Palmist's Prophecy by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton - Volume 2 1988
Page 80 et seq.

Personal Comment: I like it. I really do. I'd change the presentation a little bit. Here is how: I would let the audience cut off a certain portion of the deck and then I would turn over the prediction that has been set aside to find out how many cards have been cut. Then the counting can start. But either is fine.

Difficulty: 2/5

Inflated Ace by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton - Volume 2 1988
Page 29 et seq.

Personal Comment: I feel that there is a good effect. But I also feel that this is a great routine to serve as inspiration for a longer sequence. In terms of method this is typical Roy Walton face up and face down, and many, many cuts. I cannot say I like it, but I can say that this has potential.

Difficulty: 3/5

Finders Keepers by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 37 et seq.

Personal Comment: Why, why is some Walton stuff so dry? This is. Sure the technical construction is brilliant. But the structure of how the effect unveils seems unbearable to me. Hopefully in some others hands (besides those of Mr. Walton) this could be good. I fail.

Difficulty 3/5

Down and Under by Roy Walton

Epilogue by Karl Fulves
Issue 1 1967
Page 1 et seq.

Personal Comment: The original card problem here is by Bob Veeser. Roy Walton solved the problem wonderfully. It's self working and the setup is little. Also there is a nice one card out. Great trick! To my knowledge, this is not included in "The Complete Walton" neither Vol. 1 or Vol. 2. "Complete" I see!

Difficulty Self Working

The Smiling Mule by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 175 et seq.

Personal Comment: Ah, one must like that one. Any magic joke, where the joke itself is foreshadowing of the effect is good. And I am a sucker for Sandwich stuff as I have said many times before. I cannot not like it.

Difficulty 3/5

Green Turtle by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 130 et seq.

Personal Comment: Cute... But you fail one time too many in my humble opinion. The bad thing is, that the method requires that much fail.

Difficulty 3/5

The Happy Wanderers by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 31 et seq.

Personal Comment: Can anybody name the plot? I am not sure. Lately I have seen quite a few effects where cards that are in a group spread out in the deck. Is it a reversed Sandwich? I don't know. This is the first video that I redo, simply because I messed up the first time I did it. Somehow I forgot to add the whole second part of the routine. And that changes everything. Suddenly it is a routine and not just a cute interlude. The reason why I forgot it.... well I forgot to turn the page in the book. My brain somehow said "done" and I didn't bother to recheck. My bad.

Difficulty 3/5

The Cannibal Cards by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 27 et seq.

Personal Comment: There is something damn satisfying about the method. And something damn uneasy. Personally I would change the method during the last vanish. But it is hard to not like this. And it makes you wanna work on your Seconds.

Difficulty 4/5

The Overworked Card by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 24 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is cute and good. It gets to the point quickly and is a well put together hybrid of an ambitious card and a triumph. Based upon a published effect by Bill Simon this is a true worker that is easy to do.

Difficulty 1/5

Jay Bee Transposition by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 20

Personal Comment: It all revolves around the ability to do one sleight very well. If you can do it, this is nearly perfect. If you cannot, this looks awful (like my version). But here is the thing that bothers me. The spectator is made to work (opposed to Ortiz law: The spectator must never be made to work) and that would kill my pacing in a realistic setting. Giving the spectator time to shuffle the deck, count through cards, remember position and card and not messing up along the way while I am turned away is too risky for my personal taste. I like to be in control all the time. A slighty better effect would be: Joker goes to the pocket, the spectator picks a card and remembers it. The spectators card is put face down on the table. Then the magician removes the card from his pocket and it turns out to be the selection. The tabled face down card is turned face up and revealed to to be the Joker. Method: Two palms and just one Second.

Difficulty 4/5

X Plus One Ace Trick by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 18 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is a demonstration piece. Even Roy Walton says so, that he wanted to create an Ace Assembly using no double lift. And under that premise the routine is good. But there is a lack of motivation. Why do I lay down the packets only to pick them up again and then deal them down again? If you can look past this it might be something for you. Honestly, I don't think I can fool you with this, I chose the worst possible angle, but fooling other magicians should hardly be the aim of any performer.

Difficulty 3/5

The Leaper Again by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 17 et seq.

Personal Comment: When do I perform this? I cannot image doing this as I am table hopping... It cannot be a noisy place as there are a lot of instructions. So naturally that limits the venues that this can be performed in. But aside from that it's a good trick. The trick itself in Roy's take on the classic by Charles Jordan.

Difficulty 3/5

Mission Accomplished by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 9 et seq.

Personal Comment: The is a time and a place for everything. Even for this trick. If bold methods are your thing, go for it. Otherwise... there are better version out there.

Difficulty 2/5

Oil and Queens by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 6 et seq.

Personal Comment: Actually this is a good trick for magicians. This surprise ending, which also works for laypeople is actually a lot better for magicians. How do I know, for the last few days I tried it. And it got a "soso"-reaction by normal people. Magicians seem to get something out of this. Oh well!

Difficulty 3/5

Aperetif by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 1 et seq.

Personal Comment: First trick in the book and the first trick that I needed to cheat. My hand are simply not big enough to do that one move that is required. Don't get me wrong, I can still do the move, but it looks horrible on camera. So what what is this trick.... Basically an Ace production. Is it good? Yes! Is it better than others? No!

Difficulty 3/5

Gone To Earth by Roy Walton

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 324 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is Roy Walton's take on "Where has it Gone" by Hideo Kato (published in Genii, September 1969) which differs quite a lot from the original trick. But the changes where done for the better. The basic effect remains. A card vanishes and then reappears. However I cannot help to note that this is a weak effect. If I take a look at my card repertoire this would be bottom drawer material. That doesn't mean that Roy Walton is a bad magician, it means that he took a bad plot and made it "okay". Speaks for the magic wisdom of a Roy Walton, which I consider the lost third god of cards. And this, among his creations is just proof that he is able to "polish the turd". I don't recommend doing this trick. But I urge you to compare this version with the original to see what changes were made and to see why they were made. This tricks is what I consider a perfect example to teach someone was makes up good card magic.

Difficulty: 2/5

Ambush by Roy Walton

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 181 et seq. Nov. 1970
also in:
The Complete Walton - Volume 2 (1988) page 34 1988

Personal Comment: I cannot get the third cut to work properly according to the text. Not my thing. And I honestly don't really see that much of an advantage to use odd colored backs for the collector cards. Personally I like the collectors by Jim Surprise. But I heard that there are Walton fans out there who could explain to me why odd colored backs are better.

Difficulty: 4/5