Fractalicious – John Bano and Liam Montier
30.00
http://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=52472

The Hype:

A collection of visually-stunning, examinable, simple to perform, cutting edge packet tricks. 
Includes 5 special USPCC printed cards * 

FRACTALICIOUS assembles FIVE brain-poppingly incredible packet tricks (plus two fantastic bonus routines). These are NOT your run-of-the-mill packet tricks. Easy, self-contained miracles with multiple climaxes that all end examinable (fractal!). You name it - these tricks tick ALL the right boxes. Featuring John Bannon's revolutionary new move, "The Bullet Party Count." 

Brainiac *
Montinator 5.0
Chop Shop
Short Attention Spin *
Spin Doctor * 

BONUS: 
Box Of Doom
Self Assembly 

My Take:

Ever since I received a copy of Sizzle for review, it has been my favorite packet trick This predates Sizzle but Sizzle is a direct descendant of these routines. All great routines that use colorful cards and leave you totally clean. Every routine is a killer while remaining simple enough  to be performed by anyone with basic card handling skills. If you can perform a decent Elmsley count, you are golden. Five specially printed Bicycle cards are included to be used in several of the routines.

John is a big fan of what he refers to as fractal magic. High impact routines that require a minimal number of cards, are easy to do, have a strong climax and end clean with all cards being examinable. He and Liam succeed admirably on this set of routines. So, let’s take a look at what you get Although the list includes five routines and two bonuses, I see this as a set of seven tricks. The bonuses are not separated from the others and actually are not even the last routines. That said, this is great stuff.

 Brainiac – Basic on Phil Goldstein’s B’Wave (Eugene Burger’s favorite trick) but after selected ace is shown face up, it is revealed that each ace comes form a different deck. This will require a little memorization as slightly different handlings are required for different queens.

Montinator 5.0 – Find the Lady monte routine with four cards. Three jokers are shown with Joker written on the back of each. A Queen of Spades is shown with Queen on the back. The spectator cannot win because then three cards are shown with Queen on the back and are the other three queens. The last card with Joker written is shown to be the Queen of Spaces and the jokers have vanished. I think this is one of the best routines on the disk.

Chop Shot – Chop cup routine done with cards. Chosen queen put into pocket keeps returning the packet which changes to all aces as a finale.

Short Attention Span – Four cards are shown. Three blanks and an ace. The ace is placed face down on the spectator’s hand then is shown to be a blank card. The others are now shown to be the four aces each from a different deck.

Box of Doom – Beautiful presentation of the trick that fooled Einstein combined with a stop effect. A closed box is shown and the spectator takes a packet of cards from a deck. You tell him that in the box you have as many cards as he does, plus three with enough left over to make 23. After proving you are right, you not only show that the selected card matches your prediction, you show the matching card stapled to the inside of the box lid.

Self Assembly – Two part ace assembly. The first is based on John Guastaferro’s Assembly Line where the assembly is actually done by the spectators. On the second phase, the aces do not assemble but are turned over to show each now has a different back (inspired by Mike Power’s Twist of Simon). This is particularly nice as you get to use three spectators as assistants.

Spin Doctor- This was actually released previously as a separate effect but since it used the same cards as Brainiac, John was generous enough to include it. I did have a problem with the display discrepancies while watching the explanation but John says no one ever notices. So I tried the routine on a few people and guess what. John was right. I have gotten away with it every time and this routine kills. Every routine on this disk is a Mercedes but this is the Rolls Royce. This is the one I carry with me now.

Conclusion – I have become a huge fan of both John Bannon and Liam Montier and am not disappointed in this even in the slightest. All the routines are easy to do, are surprising and did I mention? Examinable. I have so many packet tricks that you have to hide after you do them. It is such a pleasure to just hand them over to be looked at.  Considering you used to have to buy Spin Doctor as a separate effect and that the five necessary card are included, this disk is a real bargain. I highly recommend it.

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