Cards in Magic & Mentalism

Easily one of the most remarkable mentalism card routines you will ever perform!

Two participants select two cards from a shuffled deck. The deck is again shuffled and mixed. It is clear it is not marked (it could even be a borrowed deck) and not stacked in any way. The cards are placed face-down in front of each participant. Using telepathy, the mentalist proceeds to read their minds and discern the cards that each possesses. The mentalist then removes what he or she believes to be the "mates" of each participant's freely selected card and places them unambiguously on the table face-down...

"Thomas Baxter would be proud." - Brian Draven

"If you're a fan of the open prediction plot as I am, this is worth checking out. It's a very original approach, which combines existing methods in a unique and clever way." - Michael Gustav

"A very nice idea. I can see myself using this. Super easy to perform too." - Kevin Schneider

In this e-book, I want to share with you my own solution for the classic open prediction plot. The one major advantage of this version is that there is proper shuffling by the spectator just before the final deal - and the magician never touches the deck...

This is without a doubt the most powerful effect in my repertoire. The reactions it consistently generates from audiences are nothing short of astounding, and what makes it even more remarkable is it's easy to do. The psychological principles throughout this effect are truly fascinating - from the way it plays with expectations to how it builds and releases tension. Each of these psychological elements has been carefully crafted to create maximum impact, and these same principles can be effectively applied to enhance numerous other effects in your performances.

Effect: In this compelling...

My Favorite Card Magic explains tricks with straight-forward plots, classic methods and direct handlings. Gerald prefers uncomplicated tricks and routines which can be performed under the most demanding conditions. The tricks do require practice and skillful handling. But you'll not find "knuckle busting" sleights or complex procedures.

Gerald divides the PDF into two sections. Part One is for "in-the-hands" tricks. These routines work well for strolling situations or any time you have no tabletop available. At times, it becomes awkward or not possible for the spectators to take or sign...

The contents of this series, for the most part, emphasize the history of effects and ideas. There are effects and methods in some of them, though.

• Proem
• A Double Take on "Double Trouble"
• Double Trouble, Marlo Miracle No. 2 / Edward Marlo
• Lalapaloopa / Deane Moore
• Never Touch the Pack! / Gerald L. Kaufman
• The Loop and I
• Joseph K. Schmidt's Letter to Marlo
• Treble Trouble / Roy Walton
• Redouble Trouble / Jon Racherbaumer
• Andrus False Slop Shuffle

1st edition 2014, PDF 25 pages.

Take your audience on a surprising magical journey with Sandwich Reverse. Imagine starting with a classic in card magic: the two Jokers capture a card chosen by the spectator in a simple and straightforward effect. But just when the audience thinks they know what's going to happen, you completely flip their expectations. In the end, it's the chosen cards that capture the Joker, leaving everyone speechless.

This routine combines the beauty of simplicity with an unexpected twist that will delight both beginners and experienced card magicians. Easy to learn, highly impactful, and incredibly...

The Think Ace effect is a hybrid, reduced to a packet trick. It was inspired by an effect described to Marlo by Bill Simon in 1955.

• Introduction
• Beginnings
  • Touch Turn
  • Named Reverse
  • Think Ace
  • Gaffed Think Ace
• Tributaries
  • Swindle Think Ace
  • Technicolor Think Ace
  • Four-Card Technicolor Thought Number One
  • Four-Card Think Ace Number Two
  • More Four-Card Technicolor Thoughts
  • Cased-In Technicolor Thought
  • Tabled Think Ace
  • Spread Think Ace
  • Contingency Aces
  • Bold B'wave
• Unanswered Letters

1st edition 1993, PDF 35 pages.

Four Kings, after being dealt to four different spots on the table, gather under a single packet, transform into the four Aces, and finally return to their original positions.

1st edition 2024, PDF 11 pages, 52 photos.

A sandwich effect with a twist. The performer has three spectators each chooses a card and loses it in different parts of the deck. Then, the performer takes two Jokers, stating that they will find the selected cards. However, the final twist is that one spectator's card will end up sandwiched between the other two spectators' cards.

1st edition 2024, PDF 7 pages, 42 photos.

Excerpt from the opening remarks:

This video includes a variation of the Bert Allerton trick Eye Popper, a transposition of two cards. This trick appeared in his book The Close Up Magician.

Two Don Alan card tricks using jumbo cards: Big Deal and A Comedy card trick.

A Paul Rosini card trick taken from House of Cards, two selected cards are found after the magician has failed to find them. This trick features a variation of the Paul Le Paul Top Change. Several variations are suggested.

A comparison of Malini's handling as compared to the handling in the book: The Magic of Matt Schulien, Schulien called it 'Put It Back In The Deck'. There are two comedy card tricks from Schulien: Catch The Light, and The Professional...

It is a selection of the card magic of Roy Johnson, in which sleights are kept to a minimum and difficult ones are eliminated. In other words, with clean handling and basic skills the effects are possible to all ... hence the title. There is variety in both effects and methods and although the majority are close-up the stand-up performer has not been forgotten.

• Cased
• Marloesque
• Coloured Triumph
• Jack Sandwich
• "Poker Dan"
• Miracle Divination
• Janet

1st edition 1979, PDF 24 pages.

If you can perform the easy block-transfer shuffle by Dai Vernon you will be able to perform Daryl Martinez's/Easton's commercial routine with only a little practice. The routine is structured to produce maximum impact with minimum effort and it creates a lasting impression on lay audiences.

EFFECT: Two selections are made from a shuffled deck, then are returned and lost. The deck is given a topsy-turvy shuffle so that face-up cards are mixed into face-down cards. This mixture is shown to be erratic and random. When the cards are eventually ribbon-spread, all the cards are face-down except two, which...

For those of you who own several of my products, you've probably realized by now that card locations are my area of expertise. And so we're back with another location that I think is a total fooler. The best part is that it can be performed with any regular deck. Very few magicians have been able to work this one out when I showed it to them - so I am confident that with this you will be fooling all your magician friends (even the knowledgeable ones).

The main takeaway of the ebook, however, is not the aforementioned effect but rather the shuffling principle that I will be teaching you....

A few tricks and variations of effects from House of Cards, Rosini's Magical Gems, and The Card Magic of Paul Le Paul.

Many of the techniques I teach in this video were used by both Le Paul and Rosini. One of the tricks I feature in this video is a trick referred to in Rosini's Magical Gems as Double Reverse. That immediately caught my eye because the very same trick appears in the John Scarne book Scarne on Card Tricks, a book I am very familiar with. So it is fascinating to me how all these threads of card magic can be followed.

1st edition 2024, video 36:18...

A new take on the classic Bank Night.

Seven envelopes and a deck of cards are on the table. The magician asserts that one envelope contains a $100 bill. The game is for the spectator to find it. But the catch is that the magician will also be allowed to choose one envelope for himself. To make things fair, they will use card values to determine a random number. First, the cards are moved from top to bottom until each player stops at any card. They keep the card they stopped at. To avoid any suspicion of cheating, the spectator can exchange his card with the magician's. Then, the envelopes...

Effect: It's not a true Oil and Water, but I'd dare to say it's more of a Reset disguised as Oil and Water, although with a surprise ending.

1st edition 2024, PDF 8 pages.

• Hull-Scam: This is a variation of the R.W. Hull trick where an unknown card is placed aside, a spectator thinks of any card in the deck, and later the unknown card turns out to be the mental selection. In this variation, two selections are made. One is mental, the other, physical. The performer finds the physical selection - say, the Ten of Hearts - then rubs it against the unknown card, which turns out to be the mental selection.
• Hull-Quik: The magician removes a card from a borrowed, shuffled deck and places it face down on the table. He asks a spectator, "Just guessing, what's the name of this...

"This totally fooled me! It's VERY clever and VERY deceptive." - Marc Paul

"By far the best solution I've seen for this card plot. I have numerous unpublished solutions of my own but none are as deceptive as this one. When the Unnamed Magician first shared the basic idea with me, I was blown away." - Tommaso Guglielmi

"It really does live up to its title." - Alexander Javier

"An outstanding method. The creative thought process that is needed to come up with something like this is something I can't even begin to imagine." - Tony Bianco

"A mystery for the ages. I can't see anyone, layman or magician, working...

A practical course of instruction in the fundamentals of conjuring with cards.

Excerpt from the preface:

• Preface
• PART I. PRELIMINARY
  • The Art of Conjuring
  • The Cards
  • Learning and Practising
  • The Illustrations
  • Patter
  • Three Ways...

A classic of card magic: Oil & Water. This version is done entirely face-up, a strong and unusual version of this classic effect.

1st edition 2024, PDF 4 pages.

Four black cards magically change places with four Jacks, only to return to their original positions. The four Jacks then turn into three 3s, and it is revealed that the fourth 3 is the card initially chosen by the spectator and kept in the case.

1st edition 2024, PDF 12 pages.

In these wonderful lecture notes, you will find a lovely self-working card trick called Dueling Card Tricks, which uses a unique principle discovered by Alex Elmsley. It has a great presentational theme of how a mathematician, a psychic, and a magician go about their business. It finishes with an unexpected climax and thus has everything a good magic trick needs.

This lecture was prepared for the participants of the Midwest Magic Jubilee - St. Louis, Missouri - August 5-8, 1993.

• Pumping B'wave
• Wide-Open Prediction
• Hull-Scam
• Opportune Oldie
• Cased-In Vision
• Ladyspell
• Chi-Psi Opener ...

The spectator selects a card, which is then truly lost in the deck in an impossible way to find, yet the performer cuts the deck exactly at the spectator's chosen card.

1st edition 2024, PDF 6 pages.

Aldo Colombini's Contact Colors is a classic. Paul Gordon published two handlings (that Aldo loved) in 1998 in Cause And Effect. Paul recently improved the blockbuster We Have Lift-Off and entitled it, We Have Perfect Lift-Off. Here it is for the first time. It's super easy but so powerful. Two selections are magically produced and the four Aces suddenly appear. As an extra climax, the deck reverts to new-deck order. It's a blockbuster finale routine without sleights. Watch the unedited honest video and download today. Note that the opening shuffle is optional.

The false shuffles seen at the start...

One spectator selects a pair of cards of their choice, which the performer will magically locate within the deck. Afterward, a random card is chosen from the deck, which will then be found by the previously selected pair of cards.

This idea comes from the fusion of three routines by three different authors:

• 1-2-3-4 and 5 Ambitious by John Mendoza
• The 21-Card Trick
• Impossible Sandwich by Israel Rodriguez

1st edition 2024, PDF 6 pages.

The performer invites a spectator to choose a card. The chosen card is lost in the deck and shuffled. The performer takes the Ace of Spades, saying he will use it as an arrow, throwing it at the deck. The Ace of Spades will get stuck at a random point in the deck, and to everyone's amazement, cutting at that exact point will reveal the spectator's chosen card.

1st edition 2024, PDF 3 pages.