Jon Racherbaumer products: page 3

The 'Real-Gone Aces' problem is a side branch of the classic four Ace trick. In the classic you place four aces on the table, then put three indifferent cards on each ace, and magically all aces end up in the same pile. In the 'Real-Gone Aces' plot which was originated by Marlo, after correspondence with Neal Elias, three aces vanish to join an isolated leader ace.

If this plot appeals to you then you will learn a good number of variations on it in this ebook. And I am sure, if you are the kind of guy or gal who enjoys reading such detail filled descriptions of finesses and fine points, then...

A retrospective look at Dai Vernon's Five-Card Mental Force.

• Introduction
• The Prototypal Version From Early Vernon
• A Woolgather's Aside
• My Skirmish with the Five-Card Mental Force
• 30 Years Passed
• Five Card Mental Farce / David Acer
• Max on Five-Card Mental Force / Max Maven
• Outtings
• Rescuing the Five-Card Mental Force / Allan Slaight
• The Ultra Effect / Paul Rylander
• Dai-Cipher / Phil Goldstein
• I Have It / Edward Marlo
• Psyboards / Tom Frame
• Indisputably Predictable / Jon Racherbaumer
• Post Mortem

Henry 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....

As a plot, Cards Across is fairly simple and direct. It's a transition effect where a number of cards - usually three - magically travel from one packet to another. There are methods that use gimmicked cards, others use purely sleight-of-hand.

This manuscript is an exploration of subtle methods based on Stewart James' "Pockethereal." Its selling point is that there are no switches or exchanges. The only sleight of hand is the false counts. This put it in a class by itself.

• INTRODUCTION
• POCKETHEREAL (Stewart James)
• POCKETHEREAL, MINUS POCKETS (Bert Fenn)
• POCKETHEREAL MINUS POCKETS (Edward Marlo)
• CLARIFIED PACKETHEREAL...

The presentations in this manuscript are homage to the nonmanipulative, off-the-cuff approach taken by Chan Canasta.

The material is stuff Jon has published elsewhere, mostly piecemeal. The thrust of the ebook, though, is how these effects are PRESENTED in a CANASTA WAY. This then is its organizing principle. It is basically designed to demonstrate Canasta's approach. The material is easy and commercial.

• INTRODUCTION
• KISS MET
• OPTICUNNING CUTTING
• SOMATIQUE
• TACITRIX
• VOCALYSIS
• THE JOKER EATS YOUR MIND
• UNTOUCHABLY YOURS

1st edition 2016, 25 pages.

This manuscript is about one trick that incorporates a seminal sorting procedure now given the name Belcho's Disbursive Deal. Over the years the trick eventually morphed into an organized compilation that shares the same identifiable title: "Poker Player's Picnic."

It begins with Vernon Lux, an enterprising amateur who founded the International Society of Junior Magician in 1931 and began a magazine called The Dragon in 1932. Therein Oscar Weigle had a column called "Themes and Schemes" where he explained a trick called "The Million to One Trick." (Later it was changed to "Belchou's Aces.") It's unclear...

Jon loves to collect, compare, and organize tricks into themes and plots. This is his latest work on the piano trick.

WHAT IS THE PIANO TRICK?

A spectator places his hands palm down on the table in the same way a pianist places his hands on a keyboard. Then pairs of cards are placed between the spectator's fingers to set the stage. These pairs are then fairly removed to form two equal piles. An extra or "odd" card is added to one of the piles. Then, without any further movements or fanfare, the "odd" card inexplicably travels to the other pile.

• Introduction
• At The Beginning
• Thoughts...

• A WHIM-WHAM WARM-UP: Warmed Over Rhetoric
• KINDS OF PERMUTATIONS
• FIRST PERMUTATION: HUMMA-HUMMA-HUMMER
• SECOND PERMUTATION
• PERMUTATION THREE: VALUE-SUIT, SUIT-VALUE (Jon Racherbaumer)
• PERMUTATION FOUR: WHY IS THIS ODD CARD SO QUEER? (Jon Racherbaumer)
• PEMUTATION FIVE: THE LAST GAME (David Britland)
• PERMUTATION SIX: BILE AND BLOOD (Jon Racherbaumer)
• PERMUTATION SEVEN: PURIST CARD PUZZLE (Edward Marlo)
• PERMUTATION EIGHT: MR. FOGG TRACKED DOWN (Steve Reynolds)

1st edition 2013, 49 pages.

"The Filet Mignon of Ace Assemblies." - Ed Marlo

The presentation makes maximum use of the gaffs and the Aces in the non-leader packets disappear in different ways that are successively stronger. It has been audience-tested on lay persons and magicians.

In typical Racherbaumer style you also get a history on the Ace Assembly plot starting with The Discoverie of Witchcraft.

1st edition 2009; 10 pages.

There is something incurably viral about this curious card problem. Does anyone know? What's so irresistible about displacing, displaying, counting, spreading, mixing, re-mixing, un-mixing red and black cards? What's the allure? What's the incentive? Yet, despite all cease-and-desist entreaties, methods keep popping up, including the ones in this compact manuscript.

The Ten Phase routine described in this ebook combines ideas and handlings by Hideo Kato, Dave Solomon, and Edward Marlo. You can figuratively use the Oil and Water patter theme, referring to red cards as "water" and black cards as "oil," but some...

The oil and water effect is a classic of card magic, some love it, some hate it. If one has ever seen Rene Lavand do it slow motion with one hand you probably love it. But there is only one Rene Lavand. Some say the effect of red and black cards separating is rather weak, until Roy Walton added a kicker in 1969 where half the cards change to Queens. Dave Bendix tweaked Walton’s handling. Bob Stencil and Terry LaGerold devised a narrative that logically excused the surprise appearance of the Queens. Jon Racherbaumer and Jeff Busby independently expanded the kicker to not only change half the...

Unpacking 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...

[Note: Despite all the rumors the cover does not show Jon in his younger years.]

This is an ebook about moves, card moves to be precise. If you are already familiar with the basics of card magic then you will find here a lot of advanced moves and concepts to significantly improve your magic. If you are an experienced veteran of card magic you will probably still find some moves you are unfamiliar with. It is also a great reference ebook to have in case you run one day into any of these moves. The moves are described in text and photos with references and sources in the usually meticulous Racherbaumer style.

• Adding To Vernon (Jon Racherbaumer)
• The Altman Trap (Art...

'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.

• Prologue
• Introduction
• Origins
• The Double Crimp
• Mexican Joe's Crimp: Dai Vernon
• Applying The Work
• Marlo Dead...

Offbeat 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...

"One of the greatest card tricks ever invented." - George Anderson

"It fooled the hell out of me!" - Ted Annemann

"Without any possible doubt, Stewart James' 'Miraskill' is one of the greatest self-working card effects to have appeared in print. Apart from its own value, it is the ideal prelude to 'Out of this World'." - Peter Warlock

Regarding changes, sexual and otherwise.

This is an unusual one, but Jon Racherbaumer always weaves an interesting yarn meshing history with magic and card tricks with culture. In this short but nevertheless interesting ebook Jon starts out with a historic event that in the 1950s made huge waves. Today it would hardly make the news. In 1952 a man by the name of George William Jorgensen Jr. had a number of operations to change his sex and became Christine Jorgensen. Edward Marlo exploited this event and created a card trick called "Christine", and with Christine, he meant Christine Jorgensen. This is...

Remixing the Gardner-Marlo poker deal - its history and histrionics.

• Introduction
• How To Study This Manuscript
• An Effective Poker Deal / Jean Hugard
• Gardner-Marlo Poker Deal / Martin Gardner, Edward Marlo
• The Surprised Gambler / Martin Gardner
• Can You Deal A Good Poker Hand? / Jean Hugard
• Meyer Poker Deal / Orville Meyer
• The Lorayne Poker Deal / Harry Lorayne
• Of Course I Can Deal A Good Poker Hand! / Edward Marlo
• Solomon Meets Gardner-Marlo / Dave Solomon
• The Ultimate Gardner-Marlo/ Steve Mayhew, Jack Carpenter
• Marlo/Gardner/Britland Poker Deal
• Riverboat Poker / John Bannon
• Addendum: Duts / Edward Marlo

1st edition 2020, PDF 50 pages....

The basic plot of the "Chamele Aces" was developed in the late 40s by Edward Marlo, who shared ideas about this motif with Neal Elias in 1949. Elias wrote notes regarding the methods they explored, which he and Marlo then filed away. Neither published the "work;" however, Marlo performed an impromptu version at a Pittsburgh magic convention in 1955. Earlier the same year, Roy Walton published his version of "Chamele Aces" in The Gen (February-1955: Volume 10 - Number 10).

The basic Chamele Aces plot is four red-back and four blue-back Aces transpose one at a time.

1st edition 2008; 80 pages.

Table of Contents

5. Introduction
8. A World About Problemists ...

This ebook features six presentations by Edward Marlo, one of the most prolific producers of card magic ever known. My criteria for selecting these six presentations was to pick effects that stressed subtlety and psychological cunning and required little or no difficult sleight-of-hand. The irony here is that such tricks are seldom associated with Marlo, even though he devised scores of easy, semi-automatic tricks during his career. But don't despair. The ones in this ebook run a gamut.

Cozy Card to Case is a subtle version of an ancient trick dating back to Walter Gibson's Popular Card Tricks. Most versions are based on miscalling a...

From the Foreword:

This treatise is a compilation of Marlo's methods for performing a card-to-wallet, incorporating his Exclusive Card in Wallet (1961) with methods published in Ibidem, [lc=4446 Hierophant, Card Finesse, Marlo's Magazine, and other previously unpublished but related methods. This material was discovered in a thick folder among Marlo's private effects.

The idea of causing a selection to disappear from the deck and then reappear elsewhere is almost as old as playing cards. Reinhard Müller has painstakingly researched the basic effect classified as "Card Found in Some Object," which was being performed (in some form)...

Racherbaumer thinks that the greatest sleight of the 20th-century is the Double Lift Turnover. If we consider the scores of different ways to lift, turn, toss, propel, flip, rotate, and spin two cards as one—not to mention ways of getting ready, gripping, insuring alignment, and unloading, then this is certainly a pretty valid move to pick as the most important sleight. At the minimum Racherbaumer has me convinced.

In this ebook Jon collects ways to finesse the move and also traces its historical development. I am pretty sure you are using probably several times a double lift turnover somewhere...

This compilation, like my others, my goal is to discover the "bits and pieces" and in this particular case, to partially answer how and why The Lazy Man's Card Trick came into being?

• A Few Words Before You Begin
• Introduction
  • An Inauspicious Beginning
  • Origin Story: The Seed
  • The Row of Ten Cards (S. W. Erdnase)
  • About the Supposed Operative Principle
  • Ziska's Incomprehensible Card Effect
  • Incomprehensible Divination (Hilliard)
  • Who Was Ziska?
• A Morphing Begins
  • That Number Down (Doc Miller)
  • The Traveling Card (Jack Miller)
  • A Lazy Man Does a Card Trick (Al Koran)
  • Lazy Man's Card Trick (Harry Lorayne)
• The Plot Resurfaces...