The Berg Knot

When it comes to false knots this needs to be done more often. You can find it in Pallbearers Review starting on page 993 et seq. Martin Gardner redescribed the knot in Hugard’s Magic Monthly in 1950. The knot works well with a large piece of silk. For smaller pieces it won't work, but there the issue of the hands being too close to the knot really isn't an issue.

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

Rearward Change by John Mueller

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 6, Number 2 February 1983
Page 743 et seq.

Personal Comment: I always had trouble with the classic push-in change of a double sticking in a deck. This is a bearable alternative.

Difficulty 2/5

Birds of a Feather by Arthur H. Buckley

Card Control by Arthur H. Buckley
Page 160 et seq.

Personal Comment: Meh, really forgettable. The effect that is. The method is so bold, that some might actually find some use for this.

Difficulty: 2/5

The Bizzaro Flip by Bizzaro

International Incident - Tricks and Thoughts from Bizzaro's 2011 European Lecture Tour
Page 5 et seq.

Personal Comment: Nice to see a method/flourish that is actually usable in real life. There are no angle issues here. Bizzaro actually showed me yet another presentation, which was an instant reversal of the whole deck save the selection that has been taken before the trick started. So you see this can have many applications. Big thanks to Bizzaro to letting me film this little clip.

Difficulty 3/5

Four Card Method/Trick by Jim Abrahams

The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page 23 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is a skill demonstration the magic is very minor. It can look good, if it is not me butchering the effect. But this only serves one purpose... to make the performer look cool. So if you are going for the magic moment, this is the worst thing you can do. But if you are a jester type of magician this is gold. Up to you.

Difficulty: 3/5

Angle Jogged Placement of a Card

I would like to know who came up with this. There a plenty of sources for the side jogged version of this. But the angle jogged version is simply better. It seems more disconnected from the deck. I would love to give the creator proper credit. So who came up with this, whom shall I credit?
I can seen that most magicians won't use this, as the first card remains on the deck in a face up condition. That scares most of the people. But a simple palm get's rid of that issue.
I love that method. It looks so disconnected from the deck, so much like the real thing. So again... Who's to blame with the fame?

The Bedwell Control by Steve Bedwell

Closely Guarded Secrets by Michael Close (ebook)
Page 136

Personal Comment: If seen this control many times before. But never in print. This is the first mention of it's creator. It's a good control. I use it from time to time. Great if you wanna fool magicians.

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

Aced! by Frank Thompson

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 12, Number 6 June 1989
Page 1655 et seq.

Personal Comment: I'm not a great fan of riffle shuffles... but I do see how this can fool people if properly executed. The original handling used a face up card as the locator card. This uses another fairly common method. But I think this is slightly better as there is no chance of a face up card appearing in the riffle shuffle.

Difficulty 2/5

It's a Steal by Kevin Bethea

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 12, Number 3 March 1989
Page 1613 et seq.

Personal Comment: Interesting. The effect can be achieved by many means, but this particular method is actually useful in some cases. Mainly to fool magicians, who don't get the steal. Unlike many palms this feels like it benefits from being done slowly. I sort of like this.

Difficulty 3/5

The Haunted Card by Lynn Searles

Richard's Almanac by Richard Kaufman
The Collected Almanac (Vol.3 Summer Edition)
Page 301 et seq.

Personal Comment: It's just a method to reveal a card. And I truly believe the story, that this is basically a one handed top palm gone wrong. It happened to me. So here is a way to use that accident as an effect! Nice.

Difficulty: 2/5

The Frank Shields Display by Frank Shields

Card College 4 by Roberto Giobbi
Page 1020 et seq.
Page 1014 et seq. in the German Edition

Personal Comment: It's a really easy flourish if you have long fingers. If you don't (like me) it's tricky. But you can still get the cards to spread off the other cards if you help the packets a little bit, by flicking them against each other to make the release possible. Aside from that technical issue it really is a nice little way to display four cards. Or just two.

Difficulty 2/5

Places Aces! by Jim Molinari

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 11, Number 2 February 1988
Page 1461 et seq.

Personal Comment: Just a string of methods, put placed well together I think. I worked from the original instruction, but personally I would substitute the switch for a different one. But that's just me. Otherwise I think this is fine.

Difficulty 2/5

The Jumping Card by Jeff McBride

Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 2, Number 5 May 1979
Page 199 et seq.

Personal Comment: If the surface is right, there is no reason not to do it. It's easy, impromptu and looks cool.

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

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

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