"Trick Deck - Real Deck" DVD by Kenton Knepper
Suggested Retail USD$34.95
Available direct from Wonder Wizards
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Trick Deck - Real Deck", one of the latest DVDs by Kenton Knepper, is more than an entertaining card routine; it's a complete card act that is profoundly, enjoyably, magically, strikingly insane.

Okay, you all know I'm a big Knepper fan. I always have been and always will be. His thinking in terms of magical psychology and an instinctual insight into mentalism have always been the things that strike me so much about his work.

"Trick Deck - Real Deck" is a departure from that (to a certain extent anyway) and shows Knepper's skills and chops and mastery when it comes to routining things around a simple deck of cards. The result is marvelous.

I'll spare you all the details of the routine because there is just so much going on here it's impossible to stay on top of it all and keep this review less than a few thousand words. Let me just hit the summaries with this one:

It begins with the performer bringing out a deck of cards from a box marked "Trick Deck". Explaining that he is going to show what this special deck does, the deck is shown as being all double-faced with red cards printed on one side and black cards on the other. The deck is closed, fanned, and shown to now be double-backed. Then all the black cards reappear, then a card is chosen and found, an easy trick because the deck is shown to be normal now and, despite all the shuffling and mixing, is in "new deck" order... and a perfectly normal, regular deck. From there, the shuffled deck separates itself according to color in a quick "full deck oil-and-water" routine, which then shrinks, turns into a blank deck, changes colors, flows into a full-deck Triumph and "Ambitious Card"... well, you get the idea. Thinks get go weird and crazy at a moment's notice with this routine. And whenever you like, at any point in the routine, the deck can be handed out and seen to be a regular deck. At the end, though, there's nothing to hand out since the routine climaxes with the deck vanishing.

I did say this was insane, didn't I?

There's just so much going on here, so much flow between the seemingly incongruent pieces, that no word describes it better.

Let's look at the workings first. To start with, there are no deck switches here and no complicated gimmicks to mess around with: you'll need a "specially marked box" that is easy to make up yourself and that's about it. As for the work involved, this is far from self-working; you'll need to have some solid card skills evident to tackle this one, though you won't be breaking your fingers over it (and don't fret: there are no deck-switches used). In fact, if you're a card worker, the toughest thing won't be the sleights as much as it will be remembering this monster of a routine.

And if it's too much of a monster, don't sweat it. Knepper kept this perfectly modular. True enough, the entire, four-phase routine runs long, but it's put together in such a manner that pieces can be removed, added, changed in order, and more, allowing a great deal of flexibility in how long this runs and which piece are performed when. "Trick Deck - Real Deck" is, in that regard, fully customizable. That customization applies to the sleight-work as well. While the whole routine requires card skills, piece of it are really quite simple to do. So customize it not just to fit time constraints and venue requirements, but also your own skill level as well. Your audience will still be blown away.

'Course, the presentation and psychological pieces help with that whole "blown away" thing and, since this is a Kenton Knepper release, you know the psychology and linguistic deception bits are there in all their glory. Don't worry: this is not doctorate-level magical-psychology stuff here. Generally it's a one-liner there, a word there, all of which add up to boost the power level of the presentation.

As to the presentation itself, it's all over the place. It begins with a purported demonstration of a trick deck then morphs into a being a demonstration of hypnosis, and along the way has enough comedic pieces to get giggles and chuckles at the least and guffaws at the best.

If "Trick Deck - Real Deck" sounds like a hodge-podge, thrown-together piece of magic, well, it's supposed to look that way. That's part of the insanity. But as Knepper explains, this is really a well-crafted, well-executed act designed to be just as nutso-cuckoo as it can get. And, really, that's the charm of this one and makes "Trick Deck- Real Deck" a winning piece of business.

I recommend this for those looking for some great card magic, with some advanced card skills, who don't mind picking up a bit more education on presentation and performance psychology along the way.

"Trick Deck - Real Deck" DVD by Kenton Knepper
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Material: 10
Not just a card trick, this is a complete card act, but with enough modularity to it that the separate pieces can be added, removed, tinkered with, and customizable, making this as invaluable a learning experience as you can ask for. Throw in all the bits and touches that make this a powerful yet fun piece of work, and you've got a winner on your hands.

Practicality: 10
You'll need a deck and a couple of spectators, plus a little prop-work to make this play presentationally. All in all, this is a very practical piece of work.

Quality of Production: 8
There are some video problems here and there, and a bit of a sound issue that may or may not be local to the disc I have, but overall you'll have no problem or serious distraction learning the material.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Knepper hits the ball out of the park as he always does., teaching everything from the moves to the expected psychological pieces, and even down to the rationale behind the routining. Big thumbs up here.

Presentation: 10
The verbal presentation is all over the place here, from the simple "trick deck that isn't" to the whole thing being explained away as some kind of hypnotic state of mind. Couple that with some funny moments here and there, some surprising visuals and climaxes, and you've got a completely entertaining piece of work here.


Shane