Having seen the last reviewer give this routine two stars, I wanted to see that the late Aldo gets a fair review. The main criticism was that, although the routine is advertised as “impromptu,” “without difficult sleights,” and “almost automatic,” while requiring “minimal skill” and “very little effort,” it is actually more demanding and requires at least an intermediate degree of skill with cards.
My question was, “If you know that the routine is not self-working, is it a worthwhile purchase?” Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Even if the routine is not technically demanding, such as needing perfect faro shuffles, it is heavily procedural. There’s dealing cards into piles, placing cards on piles, picking up piles in a certain order, counting of 21 cards, counting of 26 cards, adding the values of three cards and dealing down to that sum, etc.
For example, the first effect requires knowing the card at the 22nd position in the deck. The reader is supposed to glimpse the tenth card, then perform a “reverse faro” of another 12 cards, which are then set on top of the deck. There’s no sleight, but that’s a lot of procedure.
There are references to, but no explanations of, double undercuts, false shuffles, and false cuts.
There are problems in translation, such as a reference to “Indian shuffles,” but I have no idea what that means. (Hindu shuffles? But the process isn’t explained.) Also, “Invite a spectator to select a card. Control it on the deck using one of your favorite methods.”
As much as I love and respect Aldo, this manuscript doesn’t do him justice.
