Self-Working or Sleightless in Cards: page 6

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

"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

This is an effect that Joseph is very proud of. When this was released it fooled top card magicians because of its diabolical method. There really seems to be no explanation. The magician is able to find the card chosen by the spectator under extremely tight conditions. The performer always looks away and the deck will be completely shuffled by the spectator. All this with a normal deck of cards. Joseph has cleverly combined two known methods to create a strong routine.

• A normal deck
• No gimmick
• No marked cards
• No peek

video 23:43 s

A new strategy to perform the legendary ACAAN effect. A fascinating principle that will allow you to perform a surprising effect without sleight of hand, completely self-working. A deck of cards with some numbers written on the back. One spectator chooses any card, another spectator chooses any number! Joseph B has received excellent feedback from the magic community for this effect.

• You have all the material at home to construct the deck
• Easy to reset (5 seconds reset)
• No gimmick
• No memory work (no memorized deck)
• No rough and smooth
• No sticky stuff

1st edition 2021, video...

The method for this miracle is a miracle. So sneaky and ingenious and in many ways better than other gimmicks that have been used for this type of method. The gimmick is something that opens the door to new ideas because this technique is a very powerful weapon.

The title says it all. This effect will fool anyone. Even the most experienced magicians. A revolutionary and incredibly surprising technique. You will be able to find the card the spectator cuts to in a shuffled and borrowed deck, under incredibly impossible conditions. Really easy to do, no sleight of hand.

• No marked cards ...

Uncutted is a three-phase routine with a totally unexpected ending. The spectator can make free choices but many coincidences will happen. A deck cut in half literally. The spectator will always magically find the corresponding card in the other half. A long series of unexpected coincidences. A very fun routine.

• You have all the material at home to construct your deck
• You will use a normal deck
• No force
• No sleight of hand
• Detailed instructions

1st edition 2022, video 27:25.

Esoteric ACAAN is an effect with two completely normal decks of cards. No gimmick. An original method to perform the famous Any Card At Any Number effect. The spectator will be able to name any card. Instant reset. It's really easy to do. No sleight of hand.

1st edition 2022, video 18:21

Very easy to do, impromptu and with a big effect! What else would you ask? Count Down by Ken de Courcy is a card trick that you can present in several ways, all well explained in this little manuscript.

The basic effect is the following: A spectator shuffles his own pack (Yes! It can be his own pack of cards and he really shuffles it...), then counts ten cards in a reverse order. If a number of spots on a card happens to match the number he is counting aloud at the time, the card is thrown out face-up. If none match during the count, a card is dealt face down in front of the magician.

This...

Based on a Bob Hummer and Karl Fulves principle. A spectator is handed seven playing-cards. He shuffles them, then places one of them aside face-down without looking at it. Now squares of cardboard are shown with cut-out windows. Spectator follows the magician's instructions and, at the end, looking through the cut-out windows in the cards, an index of a card appears. The chosen card is turned over and has been correctly revealed.

You will have to make up the squares of cardboard for this. The trick itself is self-working, the real work having been put into the evolution of the effect, but they are useful for...

Find any card a spectator takes from a borrowed and shuffled pack.

EFFECT: The magician tells his audience he has trained his mind to work like a computer. To demonstrate its computer-like capabilities, he asks a spectator to shuffle a pack of cards then, without looking at it, remove one card and place it in his pocket. Taking back the pack, the performer runs through it quickly, then goes through it again even more quickly and pulls out one card which he places face down on the table. The spectator removes his card from his pocket and places it face-up alongside the magician's card, then...

The Ace to Six of each suit are placed on the table, and the two players turn cards face down alternately and a running total of the pips is maintained. The winner is the one who takes the total to no more than 31. Even after the spectator is told the secret to winning, the magician still wins. Ends with an extra kicker.

PDF 10 pages

Who can predict where in the deck someone will shuffle their card, to the specifics, e.g. a certain number of cards down into the deck? Even creepier would be if it relates to something you uttered beforehand as if it made it happen.

Imagine this. You mention a scenario where they are 2 or 3 off guessing the amount of candies in a jar. Then the spectator thinks of any card, shuffles the deck they're holding, then finds that card 2 or 3 off from your written prediction just like the candy scenario. The only other outcomes would be if it's just 1 off or dead-on, but you're covered there too...

An excellent collection of sleight-less card tricks. Some require a confederate but in all cases the author provides alternative methods and presentations to eliminate the need for a confederate. Each effect is taught with an effective presentation.

• I: The Four Burglars
• II: Divination
• III: An Exhibition Of Thought-Reading
• IV: The Disappearing Ace
• V: Another Thought-Reading Trick
• VI: Hypnotic Selection
• VII: The Four Burglars Again
• VIII: Another Method Of Divination
• IX: Bringing Back The Ashes
• X: Thought-Reading Extraordinary
• XI: Telepathy

1st edition 1914, PDF 32 pages

"Henry Sugar is an incredibly clever effect and one that I will actually perform. I don't say that for many effects. As far as I'm concerned, Liam Montier is one of the most original magicians I've ever met and he is my main inspiration to create new magic. Pretty much everything he touches has a big hint of creativity and an even bigger hint of "I'll kick you where it hurts!" - Andi Gladwin

Liam Montier presents a stunning easy to do mentalist card trick based on a well-known short story by Roald Dahl, called "The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar".

The basic plot of the story is that...

A spectator cuts the pack of cards and counts off 25 cards. Shuffle these cards and have five of them selected by members of the audience. The magician does not view this selection process as his back is turned away during all this. The cards are replaced and the pack shuffled. A spectator is asked to place the cards in five rows of five cards each on an unprepared stand or easel or display board. (When performing this close-up or at a party situation the cards may be placed on the table surface, rather than using an easel.) Note: The cards may be placed in any order, on any row, either face...

Two sets of 10 cards are counted out fairly and openly onto a spectator's hand before being dropped into two glass tumblers where they can be clearly seen. One at a time three cards are invisibly moved from one glass to the other, and when the piles are counted back onto the spectator's hand again, the first glass only contains 7 cards and the other 13.

This is the classic cards across effect using a method that is completely move and sleight free. Everything happens at fingertips and there is no palming required, nor any special counts. Designed for a close-up or intimate parlour show,...

This is a straightforward version of the classic Lie Detector routine that can be performed with any deck (even a borrowed one) and with no advance setup.

A deck is shuffled by a spectator to put the cards into a genuinely random order, and the performer then extracts one card which he leaves sight unseen in view on the table. The magician then asks a spectator three questions about the tabled card, and the helper is invited to make up his answers (since he doesn't know at this stage what the tabled card actually is). Whatever answers the participant gives, the performer spells the word...

This ebook is a beginner's guide to the famous Gilbreath Principle and its applications in card magic and mentalism. It includes two ESP-type routines:

Fingertip Sensation

The spectator shuffles the deck. The mentalist (who can be blindfold) then uses his fingertips to correctly identify the colour of cards.

Trinities Card Divination

The mentalist correctly divines attributes (colour, suit, value) of playing cards which the spectator has shuffled, dealt, and covered with his hands while the mentalist has turned away.

[Note: This ebook is a revised extract from Michael Daniels' ebook Trinities, plus an additional routine (Fingertip Sensation).

1st edition...

Poker Deals includes two self-working card effects, ideally suited to performing for spectators who are familiar with the rules of poker. Both effects utilize the StayCard Principle and were first published in OCD and Other Effects: The StayCard Principle.

Ten Card Poker Deal Variation

A procedural variation on Arthur Buckley's celebrated Ten Card Poker Deal. The magician and a spectator are each dealt five cards (either person can deal). The spectator decides whether to keep his cards, or whether the cards should be mixed by dealing again. No matter how many times the dealing is repeated before the cards are examined, the magician's hand wins....

This trick was developed by Allan and Debbie Ackerman. Debbie is Allan's daughter.

A spectator chooses a card and the value of the card decides how many hands are dealt in this game. Let's say the spectator chooses the 3 of Hearts. A random number of cards is taken from the deck and then dealt into 3 hands. Then the performer announces that the spectator should pick one pile. If that pile does not have a 3 on its top the spectator wins, otherwise the magician wins. Of course, the odds are vastly in favor of the spectator. Nevertheless, the top cards on all three piles turn out to be 3s and as...

One spectator receives a prediction for safe keeping. Another spectator receives a portion of the deck, shuffles it thoroughly, deals cards one at a time on the table, and stops whenever he likes. He may stop at the first card, the last card, or anywhere in between. The value of the randomly chosen card is used to count to a card in the remaining portion of the deck. And that card matches the prediction.

runtime: 4min 34s

This effect was created by Dai Vernon and was published in Rufus Steele's book The Last Word on Cards.

The deck is shuffled by a spectator. The magician removes a prediction card from the deck and places it face down on the table. The spectator creates two piles. The top card of one is turned face up. The value of that card is used to count to a card in the other pile. The card counted to is the mate of the prediction.

runtime 4min 29s

Michael Maxwell has painstakingly researched and compiled what he considers to be the most amazing "self working card tricks," ever created - amazing tricks requiring no skill! These are killer card tricks to have in your arsenal for those special occasions when someone hands you a deck and says, "Hey, Mr. Magician, show us a trick!" Even if you have never handled a deck of cards before, you can easily master these diabolical effects. Special care has been taken to include effects that are not generally known, even to knowledgeable card men.

Effects Included:

• Deal/Switch Mystery
• Lazymans'...

Effects Included:

• My Lucky Card
• Sealed with a Kicker (a PDF with the Circle Deck Form is included in the download for convenient printing)
• Banks' Trapdoor
• Fantaso
• The Letter Prediction
• The Future Deck
• Impromptu Out of this World
• Sacramento Aces
• Free Cut Fantasy
• Business by Numbers
• The Initials Will Tell
• The Master Stop Trick
• Lazyman's Set-Up