Cards

More than the thirteen major Marlo items Ed contributed to New Tops Magazine in 1981 - not to mention new sleights, finesses, and subtleties - all these items have been largely unavailable since their publication. Wesley James has added another year of material toward fulfilling Ed Marlo's expressed wishes, keeping his material available "for the guys."

As with Wesley's previous release of M.I.N.T. III, these long-unavailable Marlo items could have been all Wesley compiled. Still, this volume would have been an important contribution to the literature of card magic. As tribute to Ed, Wesley wanted this volume to offer more....

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...

The original Prophecy Move in Bill Simon's book Effective Card Magic has been a favorite with magicians since its publication. The spectator places a business card or playing card between two cards at a random position somewhere in the middle of the deck. The move forces the top and bottom cards of the deck. A myriad of variations and tricks with the sleight have surfaced through the years.

The author first describes his version of the move. This in-the-hands handling accomplishes the move using natural movements in spreading the cards. Neither hand turns over when performing the sleight as in the original version. Gerald...

Walker's Card Mysteries is a book of highly useful and original card conjuring. The forty odd items deal with systems, sleights and subtleties, while each experiment is worked out in the most minute detail. Accurate illustrations enhance the value of the publication.

From the Preface:

J. Stewart Smith presents more of his mystifying card effects, accomplished without knuckle-busting sleight of hand. The author was something of an enigma, eschewing public performances in favor of fooling magicians and mentalists at magic conventions. After a process of continual refinements from demonstrating his effects under the critical eyes of magicians, he would assemble a small number of his latest creations and issue them in small, limited-edition booklets. To say that his books are hard to come by is a gross understatement. This is a shame since the magic is priceless.

Smith was...

The Effect of the Card in the Orange ranks with that of the Bank-Note in Lemon, or the Card in the Egg effect, but has one main advantage over the other two and that is that it is easier to do. Although the impact on the audience is precisely the same, the trick can be performed under any conditions and is literally worry-free. The Card in the Orange is one of those effects that, in the right hands, can be a reputation-maker. The whole effect depends entirely upon showmanship and presentation.

• Edwin's Routine
• What You Require
• Another Method
• Knife Force
• Simplicity Force
• The Glide ...

As you can understand from the title this is an impossible divination. The method is becoming more and more diabolical.

The effect is a classic: the spectator chooses a card and the magician finds it. Here, however, the conditions are strict for the magician. There is seemingly no way the magician could find the card. The deck is shuffled while the performer looks away. Despite this, he will be able to find the chosen card face down. All this with a normal, borrowed, totally impromptu deck.

1st edition 2022, video 12:03

Sensitive Fingers is a unique routine that will showcase your skill as a mentalist or skilled card handler. But, of course, the presentation you choose is up to you.

Effect: You remove a small envelope and set it aside. You shuffle a deck of cards and have a spectator cut off a small packet of cards, less than half of the deck. They place the card they cut to in a card box or their shirt pocket without you seeing it.

You take the packet of cards from the spectator and again, without looking, feel the face of the card. You can tell the spectator the color of the card. You repeat this...

The magician attempts to find the spectator chosen card under impossible conditions. In the end, he also manages to find the four aces. Everything is done with a normal deck of cards. Requires minimal sleight-of-hand.

1st edition 2022, video 12:52

You will find here card tricks, cheating exposes, card games, and gambling stories.

A later expanded version of this book was published under the title Gamblers' Tricks With Cards Exposed and Explained.

• Chapter I
  • Invention Of Cards
  • Mysterious Trick Of Thirty Six Cards; Telling The Card You Look At Without Seeing The Pack.
  • To Tell A Card Thought Of
  • Three Jacks As Thieves, Caught By A King As A Policeman
  • To Burn A Card And Fin'd It In A Watch
  • How To Shift Cards
  • The Four Associates
  • To Make A Card Jump Out Of The Pack
  • How To Change Cards To Pictures
• Chapter II
  • All Fours
  • Deceptions Used In The Game Of All Fours
  • How To...

A new method to learn the identity of three (could be less, and could also be more) truly freely selected cards from a borrowed shuffled deck.

A real weapon that can also be used in other routines. A powerful effect and a fooler not only for layman but also for magicians. The magician is able to reveal the identity of three cards randomly taken by the spectator under impossible conditions. This method is unbelievable and diabolic at the same time. Everything with a borrowed shuffled deck. The magician always looks away.

• no switch
• no palm
• no mirror or shiner
• no doubles
• no crimp ...

If you are interested in mentalism and/or impossible card locations and/or the Sunken Key, you will enjoy this manuscript. If you enjoy fooling other members of the conjuring demi-monde, you will enjoy this manuscript. If you know who Bob Hummer is, you will really enjoy this manuscript.

If you like tricks that involve the Seven Deadly Sins, astrological signs, lucky cards and H.P. Lovecraft, you will enjoy this manuscript.

It's twenty bucks, about what you'd pay for a Starbucks coffee on Rodeo Drive in L.A. Unlike the coffee, you won't need to talk to a sycophantic barista with a Chinese ideogram...

Mental Fooler is a great and direct effect. It looks like you really know how to read the spectator's mind. The most important element is that you can do this with a borrowed shuffled deck. Everything is done with the cards face down. You take a borrowed deck of cards and remove a couple of cards. While you are turned away the spectator first shuffles these cards and then only thinks of one of them. Then you explain to him how to spell a card and move for each character a card from top to bottom. While you are again turned away the spectator spells the thought of card silently. You are able...

You show a packet of four black kings with blue backs and you place them face-down on the table. You further show four red queens. Waving the queens face-up over the face-down kings suddenly turns them all face-down as well. Another magical gesture and the four red queens are now four black kings. You place the packs together and suddenly the cards magically mix. Finally, you show all cards individually as totally normal except that the backs of the queens have now suddenly turned to red. No additional cards. No double-facers and no double-backers or other gimmicked cards.

1st edition...

La routine des rois is a mixture of a packet trick and a production of Kings and Aces. You can do it with a normal deck of cards. It is a climax of twists, as you can see from the demo video. You need to know only the Elmsley Count. In any case, I also give you a little tutorial on it. No gaffed cards and no gimmick.

1st edition 2022, video 10:56

An interesting evolution of the classic "card to ceiling effect". Two cards are involved.

The first card appears on the ceiling as in the classic card to ceiling effect. A little later, a second card is selected from which a corner is torn off. This card is now suddenly on the ceiling where the first card was before. Alternatively, you could use a wall or a pane of glass.

1st edition 2022, video 38:38.

This e-book is a fun-filled, hilarious 12-15 minute routine, that one can perform with a borrowed deck.

This routine is composed of four monster routines, spliced together into a very funny event, that crescendos into Mr. Hamman's most prized effect, "The Signed Card". But this version has been brought into the 21st century. Now, when someone hands you a deck of cards and says "Do a trick!" you will now be equipped with a 4-part routine that fully engages your spectators and will crescendo into a truly mind-blowing finale - and it's impromptu.

1) The spectator first picks out any four...

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,...

Mathematical Fooler is in fact an impossible location effect. It really is a fooler. The principle appears as already known but will succeed in deceiving even fellow magicians.

First of all, it is possible to proceed with a borrowed deck, a real selling point. The magician borrows a deck. He looks through the deck with faces up and inquires if it is a full deck. Then he asks the spectator to cut a third of the deck and count how many cards he has in his hand. It will certainly have a two-digit number. The spectator adds the two digits together and looks at the card that corresponds to that...

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...

Wasabi is a truly amazing effect for the audience. Full of twists and a great climax at the end. Basically, it is a semi-automatic effect that is very easy to perform. An impossible location, a spelling trick, and still a triple prediction. What more can you have than this? All this with a normal deck of cards. No gimmick.

1st edition 2022, video 13.28.

• A Divination Marvel
• A Card Change
• The "Radio" Cards
• The "Encore" Reversed Cards
• The "Climax" Card Mystery
• One More "Four-Ace" Trick
• The "Ultra" Sympathetic Packs
• "Jack O' Spades"

1st edition 1927; PDF 23 pages.

Several excellent effects using a deck of cards and rubber bands. From the introduction:

• Introduction
• Wrap-It
• Flying-It
• Rubber Penetration
• Up-Again
• Transpo-Wrap
• Star Wrap
• Wrap Again
• A Trio Band
• Mini-Wrap
• Stranger In The Wrap
• Pyramid
• Snap Twice
• Super Link

1st edition 1993, 20 pages; PDF 26 pages.

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...

A series of clever little tricks, made possible with the specially printed miniature cards as originally supplied by Supreme Magic.

• Forcing a Card
  • One-Way Force Deck
  • Svengali Deck
  • Rough And Smooth Deck
  • Classic Fan Force
  • Henry Christ Method
  • The Handkerchief Force
  • Simplicity Force
  • Another One
• Effect No. 1. A Prediction Gag
• Effect No. 2. The Card Knife
• Effect No. 3. Card Catching
• Effect No. 4. A Betcha
• Effect No. 5. Wise-Guy
• Effect No. 6. Crystal Gazing Extra-Ordinary
• Effect No. 7. Caxton’s Dream
• Effect No. 8. Sixteen Cards
• Effect No. 9. World’s Fastest Pass
• Effect...

Another stunning sleight-of-hand version of oil and water without any secret additional cards or gaffed cards. You start with four red cards and four black cards. You fairly mix them and they immediately unmix. Do this multiple times in quick succession.

1st edition 2022, video 5:04

A beautiful sleight-of-hand version of oil and water without any secret additional cards or gaffed cards. You start with four red-backed red cards and four blue-backed black cards. You fairly mix them and they immediately unmix. You exchange one card from the top of each packet the rest of the cards in each packet mysteriously follows. You show the cards from both sides. At the end with the colors separated they suddenly mix themselves into alternating red and black cards.

1st edition 2022, video 4:49

Two outstanding effects. The first effect is totally impromptu and can be done with a borrowed shuffled deck. It is completely hands-off. This is an impossible location that will fool even fellow magicians. You will get phenomenal reactions from your spectators.

The second effect is called the spectator's revenge because he will find his own card. This is a really fun and surprising routine.

Everything is explained in detail. You may need to buy something extra in order to perform the second effect - Spectator's revenge.

1st edition 2021, video 19:24

Lewis Ganson wrote about Cards of Coincidence in Dai Vernon's Further Inner Secrets of Card Magic: "THERE IS NOT a difficult move anywhere in this routine, yet the effect produced is card magic at its very best."

Steve Pellegrino has taken the routine and redeveloped it for contemporary audiences. The effect progresses with two close predictions and ends with a triumphant finale of a perfect match.

Effect: You display a black envelope, which a spectator examines, and two decks of cards, a red and a blue deck. A spectator shuffles the blue deck, which the magician spreads on the table.

One at a time, you make three predictions from a red-backed...

The most streamlined, concise version of this classic ever created. Only four phases, but each of the last three could stand alone as the finish. No longer a tepid guessing game, now you can present this gem as a true work of art, filled with stunning surprises. Distilled from over 40 years of trial and error. Foolproof.

1st edition 2021; PDF 2 pages, video 1 min 43 s.

A vintage collection of fine card effects for magicians of every skill level. If you've ever wished you could entertain an audience after dinner, or during a lull at a party or club, you'll soon be able to, once you've learned these easy-to-master tricks. Some of the most eye-popping effects in all of card magic are those performed with a borrowed deck. Most of the tricks described in this ebook fall into this category.

Here's a partial list of what's included:

• The Fifteen Cards Trick
• An Easy Card Location
• A Mind Reading Effect
• Long Distance Mind Reading
• The Seven and Eight Trick ...

If you want a real mind-bender, also for magicians, this is the perfect effect for you. An extraordinary effect. A magician fooler. A climax of increasingly impossible effects. Here's what happens:

The magician shows a deck of cards and asks spectator 1 to cut a third of the deck and look at the card he cut to and then shuffle the packet. The magician looks away. Spectator 2 does the same with the rest of the deck: he cuts another third and looks at the card he is cutting and then shuffles his packet. Still, the magician looks away. Conditions are impossible. The magician is able to find...

Imagine: The performer shuffles a deck of cards. He hands them to a spectator, who shuffles them once more. The magician turns away, and the spectator fans half the deck before him and selects any card from the fanned cards. He remembers the card and puts it back into the deck face-up - anywhere. He now makes a total mess of the cards: half of them face-up, the other half face-down. He shuffles the cards again, and again, and again - as often as he likes. Furthermore, he flips the deck so frequently that he has no idea which way his card is facing.

The performer, who could not have seen...

Over the years, many versions of the famous card trick "Oil and Water" have been developed, performed, and even filmed. It's a popular effect amongst magicians. Magicians are very sure that oil and water can't mix. But have you ever asked yourself if water and oil can mix?

The spectator mixes black (oil) and red (water) cards by placing one from each on the table in one stack, one after the other, until all cards are exhausted. Then the performer separates the stack into four packets, shuffles each packet, splits each packet into two parts, recombines everything, and - water and oil are...

Medium can be made with any deck of cards. The spectator thinks any card and the magician will be able to find it. The conditions are impossible. Medium is a real pearl to add to your repertoire. Easy to do. Not only will you be able to amaze laymen, but you will be able to fool fellow magicians, too. Requires no memory or sleight-of-hand.

• No gimmick
• Easy to do
• No memory work
• Normal deck of cards

1st edition 2021, video 9:11.

• Super Do As I Do
• A Double Change
• Kings On The Loose
• Preface To Out Of This World
• Billy Wiggins' Card Trick
• Cards Of Sympathy
• Five Card Super Vanish
• Turnabout
• Nest Egg
• The Spectator's Force
• Kidnapped
• Marlo's Hofzinser
• The Buckle Break
• Marlo Bottom Count
• Mystical Location
• A Nervy Card Trick
• Hockley's Prediction

1st edition 1958, 36 pages; PDF 34 pages.

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...

This effect is a masterpiece of mathematical engineering with a sophisticated and devilish method. If you are a fan of the Faro shuffle you will not regret having acquired this gem. This effect is an exception because it requires skill and sleight of hand compared to tricks published by joseph B. in the past. Despite this, if you are familiar with the Faro shuffle this is the effect for you.

Effect: The magician places a prediction card on the table indicating his lucky number. The spectator thinks of a number from one to ten, cuts the deck in two, and takes a number of cards equal to the...

The Four Card Mystery Presents: Remote Viewing is a two-phase four-card mentalism routine. It enables you to see the locations of four cards through your participant even after the cards are mixed.

• No force involved
• No secret markings
• No gimmicks
• You don’t need to see how the cards are mixed
• The participant has freedom on the mixing process
• The effect can also be performed via video call

This effect uses a newly developed method that enables you to have the participant mix the cards and yet, the mentalist is still able to determine and control the possible outcomes.

"4CS deal...

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...

This is a delightful departure from the standard card effect due to its ingenious patter line and startling conclusion. First conceived in the 1970s, the visual of four "cannibal" cards devouring a pair of "missionary" cards stands out in the memory of spectators. A welcomed addition to your bag of tricks.

1st edition 2021, PDF 2 pages, video 42 seconds.

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.

The spectator's cut to the four sandwiches is a succession of magical effects. The magician takes his two lucky cards from the deck: the two of hearts and the two of diamonds. The spectator examines the two cards. The magician shuffles the deck and asks the spectator to cut it into four piles. This is where the fun part begins. Each time the magician approaches the two lucky cards to one of the piles, a card will mysteriously appear between the two lucky cards. The first will be a King, the second as well, and so on until you have the four Kings. It is not finished. Immediately the magician...

Reviving "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...

3 cards are shown and a joker is openly placed in various places amongst the cards, for example on top, in the middle, and at the bottom. Magically the joker always returns to its original position. The audience soon suspects that 3 identical cards are being used, and at one point even see 3 jokers. Eventually the magician admits that he has 3 identical cards and suddenly all 3 cards change to mirrors. 3 identical mirrors and no jokers anywhere! Isn't that how most tricks work? With mirrors?

This is a snappy, fun, and magical routine with a tremendous unexpected, surprise ending. You learn...

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...