Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 86

An advancement on Ed Marlo's iconic card change. See video below. You can only perform this at a table with an assistant.

1st edition 2017, 4 pages.

A practical card index that is optimized for fast withdrawal of any card from a standard 52-card deck.

1st edition 2018, 4 pages + video

A matrix effect using playing cards instead of coins. A simplified and better version of Albert Goshman's classic cards through the newspaper (Genii vol. 30, June 1966).

1st edition 2019, 4 pages + videos.

Display four cards printed on both sides and the cards go blank on both sides. The effect is reversed and you end up with four printed cards again.

The instructions take you through step by step, which is easy to follow including illustrations. No difficult sleight-of-hand.

You will need a blank face and four blank back cards.

1st edition 2019, 4 pages.

A short, to-the-point routine for the mental photography, or nudist, deck that does not require the use of a table. An ideal effect for opening a close-up performance. It requires little skill beyond a few straight cuts of the deck, which means you can focus on the presentation. Full patter is included. Albert Goshman included this effect among his wonders for good reason.

All you will get here is the routine, the patter. You will have to supply your own nudist deck.

1st edition 2019, 4 pages.

A false cut that uses the action of burning a card as misdirection. Particularly useful for cheating at BlackJack.

Chuck Smith was recorded doing this cut. (A letter from Chuck Smith to Brick Tilley is reproduced in the PDF.) He used it to beat players during the years of WWII. The sequence of actions is the following. You first openly cut the cards and complete the cut. Then you take the top card, turn it face up and place it as the bottom card. During the action of burning the top card you undo the cut. The demo video will prove how honest and fair this looks.

You will receive a PDF...

This is the deck switch from the train car poker game scene in the movie The Sting, executed by John Scarne, renowned gambling expert. It is straight forward and within the range of anyone willing to devote the time necessary to master it. Add it to your skill set. You will receive a PDF and a video (download from your digital shelf).

Here is the clip from The Sting where the switch is executed.

1st edition 2019, PDF 4 pages, video 17s.

The addition of a clever device - something you have likely around the house - lifts this old favorite out of the amateur category and makes it a solid mainstay. Nor more of that "one behind the back..." method, this is ideal for walk around, as the reset is automatic.

You will receive a PDF and a video (see your digital shelf).

1st edition 2019, PDF 4 pages, video length 26 s.

During the 1970's Dai Vernon demonstrated this around the Magic Castle to anyone who was interested. He was quite fond of it. It is a neat, highly deceptive, practical hole card switch using natural actions, something he highly favored.

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages, video 12s.

The Shank Shuffle, a full deck false shuffle, was published in 1971 on Ed Marlo's behalf by Jon Racherbaumer. The Zarrow shuffle came out around the same time. New Yorkers backed this method and that overshadowed the Shank method, which may be superior, depending on your point of view. The Shank method is regarded as more convincing by some card handlers. Reading the description can be a bit daunting for the novice. Here is your chance to master the shuffle thanks to a lucid video presentation and a clear text and illustrations.

1st edition 2019, PDF + video (length 23s)...

An excellent running false cut that is highly deceptive and relatively easy to master. Combine this with any false shuffle.

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages, video 26 s.

A card is merely thought of by a spectator. The performer writes a prediction on a card and pockets it. The spectator is asked to remove his thought of card from the deck. When the performer's prediction is read aloud by another spectator it is found to match the spectator's card. At no time does the spectator state or reveal his card until after the spectator's thought of card has been read aloud.

This is based on a Harold Taylor idea. The clever method will put a big smile on your face.

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages, video 1 min 37 s.

A beautiful color change made popular in the 70s by Walter Cummings. A fan of cards is waved in front of the rest of the pack, causing the face card to change in a dramatic fashion.

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages, video 47s.

A practical, easy to construct gimmick for accomplishing the effect of getting a selected card to vanish from the deck and be transported into a sealed envelope to be removed by a spectator.

You will receive a PDF and a video (see the digital shelf) explaining the process.

1st edition 2020, PDF + video 1min 9s.

This is an improvement in the handling of the Curry Turnover that makes this move easier to accomplish and more deceptive. A simple get-ready makes the exchange faster and infinitely more rewarding. It was perfected during hundreds of hours behind a Black Jack table without ever once being detected.

It can be used for magical purposes as well. Add this subtle weapon to your card arsenal.

1st edition 2021, PDF 4 pages, video 30 s.

Palming cards, and getting away with it, is one of the most difficult skills in the magician's toolbox. If you've ever wanted to master this sleight here is your chance. This concise tutorial will get you started, or improve your current technique, in order to raise your confidence level. This lesson covers the one-hand top palm.

1st edition 2021, PDF + video (length: 16 s)

A card is selected, returned to the deck, replaced in the box. The performer holds the box facing outward, his fingers positioned so that they encircle it. There seems no possible way for the selected card to escape. Despite this, the selected card is seen to rise up out of the box, right through the performer's index finger. Once the card protrudes from the box it is removed, spun on the finger, taken off the finger, and exhibited with a hole through the card's center.

(This idea was originally developed by Clayton Rawson in the 1930s and published in the Sphinx. Later Pete Biro unearthed it in...

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 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.

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.

This is a delightful departure from the standard card effect due to its ingenious patter line and startling conclusion. First conceived in the 1970s, the visual of four "cannibal" cards devouring a pair of "missionary" cards stands out in the memory of spectators. A welcomed addition to your bag of tricks.

1st edition 2021, PDF 2 pages, video 42 seconds.

A modern version of this classic gaffed card. Detailed are the two methods: splitting cards and printing them yourself to achieve this mysterious effect. Included is a self-printed example. This card has a matte finish that is enhanced by the candlelight used to effect the transformation. This is a remarkable illusion that takes no skill and differs greatly from Hofzinser's original construction. As seen in the video, the image seems to melt from one card value to another. Simple in construction.

1st edition 2021, PDF + gimmicked card

The most streamlined, concise version of this classic ever created. Only four phases, but each of the last three could stand alone as the finish. No longer a tepid guessing game, now you can present this gem as a true work of art, filled with stunning surprises. Distilled from over 40 years of trial and error. Foolproof.

1st edition 2021; PDF 2 pages, video 1 min 43 s.

Three named playing cards are located aided by a wind-up toy. Self-working, foolproof, a real crowd pleaser. From the lecture notes of Jimmy Haviland, London's last street conjuror.

You will have to supply a wind-up toy yourself. It is ungimmicked. Anything that walks, hops, or drives a few inches will work.

1st edition 2024, PDF 4 pages + video.