Another Roadside Attraction
by Jon Racherbaumer

• Introduction
  • I. Simplicity
  • II. Directness
  • III. Empathy
  • IV. Drama
  • V. Humor
  • VI. Spectator
• Wide-Open Prediction: This is one of the easiest, most puzzling solutions to Paul Curry's card problem. It's the creation of Robert Parrish.
• Cased-In Vision: A spectator freely selects a card by cutting off some cards and using the leftover talon. He notes and remembers the top card of this portion, then places it in the center of his portion. This is done with the cards behind his back or under a table. In other words, the cards are out of sight. Finally the talon is placed in a card case, which is closed. The magician takes the case, holds it to his forehead, and divines the name of the selection. To conclude, he causes the selection to turn face-up while the talon is still in the case. The spectator removes the cards and shows that his selection is the only face-up card in the talon.
• Post-Graduate Twenty-One Card Trick: This is a version of the Twenty-One Card Trick to perform for people who know the old version.
• Princess Of Olram: The Princess Trick dates back to Henry Hardin and T. Nelson Downs. The beauty of this method is its subtlety and well-formed modus operandi.
• Of Course I Can Deal A Good Poker Hand: The magician demonstrates how card cheats operate in a card game. He shows how certain cards are retained on the bottom of the deck during a shuffle. Then he demonstrates a Bottom Deal to obtain four Kings. These Kings are apparently stacked, but the performer ends up with the Aces. Finally, the Kings are dealt with one hand into a chosen Hand, and a spectator cuts to the four Aces.
• Solomon's Jack-In-The-Box: Four Aces are placed face-down on the table. A Jack is shown and place in the case. This is the Jack-in-the-Box. A card is selected and returned to the deck. Then someone chooses a pair of the Aces (red or black). This pair is placed inside the case alongside the Jack-in-the-Box. The other pair of Aces in cut into the deck and locate a card as per a "sandwich." When the trapped card is shown, it turns out to be the Jack-in-the-Box. When the cards are dumped out of the case, the selection is shown between the other Aces.
• Marlo's Color-Changing Deck: A couple of ways to select a card are shown. Then the fair method of dealing cards face-up to the table until a spectator says "stop" is enacted. The selection is placed aside. Two more cards are selected, using a Joker. The deck is placed face-up in front of the spectator. The backs of the selections are shown, ostensibly to indicate an obscure, invisible marking system. Then the backs magically change color, followed by having the rest of the deck change color.
• Thy Name Is Woman: This is Marlo's handling of the generic Name Trick. It's an enhancement of his "Lonely Horace" which appeared in Harry Lorayne's Apocalypse.
• Flip-Flop Triumph: This is an excellent example of transforming a difficult trick into an easy one. Yet from the audience's point of view, the effect looks difficult and astonishing.
• Brain-Waived: You hand a BLUE-back deck to a spectator who freely selects and signs a card. He returns the selection to the deck and places it in its case. The cased deck is placed in the magician's inside coat pocket. A RED-back deck is removed from a different pocket. It's removed from its case and is immediately ribbon-spread facedown. A single face-up card is seen in the middle of the spread. It matches the selection. Finally, the face-up card is removed by the spectator. When it's turned over, it proves to be the signed, Blue-back selection!

1st edition 1991, PDF 30 pages.
word count: 8502 which is equivalent to 34 standard pages of text