Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 65

Who among us has not heard of, seen, or performed The Princess Card Trick? For the record, it was conceived by Henry Hardin and was first made available way back in 1903. Mahatma magazine carried advertising for it and in the decades that followed, countless 'improvements' ended up in print.

It seems that not too many of these ideas were ever celebrated by the magical fraternity, and no wonder - with crazy fakes and gimmicks being introduced that almost drowned its popularity.

Fortunately, the original idea has remained unchanged which is why today, it is still regarded as a classic of card...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Miraskill.

Theo Annemann's journal The Jinx, September 1936, was where Miraskill was first published. Subsequently reprinted in various books and magazines over the years, this Stewart James creation still baffles one and all. The years have not dulled the remarkable impact it can have on today's audiences.

Courtskill is a brand-new version of Miraskill. Australian card man Ian Baxter has concocted a totally new version, with some very distinct advantages.

Barely half the deck is used, trimming the performance time considerably, not to mention a surprise approach involving court...

A "Horse Race" in which you always win under impossible conditions.

The aces represent horses and the performer and three spectators run an exciting race, moving their horses on the “course” as indicated by a fourth spectator dealing the cards. The performer always wins and the effect can be repeated as many times as desired, with the same result every time.

• An ordinary pack of cards
• No sleight of hand
• The spectators shuffle the cards before the race is run
• Spectators freely select their own “horses” the performer taking the one that is left
• No switching – no special cards...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Simplicity Four Ace Trick.

First appearing in print in Ralph W. Hull's book More Eye Openers, Jean Hugard wasted no time in grabbing it for Encyclopedia Of Card Tricks; it also ended up in John Northern Hilliard's mammoth book Greater Magic, along with a number of other texts as well.

The straightforward plot involves the four Aces of the pack assembling in one heap, following a careful separation from other cards. Economy of movement is top of the list here, buoyed by an absence of sleights and very easy moves. Within reach of any card handler, beginner or expert.

And now, years down the track, Ian Baxter offers this...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Pocketheral.

Stewart James (1908 - 1996) was known not just for an immense output of published effects, but his deliberate, somewhat humorous conferring of odd titles to various tricks. Pocketheral was certainly no exception, attracting the attention of, among others, Edward Marlo.

The Cardician, Marlo's celebrated book released back in 1953, included two very worthwhile variations of PTR. Marlo, along with many others, would doubtless have been amused by the name chosen for this one. Marlo's approach involved not twenty but ten cards being dealt in a row, a spectator being asked...

A new approach to the Stewart James classic Queer Quest.

Another Stewart James card mystery from the past, brought right up to date by Australian cardman Ian Baxter.

Queer Quest first appeared in The Jinx magazine back in 1938. Publisher Ted Annemann endorsed it immediately because this was obviously not just another card trick. Although the effect is far from new, three spectators each selecting a card with the performer locating them one at a time, Queer Quest stood out because of its simple method and straightforward presentation.

Eighty-five years down the track and Q.Q. is now totally revamped, with easier handling...

This hard-to-find book of eleven clever card effects was ahead of its time and still plays well to today's audiences. While not self-working, magicians with ordinary card ability can do them all.

The effects include:

• An Instantaneous Detection
• The Haunted Whisper
• The Hazy Pips
• From Another Deck
• A Joker Location
• Another Joker Location
• Blowing the Pips
• A New Reverse Location
• Upside Down
• The Phantom Pips
• Topsy-Turvy Location

Acclaimed by close-up masters including Dai Vernon and Charlie Miller, McMillen and Brown were known as the most skillful card performers on the Pacific coast. Those who knew...

Fifteen excellent pasteboard effects, all easy to perform, as they require little or no skill.

The contents include "Unbelievable Coincidence" which in itself is worth more than the price of the entire book; "U-Find-Our-Cards," a chapter wherein spectators unknowingly discover their own selected cards in a puzzling fashion; and "Auto-Graphic Minds," which will never fail to bewilder the closest observer. Plus additional tricks of a professional caliber.

Here is a collection of the very smartest magic, devised and used in his own act by Lu Brent, the top-notch Philadelphia professional...

A binary method with a twist that makes it incomprehensible.

EFFECT: Three spectators select an item off your Bucket List. You show them four short lists and for each list, they are asked if they see their chosen item. Spectator one is asked to answer truthfully and spectator two is told they can either lie or tell the truth but they are not to tell you which they choose. Spectator three is told to only answer silently in their mind. Despite these increasingly more difficult conditions you are able to reveal all three selections.

I have been creating binary effects for a couple of years...

You bring out an envelope and remove three $100 casino chips which you place on the table. Now you show three cards: two are black spot cards, and the middle card is a red Queen. Without any moves, you lay the three cards face down on the table. The spectator is invited to bet $100, however, there is a twist to this betting game. If he finds the lady you promise to pay him $100. However, if he picks a spot card, you will double the stake and promise to pay $200 if he finds the lady on a second attempt. Again, if he picks a spot card you will now give him $300 if he finds the lady. So it is in...

You show five Alphabet cards which obviously spell the word L-E-V-E-L. You also show a white card with a perpendicular arrow drawn on one side, and a digonal arrow on the other. This, you say, is a home made spirit level. The way this card points can alter reality!

The cards are spread face down on the table in a straight line to represent the word "LEVEL" — as the cards are level on the table.

You now turn the spirit level so it shows a diagonal arrow. You now push the cards into a diagonal sloping line, so they are no longer LEVEL.

On turning the cards over, they now spell S-L-O-P-E! ...

Stanley Collins on Steroids! No Gaffs or Duplicates. If you dispense with the "marked cards" climax, you can do this with any deck. But the marked cards ending is too strong to lose!

No Gaffs or Duplicates. This is a reworked version of "The Case in Hand" that appeared in Duffie's Card Compulsions. You tell a story of a stranger and a gang of four in an unpleasant neighborhood. The gang needs to defend their turf but the stranger with the help of two body guards finds a clever place to hide.

You will receive four sets of 5 ESP cards (circle, cross, three wavy lines, square, star), a total of 20 cards. Two sets have a red Bicycle back and the other two sets have a blue Bicycle back. These cards were manufactured by USPCC on their standard air-cushion cardboard.

All cards are marked on the back in an easy-to-read way. A short glimpse is all you need to know which symbol it is. The Bicycle back design wonderfully camouflages the markings if you do not know where to look. These cards match regular Bicycle cards allowing combinations of effects with ESP symbols and standard card symbols. ...

Four queens consume three selected cards which have been chosen by a spectator.

You will need:

• 3 extra 9s with two of them having Queens on their backs (double facers)
• 2-as-4 Count
• Elmsley Count
• Pelli Spread

length 3min 20s

David Devlin has released a staple from his impromptu card act. This is a full routine, and it is a killer! This is based on an effect by the great Nick Trost, and is a tribute of sorts to him. This may become your "go-to" effect when someone hands you a deck and says, "Do something." You will be performing this routine in no time. It is not difficult, and it looks incredible.

Here is the routine: The jokers are removed from the deck, and placed on the table. The performer removes any card he wishes, but shows it to know one, not even himself. This card is placed face down between the two jokers, but...

An impromptu card divination.

Divine the amount of cards randomly cut off the deck by you or spectator without using stacks or gimmicks; you may be off by one or two cards; no setup, totally impromptu. Spectator even shuffles the deck beforehand. Borrowed deck.

Kevin Parker's system allows for this type of feat and many others.

• you're not cutting to predetermined spots; you can cut anywhere or let spectator cut.
• no insertion of a crimped, cut, shaven, or altered card into the deck to mark a location; no setup whatsoever.
• no gimmicks or stacks or deck setup; borrow a deck, let them...

Kevin Parker has created a prediction effect that is too impossible to be true: you predict where their card will land in a shuffled deck (*this many* cards down in the deck), mixed in someone's hat to eliminate false shuffling in the hands.

This uses no gimmicks and no trick decks. Use your hat or their's, no specific type. Very practical.

• Spectator can assist the shuffle in hat.
• Use anyone's hat, even your's, no specific type.
• Easy, a complete beginner could do it.

1st edition 2018, length 10 min

Blur the line between coincidence and prediction. A creation Kevin Parker kept secret until now.

The spectator stops you on any card as you deal cards into their hand face-down, and the card they stop on matches the card in their other hand, e.g. 2 black aces or etc. The apparent impossibility of this is reinforced by the fact the deck is normal with 52 different cards which they shuffled beforehand; no deck switches. The deck they examine/shuffle is the same deck dealt into their hand, which they can examine before and after, leaving them with no explanation.

• requires no special decks...

It's uncanny; you don't touch the pack; you don't see the pack. Yet you are able to reveal in a novel fashion a freely selected card. Write the simple instructions in the form of a letter to the "customer". You can do it over the phone, over the radio, on television, via SMS, Zoom, or any other communication channel. Or, if you prefer, you can do it close-up with a spectator. They do it at their leisure over and over again and still it works. The card is revealed by your own name thus gaining publicity, or you can use your own phrase or a number to reveal the card!

EFFECT: (There are different...

Excerpt from the preface:

• Preface To Second Edition
• Introduction
• The Tapered Deck
• #1 The Coincidence
• #2 The Perfect Count
• #3 The Shuffled Setup
• #4 Mixed Up Miracle ...

Please note that this video is in Vietnamese. There are some English subtitles, but for the most part you will get the instructions of how to make the gimmick and how to perform with it from the visual contents of the video.

A novel gimmick to achieve visual magic with cards and rubber bands. A rubber band appears impossibly wrapped around a deck of cards. Instructions provide the details of how to make the gimmick and how to use it.

1st edition 2016, length 36 minutes.

Please note that this video is in Vietnamese, but the instructions to make the gimmick, and how to use it is perfectly understandable from the visual information alone.

Change a bill into a card. Easy gimmick. Easy to perform.

Obviously you need to use paper money that is compatible with the width of the cards you are using. Often bills can be trimmed slightly if they are too wide.

1st edition 2018, length 7 min 32 s

This is Andrew's handling of Roy Walton’s “The Collectors” plot. If you are familiar with his original plot, here, the magic moment takes place in the card case and it has served Andrew well over the years. He developed this handling while he was playing a number of “The Collectors” effects during the afternoon in the year of 2006.

Effect: The performer places three Kings in the card case. The performer then proceeds to have two spectators to freely choose two cards from the deck. The two selections are signed and lost in the deck. The performer waves his hand over the card case...