Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 108

The Four-midable Magic Series comprises of specialist ebooks, each of which supplies four effects of a specific type.

This first volume in the series teaches four card routines that require little or no sleight of hand, and are well structured to produce clear magical card effects. They are clearly described in easy-to-follow numbered sections, supplemented by a total of 39 colour photo illustrations.

• Introduction
• Royal Flush: the magician uses magic to produce a Royal Flush from a shuffled deck of cards.
• Big Deal: a spectator shuffles a deck and cards are dealt face up onto the table...

A hard-to-find treatise on the beveled or "Stripper" pack, written by a world-famous mentalist and master magician. Out of print since 1923 (according to The Magic Wand magazine), this booklet is now back in a revised and expanded edition. No matter if you're a fan of this pioneering mentalist or simply want a collection of fine tricks to use with your tapered deck, this is a nice collection of a whopping 37 effects that you'll be happy to add to your repertoire.

"The most complete and extensive treatise ever compiled and published on the charming and effective uses of the standard 'Stripper Deck'."...

Determine the card selected and the sum cast with two dice in a novel and very deceptive way.

You show a deck of cards, shuffle it and while you look away the spectator throws the two dice, adds the points shown, removes that many cards and remembers the lowest card in the removed packet. The dice are covered so that the performer can't see them. Now comes the unusual thing. The removed packet is inserted by the spectator somewhere in the middle of the pack. Then the spectator cuts and with a rosetta shuffle the cards are shuffled. This is immediately followed by any number of riffle and...

Embracing all of the latest and most deceptive card tricks now in use.

Excerpt from the introduction:

A.C.A.A.N. effects are a genre of effects now considered classics in card magic and mentalism, ever since David Berglas, who precisely first proposed a legendary version of it, called it "Any card At Any Number."

The idea of trying to write this special eBook came about while I was preparing my Contactless Automatic Card At Number series of Volumes (now at 6 Volumes) and experimenting in particular with the possibility of creating new automatic effects by making use of various stacks, including Si Stebbins and my VR Stack Pro (see Vol. 2 & 3):

From here to examining the Si Stebbins Pro, devised by Dr. Hans Christian Solka, was a short step, and with pleasure...

Containing many deceptive card tricks as performed by leading conjurers and magicians. Arranged for home amusement.

The book starts out with eleven hints or tips to keep in mind when showing card tricks. This is a mix of the usual tips for beginners, such as not performing a trick twice, or not explaining upfront what you intend to do, and more advanced or less common recommendations such as not performing a trick under its common name but rather invent a new name. This rule is particularly applicable today where it is so easy to search online for the name of a trick and discover its secret. ...

You put your finger through a large square cut out of a blue-backed playing card. Instantly the card turns red and the hole you just saw fingers go through somehow no longer exists. The black hole is now just a piece of black tape that is peeled off of the card. A real visual puzzle!

To make the gimmick you will need the usual card-gaffing supplies and some arts and crafts to construct it.

1st edition 2022, video 22:47.

Excerpt from the Foreword:

Of particular interest is section 3 with several short essays and opinions on...

An infallible multiple predictions-effect with an incredible climax. Everything is done with a normal deck of cards.

1st edition 2022, video 14:20.

Excerpt from the Introduction:

The magician holds a card in front of his body and with a wave of the hand, the center vanishes only leaving the border.

This is an improvement to the older version because it does not require a black background. You will need the usual supplies and arts and crafts for gaffing cards.

1st edition 2022, video 19:20

A super visual partial vanish of a playing card.

Performer holds an empty card frame in one hand and a playing card in the other. By moving the playing card behind the frame the back of the playing card partially vanishes only leaving its frame visible. This looks incredible since the cards can be moved around and everything looks as it should. One could suspect CGI, but everything is achieved with gaffed cards and sleight of hand.

This requires the usual supplies and arts and crafts for gaffing cards, plus a black background like a black T-shirt.

1st edition 2022, video 33:40

A visual partial vanish of a playing card.

Performer holds a playing card in front of his body. Suddenly most of the card vanishes leaving only the border behind.

This requires the usual supplies and arts and crafts for gaffing cards, plus a black background like a black T-shirt.

1st edition 2022, video 27:24

ACAAN is a genre of card magic and mentalism effect that has now become a classic since it was first proposed by the great David Berglas, who was the first to call it "Any card At Any Number".

This version of mine is very easy to perform but, if well presented, will be likely to arouse great amazement among both magicians and lay audiences, and can be performed as well in Close-Up as on Stage. It simply requires an ordinary deck of 52 cards and possibly a pair of very ordinary six-sided dice (but it can also be just imaginary dice for each of which the spectators will decide the score), and you will...

What is Color Isolation? It's a complete card act where the two colors of the deck — red and black — continually separate, each time under quite different and more mysterious conditions. The deck is handled and shuffled by the spectator throughout, yet the colors seem to instantly obey the magician's every whim.

From the performer's standpoint, Color Isolation is an interlocking series of effects, each building on the next. You can borrow a deck, have it thoroughly shuffled by the spectator and proceed. After shuffling the deck, the spectator simply cuts off a portion and counts them...

Totally Impossible is a really strong effect with a very intriguing and fascinating method. The magician is able to cut with a knife to the card selected by a spectator. Simply and totally unbelievable. Obviously a magician fooler, as in the style of Joseph B. One of the most impossible divinations, one of the most dramatic localizations to add to your repertoire. You can do this with a borrowed shuffled deck. The Deck does not have to be complete.

• No gimmick
• No peek
• No one-way
• No short cards or gaffed cards
• No sticky stuff
• No force

A very visual and sudden spectator card rising to the top effect.

Spectator chooses a card (no force). The card can optionally be signed. It is inserted face-up in the middle of the deck. The performer places the top card by 90 degrees rotated on the top of the deck. He then removes that top card and suddenly the spectator's card rises to the top and is seen face-up on the top of the deck.

The gimmick is easy to make. It requires arts and crafts and some of the usual supplies for card gaffing.

1st edition 2022, video 13:30.

18 different completely self-working ACAAN type of effects.

This is a very visual effect. Magically transfer writing from a card to your hand. Have a card selected (not forced), have it signed on the face, and then make a mark on the back. Wave your hand over the card and suddenly the mark has vanished from the card. It has transferred to the palm of your hand. Hand out the signed card as a souvenir.

The gimmick is easy to make and only requires a bit of arts and crafts with the usual supply for card gaffing.

1st edition 2022, video 15 min.

S.H.I.EL.D. 3 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 3) is the third part of a collection of new, never-before-published card magic effects, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation by the magician, and being completely extemporaneous, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience (self-working and impromptu).

In addition, even the latter two effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode" (or hands-off, as others would say): the magician,...

A book of alternative, easier, card sleights and tricks to go with them.

Excerpt from the introduction:

You can do this with a borrowed shuffled deck and four jokers you prepared beforehand. The spectator shuffles the deck. The performer cuts it into six packets. The spectator chooses four of these packets by placing the four face-up jokers on any of the four packets. These packets are cut by the spectator. The four cards lying next to the jokers are pulled out of the packs. Their value is added and that many cards are counted down in the remainder of the deck. The card selected this way is predicted on the backs of the four jokers.

1st edition 2022, video 17:15.

PARTIAL CONTENTS:

• A Cocksure Choice
• Topsy-Turvy
• Without Doubt
• Invisible Power
• A Weird Event
• A Surprising Revelation
• A Transformation
• In Like Manner
• The Survivor
• A Magical Restoration
• Hide and Seek
• At Ease
• An Interchange

"Within these pages the reader will find many new effects. He will also discover a few oldies in new dress. But most of all he will find good, effective card tricks that he can perform with a minimum...

S.H.I.EL.D. 2 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 2) is the second part of a collection of new Cardmagic effects, never before published, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation on the part of the magician, and that they are completely impromptu, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience.

In addition, both of these effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode," so even at a distance (by videoconference on Zoom, for example): the...