"Chaos 2" by Mark Elsdon
Suggested Retail USD$30.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

"Chaos 2", the new card trick by Mark Elsdon, is very slick and a great mechanical version of "Triumph", if you can deal with the heat distribution problem and don't mind carrying around a gimmicked deck.

Elsdon's idea is very neat here. He basically combines a self-shuffling deck with the Triumph plot and it works and plays beautifully. Two spectators each pick a card from the deck. The deck is cut in half the halves put together, face to face. The deck is put into the case (now a "Chaos Machine", courtesy of two buttons, "Chaos" and "Order", on the case). The "Chaos" button is pressed, the deck removed and spread to show that the deck is now mixed face-up and face-down. The spectators' cards are replaced in the mixed-up deck, one face-up and one face-down, and deck placed into "Chaos Machine". The "Order" button is pressed, the deck removed and spread to show all the cards are now face-up, except for the two chosen cards.

That's a lot of neat, themed magic. And if there's any doubt, "Chaos 2" really plays big. It's simple to follow, everything is as open and clean as you could ask for, and all of that adds up to a jaw-dropping piece of magic.

Then comes the heat.

"Chaos 2" is so clean, so smooth, that it scream at the top of its lungs that there's a trick deck in use. Even though Elsdon has done a wonderful job of proving the deck beyond gimmicky -- his handling is gorgeous in that area -- this is second only to a Svengali deck is drawing heat to itself.

It can be handled, of course. A deck switch'll do it, if your personal preferences don't rule that one out. You can, with a lot of work and skill, work another trick or two from the "Chaos 2" deck, if you've got the will for it. But you'll need to come up with something to disperse that heat to really make this one as magical as it can be.

To be honest, with any other trick deck I can think of, I'd tell you not to bother with the work. Go learn a sleight-based version of this you can do with an ordinary deck, I'd say. And I'll cop to thinking about telling you exactly that before I took "Chaos 2" for a spin. My thinking now? "Chaos 2" is good enough, entertaining enough, and certainly magical enough that it's worth the extra headaches of carrying around a one-shot extra deck and fussing with switches and the like. That's about as high a recommendation as I can give a gimmicked deck trick. "Chaos 2" is worth it.

All in all, "Chaos 2" is slick and power-packed. Deal with the problems inherent with playing with a fully-gimmicked deck and you've got yourself a good piece of magic.

"Chaos 2" by Mark Elsdon
In a Blink: 8 Out of 10

Practicality: 8
With a quick reset and simple working, this one is quite practical. The only problem? It's a full deck, fully gimmicked, and that's another deck of cards to carry around (There is a way of doing other tricks with this one, but it's not that simple). You're probably going to want to strongly consider a switch with this one, so make that two decks in your pockets.

Workmanship: 10
The deck is extremely well made, printed on Bicycle stock and "tinkered" with very nicely.

Documentation: 5
The documentation is concise and straightforward; you'll have little problem learning this one.

Effect: 10
This is a very clean, very direct two-card "Triumph" tied with a self-shuffling deck. It's a neat combination that works. This one plays very well.

Presentation: 8
The presentation, what with the "chaos" and "order" buttons, is cute. The problem is that this is so clean in appearance it screams "trick deck". Solve that problem and you've got a winner.


Shane