
Martin Lewis writes:
We filmed eccentric Bavarian magician Alexander de Cova perform, when he gave his only lecture here in America. Later, we got him aside, and he revealed in detail the methods, history, and thinking behind the dozen knockout effects on the two Enigmatic volumes.
Alex's unconventional ideas for parlour and platform are audience-tested and perfected over many years. His way of avoiding complicated methods by means of ingenious simplicity will keep surprising you.
Watch real avant-garde magic from the non-conformist mind of Europe's best, Alexander de Cova. ...

Prepared from Houdini's private notebooks and memoranda with the assistance of Beatrice Houdini, widow of Houdini, and Bernard M. L. Ernst, president of the parent assembly of the Society of American Magicians.

A psychological study.
This book was praised by both Freud and Wundt, and it was recommended by Henry Hay, aka Barrows Mussey, as recommended reading to understand the psychological aspects of magic. Deception, misdirection, and other aspects of conjuring are based on psychology. A better understanding helps magicians create deeper mysteries.

A professional feature routine built for real-world working performers.
Six bottles are openly removed from a cardboard wine carton and individually displayed. Multiple bottles can be used to pour real wine, establishing complete authenticity. Each bottle is returned to the carrier.
A spectator is invited to guess which bottle is removed from the carton (with a paper bag over it) placed into a wooden gift presentation box. Whatever the guess, the bottle vanishes completely.
When the magician returns his attention back to the remaining 5 bottles of wine in the carton, they have completely...
EFFECT #1: A CAN OF DICEThe performer reflects on how we like to believe we're in control of our choices - only to suggest that control itself may be an illusion.
He puts a deck of cards in its case on the table and gives a pair of dice to a spectator. The spectator rolls the dice to generate two numbers in two different ways. The two numbers are added together and their total is - for example - 23. The performer now removes the deck from its case and spreads it from one end to the other. The only odd-backed card is placed...

Effect: A deck is shuffled and then cut into four piles by a spectator. The spectator takes the bottom card of any pile and places it in their pocket without looking at it. Your back is turned the entire time.
Through a "reading" of their body language, you identify which pile they took the card from. But then you go further. You name the exact card in their pocket - a card that even the spectator has not seen yet.
Why it fools magicians and laypeople alike

This is a wonderfully simple plot that creates a really puzzling effect. A regular, ungimmicked coffee cup is shown and a large sponge ball is tipped out from inside. The cup is clearly shown to be otherwise empty and both of the performer's hands also have genuinely nothing in them.
The ball is placed into a pocket, both hands again being shown to be empty. The inside of the coffee cup is displayed and then inverted mouth down onto the magician's hand. A snap of the fingers and when the cup is tipped backwards, the ball is found impossibly to be back underneath.
[Note that this is not...

A very direct ACAAN-style effect. The magician places a single card on the table. The spectator freely rolls two dice and chooses how to combine the numbers. A deck is brought out and shown to be all different, with no duplicates. The cards are dealt to the chosen number, and it exactly matches the prediction on the table.
1st edition 2026, video 13 min.

An impressive (self-working) effect in which the illusionist will manage to find an incredible series of twin pairs starting from a card chosen by the spectator.
You will learn an astonishing automatic card magic effect based on the theme of couples and, in particular, twin pairs, consisting of any card and the one other card that shares both its color and its value.
A spectator receives the deck shuffled by the magician, cuts it at any point and, once completed, begins to turn the cards over from the top until they find the first card of even value (therefore composed of the sum of...

Un impressionante effetto (Self-Working) in cui l'illusionista riuscirà a trovare una serie incredibile di Coppie Gemelle a partire da una carta scelta dallo spettatore!
Imparerete come eseguire uno stupefacente effetto Automatico di Cartomagia costruito sul tema delle COPPIE e, in particolare, delle COPPIE GEMELLE, formate cioè da una carta qualsiasi e da quell'unica altra che ne condivide sia il COLORE che il VALORE.
Uno spettatore, ricevuto il mazzo mescolato dal mago, lo taglia in un punto qualsiasi e, una volta ricomposto, inizia a voltarne le carte dalla cima, fino ad incontrare...

Real magic, for real people.
First, in a live performance for lay people, close up and personal, you will see full-time pro Cody Fisher perform the powerful magic that has won him awards worldwide, including the very prestigious Texas Association of Magicians award for best close-up magic.
Each of these effects has been honed over countless performances into the strong magic pieces they are now. Cody tips everything, including all of the gags and bits of business, that make these outstanding tricks into the strong pieces of magical entertainment that they are.
If you have read Cody's...

Grand Slam is the ultimate closing routine for your card magic act. It's a hard-to-beat routine that will allow you to end your act with a bang!
Read what Aldo himself says in the preface:
The routine presented in this booklet...can make you famous as a great manipulator. The routine belongs to that genre of effects that reinforce in the minds of spectators that the magician has complete control over the cards. It is a closing routine in that you will hardly find another one with a greater impact than this... Prepare your deck, because I am convinced that once you learn it, you will...

Punchy, powerful tricks for magicians
From one of the most prolific and battle-tested creators in modern magic comes an ebook that does not mess around. Astonishers is not theory. It's not pipe dreams. And it's definitely not magic that only works in the comfort of your living room. This is real-world, audience-tested, reputation-building magic - created, refined, and performed by Wolfgang Riebe, a full-time professional entertainer with over four decades of global performance experience.
Every routine in this ebook has earned its place in front of live, paying audiences. No filler. No...

Effect: After the spectator shuffles the deck, he looks at a card in the fairest conditions and buries that card in the deck. He then freely selects a helper card (QD) and cuts the deck again. Unbelievably, the Helper card finds the spectator's card without the magician touching the cards.
Description:
Imagine a routine where the spectator does everything. They shuffle the deck, they look at any card - no force required - and they bury the card into the deck. You don't touch a thing while they "fairly" lose their card in the pack.
Why it's a must-have:

Sold today as Magic Coloring Book, for centuries these have been known as Blow Books. Senior Antonio Blitz worked from the 1830's through the 1860's. He possessed a rare hand-illustrated version. Kept constantly wrapped in heavy paper, he only unwrapped it while performing. This suggests he considered it to be of great value. We offer a few suggestions so that you can get the most response from this 200-plus-year-old marvel.
Note: This download video does not explain how the blow book is gimmicked or how to make one yourself. It is a common dealer item. The video provides a...

Two sets of 7 cards are shown. One pile has pictures of the logos of 7 of the most common social media platforms. The other set has the names of these platforms written in words on the cards.
Two spectators who do not know each other are invited to see whether they can connect via the same social media platform. The pile of cards with names on them are shuffled and spread face down. Spectator 1 can touch the back of any one of the cards – it is a genuinely free choice. The selection is placed aside unseen but in view.
The pile of logo cards is shuffled and spectator 2 names any number...

An incredibly automatic mentalism effect in which the illusionist will be able to discover both the card chosen by the spectator and the role of knight or villain that he has secretly assumed!
A mentalism effect in which a spectator freely chooses any card from a deck shuffled by the audience and places it among a dozen or so other cards that he has taken himself, turning them randomly face up and face down, and shuffling them together. After a further series of shuffles and a few questions, which the spectator is free to answer either truthfully or untruthfully, the mentalist discovers...

Un effetto incredibilmente automatico di mentalismo in cui l'illusionista riuscirà a scoprire sia la carta scelta dallo spettatore che il ruolo di cavaliere o furfante che egli avrà segretamente assunto!
Un effetto di Mentalismo in cui uno spettatore sceglie liberamente, da un mazzo mescolato dal pubblico, una carta qualsiasi e la disperde in mezzo ad un'altra dozzina circa di carte da lui stesso prelevate, voltandole a caso un po' di faccia e un po' di dorso, e mescolandole tra loro. Dopo una serie ulteriore di miscugli e poche domande, a cui lo spettatore sarà libero di scegliere...

A simple, multifaceted routine you can carry in your wallet. Four blank cards, eight words, multiple revelations and much more. Names, places, emotions, objects, lies, truth and more.
"I've just bought and read both Moniker and DDT - Fantastic stuff." - Timon Krause
"It is clever, and I like it a lot! Especially as it uses something which I really like and use in different and various routines of my own." - Jan Forster
Basic Moniker
A spectator mixes four cards. Each card has two common names written on it. She thinks of one of the names while the performer's...