Cards in Magic & Conjuring: page 35

On August 2nd, 1982, Martin Breese organized a John Mendoza lecture, which was taped for later release as a video. But Martin being the busy publisher he was had so many other projects to work on that he never got around releasing this recording. We rescued the recording from two old Umatic tapes Martin gave to me. Since this was recorded in the early 80s do not expect a high definition video. But it is nevertheless a good recording of Mendoza's lecture. The video has some flaws here and there with stripes, ghost images, and an occasional blackout. The audio track has no noticeable blackouts or problems....

You show a pack of cards, shuffle it and ask two spectators to select each one a card. One of the cards is signed, lost in the pack and you put the pack inside the card box. You give the card case to the spectator to hold. The second card is in the spectators hand all the time. The magician explains that both cards are twin souls and everything that happens to one card will happen to the other. The magician asks for the card that the spectator holds and shows a lighter. The magician proceeds to burn the back of the card, specifically one of the angels on the bike. If everything works as planned...

Over the years, many have (incorrectly) assumed that the "Power of Thought" effect that Scarne enjoyed performing uses the same method as the version described in the Scarne On Card Tricks book. This is not the case, as you'll be pleased to discover if you buy this ebook. This is the version Scarne himself used and (unlike the version in the mass market book), this method doesn't rely on swapping cards in your pocket. Indeed, you need not wear a jacket at all; you can perform this effect in your swim trunks if you're so inclined.

This method was originally offered by Scarne to magicians in a 1950 pre-publication...

From noted card man and gaming expert John Scarne comes this clean-cut triple prediction miracle effect that will build a reputation for you. No difficult sleights. Simple, sure and direct. The publisher had been after Scarne for years to release this clever item, before he finally agreed.

Any deck of cards is shuffled by anyone and spread out on the table face up. Two spectators and the performer each merely think of a card and you write a prediction on small slips of paper for each card thought of. The thought-of cards are pushed out of the pack and the predictions are placed on top of...

This is a wonderfully entertaining routine for two (or more) spectators. Each one of the spectators and the performer receives four cards. All go through the same actions of turning over cards and placing them on the top or bottom of their pack. In the end the performers cards are all face down, whereas the spectators cards have a face up card among them. This basic effect is done again two times in fairer and fairer ways.

Very easy to perform. All you need is any double lift and the Elmsley count. You can read the original description of this routine in Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic.

Recorded live at the Convention at the Capital 2000.

runtime: 9min 36s...

Several decades ago Bob Hummer invented a new principle which caused a short-lived stir among cardicians. The effect was called "The Mindreader's Dream". It sounds too good to be true: A spectator merely thinks of a card and performs a few, unseen dealing procedures with a deck of cards. The magician briefly scans the cards, consults a "dream book," and then names the mentally selected card.

Racherbaumer collects in this ebook several improvements and variations on this basic principle, including the original Hummer method. The contributors are an eclectic group of specialists including Justin Higham,...

These are Jon Racherbaumer's contributions to the New Pentagram Magazine from 1979.

• Surprising the Princess: ESP card effect with a surprise ending that will whack you down.
• Simplex Mental Reverse
• Magical Separate Colors
• King-Currence
• Still Another Lie Detector

articles first appeared 1979; 14 pages

The 'Real-Gone Aces' problem is a side branch of the classic four Ace trick. In the classic you place four aces on the table, then put three indifferent cards on each ace, and magically all aces end up in the same pile. In the 'Real-Gone Aces' plot which was originated by Marlo, after correspondence with Neal Elias, three aces vanish to join an isolated leader ace.

If this plot appeals to you then you will learn a good number of variations on it in this ebook. And I am sure, if you are the kind of guy or gal who enjoys reading such detail filled descriptions of finesses and fine points, then...

This treatise is a compilation of Marlo's methods for performing a card-to-wallet, incorporating his Exclusive Card in Wallet (1961) with methods published in Ibidem, [lc=4446 Hierophant, Card Finesse, Marlo's Magazine, and other previously unpublished but related methods. This material was discovered in a thick folder among Marlo's private effects.

The idea of causing a selection to disappear from the deck and then reappear elsewhere is almost as old as playing cards. Reinhard Müller has painstakingly researched the basic effect classified as "Card Found in Some Object," which was being performed (in some form)...

Sandwich tricks, long popular with cardmen, are nothing more than glorified locations. What makes them a little different is that the selections are found at specific places: between two other cards. Perhaps the best way to present these stunts is to perform a few in a rapidfire, successive way—each phase following the preceding one in a logical, progressive way. Also, each phase should be stronger than the preceding one. When such phases unfold in this manner, the overall impression will likely have more impact and be memorable.

And this is exactly what Racherbaumer has engineered in...

"The Filet Mignon of Ace Assemblies." - Ed Marlo

Olram Aces is a tribute to the genius of Edward Marlo which shows how Marlo's lifetime work steadily influenced Jon.

The presentation makes maximum use of the gaffs and the Aces in the non-leader packets disappear in different ways that are successively stronger. It has been audience-tested on laypersons and magicians.

In typical Racherbaumer style you also get a history on the Ace Assembly plot starting with The Discoverie of Witchcraft.

1st edition 2009; 10 pages.

The basic plot of the "Chamele Aces" was developed in the late 40s by Edward Marlo, who shared ideas about this motif with Neal Elias in 1949. Elias wrote notes regarding the methods they explored, which he and Marlo then filed away. Neither published the "work;" however, Marlo performed an impromptu version at a Pittsburgh magic convention in 1955. Earlier the same year, Roy Walton published his version of "Chamele Aces" in The Gen (February-1955: Volume 10 - Number 10).

The basic Chamele Aces plot is four red-back and four blue-back Aces transpose one at a time.

1st edition 2008; 80 pages.

Table of Contents

5. Introduction
8. A World About Problemists ...

This routine was inspired by a magician’s challenge that it was unfeasible and unadvisable to perform several Ace Assemblies in a row for lay audiences. In fact, he argued that most Four-Ace Assemblies are neither entertaining nor interesting to layman because they are essentially magician’s exercises. This synergism is an exercise based on an opposite view; however, a key lies in presentation. The performer ostensibly is relating a bit of history regarding how a card trick was performed in the 16th century. In the course of the explanation, he acts as a proxy for skeptical spectators who...

Karl Fulves published in Pallbearers Review an unsolved card problem wherein an Ace having the same suit of a previously selected card changes into that selection. The puzzling aspect of this problem was this: The four Aces are shown, mixed, and tabled face down. Nobody knows the order or disposition of the Aces, not even the spectator.

Jon describes eight solutions each with its own trade-offs, strengths and weaknesses.

Jon concludes his manuscript with:

Even though the small packet card trick goes at least back to Hofzinser's times Jon argues that the modern small packet trick started in the 1940s when the Buckle Count was introduced by Dai Vernon and got into full swing when the Ghost Count (Elmsley Count) entered the stage.

Jon writes:

On the Clock Effect

The clock effect/principle is a variant of the automatic placement principle. It allows you to force a card. The procedure typically is that the spectator freely selects any full hour on the clock (1-12). Cards are then dealt into a clock pattern where one card takes the place of each hour. The card at the spectator's freely chosen hour is the force card, which for example could have been predicted beforehand.

The Clock Effect using playing cards originated at the turn of the century. Potter's Index subsequently listed thirty-eight (38) references—one of the earliest...

Slip Cuts play a vital role in "Cutting to the Aces," a presentation auspiciously introduced in Stars of Magic (1946). Dai Vernon's handling sparked lots of interest when it first appeared, providing strong incentive to master the Slip Cut. Cardini, who also knew a great trick when he saw one, strongly endorsed Vernon's presentation:

"To lovers of outstanding card magic I heartily recommend 'Cutting the Aces.' It is showy and mystifying, more so than you would think a card trick could possibly be."

Therefore, this treatise begins with explanations of three versions of Ace-Cutting. This may induce...

Every card magician will know the Triumph effect:

The most famous routine is Dai Vernon's "Triumph" originally published in Stars of Magic. However, he probably was influenced by other similar effects that came before. One such routine is Sid Lorraine's "Slop Shuffle".

Jon Racherbaumer will take you through the history of this wonderfully visual effect and will explain and discuss the many...

Gene Castillon presented this lecture at a meeting of Ring #27 IBM in the early 70’s, calling it "The Double Undercut Routine". This routine was designed to feature only one sleight or move—the Double Undercut. To prove the versatility and usefulness of this one move, Gene incorporated into one routine a series of different effects all accomplished by this one move. As you will discover, there are magic appearances, a simple sandwich prediction, several Ace tricks, a poker deal, and a simple triumph trick.

When recently asked to lecture again, Gene pulled out his old lecture notes and was surprised...

This is the fourth revised treatment that Marlo and Jon worked on during the last year of his life. Their objective back then was to publish a new old-book by expanding the original work to include ideas, finesses, and variations devised after 1962. More important, the revision was to be more organized and cohesive than the original.

The original K.M. MOVE booklet was typed on twenty-three pages. There were only eleven hand-traced, inked drawings [by Marlo]. The material faithfully duplicates Marlo's hand-written notes and was typed by Muriel Marlo. All in all, the finished product had an unpretentious,...

A treatise on how to determine a thought of card.

• Out of Sight - Out of Mind (Dai Vernon)
• Streamlined Discernment (Edward Marlo)
• Mental Discernment Improved (Ken Krenzel)
• Mental Selectivity (Charlie Miller)
• Far Out Of Sight (Bob King)
• No Questions Asked (Randy Wakeman)
• The Spectator Seems to Really Think of any Card (Bob Farmer)
• A Card That Lies = A Deck That Tells The Truth (Bob Farmer)
• Unambiguous Discernment (Edward Marlo)
• Fish-Fry For Two (Robert Baxter)
• Fish (Lewis Jones)
• The Discerning Mentalist (J. K. Hartman)
• Mental Schemental (J. K. Hartman)

1st edition 2011; 52 pages....

Classic Racherbaumer. I had to use the dictionary twice just to make it past the title :-) If you don't learn any card magic you will certainly expand your vocabulary. But I am sure you will learn a good amount of very thoughtful pieces.

From the introduction:

To explore ways to convert, tweak, and redeem "pasteboard antics"...

Ways To End Up With the Only Thing You Want

From the introduction:

• Two Ways to Convincingly Disclose One of Two Possibilities
• A Card That Lies, A Deck That Tells...

Brother John Hamman's effects are conducive to creating strong, synergistic routines. That is, many of his individual effects, including its discrete parts, can be combined to form powerful presentations. The following nine-phase is a good example.

Holistic Hamman was originally part of an unpublished book titled Real-World Cardstuff: Synergistic Schemes.

Requisites: A regular deck of cards.

1st edition 2000, 2nd edition 2013, 15 pages.