Self-Working or Sleightless in Cards: page 1

S.H.I.EL.D. 2 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 2) is the second part of a collection of new Cardmagic effects, never before published, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation on the part of the magician, and that they are completely impromptu, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience.

In addition, both of these effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode," so even at a distance (by videoconference on Zoom, for example): the...

S.H.I.EL.D. 3 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 3) is the third part of a collection of new, never-before-published card magic effects, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation by the magician, and being completely extemporaneous, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience (self-working and impromptu).

In addition, even the latter two effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode" (or hands-off, as others would say): the magician,...

18 different completely self-working ACAAN type of effects.

A.C.A.A.N. effects are a genre of effects now considered classics in card magic and mentalism, ever since David Berglas, who precisely first proposed a legendary version of it, called it "Any card At Any Number."

The idea of trying to write this special eBook came about while I was preparing my Contactless Automatic Card At Number series of Volumes (now at 6 Volumes) and experimenting in particular with the possibility of creating new automatic effects by making use of various stacks, including Si Stebbins and my VR Stack Pro (see Vol. 2 & 3):

From here to examining the Si Stebbins Pro, devised by Dr. Hans Christian Solka, was a short step, and with pleasure...

This is a new self-working card trick: the viewer will choose two cards, to represent the law and by means of which he will get two more cards, lost in the deck, which he will then divide into four bundles. Over the course of two separate stages, the spectator himself will insert the "sheriffs" within the deck, as arbitrarily as possible. The decks will be shuffled, cut and completed but, despite a thousand adversities, the two "sheriff" cards will succeed in tracking down and capturing the two "outlaws," generated by the combination of the first two cards, chosen at random.

The legend...

Two sets of 10 cards are counted out fairly and openly onto a spectator's hand before being dropped into two glass tumblers where they can be clearly seen. One at a time three cards are invisibly moved from one glass to the other, and when the piles are counted back onto the spectator's hand again, the first glass only contains 7 cards and the other 13.

This is the classic cards across effect using a method that is completely move and sleight free. Everything happens at fingertips and there is no palming required, nor any special counts. Designed for a close-up or intimate parlour show,...

Beyonce & Elton is a new ebook featuring several excellent self-working card tricks for close-up. Also included are a few excellent visual gags and one-liners to help you add a bit of humor to the presentations. So, what's in this ebook?

Beyonce & Elton: Two cards are freely placed into the deck (no forcing) - and they end up right next to the only other two matching cards. When the deck is shown, all the other cards are Rolling Stones cards. An updated version of an old classic.

An Invisible Card Trick: A prediction is placed on the table in advance. The spectator is asked to select...

A revelation of a freely selected card.

EFFECT: The performer places an envelope containing a prediction on the table. He shows a deck of cards, and he begins to deal cards onto the table. A spectator says 'stop' at any moment he likes. The stopped-at card is placed aside and kept by the spectator who chose it. Several cards before and after the selection are clearly shown to be all different, while the performer states that the spectator could have stopped him on any of them. The spectator reveals the chosen card, for example, the King of Spades, and the prediction is seen to be a Jumbo...

The magician displays a random mix of ten cards, all spot cards and a single Ace of Spades. He explains these cards are used in a game called, "Ten Card Poker Slam" - with just ten cards cheating is impossible. The cards are mixed face down and dealt in a row. The magician and the spectator take turns selecting cards until each has five cards.

The magician reveals his hand: four 2s and an Ace of Spades - Four of a Kind - BUT - - - The spectator's hand is a Straight Flush in diamonds, 6D, 7D, 8D, 9D and 10D - and a Straight Flush beats Four of a Kind, so the magician has the losing hand....

For those who wish to fool those who know all the other gaffed montes (Skinner's, Deland's "Pickitout," the British "Chase the Ace"), the "Bammo Queen Monte" is here and ready to serve.

Those other versions use two gaffed cards, the Bammo Queen Monte does not - which means that there are deceptive displays possible that the others cannot match.

There is no sleight of hand: the special cards do all the work.

The entire routine happens on the table just like the real monte. Alternately, for maximum visibility, larger cards can be used with some card holders.

Three cards are shown,...

An exceedingly clever location of two cards using the Free Cut Principle by the inventor of this beautiful principle.

Effect: The performer hands a deck of cards to one of two spectators with the request that he shuffle it, and then divide it equally with a second spectator. While this is being done, the performer turns his back.

Now each spectator is instructed to select a card from his respective half. Next they each exchange a number of cards so that the performer doesn't know how many cards each man holds, or which cards were selected (and he doesn't). Now the performer tells them...

"Henry Sugar is an incredibly clever effect and one that I will actually perform. I don't say that for many effects. As far as I'm concerned, Liam Montier is one of the most original magicians I've ever met and he is my main inspiration to create new magic. Pretty much everything he touches has a big hint of creativity and an even bigger hint of "I'll kick you where it hurts!" - Andi Gladwin

Liam Montier presents a stunning easy to do mentalist card trick based on a well-known short story by Roald Dahl, called "The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar".

The basic plot of the story is that...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Miraskill.

Theo Annemann's journal The Jinx, September 1936, was where Miraskill was first published. Subsequently reprinted in various books and magazines over the years, this Stewart James creation still baffles one and all. The years have not dulled the remarkable impact it can have on today's audiences.

Courtskill is a brand-new version of Miraskill. Australian card man Ian Baxter has concocted a totally new version, with some very distinct advantages.

Barely half the deck is used, trimming the performance time considerably, not to mention a surprise approach involving court...

A "Horse Race" in which you always win under impossible conditions.

The aces represent horses and the performer and three spectators run an exciting race, moving their horses on the “course” as indicated by a fourth spectator dealing the cards. The performer always wins and the effect can be repeated as many times as desired, with the same result every time.

• An ordinary pack of cards
• No sleight of hand
• The spectators shuffle the cards before the race is run
• Spectators freely select their own “horses” the performer taking the one that is left
• No switching – no special cards...

This is a collection of self-working and very easy card effects. Rufus Steele has released several other publications along this line. Check them out.

Excerpt from the foreword:

With Double A.C.A.A.N. you will perform exactly the miracle the title promises: using a simple deck of 52 cards that is unmarked and not gimmicked in any way, you will find first one and then another card, both random, after generating a number in an equally unusual and random way.

A special "pad" to be printed in A3+ size, made available as PDF, will be the ideal mat for performing the effect. The various boxes will be completed, first with the choice of a mystery card kept face down and then two uncovered cards, the union of whose suit and value attributes will form a new card absolutely...

Three named playing cards are located aided by a wind-up toy. Self-working, foolproof, a real crowd pleaser. From the lecture notes of Jimmy Haviland, London's last street conjuror.

You will have to supply a wind-up toy yourself. It is ungimmicked. Anything that walks, hops, or drives a few inches will work.

1st edition 2024, PDF 4 pages + video.

For many years, Ray has worked on the problem of developing an impromptu version of the Paul Fox Miracle Gimmick. After testing and discarding several earlier handlings, he has come up with a stunning version that is a reputation-building demonstration of mass mentalism.

It can be done anytime, anywhere, totally impromptu, with a borrowed deck of cards which is first thoroughly shuffled by a spectator. The cards are handed out to several spectators - between five and twenty if you wish - and they are each asked to just think of a card. The cards are gathered and once again shuffled. You...

A lost Michael Skinner mystery, updated by Steve Pellegrino. Included is Michael Skinner's original handling and Steve Pellegrino's additions. Your Last Card is a triple revelation with two different predictions. You can reset it during performance and no sleight-of-hand is required.

You ask a spectator to cut off a small packet of cards, less than half of the deck. You turn away as they do this, so you don't know how much they cut, even an approximate amount. They pocket their cards. You also cut off a small packet of cards for yourself.

Before the presentation with the cards begins, you write a...

"Pretty sure Moe would have been fooled by this." - Ryan Schlutz

"A clever method for a memory demonstration." - Christian Grace

Note: The effect described below makes up less than half of the entire e-book. The rest of the e-book contains several other methods for the "Move a Card" plot.

Imagine:

The magician asks the spectator for their own deck of cards as he wishes to use a borrowed deck for the routine. He invites them to thoroughly shuffle the cards in any way of their choosing. The spectator does that. (The magician also promises never to touch the cards at any point in...

The magician can't find the spectator's card but his prediction can.

In short:

The spectator cuts to a card, removes it from the deck and remembers it. Then, the magician shuffles the deck and divides it into two halves. The spectator shuffles both parts, loses his selection between them, and shuffles even more. At the end, the magician runs through the deck and removes a card, but it is not the spectator's. Fortunately, the magician has an "emergency out", a message on a piece of paper inside a red envelope, in full view from the start. The spectator reads it out loud:

This is a straightforward version of the classic Lie Detector routine that can be performed with any deck (even a borrowed one) and with no advance setup.

A deck is shuffled by a spectator to put the cards into a genuinely random order, and the performer then extracts one card which he leaves sight unseen in view on the table. The magician then asks a spectator three questions about the tabled card, and the helper is invited to make up his answers (since he doesn't know at this stage what the tabled card actually is). Whatever answers the participant gives, the performer spells the word...

It is an amazing automatic card magic effect that uses an ordinary deck of 54 cards (complete with the two jokers) and a pair of dice (which can also just be imagined by the spectators).

It tells the story of a pirate, the map of his island, and the magic dice he used to find his legendary treasure, in a crescendo of suspense, until the unexpected final surprise.

Completely self-working but with a surprising ending that will fool magicians too!

1st edition 2024, PDF 7 pages.

Price will increase to $20 end of April.

An impromptu, gimmick-free, borrowed deck miracle. A location and divination of a selected card under test conditions. Read on.

Imagine:

The magician introduces a deck of cards. The spectator can thoroughly examine it, after which they can freely shuffle it for as long as they want in any way that they want.

Once they're done shuffling, the magician invites them to look through the deck (faces towards themself, backs towards the magician) and select any two cards that they like. Let's suppose they select the two black A's. They turn these...