Magic & Conjuring: page 377

An unexplored "classic": this has been for me, for many years, the "Australian shuffle". I learned it as a young man from Aldo Colombini, who often included it in his impromptu effects; later I studied John Scarne (and his wonderful idea in Phone Miracle, which we will comment on together later) and Max Maven.

Then I read Nick Conticello, and a new world opened up: I discovered that all the greats of card magic have tried their hand at the Australian deal; Nick, however, made me wonder a bit more: today I don't think there is more space to invent, but a lot to develop new routines, putting together various principles.

In my...

Update on the 'Azlan' Card At Any Number.

"F**k me!!! This is ridiculous! Mate it's so, so, so fooling! Even after knowing the original method and watching it play out countless times." - Nathan Chandler

"Just watched the demo you sent for the Card At Any Number and I have no idea how it works." - Dreygon Hibbler

"I can't wait to learn it. Owning your previous work on this, I feel like I should be able to work it out but can't get my head around it LOL." - Matt Overd

This is not the same update for 'Azlan' which was taught in God Mode Sui Generis 2.

A prediction envelope...

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:

"Art," according to Webster's New World Dictionary, is the human ability to make things - the creativity of man as distinguished from the world of nature. It is set apart from "craft" in that the latter applies to a lesser skill involving little or no creative thought.

The performance of mentalism is necessarily a creative process. To be successful the performer must tailor each presentation - not only to a particular audience but to the individual volunteers he uses in his program. No two performances of a mentalist are exactly the same. He must always be ready to capitalize on unexpected...

This can be done with a borrowed shuffled deck that does not have to be complete. (The only requirement is that the deck is in decent condition, but it does not have to be a new deck.) There is no stack or prior arrangement necessary. Somebody hands you a deck and you go right into the routine. You ask the spectator to take about a third from the deck, shuffle it at heart's content, then remember the bottom card and burry that pack somewhere in the middle of the remaining portion on the table. This all happens while you look away. You then take the deck behind your back and find the spectator...

Gestalt is a groundbreaking new propless principle that allows you to secretly obtain a cue from your spectator. It stays completely hidden from the conscious awareness of those who you perform for and is modular in nature, which means it can be utilized in other effects.

Inside this ebook is taught a propless star sign utilizing this principle, as well as other various applications for it. You will be able to guess someone's star sign in literally 20-30 seconds with very little process or scripting.

1st edition 2021, PDF 34 pages.

Ask the spectator to take any deck of cards, and to shuffle it well (it is useless, but it is very "magician"). Get a few cards, as many as the spectator wants, and then make another packet of the same size next to this one. You will ask the spectator to move, as desired, cards from one pile to the other, to divide one pile into two unequal packets, to look at a card of a certain number down the middle pack, and then collect the packets one on top of the other. Before concluding, remind the spectator that he made all the choices independently, he chose the number of cards to move from one...

"It's not easy to improve on a trick by Dai Vernon, but Ian Baxter has managed to do just that!"

A timely observation from reviewer David Jones, who has hit the nail right on the head. Here is an easy, clever new treatment of a respected Vernon classic. Don't be surprised if you find yourself performing Refining Vernon's 1-2-3 over and over again.

Jones continues: "This streamlined handling of Vernon's 1-2-3 is so much cleaner than the original, more magical in effect and far easier to perform. It's a winner!"

This familiar, fast-moving card mystery has been 'doing the rounds' for decades:...

A massive collection of information with a huge amount of beautiful illustrations mostly compiled from the pages of Scientific American magazine. The introduction is by Henry Ridgely Evans.

During the 1890s, Scientific American magazine published detailed explanations of magic illusions. The informant for the magazine was no other than William E. Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, who at that time was the stage manager for Harry Kellar. Kellar was upset once he found out that he had a mole in his company who would feed the descriptions of some of his most popular illusions to the magazine, including the rope tie that formed the basis of his Spirit...

J. Stewart Smith's third book on card magic, containing six more card masterpieces. Like his previous releases, all the work is accomplished without knuckle-busting sleight of hand. Only a few simple moves are necessary, easily within the grasp of the average magician.

PARTIAL CONTENTS:

• Our Cards
• False Cut
• Ascent of the Black Fours
• A Restoration
• Triple Alliance
• The Four Aces
• Double Cut
• A Prediction

Card workers the world over praise his beautiful effects and their methods. See below for a few brief quotes from experts in the field.

"The author has attempted to approach as...

Oculus 2 is an updated handling on the prop-less date of birth divination. Included are various direct prop-less methods, as well as a streamlined handling with playing cards.

1st edition 2021, PDF 38 pages.

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...

From the introduction:

• Just a Word
• Drum Head and Casatte
• Orange and Ribbon
• Astra Floating Ball
• The Rice Bowls
• The Hindoo Lota
• The Cards...

Here are 12 more mind-blowing Bob Hummer close-up and parlor puzzlers that will entertain most any audience. From the brilliant mind of Bob Hummer comes this tasty helping of magic and mental mysteries using cards, a spoon, and even a 6 x 6 checkerboard. Some of these offerings were originally sold as separate manuscripts and are now out of print.

Also included in this volume are the effects that made up Hummer's 3 Trix booklet in 1947, which has been out of print for decades. Now you can add these great tricks to your performing arsenal before the other magicians in your area get them....

Tricks about travel and more.

Here's a selection of cool self-working magic and mentalism tricks perfect for close-up and stand-up.

For example: The spectator freely selects a luggage label that has a holiday destination written on it. When a world map is opened, their chosen destination is circled.

Or how about this: A selection of postcards is shown - they're moved from the back of the pile to the front. When the spectator calls 'STOP!' the very next postcard is the only one with a hand-written message on it.

Or: Three luggage labels with vacation destinations written on them are...

The content of this publication collects the notes of a conference held some time ago to friends and colleagues, dedicated to the problem of "truth / lie". The book, published in Italy, has had a flattering success in bookstores: I think it is right to share the content also in the English language.

A good mentalist must necessarily acquire a good knowledge of the messages of the body and interpret the moods of the viewer to best conduct the effect. An excellent mentalist is always able to understand if the viewer is sincere or if he is lying, often leaving him the possibility to choose...

"I think your approach and method are brilliant." - Marc Salem

"I think it is a fun effect." - Mike Vance

The mentalist hands out a billet containing different objects. The participant then makes a series of choices and moves between objects while the mentalist eliminates different objects along the way with their help. In the end, the participant ends up with an object that matches what the mentalist has written before the start of the routine.

• You do not know how many times or how the participant moves in between objects.
• The participant is somehow involved in the elimination...

One of the classic forms of mind-reading is the center tear. With a center tear, you can get the secret information that a participant has written. Almost all of the center tears require a pre-folded billet which the participant needs to re-fold the same way after they write down the secret information. The Butterfly Center Tear (BCT) is my solution to a no pre-fold center tear. With BCT, you can now hand a flat billet to the participant and still be able to perform the center tear to peek the secret information. You can also use this method as your backup center tear in case the participant...

Gregg modifies Jackie Flosso's Bill in Lemon effect to use a matchbox rather than a lemon - much less messy - among other tweaks.

1st edition 2022, PDF 3 pages.

An excellent selection of tricks by no other than David Devant. From his introduction:

A complete performance of mentalism exactly as performed by Bob Cassidy in nightclubs and lounges all over America. This ebook is intended for the advanced performer who is well versed in the basics of the art.

• Part One
  • An Overview of the Act
  • The Logic of the Program
• Part Two
  • Performance Details
  • The Psychological Forces
  • The Book Test
  • The Three Envelope Test
  • Card Memory
• Part Three
  • The Challenge Tarot Card Reading
  • The Card Through the Window

1st edition 1995, revised 2003; PDF 45 pages.

These are the 2002 lecture notes by Bob Cassidy. As the nature of lecture notes often is, not everything is necessarily explained in detail, but many things are. For example, you will learn why Bob always has black lipstick in his go-bag, and many other wonderfully practical and effective methods and routines, some with detailed patter.

• My Mentalism Kit
• The Black Lipstick
• The Psychokinetic Pen and Keybending
• The Rainbow Pad
• The Three Envelope Test - the inside dope
• Card Memory
• The Enigma of #23

1st edition 2002, PDF 16 pages.

Falschspiel in Praxis und Theorie.

Viele, vielleicht allzu viele, versuchen ihr Glück im Spiel. Das war immer so und wird immer so bleiben. Sehr oft kann aber aus harmlosem Spiel bitterer Ernst werden - dann nämlich, wann der ehrliche Spieler, der das Spiel nur zum Vergnügen ausübt, an einen gewerbsmäßigen Falschspieler kommt. Er ist den unsauberen Methoden seines Partners nicht gewachsen, ja er ahnt es oft nicht einmal, daß er betrogen wird. Viele, die nur des Vergnügens wegen spielen wollen, haben in Gesellschaft von Falschspielern schon Vermögen verloren - und ihre Schulden, gemäß...