Review : Chaos by Mathieu Bich

Product description : I love Mathieu Bich, I love his tricks, I love the methods he finds, I love everything about him ! Chaos is his new product which was released through Theory 11 and it's a triumph on steroids. First, you show a fully shuffled deck from which you remove all the spades. You show the spades, they're also mixed up. With 0 move, I insist, 0 move, they go back in new deck order. After snapping your fingers, all the deck is now back in new deck order ! You put the cards back in the box and you're ready to do it again !

Price and where to buy it : This is sold at $29.95 and you can find it on Theory11 website.

What you get : You get a small cardboard box, almost every trick from T11 comes with this kind of package. Inside, you can fin the deck of cards as well as a link for the explanations. Those are well made, you learn everything you need to learn, it's well shot and they explain you in detail the working of the gimmicks as well as the routine. The gimmicks are really well made, they're made in Maiden back since you can't modify Rider Back anymore. It's not an issue, people won't notice the change in the back since both design look almost the same. You know most of the gimmicks used in this trick but they've been combined all together to create this masterpiece. I couldn't be more happy with what I received, especially for the price !

The pros and the cons : Here is the core of my review, let's begin with the cons, as I will usually be doing, I prefer to keep the good things for the end.

THE CONS :

• You have to carry this deck in order to perform this effect. And it's highly gimmicked, you won't be able to do anything else with this deck.

• You can't hand out the cards for examination, you will need to switch the deck.

• You will need some space on the table if you want the last reveal of the deck in new order to be the most effective (but it can be done in the hands).

THE PROS :

• This is quite easy to do, almost self working ! You will need to know how to handle the deck and the cards but nothing impossible.

• This is very visual, without any move (yes, you read well, no move), you're able to make all the cards go back in new order. I think the spades part is awesome, it looks like real magic.

• It's a multiphase and logical effect, you first begin to place all the spades in new order then you do it with the rest of the pack. The effect builds up very nicely with a strong climax.

• The combinaison of principles, especially in the deck, allows you to completely fool both layment and magicians ! You can show both sides of the deck during the routine, which is a real convincer for everybody. I just love this little subtlety, it makes everything stronger.

• It's really well put together, the mix of principles makes it very impressive and still easy to do.

• The reset is instant, just put the cards back in the box and you're ready to go again !

Overall rating : This is one of the most impressive gimmicked triumph, I love it. However, I won't carry the deck with me just to do this effect, 3/4 hearts.

As for the difficulty level, nothing hard about it, 2/5 stars.

Similar products : If you want the same kind of trick, check out Unshuffled by Anton James, it's a really good one ;)