Timecard

THE BLURB:
A Killer Effect:

The magician locates a selected card—and then reveals that a
freely named time is written on its back!

A Bulletproof Method:

   1. The card is selected in a very fair manner, with
spectators having the chance to change their minds as many
times as they like before settling on a choice.
   2. The time is selected by simply being named, with no
force used—or even possible.
   3. The time may be chosen before the card, or the card
before the time—it works either way.
   4. The writing on the back of the card is large and bold,
seemingly with no explanation as to its appearance.
   5. Back and fronts of the rest of the deck are visible
throughout the routine.
   6. Automatic reset.
   7. No table needed; perfect for walk-around, yet suitable
for stage work.
   8. Long-lasting. (No rough and smooth.)
   9. Professionally manufactured from standard Bicycle
brand playing cards.

"The trick is fantastic — just the coolest thing. I’m going
to do it in my shows at the bar. Bravo, bravo!"
- David Regal

Comes complete with 6 page, photo-illustrated instruction
booklet and Bicycle deck.

MY COMMENTS:
Though most of his effects are magic, Gordon Bean always
puts out effects with great thinking behind them. This is
no exception. At the surface, this appears like mental
magic, but presentations can certainly be created to make it
solid mentalism. I will say that this passed the "teenager
test." In other words, I performed this, pretty much right
out of the package, for my high school students and they
were left speechless. There aren't many effects that do
that. To me, when a gimmicked deck is THAT good, it's worth
sticking in your repertoire for special occasions, at the
least. For those bothered with the pre-printing on the
cards, the deck is easily constructible from decks you may
already have (you need one well-known gimmicked deck which
you probably already have and one matching regular deck) so
that you can write the time on the card backs yourself. You
can also modify it to have other things on the back of the
card, if you like. Unfortunately, this is not instantly
repeatable, nor is it recommended for walkaround because of
that. Other than that, If you like really strong card
effects (and, if you don't, then why are you reading this
far?), then I definitely recommend this.