce the cards in the first place. It leaves the spectator wanting to see more with the cards. If Luke Jermay did more card magic, I would imagine it would be something like this…

b) "The Legend of Lucky Jackie".

A story effect that has all the charm of a Damon Runyon book

This one reminded me greatly of “Aunt Mary’s terrible secret” in that although it is just one effect, it is almost a whole routine all by itself. I love using the pasteboards to tell a story like this. This one could have easily been sold as a stand alone effect.

c) The Black Heart.

Another charming story effect, that will in all likelihood send shivers down the spine of all that see it…

d) "Blood Curse of Count Eripmav".

This one uses a Red Pipped BTD and is both visually stunning and magical.

The Review

None of these effects would have worked without a BTD. And frankly, in my humble opinion, the BTD doesn’t work very well with most other card effects.

This document offers a perfect symbiotic partnership for the two, and as such every BTD owner should own it.

Rating. Effect/item: 9/10, Quality of goods: 9/10, Value for money: 10/10

Bottom Line

Lets face it. For the price of a new deck of Black Tiger's you can buy this manuscript. I honestly can’t see where you can go wrong. You get four brilliantly scripted effects (and I do mean brilliant) complete with a detailed descriptions of all the moves and if that wasn’t enough, I promise you it will start you on the road to thinking up your own BTD routines.

Very highly recommended.

Dint Ellusionist release a book called Black Tiger Book or something for effects using the BTD?

Yes, Ellusionist has the Black Deck Book, which has some tricks and routines in it, ideas for introducing the deck to an audience, maintenance, and ideas with their black gaff deck.

Kevin

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

C

Chris. Just out of interest, are you THE Chris Jones that came authored the Black[Deck]Magic pdf?

Hey, I'd recommend this as well. I've performed Persistence of Vision a number of times, works a treat - very strong, visual magic, and easily worth the asking price alone.

Liam.
http://www.magic-mirror.co.uk

Too bad he doesn't have Paypal. I also don't like the whole "account" thing.
Seems like everytime I sign up, the spam just rolls in.

I would buy this if I could use Paypal.
James

It does use paypal doesn't it? I am pretty sure that is how I paid. There was a time when NUMS wasn't shipping outside of the UK, but I think it even does that now...

The website uses PayPal for transactions currently.

This allows the following purchase methods:

1. Credit Cards
2. Debit Cards
3. PayPal transfer

You don't have to open account with PayPal to pay by card, just comlplete the checkout as you would with any regular card purchase.

Secondly, when you add yourself to the account list at NUMS, your information is stored only by the database, and no email addresses are ever shared with third parties.

...and...

There's no need to have an account with NUMS now to purchase.

You WILL however need to enter a billing address for the PayPal verification.