The Vanishing Pack

Expert Card Technique: Close-Up Table Magic by Jean Hugard and Frederick Braue
Page 315 et seq.

Personal Comment: Very practical, In fact I use this more and more often. But I am not using a piece of cloth but a paper napkin. When I'm table hopping those are there in abundance. And the paper tissue creates a nice little shell pretending the deck is still there. In the end you just crumble up the napkin to get the effect. I usually get gasps. The reactions are about the same as the saltshaker through the table. Then I continue by doing a fake tear of the napkin, which leads into the total vanish of the napkin. As I am looking for the vanished napkin I load the deck of cards into my hand and produce those, bringing all to a close.

Difficulty: 1/5

Under Her Spell by Simon Aronson

The Aronson Approach by Simon Aronson (1990)
Page 3 et seq.

Personal Comment: I don't like spelling tricks. But I like this one. I suggest you look it up. It is practical and the suggested patter is even funny.

Difficulty 3/5

Watch Me Like A Hawk by Brother John Hamman

The Secrets of Brother John Hamman by Richard Kaufman and Alan Greenberg

Page 44 et seq.



Personal Comment: Interesting I guess, but not my cup of tea. This seems like a routine that is so much tied to the personality of Brother John Hamman, that I cannot see anybody doing it, and it appearing natural.



Difficulty 3/5

A.E.-I.O.U. by Sam Schwartz

Epilogue by Karl Fulves
Issue 14 March 1972
Page 109 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is also published in Ibidem. It riddles me why. This is a routine that is needlessly lost in method. The effect is that a selection vanishes from a sandwich. So if this makes such a big point out of not touching the selected card, then why do I need to adjust the sandwich by hand near the end? It's not failure on my part. It is actually written up that way. Sorry, this is a bad routine.

Difficulty 3/5

Unnamed Trick by Bro. John Hamman

The Secrets of Brother John Hamman by Richard Kaufman and Alan Greenberg
Page 18 et seq.

Personal Comment: No kidding, the name of the trick is actually the main method that is being used. It is bold, but interestingly still deceptive. When I did this for real people I changed the grip on the cards. Doing an Elmsley while holding the deck is a bit too demanding for my hands. They are not that huge. So right now I am going into Brother John Hamman's work. I may have to adjust the technique a few times to still do the effect. Please forgive me for that. The above video is excuse enough to cheat.

Difficulty 4/5

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

Die unsichtbare Karte by Jochen Zmeck

Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 48 et seq.

Personal Comment: To force the card would have been a better way than to do that bold peek. But some might get a kick out of this ultra bold peek. The effect is straight forwards and simple. But one thing: In Germany one of the most common games to play is Skat so most of the sold decks are intended to be used for a game of Skat. A deck of Skat only has 32 cards and no joker. Therefore the effect would be much quicker.

Difficulty 2/5

Doppelte Verwandlung by Jochen Zmeck

Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 47 et seq.

Personal Comment: Really cute trick. While this might not end up in a professional's act I can see this one done at a bar among bar bets and such things. Easy to do, no setup (well openly taking out the Jacks) and a visual effect. Cool stuff. If part of a longer routine this might be worth checking out.

Difficulty 2/5

Proof Of The Pudding by Obie O'Brian

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 3, Number 10 October 1980
Page 139 et seq.

Personal Comment: Same effect as before. So you see how knowledgeable cardmen have wasted time with the Hideo Kato Trick or as I like to call it: "The Hideous Card Trick." Why did those card man feel the need to publish this utter crap? well... I do it to proof a point.... come to think of it. The trick is called Proof of the pudding. Maybe Obie O'Brian wanted to prove something too.

Difficulty: 1/5

Over Here, Of Course! by Edward Marlo

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 319 et seq.

Personal Comment: So this is Ed Marlo's version of "Where has it Gone" by Hideo Kato in terms of effect and method is is much closer to the original version and boring as hell. But I can see why. The whole routine was designed to fool magicians. And as such it should be treated. Don't torture your audience with this.

Difficulty: 2/5

Gone To Earth by Roy Walton

The Legendary Hierophant by Jon Racherbaumer
Page 324 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is Roy Walton's take on "Where has it Gone" by Hideo Kato (published in Genii, September 1969) which differs quite a lot from the original trick. But the changes where done for the better. The basic effect remains. A card vanishes and then reappears. However I cannot help to note that this is a weak effect. If I take a look at my card repertoire this would be bottom drawer material. That doesn't mean that Roy Walton is a bad magician, it means that he took a bad plot and made it "okay". Speaks for the magic wisdom of a Roy Walton, which I consider the lost third god of cards. And this, among his creations is just proof that he is able to "polish the turd". I don't recommend doing this trick. But I urge you to compare this version with the original to see what changes were made and to see why they were made. This tricks is what I consider a perfect example to teach someone was makes up good card magic.

Difficulty: 2/5

Port Authority Transit by Michael Farmer

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 3, Number 9 September 1980
Page 501 et seq.

Personal Comment: Cute, but something is missing to make it a whole routine. I cannot put my finger on it though. But I guess it is my obsession with Sandwich effects that made me include this one. Also, there are much better ways to vanish a card in sandwich. The method described in Ken Krenzel's Fabulous Jumping Card comes to mind. It would be face down then, which would eventually lead into the necessity to reverse that card at a later point in the routine, but that isn't a problem either.

Difficulty: 2/5

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