Cards: page 98

John Racherbaumer's latest compendium Picnic Pocus, has certainly revived interest in that long-standing Ace revelation, Poker Player's Picnic. Published years back in The Royal Road to Card Magic, it is a routine most of us perform when starting out in card magic, but eventually, drop from our repertoire due to the odd counting method involved.

Ian Baxter's new approach to this classic has solved this problem, providing a clear rationale for the procedure and adding touches that considerably enhance the routine's effectiveness while still maintaining the sleight-free handling of the original. Clever thinking at work here! This new version is worthy...

A C.A.A.N. Duel is a pair of incredible card magic effects of the 'Card At Any Number' theme. In the first effect, which gives the eBook its title, a complete deck of 52 cards, possibly also borrowed, is shuffled at will by a spectator who will take part in a challenge. The challenge is to guess which card is located at a given number between 1 and 52. After giving an initial example, we move on to the actual challenge: the magician begins, demonstrating his great skill in the matter by announcing (and writing on a notepad) the card, even before knowing the number that the spectator is going...

A playing card held between both hands vanishes in an instant. It does not use a thread or pull or topit.

1st edition 2021, PDF 3 pages, video 17 s.

We are proud to reintroduce this rare manuscript of Audley Walsh's gambling exposé, which also includes a number of the author's card effects that make a perfect ending to the lecture.

Contains the "meat" of his now-famous lecture, including a brief biography; how he developed and organized the lecture; gives an excellent summary on the origin and history of playing cards; plus six excellent, illustrated card effects and sleights to present:

• The Mystic 32 Card Trick
• Any Name Called For
• Rubber-Fingered Charlie
• Use My Deck!
• Blackjack Peek
• Three Card Monte with Paper Clip
• The Magnetic...

Virtual Revelations Triumph is a new and incredible hands-off card magic effect, which is also possible from a distance (in a video chat, e.g. on Zoom, Skype or Google Meet), in which a couple of people in the same room, even if they are connected to the illusionist miles away, will take part in an experiment in which two cards freely chosen from about half the deck, distributed in various piles and shuffled between them, turning some of them face up and others face down, depending on the free choices of the two participants, will end up being the only two cards left face down and which, once...

This manuscript is about one trick that incorporates a seminal sorting procedure now given the name Belcho's Disbursive Deal. Over the years the trick eventually morphed into an organized compilation that shares the same identifiable title: "Poker Player's Picnic."

It begins with Vernon Lux, an enterprising amateur who founded the International Society of Junior Magician in 1931 and began a magazine called The Dragon in 1932. Therein Oscar Weigle had a column called "Themes and Schemes" where he explained a trick called "The Million to One Trick." (Later it was changed to "Belchou's Aces.") It's unclear...

This is a new "Oil and Water" routine in which the magic happens in a mysterious way because each movement of the magician is really very slow and clear.

All begins with 4 mixed pairs of cards, one red and one black, being shown and put on the table. Then the magician simply shows the first four cards on top, and all their suits become magically the same color.

Now the magician will alternate on the table, not only red and black suits but also face up and face down cards. When he squares the deck, just a few seconds later, again the cards mysteriously have separated themselves into red...

A two card switch for Baccarat or Blackjack that paralyzed casinos in the 80's. As clean a move as you could hope for. Excellent as part of a gambling exposé.

1st edition 2021, PDF 3 pages, video 22 s.

This is a new mentalism effect, that can be performed also at distance (i.e. with Zoom, Skype or Google Meet), in which the illusionist will always be able to guess the ESP symbol shown on a pair of cards kept covered by the spectator's hands, following a series of random shuffles and flipping of the cards.

Key Points:

1. Completely "hands-off"
2. Easy and ideal to perform in any situation, including a phone call or a video chat (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
3. The performer does not need to see the cards until the end of the experiment
4. The cards are not marked in any way, the spectator can even...

You show four red nines and four black nines. Then you interleave them openly and fairly one red, one black, one red, one black, a.s.o. into two piles of four cards each. One simple wave of the hand and the colors have separated themselves, one pile has all the red cards, and the other all the black cards.

1st edition 2021, video 3 min 50 s.

This hardcore tool is not an easy thing to acquire. That said, it is, with dedication, within the skill range of anyone willing to devote the time necessary to master it. The drawn-out process of selecting a card has become tedious and time-consuming, causing the audience to lose interest. With this side steal, a card is peeked, transferred from the middle of the pack to the top in an instant. This PDF and video will put the side steal within your skill range.

1st edition 2021, PDF 3 pages, video 39 s.

A treasured classic in anyone's language, "The Ambitious Card" absolutely runs rings around most other card effects. Of the versions in print, a few too many are on the difficult side, but not this one.

Ian Baxter has finally released his extraordinary version - a streamlined, baffling approach that he has used for decades. And the best part of this? It is, as you might guess, straightforward and undemanding. No more than basic card skills are required ... Hindu Shuffle, Overhand Shuffle, Double Lift, Bluff Pass, very little else. Guaranteed to please!

1st edition 2021, PDF 10 pages.

You show four nine of hearts face up. Count them again and one has turned face down showing a red back. Count them again and a grey-colored back is showing. Then a gold-colored back. When the fourth turns over, and reveals a green back, all cards are now face down showing four different backs. Then you turn them face up and they are now all queen of spades. You can go again through the same sequence as before, where one card at a time turns face down showing four different backs. The climax is that at the end all four faces have changed to aces.

It is hard to imagine more color changes mixed...

An extraordinary magic trick in which the spectators will see four jacks turn face down one by one. For the final climax, the magician explains that sometimes, if poker cards are used for magic, very strange things can happen: That's when the four jacks suddenly turn into a Royal Flush. A trick with which I bluffed the audience and magicians. All you need is a special card, which is very easy to find. But this little effort is really worth it.

An impromptu version of the effect is also described, in which the cards from Ace to Four, one at a time, turn face down and then magically transform...

You show four blank cards and one ten of clubs, five cards in total. They all have red backs. Suddenly the ten of clubs has a blue back. Then you fan the remaining four cards and all the blank faces have changed to a royal flush, an ace, king, queen, and jack. The ten completing the royal flush. As a final climax all cards are turned face down and they all have different colored backs.

1st edition 2021, video 2 min 36 s.

This is an entertaining, commercial trick bearing a mystery card plot, with the spectator playing the magician and a color-changing finale that packs a wallop.

The spectator shuffles and selects a card from a blue deck under test conditions. This is the prediction. The magician shuffles the red deck, chooses a card, and signs it. The signed card miraculously matches the prediction. As a kicker finish, the magician causes the signature to jump from the red card to the blue card.

1st edition 2021, PDF 11 pages.

You show four queens. The two black queens are placed on the table, the two red queens are retained in the hands. But despite this separation, they change places and the red queens are now on the table and the black queens are in the hands. The next phase is a little 'oil and water' sequence where the queens are mixed black, red, black, red but quickly separate themselves again into two black and two red queens. The startling climax is that all four cards change their back colors.

1st edition 2021, video 4 min 57 s.

What is S.E.M.P.E.R.? (Special Esp Memory Powers Enhanced Radically)

A special trick with a flexible method that offers wide-ranging presentational possibilities. It uses an ordinary deck of 52 poker cards and the trick will be deceptive even for many illusionists, but above all its impact on the audience is devastating.

Two spectators are asked to take a card and put them unseen in their pockets. The magician explains that, under these conditions, it is obviously extremely difficult to be able to identify the cards. Nevertheless, and in order to demonstrate to the public the uncommon...

How to find the guilty card despite a possible reticent witness!

An effect of mentalism, possible from a distance (in a video chat or even just on the phone), whose story is very loosely inspired by the movie "The Unusual Suspects" and in which the spectator is asked to choose five random cards from the deck. They will represent the suspects of a major bank robbery. Only one will be the real culprit. Despite the free arrangement of the cards and the various shuffles of face-up and face-down cards, in the end the mentalist will always succeed to guess all of these:

• in which position the...

You show four cards blank on both sides. Suddenly one changes to a Jack of Clubs with a regular blue back. One moment later all four change to blue backs and Jack of Diamonds on the front. Barely a moment later they have all red backs and Jack of Hearts on the front. If you haven't seen enough color changes the four backs change to yet another color. The fronts are blank again with one exception, a Jack of Clubs. You end where you started with all four cards blank on both sides.

1st edition 2021, video 3 min 25 s.

You show four double backer cards, one of which has a big black spot painted on it. You again show the cards and suddenly the card has actually a big black hole and the remaining three cards are double backers as before.

1st edition 2021, video 2 min.

A wonderful self-working version of "Out of this world" with several variations.

A spectator forms a pattern of face-up and face-down cards which unaccountably separates the colors. This happens despite the spectator shuffling the cards repeatedly. An astounding color-divination effect, done in the spectator's own hands with unprepared cards. Nothing extra required. Complete with "in depth" notes and several variations in effect and presentation by Weigle himself, Martin Gardner and Clayton Rawson.

• Quick. A packet of about twenty cards is used.
• The spectator can freely cut a bunch of...

You start with three cards one of which has a big hole. Mixing them up a bit and suddenly the card with the hole has two holes. One moment later it has three holes. Another mixing and everything is back to where it started, one card with a hole, the other two regular cards.

1st edition 2021, video 3 min 42 s.

ACAAN (Any card at any number) is regarded as the holy grail of card magic. Every magician out there has a version or two of his own. Couples CAAN is my addition to the plethora of work already existing on the subject. This trick is best done for a couple on any special occasion such as their anniversary or birthday. John chooses a card from the deck and Nancy thinks of a number. The chosen card is shuffled back into the deck and lost. The cards are dealt one by one. John’s chosen card is found at the number Nancy is thinking of. The magician congratulates the couple on being well connected. ...