Product description : They did it again ! Sylvain Vip and Maxime Schucht are 2 French mentalists who have produced quite a few tricks and routines, including a wallet and very nice tools. This one is a little bit more affordable than some previous ones, it consists of a set of playing cards with emoticons on them. It means you can do every ESP routine you want with those cards, but with a new presentation and a more modern plot. You get quite a few cards with it, which I will go into details just after that. Let’s see if this is worth or not !
Price and where to buy it : This is sold at $29.95 and you can find it in nearly every Murphy's magic « partner » shop !
What you get : You get a deck of cards, it is disguised as a board game so you can justify it in an easier way if people ask what are those cards. Inside, you get one card with the link to watch the explanation video online. The video is approximately 1h45 long and they teach you several routines with the deck. The routines are not revolutionary but they use a new plot, the connexion of people with internet and all social networks. Among the routines, you get an out of this world, an influence themed one and so on. In the deck, you get a few stack of 5 smiley, 9 thumb up, 9 thumb down, “blank” smiley cards etc.. All of them are marked in a very clever way. The quality of the deck is amazing, they’re not bicycle but they do spread very easily and they feel like real cards. Overall, I’m not disappointed with the Social Network !
THE CONS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The cards could look weird to your audience but this con is covered by the fact that this is a board game.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]Most of the routines require a table or a surface to place the cards on it.
THE PROS :
[if !supportLists]– [endif]This really gives a new twist or a new touch on the classic ESP routines and it gives you much more freedom and space for your presentation.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The cards are really well made and look like something which could have been bought in a toy store.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The marking system is really clever and direct, there is nothing to count or to think about, and you get the information in seconds. The “thumbs” cards are also marked so you can do amazing out of this world routine.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]They have added something to the original routine, for the out of this world, they provide you with a video that you show to your spectator during the dealing process which gives a new presentation to the trick.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]In the video, they teach you a peek envelope which is called “The Black Giant” and I find it to be very cool. I like the simplicity of this method and the cleverness of the whole tool.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]The video is really well shot, as usual with “Marchand de Trucs” products, they have put the time and effort into it to make it look great and understandable for everyone.
[if !supportLists]– [endif]You can use the cards you want and your imagination will do the rest, I like those tricks which sparks your creativity !
Overall rating : This is not something revolutionary, but it provides people with a new way of doing the routines you may already do. Something more modern, in a fresher way. I’m still not sure about whether I will use it but if you like the look of it, you won’t be disappointed, 3/4 hearts.
As for the difficulty level, the marks are easy to read, the routines are easy to do, I would say 2/5 stars.
Similar products : The Social Deck by Soma is similar in a way that it uses cards with a Facebook “relation”. But there is nothing like Social Networks.