Cards in Magic & Mentalism

Compelling evidence of other-worldly existence as demonstrated with pasteboards.

I never believed in flying saucers ... that is, not until that fateful night in 2003. You may remember it. That's the night the power went out from the northeast to the midwest, and even left parts of Canada in the dark. Sunspots? Tree branches? Human error? You might think you know the cause, but I know. Because I was there when it all went down.

And so begins this extraordinary card miracle that'll have your spectators believing in UFOs and extra-terrestrials.

A borrowed deck is shuffled and a spectator...

Effect: The spectator shuffles and cuts a regular deck, then chooses four cards, placing them under the table. After he picks one card by its position (top card, second card, third card, or bottom card) and moves the cards by an imaginary roll of the dice, the magician - without seeing or touching the cards - reveals the chosen card's identity.

If you have a client or friend you want to impress, this is the effect, plus you give them a souvenir.

• Two Methods: one method, no setup, totally impromptu
• Two presentations: one presentation the spectator chooses the card with his name on it. ...

Early books on magic, such as Modern Magic and Illustrated Magic (1931) stressed mastering the pass as fundamentally necessary to every card handler. As time went on, easier sleights such as the double cut to the break replaced it, rendering it anachronistic. Times change. Recently, a friend was asked to comment on one of today's card experts. Her reply, "Too much shuffling." Modern audiences often don't know what happened, but they sense when it happened (He did something tricky) because of excessive cutting and shuffling. Attention spans are shorter now so effects must...

A card and a number, generated by a spectator's imagination, find a perfect match in reality, in a deck of cards that was in plain sight, on the table, from the beginning.

An incredible mentalism effect with playing cards, in which the illusionist tells of an ancestral magical ritual in which all the cards participate, gathering at a sacred mountain ... There, in the grip of visions caused by alcohol and drug abuse, each will discover its assigned "place in life". A kind woman imagines their "return to their village," still tipsy and staggering enough that she easily succeeds in blocking...

You start out with four aces and eight other cards. The four aces are placed individually on the table with two other cards on top of each other. The aces magically gather in one pack and then immediately return to their individual packets.

1st edition 2025, video 3:39.

Memes to quicken.

• Swoggled And Boggled / Charles McFarland
• Beyond Fabulous / John Bannon
• Cogent Triumph / Bill Goodwin & Larry Jennings
• The Spectator Works Harder To Triumph / Jon Racherbaumer & Peter Duffie
• Trait Secrets / John Bannon
• Strout Fellow / Allain Slaight & Cushing Strout & Stewart James
• One-Kai / Marc Serin
• Hull-Scam / R. W. Hull & Jon Racherbaumer
• The Elusive Jacks / Edward Marlo
• Last-Minute Departure / Jon Racherbaumer
• Post-Graduate 21-Card Trick / Edward Marlo
• Hefty Oil & Water / Larry Jennings
• Definitive...

Imagine this: A spectator shuffles a regular blue-backed deck and freely selects any card - no forcing, no restrictions. That card is immediately sealed inside an envelope, in full view. On the table, untouched from the beginning, lies a wallet - secured by elastic bands. Inside, the spectator discovers another sealed envelope. The envelope in the wallet is opened and a red-backed card is extracted. The spectator's blue-backed card is taken out from the envelope, two different cards from two different places. No envelope switch (only two envelopes used). No sleights. No clue. Yet when both...

Cristian presents three very different card tricks. However, they happen to share the same easy method, allowing the performer to focus entirely on the presentation.

The three routines play for very different audiences, in vastly different environments. They include:

• a light-hearted, highly visible card trick which can be performed standing in front of the audience
• a close-up "bar betcha" trick suitable for any close-up performance (planned or impromptu)
• a reputation-building stand-up mental magic (or mentalism) routine

His line of thinking can inspire magicians to increase their...

A prediction is lying on the table. The magician asks a spectator to cut a shuffled deck in three parts and to pile them up. Then, he removes the Jokers as he explains that he and the spectator are going to choose a card through an elimination procedure. To do so, he deals the cards in two piles and asks the spectator to choose one. They are left with one half of the deck. The magician deals the cards again and chooses a pile this time. They are now left with a quarter of the deck. The procedure is repeated a couple of times again (once with the spectator choosing a pile and once with the...

Effect: Two decks are examined and shuffled by spectators. A card is freely chosen from a third deck The Queen of Hearts (QH) and turned face up. The (QH), mysteriously appears at the same position in the two independently shuffled decks. The magician seemingly never touched the cards.

Imagine: Two spectators each shuffle a deck. From a third deck, a card - the Queen of Hearts (QH) - is freely chosen and turned face up. With seemingly no involvement from the magician, both spectators are instructed to count down to the same specific number of cards in their shuffled decks. The unbelievable...

A spectator chooses, through a special "elimination ritual", only four cards that will generate both a card and a number, which will magically be found in the deck.

A formidable semi-automatic card magic effect, themed "A.C.A.A.N.," or rather: "Card to Number," in which the magician, after quickly showing and shuffling the deck, explains that the whole world we know is characterized by Duality: Good and Evil, Light and Dark, Day and Night, Positive and Negative... We can also distinguish playing cards and numbers in the same way, and to demonstrate this, he begins by dealing out about twenty...

Spectator shuffles the deck. The magician immediately produces two of the aces. Spectator shuffles again. The spectator cuts to an ace. The final ace is found under impossible conditions.

This is not another cut the aces where the magician shows off his skill. The Gilbreath Principle meets corner short cards.

• Easy to do
• The spectator shuffles the deck numerous times
• Minimal sleight of hand
• 5-second reset
• No duplicate aces
• No double facers
• No rough and smooth
• A very deceptive force that could become your favorite

1st edition 2025, PDF 11 pages.

Oddities and weirdness to show uncle Ezra, cousin Ozzie, and the boys in the band.

• Simple-Simon Copper-Silver / Edward Marlo: An English penny and an American half-dollar are examined by a spectator and then the magician performs several transpositions. Afterwards, the coins are returned to the spectator for inspection.
• Short Hop / Mark Jenest & Jamy Ian Swiss: A Hopping Half version that can be done with genuine coins for the short-attention-span spectator.
• Curse Of Nine
• Knotty Feat
• Tit-Tat-Toe / Martin Gardner & Costello: A large tit-tat-toe board is drawn on a sheet of paper. The magician and spectator proceed to play a...

A close-up routine for the people in your audience who'd rather be fishing.

(Psst! I don't want to say this is self-working, but...)

The effect: Sixteen fish cards are dealt face down in a 4x4 grid, and your helper is asked to choose a number from 1 to 4 so you can eliminate that fishing spot. Remove all the cards from the chosen column and row, and show a few of the faces to display what trophy fish were not caught.

Ask them to eliminate another fishing spot by choosing from the rows/columns that are left and remove those cards, again showing some of the world-class fish that weren't...

A matrix effect with playing cards.

[Also available as a video download.

Without a doubt, this "matrix" with playing cards created by Aldo is truly special. A splendid opening routine and a surprising ending.

The classic trick of four coins that gather under a card is presented here with playing cards that are found under a jumbo card. The manipulations are really simple; they should already belong to the repertoire of every magician. In a close-up magic program, this could be the only card trick to be presented.

Effect: The A, 2, 3 and 4 of Diamonds are placed on the table, in a square formation. The cards are covered...

You start with two packets of four identical cards each, for example, four 10s of hearts, and four aces of spades. You interleave them, show them again singly to confirm that they have been interleaved, but then magically they have separated. You do this twice, once face-down, and the second time face-up.

1st edition 2025, video 2:04.

This ebook focuses on how the pinky is used to obtain breaks, which is popularly known as The Pinky Count.

The history of the Pinky Count is murky. One creation story is that it was created by Dai Vernon after reading a comment about Hofzinser that he had a way to count cards secretly with one hand. However, most card enthusiasts will associate the Pinky Count with Jim Steranko and/or Darwin Ortiz.

1st edition 2015, PDF 12 pages.

An experiment of thought - powered by statistics, imagination, and impossibility.

This new effect offers a seamless experience between two spectators using only their own phones. No apps to install. No magician intervention. Just a static website that appears to display nothing more than card statistics.

Each participant thinks of a card, submits it, and follows a set of seemingly harmless instructions. Everything happens in their imagination: a card is exchanged, inserted into a virtual deck at a specific position. And yet, when the real deck is counted, the cards are found exactly where...

The two black aces visually change places with the two red aces and then instantly change into two Blackjacks.

• Great Opener: A lot of visual magic happens in 30 seconds
• Simplicity: Only four cards are used; easy to do; no table is needed; packs very small
• Impact: Surprise ending
• Practicality: 2-second reset; perfect for table hopping
• Spectator Engagement: The spectator just watches, no picking a card, no remembering anything; just visual magic
• One Simple Move: The Flustration Count

1st edition 2025, PDF 11 pages.

An amazing automatic effect about magical coincidences, where two spectators are amazed by their mutual sympathy and romantic affinity.

This is an intriguing and utterly self-working card magic effect, where a stunning coincidence unfolds despite the wide range of free choices made by two spectators.

The magician invites two participants to assist with the experiment - ideally a couple, or at least two people who share a strong affinity. After introducing a deck of cards, the performer gives it a shuffle and allows both participants to cut and complete the cut. To test the strength of...

This is really from start to finish an odd magic card trick. In A Very Odd Trick, two Jokers—one black and white, the other colorful—become the centerpiece of an impossible prediction. Here’s what your audience will see:

The magician makes two secret predictions and places them face down. A deck of cards is freely shown. It is ribbon spread on the table so the audience can clearly see that it is no other than a normal deck of shuffled cards. A spectator freely names an odd number, and the card at that number is put on the table (it is really a free choice. Absolutely no force. The...

Want a sock finish for your favorite ambitious card routine? Here it is. The object card is always handled by two indifferent cards. A perfect effect to add "medical" themed patter to your routine.

[Cover photo credit: Louis Sahuc]

1st edition 2025, video 40s.

December 1932 and The Sphinx magazine carries a full-page advert for Dai Vernon's manuscript Five Close-Up Problems. Without a doubt, Follow The Leader engenders the most attention out of the five, with card men quickly adding this one to their repertoire. Not surprisingly, Doctor Jacob Daley latches on to this timely classic, eventually releasing his own handling in Bruce Elliott's magazine The Phoenix in 1951.

And now, decades on, Ian Baxter releases his new manuscript Another Three Daley Deceits - following on from Three Daley Deceits published in April 2024. This one includes Baxter's handling of Daley's Delight - Jacob Daley's version of Follow The Leader....

"I checked out the Open Prediction 2025 and just wanted to say that's really cool. It's the exact type of card effects I like. It's just a genius method, so strong and direct, I love it. The fact it's so approachable for any skill level is great too." - Matt Overd

One of my favorite plots in card mentalism is the "Open Prediction". Many different scripts and presentations are possible with this classic from Paul Curry.

In this new method, we follow these practical conditions:

• Shuffled deck (even an incomplete one)
• A card is named as the "Open Prediction"
• Cards are dealt face down in your open hand...

Effect: A written prediction that the spectator has their finger on changes places with the card the spectator saw in the deck. A vanish, transposition, and a prediction all in less than 60 seconds.

Imagine this: Your spectator places their finger on a card they believe contains a written prediction. They then select a card from the deck. When the dust settles, the card they selected has vanished from the deck, and the very card under their finger, the one they thought was the prediction, is revealed to be their selected card. Meanwhile, the prediction card appears in the deck, proving...

"When everyone zigs, zag." - Marty Neumeier

99% of all the ACAANS out there either look or feel, or both, the same. This is an attempt to stand out in that 1%.

Here is what happens:

A deck of cards is handed to someone in the crowd. They point to a stranger - who freely names any card. That person points to someone else - who names any number from 1 to 52.

You take back the deck and spread it out. Every card has a big, bold number on its back - from 1 to 52 in perfect order. You count to the named number. The card is revealed to be the exact card they named.

Mind-blowing?...

This intro price will go up to $12 from July 7th, 2025.

This series of Suit Ordering Systems is probably the world's first 'super store' for ordering suits. The main purpose of these various Suit Ordering Systems is to create a random sequence of suits while retaining a secret pattern visible only to the performer. The applicability of these SOS methods is for various stacks like memorized, algorithmic, mnemonic, or any other type of stacked decks.

So far, SOS Vol 3 was only a part of Karma Deck Pro. Now this is being released separately.

These ideas will be interesting and useful for card magic...

This exclusive bundle offer will vanish on July 6, 2025.

Karma Deck was released 10 years ago and is still the No. 1 best-selling stack. It is used by hundreds and hundreds of professional performers in over 75 countries. To celebrate its 10th birthday, you can avail the Karma Deck Mega Bundle offer for the next 10 days. This 20-ebook mega bundle (Karma Deck Pro consists of 11 ebooks) separately costs $150 but is on offer for $99 only.

What some of the top magic minds of the world said about the Karma Deck:

I have already published multiple three pile location effects, such as Three Pile Location: On Steroids, Three Pile Location: On Cocaine and Three Pile Location: On Meth. In this ebook, I am publishing another three-pile location effect, except this one is, in my opinion, the strongest one. I think it's more fooling than the aforementioned three. Hence why I decided to call it The Ultimate Three Pile Location.

However, for full disclosure (and without exposing the method), I will say that you will likely be unable to perform this. So if you buy this PDF, you will be doing so just to learn the method (not to perform the effect). That's not to say you can't ever perform the effect....

A magical journey undertaken by a spectator based on her choices inevitably leads to the result predicted by the magician.

A spectator raises a deck of cards previously shuffled, shuffles it in turn and chooses a card from which to begin a journey that will inevitably end at a card that was prophesied from the beginning and which, lost in the deck, will be magically found by the magician at the very number assigned to it by that same path taken together.

This is a new Card Magic effect in which, after showing and quickly shuffling a standard deck of poker cards, the magician asks a spectator...

This is a "Twisting the Aces" routine, here performed with the Jacks, that includes two color changes of the backs. First, they change from blue to red, and then the Jacks all have different backs.

1st edition 2025, video 3:32.

When Jimmy Grippo saw this in 1974, he realized its merits and immediately added it to his repertoire. It requires no turnovers or other distracting actions, but is not for the card novice. The effort it requires is more than adequately repaid by its stunning effect, coupled with a surprise ending. You receive a bonus tutorial on the Ascanio Spread with the instructions for the effect. These helpful videos easily enable you to achieve success. Note that a table isn't required.

[Cover photo credit: Patricia Ireland]

1st edition 2025, video 3:04

The magician repeatedly influences the spectator to correctly guess the color (red or black) of a hidden playing card.

Imagine carrying just two cards and engaging your spectator in an effect based on persuasion and influence. With just two cards, you can make the spectator believe you have the power to influence his decisions at will.

The effect provides an understanding of persuasion for the spectator and, at the same time, aims to create rapport with them. Once rapport is established, the spectator may be interested in seeing your additional effects.

If you are looking for something...

An incredible series of card assemblies, with a surprise ending.

The magician, thanks to the choices made by a spectator, succeeds for each Ace, banner of his own royal household, to associate each member with his family. A closing with a series of royal flushes and a great final surprise.

This is a new card magic effect in which the magician, after cutting the deck into four packets, in reassembling, he magically finds the four Aces. However, they represent nothing more than the banners of the four noblest houses: Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts and Spades.

Therefore, he explains to a viewer...

Four cards with backs on both sides turn into four queens, then back to backs, and then again to four queens.

1st edition 2025, video 2:09.

This e-book is not about something that I created. Rather, it's about hidden gems that I've found over the years, either through researching myself or through word-of-mouth. It is not my place to teach you these gems, so I will merely be giving you their names and telling you where you can find them (if you wish to learn them). I will, however, provide an effect description for each of them.

You might be wondering, "What's the point of buying this PDF in that case?" The point is that I'm giving you the names of all these gems compiled together in one place, saving you all the time and...

Imagine this: the spectator shuffles their deck, and without touching the deck, you have control over their freely selected card.

You can create powerful miracles for your spectators by simply knowing the bottom card. Learn simple, deceptive techniques to gain this crucial information that creates wonders. Learn key strategies for secretly obtaining the identity of the bottom card, techniques for controlling spectator-selected cards relative to the key card, methods for forcing the bottom card, and numerous reveals.

When the bottom card is known, it acts as a key card tracking the location...