$12(9 customer ratings) ★★★★★
This publication is in my opinion among the best books on cards ever written, but it is rarely mentioned or recommended. I am not sure why this is. Perhaps one reason is that Jack Merlin himself has not left a large footprint in the magic literature besides this one publication. He has a published trick in Expert Card Technique and if you read Card College 1 you will have learned the Jack Merlin's Riffle Shuffle. Farelli mentions in his Farell's Card Magic: "I agree with Mr. Jack Merlin that the custom of continually practicing in front of a glass is the cause of the unfortunate habit many magicians have of blinking at the precise moment of performing some secret manoeuvre." Nevertheless to his contemporaries he was an icon, an accomplished master of card magic second to none.
The effects you will find in this ebook are all solid, all routines from the working repertoir of one of the best performers with a deck of cards.
1st edition 1927; PDF 79 pages.
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Contents
- Foreword
SECTION ONE
MERLIN'S MASTER MANIPULATIONS
- Theory
- Practice
CHAPTER II PASSES
- Improved Herrmann Pass
- Outjog Pass
- The Side Slip Palm And Flesh Grip
- Using The Side Slip As A Trick
CHAPTER III DEALING SECONDS AND BOTTOMS
- Seconds
- Bottoms
- The Glide
- Tricks Based On Second And Bottom Dealing
CHAPTER IV FALSE SHUFFLES AND CUTS
- The Merlin True Shuffle
- False Shuffle And Cuts
- The Push Through False Shuffle
- False Cut
- Tricks Based On False Shuffles And Cuts Reds And Blacks
- Another Red And Black Effect
CHAPTER V THUMB COUNTING
- First Method — The Thumb Count
- Second Method — Thumb Counting
- Tricks Based On Thumb Counting
- Divining The Number Of Cards Cut By A Spectator
CHAPTER VI COLOR CHANGES
- The Slip-Slide Change
- The Change-Over Palm Change
- A Double Change
- Change By The Erdnase Bottom Palm
- Improved Change
- Under The Thumb Change
- Face To Face Color Change
- Color Change Making Palmed Cards Vanish
CHAPTER VII CRIMPS
- Finger Crimp From The End
- Tricks Based On The Crimp
CHAPTER VIII FORCING
- A Sure-Fire Force
- Mechanical Forcing Decks
SECTION TWO
MERLIN AT THE CARD TABLE
- A Routine Of Sleights To Be Performed At The Card Table
- The Riffle Stack
- False Cuts On The Table
- A Barefaced Method
- The Herrmann Pass For Slipping The Cut
- A Faked Run Up
- The Audacity Run Up
- Using The Spread As A Trick
- The Hop Off The Bottom
- Topping The Pack
- A Bottom Run Up
- The Overhand False Shuffle And Jog
- False Shuffle Retaining A Number Of Cards On The Top
- Naming The Hole Cards In Stud Poker
- The Peek, With Second Or Bottom Dealing In Stud Poker
- The Bottom Deal As Used In A Game
- The Story Of The Cold Deck
- Dealing Four Aces From Anyone's Pack
- The Shooting Of Pete McGuff
- Master Poker Dealing
- Exhibition Poker Feat
- Pinochle
- A Simple Run Up For Pinochle
- Bridge-Whist
- Challenge Bridge Demonstration
- Glossary
SECTION THREE
SELECTIONS FROM MY REPERTOIRE
- Combining The Passing Of Cards With The Pocket Trick
- A Four Ace Assembly
- Production Of A Chosen Card By Means Of The Spring Flourish
- The Tip-Up Discovery
- Causing A Spectator To Make A Change
- Rubbing Off A Spot And Showing Where It Goes
- The Pack That Cuts Itself
- To Snap Change
- The Triple Force And Floor Change
- My Favorite Four Ace Trick
- An Impromptu Laugh
- The Ubiquitous Card
- Super Mental Card Effect
- Telepathy Card Trick
- The Spread
- The Pulse Of The Public
- Bibliography
- Magazines
word count: 37009 which is equivalent to 148 standard pages of text