Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 61

A translation of Les Trickeries des Grecs by M. Robert-Houdin, one of the most valuable and interesting works on the subject of card sharping.

Excerpt from the preface:

Subtitled: Their tricks exposed or the art of always winning

Translated from the French of Robert-Houdin, first published in 1861, by William J. Hilliar. Robert-Houdin wrote this book primarily as an expose to reduce the number of people being cheated. He writes in his preface: "Enlighten the dupes and there will be no more cheats."

This work was first translated in 1863 under the title The Sharper Detected and Exposed. In 1881 Prof. Hoffman translated it anew and brought it up to date under the title Card-Sharping Exposed. It is not clear why Hilliar would do a new translation in 1903. Perhaps he felt he could ride Erdnase's coattails after his groundbreaking...

As a purser for a French airline flying from his home base in Tahiti, to Sydney to Los Angeles, our author, Jean Fare, keeps up on everything in card and close up magic. He gets to the Magic Castle just often enough to keep from missing anything. Several times a year he uses his airline privileges to get back to Paris to make sure "French Style" in magic is moving right ahead.

You will enjoy Jean's ebook. He has carefully described his own handling on a number of excellent tricks. They include:

• Thru
• New Bland Thought Handling
• Variation of a Palm
• Logical Sandwich
• Delayed Jump
• Cased...

This book is indeed worthy the name Encyclopedia. Originally compiled by Doctor Wilhelm von Deusen in collaboration with Mr. Glenn G. Gravatt (published in two volumes Encyclopedia of Self-Working Card Tricks and The Second Encyclopedia of Card Tricks), and later rewritten by Jean Hugard. It has a very interesting introduction by Ted Annemann where he addresses the issue of inventing new tricks and claiming ownership. This book will provide you with more card tricks than you ever wanted. The combined value of its contents, were the tricks to be computed at their original marketed price, was in the thousands of dollars. Now you can have it for a few bucks.

Hugard added a number of items over what...

This book is a collection of five little booklets. Each booklet typically has a section with sleights and a section with tricks using these sleights. The name Hugard guarantees for first rate material and so it is no surprise that Card Manipulations and the follow up More Card Manipulations includes some of the very best tricks and routines one can do with cards.

1st edition, 1934-1936, Max Holden, New York; reprint, 1973, Dover Publications, New York; 163 pages.

• CARD MANIPULATIONS - No. 1
  • The one Hand Top Card Palm
  • The Hindu Shuffle or Running Cut
  • The Hindu Shuffle as a Substitute for the Pass
  • And yet...

This is the sequel to Card Manipulations. It is a collection of four booklets. Emphasis is put on practical methods without any apparatus.

1st edition, 1938-1941, Max Holden, New York; reprint, 1974, Dover Publications, New York; 205 pages.

• No. 1.
  • Part I. - TRICKS
    7. The Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan
    8. The Sheep and the Goats
    11. Snap - A Quick Trick
    13. Crime Club Detection - Dr. H. Walter Grote
    15. Infallible Prediction - Audley V. Walsh and Hal Haber
    16. The Continuous Spelling Trick - Jack McMillen
    17. The Burglars - Orville W. Meyer
    18. The Magic Thrust - Orville W. Meyer
    19. The Two Jokers - P. W. Miller
    20. The Ladies'...

This is a fine contained course in mental magic which not just describes a selection of effects, but the underlying principles as well as other aspects, such as 'The importance of showmanship'. You will learn to force cards, to use the key card principle, to mark and to prearrange, to understand the mirror principle, to work with codes and assistants, and a lot more.

Hugard is known for his excellent writing style, which is clear, accurate and engaging.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Vintage gold. This was Hugard's first manuscript released to the profession; originally hand-typed and sold only through him. These entertaining card effects require no apparatus and no prepared cards, making them ready to present wherever you may be: at a party, backstage, or after dinner. While the title says 10, you actually get a full dozen card miracles, moves and subtleties presented with a standard deck. Fit for the program of the most fastidious performer, yet easily within the reach of the amateur. While the author claims that no complicated moves are involved, we should note that these...

Jean Hugard and Fred Braue stand for quality. This is a booklet for all card enthusiasts. It has tricks from Bert Allerton, Stewart James, Bob Madison, and several Braue routines. The now famous 'Homing Card' is one of Braue's creations and described here for the first time.

1st edition 1948; 16 pages

Table of contents
page

1. The Braue Double Lift
3. Allerton's Amazing Aces
5. Pockethereal
6. 10 - 6 - 9 - 4
8. Nail Cutting
9. Nailcutting the Aces
9. Dunbury Delusion
11. Fan False Count
12. Triple Do
13. The Homing Card
16. The Great Trunk Trick

The younger generation of card magicians probably knows or has heard of Card College by Roberto Giobbi. The Royal Road to Card Magic is very similar but of older vintage and doesn't cover as much ground. It introduces the novice into the art of card magic one move and principle at a time, always with tricks accompanying the moves. It is therefore not a mindless list of moves but a well prepared and thought out textbook. It will take the beginner to an intermediate level. Once The Royal Road to Card Magic has been mastered one can move on to Expert Card Technique which requires a higher skill level.

Actually because Expert Card Technique did not sell well...

This is the 3rd edition which includes an additional chapter by Dai Vernon and another one by Dr. Daley. (The popular Dover version is a reprint of the 2nd edition and is lacking these two interesting chapters.) This book describes serious stuff. Card moves and tricks for the advanced card man. (For an excellent introduction to card magic see The Royal Road to Card Magic or the Card College series.) Expert Card Technique lists and explains in detail a large quantity of card moves. Card moves are abundant and any good card man will come up with his own variations and twists due to his constant use of cards and tireless perfection of...

It is supposedly the first book devoted to a single sleight - beautifully layed out with photos as well as drawings off all stages of the invisible pass. A detailed and thorough explanation of this form of the pass. The pass is a difficult move. Many books barely scratch the surface when they try to teach a shift or pass. This book is entirely devoted to a single move and leaves no open questions.

In a letter to Paul Fleming Nov 5th 1944 Fred Braue talks about his "invisible pass" for the first time: "...I mentioned earlier a special interest in the "pass". Jean and I are doing another little...

The Stripper Deck has nothing to do with a girl shedding off her clothes, but rather is a specially gaffed deck. However, the gaff or preparation is not noticeable with the naked eye. It can even be handed out to spectators for shuffling and cutting. This manuscript outlines various moves as well as tricks with the Stripper Deck. Practically all effects can be achieved with pure sleight of hand using an unprepared deck. But the Stripper Deck simplifies the handling and makes miracles possible without difficult moves, leaving you time to focus on the presentation.

Paul Fleming wrote:

A treatise on the science and art of the stock, cull, odd-number, and cull-stock shuffles. Presenting the Braue system, bringing these useful stratagems within the reach of every performer, together with a full description of a number of brilliant card feats made possible by this amazingly simple system.

Paul Fleming wrote:

A collection of feats of conjuring with cards, employing artificed cards and simple accessories. Embracing over 30 brilliant feats of card conjuring made possible by the use of prepared cards and simple accessories together with a complete exposition of Jean Hugard's superbly routined presentation of the famed card classic, The Aerial Cards.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Twenty-one original and impressive card effects plus eleven new, practical, useful, simple sleights by these two masters of the art of card magic.

Paul Fleming wrote:

Thinking Inside the Box
A card merely thought of by your spectator, appears inside the card box sandwiched between two Jokers.

Cash Deposit
A borrowed bill and a bank deposit slip transpose under the spectators nose.

Empowerment
Let your spectator think he's the magician.

Visual Rubber Band Un-Link
A new method of un-linking two rubber bands.

Rubber Band Split
A single rubber band is split into two.

The Shrinking Band
One rubber band shrinks as it is absorbed into another.

The King Has Left The Building... With Amnesia
A two card transposition, Elvis style.

Remote...

You'll find incredible detail and over 90 photographs. You'll learn some of the original handling ideas from when these effects were first created.

In addition, there is a ton of information about performing and practicing and how to move from reading the ebook to performing the effects.

And if that's not enough, you'll get a healthy dose of Jason Montoya's artwork and more of those crazy Saga Stories including several that have never been published.

1st edition 2008; 79 pages.

BEGINNING STUFF
5. Preface
8. Update For 2008
10. The Basics

    NINE GROOVY TRICKS

13. Ace Bandage
21. Dethroned
28. Keep...

The Story: The era of the "greasers" was coming to an end. They had all gone by the way side; they had all moved to the wicked city of Hoyletown. But there were a few who wouldn't stand for the death of the greatest era of Bicycle Village's history. The time had come for the last remaining greasers to work a miracle. The notorious Gang of Aces had taken all they could stand. Now is the time to show the world who we are. This is our deck and we're not gonna take it anymore. We'll show them. We will use whatever means necessary to keep the story alive. We will use magic, sorcery and trickery; it...

The Story: ... Can't ... breathe ... feeling ... pain ... must ... survive ... The biggest mistake ever made in the land of Bicycle was the day that the Heart family sent the Jacks after the Joker. They thought he was dead, but they should have checked; after all he is a Joker. The Joker lay there in agony trying to recover from the brutal attack that is known on the streets as being "Jacked Up." That moment, something changed in him. His revenge was developing. He knew that this was the doing of the Heart family, more specifically, the Three of Hearts. I will get him. I will destroy him. I will...

In the spring of 2005 Jay Sankey sent out a world-wide request for audition videos featuring original material from unknown magicians. In response, performers from more than a dozen countries submitted more than 200 tapes and dvds! From this mountain of submissions Jay and his team unanimously selected Joe Diamond, Eric Leclerc and Jeff Stone.

A few months later, Jay, Joe, Eric and Jeff met up in Toronto and over a couple of days taped an outstanding collection of close-up magic and mentalism including 20 effects with matchbooks, coins, playing cards, keys, film canisters, wrist watches, chewing gum,...

"If you are looking for a fresh dose of commercial, audience-tested card magic, look no further than Jeff Stone's Stone Cold Magic. There's plenty of useable card effects presented in a wonderfully friendly, casual and straightforward manner. My only criticism is that Jeff came up with the idea of using the Erdnase-Houdini Color Change as an invisible palm. It looks so darn good, I wish to heck I had thought of it!!" - Jay Sankey

"Jeff is a real worker and tips his mitt in this DVD. There are some great ideas that are really USABLE. In addition, it's just a fun watch as noted by others. Jeff is...

Swords...Death...Lovers...Fortune...

Tarot cards are old, but that doesn't mean they're boring. Tarot cards add an air of mystery and emotion to any performer's arsenal. This ebook will show you a whole new frontier of possibilities with these arcane works of art. Spectral Chill is as much a concept as it is a trick. And the bonus trick, Tarot Below Zero is just one possibility to be found at the tip-of-the-sword in this re-conceived paradigm.

Tarot is all about creating links in the mind of the spectator and Spectral Chill is a system to help do exactly that.

This is a real performer's...

Bird One - Kingside Castling

Simply put, a spectator's signed king from a packet of four kings vanishes from underneath her hand. As a kicker, the other 3 kings in the packet become blank even though she just saw all four of the kings. There are no switches.

Bird Two - Brainwave: Card 8

This is a variation of Nick Trost's 8 Card Brainwave that does the effect in reverse.

From a packet of 8 cards with 8 different colored backs, the spectator freely (no force) chooses one of them without knowing the values of any of the cards. Yet, the one she freely chose is found to be the only...