tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36224852011-08-17T03:13:21.375ZCardopolisRandom Thoughts of a Magical Nature.
Notes, Trivia and Other Fragments.
Copyright 2002 David BritlandDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comBlogger801100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-17995865812252514652011-07-29T15:27:00.000Z2011-07-29T15:27:49.641ZOpus Magazine
In 1987 I began contributing to Opus Magazine, edited and published by friends Ian Keable, Chris Power and JJ. It contained a lively mix of articles, reviews and tricks and boasted of its "independence" from the magic establishment, a claim made, incidentally, by nearly everyone who ever started a magazine magazine. Nevertheless reviews were honest and forthright at a time when, in the UK at David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-31388144482265376892011-05-08T13:52:00.000Z2011-05-08T13:52:26.622ZEssential Magic Conference 2011This year's Essential Magic Conference will take place on the 7th, 8th and 9th of July. For those who don't know this is an online conference for magicians. 3 days of magic, 16 hours of lectures, presentations and performances from 33 magicians. All broadcast live in high quality video and then uploaded for online access whenever suits you. And if that wasn't enough we send you a DVD collection, David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-47094638411542096162011-02-24T17:20:00.000Z2011-02-24T17:20:37.891ZDouble Trouble<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>
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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4ptDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-90515708489641136492010-08-22T16:59:00.000Z2010-08-22T16:59:59.387ZRaynaly's Any Card At Any NumberDespite its recent popularity Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN) is not a new plot. The version described here is that of Edouard Raynaly who described it in the January 1908 edition of L’illusionniste magazine. I found it on the Ask Alexander database among Jean Hugard’s files.
Hugard translated a lot of Raynaly’s work and some made its way into his magazine. Indeed there is a description of this David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-5741496900235712562010-03-23T17:36:00.004Z2010-03-23T17:48:37.190ZEssential Magic ConferenceThis blog has never been overtly commercial but it would be remiss of me if I did not mention the upcoming Essential Magic Conference, that I think has its heart in the right place. It is being organised by Luis de Matos, Marco Tempest and myself.
It is magic's first digital conference with live broadcasts, on-demand downloads, question and answer sessions and if you register now you'll even getDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-17163802034204614682010-02-28T17:21:00.001Z2010-03-01T10:39:56.253ZA Joe Berg MysteryThe following trick is from the March 1929 issue of The Sphinx. And the reason it is published here for several reasons. First because it presents something of a mystery. Second because it could be seen as an early version of the Premonition effect. And third because of its relationship to Ben Harris Crossroads effect, which I think is worth documenting.
BERG'S CARD EFFECT
EFFECT: Performer David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-19516195454704098272010-01-27T14:20:00.002Z2010-01-27T14:23:35.438ZChan Canasta Triple Card Coincidence
Dave Jones alerted me to another Chan Canasta video on You Tube uploaded by the discerning Gaafman. In this routine Canasta has three cards chosen by the first spectator. It's a free choice of any group of three cards from a stacked deck. In this case 9D, 5H and QS. By the way, this confirms that he is using the Eight Kings set up and a DHSC suit order as discussed in my book Chan Canasta A David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-68286447633331790252010-01-05T17:28:00.003Z2010-01-05T18:45:00.800ZPremonition ParadoxEFFECT: A spectator selects a card and then takes the deck. He gives it a couple of cuts and is invited to guess at what position his card lies. If he guesses correctly, a big prize is promised. The performer taps the wallet in his pocket, hinting at the reward.'But first, just so that there is no cheating, what's the name of your card?' The spectator names the card, the Six of Spades. 'Okay. AndDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-71062439126800079642009-12-20T18:39:00.009Z2010-01-01T18:41:40.915ZAnnemann's NightmaresI was curious about the origin of the gimmicked card used in Paul Curry’s The Joker Knows. (See the November 15th 2009 entry on this blog). With the help of Ask Alexander I found Charles Jordan’s Spook Card (1916). Jordan credited the gimmicked card to Ford Rogers who used it in his 'Ever Ready' Forcing Pack. Jordan used the gimmick in a version of Hardin’s Prince’s Card Trick in which a thought David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-40154157371761825782009-12-15T13:28:00.004Z2010-02-28T15:44:25.116ZThe Harbin EffectThinking about impossible think-a-card tricks, The Berglas Effect and Premonition, put me in mind of an article I wrote back in 2002 for Stan Allen’s Magic magazine. It was called Tricks of Faith and dealt with tricks that either didn’t exist or didn’t work. In the article I briefly mentioned one trick of Robert Harbin’s as possibly being apocryphal, mainly because I couldn’t remember where I’d David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-72128039360609330452009-11-15T14:48:00.002Z2009-11-15T14:59:17.169ZThe Problem With PremonitionIn Premonition (as popularised by Eddie Joseph) the effect is that any named card is revealed to be missing from the deck. In theory it presents an interesting challenge to the cardician. And has a similar appeal to other card problems like ACAAN and The Trick That Cannot Be Explained. In reality you hardly ever see the trick performed, possibly because counting through a deck to reveal that onlyDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-57817786723016455182009-09-05T16:22:00.004Z2010-01-27T14:33:29.734ZChan Canasta Forces A WordIn researching the book Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man, I came across another version of Canasta’s famed book test, one in which he used a word constructed from letters called out by members of the audience. A video of this routine, as performed on a Dutch television show, has now appeared on You Tube. You will find it at the link below. Thank you Gaafman.
While the routine does not David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-81710929266757513692009-04-25T17:46:00.003Z2009-04-25T17:57:46.945ZThe Trick That Can Be ExplainedEFFECT: Spectator shuffles the deck while performer takes a small envelope from his pocket and places it on the table. The spectator is asked to cut the deck into three piles and then choose one of them. The top card of the chosen pile is turned over; it is the King of Spades. The envelope is opened. Inside is a playing card. It too is The King of Spades. METHOD: This is nothing more than a David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-28038208195255730072009-04-23T00:55:00.005Z2009-04-23T01:09:21.801ZThe Trick That Cannot Be ExplainedThe Trick That Cannot Be Explained is described in Dai Vernon’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic. The author, Lewis Ganson, having witnessed the effect said to Vernon: ‘Dai, I saw the effect. You wrote a prediction on a cigarette packet and placed this on the table. Al Koran shuffled the pack (and made a thorough job of it!). You told him to turn over the top card – which happened to be the David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-51065973013940641912009-04-16T17:28:00.013Z2009-04-17T14:10:28.053ZChan Canasta's Book of OopsesWhich card? That was the question posed by Chan Canasta on the cover of the Radio Times (8th Jan, 1960). This novel interactive trick was used to promote his new series of psycho magic on BBC television.Having thought of a card, readers were asked to turn to page 9 for the results. If you click on the photo you should get a better view of the cards. And having chosen one you can read Canasta's David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-16557254670504832312009-02-25T15:05:00.003Z2009-02-25T15:30:42.980ZPRINCIPLE XIn 1978 I attended the IBM convention in Hastings. It was a memorable convention for three main reasons. It was the year I met Phil Goldstein and his alter ego Max Maven, who blew everyone away with a unique brand of card work and mentalism. It was the convention I got to watch David Berglas give one of his incredible card performances part of which involved named cards being found at thought of David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-78467506184902419162009-02-25T13:51:00.002Z2009-02-25T13:59:32.497ZBLACKSTONE'S CARD AND NUMBERThe following trick is the subject of an interesting thread on the Genii forum about a performance of Harry Lorayne’s that is currently on You Tube. The trick in question begins at 00.32 on the video. The footage is from The Secret World of Magic, a show I helped develop with Objective Productions, in which magicians Ali Cook and Pete Firman toured the world in search of great magic. They David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-71151120082162647422009-02-10T15:09:00.004Z2009-02-10T15:32:23.421ZTHE MAGIC OF FRED ROBINSON - BOOK REVIEWI first read about Fred Robinson in Will Dexter’s book Famous Magic Secrets, an inspirational book to a teenage conjuror. Fred was one of the many curious characters portrayed by Dexter in the chapter about The Magic Circle. Fred was the burly rail worker sitting in the corner of the club dealing seconds and bottoms from the deck to the amazement of even the most expert magician. It was decades David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-72736492797359724222009-01-31T18:07:00.004Z2009-01-31T18:37:31.402ZSTEVE FORTE GAMBLING PROTECTION SERIES DVD - REVIEWSteve Forte has an almost supernatural ability with cards. It was at the Gambler’s Book Shop Shop in Las Vegas that I first heard his name. They were showing a series of four video tapes that Steve had produced. As I watched Steve’s incredible dice and card work on the monitor an old guy next to me said, ‘That’s the real deal.’ That old guy was Dai Vernon. At that time I was researching David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-29366155184924394402009-01-31T16:50:00.005Z2009-01-31T17:03:51.116ZNEWMAN MOND CUTS THE ACESJon Racherbaumer emailed to say that the previous post about Newman Mond reminded him of an Eddie Field’s stunt. Eddie would shoot a ball across the pool table so that it hit a deck of cards, cutting it into two packets right at the selection. This was a version of Sleight of Foot, the trick in which a few grains of salt are secretly placed above the selected card so that the deck will separate David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-18027401840505784822009-01-15T16:59:00.007Z2009-01-17T14:19:01.338ZPOOL CARDSHARKThis is an odd trick. You are at the pool table and decide to show a card trick. A pack of cards is spread over the table and one is chosen. It is replaced and the deck stood on a small block of wood, held there by a bulldog clip. The deck is then placed at one end of the table and you stand at the other, pool cue in hand. You aim the cue at one of the balls on the table then, POW! The ball David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1344611287948638872009-01-13T19:55:00.007Z2009-01-14T20:26:49.525ZWHIPLASH - DVD REVIEWStephen Tucker is a friend and one of the most creative magicians on the planet. I’ve known him for years – we attended the same school - and have seen his inventive mind applied all manner of tricks. He has a knack of finding truly offbeat solutions to magical problems. At the core of every trick is a great idea, one that can be adapted to your individual handling. He is a prolific inventor and David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-91419146343386480712008-10-04T15:28:00.005Z2008-10-04T15:43:30.599ZBOOK REVIEWFive years ago Ian Keable told me that he was writing a book. Ian is one of the hardest working people I know. When he sets his mind to something he finds a way of accomplishing it. I met him in the early days of Opus Magazine. Ian was the editor for the first year. He never missed a deadline. He is a professional magician and I’ve watched him work his way up from the comedy clubs and David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-10428888498687143272008-07-22T00:30:00.004Z2008-07-22T00:40:29.914ZTHE BOGUS EFFECT IN ACTIONPatrick Guida kindly pointed me to this video of Lu Chen performing his version of The Bogus Effect on television:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5au-kLobV9sI think it plays very well and spreading the cards is a nice touch.David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-57943006914444484412008-07-04T14:10:00.004Z2008-08-16T16:09:06.418ZDEVILISHLY SIMPLE FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTHThe search for the perfect solution to Stewart James’ Fifty-One Faces North inevitably involves some compromise. James’ own version of his own problem unfortunately compromised the effect to such a degree that it was no longer recognisable as the clear and clean version of The Open Prediction that magicians wanted it to be. This version presents what appearsDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-26111705348129500122008-06-29T21:44:00.003Z2008-06-29T21:52:59.755ZANOTHER OPEN PREDICTION When looking for solutions to Fifty-One Faces North it is worth considering other tricks and seeing whether they can be transformed into something that resembles Stewart James’ creation. In the Not The Berglas Effect manuscript I described the Will de Sieve key-card (Greater Magic page 478). I was always impressed how Ted Lesley used this gimmick in his Kismet David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-24171144472361744362008-06-27T12:17:00.002Z2008-06-27T12:36:33.483ZMORE ON FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH Thomas Baxter emailed me to say that I had overlooked some additional conditions that Stewart James had mentioned in Ibidem 3. These are: Spectator deals straight through from top to face. Only variation is when he leaves a card face down. Not a once-in-a-while trick. If instructions are followed, it cannot fail. No card handled by you from first to last. David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-58623448957835930602008-06-25T21:21:00.003Z2008-06-25T21:53:50.903ZFIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH Stewart James is famous for many things and one of them is a card problem known as Fifty-One Faces North, the origin of which has a convoluted and controversial history. The idea for James’ legendary effect came about following a visit to the magic convention in Colon in 1952 where James and his friend Francis Haxton, who was visiting from England, met Ed Marlo. At a cardDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-24304234984509481252008-06-18T13:39:00.002Z2008-06-18T13:48:48.782ZUNDER THE TABLE I’ve mentioned Dunninger’s ability to baffle magicians on this blog before. The following description is taken from The Phoenix issue 170 where Clayton Rawson describes another of the master mind reader’s impossible card locations. EFFECTWe sat in a restaurant with Joe Dunninger one night when he took our shuffled deck of cards, spread them out on his hands and held them David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-14829484632253261542008-05-26T21:26:00.007Z2008-11-15T08:20:31.670Z DIRECT MIND READING One trick that puzzled me for a long time was Trevor Hall’s Direct Mind Reading. He famously performed it at The Hoffmann Memorial Lecture at the Magic Circle in 1951. In 1956 he advertised it as a limited edition dealer item in The Magic Circular. I’ve never managed to locate a copy of the instructions (almost, but that’s another story) and I’d be very surprised if Hall David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-35035333905142908042008-05-09T14:31:00.003Z2008-05-09T14:50:47.940ZDECKORAMA The following idea arose out of a discussion about the Rama Deck with Alex Conran. I’d read the advert and watched the video and thought I recognised an old principle at work. But more about that later. It got me wondering what the simplest set up might be for an ‘impossible location’ effect using an ordinary deck. And with that thought in mind, the following trick was born.David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-30230494128792212992008-04-16T12:54:00.002Z2008-04-16T13:16:13.328ZDEVIL'S DECK ADDITIONNow that the pdf is blocking email boxes around the globe here is a little tweak to the Devil's Deck handling. You can use it for any deck of this type.The problem is that you don't really want people to see the face card of the deck. While you can cover it during the handling, here is another solution.On the face of the deck put an easy to recognise card such as the Ace of David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-52925822134910646472008-04-15T18:08:00.004Z2008-05-13T20:50:41.352ZNOT THE BERGLAS EFFECTThis is the follow up to The Bogus Effect described previously on this blog.It is too long to post here but I've now sent a pdf out to everyone who requested it. This offer is now officially closed.The mss includes some other thoughts and trivia on card at any number effects. Hope you get something out of it, if only inspiration.If you haven't received yours it might be David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-77127550862637412692008-02-29T12:15:00.007Z2008-02-29T12:42:51.795ZIMPOSSIBLE CARD LOCATION Expert Card Technique contains an ingenious effect of Paul Rosini’s called A Rosi-Crucian Mystery. It is a card location trick done under seemingly impossible conditions. When Fred Braue ran a Best Five Tricks poll in Hugard’s Magic Monthly, the Rosi-Crucian Mystery topped the list of card discoveries. It is a very clever trick and would fool magicians today if for no David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-36725963306820903802008-02-11T23:50:00.000Z2008-02-11T23:54:36.435ZNOT THE BERGLAS EFFECT IMMINENTI know the mss is late but I hope it will be worth it when it is sent out. At the eleventh hour I discovered a couple of things that might be of interest and have decided to add a bonus effect that is related.When the mss is released I will let everyone know via this site. That way anyone's mss who gets chewed up in the spam filter can email me and I'll send out a David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-60243604399558051292008-01-30T21:33:00.000Z2008-11-15T08:20:31.846Z YET ANOTHER ANY CARD AT ANY NUMBERYou are probably wondering what the above has to do with ACAAN. Read on and all will be revealed. This blog entry began when Steve Williams emailed me saying that it would be great if The Trick That Baffled Babbage could be done using only one deal. Fortunately it can. The inspiration for this version lies in one of my favourite tricks from Harry Lorayne’David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-49993624562142454952008-01-23T15:10:00.001Z2008-11-15T08:20:32.043ZADAMATHICA - AN ACAAN FOR 1921Often missing from a discussion of Any Card At Any Number is mention of a trick by Bertram Adams called Adamathica. He marketed it in 1921 as a set of instructions in hardbound form. He said he had 100 copies for sale and I would imagine it is quite rare. I found a set of instructions at Ask Alexander. The effect is described as follows: Spectator is asked to David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-48646055618433529942008-01-22T10:06:00.000Z2008-01-22T10:12:36.539ZACAANIf you came here looking for The Bogus Effect and Not The Berglas Effect, you should check out the posts for 17th December 07 and 3rd January 08.The new mss on this topic will be sent out at the end of January and the offer kept open until that time.David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1641073756699498392008-01-07T16:52:00.000Z2008-01-07T17:31:08.873ZNOTES ON THE BOGUS EFFECTFrom the feedback I've been getting it appears that quite a few of you are having Reversed Svengali decks made up to try out The Bogus Effect.The ever curious Shiv Duggal asked why use a Reverse Svengali when a regular Svengali would do. There are several reasons why I think the Reverse Svengali is better. The first is that it allows the deck to be spread face-up and David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-36163021298619480292008-01-03T17:02:00.002Z2009-02-20T14:14:48.619ZNOT THE BERGLAS EFFECTFollowing on from The Bogus Effect here is another version of Any Card At Any Number. The dealer advert would run something like this: THE EFFECT A spectator thinks of a card. A second spectator thinks of a number. A deck of cards is placed on the table. The performer need not touch the deck from this point on. Only now is the thought of number revealed. The David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-73848788316881177592007-12-17T15:57:00.000Z2007-12-29T16:30:36.911ZTHE BOGUS EFFECT Over the years many magicians have tried to replicate The Berglas Effect, an impossible version of the card at any number. The dream effect is that someone thinks of a card. Another person thinks of a number. And when the number is dealt to, lo and behold, there is the thought of card. It sounds simple enough but as a card problem it is a hard one to crack, especially if you David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-54380895860132075682007-11-17T17:26:00.000Z2008-11-15T08:20:32.216ZLUNCH BOXAndrew Loh emailed me about his marketed effect Cardbox Meltdown. He'd heard that it might be similar to an effect of mine, Lunch Box, published in Equinox back in 1985, and wanted to include a credit in his instructions. Here is the write up from Equinox as sent to Andrew. I think it's still an interesting effect even after all these years.LUNCH BOX A large ‘sandwich’ with very few David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-70585328925487674642007-08-10T14:43:00.000Z2007-08-10T14:49:44.045ZFOOL'S MATEThis is a simplified handling of an effect I published in the original Talon magazine. There it was used as a version of the ‘Open Prediction’ but I’ve since found that it’s impressive enough without any of the trappings usually associated with the Paul Curry effect. EFFECTA deck of cards is shuffled by a spectator. The performer removes one card and asks the spectator to sign hisDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1165674117869854292006-12-09T13:59:00.000Z2006-12-09T14:21:57.883ZFOURLOURNEFFECTA packet trick using the Ace, Two, Three and Four of Spades. One by one the cards rise to the top of the packet. All except the Four which disappears entirely.This trick originally appeared in Cardopolis magazine and was inspired by the work contained in Phil Goldstein's excellent booklet Majorminor. Daryl Martinez must also be credited as inspiration with his Twisted Aces David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1162684196285196052006-11-04T23:48:00.000Z2006-11-04T23:49:56.296ZTHE SIXTH SENSEEFFECT: Six spectators are given six slips of paper. One of them writes down the name of a dead person. The other five write down the names of people still living. While the mentalist’s back is turned the people mix themselves up and then one by one step forward and hold their slip of paper to the back of the mentalist’s head. Although he cannot see who is behind him, the mentalistDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1161638429670156282006-10-23T21:13:00.000Z2006-10-23T21:22:08.010ZACE TOO 3Yet another variation on the seemingly infinite permutations three cards can be put through. This routine is the result of experiments with Roy Walton’s The Changeling from Devil’s Playthings. It can also be considered a version of a Dai Vernon problem in which any one of three cards is transformed into the spectator’s selection. Here you show that it really could have been any of the David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1159107371946857082006-09-24T14:07:00.000Z2006-09-24T14:16:11.963ZA TALE OF THE UNEXPECTEDThis routine was inspired by Bro John Hamman’s Signed Transversal Triplet described in Richards Almanac Summer 85 issue. The Hamman routine involved the transposition of two selected cards. One was sandwiched between the black Kings and other between the red Kings. They changed places twice and there was third sequence, reminiscent of the Hotel Mystery in which the two David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1158011589004636622006-09-11T21:51:00.000Z2006-09-11T21:53:09.023ZREJECT JACKSEFFECTTwo jacks are sent into the deck to find a selected card. They do it by visibly rejecting half the deck and leaving just one card between them. Naturally, it is the right one.METHODUsually a sandwich effect suggests that somehow the two jacks (or whatever) penetrate through the deck to find the selected card. In this routine the idea is that the jacks are actually ejecting David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1157050789469019372006-08-31T18:57:00.000Z2006-09-01T15:18:55.000ZEASY POKEREFFECTA spectator selects five cards from the pack and is asked to imagine that it forms a perfect poker hand. Well, perfect except for one card. One card won’t help him win. Which card would he like to discard?Without looking at any of them he discards one of the cards, say the two of hearts. He turns the remaining four face-up and discovers that he has the ten, jack, queen and king ofDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1156110064671436062006-08-20T21:30:00.000Z2006-08-20T21:41:04.690ZSECRET OF THE CARDSI remember the moment very clearly. I was at the office of Martin Breese videotaping Basil Horwitz as he demonstrated some of his material for a forthcoming book. This would have been in the mid-eighties.Basil had dealt some ESP cards onto a table and I was looking through the viewfinder on the video camera. Then I noticed something very odd. I stopped filming, went over to theDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1152289933429039912006-07-07T16:15:00.000Z2006-07-07T16:57:22.280ZA TRICK FROM ERIC MASONTwenty years ago the late Eric Mason devised an effect called Stigma. It was an original idea involving the number and suit of a named card appearing as blisters on the performer’s fingers.As similar effects are now coming onto the market I thought you might be interested in Eric’s original, taken from the notes and illustrations he gave me on 1st August 1986. They are onlyDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1149526205754804192006-06-05T16:43:00.001Z2006-06-05T20:06:14.356ZOPEN AND SHUT CASEThis item was previously published in New Talon number 3. It was inspired by Jack Yates’ effect Clue from his book Clue and other Miracles. It can be presented as a murder mystery game. But my main reason for describing it here is to highlight the method, which might interest anyone familiar with those logic puzzles featuring liars and truth-tellers.Effect: The performer invitesDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1142618492721679992006-03-17T17:59:00.000Z2006-03-17T18:01:32.750ZSYMPATHETIC CARDS FROM POCKETJesse Demaline had some very clever effects in The Magic Wand magazine but his Sympathetic Cards from Pocket (issue 254) may have been overlooked because of a typo in the article. It’s an intriguing effect. A diabolically simple method. And holds lots of potential for individual variation. Read on.Effect: Imagine having three cards selected from a blue-backed deck. David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1142209544262398472006-03-13T00:23:00.000Z2006-03-13T19:35:59.803ZSo SpecialEffect: This is an ambitious card routine using five cards. One of the cards repeatedly rises to the top of the packet. Finally it demonstrates its prowess by penetrating up through the entire deck.Method: Packet Elevator tricks are not new but this has the distinction of using the double deal as the crux of the method. I was prompted to dig this out of the notebooks after reading PeterDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1142188811459581672006-03-12T18:38:00.000Z2006-03-12T18:41:36.206ZStraight to the PointI think it was Bob Ostin who first showed me how effective this trick could be. You've probably even read it. It is described under the title Round and Round and can be found in Chapter Five of The Royal Road to Card Magic, but it seems to have been overlooked by almost everyone.The original made use of the Glimpse but that is not used in this version. The mechanics of the David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1113401088655193922005-04-13T14:00:00.000Z2005-04-13T14:04:48.660ZCyclic AcesThis idea was first published in Sorcerer magazine, issue 2 (1988). It’s a simple idea but you might find it useful. It’s also a good excuse for me to try out the OCR software on my new scanner. Let’s hope it works and following is transcribed without too many errors!Effect: A deck of cards is shuffled, squared and placed in the centre of the table. “It is said that three is a lucky David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1110829550759375622005-03-14T19:33:00.000Z2005-03-14T19:47:40.206ZThe Last GameThis poker routine was originally published in The New Talon. It began as an attempt to simplify Karl Fulves’ According to Hoyle, which was published in his The Magic Book, an excellent book now reprinted by Dover as the Big Book of Magic Tricks.It’s a poker deal with a psychological flavour in which the spectators get the opportunity to switch hands with you during the game yet you David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1110828557563022282005-03-14T19:09:00.000Z2005-03-14T19:48:18.793ZZennerism PostscriptFollowing the previous post on Zennerism and The Zenner Effect, Patrick Converso has contacted me and I'm pleased to say that the original effect and its history will now be detailed in a new edition of The Zenner Effect published by TrickShop.com.Anyone that has a copy of Ted Lesley's Working Performer's Marked Deck Manual will find a full deck handling for Zennerism on page David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1108320724726670142005-02-13T18:35:00.000Z2005-02-13T19:01:36.830ZZener and the Art of InspirationYesterday I got an email from a friend asking if I’d seen the advert for TrickShop.com’s new trick as advertised on Duncan Trillo’s MagicWeek website. The trick is called The Zenner Effect. And the reason my friend had contacted me is that the advertising says that it is inspired by Zennerism, a trick I’d marketed back in 1980. The suspicion was that the new trick David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1108125454304992082005-02-11T12:27:00.000Z2005-02-11T12:37:34.310ZThe Great Poker TrickNelson Downs described this in The Art of Magic (1909). It’s a fascinating idea. Imagine a totally impromptu poker deal with a brand new unopened borrowed deck. You shuffle the cards and deal out seven hands of poker. Everyone gets a full house, except you, you get a winning straight flush.There’s a little more to it than that (isn’t there always) but it’s great idea all the David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1107566486637067482005-02-05T01:08:00.000Z2005-02-05T01:22:56.606ZChalice from the Palace
Many decades ago, Cyril Tomlinson published a very good presentation idea for a popular mathematical swindle in Abracadabra magazine. I found it interesting because I’d once played with a Ken de Courcy routine sold by Supreme Magic called Luck of Lucretia. Both effects were themed around the idea that the performer can locate a glass filled with poison by the infamous David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1104617140885870742005-01-01T21:56:00.000Z2005-01-01T22:07:26.883ZSuper Memory Remembered
There are some wonderful ideas to be found in the magic magazines of old and each time I delve into those old volumes is like a treasure hunt. It is a rare day that you don’t return laden with gems. The Magic Wand, a British journal published in the first half of the last century, is a site worth returning to again and again. It is now available on a searchable CD Rom David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1100907167033802512004-11-19T23:07:00.000Z2004-11-19T23:32:47.033ZThe Invisible Man
Harry Price is one of my favourite characters from the history of magic. He made his living as a professional psychic researcher and ghost hunter, working in the 1920s and 30s, apparently shining a light on the unexplained but in reality casting quite a shadow over almost everything that he touched. His books, and he wrote many, are absolutely fascinating. Harry's investigationsDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1095268046580352242004-09-15T16:35:00.000Z2004-09-15T17:07:26.580ZYou Have a Lucky Face
So there I was, standing outside a store in New Oxford Street, killing some time before a 3 o’clock meeting when I heard the words, “You have a lucky face.”
They came from a small Indian guy, possibly in his late teens. He’d crept up behind me and when I turned to face him, he said the words again. “You have a lucky face.”
“Pardon?” I said.
“You have a lucky face, yes veryDavid Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1095262652347306732004-09-15T15:24:00.000Z2004-09-15T15:56:34.543ZHiding In Full View
I was reading David Hoy’s biography the other day - Super Psychic: The Incredible Dr Hoy. David Hoy aka Dr Faust the mentalist and mindreader is known among magicians as the inventor of the Tossed Out Deck effect. It's a great trick and still very much in use, passed down by Faust himself in an earlier book, this one for magicians, called The Bold and Subtle Miracles of Dr David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1085510453247510642004-05-25T18:14:00.000Z2004-05-28T14:02:34.073ZThe Street Conjurer
Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor is a three volume account of the lives of the working class in Victorian England. Published in 1851 it contains first-hand descriptions of the day to day activities of tradesmen, rat catchers, flower girls, criminals and everyone else that ever trod a cobbled street. It's the kind of book you can open at any page and find David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-825218222002-10-04T16:37:00.000Z2002-10-04T16:37:50.753ZBRAIN DAMAGE
Psychics are wonderful at coming up with offbeat demonstrations of the paranormal. Not just the methods but also the effects. Consider Achille D’Angelo’s Invisible Hand as described in Milbourne Christopher’s ESP, Seers and Psychics (and later reworked by mentalist Steve Shaw), the concept of spirit raps as set out by the Fox Sisters or even Uri Geller’s bending spoon. There is David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-805453602002-08-22T00:31:00.000Z2002-08-22T00:32:16.000ZTHE LATEST NOVELTY
Well, it was in 1933 when this advert was printed in The Linking Ring magazine:
Here it is Magicians, just what you have been looking for. A new type of Magic that is very novel. spectacular, entirely new and different from anything you have ever seen or used. "TAXIDERMY MAGIC", anything from club effects to stage illusions with Mounted Birds and Animals, as used by the David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-803959342002-08-18T18:23:00.000Z2002-08-18T18:28:17.000ZDESERT ISLE READING
Jon Racherbaumer sent out a number of emails to magicians a few months ago asking which magic book they would take to a desert island. It wasn’t something I had ever contemplated. I presume that being marooned is something that weighs more heavily on Jon’s mind than mine. I can see him talking to a basketball called Eddie. Still, entering into the spirit of the request, I David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-792692662002-07-22T20:04:00.000Z2002-07-22T20:10:22.000ZIMPROMPTU MAGNETIC CARDS
I mentioned the Magnetic Cards earlier and today I remembered an impromptu version that was described in The Magic Wand magazine many years ago, October 1925 to be exact. I hasten to add that I didn't read it the first time around. It's reproduced here with permission of Martin Breese, the copyright holder.
A CARD TRICK
Writing of Cosmo, here is a curious card trick David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-791895132002-07-20T15:43:00.000Z2002-07-20T15:43:25.630ZCHANDU’S PSYCHOANALYSIS
Back in 1950, George Armstrong published a manuscript called Chandu’s Psychoanalysis. It was advertised as:
Here is an entirely new idea in Mentalism. Several spectators think of various objects. The performer Psycho Analyses them and divines the objects being thought of.
Positively No Force
Any Object Thought Of
No Chance of Failure
Performer is Right Everytime
No David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-790316362002-07-16T19:53:00.000Z2002-07-16T19:53:47.680ZTHE AUTOMATIC INDESTRUCTIBLE GOLDENTINE PEN
Have you seen those fountain pens that are so strong they can be stabbed through a tin can and yet still write? Well, bear that in mind as you read the following extract from S. James Weldon’s marvellous book 20 Years A Fakir. It was published in 1899 and contains dozens of scams and swindles that Weldon, a travelling salesman, used to sell his wares. David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-789817772002-07-15T18:04:00.000Z2002-07-15T18:09:23.000ZERDNASE'S DIAGONAL PALM SHIFT
Contributions to this blog are welcome. The following is from Peter Duffie:
The Expert at the Card Table by Erdnase, while not the largest of magic related books, is crammed with detail. So much so, that every visit yields new fruit, regardless of how often you may have read the book. One item that caught my attention a few years ago was at the end of the Diagonal David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-789704842002-07-15T12:47:00.000Z2002-07-15T12:48:54.000ZELECTRIFYING PHENOMENA
PENomenon is the ultimate in close up and parlor magic, at least according to the advertisements. It reminded me of a trick in The Boy’s Book of Conjuring, a tome so old that the photos are referred to as plates and the magician in them is dressed in Charles Bertram’s Sunday best. The trick is called The Electrified Pipe:
Balance a clay pipe on the edge of a tumbler in David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-789093192002-07-13T18:42:00.000Z2002-07-13T18:45:53.000ZROY WALKER’S CARD MYSTERIES
When I first read Roy Walker’s book Card Mysteries, I was amazed at the content. It was released in London in 1933 under the imprint of George Johnson’s Magic Wand publications, the same publisher of Sam Sharpe’s translation of Hofzinser’s Card Conjuring, Neo Magic and the booklets of the always-ingenious Tom Sellers.
What I found so special about Walker’s Card David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-789047542002-07-13T15:42:00.000Z2002-07-17T22:47:41.000ZCHARLES JORDAN'S BOOK TEST
In his 1920 booklet, Ten New Miscellaneous Tricks, Charles Jordan said: “Rather than write a long Preface, I will merely leave it to the magician in search of novelty as to whether or not the last trick in this collection is worth the price of the entire manuscript.”
The trick was The Book Mystery, an innovative book test which, like much of Jordan’s work, shows that David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-787443232002-07-09T20:18:00.000Z2002-07-09T20:29:25.000ZOPEN PREDICTION
The publication of Stewart James’ long awaited solution to 52 Faces North in The Penumbra magazine has reinvigorated interest in this problem and Paul Curry’s Open Prediction. I’ve had a number of stabs at this, most of them prompted by Karl Fulves’ booklet on the topic. Here’s one from the notebooks circa 1979. Apologies if anyone got there first.
You need a double-faced Joker. David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-787394252002-07-09T18:03:00.000Z2002-07-09T18:04:48.000ZTHE GREAT POKER TRICK
Nelson Downs described this in The Art of Magic (1909). It’s a fascinating idea. Imagine a totally impromptu poker deal with a brand new unopened borrowed deck. You shuffle the cards and deal out seven hands of poker. Everyone gets a full house, except you, you get a winning straight flush.
There’s a little more to it than that (isn’t there always?) but it’s great idea all David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-787068002002-07-09T00:09:00.000Z2002-07-09T00:09:24.890ZIMPROVED CARD TO POCKET
In the 1920s Eddie McGuire wrote to T. Nelson Downs asking if he could buy some of his card secrets. Downs agreed to sell, and for an initial fee of $50, a considerable sum at that time, began a correspondence which extended over a decade and included many effects. The following was among them.
Thirty two cards handed to you and you openly deal them into two face down David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-786631242002-07-07T23:43:00.001Z2010-02-14T18:04:52.335ZMAGNETIC CARDS
I found this in a carbon copy of a letter of Dudley Whitnall's. It is dated 21st December, 1973, and was addressed to Peter Warlock. In it Whitnal recalled a very interesting effect performed by Edward Victor.
Whitnall was a magician who lived in Heswall in Cheshire. He was a member of the Mahatma Magic Circle in Liverpool and a keen cardman who believed the performer should David Britlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734noreply@blogger.com