Have Fun

Happy New Year, no video today, as I intend to "paaaarteeee"

The Princess Card Trick

Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue
Page 272

Personal Comment: As mentioned in the video, this is part of a longer routine. The routine is called Five Card Routine. It consists of four parts. The Princess Card Trick is the second part. Here is what is hard to show about it. The card is merely thought of and not named right away. It is named by the spectator after seemingly four of the five cards are removed. I hope that got across in the video. Otherwise the trick is easy, as long as one can remember the order of five cards.

Difficulty: 1/5

A Book And A Card by Harlan Tarbell

The Original Tarbell Course In Magic by Harlan Tarbell
Lesson 19
Page 8 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is an odd one, but one that takes little effort to do. So there are situations where this can be quite good. Not for a big show, but as an impromptu bit it is terrific. Instead of the backpalm I would prefer a Tenkai position and instead of the card I would use a credit card. It's impromptu so, what more do you want?

Difficulty: 2/5

Nice quote by Harlan Tarbell himself in the very fist issue of his course.

I want this fact to sink in: SOME OF THE GREATEST TRICKS AND ILLUSIONS ON THE STAGE ARE UNBELIEVABLY SIMPLE.

Don't forget that you were once one of the spectators and believed these tricks to be almost superhuman feats. Now, when you learn how very simple they are, remember that to those who are not "in the know," they are still deep mysteries.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub + Bonus

Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue
Page 301 et seq.

Personal Comment: Face it. You can get a lot out of this little trick. It has build in conditioning, which makes the actual vanish almost selfworking and it is one of those tricks that rely on acting rather than skill. And how cool is that. About the bonus: Well I was never satisfied with the ending. While a disappearance is nice, the usual spectator ask himself where the card has gone. So I came up with the reappearance and then I somehow got crazy with the rest, as the position of the cards almost demanded to keep it going. Anybody could have come up with this.

Difficulty: 2/5

The Card Through The Magazine

Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue
Page 302 et seq.

Personal Comment: Such a lovely little trick. The effect is clear and the method easy. Here is one thing I would add. I would not drop the deck face down but face up. That way the face up selection under the magazine makes not only more sense, but also, since the deck would be turned face up after the magazine is on the floor, strenghten the method.

Difficulty: 2/5

Card And Pocket Mystery by Arthur H. Buckley

Card Control by Arthur H. Buckley
Page 197 et seq.

Personal Comment: I would do it differently. But this was 40 years before I was even born. So who am i to judge. Reading through Card Control gives me a strange vibe of a bygone era. I like that. The trick is basically another transposition, but a good one, as the audience is involved. About picking the second card... I don't like it. Why is the spectator ask to count down cards on the table? The answer is strictly related to the method. And that should not be. But overall... tweek it here, tweek it there and you got a nice little trick.

Difficulty: 3/5

Transposition by Arthur H. Buckley

Merry Christmas everyone!



Card Control by Arthur H. Buckley
Page 150 et seq. second method

Personal Comment: I love reading old magic books. Somehow most of the effects are pure in some way. Just single effort instead of the efforts of generations of thinking magicians. The above effect is very basic and a great opener to a card magic set, I think. And it is really cheap to get the book. Order it the paperback Dover book and you will be happy. Of course you could do this effect with three selections, but this 1-2-3 to 3-1-2 order is easy to understand even when you are drunk. The method is straight forward and not a lot of subtleties and convincers are thrown in. Sometimes that helps the effect.

Difficulty: 1/5

Platform "Snap" Double Lift by Bill Steinacker

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 4, Number 9 September 1981
Page 539

Personal Comment: Doing card magic on a stage is hard. Most of the displays of cards are designed to be viewed close up and to be looked at from the top down. Stage is different. And serious busking can be troublesome too. You start in a close up setting and slowly it becomes a stage setting as more and more people watch the show. So a good magicians needs to be able to adapt. And Bill Steinackers Double Lift is one of those valuable technics that differenciate the noob from the pro.

Difficulty: 2/5

Bulls-Eye! by Jack Birman

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 4, Number 9 September 1981
Page 534 et seq.

Personal Comment: I decided to include this, because I get a kick out of the method. Certainly not for everyone, but a one handed approach to a sandwich is nice. Personally I am obsessed with sandwich effects so you can expect more in the future.

Difficulty: 3/5

Quick Sandwich by Tony Econ

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 3, Number 9 September 1980
Page 394 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is odd, I tried it for lay people and somehow I got the same kind of reaction that I get when the sandwich cards are known. So I cannot say it is a incomplete effect. It is not. It is very full filling and easy to do. Give it a try.

Difficulty: 1/5

All You Have To Do Is Watch by Edward Marlo

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 173 et seq. March 1970

Personal Comment: Well it's collectors without selection. I see a serious advantage concerning the pace. As no selection is taken there is no "deader time". ("Dead time" is time where no magic effect happens. "Deader time" is the time where not even stuff happens that would lead to the magic effect.) Personally I love this in terms of method. Really straight forward and easy to get in to. And because the deuces appear face down within the face up collectors the feeling of separation is still maintained. I think.


Difficulty: 3/5

Ambush by Roy Walton

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 181 et seq. Nov. 1970
also in:
The Complete Walton - Volume 2 (1988) page 34 1988

Personal Comment: I cannot get the third cut to work properly according to the text. Not my thing. And I honestly don't really see that much of an advantage to use odd colored backs for the collector cards. Personally I like the collectors by Jim Surprise. But I heard that there are Walton fans out there who could explain to me why odd colored backs are better.

Difficulty: 4/5

Dunbury Sandwich by Robert Walker and Dave Solomon

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 193 et seq. 1977

Personal Comment: Nice trick. Actually it is just a revelation of a chosen card, but the whole changing of the sandwich makes it seem much bigger. Notion of being wrong and therefore "rightening" the sandwich is Robert Walker's and the commercial handling is by Dave Solomon's. I like it. Although I was never happy with that "through the fist turnover thingy". But fortunally there are nice ways around.

Difficulty: 3/5

A Quickie and Exhibitionism by Edward Marlo

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
A Quickie Page 394 (1970)
Exhibitionism Page 395 (1971)

Personal Comment: Really easy and somehow this does resonate with the audience. Certainly not on magical level, but on a "Dude you are skilled!"-level. I like it. And it is impromptu FASDIU So what more could one want. Both of these tricks build on top of each others, as the second time the audience may cut the deck, which is strong as you seemingly lose control even more. I like it.

Difficulty: 1/5

That Twist Again William P. Miesel

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 341 et seq.

Personal Comment: Bill Miesel saw Brother John Hamman perform his' Hamman's Twist, which was Hamman's take on the old Touch Turn aka Twisting the Aces plot. But Miesel added an additional kicker, which I think is not really overkill and actually the structure is even a bit more clear than the Hamman version. I like it, although I do not see myself performing this. Hamman's version is FASDIU while Miesel's version requires an odd card from a different deck.

Difficulty: 3/5

Hamman's Twist by Bro. John Hamman

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 338 et seq.

Personal Comment: I used that trick for quite a while, but changed the handling a bit, so the card in the end would be a selection that was made earlier, making this whole effect a glorified revelation of a chosen card. The trick deserves a bit more credit than that I think. A nice way to get into the setup is the following: Cull the odd card to the top of the deck as you get out the four club cards. Then arrange them in order A,2,3,4 from the face and do a partial Top Change of the bottom card of the fan and the one on top of the deck, then add the former bottom card back to the bottom and you should be set. If you don't do this effect in a while you will forget the handling. It is rather complex.

Difficulty: 2/5

Flippant by Looy Simonoff

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne (and still Richard Kaufman)
Volume 1, Number 9 September 1978
Page 103 et seq.

Personal Comment: It's a knack thing, when you get it down you have a really off beat way to turn a double face down. Imagine doing it one handed, then placing the card on the table. This is disarming. If you use it as a color change things are different. I personally would suggest a cover. Gregory Wilson uses his arm, that he moves in front of it and snaps. It looks nice when he does it. But simply waving your hand should do it too.

Difficulty: 3/5

Decking-Hofzinser Deluxe by Jon Racherbaumer

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne (and still Richard Kaufman)
Volume 1, Number 3 March 1978
Page 27 et seq.

Personal Comment: Don't like it too much, but I have seen magicians like Chad Long do something similar. That the suit matching the suit turns around in a four of a kind. And I like Chad Long, therefore I must admit that it might be just me, that this effect doesn't ring with me. Well... that's a good thing I suppose, otherwise everyone would do the same.

Difficulty: 3/5

The Two Card Trick by Bro. John Hamman

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne (and still Richard Kaufman)
Volume 1, Number 3 March 1978
Page 32 et seq.

Personal Comment: It is really, really easy to dismiss the trick. It is really, really easy to assume that it is way too obvious what is going on. That is because we are magicians. I did that trick and somehow I had build up enough credit amongst the audience that they actually believed what was going on. It's that slow reveal where you really are. One would assume that it would be really easy to backtrack everything once you reach the end. But it isn't so. To the audience it is three effects, even though all of them happen in their mind. Odd trick but a good one. I like it.

Difficulty: 1/5

Interlaced Vanish by Paul Harris

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne (and still Richard Kaufman)
Volume 1, Number 1 January 1978
Page 1 et seq.

Personal Comment: The very first trick published in the Apocalypse in it's twenty year run. It is a nice trick, although there is no margin of error in this trick, if you mess up, you mess up and there is no out. Not for me. Now 32 years later there are better versions of the effect.

Difficulty: 4/5

Stuff About Cards You Didn't Know And Probably Didn't Want To Know About by Jim Abrahams

The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page 9 et seq.

Personal Comment: You need to talk as you perform this. But if you have the liberty and the people are relaxed enough for this sort of interlude it is a nice trick. And it works from a shuffled deck in use. What more can you ask for?

Difficulty 2/5

Das Kümmelblättchen by Jochen Zmeck

Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 79 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is version that works from a complete deck and is impropmtu. The use of the whole deck enables you to do the switches with little problems. It is a higly practical and commercial version with a real ending and it is deceptive to a lay person. I use it my self whenever I feel it is the right time to do it. Magicians will get a kick out of this, as the DL and TL serve a different function each time.

Difficulty 2/5

Tabled Triumph by Jim Abrahams

The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page 8 et seq.

Personal Comment: Nice extra effect, making the cards go through the table, to resolve the mess. Interesting side note: It even works with a glass table. That in the hands display of the mixed up cards is Larry Jennings' and Bill Goodwin's.

Difficulty 2/5

The Lorayne Control by Harry Lorayne

Best of Friends Volume I by Harry Lorayne
Page 431 et seq.

Personal Comment: I really like that control. It is very deceptive, and very secure. And you don't have to control the card to the top. You can keep it where it ends up after the control and do a bunch of tricks involving the glide, and underused technique in my humble opinion.

Difficulty: 2/5

Autograph Round by Jon Racherbaumer

1984 The Summer Extra Almanac by Richard Kaufman
the Jon Racherbaumer Issue
Page 217 et seq.

Personal Comment: Not really practical for walk around stuff, but in a fixed close up setting this is a nice little filler. But the error margin is really little here. If you mess up during the structure, there is no out. Do I like it? Sort of!

Difficulty: 2/5

Bebel's Card Trick

The French magician Bebel does this little trick. How do I contact Bebel, or could somebody point me to a none French source?

This tricks lacks a certain inner logic. Why is there a change to the kings, and why do they then look like the selection? And how come that the actual existence of five card is revealed... but all of this doesn't matter as this little sequence triggers some emotion WTF-moment. I had nobody come up to me and say: "Dude that didn't make any sense!" It is a piece of strong magic, kind of a Hawaii sandwich. Ham and pinapple and cheese, how the heck does it fit? But it does.

Inter-Dimension by Eddy Taytelbaum

Best of Friends Volume I by Harry Lorayne
Page 285 et seq.

Personal Comment: The little trick lacks logic. Yet the climax is strangly fullfilling. Try it, it is quick and a nice filler inbetween longer pieces. The cards in use remind of a sandwich routine therefore it seems right to do one before or after the trick. It is hard to compare the effect with the usual stuff, so it becomes a nice interlude. I like it.

Difficulty: 1/5

SentiMental ACES by Michael Skinner

Richard's Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Issue 16, December 1983
Page 148 et seq.

Personal Comment: Nice version of the classic plot. It needs a very soft surface which makes it difficult most of the time. I still like it, but cannot see myself performing this any time soon. But those who can control their performing environment will get a kick out of this solid routine.

Difficulty: 3/5

Open Travelers Plus by Don England

Best of Friends Volume I by Harry Lorayne
Page 415 et seq.
Works from a shuffled deck in use if you can cull.

Personal Comment: The Open Travlers plot by Larry Jennings is a weird but pretty cool concept. Having the cards change in the end might not be a logical climax, but it is an emotional one, that plays strong with most audiences. The handling is straight forward and requires little skill. The problem of the last card is not solved well enough for my personal taste. But it is a good routine.

Difficulty: 3/5

The Double Card Monster by Jim Abrahams

The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page 14 et seq.

Personal Comment: I love transpositions. This is good, as it is not a one for one, but a two for one transposition. I left out the prelude routine to this as one needs a table for this. I might add it later.

Difficulty: 2/5

Bi-Way by J.K.Hartman

Richard's Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Volume 1, Number 3, November 1982 Page 17 et seq.

Personal Comment: I don't like the neither structure nor the effect, but I was told by a few other magicians, that it "kills" I highly doubt that. I think it is unclear what is going on so there is the need to tell the audience what is going on. And is a card rising up and down not much more impressive if the whole deck is involved? (aka Ambitious card)

Difficulty: 3/5

A Visible Transposition by Bernard Bilis

Best of Friends Volume I by Harry Lorayne
Page 448 et seq.

Personal Comment: I like it. But it really is hard to to with stubby fingers. Somehow I cannot get it quite right. I worked on this, the whole freaking day, but somehow this is a bit too delicate for me. The is the sort of effect that makes you wanna practice. But a great impromptu piece for all you long fingered ones.

Difficulty: 4/5

Isolated Visitors by Derek Dingle

Richard's Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Volume 1, Number 11, July 1983 Page 89 et seq.

Personal Comment: I don't like the visitors plot by Larry Jennings that much. It always feels like a cute idea rather than a fully grown idea. But Derek's handling is straight forward and I like it.

Difficulty: 3/5

Preset by Jim Swain and Geoffrey Latta

Richard's Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Volume 1, Number 7, March 1983 Page 62 et seq.

Personal Comment: It takes practice to get the double buckles and the triple buckles right, but it is well worth the hard work, as it really is a nice effect. And it is quite practical too. Just get them out of the deck and go on. The effect is ungimmicked which means no extra work adding and getting rid of any gimmick. I like it.

Difficulty: 4/5

King Flight by David Wax and Richard Kaufman

The Collected Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Page xvii et seq.
intended for The Summer Special, 1983, of Inner Circle

Personal Comment: Cute Interlude but not really practical I think. You need two different decks. Usually I don't perform with that much cards flying around. Dr. Jacob Daley's "Last Trick" feels about the same and is much more practical.

Difficulty: 2/5

The Fabulous Jumping Card by Ken Krenzel

The Collected Almanac by Richard Kaufman

Page xiv et seq.

Impromptu Version using a "Mystery Card" from a deck of a different back color.

intended for issue 6, February 1983, of Inner Circle



Personal Comment: I do this effect, but I do not take a "Mystery Card from a different deck, I use a duplicate, which is the main method explained by Richard Kaufman. The effect is straight forward and plays strong, if, and only if, the card is actually signed. It really is a free choice so this makes the effect extremely practical. I like it.



Difficulty: 3/5

Visiting Royalty by David Arthur

The Collected Almanac by Richard Kaufman
Page xix et seq.
Intended for issue 3, November 1982, of Inner Circle

Personal Comment: While I don't see myself performing this effect I can see how it can play great for others. My personal addition would be not to have the black jacks turn into the red jacks, but into the red tens. That way the change would be much clearer. Staying true to the source material sucks most of the time ;)

Difficulty: 3/5