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POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEV 07728

POSTOFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEV 0772B

lI'Jto "Oe(!~.te,eCopyright by Al Mann Exclusives 1981

~L MANN i8.xc/~ (201) 431-2429

FOREWORD

Once in a century, the world produces a magicianwho profoundly astounds everyone with card effects.

Today we have Olof Jonsson, who has received signedaffidavits proclaiming him a true psychic after witnes­sing his card feats.

Joseph Dunninger awed his audiences in like mannerand so did Johann Hofzinser.

In 1569 (15 years before Reginald Scot wrote "TheDiscoverie of Witchcraft"), Hieronymous Scotto enter­tained royalty and performed in the courts of Austriaand Europe, mostly with card tricks. (he also did abook test and seeing through a wall). His audiencescommenteda "I thought of a card -- and he showed it tome!" "Scotto had cards drawn, and Oh! Miracle! Each drewthe card he was thinking of!" "He put four cards intoone's hand, then he asked 'What do you want? Four kings,four queens or four jacks?' and whatever you wanted thatwas it!" "This is no small matter!"

The card feats contained in this book have alreadycaused much talk in the viewers. So take heed and dolikewise.

Secretum secretorumTu operans sis secretus horum

(The secret of secretsThou that workst them, be secretin them.)

T. R.Ann. 1570

f. tn/f/ft

Good luck Untouchables

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(201 ) 431-2429POST OFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728

1t~ '?o~(!a"eCopyright by Al Mann Exclusives 1981

'1'f g~V1t.4ill: This tractate is devoted exclusivelyto card effects using a borrowed deck that is shuffled andcut and remains in the hands of your audience always. The deckis never handled by the Mentalist!

The Mentalist carries his own deck which comes in handy wheninstructing the spectator how to hold the deck or what to do. Theeffects presented in this book assumes that the Mentalist has hisown deck with him but the effects can be done without it.

There are a number of clasical card stunts that can not bedone with a borrowed deck, simply because it is not your deck.You can not do tricks where the cards have to be marked, signedor mutilated. You should not do tricks that depend on an exactnumber of cards like 52 or 48 simply because you are not surejust how many cards there are in the deck.

A card can be marked by using the Easy-on-easy-off remova­ble labels sold in stationery stores.

Where an effect calls for turning your back or leaving theroom, it may be better to just tell the spectator to place hisor her hands under the table to do the secret moves OR the handsmay hide behind an open book or picture frame, etc., somethingthat will add mystery to the presentation and which the audiencewill remember and talk about later.

The reader can rest assured that if he masters the type ofcard effects offered in this book, and presents them properly andregularly, he will be rewarded with fame and perhaps fortunelHistory has proven it and history can repeat itself.

"he (!u4(le~f#-e.: "Mr. Mentalist, can you do a card trick forus without touc~ing the deck? I have heard that mentalist can dojust that and I find it hard to believe."

"My pleasure!" You say and then proceed to baffle their sen­ces by doing many brain-busting card effects without touching thedeck!

Many present day Mentalists would find themselves at a lossas to how to meet the above challenge. And although books on cardmagic do contain effects of this nature, they are generallyoverlooked. That type of test seems so dull and uninteresting(to us). The fact is that most of us can not resist the tempta­tion of taking the deck and showing the audience how clever weare. Yet audiences are profoundly impressed by the tests offeredin this book and will remember the effects for yearsl

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THE CHALLENGE ••.•• corrt , • ••...

At first glance it will appear that the mentalist is limitedto what he can do and to a few tools to do it with, in meetingthe challenge. But a second look will reveal that there are manytools and many ways of using them. Just to list a few, we have.

1. The center-tear principle which is first and foremost.2. The radar pencil also called the ESP pencil, or just a fewgrains of salt. J. Reflecting surfaces and reducing mirrors.4. The Swami gimmick. 5. Impression pads and clip boards. 6. Thetransparency principle. 7. Contact mindreading. 8. a combina­tion of two or more of the above principles, and ••.•.••

Let us assume that you have left home in a rush and have for­gotten all your gimmicks. What then? Well we still have thesecret of the ancients, which is •.••.•

"But in shewing feats, and juggling with car~s, theprincipall point consisteth in shuffling them nimblie,and alwaies keeping one certeine card either in the bo­ttome or in some knowne place --- Hereby you shall seemeto worke woonders--"

Reginald Scot (1584)The Discoverie of Witchcraft

When doing effects with the cards in the hands of the audiencethe Mentalist has only a few clues to work with. One of the mostpotent is the sighting of the 'nether card' or the bottom card.This technique has been treated in many books on card magic. Re­ginald scot called it 'the nether card.' All one needs to do isto just wait. As the deck is passed around for shuffling, someonewill surely flash the bottom card. And even if someone noticesthat you have seen the bottom card, they place little importanceto it as they do not know what you intend to do. And after wit­nessing the 'woonders' that follow, the bottom card is forgotten.

Here is an example.The spectators have shuffled and cut the cards several

times. As soon as you sight the bottom card, you stop the shuf­fling. You then take your own deck out to demonstrate what youwant done. Tell the person holding the deck to hide his handsbehind a screen, book or what have you, and to turn the deckface up so that he can see the cards. Then he is to deal cardsface up and as he uncovers each card to stop after he sees onecard that he likes. You demonstrate this with your cards. He isto look at the face of the deck only and at each card as it isuncovered. After he chooses a card he is to remember it and thenplace the dealt cards back on the deck. It really does not matter

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THE NETHER CARD •..••. corrc, • .....

if he puts the dealt cards on top or on the bottom of the deck.He is then to cut the cards and then spread them face up on thetable. The Mentalist then reminds the audience that he has nottouched the cards and that the cards were shuffled and cut seve­ral times so that no one can possibly know the order of the cards.The Mentalist then proceeds to divine the chosen card.

NOTE. The 'key' card (the bottom card) which was the firstcard dealt remained in sight only for a moment and then was cov­ered by the other cards as they are dealt so that the first cardis soon forgotten. So no matter how the deck is assembled, thekey card will be on top of the chosen card as the cards are sprea~face upo

Gentlemen, let's get down to brass tacks and assume that youhave failed in sighting the bottom card as everyone has been verycareful. What then? Don't fear as there are several ways of per­forming miracles with cards without knowing the identity of anycard. Here are some.

SiA,~"~4t 't',:&iD,.,EFFECT. The spectators shuffle and cut their own deck of cards

and are careful not to flash the bottom card or any other card.They then cut the deck into four even piles. The performer thendivines the bottom card of each pile plus a chosen card that hasbeen sighted by anyone! The performer never touches the deck orany of the cards!

Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? In this kind of effectit is usually necessary for the performer to touch some indivi­dual cards 0 But here for the first time in print is an idea withan envelope that will obviate the need for touching any of thecards! (see Astral Sight in the Third Ecstasy)

METHOD AND PRESENTATION. Have the spectators shuffle the deckand cut it several times. This can be done while you are out ofthe room although that is not necessary. What you are trying toconvey is the idea that you do not see any of the cards, neitherthe bottom nor the top card!

Next have the spectators place the deck face down on the tableand have someone cut the deck at about the middle and note thebottom card of the cut portion.

You are armed with some salt crystals in your right coat po­cket and then reach in and press some crystal on the ball of yourright thumb 0 Then you point to the lower half of the deck and asyou extend your first right finger, it rubs the salt crystals offthe thumb and drop on top of the lower half. When the upper halfis placed on the lower half tell the spectator to square the deck.

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SIDEREAL VISION •..•.. cont •••.•.•

Fig. 1ItC salt----

move guard upto release salt

NOTE, The Mentalist should also always carry an ordinary pen­cil with erasor. This item can be used for pointing at the cardsand even for touching them and moving them around.

Now if the reader cares to combine the pencil with the saltcrystals, he can make an ESP pencil. This is an idea that was do­nated by Lou Tannen, the NYC magic dealer to the Sphinx. (see VQ1.51 #2). The ESP pencil is shown in Fig. 1.

The 1~P pencil is a wooden pencil witha metal guar~. The guard is filled withsalt. When the guard is moved up enough toclear the top of the pencil, saltwill come out through the slit.

The Radar pencil is a mechanicalpencil that uses fine sand. It can befound in most magic catalogues.

Himber's pencil had a hole in theerasor.

These pencils have their merit butbelieve me, the salt in the coat pocket is as good as any othermethod.

So you have the facedown deck in front of you with some saltcrystals below the glimpse card in about the middle of the deckand you are holding a pencil in your hand.

So you tell some one to please cut off one/fourth of thetop of the deck and place it to your right. As he does that yo~push the rest of the deck from the sides so as to topple it andthe cards spread out a bit and you will notice a larger gapwhere the cards have separated due to the salt crystals actinglike ball bearings. So you tell the person to move the cardsabove the break also to the right to make a second pile.

Have the rest of the deck cut also into two more piles.Now you have four piles of face down cards in front of you

and you do not know the identity of any card. All you know isthat the glimpse card is the bottom card of the second pile coun­ting from right to left.

And what is more beautiful is that the spectators do notknow any of the cards either. The person that glimpse the onecard near the middle does not know that it now is on the bottomof one of the piles!

So you remind the spectators in no uncertain terms that theyhave shuffled and cut the deck and that it is impossible for any­one to know through normal means the location of any of the cards,You also remind them that you have not touched the cards (exceptfor pushing them a bit with your pencil) and what's more youwill not touch the cards ever.

"I am going to try a most difficult test that is seldom tried.So I need your full cooperation. Believe it or not, I am goingto try to identify five cards purely by tought power."

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SIDEREAL VISION ....... corrt , • .••.•

5AN AL MANN EX CLUS lYE

You now remove from your coat pocket a business size envelope(a letter size envelope may be used also) and place it flap sideup-address side down in front of you. Unknown to your audience theenvelope has a glassine window as shown in Fig. 2.

The amazing thing about this window en­velope is that most of your audience willnever see the window and those that do willplace little importance on it. Most of the Fig. 2interest will be on the cards and the en-velope will show no rational connection ( l.!,l> )with the impact of the effect!

"The first card that I am going to tryto locate is the card that was sighted. So please call yourcard." Spectator says it was the two-of-spades.

"We know the card was somewhere near the middle so please, willyou (pointing to any person) cut this pile and remove a card butdo not look at it or let me see it. Just place it face down here."

You pass your hands over it and say, "Sorry, that is not thetwo-of-spades." This card can be turned over if you wish and dis­carded or placed back into the deck. It makes little difference.

So you tell the person to choose another card from the thirdpile. Pass your hand over that card and say, "That's better.""Please slide that card into the envelope."

When the spectator slides the card into the envelope, he doesnot push it all the way to the bottom. He just pushes it until itis out of sight, and since the envelope is flat on the table thecard remains there. Amazingly enough if you now pick up the enve­lope, pinching the card in place, the index will show through theglassine window. Then you shake the envelope to get the card tothe bottom o That is a normal gesture which arouses no suspicionThe spectators doubt that you will succeed anyway and are pro­bably betting that you will fail.

You now tell someone to write down the names of the cards.So he writes first, the two-of-spades.

"I now have four cards to go!" you say and then start passingyour hands over the piles. You choose any pile and say, "The Jackof Hearts is in this pile!" That was the card you sighted throughthe envelope and you are now miscalling, using the one-aheadsystem!

So have anyone cut that pile and remove one card. But youstop him and say "NO! That's not it." and tell him to show thecard and discard it. You were right again! That was not the Jackof Hearts. The spectators are beginning to look at you funny.So tell the person to take the next card and again you say thatis not it. So you settle for the third card and have him slidethat card into the envelope.

Again you glimpse the card through the window. You will findthat each card shows through the window as it is put in. But ifit does not then you just look into the envelope to check. Again

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SIDEREAL VISION •...•• corrt , • •.••

that is a normal gesture that tells the spectators nothing.You continue in this fashion and pick out the bottom card

from the second pile last and have the person slide it into theenvelope. You do not have to look at this card. Just pick upthe envelope and toss it to anyone and tell them to check yourchoices against the written record! Climax. And again you willnotice that no one checks the envelope or notices the window asit has no bearing at all of what has just happened.

"Bear in mind." You say. "That I never touched the cards!"

Gentlemen, I am assuning that the reader knows the one-aheadsystem and the art of miscalling. So let us proceed to betterthings, namely, the two-ahead system.

Let us assume that while doing the 'Sidereal Vision' youdid sight the bottom card. So you proceed in the same way exceptthat now you know the identity of the bottom card of the fourthpile from ri~ht to left and also know that the sighted card (un­known to you) is at the bottom of the second pile!

So you ask the spectator to callout her card as you are go­ing to try to locate it. But while you are doing that you alsoget some very strong vibrations of say the five of clubs, theoriginal bottom card. So you say, "Is anyone thinking of the fiveof clubs? I am surely getting some strong vibrations on that cardand I can feel that the five of clubs is in this pile!~

So you miscall the first two cards and have them slid intothe envelope one at a time and you get a peek at them one at atime. Now the dramatic conclusion follows. (One of the spectatorshas been asked to jot down the cards as they're called.)

You say, "I also get some very strong vibrations of two morecards." Here you name the cards just seen, and which are in theenvelope. You continue to pass your hands over the piles and thenhave someone remove the bottom cards from the second and fourthpile which are the glimpse card and the original 'nether' card.

So as soon as the cards are in the envelope, toss it to anyonefor verification.

These effects are very strong and completely shatter the rea­soning of the viewers.

Some advance thought on the J-ahead system can be found inthe "H" Factor using the flip-over wallet.

These principles have been known for centuries but they haveseen little developement since then. More thought should bespent by magicians on these two very valueble weapons.

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

In this effect, the ancient two-pile mystery is used in a verydifferent and disguised version. It is truly amazing the amount ofinformation that is gotten from almost nothing!

EFFECT: Mentalist reveals a mentally chosen name and numberand the identity of two playing cards glimpse from a borrowed andwell shuffled deck of cards that never leave the hands of the au­dience and which the mentalist never touches.

The two-pile mystery is a mathematical card effect that hasbeen printed in almost all the books on card tricks. It is known tomany non-magicians and no doubt that if the effect is presented inits original form it would be recognized by lay audiences.

The Amazing Joseph Dunninger disguised the mathematical aspectsof the presentation by substituting names for the uninterestingnumbers. This introduced interest into the presentation as the par­ticipating spectators can use their own names or the names of theirloved ones •• Dunninger's effect called "Nomenclature" appeared inJinx #64.

Fred Braue, writing on "The Two Pile Mystery" in Jean Hugard'sMore Card Manipulations No.2, elaborated further by having two cardsglimpse instead of one (the bottom card on both piles) and alsodivining the mentally chosen number!

In my version, Gentlemen, we will totally disguise the two­pile theme and get away from the "deal two piles of cards to thenumber of which you are thinking." That last order throws suspi-

. cion on the effect and indicates a mathematical pUZZle. In thisversion it appears that only one pile is used or that simply twopersons are asked to glimpse two cards at totally different times.

METHOD AND PRESENTATION: Let us assume that someone has in­troduced a deck of cards and have asked you to do something. Yourefuse to touch the deck and make it clear that you do not do cardtricks ordinarily.

Turn to a person on your left and say, "Please think of a name,any name. Make it the first name of someone that you know but don'tsay what it is. Write it here in this piece of paper and don't letanyone see what you write and then fold the paper.

Take the folded paper from the first person and then turn tosome lovely lady and say, "please think of a number from 1 to 12and please keep it to yourself. That is going to be the mysticnumber so please don't forget it. While you are saying that tearup the slip of paper with the name on it and discard it. You haveglimpse the name in the process. (I am assuming that the reader cando the center tear. The Mag-Eye move or the Al Baker center tearis recommended)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary to do the name divination

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NO TOCCARE AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

WHAT'S IN A NAME ••••.• cont • • • • • • .

part as the effect is strong enough without it. However it doesadd to the mystery as only one person is asked to write his thoughtdown while the second person thinking of the number does not writeanything.

Let us say that the lady is thinking of number 8 although youas the mentalist do not know that yet.

The lady is told to take the well shuffled deck of cards andto deal cards to her number and to ~ass these cards in a bunchto anyone else (Call this person #1).

Person #1 is told to shuffle the small packet of cards andto then look at the bottom card and to place the pack on top ofthe deck. Tell this person to remember the card glimpse and ifnecessary he may be asked to write it down. You then state thatsince the deck is shuffled and you do not know the mystic numberyou have no way of telling where or what the card is. Repeat againthat you never touch the deck! (Say the 6 of diamonds is glimpse).

Next tell the person on your left who is thinking of a nameto please recall the same name that he wrote down and to take thedeck and to deal from the top one card for each letter in thename. You have of course seen the name. Say that it is "John"so the person deals four cards down. He may do this openly orsecretly. Since, you say, You do not know the name, the number ofcards dealt tell you little.

The deck is now passed to a second person who is told tocallout a name also and to deal as many cards on top of the fourcards already on the table, as there is letters in the name.

Say that this person calls out "Mary."A third person is told to do the same. Say that "George"

is called. There should now be 14 cards on the table.Tell this person to square the cards neatly. In the act ~ou

must glimpse the bottom card of the 14 group. Say it is the Aceof Spades. This group of 14 cards is now returned to the top ofthe deck. (the Ace of Spades is your key card)

The lady who is thinking of the mystic number is now toldto take the deck and to secretly (under the table or behind anopen book) turn the deck face up and to deal as many cards fromthe face of the deck as the total of the mystic number. Shemay shuffle the dealt cards. She is told to place the deck backon the table face down and then to note the bottom card of thesmall group of cards she holds and to replace the cards face­down on top of the deck. She is cautioned to please remember thecard she saw. Let us assume this card was the 9 of clubs.

Again you state that since you do not know the mystic numberyou have no way of telling where the glimpse card is. And againyou state that you do not touch the deck.

The person who is thinking of the first name, is told totake the deck and to deal cards face-up from the top of the face-

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AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE

WHAT'S IN A NAME •••.••. cont ••..•.•

down deck, one card for each letter of the name. He is thento continue to deal cards also face-up for the other two namescalled, Mary and George. After that he deals another row of cardsabove the 'name' cards until you see the key card, the Ace ofspades, and you tell him to stop there.

Fig. J, shows the lay of the cards.

E

Fig. J

J 0 H N M A R Y~. :... ~. .•• • • • •• •• • .'.:,

THE NAME CARDS

As soon as the dealer finishes dealing the 'Name cards'the very next card is the card glimpse by person #1, the six ofdiamonds! Here .the mentalist may say, "The next card you aregoing to deal is the-- (point to the person and tell him tocall his card)--the six of diamonds."

That is a dramatic revelation, however if the performerwishes he can ignore the card and make believe he does not knowany of the glimpse cards and then reveal them later.

The person is instructed to keep on dealing 'the extra cards'face up and he is stopped when the 'key' card shows up, the ACEof Spades.

The number of 'extra cards' dealt equals to the chosen num­ber "8l" The 8th card from left to right of the 'name' cardsis the card glimpse by the lady! The nine of clubs.

Next you tell the person on your left the name he is thinkingof which is 'John!'

This effect seems quite complicated and cumbersome in writingbut after a few trials it will become routine and most impressiveto the viewers.

To complicate matter a bit more the performer may have the'extra' cards dealt right on top of the last 'name card.' Thatis the "e" in "George."

"And remember, you shuffled the cards and I never touchedthem! "

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AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE

lady has chosen a secret number (8).lady takes the deck and secretly counts 8 cards,back on the table, and passes the 8 cards to spec-

"'J1t,e fi'ti~ 'BtJVfJlA-aThis is a version of the previous effect "What's in a Name."

The method is well hidden and it appears that the deck wasshuffled after the cards are chosen. Proceed exactly as in theprevious effect.

1. The2. The

places the decktator #1.

J. Spectator No. 1 shuffles the 8 cards and sights thebottom card and places the pack face down on top of the deck. Saythe card is th~ six of diamonds:.

4. Anyone now spells the three names, John, Mary andGeorge. You must know the total number of name cards and sincethe names have been written down you know the total is 14.

You must also know the bottom card of the 14-group.So tell the person to place the deck on the table and to squarethe name cards neatly. If you do not sight the bottom card then,tell the spectator to turn the pack face up, but as soon as yousight the face card say, "No. Place those cards face down on thedeck and turn the deck face-up instead but don't let me see thecards. Keep the deck under the table.

5. Deck is passed to the lady who deals 8 cards from theface-up deck and places the deck back on the table face-down.Then shuffles the 8 cards, sights the bottom card, say the 9 ofclubs, and replaces the pack on top of the deck.

6. Now tell someone to cut the deck in half, turn thetop half face-up and riffle shuffle one half into the other andthen to spread the deck in front of you from your left to rightin a long spread. .

Usually all the cards you will be looking for will beface-up, unless the names chosen were very long. In this case the'name cards' were 14 in total and the number chosen was 8. Soadding the two numbers you get 22 which is less than half the deckwhich means that all the needed cards are face-up.

So start counting the face-up cards, left to right. Count14 cards and the next card is the six of diamonds, the firstchosen card. Next count from the six of diamonds to the Ace ofSpades which gives you 8 which is the chosen number. Then countagain from the left of the spread to the eighth face-up card toarrive at the Nine of clubs which is the second card chosen.

"And remember," you say, "I never touched the cards and youshuffled them!"

If the bottom card is not face-up, it means that it is onthe other half of the deck. So count the face-up cards from thesix of diamonds to the end of the spread and then have the decksquared and turned over and spread again and continue countingfrom left to right to the Ace of spades!

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

You are on a space ship traveling between Mars and Jupiter.The passengers want to see some spage-age card tricks. To yourshock you discover that there isn't any salt aboard and ofcourse no sand either. Then you remember one of the secrets ofthe ancients and what a stunning effect it is. So you baffletheir stellar pants off with ••••••.•

"~(J.tclt,.~ (!ttAeCalchas, the Chief 800thsayer- ­

-who knew things past, presentand to come -

The Iliad

EFFECT. The spectators, using their own deck, shuffle itand cut it fairishly, and then cut it into three piles and lookat the top card of each pile. The Mentalist, without touchingany pile or card, divines all three cardsl

METHOD AND PRESENTATION. In this amazing effect, you do notneed to know anything. As will be seen you do not need to knowthe bottom card of any pile nor the top card and you still divineall three cards.

However only to clarify a point, let us say that you didglimpse the bottom card of the middle pile and that it is theAce of diamonds. As shown in Fig. 4, let's say that the threepiles are I, II and III. And that the top cards as peeked at bythe spectators are I, King of diamonds; II, seven of hearts andIII, the three of spades.

In Fig. 4, the bottomcard of II pileis the Ace ofDiamonds

KD, 7H and38 are the topcards.

KD

I

38

Fig. 4

The three piles should be as even as possible without havingto count them. Each pile in turn can be shuffled. Knowing thebottom card of the center pile is good for a check only and ifdesired whoever flashes the bottom card while shuffling the threepiles, that person is told to place his pile in the center.

Designate the spectators as No.1, 2 and 3 respectively, cor­responding to piles I, II and III.

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NO TOCCARE AN AL MANN EKCLUSlVE

THE CALCHAS CLUE ••.••.• cont••••.•.

The three spectators have now peeked at the top cards of thethree piles. They are cautioned to please do not forget theircards, and to take a second look if necessary or to write the namesdown.

Spectator No. J is now told to take his pile (III) and toturn it face-up and to place it on top of pile II.

(NOTE. The above maneuver has placed the J of spades and the7 of hearts together, back to back. The J of spades is face-upand the 7 of hearts is face down.)

Spectator No. 1 is told to place his pile face-down on topof piles II and III. The King of diamonds is now the top card ofthe deck and the Ace of diamonds is the bottom card.

The deck is now assembled with a third of the cards face-upin the middle. All you have to do now is to tell someone to takethe deck and cut it in half and to riffle shuffle one half intothe other and then to cut the deck in half again and complete thecut and then to spread the cards in front of you from your leftto right. (Note. The deck is only shuffled once but make no men­tion of this.)

The cards will now look as in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5

Usually the very first face-up card from left to right is thetop card from pile III. Very rarely, due to clumsy shuffling itwill be the second face-up card from left to right. But it willalways be the first face-up card to the right of a long line offace-down cards, so you can't miss it. The long line of face downcards in Fig. 5 starts at the right end of the spread and conti­nues on the left end. If the deck had been cut a second time itwould show a very long line of face-down cards!

In Fig. 5, the card you want to remember is the J of spadesat "A". Please note that the spectators on the other side of thetable see the numbers on the cards up-side down. So maybe specta­tor No. J sees his card and maybe not. The other two spectatorsdo not see their cards because they are face-down. One thing that

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THE CALCHAS CLUE •••••.• cont ••••••

i)

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

they do see is that the deck is well mixed showing face-upcards and face-down cards in haphazard groups.

You are making believe that you just want to show them howmixed up the cards are when actually you want to get the iden~tity of the top card of the III pile. SO as soon as you sightthe card have them square the pack again a~d then TURN IT,OVERand spread it again from your left to righ~t. The spread w~ll nowlook like in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6

The ) of spades is now the first face-down card from rightto left in Fig. 6 or the first face-down card to the left of along line of face-up cards! But of course you know where it wasbefore so again you just can't miss it. This is shown in Fig. 6 "A."

Now amazingly, the top card of pile II is right next, to theright of the face-down) of spades. This is shown in "B" Fig. 6.However once in a while the 7 of hearts will be the second orthird card to the right of the ) of spades. But you know justabout where it is and all you have to do is to ask leadingquestions like, "Your card is a red one isn't it?" And then,"It has a number greater than 6, doesn't it?" etc.

Now you know the identity of two cards. Now for the thirdcard, the top card of pile I. This card is face-up and right inthe middle of the spread as shown in Fig. 6 "C."

Now if you had a chance of having seen the bottom card ofthe deck, the Ace of diamonds, you will note that the Ace ofdiamonds is to the left of the King of diamonds and face-upL

These two cards are always together, but may have one ormore face-down cards in between.

A few trials at home will make you a master at promptlylocating all three cards. Try it also with other people speciallythe ones that do not shuffle too well. You will have a superioredge on the spectators always and there just isn't a way thatthey can figure the results.

NO TOCCARE

THE CALCHAS CLUE

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AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

Once you have mastered the technique of this presentationyou may want to use only the spread in Fig. 6 and omit the firstspread shown in Fig. 5.

To get to the second spread first in Fig. 6, just tell theperson to riffle shuffle and then cut the deck in half and com­plete the cut, turm the deck over and spread it.

THE RECAP

1. Have deck shuffled and cut as much as desired.2. Make three even piles of cards.3. Have top cards of all three piles peeked and remembered.4. Turn Pile III face up and place on pile II.5. Place pile I face-down on piles II and III.6. Cut deck in middle and riffle shuffle.7. Cut deck in middle and complete cut.

8. Spread cards left to right.9. Top card of pile III is the first face-up card to the

right of a long line of face-down cards. (3S)

10. Square deck and turn over and spread left to right.11. The 3 of spades is now the first face-down card to the

left of a long line of face-up cards12. The top card of pile II (7H) is to the right and next

to the face-down 3 of spades. If not then ask leadingquestions.

13. The top card of pile I (KD) is in the middle of thespread and face up to the right of the face-up originalbottom card.

If you wish to pypass the first spread just skip steps 8 and9 above.

NOTE. In the above steps, when the bottom card is not knownjust remember that the third card is always in the middle andface up. There are usually only a few face-up cards there so allyou need is a few leading questions as to color and high and lowvalue.

The effect can also be presented using the one-ahead system!When the first card (the 3S) is face down and no one has seen

it, it can be found by passing your hand over it and adding afewdramatics. You always know where this card isl

NO TOCCARE

15

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

Your audience only get~ ~he benefit of the effect and knowand care nothing of the method used. By the use of the Easy-on­easy-off labels the effect of the Calchas Clue takes on a dif­ferent hue. The labels add punch to the effect and make it evenmore enchanting and entertaining with an element of surprise.

In this effect, however, the mentalist must know the bottomcard of the deck which becomes the bottom card of pile II. Sayit is the Ace of diamonds!

So you will need some labels about one inch wide by two orthree long. These are easy to get at stationery stores.

~~~HOD AND PRESENTATION, Please refer back to Fig. 4 whichshows the deck after it has been shuffled and cut and dividedinto three equal piles. So,

1. Give a label to spectator No. J and tell him to affix itto the face of the top card of pile III and to sign it and remem­ber the card and to place it back face down on pile III.

2. Spectator No.2 is given a label and told to affix it tothe back of the top card of pile II and to sign it and look atthe card and remember it.

J. Spectator No. 1 is told to affix another label to the backof the top card of pile I but to not look at the face of it andto sign the label.

4. Spectator No. J takes pile III and turns it face up andplaces it on top of pile II.

5. Spectator No.1 takes pile I and places it face-down ontop of piles II and III.

6. The deck is now cut in half and riffle shuffled and thencut in half a second time and the cut is completed. Then Mentalistsays that he does not want to see the labels so he tells theone holding the deck to turn it over and to spread it on thetable left to right as in Fig. 6.

Now the cards look exactly as in Fig. 6. The labels areall out of sight. As per Fig. 6, the J of spades is face downwi th the label on its face.' The King of diamonds and the sevenof hearts are face-up with the labels on the back.

So you know right away where two of the cards are, the onescorresponding to the J of spades and the King of diamonds, sothe first thing you do is to find out which was the top card ofpile II. This is the only card that you are not certain about.Maybe it is the seven of hearts but then it could be any otherof the three cards to the right of it. So with a few leadingstatements you can determine exactly what card it is and as soonas you do flip over all the three cards to show the labels.

Viola! What a pleasant surprise. Remember that ~pe6tator No. 1does not know what his card is. Yet you do and can if you wishplace a label on it (the King of diamonds) and say, "I think thiscard has a label on its backl And remember you never touch thecards!

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NO TOCCARE AN AL MANN Eh.CLUSIVE

Gentlemen, let's go a step further. Say that you are doingthe Calchas Clue effect and that three spectators have alreadypeeked at the three top cards of the three piles shown in Fig. 4.

So now you invite a fourth spectator to cut the III pilein half and look at the bottom card of the cut portion and re­member it and replace the cut portion. Let's say that the 4thpeeked card is the 2 of spades.

Let us assume also that you know the bottom card of thecenter pile (II) and that it is The Ace of Diamonds.

So continue as in The Calchas Clue and have pile IIIturned face-up and placed on top of pile II. Pile I is then placedface-down on top of piles II and III.

The deck has been reassembled with 1/3 of the cards face-upin the center and the fourth card is at about the center of thedeck but face-up!

Instruct someone to cut the deck in half and to riffle shufflethe halves. (the 4th card is now near the top or bottom).

Next have the deck cut in half and complete the cut. (the 4thcard is near the center of the deck again!) 0

Have the deck turned over and spread as in Fig. 6. This isshown again in Fig. 7.

t:key card

remove these cards

//~ \, ~ ~". ,~/ -, '~

Q 2~I K 7 8 A I ..,' rlilt I" m ~m 3 K ,~ ?" ~d, S II ~6ie+7• • • +Ii • • c, 1 •• .:.' • i • • • • :. • + ....... .! i , ' 'j 0 ' 0,;,. •• ~ y+y4 . 1 i ~ :

Ii " ,~ 1 j , : ° . , . ~ y+y~

-.'.

~ ~ IJ •', ~I' ' " l~ ~4~++·,1 -• .!l :.""

~ 8-

Fig. 7You already know the first three cards that were peeked so

in order to identify the 4th card you use what Orville Meyer calls"The Principle of Majorities" in his book Magic in the ModernManner.

You know that the 4th card is now face down and near the centerof the deck. You know that the Ace of Diamonds, the originalbottom card of the deck is in the center and face-up. So the 4thcard is near the Ace. Chances are that it is the first or secondface-down card to the right or left of the Ace. but you can notbe sure. So you remove or have someone remove the first fiveface-down cards to the right of the ace and also the five face-

17

NO TOCCARE AN AL MANN EX.CLUSlVE

CLACHAS CLUE TWO ••••..•••• cont ••...•

down cards to the left of the Ace. Fan these ten cards facing youor have someone spread them face-up.

It may be that there are more red cards than black or visaversa. Or more even-numbered cards than odd. Or more high cards(above 7) than low cards. More hearts than diamonds, etc. So youproceed to eliminate all cards except one by 'The principle ofMajorities!' Saying, "Your card was a red one?" "It was an evennumber card!" "It was a high card, above 71" "It was a heart!"etc.

For a dramatic climax, once you identify the 4th card thenyou can just pick out the other three and confront your amazedaudience with them.

NOTE. The effect with the 4th card can be done by itself andif you wish it can be done without having to turn the III pileface-up. All you need to know is the bottom card which will endup in the center of the spread.

However when you do turn one pile face-up, you have actuallyeliminated 2/Jrds of the deck since now all you have to work withis the l/J of the deck that is face-down! in the spread.

EFFECT. A spectator shuffles and cuts his own deck and thenremoves the Ace of Spades and sticks the Ace into the deck ••

The Mentalist without touching the deck tells the spectatorwhat card the Ace is next to!

It is bizarre however you look at it!

PREPARATIONSc In your coat pocket, carry a business sizewindow envelope like the one shown in Fig. 2. One that has gonethrough the mails is best. You get plenty of these every monthwith your bills. Make sure that the flap is sealed and then tearoff one or two inches from the right edge as shown in Fig. 8.Leave the bill or letter inside the envelope.

You will also need a swammi thumbtip-writer.

METHOD AND PRESENTATION:"I am a bit clumsy with my hands. That is why I do not

perform card tricks. However I will let you handle your deck. Soplease shuffle the cards and cut them as much as you wish andthen I will show you what I can do with them but I will not touchthem!"

"I need a large match box. (who has large match boxes thesedays?). If one is offered, you say, "No, thank you. That is notthe right kind. I'll tell you what. I'll use an envelope in place

NO TOCCARE

THE BIZARRE BREAK • • • • • cont • . .

18

AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE

of the match box.Here the Mentalist removes an envelope from his coat pocket

and empties it of its contents and places the envelope address­side down on the table. (The audience is not aware that the en­velope has a window).

"Please remove the Ace of spades from the deck and when youhave shuffled the deck to your satisfactionand cut it please place it face downinto the envelope so that about one- ~half of the deck sticks out. Then take ~the Ace and stick it face-up anywhere ____________into the deck and leave half of the Acesticking out." Fig. 8

When that is done the Mentalist says,"I am going to try to guess just where it was that you stuck thecard. I am going to name one card." The Mentalist takes out abusiness card and writes, "The card next to the Ace of Spades isthe -----." This card is placed face down on the table and is notshown.

The Mentalist next takes his pencil and pushes the Ace intothe envelope so that it is flush with the deck, but what actuallyhappens is that the Ace moved the top portion of the deck only.Now The Mentalist picks up the envelope pinching it so that thecards do not move and just before he shakes it he glimpses thebottom card of the top portion through the window of the envelope!

He then says, "You shuffled and cut the cards, so you mustagree that no one can tell the order of the cards. However, I tooka chance and named a card. I want you to do the same. Please writedown the first card that comes to your mind and see how close youcan come." Mentalist replaces the envelope window side down onthe table and picks up his message card and while the spectatoris writing he fills in the card he glimpse with his swammi gimmick!

Mentalist then throws his card to the spectator and says,"Let's see how close we came." He then empties the envelope on thetable and pockets the envelope.

The Mentalist is of course correct and mayhaps the spectatortoo. Those things do happen!

NOTE, The window in the envelope means nothing. You did writethe name of the card before you picked up the envelope, didn'tyou? So even if someone sees the window, it will tell them little!

When writing the message above, only the initials are writtenboth for the Ace of spades and the glimpse card.

Have Fun,