Shooting Card by Jeff McBride

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 6, Number 5 May 1983
Page 775 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is tricky... and Harry Lorayne said all there is to say about it. As a revelation it is kind of weak... but put this into an action like cutting the deck, it suddenly becomes a startling production that fits well into a Cutting the Aces scenario.

Difficulty 5/5

Inside-Out by Hippie Torrales

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 6, Number 2 February 1983
Page 740 et seq.

Personal Comment: This version uses a gimmick. With little thought, it is not needed at all. I like the framing of the effect. Technically speaking it is just a reversal and a change. But somehow the "in the spread" feature makes it stronger, as there is little contact done by the magician.

Difficulty 2/5

Die Karte mit den drei Seiten by Jochen Zmeck

Personal Comment: I cannot give you any sources on that. But you don't need that. This is basically just a way to reveal a chosen card. I like the premise. It's cute.

Years ago I visited a local magic circle in Berlin, Germany. They had their own little magazine. And Jochen Zmeck, being an honorary member of that circle, contributed to that magazine. The pamphlets are called "ZauBerlin" but that is pretty much all I can say about that.

Difficulty 2/5

Muscle Reading by Roberto Giobbi

Card College Light by Roberto Giobbi
Page 49 et seq.

Personal Comment: Lots of setup, considering that a key card would work almost the same way. It would still be self working. And after a glimpse any shuffle may happen. So why the whole work... Because some need that. Not me. Thanks. But I gotta give the routine one big pro. It will fool fellow magicians.

Difficulty: Self Working

T.N.T. by Juan Tamariz

Card College Light by Roberto Giobbi
Page 3 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is bloody brilliant. Not only is it selfworking but it also has a nice built in dramatic structure. You are basically all open when you take away your layers. The effects seems even more impossible the further it goes. The method will make you smile. Big smile! It also sets you up for a variety of tricks. Most notably "Out of this World".

Difficulty: Self Working

Finders Keepers by Roy Walton

The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 37 et seq.

Personal Comment: Why, why is some Walton stuff so dry? This is. Sure the technical construction is brilliant. But the structure of how the effect unveils seems unbearable to me. Hopefully in some others hands (besides those of Mr. Walton) this could be good. I fail.

Difficulty 3/5

A Pocket Discovery

The Royal Road to Card Magic (1948) by Fred Braue & Jean Hugard
Page 18 et seq.

Personal Comment: This would be gold, if it were not over exposed over the years. But imagine loading a coin into the pocket during the trick. Later you could vanish a coin and given the fact that there is plenty of time in between the two tricks you can create a nice miracle.

Difficulty: 2/5

Face it, Kings are Ambitious by John W. McClure

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 16, Number 11 November 1993
Page 2274 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is so forgettable, so very forgettable. But it ain't bad. The face up approach to the appearance is good, I think. But this is a personal trick. Tailored to one person, the creator. This makes me appreciate my own version of finding a four of a kind. So I guess there is some merit in the above routine.

Difficulty 3/5

Twin Peeks by Chris Kenner

Out of Control by Chris Kenner
Page 102 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is clearly designed to be a magician's fooler. The ludicrous setup the overall fairness. And I have no doubt that the majority of magicians are fooled by this. So this is a good trick for the right target audience. For the rest I would certainly go for a much more practical method.

Difficulty: Self Working

Ein König findet die Karte by Jochen Zmeck

Zauber-Abc (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 114 et seq.

Personal Comment: Another one from that very good children's book on magic. A spelling trick. I had to change the effect slightly, as I needed to convert this to English. The actual trick is self working. This uses a force. In the actual trick the German word for king is spelled out (KÖNIG) which has five letters. That means that four cards wind up on the table. And those happen to be the four aces. This makes no sense, yet feels very good and makes the selection of the card a free choice. Normally the selection or the spectators name is spelled out to find the selection. This here makes it so easy. And I think the audience doesn't care.

Difficulty: Self Working

S/He Loves Me by Robert E. Neale

Life, Death & Other Card Tricks by Robert E. Neale (2000)
Page 37 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is good for the right audience. Most often this is not a thing to do. And I wouldn't do it like that. I would do it face up with "random" cards. And the card left in the hand would have a red back while the rest would have a blue back. That way you get rid of the awkward addition of the Queen/King and you'll get rid of the crimping. Seemingly it would be all about "love or not" and as a kicker the last card would have a red back. Just my two cents.

Difficulty: Self Working

Strange Harmony by Harry Lorayne

Cardmagic by Richard Kaufman 1979

Page 9 et seq.



Personal Comment: Good. It requires a seven card setup. Getting into that is harder than just culling any four of a kind and doing Monarch's Quartett by Larry Jennings. The effect is different, but it still feels very similar. VERY SIMILAR. This one is easier.



Difficulty 3/5

Die Letzte! by Jochen Zmeck

Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck

Page 102



Personal Comment: There is no way to do this on camera alone. But I hope you get the effect. Basically you are eliminating cards until the spectators is only left with one. The card of the spectator who picked the card. I have a hard time to tell you how strong this actually is. It's good. Really good. Try it. This slow card revelation is cool. The basic method... well everything you can think of will work.



Difficulty 1/5

Card and Rubber Band

Personal Comment: This is great. Animation is almost always great. A magic buddy showed this to me years ago. I liked it. Then I forgot about it. Now I like it again. So where was it published? And who created it?



Difficulty 2/5

12345 Peek Thought by Brother John Hamman

The Secrets of Brother John Hamman by Richard Kaufman and Alan Greenberg
Page 26 et seq.

Personal Comment: It read a lot more interesting than it turns out to be. Seriously.

Difficulty 1/5

Revelation Station by Bob Huebert

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 6, Number 10 October 1983
Page 837 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is such a great way to reveal a chosen card. It requires no setup and therefore fits perfectly in a multiple card revelation routine. Also... it is ridiculously easy.

Difficulty 1/5

The Traveling Worm by Karrell Fox

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 14, Number 10 October 1991
Page 1988 et seq.

Personal Comment: He, how can you not like that. This is super fun. And the message on the back could nearly say anything. It could say "The card is on top", or "The card is the Six of Diamonds"... whatever. This is one of those ideas that can applied to a whole number of effects. All you need is the right surface. I even know of one magician who actually uses this so often that he has the worm printed on his business card. So his business card goes for a ride. Think of the possibilities.

Difficulty 1/5

Reverse Interlude by Charlie Miller

Card College 4 by Roberto Giobbi
Page 1039 et seq.

Personal Comment: Cute! practical! And those I showed it to told me that it is pretty strong. More strong than one would think if told just the description of the trick.

Difficulty 1/5

A Sure Bet by Roberto Giobbi

Card College 3 by Roberto Giobbi
Page 565 et seq.

Personal Comment: Larry Jennings also came up with a version. But the above version was created by Roberto Giobbi "independently" which means Larry Jennings had nothing to do with it. Technically speaking there is no need to even mention Larry Jennings. But some credit crazy magicians think otherwise. So after wasting all those words... the trick is gold, pure gold. The sucker element gets the audience if they really think you messed up. That of course requires acting. Also it requires real good audience management as they must not speak up telling you that you are wrong. So if you have kids in your audience this might not be the effect of choice. But if you sure you can pull this off, the reactions are crazy. This is no longer about the cards. This trick glorifies the magicians ability to fool the hell out of you. To lead you down the path that you think is safe, yet the magician has been there already.
There is also a risk involved in doing this trick. If the audience doesn't like you, they will also shut up and not tell you that you got the wrong card. Having the right card in the end however will also carry a very bad subtext. "Look at me, I'm smarter than you!" That has to be avoided at all cost.
So the trick requires audience management, acting and likability on the performers part. So this might not be for everyone. But for those few... this is gold.

Difficulty 2/5

The Invisible Card by Dirk Ferguson and Roberto Giobbi

Card College 3 by Roberto Giobbi
Page 523 et seq.

Personal Comment: Creator of the base of this trick is magician Dirk Ferguson who called it Wow! Confusing? I added this fairly known trick to show how weird proper crediting can go. Dirk Ferguson published this under his pen name Richard Bruce in the 1951 issue of Hugard's Magic Monthly (Vol. IX, No. 4, page 835 et seq.) It was an instant hit. For some reason it got also known as the "Biddle Trick" mostly because of some bad marketing by one of those magic companies that sound close to "illusionist". "Wow" however was the correct title. Nowadays "Wow" is often associated with a plastic gimmick. The title that Roberto Giobbi chose is taken as well. Gerald Deutsch's "Invisible Card" comes to mind. Whatever. The world of magic crediting is a difficult one. The trick itself however is a great one. Easy to do, strong effect.

Difficulty 1/5