REVIEW: Invisible Palm by JT

It really started in the early 1960’s with Marlo, Jennings, Vernon and Cervon and if those names don’t convince you to give it a go nothing will. The effect is top theatrical card magic, with the great hook of a fake explanation which brings a little humour as well as bafflement.

The effect is simply that the magician displays the four Aces and explains he will demonstrate how a card in palmed invisibly. An Ace is ‘palmed’ and the hand is shown empty back and front and yet when laid flat on the table and lifted, the Ace appears. This is repeated until all the Aces have vanished from the hand and appeared on the table.

The trick has probably fallen out of favour as book sales dwindle with the trend for stand-alone magic tricks. With no gimmicks involved, it became as the saying goes, ‘hidden in a book’, so I was chuffed to see its name back in lights.

JT has incorporated a couple of gimmicked cards into the mix to help with the routine which traditionally is quite sleight heavy. They are robust, simple and hide in plain sight nicely, however they only do so much to help you out. Here lies the problem, at some point cards do need to get from the hand to the table, which is usually done with genuine palms, process driven displays and an extra card. The gimmicks only aid the displays, adding a nice naturalness but you are still using an extra card and the Vernon transfer, a Tenkai Palm and a Rub a Dub vanish.

Which leaves me wondering why bother with the gaffs. They do make it one less to worry about if hiding an extra card is an issue, but one of them adds a discrepancy which sort of negate the benefits.

The Invisible Palm is probably the only routine where the Tent vanish is ideal, as the appearance of the card on the table eliminates the obvious mechanics of the vanish. (Tyler Wilson has a face version in Dominatrix which is more fooling)

All the moves are taught well enough but what is missing is the motivation, misdirection and timing of them. Plus, I’ve picked up a few subtleties over the years such as how to reveal the cards without a slide but more of a roll of the hand. No such tips are given here.

The final Ace is the biggest problem (like that final coin in 3 FLY) and JT gives you the two standard methods, one for sitting and one using the rest of the deck. (a great time to use that Tyler Wilson variant)

Invisible Palm is a brilliant trick, Ulitmate Invisible Palm by JT gives with one hand and takes with the other. I’m left hoping a new band of magicians try it and are encouraged to investigate the plot further.

Jennings ’67 is full of versions and Paul Harris’s Art of Astonishment Book 3 has a no palm version. Let’s have some fun reading a book with some cards in our hands.

Ultimate Invisible Pal by JT can be found here:
https://monstermagic.co.uk/products/ultimate-invisible-palm-by-jt