Jon Racherbaumer products: page 2

An exploration of the Hotel Trick, aka "A Night on the Town". A trick with a good plot is half the battle. This one has an interesting plot that can be styled and modified to fit your needs. Sleight-less and sleight-of-hand versions are being taught.

Jon was introduced to this trick by Persi Diaconis in the 1970s. In this ebook he has traced it back to its roots, and forward to modern variations and spin-offs.

The core effect:

Two Queens and four Kings are shown. The Queens are tabled face down next to each other. Two Kings are added onto each Queen to form two three-card packets. After...

Even though the small packet card trick goes at least back to Hofzinser's times Jon argues that the modern small packet trick started in the 1940s when the Buckle Count was introduced by Dai Vernon and got into full swing when the Ghost Count (Elmsley Count) entered the stage.

Jon writes:

Gene Castillon presented this lecture at a meeting of Ring #27 IBM in the early 70’s, calling it "The Double Undercut Routine". This routine was designed to feature only one sleight or move—the Double Undercut. To prove the versatility and usefulness of this one move, Gene incorporated into one routine a series of different effects all accomplished by this one move. As you will discover, there are magic appearances, a simple sandwich prediction, several Ace tricks, a poker deal, and a simple triumph trick.

When recently asked to lecture again, Gene pulled out his old lecture notes and was surprised...

This manuscript is an exploration of the origin and evolution of one of the most dependable, commercial, and semiautomatic card tricks extant. Even its name is unusual and memorable - "Further Than That"

• INTRODUCTION
• FURTHER THAN THAT / Stewart James
• FURTHER THAN FURTHER THAN THAT / Harry Lorayne
• FURTHER THAN THAT / J. W. Sarles
• A LITTLE FURTHER / Darwin Ortiz
• THREE-DIMENSIONAL FURTHER THAN THAT / Cushing Strout
• STROUT FELLOW / Allan Slaight
• A Poker Demonstration
• A POYGRAPHICAL POLLOOZA / Jon Racherbaumer
• TAKING IT TOO FAR?
• MUCH FURTHER THAN THAT / Al Thatcher
• TAKING FURTHER THAN THAT TOO FAR / Jon Racherbaumer
• THIS...

The five easy "pieces" in this manuscript are relatively easy to do. The important aspect, however, is how they are combined. The tricks are not the tricky part. They can be broken down into basic, understandable action steps. Or, to put it another way, tricks are to magic books as recipes are to cook books. One should not then equate plans, schemes, or sets of instructions with hale and hearty presentations. This is the reason the extended presentation in this manuscript surpasses mere exposition. Besides explaining the action steps of five otherwise grab-bag tricks, it reveals how they have...

From the Preface:

Controlling a card to the top or to the bottom is the most fundamental technique in card magic. Every card magician should have at least one good method to do that. Consequently many authors use the phrase "control card to the top/bottom with your preferred method" and leave the rest to the reader assuming that everyone already has his or her preferred method. While you might have your favorite method, the search for better ones never stops.

In this ebook Jon Racherbaumer describers several - as he calls them 'finessed' methods - to control a card to the top or to the bottom. You should find...

Eight select bits of rascality from Harry the Hat.

From the Introduction:

Includes a more clarified explanation of Marlo's "Super Count" routine, and a lot more.

• Frank Shields: Bits And Pieces
• Super-Counting Caper
• Tabled Bottom Placement
• Gutting The Glut
• Everybody Is A Magician
• Re-Rereading
• Quick Note For The Cow-Pawed, Gibblefisted,
• Scram-Handed, Ballock-Handed,
• Keg-Handed And Cack-Handed Brethren
• Shades Of Ricky Jay
• The Credit Game
• Magic As Stamp Collecting?
• Marlo And The Second-Dealing Monkey
• Remembering Al Koran
• Guess What?
• Color Monte Notes

1st edition 2017, 70 pages.

• Last Card to Laugh (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Sounds of Silence?
• Face Value?
• Elevated Elevator (Edward Marlo, Frank Garcia)
• Shiner Notes (Files of Jon Racherbaumer)
• Remembrance of Things Passed (Jon Racherbaumer)
• About a Procedure for the Clock Trick (Jon Racherbaumer)
• The Cardini Control (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Niggling Narrativity (Jon Racherbaumer)
• New-And-Clear Force (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Bare-Faced Boys With Decks In Hand (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Impromptu Casino Shuffle (Gene Castillon)
• Notes on Peek Decks
• Marlo's Spread Lift (Edward Marlo)
• Magic: On the Edge: Trick-Soup For Dummies? (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Constructive Criticism ...

• Introduction
• Charlie Miller's Material in Expert Card Technique
• A Glimpse through the Fourth-Wall Window
• Uncontrolled Prediction (Edward Marlo)
• Indecent Exposure?
• Numero Trois (Blair Bowling)
• Breathing Heavy (Blair Bowling)
• Hofzinser, Carried Away (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Mental Selectivity (Charlie Miller)
• Putting a Placement in Its Place
• Wee Madness in Vegas
• Yakety-Yak (Don't Talk Back)
• Footnotes to a Book-In-Limbo
• Busby Follies Redux
• "F" Is For Fake

1st edition 1996, 35 pages.

This 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.

• Publisher's Note
• I
  • Introduction
  • Marlo's Personal Annotation
  • Marlo's Variation Of The Zarrow Shuffle
  • MARLO In IBIDEM (1956-1969)
• II
  • Introduction
  • Marlo's Personal Annotation
  • The Easy Way: A Bottom Deal For The Millions
  • Two Memory Bits
  • Mental lie
  • Slop Shuffle Or Triumph?
  • Whispering Snitch

1st edition 1995, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 50 pages.

A letter-sized booklet with glue binding in excellent condition. For the content see the digital edition.

• Introduction
• Marlo's Routine For Abbott's Chinese Coins
• Cursory Commentary On Close-Up Fantasies Books 1 & 2 By Paul Harris (1980)
• Bombshell Twins
• LSDM Aces
• LSDR Aces
• Patter For The "Ropes Of India"
• Clipper Passage
• Deuce Sandwich Ideas
• Better Than Best Lie Speller
• Simplex Lie Speller
• Complex Simplex Lie Speller
• Whose Oil And Water?
• Million Dollar Card Secrets By Frank Garcia

1st edition 1994, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 55 pages.

A letter-sized booklet with glue binding in excellent condition. For the content see the digital edition.

• A Decade Later
• Publisher's Notes
• Round-Trip Travellers
• Student's Exchange
• Marlo Card-To-Pocket Items In Print
• Detached Collectors
• Table Side Manners
• Future Trap
• Olram Cunningly Catches A Card
• The 1003-1006 Aces
• An Apparitional Bit Of Nonsense
• On The Spread Cull

1st edition 1983, 2nd edition 1994, 50 pages; 1st digital edition 2020, PDF 52 pages.

Although Marlo is generally credited with the Elevator plot, analysis of the action steps taken in the Four Burglars, Jacob's Ladder, and Marlo's Penetration exhibit procedural similarities and could be presented as "elevating tricks" if accompanying patter expressed the "elevator" analogy. As far as the "elevator" trope is concerned, we can credit Bill Simon for naming rights.

• Part One: The Burglazing Beginning
  • Introduction
  • Gibson Puts Perps On Parade
  • Rising Crime / Daryl Martinez
  • Rising Robbers / Jon Racherbaumer
  • Four Burglas / Jerry Mentzer
  • Mystery Of The Penthouse / Nick Trost
  • Burglar Trick / Nick...

The contents of this series, for the most part, emphasize the history of effects and ideas. There are effects and methods in some of them, though.

• Proem
• About this Issue
• Excerpts Taken from a Photocopy of a Letter Written from Ed Whitford to Edward Marlo
• A Marlo Letter to Persi Diaconis
• Racherbaumer Letter to Charlie Miller
• Shall We Ask All The King's Horses and Men?
• Correspondence Between Jon Racherbaumer and Stephen Minch Regarding the So-Called Hide-Out Move
• Appendix: Paul Curry's "Out of this World"; a new version / Ed Whitford

1st edition 2014, PDF 30 pages....

The contents of this series, for the most part, emphasize the history of effects and ideas. There are effects and methods in some of them, though.

From the introduction:

"It is one of the very best tricks which can be done for close-up work." - Hugard and Braue from Show Stoppers With Cards

From the Foreword:

Basic Plot:

A selection "lost" in a deck is successfully found by using three...

This short compilation follows on the heels of another compilation titled Dreamwork. Both relate to Bob Hummer's "The Midreader's Dream." Bob Hummer introduced to the magic world many interesting principles and effects. One of the first to make a splash was introduced in 1952. The dreamy dealer ad seemed too good to be true: A spectator merely thinks of a card and then performs a few, unseen dealing procedures with a deck of cards. The magician, whose back was turned throughout these actions, turns and faces the spectator. He takes the deck, briefly scans the cards, and consults a "dream book." He then names...

Several decades ago Bob Hummer invented a new principle which caused a short-lived stir among cardicians. The effect was called "The Mindreader's Dream". It sounds too good to be true: A spectator merely thinks of a card and performs a few, unseen dealing procedures with a deck of cards. The magician briefly scans the cards, consults a "dream book," and then names the mentally selected card.

Racherbaumer collects in this ebook several improvements and variations on this basic principle, including the original Hummer method. The contributors are an eclectic group of specialists including Justin Higham,...

A deep dive into Elmsley's Point of Departure.

The original effect is the following. A card is chosen and placed face down on the table. The two black aces are then removed from the pack and with the utmost fairness, the chosen card is placed between them, and this sandwich is handed to a spectator to hold. On the magician's command, the chosen card vanishes and is found in the performer's pocket.

• Point of Departure / Alex Elmsley
• Card Vanish Supreme / Edward Marlo
• A-E-I-O-U / Sam Schwarz
• Last-Minute Departure / Jon Racherbaumer
• Escapade / Max Maven
• Between Your Points of Departure / Earl...

Slip Cuts play a vital role in "Cutting to the Aces," a presentation auspiciously introduced in Stars of Magic (1946). Dai Vernon's handling sparked lots of interest when it first appeared, providing strong incentive to master the Slip Cut. Cardini, who also knew a great trick when he saw one, strongly endorsed Vernon's presentation:

"To lovers of outstanding card magic I heartily recommend 'Cutting the Aces.' It is showy and mystifying, more so than you would think a card trick could possibly be."

Therefore, this treatise begins with explanations of three versions of Ace-Cutting. This may induce...