Price$39.95
Media TypeTrick
CategoryMentalism
Date AddedAug 06, 2016
GPS Pack Nav
Meech, Oliver
Oliver Meech
(Based on 2 reviews)
"I absolutely LOVE this trick - it will direct your audiences to astonishment!"
- Liam Montier
"What a lovely fun, engaging, commercial effect!"
- John Carey
GPS PackNav is a signed-card-to-impossible-location routine with a surprising modern twist.
A spectator selects a card and marks it on the face with their postcode/zip code. Now you bring out a 'GPS Pack Nav' - like an in-car navigation device but for playing cards. The spectator holds the GPS Pack Nav cards and reads out the directions, while you follow along with the deck to try and locate their card.
After a series of entertaining twists and turns, you turn over one card and... it's not theirs. Now for the genuinely surprising ending: the spectator turns over the 'You Have Reached Your Destination' card that they've been holding for most of the trick, and it's their marked card. They can keep the card as a souvenir, and you can continue on to the next stop of your magical mystifying tour. Cards custom-printed on Bicycle stock by USPCC Engaging presentational hook Built-in time misdirection Option to re-use selected cards No palming required No need for a table Quick reset Can be repeated with a different card Flexible props - cards can be arranged in different ways Can be used with poker decks of almost any back design Includes alternate chest-height handling and further ideas Comes with the 7 core GPS Pack Nav cards, 20 Destination cards, and clear DVD instructionsN.B. Roddy McGhie, creator of the similar-but-different 'Card Nav 2000' is aware of this release and is happy for the tricks to co-exist.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
GPS Pack Nav comes with the special navigation cards, as well as 20 of the cards used for the finale. If you have the selection signed you’ll run through them quickly, but Mr. Meech suggests using a signed sticker so that you can reuse the cards, which is a fine solution. The instruction (on a DVD) is clear, complete and includes additional ideas for the routine.
On the plus side, the effect has a very intriguing premise and the navigation cards are a great hook. The routine allows for a lot of audience interaction, includes humor (your mileage may vary,) and the finale, unlike most card to impossible location effects, is simultaneously surprising, yet inevitable, AND happens in the spectator’s hands.
Unfortunately, the method is a bit of an enigma in that some moments are very clever with smart construction, while others are very heavy handed, if not actually awkward. Clearly Mr. Meech takes the “bulletproof” approach to method construction, favoring practicality and reliability over subtlety and audience management. For example, there is a point in the plot when the performer makes a mistake and produces the mate of the selection, asking the spectator if it is theirs. This makes absolutely no sense when using a signed card as the magician would notice the absence of a signature and immediately know he made a mistake. A failure at this moment in the effect adds nothing and is just a distraction. (If you want to keep the effect of the card change, a simple solution would be to say that the joker changed into a card that tells you something about the selection (value and color,) adding an effect that builds towards the finale rather than distracting from it.)
GPS Pack Nav is a clever premise for an effect with a lot of potential. For my tastes, that potential wasn’t fully reached. The method is not as good as it should be, but also, the printed instructions Mr. Meech chose for the cards, as well as the effects included on the way to the finale, are cheesy, include puns and don’t make as much sense as I’d like them to. To be clear, though, that assessment is a matter of taste. Thankfully, the trailer includes a complete performance so you can watch it and determine if the plot, gags, handling and effect are right for you. If they are, and you don’t mind the somewhat heavy handed method (or are willing to try and improve it on your own,) you’ll have fun performing GPS Pack Nav.
(Top ▲)
Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Blind Man by Aerosmith
GPS Pack Nav Review
One DVD, one set of gimmicks, enough cards to do the signed version 20 times, $35 bucks and one GPS Pack Nav Review. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.
GPS Pack Nav Review: Effect
This is a bit of a card to impossible location effect with a twist. It ends up in the spectator's hand in a stack of cards that they've been holding from (apparently) the beginning. The routine is centered around GPS navigation. It kind of has a similar feel to Chad Long's Now Look Here. A stack of GPS Nav cards tell the spectator all the directions needed to find the signed card. It ends up leading the spectator right to the very Nav cards that he's holding where it is found that the signed card is actually the back of one of the Nav cards. The spectator can keep the card. You can only do this, signed, 20 times.
GPS Pack Nav Review: Method
The method is some pretty standard card handling along with the included cards. There's not much to this. If you can do standard card magic, you can do this.
GPS Pack Nav Review: Ad Copy Integrity
The ad copy is a fair depiction of what happens. The only thing I would challenge is the claim that this can be done with poker cards of any back design. That's not entirely true these days with all the crazy decks of cards out there. The face of the deck of cards you use must match the supplied cards which look like standard cards. The video trailer is perfect. It is EXACTLY what you get. They shot it when no sneaky edits, cuts, etc.
GPS Pack Nav Review: Product Quality
The cards supplied are very well made. It's Bicycle stock. The DVD included does a good job covering all of the details needed to learn the effect. He also offers multiple suggestions about variations. When I say "suggestions" I really do mean "suggestions." He spends very little time covering these, and kind of just walks through (or better said: past) them.
The routine is flexible allowing you to add or remove parts of it as you see fit, but I felt that this part of the training was glossed over. Other than that, the product quality is excellent. It includes everything (even the little binder clip for the Nav cards) that you need to do the effect (except for the deck and the pen).
He also offers a solution for doing it without having the cards signed, but still having them uniquely marked so that the spectator knows you didn't switch cards. Yet, using this method, you are able to reuse the cards over and over again. Otherwise, using the signed version, you'll run out of cards after 20 uses.
GPS Pack Nav Review: Final Thoughts
Watch the ad video. It's a perfect representation of what you're buying. If you like it, then you'll be very happy with your purchase.
Final Verdict:
4 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.
Available From Oliver Meech.