Center Tear Magazine 2 3

Center Tear

the thinking persons journal

Volume 2 Issue 3

May 2003

Another 2 months pass and so quickly!

I’m just back from a fantastic trip to Holland and am all set for a return visit in August. The

¿nnerPsyche show seems to be catching on - word of mouth can sometimes be such a

powerful thing.

Now let me explain a little about this issue. Some people are going to love it and some

people are going to hate it.

It was never my intention to deliver a ‘thinking persons’ eMag that never touched on cards

but looking back through the issues there seems to be very little. I think this may have been

an unconscious decision on my part and this issue is the ‘fortunate’ reaction. I’ve pulled

together all the card effects that were submitted and have included them all in this issue.

So this is the issue you’ll either love or hate….so be it!!

PS Max Gordon – DON’T SAY WE DON’T LISTEN!!!

Pick a number, any card! by Les Johnson
Zen and the Art of Celebrity Stalking by Gardinski
The Voodoo Deck by Jamie Badman
Whittle by Phill Smith
Zenneristic Variation By Larry Becker
The Larry Becker ‘Trio’ by Peter Arcane
Anatomy by Paul Brignall (& Stephen Tucker)

Chop chop by Lewis Jones
Marked Mental Miscall by Christopher Taylor
Body Language by Paul Ingram
NLP and Products for Mentalists: part 3 by Rex Sikes
Reviews

Mentalism Inc (Chuck Hickok) - reviewed by Max Gordon
Card Conspiracy Vol 1 (Peter Duffie
& Robin Robertson)

Pick a number, any card! by Les Johnson

I have been using this trick for many years and never seen anyone
else use the principle which I must have read in the dim and distant
past but do not know the originator. Maybe Peter Duffie or Paul
Hallas will know? If so, I would like to give credit to them.

Anyway, I think some of the best card tricks for mentalism come
under the heading of “compatibility tests” because you can choose
two spectators who are connected in some way: e.g. married or
courting, related, same birth sign or whatever. You can do other

coincidences and move on to readings and such after this effect.

Effect
Two packs of cards are used, one Red and one Blue. One spectator chooses any number
from 1 to 52 and the other chooses a card from one of the packs. When you count down to
the number in the other deck, the cards match!

Method
Obviously you could use a completely memorised deck stack or some crib sheet but this
method is much simpler.
Extract all the Fives and Tens from a pack and place them in CHaSeD order. Shuffle the rest
of the pack and then replace the extracted cards in the following positions: Ten of Clubs at
ten, Five of Clubs at fifteen, Ten of Hearts at twenty, Five of Hearts at twenty-five, Ten of
Spades at thirty, Five of spades at thirty-five, Ten of Diamonds at forty, and Five of
Diamonds at forty-five. These become your key cards but, if you wish, you can place two
more easily remembered cards at positions five and fifty.

Having done this, you set up the other deck in exactly the same order - and then reverse this
order. You need to decide and remember which colour deck is the one which has the cards
in position from the top. For sake of explanation we will use Blue.

Working
Let’s imagine the chosen number is twenty. You know that the twentieth card down from the
top of the blue deck is the Ten of Hearts. Use equivoque and pick up the Red deck and
casually show it to the other spectators to prove the cards are all different. In this action you
locate the Ten of Hearts, in this case, and bring it in position for your favourite force. This
could be a slip cut or Cross-Cut or something more skilful depending on your abilities.
Obviously, when the other deck is opened and you count down to twenty, it must be the
proper card. Whatever number is nominated you immediately know your nearest key and
never have to count more than three cards from it to locate the correct card to complete the
trick successfully.

Zen and the Art of Celebrity Stalking by Gardinski

I've always been a bit reluctant to use a swami gimmick, as I'm not particularly great at
writing legibly with a normal pen and paper, let alone one of these fiendish devices.
Everything I've ever nailwritten looks like the clumsy doodlings of a drunken three-toed sloth
in a crayon factory.

Additionally, I'm not 100% comfortable with effects that portray the mentalist as an
omnipotent genius and the audience as a bunch of chimps who've just been invited along so
Svengali Jnr can flex his mental muscles and pick their brains. The following routine gets

around both problems by crediting the 'supernatural power' to the volunteer, and also gives a
rationale for the inevitable wonky handwriting.

The Effect:
You talk about the zen concept of 'seeing with soft eyes' - of deliberately 'loosening' your
focus in order to take in a greater amount of peripheral information which you would not
otherwise see, much in the way that people, back in the early 90's, would stare for hours at
those rather disappointing stereoscopic images that promised so much but always ended up
being a bunch of daffodils or a slightly squashed dinosaur.

You then propose to demonstrate that a member of the audience, with no prior record of X-
ray vision, can be taught to 'perceive' written information which they could not possibly read
by normal means. You may do a quick faux-hypnotic induction in order to equip a volunteer
with this superhuman talent. (If they seem unconvinced, just make a weird gesture, click
your fingers and say "Kazam! You are now all-seeing and all-knowing!").

By fortunate coincidence, you happen to have the very thing with which to test their new-
found powers of perception: a small card, which bears a hurriedly-scrawled message from a
mystery celebrity whom you met whilst bag-snatching at the airport.

You place this card in your outstretched hand, and cover both with a large handkerchief or
cloth, and you ask the spec to go into their 'zen state', and try to deduce, by means of the
'soft gaze', the identity of the autographiste. (That obviously isn't a real word, but I couldn't
bring myself to write 'mystery celebrity' again without feeling like a bad daytime TV
presenter.)
Suggesting that they go with their 'gut feeling', gradually draw the information out of them:
"Try to build up the picture a piece at a time: Is it a man or a woman?" (A man...) "What are
they famous for? Acting? Sports? Organised crime?" (An actor...) and lastly: "Can you
determine who the celebrity is yet? Try for a name...." (Samuel L Jackson)

...Whereupon, you cunningly thumb-write the initials "S.L.J." on the lower part of the card, on
which you have previously written, in the shaky scrawl typical of swami-gimmick-users and
harried celebs, something like "All the best!" (or "Stop stalking me, you psychotic nutter!").
Obviously you cover the time it takes to thumb-write the initials with a quick recap of how
fantastically the volunteer has performed, and what nice hair she has. You can 'pinch off' the
nail- writer as you lift away the handkerchief, and thus be rid of the evidence. And the fact
that the initials aren't expertly calligraphed is entirely in line with the story of a card quickly
scrawled at an airport departure lounge...

By allowing the muggle to gradually reveal the information 'piece by piece' (gender /
profession / name) you build the tension, and also create the impression amongst onlookers
that a greater number of individual 'nuggets' of information were deduced, rather than just
saying "There's a couple of letters on this card - see if you can guess them!"

There you go. Not much to write home about, but do with it as thou wilt.

The Voodoo Deck by Jamie Badman

Effect
The spectator is told a story of how the performer came across a strange
deck which can be used to train it’s owner in the powers of ‘voodoo’ and as
the tale is told, the spectator takes part in a series of events which build to
an eerie climax:

The spectator cuts the deck into two halves. The performer picks up the half
that the spectator cut to and spreads the cards face down. The spectator
indicates a card. The cards above and below the selected card are turned
face up, the packet is turned face down and spread to show the selected.

The other half is spread face down and the mate of the selection is seen face up in the face
down packet.

The two cards are turned face down, a packet shuffled and the effect repeated. Finally the
effect is repeated a third time but for a climax, a six is selected and when the other half is
spread, the other three sixes have turned face up in sympathy; this represents the ‘Number
of the Beast’ - a sure sign that the deck contains powers that should not be trifled with…

Setup
You need the four sixes and two sets of mates (for example, the Queens of Hearts and
Diamonds plus the Tens of Spades and Clubs). Place on the face of the deck one of the
sixes, then one of the tens and finally one of the queens. Now take the rest of the cards and
create a face down packet consisting of (from the top to the face) the remaining Queen, Ten
and the three Sixes in any order. Now turn over the Queen so it is face up. Place this packet
about ten cards down from the top of the deck.

Method:
The effect depends on three main sleights; the Mexican Turnover, the RobVerse and the ‘So
Simple, So Good’ force. In order to describe the entire method it is easiest to describe the
first two of these moves upfront and the third in context of the routine:

In The Hands Mexican Turnover
In this context, the move is used to switch the card at the bottom of a packet with a selected
one. Spread a face down packet and have a card touched. Flip all cards above the selection
face up and grasp, still in a spread condition, with the right hand. Also include at the bottom
of the spread of face up cards, the selection, sidejogged to the left. Separate the hands
slightly. Now the right hand approaches the face down packet still in the left hand and the
selection is placed flush on top, still held by the right fingers. Both hands tilt to the left as the
right fingers contact the bottom card on the left hand packet and the base of the left hand
fingers contact the left hand side of the selection. The left hand packet is tipped face up,
taking with it the selection - and the bottom card is retained by the right fingers, creating the
illusion that it is the selection; a retention of vision effect is created which is extremely
deceptive.

The RobVerse
This achieves the same end-result as the Larreverse (namely to reverse a card under the
cover of righting and already reversed card in the deck) but with a more natural appearance;
it’s a creation of Robin Robertson. The way this works is you have a card face up in a face
down pack, you spread to the face up card. Now grasp the underside of the face up card
with the right fingers and at the same time, slide the face up card which is above the face up
card flush with it. Now turn the pair of cards over on to the cards in the left hand and place
the cards in the right hand on top of all. The appearance is that you simply turn the face up
card face down but in reality you’ve not only achieved that but you’ve also turned the card
which was above it, face up.

Now those two moves have been explained, it’s easier to describe the full method:

First, have the deck cut by the spectator into two approximately equal halves. Use
‘magicians choice’ to have the bottom half selected for your use; pick them up. If you wish,
you can overhand shuffle the packet, running the bottom three cards singly on to the top
then shuffling again, running the top three singly then the rest of the packet.

Spread the cards and have the spectator touch a card near the middle (preferably). Outjog
the selection, flip all cards above the selection face up, and spread them a little then pick up
the face down selection beneath the face up cards. Perform the Mexican Turnover on the
remaining face down cards. You can now turn the packet face down and spread it on the
table to show the selection. Now spread the other half of the deck face down on the table,
parallel to the first spread. The mate of the spectator’s selection will be face up in the
spread.

Now for the first repeat: scoop up the spread that you had the selection taken from. Spread
to the face up card and perform the RobVerse to turn it face down. Place this packet back
down on the table and pick up the other packet. Spread to the face up card, place all the
cards above it to the bottom of the packet, take the face up card and turn it face down then
insert it into the middle of the packet. Overhand shuffle the cards, running the top four cards
off singly.

Repeat the selection, turnover and spread procedure as described above. Be aware that
when you perform the Turnover and spread the face up cards below the ‘selection’, you’re
momentarily exposing the three sixes - so push a block of cards over rather than display a
wide spread; this will hide the three like-cards from the spectator and the single six will not
register.

For the final phase, perform the RobVerse on the packet from which you had the last
selection made but this time reverse the three cards above the face up card instead of just
the one using exactly the same mechanics. Place this half aside and pick up the other half.
Spread to the face up card, getting a break above the card two above the face up one. Flip
the face up card face down and close the spread, maintaining the break. Cut to the break,
overhand shuffle, running one card and you’re now in a position for the final force. This time,
however, a different method is used to force the card, though it will look very similar to the
spectator. The reason for altering the force is simply because using the same ‘move’ for the
force three times in a row is risky; by changing the final method, if the spectators burn you at
the point where you flip the bottom half over they’ll not see a thing because you’re all done
by then; in fact do it as slowly and fairly as you can, to emphasize the lack of anything
possibly untoward!

All you need to do this time is first reverse the bottom card using whatever method you like,
then get a break above the bottom two cards. Casually double-cut these two cards to the top
of the deck - you’ll now have an indifferent card face down on top of the deck with the face
up force card beneath it.

Riffle down the deck with the left thumb and have the spectator call ‘Stop’ at any point. Fairly
break the deck wider at that point and grasp the top short end of the rear section as the left
hand lowers the front section downward and in to the left palm face-down, maintaining a
break between the two halves. Using the left little finger, sidejog the card above the break to
the right, covering it with the right hand which should be gripping the deck from above. Now
spread the face up cards to the right, covering the sidejogged card. Stop when you arrive at
the first face down card and as you upjog it from the spread, you pull the sidejogged card
further to the right and separate the right hand cards briefly from the left hand cards. Then
pick up the outjogged face down card beneath the right hand cards so that it is still
outjogged and finally, flip over the remaining face down cards and spread through those.

You’re now in the same position as you’ve been after the two Mexican Turnovers; turn the
half-deck face down and spread to show the ‘selected’ card (a Six), the spread the other half

to reveal the three sixes (you spread from your right to your left, ensuring that the spectator
is presented with the ‘666’ rather than a less than climactic ‘999’).

Patter
I've not been around for a while; got sent away on company business to the States. New
Orleans. One evening I managed to get some time to myself so I decided to do a bit of
exploring. Being a magician, I thought I’d try to track down a local store. I asked a local
where I could find a Magic shop; I got a load of directions that led me all over the place but I
managed OK. Problem was, once I got there I realised the mistake I’d made; Magic in New
Orleans is more of the Voodoo kind… so there I was in front of a shop with all kinds of
mysterious effigies, roots and herbs. It looked interesting anyway, so I took a look inside. A
little old lady sat in a rocking chair in a corner; I asked her if she had any of those dolls that
you can stick a pin into; I thought it’d be a bit of fun. She looked at me with contempt and
said that she'd only sell one of those to someone who's been trained properly in the Voodoo
Arts. So I asked her how I could get training. She pulled open a drawer and out of it she
lifted a bag. In the bag was a pack of cards, which she placed on the table.

"Before you can use the doll, you need to master the cards" she said.

"Cut them in to two halves".

I did. She picked up one of them and told me to place my left hand over the other.

"Don't lift your hand until I tell you" she said "even if it moves. The half I have represents the
doll and the half you have represents your victim. Watch…”

She spread the other half between her hands and told me to touch a card in the middle. I did
so. She then flipped the cards either side of my card face up.

"All the cards are revealed except for yours. At this point, no-one knows what your card
could be. Voodoo works in a sympathetic way; watch…”

She turned the cards face down and spread them revealing my card.

She told me to lift my hand, which I did. She spread them out and in the middle lay a single
face up card; the partner of my selection. “If it were the doll you were using, your victim
would be in great pain now.”.

I laughed and told her that it was obviously a trick; she must have already had a card face up
in the half I covered and she somehow tricked me in to picking a particular card in the
spread. She glared at me, flipped the cards face down again and repeated everything.

{repeat the selection and revelation}

This freaked me out a bit. No way could she have done what I thought she had the first time.
I was beginning to believe. She sensed that change in me and we spoke long in to the night.
When I left, in the early hours of the morning she gave me the deck as a gift.

She called out a few words of warning, however: “By all means practice; but the cards are
not a toy; the powers are dark and great. Remember; if you lose control, it is your soul that
you risk…”

When I got back to my hotel room, I pulled out the cards that the old lady had given me, sat
down on my bed and tried them out. I gave them a shuffle, flicked through the cards and just
stopped somewhere. I then turned all cards above it face up, all cards below it face up,
turned the cards over and spread them. I saw a six face up between the face down cards. I
reached over to spread the other cards out, expecting nothing to happen but as I did so, I felt
the cards writhe between my fingers; I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, when I
spread them out on the table I saw not one but three cards face up; together they formed

'666' - the number of the beast. I recalled the old lady’s parting words ‘If you lose control, it is
your soul that you risk’. You know, that was the last time I ever touched those cards…

{match the above with the final selection and revelation of the three face up cards}

Notes:
To pull this off, you need to get the turnover absolutely perfect. You *can* use the turnover
for the third phase if you like (I do) but if you're uncomfortable with the turnover at all, don't
do it more than twice.

When I do this effect, I have a black-backed deck pre-set for the effect in a small black silk
bag with mystical symbols on the side. I bring the bag out and launch in to the story about
the bag, explaining that the symbols on the bag keep the evil spirits embodied in the deck at
bay. Small touches but I think they all contribute to the effect!

Credits
The Voodoo Deck was inspired by an effect by David Britland called ‘Voo Duo’ which is
effectively the first stage; the matching of a single card. My contribution has been to
introduce a method by which the effect can be repeated - hopefully in a very deceptive and
natural manner - and to have a multiple card climax. The ‘666’ climax, by the way, was
inspired by Jackie McClements in an effect of his found in The Crimp.

Robin Robertson and Peter Duffie first describe the RobVerse in their Linking Ring Parade.

Whittle by Phill Smith

This is a clean follow up to any card location!

Effect
The magish... I mean mind reader picks up a card just used for a trick
and instructs everyone to focus on it. It is time for an experiment in group
dynamics. He buries it into the deck and the deck is dealt down, with an
instruction to one spectator to call stop whenever the urge seizes him,
“Follow your instincts, remember, this is about the inner voice.” (I can
only get away a line like that if I’m taking the piss, but give it a crack.)

When they say stop, they are given the option to move some around, back up onto the
deck, deal some more down, etc. This is as fair as fair can be, leaving two piles of cards.
One pile is then selected by another spectator as a discard pile and one to use for the
experiment. This is then cut into three approximately equal piles by a third spectator, who
then picks out two for the discard pile. The magician then takes the remaining pile, “We now
have a pile containing one, two, three...” and counts through it. A final spectator is asked for
a number between one and the number of cards in the pile. They duly pick one and call it
out.

Why did you pick that one? No real reason? Interesting, you see, because you could have
picked one, two, three (etc.)” The performer deals down the cards from the top of the pile as
he speaks, face up in a line on the table. When he comes to the named number he puts it
forward, but does not show its face. He continues dealing from the pile until it is exhausted.
“Of course, we all made a series of choices which meant that you could have picked any
card in the deck (he shows all the cards in the discard pile) but you didn’t. You picked
number six.” The performer looks at the only face down card on the table. He turns it. It is
the originally selected card.

Method
This isn’t rocket science, but it is a very effective trick with a borrowed deck with no funny
moves or genius sleights. It’s a nice follow up to a selected and located card trick because it
saves everyone remembering another card, and reverses the effect; this time it is the group
who find it (although you could of course perform it for only one person).

When the card is returned you must control it to the top, however you see fit. Then of course
when a new pile is dealt it is inevitably at the bottom of it. You get another spectator to pick a
pile with a nice bit of double-speak: “OK, we need a discard pile to put the cards we don’t
need onto, but which pile are we going to use?” The ambiguity in the word 'use’ is key here;
basically you want the pile which doesn’t contain the selected card to be the discard pile. So
if they pick that pile you simply say, “Right, we’ll use this as the discard pile.” or, if they pick
the other pile, “Right, we’ll use this one, so this one is the discard pile.”

Push the selected card pile towards another spectator: “Could you cut that into three
approximately equal piles please, don’t bother counting them, just rough cuts.” Make sure
you keep track of which pile was the original bottom of the pile, because this contains the
selected card. Now you need to use equivoque to force that pile. I find the easiest is just to
say, “Now take any two piles.” Mime the action of actually picking up the piles, making sure
to ‘pick up’ the two non-selected card piles, just to suggest taking those piles. It also stops
the spec from just putting them together or doing 101 things which could bugger you up. If
they do take the two 'inactive' piles great, just stick them on the discard pile, otherwise
“Great, actually, we only need one, so just hand me either pile.” Ideally you want to reach out
to take the selected card pile, but it doesn’t really matter, these things are just polish, the
trick doesn’t depend on them.

Now you take the selected card pile and count the cards out loud, reversing their order. This
puts the selected card on top of the pile. You should be holding the cards in dealing position
in your left hand with your right hand resting on them in a neutral position. Now, as they
name their chosen number, you count one less than the named number from the bottom of
the packet, by riffling up the cards with your right thumb. When you have that number, pass
them from the bottom to the top, putting the selected card at the chosen number. This is why
you ask, “Why did you pick that number?” Aside from giving the very strong impression that
their reasons for choosing that number are absolutely integral and important to the
demonstration, it makes everyone look at them. This is not a difficult move; just make sure
that you time the move right. If you are a little wary, fine, just engage in some banter “Ah,
you see, seven is a very important number, let me show you what sometimes happens.” No-
one will see it, I guarantee. (Please note, this guarantee is not legally binding)

Don’t pass over this trick because it is not a technically difficult trick and doesn’t feature any
new ideas. What it does is takes a series of well understood techniques which everyone on
this side of the fence is familiar with and puts them together in a way which
a. Involves everyone at the table and
b. cooks muggles.

Once you get the idea of following the selected card and keeping it ‘in play’ you should have
some fun with this.

Zenneristic Variation By Larry Becker

Over the years I have had great fascination with the effect that I published
as Power of Suggestion and Zenneristic in Stunners-Plus. For the sake of
completeness, here is a Zenneristic variation.

Required: a marked pack of 25 ESP symbol cards. See page 434 in
Stunners-Plus for a description of how to mark and read the cards.

Effect: The performer displays a pack of ESP symbol cards, commenting on the origin of the
cards which were designed by Zenner and primarily used by Dr. J. B. Rhine in his Duke
University parapsychology laboratory during the 1920’s and 30’s.

The packet is handed to a volunteer to quickly examine and thoroughly shuffle. The
performer notes that since the packet contains five symbols, repeated five times...would the
volunteer please think of a number from one through five. When the audience member
states that he has done so, the performer asks that the volunteer remove that number of
cards from the packet and drop them in the performer’s jacket pocket as the performer looks
away.

Retrieving the packet, the performer states that neither he or anyone else has any idea how
many cards the spectator placed in his pocket. Continuing, the performer states that since it
could be any number of cards from one through five, he will show the top five cards of the
packet to the spectator. Removing the first card and holding it so the spectator can see it,
the performer notes that if the volunteer placed one card in the performer’s pocket, he is to
remember the symbol on this card. Pushing off a second card and placing it in front of the
first card, the performer states that if he placed two cards in his pocket, the spectator is to
remember the second symbol shown. Repeating this action with three more cards, the five
cards are returned face down to the top of the packet. The volunteer is now secretly thinking
of a symbol known only to him.

The performer proceeds to cut the packet of cards several times noting that no one, not
even the volunteer himself has any idea where his mentally selected symbol is in the packet.
In addition, since the volunteer thoroughly shuffled the packet, it’s totally impossible to know
the location of the spectator’s symbol because there are up to five of them somewhere in the
packet. Please note that no one except the volunteer actually knows which symbol he is
thinking of.

The performer now shows the volunteer each of the symbol cards in the packet. As he does
so, he asks the volunteer to mentally think ‘yes!’ every time he sees a duplicate of the
symbol he is concentrating upon.

When the final card has been shown the performer states that since there are, for example,
23 cards in the packet...then the volunteer must have placed two symbol cards in his, the
performer’s, pocket. That is simple arithmetic, the performer notes. As he says this, he
removes the two symbol cards from his pocket and replaces them face down on the packet.

Continuing, the performer states, ‘But since you mentally thought of the word ‘yes’ four times
I have the distinct impression that you were thinking of the three wavy lines symbol, is that
correct? The volunteer affirms that the performer is right on target.

The effect is about as clean as it gets. There’s nothing tricky about it. It’s very direct.

Explanation: Just follow the description of the effect. It’s almost automatic. After the
spectator has thought of a number from one through five and placed that many cards in your
jacket pocket, retrieve the packet and show the top five cards so the spectator can think of
the symbol positioned at his secret number. One of the things that make this so interesting is

the fact that each of the five symbols is repeated five times for a grand total of twenty-five
cards. You have absolutely no idea as to the identity of the five cards you show to the
spectator. Any number of combinations are possible including duplicate designs. But, this
makes no difference to the working.

As soon as the you have shown the five cards and they are being held in the right hand,
using the thumb of the left hand, push over two cards on top of the packet in the left hand
using the left thumb. When you replace the five cards in the right hand on top of the packet,
obtain a break beneath the two cards you pushed over. Now, perform a double undercut to
bring the top seven cards to the bottom of the packet. Note that now, no one, including the
spectator, knows the location of the symbol he is thinking of. Especially in view of the fact
that there are five of those symbols scattered throughout the packet.

As you say this, again push off two cards from the top of the packet and under cover of the
right hand, obtain another finger break beneath the top two cards and perform a second
undercut bringing the two cards to the bottom of the packet. You have now apparently cut
the packet four times to bury the spectator’s thought of symbol card. What you have actually
done is to transfer, first the seven card packet from the top of the packet to the bottom,
followed by two more cards. A total of nine cards in all. Because the spectator initially
removed say, two cards and placed them in your pocket, the spectator’s mentally selected
symbol (the second card of the top five shown to him) is now the sixteenth card from the top
of the twenty three card packet. It always will be no matter how many cards from one to five
the spectator places in your pocket.

The secret is so well buried, no one will ever be able to back track. And the fact there are
duplicate designs in a packet of twenty-five ESP symbol cards, makes it even more
seemingly difficult.

Now, all that remains is to individually show the remaining packet of cards, one at a time, to
the spectator. Look away from the cards as you show them until you reach 13 or 14 in your
count. As the fifteenth card has passed from the left hand to the right, glance at the upper
left hand corner of the back of the sixteenth card and remember which symbol is on that
card. Continue counting in your mind as you finish showing the remaining cards in the
packet. You now know how many cards there are in the packet. Subtract that amount from
twenty-five and you know how many cards the spectator placed in your pocket. You also
know which symbol he has been concentrating upon.

As you say that there are twenty-three cards in the packet, you note that through a simple
matter of subtraction you now know that the spectator placed two cards in your pocket.
Remove the two cards from your pocket, fanning them as you do with the faces towards you
and the backs toward the audience. Since you already know the spectator was concentrating
upon the three wavy lines symbol, glance at the two cards noting whether either or both
cards contain three wavy lines. If not, then the spectator saw his symbol five times. If one of
the two cards contains three wavy lines, then the spectator thought ‘yes’ a total of four times.
If both cards contain three wavy lines, then the spectator thought, ‘yes’ a total of three times.
So you reveal this additional information as part of your revelation of the symbol the
spectator has been thinking of. It’s this aspect of the explanation that I didn’t include in the
effect known as ‘Zenneristic’ in Stunners-Plus.

It’s a wonderful effect. Do it justice.

The Larry Becker ‘Trio’ by Peter Arcane

Here’s a nice little card ‘Trio’ and it’s a Becker ‘Trio’!

1. A simple case of logic - Desert Brainstom vol 1
2. Psi-stebbins or Club Kicker - World Of Super Mentalism 2 or Stunners plus
3. The Power of Suggestion - Stunners plus

Anatomy by Paul Brignall (& Stephen Tucker)

Quite a while ago Stephen Tucker and myself came up with the
following gaffed deck. It is pure mentalism and should please those
of you who required the odd miracle.

Take any deck and an indelible marker. Shuffle the deck, then write
on the face of the face card of the deck the name of the card
immediately behind it. (I hope that you understand this!?) i.e. if the
face of the deck is the Six of Spades and the card behind it is the
Jack of Spades, simply write ‘Jack of Spades’ across the face of the
Six. Remove this pair and place them face down to one side as a
single unit.

Repeat this with the next pair of cards and set them face down on top of the first pair.
Continue in this fashion throughout the deck, until once again the deck is complete and face
down on the table.

During future performances you may cut the deck as often as you please BUT NEVER
SHUFFLE IT for obvious reasons… Should you cut and complete the cut then the face card
of the deck will either be normal, or it will have the name of a card written on it.

If the face card has Two of Spades written on it, then the Two of Spades should be
immediately behind the face card.

Now that you are familiar with the construction of the deck we can go ahead and perform…
Introduce the deck, cut it a few times then ask someone to merely thinking of a card, any
card. After a few seconds ask them to name it.

Lets say they name the “Queen of Hearts”, spread thru the deck with the faces towards
yourself and explain that you will show them a miracle with their thought of card.

There are 2 possibilities: -

1. The card has the name of another card written upon its face.
2. The card has no name written across it face.

Let’s deal with the performance in each case…

1. Cut the card behind the named card to the top of the deck, so that the top card is say

the Three of Hearts and the card below is the named “Queen of Hearts”, with the
Three of Spades written across it’s face. (I hope you are reading this with the deck in
hand or you will think that Stephen and I are raving loonies. Maybe we are!) Force
the three of hearts on the spectator by means of the slip cut, then act surprised at the
fact that he hasn’t selected the card that he thought of. Then say, “I remember
making a prediction earlier this evening, as to a playing card that would be selected!”

Place the deck on the table, and in doing so, one hand top palm the though of Queen
(phew!) and remove it apparently from your pocket or wallet. Explain that you had
predicted that the Three of Hearts would be selected, but strangely enough you wrote
the prediction on the card that the spectator actually thought of. Hand him the card
and pocket (and switch if you like) the deck.

Well I’m sure you will agree that in the eyes of the spectator that effect was in the miracle
class. Now for possible performance 2: -

2. Cut the actual named card to the top of the deck as you explain that you have placed

the thought of card at a position in the deck known only to yourself. Slip cut force the
selection as before and your spectator will be amazed that they actually selected the
card that they had thought of.

Place the deck to one side, palming off the top card as before and when you produce
it from the wallet (or wherever), it is seen to be an indifferent card with the name of
the though of and selected card written on it’s face.

Either way the effect performed is a miracle and will long be remembered. Please take the
trouble to make the deck, as you will have a fantastic new effect in your hands.

A point to note; if you cut a normal card to the face of the deck you are able to ribbon spread
the cards face up and they will appear to be quite normal, providing that the names have
been written along one side of the cards.

Chop chop by Lewis Jones

This is the result of trying to figure out the most economical way to continue when you know
the spectator’s thought-of card is one of (say) five, but you don’t know which one.

Method
First, have the five cards chosen, making sure the spectator understands that this is a
genuinely free choice. For example, have her shuffle the deck, then draw out any five cards
without looking at their faces. Call it a poker hand if you like. She peeks at any card, and
remembers it.

Have the five cards returned to the deck, and control them so that four of them end up on
the bottom, and the fifth ends up at the top.

You are now going to set up five different outs, so that you can successfully name the
thought-of card, even though you have no idea which it is yet. What’s even more surprising
to the spectator, you’re going to make use of her name to locate her thought-of card.

Suppose she is called Betty Wilson. Get into position for an overhand shuffle, and imagine
the spectator’s full name, but without the first two letters. You’re going to run cards into your
left hand as you mentally spell the name, but with those first two letters missing. In this
example, you’re going to mentally spell

-T-T-Y-W-I-L-S-O-N.

The first chop of your overhand shuffle (representing the first letter of the name) will be a
Milk Double. That is, draw off the bottom and top cards together. As you make this first chop,
say to yourself the first letter of the abbreviated name: T.

Continue running single cards, with each card representing one letter, until you have
reached the end of the full name. Then drop these shuffled-off cards on top of the deck.

Now imagine the spectator’s first name only, but again without the first two letters. You’re
going to run cards into your left hand as you mentally spell the first name, but with those first
two letters missing.

In this example, you’re going to mentally spell:

-T-T-Y

Once again, the first chop of your overhand shuffle (representing the first letter of your
spelling) will be a Milk Double, and the remainder will be single cards. And again, end the
shuffle by dropping the shuffled-off cards on top of the deck. Tell the spectator that the deck
itself is now going to find the card she is thinking of.

Now comes the Flip: your left fingertips remain pressed against the face card of the deck,
while your right hand lifts the rest of the deck clear. Your left fingers snap the bottom card
down against your left palm (it will land face-up), and at the same time, your right hand slaps
the face-up deck on top of it. At speed, the single snapped-down card should not even be
noticed.

Watch the spectator for a reaction. If none is forthcoming, the face card is obviously not the
chosen one. In that case, turn the deck face-down. Pick up the top card and turn it face-up,
keeping hold of it with your right fingers. If there is still no reaction, use the face-up card to
tap the deck as you repeat that the deck itself will find the thought-of card.

Drop the face-up card to the table as you call out the first letter, and continue to the end of
the spectator’s first name. Still no reaction? With no break in the rhythm, continue spelling
the spectator’s surname, dealing one card for each letter.

If you’ve had no reaction to any of the first four cards, push forward the card now at the top
of the deck. Point out that spelling someone’s name infallibly brings you to their thought-of
card.

Ask for the name of the card, and deal the top card of the deck face-up to the table. It will be
the chosen card.

Notes
1. If you have any doubts about getting the necessary reactions from a particular spectator,
here’s a sure-fire way of dealing with the situation.

As you perform the Flip, note the card that is flipped to the rear of the deck, and the card
that is left on the face. If you hold the deck slightly tilted towards you, the spectator will not
be able to identify these two cards. Slap the deck face-down on the table.

Tell the spectator that the deck itself will now locate the card she is thinking of. Ask for the
name of her card. If it is the top card, have her turn it over. If it is the bottom card, have her
turn the deck over.

If it is neither of these, spell out her first name as you deal cards face-up to the table. If the
named card doesn’t appear on the final letter of this name, continue without a pause by
spelling out her second name.

If the card has still not appeared, it is now on top of the deck. Point out that spelling
someone’s name inevitably brings you to the chosen card. Push the top card of the deck
forward and invite her to turn it face-up.

2. You may not know a spectator’s full name, of course. Nothing is lost. Ask the spectator to
name someone else: it can be someone known to her personally, or a well-known historical
name. In this respect, Napoleon Bonaparte is just as useful as Aunt Mathilda.

You may know only the first name of a couple of spectators. In that case, involve both of
them in the early stages of the effect. For example, ask Charles to select the poker hand,
and invite Brenda to think of one of the cards. Then use the two names as in the original
working.

Jack Avis suggests an alternative handling. At the beginning of the routine, invite the
spectator to draw any random card from the deck. You then lay this card face-up on the
table, but pushed to one side for the time being. Call it the lucky card, or Sherlock, or the
magic wand, or whatever fits in with your presentation.

Suppose this card is the seven of Spades. When it comes to the spelling runs, use the name
of this card:

First run: -V-E-N-O-F-S-P-A-D-E-S
Second run: -V-E-N

As you do the Flip, take note of the top and bottom cards, and drop the deck on the table
face-down. Your story now is that the lucky card will find the thought-of card. Ask the
spectator to pick up the lucky card, and name her thought-of card.

If she names the top card of the deck, she taps the deck with the lucky card, and you claim
that this will cause her card to rise to the top. If she names the bottom card, she taps the
deck, and you claim this will cause her thought-of card to sink to the bottom.

If the card she names is not the top or bottom card of the deck, point out that the lucky card
is a seven, and invite her to spell it by dealing one card for each letter. If her thought-of card
doesn’t appear at the final letter of “seven,” say, “Keep going,” and she continues with “of
Spades.” If this still doesn’t bring her thought-of card into view, it is now the at the top of the
deck .

3. Here is Jack’s suggestion for controlling four of the five cards to the bottom of the deck,
and the remaining card to the top.

Take the five chosen cards and fan them, holding up the fan at its base so that the spectator
can see the faces, but you can’t. Your right thumb is resting against the back of the fan (the
side facing you), and your fingers are touching the face of the fan (facing the spectator). You
left hand is holding the rest of the deck. Invite the spectator to make a mental choice of any
one of his five cards.

Your left thumb opens a wide break in the deck at the far left corner. Swing the fan through
180° anticlockwise, so that your right hand grip is now at the top of the fan. You now seem to
feed the fan into the break, though in fact only the front four cards go into the gap, and the
rear card of the fan is slid on to the top of the deck. Leave the five cards outjogged by about
half their length. Your left thumb releases its break.

Your right thumb pushes the rear card of the fan down so that it becomes the top card of the
deck, then your right fingers do a push-through with the other four cards, so that they end up
injogged. Your right thumb contacts the injogged group and presses upwards, opening up a
break beneath the four inserted cards as they are pushed square.

Your right hand, in Biddle grip, lifts off all cards above the break, and drops this packet on
the table. Then drop the left hand’s remaining cards on the table, to the left of the first
packet. Lift the top half off the right hand packet and drop these cards on the left hand
packet. Finally, drop the entire left hand packet on the right hand packet.

By now, four of the chosen cards are on the bottom of the deck, and the fifth card is on top.

Marked Mental Miscall

by Christopher Taylor

Effect:
“Is there a difference between the mind and the imagination?” Without waiting for an
answer, the mage removes a deck of playing cards from his pocket and addresses a
spectator on his left. “Susan, here is a deck of cards for you.” He turns to a spectator on his
right, “John, this is not a magic trick, so we are not going to have you pretend that you are
using an ‘invisible deck’. But, we will need you to creatively visualize a deck of cards. It is
helpful if you use your imaginary cards realistically. You will have Susan’s actions as a
model to duplicate.

“Susan, please remove your cards from the box and fan them in front of you so that only you
can see the faces. Look them over, select one that catches your interest and place it face
down on the table. John, will you now mime the same actions, seeing the card you are
imagining as clearly as you can in your mind’s eye.”

The mage now gives each of his participants a folded slip of paper and a pen. “Please
record the value of your selected cards on the inside of these slips; Susan, your actual card
and John, your virtual card.” The participants are then directed to refold their papers,
making sure that the writing can not be read through the paper, and then to initial them on
the outside. The folded slips are put together in the middle of the table and the cards, virtual
and real, are put away.

“Susan, to discern the value of your card, we will invoke that power of the MIND known as
telepathy. Please, THINK of your card. Say its name in your mind several times. I am
getting the sense of a black card. Is my impression correct? Good, I will write down what I
am getting.” The mage writes his perception on a slip of paper and gives it to a spectator,
asking her not to read it yet. The mage picks up the folded slips and checks the initials. He
keeps Susan’s and re-tables John’s. He opens the slip and reads out, “Queen of Hearts.”
The spectator reads out what the mage has written for a perfect match.

Before the audience has fully recovered from the effect, the mage turns to John. “I am not
about to perceive a thought from your mind as I did with Susan. Instead, we will continue to
invoke the pure creative power of your IMAGINATION. You will now visualize an event and
that exact event will come to pass. Close your eyes please. Visualize me saying the name
of your imaginary card. Imagine the words coming out of my mouth. We have this slip of
paper to confirm what is about to happen. Can you picture it happening?. Good, look at
me!” The instant John opens his eyes, the mage pronounces, “Jack of Spades”. John
smiles, the mage opens the tabled slip for final confirmation.

Method:
The title gives away the working of this effect. Susan is given a marked deck. The deck I
use is hand marked by Kirk Charles. Get your telepathic impression and write down Susan’s
selected card’s value on a piece of paper to confirm the telepathy. You can easily read the
back of the marked card while giving out the paper and pens. When you pick up the two
slips, simply find and re-table Susan’s slip with the initialed side down. You open John’s,
read it, remember it and then miscall it as Susan’s.

At the finale, no one is much interested in actually seeing what is written on “John’s slip” as
his reaction is really all the confirmation you need. He knows what he wrote so just casually
flash the opened slip. In any case, it is a simple matter to switch the two slips if needed.

Body Language

by Paul Ingram

Introduction
"Can you keep a secret? Most people believe they can. You have heard of the expression -
Poker Face, where you concentrate on giving nothing away. My dog is terrible at playing
poker, each time he gets a good hand his tail starts wagging! We all know a little about the
subject of body language. If we see a couple arguing at a distance, we may not be able to
hear the dialogue but the body language tells us an argument is taking place. This is an
obvious form of body language but the study can be infinitely more specific. The tiny
dilations of the pupils, a subtle change in skin colour or a stiffening of muscle can all be tell-
tale signs used to read someone. Would you like to help me with a little test.......?"

Routine
" Concentrate upon the card that you now have in your mind and hold out both arms in front
of you, palms facing downward. Think of your left hand representing the colour red and your
right hand representing black. Without giving anything away, concentrate upon the hand
that is the same colour as the card you are thinking of. Imagine that hand becoming heavier
and heavier. The more you try not to think of that hand becoming heavier the harder it will
be to do so. For instance, if I now ask you not to think of a black cat, you instantly picture a
black cat in your mind. The blood is rushing into the hand that you are concentrating upon
and it is beginning to throb. You are making this too easy for me - you are thinking of a red
card, isn't that correct?"

"Let's try for the suit now, think of your left hand being hearts and your right hand being
diamonds. Again, imagine that had becoming heavier and you can do nothing to resist it. I
can feel that this arm is more stiff than the other. If I'm correct you are thinking of a heart, is
that correct?. Good, now let's try for the actual value of the card which you are thinking of. I
want you to turn both palms to face me and I will place my hands against yours so that each
of our fingers touch."

The performer and the spectator are now facing one another with both hands and fingers
touching. Starting with the performers left little finger; he counts from one to ten applying a
little pressure against each consecutive finger as the count proceeds.....

"Concentrate as hard as you can upon the finger that represents the value of the card you
are thinking of". The performer counts slowly from one to ten and then in reverse from ten to
one. "I'm going to remove my left hand, I think that we can safely eliminate that hand. Six,
seven, eight..(the performer stops on the count of eight removing the other fingers, leaving
only the middle finger touching that of the spectator's), you're thinking of the number eight!"
"You're are thinking of the eight of hearts!"

Method
This could not be easier. Use a force or control a selection and then glimpse it. For the best
glimpse ever, look no further than the Steve Draun Peek. Used by Gary Kurtz to cause a
devastating effect, it's an absolute killer! Whatever route you choose to take, make it clean
and simple. Place no emphasis on the method of selection whatsoever and get it out of the
way quickly.

Turn all concentration to the presentation of the effect. What I have provided you with is the
bare bones of patter that I use. Depending upon the situation, I further elaborate or shorten
the presentation as required. The more you perform this type of effect the better you will get
at picking up on things. You will be surprised at how the spectator will virtually give away the
colour of the card by glancing at the guilty hand. When they do, you immediately pick up on
this and state that they are making it too simple for you.

They will often become more restrained after you pick up on the colour and will try harder not
to give away the suit. By this time their arms are becoming fatigued, the power of

suggestion will be in your favor. I usually touch the backs of both hands with my forefingers,
applying a little downward pressure. You will encounter a little resistance from the guilty
hand. I quickly point this out before revealing the suit. This really 'sells' the body language
presentation of the routine.

What amazes me, having performed this very regularly over the past couple of years, is that
no spectator suspects you of having known the card since the beginning. Not once has any
spectator, male or female ever mentioned that I must have known the identity of the card
beforehand. The very first person that I tried this presentation on, later told me that she
could not hold her shopping bags properly for the rest of the day after feeling spooked.
What she meant by this exactly I don't know but it does show how strong it can be. If you do
not get a jaw-dropping reaction to this, you are doing something very wrong.

NLP and Products for Mentalists:

My thoughts and experience

by Rex Sikes

PART THREE

It is true some phrases are more powerful than others, some words more impactful. Any
writer or speaker knows this. Anyone wanting to be more persuasive and influential already
understands this. But it isn't just about the words.

It's about how you say and use the words. The manner they are spoken in, the context, how
they are woven together and the framework. In other words, it is about way more than just
the powerful words you learn in these studies.

It's about HOW you use it - how YOU use it, about HOW YOU use IT. Some people can
whip up an incredible meal using the same ingredients another could choke you with. It is the
application of the material and how you learn to use it with precision - not the magic phrasing
of a sentence. Yes, I know that's what it seems like - especially with names like Wonder
Words, but it is making ALL of your words have more impact when you UNDERSTAND
HOW people understand language, HOW their brains work and HOW you can DIRECT
them by the artful use of language. The ARTFUL USE of...

the artful use of... not the tricks and tips and gimmicks.

So it is much more than people realize or even appreciate. NLP of which Wonder Words
represents a small offering is incredible, yet, highly misunderstood and under appreciated by
some. But that is okay.

The study of NLP then is about the artful application of the methods and approaches to get a
worthwhile result in a given time period. It is the study of subjective experience - how people
understand the world and the study of replicating excellence.

So in this way of thinking NLP offers nothing to mentalism. BUT a shrew practitioner of
mentalism can take what NLP has to offer and apply it readily, all over the place, and get
great results! The savvy mentalist can utilize NLP to do many wonderful things and enhance
what they already do well. The insightful performer can use Wonder Words and Completely
Cold artfully to create greater rapport, and greater impact on the audience. The thoughtful
one can even create effects using words alone - as Kenton has.

But remember NLP is not an art for mentalism - it was designed to understand how people
operate and how people get results. Wonder Words takes a little portion of NLP linguistics
and applies it to performance and our arts. It isn't the whole enchilada - it couldn't be but it is

a good attempt at illuminating certain things. As is Completely Cold - when you understand
how to use them.

Some, a few, seem to have had a problem applying Completely Cold. That may be because
it isn't too well explained within the skeletal framework of the short manuscript. What isn't
explained? That Completely Cold isn't a cold reading - it is a means for directing thoughts
within your reading, turning misses into hits. It isn't the only thing you do - it is something you
use in conjunction with other things to improve your readings. This has been the number one
misconception about this product I have seen. It isn't a cold reading manuscript but a means
to augment your readings. Yes, you could use only the method but it wouldn't be the only
thing you would want to use.

The failure to make this clearer in the manuscript is a shortcoming for certain - but that aside
when one does understand "how to utilize the method" and applies it artfully then one has a
powerful adjunct to their already existing methods. In other words, it is brilliant because the
focus is on directing the sitter’s thoughts rather than what stock lines you might use.

Now the other obstacle a few people have had. Yes, I know it is difficult for some to imagine
performing without using anything but words, body language and psychological principles.
But, that can be done. And it can work. Kenton demonstrates this. Banacheck demonstrates
this. Hilford demonstrates this. As do others.

However, unlike coins through the table, which should work 100% of the time, unless you get
busted, using these means to create or enhance effects may not work always. But not
working doesn't mean the same as unsuccessful.

If something doesn't work you do something else, you use these approaches and re-direct
the participants thinking elsewhere. Or say you have an off night. People understand that in
regards to psychics.

The difference between getting busted as a magician and a mentalist is vast. But you really
can't be busted if you aren't using gimmicked props or sleight of hand. Participants may think
the effect weak or simple at worst, or merely a "works by a percentage thing", but you can
really blow people away too!

Now add ability to the effects you do with paper and pen, and all the other combined
mentalist methods and you have a very nice array of material.

Mentalism Inc. by Chuck Hickok

Reviewed by Max Gordon

Having read the reviews by some big name performers, I was keen to see for myself what all
the hype was about.

Chuck Hickok's book promises to give the "Full Monty" on his corporate show. The
background, the effects, the patter etc. and he delivers on that score. Chuck effectively
gives away his complete act. In theory anyone aspiring to become a performer could study
this book, learn the effects and go out and work.

In theory yes!

Not only would they learn Chuck's routines, they would also be picking up on what can only
be described as weak showmanship. My problem lies not in Chuck's routines, descriptions or
patter, he is obviously a funny guy and this stuff works for him, but it is his understanding of
stagecraft that leaves me wondering what his audience make of his act. For example

Chuck describes his method of getting people to assist. As pre-show work, he introduces
himself to some guests and once he elicits their consent to assist, he gives them a card with
a number on it. When he wants that person to assist, he calls out their number. I don't know
about American audiences, but here in the UK anything that smacks of "we spoke before
the show" will be immediately dismissed as using confederates.

At the outset Chuck states that his act is structured for today's "fast thinking corporate
clients", he then explains his programme of 5 routines. In a 40 min show, Chuck's
presentation is not exactly racy in my opinion. Chuck opens his show with a "Magic Square"
presentation, and whilst I can wholly concur that to a sober, intelligent audience, this is a
strong routine, it is no opener. Marc Salem uses a magic square as his mental workout. His
presentation takes around 60 seconds. Now that is an opener!

Chuck goes to great lengths to link his effects to a "Dunninger" story, which whilst in itself is
nice, then goes on to destroy all his concept building explanations with a finale revelation of
all that has taken place. Why apparently struggle to reveal a thought of symbol when you
are going to finish your show by revealing a prediction showing you knew the symbol they
would choose?

I also felt that Chuck lacked an understanding of showmanship in concluding his show.
Reading the book, you find that he completes his final effect and then goes on (in print) for
over two whole pages of dialogue to finish off with. No impact, no big punch.

In his defence, Chuck states that the effects and routines work for him, and you the reader
may agree or disagree as you wish. My problem lies with the credits at the back of the book
that give the contents an unqualified thumbs up. These imply that this is the Holy Grail for
those wanting to create a modern mentalist act.

It sounds as though I did not like this book; well I disagreed with a lot of it, as you have just
read. But within this book are many tips and sound advice especially regarding, sound
systems, sightlines, room layout etc. It is up to the reader to work out which bits are good
and which bits simply don't work!

Card Conspiracy Vol. 1 by Peter Duffie & Robin Robertson

Reviewed by Peter Arcane

Now this review could go two ways:

I could give the book a good review on the grounds that:

· I’ve been a fan of Peter’s work since I first picked up a pack of cards
· Peter is a fellow Scot

But then again I could give it a terrible review on the grounds that:

· I honestly don’t have a clue who Robin Robertson is!
· Peter is from the East of Scotland and I’m from the West.

To be fair I think it might be best to give an honest review… Yeah I know, what’s the point of
reviewing a book of card tricks in a Mentalism eMag!? Well Center Tear is ‘the thinking
persons journal’ and with Card Conspiracy you can see there’s been a hell of a lot of thinking
going on. The thought process used to structure Card Conspiracy is something that
Mentalists could learn from. Take a principle and push it and mould it, till you’ve have
something - something new and yours.

The book is broken into 12 sections. Each section focuses on a different ‘move/concept’. It
starts with an overview and then walks you through a number of effects using the
‘move/concept’. This structure allows you to mull things over before you’ve even started on

the effects. For me this allows me to think, “What can I use this for?” Then I get to read
through what Peter and Robin have done with it.

If I list the 12 sections I’m sure those that use cards for ‘mind games’ will immediately spot
something of interest:

Biddle Force, Concealed Allerton Control, Cut Force, Daley’s Delight Switch, Daryl’s
Diminishing Count, Divide and Conjure (Marty Kane), Double Deal Turn-over, Fake &
Unusual, Gemini Count, Gilbreath Principle, GB Switch & Hummer Principle.

With eyes wide shut you could say that this book is just a book of card tricks. But those who
work outside the box and give it the time to sink in will see something else.

Those that perform Maven’s Mockingbird will find a new lease of life for the Gilbreath
Principle in The Paranormalist. The Cut Force and Double Deal Turn-over offer many an
Open Prediction, while White Wash and Thought Process will give the Mentalist a quick fix.

Card Conspiracy Vol. 1 is something to get the thinking Cardman, thinking. The thought
process Peter and Robin have used to create/collate these effects shows what can be
achieved with some gentle pushing and prodding. If you like to THINK about your card
magic/effects, Card Conspiracy Vol. 1 offers some good fodder and inspiration.

Available from:

http://www.peterduffie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

($29.95)