The Birthday Deck is a trick by Liam Montier that was released through Big Blind Media.
If you want to see what the effect looks like, check out
the official video trailer, which includes a full performance:
Here's the ad copy:
"
Liam Montier?s The Birthday Deck is a near self-working miracle which allows you to predict any spectator?s Birthday! No complicated sleight of hand - No preshow - Works with ANY birthday.
People are fascinated by fortune telling and ?readings?, and Liam Montier?s new release takes that and builds it into a KILLER revelation of a spectator's ACTUAL BIRTHDAY! Meet someone for the first time, with no pre-show, and demonstrate a ?reading? with the cards, using the numbers and month of their birthdate to generate the cards that will reveal their fortune!
Then, as a kicker, you spread the rest of the deck face down across the table - every single card is blue backed? except for the cards the spectator landed on. Those are the ONLY RED CARDS IN THE DECK - and written on the back of them IS THEIR ACTUAL BIRTHDAY!
A dynamite trick in real life, or perform it virtually on ZOOM for your online shows!
● NO forces - the cards will be different each time for the ?readings?!
● NO pre-show - perform the trick in real time to a stranger you?ve just met!
● NO complicated sleight of hand!
● NO rough and smooth or sticky stuff!"
My thoughtsThe main thing you get is a gaffed Bicycle deck. You'll have to do some initial set-up by writing dates/numbers on the cards, but once you've done that the first time, your deck is set to go, and resets easily each time you perform.
You also get access to online video instructions that run for a bit over 20 minutes, covering a performance (3 min), explanation (13 min), alternate handlings (3 min), and credits (2 min). This was produced by Big Blind Media, and features their usual high quality production qualities.
Calling this trick completely self-working and saying there is no sleight of hand is a bit of a stretch, because there are moves you need to do. But they are very straight-forward and easy, and are well-justified by the handling. So this is not the kind of thing that you'll get caught out with, and is well within the reach of a beginner. For the rest the gaffed deck does all the work for you, and it is a very clever concept.
I'm not a huge fan of the "fortune telling" style presentation with a personalized cold reading. But you can easily change the presentation to the idea of a "lucky card", or something else along those lines. Technically you're not quite predicting their birthday from scratch, because your spectator does need to reveal the date at the outset. But the way that the trick is constructed does produce a surprising revelation of their birth date on the cards they select. The final way of displaying the cards also really emphasizes something magical, because there's a spread of blue-backed cards, and the selected cards which have the birthdate revelation are the only red-backed cards. It's a very convincing and surprising finish with a nice look to it.
Red Hot Prediction by Cameron Francis was an inspiration here, but this really takes things to another level. The Birthday Deck has a very personal touch, while remaining very easy to do. If you like gaff decks that offer something personal with a fun presentation, this definitely hits the mark.
Find out more info over on the product page at Big Blind Media.
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