Self-Working or Sleightless in Cards: page 10

This is a collection of self-working and very easy card effects. Rufus Steele has released several other publications along this line. Check them out.

Excerpt from the foreword:

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 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...

"Henry Sugar is an incredibly clever effect and one that I will actually perform. I don't say that for many effects. As far as I'm concerned, Liam Montier is one of the most original magicians I've ever met and he is my main inspiration to create new magic. Pretty much everything he touches has a big hint of creativity and an even bigger hint of "I'll kick you where it hurts!" - Andi Gladwin

Liam Montier presents a stunning easy to do mentalist card trick based on a well-known short story by Roald Dahl, called "The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar".

The basic plot of the story is that...

An exceedingly clever location of two cards using the Free Cut Principle by the inventor of this beautiful principle.

Effect: The performer hands a deck of cards to one of two spectators with the request that he shuffle it, and then divide it equally with a second spectator. While this is being done, the performer turns his back.

Now each spectator is instructed to select a card from his respective half. Next they each exchange a number of cards so that the performer doesn't know how many cards each man holds, or which cards were selected (and he doesn't). Now the performer tells them...

For those who wish to fool those who know all the other gaffed montes (Skinner's, Deland's "Pickitout," the British "Chase the Ace"), the "Bammo Queen Monte" is here and ready to serve.

Those other versions use two gaffed cards, the Bammo Queen Monte does not - which means that there are deceptive displays possible that the others cannot match.

There is no sleight of hand: the special cards do all the work.

The entire routine happens on the table just like the real monte. Alternately, for maximum visibility, larger cards can be used with some card holders.

Three cards are shown,...

The magician displays a random mix of ten cards, all spot cards and a single Ace of Spades. He explains these cards are used in a game called, "Ten Card Poker Slam" - with just ten cards cheating is impossible. The cards are mixed face down and dealt in a row. The magician and the spectator take turns selecting cards until each has five cards.

The magician reveals his hand: four 2s and an Ace of Spades - Four of a Kind - BUT - - - The spectator's hand is a Straight Flush in diamonds, 6D, 7D, 8D, 9D and 10D - and a Straight Flush beats Four of a Kind, so the magician has the losing hand....

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...

Beyonce & Elton is a new ebook featuring several excellent self-working card tricks for close-up. Also included are a few excellent visual gags and one-liners to help you add a bit of humor to the presentations. So, what's in this ebook?

Beyonce & Elton: Two cards are freely placed into the deck (no forcing) - and they end up right next to the only other two matching cards. When the deck is shown, all the other cards are Rolling Stones cards. An updated version of an old classic.

An Invisible Card Trick: A prediction is placed on the table in advance. The spectator is asked to select...

Two sets of 10 cards are counted out fairly and openly onto a spectator's hand before being dropped into two glass tumblers where they can be clearly seen. One at a time three cards are invisibly moved from one glass to the other, and when the piles are counted back onto the spectator's hand again, the first glass only contains 7 cards and the other 13.

This is the classic cards across effect using a method that is completely move and sleight free. Everything happens at fingertips and there is no palming required, nor any special counts. Designed for a close-up or intimate parlour show,...

This is a new self-working card trick: the viewer will choose two cards, to represent the law and by means of which he will get two more cards, lost in the deck, which he will then divide into four bundles. Over the course of two separate stages, the spectator himself will insert the "sheriffs" within the deck, as arbitrarily as possible. The decks will be shuffled, cut and completed but, despite a thousand adversities, the two "sheriff" cards will succeed in tracking down and capturing the two "outlaws," generated by the combination of the first two cards, chosen at random.

The legend...

A.C.A.A.N. effects are a genre of effects now considered classics in card magic and mentalism, ever since David Berglas, who precisely first proposed a legendary version of it, called it "Any card At Any Number."

The idea of trying to write this special eBook came about while I was preparing my Contactless Automatic Card At Number series of Volumes (now at 6 Volumes) and experimenting in particular with the possibility of creating new automatic effects by making use of various stacks, including Si Stebbins and my VR Stack Pro (see Vol. 2 & 3):

From here to examining the Si Stebbins Pro, devised by Dr. Hans Christian Solka, was a short step, and with pleasure...

18 different completely self-working ACAAN type of effects.

S.H.I.EL.D. 3 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 3) is the third part of a collection of new, never-before-published card magic effects, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation by the magician, and being completely extemporaneous, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience (self-working and impromptu).

In addition, even the latter two effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode" (or hands-off, as others would say): the magician,...

S.H.I.EL.D. 2 (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck - Vol. 2) is the second part of a collection of new Cardmagic effects, never before published, designed by me and characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation on the part of the magician, and that they are completely impromptu, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience.

In addition, both of these effects can be performed entirely in "contactless mode," so even at a distance (by videoconference on Zoom, for example): the...

This sixth part of my card project (each volume is, in any case, totally independent of the others) includes 3 new original A.C.A.A.N. effects requiring no sleight of hands:

• B.F. (Back & Front) ACAAN
• Impromptu Countdown ACAAN
• ACAAN For Tea Time

It's a new series of hands-off self-working card magic effects, that will all happen in your viewer's hands. No particular skill is required, just the ability to instruct and pay attention to what the viewer is doing... In this third eBook you will find a colour Pdf that will allow you to perform amazing automatic "Any Card At Any Number"...

I started from Karl Fulves' idea called "Voodoo Cards", published on pp. 588-589 of The Pallbearers Review, Vol. 5-8 (November 1969 - October 1973), where a series of five effects proposed as bets are described, with the use of only three cards or tickets written on the spot. Always winning bets and of immediate revelation at first glance, also considering the fact that there are very few elements at stake and the (perceived) probability of success is 50%.

I propose an evolution of Fulves' work with three effects based on the same kind of principle, characterized by an apparent increasing difficulty,...

Australian card man Ian Baxter presents a brand-new, revamped handling of that timeless classic, Royal Marriages.

Totally impromptu and free of sleights, fakes, stranger cards, accessories and the like. You won't find so much as a camouflaged in-jog here in this modernised gem where the Kings and Queens of the pack magically pair up in their correct suits. Just eight cards are used, the four Kings and four Queens from any deck.

Reviewer David Jones sums it up: "A simple and effective little mystery. Short, stunning and entirely sleight free. Another winner from Ian Baxter."

And the...

Esoteric ACAAN is an effect with two completely normal decks of cards. No gimmick. An original method to perform the famous Any Card At Any Number effect. The spectator will be able to name any card. Instant reset. It's really easy to do. No sleight of hand.

1st edition 2022, video 18:21

S.H.I.EL.D. (SelfWorking Honestly Impromptu Effect: card Location in the Deck) is a collection of four of my latest automatic card magic effects, never previously published, characterized by the fact that they can be performed with extreme ease, requiring no technique or manipulation by the magician, and being completely impromptu, performable even with a deck borrowed and shuffled by the audience.

The first and last effects, "Say My Name!" and "The Final Countdown", in addition to being fully automatic, can be performed entirely in "contactless mode": the magician, after handing the deck...

THE ABBOTT'S TEN PRINCIPLE: The principle, generally called Abbott's Ten by the Americans, actually dates back to an Italian manuscript about five hundred years ago (Mariano Tomatis - Messmer in pills - La Lollins and the magic of the sixteenth century - Episode 206).

This publication first describes the standard 10-card routine; I then analyzed the possibility of doing it with a different number of cards, even with tarot cards, and I studied the possibility of doing it in all conditions: in close up, on stage (two versions, one with billets and the other with the Tarot) and even on the...

I saw the first spelling effects a long time ago, studying Aldo Colombini's DVDs; they were in English and I gave up almost immediately, due to the great difference in seed letters and numbers: from diamonds to diamonds there was an ocean. I saw, I appreciated them ... and then I gave up. Some time later, trying and trying again, a light bulb came on: I thought I had invented my spelling in Italian; beautiful exceptional. Later I discovered that I had not really invented anything, there were dozens and hundreds of similar and ... almost the same. Then, continuing to study the great masters, I began to collect...

Water and oil is an effect that has always fascinated me, but the principle is so simple that I think it is impossible to invent something more effective; moreover, the effect requires a secret manipulation that is impossible to replicate, if everything is expected to be done in the hands of the spectator, "on the other end of the line" (of the telephone).

I, therefore, followed a different path: to try to replicate, in the spectator, the amazement of finding the separated cards, when they were arranged alternately by his hands, in front of his eyes.

Also in this publication I propose,...

The effects of "remote" mentalism (with the performer blindfolded, in another room, or, even, on the phone, with only the audio connection) generally use mathematical principles. Often, with a little pack of cards (or billets) real miracles can be performed: if the cards are to be shuffled by the spectator, it is necessary that the shuffle appears as random as possible, even if it must necessarily be a mathematical one.

With this publication I have addressed some well-known moves, used in different ways, alone or in conjunction with other shuffles or other principles; once the principle...

An unexplored "classic": this has been for me, for many years, the "Australian shuffle". I learned it as a young man from Aldo Colombini, who often included it in his impromptu effects; later I studied John Scarne (and his wonderful idea in Phone Miracle, which we will comment on together later) and Max Maven.

Then I read Nick Conticello, and a new world opened up: I discovered that all the greats of card magic have tried their hand at the Australian deal; Nick, however, made me wonder a bit more: today I don't think there is more space to invent, but a lot to develop new routines, putting together various principles.

In my...

Ask the spectator to take any deck of cards, and to shuffle it well (it is useless, but it is very "magician"). Get a few cards, as many as the spectator wants, and then make another packet of the same size next to this one. You will ask the spectator to move, as desired, cards from one pile to the other, to divide one pile into two unequal packets, to look at a card of a certain number down the middle pack, and then collect the packets one on top of the other. Before concluding, remind the spectator that he made all the choices independently, he chose the number of cards to move from one...

This collection of math-based tricks includes two effects suitable for virtual shows. One is a Triumph effect the other a spelling trick that works both in English and French. Again, Miller includes some nicely designed print templates which you can print out directly from the PDF to perform the tricks with appropriately themed cards.

• Star Day
• Doppio
• Left or Right?
• Talmi 1
• Talmi 2
• Separo 1
• Separo 2
• Gigl-Gogl 1
• Gigl-Gogl 2
• Verifying an Oddity
• Sweet and Luxurious
• Hands-off Triumph
• Buoyancy
• Boarding
• Chef’s Special
• Chiamato
• With Comp7ements I
• With Comp7ements II
• 25 cm
• Magic...

Mr. T is an underground gambler, the man who wrote the Pro Guide to the Lucky Log, and the exclusive manual for "Bingo Bango". Now he brings you A Sweet and Simple Swindle. Two of them actually, because the PDF includes an additional bonus swindle with playing cards.

Both dead easy to do, no sleight of hand, no complicated tactics, just a sweet advantage to you, where the mark will believe they have the better of you all along. No marked cards or anything of the sort, both of these use a regular deck of playing cards that can be borrowed, so easy a kid could take advantage of this ... if...

Tried and tested card tricks requiring no skill.

• The Sensitive Touch
• A New Card Force
• Locate It
• Out Of The Pocket
• The Subtle Exchange
• Simplified Telephone Mind Reading Card Trick
• The Turnover Deception
• The Invisible Card
• It's Reversed
• A Unique Card Force
• Byplay
• Reel Magic
• For The Reader Of This Manuscript

1st edition 1932, 3rd edition 1973, 19 pages; PDF 18 pages.

Two bizarre playing card routines.

In the Devil's Game you tell the story of a guy named Billy who finds himself in hell, he simply can't believe it. Billy just doesn't belong in hell, he lived his life honestly, he was loyal, he was a good guy, did the right things, played by the rules. What the hell is he doing in hell?! So he asks one of the Devil's minions to please take him to the devil, that he urgently needs to speak to him to figure this thing out. The minion takes him to the devil's lavish chambers, and the devil, smoking a cigar, surrounded by beautiful women, quietly hears him...

Two cards (2 x Queen of Spades) are shown to a spectator, who is then handed an "invisible card" the 9 of Hearts. The spectator throws the invisible card towards the magician who is going to catch it between the two queens. The spectator does this and the 9 of hearts instantly appears between them! Then, whenever the magician wants, the 9 of hearts vanishes - only to turn up in another location. This is a great self-working effect that gets great reactions.

You'll need to make the gimmick with a couple of things most magicians will already possess. It'll take you just five minutes and...

10 new card magic effects, semi-automatic and hands-off, thought to be performed at distance, remotely in a video call (like Zoom, Skype, Google Meet...) or just on phone. Some mathematical principles alternate with others less known in card magic, to create easy but amazing new effects that can pleasantly fool all your viewers.

Here are the effects, all executable at a distance:

FIVE CARDS MIRACLE - One card thought of in five, so simple and straightforward that it will fool anyone.

E-SANDWICH - Two special cards will be able to capture the card the spectator is thinking about. ...

A collection of really nice card tricks that require no sleight-of-hand. Additionally, you will get an informative biographical sketch of Fred Roner written by Richard Hatch.

• Fred Roner: Card Conjurer, Stage Pickpocket, Painter
• You have bought this book!
• The Press and I
• Guessing of Cards
• No Title?
• With dice and matches
• The three righteous
• Which card is missing?
• I knew it!
• Vanished?

1st German edition 1929, 1st English translation 2022; PDF 20 pages.

This fifth part of my card project (each volume is, in any case, totally independent of the others) includes 3 new original A.C.A.A.N. effects requiring no sleight of hands:

• Multiverse ACAAN (Parallel Universes in a deck of cards!)
• Royal AKAAN (the King of "Card at Number"!)
• IMPROMPTU Lucky ACAAN (Card at Lucky Number, with a borrowed and shuffled deck!)

It's a new series of hands-off self-working card magic effects, that will all happen in your viewer's hands. No particular skill is required, just the ability to instruct and pay attention to what the viewer is doing... In this third...

A spectator signs a freely selected card (no force). The card is replaced into the deck which is shuffled and thrown loose into a McDonald's paper bag (or any other bag, or container, which can be borrowed and is completely ungimmicked). The bag is shaken by various spectators - the cards are genuinely mixed-up. The magician then reaches into the bag whilst looking away - and brings out a single card. It is the signed card! This is so easy, self-working, and perfect for close-up or on stage.

You can find the only blue card in a red deck - whilst properly blindfolded. Includes a fantastic,...

This ebook, written by Roberto Bombassei and edited in the English version by Biagio Fasano, is a formidable collection of almost twenty card magic effects, semi-automatic and hands-off, meant to be performed remotely, on the phone, or in a video conference. Principles known to magicians alternate with others more interesting and less known by various authors, to create new effects that can pleasantly amaze your viewers.

Here are some of the tricks you'll find:

• TOUCH CARD LOCATION - a method to find a chosen card in an inexplicable way.
• MACH PREDICTION - another way to locate a card...

Uncutted is a three-phase routine with a totally unexpected ending. The spectator can make free choices but many coincidences will happen. A deck cut in half literally. The spectator will always magically find the corresponding card in the other half. A long series of unexpected coincidences. A very fun routine.

• You have all the material at home to construct your deck
• You will use a normal deck
• No force
• No sleight of hand
• Detailed instructions

1st edition 2022, video 27:25.

This self-working effect is Graham's feature in the close-up spot of his cruise ship cabaret act. Plays big. Is easy to do. Comes with gags and Graham's full presentation. And it includes the bonus effect: Movie Star Madness.

The Elvis card is lost somewhere in the deck. A deck of blue cards is shown then cut into two piles. The spectator selects a pile, and then deals the cards face up onto the table - they are told to stop when they are happy. All the other cards are turned over and they are blue-backed. But - there was one red-backed card in the deck ... the spectator dealt the cards...

The method for this miracle is a miracle. So sneaky and ingenious and in many ways better than other gimmicks that have been used for this type of method. The gimmick is something that opens the door to new ideas because this technique is a very powerful weapon.

The title says it all. This effect will fool anyone. Even the most experienced magicians. A revolutionary and incredibly surprising technique. You will be able to find the card the spectator cuts to in a shuffled and borrowed deck, under incredibly impossible conditions. Really easy to do, no sleight of hand.

• No marked cards ...

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,...

Deadlift! No ... not the heavy compound movement that works for multiple muscle groups. Instead, this is a hard-hitting piece of mentalism that looks very clean. It is a hands-off impossible card divination that can be done with any regular deck and no gimmicks.

You riffle shuffle the cards. While your back is turned they cut to a card, they memorize it, and they bury it somewhere in the deck. You turn around, and with 100% accuracy, you can go through the cards and remove their thought-of card.

To perform this effect, you will need a very small setup that takes only a few seconds. ...

This fourth part of my card project (each volume is, in any case, totally independent of the others) includes 3 new original A.C.A.A.N. effects requiring no sleight of hands:

• K.N.O.C.K. Out ACAAN
• Direct ACAAN
• ACAAN C.B.F.

It's a new series of hands-off self-working card magic effects, that will all happen in your viewer's hands. No particular skill is required, just the ability to instruct and pay attention to what the viewer is doing... In this third eBook you will find a colour Pdf that will allow you to perform amazing automatic "Any Card At Any Number" Effects.

These are the...

Virtual Color Separation is an unusual and incredible effect of hands-off card magic, manageable even remotely, through a video chat, such as Zoom, Skype or Google Meet, but especially possible to perform by phone, with a spectator who has a common deck of 52 playing cards, that the magician will never have the opportunity to see but will still be able to control inexplicably, coming at the end to separate the red-suited cards from the black ones, without the spectator any wiser.

A lady chosen as a spectator, after having separated the red-suited cards from the black ones, will choose the...

It's a devilishly clever method with four different presentations. You'll likely think of several more. There's a You-Do-As-I-Do effect, a Card Climax, a Phone Miracle, and Scarne's Best Prediction. No sleights. Simple, sure, and direct. Can be worked surrounded by spectators and dead easy to perform. All you require is the instructions, as no gimmicks are used. Use anyone's cards.

If you think that the pandemic is limiting your performance opportunities, you'll especially like Scarne's Phone Miracle. All you need is a spectator with a smartphone or landline. And, unlike virtually every...

This third part of my card project (each volume is, in any case, totally independent of the others) includes 3 new original A.C.A.A.N. effects requiring no sleight of hands:

• Two Cuts Too Fast To ACAAN
• Cut & Create ACAAN
• Si Stebbins ACAAN.

It's a new series of hands-off self-working card magic effects, that will all happen in your viewer's hands. No particular skill is required, just the ability to instruct and pay attention to what the viewer is doing... In this third eBook you will find a colour Pdf that will allow you to perform amazing automatic "Any Card At Any Number" Effects. ...

This second part of my card project includes 3 new original A.C.A.A.N. effects requiring no sleight of hands:

• Palindromic A.C.A.A.N.
• Creative A.C.A.A.N.
• V.R. A.C.A.A.N.

It's a new series of hands-off self-working card magic effects, that will all happen in your viewer's hands. No particular skill is required, just the ability to instruct and pay attention to what the viewer is doing.

In this second eBook you will find a color PDF that will allow you to perform amazing automatic "Any Card At Any Number" effects.

These are the simple rules that all my effects obey in this project: ...