The Blurb
THE GRAIL GOLD EDITION – WHAT IS IT? THE DEFINITIVE WORK ON MIKE ROSES’S CLASSIC
A number of years ago, a thoroughly likeable fellow by the name of MIKE ROSE blew everyone with the BEST card at any number ever seen.
THE GRAIL has COMPLETELY FOOLED many of the BEST minds in magic – even those that you think were practically impossible to fool these days! It has been a consistently TOP seller for many years since then and now it returns…recharged, reloaded and refined to be BETTER than ever before!
But why mess with something that was already so great I hear you ask! Well fear not, the original routine still remains in its brilliant entirety as it is a superb bit of creative and highly-subtle thinking. However IN ADDITION to this, Peter Nardi finally tips the versions of THE GRAIL that he has been using in recent years to fry magicians and lay
people even more so! If you are familiar with the effect, imagine now HANDING OUT a small envelope containing a prediction PRIOR TO THE NUMBER BEING NAMED! And ending WITHOUT ever having to touch the prediction again!
Or…are you thinking that a change from your current TOSSED OUT DECK opener may be in order – well then THE GRAIL OPENER is destined to become a new classic for not only opening your show, but bringing up a member of the audience effortlessly for a breathtaking opener that will set the scene for the rest of the show to come.
The Grail Gold Edition now contains the following new material:
The Holy Grail
This is the version of the Grail that Peter Nardi has been performing for over 2 years (this version totally blew David Blaine away when Peter performed it for him).
Imagine handing your spectator a small black envelope which they are instructed to place in their pocket. A packet of cards are introduced and your spectator is asked to name a
number between 1-52. Whichever number they name (no force) is the number we go with. The cards are removed from the deck and handed to the Spectator to examine. Once your
spectator is happy the deck is normal they count through the cards to their chosen number. The card exactly at their number (not the card before or after) is seen to be lets say the 3 of clubs. Your spectator removes the envelope from his pocket and removes the odd backed card inside, it’s the perfect match.
1. Only one envelope
2. Only One Card in the Envelope Magician never touches the Card or envelope once removed from the spectators pocket
3. Only one deck used
4. Deck is examined
5. No switching of card or envelope.
6. No Palming, adding or taking anything away
7. Easy to Perform and carry on using the deck for the rest of your set after the effect.
Peter Nardi’s Impossible Grail Opener (Stage Version)
If you perform a cabaret or stage act this opener is for you. A great impossible effect to kick off your show and gets you a randomly selected volunteer up on stage to help with your next effect!
Peter Nardi’s Two Person Any Card At Any Number?
This is the ideal version to perform for a competition piece, parlour performance or when ever you have a table to perform on. Peter uses this as a sit-down routine when he has a couple to perform to.
Two decks of card are introduced, One red and one blue. One spectator selects a deck and chooses a card sight unseen. The second spectator names a number between 1-52 and deals down to that number in the other deck. Both cards match!
This is a real nailer and really plays big with a fantastic connection/coincidence premise!
Peter Nardi’s Impromptu Grail
Now you can perform the great card at any number with your spectators own deck!!!
The Grail Gold Edition comes with the above routines and even more additional ideas – the definitive work on Mike Rose’s NOW CLASSIC effect!
My Comments
In my review of the original The Grail, I think I may have tipped a bit too much and perhaps was a bit misleading in my description. It was still honest and fair, and much of what I said still applies, but let me revise my original comments. Also, over the years, I've seen this effect being criticized as not being a true ACAAN (Any Card at Any Number). It's not supposed to be. Check out the first sentence of the blurb.
The Grail is a very commercial, powerful, and direct demonstration of coincidence or mind control. You openly put a target card face-down on the table and the participant names a number. The cards are dealt down to the number and the card at that position is shown to match the face-down target card.
What makes this an elegant effect is that the cards are in the hands of the participant most of the time. The performer only touches the cards long enough to give them to the participant. And this very direct, hands-off card routine does seem genuinely impossible. This feature plus the ability to use this deck of cards for other routines, if you so choose, makes this product worthy.
There are a few considerations to note. First, this is a close-up card effect (at least, the original is). The prediction card cannot be examined. It does re-set instantly and can be done openly, but it's not a good idea to repeat this for the same group. It does require minimal memorization (8 numbers) and one move which takes place as the cards are being removed from the case. This move does take a little practice to get down, but it's not difficult.
The final consideration has to do with the deck itself. The deck is slightly altered. You cannot do the original version with a borrowed deck of cards. But the alteration involves switching out two cards for two others. That's it. At the end of the effect, one of those cards is already out of the deck. So one can merely switch that one final card or leave it in. As indicated earlier, one can use this deck for many other routines.
The previous version of the The Grail contained a printed sheet of instructions. This version has no printed sheet (it would have been nice to include that as a PDF on the
disc) and instead contains a nearly 60 minute video, featuring Peter Nardi discussing this effect.
Besides the original version, Peter Nardi provides his new version which features an entirely examinable prediction card that the participant can handle. The trade-off is that
the deck must be altered slightly more than the original version and this certainly can't be repeated.
The stage version is basically the same as Peter Nardi's revised version only with jumbo cards. The problem with this is that most experienced performers know that handling an entire deck of jumbo cards is awkward. Most use only half the deck or a group of cards for a stage packet trick. I've seen the Koran deck played on a big stage with a regular size deck of cards, so I see no reason to use a jumbo size deck, but there it is.
Peter also discusses how to use a regular deck of cards for this. One can compare this to a version of the Koran deck with a regular deck. The difference is that with The Grail
the cards may be counted for some time, thus creating dead time for the unskilled performer. Still, it's a valid version.
My favorite variation is the two-deck version. A card is freely selected from one deck which is shown to be "regular." A number from one to fifty-two is called out and that number is dealt to in the second deck. The two cards match. One deck, of course, is set for The Grail. The other deck is a special deck, which you'll have to construct by obtaining supplies from your favorite dealer. Aside from that, of all the new variations, this one I like the most, but that's my taste.
Unlike the original release, this does not come with a deck of cards. You must supply your own. But it does come with an envelope and the necessary cards needed to add to your own decks. As mentioned earlier, it doesn't come with printed instructions, but a DVD. This is a strong effect and highly recommended if this sounds like it suits your style.