It is very easy to be immediately disappointed with the Nemesis deck. I certainly was, not least because I was fooled by the name rather than the trick.
The effect is along the lines of a ‘Do as I Do” routine, the magician selects a card and writes it down on a piece of paper. The spectator does the same. The magician cuts to a card and places it on the spectator’s piece of paper and the participant does the same placing the card on the magician’s paper. The cards are turned over and you have found each other’s card.
What you have here, is a very well known deck which was first patented in 1909, so it is nothing new, but the routine is. This really should be called the Nemesis Effect, for clarity. However, the routine is terrific and certainly belongs in a book somewhere, does it deserve a stand-alone release? I genuinely think it does.
My reasoning is helped by the in-depth tutorial, given by Nick Locapo who much like Joan Collins seems to get younger with every passing year. The deck in question, is usually used for self-working effects and cannot be examined. To get around this, the Nemesis effect incorporates a move, and it is a move that makes a lot of people nervous.
Much of the tutorial is spent giving various versions and ideas of how to carry out this action, naturally and/or hidden. It covers both sitting and standing variations, everything in great detail. Nick will give you the confidence to perform this routine, because it isn’t hard by any means especially if you use the old back turn ploy which makes this simple and fool-proof. The rest of the trick is self-working and you can enjoy having fun with the presentation.
As in I wrote in a previous post, starting clean is the best. You can perform other tricks with the cards first and have them handled and shuffled, leaving no doubt in the participants minds they are above board. Nick does however teach some clean up moves too should you want to fool someone at your magic club.
I love the ‘test conditions’ presentation which emphasises the fairness of the selection process and the classic ‘Do as I do’ plot has been a favourite amongst magicians since the 30’s.
There is a bonus routine which is similar to the traditional effects for this deck, but it is a nice inclusion. There are also some false shuffles which you can choose to add in should you wish but aren’t necessary.
If it was in a book I’d be super excited, as a stand-alone trick I like it a lot.
The Nemesis Effect is brilliant. It is fun, very strong magic and easy to do. The teaching is incredible. I’m just irritated by the name.
The Nemesis Deck (Effect) is only £24.99 and can be found here:
1 comment
First time I have used monster magic, and have to say massively impressed quick delivery and needed to get in touch about something and was answered within minutes. Highly recommend also this Rick does what it says on the tin certainly worth the price.