Meet The Jack DVD – Jack Garcia
$30.00
http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=59023

One of Murphy’s Magic latest offering is a DVD by Argentinean mentalist, Jorge Garcia. Here is the promo…

“Full Review Jorge Garcia, better known to many as “The Jack,” has performed and lectured in over 20 countries.

He’s a regular face on television in his native Argentina and has also performed at the world famous Magic Castle no less than 6 times!

On his first DVD, The Jack shares 8 of his favorite and most powerful Mentalism creations and performance pieces, including To Lovecraft, Jorge’s brilliant and acclaimed version of the classic Pegasus Page effect.

Each effect is performed in front of a live audience and later joined by Peter Nardi. They dissect and explain every effect in great detail back at the Alakazam studio..”.

Let me say first that, aside from the nice production values and should, I found Meet The Jack easy to watch and understand. English is not Jorge’s first language. Aside from an occasion or two, I didn’t have a problem understanding either the performance or the explanations. It was obvious Jorge has performed these effects many times, and his presentation reminded me of Kreskin and his almost non-stop conversational style.  Meet The Jack is almost three hours on one DVD…

Now, on to the Effects..

‘One Head’ is an effect described as one that.. ‘packs small but plays huge! A multiple prediction effect that’s a sure-fire winner!’.. I don’t think I’d be giving much away describing this as a one-ahead effect. But, I’m not going to tell you the method Jorge uses to get one-ahead. He only needs a small writing pad to scribble three predications.. a spectator to actually watch him do so, and an appreciative audience to applaud his efforts…

The next effect was ‘To Lovecraft’, and is a very original version of the Pegasus Page effect.
A book is opened to a random page by the spectator. After instructions from the performer, the spectator selects a word. Later, the performer not only reveals the selected word, but allows the spectator to verify the previously viewed page is no longer in the book.. but in an envelope in the performers hand. The pages match perfectly.. and the page in the envelope IS the actual page from the book. Jorge goes into great detail to explain how a special gimmick is constructed to enable the magic. The gimmick is not hard to construct and is more time consuming than difficult. If you like book tests.. you’ll REALLY like this one and the gimmick that makes it possible.

‘L-Mental’ is a very good middle-of-the-act routine that uses three spectators and allows the performer to predict the outcome of a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors… three times! There’s nothing involved other than knowing a ‘method’. No pre-show or misses. It’s basically mathematical, and allows you to know who, in three different hands, beats who. Watching Jorge perform is extremely helpful as his routine is very polished.

‘Project Fear’ uses another self-constructed gimmick to divine a spectators deepest fear. The gimmick allows the performer to peek a word written by the spectator. Once constructed, you can use the gimmick to reveal anything written on a card, including words, numbers, credit card numbers, phone numbers and small drawings. Jorge describes this as ‘Psychometry with an envelope..’ Jorge’s version is based on the original routine “Pseudo Psychometry” by Theodore
Annemann, and Larry Becker’s “Sneak Thief”.

‘A Think and Stop Card Trick’ is one of my very favorites, partially because of my love of mathematical card tricks that look like real magic. There’s nothing complicated here, and it can be performed with any shuffled deck at a moments notice… In other words.. No set-up. At a certain point you must remember one card.. and all the ‘hard’ stuff is done. I will be using this one…. (The Jack calls this his ‘go-to impromptu effect…’)

‘Blindfold Act’, is based on  Al Koran’s ‘Koran’s Miracle Blindfold  Act.’ Jorge says.. ‘Please do not
dismiss this routine as just another blindfold act, or another card trick. It incorporates the genius of Al Koran, Tamariz and Daniel Celma!’.. What I appreciated was the performer is fully sightless throughout the effect.. and yet he is able to use his ‘mental abilities’ using two spectators and a deck of cards in increasingly more impossible phases. Although I’ve never performed a blindfold act, I’m going to give this one a try. You do need a very small gimmick, but it’s readily available to us all..

‘Mind Track’ was devised by Francisco Nardi and is a perfect effect for a small, intimate group. The performer allows the spectator to choose a card and lay it face down on a table. The spectator is furnished with a writing pad and is asked to freely scribble lines and circles on the page. After due diligence, the performer and the spectator examine the scribble, note certain highlights, and reveal a number and suit. Surprisingly, the scribble successfully reveals the identity of the spectators card. This effect is totally impromptu and has the potential to be a stunner.

‘Haunted Key’ is Jorge’s version of the classic haunted key. It’s not presented as a physical act, but as an emotional effect intended to have a lasting effect on an audience member. Strong stuff.

As an added bonus, Jorge’s DVD includes a printable PDF of the effects. I sincerely appreciate being able to open a PDF to double check a move instead of cutting on my computer, finding the DVD, loading it, and then finding the move. I wish everyone did this..!

I am now a fan of Jorge and gladly recommend his DVD for your purchase. If you are a mentalist, or contemplating developing a mentalism act.. there are effects on this DVD you would expect to pay for individually.. in most cases.  I paid almost the cost of the DVD for a similar DVD with the ‘secret’ to the Rock, Paper, Scissors effect.. I recommend MEET THE JACK ..

Available from all dealers carrying the Murphy’s Magic line of magic products.
$30.00
http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=59023