Sweet Simplicity – John Carey – A Review

Rick Carruth

John Carey and BIGBLINDMEDIA present Sweet Simplicity, a collection of mostly self-working card tricks for those of us who enjoy such indulgences.. The Ad Copy reads:

John Carey has built an international reputation for his streamlined approach to card magic. Simplicity of method and great routining equals great magic that is EASY to do BUT still utterly fooling! On Sweet Simplicity you’ll find ten self working or super easy to do card tricks that will slay any audience. Simple to perform they may be – but the effect on your audience will be KNOCKOUT!

FEATURING:

1 in 52 – Carey’s self working streamlined imaginary deck routine is a total worker.

The trick that can be explained – Carey’s spin on a Dai Vernon classic. Devious!

Technicolor Reset – Four blue backed Jokers transpose in slow motion with four red backed Jokers in an exceptionally clean manner and then immediately transpose back in a flash!

Five Oh?! – Semi automatic card magic on steroids, where you get five effects from practically nothing. Super strong and so much fun!

The Perception Shuffle – A self working false shuffle. Yes, you read that right!

Spectator Star – Make your spectator the star as they shuffle, cut and turn over the aces. Boom!

Somewhere over the rainbow – John’s rainbow deck is a thing of beauty. No sleights, just pure subtlety.

Don’t Make Me Cross – Carey’s ungaffed Brainwave effect where the card they think of is the only odd back card – so cheeky and yet SO strong!

Entrapment – A really cool, self working slow motion sandwich effect that you will love using.

One thought One Spell – A very subtle spelling effect you will want to add straight to your repertoire.

My Thoughts…

The vogue seems to be self-working card tricks. I can understand. There are many out there who do not have the time, or dexterity, to devote to endless hours of practice… yet, they want to be a part of the magic revolution.

The next-to-last time i saw the amazing Daryl was at a magic convention in the South. He spent all his dedicated time for the lecture to performing and teaching several self-working card tricks. You might expect more from such a talented magician, but Daryl understood his audience. When he finished and said..”What I performed is available in a set of lecture notes at my table just off the front of the stage.”.. I sat in my seat and watched as thirty to forty grown men unabashedly rushed, and I mean RUSHED, to the front of the stage to get their copy. They saw the performance.. they saw the power.. and they wanted it…

I often pick up self-working card magic DVD’s in hopes of finding one, and if I’m really lucky.. two effects I can file away in my repertoire. Although primarily for true beginners, I do run across that occasional unicorn.

SWEET SIMPLICITY is more than a unicorn ( an extremely rare creature ).. it is a little herd of unicorns. Honestly. I can’t disagree with anything in the ad copy. This collection WILL fool most magicians.. not to mention any lay audience.

The description of the ten effects in the ad copy will suffice. I could add a little something, but in all fairness to John I don’t want to give away too much. Here are a few of my thoughts that might add a little something to the review..

1 in 52 – Equivoque force of one of three cards.. This effect is not a magician slayer.. but gets a REALLY good reaction from a lay audience.. A keeper.

The Trick That Can Be Explained – Prediction effect with multiple outs. I would have to call this one a keeper too.

Technicolor Reset – Color Transposition. Strong packet effect. One of the only effects not self-working and could probably be sold as a stand-alone effect. You may not fool many magicians.. but they will certainly applaud your efforts. One of my two favorites..

Five Oh?! – Another Teleportation type effect. A selected card ends up sandwiched. Deck changes to all Jokers. This is a fine study of subtle moves, and is definitely a keeper.

The Perception Shuffle – Inspired by the Paradise Force Cut. Learn to perform this shuffle while looking the spectator in the eyes… and you have another keeper.

Spectator Star – A four Ace trick, as performed by a spectator. Semi-automatic working. Another effect that will slay a lay audience. May not fool most magicians, but they will certainly appreciate your effort.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Another four Aces trick with a kicker. Optical display would work perfectly with Daryl’s Kaleidoscope Cards or a Bicycle Rainbow deck. My other personal favorite.. Love the handling…

Don’t Make Me Cross – Ungaffed Brainwave type effect. The spectator finds the odd card in a mixed deck.

Entrapment – Self working sandwich effect. Nice series of moves to reach a performance climax. Another one the lay audience will never figure out.

One Thought One Spell – A spelling effect you’ll like, even if you’re not crazy about spelling effects..

Sweet Simplicity is available as a DVD or as an instant download, depending on where you purchase it. My copy is a DVD, and if there’s a downside, it’s that there was a lack of info for us reviewers. Short of pulling out a calculator and totaling ten performances and ten explanations, I can’t tell you the length of the DVD. Let’s just say it’s about an hour and ten minutes. Everything about the DVD was typical Bigblindmedia quality… The sound and video were very good, the music was very good.. and the helpers, aside from Liam, were very easy on the eye.. ( I only have one good one..)

Again.. I am very impressed by this collection of effects. This will be one of the best twenty five bucks you’ve spent in a long time. I really enjoy being able to make a firm recommendation of a new product, and Sweet Simplicity gets just that.. If you can’t find at least three or four keepers on this DVD, may I recommend badminton?

$25.00 From dealers who carry the Murphy’s Magic line of products
https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=65050