The Buena Vista Shuffle Club By Matt Baker (z-lib.org).pdf

BY MRTT BRKER

THE BUENH VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

MllTT BflKER Book Design by Phil Shaw Photographs by Joanna and Matt Baker

MRTT BRKER

“A

deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths.” Marina Tsvetaeva, Pushkin and Pugachev

“It’s a humble

instrument, but one that

lends a lovely color...”

Amadito Valdés, Buena Vista Social Club

To Camille, Sami, David, and Joanna Without whom there is no magic

And to the loving memory of Michael S. Baker (1940 — 2018)

CONTENTS

CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................. 9 prologue ...................................................................................................... l4 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................... 17

mar I: MEMORIZED MIRncLEs A

--

19

Stroll Down Memory Lane

Routinesfor the Memorized Deck Connoisseur Card College ............................................................................................................21

Casablanca ...............................................................................................................31 Memento Routines for Both the Memorized and Non-Memorized Deck Connoisseur Location Sensing Device .......................................................................................40 Tilapia ......................................................................................................................51

Variations, Part I (Buena Vista Shuffle Club) Histed Hoisted .........................................................................................................62

Secret Arrangements An Entertaining Eflect that Surreptitiously Stacks

Elementary, My Dear Vernon ................................................................................72

PORT II: ...flNO NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

J7

A Bit of Mentalism

Performance Pieces for the Discerning Mindreader

Clue .......................................................................................................................... 89 Say Anything .........................................................................................................

101

CL “B THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

Variations, Part II (Buena Vista Shuflle Club) Foiled by the Origami Test, Saved by the Lemon Law """"""""""""""

116

Coin Conundrums Pieces

of Wonder with Pieces of Eight

Three Coin Monte ......................................................................... ....................... 121 13S Hive Mind ..............................................................................................................

157

Quantum Matrix ...................................................................................................144

PRRT Ill: POWER TO THE PRSTEBORRDS Casino Chicanery

Cheaters Gonna Cheat Banned for Life .....................................................................................................159 Subconscious Shuffle Tracking ...........................................................................176 Gilbreath Poker .....................................................................................................195

Mental Math Machismo Manufacturing a Mathematical Spectator Suplex Triple-Fried Pile Driver

........................................................................................................... 204 ............................................................................................................. 2l7

Variations, Part III (Buena Vista Shuffle Club) Avenging Mandelbrot

...........................................................................................227

Major Gaffs Tricked-Out Miraclesfor the

S.O.L.

Conniving Conjuror

.................................................................

Outlier

.............................................................................................233 242

QUICK REFERENCE CUIDE

'"TRonucnou

INTRODUCTION book you’re holding in your hands, or perhaps reading on a holographic Kindle twenty years from now, is the result of hundreds of hours of tinkering, brainstorming, performing, sessioning‘, and writing. Since I have three schoolat age children and a full-time job as a math professor Georgia Tech, this project can only be characterized as a labor of love. And I’ve loved (nearly) every minute 1118

of it.

HBOUT THIS BOOK: Inside, you’ll find a rather eclectic assortment of magicz. I love memorized deck work, and the entire first part of the book is devoted to exploring new possibilities for this tool.3 The effects in Part One are all stack-independent and do not require the use of any gimmicked cards. The second part of the book explores non-card magic, or at least magic which does not exclusively use cards. 'Ihere are two mentalism routines as well as some easy-to-perform routines with coins. Part Three is devoted to card magic which does not require a memorized deck. There are mind-reading effects, gambling effects, math-based miracles, and more.

of magic books focus on fresh presentations, others on new these things, methods, and still others on original plots. I’m interested in all of and in this book you’ll find my explorations of all three.

Some authors

'

2

MY

Spell-checker suggests that I should also try seasoning.

See

the Quick Reference Guide for a detailed summary of the effects in

this book.

memorized deck. so even if you ’Some of the routines in the first part of the book can also be done without a don't use a memorized deck you might enjoy perusing this material.

CL 03 THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE

If you re mainly loo k'mg for Let me be up front about what this book is not. for you. All but on e of t he not is probably book this effects, card impromptu card 5 . or a memorized card routines in this book require either a setup, gaffed to the stack. My overarching goal is to create strong effects, and .I’m “filling igt: t 18. esp extra mile in terms of advance preparation in order to achieve rum effects the in of I that most think do this book are pracdical, being impromptu, They‘re designed for real-world audiences in real performing Situations, an not 3

-

‘

°

for specially lit theaters or magic clubs.

If you’re looking for highly visual magic, this book is also probably .not for you. My magic tends to appeal more to the mind than to the eyes. Its primarily card magic, frequently with some kind of mathematical principle happening in the background. But I try not to limit myself by viewing these general characteristics as constraints; on the contrary, I’m constantly testing boundaries“ to see if I can challenge myself with something unfamiliar. If you’re willing to come along for the journey, I hope you’ll enjoy the diversity of effects and methods which you’ll find in these pages. This book is also not for readers whose primary interest is in quick-change acts or thimble magic. The skill level required to perform the effects in this book varies not a sophisticated sleight-of-hand artist myself — I tend

quite a bit. I’m to rely on subtleties and mental agility more than physical prowess. So nothing in the book would

be considered a “knuckle buster” by the guys at Fechter’s Finger Flicking Frolic. (I know, because technically I’m one of those guys.) However, a few of these routines might be considered brain busters — so if Omega-3 fatty acids aren’t already a regular part of your diet, I recommend starting on supplements right now.

’

1““ 1““ my tWO-year-old.

INTRODUCTION

In addition to filling the book with what I believe is strong magic, I‘ve tried to make the book fun to read. I love reading magic books with a personality, and 1

don’t seem to have much patience these days for books that are straightforward compendia of tricks. I’ve always believed that you should write the kind of book that you yourselfwould like to read, so here you are: a book written by me andfor

me. I hope it entertains and stimulates enough of you that it’s not just an exercise in self-absorption. I’ve received many gifts from the magic community over the I this book as one way to pay it forward. years, and look at Most ofthe effects in this book begin with a full script written from the perspective of the audience. My hope is that by reading through these scripts you will see

right away not only how each effect should look, but also how it should feel.

FIVE THINGS YOU PROBRBLY DIDN’T KNOW RBOUT MRTT BHKER: 1.

2. 3.

4. 5.

Everything. I was once a contestant on the TV show Jeopardy! I didn’t win, but I came in second place and got a deluxe backyard barbecue smoker out of the deal. I studied poetry with the Poet Laureate of the U. S. and once won a national

writing contest. Like the Unabomber, I have a PhD. in Mathematics. (Unlike the Unabomber, I try to keep my beard reasonably well-trimmed.) For some reason that I can’t fully explain, I’m passionate about magic and have been since I was a little kid. As proof I submit the following photo of me watching a magician perform at my

fourth birthday party (I’m the kid with his mouth agape):

11

CI. US SHUFFLE VISTR BUENR THE

’

a

‘C

fits 1n.

Sh

9

to my already frenetic .

.

of family and a busy professional life. unable to shake It, even When I t ry, I'm play. to out mind to wants always go my for magic, so I And I did try — my first wife was not a huge fan Of my passion I do whatever used to hide the fact that I was spending so much time on it. would read magazmes and watch I could to free up an hour or two per week to secretly DVDs. I remember confessing all of this one day to a trusted confidante ~ think he was expecting me to say I was having an affair or was addicted to porn, He assured me that there were worse things than having a hobby I really loved. life. Even with the demands

1

In the decade or so since I decided to embrace magic rather than shaking it off, it has brought tremendous satisfaction and joy to my life. I’ve made new friends,

learned the inner secrets (and further inner secrets!) of card magic, and found endless stimulation wrestling with the challenges of designing strong effects.

In the last several years, I’ve embarked on a journey to replace the majority of

my performing repertoire — which used to consist mainly of other people’s material — with my own original effects and routines. It’s been both challenging and rewarding, and the effects in this book are a result of those efforts. Aside from the irresistible challenge of creating something beautiful which has never before existed, part of what has compelled me to work on original effects is the

sentiment which Ascanio expresses in the following passage from The Magic of

Ascanio, Volume 1:

“When you’re a beginner... you do what your mentors do, what your idols do. And that’s not only logical, but also totally commendable, as long as you regard it as a transitory phase. You must stop copying and do it to reach a height

your own way....

You

want

that your idols, or your models, have reach ed. Clearly you can’t

travel the same path, nor do it the same way.”

This book was mostly written during an academic sabbatical in the spring of 2018. Aside from the ambient ge0political chaos, 2018 has been an absolute roller coaster of a year for me personally — in ways both good and bad. My father spent much of the year in and out of the hospital,

undergoing radiation treatment.

Iu'rnonucrlou chemotherapy, and multiple surgeries. I was appointed Associate Dean for Faculty Development in the Georgia Tech College of Sciences. 1 got my ‘Master’s Degree, at FFFF in Batavia, NY and attended Magi-Fest and Pebblepalooza, in addition to math conferences in Paris and Rio de Ianeiro. In September 2018, I performed a Penguin Live Act in Columbus, OH, and two days after I returned from Columbus my father passed away. The morning of his funeral, I got an email from Iuan Tamariz offering me a spot in a master class at his home near Cadiz. Four other magicians and I spent four days in Spain in early November

learning from the maestro. What a crazy, wonderful, and heartbreaking thing it is to be human.

t t t it _

And now — without further ado — let me introduce you to The Buena Vista Shuffle Club, a fictional group of magicians whose ideas and commentary will be

sprinkled throughout the book.

I3

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

PROLOGUE Shuffle Club My name is Dev Desai. For nearly five years, the Buena Vista (Comprising myself, Ray Colon, and Bernie Katz) has met on the first and third Saturday of each month. In the beginning, we met at the Buena Vista Cafe in the foothills of Oakland, CA, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. ('Ihat’s how the group got its name.) After the cafe was destroyed by a fire in 2015, we moved our meetings to a nearby coffee shop called Just Desserts which, despite its name, has

more than just desserts. am the defacto leader of the group, but we all contribute to its success with a solid commitment to making each other better magicians. We’re willing to try new things, be open-minded, and provide honest critiques. And we check our egos at the door. I

Having said all that, I’m clearly the best magician in the group. (Actually, Ray has much better card skills than I do and Bernie is much more knowledgeable about magic, broadly speaking. But as a magician I’m entitled to

my own reality.) Here are brief bios of me and my session mates, in our own words:

Rumour: cou'm: Hi, I’m Ray. I was born in Mexico City but moved to LA. at the age of 8. When I was 12, my uncle was invited by a friend to the Magic Castle, and he brought me along. It was the most incredible day of my life, and I’ve been hooked on

g

14

PROLOBUE

I have a full-time job as a software developer for magic ever since. Although Faceb00k’ I also perform magic once a week at a restaurant in Oakland. While buddies are more knowledgeable about card magic than I am I have my session

Submantially more real-world performing experience. Outside of magic, swimming’ salsa dancing, and following the Oakland A’s.

I

enjoy

asnunno Karl:

wonderful guys, but Ray in particular is way too nice. I guess you’d call me the curmudgeon in the group — I have neither the time nor patience for bad magic. But good magic, rare though it may be, is one of life’s great pleasures. That and a good pastrami sandwich. I don’t perform a lot these days, but I read and watch a lot of magic and attend the occasional convention when I can. I work as a financial analyst for a venture capital firm, but I’m looking Ray and Dev are

forward to retiring in a few years so that I have more time for magic, jazz clubs, and explaining to people why they’re wrong.

met me, but I guess I haven’t yet told you much about myself. I’m a high-energy theoretical physicist working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (Note that “high-energy” refers to the kind of physics 1 do, though I used to be high-energy myself before having three children.) One of my kids has special needs, and I’ve become an advocate/activist of sorts in my “spare time”. Most of my magic performances these days are fundraisers for our woefully underfunded public schools. My wife and I organize house parties, I do a parlor-style magic show, and we collect donations. I’ve raised over $10,000 in this way in the last few years. I love math and physics, but also jazz (one of the few things Bernie and I have in common) and stand-up comedy. You’ve already

Besides a commitment to honesty, we have a few other strict rules in the club. because Bernie POT example, we’re not allowed to discuss politics (which is good is WAY out there) or religion. Otherwise, anything goes, and usually does.

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

Our friend Matt Baker sent us a draft of his book and asked us for comments. We workshopped many of the effects in the book and sent him our feedback I tried to recreate our discussions as best I could. We also sent Matt write.up8 of a few of our group’s own ideas, and he kindly agreed to publish them as

“Variations” sections in his book. For that, we extend our warm thanks to Matt,

RCKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I’d like to thank Simon Aronson, Rich Av iles, Joshua Jay, Raj Madhok, Caleb Vance, WileS, and Tyler Wilson Mike for th eir detailed comments on an of this draft early manuscript. In addition to providing many substantial and

insightful remarks, they also helped ensure that he t boof is now free of typos. I’d also like to thank Phil Shaw for a bang-up job 0 n the design for this book.

My wife Camille has been as supportive of this book project as a magician’s wife could be. She’s also used her acumen as a Peabody Award-winning TV producer to improve my magic in numerous ways, from the way I dress to the pacing of my effects. My older children Joanna (age 14) and David (age 11) are my guinea pigs whenever I have a new effect to try out, and — quite beyond their years — they manage to deliver honest criticism in a supportive and loving way. Joanna also helped me take all the photographs. My two-year-old Sami has not lifted a finger to help with this book. However, the joy he brings to my life fills me with positive energy every day. I

owe a tremendous debt to Rich Aviles, my regular session partner in Atlanta.

suggestions have improved both the handling and presentation for many, if not most, of the routines in this book. Rich’s

. Simon Aronson has been a supportive friend and also one ofthe more unfl inchin 8 ' ' ' . but the don’t I for. always en)oy hearing hi; Opus;ns, critics a guy could ask grealf been ave almost always make me a better magician. He and Ginny -

I companions both at magic conventions and whenever get

Chicago.

17

a Chance to visit

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTR THE BUENR once a month to share about Skyped I have d In the last year or so Caleb Wiles an consiglieri. Caleb’s encouragement, valued a e he’s becom and ideas with each other, this book into existence. bring helped have and insightful suggestions, magic friend, and our sessnons and Dan Garrett has been another supportive . . wrth Slmon) also (along was 5. Dan rehearsals have expanded my magical horizon . who has helped me magic1an Atlanta-based Another FFFF sponsors. one of my three E.B. (Early published Joe In particular, Turner. M. is in various ways Joe in The Linking Ring magazine, Baker) routines in his “Ways and Means” column to being a fantastic Ioshua Jay is a remarkably generous person, in addition kindness and for being an magician, and I want to thank him both for his inspiring role model to me. and support from Woody Aragon, John Bannon, Nathan Colwell, Iim Driscoll, Shaun Dunn, Christophe Fouquet, Andi Gladwin, Dan Harlan, Vincent Hedan, Ari Isenberg, Allan Kronzek, Luis Otero, Quentin Reynolds, Barrie Richardson, Eric Richardson, Scott Robinson, Christian Schenk, Ryan Schlutz, Ken Scott, and Mal Simpson, to name just a few. To everyone else who has helped make me a better magician in ways both large and small, please don’t be disappointed by my sins of omission — I am deeply I’ve also received helpful feedback, suggestions,

grateful to you all.

Matt Baker Atlanta, GA December 2018

18

PERT

I:

MEMORIZED “MIRFICLES

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTR THE BUENQ

fl STROLL DOWN MEMORY LRNE Routines for the

Memorized Deck Connoisseur

cnnn

COLLEBE

CflRD COLLEGE Lay audiences are genuinely interested in how magicians

learn their craft, and this

routine plays to that natural curiosity. The “Card College” premise is whimsical, contains also but enough “truthiness” so as notto be completely frivolous. The routine is structured so that each phase is more impressive, and seemingly more impossible, than the previous one. The method is fairly subtle and will fool even some experienced card magicians. Although the trick destroys your memorized

stack, it’s strong enough to be used as a closer. It works well both as casual closeup magic and as a full-blown parlor performance piece.

EFFECT RND PRESENTRTION: “People ofi‘en ask me where I learned all of these card tricks, and the answer is Card College. That’s right, there’s a place called Card College where they teach you all this stuflf And I got three degrees there: a Bachelor’s, a Master’s, and eventually a PhD.” when people hear about Card College, different images come to mind. Some folks imagine Hogwarts Academy and wizards flying around on broomsticks. Others imagine Animal House-like parties with tigers and Vegas Showgirls. It’s not “Now,

really like any of those things, though: its mostly a lot of studying and hard work. But when you’re you’re able to do some pretty cool things with a deck of

finished,

cards. Would you like to see some

” Several Card learned College? I at the things of

audience members nod their heads yes.

\

The magician help out, and he is seated next to the magician. Davrd, and begins takes the cards out of the case, places the empty case next to shuflfling the cards. David is selected to

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

“When you get to Card College, the first thing they teach you is how to properly handle the cards. They show you how to give the cards a rifile shuflle. .. some Vegas. style running cuts... and a few fancy in-the-hands cuts like this. Once you can comfortably handle a deck of cards, you’re finally ready to learn some magic. “For the Bachelor’s degree, the first

and most important thing they teach is called Estimation. David, please cut off about half the cards — it 6108571" have ‘0 be exactly and — hand them to me.” David does as instructed. “I’ll try to estimate, based half on the thickness of this packet, how many cards you cut ofi 'Ihat feels like 21 Cards to me. Let’s count. . .”'lhe magician counts the cards one at a time into a face down pile on the table — there are exactly 21 cards. ‘Hnd when you can do that every time, they give you a Bachelor’s degree!” “For the Master’s Degree it’s more

dificult. First of all, they insist that the cards be shuflled by a spectator. David, could you please shufile these two packets together

for me?” David riflle shuffles the packets together.

“And second, they make you do the estimation without actually looking at the cards! So we’re going to do what’s known as Blind Estimation, which is much more diflicult.” “I’m

going to turn my head and I ’d like you once again to cut of about half the cards, but this time place them in your pocket.” David does as instructed. “Have you done that? Good. Now if I turned around right now, I could estimate how many cards were on the table and then figure 0 how ut many cards you cut of by subtractingfrom 52. But I won’t do that. Instead, I 21 like you to hand me about half of the remaining cards — again, it doesn’t have to be exactly half — and then put the rest of the cards into the card box.”

aining cards and places this packet . 1nto the magician’s hand, the magician (with his head still turned) says, “In fa“: give the cards which are l eft on the table yet another shufile before into the box.” David follows placing them .

the instructions.

“just to show you how difl‘lcult this is, even when you’re looking how m any Cards ' would you say I have in my hand right now?” David says 16. “Airight, let’s check. . ." The magician counts the cards into a face up pile and there are 18 cards not 16

you were pretty close. But I’m going to try to tell you exactly how many cards are in your pocket, even though I wasn’t looking when you cut them ofi I believe it’s 25. Please remove the cards from your pocket and count them face up onto the table.” David retrieves his packet and counts the cards onto the table. There “ Well,

are

exactly 25. ‘Knd when you can do that every time, they give you a Master’s Degree.” “For the Ph.D., you have to be able to say something about the cards in the box. Now, if I just told you how many cards were in the box, that wouldn’t be very impressive, since we just counted the rest of the deck and I know how to subtract

from 52. So instead I’m going to tell you exactly which cards are in the box. Now I’ve shufiled these cards, you’ve shufiled these cards, and you placed a bunch cards into the box sight-unseen. However, at Card College they teach a technique known I’ve seen the faces as Extreme Memorization. Since we did all the countingface up, should be able of all the cards outside the box — however briefly. So theoretically, I t0 figure

out which cards are left in the box.”

“Go ahead, take the cards

out of the box andfan them in front ofyourselfso‘that you

cards “I’m going to try to tell you which this. does can see the faces.” The spectator show —— if you do, please eizryon; aunl: You have. You should have the 6 of Spades the 6 of Spades. ou s 0 the" Place it face up here on the table.” David removes to rattle off :lbuhncvlvisrfi :31: also have the 4 of Clubs...” The magician proceeds card from his ham”; 5 named the 900f3 ades Bad! time. the spectator removes e p Hearts... 2 of the and “... table. the audience, and deals it onto

t;

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTII THE BUENR

” All of the magician’s pronouncements Hearts! 3 the and of the Ace of Spades...

are COITCCt. ‘S‘tnd wheh you

Ph.D. from Card College!" a give they you time, do that every can

METHOD 9ND HHNDLING: doesn’t matter which stack you use). Begin with a deck in memorized order (it handle the cards, give the While talking about being taught how to properly the deck to its deck some false shuffles and cuts. Any sequence which returns off a little if you can. The original starting point will do, but it’s worth showing that the cards are most important thing, though, is to convince your audience now thoroughly mixed. -

For the first estimation, you must glimpse the face card of the packet which the spectator hands you. I do this with an all-around square-up glimpse as I’m

(supposedly) attempting to gauge the thickness of the packet. The stack number of the glimpsed card tells you how many cards you’re holding. When you count the cards to verify your pronouncement, the counting is done face down onto the table, so that the order of the cards in the packet is reversed. (This is important for the next phase.) You then have a spectator shuffle the two packets together. It

needs to be a riffle shuffle, and the spectator must not shuffle more than once or cut the cards. When you ask the spectator to shuffle, place the two halves in front of him and mime the actions of a riffle shuffle. Alternatively, you can shuffle for the spectator and have him push the interlaced halves togethers, or have him do a “rosetta shuffle”. (In order to avoid having the volunteer ask pesky questions like whether he’s allowed to shuffle more than once, I begin saying the line, “And second, they make you do the estimation without actually looking at the cards!” the volunteer is shuffling. as By the time he finishes shuffling, I’m already reaching for the deck to demonstrate how the volunteer is to “cut off about half” while

my head is turned.)

24

.

CRRD COLLEGE

THINKING

cnP TIME:

now cuts ofl‘ about half the cards while your head is turned and cut-oilcards in his the pocket. He then hands P lace5 you about half of the shuttles cards, the rest, and places the atter into the card box as you r emainlng I knew how ll even many cards you-just handed me, I'd have no w ay m’ “771m way, ,fknowinq‘ how many cards you originally cut off because I don’t know

The Spectator

I

(

the box. n You in are 11rd“ L ~

.

how many

then ask the spectator m estim ate how many cards

holding: “lust to show you how difficult this is. even when you 're looking. how many cards would you say I have in my hand right now?

VOU‘rC

after the spectator names a number, count out loud as you deal the cards into a face up row on the table. As you begin dealing, note the first point where the 5‘3“"

order breaks,

it, where there are adjacent cards whose stack numbers are

not consecutive. For example, suppose you’re using the Aronson stack and the first four cards you deal are the 5 of Hearts (stack #12), the 10 of Spades (stack #1 1), the Jack 0: Clubs

(stack #33), and the lack of Hearts (stack #34). In this case, the first “break in the stack happens between the 10 of Spades and the lack of Clubs (Photo 1).

A the above example, A212) Suppose the first card you deal has stack number (in B (in the and the first card after the non-consecutive break has stack number

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

C

LUB

which the spectator cut oil and “110“ tMm l at“ B 33). '11 m 1th L number 01011118 the, difference be tween A and placed in his pocket will 'll\\"l\" he one less than ‘

,

-

B. We‘ll call this

number

X.

hi the example above, we have )t'

:- (B—z\)-l ‘

— —

(33 - 12) ‘

« 1

: 20.

For another example, suppose the first four cards which you deal lace up are the King of l learts (stack #30). the 4 of Diamonds (stack #31), the 10 of Diamonds (staZ‘k #32). and the S of Hearts (stack #12). Then A230 and 8:12 and X (A-

:

B)-l = 17.

‘ ‘ Congratulations, you have just earned a Masters Degree from Card College. a

1

RECITHL TIME: For the I’h.D., you’re going to use the other end of the spread of face up cards which you counted to the table. (This was the original middle portion of the shufiled deck.) Let C denote the stack number

of the right-most card in the spread whose stack number is bigger than 26. For example, suppose the last four cards in the middle portion are (from left to right) the 3 of Clubs (stack #40), the 3 of Hearts (stack #7), the 2 ofSpades( stack #41), and the Ace of Spades (stack #6). 'lhe last card with a high stack nu mber is the 2 of Spades, so in this

example we would have C241 (Photo 2).

cano COLLEo; The amazing fact WhiCh makes this phase of the ' trick work is that m 0r d e.’ t i d cnfify all the cards in the box, you can just recite your stack in 3 with the starting rd and whose stack number is 0 er CH When st 3 ck number 52, continue reciting with stack numbers 1.2,. . .. until chspeEfatO: runs out of cards. In the previous example , because (3—4] th 6 fit 3 t card you call _ out would be the 9 of Hearts (Stack #42)",

":31":

"

9

sauce NOTES: 1,

When calling out cards, look at the audience and not at the volunteer to make it clear that you re not making use of any marks on the backs of the cards.

2. BeCaUSC

0f the instruction, “In fact, give the

cards which are left on the table

yet another shuflle before placing them into the box,” when you call out the cards in stack order at the end of the trick, there will not be a lot of consecutive clumps (as there Otherwise might be following a single riffle shuffle of the deck).

3.

When you sense that the spectator has about five cards left, you can either look at the fan and count how many cards are left, or simply ask the spectator, “How cards are left?” many

may sound complicated, but if you know your stack well a difficult routine to perform. 'Ihat’s it. It

it’s

really not

CREDITS: routine was inspired by Luis Otero’s effect “Blind Estimation” (from his DVD Cartificios). Although “Card College” eventually morphed into something rather different, both in terms of presentation and method, the reader familiar This

with Luis’s effect will be able to spot the similarities.

mathematical principle underlying this routine is something I discovered While toying with “Blind Estimation”. I realized that by using a memorized deck, The

than I" that example. you would keep reciting cards until you get to the card with stack #5 (on; les;1 the stack number of the Ace of Spades), though you don't actually have to know or remem er e ‘mPPing point because the spectator will run out of cards. 6

‘

27

CLUB THE BUENH VISTR SHUFFLE

routine could be eliminated and replaced With a simple mental calculation. I have not seen this particular princrple/calculation number of cards the (which is used in phase 2 of my routine to determine the

the faro-check glimpse in

Luis’s

spectator has cut off) employed before. order to identify all the cards in the box you can just recite Your stack in numerical order is something I also discovered while experimenting with Luis’s routine. However, I later realized that this is essentially what Woody "me fact that in

Book in English. Aragon calls the “Third Gilbreath Principle” on p. 262 of A

Although independently discovered and popularized by Lennart Green (Green Magic Vol. 4, 2003), the Rosetta shuffle can in fact be traced back to Charles Nyquist and lack McMillen’s “The San Francisco Shuffle” (Gem'i, Nov. 1949, p. 76) (see the “Rosetta shuffle” entry on the Conjuring Credits website).

*ttt [Dev performs “Card College” for Ray and Bernie. ] Ray: That’s a nice routine. For magicians, I think that the second phase is actually

the strongest. Dev: You’re probably right. For a lay audience the third phase is clearly the right

finale, though. Ray: Have you tried doing it with a blindfold? Bernie: The trick, you mean? Ray: [Ignoring Bernie] Instead of turning your head all the time. You could peek

down the nose to glimpse the required information.

blindfold in phase two on a

when you begin tal it on for the rest of the trick. just keep

. ’ ’

although that would require modi fying the patter about “extreme . ,, because you (supposedly) would not have memorization , seen any of the cards. Ray: Yes.

good point. I guess you could take off the blindfold after you how many cards the spectator cut off in phase an“ounce two, and then put it on again in phase three when you’re about to start calling off the identities of the box. Dev: Hmmm,

cards in the Ray: That

sounds workable. Another idea, if you’re performing the routine in a

parlor situation, would be to use David Regal's “Sudden Deck” the at beginning to add some visual flair. You could say that on the first day of Card College they teach how to create your own deck of cards from you

an unprinted, unfolded box...

Dev: Ooh, I like

that idea.

Bernie: Another presentational change which might be effective would be to use

instead of one. When the cards are removed from the box toward the end of the routine, instruct the first spectator to hand about half of his cards to the second spectator, and ask both to fan the cards in front of themselves. That would make it easier, and faster, for the spectators to locate the called-out cards. It would also add an element of visual interest to the routine as the action bounces back and forth between the two spectators. two volunteers

Dev:

Another good suggestion, you guys are on fire today! Which reminds me of a joke... RaYi

Uh-oh.

\

Dev; One day a mathematician decides that he’s tired of doing math, so he walks doWn t0 the local fire department and announces that he wants to become

29

CLUB THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE hire you, but first you have to a fireman. The fire chief says, “I’d be happy to mathematician to an alleyway behind the pass a test.” The fire chief takes the The chief Says, and there are a dumpster, a spigot, and a hose. fire department

\

that the dumpster’s on fire “Suppose you’re walking in this alley and you see I’d connect the hose to what would you do?” The mathematician replies, “Well, the spigot, turn the water on, and put out the fire.” The chief says, “Good. Now

that the dumpster’s not On suppose you’re walking down the alley and you see fire. What would you do?” The mathematician contemplates for a bit and replies, “I’d light the dumpster on fire.” “Why on earth would you do that?” the chief asks angrily. The mathematician replies, “Well, that way I could reduce the problem to one I’ve already solved.”

CRSRBLRNCR

CQSHBLRNCR This effect has a Whimsical

script, toSether with a method which will baffle your SPCCtators to the point Where some of them might say, “60 ahead and shoot you,” be dOiflg me afavor'” “Casablanca” requires no table, is easy to do (if you know a memorized stack), and resets quickly. Although “Casablanca” belongs to the family of card tricks inspired by Al Koran’s “Double Thought”, it has a different plot than most effects in this genre: it’s more “you predict my card and I’ll divine yours” than “you

find my card and I ’11 find yours”. While the usual non-marked deck suspects involve either palming or a top change, this routine requires no sleight of hand whatsoever. Here’s looking at you, Koran.

EFFECT “ND PRKENTRTION: of the great acts in magic history have been duos. 7hink of Penn eh Teller, Siegfried and Roy, Scotch and Soda... I’m actually lookingfor a partner myself — “Many

would you be interested in auditioning?” Joanna says sure.

duos tend to work best when the two magicians have distinct skill sets. For the purpose of this audition, I 'll be the mind reader and you can be the one who casual predicts the future.” The magician takes out a deck of cards and gives it a “Magic

Shuttle. select a card. select a card, and after that you’ll'have me ab out which card I’ll end up selecting. make

“1" a

moment I But first, 121 like a prediction you to names the Queen of Diamonds. loud.” Ioanna 1“” name card out playing

‘

’II have you

any

SHUFFL E CLUB VISTII BUENR THE t Diamonds. of card. In a moment, I ll 5p“. a d ' ’ select a to turn ou r its prediction later. First, though, y d and look at it.” ’d like to remove a you —— like this —— and I ards h t through szrspreading “The Queen

throng; 18 what Joanna demonstrates magician he t3] .km :18, 00 8 at the face . “If 5:” an the spread, the ace own cards . removing one from “e

Cthe

'

,. —- liket «when you’re happy with your selection, place the card £0111: din :11; and t, the car the places magician By way of explanation, dlck and of gives the deCka it the card, places on top immediately removes th: 1: émoves IOOkS at, and Wth s e card, free selection of is , cut. Joanna given a any

psi:

'

places into her pocket. “Now it’s my turn to select a card. Here, take the deck and spreaftl thrpzijglgktl: cards just like I did before. To make things as fair as possxble, I war;l eve I’m picking my card.” The magician turns his head the Side, reac W11h ont

to lest: takes and looking, a card from somewhere in the of dec at Joanna middle the has fanned out for him. The magician places the card into his pocket without the takes face, the deck back from Joanna, and sets the cards aSIde. looking at ‘i‘ind now for the exciting part, where we get tosee Remember; I’m playing the mind reader. Joanna,

how well we’d work as a duo. please visualize the card which you placed in your pocket. I’m seeing a black card... I believe it’s a Spade... Is it the 6 of Spades?” Joanna removes the card from her pocket — it is indeed the 6 of Spades.

find you’re the one who’s able to predict the

future. At the beginning of the audition I asked you to make a prediction, and you said the Queen of Diamonds. A few moments ago, I reached in without even looking and selected

one card.” As he says this, the magician reaches into his pocket and removes a card. “Ifyou ’ve'correctly predicted the future, that card ought to be... [the magician shows the face of the the card] Queen ofDiamonds!”

pREPflRnTION: need a deck of cards in memorized order. Secret lY Place the b 0 tt ' ' om card 0f your StaCk m Your r 181“ POCREt. You’re now ready to go. You will

METHOD

9ND IIIIINDLING:7

After the opening lines of script, give the deck a casual in-the-hands false shuffle After Joanna names her card out loud, say: “Since it concerns the future, we’ll come back to your prediction later. First, though, it’s your turn to select a card. In a moment, I ’ll spread through the cards — like this — and I’d like you to remove a it.” look card and at As you say these lines, visually estimate where Joanna’s named

card is in the memorized deck. Spread through the cards and

out-jog a card near the spot which you estimated. Hold a pinky break beneath the out-jogged card as you remove that card from the spread, and look at the face of this card. If it’s Joanna’s named card, continue: “Then place the card in your pocket — like this.” Otherwise, say: “If you don’t like the card you chose, feel free to put it back and choose a difi'erent one.” Place the card back in the same location from which it came, and use the stack number of this card to locate and out-jog Joanna’s named selection. Unless your estimation was way off, this should be an easy visual counts. Remove the out-jogged card and place it in your pocket, surreptitiously switching it for the dummy card already in your pocket as you quickly finish illustrating the instructions.

the dummy card on top of the deck and give the deck a complete cut, burying the “demonstration card” somewhere in the middle. It’s not necessary to Place

‘

The handling Which follows assumes that the magician is standing. I’ll explain later how to modify the handling if you’re seated at a table. 'If you find the required estimation difficult, place a light pencil dot on the back of the cards at it will also will not only help with the estimation, P°5itions 10, 20, 30, and 40 in your stack. This line, “If you don’t like the enable YOU to find Joanna’s card on the first try without having:0 use the one. “"1 you chose. it back and choose a difl'erent to 7

x

feel free

put

THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

hold a break, since only the cyclic order of the deck is important from this point onward. (Note that since the “dummy card” was chosen to be the bottom Card of your stack, after placing it on top of the deck and cutting, this card Will be In its correct position in your memorized deck.) Joanna is now given a free choice of any card, which she removes, looks at, and places into her pocket. She can exchange it for a different card if she likes. It really is a free choice, so emphasize the fairness of her selection as much as possible, As Joanna is looking at the face of her card, cut the deck at the point from which her selection was removed. The bottom card of the deck is now a key card which Will enable you to determine the identity of Joanna’s selected card. It’s not necessary to glimpse this key card just yet, however. “Now

its my turn to select a card. Here, take the deck and spread through

the

cards just like I did before. To make things as fair as possible, I won’t even look I’m as picking my card.” Turn your head and pick a card at random from the center. Again, emphasize the fairness of this situation as much as possible (both selections are genuinely free and unforced). Place the card into your pocket without glancing at the face; make sure to put it behind Joanna’s named card (i.e., closer to your body). Have Joanna hand the deck back to you, and either set it aside (if there’s a table nearby) or otherwise remove it from the visual frame of the trick.

As you do this, glimpse the bottom card. The card following the glimpsed card in your stack order will be the card which Joanna placed into her pocket. 80 if you glimpsed the card with stack #43, then Joanna’s card will be #44 (which in the Aronson stack is the 6 of Spades). ‘And now for the exciting part, where we get to see how well we’d work as a duo..." From a methodological standpoint, the trick is now done. Just make sure, when

removing the card which you supposedly selected while your head was turned, to remove the card in your pocket which is farthest from your body. The rest is theater.

34

cnsnaLnucn RESP“

need to insert the two “selections”. plus the card which is left in end, their into at the proper stack positions. (The spectator’s selection your pocket really only have to worry about the other two cards.) "lhe oes on top, so you way I place the follows. is as this spectator’s selection on top of the deck and I handle “selection” (the card Which the spectator predicted at the lace my beginning) on 1 off-beat in Then. an moment, place my right hand into my pocket, top of that. card in the pocket, and deposit it on top of the deck" Finally, I fan the palm the cards with their faces toward me, casually slip the top two cards into their proper stack to its starting position. positions, and cut the T0 reset, you just

WHIIT IF I’M SITTING HT II TIIBLE? ”Ihe handling I’ve described above is designed for close-up or strolling environments where the magician is standing. I also perform this effect seated at a table, but the mechanics are slightly different. If I’m sitting at a table, then before the effect begins I will secretly place the bottom card of my memorized stack under my right leg instead of in my pocket. And instead of asking Ioanna to place her selection in her pocket, I instruct her to sit on it. As I say this, I “demonstrate”, looking at a card and depositing it under my bum. I immediately retrieve the card under my leg and nonchalantly place it back in the deck as if it were the same card which I removed a moment earlier. Later on, when I select a card myself, I place it under my right leg instead of sitting on it. At the end of the routine, when I’m supposedly retrieving my selected card, I take the card that I’m sitting on instead of the one under my leg.

CREDITS: inspired in part by Michael Vincent’s “Kismet” (specifically, the updated handling of Kismet explained in Michael Vincent’s Penguin Live lecture, not the version on his DVD set The Classic Magic of Michael Vincent, WhiCh USES Al a slightly different method), which is itself an exploration and outgrowth of This effect was

‘

\

effect such as Francis will sometimes leave the card in my pocket and perform an card in the pocket Carlyle:s “Homing Card” 6568). which begins With a dummy (Stars iAlternatweiy,

1

of Magic, PP-

and ends with all the cards back in the dCCk-

SHUFFLE cLua vusrn aueun nu: Professional Presentations by Hugh Koran’s AI (see Koran’s “Double Thought” achieve his e ffect. deck to marked a uses Koran Miller, pp. 63—64). I’ve never seen the musxcal) has “Kismet” (the card trick, not the musical —

address. First, while the

selection couple of limitations which I’ve attempted to Vernon’s “Emotional Reaction”) is very deceptiVe’ Dai there (from used process

also rather procedural and requires careful spectator management. Using a memorized deck makes it possible for the spectator simply to name any Card instead of first thinking of a card, then locating it in the deck, cutting it to the it’s

of the pack, etc. And with a memorized deck, you never need to look at the faces of any cards at any point. face

Second, in “Kismet”, when the spectator selects a card, it is forced on her USing an under-the-spread cull. This can be done in an extremely fair-looking and

deceptive way, but it’s still a force. The strength of the original Koran effect arises in part from the fact that the spectator has a completely free selectionl wanted both selections to be genuinely free, so that the spectator feels complete conviction on this point. Dai Vernon’s “Emotional Reaction” can be found in Lewis Ganson’s Inner Secrets

of Card Magic, p.

Michael Vincent’s use of the Dai Vernon key-card procedure from “Emotional Reaction” was inspired by Paul Cummins’s earlier usage for the same purpose in “Tap-a-Lack”, published in MAGIC magazine in 2005. 7.

There are of course a number of other “Double

Thought”-type effects in the magic literature which use a memorized stack in place of a marked deck, for example Joshua Jay’s excellent “Think as I Think” (from his Reel Magic lecture, and 8150 his second At the Table lecture, where it’s called “Double Thought”), which like “Casablanca” is designed for strolling situations. See also Pit Harding’s “Thought Exchange” and “Just Like That” (both from his book In Order to Amaze), Dar win Drtiz’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (Lessons in Card Mastery, pp. 277-281). and Simon Blacks Fantasia” (from his At the Table

*itt

lecture).

I

cnsnatnucg

[Dev Ra)"

PeffOTms

“Casablanca” for Bernie and Ray]

Cool effect.

Bernie:

",5 a nice feature

that it’s basically self-working (if

with a moderate dOSC but ck), st3

you know a memorized

0f Sleight of hand I think we could

give the trick

conwctlon. find as a bonus, we could get rid of the need to begin the some extra extra card In the magician’s pocket. trick with an Dev: What

do you have in mind?

Bernie: Well, when you openly place an

unknown card into your pocket, it’s likely or at least curiosity. What if you instead remove a double to draw suspicion, the spectator’s prediction hidden behind a dummy card, and from the deck, with then place the double into your pocket? You could show the face of the dummy card as the double is removed, secretly leave the named prediction card in the withdraw the same card the audience just saw with the pocket, and immediately face still showing. Now there’s

no cause for suspicion.

an interesting idea. I guess the mechanics would be the same as in Matt’s original, except that once you visually locate the named selection in the below it and remove the two spread, you square it up with the card immediately Ray: That’s

cards as one? Bernie: Exactly. You could use

your right fingers under the spread to push the

named card flush with the card below it, and then use the same fingers to out-jog

the double. In the original What do you do if you nail the estimation on the first try? with a double in the efl’ect that’s the optimal scenario, but now you’re not starting pocket so it’s actually something of a nuisance... Ray:

0 n, that can’t really be But come that. about thought hen you remove the a PrOblem, can it? Since you’re holding a break anyhow w Bernie: Hmmm, I hadn’t

37

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE close the SPrea d first ademo ca rd” why not simply insert it back into the break,

? momentarily, and then re-spread to the same card.

Ray: Yeah, I guess that works. Crisis averted.

Dev: I hate to be a party pooper, but I prefer the original handling. Partly because

no Ricky lay when it comes to effortless sleight of hand, and partly because I don’t quite buy the premise that placing an unknown card in the pocket is necessarily a moment of great suspicion. It’s all about attitude, and for me, at least, it would be easier to treat a brief dip into the pocket as an unimportant moment if I’m not actually doing something tricky at the same time. It’s quite possible that handling the cards more delicately — because you’re actually removing a double — would arouse more subconscious suspicion than Matt’s sleight-free alternative. I’m

Bernie: I agree that for someone as clumsy as you, the semi-automatic version of the trick is a better choice. Ricky Jay would be proud of self-awareness, Dev.

your

FURTHER CREDITS: Simon Aronson suggested the alternate handling in which a double card secretly removed from the deck.

is

MEMENTO

MEMENTO Routines for Both the

Memorized and Non-Memorized Deck Connoisseur

39

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENQ VISTR

LOCHTION SENSING DEVICE This is one of my favorite walk-around effects to perform a “gilth Elemonzed . . deck.lo It’s both fooling and entertaining, doesnt requrre a ta 6, an P re serves »

-

your stack. And the humorous drug references are perfect for childrens birthday parties.

EFFECT

l-IND

PRESENTHTION:

“There are three cardinal rules in the world

of magic. The first is not to distract the audience too much with your stunning good looks.” The magician takes out a packet of breath mints from his pocket, dissolves one of the strips on his tongue, and then runs his fingers through his hair in a self-admiring way. “The second is never do the same trick for the same

audience twice in a row. And the third thing a magician is never supposed to do is reveal the secret to his tricks. Well, I’ve clearly already broken the first rule, and I’m going to break the other two rules right now. I ’ll show you a trick, I’ll do it again, and then I’ll explain how it’s done.” “In just a

moment, Joanna, I 21 like

it against your chest, like this. [The magician demonstrates] Here, cut of as many '°

Actually, the deck doesn’t need be to memorized; it could be in a ' for exampl . cyclical order like Si Stebbins, etermine quickly. by looking at the face of stack, which card comes any card in the next.

40

‘

LOCHTION SENSING DEVICE

cards as you

like. NOW peek

at the card you cut to and make

sure to remember the

that the card you’re thinking is packet card. Cut your of lost somewhere in the the cards afew more cuts, so that even middle- Give you don’t know where your hand me the Cards.” card is. Now 50

the cards while looking into going to spread through your eyes. Look at the but try to keep a pokerface — don't say or do anything when cardS: you see your is card go by. Something telling me to stop right here — is that your card, the 6 of Diamonds?” [It is.] “I’m

said I’d repeat the trick, so let’s do it again. Please cut ofl another packet of cards and hold it against your chest. Once again, look at the card cut to and “I

you remember it. Now give your packet a cut. And a few more cuts, just to make sure.”

that even though I asked you to keep a poker face, your pupils may have given something away. So this time, I won’t even look into your eyes — I’ll turn my head as I spread through the cards... Something is telling me to stop right here: was that your card, the 9 of Clubs?” [Again, the magician is correct] “Perhaps you think

I promised I ’d explain how the trick is done. You see, I cheat: I use a Location SensingDevice — LS. D. for short. [The magician removes a container of Listerine breath strips from his pocket. The label reads: “location Sensing Device’i] Right before we began, I dissolved one of these strips on my tongue, and it lets me know “Now,

when to stop spreading.” “'Ihe best way to appreciate how it works is to try it yourself Here, take one of these strips and place it on your tongue. It takes about 15 secondsfor the Location Sensing Device to start working. When it does, you’ll know because your vision will

start to blur a little bit. Does this label look blurry now? [Joanna confirms that it does] Good, that means it’s working.” “I 71 cut

of a packet of cards and place it against my chest, just as you did. Now I’ll

look at the card, remember it, and cut it into the middle. And I ’11 cut a couple more “files so that even I don’t know where it is. Now its job to find my card.”

‘

your

‘H

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VIS TR

I

that you know I ’m not cheating, I’ll tell you right now that my card was the Queen of Clubs. I’ll spread the cards one at a time face down, like this, and Id like “So

you to say stop whenever the LSD tells you to.” The magician begins moving cards from his left hand to his right. At a certain ” point, Joanna calls out, “Stop! “Let’s

take a look at the card you stopped me on.” It’s the Queen of Clubs.

“With great powers come great responsibilities, but don’t worry — location your skills will sensing fade in a few minutes. Hopefully, though, you’ll have flashbacks to this trick for the rest of life.”

your

PREPRRHTION: You will

need a regular deck of cards in a cyclical stack order” and (optionally) two Listerine Cool Mint Pocket (Photo 3). Place the Pocketpaks i n your pocket(s) in such a way that you knoW which one is which.

42

LOCIITION SENSING DEVICE

HnflflLING= for the purposes of this explanation, that ou’re ' I will assume, f walk-around environment, but it can be doze eithei:er 0:";mg this effect in a without a table. I’ll also assume for now that yos’: :sih); standing’ and with or dCCk — later on I’ll explain how to Perform the effect with a nona memorized memorized stack such as Si Stebbins. three cardinal rules in the world of magic. The first is not to distract the audience too much with your stunning good looks,” take out a packet of breath mints and dissolve one of the strips on your tongue. This creates a nice callback moment later on when you say, “Right before we began, I dissolved one of these strips on my tongue, and it lets me know when to stop spreading.” “There are As you say,

talk about the three cardinal rules of magic, give the deck a casual false shuffle. The deck may be legitimately cut as well (as many times as you like). When you say, “In just a moment I ’d like you to cut a packet of cards of the deck and hold it against your chest, like this,” you demonstrate by doing exactly that, chest. Then cutting ofi" about 15-20 cards and holding the packet against your The spectator now cuts off replace the packet you cut off back on top of the deck. a packet of cards as instructed.

As you

'

remember the As you say, “Now peek at the card you cut to, and make sure to chest in order card,” you apparently cut off a packet of cards and hold it to your face card of the packet. In to demonstrate how the spectator is to peek at the

and hold

do a “bluff cut” where you just cut off a single card You then demonstrate it against your chest, acting as if it was a thicker packet. one card, the card you peeking the “bottom” card, but since you’re only holding

fact, however, you

to the with some obvious minor modifications but " I usually stack. full-deck with trick a this Perform handling it can also be done with a half-stack. Rich Aviles, oh the book website httPsz” "You'll find downloadable templates for the fake labels, designed by foil P3Per should be laser printed on silver WWw.mattbakermagic.com/buena-vista-shuflle-club.'Ihelabels "’31 labels have adhesive-backed sheets)- Once the 11" 8.5” x (1 use Silhouette brand foil on printable silver of? cad" and affix them to the mo backing the Peel foil been peeled off, cut out the fake labels from the paper.

POthtpaks.

¥

43

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VISTI the spectator’s. In other words. the glimpse will be the next card in the stack after number is one less than the Stack spectator’s card will be the one whose stack to know, an d number of the card which you glimpse. What you actually need card —— call this number B. remember, is the stack number of the spectator’s back onto the After the demonstration, place the “packet” that you’re holding that the card you’re balance of the deck in your left hand. As you say. “NOW cut 50 with the balance of the thinking of is lost somewhere in the middle,” demonstrate between the We deck, cutting and completing the cut, but secretly keep a break

halves. ('lhe purpose of this demonstration is just to make sure that the spectator understands what you mean by cutting the packet; if you don’t demonstrate, she may shuffle instead of cutting”)

When you tell the spectator to “give the cards a few more cuts so that even yoa don’t know where your card is,” demonstrate this as well, double undercutting to the break; this restores the balance of the deck to its initial order. Place the balance of the deck down on a nearby surface or hand it to another spectator to hold as you say “...now please hand me the cards.” (If there is no table or other surface and you’re performing for just one spectator, simply trade packets with the spectator at this point.) LOCRTION LOGISTICS: As you talk about spreading through the cards and making sure the spectator keeps a poker face, glimpse the bottom (face) card of the packet you’re now holding. Suppose the stack number of this card is A. As you begin spreading through the cards one by one at chest level, with the faces toward the spectator, you will silently count to yourself. The count begins with the number A+1 and continues until you reach B. You are looking into the spectator’s eyes as you do this, passing one card at a time from your left hand into your right without ',

. . . If for some reason the spectator shuttles despite your instructions, all is not lost because you know the spectators card! lust count the cards in such a way that you can see the faces, instead of farming them With their faces toward the spectator. Of course. the trick will no longer reset itself at the end in this situation. But its still nice to know that you have an "out". in any case, the whole point of demonstrating exactly how the spectator is to cut is to make this situation rare.

«H

LOCIITION SENSING DEVICE

Something. Your left hand now drops to yo of couple inches; this creates a forward a r is

’

.

as if SUddenly sensing

B. You

immediatel ask “W card. the [card wrth stack number 8]?” your (You already know “that this :asrdhi‘: of course, but it would weaken the effect to reveal this i nformation prematurely. The effect is that you somehow knew when .

the identity

of the card.)

to st0p, not that you somehow knew

When the spectator confirms that you found her card, casually place the cards hand below the cards in your left; this resets the in your right packet to its initial order. Retrieve the balance of the deck and place the spectator’s cut-off packet on the bottom.” IIII EXHMPLE:

make sure that the above instructions are clear, here’s a concrete example (using the Aronson stack) of the procedure just described. Suppose that during the “bluff cut”, the card you peek is the 3 of Spades (stack #17). After the spectator cuts her packet several times and hands it to you, glimpse the bottom card; let’s say it’s the Ace of Clubs (stack #10). As you begin spreading through the cards one at a time, with their faces toward the spectator, silently count 11-12-13-1415-16 and stop when you get to 16. Look at the face of the card you stopped on; it will be the 8 of Clubs (stack #16). You immediately ask, “Was that your card, the 8 of Clubs?” Joanna will be flabbergasted and say yes.

Just to

CH"

'0” Do IT “Gm“?

Give the deck

another false shuffle or cut if you like, and then repeat the first

phase, but with a few small changes. One change, as indicated in the script above, is that the second time around you turn your head to the Side instead 0f "This will prevent the thought-of card in the next phase from accidentallybeing identical ‘0 ‘he 0'" in the first phase.

45

THE BUEHO VISTH SHUFFLE CLUB

looking into the spectator’s eyes. This is done purely for dramatic reasons; {mm a methodological point of view it makes no difference. Another change is that you only need to cut off a demonstration packet once in the second phase. Since you’ve already established how the spectator is to cut the cards, it’s not necessary to demonstrate the cutting procedure again — just give verbal instructions. 30 in phase two, after the spectator has cut off another packet and is holding it against her chest, do the bluff cut as you say, “Once again, look at the card you cut to and remember it.”

OOH YOU SHOW ME HOW IT'S DONE? The method for the third phase is different. The bottom card of the balance of the deck, at this point, is the spectator’s second selection. Make sure to remember

this card, or rather its stack number B, when the second phase concludes. As you say,

“1

cheat: I use a Location Sensing Device — L.S.D. for short,” you take

out the (non-blurry) Pocketpak from your right pocket and let the spectatOr read the label. Have her place a strip on her tongue and put the Pocketpak back in your pocket. You can either place it in the right pocket and later remove the blurry one from your left pocket, or you can put the “legible” Pocketpak behind the blurry one in your left pocket to reduce the discrepancy. now at the point in the script where you say, “So I’ll cut of a packet of cards and place it against my chest, just as you did. Now I’ll look at the card, remember it, and cut it into the middle. And I ’11 cut a few more times so that even don’t know I where it is.” Here your actions match your words, but you don’t care at all about the identity of the card you cut to; just forget it. When you cut the card (whose identity you’ve just forgotten) into the middle, keep a break and then double undercut to the break as before.15 At this point, the top card of the packet you’ve cut off will have stack number B+l. ' You’re

'5 You

can add a false shuffle here if you like. saying something like, “To make it even more challenging for you, I’ll shuffle the cards as well." This breaks some of the symmetry between the different phases, but might make the method even harder to reconstruct.

46

LOCRTION SENSING DEVICE

that you know I ’m not cheating, I ’ll tell you right now that my card was the..." The card you’re going to name as the card you cut to (which is not actually the card you cut to) is the card whose stack number is 8+5, i.e., the card which is fifth from the top in the packet you’re now holding. In a moment, you’re going to cull this card under the spread and then force it on Joanna. “So

thumb, push the cards of the packet you’re holding in your left of hand one at a time into your right hand. After you’ve pushed over a couple and say, “I’ll spread the cards, continue thumbing over cards in a steady rhythm whenever you feel cards one at a time face down — like this -— and please say stop it with the cards in your right the urge.” As you thumb over the fifth card, cover card while your right fingers pull hand and place your left thumb on the fourth With your left

4). In a

fluid cards as cover (Photo the right, using the top four cards one at a time pushing continue rhythm, motion, and without breaking culled card and the in-between them from your left hand into your right, feeding

the fifth card to

the spread of cards above it.

and let

hands th: :ft h::ilcllrocpf When the spectator says “Stop”, separate your p Do a one-han e squ phases. two first to it did in the side.

\

Your

just as

47

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR THE BUENR culled card settle to the bottom of the the letting hand, the cards in your righ t with the packet Still face hand palm up ht rig squared packet, and then open your hand and show the named Car d right in your the packet down. Slowly turn over at the face.

NON-MEMORIZED DECK HENDLING:

done with a non-memOriZed the first two phases, instead of silem]y In Stebbins. Si such stack as cyclical B, just mentally recite the stack Order to A+l number stack from counting with the spectator’s selection, beginning with the glimpsed card and ending stack and in Phase One For example, suppose that you’re using the Si Stebbins The card which the card you glimpse during the Bluff Cut is the Queen of Clubs. the spectator cut to will be the previous card in the stack, i.e., the 9 of Diamonds. After the cuts her packet a few times, take the packet from her and also be As previously mentioned, this routi ne can

spectator glimpse the bottom card. Let’s say it’s the 2 of Clubs. As you spread through the cards one by one and show them to the spectator, silently recite the name of each card using the Si Stebbins system. The first card will be the 5 of Hearts, then the 8 of Spades, then the Jack of Diamonds, etc. Keep going until you reach the 9 of Diamonds. For the third phase, suppose the spectator’s selection in Phase Two was the 4 of Spades. The card which is five cards after this in the Si Stebbins stack will have a value which is 2 more than the spectator’s selection and will have the suit which comes next in CHaSeD order. You will name this card — the 6 of Diamonds in our example -— as your selection.

CREDITS: :shis rouftine began

as a variation of Simon Aronson’s “Everybody’s Lazy” which

substitute memorized deck tricks. In fact, you can Si no ogue for if mine you wish. However, despite how great git Simon’s triCk is . d oes have some limitations — for example, it requires a table. 21(1):: 021;2:114:11: cllassm

,

1m __‘

48

LOCRTION SENSING DEVICE when he saw his cardzl liked the effect but found that I wasn’t performing as I would have Wished because it destroyed the stack. So I replaced the it as often shuffling w1th multiple cuts, and in doing so also removed the need for a table. with this trade-off, and in fact I think the “stop” procedure which I I’m happy than the original one. now use is stronger stop”

Another thing I like about the way this routine has evolved is that in the last phase, his card before the spectator says stop. (In “Everybody’s the magician names Lazy”, for example, the spectator names a number and then the magician names his card.)

of using a tablet from a Listerine Pocketpak as a stand«in for “L.S.D.” originates with Matthew Wright’s routine “M.I.N.T.”, from his DVD 'Ihe Unusual Suspect. Referring to the Pocketpak as a “Location Sensing Device” is my own idea. Rich Aviles designed the fake labels for me, and it was also his idea to switch in a second Pocketpak with a blurry label. The “bluff cut” was also Rich’s idea. The idea

Card Some good sources for the Hofzinser spread cull include Roberto Giobbi’s and Harapan Ong’s College, Vol. 1, Kostya Kimlat’s DVD The Roadrunner Cull, book Cullology. If you don’t want to make drug references in your performance, use “magic be brownies” instead of LSD. Oh wait, that doesn’t actually help. Well, just creative.

****

Bernie.) [Ray performs “Location Sensing Device” for Dev and Dev: Nice trick. You

mistaken — was that did it with marked cards, if I’m not

mentioned in the write-UP?

streamlined — and the but it seems to me that the handling can be With a marked deck the effect made more fooling — if you use a marked deck. Ray: N0.

‘

49

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENII VISTR far as the method is conc eme (be .. ’demonstration packets become unnecessary as the top card of the remainder of glimpsing (“B”) by card first key get your you number. If you use a marked dec the deck and subtracting one from its stack of the face card of the spectator’s packet when You you can also omit the glimpse card as you begin spreading (and take it back from him; instead, glimpse the top number of this card). begin your silent counting with the stack .

-

I totally unnecessary Bernie: You know how I feel about marked cards. think in the write-up. to use them in this effect — it’s perfectly fooling as described

it’s

Dev: Hey, to each his own. I like Ray’s marked deck handling a lot, and also agree that it isn’t necessary. Ray: What’s nice is that you can learn and perform this effect with a regular deck, and then any time you want to incorporate a marked deck you can easily do so

with a minimum of handling adjustments. I enjoy having that kind of flexibility, Dev: I recently saw Marcus Eddie lecture, and he performed a neat penetration effect called “Fresh” using two Listerine Pocketpaks. If you have two such

dispensers in your pocket already for “Location Sensing Device”, you could easily incorporate Marcus’s effect into the same set. Ray: Interesting, I haven’t seen that trick, but I’ve heard that Marcus Eddie is a

very creative guy. Bernie: The other advantage of carrying around Listerine Pocketpaks is that you can use them to control halitosis. Sorry, I didn’t mean to look at you when I said

that, Dev.

Dev: And on that classic Bernie note, I think we’d better call it a wrap for today.

[6

J

You may still wash to use a demonstration packet. though, at certain moments to ensure that the spectator

follows the instructions properly.

-

TILIIPIII

TILnPIR a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you’ve made him a mentalist.” “Give

This effect gets its

name from the fact that tilapia is a particularly non-fishy tasting fish. It of kind uses a method which Simon Aronson calls “No bids Fishing”, because although you are in fact fishing, it doesn’t seem that way — you’re simply making a series of assertions, all of which are technically correct. And you get to read two spectator’s minds in the process. The basic version of the trick uses an easily remembered bank of eight cards which can be arranged “on the fly”. I’ve included also variations which are built into two of the most popular memorized stacks in use: Juan Tamariz’s Mnemonica and the Aronson stack. The effect does not require a table and resets easily. EFFECT (DERLER VERSION): Two spectators each think of a playing card. The magician makes some assertions about their cards, and is eventually able to identify both cards without ever making an incorrect statement. EFFECT (TRUTH IN flDVERTISING): The above description omits some important details, but hopefully it’s the way the Spectators will remember the effect. One of the cards is secretly glimpsed by the magician. The other is truly a thought-of card, but it’s thought of from a restricted bank of just eight cards. The statements made by the magician

are actually questions, e.g., “I’m getting an impression of a black card. Which ofyou is Sending me that impression?” At least one, and sometimes the both), of spectators always respond affirmatively, so there are never any “misses. The magi-Clan ls able to discern the identities of both cards with just three statements of this type.

\

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VISTR

PRESENTRTION:

and David to assist him, The magician shuffles a deck of cards and asks Joanna as l dribble the Cards “We’re going to try a little mind reading experiment. Joanna, . ” like. Joanna Calls ‘Stop’ whenever you from my right hand into my left, just say gomg? Joanna says no. The out, “Stop.” “Right here? Would you like me to keep the card she stopped at. RemeInber magician turns his head and shows Joanna this card.” The magician dribbles the remaining cards in his right hand onto the left-hand stock, burying Joanna’s card somewhere in the middle. He then the deck a couple of cuts.

giVes

and I ’d like you just to think of one.” The magician runs through about eight cards from the middle of the deck and then “David, I’ll show you some cards as well,

pauses. “Do you have one in mind?” David nods yes. The magician sets the deck aside.

each ofyou to visualize your card and try to project the color to me... I’m getting an impression of a black card. Which ofyou is sending me that impression?” Joanna and David both indicate that they’re thinking of a black card. “Good, now focus on the suit. I’m seeing a round shape, like a club or a heart. Which ofyou is “I’d like

sending me that image?” Joanna raises her hand, while David shakes his head no. “Joanna, your thoughts seem to be coming through stronger than David’s.”

“Now I ’d like you both to concentrate on the value of your card. I’m seeing a low card... Which ofyou is sending me that thought?” Once again Joanna raises her

hand and David does not.

“Joanna, you’re doing great. In fact, you’re doing so great that you’re drowning out David’s thoughts! May I ask you not to think ofyour card this time? Pretty please? ”

The magician looks directly at David. 'Ihey lock eyes. ‘Alright, David, let’s do ”"3. Think of your card and send it over to me. Ah, yes — the King of Spades! David: ' you killed it that time. Nice work! And Joanna — thank sending so for vividly you me the 4 of Clubs! ”

TIanin "on—MEMORIZED-DECK HENDLING-

begins with an eight-card setu P on t op of the deck. The setup consists cards low (2'7. One of four each suit) and four hi of h ca d _ , . also one or thgese car: (SbAC€» each smt). You dont need to know the of 5‘ ”t you do need what the cards themselves to know are. the that eight cards in your setup are the follows 2C 3H 48 5D 10C )H QS order. KD some (These particular cards and in are quite easy to remember, as of 2-5 and consrst lO-King in CHaSeD order.) they The effect

-

these eight cards by heart, you can get into the setup for this trick shuffled deck by culling these cards to the from a If you know

top under the guise of verifying that the cards are well-mixed, making sure that there are no Jokers, etc. Give

the deck a false shuffle which maintains your eight-card setup on top.

JOHNNR'S CHRD: Joanna has a free choice of any card which doesn’t belong to the eight-card stack on top of the deck. Use your favorite method to have her look at and remember a card which you then secretly glimpse. A particularly deceptive glimpse which I sometimes like to use here is Ryan Schlutz’s “Pivotal Peek” (from his book Making the Cut). In

what follows, though, I’ll describe a more conventional method.

Dribble the cards from the right hand into the left and have Joanna call out “Stop”.

Joanna the card she stopped at by thumbing the top card of the left-hand packet to the right as you look away and raise your left hand to Joanna’s eye level. Once Ioanna has seen her card, drop the left hand so that it’s once again parallel to the floor, squaring Joanna’s card with the rest of the packet in the left hand as you do so. Continue dribbling the balance of the pack from the right hand onto the packet in the left hand, securing a pinky break above Joanna’s card in the Process (by in-jogging the first few cards of the dribble, if you like).

Show

You

the peek until could peek Joanna’s card now, but it’s more deceptive to delay

later...

THE BUENR VISTH SHUFFLE CLUB

fl

DHV'D’S CARD: Secure a right thumb break under the top card (let’s say its the KD) While maintaining the break in the middle with your left pinky. Perform a modified double-undercut in order to bring Joanna's card to the top of the deck while maintaining a right thumb break beneath the KD (and above the other seven cards in your stack). Transfer the break from your right thumb to your left pinky and hold the deck in mechanic’s grip. Lift the deck chest-high with the faces toward the second spectator and begin spreading through the cards rapidly. As you spread, say: “David, I’ll show you some cards and 121 like you just to think of one.” Time this instruction so that

you’ve spread to the break by the time you finish speaking. Close the right-hand part of the spread so that only the face card (the King of Diamonds) is now showing. Keep spreading, but at a somewhat slower pace, counting seven more cards, leaving each previous card visible as you continue to spread. Keep your left

forefinger on the upper-right index of the bottom card of the deck so that David cannot clearly see (and therefore does not think of) this card. After you’ve spread seven cards past the break, look at David and say, “Do you have one in mind?” He will usually confirm that he does, in which case you can now close the spread

and relax.

In the rare situation where David has not yet thought of a card, obtain a break below the KD once again and repeat the same procedure. David will now be thinking of one of the eight cards from your secret setup. You now

put the deck away or give it to a spectator to hold, glimpsing the top card (which is the one Joanna is thinking of) do so.17 as you

uo-uo's FISHING: Suppose Joanna’s card is the 4 of Clubs. In this case you would say the following: 1.

I’m getting an impression

impression?

of a black card. Which of you is sending me that

84

‘1

TILRPIR

2

3.

the suit. I’m seeing a round Now focus on shape, like a club or a heart. Which . . of you is sending me that image?

Now concentrate on the value of your card. I’m seeing a low card, like 2 a 7.18 Which of is through you sending me that

thought?

here is that Joanna will always raise her hand to every question and David’s responses will tell you exactly which card he’s thinking of. For example, his hand after the first and second questions but if David raises not the third,

The idea

know he’s

thinking of a high club, which must be the 10 of Clubs. And if he

his hand on the second

you raises

question but not the first or third, you know he’s thinking of a high heart, which must be the lack of Hearts. Suppose the card you glimpsed from Joanna is the 8 of Diamonds. In this case you would say: 1.

I’m

getting an impression of a red card. Which of you is sending me that

impression? 2.

Now focus on the suit. I’m seeing a pointy shape, like a spade or a diamond. Which of you is sending me that image?

3.

Now concentrate on the value of your card. I’m seeing a high card, like an 8 or better. Which of you is sending me that thought?

Again, you phrase the three questions in such a way that Joanna will always

respond affirmatively. If David raises his hand after the first question but not the

l’One way to get the glimpse is to secure a left pinky break beneath the top card and then use your left middle finger to pivot the top card counterclockwise just a bit. if you now rotate your palm downward. you will be able to see the inner right-hand index of the top card. This is the Book Break Turnover Glimpse, attributed

“110me to Tenkai lshida, Arthur H. Buckley. and Ed Marlo. " Ifloanna's card is unquestionably low (like the 4 in our example) and the low cards in your eight-card stack “. are also unambiguouslylow (6 or less, say). you can just say, “I’m seeing a low card.” and omit, .. like a 2 through 7.”

L

THE BUEHR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

second or third, you know he’s thinking of a low heart, which must be the 3 of Hearts. And if he raises his hand on the second question but not the first or third, you know he’s thinking of a low spade, which must be the 4 of Spades. In general:

. If Joanna’s card is black your first assertion will be, “I’m getting an impression of .

a black card.” Otherwise your first assertion will be, “I’m getting an impression of a red card.” If Joanna’s card is a club or a heart second assertion will be, “I’m seeing a

your round shape, like a club or a heart.” Otherwise your second assertion will be, “I’m seeing a pointy shape, like a spade or a diamond.” . If Joanna’s card is low your third assertion will be, “I’m seeing a low card, like a 2 through 7.” Otherwise your third assertion will be, “I’m seeing a high card, like an 8 or better.”19

METHOD FOR TRMIIRIZ‘S MNEMONICH STOCK: If you use Mnemonica, there’s a version of the above effect which is built into the stack and leaves you in memorized order at the conclusion. Simply cut the 2D (stack #19) to the bottom of the deck. The following eight-card stack is now on top:

‘

IH, 35, 8S, 6H, 10C, 5D, KD, 2C The handling is exactly the same as in the non-memorized deck method, except that you now have more subtle options for learning the identity of Joanna’s card. For example, when she says “Stop”, thumb off the card of the left-hand

top packet the to right as you raise your left hand to Joanna’s eye level and look away. While this is happening, subtly peek the face card of the packet in your right hand. Joanna’s card will be the card which follows this one in your stack order. .

" If Joanna selected an Ace, change the even an Ace...

phrasing to: “I'm seein g a high card. like an 8 through King or maybe

86

TILIIPIII

Once Joanna has seen her card, drop the left hand so that it's once again parallel to the floor, squaring Joanna’s card with the rest of the packet in the lefi hand

and dribbling the balance of the pack from the right hand onto the cards in the left hand. It is no longer necessary to hold a pinky break. as you already know Joanna’s card

METHOD FOR THE “RONSON “TICK: You can also perform this effect with the Aronson stack, but you’ll need to let David choose from a bank of just six cards instead of eight. Alternatively, you can first displace two cards in the stack and then use a full bank of eight cards. Ifyou‘re using a six-card bank, simply cut the 5D (stack #27) to the bottom of the deck The following cards will now be on top: 7C, 4H, KH, 4D, 10D, IC

If you wish to use an eight-card stack, cull the Q8 and 68 (which are at positions #48 and 44, respectively) under the spread, inserting them between the 4H (position #29) and KH (position #30), and cut the 5D to the bottom of the deck. The following eight-card stack will now be on top: 7C, 4H, 68, Q8, KH, 4D, 10D, IC

fairly easy to remember the identities of these cards: they’re the 6S and OS which you culled together with the six cards whose stack numbers are 28 It’s

through 33. the Aronson stack at the conclusion of the effect, insert the 68 and Q8 back into their proper positions and cut the 9D to the bottom of the deck

To reset

87

CLUB THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE

CREDITS:

2016 manusctipt This effect was inspired by Simon Aronson’s unpublished card is thought of from Think-a-Card in the Aronson Stack. In Simon’s effect, one is of nine consecutive cards in the Aronson stack and the magician able a

group with at mOSt to identify the card through a series of “off-center fishing” questions second glimpsed selection (in the worst case) two no’s. My idea was to use a Simon’s effeq to achieve a “No No’s fishing” situation akin to that described in “Simon-Eyes” (The Aronson Approach, pp. 123-171). The interested reader should compare both approaches and decide for herself which method she finds more appealing. Tyler Wilson contributed the lines, “Joanna, you’re doing great. In fact, you’re doing so great that you’re drowning out Davids thoughts! May think ofyour card this time? Pretty please?”

I ask you not to

The quotation about teaching a man to fish was suggested to me by Merge! Funsky.

vnnm'nous

PIIRTI

VflRIflTIONS

PERT

I

(The Buena Vista Shuflle Club)

59

THE BUENI VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

Dev: Good morning, gentlemen. We all use memorized decks, and we agreed that today’s session would be focused on mem-deck work. Where do we start? Bernie: lack of Spades, naturally. Ray: Let’s keep this discussion as stack independent as possible, since I’m the only one here who doesn’t use the Aronson stack. Dev: Loser. Ray: Yeah, well let’s see you finish in new-deck order. That’s by far

the strongest way to close a card magic set for laypeople, in my opinion, and even if that was the only thing you could do with Mnemonica I’d use it just for that feature. Dev: I was just kidding. I think it’s actually of little importance which stack one learns. The most important thing is to just buckle down and memorize one — I. hear a lot of guys using indecision about which stack to learn as an excuse for

never memorizing one. Speaking of which, how did you guys learn your stack?

Ray: I used flash cards to learn five cards a day, and then later to run daily drills. It took me about a month to get the Mnemonica stack down. I tried using the “song”

method that Juan Tamariz describes in Mnemonica, but it didn’t work for me at all. Bernie: Well I’ve heard you try to sing, so I can believe that. Ray: And you, Pavarotti? Bernie:

used the peg system which Simon Aronson describes in A Stack to Remember. It’s based on an old mnemonic technique which, in the context of card magic, was popularized by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas in The Memory Book. I

Dev: I also used the peg system. Though if I had do it again, I’d probably try to something more visual like the image-association techniques advocated by the

Trustmans.20

VRRIRTIONS PERT

I

Ray: To me, the real challenge is not so much learning the stack but retaining it. And for that it’s pretty much use it or lose it. Bernie: Simon Aronson tells a funny story about how whenever Roger Klause would see him at conventions or meetings, he’d say, “Let me see your teeth!” And

Simon would smile and Roger would say, “Yep, you know it well!” 'Ihat’s because early on Simon had said that what you should do is make sure that you recite your stack whenever you brush your teeth. For two reasons: first of all, there’s not much else you can do while brushing your teeth. And second, if you take the time to recite your whole stack, once backward and once forward, even if you never learn the stack inside and out your teeth will definitely be shinier! Dev: Maybe I’ll get my kids interested in memorized deck work so that convince them to spend longer brushing their teeth.

I

can

Ray: I practice the stack in my head while I’m swimming.

Bernie: Swimming, taking a shower, waiting in line at the supermarket checkout counter — do it whenever you’re in a situation where you’re going to get bored or impatient. Like listening to Dev talk about how to use binary representations to calculate which card will remain after doing a down and under deal with an

N-card packet. Dev: Ooh, speaking of mental arithmetic, here’s something else Bernie’s going to love. A routine which always appealed to me is Simon Aronson’s “Histed Heisted”.21 I think the reason I never actually performed the trick before is that it requires a non-standard full deck setup. But upon rereading Bound to Please

recently, I had an idea which I think makes the routine much more practical

”See The Memory Arts by David and Sarah Trustman. See also Geoff Williams’s Aronson Stack for Everybody and Mnemom'ca for Everybody. is in From The Card Ideas of Simon Aronson. reproduced in Bound to Please, p. 95. Simon Aronson’s routine 41)turn based on Louis Histed’s “11w Miracle Divination” (from The Magic 0110:“: S. Histed. p-

1'

61

CLUB THE BUENR VISTA SHUFFLE

to have ready “anytime anywhere”.

I

realized that it’s POSSible to do the “lure

order (or any 0th.“ Ich‘emOMZed routine starting with the deck in Aronson stack Aronson and Histe use. order) rather than in the specialized order which [Dev begins performing his version of the eflectJ

HISTED HOISTED: “I had kind of a rough childhood — my dad used to play Kenny Rogers songs On the record player all the time. I’ll admit, though, that theres a line from the song ‘Ihe Gambler” that I’ve always loved. It goes like this: ‘He said son I’ve made a life / Out of reading people’s faces / Knowing what their cards were / By the way they held their eyes.’ Well, despite the elegant poetry, I have to tell you that this is pretty much complete 8.8. It’s unfortunately not possible to know peoples cards simply by the way they hold their eyes. However, through my detailed studies of magic and mentalism I’ve realized that it is possible to know people’s cards, not from the way they hold their eyes but by using some closely guarded underground techniques which I’m unfortunately not at liberty to reveal. I can, however; provide you with a demonstration —- would you like to see?” Dev invites a few Iust Desserts employees to join Ray and Bernie as spectators. After shuffling the deck, Dev hands five cards to each of the spectators. “Please mix up the cards you’ve just been given. [The spectators do this] And now I’d like each ofyou — except for you, Bernie, we’ll do something a bit difl'erent with you — to fan your cards in front ofyourself like this [Dev demonstrates] andfocus on and

remember one card that you see. Bernie, just hold on to your cards for the moment and be patient. The rest of you — do you each have a card in mind? Please don’t forget it, or this demonstration will suck even more than listening to Kenny Rogers on an endless 8—track loop during an 11-hour car drive.” Everyone except Bernie, please close the fan and mix up your cards once more, so that no one, not even you, knows where any of your cards are. Bernie, thank you 2’

Random trivia fact: Johnny Cash recorded “The Gambler” around the same time as Kenny Rogers. but Cash's struggles with drug addiction led to Kenny Rogers’s version being released first.

62

VRRIRTIONS PERT

I

your turn now. You can look at your cards for your patience, if you wish but! think to of one. Instead, please mix the cards face down it don’t want you once ain remove one card from the middle, and place it in your pocket without lookinggat it, Excellent — and now mix up your cards once more.” it’s

’

,f you would be so kind, please collect everyone’s cards, including your own, and shufile them all together... exceptfor the card in Bernie’s pocket, of course! And “Ray.

here, take the cards we

didn’t use and shuflle those in as well.” Dev retrieves the

shuffled packet from Ray.

now attempt to demonstrate the top-secret skills that I’ve been privileged to learn from some of the finest mentalists on the planet. This is very diflicult stufii though, so I’ll need you all to help out by concentrating on your thought-of card as I look through this shuflled pack. Each time I come across a card that I sense one “I will

of you might be thinking ofi I’ll say its name out loud.

If I name your card, though,

don’t react — just keep a poker face.”

Dev begins spreading

through the cards, naming certain cards out loud and

up-jogging each possibility as he comes to it. He looks up occasionally at the spectators as he’s doing this. After calling out about ten cards, Dev pauses.

card is among the ones that I’ve just named, please raise your hand so that I know whose thoughts I’m trying to steal.” “Ifyour

I thought I saw when I called out your left shoulder twitch just a little bit in my peripheral vision the 8 of Clubs. Is that the card you’re thinking of?” Gus confirms that it is. Gus, one

of the lust Desserts employees, raises his hand.

“Yes,

The procedure is repeated once again, with Dev calling out and up-jogging about ten cards. “Who heard their card this time?” Ray and Joy (barista extraordinaire)

both raise their hand. “Okay, keep sending me your thoughts... got it.” Dev removes cards face tWO cards from the deck while squaring up and placing the rest of the toward Ray. down onto the table. He holds one card in his left hand with its back

63

CLUB THE BUENII VISTII SHUFFLE

toward by “Ray, which card are you and the other in his right hand with its back “And 10y?” She says the 10 of Spades, Diamonds. 8 of the thinking of?” Ray says the 8 of Diamonds and then the Dev flips over the cards in his hands, showing 10

of Spades.

results. The next This procedure is repeated a couple more times with similar raises her hand time, no one raises his or her hand. But the following time, Amy

and Dev correctly divines her thought-of card.

Dev now puts down the deck. “What you’ve just witnessed is a collection of mindreading techniques that’s taken a significant portion of my life to learn and master.” Dev turns to Bernie. “Now Bernie, we still have your card left, but I won’t be able to figure it out by reading your mind because even you don’t know which card you placed in your pocket at the beginning of this demonstration. So I’ll have to use a skill I learned from magicians rather than mind readers. Bernie, please remove the King of Clubs from your pocket and show it to everyone!” Bernie reaches into his

pocket, removes one card, and holds it up for all to see. It’s the King of Clubs.

“If we were playing a real game of poker, Bernie, now would probably be a good time to know when to run.” [Gus, lay, and Samantha return to their jobs. ] Bernie: I didn’t know you were a country music fan, Dev. Dev: There’s probably a lot you don’t know about me. Ray: So what’s the methodological change that you’ve made to the routine? Dev: Well, first of all I’ve incorporated some ideas of Peter Tappan’s into both the presentation and the method.23 But the biggest change that I’ve made. from

1’

See Chapter 13 (“My Favorite Presentation”) of Peter Tappan’s book The Impostress Princess

64

vnnmrions "RT: methodological point Of View, is that I begin in my regular memor'we d stac k a stack in specral not for designed order, this one effect

3

After giving the deck a false shuffle, I hand the first five cards of my stack to the we’ll be that treating differently at the end of the trick (Bernie in the Spectator , We’ll saw). call just him you Spectator Zero. Performance Bernie: Thanks a lot.

Bern. I then give the next five cards to an audience member that we’ll call Spectator #1, the five cards after that to Spectator #2, etc. You can use any number of spectators from three to 10 for this effect, but I think that about five spectators total is optimal from a pacing point of view. Dev: Any time,

When you call out the cards, you’re miscalling everything. This is one of the devious principles underlying Louis Histed’s original effect. In Simon Aronson’s version, you call out the cards in your memorized stack order, which requires a special setup. The change I’ve made is that you call the cards out in a nonstandard order, but you begin in memorized stack order, which for me is much more practical. At first I wasn’t sure how doable it would be to call out the cards in a funny order, but I found that with about an hour of practice — plus it’s actually not so bad. periodic review while brushing my teeth — cards which people also adopted Peter Tappan’s idea of up-jogging various cards in what is supposedly "might” be thinking of, instead of calling out the First of all, it the order determined by Ray’s shuffles. I do this for two reasons. in a few moments. And helps Strengthen the revelations, as you’ll understand you’re struggling to fluidly sec0nd, it gives you a natural reason to pause any time misca lling the cards you’re name the next card, which can be tricky when you’re . in a memorized stack norfifactually looking at while simultaneously reciting your stressful and easrer to pull 0 . less bit a Standard order. This makes the procedure I’ve

Ray; What’s

the special order in which you call out

65

the cards?

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTfl THE BUENR you have, there are alwayS participants udience a . Dev : Re8ardless of how many the f0110wing out in called always d they’re

four rounds of calling out cards an order:

Round number 1

46 1,11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 6,16, 26, 36, 37, 47 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 7, 17, 27,

2

48 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 8, 18, 28, 38,

3

4

Stack numbers of cards to be called

,

49 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, 9, 19, 29, 39,

in round 1 always end With The pattern, you’ll notice, is that the stack numbers 7, etc. As I said, it does take 2 a l or 6, in round number 2 they end with a or

order while simultaneously some practice to be able to call out the cards in this it’s worth it. I should up-jogging and miscalling a different set of cards, but to me also mention that, independently of the effect itself, this is actually a good way forward or to review your memorized stack. If you always go through the stack backward in your mind, you’ll create certain mental links between consecutive cards which you don’t want. Ray: And how do you figure out which card the spectator is

thinking of?

Dev: 'Ihere’s a simple rule for that:

For example, suppose that spectator #3 (the one who got the fourth packet of cards) raises his hand at the end of round 2. Then his card’s stack number will be 17, which is 5 times 3 plus 2. In the Aronson stack, his card would be the 3

of Spades. As another example, suppose spectator #4 doesn’t raise his hand after any of the four rounds. In this case, you announce that you don’t need to call out any more cards, as you’re pretty sure you already know which card he’s thinking of. And for the purposes of doing the calculation, you treat his card as belonging to round 5. Spectator 4, round 5: 5 times 4 plus 5 equals 25, so in the Aronson stack his card would be the 7 of Hearts.

66

-YV‘ZT

I

vnnlnrlous "RT: Not sure my brain is up to the challenge but it's . , Interesting. a nice ldea' You Ray: also helps with the revelations? mentioned that the uP'Joggmg you’ll recall that in the performance, when

asked R loy to 82d I the? had previously removed two cards from cards. name their around to show that l was correct. This can’t be done: usv'Vh‘ChhIe turned then However, with Tappan’s handling 1 simnlgiti Histed-Aronson presentation. random cards while reciting the cards I actually need and then ::k ten jog hand if they heard me call out their card. As soon as they volunteers to raise a DeVI Yes,

I

r:

remov: know who thought of which card (using the formula!), and I simply from the deck and place them face down onto the table the necessary card(s) I’m removing are not actually up-jogged, but the audience Typically the cards can’t tell; like the miscalls that is just another fun bluff which takes place in this do, I

routine.

round of calling out cards I usually just name the card out loud, without removing it, and ask the spectator(s) to confirm. For subsequent rounds, first and then reveal that I got it I find it stronger to have them name the card

After the first

correct.

that take away a bit from one of the strengths of the Histed random order? method, which is that you’re calling out cards in an apparently

Bernie: Doesn’t

worth it. 'It’s a superI don’t think the extra layer of deception is worth and either routine way, fooling the audience catch on to the whole having risking revelations or the weakening of my recitation. But you miscall ploy because of subtle breaks in the rhythm call the cards also apparently could fine — that’s and you feel

Dev: It does, I guess, but to me the trade-offs are completely

differently, might out in order if you like.

couldn’tyoul'11~°>t

locations anyway, Ray: If you’re up-jogging cards from different through the deck scanning kly -— quic “P'jog the actual cards you’re naming by anything? each time — and then you wouldn’t have to miscall

67

‘

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VISTR too much and look too Dev: You could, but it would slow down the rhythm way the act of spreading from left studied. You’ll notice that I always up-jog cards in the method better, I think, than hides and much quicker both is which to right, lip-jogging cards from all over the place. the card which Bernie: And what about the ending, where you were able to name and after? Do had placed into my pocket from a packet that I shufiled both before 1

the top five cards of your stack is you have to figure out which card from among mental gymnastics? missing at the same time as you’re doing all those other crazy Dev: Well, yes and no. What I normally do — though today I did things a bit differently — is the following. I look for the card with stack #1 at the end of round I, and ifI don’t see it, I know that’s the card in the spectator’s pocket. This can be done under the guise of quickly looking over all the cards to make sure

that you up-jogged exactly the ones you wanted. If I do see the card with stack #1, then I look for the card with stack #2 at the end of round 2, and I repeat this procedure for all four rounds of card calling.”1 After the fourth and final round, you’ll either have identified the missing card or you’ll know that it’s the card with stack #5.

However, today I did a bit of sneaky advance preparation, the idea for which comes right out of Peter Tappan’s book: the first four cards in the stack are edgemarked with a pencil at different spots along their short ends. The card with stack #1 is marked at the very left (on both short ends), the card with stack #2 at the mid-left, #3 at mid-right, and #4 at the very right. When these cards are shuffled into the deck, you can easily see by glancing at the short end of the squared-up deck which of the four marks (and therefore which card) is If all four

missing. marks are present, then the spectator has the card with stack #5 in his pocket.

Bernie: I must confess, the idea of edge marks did not occur to me. You and your blasted marked cards.

If the card calling doesn't last all four rounds and you still haven’t identified the target card, you will have to do a short extra scan near the end. 1‘

Vnnlurlous

"in.

find it endlessly amusing that you det t es marked cards but are constantly them. foaled by D eV:

1

like how your ending not only provides ' a satisfyin fi msh ' ' t . the make trick ft even harder to backtrack than already) :15:22:21" also helps e method for the final phase is Completely different it’8 “0 t based on the “cross. n . matrix princrple like the rest 0f the trick, Ray:

1

~

Thats true. There are of course various other ways one could end the routine as well. For example, you could combine my method for the main part of the routine With Simon Aronson’s “l-Iisted Heisted” finale, where a prediction is removed from an envelope. DeVI

Or you could combine Simon’s ending with the one you performed today, for an extended double climax,25 Ray:

Dev: Your

girlfriend is really amazing with those, by the way.

One last comment: this is a really minor thing, but have you considered having the spectator who places the card in his pocket receive the last batch of cards instead of the first batch? That would feel better to me from a Ray: [Ignoring Dev]

theatrical point of view. Dev: Actually I

had the same feeling, but

I’m lazy and I didn’t

think it was

important enough to expend mental energy on. I think you could accomplish

that quite easily, however. For example, you could secretly move the top five cards to the part of the deck where they need to be, before the trick begins. That feels like cheating to me, though, because I like the fact that my routine starts in stack order and you don’t need to know in advance how many volunteers you’ll really believe it’s be using. There must be ways to solve the problem, if you

other

a problem.

¥

this idea is since he seems to think that Although Ray has apparently not read 71w lmpostress Pri ncess. Favorite Presentation". original, this is in fact precisely what Peter Tappan does in “My 2’

¥

69

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

bottom at the beginning of Bernie: You could just cut the top five cards to the When you get to th e the routine as you “demonstrate” what’s about to happen. the role of “Mr. Zero" last spectator — or whichever spectator you want to play instead of the top five. Or, if dealing — simply give him the bottom five cards

cards off the bottom bothers you for some reason, do an overhand shuffle while the last five keeping a break above the cards that you run off, making sure to run cards singly. Give the top five cards to Mr. Zero, and then cut to the break and continue as needed. Ray: That’s pretty quick thinking, Bernie.

Bernie: Hey, everyone is gifted — some just open the package sooner.

70

msran

HOISTED

ECRET gRRnNGEMENTS An Entertaining Eflect

that Surreptitiously Stacks

11

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

ELEMENTHRY, MY DERR VERNON This routine is essentially a combination of three “classics” of card magic; Juan Tamariz’s “Memory Jumble”, Pit Hartling’s “Sherlock”, and Dai Vernon’s “Triumph”. In addition to being an entertaining and fooling routine, “Elementary, My Dear Vernon” can be used to secretly transform a shuffled deck into a halfstack, or a half-stack into a full—stack. I’ve borrowed heavily from Pit Hartling’s

fantastic presentation for “Sherlock”, but the construction here is different: I’ve transformed Pit’s premise into a practical and entertaining way to restore a memorized stack.26 80 although the first phase of “Elementary, My Dear Vernon” is quite similar to “Sherlock” and the second phase is more or less just “Triumph”, I believe there are enough original touches and synergies here to make this routine worth your time and consideration.

EFFECT END PRESENTHTION: “Did you know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was friends with Harry Houdini? I don’t just mean on Facebook — they met in person in 1920 and had a lively written correspondencefor many years. When you think about it, the two men actually had a lot in common: both were interested in creating seemingly impossible challenges and then meeting those challenges in

astonishing ways.” “I will now perform

an impossible-seemingcard trick twice in a row. I ’11 first show

you the way a detective like Sherlock Holmes would do it, and then I ’11 show you 2‘

"Sherlock" starts and ends with the deck in stack order. If you’re not familiar with it. check it out — it's a lovely magician fooler.

72

ELEMENTRRY. MY DEER VERNON a magician like myself would accomplish the same thing. First, though, we bit create a of The mystery.” need to magician shuffles th e cards face up into face down. He then begins spreading through the face up/face down jumble and says “Please remove any face down card David, that you Ii ke and show it to to everyone else- Then place it back, face down, anywhere wish.’ ’David does as instructed. you hoW

mix the cards a bit more, so that not only won’t we know where your card is, we wont even know if it’s face up or face down.” The magician mixes the of the cards further orientations in a sloppy way. “We’ll

since I don’t yet have any idea which card was chosen, I will attempt to find it as the great Sherlock Holmes would have. Holmes said: ‘When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains — however improbable — must be the truth.’ To which Dr. Watson replied: ‘No shit, Sherlock’” But seriously, Holmes’s method is very sensible: we just need to eliminate all the cards that were not chosen, and whatever remains will be yours!”

“Now,

ribbon-spreads the cards onto the table and asks David silently to note whether he sees his card or not.

The magician

your failed attempt at keeping a poker face tells me that you do see your card, so we know that your card is face up. Moreover, there are certain cards among the face up ones which no one ever selects, so we can go ahead and eliminate those. For example, no one ever picks the Queen of Hearts, or the 7 of Hearts, or the 3 of Diamonds...” About eight face up cards are named, removed from the spread, and placed face down at the end of the spread. “Now,

bind there are cards which some people might pick — but not you!” The magician face down Continues naming and eliminating face up cards and placing them selected — at the end of the spread. “'Ihere are also cards which you might have this but not today!” More cards are eliminated. “'Ihis one you might have picked this one you might have picked this morning [the magician removes one card] and

‘

\

27

"You’re performing at a church fundraiser. 0"“I this line'

13

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE card you would hat/e I believe that the only but another], afternoon [he removes one of the two remaining face up picks up magician [the picked this evening... discards and points to the last remaining the onto down face it cards then drops 7 of Clubs. here.” It’s David’s selection, the right this is one face up card]

the rest of the (face down) up selection, scoops David’s removes The magician in the middle. The deck 18 given a here somew selection David’s deck, and buries few quick shuffles and cuts. I’m not a detective, I’m a a detective would find your card. However, do that same trick. First of all, I’d Shuflle magician. So I’ll show you how I would The magician cuts off the cards face up into face down, just like we did before.” the cards face up about half the deck, turns one of the halves over, and shuffles into face down. “That’s how

of Clubs is face up or face down.” The magician cuts the deck into several piles, showing a mixture of face deck. up and face down cards, and then reassembles the “Just like before, we don’t even know whether your 7

are fond of eliminating the impossible, which is why we had to remove the cards one-by-one before. But magicians aren’t bound by such logical procedures. As you can see, some of the cards are face—to-face, some are back-to“Now, detectives

face, others back-to—back... But as a magician, I can just snap my fingers [snap!] and the cards are now all face down... [the magician slowly ribbon-spreads the

cards on the table]

except for one card — your 7 of Clubs!”

HRNDLING: explain how to do this routine assuming that you start with half of a memorized stack and want to restore it to a full stack, although you can use the same handling to restore a half-stack from a deck which has been separated into low and high stack numbers28 (it’s not necessary for the bottom half of the deck to be in order). I’ll

__—— 1‘

' You are left in such a condition at the conclusxon

“Triple-Fried", and “Pile Driver”.

I

of certain effects in this be 0 k ’ e’g" “ Banned for Life,” ’

74

ELEMENTRRY.

MY DERR VERNON

lanat' 25 cards of the deck assume, for the purposes of ex mimorilgd 31:1? 53:22:? :re the bottom 25 cards of your and ,1]

the 0rd?“ 3:6“ order. of (Note, 111 out however, that 25 and cards are arbitrary.) top 27 make the handling in the Triumph Phase b late (to assume also bthdvmaczlrtdciiaJCr) reverse breather Crimp in the bottom-cutting a there’s our that memorized stack.

FIRST

runs: (n u: snaamcno:

script until you get to the line “First, we need to create a b't rlfllf and face deck the of half the unstacked u this, turn mystery.” As you say Zarrowpshuffle 5: will be halves a (Later doing together.29 you shuffle the two Make like Zarrow) look make it shuffle, to is your this a legitimate try although and the face down is deck shuffled the of card the that shuffle so top sure to bottom card is face up. Follow the above

selected.

through the cards in your hands and have a face down card show the selection around, As you turn your head to permit the spectator to returned face down anywhere secretly turn over the deck.30 Have the selection break or otherwise control the spectator likes. It’s not necessary to hold a Spread

this card.

Andrus false slop shuffles to now give the deck a couple of Jerry it’s face up orface down.” (This, of course, is know If won’t “we even guarantee that of the cards will be completely unchanged.) a lie: both the order and orientation here’s a brief description adapted If you’re not familiar with the Andrus shuffle, 147-149)". Hold the packet in (pp. Mr. Fantasy Dear book from John Bannon’s and your left hand hand palm up right Turn l(flat-hand dealing position. your

You will

2' To

use a breather crimp or set separate the two halves quickly and casually.

Step separating

the cards on the table with a

the two halves.

w°°dY Aragon. Darwin You can also find descriptions of the Andrus shuffle in 8teve Beam’s Semi-Automatic Card Tricks Vol. VIII, pp- 256'2573|

¥

15

0 rtiz’s Lessons in Card Mastery. p.

113. and

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BU ENR VISTR

palm down, and push off several cards into your right hand with your left thumb (Photo 5). Now turn your left hand palm up and at the same time turn your right hand palm down. In a continuing action, your left thumb pushes over a few more cards and the right hand takes them underneath the previous cards (Photo 6). Repeat these actions until you reach the end of the packet.

ELEMENTHRY.

MY DERR VERNON

script above, and then ribbon-spread the cards from left to right on the ask and spectator silently to note whether he sees his card not the table or

Follow the

“Now,

yourfailed attempt at keeping a poker face

tells me that you do see our

anion card: so we know that your card is face up. Moreover, there are certain cards which no one ever selects, so we can ahead and eliminate thoseg the face up ones go For example, no one ever picks the Queen

of Hearts, or the 7 of Hearts, or the 3 of

Diamonds. . .” What you’re €10ng here is naming the cards in your memorized stack in reverse order, starting with stack number 27 (the highest stack number in the shuffled top half of the deck). Name and remove about eight face up cards, placing each card face down at the right end of the spread after you call out its name and remove it. ‘And there are

cards which some people might pick — but not you!”

Continue naming and eliminating face up cards and placing them face down at the end of the spread. Again, you are just calling out your memorized stack in reverse order. Name about eight cards during this phase as well. “There

are also cards which you might have selected — but not today!”

About eight more cards are eliminated as before. You need not remove precisely eight cards each time, exactly four face

but after three rounds of elimination there should be

up cards left.

and, “this one you When you say, “This one you might have picked this morning,” cards with stack numbers 3 and 2, the remove this afternoon,” have might picked 1 and the selection. number stack left, cards be will two reSPectively. There “But I believe

that the only card you would have picked

this evening...”

and then drop it face down onto I, pause, number stack the card with the discard pile. PiCk UP

‘

11

THE

is this

305'”!

VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

one right here.”

card, and confirm that its the face up remaining the one Point to and pick up spectator’s selection. TRHNSITION:

“That’s how a detective would find yOur card. However, I trick.” magician. So I’ll show you how I would do that same

’m

not a detective,

I’m a

As you say these lines, remove the face up selection and square up the rest of the deck (which will now secretly be in stack order, minus the selection). Place

the spectator’s selected card on top and give the deck a straight cut, burying the selection in the middle of the deck immediately below the breather crimp. Give the deck a couple of false shuffles or cuts if you like.

seconn Pans: (Ii Ln TRIUMPH): For the sake of the three readers who don’t already perform Triumph, I will now briefly explain a handling which is fairly close to the original Dai Vernon version

but incorporates Daryl’s Triumph Display. “First of all, I’d shuflle the cards face up into face down, just like we did before.”

Cut the deck at the breather crimp, placing the top half (whose bottom card has the breather crimp) to the right of the bottom half (whose top card is the spectator’s selection). Flip the right-hand portion face up and Zarrow shuffle the two halves together, using the spectator’s selection (which is on top of the left-hand face down portion) as a cover card. Square up the cards; there is no need to hold a break here. Situation check: the selection will be face down on followed top, by about half the deck face up, followed by the rest of the cards face down. The deck should be in a horizontal ' position in front of you.

find just like before, down.”

we don’t even know whether

78

your 7 of Clubs is face up orface

ELEMENTRRY.

MY DERR VERNON

now perform Daryl’s Triumph Display. To do this, first cut off less than half the deck to the right, so that a face up card shows on the left-hand portion off a and a face down card on the right. With both hands, simultaneously lift both piles down good chunk of each pile and move your hands forward, placing lift off a good about 2 1/2 card-widths in front of the piles they came from. Now toward you, chunk of these two packets and simultaneously move the hands back its column. The visible cards in placing each pile in-between the other two in respectively, the left-hand column should be face down, face up, and face down, (Photo 7). and in the right-hand column it should be the exact opposite the deck to its initial state before the Triumph You will

Reverse the actions, reassembling Display.

which,is why we had to remove impossible, the eliminating of such logical procedures. the cards one-by-one before. But magicians aren’t bound by A5 you can see, some of the cards are face-to-face... “Detectives are fond

79

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

Just before you say, “As you can see, some of the cards are face-to-face...”, Pick up the deck in left-hand mechanic’s grip and, with your right hand palm down,

thumb over the top card into your waiting right hand, holding the t0p

Card

momentarily in a Biddle-like grip. “.

.

.some are back-to-face. .

Your right hand drops the top card back onto the deck and immediately lifts off about a quarter of the deck. Turn your right hand palm up, rotating the cards

in the process. Reverse these actions, turning your right hand palm down and placing the packet back onto the deck. “...others back-to bac ...”

Cut at the natural break between the two cards which are back—to-back in the center of the deck. Turn your right hand palm up once more, rotating the cards in the process. However, this time you let the right-hand packet drop into your palm up right hand, completing the rotation, so that when you replace the right-hand packet on top of the left-hand one, the right-hand packet has been subtly reversed. The entire deck will now be face down except for the spectator’s selection, which is face up in the middle.

that during the above displays of face-to-face, back-toface, and back-to-backpairs, you should not be predicting which orientations are about to appear but revealing them. (I’ve unfortunately seen magicians perform Triumph the former way too many times, and it’s a rather bizarre experience for It should be emphasized

the viewer.)

“But as a magician, I can just snap my fingers and the cards are now all face down. .. except for one card — your 7 of Clubs!” Slowly ribbon-spread the cards to show that all the cards are now face down except for one, which will of course be the selection.

ELEMENTRRY.

MY DEER VERNON

Make sure to get tWO CECCtS OUt Of this:32

first the audience should register that the cards have magically turned face down and th en they should see that the selection is the only card face up.

CLEnN-UP: conclude, 1'Cturn the selection to its correct position in the stack The deck is now in memorized order. To

-

CREDITS: This effect

borrows heavily from Juan Tamariz’s “Memory Jumble” (Mnemom'ca,

195-197), Pit Hartling’s “Sherlock” (In Order to Amaze, pp. 42-47), and Dai Vernon’s “Triumph” (Stars of Magic, pp. 27-30). pp.

There are

numerous memorized deck routines in the literature which only

require a half-stack (everything in Chapter 9 of Mnemonica, for example). There are also various known methods for restoring a full stack which make use of the fact that you already have a half-stack in order (cf. Appendix II, Section 4B(II) of Mnemonica). Jerry Andrus’s “Drunken Shuffle” was first published in Andrus Deals You In, 1956, p. 91. The idea of doing the Drunken Shuffle with an already mixed deck

of face up and face down cards, which strengthens the illusion considerably, is credited to Juan Tamariz. An excellent variation of the Drunken Shuffle, which works quite well in the present context, is Steve Beam’s “The Joystick”, from SemiAutomatic Card Tricks Vol. VIII, pp. 257-258.

book on Daryl’s magic Display can be found in Stephen Minch’s entitled Secrets of a Puerto Rican Gambler. Daryl’s Triumph

T0 make a

a normal breather bottom-cutting reverse breather crimp, prepare face

96—97), but with the card crimp (see, e.g., The Vernon Chronicles, Vol. 1, pp. down instead of face up.

g

Denis Behr argues convincingly for the importance of spreading s'~'Pal’ate effects, on his recent DVD set Magic on Tap. ’2

‘

the cards slowly. in order '0 register two

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE the cards in reverse stack order in removi of ng idea the Tyler Wilson suggested in Tyler’s own words: this, for Here’s the justification Phase One. them

down

at the face 0 rder so you can place “Why not remove the cards in reverse helluva lot closer to the image at the end of end of the spread? 7hat way it’ll look a rall piece: every card is a more consistent, cohesive ove

the second phase, creating face down except for the selection.”

the script above. Thanks, Tyler! Tyler also helped refine a few of the lines in

Dev. ] [Ray performs “Elementary, My Dear Vernon” for Bernie and

Dev: Cool concept. Very practical. Bernie: You could also perform the “Triumph” phase with a freely named card, instead of re-using the selection from the first phase, since the stack has been fully restored after the first phase.

of that, too, but I decided to just perform it today the way that Matt wrote it up. I do think it would make the climax feel even more impossible if the card were just named. Ray: Right, I thought

Dev: If I were the one performing this, I’d try to add more color and specificity to the elimination phases, making it into a sort of humorous “cold reading”. For example, if I was performing this for Bernie, I might begin, “Now, your failed

attempt at keeping a pokerface tells me that you do see your card, so we know that your card is face up. But there are certain cards among the face up ones which only sensitive and mild-mannered guys select, so we can eliminate the Queen of Hearts, the 7 of Hearts, the 3 of Diamonds... And there are other cards which only people with a great sense offashion would ever pick, so given that shirt you’re wearing we can go ahead and eliminate the Ace of Diamonds, the 3 of Spades...” You the general idea.

get

ELEMENTRRY. MY DERR VERNON Bernie: Yeah. make fun

of the old guy in the group.

good suggestion, Dev, to make the elimination phase more situationis also a great idea, of course. speCifiC- Teasing Bernie Ray: It’s a

Turning from the presentation to the larger context, what would be most useful for me would be to have a routine which allowed you to set up an entire memorized stack secretly from a shuffled deck in an entertaining way — preferably without first having to separate the cards into two groups. Do you like that? guys know any routines Devi

Bernie: Entertaining? No. But I’ve seen a number of people attempt what you’re

describing, with varying levels of success — mostly disappointing. Dev: Well, I

think you could probably do an abbreviated version of Matt’s routine

without the “Triumph” phase — which could at least set up a half-stack without first having to separate the cards into two groups. —

Ray: How so?

could have a card selected and returned to the deck, glimpsing the selection in the process. Then you could say something like: “Since I don’t yet have any idea which card was chosen, I’ll attempt to find it as the great Sherlock Holmes would have blah blah blah. I’ll begin by separating the cards into two piles, cards which cannot one consisting of cards which might be yours and the other of cards be, because no one ever chooses them!” Then you could openly deal the which face up into two piles, one containing the half of your memorized deck —— and the other You’re trying to stack — plus the selection, if it’s not in that half the pile which Containing everything else. When this is finished, you pick up “These does not contain the selection and place it off to the side face up, saying, ribbon spread the are the cards which no one ever chooses,” or whatever. You then card must be here.” remaining half and say, “Which means that your Dev: You

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE Then you could do a streamlined version of Phase One where there’s no face Up and face down mixing of the cards —— you just remove cards one at a time from the remaining (face up) half until there’s one left, talking about how there are certain cards which the spectator might have picked, but not today, etc. Ray: That doesn’t seem to have quite the same charm as the multi-phase routine which Matt put together, but I acknowledge that it solves a useful technical

problem. Bernie: If I understand correctly, you’re just trying to avoid having to separate the cards in advance into high and low stack numbers, right? Dev: Yeah.

Bernie: Well, I’m not convinced it’s worth it... there are so many ways to achieve that kind of separation: Kostya Kimlat’s Roadrunner Cull, Lennart Green’s Angle Separation, Harry Lorayne’s Great Divide... Ray: You know, if your goal is to restore a memorized stack from a deck that’s been riffle shuffled just once by a spectator, I do know a

procedure that’s both clever and entertaining for accomplishing that. The idea is this. You ask the spectator if she knows the difference between shuffling and mixing a deck of cards, and offer to show her. You then force the top card of your stack33 and control it to the top using your favorite method.34 Then you do a false riffle shuffle and ask, “For example, would you say that this is shufiling or mixing?” The spectator will usually say “shuffling”. You then give the deck a false overhand shuffle and say, ‘Xnd what would you say this is?” 'Ihey’ll usually respond by saying “mixing”, in which case you say, “No, thatis also shuflling, it’s just a difierent kind of shufile. The first was a rifile shufile and the second was an overhand shuflle. So what is mining the deck,

”

In principle this could be a free

selection, but Ray forces ‘ a known card as otherwrse , . involved in th C mental work performing the trick becomes more ,

”i hate it when magicians

,

challenging...

write that.

84

ELEMENTRRY. MY DEM! VERNON htask? Well, mix'mg is' when you turn some of the cards mtg you face up and others ” face down. .. ‘

then do the classic Sid Lorraine slop shuffle-‘5, using the interlocking chains of consecutive cards from your memorized stack to determine when to spread and when to flip. As you do this, you say something like, “You see, if I through

You

go the whole deck like this, mixing cards face up and face down after shufiling the cards

different ways, then it’s virtually impossible for me to find your selected card. And yet, if I just snap my fingers, the cards magically realign so that they’re all face down again — except for one card!” That card is the spectator’s selection, of course. in two

seen you perform that routine. It’s a killer for lay audiences. What exactly are you doing as you flip cards during the slop shuffle?

Dev: I’ve

whatever the face card of the deck is, you follow the chain which begins with that card and run backward through your stack as you spread the cards face up from your left hand into your palm up right hand. Whenever you of the left-hand see a break in the chain, you flip the right-hand packet on top cards, keeping a grip on this packet with your right fingers, and start following face the new chain. You continue spreading with your left thumb beneath the chain down packet in your right hand, and when you see a break in the new hand onto the leftyou’re now following, you flip all of the cards in your right the entire deck. hand cards. This process keeps going until you’ve gone through Ray: Well,

Dev: And

how does the selected card end up reversed?

is the spectator’s when you get to the final card (which it from the back of the deck Selection), instead of flipping it you simply transfer the cards and up Then square you to closest you. t0 the front — the portion floor. The top half of the the with it’s parallel until I’Otate the deck toward you and the spectator’s selection is deck is now face down, the next half is face up,

Ray; Oh. right. Well,

*

‘

”See “A Tipsy Trick‘. The Royal Road to Card Magic, p. 183.

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE much like the usual handling

its pretty face down on the bottom. At this point, lf of the deck by showing that some ha bottom the of “Triumph”: you can reverse blah blah blah. face—to-face, others of the cards are face-to-back,

it’s a smart idea. I’ve experimented with the before; that haven’t seen Bernie: this is muc h better than what I Came but deck, memorized and a slop shuffle I

up with. Bernie. But I don’t claim any compliment, that’s a quite from you, Ray: Coming -— laypeople really like the originality for the routine.” It’s very practical, though this trick for separating out the “shuffling versus mixing” premise. I used to use the deck for reds and blacks from a shuffled deck,37 in order to secretly set up I’ve described, “Out of This World”, but these days I use it more often in the way as a method for undoing a spectator shuffle. Bernie: Of course, it would be even better to have a similarly entertaining — for restoring an entire stack from a deck that’s been and —

procedure thoroughly shuffled by a spectator, but as I said I don’t really know of any. quick

Dev: That would be a real triumph. Ray: Ba-dum.

FURTHER CREDITS: Simon Aronson suggested the general outline of Dev’s situation-specific lines

during the elimination phase.

‘°

that he tried and failed several times to find out who originally came me up with the “shuffling and the idea of using a slop shuffle to undo a spectator’s riffle shuffle has been versus muting premise, prevmusly explored by many magicians. including Ed Marlo, Larry Jennings. Alex Elmsley, and Juan TamariT» Ray tells

. . , . The red/black separation variant which Ray IS descnbtng is much easier to perform, Since (a) it doesn’t I“Squire knowing a memorized stack; (b) the selection doesn’t h ave to b . e forced,. and (c) It- doesnt requnre NW false shufiles. But Ray likes to be challenged,

’7

-

_

-

86

PERT

II:

....RND NOW FOR

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

fl BIT OF MENTHLISM Performance Pieces for the Discerning Mind Reader

CLUE

CLUE routine started as a two-person comedy mentalism act which I performed with Dan Garrett. I came up with the idea for the routine and the basic method, and then Dan and I jointly wrote a script. In our two-man routine, Dan played character and I played “The Professor”, who is modeled after a Watson-like and was Sherlock Holmes. Our script featured generous doses of campy humor here to adapt it written specifically for our characters. I’ve rewritten the script bit more universal. The to a solo performance and have made the presentation a and involves more effect can be performed in either a parlor or stage setting book. The method is audience participation than any other routine in this because it’s a combination of two ingenious (which I think I’m allowed to say The result is a fooling and clever principles that I didn’t come up with myself). riffs on the lasting popularity of the game enjoyable piece of mentalism which This

of Clue.

EFFECT END PRESENTIITION: committed here tonight. A murder... “Ladies and Gentlemen, a murder has been but that’s all the information I have— I most foul! The victims name is Mr. Body, those choices are up to you.” don’t yet know who did it, or where, or how. .. because audience. The magician stretches out his arms, indicating the of the murder, and circumstances the bout a however, made a prediction displays a large sealed “’6 placed it here in this sealed envelope.” The magician “Confidential” (recalling the is printed which of front manila envelope, on the “will be our stand-in for the spectator] game 0f Clue). “You, sir —” [pointing to a this envelope securely, as ifyour guard please firm OfPrice-Waterhouse-Coopers... “I have,

very life depended on it.” —_

89

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTII THE BUENH not yet been determined, you may be have murder the “Since the circumstances of drawn upon in making my prediction. have I wondering what mysterious powers reveal. I Will merely say to liberty at not I am Unfortunately, that is something psychology, and oftentimes the human of student keen » this: As a magician, I am a seem. they may as arbitrary choices people make are not as to a table on which have been attention audience’s the The magician brings wrench, a revolver, a knife, a candlestick, a a rope, placed six murder weapons: and a lead pipe. The magician of the murder suspects.” “Each ofyou please pick up a murder audience. the of members quickly points to six on the stage.” line-up a then and form up, choice on your way of roles “I’ll need six volunteers to play the

weapon

your

will distribute some pens and I is formed, being murder suspects ‘IAs our line-up of distributes a halfThe audience.” magician the members of slips of paper to a few took a pen and paper, please write dozen or so pens and billets. “Each ofyou who landmark anywhere in the be famous a or could city big which a down a location, else see what you are world. Be specific. Please write legibly but don’t let-anyone the paper in half twice, like this.” writing. When you’re finished, please fold

handed a colorful The six volunteers who have formed a line-up are each now “Place these name tags around your neck. It name tag attached to a string of yarn. don’t fit the name — you are all masters of disguise.” doesn’t matter if you

into The volunteers place the name tags over their heads and arrange themselves a straight line. The magician looks over the line-up. “Do you all swear

that you are un-coached and un-rehearsed?” The suspects

nod yes. The magician walks to the beginning of the line-up in order to introduce the suspects. We have Mr. Green with a knife, Miss Scarlet with a lead pipe, M“Peacock With a revolver, Professor Plum with a rope, Miss White with a candlestick,

90

J

‘

CLUE and, finally, Colonel Mustard with a wrench . One remains tofind out who.”

fyou

O

is the murderer! But it -

I

need a detective to assist with the proceedings. Sir would you mind role?” the Another volunteer is brought up, and the playing magician hands him hat deerstalker to and on put a a magnifying glass to hold. “We will also

“Detective, Sherlock Holmes once said that when you eliminate the impossible whatever remains — however improbable — must be the truth. You are going to help me eliminate suspects from the line-up.” 'Ihe magician brings out a stack of 11" 1/2.. 8 x enveIOpes, “Each of these envelopes contains an instruction which you are to read aloud to our suspects.”

'Ihe magician picks up the top envelope, removes a piece of paper from inside, and hands it to the detective, casually showing that there is nothing else inside the envelope. “Please read aloud what it says in Envelope #1.” “Any three of you

take two steps forward.”

The suspects follow the detective’s instruction. ‘And now Envelope #2.” 'lhe magician picks up the next envelope, removes a piece of paper, and hands it to

the detective to read.

“Stepping forward shows that you’re nervous and fidgety, perhaps because of a guilty conscience. Those who did not step forward are innocent and may return to their seats. 'Ihree suspects now remain. Any two of you please raise Your weapon above your head.” The suspects follow the detective’s instructions. “Envelope #3.” The magician picks of paper, and hands it to the detective to read. the a

up

next envelope, removes piece

“The tWO suspects who raised their weapons would not have done so In public if they were guilty of murder. You are innocent and may return to your seats. The remaining suspect is guilty. You are the murderer!” 0

‘

9|

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTII BUENII THE the revolver, holding Scarlet, Miss for Everyone except

has now been eliminated.

Scarlet with a was committed by Miss murder the that established “We have now murder from among the Clues the of Iocati on the revolver. It remains to determine provided by our audience.” someone might accuse me or myself clues the touch to don’t want “Detective, I box and have the folded this take Here, of tampering with your investigation. The magician hands the detective a large

slot at the top.” papers dropped into the billets. ‘i‘is you’re doing that, cardboard box with a slot at the top for depositing of paper in the box. all the slips collects detective The pens.” I’ll retrieve my it up — I don’t want to touch “Detective, please shake up the box. Now open the box. One of those slips of paper anything! — and remove any two clues from Please hand either clue to red is herring. other the a location, murder contains the location of the murde r.” The detective does the tell will us the keep one — me you magician opens the billet which [the red was... the herring “Alright, instructed. as the detective handed to him and reads]

Venice.”

and tell the audience, “Please open up the slip ofpaper which you kept for yourself murder.” The detective opens the slip of in a nice loud voice, the location of our and reads “The Taj Mahal”.

paper

location audience — have now chosen a killer, a murder weapon, and a the Taj Mahal. But as a magician for the murder: Miss Scarlet, with a revolver, in and dedicated student of human nature, I anticipated each and every one of your to choices. To prove it, we will open up the envelope which this gentleman [pointing the spectator holding the brown “Confidential” envelope] — who is fortunately still alive — has been kindly guarding with his life.” “You — the

The magician retrieves the envelope, opens it up, and removes a folded-UP Scarlet with poster. When the poster is unfolded, it is seen to be a picture of Miss a revolver at the Taj Mahal.

92

CLUE

METHOD OVERVIEW: The desired SUSpect. weapon, and location are forced through a combination and subtleties, equivoque, gaffs. Specifically, the suspect is forced 0f using Andi GladWin’S “People Power” procedure and the location is forced using a billetswitching device. The correct weapon is linked to the correct suspect when the name tags are handed out.

PREPHRRTION: To perform this effect, you will need the following: . A billet-switching device. I personally use Mark Shortland’s “AmazeBox” because it allows for a completely hands-off switch. Other possibilities include Steve Pellegrino’s “Open Billet Box”, Thinking Paradox’s “Clear Choice”, or (gulp) a traditional Change Bag. . Approximately 12 billets and six pens or pencils. . A large brown envelope (larger than but otherwise resembling the envelope used in the game of Clue) with “Confidential” printed on the front. . A large poster38 which fits inside the brown envelope and depicts the suspect, murder weapon, and location to be forced. . For the “People Power” procedure: four large white envelopes and seven 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper with instructions printed on them. (See below for specifics on the instruction sheets.) Three of the pieces of paper are trimmed short at the narrow ends. Write a large “1” on the outside of Envelope #1, a “2” on Envelope #2, etc.

. Six murder weapons: a rope, a wrench, a “lead pipe” (I use a small PVC pipe purchased from a hardware store), a candlestick, a toy revolver, and a toy knife (Photo 8). . Six name tags printed on colored construction paper, with two holes punched in the upper corners of each name tag and a loop of yarn threaded through each pair of holes. For no apparent reason, I use green for Mr. Green, red for

\

\

" You will find

the b00k WCbSitC two downloadable prediction posters, designed by my daughter Joanna. on h“PW/WWW.mattbakermagic.com/buena-vista-shuffle-club.

93

THE BUENR VISTH SHUFFLE CLUB

Miss Scarlet, blue for Mrs. Peacock, purple for Professor Plum, white for Miss White, and yellow for Colonel Mustard (Photo 9).

. (Optional)

A

Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker cap and a magnifying glass.

CLUE

THE “PEOPLE POWER” pancanuna: small miracle, the multiple~out procedure called “People Power” which By a Andi Gladwin published in MAGIC magazine also uses six volunteers from the audience, despite having nothing to do with the game of Clue. Therefore, only some changes in the wording are needed to adapt Andi’s instructions to the present routine.

behind “People Power” is that there is a “target” volunteer that you using a system of multiple outs. There are two instruction sheets in each

The basic idea force

of the four white envelopes (other than Envelope #1, which only contains one sheet), one

of which has been cut short for easy handling. Depending on how the

target volunteer responds to the previous instruction, you either remove the long paper or short paper from the next envelope. And there is a simple rule which tells you in

each case what to do:

MISTER RULE: If the target suspect follows the instruction, remove the short paper; otherwise, remove the long paper. w‘;

.

--...

I—G‘L‘HA'; a 1

Here are the

....v~.

,

i..),.r-fi......:nu‘

“dc

.

..

i

instructions which you will need to print on each piece of paper:

ENVELOPE #1

Any three of you take two steps forward. ENVELOPE

JDEI

#2

Short paper: because of Stepping forward shows that you’re nervous and fidgety, perhaps and may a guflty conscience. Those who did not step forward are innocent return to their seats. Three suspects now remain. Any two of you please raise your weapon Your head.

¥

95

above

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

Long paper:

Those who stepped forward are comfortable being in the spotlight because they have nothing to hide. They are innocent and may return to their seats. Three suspects now remain. Any two of you please raise your weapon above Your head. ENVELOPE

#3

Short paper:

Raising your weapon in the air is an unhealthy sign of aggression, indicating possible guilt.

If you did not raise your weapon, you are innocent and may return to your seat. Only two suspects remain. One of you please make a peace sign. Long paper:

The two suspects who raised their weapons would not have done so in public if they were guilty of murder. You are innocent and may return to your seats. The remaining suspect is guilty. You are the murderer! [The procedure is now finished; don’t use envelope #4.] ENVELOPE

#4

Short paper:

The suspect who just made a peace sign did it in a wholly unconvincing manner. You are the murderer!

Long paper: The suspect who made a peace sign feels embarrassed about having aggressively brandished a weapon, and is innocent. You may return to your seat. The remaining suspect is the murderer!

96

CLUE

short/long pair into the appropriate envelope with the short paper when the envelope is flap side up. Stack the four envelopes above the long paper that #1 is on top and #4 is on bottom, with the numbers facing Upward. In the Place each 50

each corner Of

instruction Sheet’ lightly Pencil in the corresponding envelope

number (for easy reset).

EXHMPLE: after reading, “Any three of you take two steps forward” Suppose, for example, that from Envelope #1, Miss Scarlet (the target suspect) is one of the suspects who This means that she followed the instruction, so according to the steps forward. Master Rule, you will remove the short paper from Envelope #2.

of you please raise your weapon above your head.” Suppose that Miss Scarlet does not raise her weapon above her head. This Rule, means that she did not follow the instruction, so according to the Master from Envelope #3. you will remove the long paper

The next instruction reads, “Any two

who raised their paper from Envelope #3 reads, “The two suspects of murder. You are if weapons would not have done so in public they were guilty You are is innocent and may return to your seats. The remaining suspect guilty.

The long

#4. the murderer!” At this point, you are done and you do not open Envelope

have removed the Of course, if Miss Scarlet had raised her weapon, you would utilize short paper from Envelope #3, and then it would have been necessary to Envelope #4. Andi’s procedure is that sound a bit complicated, but the beauty of Rule and pay attention to what the target Master the remember have to only you

This may

complicated instructions! suspect does. You don’t have to memorize any

flMflZEBOX PREPflRflTION: fold the billets twice Write the force location on approximately six of the billets, the secret compartment to make a l-inch square, and place the force billets into

using). F°ld up the you’re device switching billet of the AmazeBox (or whatever AmazeBox per the instructions.

97

THE BUENII VISTR SHUI'I'LI.

uuuu

the show, instnlctin out the empty billets and pens before of a city or fa’nous each spectator who gets a billet to write down the name billet and hold on landmark anywhere in the world, and then fold up the to “Clue” routine itself, I Can Save it until later in the show. That way, during the walk through the audience With some time by simply asking the “detective” to

I will sometimes hand

the AmazeBox39 and collect all of the billets.

MIME T96 PREPflRflTION:

Stack the six name tags with the force suspect on the bottom.

PROCEDURE: For the most part, it should now be clear how to perform and accomplish the effect. Here are a few annotations to the above Presentation which you may find helpful: As the six volunteers come up, each one is handed a colorful name tag connected to a string of yarn. As each volunteer comes on stage with his/

.

her chosen weapon and joins the line-up, hand him/her whatever name tag happens to be on top of your stack, as if the actual name on the name tag is unimportant. However, when you are about to give a name tag to the volunteer holding the force weapon (the revolver, in our example), casually turn over the entire stack of name tags, bringing the force name (Miss Scarlet, in our example) to the top.

0

“Each of these envelopes contains an instruction which you are to read aloud to our suspects.” When you begin the People Power procedure, lift off the top envelope (#1), display the envelope number to the audience, pull out the instruction sheet from inside, and casually show that the envelope is now empty. (You do not need to over—prove anything here; in fact that would be counterproductive.) Hand the instruction sheet to the detective to read. When he is finished reading, take instruction sheet #1 back from him, place it on tOP

of Envelope #1, and move both instruction sheet #1 and envelope #1 to the ’9

It's probably best not to refer to it as an “AmazeBox” when giving your instructions to the detective.

98

4’

CLUE

bottom of the stack. This not only gets them out of play, it also makes it more difficult for the spectators to tell how many envelopes there are later on This is because sometimes you will not make use of important, Envelope #4 and you the spectators to know that there was an extra unused don't want envelope

the red herring was... [the magician opens the billet and reads] . . . . “Alright: Venice-” Here you simply miscall the location printed on the billet which the detective hands you (which will, in reality, be the force location). I

believe that covers everything. Although it will take some time to assemble

of the necessary prOps, once you do I think you’ll have a lot of fun with this routine. If you ever repeat the routine for the same audience, you will probably want to make up a different prediction poster and use different force billets. all

CREDITS: original script which Dan Garrett and I wrote for this routine, the overarching theme was “free will” (and lack thereof). Simon Aronson provided a critical analysis of that script which helped me rethink the premise and retool the script into the one you find here. Simon also made several other suggestions, both structural and presentational, which have improved the routine. In the

original version of the routine, Dan and I used Roy Baker’s classic PATEO force (see Hugh Miller’s book Baker’s Bonanza, p. 40) to eliminate everyone except the target suspect. I mentioned to Caleb Wiles that I was looking for a more deceptive force procedure, and he suggested Andi Gladwin’s “People Power” (from Joshua Jay’s “Talk About Tricks” column in MAGIC magazine. December 2004), which I was not familiar with at the time. When I looked it up in MAGIC, I could not believe how perfect it was for this routine. The phrasing 0f the instructions in the numbered envelopes has been adapted to the “Clue” thell'le, but the forcing procedure itself is exactly the one devised by Andi. In our

Dan Garrett added the miscall of “Venice” at the end of the routine, which is a nice Subtlety. He also contributed several lines to the script, such as: It doesnt

\

matter if you don’t fit the name

-—

you are all masters of disguise.

99

THE BUENII VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

sealed “Confidential” My original ending for this effect used three jumbo cards in a envelope. Two of the cards were regular Clue cards (just bigger), and the third had

of the Taj Mahal. Tyler Wilson suggested replacing the three separate cards with a poster depicting all three revelations at once. My daughter JOanna, who by all objective measures is an artistic prodigy, helped me turn Tyler’s idea

a picture

into a satisfying reality. The idea for this routine came to me when I heard David Corsaro talk abom Dick Steiner’s effect “Clued In”, which is designed for close-up performance and utilizes a totally different method.

SOY RNYTHING

SRY flNYTI-IING long-time fan of Paul Harris’s “The Anything Deck”, which was later developed into a series of commercial effects called Deep Astonishment 1, 2 and 3.40 I purchased and worked on both “Deep Astonishment” and “Deep

I’m a

Astonishment 2”, but found that I wasn’t performing them as often as I had anticipated. The routines leading up to the finale just didn’t seem very strong, despite the

spectacular ending, and they didn’t really fit my personality. I played

around with the basic principle for years, dressing it up in different ways and trying out numerous variations until it finally evolved into something which clicked for me. In terms of scripting, method, and the preparation involved,

of the most elaborate effects in this book. But if you take the time to learn and practice this routine, you’ll have a powerful, baffling, and entertaining Showstopper on your hands.

this is one

EFFECT 9ND PRESENTHTION: The effect begins with a shuffled deck of cards ribbon-spread face up on a table. On the table, next to the cards, are a dictionary, a Sharpie marker, and a pad of yellow Post-It Notes. machine-powered lie detector — a device which evolved into the modern polygraph — was invented by the Harvard psychologist William Marston just over a century ago. Marston discovered that there is a strong positive correlation “The first

between systolic blood pressure and lying.”

“Nowadays, however, Marston is mostfamous not for his lie-detecting machine but as the creator of Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman’s magic lasso, which forced those

\\

She

Captured with it to tell the truth, was inspired by Marston’s earlier development

of his lie--detecting machine.” “I'm told that who says. “Ifhe dies. .- he dies." Deep Astonishment 4 will feature a steroid-using Russian boxer

101

CLUB THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE

r.Marston’s device, although revolutionary

for its time,

was.

rather primitive

machines which can fit by today’s standards. Today, there are polygraph in you, but by detecting pocket, and they work not by monitoring blood pressure and words, they quite literally read processing alpha waves from the brain. In other

your mind!” what modern technology is capable ofl I will attempt to turn this simple deck of cards into a lie-detecting supercomputer which I call the ‘p51. Programmable Password-Protected Polygraphic Playing Cards. For the password protection’ part, I’ll need someone to think of a secretpassword.” Joanna is selected to be the magician’s helper. “To showcase

“Joanna, please think of a secret word. It shouldn’t be too long, but it should be something that would be very hard for me or anyone else to guess. Ifyou’re having trouble thinking of a good word, feelfree to use this dictionary to help. And to make sure you’re telling the truth later, I it like you to write your password down on this

Post-It Note.”

The performer sticks a Post-It Note to the dust jacket of the dictionary and hands the book and a Sharpie to Joanna. ‘Hfter you’ve written down the password, please fold up the Post-It Note and put it in your pocket, making sure that I can’t see it.”

When Joanna has finished writing down her password and has followed the instructions, the performer retrieves the book and marker. He flips through the pages with the dictionary facing the audience. “Joanna, you could have thought

of any word in this dictionary, or even a word not in the dictionary.

We’ll use your

thought-of word later as a secret password. First, though, we need to have card a

selected. . .”

'Ihe performer scoops up the cards and gives the deck a quick shufflé. He has Joanna select a card, remember it, and return it to the deck. “Now comes the fun

machine! 'Ihzs

part: I ’m going to program the deck to be a lie-detecting won’t take long, but to keep you entertained I’ll put on some

SRY RNYTHING

music

it.” The Wonder Woman“1 theme song is played while the while I’m doing

efformef

“programs” the deck.

then turns back to Ioanna. “I’m going to ask you a few questions and you can either lie or tell the truth. The P5 will tell us whether card, about your being honest. First of all, is it a high card or a low card?” Joanna says or lying mm and then flips over the top The performer gives the deck a fancy triple cut

The performer

“High”-

card; it’s

the truth.” high. “It’s a high card — the P5 says you’re telling

black? Again, you can lie or tell the truth.” Joanna says red card or your the deck another fancy cut and turns over the top “Red”. The performer gives “It’s a black card — the P5 says that you’re lying!” card; it’s black. “Next. is

a club or the deck one more cut The gives “Club”. performer The says Spectator a spade?” it’s a spade. “It’s a spade — the P5 says that you’re card; the top and turns over “Alright, we know

that you selected a high black card. Last question:

Is it

lying again!”

Its time to have the P5 spade. selected high a that know you “Ioanna, we now however, we’ll first feature, identification card the To card. use actual identify the Don’t actually tell me your password, just need to enter your secret password. the table, one letter per card. The cards onto deal I mind as it in your

silently spell

P5 should know

when you’re finished.”

“I felt a little then and stops. down pile face into a cards The performer deals five password. Is spelling your finished that just you vibration, which I believe means If the P5 is surprised] bit a looking head yes, that correct? [Joanna nods her card out loud —Please name your be should yours. the next card Working properly,

of Spades. and tell the truth this time!” Joanna says the King The

of “Ladies and gentlemen, the King card. next the performer turns over

Spades!” The

k M

audience applauds.

words sung are . , it, because the first know dont who those 1}“ theme song will make sense even for

“Wonder Woman!”

L

103

THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB The effect is apparently over. The performer places the King of Spadesback in the deck. “Now I must confess, I actually lied about something myself This [POinting at the deck] is not actually the P5, but a new prototype called the P6. The €Xtra P stands for precognition, which is the ability to foretell events that have not yet happened and could not possibly be known in advance...” The performer removes a sealed envelope from the left breast pocket of his jacket. There is a red legal seal over the flap; on the other side is written the phrase “P6”. “loanna, for the first time, please tell everyone in a nice loud voice the secret password you thought of’ Joanna announces that her password was “Julep”, The performer, whose hands are visibly empty, tears open the envelope. Inside is a small packet of otherwise blank cards with writing on them. One by one, the

performer displays the cards and then deals them to the table. The first card says, “The Password 152” Each of the remaining cards has a single letter on it, and the letters spell the word “J-U-L-E-P”. METHOD OVERVIEW IIND PREPIIRIITION: Multiple principles and techniques are layered on top of one another in this effect, including a peek of the secret password, a deck switch, a gimmicked envelope, and palming. The performer begins with a “cooler” in his jacket pocket — a second deck with a matching back design. I will describe the setup of this deck, and how to construct it, in a few moments. The deck switch is while the

accomplished

performer’s back is turned and the second volunteer is showing her card to the audience. I usually keep the cooler deck secured in a holdout device under my jacket for easy retrieval, but you could just as easily keep it in your jac ke t pockt e. _

If you prefer, you can dispense with the deck swi tch altogether and just begin with the gimmicked deck. In that case, you would force a card directly from the gimmicked deck and have it returned somewhere to the center. However, I prefer the deck switch approach becaus e it lets me show the cards as normal at

.4 10‘}

sav annulus the start

of the routine, and it also enables the spectator’s card to be a genuinely

performer also begins with an envelope in the left breast pocket of his jacket is gimmicked in such a way that cards can be secretly introduced The envelope through the side using a “card to wallet” style slide, and when the slide is removed seals itself due to a suitable layering of rubber cement.42 You could the envelope card-to—wallet style wallet if you prefer, instead of an envelope (or use also use a both together). I write “P6” in red letters on one side of the envelope and place red legal seal on the sealed flap on the other side. On the side of the slide a large Closest to the opening of the envelope, with the writing facing the flap, insert card on which you’ve written “The Password 15:” on the a blank-faced playing 1113

blank side. The dictionary and Sharpie are both gimmicked. Although any sufficiently

use the Koran-inspired peek that will

will work, peek which feels organic in the context of the presentation Psypher impression system combined with an

A1

subtle

I

described below. The Psypher Sharpie, which has a small magnet embedded wish to use this approach. You in the tip, is something you’ll need to buy if you least as big as a will also need a piece of Psypher impression material which is at

be

Post—It

Note.

should be a hardcover book with a dust jacket, which the dictionary, prepare material to the front remove the dust jacket and attach the Psypher impression the Psypher impression material cover of the book with double-sided tape. Prime

To

dust jacket back on. If your the Now put impressions. it’s receive that so ready to need to use the art work on small, may is you fairly material piece of impression Post-It Note later on. the dust jacket as a cue to visually locate where to affix the

and (strictly optional)

of Post-It Notes The only other props needed are a packet a device capable of playing the Wonder Woman theme song.

‘

\

u I use Dave

Bonsall’s “Bonsalopes”.

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

PREPHRING THE SPECIRL DECK: The cooler deck which gets rung in consists of SO blank-faced cards with letters written on them, together with five normal playing cards. There is a good bit of flexibility in the exact makeup of the deck, so feel free to make modifications as you see fit. You want to have enough duplicate letters to accommodate as man

words as possible, but you also don’t want audiences to notice the extra thickness of the switched-in deck. A SS-card deck works well in this regard. On the blank cards, I write two of each letter in the alphabet, except that I Use three A’s and three 13’s,43 and I use just one each of Q, X, I, and Y.44 These are placed in alphabetical order starting from the face of the deck. I then place an indifferent pointer card (for example the 6 of Hearts) at the face of the deck, with the unidirectional aspect of the 6H used to indicate the orientation of the letters. Finally, I place four regular cards (we’ll call these the “indicator cards”) on top of the deck — the indicator cards should include one card of each suit, with one of the red cards being high and the other one low, and similarly for the black cards. (For example, the indicator cards could be the King of Spades, the Queen of Hearts, the 2 of Diamonds, and the 3 of Clubs. These four cards can be in any order you wish.) Thus, from the top down, the cooler deck should be in the following order: The four indicator cards

ZZYXWWVVUUTTSSRRQPPOONNMM LLKKIIIHHGGFFEEBDDCCBBAAA A pointer card

" I haven't yet needed to use the extra “A” or “E”, but I know that as

‘d

soon as I take them out someone Will choose a secret word like “Amanda” or “Beetle” (or, even worse, “Reappearance”). “ I’m aware that there are words like “Hajj". "Xerox”, and “Bimini” which I can’t make with this deck, but have sometimes you to live dangerously.

106

SRY BNYTHING

HQNDLING: We will

script:

begin our detailed handling explanation at the following point in the

Showcase what modern technology is capable of, I will attempt to turn this cards deck into of a simple lie-detecting supercomputer which I call the ‘PS’: “To

programmable Password—Protected Polygraphic Playing Cards. For the ‘password protection’ part, I’ll need someone to think of a secret password.” Choose a volunteer from the audience, making sure that everyone is convinced she isn’t a stooge. Let’s say that Ioanna is selected. “Joanna, please think

of a secret word. It shouldn’t be too long, but it should be something that would be very hard for me or anyone else to guess. If you’re having trouble thinking of a good word, feelfree to use this dictionary to help. And to make sure you’re telling the truth later, I 21 like you to write your word down on this Post-

It Note. After you’ve written down the password, please fold up the Post-It Note and put it in your pocket, making sure that I can’t see it.”

Note on the front cover of the book and hand the book and a Sharpie to Joanna. When she writes down her secret password, it will leave an impression on the Psypher material beneath the dust jacket. To get your peek, you are going to use the following deceptive technique stemming from the work of Al Koran and others. Place a Post-It

When you say, “Joanna, you could have thought of any word in this dictionary, or even a word not in the dictionary,” you demonstrate by opening and flipping through the book with the spine toward you and the pages facing the audience. AS You do this, the dust jacket naturally lifts up from the book just enough SO

that you can glance downward at the front cover and read the impression

(Photo 10).

\

and relaxed manner, and as soon as you have your peek, at Joanna. You then close the YOU can turn look straight side the head or to your

This is done in a casual

107

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

book and set it off to the side. Properly choreographed, this should all appear natural and unimportant, slipping into what Ascanio has called the “parenthesis of forgetfulness”. “ We’ll

use your thought-of word later as a secret password. First, though, we need to have a card selected...”

Scoop up the cards and give the deck a quick shuffle. Have Joanna select a card and remember it. Joanna’s selection is genuinely free.45 While the spectator is showing the selected card to the rest of the audience, turn to the side and switch the regular deck for the gimmicked one. When you turn back around again, have the selection returned somewhere in the middle of the cooler deck.46 You ,COUld If you prefer, however, it’s also a viable option to force the card. Then you can have the correct three indicator cards, as well as a duplicate of the selection, pre-set on the face of the cooler deck. This will shorten the duration of the “programming" phase. ‘5

“’

Just make sure it’s not returned to one of the top four positions unless you’ve memorized the top four

indicator cards. Otherwise you'll have difficulty determining the selection.

snv nun-mus give at this point any

lettersl), but

“Now comes

the

the deck a false shufl‘le if you like (being careful not to expose I don’t bother.

fun part: I ’m going to program the deck

to be a lie—detecting

machine!”

you really do. First of all, quickly spread through the cards, locate the spectators selection (it will be the only normal card other than the top four cards and the bottom card!), and move it to the top of the deck. Next, do the following: Here’s what

1,

Move the indicator card whose color is opposite that of the selection, and whose high/low status is the same as that of the selection (i.e., high if the selection is high and low if the selection is low) to the face. (If the selection is a 7 or Ace, I will explicitly mention that “low” means 2-7 and “high”

means 8-Ace when I ask the spectator whether her card is high or low.) 2.

Move the indicator card whose color is the same as that of the selection but whose suit is the opposite of the selection to the face.

3.

Move the indicator card whose suit is the same as that of the selection to the face. (There is just one exception to this rule: If the selection exactly

matches one of the four indicator cards, omit step 3 entirely.) sound complicated in print, but with just a bit of practice it’s easy to remember these steps and execute them quickly. As an example, suppose your indicator cards are the KS, QH, 2D, and 3C, and as you spread through the deck 98 to the top of the YOU see that Joanna’s selection is the 9 of Spades. Move the deck. Since the 98 is a high card, move the OH (the high indicator card of the indicator card 0pposite color) to the face of the deck, then move the 3C (the 0f the same color but different suit) to the face, and finally move the K8 (the indicator card of the same suit) to the face. This might

letters which spell the spectator’s run through the deck and take out the of the deck. When you ve Secret password, moving each card removed to the face

\ NOW

109

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE block of cards at the face Consisting the cut rd, wo finished spelling the spectator’s

d the cards which spell the spectator’s WOrd cards an indicator of the displaced . on).“7 You’re now finished with the selecti the (above deck to the top of the “programming”.

the Wonder I don’t say anything -— I just play whole procedure, this During music a little. Sometimes my volumeer Woman theme song and groove to the feel free to add whichever lines of will start dancing, too. If this isn’t your style, what the outward reality here is: The dialogue suit your taste. Just keep in mind few cards in a specific audience should believe that you’re simply arranging a order in order to use the deck momentarily for some kind of “lie-detector” demonstration. lie going to ask you afew questions about your card, and you can either or tell the truth. The P5 will tell us whether you’re lying or being honest. First of all, is it a high card or a low card?” “I’m

Regardless of what Joanna says, do a false cut and then remove and display the top card of the deck, which will be your first indicator card. You can use any false

cut you like here (as long as it doesn’t flash any of the letter cards in the deck). You can make it a different false cut for each question if you wish; personally, I use the Frank Thompson false cut (Frank Garcia’s Super Subtle Card Miracles, p. 143) three times in a row. Let’s suppose the

indicator card which you reveal is high. If Joanna answers your question by saying “High”, announce that (according to the P5) she is telling the truth; if Joanna says “Low” announce that she’s lying. Either way, deal the indicator card face up onto the table and continue to the next question. Next, is your card red or black? Again, you can lie or you can tell the truth.” . a Continuing .

. With the above example.

suppose that the spectator’s password is JULEP. Move a J to the es). then a U. L. E. and P in that order. Now cut the block of cards consisting of QH-3C-KS-J-U-L-E-P from the face of the deck to the top (above the 9S)

3'" flflvrmus this time is exactly the same. After Perfor ' a and procedure false cut The dealrtllling whether Joanna is lying or telling the truth Indicator aflnoundng thirtcllseconc.l ’the first The the of for one. handling on t0p Clues“?n (about card face up is Similar, except that you should omit the third uesti 0“ entirely If the suit) cacrlds the for of the match indicator exact one is selected card an the P5 identify the actual card. To use the card ident'fi t' time to have actilalcla lle Don’t secret need password. we’ll to enter first your however, liable feature» the cards deal onto I , mind in it as your password, just silently spell “It’s

me your

card. The P5 should know when you’re finished.” letter per one

face down pile next to the face up pile of into a time at a cards one Deal the (which card for each letter of Joanna’s secret password cards, one indicator cards on the table will down face The the peek). of course, thanks to you know, of the deck will be card on top now the and word, Joanna’s chosen secretly spell

Ioanna’s selection.

that you just finished spelling your means believe I which “I felt a little vibration, the next card should be properly, working is P5 correct? If the password. Is that tell the truth this time!” and loud rd out Please name your ca yours.

From Reveal the selection, drop Casually pick up the over. apparently is now the trick the audience’s point of view, the deck. Leave the onto down face them cards and flip three face up indicator face down cards (which, just-counted the table. Pick up password) and selection face up on the spectator’s the in letters are the Do this in cards. unbeknownst to your audience, the beneath holding a pinky break deck, the of the deck; during Place them on top up to square reason now have a that you so the secret word. way, a Slightly messy spells which ds the packet of car

and collect your applause. it face up to the table,

this squaring action,

top-palm

the 'Ihis is not actually myself . . . which lied aboutsomethz'ng

must confess, Iactually P stands for precogmtion, extra The be P6. the called could not possibly and P5, but a new prototype happened not yet have that is the ability to foretell events known in advance...” “NOW I

111

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENH THE and hold out the palmed pac.k.et in a either place the deck on the table talk about the P6 and precogmtion, 0r relaxed manner at your side while you with the hand that’s palming the cards while you talk. (I deck the hold can you there is little to no heat on the deck Or prefer the latter approach, but in any case the trick is apparently over.) When you re ready, your hands at this point, since the table (Showing transfer the deck to the opposite hand and place it face up on with the hand the indifferent pointer card) as you reach into your jacket pocket that‘s palming the cards to retrieve the envelope. You can

Deposit the palmed cards into the slide (which secretly accesses the side of the envelope), remove the slide, and press down on the side of the envelope as you remove it from your jacket pocket, activating the rubber cement and sealing the envelope shut. “Ioanna,

for the first time, please tell everyone in a nice loud voice the secret

password you thought of” Showing your hands otherwise empty, tear open the envelope, revealing a small packet of otherwise blank cards with writing on them. The first card says “The Password 15:” Deal it face up to table. Now display the by remaining cards

one

one, dealing them face up onto the table from (your) right to (your) left. Be sure to build up the impossibility of the moment with panache and dramatic flair. The cards spell “l-U-L-E-P”. laws drop. The crowd goes wild.

CREDITS: As mentioned in the introduction, the method for spelling is based on a Paul Harris idea originally published

Art of Astonishment, Volume 3,

pp. 23-26).

the spectator’s word

in “The Anything Deck” (The

Wiles published a version of “The Anything Deck” called “Word Perfect” 1g Spots, pp. 27-31). While I developed this effect independently, Caleb also a dictionary, an envelope, and blank-faced cards. (In Paul Harris’s gates usehof mes, t e letters are printed on the backs of

fgle’l:

the cards.) Our

presentations are

OIII "N'THING uite different,

though. A methodological difference between my routine and Paul Harris and Caleb the Wiles versions is that in both my effect, the magician apparently does not know the word until the end. I think very

userl extra layer of deception.

that this adds a

Detector” premise is of course an ancient one, going back at least as far as the 19308. I first saw the idea of “programming” the deck to become a liedetecting machine in I.C. Wagner’s “Would I Lie to You?”, from 7713 Commercial The “Lie

Magic of]. C. Wagner.

which I’ve explained is based on Al Koran’s “A Word in Thousands”, described in Volume 6 of the Tarbell Course in Magic (Lesson 76). Al Koran’s gimmick involves carbon paper, which nowadays feels a bit old-fashioned and The peek

cumbersome to reset. I learned about Koran’s peek from Nicholas Einhorn’s “Word in a Million” (available from I.B. Magic), which uses a gimmick that is easier to reset than Koran’s. You could certainly substitute Einhorn’s gimmick for the Psypher impression pad, but I think that using a Sharpie rather than a pen or pencil is more deceptive (because hard-tipped writing implements do leave a physical impression in the dust jacket).

**** lRay performs “Say Anything”for Bernie and Dev.] Dev: I really like “Say Anything”; it solves so Versions of the Anything Deck.

many of the problems with other

so complex I is the presentation but here, like lot there’s to think a I’m trying to imagine w0nder what audiences will really make of it in the end. friend to say, You an audience member leaving the magic show and calling up a and Wonder shOUId have seen this trick the magician did with William Marston was a lie detector WOman and the P5 — well it was actually the P6 —— and there Bernie:

\

I

113

THE BUENII VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

and a dictionary and a card was selected, and the magician asked a buhch questions and the P5 found the card, even though the spectator sometimes lied and the P5 was really the P6, and then the spectator’s password — which Was needed to unlock the P5 — I mean, P6 — appeared inside an envelope in the magician’s wallet.”

think you’re off base here, Bernie. I can totally imagine someone calling up a friend to tell them how they saw this unbelievable magic trick where a thought-of word ended up inside a sealed envelope. The details are not necessarily supposed to be remembered, just enjoyed. And the script supports both the effect and the method in lots of subtle ways. Ray: Shockingly,

I

Dev: I agree with Ray, except that people don’t really make phone calls any more, I

could definitely imagine someone tweeting about it, though. #P6

Bernie: I’m not denying that the ending is powerful. I’m just saying that I don’t necessarily buy the premise that this represents a major development of Paul Harris’s original idea. Dev: Well, to each his own. I like the P5 conceit a lot, and for me it’s a big call a improvement on Gypsy fortune tellers.“8 Speaking of which, what do you

fortune-telling midget who has escaped from prison? Ray: I don’t know, Dev, tell us. Dev: A small medium at large.

Bernie: Your Zarrow shuffle could use some work, Dev, but I still recommend that you stick with magic rather than comedy. Dev: Well, I had also thought about becoming a fortune teller, but I couldn’t see a future in it. " This is a reference to “Deep Astonishment

2".

114

vnmn'rlous

pg"

H

VHRIRTIONS

PERT (7718

II

Buena Vista Shuflle Club)

115

CLUB THE BUEHB VISTB SHUFFLE

different from your usual Card Dev- Ray you said you had something rather tricks to show us today. “Bill in Lemon” routine that I’ve been Ray: Yeah, I’d like to show you guys the the handling which I think is performing for many years. There’s one aspect of

novel, and pretty interesting, but the main selling point of this routine — in my mind, at least — is that the presentation has an internal logic to it which YOu

don’t usually find in Bill in Lemon routines. Often the magician will make a bill vanish for no particular reason, and then make it reappear in a lemon, also for no

particular reason. It’s still a fantastic and memorable trick when performed well, but I wanted something more coherent and intellectually satisfying. I’m quite pleased with what I came up with. Dev: Great! Presenting “The Intellectually Satisfying Bill in Lemon” by Raymond Colon — Take One.

FOILEB BY THE ORIGBMI TEST. SBVEB BY THE LEMON LBW: Ray: Dev, please hold on to this bag. [Ray hands Dev aCrown Royal cloth drawstring bag.”] borrow a bill — the bigger the better: $20, $50, $100... anyone?” Bernie takes a $20 bill out of his wallet. “Bernie, I’d like you to initial the bill that we so can recognize it if we see it again... I mean, when we see it again.”50 Ray hands a red Sharpie to Bernie, who writes “B.K.” across Andrew Jackson’s head. “I need to

“Bernie, you do know that it’s illegal to deface US. currency, right? But

I wouldn’t

worry about it if I were you — it’s just a misdemeanor. It’s not nearly as serious as counterfeiting, for example — which is a felony.”

would be his closer. 5°

yal ba 8 out earlie r i n 3 ShOW. and . . the routine which follows

Ray is aware that this is a hackneyed line.

116

VIIRIII'I'IONS

pant u

“Speaking of which, did you know that $20 bills are the most commonly counterfeited It’s America? in true — I read it Currency

online. I hope you don’t mind I if quickly bill make it’s to sure The genuine. trick won’t work if the bill is test your fake.” know those yellow pens that they use at the supermarket to test $20 bills? it’s don’t actually work, 7hose just a marketing gimmick. There’s only one way to bill is real a if sure or for know counterfeit, and that’s whats known as the origami test. You fold the bill in half like this... [Ray begins folding Bernie’s signed bill]... then into quarters... then into eighths... and finally into sixteenths. When you bill, the then tell whether it’s real or counterfeit. For example, this unfold you can bill is definitely counterfeit... because it’s not a $20 at all, it’s $1!” a Ray shows that Bernie’s $20 bill has transformed into a $1. “You

make a deal with you. I’ll give you back your bill, and I won’t report you to the Secret Service. But you have to promise to stop spreading counterfeit money.” Ray hands Bernie the $1 bill. “Bernie, I’ll

“Thank you very much, ladies “Alright,

and gentlemen, that’s my show!” Ray takes a bow.

I confess that I feel a little guilty about duping a spectator like that. But

Bernie. Anyway, Bernie, you’re fortunate that here in California they have a Lemon Law on the books to protect innocent people from getting swindled. Most people associate Lemon Laws with used cars, but they apply equally well to magic it’s just

tricks.”

do you still have the bag which I gave you a while back?” Dev does, and he hands it to Ray. “Dev,

back.”

Ray are three things that will help you get your money this pocketkmfe. r‘361Ches inside the bag and pulls out a pocketknife. “The first is You can just pull out the blade and yell, ‘Give me back my money!’ However, ifyou stab the magician who swindled you, there will be blood everywhere — which is Where the second item in the bag comes into play.” Ray reaches into the bag again and takes out a packet of “Wet Ones” antibacterial hand wipes. “Inside this bag, Bernie,

\

117

THE

“Given

305"“

VISTfl SHUFFLE CLUB

that I’m. theswindler in that I’m a pacifist at heart, and especially given

violence. Which is where the and takes out a lem0n_ the knife to cut open the “You see, it’s both safer and more productive just to use lemon.” don’t actually recommend resorting to Lemon Law comes in.” Ray reaches inside the bag again

question, I

inside. “I don’t want to touch Ray cuts open the lemon and there’s a folded-up bill whatever’s inside the lemon — Bernie, please take it out.” Bernie takes out the bill and begins to unfold it. “Is that your signed bill?” Bernie confirms that it is. “Bernie, you can keep the $1 tip for being such a good sport. gentlemen, is the end of my show!”

And that, ladies and

Ray takes a bow, tears open the packet of Wet Ones, and cleans the lemon juice

off his fingers.

Bernie: Can I really keep the tip? Ray: Hell no. Give it back. Dev: It’s an engaging presentation. Doesn’t Bill Malone also do a counterfeit test like that in his Bill and Lemon routine?51 Ray: Yep, and this routine was partially inspired by his. But I don’t like how he

produces the lemon out of his shoe at the end. It plays brilliantly — because he’s Bill Malone — but it doesn’t really make sense. And I’m no Bill Malone. [Ray coughs up a stream of cards from his mouth] Dev: Ray Co-lon! Ray Co-lén! Bernie: The “Origami Test” and “Lemon Law” catchphrases are both yours?

5'

See Bill Malone’s DVD On the Loose. Disc 2.

118

vnmnrious Paar u

seen 1't before

~

a B1“ to Lemon routine, but I’ve never

bother going through the method in detail , because I think you guys probably get it. But I do think there’s one aspect of my handling worth mentioning. I mostly use Doc Eason’s method,“2 where the bill is loaded into the the inside and the bag thumb tip is ditched in the lemon process (and left inside the the bag). Despite elegance of the method, I found that it often took me longer I wanted load the bill in the lemon inside the bag. And it’s to than not the optimal the in routine to be fumbling around. time

I

won’t

realized that if I put the knife and the packet of hand wipes inside the bag as well, and announce that there are three things inside the bag, it gives me several advantages.53 First, a little fumbling is now more justified because there are multiple objects to rummage through in the bag. Second, it provides a bit of comedy before the big climax, which helps heighten the dramatic tension. And third, I can now load the lemon in discrete stages: I first ditch the thumb tip and wedge the bill lightly into the hole in the lemon as I retrieve the pocket knife, then I finish stuffing the bill into the hole as I remove the Wet Ones, and finally, with no fumbling at all, I pull out the lemon.

Well, I

Dev: I like it. Ray Co-lén! Ray Co-lon!

\ \

DVD Bar Specifically, Doc Eason’s handling for Steve Spill’s version of Bill in Lemon as seen onthe Magic. Disc 2.

’1

”UPON reading a description of Ray's trick. Tyler Wilson pointed out that Chris Randall em::°::::;mdar strategy or PUtting multiple objects into the bag in his Bill to Lemon routine Incliptiznli‘f;1 31mg differs an a (although arrived at independently) is not as original as he had imagined. (32:8 an in Several are completely d1 eren . ways from Ray’s, though, and their presentations

119

CLUB THE BUENII VISTII SHUFFLE

COIN

CONUNDRUMS Pieces of Wonder with Pieces of Eight

120

rune: com noun

THREE COIN MONTE originally subtitled this section of the book Coin Magic for Cardicians, because it consists of two coin routines which evolved from card tricks, together with a Matrix-style effect which uses both cards and coins. I also called it that because I

not very proficient at coin magic unless the sleights involved are rather basic. If I can perform the routines in this section, then so can you. This one, Three Coin Monte, is entertaining for both magicians and laypeople. It’s also quite fun to perform. It has fooled several sophisticated “card guys”, which suggests to me that the underlying principle is still relatively unknown. I’m

EFFECT RND PRESENTRTION: “Are you familiar with the game of Three Card Monte? It’s a gambling game which they play on the streets

mix up three cards and you’re supposed to follow one of them. For example, there might be two black Aces and a red Queen, and your job is to keep track of the Queen. But its really all about the money. What they do is they sucker you in by letting you win the first time, and then they get you to bet big. After that you lose, and they take all your money.”

of New

York. They

I figured, since it’s all about the money anyway, let’s just cut out the middle man and play with money! So I’ve gotten rid of the cards altogether and developed “Well

a new gambling game which

I call Three Coin Monte.”

half dollars. I’m going to make a big ‘X’ on one of them... Which coin should I use?” David indicates one of the coins and the magician draws a large ‘X’ on its face. “Alright, I’ve placed a big ‘X’ across Kennedyis head... “Its played with three

N0 grassy knoll jokes, OK? [Groans]

Too soon?”

121

'

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTR BUENII THE “Your job is to keep track of the coin With The magician flips the c oins face down. . . . d the aroun coms , moves Simulatmg The magician a the ‘X’ on it. Here we go.. . . . . , “Where’s the ‘X’?’ Davrd pomts to the com on his left. Monte. Card Three of game Would you like to playfor money "OW-“”He “Congratulations, you’ve got good eyes! too! ” “Ah, smart, you’re no. says York, this would be the money if we were playing on the streets of New ‘X’ this time?” round.” The magician moves the coins around again. “Where’s the David points to the coin on his right. “Ooh, I’m so sorry... actually it’s here in the “Well,

middle.”

and I don’t know where my ‘ex’ is either.“ Let me make it a little bit easierfor you: I’ll eliminate one of the coins.” The magician places one of the non-X coins into the coin purse. “We’ll play Two Coin Monte. It couldn’t be simpler... the coin with the ‘X’ is here in my right hand, the other coin is in my left hand. They’re going to switch places... [the magician crosses his arms] and then “That’s okay, I’m divorced

switch back [the magician uncrosses his arms]. Wheres the ‘X’?” David points to the coin on his left. “Ooh, I’m so sorry. [The magician turns over the coin to show that there is no “X”.] But you know, you would have lost either way because it’s not here either! [The magician turns over the other coin, and there’s no “X” there either.] That’s how they cheat you in this

game... You see, it’s actually over here... in the coin purse! [The magician dumps out a coin with an “X” on it from the purse] And that’s why you should never play 'Ihree Coin Monte.”

5‘

. . IfYou dont wrsh to use this line. you can replace it with the oldie-but-goodie, “I know it’s hard to follow since there are three coins an you only have two everything, eyes". from Derek Dingle’s routine “Too Man y Cards (see Richard Kaufman’s The Complete Works of Derek Dingle. pp. 106- 107) a

_

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THREE COIN MONTE

wan-r YOU’LL NEED: , Four identical-looking Kennedy half dollars. , A close-up mat. A regular Sharpie, as well as a gimmicked Sharpie in which the permanent ink has been replaced with dry-erase ink. Such a device, along with numerous which routines utilize it, is marketed by Neil Tobin The as Xpert. A coin-switching device. I use Kelvin Chow’s “Quiver”, because it allows the spectator to open the pouch up himself at the end of the effect, but you can also make your own coin—switching device quite cheaply (see the end of this for write-up a sample construction). You can also just do the switch at the end in your pocket, though it’s less magical. In any case, for clarity I will assume that you’re using a Quiver gimmick in the explanation below.SS

PREPRRRTION: With the regular Sharpie, draw a large “X” on IFK’s head on one ofthe half dollars. Place this coin in the “self-opening” compartment of the Quiver gimmick (or in your pocket, if you’re not using a gimmick), and place the three unmarked half dollars in the other compartment.

METHOD END HHNDLING: Remove the three unmarked coins from the Quiver pouch, and place them face up on the close-up mat. Place the pouch to the side. Explain that you’re going to put an “X” on one of the coins, and ask the spectator which one. On whichever

half dollar he selects, draw a large “X” on IFK’s head using the gimmicked Sharpie (Photo 11). You should try to make this “X” look as much as possible like the one on the coin which you secretly prepared in advance. Turn all three half dollars face down, being careful not to rub off any of the erasable ink.

now demonstrate three coin monte. The first time. YOU simulate the actions which you’ll use in the second phase to (hopefully) f001 the SPeCtator- However,

You

5’

Yet

Ambitious Card. another option is the “Himber Coin Portfolio” manufactured by The

CLUB THE BUENH VlSTfl SHUFFLE

don’t do anything tricky in the first phase. Make it as easy as possible for the When spectator to follow the “X” coin, so that he will hopefully guess correctly asked where it is. (If he does not, just show him where the marked coin is and ask

him to pay closer attention as you repeat the sequence a second time.)

In the second phase, you do the traditional three-card monte “hype move”, but with coins rather than cards. The mechanics are quite similar to the card version; here, briefly, is how it works. Start with all three coins face down in a row on close-up mat, with the “X” coin in the center. Pick up the unmarked coin

your on your right between your right thumb and index finger, and at the same time pick up the unmarked coin on your left between your left thumb and index finger. Rotate both palms face up, showing the faces of the coins, and then rotate everything face down again. Now (still holding the unmarked coin) pick up the center (marked) coin with the right thumb and middle finger. Rotate the right hand palm upward, displaying the “X” on the lower of the two coins. As you rotate the right hand back down, your right thumb and middle finger cleanly drop the marked coin onto the close-up mat, near the spot where the leftmost coin had previously been. The marked coin is naturally held lower down (closer to the table) than the unmarked coin, so it looks natural to release it first. Now repeat these actions with your left hand instead of your right, conditioning the spectator to expect that each time you drop a coin, it is the lowermost “X” coin. Repeat the same actions one more time with your right hand, but this time

drop the unmarked upper coin instead of the “X” coin. This action should look

4/

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THREE

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MONTE

the same as the previous two. The dropping of the uppermost coin is facilitated by rolling your right middle finger to the right as the right hand turns back

downward, causing the lower marked coin to pivot just enough to get out of the upper unmarked coin’s way (Photos 12 and 13). The rolling action should go undetected if performed quickly and, more importantly, with a steady rhythm. (It should go without saying that you should try to avoid making a clinking sound here, if possible.)

CLUB THE BUENB VISTR SHUFFLE

If all goes well, the spectator will be fooled by the hype move and guess wrong. Depending on how you feel in the moment, you can either repeat the sequence again or proceed to phase three, where you offer to make it easier on the spectator by removing one of the (unmarked) coins. If the spectator guesses correctly in the second phase, just compliment him on his powers of observation and either repeat the sequence or proceed to the final phase, ad-libbing changes to the script as necessary. The kicker ending is what you’re really building to anyway, so it’s not a disaster if the spectator isn’t fooled by the more traditional part of the routine. Still, practice until you can make it as consistently fooling

as possible.

The third phase is the crux of the routine. You remove one of the unmarked coins and place it cleanly into the empty compartment of the Quiver pouch. You now offer to demonstrate “Two Coin Monte” with the remaining two face up coins. After experimenting with numerous different handlings for this last phase, I believe that the following is most effective. Pick up the marked coin, face up, with your right hand and rest it on the tips of the right hand’s second and third fingers. Rotate the coin as necessary so that the wiping move you’re about to perform will be as clean as possible (Photo 14). Now pick up'the unmarked coin and hold it in the same way in Your

126

1

THREE COIN MONTE

left hand. Three

things will now happen simultaneously. First, your thumbs each

make contact with a coin as your hands begin to revolve the coins face down. At the same time, your hands cross and place the coins face down on the opposite side of the close-up mat from which they started. (This action is loosely inspired by Daryl’s routine “The Mysterious Cross of India”, from Secrets of a Puerto Rican

Gambler). Finally, while the hands are crossing, your right thumb wipes the “X” off the marked coin (Photo 15). The idea is that this larger motion of the hands crossing and revolving hides the smaller motion. When done correctly, the wiping motion is completely undetectable. The hardest part is to make sure that you wipe off the entire mark. This takes a bit of practice,

and is why you rotate the coin in the right hand before picking up the other coin. If some of the mark remains, don’t panic, though — there will be an opportunity in just a

moment to finish the job.

With your hands still crossed, you now pick up the two coins by their edges and very cleanly uncross your hands and place the coins back where they were at the

beginning of this phase. This should be done in a clear and guileless manner. Ask the Spectator where the “X” is. He will almost always point to the coin on your right, but it really doesn’t matter because either way you show that

\

Coins have

an

“X”.

neither of the

Before you turn over the right-hand coin, pick it up with its

127

CLUB THE BUENII VISTII SHUFFLE

face toward you, look at the spectator, and say “Yhat’s unfortunately it’s not this one."

what everyone says

— but

As the coin is being lifted, and just before focusing

your gaze on the spectator, glance at the face of the coin to see if there are any stray marks left. If there are, use your thumb to wipe off the remaining marks as you look into the spectator’s eyes and say the above line; then finish turning over the coin. (If not, just turn over the coin.)

Once the faces of both coins have been shown, all that remains is to ask the spectator to open the Quiver gimmick and dump out its contents.56 This will reveal a coin with a (permanent) “X” on its face. II DIV COIN

SWITCHING DEVICE:

An inexpensive option for the final switch is to construct a double envelope» as follows: line up two coin envelopes back-to-back in such a way that one flap opens on the top and to the left, while the other opens on the bottom and to the right (Photo 16). Glue, tape, or rubber cement the two envelopes together so that they appear, when laid flat on the table, to be a single envelope. 56

' " Preferably not by saying, Please open the Quiver gimmick and dump out its contents.”

128

THREE COIN MONTE To use this “Coin

Switching Envelope” in the context of the present routine, begin with three regular half dollars in one side of the gimmick and the permanent “X” coin in the other side. Place the gimmicked envelope on the table with the three regular coins in the compartment that’s on top. At the beginning of the routine, dump out the three regular coins, being careful to conceal the extra flap with the curled fingers of your hand as you pick up and hold the envelope. Set the enve10pe back down on the table with the empty compartment facing upward. the beginning of the third and final phase, place the unmarked coin in the top portion of the envelope and close the flap. As you set the envelope aside in order to bring attention to the two remaining coins on the table, secretly flip the envelope over so that the permanent “X” coin is now in the uppermost compartment. At the conclusion of the trick, dump out the “X” coin from the envelope in the same way you removed the three coins at the beginning. At

CREDITS: This routine was inspired by a Penguin Magic discussion forum for Neil Tobin’s The Xpert. Someone on that forum — I unfortunately don’t know who it was — suggested using the Xpert gimmick for a “three coin monte“ routine with quarters.57 I thought that was a terrific idea, and I developed the handling and presentation which you see here. Although the original idea for the effect itself was not mine, I contributed a number of ideas to the handling and presentation which I think take it from an interesting idea to a polished (and fooling) routine. First, the original post made no mention of simulating the usual three-card monte by doing the hype move with coins — it was something of a revelation when I realized that this actually works extremely well. I also developed the “crossing the arms” handling described above for concealing the wiping action during the “two coin monte” phase.

\

used to do the effect with quarters but realized that using half dollars significantly increases the clarity and visibility.

‘

’7

I

129

THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

wrote all of the patter described above, except for the “grassy knoll” and “let’s cut out the middle man” lines, both of which can be blamed on Rich Avrles, and “Ihatis okay. I ’m divorced and I don't know where my ‘ex’ is either,’ WhiCh Was I

penned by Mergel Funsky.

*ttt [Dev performs “Three Coin Monte” for Bernie and Ray. ] Ray: Very fooling construction, I like it.

Bernie: Don’t you think it would be stronger to reverse the order of the turnovers in the final “Two Coin Monte” phase? When you said, “Ooh, so sorry, Ray,” you turned over the coin that Ray chose to show that there was no “X” and then flipped over the other coin as you said, “But you would have lost either way because it’s not over here either!” What if, instead of doing that, you said, “So you don’t want this one?” as you point to the coin that Ray didn’t choose and then slowly turn it over to show an unmarked coin? This would give the spectator an extra sense of certainty that he got it right, making it that much more powerful when you then say, “That can only mean one thing... that you lost!” as you turn over the chosen coin, showing it unmarked. Ray: Hmmm, that’s an interesting suggestion — I

think you have a point.

Bernie: Of course I have a point. I’ve been doing magic almost as long as you’ve been alive. Dev:

don’t know, I think I prefer it the way I because I don’t like giving Bernie I

performed it. It might just be credit for things, but I think it actually might give the punchline away prematurely — that neither of the coins on the table has an X . Because why else would you show the other coin first? Bernie: You really believe laypeople think like that?

rune: com

no“;

ones I hang out with might — they’re mostly The pet/1

PhD. physicists. Speaking

of ‘VhiCh - - ' Ray: N0, i mprove

1

don’t want to hear a joke right now

the routine.

Devi Well, by

--

I’ve also got a suggestion to

all means let’s hear it. I’ve got plenty of jokes.

know. I think you could get rid of the gimmicked coin purse and the extra coin and the hype move, and still have the trick be completely fooling -— all

Ray: We

in one fell swoop.

Bernie: By doing Three Fly instead?

Bernie] I should preface this by saying that the following idea is inspired by Soapy Smith, the 19m-century con artist who was the greatest Three Shell Game operator in the Wild West. Soapy used two peas instead of

Ray: [ ignoring

one, which

sounds counterintuitive but

it’s

actually genius — and he scammed

everyone with it. Suppose we apply Soapy’s idea to “Three Coin Monte”. When you start the routine, one of the three coins already has a permanent “X” on it. You apparently show

both sides of all three coins, using one of the many deceptive false turnovers out there,58 and then use the Xpert gimmick to place an “X” on one of the other coins. There are now two marked coins in play, but the audience only knows about one of them. Dev:

1

like where this is going.

don’t need can then follow the general outline of Matt’s routine, but you the to ever do the hype move. You just mix up the coins however you like and ask

Ray: You

5'

Rubinstein’s For example, there are several false turnovers taught in Volumes 2 and 3 of Michael

‘

Encyclopedia of Coin Sleights DVDs.

131

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

she points to, you say Oooh, so do”. spectator where the “X” is. Whichever coin It’s over here. . and turn over the other marked coin. Then, in an almost offhand she originally pointed to. You can of courSe way, do a false turnover of the coin repeat this phase again if you like. When you’re ready for the final Two Coin Monte phase, casually place the Coin which secretly has a permanent “X” on the underside off to one side as you say, “Let me make it a little bit easier for you: I’ll eliminate one of the coins.”59 Then conclude exactly as in Matt’s routine, mixing up the two remaining coins, wiping ofi the “X”, and showing that both of the coins in play are unmarked and the coin you set aside is the one with the “X” on it. No Quiver pouch needed! Dev: One thing that’s nice about this idea is that most of the time you’ll be able to show the spectator the coin with the permanent “X” on it, and when this happens, you can hand it to her and explicitly say, “Make sure the ‘X’ doesn’t

come off. . .” Bernie: Better yet, be more subtle than Dev usually is and say, “Give it a rub for good luck. I have a goodfeeling about this next one!” That’s a more off-handed way

to get her to rub the coin and subtly prove that the marking doesn’t come off.

Another benefit of my modified approach is that you’ll never encounter the somewhat awkward situation where the spectator guesses correctly when she isn’t supposed to. You can always show one of the other coins. Ray:

Bernie: I’m not a coin guy at all, so I have no idea how difficult it is to do a false

turnover.

Ray: There are several that are both super fooling and super easy to do. For example, here’s one by Ken Krenzel60 which I think would work well for my “Soapy-ed Up” version of Three Coin Monte. ,, If you know a really casual and

.

.

.

convmcmg in-the-hands false turnover, you could add it here, but be there’s that aware a lot of heat on the coins at this point in the routine. °°

Ken Krenzel’s “Flip-Over View”, from Ingenuities (Stephen Minch, 94). p.

THREE

com

no“;

“you flip over a coin normally — like this [Ray demonstrates] — you place your thumb on the Side of the coin nearest you and your index and mi ddle fi “gem 0n from farther Your thumb then travels up the coin as you. the side your index and . . 1 the ever fingers com vertically toward you. Your hand moves slightly middle forward as you lift the coin off the close-up mat a tiny bit, and then it sets the coin down again, completing a ISO-degree rotation and displaying the opposite side of the coin. false version of the same action, you imitate the normal procedure as closely as possible, but with one subtle change: instead of your thumb traveling the index and middle fingers of your right hand lever the coin up the coin as vertically toward you, your index and middle fingers travel up the coin as your thumb levers the coin vertically away from you. Your hand then moves slightly forward as you gently lift the coin off the close-up mat, just as in the normal action, but the fingers rotate the coin toward you as they set the coin down again. This cancels out the previous 90-degree rotation and displays the same

To do a

side

of the coin as before.

It takes a

little bit of practice, but

it’s

quite easy — easier than the hype move,

in fact!

looks very deceptive. But I’d worry that an astute spectator would notice after. that you’re displaying the tail side of the coin both before and

Dev: It

method. But I think-it’s concede that this is a disadvantage to my proposed and there are lots of advantages which Ithmk pretty much the only disadvantage, there should be no heat at any pomt on more than compensate for it. In any case, three coin phase, after the spectator make: any ofthe false turnovers. In the main “Oooh, so close. Its over here; a guess, you first show that she’s wrong by saying, do you apparently show er then Only coin. marked as you turn over a different afterthought. Theres no reason the other side of the coin she picked, almost as an marked coin, anyhow. anyone should suspect a second

Ray: I

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

Dev: Great thinking, Ray, but I believe its high time we got back to my joke A Higgs Boson walks into a Catholic church, and the priest says, “’Youre not Particle’ that’s and allowedin here! You call yourself The God sacrileg1ous”~n1

Higgs Boson replies,‘ If you dont let Higgs Bosons into the church, then how do you have mass?” Ray: You never give up,

do you Dev?

Dev: Nope. And Ray, do you know what neutrinos and I have in common? Ray: No, Dev, what? Dev: We’re both constantly penetrating your girlfriend.

FURTHER CREDITS: All of the routining ideas in the dialogue come from the beautiful (if warped) mind of Tyler Wilson.

134

HIVE MIND

HIVE MIND 'Ihis is an essentially self-working effect which can be done either close-up or parlor-style, and can involve anywhere from two to seven spectators as volunteers.

usually prepare the “prediction” in advance and have a stack of coins ready to go, but the effect can also be done completely impromptu with borrowed change. It’s based on an old card magic principle which I’ve souped up in various to I

make it both more entertaining and more fooling.

EFFECT FIND PRESENTRTION: “Is anyone here familiar with the concept of a

ways

‘hive mind’? It’s where diflerent

individual brains are somehow linked into a collective intelligence. It’s usually thought of as a plot device in works of science fiction, like The Bugs in ‘Starship

or The Mind Playerfrom ‘Stranger Yhings’. But there are also real-world examples; think of ant colonies or beehives, from which the name ‘hive mind’ is derived. In fact, hive-mind phenomena can be observed in simple experiments with Troopers’

everyday objects. Allow me to demonstrate.” The magician takes out some pocket change from his pocket and dumps the coins onto a table.

order to harness the collective intelligence of this group, I’ve brought along a written prediction, but it hasn’t been completely filled in yet -— there are some “In

blanks

that you all are going to fill in.”

The magician briefly displays a pad

of paper on which various words have been

written, along with some blanks to be filled in. He gives the pad and a marker to a Spectator to hold. “Steve, I’d like you to please be the scribe for the group.”

\

I35

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

“We’ll need two volunteers.

What are your names? Nancy and Ionathan. And Who

would like to be Participant #1? Okay, Nancy. Steve, where it says ‘Participant #1 ’ please fill in ‘Nancy’, and for Participant #2 please write 'lonathan’.” “Nancy, we have several difierent kinds of coins here: pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Please choose any two of those denominations to be your target coins.”

Nancy names pennies and quarters. “Steve, where it says ‘Participant #1’s coins’ please write ‘pennies and quarters’. And where it says ‘Participant #23 coins’, please write ‘nickels and dimes’.”

find you,

ma’am [pointing to an audience member named Barbara]... I it like you to roll an imaginary die and tell everyone in a big loud voice what number you rolled... Four? Steve, where it says ‘number' please fill in four.”

The magician asks Nancy and Jonathan to cup their hands together as he picks up the coins from the table. He shakes up the coins and begins placing them haphazardly in small groups into Nancy’s hand. He asks her to say “Stop” whenever she likes. When she says stop, the magician gives the remaining coins to Jonathan. Nancy and Jonathan are instructed to shake up the coins that they’re

now holding.

sir [pointing to an audience member]... please name a small number. Three? Nancy, please remove any three coins from your hand and give them to Ionathan.” She does. “And now Jonathan, I ’d like you remove any three coins and “You,

give them to Nancy.” He does.

mabm [pointing to another audience member]... please name another small number. Two? Nancy, please remove any two coinsfrom your hand and give them to Jonathan. Jonathan, remove any two ofyour coins and give them to Nancy.” “You,

'Ihereis just one more decision

to make now. Nancy, I 21 like you to remove any one

com from your hand and give it to Jonathan. Choose wisely, because if you make the wrong choice the entire hive mind experiment won’t work!”

136

HIVE MIND

and gentlemen, you have made every single decision here tonight, both the prediction and with your subsequent choices. But in generating decisions “Ladies

your

have not been made in isolation, because — believe it or not — your thoughts and actions are being shared in a synchronized consciousness.”

I ’d like you to count how many pennies and quarters you have altogether, and Ionathan, please count your nickels and dimes.” They count their coins. “Nancy, how many pennies and quarters do you have in total?” She says 12. “And [anatham how many nickels and dimes?” He says 16. “Nancy,

Nancy, you have exactly four fewer pennies and quarters than Jonathan has nickels and dimes. Steve, you filled in all of the blanks using information that that “80

the audience themselves provided. Please read the audience’s prediction

out loud.”

“HIVE MIND PREDICTION: NANCY WILL HAVE FQUR FEWER PENNIES AND QUARTERS THAN IONATHAN WILL HAVE NIQKELS AND DIMES.”

Steve reads:

“Give yourselves a

well-deserved collective round of applause!”

PREPRRRTION: and quarters in your pocket. For the purposes of explanation, let’s assume that there are seven each of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, for a total of 28 coins. I’ll explain later what to do if you have a different number of coins of various types. On a piece of paper, write: Place some pennies, nickels, dimes,

HIVE MIND PREDICTION: FEWER

WILL HAVE Participant #1

Number

Participant #l’s coins

WILL HAVE

THAN

Participant #2’s coins

Participant #2

137

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENH VISTR

METHOD:

and genuine. ism What’s this. When Barbara announces her die roll (in

all free The spectators’ choices described in the text are

going on behind the scenes is 11 the example above it was four, but let’s call it X), you calculate what .We Call the target number, which is 14-X. This is how many corns Partiapam #1 (Nancy, in our case) needs to end up with when the routine is finished. It doesn’t matter what denominations they are. So you start by using a “force” to

give Nancy approximately the target number of coins. Jonathan gets the rest. It's like using a timing force to make a spectator say “stop” on a force card as You

deal cards to the table, but much easier since it doesn’t really matter if you miss.“

the exchange procedure outlined above, making it clear through a nonchalant attitude (or perhaps a turned head) that you’re not paying attention to the specific coins being transferred. The first two rounds are performed as described above, with Nancy and Jonathan exchanging an equal number of coins. What happens in the third and final round depends on the results of the timing force. If you hit the force exactly, skip round three altogether. If Nancy got Y coins fewer than the target number, in phase three you instruct Jonathan to give Nancy Y coins. If Nancy got Y coins more than the target amount, in phase three you instruct Nancy to give Jonathan Y coins. In this way, Nancy will end up with the target number of coins. It’s as simple as that — math takes care of the rest. You then follow

HHNDLING FOR MORE GENERHL NUMBERS 0F COINS: You can use essentially any number of coins of any denominations. The math still works just fine, but you must do a little bit

more thinking. The principal adjustment you need to make to the above procedure is this. Suppose the target corns for Nancy are pennies and quarters, as above, and that the target coins for Jonathan are nickels and dimes. Then the number of nickels and dimes minus the imaginary die roll. More generally:

my wallet which says “Off by One!” but

the third and final round of exchanges.

HIVE MIND

To calculate the target

., w; number for Partici #1. pant take the total number , , , of Partiapant #2 5 target coins and subtract the number rolled on th e

'

imaginary die.

EXRMPLE 1:

Nancy chooses pennies and quarters and lOflathan gets nickels and dimes There

are 12 pennies, 5 nickels, 8 dimes,

number 3.

and 6 quarters, and Barbara chooses the Then Nancy’s target number is 5 + 8 - 3 = 10.

EXHMPLE 2:

Nancy chooses nickels and quarters and Ionathan gets pennies and dimes. There are 11 pennies, 6 nickels, 6 dimes, and 4 quarters, and Barbara chooses the

number 5. Then Nancy’s target number is

11 + 6 - 5 = 12.

Either you will have to either memorize the total number of each type of coin in advance, or you can simply spread the coins out on the table in a way that makes it easy to count as you scoop them into your hand before shaking everything up. By “essentially any number of coins” above, what I

mean is that if you use too few coins of certain types you may have to make certain adjustments. For example, if the target denominations for Nancy are nickels and dimes, there are only five pennies and quarters altogether, and Barbara rolls an imaginary 6, then your target number will be negative, which is problematic unless you’re a theoretical mathematician who’s just thinking about this trick rather than performing it.

such cases you have a few options, including: Forget about the imaginary die and just ask Barbara to name a number less than 5, say. (If she says “negative one” or “pi”, specify that you’re talking about positive integers.) Beg, borrow, or steal some additional pennies before beginning the trick.

Anyway, in -

'

Note also that it’s kind of awkward to do a “timing force” of, say, one coin. So if the target number is really small, you will probably want to do the timing force

\

139

CLUB THE BUENR VISTfl SHUFFLE C coins altogether and Nancy’s larger there are (If of instead Nancy. on Jonathan To prevent haying to WOFry number is N, Jonathan’s target number will be C-N.)

about this, use more coins. MO' BETTR MRTH: this trick works. Well, Even after the explanation, you might be wondering why roll at all. And let’s think about it this way. For simplicity, suppose there is no die 10 each of pennies and nickels. assume that there are just two kinds of coins, say Then if Nancy and Jonathan each get 10 coins, I claim that Nancy will have exactly however many as many pennies as Jonathan has nickels (and vice-versa). Indeed,

pennies Nancy has — call it X — Jonathan will have lO-X pennies (since there are 10 pennies in total), and therefore (since he has 10 coins altogether) Jonathan will have X nickels. "lhis is the basic idea that makes everything work. The die roll and the use of four denominations rather than two are just extra smoke and mirrors to hide the method and make the outcome seem more impossible. might still be thinking, “but don’t all those exchanges somehow change the outcome?” No, they don’t (which was in fact the whole point of the previous paragraph). But if you’re still not convinced, suppose, for example, that Nancy has 6 pennies and 4 nickels and Jonathan has 4 pennies and 6 nickels. If Nancy gives Jonathan one coin, two things can happen. If she gives him a penny, Jonathan will now have one more nickel than she has pennies. If she instead gives him a nickel, he will still have one more nickel than she has pennies. See? It doesn’t matter. You

IMPROVISRTION: If you don’t like the idea of always having Nancy and Jonathan exchange the same number of coins in the first couple of rounds, there’s plenty of room to improvise in this routine. Just have some small random numbers called out and keep track of the net deviation from your target number. Keep going until you either hit your target exactly or are within one or two, in which case you end as in the third round above. Things can’t go too horribly wrong since, as Dani DaOrtiZ would say, it’s your show.62 ‘1

Feel free to go full-on Dani in this routine, but if you do make sure to throw up your hands and say. “1 don't care" at least a couple of times.

140

“WE

mun

op-nous nun TRHDEOFFS: don’t have to

structure the three exchange Phases th e way I have there’S a i le of amount eway here. Feel free to t remendous

Yon

get cr eative th 'th e W1 target number of coins at the en d . end up .

_ Nancy W“ has to

do the tim' 3:1“: on Nancy. rather than Jonathan is th at her typicalllg ’. 685 than half the total Y target number will number f . .0 Coms, and us . d faste r t 0 give her the smaller number of coi . an Isn’t eaSier necessary. "2:332:11: have to remember that the You Just target number is r #1,

I The reason

articipant

just change Participant #l’s target n umb er to 14+X rather than 14'X in the

explanation above.

' can just use two denominations of coins if you wish e becausegllthlireilfilles :ld I four distinguishability). prefer ma e5 quarters (.for mattimum bit more fooling, as well as a little bit more interestin the trick Just a Jonathan? h t This trick would also work with M8rM’s, unless Nancy and theiefirsllngry and eat some before the trick is over. Or the Demogorgon gets to

You

CREDITS: The direct inspiration for this effect is a card trick developed by Dr. Larry Hass entitled “The Intuition Test” (see his book Deep Mental Mysteries or his Penguin card magic is Live lecture). However, the mathematical principle as it applies to

Credits entry much older than that — for a detailed history see the Conjuring effect mentioned in Denis for “Red/ Black Relationship Principle”. (The first such Off”, from the first issue of Behr’s Conjuring Archive is Walter B. Gibson’s “Pay of this principle that 1 know of is The Phoenix.) The most deceptive adaptation 3)Simon Aronson’s “Point Spread” (Simply Simon, pwith

effect originated in a session The idea to use coins instead of cards for this down together. Hass’s trick and we broke it Rich Aviles, after I showed him Larry

141

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTII THE BUENR to the baSic cards, I’ve added a few other things of instead coins Besides using effect, including: (the coin denominations) instead of lust properties different four of The use . down). two (red/black or face up/ face likelihood that the magician Will of a “timing force” to minimize the at the end. need to request random-sounding exchanges where the spectators make all the The use of a “fill in the blanks” prediction The use

decisions. The “hive mind presentation”. offset amount that appears in Tossing an imaginary die to come up with the

the prediction. Starship Troopers is by Robert A. Heinlein, and the Mind Player appeared in Season 2 of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

*tit [Ray performs “Hive Mind ”for Bernie and Ray.] Ray: What do you guys think?

Bernie: Don’t you think that, instead of asking Spectator #1 to name two denominations and then relegating the other two to Spectator #2, it would be better to ask Spector #1 to name a denomination, then have Spectator #2 name another, and finally have Spectator #1 pick one more?63 That way both 5p ectators’ choices would actually matter — or at least appear to. ' Ray: That’s a good pomt. . It would require givin m . ' 3 ore p recrse 1 nStructrons to the , scribe, but its probably worth it. -

6,

-

. . This Idea was suggested to Bernie by Alexander George

142

"IVE

mun

enjoyed. the “Hive Mind” presentation — but then again I’m kind of with “Stranger Things”. Well, mainly with obsessed Winona Ryder, but also with in I Things” general. was just thinking the “stranger other day that I could use another “Stranger Things” reference — “the upside-down” — as t he basis of an for . presentation Walton’s Roy trigUing “Card War p”. I’d talk about how the card Liters a parallel universe called the upside-down as it’s I

96V:

Pushed through the bill...

Ray:

1

like that idea!

the show, and don’t think I intend to, but I’m certainly I fun. lad you guys are having think I’d prefer “Hive Mind” as a card trick using fed and black cards, like the Hummer original, rather than as a coin trick. But Bernie: I’ve never seen

card guy, as you know. In any case, 1 do like the way the prediction is filled out by the audience. I’m a

in the blanks” prediction reminds me of the game of “Mad Libs” I wonder if that could be incorporated somehow into the presentation. For example there could be extra blanks right before the two spectators’ names, and they also get to fill in humorous adjectives.

Dev: The “fill

-

Bernie'

Hmmm. .. I don’t like that idea — it would just distract from the impact

of the effect itself. As Dai Vernon once said, “Comedy born of bewzlderment IS the only comedy that should be in magic.”

With all due respect to the Professor, I think there’s always room for comedy . born of bodily functions. But he and I will just have to agree to disagree on that DCV‘

point.

143

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE

OUHNTUM MRTRIX “Matrix” since the first time I saw it Schneider’s Al with love in been trick. There are hundreds of published it’s astonishing visually a — performed methods and handlings to ii“ variations on the basic effect, and enough different I’ve

“Matrix” most crying out for innovation an encyclopedia.“ For me, the aspect of subatomic shrift. is the presentation, which is often (to ‘coin’ a phrase) given The presentation which follows motivates the Matrix plot in both a thoughtbut provoking and (dryly) humorous way. The method is nothing revolutionary, the structure of the routine blends well with the premise and there’s a surprise

ending which catches both laypeople and magicians off-guard.

EFFECT FIND PRESENTRTION: our normal, everyday world, objects obey certain physical laws which we all understand, at least at an intuitive level. However, on a microscopic level the universe is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, which are positively strange. In fact, some might say they’re indistinguishable from magic! For example, in the quantum world particles can spontaneously jumpfrom one place to another, and their exact location is not determined with certainty until an observer looks at them.” “In

“Most ofus go through life blissfully

unaware ofall this quantum weirdness, because

the laws of quantum mechanics only apply at

extremely tiny scales. However, for the been experimenting with ways to get normal everyday objeCtS

last several years I ’ve to exhibit quantum behavior; and I think I’ve finally succeeded! I now present to the mysteries of the quantum world — on a macroscopic level — usingjustfour you cows and four cards.”

64

For the younger readers out there, an encyclopedia is like a printed version of Wikipedia

1-H

corners of an imag inar re y c ang l e on h ls He pad. places close-up a face down pla ing card on top of each co'tn 1 ’

Y

.

quantum mechanics, particles possess a Special ' . . t wh'Ch p rOpery , . Physmsts call lets 8W8 the cards a little 51""- 5" quanta m ' spin...” The magician s . . pins each . . card from a vertical to a horizontal “And posrtion. now that our system has been sit back and watch as the quantized, please Strangen e55 0 th e f quantum world before right unfolds your eyes,” “In

The magician lifts

up the two cards closest to him, showing that there is still one

coin under each. Now, upon first observation, it seems that nothing interesting has happened yet. However, if we make another observation, there’s a certain probability that the coins will spontaneously jump...” The magician lifts up the two cards again; this time there are two coins under the card his and

on

coins under the card on his left.

right

no

try that again. If we make another observation, another coin spontaneously jumps.” The magician lifts up the two cards at the upper-right and lowerright corners of the imaginary rectangle; the coin which had previously been underneath the upper-right card is now gone, and there are three coins beneath “Let’s

the lower-right card.

and final coin, we say the magic words — Heisenberg’s Uncertainty and the coin travels instantaneously from here... [the magician lifts

“For the fourth

Principle — the upper-left card, showing that the coin has vanished]

to here [the magician

lifts the lower-right card, revealing all four coins]. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the

mysterious and magical world of quantum mechanics!”

I don’t normally repeat magic tricks, but since this is a physics experiment and not a trick, I ’m willing to do it again. Would you like to see that one more time?” The spectators enthusiastically nod their heads. “NOW,

' 'cian ' “Four COinS, four cards. We’ll place them down Just like before... Thelmigcila ”

rectang Once again places four quarters at the corners of an imaginary

¥

145

ea

y8

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

a face down playing card on top of each coin.

and give everything a quantum

spin.” The magician again spins the cards from vertical to horizontal.

observation there’s no telling what might happen.” The magician lifts up the lower-left and lower-right Cards, and there are two coins under the card on his right and no coins under the Card on his left.) “Another observation... another miracle.” The magician lifts the upperright and lower-right cards, revealing no coins beneath the upper-right card and three coins beneath the lower-right one. “Since the system is now quantized, when we make an

‘Hnd finally, we say the magic words — Schrb'dinger’s Cat —

and...” The fomth

coin is seen to have disappeared from beneath the upper-left card. However, when the magician lifts up the lower-right card (which previously had three

coins beneath it), there is suddenly just one coin underneath. “Oh, that’s very strange... You know, thats actually another property of quantum systems which I forgot to mention... they can spontaneously reset themselves to their initial state!” The other three cards are lifted to show that the four quarters have all returned to their initial positions.

PREPRRRTION: The first phase of the routine uses four regular playing cards and four quarters.

For the second phase, you will need to create Siamese a Gimmick, which consists of two partially overlapping quarters superglued together. The Siamese Gimmick should be hidden in your lap or under left

your

pocket or in a holdout gimmick (if standing)“

thigh (if seated), or in your left

METHOD [IND HBNDLING: Display four quarters and four playing cards, handing them out for inspection if desrred. Lay the four coins in a square formation on a tablecloth (or better, since ‘S

If

'

. performing the routine standing. you can conceal the gimmick during the first phase as follows. Have a magnet or piece of metal in your left rear pants pocket, and glue a thin but strong rare-earth (neodymium) magnet to the undersrde of the gimmick. The gimmick will now stick to your left rear end (over the pants, of course), and can be easily stolen after the first phase is complete. Alternatively, if you want to spend more money, you can use a steel-core quarter half as of the gimmick. -

4

146

you will be

doing the Al Schneider-Derek Dingle pick-up move,”6 a close-up mat). Cover them one at a time with cards, starting with the coin immediately on your left (posmon #1) and proceeding clockwise, doing the pick-up move with the com at posmon #2 (Photos 17 and 18) and secretly depositing the picked-up

>. . well-documented move hue. smcc its pick-tip | Wlll not sclmcidcr-lfinglc ofthc explain the mechanics Presentation". 0n the. Loose. Volume Bill Malone's ("Matrix In many other to similar is handling places. My that the longer than “horizontally" 0" ‘h" ”bk" 5“ 2) ~ in Particular. 1 Place the cards “vertically" rather 3X15 of each card points between myself and the spectators. .

M

l

I47

.

n

THE BUENR VISTH SHUFFLE CLUB

coin at position #4. (Photo 19 shows the position numbers of the cards from the performer’s point of View.)

SITUflTION CHECK: 'Ihere are four face down cards on the table, and beneath them there are (clockwise from the card immediately to your left) 1, 0, 1, and 2 coins, respectively (Photo 20). quantum mechanics, particles possess a special property which physicists call spin. So let’s give the cards a little quantum spin...” “In

As you say this, spin the cards 90 degrees counterclockwise so that they lie horizontally rather than vertically on the table in front of you (Photo 21). “Excellent. And now that our system has been quantized, please sit back and watch

as the strangeness of the quantum world unfolds right before your eyes.”

148

the two cards closest to you, along with one of the coins on the right, showing one coin under each card. Replace the cards on top. Pick up

first observation,

it seems that nothing interesting has happened vet. However, if we make another observation, there’s a certain probability that the “Now upon

coins will spontaneously jump...”

this time secretly Pick up the two cards closest to you on the word “jump”, coins in position 1 and two coins picking up the coin in position 1, showing no traditional Matrix presentation, depositing inp osition 4. Continue now with the card which the coin and card from position 1 at position 4 and depositing the of the way of the was previously in position 4 face down and to your left, out other cards and coins. Continue following the moves from Al Schneider’s “Matrix”, ending up with four coins in position 4 and all four cards off to the left. ‘And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the mysterious mechanics!”

all

and magical world of quantum

Its perfectly fine to take a bow and end the routine here, and I sometimes do, especrally if performing impromptu. However, if I have my Siamese Gimmick With me, I Will continue with the following “reverse matrix” second phase.

Secretly steal the Siamese Gimmick into the left hand as you offer to repeat the demonstration. The second time around, the methodology is different, which will confuse any spectators who somehow managed to pick up on the method the first time around (though, in my experience, there are very few such laypeople). Scoop up the cards with the right hand and place them on top of the gimmick in the left hand as your right hand reassembles the four quarters in a large

rectangular formation as before.

This time, as you lay down the four cards on top of the four coins, do not perform

pick-up move; instead, deposit the Siamese Gimmick underneath the card at it is position 4 (Photo 22). Repeat the “spin” move, spinning the gimmick so that to the right of the single coin beneath the card at position 4 (Photo 23).

a

while doing a different set of before from and presentation patter cards, secretly moves. When you display one coin under each of the two closest RCpeat the

instead the gimmick (Photo 24). The next time you lift these cards, you 1 and pick Up one single coin with each hand, showing no coins in position

PiCk Up

x

151

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

‘

two coins (really the Siamese Gimmick) in position 4. Replace the cards and the picked-up coins where they came from. Lift the card at position 3 while doing the pick-up move, showing no coins in position 3, and then lift the card at position 4 to show three coins (really one plus

the gimmick). Replace the card and coin in position 3. Next, lift the coin and card at position 2, showing that the coin has disappeared, and then replace them back in position. “And finally, we say the magic words — Schrc'idingeris

Cat — and...”

Make a magical gesture toward the card in position 4. The spectators will naturally expect you to lift the card and display all four coins. However, when you lift the card, you do the pick-up move with the gimmick and show that there is only one coin there! Immediately place the gimmick, along with the card on

top of it, on your face up left palm. Show a puzzled look on your face.

“"“TUM mrmx “0h, thats very strange... You know, that’s actually another property of quantum which I.fo.rgot to mention... they can sometimes systems spontaneously reset themselves to their initial state!”

Emphatically lift the cards at positions 1, 2, and 3, placing them on your left palm . that the coms have “returned” to t heir and revealing original positions.

CREDITS: “Matrix” effect was invented by Al Schneider. My handling of is similar Al to one Schneider’s phase original, but was also influenced by Bill Malone’s “Matrix Presentation” (from his DVD On the Loose,

The now-classic

Volume 2). The second phase, methodologically speaking, is Aldo Colombini’s “Snappy” (see Michael Ammar’s DVD Easy to Master Money Miracles, Volume 1), which uses

Mike Gallo’s Siamese Gimmick (from his DVD and book Siamese Coins). I have not seen “Matrix” and “Snappy” combined as a two-phase routine before, but it’s

very likely that I’m not the first person to think of it. The main innovation in my routine is the premise, which both frames the routine itself and motivates some

of the moves within it (e.g., the “quantum spin”).

*‘k‘k‘k {Dev performs

Quantum Matrix for Bernie and Ray. ]

Particles can have different spins, right? So what if you gave each.card a different kind of spin? For example, you could spin the first card clockwrse, the second one counterclockwise, the third you lift up with one corner planted on the table while you spin it on a vertical axis, and the last one you pick up and do a pirouette flourish on your middle finger.

Ray:

Dev:

Interesting idea, I hadn’t thought of that.

. f I noticed Ray; Also, when you were performing the routine, title: :11: 3:16;; the cards are never seen after they’re initially laid down. You cou -

k

153

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

ending where the cards are shown to have changed to pictures of Einstein, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, and... help me out here, Dev... Dev: Planck? Ray: Planck.

Dev: Hmmm... not sure that most spectators would recognize anyone Other than Einstein. What if the cards had pictures of dice on them? At the end of the

routine, you could say: “If what you’ve just seen disturbs you or changes the way you think about reality, you’re not alone. Einstein himself was deeply uncomfortable with the randomness and uncertainty inherent to quantum mechanics, famously declaring ‘God does not play dice with the universe.” Bernie: I think it’s totally unnecessary to give this trick a kicker ending. Plus, there’s no reason to put heat on the cards at the end — that suggests gimmicks and trickery when the rest of the routine is very clean. Ray: I agree that it’s not necessary, but in certain situations I

effective ending.

think it could be an

Dev: In the spirit of quantum mechanics, I simultaneously agree with both of you. Bernie: You’d make a great politician, Dev.

if instead of a kicker ending, we modified the second phase to make things “more uncertain”? Like, instead of going back to their initial positions, what if the coins simply vanished? You could then pull one from under the closeRay: What

up pad, one from the card box, one from the spectator’s ear... and maybe the last one you could find by peeling open one of the cards and discovering a C0in between its layers. Bernie: And what’s the method for all of that?

154

OURNTUM MRTRIX

Ray: Oh,

the method. ..? I have no idea.

could have Schrodinger’s Cat walk in to the room and provide Bernie: You misdirection. Dev: Oh,

that reminds me of one of my favorite jokes...

Bernie: 0y. ..

Schrodinger and Werner Heisenberg are driving down the highway walks up to the driver’s side window when they get pulled over by a cop. The cop going?” Heisenberg and says to Heisenberg, “Sir, do you know how fast you were The cop says, “You were going 85 in a 55 am.” where I know but I “No, replies, I’m lost.” MPH zone.” “Oh great,” says Heisenberg, “now Dev: Erwin

trunk for thinks this is suspicious and says, “Sir, I’d like you to open your inside, and says, “Did you know you me.” The cop walks over to the trunk, looks

The cop

“Well, I do now!” have a dead cat in here?” Schrodinger replies:

I love the concept behind Ion Allen’s note, relevant but more related Ray: On a with it? “Schrodinger’s Card”. Are you guys familiar

Bernie: No — is it better than Dev’s joke?

in )on Allen’s book,67 but in a the write-up out check should Ray: Yes. You member a sealed envelope which audience hand an that is nutshell the idea you her not to open the encourage However, it. you in ard c you say has their signed she’s now impossible object which the destr would oy so envelope because doing which it evokes. The audience of mystery the sense well as in possession of, as satisfy her curiosity —— Whether or not to dilemma with a faced member is now is only valuable if envelope The paradox: well a as by Opening the envelope —— as

a Experience: The Magic of [on Allen, written

by lohn Lovick.

155

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

it’s really Valuable the signed card is inside, but she can only know for sure that by destroying it.

Bernie: What if she just scans the envelope with an X-ray machine?

of my audience is intrigued enough to go to the trouble of using an X-ray machine to analyze a souvenir from my show, then I’ve done my job as a magician. In Ion Allen’s write-up, there’s also a discussion of a larger paradox: If the audience doesn’t experience a definitive resolution, has a magical efl'ect actually occurred? To me, this sort of cuts to the heart of what it is that we Ray: Hey, if a member

as magicians are trying to do.

Dev: Magic is all in the mind. So yes, of course a magical effect has still occurred. Ray: Well I would argue that it has not, but that we, as magicians, are not really just performing “magic” anyway. We’re trying to get our audiences to experience

and see things differently And that is more likely to happen with Jon Allen’s idea than with the vast majority of magic tricks out there. Dev: That’s some pretty deep shit, Ray. Bernie: We’re all going to be in deep shit if we don’t

stop chatting about quantum physics and get back to some magic soon. Actually — sarcastic comments aside I — like Ion Allen’s idea a lot. And as you know, I don’t say that very often. Ray: Back to a less relevant thread... Dev’s joke always liked: “Was it a car or a cat I saw?”

reminds me of a palindrome I’ve

Dev: I’m afraid of palindromes. But it’s okay, my doctor gave me Xanax for it.

FURTHER CREDITS: The “different kinds of spin” idea, as well as the idea for the vanishing and reappearance of the coins, are both due to Tyler Wilson. The idea to add a kiCker ending with a surprise on the faces of the cards is due to Joshua Jay.

156

PHRT Ill: owsn TO THE

P‘nSTEBODRDS

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTII BUENQ THE

CRSINO CHICHNERY Cheaters Gonna Cheat

anuuen run

LIFE

BRNNED FOR LIFE struck up a friendship with Barrie Richardson not long before h d' [abn'osed me:was with a terminal illness. Shortly before he passed away, he sent I

nrithnclimlehISMd

handwritten manuscript describing a novel use for his “Rounders” olfthe Priri 'wlas inspired by Barrie’s ideas to experiment with other applications “Shufilpe-Bblptf’:

eventually came up with the version of Simon Aronson’s which which follows. In fact, I present two different methods for the effect one and one which uses regular cards and follows the usual Shuffle-Bored handling

and

I

uses a deck of specially gaffed Rounders. The benefit

of this special version rests

measure on the fact that so many magicians are familiar with the usual Shuffle-Bored principle. Most magicians these days perform Shuffle-Bored as a prediction, but the presentation below — which revolves around a practice ritual for counting cards at the casino — fits squarely into the “real-time divination”

in large

category.‘58

EFFECT 9ND PRESENTRTION: The magician brings out a cancelled69 deck of cards from Harrah’s Casino. “This deck casino cards brings back a lot of memories: it’s a souvenir from the night

of I was banned for life by Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City. You see, they caught me I won nearly $10,000 in counting cards at blackjack — but not, I might add, before a single evening.”

60

rediction or “We are, generally speaking. two basic ways to present Shuffle-Bored: as a p

as a real-time

it's worth noting that leInatiOn. Although prediction-based presentations are currently more popular. "X-ray vision". 51mm! Aronson's original manuscript featured a real-time divination illustrating because 69 and a hole punched out of the center . corners cut have If you “Sh. cards the that you can explain be used to cheat. Casinos don’t want people to smuggle in extra cards which could

¥

159

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR THE BUENR into the world of blackjack glimpse all a I’d like to give you “If you’re interested, night. You just have to promise th big at for how I prepared told you...” counting by showingyou boss at Harrahis, that I

Fingers, the pit Three Vinnie tell to not

lot of running totals in your head. mat a keep to learn “First of all, you have to the same way you learn your multiplication it learn and you is just arithmetic,

part

tables in grade school: practice

and repetition.””

card counting -— and the one I’d of known, aspect lesserand “'Ihe more interesting, without

making it that you have to be able to do the counting the hard part, and it requires special That’s really anything. doing like you’re look d by baseball hitters. They’ll pioneere technique this a using trained I for training. on-deck circle, so th at when they’re finally up often swing two or more bats in the It works the same way with at the plate a single bat feels light and easy to swing. than what’s card counting: you need a practice ritual which is strictly more difi‘icult to demonstrate — is

actually required to cheat at blackjack.”

of demonstration, the magician invites David to play along with his ritual. He gives David about half the cards and asks him to shuffle them up. The magician does the same with the remaining half. The magician cuts off about half his cards and turns one of the packets face up; David is instructed to do the same. To make sure the cards really get mixed, they switch face up packets and then they each shuffle their face up cards into the face down ones. This ritual is By way

repeated a second time. . “Now, is there any way I could possrbly know

how many cards areface up and how ma face down right now? ’, Dav1d shakes his head and says “no”. “Of course thepyia'r: ’ ' e 15 . cu ve never heard of Simon Aronsonis Cancellation Combination?” I

a

“Look,

_

I don’t

this is suppgzttyo: 0

. to think that I ,m using some kind of crazy

e a demonstration

math principle

of actual card counting. So lets mix the _4——

7"

' At this point , I will sometxmes look at a spectato r who I has a 800d sense 0f humor and add: “or. in . your case, by looking at the answers of the kid MTG:

sitting next

160

ou.

Bunsen son

LIFE

cards up like they do in Atlantic City.” The magician spreads his cards

t

the table and begins a washboard-style shuffle; he invites David to do theoran:1 Then the magician picks up a clump of cards and flips it over. This is repeated several times, with random-looking flips interspersed with washboard-style mixing- David mirrors the magician’s actions with his own cards. The magician maintains a nonchalant attitude throughout, just barely paying attention to what the spectator is doing.

hope you’ll agree that the cards are now quite thoroughly mixed. Please square cards.” The magician demonstrates, squaring his pile of cards without up your “1

up changing which ones are face up or face down. While the cards are being squared up, the magician says: “I’m going to ask you two questions — you’ll soon understand what they’re about. First question: Face up orface down?” David says face down. “Second question: Red or black?” David says red. The magician gives his packet a complete table cut, and asks David to do the same. “Here, just to keep things honest, you take my packet and I’ll take yours. Cut the cards one more time...” The magician cuts off about half his cards onto and complete the cut.” The the table and gestures at David to do the same.

magician and spectator both complete their cuts.

Finally, the magician flips his packet over and asks David to shuffle the two forming a single random-looking mixture of face up and face

packets together, down cards.

close the magician, “it hopefully appeared that I was not paying very know attention to the cards during the whole shuflling ritual. However, I actually this jumbled mess. Please remember quite a lot about the distribution of cards in the following numbers?” 27, 14, and 81.” “Now,” says

number

first “When I asked you :face up or face down’, you said ‘face count how many I gave you, 27, should be the number offace down cards. Please down’. The

7‘

the following Or. if you have pen and paper handy: “Please write down

161

numbers...”

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE and there are exactly 27. ‘And When I counts, David down.” of the cards are fa ce ‘red’. Of those 27 face down cards, exactly 14 of said black’, you asked you ‘red or counts, and exactly 14 of the face down David check.” lease them should be red — p cards are red. number, 81. It’s the most important part of my "aim." the final .‘And now for over packets and shuflling cards face a: flipping were while we regimen. You see, totals in my head. You specified the face running bunch of a into face down, I kept taken, the total values of all the face down fads mis I’m not and if cards, down red them up and see 12, etc. —— 5 hould be 81 . Let’s add 11, Queens being — with lacks ad ded up, and the total is 81. cards red are down face The get.” what we ‘i‘lnd

that’s why I’m not allowed into Harrahis ever again.”

METHOD USING REGULRR CRRDS: described, which uses a Before explaining the method behind the effect just cards, which is really specially gaffed deck, I’ll describe a version using regular Aronson’s “Shuffle-Bored”. The effect is for Simon different presentation a just the entire “washboard I nearly the same as above, but more streamlined, as omit shuffle” procedure. Thus, instead of saying, “Now, is there any way I could possibly now?” and know how many cards areface up and how many are face down right then getting into a discussion of “avoiding math principles”, I simply utilize a I go straight from the Shuffle-Bored procedure into the line principle. :nath square I hope you’ll agree that the cards are now quite thoroughly mixed. Please less the same up your cards.” The rest of the presentation and handling is more or from that point on, except that no secret strip-out of the cards is necessary —- it’s all self-working.

PREPRRIITION:

'

' For th method, you will need to have a regular deck of cards separate:?§:mtn,:,mked known banks, one With 27 cards (Which we’ll call the “target bank”) and I Will exPlain the trick using the t0? 27 C3de ofthe :V‘th Aronson stack as t}: arget2:ank. Note, however, that it IS not necessary to use a -

“:0;

-

memorized Stack for this effect,"

162

-

annual: run

LIFE

Count the number of red and black c ards ' target bank, as Well‘as the total “Cl cards and all the blacllncih: the all Of vallle r s in the target bank (with Aces counting as 1, lacks counting as 11, Queens a S 1 2‘ and Kings as 13). Enter the like the intoatable following73( WhiCh uses our results running example derived from the

Red

-.— .

Aronson stack):

3

r,

a.

:2

“121.3?

Bl'Ck‘3f’e’f§§.i‘sm£m§,.-tg

27

14

27

13

7

87

need to commit the table you’ve just created to memory, or make “P a crib that you can access during the effect

Yon

Will

. . ' ' also need a pen and Paper, Which should b e glven to an assrsting spectator at the beginning of the routine.

You will

HENDLING:

method and handling here are essentially the same as in Simon Aronson’s Shuffle-Bored. If you follow the procedure outlined in the “Effect” section have above, you will find that the trick is essentially self-working (once you committed the table to memory).

The

the spectator the “target group”, which in our running the Aronson stack (not necessarily in example consists of the top 27 cards of cards. Do the same with your packet, order). Ask the spectator to shuffle up his the bottom 25 non-target cards.

In more detail: Give

of the packets face up, and e on and turn cards Now cut off about half your then the two face up packets and Switch the same. do instruct the spectator to automatically memorized stack, you will using your Note that if you have just performed “Triple-Fried" for Life“. be ready to perform the ungimmicked version of “Banned record the in the second column entries the nk; ba n The fiI’S! column is the number of cards in the target values of records the sum of the n colum third the mlmber of target cards whose color is red (resp. black); those cards. 7’

¥

I63

CLUB THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE

cards into the face down. ones, again :Instrucung the riflle shu file your face up If desired, cut and/or riflle shuffle t e

cards again spectator to do the same. . face down orientations. Repeat this entire without changmg their fa ce up versus audience and PerfOYming two more times (depending on the pro::::h:))ll:s:rthe face down and red spectator the two questions (face up or

con

.

this. or black) while you’re doing At this

point If the spectator says “Face up”, turn the spectator’s packet over and shuffle the

two packets together. . If the spectator says “Face down”, turn your packet over and shuffle the two packets together. One way to remember this is to imagine the spectator’s packet as being face down (regardless of which way its top card actually faces), and then whatever the spectator says should be the final condition of his packet. 30 if he says “Face up” you turn his packet over; if he says “Face down” you leave his packet alone (and turn yours over instead). The three numbers you instruct the spectator to write down will whether he says “Red” or “Black”, and will come from the

depend on corresponding row of

the chart that you’ve memorized. In our example, if he says “Red” you will say the numbers 27, 14, and 81. If he says “Black”, you will say the numbers 27, 13, and 87.

RESET: At the end

of the effect, you will be left with a deck in which the top 27 cards of your stack are shuffled, but se parated from the (also shuffled) bottom 25 cardsThis means that you can now take advantage of the procedure described in “Elementary, My Dear Verno n” to restore half of your stack, if you wish.74

I64

MnGICIRN-FOOLER METHOD

(usmc curl-'50 calms.)-

pREPflRflTION: need a deck which has been specially modified (with suitabl ro d d Barrie l‘us: denke Richardson’s “Rounders” COmers) to incorporate principle . . a c o f C2incelled cas1no cards which have been hole-punched in the middle There are ' for this: several reasons You will

The casino backs reinforce the storyline of the trick.

rounded corners look more normal (even appropriate) on casino cards . The than on Bicycle or other standard-back cards. draw attention away from the rounded corners. find un-cancelled casino cards, and you don’t want . It’s nearly impossible to to get casino cards that have been cancelled by clipping their corners as that would interfere with the working of the Rounders principle. , The holes

make Rounders out of your hold-punched casino deck, you can either use a rounder.75 With pair of scissors or (my preference) buy an inexpensive corner whole process will only take about five minutes. a corner-rounding device, the corners of the Use the rounding device to clip the upper-left and lower-right and lower-left corners of the non-target target cards and the upper-right Photo 25. cards (when all the cards are face down). See

To

v

a"

II5‘1 7

_//—//—

Will want different sizes; you three to ll round s cor ners SThe Sunstar Kadomaru Corner Cutter works great.

‘

to Use the largest of the

three.

165

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENII THE

PRINCIPLE: UNDERLYING BIISIC card face down, its corners will now align With target face up If you flip a cards. (And conversely, the face up face up non-target the of the corners the face down non-target cards.) th wi will align target cards THE THRGET BIINK? FOR USE T0 CRRDS bank of cards you d version of the effect, you can use any

WHICH As with the ungimmicke be dedicating a SPCCially However, since you’re going to cards. target like as your well make life easy on yourself. I’ve Come as might trick, you gaffed deck to this cards which eliminates nearly all the of target set simple up with a particularly this effect.76 For lack of accomplish to required memorization mental work and the simple stack. a better term, we’ll call this

throw away the four Kings can stack — you simple forth e used cards are Only 48 consists of the following cards: bank The target eBay). them sell on to (or try

Clubs and Diamonds: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Q (all even values) values except for the Kings) Spades and Hearts: A, 3, 5, 7, 9, I (all odd

cards: And conversely, the non-target bank consists of the opposite Clubs and Diamonds: A, 3, 5, 7, 9, I (all odd values except for the Kings) Spades and Hearts: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Q (all even values) With these choices, the numbers you name as your “real-time divinationS” will always be 24, 12, and 78. And with the simple stack, there is no need at the end of the shuffling procedure to decide whether to flip the deck or not. Regardless of the final orientation of the deck:

. There will always be 24 face up cards and 24 face down cards. 6

7‘

You

could a lso use this Simple set of target cards for the ungimmicked version of the trick. -

-

166

anuuen

FOR LIFE

each of those sets of 24 cards , exac tly 12 will ' be red . In four each (21f :2: ljc‘evlll bi; “lid: possible sets of 12 cards (face thofse . In up down re , or ace down black), the total value of all 12 cards will arlwaacb, 2;: ys e

.

assume in the description that follows that you’re using the simpl e 5 t ac k . (If II have to cross-reference the ungimmicked handlin to fi gure out h 0W not: You the correct “real-time divination» numbers ) to determine to I’ll

u:

l-IRNDLING:

idea behind the gimmicked handling is that the spectator will do so strrlle genuinely chaotic face up and face down mixing of his packet. You will then corner: out some of the cards by holding the spectator’s packet along its opposite This will result in two packets, one containing only cards which have their upper: The basic

lower-right corners rounded and the other containing the rest. If you now flip one of these packets over and recombine them, the face down cards in the spectators packet will either be all the target cards or all the non-target cards.

left and

In addition to explaining the mechanics of the strip-out, which we’ll get to shortly, I’d like to explain how to structure the routine so that the strip-out is

done on an off-beat moment. And I’ve noticed, through experimentation, that deck it’s significantly easier and more reliable to strip out cards from half of a of these than from a full deck. The routining I’ve come up with makes both things possible. will simply follow the the handling in a nutshell. For a while you the spectator one of the two groups ungimmicked handling. More precisely, give and keep the other 0f cards (either the “target group” or the “non-target group”) the simple stack is that it of using features nice the of one for yourself. (One keep.) Note that it’s which one and you doesn’t matter which one you give away because of the clipped corners. two the groups, to very easy separate

Here’s

cut

with your packet. Now the same Do cards. Ask the spectator to shuffle up his face up, and instruct the the packets f o one Off about half your cards and turn and the spectator’s) ackets (yours face p up Spectator to do the same. Switch the two

I67

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

and then rifile shuffle your face up cards into the face down ones, again instructing the spectator to do the same. So far this is exactly like the ungimmicked handling. Note that, because of the Shuffle-Bored principle, the corners of each packet will still be perfectly aligned, despite the fact that some of the cards in each packet are face up and others are face down. (This helps prevent the spectator(s) from noticing anything fishy about the corner rounding at this stage") If performing for magicians who are familiar with the Shuffle-Bored principle, I will usually mess with them at this point by saying, “15 there any way I could know right now how many cards are face up and how many are face down?” They Will often smirk and say no, to which I respond, “Of course there is, haven’t you heard of Simon Aronson’s Cancellation Combination?” This almost always gets a hearty laugh from people in the know. Then I’ll say that I don’t want the spectator to think that this is a mathematical trick, and I segue into the following handling-

1

" Paradoxically, a very astute spectator will notice a discrepancy here if she assumes that all the cards are corner-rounded in the same way. I have yet to meet a layperson who is this astute. though. (They should not be paying attention to the corners, anyway...)

I68

annuan son (If p(”forming for reference

LIFE

laypeople,78 you will probably want to skip the Simon Aronson

and simply move on to the next phase.)

instruct the spectator to mix the cards “Atlantic City style” Fittin thg words, you demonstrate by spreading the cards haphazardly actiOHS to on them around (Photo 26), then grabbing a able and sliding clump of cards and You nOW

t

This is flipping it over.

repeated several times, and the spectator

is invited to do

with his cards. This results in the spectator’s cards becoming a genuinely unpredictable face up and face down mixture. However, your actions are false, the same

the face up versus face down orientations of your cards remaining unchanged (though their order will be modified). and result in

accomplished as follows. "lhe first time you flip over some cards, grab a clump from the middle but make sure that the top card of the group is face down This is

(Photo 27). When you flip the clump over, the face down top card will now be face

the bottom; note the identity of this card. Drop the entire clump onto the spread and perform a washboard-style mixing action which does not destroy the integrity of this clump. Now grab the clump (which is easily identified because middle of a you’ve noted its face up bottom card), flip it over, and bury it in the up on

7“of. heaven forbid. a

with ShumC-BOFCd- ~ magician who isn't familiar

169

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE actions

washboard mixing again. Despit Perform some cards. tabled of group the two flipping actions cancel eacl: the apparent randomness of this procedure, have been preserved. Repeat this other out and the orientations of your cards while the spectator continues to (genllinely) procedure as many times as you like mix and flip cards from his packet.

to do the same. Situation Now square up your cards and instruct the spectator all be aligned]9 but those in the check: The corners in your packet should cut half the cards to the table spectator’s packet will not be. Pick up your packet, his cards and complete and then complete the cut; instruct the spectator to cut do the same thing the cut as well. Now switch packets with him and say that you’ll will do something again. However, while he will do exactly the same thing, you a bit sneaky.

the cut. you say Specifically, tell the spectator once again to cut and complete so. When he “cut”, mime the action of cutting and wait for him to start doing but instead of just cutting half of the cards to the table, As

does, pick up your packet, and drop the stripped-out cards below) (described Move the Strip-Out perform with your right hand mime onto the table. Now lean toward your spectator, and the cut.” “. and complete words the while .. saying the cut of the action completing left hand. When the in the packet your over flip casually is As this happening, the (flipped) packet onto the rest of your cards. the drop cut, completes spectator both packets will now be aligned. “completing” your “cut”. All of the corners in shuffle your packet and the need to routine, the of you this To conclude part of the packets before need one flip over to You might together. spectator’s packet tell is to compare the clipped to The simplest way ht not. shuffling, or you mig for a riffle shufflein them preparation as the square two packets you corners on shuffle If the clipped corners in the two packets are aligned the same way, simply one (but the packets together. If they’re aligned differently, you will need to flip that we’re I announce usually latter the In case, which one). doesn’t matter it

/

_/

Move described If not (stuff happens. you know). don't panic: you will simply need to do the Strip-Out below with both packets instead of just the second one. ’9

I70

nnunen son going to

flipone

Of the

us:

packets one more time and ask the spectator which one

the instructions up to this point, the resulting 48-card will have all of its corners aligned in the same Combined packet way. You’re now all set for the dramatic finale where you demonstrate your card counting prowess. Just remember the numbers 24, 12, and 78 and you’ll look like Rain Man.”0 If you’ve followed

STRIP-OUT MOVE: still need to explain the mechanics of the Strip-Out Move with Rounders. It’s a bit of a knacky move, though I wouldn’t necessarily call it difficult. For the record, I don’t do it the way that Barrie Richardson describes it in Act Two, pp. I

of his book Curtain Call)

prefer the handling which follows. (Use whichever handling works better for you.)

48-51 (see also pp. 38-44

— I

The packet of cards is held in your left hand, with the thumb in the middle of the left long end of the cards and the middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the

right long end. The right thumb and ring finger grasp the lower-left and

‘

”Fxcept you'll hopefully be wearing underwear.

111

upper—

THE BUENH VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

right corners of the packet, respectively, with the right ring finger making contact almost entirely on its inner end (the part nearest the middle finger), With the proper grip, the thumb and ring finger will make contact with

only

the cards which have not been clipped at the lower-left and upper-right corners (Photo 28). The thumb and ring finger begin to rotate counter-clockwise the as left fingers hold firm, acting as a fulcrum. This pivots the unclipped cards while leaving the clipped cards in place. The pivoting cards rotate counter-clockwise about 45 degrees (Photo 29). The right fingers now adjust

their grip in order to firmly grasp the un-rotated from packet, above by the ring finger and from below by the thumb. At the same time, the left middle finger and thumb grip the rotated packet by its long ends,

near the top, in preparation for a diagonal strip-out. The left fingers pull out the rotated packet at a 45-degree

angle from the un-rotated packet, which is held still fingers. Once the rotated packet has been stripped out completely. the right hand sets its cards down on the table. As this is happening, the left hand surreptitiously flips its packet over and then places its packet on top of the tabled one. Done smoothly, it should appear that you have simply cut the top half of the packet onto the table and then completed the cut.

I72

annual:

FOR

use

do this move cleanly under intense scrutiny, which is why the been designed to provrde ample misdirection while the strip-out is has routine being performed. It’s

to n at easy

cREDlTS:

draws on several different inspirations, most notably Simon routine This published as a standAronson’s Shuffle-Bored. (Shufile-Bored was originally 1980, and was then reprinted in Bound to Please in 1994; manuscript alone be found in his 2014 book Art Decko.) Simon’8 most recent presentation can Simon’s; only the ungimmicked method described above is the same as ”Hie

presentation has been changed. reveals the sum of the values of a certain set the which magician in climax The effect “Three Tests of Intuition”, which Luke Iermay’s by inspired was cards of makes use of his Marksman Deck. Barrie Richardson’s “Rounders” principle, of akes use m handling The gimmicked Rounders to a Shuffleapply to first the person was Barrie that I and believe

this idea, as far as I know (though he publish did not He routine. Bored type The chaotic washboard-style convention). MOTM 2013 the performed it at in part by Derek Delgaudio’s (also inspired cards was the of mixing and flipping in part by Fernando Arsenian’s littleand d, Shuffle-Bore of unpublished) version uses a special kind of enian Ars Triumph”. “Double known but wonderful routine such a deck for also use could one Rounders; of d two-way stripper deck instea “Banned for Life”, in which of version of the gimmicked my effect.8| My handling half of the deck and the flips and stripmix each up the magician and a spectator influenced by Arsenian’s routining. Outs are done on off-beats, was

*iit " l 1931'lied about Arsenian’s work.

¥

N00500deck he uses. from Simon of kind and the special

I13

THE BUENR VISTfl SHUFFLE CLUB

[Ray performs “Bannedfor Life” for Bernie and Dev. ] Bernie: Very fooling. Although I think that for lay audiences, Simon AmnSong original “Shuttle-Bored” procedure is thoroughly fooling and it’s completel) unnecessary to use gimmicked cards. Ray: That may very well be, but I love the carefree chaos which you can Create

using Rounders.

Dev: I like the card-counting presentation, but I’d try to use it in a different Way, Instead of telling a story about getting thrown out of a casino, I’d start off talkjng about an epic road trip to Las Vegas which my twin brother and I took when we both turned 21. I’d mention getting a flat tire in Death Valley and almost

passing out from the heat as we jacked up the car, fishing together on the shore of Lake Tahoe during a solar eclipse, and finding a rattlesnake in our tent and having to shoo it out with a rolled-up Playboy magazine. And I’d pause several times throughout to give instructions to the spectator before getting back into the story. Then, after all the shuffling and mixing is finished, I’d say: “How’d I do? Did I seem cool and collected, like I wasn’t paying much attention to the

cards? Phew! It took me a long time to memorize that story and learn to tell it while secretly counting cards all the while. I don’t actually have a twin brother — hell, I don’t even have a brother at all! I have the story all timed so that when I mention the flat tire, I’m watching the red cards; when

I mention the solar eclipse, I’m keeping

track of the black cards; and when I mention the rattlesnake, I’m thinking about Rachel Brosnahan in a bikini. You see, the hardest thing about counting cards in is blackjack making it look like you’re not paying attention while you’re doing it. I did really go to Vegas on my 21 st birthda , but it wasn’t some pansy-ass camping triP with my non-existent twin brother, it was me, by myselfi finally getting a chance to make some money so that I could move out of my parents’ basement without having to get a job. And here’s the skill I used to do it: 24 of the cards are now face up, 12 0f the face up cards are black, and the total of all the face black cards is 78.” up

Or something like that.

17‘!

““50 Ray: Dev» B erniei

Fun LIFE

that’s actually pretty fantastic,

Yeah, I have to

admit it’s not half-bad.

What does that mean, “not half-bad”? It could mean I't’8 good, but it could “.5 bad. completely Or 3/4 bad. also mean D eVI

~

““1101 Ray: 01' it

mean that Bernie is congenitally unable to give non-back-

handed compliments.

reminds me of the George Carlin bit where he asks why we refer to two a“planes almost colliding as a “near miss”, when it’s “near hit'I Dev: It

actually a

Ray: George

Carlin is my favorite.

Speaking of great comedians, the alternate presentation for “Banned for Life” which I just outlined for you guys was inspired in part by a classic Mitch Hedberg joke where he says, “When I was a boy, I would lay in my twin-sized bed wondering where my brother was.”

Dev:

Bernie: Who’s Mitch Hedberg? Dev: Bernie, that’s like asking a magician, “Who’s Tommy Wonder?”, or me

asking you, “Who’s John Coltrane?” We need to end this conversation now before I get angry... Ray:

And you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.82

FURTHER CREDITS: The “alternate script” which Dev presents in this dialogue is closely modeled on an inspired suggestion

of Tyler Wilson’s. the TV version

here to of you who missed the late '705 and early '805. Ray is making a reference . Bill 0‘ "Ihe incredible Hulk” starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Coincidentally. earlier in the I970s

'1

For those

Bixby starred in a television

k

series called “The Magician".

115

THE BUENII VISTfl SHUFFLE CLUB

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRQCKING tricks. Methodologically there’s card favorite impromptu of This is one my flows nicely and the plot structure three-phase the but here, not much new While many of 3’ natural interest in gambling and cheating. audience engages mmicks, this one can be stack gi or either a involve book this in routines the card

deck. It doesn’t require a table, either, so is shuffled borrowed, with a performed perfect for walk-around.

EFFECT

nun Passsurn'nou:

be traced back to the world can use card which magicians “A lot of the techniques Although to the underground world of card sharks. specifically more gambling, of we have benefitted immeasurably from magicians are fundamentally decent folk, cheaters, grifters, and swindlers. centuries by the over developed methods the skillful have learned from card sharks is how to skills magicians useful the most One of cut. You and is shuflled deck the being while cards track the locations of specific Would you like to see a poker! be in of would a this game can imagine how useful

demonstration?” card —— She a to name asks Joanna The head performer her yes. Joanna nods the face UP through quickly spreads The Diamonds. 7 performer of the names 7 0f other there’s no that out cards, removing the 7 of Diamonds and pointing of the pad" Diamonds in the deck. The 7 of Diamonds is buried in the middle and the deck is given a series of thorough shuffles and cuts.

176

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRHCKING may appear, Ioanna, that your 7 of Diamonds is now hopelessly lost ’ but I’ve close attention and I know exactly where it is” been paying “It

performer cuts off around half the deck and fli p 3 over th 6 next card the 7 of Diamonds. The

_ "3 -

»

hopefully found that impressive, but in fact anyone can track a single card through a series of shuflles and cuts as long as they don’t overthink it. Indeed one “You

of the big secrets among gamblers and card sharks is just how easy this is — the subconscious mind is capable offar more than people typically believe.” “Joanna, let’s try it with you. Watch carefully, but don’t think too much.”

performer once again buries the 7 of Diamonds in the middle of the pack and gives the deck a series of shuffles and cuts as Joanna watches eagle-eyed. The

that card is. You just have to let it access that knowledge. Say stop as I rifle through the cards, and try not to let your conscious “Now, loanna, your brain knows where

mind get in the way.”

thumb down the corner of the deck, and Joanna calls out the card that she stopped him on. stop. The magician cuts the deck and removes Joanna has found her own named card, the 7 of Diamonds. The magician riffles his

middle of the pack once more performer buries the 7 of Diamonds in the track of a single and begins to shuffle, saying, “As you can see, Ioanna, keeping subconscious. However, card is not actually as hard as it looks — if you trust your card is not nearly as useful as if you’re a poker player; keeping track of a single and skill

The

keeping track believe it

of several cards at once.

That’s a much more diflicult

—

’ve been following I’ve been doing all along. I what that’s actually or not, named, but the other 75 as well!” Diamonds that

"O‘lust the 7 of

you

cards, and when rapidly cuts to four different four 75. °V€r the audience sees that he has located all

The magician

¥

111

the cards are turned

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

METHOD 0ND HRHDLING: The effect is accomplished through a combination of basic card Control and The structure of the routine allows some deceptive but easy productions.” You to get way ahead at the very beginning through an under-the-spread cull 0n which there is very little heat. Although it’s not necessary, my preferred handlin utilizes a card in which you’ve secretly placed a bottom-cutting reverse breather crimp.84 I’ll describe the routine assuming that you’re using a breather crimp as well, but if not it should be clear from context where and when you’ll need to hold a break in order to compensate. sometimes perform this effect at a table and other times in strolling situations where a table isn’t available, and I use a somewhat different handling for these two settings. I’ll describe the table handling first, and then I’ll explain the walk. I

around version.

TflBLE HONDLING: Have Joanna shuffle the deck. Take back the deck and casually cut the crimped card to the bottom as you talk about the underground world of card sharks. After Ioanna names a card (the 7 of Diamonds, say), spread through the deck face up and cull the other three cards with the same value as you search for the 7

of Diamonds. When you get to the 7D, out-jog it and continue spreading under the guise of showing Joanna that there’s only one 7D in the deck. After you’ve finished spreading through the face up deck, secretly deposit the three culled 75 on top of the deck as you strip out the out-jogged 7D and place it face up on the lower right hand part of the table. Place the rest of the deck face down on the lower left hand part of the table, with at least one or two card-widths separating the deck from the named card. __—' '3

The precise controls and productions are completely up to you — there is considerable flexibility here. and even plenty of room to improvise d la Ben Earl’s Less is More and Real Ace Cutting. However, for I will concreteness describe in detail the specific controls and productions which I use.

“ To make a bOItom-cutting reverse breather Crimp,

prepare a normal breather crimp (see, e.g., The Vernon Chronicles, Vol. I, pp. 96-97), but with the card face down instead of face up. It’s also possible to create a

1

card functionally equivalent to a reverse breather crimp on the fly, cf. Martin Nash's “Infinity Principle".

178

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRIICKING about half the deck to the right, place the 7D face down on top of the cutthe cut with the balance of the deck. You have now secretly offhalf, and complete card on top of the 7D, which itself is on top of the other 75. laced the crimped read the deck face down across the table to emphasize that you’re apparently

Cut Off

S

not controlling

anything.

the cards and give the deck a series of shuffles and cuts. Any convincing Square up

maintains the block of 7s beneath the breather crimp and ends sequence which with this group of cards in the middle again will work, but here’s what I do. Place

position for a riffle shuflle and cut at the crimp, cutting the top half, including the crimped card, to the right. Riffle shuffle the two halves together, and letting the crimped card fall first, to the bottom (with your right hand), half the letting the block of 75 fall last, to the top (with your left hand). Cut about deck once again to the right and execute another rifile shuffle, this time letting fall last the crimped card fall first with your left hand and letting the block of 7s with your right hand. the cards in

Now ask

the spectator to cut the deck and complete the cut.

Situation check: The four 75 should still be together in the middle of the deck, beneath the crimped card, with the spectators 7D immediately below the crimp. “It may appear, Joanna, that your 7 of Diamonds is now hopelessly lost, been paying close attention and I know exactly where it is.” At this

the next point simply cut at the crimp and flip over I

card —

it’s

but I’ve

the 7 of

Diamonds. track a single card can in but anyone fact that have impressive, found may it. Indeed, one though a series of shuflles and cuts as long as they don’t overthink this is — the of the big secrets among gamblers and card sharks is just how easy Joanna, subconscious mind is capable offar more than people typically imagine. carefully, but don’t think too watch [“3 try it with and you. Keep your eyes open “You

\

Much.”

119

THE BUENR VISTH SHUFFLE CLUB

‘

now replace the 7 of Diamonds face down where it came from and Mt th e in the 75 together four once again The are back on top. middle upper packet the deck, beneath the crimped card, with the 7D immediately below the crimPOf then repeat the same sequence of shuflles and cuts as before. You can, of COWS: vary the sequence if you wish. I

Pick up the deck in preparation for a riffle force. As you pick up the deck {mm the table and place it into mechanic’s grip, let the cards below the crimp fall first secure a pinky break, and then drop the remaining cards on top. This is don;

fluidly and casually, as if part of the deck just happened to drop before the rest,

that card is. You just have to let it access that knowledge. Say stop as I riflle through the cards, but try not to let your conscious “Now loanna, your brain knows where

mind get in the way.” Execute a standard riffle force, thumbing the card below the break (which wil] be the spectator’s named 7D) onto the table in order to let Joanna turn it over herself. Repeat the same sequence as before, replacing the 7D face down in the middle of the pack where it came from and beginning a series of false shuffles and cuts. This time, however, do not ask the spectator to cut the cards; this will leave the four 75 on top of the deck instead of in the middle. can see, Ioanna, keeping track of a single card is not actually as hard as it looks — ifyou trust your subconscious. However, ifyou’re a poker player, keeping track of a single card is not nearly as useful as keeping track of several cards at once. Thats a much more diflicult skill — and believe it or not, thatis actually what I’ve been doing all along. I ’ve been following not just the 7 of Diamonds that you named, but all of the other 7s as well!” “As you

j

Conclude with your favorite method for producing the four top cards from four apparently different locations in the deck. The production you use should be a quick one, thongh — I personally like Gary Ouellet’s “Three Second Wonder” in

" "R "

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRICKINO If you don’t already have a favorite method I h n Bannons. .. Bullet Catcher” sequence (which I use for the walk-around hanell'0 mg, “Planned below) this conteXtalso works

seated at a table.

wnLK-RROUND HRNDLING: ' now explain my preferred handling for the same effect when I’ ’ have access to a table. Again, there are many possibilities h:es:i:ddmg dont and

1’"

Y?“

should feel free to adapt the following procedures accordin g to your own skill aHd preferences.

the deck. Take back the deck and casually cut the crimped card to the bottom as you talk about cheaters, grifters, and swindlers. Have Joanna shuffle

names a card (which we’ll continue to assume is the 7 of Diamonds) same spread through the deck face up and cull the other three cards with the value as you search for the 7 of Diamonds. When you get to the 7D, out-jog it and continue spreading under the guise of showing Joanna that there’s only one 7D in the deck. As you finish spreading through the face up deck, secretly deposit the three culled 73 on top. Strip out the out-jogged 7D, rotate the rest of the deck face down, and place the 7D face up on top of the face down deck. After Joanna

left cut about half of the deck (with the face up 7D on t0p) into your hand. Use the balance of the deck in your right hand to flip over the 7D and then middle of the pack. You have complete the cut, burying the 7D face down in the the 7D, which itself is on top of now secretly placed the crimped card on top of Swing

the other 75. You will now give the deck a series

of shuffles and cuts. As with the table handling, breather

he block of 7s beneath the t maintains which any convincing sequence mi ddle again will work, but here's Crimp and ends with this group of cards in the What I do.

control”. To

the “Mahatma Begin by executing (a slightly modified ve rsion of) right hand and, with Wit: Gently lift all the cards above the bre ak with your

‘

181

THE

305'“!

VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

your left pinky, immediately pull a couple of extra cards (at least one, and no more than three or four) from the top packet down to the bottom one. At the same time as your pinky pulls down the extra card(s), tilt bothOhalves so that the faces point to your left. In a continuing action, shuffle off the right-hand Packet, left the the of) overhand-style, beneath (i.e., to left-handpacket. The breather crimp is now close to the top of the deck, with the four 75 immediately below it.

Now give the deck an ofi-center fare-style weave. Specifically, cut off about a third of the deck from the bottom with your left hand, holding the other No. thirds of the deck with your right hand. Weave the smaller left-hand

portion into the bottom part of the larger right-hand portion; this will leave the block of 7s and crimped card near the top of the deck undisturbed. 'Ihe weave does not have

to be perfect, or even close to perfect.

Conclude this sequence with a swing cut, burying the 75 about

the pack with a slap.

halfway down

in

“It may appear, Joanna,

that your 7 of Diamonds is now hopelessly lost, but I’ve been paying close attention and I know exactly where it is.” Cut at the crimp and flip over the next card — it’s the 7 of Diamonds. “You

may have found that impressive, but in fact anyone can track a single card through a series of shuflles and cuts as long as they don’t overthink it. Indeed, one

muc

ore than people typically imagine. Ioanna. your eyes open and watch carefully, but don’t think too

Replace the 7

of Diamonds face down where it came from and packet b a ck on put the UPI"?Ir top. The four 7s are once again together in the middle of the deck, beneath th e c rimped card, wit h the 7D immediately below Option n the crimp. One be to repeat the 03v :ould exact same sequence of shuffles before a n t and Cuts a5 en riflle force the 7D as you say, “Now Ioanna, your brain knows

4’

SUBCONSCIOUS

SHUFFLE TRRCKI N6

where that card is. You just have to [e t it access that knowledge. Say stop as I riflle through the cards, but try not to let ),'our ' ' consci 0145 mm! get it: the way. ” -

In a walk-around

env1ronment, however. I prefer to modify the previous3 se ‘ quence a bit, replacing the Mile force With Justin High am’s “Rolling-Stock Production". Namely, repeat the same sequence of shuffles as before, but with the following two modifications. First of all, when you do the Mahatma control, don’t pull down any extra cards — this pl aces the four 75 on top of the deck at the end of the control (and loses the breather crimp, which you don‘t really need anv more). will 75 The remain on top after the weave shufile. Replace the final (legitimate) With an in-the-hands false cut, keeping the 7D swing cut on top ofthe deck with the other three 75 beneath it. (Ifyou don’t know a good in-the-hands false cut, the omit cut altogether this time around.) Instead ofa rifile just force, you will now perform: _,

.

~

-

.

JUSTIN HIGHRM'S ROLLING-STOCK PRODUCTION: Here’s a

brief description of the production. Begin with the deck in left-hand

mechanic’s grip and riffle down the far-left corner of the deck with your left thumb (Photo 30). When the spectator says “stop”, the left thumb moves into

183

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

the break as the left hand revolves to the right, flipping the portion of the deck above the break face up into the waiting fingers of the right hand (Photo 31). In a

continuing motion, the fingers of the right hand curl in, revolving the top packet another 180 degrees so that it ends up face down in right-hand mechanic’s grip (Photo 32). The two hands momentarily mirror one another, each holding its

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKIHO

packet in mechanic’s grip. However, as soon as the top packet (now held by the right hand) has finished its 360-degree revolution, the right thumb drags the top card of this packet outward and to the right, tracing an arc from the center of the packet to the upper-right corner. The top card clears the packet, rotates

degrees or so to the right, and is pinned face down between the right thumb and the base of the right forefinger (Photo 33). As soon as the top card clears the packet, the right—hand fingers revolve the rest of the top packet 360 degrees back into the left hand on top of the bottom packet (Photos 34 and 35).

45

the right hand (which will be the spectator’s named 7D) can now be given to the spectator to turn over. Alternatively, the right hand can simply revolve 90 degrees upward, showing the face of the card which it’s holding.

The card in

The Although this might sound complicated in print, it’s not difficult to master. card appears to come from the center, although of course it actually comes from the top. And when the production is finished, the deck is in the same order in still on 75 WhiCh card). In particular, the other three are it began

(minus the top

top of the deck.

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

Since I’ve lost the breather crimp at this point, I replace the 70 using Vernofls Depth Illusion (a.k.a. the Tilt move). 'lhis brings the 7D second from the top, but the audience believes that it’s been buried somewhere in the center of the PaCk‘ A" that matters, from your point 0f view, is that there is now a block of four 75 on top of the deck.

—___~__———_____,/

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKINO this point, do any sequence of shullles and cuts you like which keeps the block of the deck as you say: of {our 75 on top At

loanna, keeping track of a single card is not actually as hard as it {fyou trust your subconscious. However, if you 're a poker player, keeping look“ is not nearly as useful as keeping track of several cards at track of a single card much more difllcult skill — and believe it or not, that's actually what (mm 7hat's a "AS

I’ve

you can see,

,

been doing all along. I ’ve been following not

named, but all To

just the 7 of Diamonds that you

of the other 75 as well!”

conclude the routine, you will produce the four 75 using another easy but

deceptive procedure, lohn Bannon’s “Bullet Catcher”. Here’s a description adapted from Bannon’s book High Caliber.

JOHN BRNNON'S BULLET CHTCHER PRODUCTION: Take the deck in face up Biddle Grip with your right hand. With your right forefinger, swing cut a small packet of cards (less than a quarter of the deck, ideally around 10 cards) into your left hand (Photo 36). In a continuing action, the topmost turn your right hand palm upward, and with your left thumb pull face down card of the right-hand packet onto the face up lefthand packet

187

THE BUENH VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

(Photo 37). This face down card should end up out-jogged about half its length on top of the left-hand packet (Photo 38). You will

now repeat these actions three more times. Turn your right hand palm downward and swing cut another small packet onto the left-hand cards, on top of the out-jogged card. Now turn your right hand palm up and thumb another face down card onto the left-hand packet, again leaving this card out-jogged.

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKINB

Repeat this sequence again (Photo 39), and then once more. Place the cards which remain in your right hand face up onto the left«hand cards. Your left hand is

now holding the face up deck in mechanic’s grip with four face down cards

protruding from various locations. important to establish and maintain a rhythm as you repeat the Bullet Catcher procedure. This will help strengthen the illusion that the out-jogged cards were taken from various places throughout the deck. It’s

Spread the deck between your hands and slowly raise the spread to show the faces

of the four out-jogged cards — they are the four 75 (Photo 40).

CREDITS:

and Caleb Wiles all made suggestions which significantly improved this routine, and 1 thank them heartily for their input.

Simon Aronson, Rich Aviles,

The “Shuflle tracking” theme has been used before in many different card routines.

Although I’m not sure what my direct influences were in creating this particular “Wine. 1 may have been “subconsciously” inspired by Simon Aronson’s routine Called appropriately enough — “Shuffle Tracking" (Art Decko, PP- 225430).

~

189

———

THE BUENB VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

‘

According to The Magic of Johnny Thompson, Vol. 1, p. 36: “When Johnny first showed [the reverse breather crimp] to his friend Martin Nash, Nash devised an excellent method of creating an equivalent crimp on the fly. Martin called it The Infinity Principle and eventually released it in an excellent instructional video.” The Riffle Force is taught in Card College, Vol.

1,

pp. 224-226.

Gary Ouellet’s “Three Second Wonder” can be found in Close Up Illusions (Camirand Academy of Magic, pp. 28-32). The Mahatma control can be found in Hal Merton’s “Three New Passes”, Mahatma. Vol. 5, No. 2, Aug. 1901, p. 495. (Hal Merton was the stage name of Walter G. Peterkin.) This control is also described on pp. 186-187 of John Northern

Hilliard’s Greater Magic and on pp. 381-382 of Jean Hugard’s Encyclopedia of Card Tricks (where it’s called the Simple Pass).

For a detailed discussion of the history of Vernon’s Depth Illusion, also know“ is as Tilt, see the Conjuring Credits entry for “Depth Illusion or Tilt”. The move taught, for example, in Card College, Vol. 4, pp. 997-998.

I90

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKINB

the Rolling-Stock Production by my friend Caleb Wiles, who Earl. However, Ben explained to me by email that, although attributed it to Ben this move for more than ten years and it has become associated he’s been using actually created by Iustin Higham (unpublished) as a production with him, it was Blackstone’s “Revolving Pass” (Modern Card Tricks and Secrets version of Harry 29). You can also find a demonstration and explanation of the of Magic. p. Rolling—Stock Production on Benjamin Earl's Real Ace Cutting DVD in the Productions”. There are numerous other controls and section entitled “Rolling Ben’s DVD which could also be incorporated into the present pl-oductions on

I

was shown

routine. john Bannon’s Bullet Catcher

production can be found in his book High Caliber,

more or less the same production sequence which Bannon used previously in “Strangers’ Gallery” (from his book Smoke and Mirrors). Thanks to John Bannon for letting me describe the move in detail here.

p, 131,

although

it’s

*ttt {Ray performs

the walk-around version of “Subconscious Shuflle Tracking”for the

group. I Bernie: You Ray: Urn,

did a good job of simulating actual skill.

thanks.

wondering if the second phase might be even stronger with a sleightfree procedure like the reverse-spread force which Paul Wilson uses in one of his

Bernie: I’m

ACAAN routines.“5 Dev: I’m not familiar with

\

the method you’re referring to.

. . Another Method for Any Card at Any NBerme is referring to R. Paul Wilson's “YAMFACAAN” ("Yet “mbefl from Steve Beam's Semi-Automatic Card Tricks. Vol. VIII.

‘5

I91

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTII BUENR THE The speCtator's it might work like this. routine the present Bernie: Well, in subconscious mind, th e spectator to use her ask You top. on named card starts where her Card is. wrsh to spout, to visualize you BS pseudoscience or whatever be tween 1 and 52. Let’s say she names 17‘ You then ask her to name a number take 17 cards one-by-one into the With the deck in left-hand mechanic’s grip, order of the ca rds as you count. When YOU'Ve palm up right hand, reve'rsing the the top card of the transferred 17 cards, use the right-hand packet to flip over had said 18, it would have been the lack packet in the left hand as you say, you this is happening, reverse-Spread of Hearts” (or whatever the 18th card is). As

If

and fingers the cards in the right hand by pushing the thumb to the right underneath the packet to the left, and lightly tap the lack of Hearts with the reverse-spread right-hand packet. the

Now transfer the bottom card of the face down right-hand packet (which, because of the reverse-spread, appears to be the 17th card) onto the t0p of the left-hand packet, keeping this card face down and leaving it out-jogged to the right. Immediately rotate the right hand palm down and transfer the face card of this packet (let’s say it’s the 3 of Spades) face up and out-jogged to the right onto the left-hand packet as you say, ‘itlnd Ifyou had said 16, it would have been the 3 of Spades.” Rotate the right hand palm up once again and place the reverse-spread cards face down on top of the cards in the left hand. Have the spectator remove the face down card which is now sandwiched between the face up lack of Hearts and 3 of Spades; it will be the named card which the spectator has been tracking. Dev: That’s clever. But it really fools people? Bernie:

It’s

highly discrepant, but in my experience totally fooling.

kay: If you were going to treat the second phase as “card at a named number”, it might be better to modify the other phases accordingly. For example in the first ‘phase, instead of just dead-cutting to the spectator’s card, you codld first say, It rnrght appear, Bernie, that your 9 of Clubs is now hopelessly lost but I ’ve been paying careful attention and I know exactly where it is — it’s 29th ,from the

’5 I92

SUBCONSCIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKING

top-n

of course, you simply estimate where the breather crimp is and call

Corresponding posmon before cutting at the crimp.

out the

And then, during the final Bullet Catcher sequence, when you say “I’ve been following not only the 9 of Clubs that you named, but the other 95 as well” call different out could positions as you swing cut the

DeVi

cards, saying, “If I’ve been correctly keeping track, there should be one at position 10, one at 19 one at

you 31,

and One “’43. Letis See!»

Bernie: Looks like the

three of us just created a new version of the trick.

the way, I can vouch for Bernie’s claim about effectiveness of the Paul Wilson stratagem. I use Andrew Gerard’s “Extraordinary Proof,”"‘5 which is based on a similar idea, all the time and I’ve never been caught. The Gerard thing does require a table, though. Ray: By

If I was doing “Subconscious Shuffle Tracking” at a table, Harding’s “Flick” move” instead of a dead cut in the first phase. Dev:

Bernie: That

I’d

use Pit

might be too strong to do in phase one. But sure, in theory

it’s a

viable suggestion. Also, for a table version, I’d maybe use Iohn Bannons “Cut and Run”88 procedure instead of Three Second Wonder to produce the four of a kind at the end. Dev: I’m

not familiar with that one either.

production variant of Frank Thompson’s False Triple Cut. Here, I’ll show you... [Bernie demonstrates Bannon’s move. ]

Bernie: It’s a four-card

Ray; You did

k

that with your subconscious, Bernie? That’s amazing.

" From Paul Harris’s

"S“ P.

ll

True Astonishment DVD box set (Disc 5).

of his book Card Fictions.

"From his Lucky. lecture notes (2016), pp. 31-35.

¥

193

the time Freud Dev: Hey, speaking of the subconscious, did you hear about walked into a bar? The bartender asked to see his id. [Bernie and Ray bury their heads in their hands. ]

FURTHER CREDITS: Simon Aronson suggested the R. Paul Wilson subterfuge mentioned in dialogue.

the

GILBRERTH poKER

GILBREHTH POKER The following effect is

based on a combination of the Gilbreath Principle and the Gardner-Marlo Poker Deal. Although the trick utilizes a full-deck stack it requires no sleight of hand and some very strong magic takes place in the

spectators hands — without you ever touching his cards. There is also a healthy dose of comedic byplay, a good old-fashioned “magician in trouble” plot, and an ending which takes spectators completely by surprise. What’s not to like?89

EFFECT 9ND PRESENTRTION: The magician brings out a deck of cards and gives it a casual shuffle. “David, would you like to learn how to cheat at poker?” David says yes. “Very well, then, just follow my instructions and do as I do.” The magician sets the top two cards of the deck aside, saying, ‘24 full deck has 52 cards, but we’ll just use 50. We’ll need [the magician deals 25 cards into a face down pile, counting aloud as he deals]... and 25 for me.” The magician places the remaining 25 cards 25 cards for you...

into a separate pile. 25—card packet into two approximately equal magician cuts the spectator’s “Do you know how to riflle shuflle?” Piles, and does the same with his own packet. but do"? push like this David nods yes. “Very well, please shufile your cards — riflle shuffling l‘llS two them together just yet.” The magician demonstrates by cards to then The spreadshis magician the same. Piles halfway, and David does for Davrdto do and gestures condition, th; interlaced display their genuinely eac David and the mag1cran same, F0110wing the magician’s lead once more, the shuffle, and then square up completing Push their interlaced halves together, The

——

\\

" Other than the full-deck setup.

of tradeofl's.) (Hey. magic is full

I95

1

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

their respective piles. The magician rotates his packet of cards 90 degrees on the table and David does the same. “And now pick up your packet — like this x and hold it in left-hand dealing position.” David does as instructed.

‘

out five hands of poker. Please follow my rhythm the rhythm is very important!” The magician and spectator begin dealing out five hands of poker in a clockwise fashion. As the cards are being dealt, the magician «we’re each going to deal

explains, “When you want to cheat at poker, it’s not enough to deal a good hand to yourself You need to select a mark [the magician indicates the imaginary PlaYer immediately to his left] — a player who’s going to be the big loser — and you have to deal a good hand to the mark and an even better hand to yourself.”

When all five hands have been dealt, the magician instructs David, “Please turn over the mark’s hand to see what you’ve dealt him.” David turns over the hand of the imaginary player to his left, showing a fairly unremarkable hand. “Well, thatis not so great, but you ’re just learning. Let’s see what hand you dealt yourself...” David turns over his own hand, revealing another fairly unremarkable set of cards. “Well, you managed to win, but I don’t think you would have made a lot of money in that scenario. Here, let me show you how it’s done.” The magician turns over the hand of the imaginary player immediately to his left. But it’s again nothing special. The magician’s brow begins to furrow. “Hmmm... something went wrong here... but lets see what I’ve dealt myself” Once more, it’s a rather unexceptional poker hand. The magician appears perplexed.

of a sudden, the magician’s eyes open wide and he gently slaps himself in the forehead, exclaiming, “I know what happened — we forgot to cut the cards! I apologize, but we need to start over again.” The magician begins haphazardly picking up his five dealt-out hands. fit this point, it doesn’t really matter ifyou do exactly the same as me — just pick up the hands in whatever order you Want.” All

Once b°th ZS'Card Packets have been reassembled. the magician continues, “In poker, of you always have to cut the cards. Here, do a game exactly as I do.” The magncran walks the spectator through a triple cut.

196

museum pom I think everything’s going to work now! Let’s deal out one more round ofpoker Remember to keep a steady rhythm!” David and the magician deal out five hands with one another. “Excellent, David — you're doing afantastic job ” in perfCCt sync “OK.

When the dealing is finished, the magician says, “Let’s start with me this time this is supposed to work.” "lhe I’ll show you how magician reveals that he’s dealt straight to the player on his left and a flush to himself. “You see, I would have

a

made a fortune in a real game with those hands! David, let’s see how well you’ve learned from me. What kind of hand did you deal to the mark?” David turns over the mark’s cards, revealing a full house. “Whoa, David... slow down! I know you’re anxious to take your skills to the bank, but I think you forgot that you need to deal yourself the best “We’ll look

hand in order to win!”

at the hand that you dealt to yourself in just a moment, but 121 like to

remind you that you shuflled these cards yourself and at no point since then have I touched your cards. And it’s extremely diflicult to beat a full house... so frankly, David, I’m concerned. But what the hell — let’s take a look.” David turns over the hand he’s dealt to himself... and it’s a straight flush in spades. “You’re thefastest

learner I’ve ever seen, David. The student has become the master!”

SETUP:

follows (X can be anything): The initial setup of the deck, from top to bottom, is as

XXKKKKXXXX3S4SSS6S7SAAAAXXXQSISlOS

9S8SDDDDDXX]10987DDDDDXXX23456 the 3 through Queen of Spades, this up, first take out the Kings, Aces, 2 through lack. The and the 3 through Queen of Diamonds. A dd any remaining remaining cards will form your “X” pile.

To set

OPTIONIIL:

Ace after the 7 of first the in Place bottom-cutting reverse breathe r crimps second string of Diamonds (both the befo re Spades and in the 7 which comes

k

191

CLUB THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE pencil dot on the back in boldface above). Also optional: Place a light

the crimped 7. Diamond following the of back the and on Spades

of the 7 of

PROCEDURE: at table. Give the Have a volunteer from the audience sit or stand next to you a but W671 just use 50," deck a false shuffle, if desired. Say, “A full deck has 52 cards, as you set the top two cards aside, face down. As you say, “We’ll need 25 cards for you...” quickly deal 25 cards face down into a pile in front of the spectator, counting out loud as you deal. Now give 25 cards

to yourself without reversing their order — just set them on the table as a group. Ask the spectator if he knows how to riffle shuffle. As you’re asking the question, cut his pile at the crimp into two roughly equal parts (or riffle down to the last Ace and cut his pile there if you’re not using a crimp). If desired, use the pencil dot on the 78 to verify that you’ve cut in the correct spot. Do the 5am thing with your own pile, cutting to the crimp or riffling to the 7 and cutting the cards there. Since you’re supposedly teaching the spectator how to cheat, ask him to do exactly as you do. Square up your two packets and have the spectator do the same. Now instruct the spectator to riffle shuffle his two piles together, demonstrating first with your own packet. This is where Gilbreath’s Second Principle kicks in —

although both shuffles are genuine, when the shuffles are complete each half of the deck will be secretly stacked for an amazing finale. like to make something of a production out of the “do as I do” premise at this point. For example, have the spectator push his cards in halfway after the riffle shuffle as you do the same. 'Ihen spread the cards to display (without specifically I

commenting on it) their genuine and non-regularly interlaced condition, and have the spectator mirror your actions. Now you and the spectator each push the shuffled halves together, completing the shuffle, and then square up the PileS again. Rotate your pile 90 degrees on the table, in preparation for dealing, and once again indicate that the spectator is to do likewise.

I98

'1‘“ GILBREIITH POKER

and the spectator will each deal five Explain that you hands of poker Show b

demonstration, that the spectator is to deal the cards clockwise startiny standarcgl with the (imaginary) player immediately to the dealer’s left. (This is the deal in a game of poker.) It is visually appealing, as well as amusing to my to establiSh the exact same rhythm as the spectator; it also reinforces the “stude’ntof the presentation. As the cards are being dealt, explain to t eachef” aspect your is the goal to deal a good hand to the mark (the player immediately spectator that dealer’s left) and an even better hand to yourself. to the

way of

dealing is finished, ask the spectator to turn over the mark’s hand as well as his own, and comment on the (presumably not very amazing) results. Then do the same with your own cards. The results should not be particularly striking; act like the trick has failed and make the audience feel a bit sorry for the finale will be. you. The more convincing you can act out this part, the better You really want your audience to think that something has gone wrong. After the

now gently slap myself in the head and say, “I know what happened — we forgot and ask to cut the cards!” I then start picking up the five hands in a random order

I

this point, it doesn’t really matter ifyou want.” do exactly the same as me — just pick up the hands in whatever order you Because of the Gardner-Marlo principle, it really doesn’t matter in what order the spectator to do the same, saying,

‘S‘it

the hands are collected. Once all the hands have been collected from the table, walk your spectator follows. Lift off a block consisting of through a lay Ose False Triple Cut, as

and place this block to your approximately a third of the packet in your hands, half the remaining cards left; have the spectator do the same. Now cut off about the rest of your cards and place them to the right of the first pile. Finally, place actions. Now to the right of the other two piles. Have the spectator copy your of the previous reassemble the packets from left to right, placing each one on top false cut which your spectator combined packet. This results in a rather deceptive himself. will (in copying your actions) perform on

I99

CLUB THE BUENfl VISTR SHUFFLE and the spectator now re-deal the cards into five hands, exactly as befOre_ This time, you will have automatically dealt a straight to the mark and a flush touched his cards smce the to yourself. Remind the spectator that you have not the hand which spectator himself shuffled them. Ask the spectator to turn over he dealt to the mark. "lhe spectator will discover either a full house or fOur of a kind, which is a very surprising moment in the effect. Remind the spectatOr that he should never have dealt his opponent such a great hand unless he can actually beat it. Have him turn over his own hand, revealing that he has dealt himself ’ve ever a straight flush. Finish by exclaiming, “You’re the fastest learner I Seen, David. The student has become the master!” You

CREDITS: The immediate inspiration for this effect is a trick described on pp. 66-67 in Chapter 5 of Magical Mathematics by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham. They write that their effect “uses Gilbreath’s Second Principle together with ideas from Ronald Wohl and Herbert Zarrow.” In the Diaconis-Graham book, the effect is basically that the spectator shuffles and then deals five hands of poker, with the dealer’s hand (a flush) beating one of the spectator’s (a straight). I have

added some presentational flourishes in the form of a multi-phase plot which incorporates the principle behind the Gardner-Marlo Poker Deal, and there are full houses and straight flushes as well as straights and flushes. This allows for more interaction between the magician and spectator and brings into play the ever-reliable “magician in trouble” conceit. In addition to the Diaconis-Graham trick mentioned above, my routine shares some ingredients in common with an effect from Steve Mayhew’s booklet Angels May Shuflle But the Devil Still Deals entitled “Ultimate GardnerMarlo”.

An earlier version of this effect was published in The Linking Ring in May 2013. I’ve modified the handling somewhat, for example by adding the Ose Cut in the second phase. The lay Ose False Triple Cut is described in Harry Lorayne’s CloseUp Card Magic. I first saw a routine where the the is

spectator guided to perform

olLanenru 5

Art of As tonishment Book

3’ pp.

pOKER

The Shuffl'mg Lesson as

299-301) 90

(from Paul Harris’s The

' make a bot tom - cutting re verse breather cri m p . prepare a norm a b rea th er The Vernon Chronicles, Vol ' 1 ’PP« 96-97). but With the card face crimp (see, e.g., down instead of face up.

To

1

_

nFTERTHOUGHTS: After creating “Gilbreath Poker”, I found that although I really liked the rout' fill:{wasnt performing it as often as I would have liked due to the specialized deck set-up. So I designed a similar routine using the Aronson stack which I

the poker carry with me whenever I’m performing magic. This routine takes deal built into the Aronson Stack and turns it into an interactive and progressive three-phase routine which concludes with the spectator dealing himself a royal flush. It requires multiple false shuffles, so is not a self-worker like “Gilbreath Poker”, but it’s more practical than “Gilbreath Poker” if you happen to use the Aronson Stack. I decided not to include the routine in this book, as I’ve tried to keep all of the memorized-deck material stack-independent, but if you’re interested check out “The Poker Lesson” (Genii, September 2017).

**** {Ray performs

“Gilbreath Poker” for Bernie and Dev. ]

little more fun, though, with the have a could if we wonder Dev: Nice routine. — we forgot to cut the what happened “I know exclaims, part where the magician what happened — we forgot to cheat!” cards!” What if you instead said, “I know lesson”? and then launched into a tongue-in-check “cheating I

Ray:

lesson did you have in of cheating kind What That’s an intriguing idea.

mind? the spectator ” Acc°“lll18t0 Tyler Wilson. who once asked Chad Long about it. should go to the latter. here credit the Chad's original routine by Paul Harris. so

h

Ose cut was added to

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

Dev: Well, there are lots of possibilities. For example, you could say, “Remembe, when we set those two cards aside at the very beginning? We were supposed to Put them up our sleeves! Here, you take this one, and I’ll take the other one. Place the

card up your sleeve, like this.” [Dev takes a card from the table and places it

Up

his sleeve] Bernie: And what happens to the cards up the sleeves? Dev: Well, when you show that you’ve dealt yourself a flush, you could say, “He” I didn’t even have to use my extra card!” And then at the end, when the spectamr turns over his straight flush, you could exclaim, “You’re the fastest learner I’ve ever seen, David! Give me back that extra card — I don’t think you 're going to need it after all!” Bernie: Don’t you think this trick is long enough without adding a bunch of pseudo-cheating stuff which doesn’t actually play any role in the effect itself? Dev: Perhaps, but since Ray began by talking about how he was going to teach the spectator how to cheat, I think it would be nice to do some actual “cheating”. Ray: You could also do a pseudo-palming

demonstration, instead of the cardsup-the-sleeves thing, as a different way to teach the spectator how to cheat. Bernie: Both of your suggested “cheating lessons” strike me as a bit childish. Dev: Speaking of cheating and children: I wonder if infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery. [Bernie and Ray shake their heads. ]

FURTHER CREDITS: Rich Aviles suggested the line, “I know what happened — we forgot to cheat!” The

infancy/adultery joke is from George Carlin.

MENTRL MRTH MRCHISMO

MENTHL MflTH MRCHISMO Manufacturing a Mathematical Spectator Suplex

203

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VISTfl

TRIPLE-FRIED idea. Although “Triple. This effect is based somewhat loosely on an Alex Elmsley

I will confess to strong and entertaining trick for lay audiences, with the routine, I having had an audience of magicians in mind when came up Although I personally use a memorized deck (actually just a half-stack) for this effect, I’ve also included a method which uses a special stack that does not have

Fried”‘” is a

to be memorized. I hope this makes the routine accessible to a wider audience.

EFFECT 9ND PRESENTRTION: The performer removes a deck of cards from its case and begins shuffling the cards. “Magicians love a good challenge. Therefore, I’m going to have not one, but three cards selected — and under extremely fair and stringent conditions. CouldI please have three volunteers?” Alice, Bob, and Charlie raise their hands. “The three

ofyou will get to make all of the decisions.” The magician divides the

deck into two halves. “We’ll gradually eliminate cards until there are just three left. Which packet should we begin with, Alice?” She points to one of the packets. “OK, we’ll use this one. The other one will be

our discard pile.”

said that these would be test conditions. And perhaps you think these cards might be marked, or that I could get some information by seeing which piles get eliminated. So I’ll keep my head turned” throughout the elimination process. “I

_4—

9' I

wanted to call this simply “Three Fry”, but was disa PP oint e dt0 fi nd out that Chris Kenner had already thought ofthat.

’2

In a parlor setting I will typically use a blindfold instead of just turning my head.

204

"

TRIPLE-FRIED

and complete the cut N . . . the mto cards three piles, as .f you were playing a a(liw :eal game Ofcards'” BObd e 5‘ e cards into three piles (nine cards each) as instructed ..Alice, lease k up . the and place it packets onegpf onto the pileaSe three ‘11:}; discard pile. Charlie. 6 same. That should leave just one packet remaining." ‘

“charlie, give the remaining packet a cut and

complete the cut. Now deal the cards

once again into three piles.” Charlie does this ( three cards in each pile). “I’d like each of you to pick up a pile, and then any two of you to place your cards onto the

discard pile.”

“Whoever has the remaining packet, please give one card to each of my other two helpers and keep one for yourself If there are extra cards left,” place them onto the discard pile.”

any

just

Wright, so we’re down from 52 cards to just three. I’d like each ofyou to please look at your card and remember it. Then place the card in your pocket, or anywhere that I won’t be able to see it.” When the spectators have done this, the magician looks back at the audience and recaps the test conditions. “The three of you made a series of choices which eventually eliminated all but three cards, and I neither looked at nor touched the cards. I don’t think it can get much fairer than that.” The performer ribbon-spreads

the cards in the discard pile face down. “Of course,

I never showed you the faces of the cards. Maybe they’re all the same?

I promised you that everything would be extremelyfair.” The performer “You can flips a few cards from the discard pile face up, and then a few more. made see that the cards are all difl’erent, and in no particular order. And had you

But no,

line such as: “You might think that I 1 will sometimes precede this with a for magicians, performing test conditions. so “504 equivoque to determine which pile would get eliminated earlier on. But I promised you I“? make sure that we eliminate exactly what you choose." subtlety was suggested to don’t mention that. This Tamarizian ”There will never be but left, cards extra any

” When

me by Caleb Wiles.

¥

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENII VISTR with

of

cards.” The performer

ended up any these diflerent choices, you could have the discard p11e and closes the Spread. onto back cards face the up quickly flips I’m trying to search through the deck to figure “However, I don’t want you to think wouldn’t conform to our test conditions.” The That missing. cards which are out handed to someone in the audience. “Here, check

cards from the discard pile are cards.” these out, make sure they’re just regular

know at this point I think you would all agree that there’s no way I could be impossible. So I’m which three cards have been chosen. And it’s true, that would “Now

going to ask each ofyou one question.” The performer turns to Alice. Wice, here’s your question — please answer truthfully.” He pauses for a couple of beats. “Beatles or Stones?” Alice, looking simultaneously puzzled and amused, says, “Beatles”. The performer now looks

at Bob. “Denny’s or IHOP?” Bob says “IHOP.” Finally, the performer turns to Charlie. “Boxers or briefi?”95 “Briefs,” Charlie responds. “Interesting... OK, I think I’ve got it. I’m going to call out three cards. If I name your card, please shout, ‘Ihatis my card! ’, show it to the audience,” and give me a high-five.”97

The performer receives three shout-outs and three high-fives

and takes a bow.

METHOD: The effect is accomplished by combining an intriguing mathematical principle with a 27-card stack which is either in memorized order or in a special order 9‘

If

performing for an audience likely to be familiar with the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I will sometimes replace the third question with. “What is the average air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”

% When

.

performing for magiaans, you could also finish by imitating the “Tossed-out Deck” ending where you name all three cards at once, and then ask everyone whose card you got right to raise their hand. Some o

9

ac

1

9"The high-fives are optional, but my friend Rich Aviles 0 nce confidently asserted that every magic trick is better with a high-five at the end.

206

TRIPLE-FRIEn

"

described below. For an optional bonus ma glam-“001” handling, the deck be marked. also could

MEMORIZED-DECK METHOD: The deck begins in

memorized order. If you’re performing with a 52- d k like to keep the bottom 25 cards in order conclusfoafi osftffi and would at the hav: effect, perform your most convincing full-deck false shuffle. If you on] a 27-card stack, or you don’t care about preserving the bottom 25 card: for a

subsequent effect, a lift shuffle (Card College, Vol. 2, pp. 257-259) works nicely here.93

ELIMINflTION PROCEDURE: explaining, “We’ll gradually eliminate cards until there are just three left...” divide the deck into two halves, with one consisting of the top 27 cards in your stack and the other consisting of the remaining 25.99 After

packet should we begin with, Alice?” If Alice chooses the pile containing the top 27 cards, proceed as in the script above: “OK, we’ll use this one. The other will be our discard pile.” If she instead chooses the other pile, say: “OK, so we’ll begin by eliminating these. This will be the start of our discard pile.” Standard “Which

equivoque stuff. The

procedure detailed in the “Presentation” section above was inspired by

and the Alex Elmsley’s effect “Animal, Vegetable and Mineral”. Despite the cuts

eliminate, the three legitimate choices (no further equivoque!) of which pile to will differ from one cards left at the end are not random: their stack numbers different ways to select three another by multiples of 9. So while there are 2,925 for the three Cards from a packet of 27, there are in fact just nine possibilities selections at the end.

\

suggesuon‘ the dialogue which follows the effect for another ' d ' breather crimp Into the 27 t h car (bottom-cutting) reverse a ”This step can be made effortless by placing

9‘

See

\

-

°f Y0ur stack.

201

I."

SHUFFLE CLUB THE BUENR VISTII selections are: The possible stack numbers of the three

1-10-19, 6-15-24,

2-11-20, 7-16-25,

3-12-21, 8-17-26.

4-13-22. 9-18-27.

5-14-23,

three selections, turn your head Once the volunteers have squirreled away the blindfold). Ribbon-spread the to face the volunteers once again (or remove your cards in the discard pile from left to right face down. “Of course, I never showed you the faces

of the cards. Maybe they’re all the same?

But no, I promised you that everything would be extremely fair.” Casually flip the rightmost (i.e., top) three cards of the discard pile face up, tossing them to the side, and then do the same with the next few cards. You are ostensibly doing this to emphasize that they’re all different, and that any of these cards could have been chosen had the spectators made different choices. While flipping over these cards, however, secretly note the identities of the first (top) and fourth cards of the discard pile. Believe it or not, this is all the information you’ll need to figure out which three cards have been selected. can see that the cards are all dijferent, and in no particular order. And had you made difi’erent choices, you could have ended up with any of these cards.” “You

Flip the face up cards back onto the discard pile, face down,

and close the spread.

“However, I don’t want you to think I’m trying to search through the deck to figure out which cards are missing. That wouldn’t conform to our test conditions.”

MHRKED DECK VHRIRNT: If the cards are marked, instead of flipping some of the cards face up you may wish simply to spread through the discards with the faces toward the spectatorsGlimpse and remember the top card as you’re picking up the discard pile, and while spreading through the pile, use the marks on the back to glimpse and remember the fourth card from the top.

hand the discards to someone in ' ' the audience as soon as you’ve .. quickly spreading finished through them sa Y in 8 Here, check these out, make In either case,

’

‘

sure they’rejust

s

regular cards.”

unanmums THE SELECTIONS: Let’s

say that the stack numbers

of the two glimpsed cards are x and

Y Your

to figure out the stack number Z of one of the selected cards The mathematics key to determining Z is to observe that, because of the underlying involved, X, Y, and Z will form (in some order) what we’ll call a triplet: three stack numbers such as 8, 5, 2 or 10, 16, 13 which each differ from another one by three (possibly after “wrapping around” from 27 back to 1, thinking of the 27 cards as comprising a cyclical stack). first task is

Some examples will hopefully make this clear. EXHMPLE 1:

In this case, we could choose either 2:8 or 2:17, since 14,1 1,8 and 14,11,17 both form a triplet. As we’ll see in a moment, it doesn’t matter which of the two possibilities we use. X=14 and Y=11.

EXRMPLE

2:

EXRMPLE

3:

for forming a triplet is X=19 and Y=25. In this case, the only possibility

2:22.

2:2. this case, the two possibilities are Z=20 stack as cyclical (like a Si Stebbins 27-card the of think if is that allow Z=2 we you fro m 26 we get 27, then 1, cards three “ads, for example), then counting up and

X223 and Y=26. In

The reason

then 2.

fact

Z. The mathematical given selections, two other NOW You will figure out the ards in the 27-

of 9. Again, this will multiple a Z by from Card stack whose stack numbers differ examples. hopefully become clear with a few

209

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE

EXEMPLE I: 26.l 00 and 17 are numbers 2:8. The other two stack EXRMPLE 2: numbers are 13 and 4. stack two other The 2:22. EXRMPLE 3:

numbers are 11 and 20. stack two other The 2:2. the

are holding, although

cards spectators That’s it — you now know which three calculations might has which one. The required mental who know don’t you they’re really quite simple and Well of bit practice with a but seem daunting,

within the reach of anyone who’s already taken

the trouble to memorize an entire

deck of cards.

REVEIILING THE SELECTIONS: which card and then to reveal has who for fish is to this at point, One possibility, ask three ridiculous nonthis information. My preference, however, is to just cards out loud, saying that if a spectator sequitur questions and then name three high-five).101 hears her card she is to yell, “That’s my card!” (and give me a

then at the Note that, if you began the performance with a full—deck false shuflle, order.102 end of this effect the bottom 25 cards of your stack will still be in

that if we had instead chosen 2:17, the other stack numbers would be 8 and 26. Either way, we get the same set of three cards at the end. '°° Notice

it would be nice if you could determine exactly who has which card, but unfortunately the method does not allow for this. This is not, by the way, due solely to the imprecise instruction, “Whoever has the rather, remaining packet, please give one card to each of my other two helpers and keep one for yourself” It is, ‘°'

an inherent limitation of the method: knowing X and Y allows you to figure out Z but does not tell you whether the card with stack number Z is on the top, middle, or bottom of the final packet of three cards.

' This means that not only can you continue with an effect which only requires a half-stack, you can also the full-stack restoration method from “Elementary, My Dear Vernon”. Or, with a small take advantage of adjustment, you could continue with “Pile Driver”, which requires knowing the top 29 cards of the deck but 102

not their order.

210

Tl“ME-Faust: ”EMORIZED-DECK-FREE METHOD; If you like

this effect but don’t use a memor.

Here is the 27-card stack there are no Clubs):

J

2-

(note that only Diamonds,

Spades and Hearts are used;

5D

10.

8s

9H

19.111

11.

QD

20. 6S

3- KS

12. 7H

21.10D

4' 8H

13- JD

22.53

5-

QS

14. 6H

23. 9D

6-

7D

15. 108

24. KH

7- 15

16. SH

25. 8D

8' 6D

17. 9S

26. QH

9. 10H

18. KD

27‘ 7S

Shuffle

the remaining 25 cards and place the 27-card stack on top.

GLIMPSING THE TWO KEY CRRDS FROM THE DISCHRD FILE: Once the volunteers have squirreled away the three selections, ribbon-spread the cards in the discard pile from left to right face down.

I never showed you the faces of the cards. Maybe they’re all the same? But no, I promised you that everything would be extremely fair.” “Of course,

the side, Casually flip the rightmost card of the discard pile face up, tossing it to and then do the same with the fourth card. Turn over one or two random cards from the center, and

left-hand then flip over a small clump of cards from the

the cards all Portion of the spread. You are ostensibly doing this to emphasize that the spectators different, and that any of these cards could have been chosen had

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

however, secretly note made different choices. While flipping over these cards, discard pile. the identities of the first and fourth cards of the

different from the The point of this modified handling (which is slightly method) is to make sure that the spectators don’t accidental]y

memorized-deck will not be completely notice any patterns in the top 24 cards, whose order random. (The bottom 25 cards, however, are in a randomly shuffled order).

and close the Spread, (Because of the possibility that there are discernible patterns in part of the discard pile, you may wish omit the step from the memorized-deck handling Where the cards from the discard pile are now handed to someone in the audience to Flip the face up cards back onto the discard pile, face down,

inspect.)

DETERMINING THE SELECTIONS: that the cards from the discard pile whose identities you have just noted are X and Y. Your first task is to figure out the identity of one of the three selections. Let’s denote by Z the selection you’re trying to identify. Because of the way the stack is constructed, X, Y, and Z will always have different suits, and their values will always be either {5,8,1}, {6,9,Q}, or {7,10,K}. This allows you to determine Z from X and Y. Some examples will hopefully make this clear. Let’s say

EXRMPLE I: X=KS and Y=10H. The missing suit is Diamonds, and the missing value from the triplet {7,10,K} is 7. So one of the spectators is holding the 7 of Diamonds. EXAMPLE 2: X=SS, Y=8D. The missing suit is Hearts, and the missing value from the triplet {5,8,1} is Jack 80 one of the spectators is holding the lack of Hearts. EXRMPLE 3:

X=QS, Y=6D. The missing suit is Hearts, and the missing value from the tr il’l“:t {6,9,Q} is 9. So one of the spectators is holding the 9H.

EngPLE 1: 2:71), Then the other two selections are the 10 of Spades and King of Hearts

2: Z=]H. Then the other two selections are the S of

EXHMPLE

EXBMPLE

Diamonds and the 8 of Spades

3:

z=9H. Then the other two selections are the 6 of Spades and the Queen of Diamonds. Another way to think about this, which might be helpful, is that it’s very much like the Si Stebbins system, except there are only three suits here instead of four and they always cycle in D-S-H order.103 So in Example 3 above, from the 9H we can go up 3 to get the Queen of Diamonds (Diamonds follows Hearts in the cyclic

order D-S-H) or down 3 to get the 6 of Spades.

CREDITS: As mentioned above, the basic dealing and elimination procedure which underlies this effect is adapted from Alex Elmsley’s trick “Animal, Vegetable and Mineral” (The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Volume 2, written by Stephen

Minch, pp. 89-92). However, as far as I know, no one has previously combined of a crib. Elmsley’s procedure with a memorized deck to eliminate the use Minch asserts that Elmsley’s procedure is based on the (Side

note: Stephen

m Raj Madhok suggests calling this stack “Tri Stebbins".

k

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

“Mutus-Nonen-Dedit-Cocis” principle, but it seems to me that the connecti0n to that principle is a bit tenuous.) Elmsley’s trick also makes use of fishing and Gray codes. “Triple-Fried” dOes "Ot use Gray codes (though they’re fascinating from a mathematical point of View),

and I’ve opted to eliminate all fishing at the expense of having to glimpse m0 of the discards. Actually, my first version of this effect was based on fishing, and it was Rich Aviles who suggested making use of the discards. A philosophical, if not methodological, influence behind this routine is Inan Tamariz’s book The Magic Way and the viewpoint expounded therein. Juan’s

basic premise is to lead the audience down a garden path of false solutions, cancelling out each one as the effect progresses and leaving your spectators, in

the end, with no explanation for what they’ve seen.’04 In the presentation fer “Triple-Fried”, I explicitly mention some of the possible methods which might occur to a magician or perceptive layperson, and I proceed to demonstrate — either explicin or implicitly — that each such explanation is wrong. For an intelligent audience, this is not just fooling but entertaining as well.‘05

*‘k‘kt [Dev performs “Triple-Frie

”

for Bernie and Ray. ]

Bernie: I think the trick would be stronger if the spectators apparently shuffle the cards themselves before all the dealing begins. You could do this with the “Daley’s Delight” switch.“

Dev: Remind me how that works?

”

'°‘

This principle is also nicely illustrated in Simon Aronson’s memorized deck effect “Some People Think” (the first trick in Bound to Please), which predates both Mnemom'ca and The Magic Way. '°’ If

your audience is not intelligent. just do the 21 Card Trick.

'°‘ From Dr. Jacob Daley’s “Daley’s Delight” (Phoenix, No. 220, 1951. pp. 878 and 881). An alternate is described in handling Darwin Ortiz's Lessons in Card Mastery, pp.190- 191.

214

TRIPLE-FRIED Bernie: At the

beginning of the trick, perhaps after a full-deck false shuffle. bottom 25 the cards hand to a spectator and

the spectator to give the cards a shuffle as

keep the top 27 for yourself. Ask

overhand shuffle.107 Offer to switch packets

don’t trust me”.

now apparently take the spectator’s packet and give her yours, but in reality back her her own packet. To do this in a deceptive you give way, grip your packet between the index and middle finger of your right hand and take the spectator’s between the thumb and index finger of the left hand. As packet you bring the hands t0gether, clip the spectators half between the thumb and index finger of the right hand as you take the packet which you shuffled with the index and middle fingers of the left hand. In a continuing movement, extend your right hand and give the spectator back the half she just shuffled. When performed You

casually and with a natural rhythm, this is quite deceptive. Dev: That’s a

good suggestion.

going to make a different kind of suggestion. What if you allowed the spectators to shuffle each of the three 3-card packets right before discarding two of them? Then, when recapping the procedure at the end, you could say that the spectators repeatedly cut and shuffled the deck, possibly causing them to misremember the conditions of the effect. I feel like there should still be a way to figure out the three selections, even with these shuffles. Ray: I was

that would work, but you might have to add or subtract-9 from either X or Y in order to form a triplet, right? For example, if the two glimpsed cards had stack numbers 23 and 11, then to form a triplet you’d have to subtract 17 9 from the first number to get 14 and 11. The value of Z would then be eithber or 8. Either way, the stack numbers of the three selections would end up emg Dev: Yes, I guess

8.

l7, and 26.

‘

' " the “ Underhanded O verhand Shuffle, from his Garrett in ' F" example, you could do Dan Garretts

‘ m

U.S.A.

lecture notes.

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

but I’m 3.180 Bernie: You’re way off in math land now and I’m completely lost, which then become not convinced that this is a good idea. Shuffling three cards, the three selections, might just emphasize the fact that the cards weren t shuffled after the previous round of dealing. Ray: Hmmm, I’ll have to try it out in the real world to decide.

Bernie: Could the packets of nine cards be shuffled? That would definitely make

the trick even more fooling. Dev:

I

agree that it would be more fooling, but unfortunately I don’t think the

underlying mathematics permit it. Life can be cruel sometimes. Bernie: Yeah, like when you’re attempting comedy. Dev: Ah, thanks for reminding me. Speaking of math, did you know that the Romans were really good at algebra? It was easy for them, because X was always 10.

Bernie: Shoot, we’re out of time again, aren’t we? That’s a pity, because I would have loved to hear more jokes about Roman numerals from Dev. Dev: Here’s a quick one, then. Do you know why my son’s elementary school math teacher was really proud of him? Ray: No, Dev... why? Dev: He got a C on his Roman numerals test!

Bernie: OK, that’s a wrap, guys — until next time!

216

“LE

DRIVER

PILE DRIVER This is my version

of the (in)famous 21 Card Trick. I hesitated at first to incl d

routine in the book because (a) there’s a lot of procedure ihvolved (altholilgl: much of it is sort of a ‘meta-joke’); and (b) I don’t know this

how many readers

really go through the trouble to master the mental calculations required it. However, enough magicians have waxed enthusiastic about the to perform routine that I decided, for better or worse, to publish it here. "the method is, I will

hope you’ll agree, kind of cool — and I know from experience that it’s extremely fooling. 'Ihe presentation can be quite entertaining as well, but this depends, of course, both on your charisma and on your audience’s familiarity with (and

nostalgia for) the classic 21 Card Trick. With those caveats in mind, here is my humble take on an anti-classic of magic.

EFFECT END PRESENT!" ION: ‘hre you familiar with the classic 21 Card Trick, where the magician deals the cards into three piles and asks the spectator three times which pile her card is in?” Joanna nods her head yes. “It’s afamous trick but, in my opinion, it has some majorflaws. First of all, in the usual version there simply isn’t enough dealing. So I developed a new version of the trick which uses 27 cards instead of 21.” should be about 27

cuts off slightly more than half the deck. “That and finds that Cards. Let’s check.” He counts the cards quickly in groups of three To make things he in fact cut off 29 cards. “No problem, we’ll get rid of two cards. The magician

” hands the 29-card packet to "lore interesting, lets do it this way. 'Ihe magician asks Joanna to select any loanna and invites her to give it a quick shu fl‘le. He then and to set them asrde. tw0 cards the

from

packet

217

CLUB THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE

As I do so, please think of One .7oanna I’m going to deal the cards into three piles. of like you to Settle the cards. You can change your mind if you like, but eventually Id deals the cards into three on just one card.” The magician slowly and deliberately face up piles of nine cards each. “Do you have a

card in mind?” Joanna confirms that she does.

“Excellent. In which pile is your card,

Joanna?” Joanna points to the pile on her lefi_

usual 21 Card Trick, when the magician picks up the piles the One containing your card always goes in the middle. 'Ihen — due to some mathematical principle — after three rounds of dealing your card always ends up at position #11, Well, in my version, your pile doesn’t always have to go in the middle — it can go on top, for example.” Suiting actions to words, the magician places the pile on Joanna’s left on top of the other two. “Now, in the

The magician flips the combined packet face down and begins dealng the cards once more into three face up piles. “Also, in my version, the card you’re thinking of won’t always end up at position #11. It will end up in a position we don’t yet know which will be determined by your choices.”

The magician finishes dealing and asks Joanna which

pile her card is in this time.

She indicates the center pile. The magician scoops up

again flips the combined packet face down.

the three piles and once

“Finally, in my version, the last round is dealt face down — just to make things more interesting.” The magician deals the cards face down and fans them toward

Joanna, one pile at a time, asking if she sees her card. When Joanna indicates that she sees her card, the

magician recombines the three packets one last time and hands it (face down) to Joanna. “Joanna,

I have no idea which card you’re thinking ofi but we’re about to find out.

In the very beginning, you shufiled everything up, removed two cards and placed those cards aside. Even you don’t know which

at random,

cards were set aside,

_’

PILE DRIVER carted? Joanna confirms that this is the case. “Well, if we add up the values of we’ll cards, arrive at a random number between 2 and 26 That the tWO mystery number is gomg to indicate a position in the packet which you’re now holdin 8' the ” two cards which over Please turn you set aside the two cards, showing a Queen and a 7. “Queens Joanna turns over are worth 12 makes 19. Please deal down exactly 19 cards.” Joanna deals down cards as so that the magician counts out loud. When Joanna reaches the 19th card, the magician

asks her to name, for the first time, the card she’s merely thinking of. She names

the King of Diamonds. Joanna turns over the 19th card. It’s the King of Diamonds.

OVERVIEW OF THE METHOD:

cards which are initially cut of? are preset, although they can be in any order. You are thus able to determine the combined value of the two cards which

The 29

through a clocking procedure. The mentally selected card is brought to the desired position by combining the piles in a specific order (using some fancy mental arithmetic). have been set aside

THE DETHILS: Start with any known bank of 29 cards on top of the deck in any order. You will either want to remember the bottom card of this bank, in-jog or hold a break under this card, or place a bottom-cutting reverse breather crimp into the card (so that you can easily cut off 29 cards during the routine). THE

“HIE-SHOW WORK”:

certain total

determine

a performing the routine, you will need to to associated to the bank of cards which you’re using.108 To do this, you are going values of all the cards “cast out 305”.109 What this means is that you will add up the 11, Queens being 12, in your bank of 29 cards (with Aces being 1, Jacks being exceeds 30 you will subtract and Kings being 13), but any time the running total 30 to keep the running total between 0 and 29 (inclusive). Before

'°' This Which

5m" for deck. but in practice I typically use a shuttled from a the fly can in principle be done on I’ve already done the required calculations.

follow are all done “modulo ”The technical term for this is that the calculations which

k

219

30".

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

An example will hopefully clarify matters a bit. Suppose the first 10 cards in your bank of 29 are an Ace, 5, 4, King, Jack, 10, 9, Queen, 3, and 10 in that order (suits are irrelevant here). After the first four cards, your running tOta] is 1+5+4+13=23. The next card is a Jack, which brings the running total to 34, but since this is bigger than 30 you just remember “4”. This is your new running total, You now add 10 and then 9 to get 23. The next card is a Queen, which brings the

running total to 35, but you just remember “5”. You then add 3 and 10 to get 18. Continue in this manner until you have gone through the whole 29-card packet, and remember the final “total” which you obtain. We’ll call this number “B”, The mental gymnastics which follow are easier if B happens to be 27, so I will first explain what to do in this situation. You can of course modify the bank of cards which you’re using to guarantee that this is the case, and that’s what I typically do. For example, if you’re an Aronson stack user, you might be interested to know that the first 29 cards happen to add up (after casting out 305, as above) to 29”"

CLOCKING TI-IE DECK: After you cut off 29 cards, have the spectator shuffle the packet, remove two cards, and set those cards aside. You will determine the combined value of the two removed cards by clocking the deck (again casting out 305) as you deal out the first round of 27 cards from left to right into three face piles. The procedure up is the same as the one you used to secretly calculate B, except that you need to do it in real time in front of your audience as opposed to slowly and privately at home. This takes some practice, but it’s quite doable once you’ve rehearsed the mental mechanics. Let’s call the value which you obtain through this clocking procedure “X”. FIGURINE OUT WHERE THE PILH 60: Assuming that B=27, you can ignore B and just focus on the number X. We’ll use X to figure out where to place the pile containing the spectator’s thought-0f ”° Coincidence?

"

Maybe. Anyway. if you cull either the 2C 28 or to position 29 (displacing the 4H to position 30) and then use the top 29 cards as your bank, you will have B=27. Alternatively, simply swap lh‘ t0p card (IS) and bottom card (9D) of the stack.

4’

PILE DRIVER

of the three rounds of dealing.'” Here’s how: First calculate the remamder when X is divided by 3. The result will be either 0, l, or 2 and it will

card after each

encode where to place the pile with the spectator’s thought-of card — 0 means 1 means middle, and 2 bottom, means top (when the piles are face up). Turn the combined packet face down and deal the cards once again into three face up piles from left to right. Thankfully, you do not need to do any clocking around. What you do need to do is modify X to get a new value which this time we’ll call Y. To do this, subtract the remainder which you obtained in the first step from X to get a new number, which will automatically be a multiple of 3.

number by 3 to get Y (and forget about X, you won’t need it again). Now figure out the remainder when Y is divided by 3. This will tell you where to Divide this

place the pile 1

containing the spectator’s thought-of card (again 0 means bottom, means middle, and 2 means top).

Turn the combined packet face down and deal the cards once again from left to right into three piles, but this time the dealing is done face down. Subtract the remainder which you obtained in the second step from Y and divide the result by 3 to get Z (and now forget about Y). The remainder when Z is divided by 3 will once more tell you where to place the pile containing the spectator’s thought-of 0 means bottom, 1 means middle, and 2 means top, but this card. Once

again time the piles are assembled face down instead of face up. EXHMPLE 1:

of the two missing cards is 27Suppose X=14 (which means that the sum 14 divided by 3 leaves a X=13, but we don’t actually need to know this). Since the spectator’s chosen card remainder of 2, in the first round the pile containing about X and is assembled on top of the other two face up piles. You now forget 3 leaves a remainder of l, instead remember Y = (X-2)/3 = 4. Since 4 divided by chosen card is assembled in the second round the pile containing the spectator’s ' ' right’). all that's going to happen is . . ' '” If You' fluent With 3 ) arithmetic (and who isnt, ( base R “may to most order (l.e.. from the least significant rse B in reve of ' that We're going to utilize the ternary digits need to know anything abou t actually dont don't panic: you siEllilicant digit). If that means nothing to you, arithmetic to perform the required calculations. -

s

""er

¥

221

D

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

in the middle of the three face up piles. You now forget about Y and inStead remember Z = (Y—l)/3 = 1. Since 1 divided by 3 leaves a remainder of l, in the third and final round the face down pile containing the spectator’s chosen card is again assembled in the middle of the three face down piles. EXRMPLE 2:

Suppose X=24. Since 24 divided by 3 leaves a remainder of O, in the first round the pile containing the spectator’s chosen card is assembled on the bottom of the other two face up piles. You now calculate Y = X/3 = 8. Since 8 divided by 3 leaves a remainder of 2, in the second round the pile containing the spectator’s chosen card is assembled on top of the other two face up piles. Finally, you calculate Z = (Y-2)/3 = 2. This means that in the third and final round, the face down pile containing the spectator’s chosen card is assembled on top of the other two face

down piles.”2 Believe it or not, the spectator’s mentally selected card will now be at position 27X, which is the sum of the values of the two cards which were initially set aside.

MONKEYING IN THE MIDDLE: If the remainder when X is divided by 3 is equal to l (which means that the pile containing the spectator’s card needs to be placed in the middle at the end of the first round of dealing), it’s best to alter the above script a bit. In this case I will delay saying the line, “In my version, your pile doesn’t always have to go in the middle” until I reach a round where the spectator’s pile doesn’t go in the middle. On the other hand, if the pile containing the spectator’s card does not go in the middle at the end of the first round of dealing, but in a subsequent round it is supposed to go in the middle, I will usually say at this latter point, “Of course, your pile is allowed to go in the middle, it just doesn’t have to go there,” as I place the spectator’s pile in the middle.

”1

I

If this seems like an insurmountably difficult amount of mental gymnastics, you can either admire the underlying mathematics from afar and move on to the next effect, or else make up a crib sheet (see below

for details).

1

PILE DRIVER other words, the script for this trick should be somewhat fluid. It is not different scripts for all the different situations which necessary to memorize each could conceivably crop up, though — just say whatever makes sense at stage of the trick. In

given

worth knowing about and being Having said that, there are two special cases X=13 or X=16. prepared for, which occur when LUCKY

13?

will end up in the middle in [f the value of X happens to be 13, the spectator’s pile this occurs). When X=l3, I all three phases (and this is the only value of X where

middle

in the therefore act like it’s important that the spectator’s pile always goes the card you’re and place additional emphasis on the lines: “Also, in my version, will end up in a position we thinking of won’t always end up at position #11. It know which will be determined by your choices.” This is actually a great

don’t

yet

alike would argue: It’s completely baffling to magicians and laypeople card ending up at how following such a rigid rule could result in the spectator’s a “randomly” determined position.”3

outcome,

1

NOT-SO-SWEET 16:

alter the

a bit is

script other special situation which might force you to the spectator’s card will end up if the value of X happens to be 16. In this case, trick, so I simply omit the line, “Also, in at position 11 at the conclusion of the

The only

won’t always end up at position #11. It will of thinking card you’re the version, my will be determined by your choices.” which know don’t yet end up in a position we

WHIIT IF EOUIIL

I

WENT TO USE ll BHNK

0F CHRDS WHERE

B IS NOT

T0 27?

first round of 27 cards that case, after dealing out the will obtain a number and clocking the sum (casting out 305 along the way), you which all further calculations value X upon (the which we’ll call A. To calculate I'm glad you asked. In

‘ ‘

chance, in what happened (we ended up, by exactly is this Tamariz, I showed this effect to luan the X=13 case) and he was totally fooled. m When

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTII THE BUENII subtracting formula X = A B + 27, the use based) are 26 inclusive. that X is between 0 and —

30 if needed in Order to

guarantee

EXHMPLEI:

(In this case the combined Value A=l3,B=24.ThenA-B+27= don’t need to know this.) though 11, you A B = is cards of the two removed 16, so X = 16.

EXHMPLEZ:

this example the combined A=29,B=17.ThenA-B+2 7 = 39, so X = 9. (In don’t

value of the two removed cards is to know this.)

B -

A + 30 = 18, though again you

need

effect I said earlier, it’s easier to perform the Like asked. who the one Hey, you’re X is equal to A, if you just arrange the 29-card packet so that B = 27. In that case which simplifies the mental work that you need to do.

RDDITIONIIL PRESENTRTIONIIL PLOY: middle,” After I say, “In my version, your pile doesn’t always have to go in the instead of saying, “It can go on top, for example,”l will often say, “Lets put one of ” the other piles there — which one of these piles should go in the middle? as I point to the two piles not containing the spectator’s card. This not only (apparently) gives the spectator additional control over the proceedings, it also focuses the spectator’s attention on a red herring (which pile goes in the middle) instead of what’s really important (namely, in which position the spectator’s pile gets placed). This presentational variation can be used in any and all rounds where the spectator’s pile is not supposed to go in the middle. CRIB SHEET: If you find the mental calculations required for determining where to place the spectator’s pile in each round too daunting, it’s possible to bypass these calculations entirely by using the following crib sheet (which can be glued to the

underside of the card box, for example):

224

PILE DRIVER value of X

Pile Sequence

Value ofX

2

200

Pile Sequence

15

211 021

4

010 110

14 16

5

2 l 0

121

17

6

020

22 l

18

7

120

002

19

8

22°

102

20

9

001

21

202 012

10

101.

22

1

12

11

20

1

23

2

1

12

011

24

022

13

111

25

122

26

222

2

CREDITS:

in This effect was inspired in part by the discussion of “Gergonne’s pile problem” and Mystery. However, Chapter 3 of Martin Gardner’s book Mathematics, Magic, a thought-of card to any of 27 possiblepositions by picking the method for

getting

all the way back to 1769 (Edmé-Gilles order in specific goes a three the piles up 46 of the Hugard Guyot’s Nouvelles Recreations Physiques et Mathematiques, p. itself go back even further: a 15translation). The origins of the 21 Card Trick Galasso, in a trick whose title card version was published in 1593 by Horatio and guess what it is”. See the card of a think have someone to translates as “How Card Trick” for more information. Conjuring Credits entry for “Twenty-one / Guyot effect with a the behind Gergonne mathematics The idea to combine the clocking procedure is my own.

presentational reasons, but for down face I (10 the third round of dealing face the third round of dealing do If you arithmetic. also simplifies the mental in posmon 27-X rather end will up card “P. then (when B=27) the thought-of it

than X.

THE BUENII VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

VflRIflTIONS PERT III (The Buena Vista Shuflle Club)

226

VIIRIIITIONS PERT Ill

Dev: Bernie, you promised you were going to Perform a somewhat geeky routine which Ray and I would love. Bernie: Yes,

this is my “one degree”'” variation on a Pit Harling effect called

“Chaos (Mandelbrod’s Revenge)”.“S Despite the fact that the whole presentation it’s actually a very is centered around mathematics and there’s a lot of dealing, entertaining trick. For that alone, Pit deserves to be canonized. Ray: I love

Pit Hartling.

Dev: Get in line, Ray — we all love Pit.

flVENGING MRNDELBRO‘I’: the cards down. He asks Bernie gives the deck a quick overhand shuffle and sets his head Ray is asked to Dev to cut and complete. Dev does, and as Bernie turns card and Ray to take the next one do the same. Bernie asks Dev to take the top his card. Bernie asks Dev to place after it. Each is asked to look at and remember the same. He then asks Dev and Ray, his card back on top, then asks Ray to do Bernie turns his head back toward in succession, to cut and complete. Finally, the table. cards are now buried somewhere in the and deck the your touched “Since I haven’t that there’s no possible way for me to untrained eye the to would middle, it appear algorithm to do just mathematical complex a to use find them. However, I’m going that.” "‘ As christened by john Guastaferro.

the trick. Pit Hartling spells the 12-17. In the subtitle for notes, pp. lecture Little Green Lecture of a delicious which is also the Yiddish name Mandelbrod. as would be mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot's last name h translation for this delicacy Englis closest the I believe dessert grandmother used to make. "5 From The

my

'lcwish biscotti".

227

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

important thing is to be completely methodical, because this trick is based on mathematics and thereis no room for error. 80 first of all, we need to give the deck some very precise shufl’les.” Bernie gives the deck two studied weave shuffles. “Which we then follow with two meticulous cuts.” Bernie cuts the deck twice. “The

“Next, we deal the cards into piles following a strictly regular pattern.” Bernie begins dealing the cards out into two rows of four piles. “You must never break

the pattern and just deal the cards however you like... [Bernie begins dealing

the cards erratically, changing the order of which card goes onto which pile] because that would destroy the algorithm and make finding the selected cards

impossible.”

‘Another thing you must never do is switch two the of pilesfor no particular reason, [Bernie switches two of the piles.] And most importantly, never ever just smoosh the cards together in a haphazard way.” Bernie does all the just that,

combining

cards in the bottom row together into a single lump. He does the same with the cards in the top row, picking up the resulting pile and throwing the cards in small clumps onto the tabled pile. He picks up the resulting chaotic mess and squares the cards. up After a brief pause, Bernie continues: “But as long as you’ve followed the algorithm precisely, its very easy to locate the two selected cards.” Bernie makes a pressure fan with the faces toward himself, quickly removing two cards and placing them the table. He asks Dev and Ray to name their onto selections. 'Ihe tabled cards are turned over, and they’re the chosen cards. Ray: Love it. Dev: What did you change from Pit’s original routine? Bernie: I liked everything about the trick when I first read it except for the selection procedure, which required having one spectator select a red card and the other a black card from a tabled spread, and then having them exchange the positions of their cards. That felt overly procedural to

me, and also worrisomelY _4-—

vnnlarlous mm m

the additional advantage of simplifying the setup for the trick Pit’s original setup is obtained by giving a red/black separated deck three faro shuffles (they can be in- or out-faros, it doesn’t matter). In my version, the initial setup consists of alternating reds and blacks, which can be obtained from a red/black with separation just one faro shuffle. The other two faro shuffles are done as part of the presentation, after the selections have been made. That takes the trick out of the “self-working” arena, but I think the trade-off is well worth it.“7 In addition, while the two faros do need to be perfect, the script is all about precision, so you can take your time. This has

Dev: That’s

an interesting point. The most difficult thing for me about faro shuffling is making it look natural and casual, and in this trick you don’t have to worry about that. Bernie: Exactly. Anyway, the rest but the gist is certainly the same.

of the trick is

Pit’s. I

modified the script a bit,

the premise of moving from precise to chaotic actions while playing the straight man all the way through. I think I have a pretty good idea how it works, but can you walk us through the handling anyway? Ray: I like

Bernie: Sure. It’s all written up in detail in Pit’s lecture notes, of course, but here’s the quick version.118 I won’t explain why it works, but if you go through the

Procedure with the cards face up you’ll see exactly what’s happening.

\

"° From

Sonata, pp. 21 1-214.

Pit replied: “You are absolutely Pit Hartling seems to When Bernie emailed this suggestion to him. agree. . shuffles in r '8'“. Ofcourse; that is much better! I think for those advantages, havmg to do t hose t w o faro perfo"fiance is a small price to pay.” "7

\

_

' for his e fiec t. unmanks to Pit Harding {Or allowing Bernie to explain the method and handling ‘

229

THE BUENI VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

already mentioned, the deck begins in alternating red/black order. You can false shuflle if you like — there are lots of ways to overhand shuffle While maintaining the red/black alternation.”9 After the spectators cut and complete, have the first spectator lift off and remember the top card; the second spectatm does the same with the next card. But they put the cards back on top in the opposite order from which they came. Now have the spectators cut again, and commence with the “algorithm”. As

I

Begin with two faro shuffles; they can be in or out. Next, double-undercut three

cards from the top to the bottom. Then start dealing the cards into two rows of four piles each. Let’s number the piles in the top row 1-4 (from left to right) and the piles in the bottom row 5-8. The first two rounds of dealing are done normally, i.e., 1-2-3-4-5-6—7-8. But after establishing this pattern, you proceed to break it. You might deal, for example, 2-4-3-1-5-8-7-6 and then 4-2-3-1-6-8-7-5. The only constraints are that in each group of eight, the first four cards are dealt

to the top row with the third card going into pile 3, and the second four cards are dealt to the bottom row with the third card going into pile 7. I improvise the exact order.

Continue dealing like this until you have just four cards left. Now take two cards in each hand, with the first and third cards going into the right hand and the second and fourth cards into the left. The left hand dr0ps its cards onto pile 3 and the right-hand cards go onto pile 4. The next line of script is, “Another thing you should never do is switch two of the piles for no particular reason.” As you say, this, exchange the 3

piles in positions and 7. You’re now basically done — all the cards in each row will have the same color except for the two selections. At this point you can just “smoosh” all of the cards in the top row together, then do the same with the bottom row. NOW combine the two piles in any way which maintains the color separation.

“9 For

example, run any odd number of cards singly from the top to the bottom. and then throw ofl" and often repeat as as you like. 0r cut below a card having the opposite color from the face card of the deck. run singly any even number of cards. and then throw off.

_"

VflRIflTIONS PERT Ill

conclude by doing a pressure fan and — as quickly as possible — upwill 'ogging and then removing the two odd-colored cards in the spread. They immediately stick out, so this is of course a very easy thing to do.”0 YOU

Juan Tamariz has an interesting new ending for “Neither Blind Nor Silly” —— which he now calls “Neither Deaf Nor Stupid” — on his recent DVD set Magic From My Heart. The same principle could be used to conclude Pit’s trick, if you tell like. The basic idea is that the spectators find each other’s cards because you each of them to look through one of the halves and take out any card which Ray:

“stands out”. Iuan has some great additional subtleties, though, which are worth checking out.

those DVDs yet. I’ve spent way too much money on magic and for the sake of my marriage I’m trying to cool down the spending a

Dev: I haven’t seen lately,

little bit.

Bernie: Wait until your wife finds the credit card bill where it says that you purchased a set of DVDs called “Woodyland.”

blacks, despite the at the conclusion of this routine the deck is separated into reds and with a trick such as Paul cOmpletely chaotic-looking procedure. so it’s a wonderful moment to follow up "° Note that

Curry’s

¥

"Out of this World".

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

MQJOR GRFFS Tricked—Out Miracles

for the Conniving Conjuror

S.O.L. S.O.L.121 is

my favorite “impossible card location”. I usually reserve it for latenight sessions with magicians when I’m lookin for g something really fooling to perform, but it also resonates with ( and fools

the pants off) lay audiences. Give S.O.L. a try — I think you’ll be impressed with how strong it is.

EFFECT 9ND PRESENTRTION: a magician is incredibly rewarding and fun, but it does have one big disadvantage: It’s much harder to experience the feeling of being completely fooled “Being

by a magic trick when you know a lot

about how magic works. And that’s a shame,

because most magicians get into the art precisely because they love thatfeeling. . “Well, the trick I’m

about to show you is something] developed specifically in order

impart that childlike sense of wonder once again to my magician friends who have already seen every card trick under the sun.” to

“David, in a moment I’m going to ask you to cut the deck — like this.”The performer demonstrates giving the deck a complete cut and then hands the deck to David. “Please cut and complete. Now cut again if you like. When you’re finished, please remove the top card, look at it, and place it face down on the table.” “Now

hand me the rest of the deck, please. As you can see [the performer spreads

and in no through the cards face up in his hands], the cards are all diflerent

tell you which card you selected. apparent order. Nevertheless, I will attempt to which for. Some theories hav: been. am not at liberty to reveal what the title of this trick stands be we its a Others Location Overkill . “Shuffle put forward include “Stack Obliterating Location" and ethod. description of how spectators feel trying to figure out the m m

I

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

The performer puts the deck down on top of the card box and gazes intently into ” David’s eyes. “Its a red card... it’s a heart... it’s the lack of Hearts! The performer turns over David’s card and shows everyone that it is indeed the Jack of Hearts.

that that’s a pretty good trick. And I used to do it that way all the time... However, I realized that the conditions weren’t fair enough “Now, hopefully you’d agree

to truly amaze my fellow magicians. You see, we never shuflled the cards, and magicians typically insist that the cards be shufiled so that they know they’re not in some kind of special order.” The performer gives the deck a couple of legitimate riffle shuffles, followed by an overhand shuffle. when I showed you that the cards were all diferent, I looked briefly at the faces of the cards, and magicians know that this could potentially give me clues. So this time, I won’t look at the faces of any of the cards.” 14150,

also had you cut the cards right here on the table, and magicians know that I could conceivably get information by watching where you cut. 80 this time, I ’d like you to cut the cards under the table.” The magician hands the deck to David. “I

“Please take the deck beneath the table

and cut as many times as you like. Now remove the top card — or the bottom card, it’s up to you — and sit on it without looking. That way, even you don’t know what the card is, so I won’t be able to extract any information by staring into your eyes.” David follows the instructions

and sits on a card without looking at it.

“One more thing: Magicians don’t trust me when I touch the cards after the selection has been made, even if the deck has been shuffled and cut under the table multiple times. So when I do this trick for magicians, I never touch the cards again. Here, place the deck face down into the card box for me.” The performer holds back the side tabs

and top flap on the card box and

turns his head while David places the deck into the case. The performer closes the box and places it into the breast pocket of his jacket. “Under such strict conditions,

even the most knowle dgeable magicians in the world would probably feel astonished if I was able to determine your card at this point.

234

8.0.L. B!” that’s exactly what I intend to do! I believe that it’s a black card it’s the 2 of Clubs! Take a look...”

'

it’s

a Club“

David retrieves the card that he‘s been sitting on and turns it over. It's the 2 of Clubs.

wunr YOU‘LL

NEED:

This effect uses a special deck in which every other card has been trimmed short (like a Svengali deck, but without any duplicate cards; we’ll refer to this as a

“long-and-short deck”). In addition, the long cards are marked (for both suit and value) on the backs. The cards begin in a known stack order, which could either be a memorized stack or an order such as Si Stebbins which allows you to determine quickly, given any card, the identity of the next card in the stack (as well as the previous one).

put together such a deck yourself is to purchase a deck of short cards and a deck of marked cards with matching backs. (You could also mark the backs yourself instead of buying marked

The simplest way to

cards, for example using Pete McCabe’s PM Card Mark System.) Now set up your stack using short cards in all of the odd positions and marked long cards in all of the even

positions!”

to cut a small rectangular hole out of the lower right-hand corner of the flap side of the card box -— this is often referred to as an “X-ray case” (Photo 41).

You will also need

that and long cards in odd positions. which means could also put the short cards in even positions (Then which are left over after making the first one. cards the deck using “5.0L" you can prepare a second with this trick and you'll have made your sell the backup deck to a magician friend after fooling them '2‘ You

money back.)

THE BUEN ll

CLUB VISTR SHUFFLE

In addition, place a small tear into the

upper left-hand corner of the non-flap side of the card box so that you can peek the back of the top card as you’re closing the flap of the cased deck by gently peeling back the non-flap side just a bit. The exact location and size of the tear will depend on how your particular deck is marked; see Photos 42 and 43 for an example with CardShark’s Phoenix Back cards. If you use Penguin’s Maiden Back marked decks, you don't even need to make a tear in the card box, as a gentle squeeze will suffice to read the marks (Photo 44).123 METHOD END HENDLING: The first time the spectator selects a card, the face card of the deck is used as a ' key to figure Out what the selection is ('1t Wlll ' be th e next card in the stack). Pretty standard stuff.

s

D

8.0.L. After the first phase is finished, replace the selected card back on top and cut it to the mlddle’ making sure that the top card of the deck is now a short card.

second phase, you riffle shuffle the cards in such a way that all of the short-long pairs stay paired. (For this, you need to shuffle the way that laypeople usually do, With the €3de held by their narrow edges, and not the way magicians and casino dealers often do where the cards are held by their long edges.) You’ll find that this is quite easy to do with just a little bit of practice. A handling tip when performing for magicians is to riffle gently — believe it or not, a lot of magicians can hear the difference between a normal deck and a Svengali-style long-and-short deck when they are shuffled. (A long-and-short deck makes a much louder “clicking” sound if not handled with a soft touch). But again, with just a bit of practice, it’s quite easy to minimize this discrepancy.

In the

Although the principle is less well-known, it’s also possible to overhand shuffle a '24 long-and-short deck without destroying the short and long pairs. Incorporating this technique will make “S.O.L.” even more baffling for magicians. To accomplish the overhand shuffle, hold the deck loosely in your right hand with the faces of the cards toward your left hand and the backs toward your right palm. The left thumb pulls off a block of cards, allowing a few pairs to fall into the left hand. cards into the left hand. Repeat this action, with the left thumb continuing to pull in the right hand’s grip, you’ll lfyou experiment a bit with the prOper tension cards come to the face as you shuffle, which means that no find

that only long Pair has been separated.

deck beneath the table (or behind her back, now have the spectator cut the either the top or bottom card, remove n), situatio depending on the performing (depending once again on the and either sit on the card or place it in her pocket instructed to place the deck face then is The spectator Performing situation).

You

Multitude. See also “The

booklet for Vincent Hedan’s technique from the instructional Vol. 3 (p. 67). Denis Behr’s Handcrafted Card Magic. Denis in Deck” Overhand Shuffle of a Long-Short reference I found is shuffle technique. The earliest hand over this .. writes, “I am not sure who first discovered 266 by Douglas Hood. 1950) page on in Ab'aCadabra, Vol. 9. No. 255 (May 20. m I learned this

‘

231

THE BUENR VISTII SHU-FFLE CLUB

down into the card box as you hold the box open toward her, flap-side down. As this happens, glimpse the mark on the back of the top card. Or — even better turn your head while the deck is being placed into the box, and get the required peek as you close the flap. The idea here is to pull back the non-flap side of the card box gently as you fold over the side tabs and close the flap. Pull back just

‘

enough so that you can peek the mark on the back of the top card. Be careful not to expose the rectangular window in the flap side of the card box as the deck is placed into the case, or as you close up the box.‘25 There are now two possibilities, depending on what you see:

If the top card is a (marked) long card then the spectator’s card is the one which precedes the top card in the stack order. 2. If the top card is an (unmarked) short card then, after the card box flap is closed, peek the lower-right index of the face card of the deck using the X-ray window. This is done as you place the cased deck off to the side or into your jacket pocket. In this situation, the spectator’s card is the one which follows the bottom card in the stack order. 1.

HEY. DO THRT “GRINI: Note that the trick can immediately be repeated, because you can do the first phase the same way you do the second phase: If the top card is marked, use it as a key; if not, use the bottom card (by openly glimpsing it rather than using the X-ray case).

CREDITS: I

came up with this routine after seeing Vincent Hedan demonstrate some of the effects from Multitude, which is his take on the classic “Multi-Efl'ect Deck’f In the Multi-Effect Deck, the short and long cards are paired mates, so for example the KC would be paired with the KS. I started exploring applications of a different pairing system based on alternating short and long cards in my ‘1’

One way to prevent exposing the window is to inserted into the box.

S.O.L. memorized stack!” To my knowledge the idea of combining long-andcards with a memorized deck first ; short ppeared in print in the August 2005 Linking Ring.127

told me that David Finkelstein independently developed a l:dtronsop somew at sum ar (unpublished) effect which predates “S.O.L.” David’s routine did not have the two-phase Structure of “S.O.L.”, however, nor did it utilize marked cards or an X-ray case. Simon

The “X-ray case” was invented by Clinton Burgess (“Novel Reading of Cards” in Ellis Stanyon’s Magic, Vol. 4, No. 5, Feb. 1904, p.55).

had at one point planned to market this effect through Penguin Magic, but we discovered shortly before production was to begin that Owen Packard had released a product with a similarly gaffed deck, called The Rama Deck, nearly stand-alone a decade earlier. We therefore decided not to market S.O.L. as a subtleties product. However, since my presentation and some of the handling the modifications to the card box) are completely different, Owen Packard I

(e.g.,

here. kindly gave his permission for me to publish this routine

“I’m going to show you one of the original script for S.O.L. simply began: when we’re showing each other card tricks late at eflects that I use to fool magicians still use it sometimes, Vincent Hedan and that presentation, like I night.” While conceit which you find above, where resonant emotionally suggested the more difficulty that knowledgeable magicians the becomes core trick’s the spiritual which originally drew them to magic. have feeling the sense of amazement

My

of combining a memorized deck concept the red explo also Vol. 3, is '“ Vincent Hedan informed me later on that he has from Handcrafted Card Magic. ry". Memo “Photographic S.O.L.). . . with IOng-and-short cards. Denis Behr’s . mut‘m e long after creating Demss discovered I (though . a another devious application of this principle remark simply says: An Idea ing The Linking: out this reference. up and short cards with the Thanks to Simon Aronson for pointing 3 cc k of Ion g Make up work: Memorized Deck 26 key cards and several from Norman Beck for those who do you This gives long. number cards being Odd number cards

being short and the even

added weapons.” (p. 104)

¥

239

THE BUENR VISTII SHUFFLE CLUB

As with “Triple-Fried”, the philosophy expounded in Iuan Tamariz’s book The Magic Way played an important guiding role in constructing the presentation for this effect.

*ttfi [Dev performs

“S. O.L.” for

Bernie and Ray]

Bernie: If you marked all of the

case?

cards, wouldn’t that obviate the need for an

X-ray

care about emphasizing the fact that you never look at the faces of any cards, then you don’t need the X-ray case. But you don’t need to mark the short cards for that either. Bernie: Sorry, I was missing the point — I get it now.

ages to using an S.O.L. . deck which is in Si or any order m which the cards Stebbins order, alternate red-black. The red-black alternation at the end of the effect you’d be left use to perform other effects such as z’s “Neither Blind Nor Silly”.128

240

8.0.L. Bernie: Or, by Simply dealing the deck into two piles, you’d have a red-black

separated deck Wthl‘l you could use to perform “Out of This World”

Fields published a clever technique for separating out the short and long halves of a deck like this which doesn’t require dealing into two iles '29 the side The basic idea is that you first bevel the deck and run your thumb down a Producing small air pockets between the cards. Then, by holding the deck in suitably relaxed grip between the fingertips and thumb, you allow all the short cards to fall out from between the long ones. The key is to make sure that there’s sufficient air between the cards, and to hold the deck as lightly as possible. I never took the time to master the move myself, but I’ve seen it done and it looks really good when performed well. Ray: Jason

Dev: “S.O.L.” followed by “Out of This World” would be a killer double-header.

Speaking of which, I need to head out to the Coliseum now playing the Orioles in a double-header baseball game today. Ray:

-

the A’s are

in common with Dev: Do‘you know what this year’s Baltimore Orioles have Michael Jackson? Ray: No, tell us, Dev.

Dev: They

both wear a glove on one hand for no apparent reason.

“Neither Blind Nor ~43. and Juan Tamariz's 37 pp. . Repertoire. .. '” Asi Wind's “True Colors" can be found in Avenging perform used to be also ould alternating setup c Sm)" is in Sonata. pp. 211-214. A red-black Mindelbrot’.

the Jason Fields technique 54-57). You c ould also use 2016, pp. mber ""111: O'Ferrall Display” (Genii'. Septe Richardson's Rounders. rather than Barrie deck ‘0 Perform 'Banned for Life” with 3 Ion g-and-short

g

241

SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE

OUTLIER It has a pre mise which audiences to perform. routines favorite This is one of my in walk—around, close-up, find interesting and memorable, it can be performed

the trick, the spectator is of end the At quickly. it resets and or parlor situations, a bonus, contains your left with a souvenir which neatly recaps the effect and, as utilizes the Hofzinser spread contact information. While my preferred handling little or no cull, I will also describe some “semi-automatic” versions requiring sleight of hand.

EFFECT FIND PRESENTIITION: “If you ask a normal person to tell you about an experience they’ll never forget, kiss. they’ll probably talk about their wedding, or the birth of a child, or their first ask a magician, though, he’ll probably talk about the first card trick he ever If

you

saw.

I)

“Well, when I was ten years old I saw my first card trick —— and I’ll neverforget it.’ The magician wrote down a prediction and asked me to pick a card. And despite

the fact that I was sure it was a free choice, when I turned over the card I had selected it matched the prediction exactly!” “Afterward, the magician did something you’re not supposed to do: he showed me the secret. The cards were all the same — 52 duplicates of his prediction! That was

rather disappointing, but to this day I still remember the feeling of astonishment when I turned over that card.” ’Tonight, I will try to recreate that samefeeling of astonishment for all ofyou. .. but I ll attempt to do it in a fairer than that

J

magician did. These cards [points to

way

242

a cased deck]

are not all the same. Moreover,

instea [the magician looks at a spectator named Joanna w from the audience] you are going to do it. Joanna, loud.” Joanna out names the 3 of

Diamonds.

“Hmmm--- for some reason I thought you were going to say the Queen of Hearts. Would you like to change your mind?” Joanna says she’ll stick with the 3 of Diamonds. The magician turns over a business card which has been resting on table; the the back Is written “QH”. “No problem, I’m on a professional. .. We’ll just that out and cross write 3 of Diamonds.” The magician places a big “X” across the “QH” and writes “3D” next to it.

a moment, I’m going to spread the cards on the table and I ’1] ask you to insert the business card anywhere you wish. Don’t push it in all the way, though.” The magician demonstrates, inserting the business card into the spread and leaving it out-jogged halfway. “In

The magician closes the spread, cuts to the business card, and hands the business card to Joanna. “Here, please take the business card and insert it wherever you

The magician ribbon-spreads the cards face down on the table again, and Joanna inserts the business card somewhere in the middle. like.”

“Right there? Would you like to change your mind?” Joanna does

not wish to change. The magician closes the spread but leaves the business card protruding from the deck for about half its length. The magician spreads the cards between his hands. “Now, you could have placed the business card here, near the top... or in the middle — which you did — or even

near the bottom. But you placed it here, right next to this card.” The magician removes the business card, together with the single card directly underneath it, from the middle of the spread and places both onto the table.

must say, though, joanna, I really thought you were going to say the Queen of Hearts! 'Ihat’s why I brought a deck with me which consists of 5 1 Queens of Hearts. “I

\

243

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

The magician spreads the deck face up, showing that

every single card is a Queen of Hearts. “However, I told you that these were not all the same card, and its true: at the last minute I put one extra card in the deck, just in case you didn’t go for the Queen of Hearts Iedi mind trick.” “What’s amazing, though, is that not only did you freely insert the business card right above the one extra card that I placed in the deck... [the magician picks up

the business card with his left hand and the face down selection with his right] but the one extra card in the deck... [the magician slowly displays the face of the selection] is the 3 of Diamonds!”

PREPIIRRTION: The trick uses a special deck which, in principle, you can make up yourself, but you could also save yourself a lot of work and buy it from Card-Shark, which is marketing this effect as “The Misfit Deck”. The special Misfit Deck consists of 104 Phoenix Double Decker cards which adhere together in pairs due to the presence of Science Friction spray.”0 The face card of each roughed pair is the Queen of Hearts.131 The 52 cards hidden at

the rear of each pair form a standard deck, and they are arranged in Ace to King order within each suit, with the suits themselves arranged in CHaSeD order. The Phoenix Double Decker cards come marked on the backs, making it easy to locate any desired card in the act of spreading through the face down deck. To perform the effect as described, you will also need a Sharpie marker and a

business card with “QH” written on the back.

I’ll first explain the handling for the parlor version of the effect described above. Later, I’ll also detail a handling which does not table.

require a

"° You can also use regular roughing fluid. If you use Science Friction, you should only spray one card from each pair. Spray a healthy amount of Science Friction on each card, but don't overdo it. You don't want the cards to separate prematurely, but you also don't want the adhesion to be so strong that it makes separating the cards difficult when you need to do it.

"' Or any other card that you prefer; they just all need to be the same.

244

OUTLIER

ExpLflNflTION 0ND HRHDLINB (PHRLOR VERSION):

"NO problem. I 'm a professional... We’ll just cross that out through the line and write? of fhamonds,” the above script should be self-explanatory. After you cross out QH and write “3D” next to it, ribbon-spread the deck face down on the table. Pick up the business card and demonstrate how Joanna is to insert the card “anywhere she likes” into the spread. What's really happening as you do this is that, using the marked backs, you secretly insert the business card four or five cards above the 3 of Diamonds, leaving it out-jogged for half its length. Openly cut the business card, and all the cards below it, to the top of the deck and square of 3 up the cards. The of Diamonds is now around fourth or fifth from the top me deck, in perfect position for culling. Hand the business card to Joanna and wspread the cards face down onto the table.

Up

Instruct Joanna to insert the business card somewhere into the spread, but to leave with the it sticking out halfway.‘32 Pick up the deck as you square up the cards, business card still sticking out halfway. Start spreading the cards slowly between the top...” hands. As say, “You could have inserted the business card near

you your Friction secretly cull the double 3D/QH card under the spread. The Science this not much more difficult than spray keeps the 3D and QH together, making

an ordinary

under-the-spread cull. Continue spreading past the out-jogged

below the business card business card, depositing the culled card(s) directly did...” Continue: or even near while saying, “... or in the middle — which you this card.” As you say this last the bottom. But you placed it here, right next to the 3D and QH during the larger action sentence, use your left thumb to separate 3D directly underneath it onto the of thumbing the business card and the single table, away from the rest of the deck'”

like. 'No, place it which you need to cull. say something card the above card inserts the business mind you...‘ This cheat! Not that I would ever cheat. to me harder it's for Where closer to the middle so that on left to right and Joanna is seated or standing from spread if “1‘0““ be a rare occurrence, especially you m If Joanna

half which was above below the JD on top of the ch was whi half the lace I” R” resettin deck. g Purl” set». Yon now P the unpaired OH on top of the aces This Pl the process. it. nonehalantly cutting the deck in

245

THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

When you say the lines, “I must say, though, Ioanna, I really thought you Were with me which consists going to say the Queen of Hearts! Ihatis why I brought a deck of 51 Queens ofHearts. . spread the deck face up across the table, displaying all QHs. Adjust the spread as needed to emphasize the fact that every card on the table is a Queen of Hearts. A haphazard and carefree handling at this point is quite disarming for magicians familiar with the rough-and-smooth principle, and will make both laypeople and magicians less likely to want to inspect the cards at the end of the routine. From a methodological standpoint, the trick is now finished — all that remains is to sell the ending with conviction and drama.

RnET: To reset, place the 3

of Diamonds on top of the deck. Press gently on the deck,

which will cause the 3D and the unpaired QH below it to re-adhere. Slide this double card back into its proper position and then cut the AC to the top of the deck. Finally, write “QH” on another business card. You’re now ready to repeat the effect.

RLTERNRTE FORCE PROCEDURES: Here are a couple of alternate force procedures which don’t require culling. RLTERNIITE #1: Rit’fle

Force

Say to the spectator, “In a moment, I’m going to ask you to select a card...” as you spread through the cards and locate the 3 of Diamonds. Obtain a pinky break over the 3D. ‘Actually, lets keep it simple: just say stop as I riflle through the cards.” Do a standard riflle force and thumb off a single (the 3D) onto the table.

Continue as before, saying, “I must say, though, Ioanna, I really thought you were

going to say the Queen of Hearts!. . .”

If the named card is too close to the top or bottom, simply give the deck a casual in-the-hands cut before starting the above procedure.

246

OUTLIER “LTERNRTE

#2: Cross-Cut Force

the business card in her hand and YOU are hOIdmg the deck. As method #1, say to the spectator "In in alternate ' a moment . I'm gomg to ask you n card... 5818“ a as ’0 you spread through the cards and locate the 3 of Diamonds. the 3? t0 the top, grip the deck in your left hand, and say, “Actually, let’s keep gut it Simple: just cut some cards onto the table.” Once Joanna has done this, ask her to place the business card on top of the packet she just cut to the table. 'Ihen place the balance 0f the deck on top of the business card. The spectator has

For a bit

0f time misdirection, you now slightly change the order of the original

script. FiI’St recite the line, “I must say, Joanna, I really thought you were going to ” say the Queen of Hearts! Cut the deck, bringing the business card to the top, and place the business card together with the single card directly underneath it onto the table. Now continue with “That’s why I brought a deck with me which consists

of 51 Queens of Hearts...”

EXPLHNRTION 9ND HRHDLING (WflLK-RROUND VERSION): Rather than re-explain everything, I will just indicate here where the handling differs from the parlor version described above. the cards like When you say the line, “In a moment, I ’m going to spread through wish,”begin spreading this, and I’ll ask you to insert the business card anywhere you and as you do secretly locate the the cards in your hands in order to demonstrate, backs. You want the 3D to end up fourth 3 of Diamonds using the marks on the for culling), so you should stop spreading at or fifth from the top (in position the cards and place Square the up card top. to that and cut either the 15 or OS “Go ahead, take the: husiness" card the deck in your left hand; as you do this, say, In saying the words like this , you like this and place it anywhere in the spread.” thumb, index, and middle fingers. between your card mime holding a business the deck. This helps justify having just squared up to

the

insert to allow the spectator hands in deck your As you re-spread the the spread. When the busmess under card 3D/QH business card cull the double

241

CLUB SHUFFLE VISTR THE BUENII that location while looking Up at read wide sp fairly card is inserted, maintain a double card being culled is secretly the look up, 5 and asking, “Right there?” A you You now close the spread, leaving card. business he t The 3D/QH deposited directly beneath deck for about half its length. the from the business card protruding t he business card. below directly be will double card hand his”, demonstrating with your right like t palm Say, “Please hold out your through the cards as you say, spread N ow deck. the holds while the left hand wanted... but you chose rd you anywhere ca business “You could have inserted the the 3D separate to thumb left Use card.” your this to place it here, right next to business card and the single the thum bing of action and QH during the larger ed palm. "lhe business card on outstretch Joanna’s it onto 3D directly underneath handles the thin card. actually never that Joanna top helps ensure

which was below the 3D on top of half the place now For resetting purposes, you the deck in the process. the half which was above it, nonchalantly cutting is to sell the ending with conviction. this at point remains that all before, As

HERRTS? Wl-lflT IF SHE MIMI THE QUEEN OF the first thing you should do is try If the spectator names the Queen of Hearts, ble I do next is the following (there are other via What in pants. to not pee your options as well): that a lot of people think of the Encourage Joanna to change her mind, saying with the effect as Queen of Hearts. If she switches (to the 3D, say), proceed the Queen of written, but emphasizing that you knew she would initially say Hearts and then switch. If she insists on sticking with the Queen of Hearts, ask a second spectator to name tell a different card and then proceed as above. If Joanna is the only spectator, her that she’s going to lose sleep wondering what would have happened had she changed her mind. Then have her freely point to any card, turn over the (Science Friction-aided) double to reveal the QH, and then spread the deck showing that

248

J

OUTLIER every card is the

QR

(You might wish to point out here that you told a White lie earlier: the cards are all the same.) As an optional kicker, turn the business

over reveal QH written on the back and hand it to Ioanna as a souvenir. card to WHRT IF THE SPECTRTOR RSKS THE END? 1

T0 INSPECT THE CRRDS RT

have never had a layperson ask to inspect the cards at the end of the effect the trick is StTUCthed in a way which minimizes the heat on the deck itself.

——

If you’re concerned about this point, however, consider adding a few regular‘“

Queens of Hearts to the deck which can be handed out for inspection.

CREDITS: primary inspiration for the method (thin cards plus Science Friction) was Joshua Jay’s excellent effect “Out of Sight”.

My

This effect would not have evolved into what it is today without the insights and suggestions of my sessioning partner Rich Aviles. Among other things, in my original presentation for this trick I revealed the spectator’s selection and then spread the cards to show them all as the Queen of Hearts; Rich suggested reversing the order of these revelations, which is how I now perform the effect.

handling of the parlor version of this effect, where the cull is done after the business card is inserted into a tabled spread, was inspired by the selection procedure in Darwin’s Ortiz’s effect “Test Your Luck” (Lessons in Mastery, p. 255).

My

Caleb Wiles suggested the line, “... just in case you didn’t go for the Queen Hearts Iedi mind trick.”

‘ ‘

in Get

cards to blend in perfectly. Card-Shark’s“Phoenix Single Deckers" if you want the extra

249

of

THE UUEIII'I

---

PERT ONE:

MEMORIZED MIRRCLES CHRD COLLEGE EFFECT:

College”. After

he learned at “Card skills the of some tes The magician demonstra cards has a spectator cut off some th magician e deck, the shufl‘ling and cutting the thickness of the packet, exactly based on able to sense, is and the magician —— this time by cards are once again 5 huflled The off. cut cards were how many off. This time, however, the is cut packet another —— and the spectator himsel f ket is cut and hidden away. The spectator the while look pac does not magician and places the rest of the he magician t cards to hands some of the remaining head is turned. Nevertheless, deck into the card box, all while the magician’s cut off and hidden away. the magician divines how many cards were originally all of the cards all the shuffling, the magician is able to name Finally, despite

which were placed into the box.

CONSIDERflTIONs:

the trick. Uses a memorized stack, which is destroyed at the conclusion of

e

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CHSRBLRNCR EFFECT: The magician explains that he is looking for a partner to form a ma ical duo and magicg tend invites the spectator to audition. 'Ihe

to duos magician explains that work best when the performers have distinct skill sets, so the magician will play the role of a mind reader and the spectator will predict the future. The spectator names a card out loud as a prediction for later. The magician and spectator each have the other one freely select a card. The magician is able to read the spectator’s mind and divine her selection. The magician’s selected card is revealed to be the one that the spectator predicted at the beginning.

CONSIDERIITIONS: Uses a memorized stack. Resets easily, does not require a table. No sleight of hand required.

LOCflTION SENSING DEVICE

5mm:

cards from the deck, looks at and remembers of off packet a cuts spectator The magician takes the the card he cut to, and loses that card in the packet. time to the spectator, stopping at the card the packet and shows the cards one at a effect is repeated a second time. The magician offers The of. is thinking spectator and reveals that he has been using a “Location to explain how the trick is done The spectator is now able to the spectator. to then is given which Sensing Device”, in locating the magician’s card. succeeds and himself, trick perform the A

CONSIDERIITIONS: stack such as Si Ste bbins. Resets easily, cyclical a deck or Uses either a memorized does not require a table.

Tl-IE BUENR

VlSTfl SHUFFLE CLUB

TlLflPlfl EFFECT:

think of a playing card. The magician makes some assertions about their cards and is eventually able to identify both cards without CVer Two spectators each

making an incorrect statement.

CONSIDERRTIONS:

stack and Requires an eight-card setup which is built into Tamariz’s Mnemonica The effect itself can be achieved from Aronson stack by displacing two cards. does not alter the order of the deck.

ELEMENTHRY. MY DEER VERNON EFFECT: The performer explains that he will perform the same card trick twice, first the the same way a detective would do it and then the way a magician would handle effect. The cards are shuffled face up into face down, and a face down card is selected and returned to the deck. Playing the role of a detective, the performer determines the chosen card through a process of elimination. The selection is buried in the middle of the deck once more and the cards are again shuffled face up into face down. This time, the performer merely snaps his fingers and

instantly all the cards are face up except for one face down card — the spectator’s selection.

CONSIDERRTIONS: One version of the trick begins with a half-stack and ends with the memorized stack fully restored. Another begins with the deck separated into high stack number and low stack number halves and ends with a half-stack.

254

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

PORT TWO:

"JINO NOW FOR

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CLUE EFFECT: The performer announces that a murder has been committed, and that the audience will determine who did it, where, and how. A large sealed envelope marked “Confidential” is given to an audience member to guard. Six volunteers are brought onto the stage to be suspects. Each is asked to choose one of the six weapons that have been placed on a table, and then is given a name tag. Another volunteer is recruited to play the role of a detective. The detective assists the other six volunteers in determining, through a sequence of apparently free murder choices, who committed the murder and with what. The location of the fair procedure. At the end, the is now determined by another seemingly free and and the performer is seen to have correctly identified the envelope is opened killer, the

murder weapon, and the location of the murder.

CONSIDERIITIONS: Elaborate setup and some arts

8: crafts re quired. No sleight

than a dozen audience members involved.

of hand. Gets more

THE BUENR VISTO SHUFFLE CLUB

SHY HNYTHING EFFECT:

The performer explains that he will program a deck of cards to become a lie-detecting supercomputer called the P5 (“Programmable Password-Protected Polygraphlc Playing Cards”). A spectator thinks of and secretly writes down a password, and

then selects a card and returns it to the deck. After briefly “programming” the deck, the performer asks the spectator a few questions about her card; she is told that she may lie or tell the truth. Each time, the deck reveals whether she was being truthful or not The password is now “entered” by having the spectator mentally spell her word; the PS knows when she is finished and is able to reveal the chosen card. The performer states that he actually lied about one thing: he’s not using a P5, he’s using a new prototype called the P6. The sixth “P” stands for precognition. The performer removes a sealed envelope from his jacket pocket. Inside are some cards with letters on them which spell out the thought-of password.

CONSIDERRTIONS: Elaborate setup and some arts 8: crafts required. Requires a top palm.

THREE COIN MONTE EFFECT:

The magician explains that instead of “Three Card Monte”, he and the spectator are going to play “Three Coin Monte”. The magician removes three half dollars from coin a purse and uses a Sharpie to draw a large “X” on the face of one of the coins. The magician tells the spectator to keep track of the coin with the “X” on it while he turns the coins face down

and mixes them up. The first time, the spectator succeeds, but the second time he is duped. To make things fairer, the magician places one of the unmarked coins back in the purse. The magician displays the two remaining coins, one with an “X” and one without, and again turns them face down and mixes ' The .them up. cows are turned over to show that neither one has . an “X”. The com in the purse lS removed and on its face is a large “X”

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QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

CONSIDERIITIONS: Requires a couple Of special pr0ps which either need to be purchased or

constructed.

HIVE MIND EFFECT: 'lhe magician explains the concept of a “hive mind”, where different individual brains are linked into a collective intelligence. To illustrate, the magician takes some coins from his pocket and divides them between two different spectators. Several other volunteers help fill in the blanks in a partially written prediction. The two spectators holding the coins make a series of free exchanges. Despite the fact that the spectators make all of the decisions and the magician doesn’t touch the coins at all, the group prediction is revealed to be completely correct.

CONSIDERRTIONS: Can be done impromptu with borrowed change. No sleight of hand required. Lots of audience participation.

BURNTUM METRIX EFFECT:

make the strange properties The magician announces that he has found a way to world observable at a macroscopic level. He proceeds to of the

quantum

under four separate cards demonstrate this with four quarters, which begin under a single card. The and invisibly travel, one at a time, ending up together demonstration again. Something similar happens, magician offers to repeat the other three under the final card, but just as the fourth coin is a bout to join the their initial positions, with one the coins spontaneously regroup and go back to quarter under each of the four cards.

CONSIDERRTIONS: gimmick. The second phase requires an easily made and inexpensive

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THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

PERT THREE: POWER TO THE

Pnsrzaonnns

BRNNED FOR LIFE

EFFECT:

The magician explains that in order to count cards at blackjack, you have to make it look like you’re not doing anything. This requires a lot of and the

practice,

magician invites a spectator to play along with his practice ritual. The magician and spectator thoroughly shuffle the cards several times, mixing up both the order and orientations of the cards. The magician says that while it hopefully appeared that he wasn’t paying very close attention during all the shuffling, he in fact knows a lot about the current condition of the deck The magician correctly identifies not only how many cards are face up and how many of those face up cards are red, but also the total value of all the face up red cards.

CONSIDERRTIONS: The ungimmicked version requires having a block can be in any order) on top of the

of 27 known cards (whiCh deck, and involves no sleight of hand. The

gimmicked version requires a special deck, a bit of arts 8: crafts work, and of mastery a somewhat knacky sleight.

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SUBCONS CIOUS SHUFFLE TRRCKING arrac'r:

'Ihe performer talks about some of the skills which magicians have picked up over the years from gambling cheats, such as shuffle tracking. The performer offers to demonstrate, asking the spectator to name a playing card out loud. DeSpite thoroughly shuffling the cards, the performer is able to cut directly to the named card. The performer explains that although it looks difficult, pretty much anyone can keep track of a single card as long as they don’t overthink it. The spectator is now given a chance to track his named card through a sequence

of shuffles and cuts, and his subconscious is miraculously able to find it. The performer concludes by cutting to the other three cards of the same value.

CONSIDERRTIONS: From a shuffled deck in use, no table required.

GlLBRERTI-I POKER EFFECT: The magician offers to teach a volunteer how to cheat at poker, and explains that to cheat successfully you not only need to deal yourself a good hand, you also need to deal a good (but slightly worse) hand to another player. The magician and spectator each get about half of the deck and shuffle their respective halves. Each deals out five hands of poker. When they turn over the cards, nothing

After a brief moment of confusion, the magician very interesting has happened. realizes that they forgot to cut the cards. After collecting the five hands and and Spectator each deal out giving their respective packets a cut, the magician another round of cards. This time, the magician has dealt a straight to the player the spectator is shown to on his left and a flush to himself. Not to be outdone, flush to himself. have dealt a full house to the player on his left and a straight

CONSIDERRTIONS: Uses a full-deck stack. No sleight

of hand required.

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THE BUENR VISTR SHUFFLE CLUB

TRIPLE-FRIED sneer:

Three volunteers are selected from the audience. The performer explains that three cards will be selected through a very fair elimination procedure in which the magician does not look at or touch the cards. Despite the seemingly impossible challenge conditions, the performer correctly divines the three selections.

CONSIDERRTIONS: Two methods are provided, one utilizing a memorized half—stack and the other a 27-card stack which does not have to be memorized. In the first method, the

memorized deck is left in high/low divided condition at the end of the effect.

PILE DRIVER EFFECT: A variant of the (in)famous 21 Card Trick in which a thought-of card ends up at a location determined by the spectator. 'Ihe magician apparently does not know

the target location until the cards are completely out of his hands.

CONSIDER“ IONS: Starts with a bank of 29 cards (which can be in

any order) on top of the deck. Any cards can be used, but you must make a secret calculation that depends on the particular cards in your bank No sleight of hand required, but you’ll need some with agility mental arithmetic.

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S.0.L. EFFECT: The spectator cuts a deck of cards several times and removes the top card. The performer takes the deck back, shows that the faces of the cards are all different, and is able to divine the chosen card. The performer points out that the deck was never shuffled and explains that when he does this trick for magicians, they insist that the deck be shuffled first. So the performer shuffles the cards and offers to

repeat the trick, not only with a shuffled deck but also without ever touching or seeing faces of any cards. The effect is repeated under these test conditions, and the magician is still able to determine which card was chosen.

CONSIDER!"IONS: Requires a specially gimmicked deck.

OUTLIER errac'r:

The spectator names a card out loud as a prediction. The magician comments on would like to how most people say the Queen of Hearts, and asks if the spectator selects a card from the deck without change her mind. She says no. The spectator reveals that all of the cards in the deck are looking at its face. The magician

which is the card previously named Queens of Hearts except for the selection, by the spectator.

CONSIDERRTIONS:

deck (which can be purchased from CardRequires a specially gimmicked Shark).

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SHUFFLE CLUB VISTR BUENR THE

WEBSITE ”lhere is a website for this book:

https://www.mattbakermagic.com/buena-vista-shuffle-club On the website you will find, among other things: Device” and “Clue” . Links to printable graphics for “Location Sensing

of errata . Video performances of selected effects

.

A list

Please contact me if you find any errors which should go into the errata list: [email protected]

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