Gypsy Queen By Asi Wind

I just bought this and viewed the streaming video on Art of Magic.

This is my review for Gypsy Queen.

Price: $50.00 (USD)

What’s Included in the Gypsy Queen Box?

You get a nice box which include two decks of cards. One if regular deck while the other is gimmicked to perform the routines. The cards are not manufactured by USPCC so they are not bicycle cards. They are manufactured by Expert Playing Card Co. and have standard superior back design. Although the Superior playing cards are available in Red, Blue and Black designs, Gypsy Queen deck is available only in Red back design.

You also get a streaming instruction video which you can access in the members area of artofmagic.

What’s in the Gypsy Queen Video?

The video was almost 30 min long, and Asi takes you through the routines that are possible with Gypsy Queen

The first routine uses a principle, that I don’t want to divulge the secret here, but is an old principle, and though its good, it will not be my preferred method.

The second routine is Asi’s favorite routine, in which you can have someone merely think of a card, you have them take out any card from the deck, and the Queen will be holding that card. There is something happening, but its all hidden, and everything is well thought out.

The third routine uses 2 spectators, kind of like what David Blaine did on his Facebook live video.

Lastly, Asi explains more in depth about the Gypsy Queens, and everything that they entail.

The last part is a treat as you get to see Asi in action 3 separate performance videos using the second routine, which is Asi’s favorite, and how it plays out, both timing, routining, and presentation.

I for one, like the second routine the best.

Refills for Gypsy Queen Deck?

How Difficult is Gypsy Queen?

not self working, need soh, need a memdeck

If you are experienced card handler, you will find no problem.

If you are a beginner you might have to practice a move or two, but not too difficult.

It is wise to know a stack for Asis routine, any stack will work.

I just developed a method this afternoon that uses psychology and has a person think of any card, and you will still be able to pull it off like Asi does.

I love the way Asi does it, but I always like to think of alternate ways of doing something. for those that have this PM me and I will let you know.

However I have written to Art of Magic about how it is advertised “at any level.” This is not a beginner trick and even as an intermediate myself I’m concerned about the number of moves and the speed with which they need to happen. I don’t think this gives anything away because it is an intricate routine: C*****c !@#$e. T** C****e, H*******r C**l, and spotting cards at a glance. And a tricky reset that Asi makes look easy. Also of the two versions of the trick one requires major prep to make it into a well known type of gimmicked deck. There’s a lot of stuff in here. Great routine but by no means “at any level.” My two cents .

Keep it simple! Without tipping the method, have the cards in order, AS to KS, AC to KC and so on…., that way As is on top ready for you know what. I won’t put an indifferent card on the bottom either, I don’t need it. A corner short would help reorganise the order later.

Can you give the card away as a souvenir?

physical memento

1) First of all, I like overall tricks and effects where you can give some type of souvenir at the end. Having said that, I believe there is a right way to give souvenirs away and a wrong way to give souvenirs. I believe it was Tommy Wonder that wrote that a souvenir is a form of “taking away” home at least “some” of the incredible experience the spectator had. “Holding on” to the experience, so to speak. Following that thought path it would be logical to give away a souvenir only AFTER some type of magical experience has taken place. Considering that, I have seen this past year magicians who seem to be TOO EAGER to give away a magical souvenir, when really it was not yet the appropriate moment to do it. And in fact, if you were to read the body language and subconscious cues from the spectator, you will see that they really don’t care much about taking home a signed that “came to the top of the deck”. The SPECTATOR has to be more interested in obtaining a memento (thanks for that word) than what you are interested to give it away. That’s -in my opinion – the proper way/situation to give away a souvenir. Let them beg for it.

2) In effects where a souvenir is given at the end (the ones I can think of right now) are effects where the souvenir in question is in some way part of the magic: a business card that printed itself, a card that restored, etc. Also “impossible objects” come into this category as well: linked cards, card transformed into a cube, etc. However in this particular effect (TGQ) what is the effect really? Is it that you had in your deck a specially printed card and the spectator found it with psychic intuition? Or is it that the card became printed somehow/someway? Or what is it? And in other words: why the spectator would care to take away home that card, other than the novelty of the thing?

3) It seems to me that the proper way to perform this in a way that a spectator would want to take home this card is to do it as “extra” item, once you have finished your hopefully impressive set of magic. And then, it seems like you remember one more thing and you do this… that, to me, would be amazing.

4) Besides doing a named card revelation, I thought a couple of other ideas: you show a queen with magical properties, that can make a selected card vanish from the deck. Then you show that the selected card got “absorbed” somehow into the queen. Another idea would be to present a type of “transposition” effect where you are tyring to make 2 cards change places, only that one card vanishes by mistake (Rub a Dup) and instead of changing places gets “into” the other card.

5) Finally, it seems that this effect has tremendous potential for presentations and story telling. Even the title suggests a lot. However from what I understand this subject is not explored in this release.

Finally (finally) I wanted to point out that I published a small, humble PDF book with 3 card effects, involving very basic handling but giving emphasis on the scripts and presentations. It was called “Subliminal 3”. Paul Voodini and Paul Hallas liked it, despite the modesty of the contents.

Anyways, in that book was one routine that uses all the “special” cards found in a David Blaine’s Lion Deck of Cards (you don’t necessarily need that deck; you can substitute those cards in any deck, just that those cards look particularly good for the effect). Now one of those cards is the Queen of Spades / Two of Hearts card. People interested in meaningful presentations can take one or two lines from that effect and use it in Gypsy Queen, in a way that when you give away the card (if you actually do it) you can do it with a meaningful message that could make your spectator remember a valuable life lesson every time they see they card. That, I believe, is a MUCH more powerful way of giving a specially printed card as a souvenir.

So I took the plunge. My concern isn’t as much about whether or not you give away a souvenir. You can absolutely do this trick and give.nothing away except a magical moment. Asi does mention to a spectator that they can have the card but I think that was just off the cuff and not endemic to the routine.

I have to defend them on the advertising on this one. There is another really easy version of this that is not mentioned in the video instructions which uses a force and in that case you would be able to hand the queen out as a souvenir. You can do it 52 times of course, before you have to buy refills.

It is Amateur Level as described on the site and it CAN be Self Working, with just two forces.

I just thought of another version that’s really easy to do and even easier than the first method shown on the video. For those who got it, reverse the order of every two cards. Spread the cards and have them choose one. Cut at the point where they take the card. Ask them to take a peek at their card while you look the other way and place the appropriate Queen in a pocket for a prediction reveal.

where to purchase it in UK, USA, India?
Available only on Art of Magic

This is not a difficult routine. Interpretation is the key here. I don’t see a problem with the ad. It seems most of the time, magicians just want the easiest way out to a really good effect and if there is a little work involved, become very critical. This isn’t just a good trick, its a great trick. Spend time practicing and less complaining. Somehow over the years we have conditioned ourselves to buy, open box, perform. If you’re a polished magician, this is easier, but should not be the norm. The really good stuff usually costs a little more and practice time. As far as the cards themselves, phoenix or bicycle would have worked out better but certainly is not a deal killer.

However, it will take some practice to get the presentation and the handling of the second routine (Asi’s favourtie) to be seamless. Overall, I find this very interesting and I plan to somehow include this in my stand up repertoire. However, I have had spectators who have asked me if they can inspect the cards. To be clean, I would do a deck switch in a seating situation but that’s difficult because of the different back design of the cards.

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