Magic & Mentalism: page 430

The year 1893 was a milestone in the history of puzzle literature. Until then few, if any, books had been devoted to any great extent to mechanical puzzles. But in late 1878 or early 1879 an event occurred that took the world by storm. A little puzzle - called the "Fifteen" or "Boss" puzzle - with its 15 numbered square blocks that had to be slid into their correct order in a box, captured the imagination of the public. The resulting craze was as exciting as the one caused by the Rubik's Cube.

Whilst the "Fifteen" puzzle craze died down after a few years, it spawned a whole variety of mechanical...

Four incredible card effects that defy explanation and invite complete examination.

Allan Ackerman is one of the world's foremost experts at sleight-of-hand magic and gambling moves with playing cards. On this amazing download DVD you will be treated to four of the most incredible card routines ever created - absolute stunners that simply defy explanation. Normally, a brother magician might exclaim, "You're using gaffed cards!" To which you reply, "Go ahead, take a look!" Examine to their heart's content and they will find nothing. That's because Allan has devised extremely devious and elegant...

Effect: A prediction identifies both the freely selected card (Wild Card) and its precise location in the deck, despite the deck (52 cards) being thoroughly shuffled by the spectator after the prediction was made. The routine is framed within the context of a card game. The spectator chooses the specific card game, number of players, the Wild Card, and they deal the game. The magician never touches the cards.

Are you looking for a killer prediction effect that'll knock their socks off and is easy to do? Well, you're in luck - this is exactly what you need. This effect represents the pinnacle...

A short account of its rise and progress, with some exposures of so-called spirit media.

Excerpt from the preface:

A mysterious, baffling, entertaining, eye-appealing transposition of two selected cards.

A selected card vanishes, reappears, vanishes, and transposes itself with another previously selected card. This PDF includes the original manuscript, plus all the refinements and methods Marlo added over the years.

More detailed effect description:

Two spectators freely select cards from a shuffled deck. The selections are returned to the deck, which is mixed and cut. The cardician removes five cards. Each one is shown and tabled, then he asks, "Did anyone see their card?" One of the spectator...

The Psychic Reader's Toolbox is for people who already have some experience at giving readings, and are ready to progress and become better at the art.

It includes:

• How to give instant readings to strangers by analyzing their temperaments and body language.
• How to improve your readings skills by including validation, baggage release, love and relationships, pronoia, the labyrinth, pendulum, crystals, and even a blessing.
• How to tell people what day of the week their birthday is on.
• How to increase your income by offering dream interpretations and Akashic Record readings to your clients. ...

Camirand Academy presents: Metal Bending: The Real Work with Patrik Kuffs. A groundbreaking project (or as some call it "a controversy") that stirred up the magic/mentalism world in 1999. Originally available on VHS, then reissued on DVD and quickly sold out (two reeditions), it is now reissued in official digital format, providing access to a new generation of mind bending enthusiasts.

The quality of the video is not perfect (well, it was shot last century) and Kuffs's English was somewhat creative/approximative at the time. (He's a French Québécois after all.) But you'll find the energy...

Everything you want to know about locks and their use in conjuring.

Excerpt from the introduction by Mark Strivings:

The ultimate examination of the Seven Keys to Baldpate plot and the use of locks in mentalism and magic. Locked is 360 pages of tricks, routines, explanations, research, and...

Senor Mardo brings you a complete analysis of the manipulation, routining, and presentation of that magical classic, The Cups and Balls. Seven beautiful routines devoted to classic close-up and night club magic effects.

We've wanted to offer this hard-to-find title for years and are now able to do so... and at a price that won't break the bank (originally sold for the equivalent of $35.00 in today's money when first released).

Four complete routines are presented in this book, with more than 30 illustrations:

• One cup routine
• Two cup routine
• Three cup routine
• Mardo's "Impromptu...

Two packets, one with four blue-backed aces, and the other with four red-backed kings. Putting one of the aces in the kings pile and one of the kings in the aces pile makes the other cards follow their leaders.

1st edition 2025, video 8:22.

There are three moves and nine complete routines covered.

Allan Ackerman is one of the world's foremost experts at sleight-of-hand magic and gambling moves with playing cards. On this fascinating video recording, you will be treated to card magic's most venerable and classic effects, all given the Ackerman treatment. These are some of Allan's most cherished effects that he has used under fire, night after night to fool both laymen and magicians alike. Card magic like this has earned Allan a worldwide reputation as The Las Vegas Card Expert.

Magic can be a lifetime hobby and card magic...

The effect centers around the illusion of manipulating time by making a prediction about a spectator's card selection. The prediction is revealed to be blank even though the spectator thought he saw the magician write the prediction. This subtly suggests that we have moved backward through time to a point before the prediction was written down. Next, the spectator's freely chosen card turns out to be blank as well. The prediction was correct! This happens with a normal deck of cards. The effect creates a sense that the past, present, and future have been merged through mysterious forces. ...

This ebook includes issues 1 and 2 of the Provenance Hunter.

• Tracking the Lazy Man's Card Trick
• Laziest Man's Card Trick / Edward Marlo & Jon Racherbaumer
• In Situ Lazy Man's / Jon Racherbaumer
• Select Bibliography
• Card-to-Mouth and the Mercury Card Fold

1st edition 2014, PDF 19 pages.

Excerpt from the preface:

Levitation effects have always had a powerful impact on audiences. While these can certainly wow an audience when done on stage when they are performed right under the noses of the spectators the impact is only heightened. Few levitation effects can be performed as close to a spectator as the Okito Voodoo Doll. With these dolls, the magician does not need to consider lighting, proximity or even angles. Added to this the fact that it is a small, cheap and totally self-contained prop there is a lot to like about this effect. It is for all these reasons and more that the Okito Voodoo Doll has become...

A great new presentation by Ed Stoddard for Annemann's famous "Pseudo Psychometry" effect.

Not to worry if you don't own the Annemann original, for that's also included. This is a terrific 10-minute routine, thanks to the marvelous presentation from Stoddard and the devious method from Annemann.

Reviews:

"Stoddard is certainly cooking with gas for you mentalists. We particularly like his handling of Annemann's Pseudo Pyschometry which is being put out as Intuition." - Bruce Elliott

"'Pseudo-Psychometry' has always been a headline effect. Now in its new dress, 'Intuition' likewise tops the bill." - Max Holden

You show four jokers and place them individually on the table. Then you show four 5-of-hearts. By adding jokers to the fives the jokers change to fives. The fives change to jokers and finally, the fives change to the four kings.

1st edition 2024, video 6:53.

This is an original type of secret verbal two-way coding, which, to my knowledge so far, is unprecedented, and inexplicable even to experts. I think it enables incredible mentalism effects, such as the one reported in this text (and others to follow shortly)...

Imagine that the medium's helper, after having her blindfolded and her back turned, hands a spectator a very ordinary deck of poker cards (it might even have been borrowed from a person in the audience), which he can safely check and shuffle at will. The same spectator will then be asked to draw three cards of his choice, taking...

Si tratta di un originalissimo tipo di segreta codifica verbale a due che, a quanto finora mi risulta, è del tutto inedita ed originale, inesplicabile anche per gli esperti, e consente incredibili effetti di Mentalismo, quale quello riportato in questo testo (ed altri che ne seguiranno a breve!) ...

Immaginate che l'aiutante della medium, dopo averla fatta bendare e voltare di spalle, consegni ad uno spettatore un comunissimo mazzo di carte da poker (potrebbe anche essere stato preso a prestito da una persona del pubblico), che potrà tranquillamente controllare e mescolare a piacere....

Excerpt from the introduction by David Goodsell:

In this e-book, I want to teach an incredibly powerful coincidence effect that is based on an idea by Charles Jordan. A card is fairly selected and lost, and then found in a highly unique way. For lay people, it doesn't get stronger than this; of all the effects that I've created, this generates the best reactions from lay audiences.

Imagine:

The magician introduces a deck of cards. He spreads it face-up to display that all the cards are different and in no particular order. He then hands the deck to the spectator as he says, "I want you to cut off about a third of the deck and give it a shuffle until...

Effect: In this demonstration of mind reading, a spectator simply thinks of one shape from a selection of seven distinct shapes. The spectator keeps their chosen shape private. Through the process where the spectator secretly spells out their chosen shape, the magician reveals the shape they had only moments ago held in their mind.

Here's what makes this effect so special: by using geometric shapes instead of regular playing cards, and adapting a clever principle from the gambling world into mind reading, we've created something truly different. It's not only astonishing to your audience,...

You display four 7 of Clubs from the front and from the back. Turning over one of the sevens, they all turn over from face-up to face-down. Suddenly they change into four different sevens, all four suits. It also turns out that they have changed their backs.

1st edition 2024, video 4:07.