Cards in Magic & Mentalism: page 29

"I have discovered that you are my twin soul." - Arturo de Ascanio

"Most men have two dimensions, they are tall and wide, Davide has the third dimension, he is deep!" - Rene Lavand

"Davide Costi is a refined gentle performer. He prefers his puzzlements to be blown kisses rather than buffeting blows. There is something merciful in his manner and he truly wishes to share whatever mystery may occur, telling whichever stories ring most true. His climatic noble effect, where two cards matched, stunned even fastest company!" - Jon Racherbaumer

Davide Costi is a true artist. His routines are beautiful,...

A coin trick done without coins, or a card trick done without regular playing cards. However you want to look at it - a pretty unusual trick.

You show four cards each with a quarter printed on its face. One by one the quarters vanish and reappear on one card which now has four quarters on it. The card is left on a spectator's palm and, while there, it changes into a card with a dollar coin on it.

[Note that you will receive a PDF and a video, but NO cards. The PDF includes a photo of the custom card faces, but you will have to make the cards yourself using stickers, transfers, hand-drawn or printing. You will need two double facers and three blank faced cards to start with.]

1st edition 2000, DVD 2012; PDF 3 pages, video length 5 min 46 s....

Three named playing cards are located aided by a wind-up toy. Self-working, foolproof, a real crowd pleaser. From the lecture notes of Jimmy Haviland, London's last street conjuror.

You will have to supply a wind-up toy yourself. It is ungimmicked. Anything that walks, hops, or drives a few inches will work.

1st edition 2024, PDF 4 pages + video.

On the Clock Effect

The clock effect/principle is a variant of the automatic placement principle. It allows you to force a card. The procedure typically is that the spectator freely selects any full hour on the clock (1-12). Cards are then dealt into a clock pattern where one card takes the place of each hour. The card at the spectator's freely chosen hour is the force card, which for example could have been predicted beforehand.

The Clock Effect using playing cards originated at the turn of the century. Potter's Index subsequently listed thirty-eight (38) references—one of the earliest...

This is a move to clip or steal the top card while placing the deck somewhere.

runtime: 1 min 7 s

A little booklet with 12 great card tricks. And the price - a steal!

1st edition, 1934, Max Holden; 12 pages.

2. Sleight of Foot
3. The Voice Betrays
4. The Puzzler Card Trick
4. Card in Pocket
5. The Obliging Card
6. The Joker Tells
7. Cards Behind Back
8. Mind Control
9. A Clever Spelling Trick
9. Another Spelling Trick
10. The Reversed Card
10. Mental Forecast
11. Advertisement

A hard-to-find treatise on the beveled or "Stripper" pack, written by a world-famous mentalist and master magician. Out of print since 1923 (according to The Magic Wand magazine), this booklet is now back in a revised and expanded edition. No matter if you're a fan of this pioneering mentalist or simply want a collection of fine tricks to use with your tapered deck, this is a nice collection of a whopping 37 effects that you'll be happy to add to your repertoire.

"The most complete and extensive treatise ever compiled and published on the charming and effective uses of the standard 'Stripper Deck'."...

In this full-color illustrated ebook Ben has collected together seven of his favorite, original card effects - the material which he can rely on to astound any audience. These are fresh and at times visual takes on classic plots where clever thinking meets sleight of hand meets good structuring to create powerful, close-up card magic...

• Monty's First Dual: As an addendum to your favourite Monte routine and using just three, regular cards you apparently cause - in the fairest possible manner and with no moves whatsoever - the designated 'Money' card to exchange places with one of the two indifferent...

The title of this manuscript indicates that four classical plots are being covered.

• Classical Quickie transforms a "wrong" card to a "right" one, but the speed and visibility of the methods make it different. It's quick, interesting, and mysterious. You have several methods to choose.
• Doubly Ambitious takes the Ambitious plot out of the humdrum class.
• Double Transposition effects will give you a sense of happy accomplishment.
• Chameleon Queens inevitably intrigue audiences fascinated by repeated transformations.

The manuscript does not ignore the technical side with a set of techniques...

The classic pass. (Also part of Move Mastery 1.)

runtime: 1min 45s

Allan Ackerman explains the Al Baker version of the classic force, the Hofzinser force and fine points of the Hofzinser force.

runtime: 3min 17s

This is the fourth e-book in this series of Classic Card effects. Check out Classic Card Magic I, II, and III. Included are six more classics of card magic that will truly elevate your performances to another level. Look what's included:

1) THE KANNIBAL KARDS - This is probably the greatest and most entertaining routine of all time. The full routine, all sleights and all of the patter is included with a fantastic ending. Every magician should perform this excellent routine...it is truly a monster.

BONUS! Learn the real deal of the Ascanio Spread. This important sleight scares some people...but Paul will teach...

Included are many photos, pix and a video.

This is the third e-book in the series of Classic Card Magic. Keep up with this series of killer card magic. Paul presents six more amazing classics of card magic complete with details of performance, patter, and methodology. Paul's introduction is a "must read" for performers to understand how and why these classics are so important.

Look what is included below:

1) OUT OF THIS WORLD - Considered by many to be the finest card trick ever devised. This easy to do rendition is performed entirely by the spectator and will make their jaws drop....

Included is a video of a cool switch.

Keep up with this series of Classic Card Magic e-books so that you will have a solid base for card magic entertainment. There are thousands of card tricks out there...but there are only a handful classics of card magic. The classics are classics because they represent a solid foundation of entertainment and are timeless. Only the patter and modus operandi will change...but the premise is solid and will endure the ravages of time and technology.

These effects use only a regular deck of cards.

In this e-book you will find:

1) OPEN TRAVELERS - This...

This e-book is the very first of a series of e-books to come, presenting my own versions of the classics of card magic. These simple, straight-forward plots will cover the gamut of card magic in this series of upcoming Classic Card Magic e-books.

Please keep up with this Classic Card Magic series and you will have a very strong base for your card magic performances, and a very nice array of magic effects...not just a "pick-a-card-find-a-card" type of theme.

I have brought some of the plots and patter, up to date...but in no way have I changed the bare essence of the effects or plots. Every...

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...

Scott has been using this diabolically simple routine for over twenty years. How can something so easy play so strongly?

Effect: You deal five cards to the table. A spectator mentally chooses a number from one to five. You turn your back, and he looks at the card that fell at his number, then replaces it. The cards are gathered and shuffled and placed in your shirt pocket. After a few moments of focused concentration, you remove the cards one at a time. Finally, you reveal the card that the spectator merely thought of, proving you also knew his number! But you're not done yet... The rest...

You show four cards. They are blank on the front and have regular backs. Suddenly one of the four cards has a huge hole cut from its center. Then all the cards have holes cut from their centers. Then everything goes back to four regular blank cards.

1st edition 2025, video 6:04.

"The idea rocks, Clean, Simple, Effective and most of all baffling." - Daniel Madison

With just a wave, or even a blow the signed card fully restores and is given out as a souvenir.

1st edition 2008; 10 pages with color photos.

You will learn two half passes, one by Henry Christ what is called the Christ Twist and the other by Ken Krenzel, the Mechanical Reverse.

runtime: 1min 26s

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

You start by showing four cards from the back, one of which is orange, while the others have red backs. The front of the orange-backed card is blank. You table that card. As you show the three remaining red-backed cards for the second time, one has changed to a blue back. The front is again blank. One more time around, and another card has changed its back to a different color.

You pick up the four cards and show their faces, but they now have all turned into four Jokers. Another magical gesture and they have changed into four Queen of Hearts. Then the four Queen of Hearts change to the...

This is a close-up effect, with a history that greatly enriches the simplicity of this effect. I have a dear friend, who I knew a long time ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma: he was a park keeper; he told me about an old custom, told to him by his grandparents, to whom their grandparents had told it, and then their grandparents ... Cherokee Indians.

And the story I want to tell and create with you, is an ancient propitiatory ritual, the "Ritual of the Red Moon", in which the tribal chief, the sorcerer, and all the villagers took part. Every year, at the beginning of summer, at the time which, for...

Water and oil is an effect that has always fascinated me, but the principle is so simple that I think it is impossible to invent something more effective; moreover, the effect requires a secret manipulation that is impossible to replicate, if everything is expected to be done in the hands of the spectator, "on the other end of the line" (of the telephone).

I, therefore, followed a different path: to try to replicate, in the spectator, the amazement of finding the separated cards, when they were arranged alternately by his hands, in front of his eyes.

Also in this publication I propose,...