"Love Cards" by Craig Petty
Suggested Retail USD$40.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

"Love Cards", a new effect by Craig Petty, wants to be a "book test in your wallet" and tries admirably by being one of the most practical mental magic routines around, but ultimately fails under the weight of a strange handling and poor presentation.

Before I go on, I have to say this: Kudos, Mr. Petty, for releasing a demo video that is exactly what the effect looks like, start to finish, without a blink of the camera's eye or the slice of the editor's virtual blade. You took a risk, sir, to show all you did and allow for reverse engineering, and you did so with the consumer in mind; I for one greatly appreciate that. Thank you.

Now, to the effect...

In "Love Cards", a number of said cards (you know the ones: the plastic, credit-card sized little romantic reminders that you can buy in card shops and gas stations across this great land) are removed from the wallet and examined by the spectator. The spectator is told to think of a number from one to ten and shown how to count down that many cards, arriving at one of the cards randomly. The performer turns his back, the spectator chooses a number, and then deals to that card. The spectator is then told to locate the line at the number which they choose, and then to select a larger word on that line. The performer then turns around, returns all the cards to his wallet, and reveals the word the spectator is thinking of (and, optionally, their number).

I'm afraid that right there is the problem I have with "Love Cards".

While nothing is written down, there is no fishing, and there are no silly multiple outs, there is a certain amount of weird handlings and presentational bits thrown in that, at their best, weaken the effect and at their worst are just waiting to be called on.

You see, it's been my experience that "Love Cards" is actually damned clever and can be a nice, not so serious mental piece with a more solid impact except the presentation of it is only halfway done. The mechanics of the presentation -- the counting of the cards, the turning of the back, all of those necessities -- are done well and done good; the rationale of those mechanics, particularly the weird handling and line-counting stuff, needs to be addressed in the same manner, if it can be.

As it stands, "Love Cards" is too simple a thing for a spectator to critique and just doesn't play as well as other close-up mental routines. Without either tightening up the workings or sketching out some presentational fine points, "Love Cards" will not be more than a pretty good mental magic trick, and that's a shame.

I really wanted to love this one, folks. Honestly, I've rarely seen anything as practical as this for close-up mental magic. It fits in my wallet just fine, it's simple, the reset is instant, everything is examinable... And the cards. The cards are beautifully made, laminated to keep the size down and to last a while. I even liked the DVD with all it's detail mixed up with some hilariously bad segments. And Petty has shown himself over and over again to be quite creative in his creations and a mad genius when it comes to plots and themes.

"Love Cards", though, just needs some help. If you can give it that, if you can fill some in holes here and rub out some dings there, it might still be worth a look."Might", I said.

As it stands, this one I recommend only to those that are really hooked on the props and the plot and don't mind risking the elbow grease for the chance at something better than what you've got.

Let's call this one recommended, but with reservations.

"Love Cards" by Craig Petty
In a Blink: 7 Out of 10

Practicality: 10
Well, let's see now: this packs small (fits in your wallet pretty easily), a simple set-up and reset, everything in examinable, no angles or such silliness... This is as practical as it gets.

Workmanship: 10
The cards are wonderfully made and printed on laminated stock to last a good while.

Documentation: 7
The documentation, on DVD, is thorough but drags on and on in some spots to the point of distraction. A script, a little direction, and some editing would have helped this tremendously.

Effect: 5
This plays okay, but not very strong. Not bad reactions, certainly, this just falls short of expectations.

Presentation: 4
Simply put, the presentation here is weak. The handling is suspicious and can easily turn to bust if done for the wrong individual. Justifications are scant if they exist at all. Be prepared to put some work into this one to make is passable.

Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.