No one on this forum will figure this one out.


DISCLAIMER: This version of ACAAN does NOT claim to be 'The Berglas Effect'.

Mentalist - Rebecca Herrera performs ACAAN -

1. Cards are shuffled
2. Cards remain untouched by Rebecca Herrera
3. The spectators have a free choice
4. Cards remain in full view at all times
5. The effect is done twice with the same deck

This performance of ACAAN is created by Martin T Hart and performed by Rebecca Herrera who is the first British female to fool Penn & Teller on their hit show 'Fool Us'.

FACTS:
Rebecca performs an impossible ACAAN that can be performed live, under the strictest of ACAAN conditions. The cards used are standard 'Bicycle' blue-backs, and ANY deck can be used. The spectators are real. their choices are real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEYZh20ZFxw&t=20s

Simple. She has 52 other decks up her sleeves.

Must be done with mirrors!!

Good acting, I totally believe the shocked look. Someone needs some post lockdown publicity!!

Well this brought me out from lurking here. It looks real to me (an amateur). The only suspicious thing I see is the showing of the 'well-mixed' deck. The mixing & shuffling look real. The card appearing at the correct number looks real. The mag didn't handle the cards. I doubt if the people could have placed the card at the number while mixing.
Why are there so few comments? The OP seems to be teasing us. Will it be for sale? Seems like it should cost about a thousand bucks because it meets all the real acaan conditions. I guess.
It would be great to see experienced pros say they can do it or can figure it out. I mean, is it a real handling or is it fake? So far, the comments imply fake.

Good questions,trebeseer.

The originator is Martin Hart who had a business relation with Berglas. So Hart has some credibility and the statements made re the conditions of the effect i.e 1 thru 5 and the fact that "the spectators are real their choices are real" perplexes me. Given their credibility, it's difficult to believe they would be bending the truth.
It's definitely not for sale. Everyone I know who has watched the YouTube has no clue. And I'm pretty sure no one on this forum knows either.

I'm not sure what the point of this thread is??? A video of an effect. Some could say it's staged, some doubt it. Afuoco says no one will figure it out. And so, what? Where do we go from here (I'm going to bed!)?

OK, if it will keep the people who have come to Penny with the intention of giving Martin Hart some publicity here’s how it’s done.

Once upon a time there was a magician named Martin whose career was going nowhere fast. One day he came up with the idea of creating a female mentalist, teaching her an act, managing her and taking a large percentage when all the filthy lucre starts rolling in. At this point he had 2 options; find someone and spend years training them in the art of mentalism or find an actress, give her an earpiece and feed her information. Guess which Martin chose to do? At this point it might appear to some that this would work, by relying on electronics and an acting background surely anyone could be a mentalist…… until something goes wrong on stage and without years of experience and a knowledge of traditional methods you’ve got no way of getting out of trouble.

Martin’s first protégé was Rebecca. He managed to get her on Penn and Teller. Did quite well and then….nothing. No offers of a TV show, oops. Martin had another crack at it with Anna Ferris Simpson, another actress he taught an act to. I first came across the pair of them at the Vanishing mentalism convention a few years ago (I should add here that I was told at the time this is who it was, I hope this information is correct). Martin showed up with Anna in tow (she looked very uncomfortable). They found a quiet corner of the reception area and proceeded to perform a Q&A act with Martin feeding her info through an earpiece. Fairly uninspiring, Derren can do it with his years of experience and showmanship, poor Anna just repeating what Martin the magician was saying, not so much. Mind you it was slightly more interesting than watch a drunk Pete Turner talk for about 30 minutes before eventually telling someone the card they were thinking of. Later that day I saw the Evesons perform, now that was an act. Again Martin tried to create some publicity, again it failed. What we learned here is that it takes more than a few years at acting school and electronics to be a mentalist. I would love to see a successful female mentalist, this is not the way it will happen.

As for the ACAAN. Obviously this is a publicity stunt. At least when Berglas created the myth of the Berglas effect with a slightly above average card trick, a few fellow magicians willing to play along and the occasional bit of luck it was fairly original. Why would anyone who wants to create a publicity stunt rip off something that is so old and has now been done to death. Come up with something original. A top tip, if you’re claiming to be a mentalist don’t use terms like Vegas Wash, a termed use by card magicians. As for how it was done, quite simply it wasn’t, at least not in the sense you would like to think, any deck could not be used, they couldn’t be fairly shuffled. In fact it could only be done under the exact circumstances of this video. Much in the same way that as I write this I am currently levitating 3 foot of the ground, I could even make a video that shows this but sadly would never be able to repeat it if you were in the room.

Hope that helps.

What a great post, Ed. I really enjoyed that. Thank you, very interesting read.

Oops, that first sentence makes no sense....should say Quiet people and who....writing is hard!

.... what a surprise.... and waste of time. Nevertheless, thanks a lot, Ed, for your entertaining, although not surprising story ! Jan

So the pros here are sure this video is a hoax, just made and posted here for publicity?
Very disappointing.

Nothing, really nothing against you, but it is made for people like you, not even for laypeople … in a few years you will laugh about it. Jan

Yes, I tend to believe people when they tell me something. Then I remember it's a magicians' forum. And then I remember hearing Penn say that magic is about lying, cheating, stealing and swindling. And then I laugh.

Well I feel it's okay to say that this particular version would not work with just two ordinary spectators. Okay and I would also like to point out watch both of the spectators eyes throughout the video. Notice how wonderfully the female spectator handles a deck of cards as well. Also as many people know there are wonderful books written about shuffling cards up in this manner. Put these observations together and you have a card at any number. But I did find it very entertaining I would not go so far as to say no one on the Café can figure it out there are many talented people out here.

Good magic to all,


Eric

[quote]On Jul 14, 2021, Mb217 wrote:


WOW! That is about as close to Berglas as I have seen. And not for nothing, but her doing it twice makes it even stronger IMHO, as it made it even clearer to me that it completely fooled me the first time, and I remain completely amazed. 😁 I would dare to say that that was just about the cleanest version I’ve ever seen. Now people can make more or less of it here, but it is basically this...She doesn't touch the cards, cards are shuffled, a card is chosen, a number selected, and BAM!...2X

Girls ROCK! 😁👍🏽

I mean, if you are gonna put that challenge out there of nobody being able to figure it out....I am pretty sure the man's voice is d****d to name the card after the fact- and she knows what the card is when she repeats it's name because the cards are marked. Very clever!

There is a simple explanation, but is not correct reavels it here

Reavels is not correct, that’s for sure...

The performance is fake or better it is audio manipulation. The Spectator names a card ( any card is indifferent )... After the performance, the audio is changed with the correct card. The only way to remove this possibility is a performance where the performer writes down on a piece of paper the card and number named and shows it in the video in order to avoid this dirty trick. Anyway, the secret is this!