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Facsimile 1Jon Racherbaumer
1st edition 1983, 2nd edition 1994, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 52 pages. | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
Facsimile 2Jon Racherbaumer
1st edition 1994, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 55 pages. | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
Facsimile 3Jon RacherbaumerThis issue of Facsimile includes the complete contents of the first two (and only) issues of Jon Racherbaumer's periodical Marlophile. Jon has reformatted Marlophile, and added some additional routines.
1st edition 1995, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 50 pages. | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
Cull-MinationJon RacherbaumerCulling (cards) is not a particularly fashionable technique. During the past forty years, card magicians started to pay closer attention to various ideas and techniques, especially those having broad application. In this treatise three types of culls will be examined:
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All That JazzJon RacherbaumerJazz Aces was inauspiciously introduced to the magic world in 1971 when Peter Kane published Another Card Session. It was a fortuitous event because it appeared about the same time the Elmsley Count was gaining favor with magicians from coast to coast. Like weeds in an open field, packet tricks were also popping up everywhere. Furthermore, Kane's routine clarified the transposition aspects of basic Ace Assemblies. Using only 8 principal "players" (cards), his action procedure was simple and direct. Best of all, the final transposition was squeaky clean. As a result it did not take long for Jazz... | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
Mirroring Maximizing MiraskillJon Racherbaumer"One of the greatest card tricks ever invented." - George AndersonMiraskill came into being in 1935 when Stewart James self-marketed it. According to him, only one copy was sold. But it leaked out and Dr. Jacob Daley demonstrated it to Ted Annemann, who eventually published it in the Jinx, which was the starting point for much thought and commentary by other clever minds. ... | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
Mulling Over Mexican JoeJon Racherbaumer'Mexican Joe' refers to a specially crimped card or deck, one that is crimped at diagonal corners in opposite directions. The first person to publish anything on this crimp was Victor Farelli when he published Farelli's Card Magic. Several years passed before another mention is made. This time it was explained in Dai Vernon's More Inner Secrets of Card Magic. Racherbaumer collects a number of routines and ideas with this crimp. In so doing he weaves his way through some interesting nooks and crannies of card magic history.
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TwixtJon RacherbaumerReviving "Between the Palms" one of Alex Elmsley's most offbeat plots. This is sort of a "locked room" mystery with playing cards. It is an offbeat plot because the implicit aspects of effect, particularly its climax, are not immediately understood or appreciated. Yet the effect still has an emotional impact. Compared to other card tricks being done in 1952 it was very different. (Perhaps its closest cousins may be Fred Braue's "The Prechosen Chosen Card" from The Gen (February 1962) or Brother John Hamman's "Signed Card.") Effect: The performer removes a card from the deck and, without showing its face, places it between... | $15 to wish list | ||
Monte-MazementsJon RacherbaumerOffbeat alternatives of the Three-Card Motif This compilation makes a distinction between the well-known Three-Card Monte wagering game, and motifs using three principal cards in different ways. All of the motifs challenge a spectator's ability to follow the actions to keep track of certain principal cards as they are physically moved around. In some of the motifs, the principal cards are moved by the spectator while the performer's back is turned. Then, sight unseen, the performer is able to ascertain the location of a card previously designated as the "money card." In other motifs... | ★★★★★ $15 to wish list | ||
All Backs: a select compendiumJon RacherbaumerThe All Backs Motif is odd. For one thing, it casts a revealing light on we magician's claim (when it suits our purpose) that we use ordinary cards. That is our decks, which we prefer to borrow, consist of cards that have faces and backs on both sides. Therefore, if we show a deck that consists of all backs and faces we are admitting that such anomalies exist and the cards being used are probably gimmicked in some way. Why do this? A better question may be - What motivated someone to create such an effect using this kind of deck? That "someone" was Dai Vernon and my guess is that he wanted to... | $15 to wish list | ||
Virtual VisitationsJon RacherbaumerDiving into double-back transits.
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Tickling TekelJon RacherbaumerFrom the Introduction: The purpose of this compilation is to incentivize and "tickle" students to reexamine the Mene-Tekel deck and reconsider its possibilities. This has been done before and as recently as 2003 when Chris Wardle (via Paul Hallas) published a 27 page booklet titled Investigating the Mene-Tekel Deck (Magic's Forgotten Trick Deck). ... We begin with Ed Marlo's groundbreaking addition of what he called the Roughed Mene-Tekel. We end with ends with David Britland's clever routines. In between there the other contributions are meant to provide further context and stimulation - enough to tickle anyone's fancy. At least that's the presumptive impulse that led to its creation.
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Cunning AttractionsJon RacherbaumerA different take on the usage of the mini-plunger or tiny plunger. When Danny Orleans showed the item to Jon it sparked his creativity. Read about the outcome here.
1st edition 2013, 41 pages. | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
Processean PrincessJon RacherbaumerHenry Hardin's plot has been around for 107 years and his initial three methods are explained in The Art of Magic (1909). Card tricks of this kind were atypical when Hardin devised his trick. During his time, spectators physically picked cards. They seldom, if ever, mentally selected them. Because only five cards are used in "The Princess Card Trick," Hardin strengthened the challenge by finding the mental selection by tactile means while the five "possibilities" were in his pocket. This is how the his trick appeared to audiences: Five cards are shown to a spectator who is asked to think of one of them.... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
Daley BredJon RacherbaumerA study of Daley's Aces its history and spin-offs. This treatise is a compilation of methods for performing a simple transposition of pairs of cards - namely the red and black Aces. The basic plot has a checkered history and, despite being associated with Dr. Jacob Daley, there are lots of tangled connective tissue and ancestral than meets the eye. Besides these aspects, you will discover that this treatise is a rich mixture of memes. That is, there are lots of bits and pieces to play with and, if you are the kind of student that likes to study the history of a trick and then work through... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
A Promising PremiseJon RacherbaumerUnpacking Dai Vernon's Pact When Vernon's trick appeared, its puzzling aspect centers on the fact that the spectator chooses one of three cards and the one chosen changes into his selection. In other words, the spectator is permitted to make two decisions. He selects any card. Then he selects one-of-three cards, which changes into his selection. It is essentially a quickie.
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WhispersJon RacherbaumerThis treatise is a detailed exploration of a glorified location-divination, framed by a whimsical conceit - namely that an inanimate object - a playing card - is the supposed agency that makes the entire trick work. In this regard it was an effort to upgrade an essentially puerile divination effect. Here is the basic approach or plot: The way the performer learns the identity of a freely selected card is apparently due to enlisting the assistance of another playing card (usually a Queen), which whispers the name of the selection to the magician. The magician then acts as the Queen's proxy... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
TosherooniqueJon RacherbaumerFrom the Foreword: "Tosheroon" is an odd but memorable name. It sounds amusing and somewhat incantatory - especially for a card trick. Bob Driebeck, who dubbed it, knew that the word was Cockney slang for a half-crown, which is also the type of coin he used to perform this offbeat card trick. The basic effect is a transformation done with an impediment in place - the impediment or obstruction in this case is a coin, which is placed onto the face of the card that eventually changes. Effect: A card is selected and lost in the deck. Then a borrowed coin is marked and placed onto the face... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
The Complete Gypsy Switch HandbookJon RacherbaumerNote that different moves and techniques have been called 'Gypsy Switch' over the decades. See for example a technique to switch bills using an envelope: Gypsy Switch. The technique described here by Jon Racherbaumer uses a handkerchief and is mostly used with coins, but the basic technique is flexible and utilitarian, which means any object that is conveniently flat and compact can be switched for a similar object, using a handkerchief. This includes objects such as coins, poker chips, billets, cards (business and torn playing card pieces), and folded currency. In its antecedent form this move appeared... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
A Hobsonian HandbookJon RacherbaumerExplorations, examples, and routines using equivoque. Hobson's Choice: the choice of taking either what is offered or nothing else; the absence of choice. [after Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) of Cambridge, England, who rented horses and gave only one choice, that of the horse nearest the stable door]Equivoque or Magician's Choice in its myriad of forms is considered a First Principle by students of mentalism. What fascinates me is the elusiveness of this subject because no one has yet written a definitive, synoptic, and detailed magnum opus on the subject. There have been good piecemeal accounts written here and there about and most magicians understand how it basically works in specific cases; however, trying to ferret out its... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
Fifth-Business Monkey BusinessJon RacherbaumerEight select bits of rascality from Harry the Hat. From the Introduction: When Harry Anderson lived in New Orleans, we regularly discussed tricks, scams, and what Harry liked to call "throwaways that are keepers." These are tricks that symbolically serve the same purpose as Mardi Gras beads and doubloons tossed from floats during carnival season. The following 8 things in this booklet are stunts and tricks Harry performed in his inimitable, fast-and-loose way when he held court in barrooms, poolrooms, or at his night club called Oswald's. In the right time and place they are worth knowing... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
SunkenJon RacherbaumerA deep dive into a key principle - the sunken key card.
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May The Flop Be With YouJon RacherbaumerRemixing the Gardner-Marlo poker deal - its history and histrionics.
1st edition 2020, PDF 50 pages.... | ★★★★★ $12 to wish list | ||
MythopolisJon RacherbaumerUnpacking the Smith Myth and the Rashomon Concept. This collection of tricks focuses on a similar motif because they fit the precise definition of that word and, in each case, the goal is to show what unifies and specifically defines each one. I'm also using the term "curate," because I sifted through lots of material so readers can compare and analyze everything. I consider this to be a contextualizing exercise that reveals the motif's history and pinpoints its rightful place in the Creative Continuum. The two motifs compiled here are the Smith Myth and what's popularly known as the Rashomon... | $12 to wish list |