Video clips (download) in Magic & Conjuring: page 31

This is a very versatile switch allowing you to switch out one, two, three or four cards from a block of four. Allan got his inspiration from a 3 for 3 switch by Al Leech. One of the interesting parts of this video is that Allan shows the various transitions of his development going from Al Leech's move to Allan's final version.

runtime: 7min 36s

A card is chosen and signed and lost in the deck. The card travels repeatedly to the performers pocket in ever cleaner and more unbelievable fashion.

runtime: 4min 12s

This is the classic travelers plot from Dai Vernon, based on a handling by Jon Racherbaumer with some changes by Allan Ackerman. The four aces are lost in the deck at four different locations. You then pull out one ace from your right jacket pocket, another ace from your breast pocket, the third one from your left jacket pocket and the fourth one is left in your hand while the rest of the packet has magically traveled to your jacket pocket.

runtime: 2min 40s...

This is a routine Allan Ackerman developed in the early 1970s where he tried to achieve the cards across effect with as little motion as possible. He also added a visual card vanish. Later Paul Harris took this routine and turned it into his famous Sleeper routine.

A spectator picks a card. A second spectator cuts off a small portion of the deck, counts the cards, and puts the counted cards in a safe place. The performer then attempts to magically add as many cards to the second spectator's pack as the value of the card the first spectator chose.

The performer hands 6 cards to a spectator who arranges the cards in red-black alternating order. The performer openly counts those six cards to the table. Once the cards are ribbon spread on the table the colors have, like oil and water, separated.

This is a very clean sequence that can be added to most oil & water routines or performed stand-alone. The oil & water effect is an Ed Marlo creation. This version uses the Benzais cop to achieve the effect.

runtime: 1min 28s...

Spectator chooses a card, remembers it, and the card is lost in the deck. Then the performer places cards one by one on the table until the spectator says: "Stop!". Magically the spectator has stopped exactly at his chosen card.

This version of the Stop trick uses the Benzais Cop to achieve the effect.

runtime: 1min 49s

Spectator cuts the deck into four piles of approximately the same size. Performer puts one ace on each pile, assembles the piles and without any funny business the aces end up at the very top of the assembled pile.

This is an application of the Benzais cop.

runtime: 59s

The 'card under drink' plot was made famous by Heba Haba Al (Al Andrucci) in the 1960s. Ever since it has been a favorite of bar magicians all over the world. Here Allan teaches a version that uses a misdirective idea by John Bannon. The effect is clear and devastating. A chosen card unexpectedly ends up under a drink (glass, can, etc.).

runtime: 2min 11s

The 'card to wallet' effect is one of those all-time classic magic effects. It is probably the best application for palming. A spectator freely selects a card, signs it, shuffles the pack, and magically the chosen and signed card ends up in a zippered compartment in your wallet.

runtime: 2min 49s

This is a beautiful Larry Jenning routine where hand progressively gets better and better starting from a simple pair all the way to a straight flush.

runtime: 9min 32s

This is a patter line used by Paul LePaul. It can be used in combination with a glide, second deal or double lift. Allan uses here a mechanical second.

runtime: 47s

This is an idea by Steve Mayhew. He turns the classic Triumph effect into something entirely different. A face-up half of a deck is shuffled into the other face-down half. The performer then demonstrates center dealing only the face-up cards. The last face-up cards coming out of the deck are the four aces leaving the performer with only face-down cards.

runtime: 4min 53s

This was a favorite effect of Ed Marlo. The performer looks through the cards and selects four random cards which he puts face-down in front of the spectator. However, once the spectator turns those cards over they are now all aces.

runtime: 2min 15s

The roles are reversed. The performer selects a card and the spectator finds the card by selecting a number, dealing to the number and indeed finding the selected card there.

You will need to know the Pip Bottom Deal to perform this effect.

runtime: 3min 28s

Spectator selects and remembers a card that is lost back into the deck. Another spectator deals cards into the performer's hand and stops anytime they want. The card stopped at is the first spectator's chosen card.

This version uses the Havana Bottom Deal. This video does not include a detailed explanation of the Havana bottom deal.

runtime: 3min 1s

This is a neat little ace revelation using three bottom deals. Performer deals cards to the table until spectator says: "Stop." Another packet is dealt until spectator says: "Stop." This is done for another two times until a total of four packets are on the table. The bottom most card of all those four packets is an ace.

runtime: 1min 23s

This is Jack Merlin's Order trick from And a Pack of Cards. The performer and spectator each give the deck a legitimate riffle shuffle. Then all the Spades are removed from the deck, shown in a ribbon spread, counted to be 13, and magically end up in order from ace to king.

runtime: 4min 16s

This trick can be found in Charlie Miller's book An Evening with Charlie Miller. The performer deals cards face-up on the table until a spectator says stop. The deck is ribbon spread face-down and one card has a different colored back. It turns out the only one card with the differently colored back is the one card the spectator stopped at.

runtime: 2min 20s

This is a routine Roger Klause and Allan Ackerman worked out in the 70s. The effect is the classic find the black lady. The classic effect is to throw three cards on the table face-down. Here the cards are simply displayed and counted to the table to achieve the same basic effect: the spectator never finds the black lady. The three card monte is expanded to a four card monte and the climax is that the cards change to the four aces.

runtime: 9min 36s...

This is a neat ambitious type card routine where it appears that the deck consists of all the same cards because the same card can be found on the top, center and bottom.

It is assumed that you know the Ultra Move, Double Deal and a double lift.

runtime: 2min 13s

A spectator peeks at a card and performer knows which card was peeked at. This is done twice in a row and both times the performer is correct.

runtime: 3min 9s

This is a Roy Walton's effect where Allan has slightly changed the method. A spectator selected card ends up between the two red kings.

runtime: 3min 56s

Performer repeatedly riffle shuffles the deck and still cuts to all four aces one at a time. This is an Ed Marlo routine.

runtime: 2min 25s

The performer fans a deck of cards which are all blank. Spectator merely thinks of a card. Performer removes the thought of card, which is naturally again a blank card. Magically the blank card turns into the thought of card and as a climax the whole blank deck turns into a regular deck.

runtime: 3min 31s