Histed Heisted has been getting lots of praise. What else is there?

For starters:
"Any Card At Any Number" (see Tamariz Versions in "Mnemonica"...)
The classic "Divination" and
"Three Piles" from Mnemonica
Stop Trick with a freely named card (estimation and stud s****ds)
"New Deck Order" (when using a stack like Tamariz's...)
"The Invisible Deck" Mike Close (with a normal deck...)
"The Three Card Location" Steve Ehlers
"Unforgettable" Pit Hartling
"Everybody's Lazy" Simon Aronson
"Mnemonicosis" Juan Tamariz
"Birthday Book" Alex Elmsley, see also Aronson's work

There is a great effect in Scams by Ortiz using a memorized deck

If you don't have any specific types of effects in mind then I'd suggest reading anything you can by Simon Aronson and Juan Tamariz. I'd highly recommend Mnemonica as it has so much information. Great effects, ways to handle a MD, how to shuffle (and unshuffle) a MD, etc. Just a treasure trove of information.

Joe Riding has (I suppose had)one of the best routines out there.

Check out Darwin Ortiz memo effects, blockbuster concepts.

Past-Present-Future by Simon Aronson. It's in his book Simply Simon, on page 153. I use his idea of a wallet index. I've gotten great spectator reactions with this. Also, Marlo's Miracle with Cards in Ibidem 8 is a great mind reading effect. It has some of the impact of Histed Heisted, but is easier to do.

For a good mentalism routine check out Derren Browns lecture.

I LOVE Bill Malone's Hands Off Memory Test. It's the reason I learned the memorized deck. It has all the best features of a mem deck:

Weighing the Cards cut and having the correct number
Telling a Spectator an unseen card they selected and put into their own pocket
Impossibly memorizing a small stack of cards a spectator cut and shuffled, then correctly and directly naming the card they merely thought of within that shuffled packet without fishing.

It's an incredible trick.

The Birthday Book effect is very hard to top...

I'm wondering if somebody can tell (before I buy the DVD) me if Bill Malone's "Hands Off Memory Test" is specific to the Aronson stack, or will it work with any stack?

My own mem-deck isn't the Aronson.

Cheers!

Most of the card effects in the "Covert Use of Memory Technique" section of my memory effects list use a memorized deck.

But does Bill Malone's "Hands off Memory Test" work with any stack, or just the Aronson stack?

Artie,

First off, welcome to the Café and I hope that you find your stay here both enjoyable and productive.

As to your above question...I don't know about "any stack" but the effect definitely works with any memorized deck stack (like the Aronson Stack or the Tamariz Stack) where you both know each card in order in the memorized deck and you also know the stack number position of each card.

For instance, in the Aronson Stack, you'd have to know that the Jack of Spades is Card #1 and Card #1 is the Jack of Spades. Likewise, the King of Hearts is Card #30 and Card #30 is the King of Hearts.

In other words, it is not good enough to know what cards immediately precedes and follows the King of Hearts, you have to know Stack # positions of all of the cards.

I don't believe that "stacks" like the "Si Stebbins" and the "Eight Kings" stacks would work for this effect. I might be wrong here, but that is what I am recalling about that effect...and those stacks.

Best,

Mike

Thanks Mike, I do the Joyal stack, so I'm OK to go ahead and pick up Bill's DVD!

I don't know any besides Bannon's "Dead Rising", I always get fantastic reactions with it! though you technically don't have to memorize it.

Past-Present-Future, already mentioned above, is such a perfect trick that if you haven't learned a memorized deck yet, forget your classic pass practice for the next two months, learn the deck and the trick, and be a very happy camper.

Ok I just ordered Simon's book after reading these glowing recommendations. Will report back once I have a chance to learn it and test it out.

SPM

Then don't forget to look up Simon's "Everybody's Lazy", it's another gem. Hope you've ordered "Simply Simon". Jan

From all those great effects already mentioned I like the ultimate free handling and mixing of cards in Topsy Turvy best! It's extremely organic and for the face-up/face-down layout of the cards I employ a plot that completely justifies this setup logically!