The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox
by Bob Farmer

Don’t let Bob Farmer’s ad for The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox deter you from purchasing it. The only things “satanic” about the contents of TBBT are the devilishly clever ideas contained therein. In his Introduction to the manuscript, Bob sums up the contents this way: “There are three parts to this manuscript. In the first part, I explain a system for sorting groups of cards that does not require any understanding of the math involved – follow the directions and it just works. In the second section, for those who are interested, I have explained the underlying science: understanding this section will allow you to come up with your own effects. This section also includes the fastest method available for stacking decks into any order. The third section is a bonus: the long unavailable Tsunami manuscript, along with some related material. Its gambling theme fits in here nicely.”

I’ll elaborate on what Bob said in just a moment, but first I need to correct an error in the above paragraph: the claim that: “This section also includes the fastest method available for stacking decks into any order.” It turns out that after the manuscript was published, Bob discovered an even faster way to sort a deck into a prearranged order. This information is included in an Addendum that comes with The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox. Using this updated method, I was able to go from a shuffled deck to Aronson-stack order in two minutes flat. (And this was on my first attempt. With practice and familiarity, I’m sure I could shave thirty seconds off that.)

So here’s what’s going on: Bob has devised a method of quickly sorting cards into a previously prearranged order. He has also devised a way to convey this procedural information to you (the performer) in a way that is not apparent to your spectators. He has also devised several good tricks to demonstrate the power of this system. The first of these involves two fifteen-card piles. The spectator shuffles both piles and chooses one. He then mirrors the magician’s actions as he deals out the cards three times. The spectator’s cards end up in a random order; the magician has three, sequentially ordered, exceptional poker hands (at the odds of over a trillion to one against). This basic effect is then expanded to include an astonishing prediction. Variations with ESP cards and a Tarot deck follow.

The second section of The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox covers the math behind the sorting procedure. By understanding how the sort works, you can apply the procedure to any result you want to accomplish. Those of you who do memdeck work will appreciate that Bob has worked out the sorting procedure for the Aronson stack, the Tamariz stack, and Si Stebbins order. Having this information coded on the cards will allow you to reset your stack quickly (see my comment above).

The third section of The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox is a reprint of one of Bob’s greatest effects, Tsunami. This trick was universally praised when it was released in the late 1980s, and rightly so. It is a remarkable demonstration of mind reading with a poker-related surprise kicker. As is the case with every effect he releases, Bob has worked out every detail, giving you variations to fit every performing situation. I learned and often performed the impromptu version of Tsunami when it first came out. I had forgotten how great the original method (using a stacked deck) was. This trick is worth the price of admission all by itself.

You should know that you’ll have to do some prep work before you can perform any of these effects; part of this prep work involves tracking down the necessary “tools.” Bob gives complete details on what supplies you’ll need and where to purchase them. None of the effects in the manuscript requires any sleight-of-hand ability.

If you do memdeck work, The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox is a must-have. Fans of Bob’s previous efforts and those who enjoy ingenious, semi-automatic card effects will also want to pick this up. But for me, the main selling point of The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox is that it is only the tip of the iceberg of what is possible using the sorting technique explained. I have had several long conversations with Bob about ways to utilize his discovery and further developments I’d like to see implemented, and he is enthusiastic about pursuing those ideas.

Bob has not stopped thinking about the principle explained in TBBT and has already released four addenda that contain more effects and ideas. Unless he plans to release a second edition, I predict that TBBT will be the first manuscript in the history magic to have more pages of addenda than pages in the original text.

Trust me; you want to get on the TBBT train right now. The ideas explained are as clever as anything I’ve seen lately. You’ll fool everybody, including yourself.

Review from Linking Ring, March 2018:

After reading The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox, I am convinced that former Magic Magazine columnist Bob Farmer has a math degree hidden somewhere in his wall, even though he says he flunked math in school. Less than a year after publishing the exhaustively researched Bammo Ten Card Deal Dossier, Farmer has put out another brilliant work that delves into a mathematical card sorting system seldom used in magic. With the Tarodiction Tool Box, you can secretly arrange cards in front of spectators and stack cards in Tamariz, Aronson, and Si Stebbins order in less than two minutes. It works with a specific tarot deck or any regular deck once you code it. The system is easy to see and understand.

Farmer painstakingly thought through the math so we don’t have to, and includes an entire section for math mavens who are interested, along with fifteen effects. However, you don’t have to understand the math to do the magic. The effects all include some counting, but the plots Farmer includes are structured so it doesn’t feel like it.

The manuscript also includes a hard to find, gambling routine called “Tsunami.” According to Farmer, “Tsunami” is “Variations of a single effect combined for a full performance. A card is selected and located, but there is gambling, mentalism, and some hustles along the way.” You bet the spectator one hundred dollars that you can discover his mentally selected card. Initially you lose, but eventually, you are able to win all the money back.

Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox also has one of the few excellent bizarre magic presentations I have seen written up in a general magic booklet. The premise for that trick is the prediction that famous occultist Aleister Crowley wrote the night he died is finally going to be explained using tarot cards.

Tarodiction Toolbox requires more than a little preparation. Most of what you need can be found in high-end art supply stores or online at Amazon. Don’t be put off by the prep work; the deck will last for years once you create it. Don’t let the math scare you off, either. Don’t worry about the why just follow the method laid out. Serious card workers and the math experts of the magic world will have a field day with the concepts. For the rest of us, this is something we can use to fool our fellow magicians as well as our audiences.

Highly recommended.

Review from Genii:

Bob Farmer is one of those singular figures in the world of magic, whose brain doesn’t work like anyone else’s. A lawyer by trade, he is not a performer, but is a very interesting creator. He’s been marketing and publishing his unique creations for decades (always accompanied by amusing and confusing ad campaigns). Some of his creations that you might be familiar with include “Headhunter,” “Mutanz,” and “Deja VooDoo.” You likely know him as a long-time columnist in MAGIC magazine and the author of The Bammo Ten Card Deal Dossier.

What has Farmer unleashed on the magic world this time? In The Bammo Tarodiction Toolbox Farmer explores a mathematical system for sorting cards and he has found entertaining ways to exploit this system. The system relies on a ternary (or trinary) number system. What is that you ask? You’re familiar with binary systems, surely; think of ternary systems as the same thing, except there are three digits, instead of two. The second section of the book explains the mathematics involved, but the good news is you don’t need to understand the math in order to do the tricks. You merely need to follow the necessary procedures.

What sort of procedures? Well… (I know this is going to sound dull, but trust me, the tricks that it makes possible are fun, entertaining, and deceptive.) Imagine you have a deck of cards, each of which is marked with (specific, not random) variations of “center, right, left.” If you were to thoroughly shuffle the deck and then deal through the cards, placing each into the pile indicated by the first word, then gather up the cards, then dealing each into the pile indicated by the second word, then gather them up and dealing and gathering a third time, the entire deck would be in a specific order, such as new deck order or Mnemonica. Obviously, dealing through fifty-two cards three times is not something an audience will want to sit through, but the principle can be exploited for smaller groups of cards, and all the tricks in this book use fifteen cards or fewer, keeping dealing time to a minimum.

The challenge with using this system as a method is justifying the dealing and/or making it entertaining. Well, that’s where having a brain like Farmer’s comes in handy; he is nothing if not entertaining.

The tricks include one where you teach a spectator how to cheat at cards, a couple gambling-themed tricks that are reminiscent of “Sympathetic Cards,” some interesting effects involving ESP cards, and a wonderful, elaborate routine using Tarot cards. The manuscript I was originally given for review was 99 pages long, but in the short time since, Farmer has come up with so many new effects that there are addenda, and the book now comes in at 146 pages. The addenda include some really interesting new tricks, ideas, and variations, including a fantastic routine, inspired by “The Tantalizer,” which has long been one of my favorite tricks.

Also included in the manuscript is a reprint of “Tsunami,” a long unavailable gambling manuscript that was, as Farmer says, “universally praised by those who praise universally.” I remember Michael Weber frying me with this at a magic convention many years ago. This is welcome addition to the manuscript, an underrated trick, and I’m glad to finally have a copy of it.

The ternary principle explained here is very interesting and Farmer explains many variations. I’m sure it will continue to inspire a lot of new applications. Serious card men (and math nerds) are going to have fun with this Toolbox.