Gordon Bean — The Coolest InventorInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Stars by Magic Lab

I had the good fortune of meeting Gordon Bean twice in my life. Both times I was nervous. Not because he is the kind of guy that makes you nervous — just the opposite. He is a friendly, open kind of fellow that gives you the impression you've known him forever.

I was nervous the first time we met because I was about to follow him on stage at the World Magic Seminar open mike session last year. He had just performed one of the two tricks I'll be reviewing here, Stars. The crowd of magicians agreed that it was an outstanding effect. I congratulated him as he walked behind the stands and told him I was a big fan.

I was nervous — like I said — so it came out like "I fan you big. Goo Job!" He looked at me like you would look at someone who offered to "fan you big."Buthe was gracious and thanked me. I thengotmy mic put on and walked out to do whatever I do when I have an audience.

The second time I met him was when I was in the library of the Magic Castle. I'm not a member of the Castle — not yet, at least — and I was wandering around looking atall of the neat stuff. There was a private party going on downstairs and the signs clearly indicated to anyone who could read that the area was off-limits. I didn't let that stop me. I went down and tried to look cool — like I belonged. That lasted about a second or two. I tried to move around the crowd so that I wouldn't be noticed but quickly found myself in the main library and who should I bump into but Gordon Bean.

"Hey," I said, "Hi, Gordon." I forgot that liketelevision, people we seeon stage don't necessarilyknowour names. He smiled and looked at me as if I should say something more.

"I followed you at the World Magic Seminar," I pronounced.

Great, now I sounded like a stalker. So if he recalledour meeting form the World Magic Seminar, he would recall me telling him I wanted to "fan him big" and now I was telling him that I stalked him. I have a way with this language we call English.

He looked patiently at me and apparently decided that I was harmless but unable to talk gooder than most.

"Would you like to see a trick I've been working on?" he asked.

I nodded – I was afraid to talk any more.

Gordon proceeded to show me Temptation. What an incredible…

Stars by Magic Lab

"Hey," I said, "Hi, Gordon." I forgot that liketelevision, people we seeon stage don't necessarilyknowour names. He smiled and looked at me as if I should say something more.

"I followed you at the World Magic Seminar," I pronounced.

He looked patiently at me and apparently decided that I was harmless but unable to talk gooder than most.

"Would you like to see a trick I've been working on?" he asked.

I nodded – I was afraid to talk any more.

Gordon proceeded to show me Temptation. What an incredible effect! Here's how it goes: a spectator is shown three cards; an ace, two and three of spades. With very little movement of the magician's hands, the ace moves invisibly from the left hand to the right and the three moves from the right hand to the left.

Finally, the ace appears somewhere else and all is handed out for inspection. That is how I recall the effect. I remember that it appeared to be very straight-forward and there were no false moves that I could detect. In his description of effect on his web page, magiclaboratory.com, Gordon says the ace jumps to the spectator's lapel. When I saw it done, the ace moved to a book on the table.

Regardless of where it ends up, it ends up clean. I was so impressed with the trick that I asked if I could buy it on the spot. He told me that it wasn't out yet. I've been waiting a long time to talk about this because it is so powerful. To me, it was better than the NFW of a few years back. You end so clean and the effect seems so impossible that you could use it as an opening, closing or even a solo trick.

Temptation's Rating: Four out of Four.

Stars is a different kind of trick altogether. You show four cards with a single star on both the front and the back. Without any moves, you now show that one of the cards now has many stars against a blue background and the remaining three cards have transformed into cards with red and white stripes. You assemble the four cards to display the American flag. It is very fast, very convincing and very powerful. I got to watch Gordon perform this from my position on the side of the makeshift stage and it was still astounding. The audience of magicians loved it and I am sure your audiences of non-magicians will love it as well.

Stars' Rating: Four out of Four.

Gordon Bean is one amazing guy. He seems dedicated to turning out great magic, requiring moderate skill at very low prices. I wish him the best and hope that I never have to follow his performance again, ever.