"Off With His Head" by David Regal
Suggested Retail USD$20.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

I love packet tricks and I love David Regal's work, so it's only natural that I love Regal's new effect, "Off With His Head". It's quick, fun, visual, and a great piece of entertainment.

The effect begins with four blue-backed Kings displayed. A spectator names one for "killing", shouting "Off with his head!" The kings are shown again and now has a red black ("a bloody red back")... and it's head is missing. It's the named king, of course.

Think "B'Wave" with a beheading.

It really is simple and straightforward. The thing about "Off With His Head", though, is just how well it plays. This is a great piece and women seem to absolutely love it (as an aside, it's entertaining to watch the guys' reactions when the climax hits and you know what's on their minds: "Damn, hope she wasn't thinking about me").

As is typical with Regal's work, the handling here is extremely simple. In fact, the first version given has no handling whatsoever -- it's sleightless and plays beautifully. For those thinking they need to work a little bit more (perhaps prove things a little bit more), Regal's next handling contains a version using the old packet trick standard sleight to make things a bit more open. In my experience, both version play the same and I have a tendency to prefer -- brace yourself -- the sleightless version.

As always, the presentation's the thing and Regal's is excellent here. From the first sentence to the last, things move along quickly and logically, even the necessary verbal deception needed to make things work in the first place is well done. The idea of taking "B'Wave" and personalizing it a bit, with humor and interaction, is a great one and makes for an entertaining, attractive piece of magic.

The only downside you'll run into is the obvious one: that "headless" card can't be examined and, because it's so unusual, spectators are naturally drawn to it and really want to see it. You'll need to have your audience management skills honed to put that idea away. Luckily, though -- and to make a broad, sweeping, and possibly sexist statement -- women are much less likely to worry about things like how the trick works than what the trick accomplished. But you will run into the one spectator here and there who'll want to really take a look at the card and you'll have to deal with it.

Still, that's a small shortcoming and fairly easily dealt with. "Off With His Head" packs a punch in its surprising and fun way. That it plays so well for women, a segment of audiences seldom reached-out to in any truly entertaining manner, makes it a great piece of work. That it's so simple, clean, and logical makes it a real keeper.

This is one you'll find yourself doing more than you think.

"Off With His Head" by David Regal
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Practicality: 9
It's a stand-alone packet trick, so you know what that means: packs small, simple handling, quick reset, and unexaminable cards. That last one hurts a bit more here than usual since the climax makes that gaff all too irresistible. This is one you'll want to do and put away quickly.

Workmanship: 10
Everything's printed on Bicycle stock and the die-cutting is perfect.

Documentation: 10
Regal is great here: thorough instructions, great color photos, and different handlings (from a sleightless version with a couple of different methods of revealing the climax to a still-simple sleight-based version).

Effect: 8
This is typical Regal: something simple that gets great reactions. Only having things examinable would make this one play better.

Presentation: 10
The presentation is simple and fun from the first sentence ("Did you ever want to kill a guy?") to the last. Extra kudos for handling the whole selection sequence which is nice and logical.



Shane