Reverse Logic by Joshua Jay

You receive a normal Mandolin Back deck of cards, a special Reverse Logic deck, a deck shell, two cheap watches, a Devils Hank, and the full routine taught in a thirty-eight minute tutorial all for $100.

Let’s begin by looking at the quality of the items received.

• The Mandolin Back deck is ungimmicked.
• The reverse logic deck is specially printed to allow you to do the sorting finale of the trick. They are nicely printed, but just know that you will have to gimmick a couple of cards yourself to be able to perform the routine. There will be an arts and crafts moment. It’s nothing too major, but it’s important to know that it’s a requirement to perform the trick as Joshua does.
• The deck shell will need to be assembled as well (it’s packed flat) but it’s very quick and easy and a two minute long video is provided that walks you through that simple process. It will take literally ten seconds to put together. They also provide a five minute video about making your own deck shells in case you’d like to use cards with a different back design.
• The watches provided are very cheap, but they get the job done. Joshua makes it very clear in the tutorial that these watches are provided just for practice and to get you started, but he highly recommends buying two identical watches that match the style you’d normally wear and gimmicking one of them.
• The Devils Hank is nicely made. It includes two beads sewn into the corners that you need to grab. And cleverly, one bead is a sphere and the other is a cube so that you can tell the corners apart from each other. This will ensure you always have the opening facing the correct way during the routine.
• You will have to provide your own wine glass to perform the trick (and unfortunately the one he uses and recommends is sold out everywhere currently.)

The tutorial begins with a full performance of the routine and then jumps right into the explanation. Joshua Jay/s teaching is direct and covers the routine and how to make the gimmicked cards without any fluff. You will have to do some rearranging/setting up of both decks before you perform, but that’s to be expected. Once you’ve set it up once, the reset will be much easier. The routine is nice, although I think I would use Rich Marotta’s method for the watch (from his mugged routine.) I’m not a huge fan of slipping the watch on behind the back. Even when I watched the performance for the first time, that part felt exactly like he was slipping the watch on behind his back and low and behold… he was! But that’s an easy fix and a matter of preference. I do wish that one of the two watches they provided would have had a buckle strap instead of an elastic band because I definitely feel like that’s part of the strength of the method–Joshua says as much in the tutorial. The routine is clearly meant for a stand up environment and it is definitely better suited for a professional gig than a casual setting. Everything is left dirty at the end which is perfectly fine for a professional gig, but won’t stand without scrutiny in a casual environment.

Overall, I think the routine is interesting and worth including in a parlor sized show. It won’t work in a really large venue without a camera, but in that environment with a camera or in a smaller venue, it’s a nice five minute routine that feels unique. Joshua recommends it as a great second piece in a show, and I think that’s a good slot as well. It’s definitely not something to open or close with. It makes for a good middle routine. The routine is actually pretty much self-working as well which is a great bonus that allows you to focus solely on the presentation during the performance. You’ll definitely want to replace the watches, but other than that, everything else provided will work nicely. You may eventually need to replace the deck shell or get Cold Case by Greg Wilson for a shell that will hold up to more performances.

Reverse Logic is aviable for $99 here:

https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/stage-and-parlor-magic/reverse-logic/