Self-Working or Sleightless in Cards: page 7

This effect is a variation of an effect called ACAT (Any Card At Any Time), extracted from CLUE ebook. It can be presented with playing cards, or special cards (like the Vernet PSImbol deck, or movies (like Directors's cut or Screen test), French postcards, etc.), or just with blank index cards or your own business cards (with drawings, symbols, words, numbers, etc. on the back). It is not a card trick, but rather a mystery or paradox.

It is hands-off, automatic, self-working, can be done over the phone or sight unseen, stand up, close up or stage (with jumbo cards). It is easy, practical, and...

Effect: A spectator looks at a card in a borrowed shuffled deck. You eliminate cards and the last card is their selection.

Key points:

• 100% impromptu and improvised.
• Any borrowed deck with any number of cards
• Hands off
• The cards are shuffled many times during the routine
• No accomplice, no gimmick, no setup, no dual reality, no sleight of hands, no fishing, 100% surefire.
• OK for stand-up, walk-around, parlor and why not stage.
• You do not have to touch or see anything
• You just need to know a couple of devious principles (some are new).
• Baffling and cannot be reverse-engineered due...

This is a marvelous compilation of mostly easy and sleightless, or as it is usually called self-working, card tricks. Some effects do require moves such as palming, and a good false shuffle and false cut will go a long way to make many otherwise sleightless effects much stronger. But for the most part no sleights are necessary to perform the vast majority of effects taught.

From the Introduction:

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...

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,...

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...

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...

What if I told you that there was an amazing card trick hidden in plain sight ... printed on the box of your favourite deck of cards? Henry Christ's "Tally-Ho!" is a unique and fun spelling trick like no other. By spelling the words found on a Tally-Ho card box in an order determined by the spectator, you are able to produce the four Nines - matching the "No. 9" printed on the box.

In this ebook, I will be teaching Roy Walton's variation of "Tally-Ho!" (permission granted by Roy Walton), along with my presentation for the trick. I will then present to you methods to perform this simple and self-working...

A fantastic card routine for all kinds of audience that will please and satisfy both seasoned magicians and those fairly new to the Art.

• No sleight of hand needed
• No gimmicks used
• No manipulation
• No preparation

EFFECT:

The magician takes 10 cards from the deck, 5 red and 5 black, of the same value (let's say from the...

Jon Racherbaumer steps forward with a very keen Introduction to this Baxter treatment of the classic Three Jacks Deal. “…celebrate and perform Baxter’s latest, evolutionary entry.” It has been around since 1928, but this version guides it well into the 21st century.

Ian Baxter has accomplished something remarkable. He has taken a wonderful classic self-working effect, that has been described and worked on by such luminaries as Walter Gibson, John Scarne, Rufus Steele, Harry Lorayne, Ed Marlo and made it even better, more direct, less dealing procedures while preserving the effect, the sleight-less feature as well as adding an additional climax....

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 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...

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...

Steve Mayhew has come up, with what must be the most clever application of the Gilbreath principle, or strictly speaking a principle closely related to Gilbreath's. He achieves with this idea extremely strong poker deal effects. If you are only remotely interested in poker deals, mathematical principles, or in particular the Gilbreath principle, you must read this ebook. This ebook is a reprint of his notes with the same title plus the effect "Freedom" from his lecture notes.

1st edition, 1999, Me and the Other Guy Productions.

1. Acknowledgments
2. Introduction
1. The Principle
1. Getting Ready ...

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...

A self-working principle which determined a person's thoughts . . . Listen to this bewildering effect. A pack of cards is shuffled and a spectator merely thinks of a card. The pack is then dealt once, twice and finally a third time into two piles. Before completing the last dealing the spectator may, if he so wishes, shuffle both halves. Despite all this, when the spectator deals through the pack he finds there are only 51 cards; the thought-of card has vanished! The performer produces the card from his pocket before the spectator names his chosen card. An astounding climax which completely...

Three spectators choose a card each. The cards vanish from the deck to later reappear face-up in a face-down spread. As long as you can count and do a double undercut you can perform this effect. Since there is counting and displaying of cards involved this effect requires a captive and moderately intelligent audience to play well.

runtime 9min 40s

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...

Scarne describes 155 easy to do tricks with cards. No sleight of hand skill whatsoever is required in these tricks. But don't assume that this makes them weak effects.

For this book Scarne obtained from Dunninger, Cardini, Dai Vernon, Francis Carlyle, Cliff Green, Russel Swan, Nate Leipzig, Thurston, Houdini and other famous magicians and card experts the secrets of some of their most notable tricks and effects. Together with these he has included many entirely new creations of his own. The demonstrations and explanations of the tricks are accompanied by illustrations. In addition, Scarne has included full instructions on...

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...

These are all self-working or very easy to perform effects.

One item that I would like to highlight is the Klutz Force, because it is on the same skill level as the popular Criss-Cross force, which is frequently used in self-working effects. With the Klutz Force you have an alternative that has a different feel and procedure.

• Simplex Physical & Mental
• Telephenomenal
• 21 And Then Some
• Guesstimation City
• Marked Calculation
• What Is the Question?
• Easy Prefiguration
• Klutzy Forces
• Hobson Chooses Again
• Punch-Line Division
• Simple Sync
• Is Your Pants On Fire?
• Made In the Shade
• No-Clue ...

This is an interesting study of the X-Force and variations thereof only the way Jon Racherbaumer can do it. The X-Force is the simplest force that every magician has learned to do at one point in their life. Jon dissects the X-Force or Criss-Cross Force and then puts it back together in different and new ways. This is fodder for those that want to go into the fine and nuanced details of performing this force.

• Introduction
• Drilling Down
• A Little History of the X-Force
• Layered-Cross-Cut Force
• First Method
• Second Method – Layered Double-Cross
• Two Cuts Are Better Than One
• Three Free...

Polishing and old principle of mooted origin ...

Jon Racherbaumer explores an old but fascinating self-working trick which can be performed with any set of counters, be they cards, sticks, stones, coins, matches, business cards, bottle caps, gummi bears, ...

• Prelude
• Introduction
• My Introduction To The Version With Playing Cards
• The Quickie Card Trick
• Beginnings
  • A Novel Card Trick (Howard L. Grant)
  • Toothpick Magic (U. F. Grant)
  • Counting Trick (Rufus Steele)
  • A Matter Of Debit And Credit (John Northern Hilliard)
• Spin-Offs
  • Balancing Debit And Credit (Ian Baxter)
  • The Trick That Fooled Einstein (Harry Franke) ...

Henry Hardin's plot has been around for 107 years and his initial three methods are explained in The Art of Magic (1909). Card tricks of this kind were atypical when Hardin devised his trick. During his time, spectators physically picked cards. They seldom, if ever, mentally selected them. Because only five cards are used in "The Princess Card Trick," Hardin strengthened the challenge by finding the mental selection by tactile means while the five "possibilities" were in his pocket.

This is how the his trick appeared to audiences: Five cards are shown to a spectator who is asked to think of one of them....