Cards in Magic & Mentalism

A deck is shuffled and placed squared face down on the table. A spectator is invited to cut off a block of cards from the pack and to look at and remember the face card of the cut-away section.

The helper is now asked to cut his block of cards to lose the selection in the centre of the pile, and then he is requested to slip his pile somewhere into the middle of the cards still on the table, squaring the pack at the finish.

The magician has had no opportunity to catch even a glimpse of the chosen card, and in fact, the deck itself is put away in the box to preclude that possibility. Despite...

If you're a student of the Corner Short Card (CSC), this new discovery is going to captivate you. The ability to locate a CSC can transform your card magic - making your handling appear completely natural.

Say goodbye to holding breaks and using crimps. A CSC remains permanently hidden in plain sight, and this method lets you find it without suspicion.

You'll discover the most deceptive CSC discovery technique ever devised - so subtle it's practically invisible, even to seasoned eyes. This is a sleight-of-hand method; no external devices are used. Over a dozen crystal-clear instructional...

The spectator selects a card and returns it to the deck. The spectator cuts off a packet, then the performer deals left and right. Four consecutive times the dealt cards are not the selection, yet each one precisely names an attribute of the chosen card, and after the elimination, the final remaining card is the original selection. Even more, when the four piles are turned face up, together with the selection they form a Royal Flush.

During the spectator's cut, there is no crimp and no extra handling, yet the selection and the key cards can still be located with precision.

1st edition...

After the four Aces are lost in the deck, the spectator cuts to each one.

Obviously, this is not a new effect and can be accomplished in a myriad of different ways.

Why explain it yet again here?

The answer is in the methods used. The combination of methods to be described are virtually unknown and have never before been used together in this context.

Hidden for many decades in the vast literature of card magic, the secrets are finally revealed here for a new generation.

It's $7, about the price of a Starbucks Frappuccino Delight, and unlike coffee, this routine will elicit gasps...

An A.C.A.A.N. in which everything was already planned!

An amazing prediction trick in which a spectator freely chooses a card from which an experiment will begin, guided by the deck itself to lead to a predetermined outcome. Based on the "A.C.A.A.N." theme, made self-working thanks to a new stack: "Tricolor".

After introducing a deck of cards and shuffling it, the illusionist hands it to a spectator to cut and complete as he wishes. Meanwhile, he places a blank card on the table and announces that the back of the card contains a Prediction of what will happen shortly.

The spectator...

8 cards and a bewildering number of changing faces and backs. Watch the demo video below.

1st edition 2026, video 5:32

Effect: The magician writes a secret prediction and gives it to the spectators to hold. The spectators shuffle the deck. Under the fairest conditions, two spectators each look at a different card (no force) in different locations in the deck. The deck is cut by both spectators. The magician's prediction reveals the card in between the spectator's two chosen cards.

Description: The spectators never see the ending coming! This is not another prediction effect. This plays like the classic Magician in Trouble ploy.

With minimal magician involvement, a true miracle happens. Before the effect...

A quick, convincing, smart version of this classic. No heavy lifting here. The vanish is clean, the action deliberate, few if any angle concerns, little skill required. Can you afford not to invest the minimal effort required to include this startling vanish/production among your surprises? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

1st edition 2026, video 38s.

This project introduces three of my secret single-card reversal techniques. You can present them as a sleight demonstration or apply them within other card routines to achieve greater impact and utility. These three techniques have not been named yet.

1st edition 2026, video 7:43

Four cards are shown and counted repeatedly. Every time through the count, one card suddenly has a big hole through its center. These are real holes you can put your finger through. This goes on until all four cards have holes.

1st edition 2026, video 2:13.

The spectator selects a card and replaces it in the deck. The magician has the spectator cut the deck into three piles and turn over the top card of each pile. None of them is the selection, but the values of the three top cards add up to the exact position of the selected card.

No Crimp - the position is found purely by adding the values of the three cards the spectator cuts to. There is no secret cut involved.

1st edition 2026, video 10:28.

A very simple way to cut to the desired cards, ideal as an opening effect. A detailed application of a classic principle, ending with an unexpected kicker.

1st edition 2026, video 4:10.

An impromptu location effect, incredibly self-working.

The title, which could also be read, thanks to a play on words, as "How to catch one card," indicates an easy but amazing effect, performable in any context and incredibly self-working, of finding a chosen card lost in the deck, thanks to two other cards that the magician himself will choose, inside two piles shuffled by the spectator, in order to capture it in a way that is as simple as it is unexpected...

Strengths:

• The effect is completely automatic and impromptu.
• The magician does not necessarily need to know any card manipulation...

There was a time when the Tilt, or Depth Illusion, was a top-secret technique known only to a few select insiders. The history of this move is somewhat murky, but most credit Dai Vernon with its invention. Marlo claimed he came up with it independently, which I find plausible. Regardless of who first had the idea, the Tilt is a wonderful deception. Over the years, refinements and subtleties have been added by several cardmen. Today, the Tilt is one of the core techniques most card magicians have in their arsenal.

The concept of the Tilt is the following: A card is apparently...

This tutorial teaches three of my palming techniques. Because my hands are relatively small, palming has always been challenging for me, which is why I developed several simpler palming methods.

Crescent Palm: a technique for palming a card quickly during the squaring of the deck.

Pinched Palm: a fast and simple bottom-card palm.

Stealing Palm: my take on the Diagonal Palm Shift, designed to move a center card directly into Classic Palm.

1st edition 2026, video 6:20.

This is not just a card trick. It's an experiment in the fallibility of human memory and perception. With one card you create a miracle!

A single card is placed on the table by the spectator. Both spectators look at the card, and yet they see different cards. The magician never touches this single card. In the spectator's mind this is a hands-off miracle.

This effect creates a moment where the spectators question their own perception and memory!

Two variations: One variation is simple with no preparation; the other version requires a two-way forcing deck, but this leads to an impossible...

Two cards are chosen and revealed by the deck itself in an amazing automatic effect.

This is an amazing self-working effect revealing a pair of cards chosen by two spectators, made possible thanks to a special arrangement of the deck: a variation, unknown to most, of one of the most famous mathematical stacks... After learning a practical method for easily sequencing the deck according to this secret stack, starting with a factory-new deck, here you will find an explanation of the effect, automatic and themed "Truth Machine," which can involve two spectators.

Each of them will choose...

Excerpt from the foreword by William W. Larsen:

• The Page Pass
• The Visible Pass
• The Riffle-Slip
• False Shuffle
• The Riffle-Down
• The Glimpse
• Simple Glimpse
• One of Four Packets
• A Card with a Certain Number of Pips
• The New Transferred Cards
• Any Card To Any Number
• A Cut At Any Number
• An Original Spelling Card
• The Red and the Black
• A Pickpocket...

In this PDF, I am publishing a very strong variant of my effect The Gift. I call this variant The Gift 3 - I've already published another effect called The Gift 2, hence this is the third effect in the series.

If you first watch the performance video of The Gift (using the aforementioned link) and then you watch the performance video of The Gift 3 (below), you will notice a crucial difference that makes this variant more impossible-looking. Thus, this variant is a good performance piece for those magicians who are aware of the workings behind the original The Gift...

Effect: After shuffling the deck, the magician turns away, while the spectator cuts the deck and deals cards face down into two piles, stopping whenever they choose. The magician then reveals the bottom card of each pile. As a kicker, the spectator selects any numbered card, and the magician tells them which card is at that position in the remaining deck. After demonstrating the procedure, the magician never touches the cards again.

Description: If you have taken the time to memorize a stacked deck but rarely put it to use, that's about to change. This effect is powerful and simple to perform....

The spectator freely cuts the deck. The performer spreads the cards and claims to mentally influence the spectator to choose a specific card. The spectator then freely selects a card - no force. After the selection, the performer splits the deck at the point of selection and reveals that the cards are in suit-and-value order, except for the one card the performer named at the beginning. The finale reveals the spectator's selection, which turns out to be exactly the card predicted at the start.

• No force
• No gimmick
• Only a regular deck

1st edition 2026, video 5:52

Herb Zarrow is one of the most recognized names in magic. His Zarrow Shuffle changed the face of full deck false shuffles some seventy years ago, and its popularity shows no sign of abating. Among Herb's other memorable contributions was Revolving Aces, a knockout 'Cutting To The Aces' approach that grabbed immediate attention and saw publication several times. Perhaps the most detailed write-up was in Harry Lorayne's classic text, Close Up Card Magic.

Decades later, here is Dusting Off The Revolving Aces, a revised handling from Ian Baxter that eliminates the necessary setup...

These tricks were taught to US soldiers in military hospitals to keep up their spirits. They do not require any sleight of hand. Originally published by the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers.

• Foreword
• Three Deep
• Spellbinder
• Dead Duck
• Club Sandwich
• On Tap
• Topsy-Turvy
• Plus Ten
• Two-By-Two
• Seven-Eleven
• Frying Pan

1st edition ~1950s, 21 pages; PDF 23 pages.

Two items by Brandon Ruiz at a reduced price.

Every glance becomes a memory.

Dark Red Scam by Brandon Ruiz is a marking system designed exclusively for serious mem-deck workers.

Instead of marking values or suits, all three systems reveal card positions only, allowing you to instantly know any card, cut, peek, or disturbance using any memorized stack (Mnemonica, Aronson, Redford, BTM, etc.).

Inside, you'll learn three distinct marking systems from fast reader-style marks to ultra invisible coded system balancing speed, invisibility, and control. Every system bends to your choice of stack, not the other way around.

Dark Red Scam...

A variation of a classic routine: the four Aces are turned face down one by one. The performer openly changes the orientation of all the cards, and after the audience confirms the backs are the same color, all four cards change to different colors.

1st edition 2025, video 7:39.

A completely self-working effect requiring no sleight of hand. The magician introduces a prediction card and has the spectator freely cut a small packet. The deck is then divided into three piles, and cards are dealt down according to a freely chosen number. The four Aces are cleanly located. In addition, the spectator's cut card, the prediction card, and the bottom cards of the three piles combine to form a Royal Flush. For the full procedure, please refer to the video demonstration.

1st edition 2025, video 6:56.

A double "Any Card At Any Number" effect, fully automatic, with a secretly ordered stack that will practically do all the work for you.

An incredible and Self-Working pair of Card Magic tricks, based on the properties of a variant, unknown to most but in any case unrecognizable to the public, derived from what is probably one of the most famous mathematical stacks... In addition to learn a practical method for building it easily, starting from a new deck, you will find two effects explained here on the theme of "Any Card At Any Number."

In the first effect, the magician will announce...

A new method for a simple oil-and-water type of routine. Nothing is gimmicked. There isn't any complicated sleight-of-hand either.

1st edition 2025, video 1:20.

This routine illustrates the principle of synergism. After you learn it, analyze how all its parts (even the minutest) are combined into a time-and-content continuum. It's systematically designed in a progressive way: each discrete effect is successively better. There's culminative improvement and step-by-step enhancement - not only in terms of overall deception, but in virtue of its "theater."

This was the original version of what Jon later called Ladies on the Loose.

1st edition 1991, PDF 11 pages.

Effect: A spectator freely selects a card and loses the card in the deck. The spectator cuts a packet of cards and places it face down on the table. The cards are eliminated in a very fair manner until only one card remains. That card is not the spectator card, but a prediction revealing the location of the spectator's card in the deck.

Description:

The PATEO Principle appears to give the spectator control over how items are eliminated. In reality the magician is in control during the entire process.

One of the major disadvantages is that it can be a long procedure. The other major...

The magician begins by taking out 9 cards. A spectator then freely cuts off a packet, counts the cards, and remembers the card at that corresponding number. After that, the spectator freely selects 3 cards from the 9, and the sum of those values not only locates the original selection but also reveals the other three cards of the same value.

A classic principle reworked with a special setup turns this into a much stronger ACAAN-style routine.

Full effect shown in the performance video.

1st edition 2025, video 8:10

A spectator freely selects a card and returns it to the middle of the deck. The cards are split into two packets and interlaced face-up into face-down. In an instant, every card turns face-up except the selection - still face-down. And it's not over. Why can the magician locate the selection so cleanly? Because it's the only card in the deck that's different from all the others.

Bottom Fan Control: This routine also teaches my bottom control: the spectator's card is openly placed into the middle of the deck, the magician squares the pack, and the selection is controlled straight to the...

The performer shuffles the deck and then shows the interspersed cards in a sort of incomplete Faro Shuffle, asking the spectator to think of only one of the cards they see. Then, the performer repacks the entire deck, placing it face down on the table. The spectator removes a large portion, leaving it on the table and hiding the remaining portion in a pocket. The performer shuffles the portion on the table and asks the spectator how many cards they have set aside. Having obtained that number, the performer begins counting the cards one by one from the top of the deck, stopping at the number...

A multi-phase ACAAN routine with a completely unexpected ending.

A very unusual selection-finding sequence: after a freely chosen card is returned to the deck, the performer claims to give the spectator four chances to locate it. The spectator cuts the deck into four piles, but none of the top cards are the selection. Just as it seems the magician has failed, the plot turns - each of the four cards not only indicates the exact position of the selection, but also reveals the mates of the chosen value. See the full routine in the performance video.

1st edition 2025, video 6:29.