An algorithmic stack allows one to calculate the card value (either the next card or a card at a particular position in the deck) without having to memorize an entire deck. The most famous such stack is Si Stebbins. Each method has its pros and cons. Try them out and see what works best for you.
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.
...
What if your birthdate determined your Lucky Card, and what if that card was found in the exact position predicted in a shuffled deck - without the magician ever touching the cards?
With Lucky Card, you introduce a powerful connection between a deck of playing cards and the calendar, leading to an astonishing and impossible revelation. A spectator freely selects their birthdate, discovering a unique card linked to it. Then, against all odds, that very card is found at a specific position in a deck that has been set aside from the start.
Completely hands-off and deeply personal, Lucky...
Every magician is certain to encounter a stacked deck at some point, whether in the early stages of learning or as they expand their repertoire. Understanding stacks not only equips magicians with powerful tools for creating seemingly impossible effects but also sharpens their awareness of how others might use these techniques. Mastery of stacks enhances one's ability to perform complex tricks, analyze routines critically, and develop innovative methods to captivate an audience. Embracing this foundational skill ensures that magicians can perform with both confidence and creativity.
In...
The performer either goes amongst the audience or invites six people on the stage. From a pack of playing cards, six cards are dealt to each of the six people. They are requested to select one card and to place same in their inside pocket. The remaining cards are gathered and thoroughly shuffled and the performer does not handle the cards anymore. At no time does the performer know which cards have been selected. A number of boards with cards on them are now exhibited and shown to spectators. They are to say "yes" when they see their own card, and the performer immediately announces correctly...
MASQ Stack is a rotational or sequential stack that is very easy to learn and looks very random. You should be able to remember the sequence in under ten minutes. Given any card, you will know the next card instantly. Knowing this stack, you can perform almost all the routines out there which can be performed with a Si Stebbins or 8 Kings or similar stacks.
But behind the "MASQ" there is another hidden secret. Once you know the MASQ Stack you can also perform a magic square routine anytime, anywhere to anyone without breaking a single drop of sweat. Absolutely no extra effort is required....
This is my go-to effect. Once you have done this effect, the spectator will believe you can read their facial expressions and more.
If you are looking to: build rapport with spectator(s), learn a memorized deck, and perform jazz-type magic this effect is your incentive.
I have gotten more incredible responses from this effect than any other. The method looks extremely fair. The only sleight, if you call this a sleight, is riffling cards off of your index finger. Learning this effect will make your magic better.
Note: You will need to know any memorized deck perfectly.
1st edition...
"A very nice mentalism routine. And the method is devilish!" - Tony Bianco
"After I was taught the method for this, I immediately smiled. It is super clever, you won't be disappointed." - Brian Draven
"Many of you know the Unnamed Magician by now. But I've had the privilege of knowing him for a long time now. Any time he creates a new routine and sends it to me, I always make time that very day just so I can see it. This routine is no different." - Tommaso Guglielmi
To mark my 1st year anniversary at Lybrary, I am (in collaboration with someone else) releasing something very special, which, if you like...
It is a card magic effect that seems truly impossible to understand even for the most experienced in the field. The idea was born from a study carried out on a routine by Benjamin Earl, and subsequently modified and dressed according to the UMI (International Magic University "Damaso Fernandez") thought. The work was created by the very young cardist Gino D'Alessandro, under the guidance and supervision of Maestro Damaso Fernandez and Gianluigi Sordellini.
A spectator freely cuts the deck and stops wherever he wants, looking at the card under the deck where he stopped to memorize it. During...
Another trick that fooled the best cardmen in the world.
"This is a fooler! The Unnamed Magician has created an impenetrable mystery that not even your magician friends will be able to figure out. It's really well constructed and how he gains the secret knowledge is ingenious!" - Marc Paul
"A truly diabolical method which will fool even the most knowledgeable of card magicians!" - Matt Baker
"There aren't many creators reaching the same standard as Unnamed Magician when it comes to creating real mind puzzling card effects; you need to be Alan Turing to break these codes. In this effect you are...
Face a deadly challenge.
In front of you lies a high bridge made of eight pairs of cards, reminiscent of the perilous glass bridge from the popular TV show "The Squid Game". Each pair has one red card (safe, tempered glass) and one black card (dangerous, regular glass). A misstep onto a black card means instant failure. No second chance. The odds of crossing the bridge safely are slim—less than 0.4% chance of success. But you’re not going to let chance decide your fate!
During the preparation, the participant checked each pair to ensure it included one red card and one black card....
"A really powerful spell-to-your-card effect. The title says it all, it is Bannon's "Dead Reckoning" except on steroids." - Tommaso Guglielmi
"For a long time I've been performing "Dead Reckoning" by John Bannon. It's one of my go-to effects in my repertoire. But that changed today. "Dead Reckoning: On Steroids" is a marvelous improvement on the original. It is unbelievably deceptive and impossible to reverse engineer, and it replaces "Dead Reckoning" in my repertoire. Thanks Unnamed Magician for this splendid creation." - Brian Draven
"The main effect is good but the first bonus effect is beyond good."...
Memfinity Deck: Memorising the Infinity Deck is a companion work for the Infinity Deck released by Craig Petty and Murphy's Magic. In this ebook, you will learn how to memorise every photograph in the deck using mnemonics. This is an easy process which takes just a couple of hours. Once you know this system, you can use it to learn most any list of objects. After you learn the photographs, you will learn some effects to do with your new skill - used in this way, it is as close to real mind reading as you can perform. Special thanks to Richard Osterlind for allowing the use of parts of his...
Bracelet sequences and algorithmic stacks.
Mathematical Stacks contains a collection of various stacks made with 52 standard playing cards. Although some routines and presentations are mentioned, the book is not predominately about either routines or presentations. The very few presentations listed in this book are generally the bare minimum to demonstrate an effect.
The book contains stacks with bracelet sequences and built-in routines. The book includes stacks with binary bracelet sequences, e.g. a red-black suit bracelet sequence, where six consecutive cards identify the cards. Some...
Imagine:
The magician introduces a deck of cards. The spectator can thoroughly examine it, after which they can freely shuffle it for as long as they want in any way that they want. Once they're done shuffling, the magician invites them to spread through the deck face down and select any two cards that they like. They leave these face down on the table. The magician then instructs them to turn one of them face-up - let's suppose it is the JS. As for the other one, the magician tells the spectator not to look at this card yet - it will be a mystery for the end.
The spectator is then...
Toni Koynini brings to you some fine card magic with a new approach. This is an ebook of card magic in which no digital skill is required, for the effects literally work themselves, yet there is none of the usual tedious dealing and counting associated with such tricks. First, there is a complete card act of six splendidly routined miracles:
CAN'T SEE (A complete Card Act): A pack of cards is shuffled and cut by a spectator, and the performer is genuinely blindfolded with bandages, dough or what you will. Then, using only the sensitivity of his fingertips, he quickly deals the cards, laying...
Imagine:
The magician hands a business card to a spectator as he says to them "My assistant's number and name is on this card. I'm giving this information to you now because if I gave it to you after the selection, you might think I have 52 numbers or 52 names prepared, one for each possible outcome." With this said, he promises never to touch the business card again.
The magician then introduces a deck of cards, spreading it face up in front of the spectator. The spectator can see that all cards are present and that there are no duplicates.
The magician invites the spectator to...
Note: For those who own the original Rain Man, you're in for a real treat (see the last condition in the conditions section below).
Imagine:
The magician and the spectator are seated together at a table. The magician introduces a deck of cards and spreads it face up to show that all the cards are different. After this, he turns his back to the spectator and says "I want you to generate a random number between 1 and 52. Of course, I could have you name one, but then you may think I psychologically influenced you towards a particular number or that I relied on you to think of a popular number....
The Next Stack is a cyclical stack that is as easy to learn as the Si Stebbins stack but can withstand scrutiny, unlike the Stebbins stack. In the Stebbins stack, the increment of 3 or 4 could be visible to a participant if observed keenly. But in the Next Stack it is almost impossible to recognize the sequence.
The Next Stack is named as such because literally it is based on the "Next" principle, which is a novel, innovative principle. Given any card you can instantly know the next card.
It will take all of 5 minutes for you to learn this cool principle and start applying it. This principle...
Imagine:
The magician introduces a deck of cards; he spreads it face up to show that all the cards are different. Next, he places the deck on the table in front of a spectator. He says: "In a moment I am going to turn my back to you, and while I am turned away, I want you to make a free selection of any card. Simply cut off any amount of cards and look at the bottom card of the cut-off portion. Then, bury the cut-off portion somewhere into the middle of the remaining cards in order to lose your selected card. Once that is done, invite me to turn back around to face you."
So the magician...
Imagine: The magician and the spectator are seated together at a table. The magician introduces a deck of cards and spreads it face up to show that all the cards are different. After this, he turns his back to the spectator and says "I want you to generate a random number between 1 and 52. Of course, I could have you name one, but then you may think I psychologically influenced you towards a particular number or that I relied on you to think of a popular number. So to eliminate such ideas, I want you to generate a number by cutting off any amount of cards from the top of the deck and then...
Frac Stack is a groundbreaking tetradistic stack, with fractal and mirror properties that make it easy to learn and hard to forget. Imagine amazing your audience with a regular deck of cards that appears well-mixed, while they never suspect the unbelievable truth. You know the sequence of the cards forwards and backwards. You know the position of every card from the top of the deck, and even the position of every card from the face. You can quickly determine the sum of the values of any group of cards. On top of all this, imagine being able to secretly rearrange the cards mid-performance so...
You, a spectator, a deck of cards, a miracle!
A spectator shuffles a deck of cards, you instruct them to hold the cards face up, under the table, so that only they can see them. Despite these test conditions, you apparently display a genuine feat of 'remote viewing' by attempting to name each card in turn, as if you are somehow able to 'see through the table'. With an accuracy way beyond the odds you are able to prove to your audience that they are witnessing a real demonstration of 'psychic' ability and what you claim to be true, must be possible.
This effect will completely 'blow away'...
The Noon Stack is the only stack in the world with three official names. It is also called the Midnight Deck or the Moon Stack. You can either start learning this stack exactly at 12 noon or exactly at 12 midnight, any day.
Okay, on a more serious note, Noon Stack is a simple algorithmic stack that forms a nice memorized deck. Given a card, you can know its position and given a position, you can know the card at that position. And literally speaking, if you start learning this stack at 12 noon (or 12 midnight), you can completely get this down in less than an hour by about 1 pm (or 1 am)....
Array is Fraser's take on the algorithmic stack. He has been working on this problem 'on and off' for the past six or seven years and was only recently able to find the ideal solution he was looking for. His idea was to create a stack that was not only incredibly easy to learn but could also be applied effortlessly, in performance. He imagined a system that could be learned simply by reading through the rules once.
Fraser is pleased to say, all of the pieces of the jigsaw finally fell into place to allow him to create what he considers a close-to-perfect arrangement for this type of method....
Easy miracles using a new stack of cards.
This eBook collects a series of no less than seven tricks that are very simple to perform in front of one's audience, but all very impressive. All this is only possible thanks to a particular pre-arrangement of the pack of cards, derived from Si Stebbins but which, unlike it, will not be recognizable even to the majority of magicians, appearing on first examination to be entirely similar to a real shuffled deck. I have called this pre-order: VR Stack Pro and I will describe it extensively on the following pages.
Below you will find the effects...
The "ultimate" fishing stack!
Using an ungimmicked deck of cards you can have a participant select, think, deal down to or look at one or two cards in the deck. You instantly start to describe aspects of the cards until you reveal both.
I truly believe this to be the ultimate fishing deck ever devised using a normal deck. No markings, no rough and smooth, no short cards, no misprints. Use a 100% normal deck.
Comes with two routines to get you started and some tips on how to present fishing questions.
1st edition 2023, PDF 7 pages.
This is a new self-working card trick: the viewer will choose two cards, to represent the law and by means of which he will get two more cards, lost in the deck, which he will then divide into four bundles. Over the course of two separate stages, the spectator himself will insert the "sheriffs" within the deck, as arbitrarily as possible. The decks will be shuffled, cut and completed but, despite a thousand adversities, the two "sheriff" cards will succeed in tracking down and capturing the two "outlaws," generated by the combination of the first two cards, chosen at random.
The legend...
The deck is shuffled by the performer and then cut several times by the spectator. After, the spectator cuts the deck into four packets totally at random. No force. The magician will be able to divine not only the cards above but also the cards at the bottom of each packet. All this with a normal deck of cards. No marked cards. Instant reset.
1st edition 2022, video 18:54
Excerpt from the introduction:
About ten years ago the writer spent some time in 'doping' out a few poker deals as well as other games. He was fairly successful as the following stacks will attest. They are not all perfect and possibly may be bettered and improved, but he will say this much, he has not as yet run across any prearrangements that equal them. Incidentally one of the best poker deals on the market retailing for over two dollars is based on an arrangement that the writer created around 1920.
Best of the Best is an effect that makes most of the potential of the pre-ordered deck. But don't worry because to perform it you will not need memory work and no complicated mathematical operations. Everything is super impossible but really simple to do. Three divinations plus a prediction, a surprising climax. The method behind this effect is truly amazing and fascinating.
1st edition 2022, video 17:34.
X Deck is a cyclical stack. Given any card in the stack, you can almost instantly know the next card. It is based on a couple of simple algorithms. The stack looks quite random both value-wise as well as suit-wise. An equally easy variation X Deck 2 is also included. Easy to learn and simple to use, you should be able to get this down in a few minutes.
1st edition 2022, PDF 9 pages.