"Knaves Gone Wild" by David Solomon
Suggested Retail USD$14.95
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Knaves Gone Wild", a new effect by the ever-creative David Solomon, is a small wonder, a miracle with pasteboards, with a level of cleanliness and visuals that makes for striking card magic.

That's not hype: Solomon's run-of-the-mill stuff is powerful and "Knaves Gone Wild" is anything but run-of-the-mill.

Okay, it may sound like it is, but it ain't. You'll catch the plot here pretty quickly.

Four Jacks are removed from a deck and placed on the table. Three other cards are placed face-down on top of each face-up Jack. Yes, you got it: it's an assembly, and you know that each one of those Jacks is going to disappear until all the Jacks are together in one pile. Been there, done that, right?

Wrong.

Solomon works his real magic on the plot, his creative streak and his genius stroke, and the result is some mind-blowingly impossible magic. Each Jack is visible right up until the time it goes bye-bye and vanishes (or, probably more accurately, transposes), and each does so in a different way each time, with each occurrence being just different enough to keep things interesting for the spectator without being repetitious. But, Solomon being Solomon, each one also cuts the legs out from under the table the spectator is resting solution one; in the end, there's nothing left but magic.

This is good stuff, very good stuff.

And if that was all you got for your hard-earned rupees, that would be worth the price. Solomon doesn't stop there though, thinking ahead to what the purchasers of this little wonder might also need. To that end, he's very thoughtfully included his "O'Henry Jazz Aces" routine which is worth the price of the trick all by itself. In this routine, all you need is a deck of cards -- no gaffs in sight -- and you're ready to go with a fantastic assembly routine that is a careful melding of two card classics. In this one, the Aces vanish one at a time, gathering together... well, you know the drill. But at the last Ace, things go differently, very differently; the packet the Aces were gathering in have all become different cards and the Aces have joined the other Ace that should have been the next to go. That ending is a mind-blowing thing to happen and it's one of my favorite routines because of it.

Let's take a look at the details.

"Knaves Gone Wild" uses gaffs and they are gorgeously done by USPCC and routined by Solomon. The handling is simple, using only easy sleights and moves well within the reach of pretty much anyone. The gaffs are not examinable, but they are lost in a deck of cards (which is otherwise quite normal) and there's little heat on them at all. You'll need to ditch them if you plan on doing much more with the deck, but that's simple enough to work out on your own.

"O'Henry Jazz Aces" uses no gaffs, just an ordinary deck of cards. The handling is a bit more involved, but still fairly simple. While the beginner may put in a bit more work than the more advanced worker, it's only a little more and certainly nothing daunting.

So there you have it: two fantastic routines for one wickedly creative mind. For the price, you can't go wrong with "Knaves Gone Wild" if you're looking for some incredibly card magic.

I'll cut to the chase: this one gets my highest recommendation, hands down.

"Knaves Gone Wild" by David Solomon
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Practicality: 10
You've got gaffed cards in play here, but their introduction is logical and ditching them would be a breeze; they're all but a non-issue here. The set-up is minor -- introduce the gimmicks to your own deck and you're good to go. Reset, likewise, is a piece of cake. All in all, this is an extremely practical piece of work.

Workmanship: 10
The cards are printed on red Bicycle stock and look as great as you'd expect.

Documentation: 10
The included DVD of Solomon teaching his effects is very well done. Solomon always does a fine job of teaching and continues to do so here. You'll have no problems learning the material here.

Effect: 10
Solomon's routines are extremely well structured and the impact they carry shows it. The vanishes are as visual and impossible as you could ask for and the climaxes solid. These are what you call "jaw droppers".

Presentation: 10
Solomon's presentations are light and narrative; it's the visuals and the cleanliness that carry his magic more often than not. That's the case with the two routines here -- it's all too clean and above board not to be magical.


Shane

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