Cards in Magic & Mentalism

You start by showing one joker and several blank cards, which are blank on both sides. Adding the joker to the blank cards makes them all become jokers on their faces. Then you do the same with the backs and end up with a pack of jokers. The blank cards have changed to jokers.

1st edition 2025, video 3:27.

This is by far the coolest and at the same time most approachable edition of the legendary book by S.W. Erdnase. If you have never been able to make sense of the book, this is your chance to study it entirely differently - with a graphic novel approach.

The Expert at the Card Table has been the most studied card manipulation book for almost 120 years. For the first time you can meet the author S.W. Erdnase, the man shrouded in mystery, and session one-on-one with him. Every page is full of rich illustrations, complete with the original illustrations being re-inked and incorporated into this seminal work. Adapted and...

A digital approach to card location.

This powerful web app brings a timeless card magic classic into the modern age. Inspired by Charles Jordan's method, it allows you to identify a selected card after genuine shuffling and multiple cuts - even using overhand shuffles.

No sleights. No peeks. The spectator handles the deck from start to finish, while you never touch the cards - not even once.

Whether you're performing in person or remotely, this tool gives you full control with near-perfect accuracy. Built for working magicians, designed for real-world conditions. Repeatable. Reliable. Undetectable. ...

Are you looking for a magic effect that will amaze and captivate your audience? Magico ACAAN is the perfect choice for you. This extraordinary card trick has been meticulously designed to leave everyone spellbound.

What makes Magico ACAAN so special?

• Amazing Effect: A spectator selects a card, which is then lost in the deck and sealed in its case. With a second deck of cards, you create a mysterious number that reveals the exact position of the chosen card. When you open the case and count the cards to the revealed number, the spectator's card magically appears.
• Easy to Perform: Although...

You show one card with a big hole cut from its center and four regular cards without any holes. When you remove one from the regular cards and add the hole card to the others, they all suddenly also have big holes. Then you reverse it back to no holes. It uses a sneaky combination of methods.

1st edition 2025, video 4:24

One of the finest and fastest card effects from the creative mind of Ed Marlo. It uses no special cards and requires only basic skills. Fast and clean. A reputation marker.

1st edition 2025, PDF + video 00:45.

Tony Kardyro, aka Senor Torino, was a sleight-of-hand master. However, this routine with seven effects uses a simple to make gimmick, a thick card, that eliminates difficult sleights. It is perhaps the best card routine Kardyro ever created. He performed it throughout his entire professional career. It is a masterclass in routining and structuring an effective and entertaining card routine.

• Locating The Key Card
• To Bring Selected Card Second From Top
• To Bring Selected Card Second From Bottom
• Shuffling The Cards
• The Routine Supreme
• Mental Card Discovery
• Card In Pocket
• A Total Mystery ...

I have already published a few behind-the-back location effects, such as Behind the Back Location and The Gift. In this ebook, I am publishing another behind-the-back location effect, except this one is, in my opinion, the strongest one. I think it’s more fooling than the aforementioned two. Hence why I decided to call it The Ultimate Behind the Back Location.

There is a full performance video by my friend attached below, but before you watch it, here are some important conditions to keep in mind:

• The deck in play is completely regular. It doesn’t contain any gaffs or gimmicks. It doesn’t even contain any crimped...

An "Any Card At Any Number" effect that, brought forth from the imagination of the viewer, an instant later turns into reality.

A new card magic and mentalism effect in which the magician, after placing a case of cards on the table and randomly choosing a spectator, will ask him to imagine being in a dream.

The protagonist will be that very case from which all the cards have, however, flown away, tired of "captivity." He will have to imagine seeing them fluttering freely over the horizon, but he will also realize that, perhaps repentant or simply tired, they are coming back, toward them....

You show four cards from the backs. Turning one face up, say the seven of hearts, will magically turn all cards face-up - they are all sevens. You turn them all back face-down. Suddenly they change to the four jacks.

1st edition 2025, video 5:02

I have already published an open prediction effect called Open Prediction: A New Approach to a Classic Plot. Here I am publishing a different open prediction method of mine. I call this one Open Prediction: The Simplest Approach because the method is extremely simple, yet, despite that, it produces the ideal effect from a lay person's point of view. Also, despite the simplicity of the method, it is previously unpublished as far as I'm aware.

Below you can see a full performance video by my friend:

1st edition 2025, PDF 7 pages.

You start out with eight cards consisting of two packets of four identical cards each. The two designs are different. Peter uses two differently colored spots. This display move allows you to show eight identical cards with one design, and then eight identical cards with the other design. The spectator will think you have eight identical cards, and then suddenly they change to eight different cards.

1st edition 2025, video 2:44

The ultimate compilation of 21-card trick routines: rigged, reconsidered, and retro-fitted.

A who's-who of card experts has put their minds and creativity to the plot of the 21-card trick. You will find greats like Peter Duffie and Chris Kenner, legends like Marlo, Maven and Allerton, pros like Cervon and Aronson, and many more.

• Prologue
• Foreword (Jack Parker)
• Introduction (Jon Racherbaumer)
• PROTYPE
  • Old Gray Model
  • Distribution of the Cards in the 21-Card Trick
• STREAMLINERS
  • Streamliner (Bert Allerton)
  • 21-Card Trick Streamlined (Edward Marlo)
  • 21 Plus Subtlety (Edward Marlo)
  • Swindle 21-Card Trick...

Effect: One spectator merely thinks of a card. A second spectator deals cards face down, stopping absolutely anywhere they choose. The card they stop at is the first spectator's exact thought of card. Easy to do, no complicated procedures, instant reset.

Here's why "The Jokers Are In On It" is a must-have for your repertoire:

Spectator Shuffles the Deck: The spectator shuffles before and after thinking of their card, making any suspicion of magician manipulation impossible. This reinforces the feeling of fairness.

Minimal Magician Handling: You seemingly only touch the deck to remove...

A twisting routine that ends with a climax where all four cards have different backs, when before they all had the same backs.

1st edition 2025, video 2:32

Effect: A prediction is placed face down on the table. The cards are shuffled, and the spectator cuts the deck. The spectator makes all the choices, yet the prediction clearly names four specific cards and their final positions: who is holding which card, the identity of the card on the table, and the top card of the deck.

Are you looking for a powerful card and easy effect that will leave your audience stunned and questioning the very nature of their choices? Look no further! The Journey to Destiny is a mind-blowing prediction effect that appears to give the spectator complete control,...

A gimmicked card that allows for very visual effects, like a visible three-card monte effect.

The idea of the gimmick traces back to Charles Jordan. Gaetan Bloom took Jordan's idea and by using modern materials made the gimmick a lot better and much easier to use. The original booklet was sold with a gimmick but without detailed instructions on how to make the gimmick. In this first ebook edition, we have included detailed construction instructions. You will learn not just the type of material used, but its thickness (which is a crucial aspect of making the gimmick work properly), the adhesive used, and...

"Great effect, very clever thinking. I really like the double aspect to the effect. Well done!" - Marc Paul

Duplicity - a double holy grail ACAAN - is an exceptional variation of ACAAN that introduces a structured sequence where every action is first performed by the magician and then mirrored by the spectator. This sequencing creates a clear and logical flow, reinforcing the illusion of a true mental connection.

The strength of the effect lies in its methodical and structured process, making the final revelation feel inevitable and astonishing. The use of an app is justified as a means of...

You show seven Aces of Hearts and one odd card, the 10 of Clubs. After mixing these eight cards, you spread the packet face-up on the table, and they are now eight 10 of Clubs. A stunning and very visual immediate change.

1st edition 2025, video 3:16

A freely chosen and signed card vanishes from an envelope and appears threaded on a long knitting needle held by a spectator. No feked cards. Perform it anywhere, stage or club, close-up and surrounded.

PDF 4 pages.

Excerpt from the introduction:

An impossible dual deck ACAAN.

Imagine performing a stunning ACAAN-style effect over video chat using two separate decks - one in your hands and one completely out of your control in your spectator's possession. Double Cross ACAAN blends the principles of "Do as I Do" and ACAAN to create a truly impossible experience.

Both you and your spectator shuffle your own decks. They freely select a card and a number, and you do the same. Despite the total fairness, an unbelievable coincidence occurs: in both decks - yours and the one remotely controlled by the spectator - the chosen cards appear...

A version of the Cut Deeper Force that provides reason and logic as to why the cards are turned over.

The Ultimate Hands-Off Force.

Imagine this: Your spectator shuffles their own deck. You never touch the deck, yet you manage to have them freely select a card you already know. Then, for an even more astonishing finish, you can reveal the exact position of their chosen card within the deck.

This isn't a dream – it's the reality of The Force, a revolutionary technique that puts the power of card control unknowingly into your spectator's hands.

Utterly Deceptive: The spectator shuffles...

You show four regular playing cards. Progressively, they change into four cards with a hole cut from the center.

1st edition 2025, video 4:35

The book incorporates three hard-to-find private manuscripts that Nuzzo and Marlo published in the 1980s: Plus Package, Unforgettable Wild Card, and 21st Century Card Magic.

This is how Jon Racherbaumer introduces the book:

This eBook covers the topic of corner short cards in depth, including what they are, how to create them, their impressive capabilities, and 14 very ingenious effects using them. If you're new to the concept of a corner short card, you will discover a powerful tool that will soon become a part of your arsenal. Corner short cards are the secret weapon of many of the top card experts. These weapons help magicians control cards in an invisible way to create miracles.

If you don't have a corner short card in your deck, you are missing out. The versatility of the corner short card is only limited...

You show four cards that have a joker printed on the front and back. Their backs magically change to red backs, and then they change again to all different backs.

1st edition 2025, video 1:54.

• Mindbender - An amazing double card location that will warp your mind.
• Jackpot - Magic meets gambling in this false deal routine.
• Fast Shuffle - A very impressive progressive riffle-stacking routine.
• The Card Warp Deck - A professional's touches on the all-time classic.
• Mexican Poker - You and the spectator, heads up, in a diabolical, intricately-constructed poker masterpiece.
• The Ultimate Cardshark (performance only) - The ultimate progressive dealing demonstration culminating with four perfect bridge hands.

1st edition 2004, video 1h 28min.

Predict two playing cards and how they are ordered on the table.

A piece of cardboard/prediction lays on the table from the start. The magician introduces two decks of cards and explains that he is going to perform an experiment in order to test his mental compatibility with a spectator. For that, they have to combine their lucky numbers.

The magician's is the number 4. The spectator is asked to find his own lucky number through a very quick and simple procedure. Let's say that, in our example, it ends up being the number 18. They combine the two numbers and obtain the number 22.

The...

• Introduction
  • I. Simplicity
  • II. Directness
  • III. Empathy
  • IV. Drama
  • V. Humor
  • VI. Spectator
• Wide-Open Prediction: This is one of the easiest, most puzzling solutions to Paul Curry's card problem. It's the creation of Robert Parrish.
• Cased-In Vision: A spectator freely selects a card by cutting off some cards and using the leftover talon. He notes and remembers the top card of this portion, then places it in the center of his portion. This is done with the cards behind his back or under a table. In other words, the cards are out of sight. Finally the talon is placed in a card case, which is closed. The magician...

A hands-off self-working ACAAN.

Imagine performing the cleanest and most impossible Any Card At Any Number effect ever conceived. No sleight of hand, no interference, no magician's touch after the experiment begins.

A spectator freely thinks of a card. Then, through a random process (reading off the hundreds of a stop watch), they generate a number between 1 and 52.

Yet, when they take the deck and count down to their chosen number, their card is right there.

No suspicious moves, no apparent method. Just an experiment that seems beyond anyone's control - yet works flawlessly every...

The performer shows four cards, two with regular backs and the other two with a square printed on the back. Suddenly, one card that had a square printed on its back now has a big round hole cut from its center. A moment later, two cards have a big round hole cut from their centers.

1st edition 2025, video 2:20.

• Greek Poker (performance only) - A masterful deck-stacking routine with a killer climax.
• Modern Jazz Aces - The aces magically transpose with indifferent cards. Super clean and easy to perform.
• Regal Aces - A signed selection appears to be in four places at once, climaxing with the four aces. (Includes an in-depth lesson on the Top-Card Cover Pass.)
• Back Off - Darwin's awesome all-backs packet effect.
• Nine-Card Location - Nine cards selected, nine cards found - each in an entertaining and magical fashion.
• Do As I Do - The spectator and the performer connect on a psychic level using playing...

An amazing "Any Card At Any Number" effect that talks about magic and artificial intelligence to create a card magic double miracle. And the best part: it is completely self-working!

A.I. ACAAN Deck is a highly original and unprecedented double effect of card magic, "Any Card At Any Number" themed, in which the conjurer will make use of a pair of playing dice and a special deck of cards, which he will announce was devised by the conjunction of the finest magic and artificial intelligence.

After quickly showing and shuffling the deck, he asks a spectator to roll one or two dice that are...

"This is an exceptional piece of mentalism that combines some great principles. I will definitely be performing this, and you should too." - Terrence Gilchrist

"I'm a fan of the Unnamed Magician's work in general, but this is, in my opinion, easily among his top 5 best effects. It will leave your spectators with their jaws wide open!" - Wayne Lesley

"What a knockout trick! A true reputation maker." - Tony Bianco

A spectator thinks of a card in the fairest possible manner yet, despite all odds, it was predicted by the magician. If you are a fan of both prediction effects and...

EFFECT #1: Two decks of cards lay on the table. The spectator chooses one, let's say Deck #1. As the magician riffles up Deck #1, the spectator stops him at any point. The spectator is given the top six cards from where he stopped at and shuffles the packet. He deals the six cards in a row on the table and chooses a number with a dice. Let's say that the 5 shows up so he gives himself the fifth card. He turns the dice on the opposite side and sees a 2 so he gives himself the second card. Then, he picks one card from the pair and remembers the value. He picks the other card and remembers the...

A shuffled deck, never touched again by the magician. Through a seemingly fair and random process, both a card and a number are generated - completely out of the magician's control.

Yet, against all odds, the selected card appears in the exact position dictated by the freely chosen number.

A perfect fusion of classic magic and modern technology, delivering an impossible and unforgettable experience. Are you ready to Generate the impossible?

Please note that you will need a phone, or computer, your own or the spectator's, so that the spectator can visit a particular website.

1st...

You show the ace of hearts and diamonds and place them face down on the table. Then you show another set of ace of hearts and diamonds. Then these two cards transform into three cards, for a total of five cards, and they have now changed to a royal flush.

1st edition 2025, video 2:27

One of my favourite mentalism effects of all time is So Sato's "Bath Towel Mentalism." It's a very strong card divination effect with a super clever method, and I've been performing it for more than 5 years. As good as the effect is, for a while I'd been trying to improve it in two ways. (1) I wanted to allow the spectators to look at their selections during the routine (rather than at the end), and (2) I didn't want the spectators to swap their selections (it always felt a bit unjustified to ask them to do this). Eventually, a solution to achieve these two things occurred to me and that is...

A simple presentation/props for a trick using the Gilbreath principle.

The magician plays a game with a spectator and tells him that the spectator is guaranteed to win. The spectator will make every decision. And this all happens because the magician can see into the future.

1st edition 2025, PDF 20 pages.

A freely named card. A freely chosen number. A shuffled deck that the magician never touches.

Yet, against all logic, the card appears exactly at the chosen position. No gimmicks, no sleight-of-hand - just an astonishing effect that seems beyond explanation.

Leveraging the power of subtle psychology and indirect use of web apps, The Ultimate ACAAN pushes the boundaries of what feels like real magic.

Please note that you will need a phone, or computer, your own or the spectator's, so that the spectator can visit a particular website that displays probabilities of chosen cards.

...