I'm unsure of what book to get by Darwin Ortiz on memorized deck magic. I have a lot of Simon Aronson's books (All except Aronson Approach and Sessions) and I notice that Simon has this "hands off"/mentalism look to it which I like. But I was hoping that Darwin Ortiz has some material that doesn't look so much like mentalism. Does anyone know what book I should get? If he doesn't then that's fine but I've heard good things about his memorized deck stuff so if someone could also give a description of an effect or 2 that would be great.

Dave

There are many memorized stack effects in Darwin Ortiz's book Scams & Fantasies. I'll just quote two from the book.

One trick that uses a memorized stack is Maximum Risk. The descirption from the book is as follows: "A spectator selects a card. The performer then repeatedly eliminates half of the cards until only one remains. This proves to be the selected card."

Another is "the Last Laugh" ---"The performer claims that he can instanly trap and card the spectator names between two face-up cards he holds. It appears, at first, to have all been a gag. But, eventually the performer makes good on his claim in an amazing way."

Also, if you are into mneumonics, you can perform "shark attack" Quote- "Starting with a shuffled deck, the performer offers to demonstrate how a professional can gain an edge at poker using either psychology or sleight of hand. First, he identifiesa spectator's card by reading his tells. Then he produces any poker hand requested by a spectator by cutting to the required cards. Finally, he deals himself any hand called for in a poker game, then improves it to a royal flush."

I hope that helps you out.

Read my small review for: Scams & Fantasies here:
http://www.mastermagic.info/articles.php?articleId=2

I agree. Take a look at Scams & Fantasies. It was one of the best books I could buy this year.

As Dave said, Darwin´s effects with a memorized deck are great because they don´t seem mentalism. And I will add too because they are direct, powerful, and very magical effects.

All the best magic,

Pablo Tejero

I agree,Scams & Fantasies is great, don't forget his routine in there called "ZenMaster"

There are 4 mem deck effects out of 30 in his scams and fantasies book. aronson's work on the topic is better IMO. but that doesn't mean scams isn't good...it is excellent. I really like his liar's poker and some of this other stuff.

Yes, besides the 4 memorized deck effects, Darwin has a ton of killer material in the book. The Brush, for example always makes heads turn and make you out to be a professional.

Scams and Fantasies is one of the best magic books I've ever read - the stack stuff is good, tricky, but worth practicing. The other stuff is just as good - if not better. Highly recommended.

I second Chris Thibault on this one. Zen Master is brilliant. Very hard hitting and well thought out .

Right on, Jack! Zen Master is an absolutely incredible routine. If you learn it and do it, I think you will have gotten your moneys worth from the "Scams and Fantasies" Book. Unless you are left handed, you will need to come up with a little something for the very beginning of the routine. If you like, PM me as I have a couple of ideas I would be happy to share.

Dennis Loomis

Call me "Denny"

S&F has some killer material. Just stay away from that inane handling of Smiling Mule.

Justin

S&F has some killer material. Just stay away from that inane handling of Smiling Mule.

Justin

You can get a download from Vanishing Inc. right now as well.

Here's a link in case anyone's interested: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-......ed-deck/

This routine is a killer effect, Last Laugh by Darwin Ortiz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEIRPYI9wb0

One of my favorites, ever...

Test Your Luck by Darwin Ortiz, a very good memorized deck routine.
Effect: A spectator names any card. She then inserts a random card anywhere into the deck.
In the process, she herself locates the card that she named.

Page 255 in Lessons In Card Mastery.

This effect is a true worker, I have done the effect 100s of times since I bought the book.
I give Test Your Luck 10 out of 10.

You can also learn the effect from this excellent video download:
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3738

Yes, I agree with Kjellstorm.
In his last book "Lessons in Card Mastery" there are around 30 effects. Maybe one third of the tricks requires a mem deck. I think it's a good place to start !

Got the Test Your Luck from Vanishing Inc. loved the effect and handling is great. I've been looking for a Mem deck effect for estimation and this fits the bill great.

GreeKnight

I really love his "Card Sense". It's in Lessons in Card Mastery, as well as his At the Table Lecture, and the "Darwin Ortiz on the Memorized Deck" download. Really great effect, plays well for groups.

Lessons in Card Mastery contains the most workers overall, but Scams has things like Zen Master, of which I think you should be aware.