Pinky Swear by Doug Conn

[Tom Frame]

Pinky Swear (DVD) by Doug Conn $15.00
Running time: 48 minutes
Available at: http://www.trcky.com/catalog/genre/pinky-swear-dvd.html


Prior to watching this DVD, I had heard of Doug Conn, but I had never seen him in action. Word on the street indicated that he was a creative conjuror with commendable chops. So I was eager to see what he had to offer. I was not disappointed.

The advertising for this DVD proclaims that it is, “A collection of miracles utilizing the Pinky Count and the Pass.“

Indeed it is.

The production values of the DVD are very good.

Mr. Conn comes across as relaxed and personable. He does a very good job of performing and teaching the material. He dutifully provides appropriate attribution.

He begins the DVD by teaching his solid technique for executing the pinky count. He provides detailed instruction on finger placement, pressure points and the bevel. He recommends practicing the count up to 13 cards.

Next, Mr. Conn teaches Derek Dingle’s pass No. 1 and pass No. 2, aka the Stroboscopic Riffle Pass, from The Complete Works of Derek Dingle.

Mr. Conn stresses the importance of executing both of these techniques under cover of misdirection. Fortunately, he incorporated misdirection into the design of the following effects.


Coincidice: The performer shuffles the deck and tables four dice. A participant freely selects a die and rolls it on the table. Let’s say a Four comes up. From the top of the deck, the performer deals three face-down cards onto the table, one on top of the other, forming a tidy pile. He removes the fourth card and slides it beneath the die.

This procedure is repeated with the second die.

The participant simultaneously rolls the remaining dice. Maybe she rolls a Four and a Two. The performer adds the digits together, arriving at the number six. He deals five face-down cards onto the table, removes the sixth card and slides it beneath the dice.

The performer removes the cards from beneath the dice and turns them face-up. Each card’s value matches the value of the die that was formerly sitting on its back.


I really like it.


Fourtunate: The performer offers to repeat the effect. He returns the tabled cards to the deck and proffers the dice to the participant. She freely selects a die and rolls it. Perhaps she rolls a One. The performer deals the top card of the deck beneath the die.

The participant rolls another die and it comes up Five. The performer deals five face-down cards into a pile and slides the pile beneath the die.

The participant rolls the remaining dice and winds up with a Five and a Six. The performer deals eleven face-down cards into a pile and slides the pile beneath the dice.

He dribbles the deck until the participant stops him. He tables the top portion of the deck and places the dribbled packet of cards on top of, and perpendicular to it.

The performer removes the card beneath the One die and turns it face-up. It’s a King. He removes the packet beneath the Five die and turns it face-up, revealing a King on the face. He removes the packet beneath the Eleven dice and turns it face-up, revealing another King. He turns over the top packet of the deck and displays the final King.


I like it.


Random Specificity: Three participants freely select cards, which are lost in the deck. A participant rolls a die and it comes up Four. The performer deals four face-down cards into a pile behind the die.

The second participant rolls a die and gets a Three. The performer deals three face-down cards into a pile behind the die.

The third participant rolls the remaining dice and a Four and a Five come up. The performer deals nine face-down cards into a pile behind the dice.

He turns the packets face-up, revealing the three selections.


I really like it.


Magic Spell: The performer produces the four Aces from the deck. He buries them in the deck. He deals cards off the top of the deck in a face-up pile as he spells “Club.” He deals the Ace of Clubs on the final letter.

He repeats the spelling/dealing procedure to produce the Ace of Hearts and the Ace of Spades. That leaves the Ace of Diamonds, right? He spells “right” to produce the Ace of Diamonds.


I like it.


Legendary Ace Cutting: The performer shuffles the deck and cuts it into four face-down piles. He turns the top card of each packet face-up and reveals the four Aces.


This homage to John Scarne requires you to execute a perfect Faro shuffle.


I like it.


An Artistic Application: The performer displays a Joker, colored red, blue and yellow. A participant freely selects two colors, say blue and yellow, and writes their names on a sticker. The performer cuts the deck.

The participant selects a card to serve as the canvas. The performer cuts it to the top of the deck. The participant affixes the sticker to the back of her selection. The performer turns the selection face-up onto the deck. He waves his hand over the card’s face and blue and yellow circles appear on the pips.

The performer turns the selection face-down onto the deck, displaying the sticker on its back. He removes the selection and turns it face-up. The blue and yellow circles have mixed, resulting in green circles covering the pips.


This is Mr. Conn’s enhanced version of Gary Kurtz’s “Artistic License.”

I like it.


Work on the Open Index: Mr. Conn demonstrates how combining a memorized deck and a crimped card with the pinky count and pass provides you with quick access to any card in the deck. Armed with these tools, the magical possibilities are limitless.


I really like it.


Doug Conn’s Pinky Swear boasts cleverly constructed, hard-hitting magic that will engage and amaze the crowd and delight connoisseurs of crafty card conjuring.


Highly Recommended

[elliotmagic]

I am so happy to see my long time mentor, friend and sometimes partner in crime achieve the success and accolades that I feel he has always deserved. What a wonderful review of Pinky Swear! Congratulations Doug-E-Fresh! You da best!

[Doug Conn]

Thank you both (specially Tom for the nice review! Glad ya liked the work.)
Now. Please pardon me while I take this opportunity to segue into mention of "Bulit to Last - by Doug Conn" which is a full two disk DVD Set that covers 20+ of my ideas over 3 1/2 hours of video. Disc 1 is all cards.
Disc 2 covers misc items.
Joe Turner did a full (favorable) review earlier this year in the Genii Zine.
So, I'll keep it short.
Any questions or comments can reach me at connjureATgmail.com or
http://www.dougconn.com
(Where you can see video demos of both items)
THANKS