Flicker by Michael Paul

[lumberjohn]

A month or so ago, Michael Paul generously offered GMG listeners the chance to preview his new manuscript for "Flicker."  The basic Flicker effect was included in a prior manuscript of Paul's, titled "Show No Mercy," (no longer available) which I believe was reviewed by Andrew and Keith in an earlier episode of GMG.  I bought Show No Mercy and so was familiar with Flicker but had not performed it.  I took this as an opportunity to take Flicker out into the real world and give it a shot.

The Flicker effect is a method to make it appear that the back of a card is changing from one color to another without any moves.  This is unquestionably a VISUAL change and looks VERY good.

The original Flicker effect, contained in Show No Mercy, was a straightforward use of the principle to simply change the back color of a selected card.  In the new manuscript, Paul has provided five additional routines using Flicker, including a card transposition, a color changing deck, a hypnotism demonstration, and a new plot, titled "Breaking the Law" in which the magician apparently causes two cards to occupy the same physical space at the same time.  These were all great uses of Flicker, and the final effect really provides some terrific motivation for what's going on.

The main strength of any of the Flicker effects is the very cool visual change, which is actually an optical illusion.  Flicker itself is also very easy to execute, involving no moves of any kind, though all the provided routines do involve some simple moves.  Anyone thinking of performing this should be aware that flash paper is used, so if you are performing somewhere that prohibits fire (or for children), this might not be for you.  Flicker will also damage one of your cards, so these effects might not be good choices for openers that you plan to follow with several card routines. 

Overall, this is a great way to add some flash to your card routine.

[Michael Paul]

Thanks for the review, I'm very glad you liked it.