"This gets my HIGHEST Recommendation. The phases are highly magical." - David Regal
"This is my favorite monte routines" - John Lovick
Give the classic three-card Monte plot some wild visuals, impossible transpositions, and a kicker ending your audience won’t see coming. All of that plus it’s taught by one of the foremost experts on street cons in the world. This is a three-card swindle that will leave your audiences astonished. This is Con Cam Monte by R. Paul Wilson.
Here’s what happens:
You tell your audience that you will show them how the classic three-card Monte scam works, and shockingly, it has a secret fourth card that lets you win the game. Three black Eights and a red Queen are shown to the audience. One of the black eights is placed off to the side; a spectator can even hold it in their hands for safekeeping. The remaining two black Eights and the red Queen are slowly and deliberately mixed face down on the table. Impossibly, whenever the audience thinks it knows where the Queen is, it trades places with an eight. You let them in on the secret that the queen can transform into an Eight and even become double-sided in an eye-popping sequence of transformations. The Queen jumps from the middle position to the bottom and then vanishes from the packet entirely, which is counted fairly to show they are all Eights. In an unbelievable ending, when they open their hands, the Eight they have been holding onto since the very beginning is discovered to be the Queen.
Con Cam Monte comes with a unique gaff card that makes the routine tremendously easy to perform. The moves are simple and require almost no sleight of hand. Con Cam Monte comes with everything you need to perform straight away, and a tutorial featuring R. Paul Wilson teaching all of the secrets you need to make this Monte routine get big reactions. Take this classic swindle to new heights with Con Cam Monte by R. Paul Wilson.
Posted by Robert Specht on 4th Nov 2024
Two Rivers, Wisconsin USA
I am a working pro and I have road tested things for a year or more before writing a review. However, I am writing this review just after watching the video for the first time, so I can’t speak about the “reactions that I get.” I’m confident (because of the teaching) that the reactions will be adequate when I am ready to perform this.
I’m very impressed with Mr. Wilson’s teaching. He was thorough and detailed about everything. It was great. He also went through the steps individually and then altogether from beginning to end. He runs through the whole thing from beginning to end a second time, but more quickly and it was a great help in getting all of those things together because he says, “put the cards in your hand” and then you can see the whole thing from over the shoulder while you do everything with him. It was really, really helpful.
He’s got a pleasant style and comfortable way about him. He had a lot to say about this effect and some others related to it when discussing its creation and development. It was awesome to hear about that and the tips and subtleties that he has learned over the years of developing this effect. He helps you know what the spectators will watch for and what they won’t notice. He really does an excellent job of teaching this, and since he invented it and has learned from years of repetition, no one could possibly help you more.
As for the cards, they are real, quality bicycle cards, so they are smooth and easy to maneuver. They are specially printed and look perfect. You can’t tell that they are special when you see the effect. They look perfectly normal to anyone who’s seeing the effect.
The whole routine looks awesome and I love it. I am eager to try it, but I will need a few more times through the video I think, just to remember everything.
I usually “practice” new effects on my family and friends, before I try them out on strangers. I haven’t tried this yet, but listening to Mr. Wilson’s teaching, you get to find out that he has worked this and honed it down to the beautiful thing that it is, by experimenting and eliminating unnecessary moves over time and this kind of builds up a confidence based on taking his word for it, but years of experience can be trusted. Besides, it looks natural and fooling to me. I see several moments of magic, that can be capitalized on, plus you get to hear from your audience about where they think the queen might be - on the first display.
It’s got everything I like in an effect. It’s a whole routine not just a five second flash. In a paid gig, you won’t give them a chance to examine the cards, but a clever magician would come up with ways to switch out the cards if anyone wants to see them up close. A switching envelope, a multiple card sleight, or just pocket management will solve that if it comes up. It won’t be a problem for me.
I’m happy with my purchase. I spent $20.00 but I imagine that I will get to perform this MANY times before the cards wear out. I’ve used some of my other gimmicks to death but it took YEARS. This will last just as long. The video teaching is worth years of trial and error and you just can’t put a price on that. Overall, the value of this packet trick is far beyond the asking price, for any working pro. For hobbyists, I think that the thrill of surprising everyone at the next party will be worth it, too. This one is a winner!