Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 93

Ian Baxter steps forward with yet another twist on a classic from the past. Eddie Clever's Hallucination gets a working over here, thanks to a recently published variation from Todd Karr.

"A very direct effect here - entertaining presentation, plays big, kicker ending and can be done with a borrowed deck. This card mystery has it all!" - David Jones

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages.

An ungimmicked and easy-to-do double transformation with playing cards using the spectator's signature.

The magician displays a red-backed Joker. "Jokers can be useful in any card game but they also have interesting properties for magicians. Let me show you how." A spectator selects and signs a card in a blue-backed deck. The magician buries the signed card and inserts the Joker into the deck. "When in contact with the deck, the Joker is able to take the identity of any selected card, including yours." He spreads the cards face down to show the red-backed Joker in the middle. The red-backed...

From Ian Baxter, a breathtaking new approach to Al Koran's classic Five Star Prediction. The effect is as straightforward as could be expected: A prediction removed from a wallet and handed to a spectator, matches a freely chosen card from a shuffled deck.

"A significant improvement with a radical new use for the Himber Wallet. Very clever thinking indeed. Perfect!" - David Jones

"Loved It. Very, very clean, Loved the fact that the deck is shuffled at the outset. Cannot fault it." - Charles Gauci

1st edition 2020, PDF 6 pages.

An incredible Nate Leipzig card effect, now redesigned with subtlety, instead of knuckle-busting sleight of hand. A deck of cards is genuinely shuffled. The spectator then chooses a suit and removes the corresponding thirteen cards from the deck. The performer chooses another suit and likewise removes his thirteen cards. The spectator places the top card of his packet on the bottom of his packet; the magician duplicates this procedure. The spectator places his next card face down on the table. The magician does likewise. The spectator then alternately places cards on the bottom of his packet...

From Ian Baxter, here is a remarkable 21st Century version of Bill Simon's famed Business Card Prophecy - virtually sleight-free and within reach of any card handler.

"A modern-day approach based on casual handling and natural misdirection, achieving the same outcome while eliminating the move entirely. Very clever thinking." - David Jones

1st edition 2020, PDF 4 pages.

Edward Marlo originated The Elevator Cards back in 1948 and now, Ian Baxter's latest streamlined offering is available. Short, snappy and to the point, with several strong magical moments. This is totally impromptu, practically sleight free and is sure to please the most discriminating card worker. This is one of Baxter's best!

1st edition 2020, PDF 7 pages.

Based on an idea by Nick Trost. You will be thrilled with the splendid effect which you achieve in such an easy manner.

You show a packet of five jumbo cards cut in half. Two spectators shuffle the cards and split the packet taking some cards each. For example, one spectator has 4 cards and one has six. You place an envelope on the table and then show the cards to each spectator in turn. They look and remember the one half-card (that corresponds to the number of cards they each had in hand). Then you ask them to remove from the packet the half-card they have seen. Incredibly they match! Not...

Francis Carlyle and Faucett Ross get coverage in this latest manuscript from Ian Baxter. In a tribute to both of these giants from the past, Baxter examines Carlyle's 'The Card That Finds Itself' with a new and novel approach, while the Ross classic 'Twice Turned' gets a dusting off that adds value-plus to this popular effect from the Vernon Chronicles. The third entry is Baxter's technique for the Top Palm, unbelievably fast, straightforward and appreciably easier than most other methods in print.

1st edition 2020, PDF 9 pages.

The ingenious Paul Curry, creator of 'Out Of This World' was also responsible for a number of other timely favourites - 'Open Prediction' being a standout and attracting variations a-plenty from card experts everywhere.

Ian Baxter has fashioned a particularly appealing version of this classic, written in his inimitable style and now available in an easy-to-read manuscript - totally impromptu, simple to perform, no fakes, stranger cards, or hidden accessories. Skills need are minimal. A delight indeed!

1st edition 2021, PDF 4 pages.

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...

Ten-Ten Marking System is a reliable playing card marking system for creating a marked deck that is easy to read and understand, based on the binary system, and practically invisible to your spectators. Easily identify each card at a glance.

• Easy to read marking system
• Easy to learn and remember
• Inexpensive and easy to make

1st edition 2020, PDF 6 pages.

It is almost impossible to imagine any card expert worth his salt to have either ignored or overlooked Double Reverse. Here is a firm favourite that has entertained audiences for decades. Now, Australian card man Ian Baxter steps forward with a brand-new approach that will knock your socks off. Two cards chosen, one by spectator, another by the performer, then in the blink of an eye they both reverse in the deck. But here is the cruncher: Baxter's handling allows the effect to be presented, believe it or not, in well under one minute! Not be missed and a bargain at just $4.00.

1st edition...

Who among us is not familiar with injogs and outjogs? Since the days of Erdnase, these very handy adjuncts have helped enable magicians to turn out miraculous feats of card magic.

Card man Ian Baxter offers up an unusual use for the humble injog here in his latest manuscript. This is the venerable 'STOP' trick with a difference and you will be most impressed. Positively no complicated sleights or outrageous moves in this strictly commercial adaptation of a classic. Don't pass this one up!

1st edition 2021, PDF 4 pages.

Hard to believe that eighty years have passed since the Stewart James card classic Further Than That was first published in Annemann's magazine, The Jinx. Card workers everywhere latched on to this intriguing, self-working mystery; the passing years have not dimmed its popularity one iota.

Just recently, Jon Racherbaumer released a very worthwhile compilation, Further More. Essential reading and yes, currently available through lybrary.com.

And now on offer, Further Than Expected from Australian card man and author Ian Baxter. This is a brand new, reconstructed approach that freely alters the proceedings while still maintaining the essential,...

Australian card man Ian Baxter has nailed it once again! Here is a straightforward, anytime, anywhere mystery that will leave audiences scratching their heads.

No fakes, gaffs or stranger cards are employed. An ordinary deck, borrowed or supplied by you, is the sole requirement. Ten-Four, a radio call sign, means "everything is okay" but in this case, it also spells out what is involved. The four tens end up cavorting from the deck to the table and back again, with a jaw-dropping finish. And there is room for a spot of humour as well.

Acknowledgment must be made to Tom Ogden of Hollywood, California,...

This is the first known publication of the Si Stebbins stack and several tricks that go along with it. It is a reproduction from the Sunday 18th December 1898 issue of the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper.

1st edition, 1898; PDF 5 pages.

The Mark Twain stack is a Si Stebbins stack with a four-apart sequence in SHoCkeD order. It was first published in the February 1935 issue of Modern Mechanix and Inventions magazine. This is a reproduction of this article.

The Mark Twain stack, also called the Riverboat stack (see for example Magic Card System), due to the abundant gambling on Mississippi riverboats, gets its name from the practice on these riverboats to frequently having to measure the water depth. If it was two marks, pronounced 'mark twain', it was ok.

1st edition 1935; PDF 4 pages.

Ian Baxter here, introducing something new from me in the 'Card Stabbing' arena. Nicely Stabbed! offers not one but two approaches to this evergreen card mystery. But rather than have me rattle on about this, I'll ask reviewer and fellow Australian David Jones to offer his opinion.

When Ian Baxter told me that his next manuscript involved the concept of forcing an unknown card, I was intrigued, to say the least. What resulted from this offbeat thought was a very clever, streamlined and almost sleight-free method for a known classic. A spectator stabs a card anywhere into the deck and ends...

"It's not easy to improve on a trick by Dai Vernon, but Ian Baxter has managed to do just that!"

A timely observation from reviewer David Jones, who has hit the nail right on the head. Here is an easy, clever new treatment of a respected Vernon classic. Don't be surprised if you find yourself performing Refining Vernon's 1-2-3 over and over again.

Jones continues: "This streamlined handling of Vernon's 1-2-3 is so much cleaner than the original, more magical in effect and far easier to perform. It's a winner!"

This familiar, fast-moving card mystery has been 'doing the rounds' for decades:...

A spectator-selected card turns face-up in the deck.

Have a spectator freely select a card from a deck. There is no force. The spectator remembers the card. The magician inserts the card into the deck. When the deck is fanned the card has turned face-up (or face-down if you are showing the deck from faces.)

You will need to be able to do a half-pass. A short card helps in the sleight-of-hand proceedings.

1st edition 2023, video 13:38

Card Sampler by John Gelasi features a sampling of 4 effects from a few of John's previous publications, as well as a brand new bonus effect not currently published anywhere else. If you're looking to check out some of John's magic for the first time, or are simply looking for a great deal, you're sure to find something that you'll enjoy from this little collection.

Effects included:

"Uproarious" from Fit for Kings, Too!: A killer packet trick with normal cards; four jokers become four kings, and then everything changes into a perfect royal flush!

"Slider" from Business as Usual: A visual "correction" of a misprinted...

A new, updated handling of one of John's all-time favorite packet effects, Write You Are. Four amazing climaxes with very little effort and using very few cards. Best yet, all of the cards can be examined at the end of the trick! Check out the video demo!

Ebook features:

• Brand new handling
• The original effect
• Variation by Cameron Francis
• Video demos for all effects

1st edition 2013, 8 pages.

A revelation of a freely selected card.

EFFECT: The performer places an envelope containing a prediction on the table. He shows a deck of cards, and he begins to deal cards onto the table. A spectator says 'stop' at any moment he likes. The stopped-at card is placed aside and kept by the spectator who chose it. Several cards before and after the selection are clearly shown to be all different, while the performer states that the spectator could have stopped him on any of them. The spectator reveals the chosen card, for example, the King of Spades, and the prediction is seen to be a Jumbo...

Cards across

The Thirty Card Trick is a magical classic that can be done on stage as well as close up. It is entertaining to all types of audiences. The classic method (Magicians' Tricks by Hatton and Plate) used sleight of hand and math chicanery. Zens used envelopes. Crandall used roughing fluid. You should find this method one of the best because instead of making the passing of three cards an arbitrary choice it offers a logical reason for using three. Also, there is very strong misdirection. Each step is clearly explained along with the reasoning.

The moves are well covered by misdirection and by having unbalanced...