Animal Tarot

Jeff

I just love this!
Simple to learn and perform,yet entirely enticing and effective.
Once learned, you’ll fool ‘em every time.
Different and enjoyable!

Henry

Leo

AR

This trick is absolutely tops! It is based on a old force which no laymen will be aware of since it uses special animal cards which in no way resemble regular playing cards, and all seems fair. The cards are beautiful, large, and can be showed on both sides. Unlike the instructions say, you can actually, show all the cards, if you do so with tact. The spectator absolutely holds the cards, and is convinced she stopped on whatever animal card they choose! You can do the reveal, according to the instructions, with the built in secret help, in which youturn over the cards, and they all join into the chosen animal, or, instead, you can have the backs showing, all jumbled, and assemble it by sliding the cards together like a puzzle. There is also an excellent tip in the instructions, on how to word the force.
Alltogether, a great trick for all ages! Kids and adults alike. Like most tricks, it can only be done once.

Michael

This is such a fun routine with animal cards! The method is so simple but the result is very powerful and very fooling. I love effects that don't feel like card tricks even though "cards" are used. Because of the slick method, all focus can be on the presentation. The guys provide a very thorough explanation with great subtleties in language to make this almost self-working. Easy reset makes this an excellent worker! Well worth the price.

Andrew

A wonderful effect! Simple and clean and the props are gorgeous.

Vincent

This is fun to perform and your audience will really enjoy it. The cards are of great quality and The Other Brothers give thorough instructions.

David

This effect is exactly as depicted in the trailer. Very visual, simple, and effective. The online instructions are very well done. There are so many possibilities for presentation here. It is fun to practice, and lends itself to pure fun for the spectators. I agree with the other reviewers that it is a keeper! So different and so visual. A great piece of magic/mentalism/ or whatever you want to make with it!

Gene

This is such a fun trick to perform

Kelly

Animal Tarot has been added to my everyday carry. The innocent organic look makes it the perfect weapon in your arsenal for blowing minds. I have changed the routine to suit my character which is another benefit to this effect the countless stories that can be adapted to your style of magic. Reset is fast and easy, can even be done in front of the spectator.
The only negative is that it is not repeatable with the same group. It would be great if another animal reveal was made so a quick switch and your in business.
Overall a fun easy effect that kids and adults alike love.

Adam

Dan

An absolutely amazing trick!

Phillip

What else can I say? This is an excellent and deceptive but simple method for achieving the result. You can adapt the method to other effects. Glad I have it in my arsenal. The tarot cards are cute, colorful and the reveal is interesting. Of course the reveal is a "tip" to the method. But like I said, use the method in other routines with appropriate modifications and the method is less transparent.

Thomas

This effect is pretty much what it looks like. It's not necessarily a wow trick, but it's certainly a good opener in that it's short, punchy and will pique people's interest.

It's well made and if looked after, the cards should last a very long time before looking scruffy. The instructional video is clear and cover's all possible outcomes. It's extremely easy to do and can be performed as soon as you learn the method. Another added bonus is that it can be performed virtually, if your webcam allows you to point it at a table top.

I would definitely recommend this.

Stan

Really fun trick! Easy to do and the instructional video covers everything.

Jan

Funny and very easy!

ALEXIS DIMITRIS

I was hesitant when I saw the trailer for this trick.
Tarot ?
I mean, who the hell uses tarot cards in their magic show ?
It didn't made any sense to me. However, I saw some reviews on the internet and I decided to give it a try. Not many magicians will buy this. But this trick is a treasure.

For now it remains underground (at least I think so !), and it's for the special few guys and gals who want to add a bit of spice in their performance. I can't imagine a situation where this trick will not work. Children's party, parlor, close up, stage (if you find a cool presentation or make something appear on stage), in weddings, colleges, schools, care homes, you get the point.

Its visual, it's dead easy, colourful, different. If you are a brave enough, you could build a closer around it.
It's a good purchase. It doesn't matter if you are a grandpa trying to magish your niece or you are David Copperfield, this trick will work for anyone who likes magic.


I give it 6 stars ?????? of magic out of 5.

Jack

This is the kind of magic that I love. It is simple to perform and shows their choice was influenced by the backs. Easy to add my personality in the performance!

Darrell

Clever! Very well made. Durable. So much fun to perform. Principal can be applied to other illusions as well.

Jack

A charming little family-friendly routine that incorporates a really interesting combination of methods that I'd not come across before. The included props are well made and the scripting is deviously clever. The only potential downside is that it's not repeatable to the same audience, but if that's not an issue for you, it's aa good time all around.

Armando

It was easy to do .Fooled all my friends..

Eric

This is a great little effect that's easy to perform and hits pretty hard with the right patter. I bought it during a sale period so I could teach my 5-year old, and she's performing it with ease after a few days of practice. The cards are nice quality, and the colors are great. Pick this one up if you have a chance.

Alex

The cards are big and beautiful - more stunning than they look in the trailer and photos.

It's a great concept and so easy. They teach it clearly and concisely.

I'm giving 4 stars only because for the (regular) price I'd love to see more. (I'm happy I bought this in your warehouse sale). Not just a way to repeat for same spectators, but some more convincers and routining. The force is *great* and allows for a lot of leeway to mix up the cards.

But the cards themselves are so inspiring that they've got me thinking about ways to extend the routine. Spelling revelations? Multiple outs?

Other Brothers, if you're reading this, here are things I might purchase should they exist:

- a second deck with a different reveal
- download images with other animal reveals that match the style of the cards
- a few additional cards to be able to spell more words. We need another vowel! (am I joking? I'm not sure...)

Nigel

Animal Tarot is an unusual effect which is one of its benefits but, although the basic method is not one of my favourites, the quality of the cards and the thoughts on the marking system is very good and clever.

Jose

This little trick is fun and easy to perform. There are no complicated slights, you just have to get your scripting down right. Other than that, it is pretty much self-working. The video was very clear and not very long. Filmed with the other brothers explaining it. I recommend it.

Json

Kids will like the surprise ending as it slowly reveals itself to their wondering eyes. Fun and colorful, simple and honest, this trick is not difficult to learn but clever enough to fool anyone. Not the ordinary playing cards, these animal tarot cards are larger with colorful backs and come in a slim box for safe storage. Even young ones will love the ending!

Truett

Great trick. The force alone is almost worth the price. The only downside is that you can only perform the trick once for an audience--but that's obvious before purchasing. Upside: After performing Animal Tarot, you can use the cards for other animal-themed effects. Worth having.

Michael

First - If you want to call it tarot, then you need to do a reading. So I looked up the meaning of "mouse" in mythology, and printed up a little paper to memorize. I keep the paper in the box with the cards. I tell the spectator they will choose a spirit animal. Before the reveal, I do a reading on the card they have chosen - the mouse. Second - I'm not crazy about the artwork in the reveal. It's not easy to see what it is. Needs more contrast. Third - Why aren't there animal pictures on the cards? These look like Alphabet Cards. How can you have a packet of cards called Animal Tarot - with no pictures? Why big letters? Makes no sense unless it is a spelling trick. Which I make it below. There is nothing Tarot about this trick right now. Fourth - in the final set up, the method to arrange the cards for the reveal is very hard to use in anything but the brightest light., THE COLORS ARE TOO SIMILAR AND TOO HARD TO LOCATE. I recommend memorizing the order of the final layout arrangement - which I did. Row 1: KDMPC and Row 2: OFSLH. I use a mnemonic sentence in my head. Fifth - The force they suggest in this trick is very limited and suspicious. I would recommend learning two other forces as well. I use a cull force all the time with mouse 3rd card from top. IF they don't pick it, then I cull it to where they stop. You can also use a bottom force. If you don't want to do sleight of hand, then you can put the mouse card on top and do the cross cut force. Because these cards are really letter cards with words - they lend themselves to a spelling trick. So based on Jim Steinmeyer's 9 Card Problem - here is a very nice way to force Mouse. Start with Mouse 3rd from top. Remove Fish and Lizard. Tell spectator these are your choices and tell Spectator to think of two animals as you show the 9 cards left. Let Spectator spell any animal, counting down on the table. Place remainder of stack on top of pile. You spell Fish doing the same. Let Spectator spell any other animal. You spell Lizard. Tell Spectator that the top card is now his/her spirit animal. Mouse will be the top card. Then do your reading as your re-arrange the letters. THEN do the fantastic flip over reveal. I'd like to see a revised version with pictures and a few words about each animal as a spirit animal. That would actually be closer to Animal Tarot. Get rid of the pig and add a lion. Another thought - - these are twelve cards. What about twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac? That would make much more sense. In fact, consider this my submission for a new trick called Chinese Zodiac. Final picture on the back of the layout will be the forced Zodiac sign, as per the above force using Chinese Zodiac animal pictures and words. For now, this trick needs a much better graphic on the back. The box says "Predict any selected animal." That just ain't so. This trick could be improved and needed more thought.

Brian

I'm a fan of the Other Brothers but I'm not a fan of this. Yes the force is definitely worth learning if you can get this at a discounted price but I find some of the process not my style. Would be way cooler if you could get different reveals but the only option is the one in the trailer.

Scott R

This is a neat little card trick. It will amaze people, but it is not very complicated. It'snot a knock your socks off the trick, but I am glad that I have it. I enjoy performing it every now and then. For the price, you can't go wrong.

Steven

This is a conundrum: the trick itself is reasonably clever, and cute, and it seems like it was expressly made for little kids: fun, easy, visual. (Which is precisely the reason I purchased it: to show my two little granddaughters.)

But the lower rating is due to the fact that if you are indeed doing this for kids (plural, as would most likely be the case, and who are the most natural audience), there is a problem: the trick can't be repeated. I can't expect that after doing the trick for Granddaughter #1, Granddaughter #2 won't be screaming: “Okay, my turn now, let ME pick a number; let's see what animal I get." With adults, you can mostly redirect to another trick, but that just doesn't work with kids ("What do mean, grandpa, that you can't do it again?").

Perhaps the Other Brothers — or other purchasers — have some ideas on navigating this, that I have not considered? If so, would love to hear them, and be willing to revise my review.

Jared

Even before getting this trick -- and before learning the secret -- I wasn't a fan of the final image reveal, and still am not. It's not as amazing and stunning as it could or should be. It also just doesn't look great, simple as that. It looks too...abstract, in a bad way (rather than in a way that adds plausibility while still looking like an interesting reveal).

Separately, the animal premise itself is totally random, and there's no "tarot" aspect to anything. Why are we picking and revealing an animal? No suggested ways of answering that question are provided to help us get the creativity flowing in our own end. It's just left to be completely random, except for those folks who really are stellar at creating their own plots and stories and justifications film scratch.

THAT SAID, I am in love with the underlying secret here. If it exists elsewhere, well, I've never seen it before. And I think there are a lot of possibilities for it... I would strongly recommend this product if you're looking to learn a fantastic principle that you can apply elsewhere with your own creativity (meaning without a weird abstract image reveal, and even with something besides animals entirely).

Finally, the video insists that we need to say two very specific sentences. It wouldn't have been hard to include a card with the two sentences on it so we don't have to take notes.

Matthew

I got this for a fiver in the VI pre-Xmas sale. And thank goodness I did. To pay full price would have been criminal. This is a classic (and not in a good way) Other Bros product - under-thought out, under-performed, underwhelming. It might work ok for kids, but no educationally sound adult will stand for, let alone be fooled by, the method. It also assumes a similarity between two animals which is dodgy to say the least. Like i say, it might fly for kids, but can't be repeated so good luck showing it to one child and not having others want to 'pick an animal'.

I'm genuinely surprised at VI for helping this out into the wild.

(Be interested to see whether this goes live, as negative reviews struggle to get accepted on here. Strangely never have that problem with positive comments...wonder why?)