The Hummingbirds by Luke Jermay

Luke Jermay has just released his take on the rising cards. If you are familiar with his work at all, you can imagine that it’s going to be a heavily scripted and highly theatrical take on the rising cards. It uses imagery of a hummingbird and a “hummingbird feather” to elicit a deeper connection to the plot.

You can watch the full performance on Vanishing Inc’s site, but essentially this is a rising card routine with three selected cards. Each phase involves the card rising out of the deck while it’s in a wine glass. The first card rises while the glass is covered by a sheer scarf, the second rises without anything covering the glass, and the last one rises with a bell dome covering the glass.

What you receive when you purchase is a book and a video download that’s just over an hour long.

The presentation has the typical Luke Jermay flair. It doesn’t fit my style at all, but it definitely has a beauty and other worldliness to it. Jermay uses a magic wand a few times in the routine as well as a feather to give some texture to the routine, but neither is required.

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you don’t want to know a little about the method, then please stop reading here.

**SPOILER ALERT**

It’s no secret that this uses invisible thread. This is made clear in the ad copy. Thankfully, that gives me the ability to speak a little more freely on the method.

This thread hook up is so simple. So simple that it seems like it HAS to have been thought of before. That is always the sign of a great method. When it’s so easy that it’s one of those “why hasn’t anyone thought of that” moments, you know you’ve struck gold. It is the best hook up I’ve seen for the rising cards. It gives you the ability to be completely free and unattached from everything and still have complete control over the rises. The deck is never attached to the performer, table, or glass. Before each rise you can shuffle the deck, put the deck on the table, walk away from it, pick it back up, etc. I was a little worried that the method would have something to do with the box and the feather, but fortunately, that’s purely theatrical and not methodological. In fact, all you really need to perform this is the deck and the glass (and thread, obviously.) The scarf, feather, wand, and dome are just there for theatrical purposes.

This is a routine that has to be performed seated at a table with a tablecloth. The tablecloth isn’t 100% necessary depending on where the audience is seated, but I think post people would feel more comfortable with the tablecloth. It definitely has a more formal feel, but from a method stand point there’s nothing stopping you from performing it casually. The hookup is very practical because it’s all very self-contained until you’re to perform, and once you’re ready to perform, it literally takes about one second to go from preset to performance ready. It’s also very practical because the thread is always under the perfect amount of tension and there’s zero threat of it tangling. This means your chances of accidentally snapping the thread (oof how embarrassing) is extremely low. It’s about the safest thread hookup I’ve seen. This hookup also allows the selected cards to be replaced in the deck in the fairest way possible without any of the tell tell signs of a rising card (IE shoving a card into the front of the deck.) The handling appears incredibly free and fair throughout. The routine does require some slight cleaning up at the end, but it’s easily achieved.

The bonus video shows Jermay setting up his gimmick as he does for his formal shows which requires there to be a gimmicked card in your deck. The main routine as taught in the book uses a borrowed deck, but when do we really ever borrow a deck? There are some benefits to using your own deck, but truthfully, it’s almost identical to the borrowed deck version so that just kind of depends on your needs. He also discusses different ways to store the gimmick until you’re ready. You then get a full walkthrough of the routine with yellow thread so that you can see it. Personally, I couldn’t see the yellow thread very well. It would have been nice to have some close ups or over-the-shoulder shots, but it’s just one wide shot.

The video then teaches Jermay’s updated handling with a full walkthrough. This is the handling that you see in the performance. There’s no doubt about it, this update is a huge improvement. It requires a slightly different gimmick and a small additional thing, but it allows you to perform the rises seated far from the deck with both of your hands in the air and still have complete control of the rise without any electronics, gears, or gizmos. It is a stroke of genius. I think if you do it without this addition, you’d be really missing out. It takes hardly any more work, it’s every bit as practical, and it adds a huge disconnect. It's perfect. Finally Jermay discusses some alternative rises, how to perform without a dome, and even teaches another routine using this thread hookup.

I NEVER do thread work, and the only rising card I’ve ever done is the Devano style with a gimmicked deck. However, I will be putting in the work to make this up to include in a small close up show. If you want to add the rising card to your set, I think this is the best solution currently offered.

You can get it for $99 at:

https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/card-magic/the-hummingbirds/