"Pocket Space" by Tony Miller
Suggested Retail USD$25.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Pocket Space", an mental-magic effect by Tony Miller, defines the old adage of packing small and playing big, with nary a drawback in sight.

The effect is simple and straightforward and just a wee bit corny. A spectator is given an imaginary deck of cards which they shuffle and cut and... well, you know the drill. Anyway, when they are done, they "cut" the imaginary deck and tell you how many cards they cut off the deck. You then remove a business card and a playing card from your wallet. The spectator turns over the business card and sees a list of all fifty-two playing cards printed on it, in a random order and with no repeating. The spectator looks up the card at the number he "cut", turns over the playing card, and it is the same card.

That's a really cool thing, a great little effect, and it plays as solidly as you could ask for.

As for the details, there really is no reset: you put the business card and playing card back in your wallet and you're ready to go again. There are no sleights used at all and no gimmicks. The whole of "Pocket Space" fits inside your wallet (which is ungimmicked: if you've got a wallet with a space for money and credit cards, you can use it with no problem). Truly, just put "Pocket Space" in your wallet and you're ready to go, anytime and anywhere.

The simple fact is that "Pocket Space" is nearly as perfect a close-up piece of magic as you can get.

I did say "nearly", as in "not quite, but darn close", which means there are things you need to be aware of.

First, there is some memorization. Luckily, this is pretty light. Practice things for about an hour and you should have it down to the point where you can take "Pocket Space" out with confidence.

Second, while the number of imaginary cards the spectator "cuts" off the imaginary deck isn't forced, there are times when it will have to be "guided" a bit. This is a rare happening, but it could occur; Miller covers very satisfactory ways of dealing with it, though, so this is mentioned more for the sake of completeness than any real negative.

Third, the design of the business cards is, well, hokey. It looks like they came from a kid's magic set. This isn't addressed by Miller because he doesn't see it as a drawback. I'm with him; the whole thing plays like the ancient 52-on-1 gag at the beginning anyway, so the cheese factor is there and you might as well play with it. Still, if the back design bothers you there are options available: copy the lists to your own business cards, for example, or come up with a presentational explanation for the design. There are more solutions than that, of course, but it shows that dealing with this detail is oh-so-simple.

Fourth, doing this repeatedly is a bit problematic. Personally, this is not one I'd do strolling or table-hopping much because, while the spectators may be different and the numbers may be different, the cards may not be. Worrying about it may be a stretch in a couple of directions, but the issue is there and something to keep in mind.

Are any of those serious drawbacks? No, not really. As a big fan and a near-constant performer of similar effects (you can read that as "Kolossal Killer" and "Heirloom"), I'm used to dealing with most of them and the whole "hokey design" thing is really just a "personal choice" kind of thing. None of those four things comes close to diminishing the effect of "Pocket Space" or it's value which is considerable.

Making "Pocket Space" more valuable is the amount of flexibility in presentation you have. Essentially, "Pocket Space" is force-driven; the revelation can be done any way you want or can come up with. Have the "imaginary card" returned to a real deck and then show the matching card to be the only face-up card in a face down deck, for example. One way I did this was to have another ungimmicked deck handy and have the imaginary card placed "halfway" into the fanned deck. When the spectator names the card, a simple magical gesture, and his previously invisible card is now visible.

'Course, those kinds of things get in the way of what Miller was trying to accomplish here: an exceedingly clean, gimmickless, sleightless, piece of mental magic; Miller did accomplish that in spades. But if you don't mind running contrary to Miller's visions -- and you shouldn't it -- there's no telling what you may come up with.

At the end of the day, Miller's "Pocket Space" is a great piece of work. Done out of the package, it's a powerful, effective, entertaining routine. Give it some thought, especially to your presentation, and you could end up with something even better.

For the money, you can't ask for a better investment.

"Pocket Space" by Tony Miller
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Practicality: 9
It truly doesn't require pocket space -- throw the cards into your ordinary ol' wallet and you're good to go -- and reset is as simple as putting things away when you're done. Repeating things? Absolutely possible, but just a slight bit hairy because of duplicate outcomes. As far as mechanics go, this is about as practical as it gets. You've got a bit of memorization to deal with, but it's easy enough to learn and deal with.

Workmanship: 10
The cards are well done, printed on heavy stock that should last a lifetime with proper care. Some may fuss about the "magic set" look of the design, but it works and is certainly easy enough to re-print them on pretty much anything you want (business cards, anyone?)

Documentation: 10
Miller's documentation is short and sweet and quite thorough. You'll have no problem learning this one.

Effect: 10
This is a killer effect that gets the reactions, period. It plays huge and has a tendency to knock 'em sideways.

Presentation: 7
The presentation is essentially an "invisible deck" routine (as opposed to the legendary "Invisible Deck"): you hand the spectator a deck that's invisible and off you go. That works, and works very well, but put a bigger, badder presentation around this one and it'll be a real winner for you.

Shane

Available direct from your favorite dealer. Dealers, please contact Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc. toll-free at 1-800-853-7403 or visit Murphy's Magic Supplies website.