"Thought Of Cards Across Project" booklet by Christopher Williams
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In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Thought Of Cards Across Project", a booklet by Christopher Williams, is a collection of three takes on the classic plot that, with different version for different tastes and achieving some great goals in terms of practicality, is a solid must-have for anyone even remotely interested in the theme.

Just to clarify what we're talking about here, the barebones of the "thought of cards across" plot is this: from a deck, a number of cards (usually twenty) are removed and divided into two ten-card piles. The spectator chooses a pile, remembers a card from it, and, with a gesture or two, the pile is counted and only nine cards are found. The other pile is counted, revealing eleven cards in it. The spectator names their card and, sure enough, the card merely thought of (as the dealer ads would say) has traveled to the other packet.

With two things going on at once here -- telepathy and teleportation, if you'll forgive the alliteration -- it's no wonder why this plot is considered to be such a classic and why so many performers can tell you that this one effect "sealed the deal" more than once for them. It's a powerful thing to say the least.

In "Thought Of Cards Across Project", Williams presents three different handlings for accomplishing this effect from three different performers: Gary Jones, John Carey, and Williams himself. While they are different in a few respects -- difficulty, usually, though the effect is also changed a time or two -- all three have several things in common that make them particularly valuable: none employ any gaffs or gimmicks, there are no switches (usually the weakest part of the plot), the deck is clean, and there is no set-up. For workers, that pretty much spells gold. As to the routines themselves...

Carey's routine begins the booklet and it's the simplest of the three and, arguably, the least of the collection. This is not to say it's bad by any means -- it was the first I played with, naturally, and I liked it a lot -- but in its simplicity it falls a bit short when compared to the other two versions. For beginners, though, it's the perfect stepping-stone to the other routines and is good enough to be used in the real world without qualms.

Jones' routine is next. In this version, you have the choice of repeating this one immediately after the first card has traveled. I absolutely loved this one. It's simple, convincing, direct, and that optional second phase of making another card go... well, that's just perfect for me and my style. Unlike Carey's routine, there's a move here that takes some guts, but all told it's not that risky (you see, there's this thing called "misdirection"...) and the rest of the sleights used are easy enough for experienced card folks. Yep, I loved this one.

And then, lastly, there's Williams and his routine. Like Jones' routine, there's a second phase to it, there are a few more moves to get done, but Williams has crafted a slick routine here all the work done way before it should be. Williams not only uses moves economically, he's built in just the right amount of added touches to sell things and, brother, does it work. The handling is still fairly simple (though there's one sleight that will take a bit of practice to get down), but those little touches make all the difference here. This became my favorite of the three and the one I found myself doing more and more. It's a powerful routine, structured extremely well, and it's a solid winner.

So there are the routines and they are all good, solid pieces. Depending on your skill level and your own interest, one of these is sure to work for you and be something you perform and perform regularly.

Personally, I swore by "Red Sea Passover", a two-deck version of the plot, and wore out a set or three before I got hooked on "Strange Travellers", which went back to one deck for the routine. Both of these are brilliant takes on the classic but relied on gaffs to get things moving. With the routines in "Thought Of Cards Across Project", you are always set to perform the effect as long as you've got a deck of cards around. This makes the routine one of those things you can do at the spur of the moment which, to my way of thinking, makes for even more practical magic.

I can't recommend "Thought Of Cards Across Project" enough for anyone with even a minute amount of interest in the plot (which, I imagine, will be just about anyone who works with cards). The routines are excellent, the impact they carry solid and strong, and the work easy enough to allow you to fret more with your presentation than with your moves. With all that, plus a great deal of practicality, you just can't go wrong.

"Thought Of Cards Across Project" booklet by Christopher Williams
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
Three takes on the classic plot, each varying in method just enough to make sure there's a version here for everyone, and with no gaffs or gimmicks or switches in sight, these are about as practical as can be: grab a deck, any deck, and go. This is great stuff for anyone interested in the theme.

Quality: 10
Williams' writing is perfect here, with plenty of detail but still a very concise description of the methods. My only complaint, which may or may not be Williams' doing, is the choice of a tiny font that makes reading this difficult to say the least.

Illustrations: 10
There are a few illustrations to help the illustrations along (not that they are expressly needed) and they do the job excellently.

Presentation: 10
You're on your own when it comes to the presentations; Williams is giving you three tools here to build something out of and those tools are clean, direct, and entertaining.

Shane