tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36224852009-11-15T14:59:17.156ZRandom Thoughts of a Magical Nature. Notes, Trivia and Other Fragments. Copyright 2002 David BritlandDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-72128039360609330452009-11-15T14:48:00.002Z2009-11-15T14:59:17.169Z

In Premonition (as popularised by Eddie Joseph) the effect is that any named card is revealed to be missing from the deck. In theory it presents an interesting challenge to the cardician. And has a similar appeal to other card problems like ACAAN and The Trick That Cannot Be Explained. In reality you hardly ever see the trick performed, possibly because counting through a deck to reveal that only

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-57817786723016455182009-09-05T16:22:00.003Z2009-09-05T16:40:54.863Z

In researching the book Chan Canasta: A Remarkable Man, I came across another version of Canasta’s famed book test, one in which he used a word constructed from letters called out by members of the audience. A video of this routine, as performed on a Dutch television show, has now appeared on You Tube. You will find it at the link below. Thank you Gaafman.Chan Canasta on Dutch TV While the

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-81710929266757513692009-04-25T17:46:00.003Z2009-04-25T17:57:46.945Z

EFFECT: Spectator shuffles the deck while performer takes a small envelope from his pocket and places it on the table. The spectator is asked to cut the deck into three piles and then choose one of them. The top card of the chosen pile is turned over; it is the King of Spades. The envelope is opened. Inside is a playing card. It too is The King of Spades. METHOD: This is nothing more than a

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-28038208195255730072009-04-23T00:55:00.005Z2009-04-23T01:09:21.801Z

The Trick That Cannot Be Explained is described in Dai Vernon’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic. The author, Lewis Ganson, having witnessed the effect said to Vernon: ‘Dai, I saw the effect. You wrote a prediction on a cigarette packet and placed this on the table. Al Koran shuffled the pack (and made a thorough job of it!). You told him to turn over the top card – which happened to be the

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-51065973013940641912009-04-16T17:28:00.013Z2009-04-17T14:10:28.053Z

Which card? That was the question posed by Chan Canasta on the cover of the Radio Times (8th Jan, 1960). This novel interactive trick was used to promote his new series of psycho magic on BBC television.Having thought of a card, readers were asked to turn to page 9 for the results. If you click on the photo you should get a better view of the cards. And having chosen one you can read Canasta's

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-16557254670504832312009-02-25T15:05:00.003Z2009-02-25T15:30:42.980Z

In 1978 I attended the IBM convention in Hastings. It was a memorable convention for three main reasons. It was the year I met Phil Goldstein and his alter ego Max Maven, who blew everyone away with a unique brand of card work and mentalism. It was the convention I got to watch David Berglas give one of his incredible card performances part of which involved named cards being found at thought of

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-78467506184902419162009-02-25T13:51:00.002Z2009-02-25T13:59:32.497Z

The following trick is the subject of an interesting thread on the Genii forum about a performance of Harry Lorayne’s that is currently on You Tube. The trick in question begins at 00.32 on the video. The footage is from The Secret World of Magic, a show I helped develop with Objective Productions, in which magicians Ali Cook and Pete Firman toured the world in search of great magic. They

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-36163021298619480292008-01-03T17:02:00.002Z2009-02-20T14:14:48.619Z

NOT THE BERGLAS EFFECTFollowing on from The Bogus Effect here is another version of Any Card At Any Number. The dealer advert would run something like this: THE EFFECT A spectator thinks of a card. A second spectator thinks of a number. A deck of cards is placed on the table. The performer need not touch the deck from this point on. Only now is the thought of number revealed. The

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-71151120082162647422009-02-10T15:09:00.004Z2009-02-10T15:32:23.421Z

I first read about Fred Robinson in Will Dexter’s book Famous Magic Secrets, an inspirational book to a teenage conjuror. Fred was one of the many curious characters portrayed by Dexter in the chapter about The Magic Circle. Fred was the burly rail worker sitting in the corner of the club dealing seconds and bottoms from the deck to the amazement of even the most expert magician. It was decades

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-72736492797359724222009-01-31T18:07:00.004Z2009-01-31T18:37:31.402Z

Steve Forte has an almost supernatural ability with cards. It was at the Gambler’s Book Shop Shop in Las Vegas that I first heard his name. They were showing a series of four video tapes that Steve had produced. As I watched Steve’s incredible dice and card work on the monitor an old guy next to me said, ‘That’s the real deal.’ That old guy was Dai Vernon. At that time I was researching

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-29366155184924394402009-01-31T16:50:00.005Z2009-01-31T17:03:51.116Z

Jon Racherbaumer emailed to say that the previous post about Newman Mond reminded him of an Eddie Field’s stunt. Eddie would shoot a ball across the pool table so that it hit a deck of cards, cutting it into two packets right at the selection. This was a version of Sleight of Foot, the trick in which a few grains of salt are secretly placed above the selected card so that the deck will separate

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-18027401840505784822009-01-15T16:59:00.007Z2009-01-17T14:19:01.338Z

This is an odd trick. You are at the pool table and decide to show a card trick. A pack of cards is spread over the table and one is chosen. It is replaced and the deck stood on a small block of wood, held there by a bulldog clip. The deck is then placed at one end of the table and you stand at the other, pool cue in hand. You aim the cue at one of the balls on the table then, POW! The ball

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-1344611287948638872009-01-13T19:55:00.007Z2009-01-14T20:26:49.525Z

Stephen Tucker is a friend and one of the most creative magicians on the planet. I’ve known him for years – we attended the same school - and have seen his inventive mind applied all manner of tricks. He has a knack of finding truly offbeat solutions to magical problems. At the core of every trick is a great idea, one that can be adapted to your individual handling. He is a prolific inventor and

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-54380895860132075682007-11-17T17:26:00.000Z2008-11-15T08:20:32.216Z

LUNCH BOXAndrew Loh emailed me about his marketed effect Cardbox Meltdown. He'd heard that it might be similar to an effect of mine, Lunch Box, published in Equinox back in 1985, and wanted to include a credit in his instructions. Here is the write up from Equinox as sent to Andrew. I think it's still an interesting effect even after all these years.LUNCH BOX A large ‘sandwich’ with very few

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-49993624562142454952008-01-23T15:10:00.001Z2008-11-15T08:20:32.043Z

ADAMATHICA - AN ACAAN FOR 1921Often missing from a discussion of Any Card At Any Number is mention of a trick by Bertram Adams called Adamathica. He marketed it in 1921 as a set of instructions in hardbound form. He said he had 100 copies for sale and I would imagine it is quite rare. I found a set of instructions at Ask Alexander. The effect is described as follows: Spectator is asked to

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-60243604399558051292008-01-30T21:33:00.000Z2008-11-15T08:20:31.846Z

YET ANOTHER ANY CARD AT ANY NUMBERYou are probably wondering what the above has to do with ACAAN. Read on and all will be revealed. This blog entry began when Steve Williams emailed me saying that it would be great if The Trick That Baffled Babbage could be done using only one deal. Fortunately it can. The inspiration for this version lies in one of my favourite tricks from Harry Lorayne’

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-14829484632253261542008-05-26T21:26:00.007Z2008-11-15T08:20:31.670Z

DIRECT MIND READING One trick that puzzled me for a long time was Trevor Hall’s Direct Mind Reading. He famously performed it at The Hoffmann Memorial Lecture at the Magic Circle in 1951. In 1956 he advertised it as a limited edition dealer item in The Magic Circular. I’ve never managed to locate a copy of the instructions (almost, but that’s another story) and I’d be very surprised if Hall

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-91419146343386480712008-10-04T15:28:00.005Z2008-10-04T15:43:30.599Z

BOOK REVIEWFive years ago Ian Keable told me that he was writing a book. Ian is one of the hardest working people I know. When he sets his mind to something he finds a way of accomplishing it. I met him in the early days of Opus Magazine. Ian was the editor for the first year. He never missed a deadline. He is a professional magician and I’ve watched him work his way up from the comedy clubs and

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-57943006914444484412008-07-04T14:10:00.004Z2008-08-16T16:09:06.418Z

DEVILISHLY SIMPLE FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTHThe search for the perfect solution to Stewart James’ Fifty-One Faces North inevitably involves some compromise. James’ own version of his own problem unfortunately compromised the effect to such a degree that it was no longer recognisable as the clear and clean version of The Open Prediction that magicians wanted it to be. This version presents what appears

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-10428888498687143272008-07-22T00:30:00.004Z2008-07-22T00:40:29.914Z

THE BOGUS EFFECT IN ACTIONPatrick Guida kindly pointed me to this video of Lu Chen performing his version of The Bogus Effect on television:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5au-kLobV9sI think it plays very well and spreading the cards is a nice touch.

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-26111705348129500122008-06-29T21:44:00.003Z2008-06-29T21:52:59.755Z

ANOTHER OPEN PREDICTION When looking for solutions to Fifty-One Faces North it is worth considering other tricks and seeing whether they can be transformed into something that resembles Stewart James’ creation. In the Not The Berglas Effect manuscript I described the Will de Sieve key-card (Greater Magic page 478). I was always impressed how Ted Lesley used this gimmick in his Kismet

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-24171144472361744362008-06-27T12:17:00.002Z2008-06-27T12:36:33.483Z

MORE ON FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH Thomas Baxter emailed me to say that I had overlooked some additional conditions that Stewart James had mentioned in Ibidem 3. These are: Spectator deals straight through from top to face. Only variation is when he leaves a card face down. Not a once-in-a-while trick. If instructions are followed, it cannot fail. No card handled by you from first to last.

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-58623448957835930602008-06-25T21:21:00.003Z2008-06-25T21:53:50.903Z

FIFTY-ONE FACES NORTH Stewart James is famous for many things and one of them is a card problem known as Fifty-One Faces North, the origin of which has a convoluted and controversial history. The idea for James’ legendary effect came about following a visit to the magic convention in Colon in 1952 where James and his friend Francis Haxton, who was visiting from England, met Ed Marlo. At a card

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-24304234984509481252008-06-18T13:39:00.002Z2008-06-18T13:48:48.782Z

UNDER THE TABLE I’ve mentioned Dunninger’s ability to baffle magicians on this blog before. The following description is taken from The Phoenix issue 170 where Clayton Rawson describes another of the master mind reader’s impossible card locations. EFFECTWe sat in a restaurant with Joe Dunninger one night when he took our shuffled deck of cards, spread them out on his hands and held them

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622485.post-52925822134910646472008-04-15T18:08:00.004Z2008-05-13T20:50:41.352Z

NOT THE BERGLAS EFFECTThis is the follow up to The Bogus Effect described previously on this blog.It is too long to post here but I've now sent a pdf out to everyone who requested it. This offer is now officially closed.The mss includes some other thoughts and trivia on card at any number effects. Hope you get something out of it, if only inspiration.If you haven't received yours it might be

Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07880116091536189734davidbritland@hotmail.com