"Unshuffling The Faro Shuffle" by Paul Gertner
Suggested Retail USD$40.00
Available direct from Paul Gertner
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Unshuffling the Faro Shuffle" by Paul Gertner, is more than just a great trick: it's a tutorial, almost a personal lesson, in how to execute one of the most beautiful sleights in magic which will have almost anyone doing this one quickly and easily.

I'll take a cue from Gertner and go through this one like he does on the disc.

First up, Gertner teaches his method for doing the faro shuffle. Now, Gertner is going down a well-beaten path here -- others have complete discs devoted to teaching this thing -- but Gertner breaks it all down so nicely it's less of a challenge and far less daunting a task. He doesn't cover all the flavors of the sleight and leaves all the variations untouched. He teaches the basic, two-handed, in-the-hands version here and he teaches it beautifully.

Okay, I have to make an aside here. It took me a solid year to get the faro down. We're talking hours every day, getting the cut right, then the weave, and it was work. Along the way I learned that if I held the bottom packet just so and put my thumb on the upper packet a little more over there, it would work a little easier for me. That constant experimentation, the ceaseless adjustments, all came together eventually and now the faro is just one of those things I can do. I say all of this to say this:

If I had seen Gertner's work on the faro, I could have saved myself the time and trouble and picked it up about as easily as a good Elmsley count.

Gertner, over the decades, has caught every little thing that needs to be known for the faro to be simple. By revealing everything he's discovered and turned into his way of doing it, he's put the faro within the grasp of pretty much anyone and, moreover, made it simple enough to pick up fairly quickly. True, you'll still have to practice it (which should go without saying) and likely you'll run into a problem here or there until you put it all together, but the time spent learning this beauty will be cut drastically as will the level of frustration.

Then, once you're done there, it's time to move on to one of my favorite effects from Gertner, "Unshuffled", from his five-star book, "Steel and Silver". I've been doing this one for a while because it's a visual piece using nothing more than a deck of cards and the faro and it plays so big it's hard not to bring out for those special groups.

In short, a deck of "marked cards" is shown and explained to be "edged marked". A card is selected by a spectator and then the side of the deck is shown to have a variety of lines marked on each card. The deck is "unshuffled" and the lines now form the word "unshuffled", four times on the side of the deck. Explaining the deck is now sorted by suit, the deck is "unshuffled" again and now the word is seen twice, the deck now explained to be sorted by reds and blacks. Once more it is unshuffled and now the word is seen plainly once. The deck is spread out and seen to be in completely new deck order. Explaining now how easy it would be to find the card, the performer does something different. Holding it so the writing is seen on the side of the deck, the writing slowly changes to reveal the name of the selected card.

This is one great card trick. Easy to do (once you've got the faro down which, thanks to Gertner, is also easy), visual as all get-out, and unique in plot, "Unshuffled" goes way beyond being just a card revelation: it's a great piece of magic.

Okay, I could rave about this one forever and a day, so let me just cut to the chase:

If you're trying to learn the faro, or what to learn it, this is the place to start. If you already know it and can do it, this is the place to pick up one great effect to do with it that'll leave spectator's gasping.

In short, get "Unshuffling the Faro Shuffle". You won't be sorry.

"Unshuffling the Faro Shuffle" by Paul Gertner
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Practicality: 8
With a simple set-up and an instant reset, there are only two strikes against this one: repeating it is problematic given the nature of the method and you'll be carrying around a "trick deck" that can' be used for other effects. Neither one of these is all that detrimental: this is one you want to hold in reserve for that special group or performance anyway.

Workmanship: 10
The deck is standard issue Bike, with hand lettering that looks crisp and sharp.

Documentation: 10
Gertner does it again, with unbelievably thorough instructions on the supplied DVD. His touches on working with the faro shuffle are interesting and will help many a beginner get this wonderful sleight down. An excellent job here.

Effect: 10
This plays so well it's scary. It's a bit of silliness that takes an odd turn into magical revelation and gets huge reactions. In other words, this is typical Gertner.

Presentation: 10
Gertner's presentation hits on all cylinders here: great visuals, clear handling, and an interesting little storyline. All told, this is great work and makes this one a solid winner.



Shane

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