Ian Baxter products: page 1

A treasured classic in anyone's language, "The Ambitious Card" absolutely runs rings around most other card effects. Of the versions in print, a few too many are on the difficult side, but not this one.

Ian Baxter has finally released his extraordinary version - a streamlined, baffling approach that he has used for decades. And the best part of this? It is, as you might guess, straightforward and undemanding. No more than basic card skills are required ... Hindu Shuffle, Overhand Shuffle, Double Lift, Bluff Pass, very little else. Guaranteed to please!

1st edition 2021, PDF 10 pages.

John Racherbaumer's latest compendium Picnic Pocus, has certainly revived interest in that long-standing Ace revelation, Poker Player's Picnic. Published years back in The Royal Road to Card Magic, it is a routine most of us perform when starting out in card magic, but eventually, drop from our repertoire due to the odd counting method involved.

Ian Baxter's new approach to this classic has solved this problem, providing a clear rationale for the procedure and adding touches that considerably enhance the routine's effectiveness while still maintaining the sleight-free handling of the original. Clever thinking at work here! This new version is worthy...

Paul Rosini was one of the all-time 20th Century greats of the magic world, with numerous contributions in print and a reputation that few have approached. His skill and charm guaranteed him a permanent niche in the pantheon of card magic.

In this exclusive manuscript, Ian Baxter offers up his handling of three Rosini favourites - The Peek Trick, Follow Your Card and Change In Hand. Once again Baxter turns his thoughts towards a touch of streamlining and simplifying, utilising the most basic of sleights to achieve the self-same effects that Rosini presented.

This trio is a game-changer...

It is almost impossible to imagine any card expert worth his salt to have either ignored or overlooked Double Reverse. Here is a firm favourite that has entertained audiences for decades. Now, Australian card man Ian Baxter steps forward with a brand-new approach that will knock your socks off. Two cards chosen, one by spectator, another by the performer, then in the blink of an eye they both reverse in the deck. But here is the cruncher: Baxter's handling allows the effect to be presented, believe it or not, in well under one minute! Not be missed and a bargain at just $4.00.

1st edition...

Who among us is not familiar with injogs and outjogs? Since the days of Erdnase, these very handy adjuncts have helped enable magicians to turn out miraculous feats of card magic.

Card man Ian Baxter offers up an unusual use for the humble injog here in his latest manuscript. This is the venerable 'STOP' trick with a difference and you will be most impressed. Positively no complicated sleights or outrageous moves in this strictly commercial adaptation of a classic. Don't pass this one up!

1st edition 2021, PDF 4 pages.

Just one card, merely thought of, mysteriously jumps from one packet to another.

Sound familiar? Of course, and there is no finer example of this treasured classic than Edward G. Brown's Wandering Card, published by Willane, back in 1952.

Usually presented as a stand-alone effect for the platform or stage, Brown's effect has lost none of its popularity over the ensuring years - spawning many variations that tackle the innate difficulty of the crucial packet switch. Unfortunately, many of these have proven to be, for one reason or another, impractical.

Australian card man Ian Baxter...

Stewart Judah was one of the twentieth century's most celebrated card experts, contributing to that classic text Greater Magic as one of the famed 'Card Stars Of The U.S.A.' and winning accolades from experts everywhere. Author John Northern Hilliard wrote "I would rather see him do a card trick than go to a convention." Such was his reputation.

In this new manuscript, author Ian Baxter shares his version of a Judah favourite, Not Your Card? - with the level of astonishment fully intact, but offering an approach that is far better suited to the close-up table.

Moving The Aces is Baxter's latest handling for that classic...

Hard to believe that eighty years have passed since the Stewart James card classic Further Than That was first published in Annemann's magazine, The Jinx. Card workers everywhere latched on to this intriguing, self-working mystery; the passing years have not dimmed its popularity one iota.

Just recently, Jon Racherbaumer released a very worthwhile compilation, Further More. Essential reading and yes, currently available through lybrary.com.

And now on offer, Further Than Expected from Australian card man and author Ian Baxter. This is a brand new, reconstructed approach that freely alters the proceedings while still maintaining the essential,...

Australian card man Ian Baxter has nailed it once again! Here is a straightforward, anytime, anywhere mystery that will leave audiences scratching their heads.

No fakes, gaffs or stranger cards are employed. An ordinary deck, borrowed or supplied by you, is the sole requirement. Ten-Four, a radio call sign, means "everything is okay" but in this case, it also spells out what is involved. The four tens end up cavorting from the deck to the table and back again, with a jaw-dropping finish. And there is room for a spot of humour as well.

Acknowledgment must be made to Tom Ogden of Hollywood, California,...

Ian Baxter here, introducing something new from me in the 'Card Stabbing' arena. Nicely Stabbed! offers not one but two approaches to this evergreen card mystery. But rather than have me rattle on about this, I'll ask reviewer and fellow Australian David Jones to offer his opinion.

When Ian Baxter told me that his next manuscript involved the concept of forcing an unknown card, I was intrigued, to say the least. What resulted from this offbeat thought was a very clever, streamlined and almost sleight-free method for a known classic. A spectator stabs a card anywhere into the deck and ends...

"It's not easy to improve on a trick by Dai Vernon, but Ian Baxter has managed to do just that!"

A timely observation from reviewer David Jones, who has hit the nail right on the head. Here is an easy, clever new treatment of a respected Vernon classic. Don't be surprised if you find yourself performing Refining Vernon's 1-2-3 over and over again.

Jones continues: "This streamlined handling of Vernon's 1-2-3 is so much cleaner than the original, more magical in effect and far easier to perform. It's a winner!"

This familiar, fast-moving card mystery has been 'doing the rounds' for decades:...

Paul Curry is a name that captures the attention of magicians everywhere, thanks to his famous card trick Out Of This World. Invented by Curry back in 1942, it remains an absolute staple for the self-working card enthusiast.

Not to be overlooked, however, was Curry's initial blast onto the magic scene five years earlier. Launched in 1937, Touch was (and still is) by any measure, a superlative card mystery. Over the years, variations from the experts have appeared in print. Some of these have been downright disappointing because they have been far too complicated, or like Curry's original, the burden...

Australian card man Ian Baxter presents a brand-new, revamped handling of that timeless classic, Royal Marriages.

Totally impromptu and free of sleights, fakes, stranger cards, accessories and the like. You won't find so much as a camouflaged in-jog here in this modernised gem where the Kings and Queens of the pack magically pair up in their correct suits. Just eight cards are used, the four Kings and four Queens from any deck.

Reviewer David Jones sums it up: "A simple and effective little mystery. Short, stunning and entirely sleight free. Another winner from Ian Baxter."

And the...

Dai Vernon's Twisting The Aces, has for decades been regarded as an all-time classic and thankfully, the new wave of 21st Century card experts still carry the torch for this perennial favourite. Over the years, new additions and presentations are published, adding even further interest to this wonderful effect.

Australian card man Ian Baxter admits to having performed TTA for sixty years, starting just three years following its publication in 1960. Up until recently, he performed it totally 'as is' from Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets Of Card Magic.

"Tampering with a Vernon treasure such as TTA, can often promote controversy" admits Baxter....

No prizes for guessing who it was that did more to popularize mentalism than anyone else. Certainly, a steady stream of impressive performers and writers have kept the kettle boiling over the years, but it was Theo Annemann who, beginning in the first half of the twentieth century, set the pace with ingenious methods and presentations that still influence material today.

He wrote: "It is my theory that any effect to be successful must first be founded upon a simple method, and then be performed with a direct, to-the-point presentation." Hard to disagree with a compelling narrative such as this.

Australia's...

A timely favorite for any magician with a deck of cards in hand is Think-Stop. With a popularity spanning decades, this absolute classic has attracted attention from virtually every known card expert of the 20th and 21st centuries. Practical additions and/or worthwhile improvements to this gem are rare indeed. However, this brand-new handling from Australian card man Ian Baxter easily meets that challenge.

Reviewer David Jones comments:

"The Stop Trick is a stunning card effect which has traditionally depended on the use of a psychological force and hence cannot be relied upon to work...

An approach to the Paul Curry classic "Out of this World".

Out Of This World, Paul Curry's timeless classic, gets a fresh look in this new manuscript from Australian card man Ian Baxter.

Years after its release, the trick retains its enduring popularity. No sleight of hand, an absence of moves demanding any form of dexterity, with attention to presentation steering the success of this baffling mystery every time. OOTW is a timeless gem. The August 1947 issue of Hugard's Magic Monthly, in a poll conducted at the time by Fred Braue, confirmed to the magic world then that this ingenious card mystery be given the mantle of the most...

Who among us has not heard of, seen, or performed The Princess Card Trick? For the record, it was conceived by Henry Hardin and was first made available way back in 1903. Mahatma magazine carried advertising for it and in the decades that followed, countless 'improvements' ended up in print.

It seems that not too many of these ideas were ever celebrated by the magical fraternity, and no wonder - with crazy fakes and gimmicks being introduced that almost drowned its popularity.

Fortunately, the original idea has remained unchanged which is why today, it is still regarded as a classic of card...

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 new approach to the Stewart James classic Simplicity Four Ace Trick.

First appearing in print in Ralph W. Hull's book More Eye Openers, Jean Hugard wasted no time in grabbing it for Encyclopedia Of Card Tricks; it also ended up in John Northern Hilliard's mammoth book Greater Magic, along with a number of other texts as well.

The straightforward plot involves the four Aces of the pack assembling in one heap, following a careful separation from other cards. Economy of movement is top of the list here, buoyed by an absence of sleights and very easy moves. Within reach of any card handler, beginner or expert.

And now, years down the track, Ian Baxter offers this...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Pocketheral.

Stewart James (1908 - 1996) was known not just for an immense output of published effects, but his deliberate, somewhat humorous conferring of odd titles to various tricks. Pocketheral was certainly no exception, attracting the attention of, among others, Edward Marlo.

The Cardician, Marlo's celebrated book released back in 1953, included two very worthwhile variations of PTR. Marlo, along with many others, would doubtless have been amused by the name chosen for this one. Marlo's approach involved not twenty but ten cards being dealt in a row, a spectator being asked...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Queer Quest.

Another Stewart James card mystery from the past, brought right up to date by Australian cardman Ian Baxter.

Queer Quest first appeared in The Jinx magazine back in 1938. Publisher Ted Annemann endorsed it immediately because this was obviously not just another card trick. Although the effect is far from new, three spectators each selecting a card with the performer locating them one at a time, Queer Quest stood out because of its simple method and straightforward presentation.

Eighty-five years down the track and Q.Q. is now totally revamped, with easier handling...

A lovely print-and-perform trick.

Who in magic, beginner or expert, has not purchased, watched, or performed that perennial "Gone To Lunch" or as it is sometimes called, "The Indian Rope Trick"? This magic shop favourite has been making the rounds for decades and is still a consistent best-seller for dealers all over the world.

Would you believe, Australian card man Ian Baxter has for years been performing his own version that tops the original? Baxter put this together back in the 1990's and sold it through limited dealerships. Yes, the 'Gone To Lunch' theme is fully intact, but there...

To all magicians, amateur and professional - here is a loaded question:

Have you ever been bored silly watching a magician perform a spelling trick?

This is contentious and very obviously axiomatic. Quoting from the Preface of his new manuscript, Australian card man Ian Baxter comments: "Unfortunately, spelling effects in card magic hold the onerous title of being the most laborious, boring presentations imaginable."

This is the point at issue - boredom setting in, thanks to the tedium of endless counting and spelling, usually propped up with trivial patter. Such effects are simply...