#8 - NUMERO UNO - HARRY LORAYNE



Description of the effect: The magician lets the spectator have a free choice of a card. After shuffling it back in the magician asks for number between 10 and 20. After the number is named, the magician not only cuts to that number but the card is at the number named.

Where it is from: Harry Lorayne's books Personal Collection (pg. 515) and The Classic Collection, Volume 3 (pg. 405).

Why I love it: In this section we deal with estimation type tricks. Just reading the description of Numero Uno above, it doesn't seem like anything too out of the ordinary in terms of card tricks, but then to see the touches that Harry adds it becomes a really special effect. Cutting to the card is great, don't get me wrong. But the psychology of playing into what the spectator is thinking, and letting him/her count the cards afterwards, and Harry's well-though out script is what elevates it to an entertaining showpiece of magic.

The first time I saw this I was floored. There is something about the spectator naming a number and the magician being able to cut to it right away. It is a fantastic demonstration of skill.

The other two I have shown below, I believe, are pretty special as well. Sal Piacente is one of my favorite performers, he is an expert at two of my favorite topics: Memory and Gambling.

And just one of the many things that makes Harry Lorayne, Sal Piacente and Martin Nash so special is that they are great storytellers. It's one thing to do a great card trick, but to add a good story to it is what separates these gentlemen from many of the rest.

Similar tricks you may also like:

Sal's Ace Cutting Routing - Sal Piacente


The Slug - Martin Nash

#7 - CON CAM COINCIDENCIA - R. PAUL WILSON



Description of the effect: The magician lets one of four spectators select a card from a shuffled deck, and then divides the deck into four equal piles, one for each spectator. After a series of deals to the spectators' liking, it is shown that not only does the first spectator deal to his selection, but the other three deal to the card's mate, producing a four of a kind.


Where it is from: R. Paul Wilson's Killers DVD. Also available as a download from Vanishing Inc.

Why I love it: Any trick where you can involve the spectator in a special way is going to be strong. Not only do you do that with this one, but then as a kicker the other spectators are also shown to be part of the magic. This was done both on America's Got Talent and on the Ellen show, and you can see the response by the audience on why it is so special. And yet, it is easy to do!

Similar tricks you may also like:

26! - Caleb Wiles


C3 Poker - R. Paul Wilson

Thanks for posting they all look great many I'm not so familiar with so they're going to have to go on my list of what's next to learn lol.
I also like Nick Trost The horse race another gambling bit but at a different venue.

Thanks! I was not aware of the The Horse Race by Nick Trost and I really like it. It is also nice knowing that it is in the book The Card Magic of Nick Trost, a book of his that I have.

What I like about this one is that it involves the audience (three other people like Con Cam Coincidencia) and it is not a typical card trick. If you have any others, please share those as well!

#6 - Dead Reckoning - John Bannon



Description of the effect: The spectator selects a random card and shuffles it into a packet which is buried back into the deck. The magician then deals cards one at a time, as this is done the spectator is to mentally spell out each letter of their chosen card. Once the magician arrives at the selected card, the spectator is to think (and not say) "Stop". The magician not only stops at the same time the spectator is thinking "Stop", but the card stopped at is the spectator's card!

Where it is from: Dear Mr. Fantasy, by John Bannon, Bullets After Dark, by Big Blind Media, Move Zero Volume 2, by Big Blind Media

Why I love it: I don't like spelling tricks. Even trying to find similar effects, I was struggling to come up with some that I like where there is a video of the performance. I'm sure there are some out there that I am not aware of, and if you have some spelling tricks you enjoy please share, but in general I just don't care for the plot.

The reason I view Dead Reckoning differently is that the spelling is done by the spectator, all in their mind. To me, other spelling tricks seem more procedural, but with Dead Reckoning, it adds to the effect making it appear like you are reading the spectator's mind. It just seems so impossible. As I mentioned before, I don't choose tricks because of the method, but when I learned the method of this one it made me appreciate it even more, and Dead Reckoning is a good example why John Bannon is one of my favorite magic creators.

John has a variation of this, called Second Reckoning. I go back and forth on which I prefer, but I think I lean toward Dead Reckoning.

Similar tricks you may also like:

Second Reckoning - John Bannon

#5 - RAIN MAN - LENNART GREEN



Description of the effect: After a spectator mixes the cards in a face up and face down condition you predict how many will be face down, how many of them will be red, and the values of the black cards.

Where it is from: Green Lite, by Lennart Green

Why I love it: Simon Aronson's Random Sample Shuffle-bored is near the top for many magicians. There are many different versions, and Lennart's variation is my favorite. I love the idea of shuffle tracking, and I like to add my small touches with memory and gambling when I perform. The way the cards are mixed, it just seems so impossible that you are able to track what is happening with the cards. Depending on the day, I can see this one being #1 on my list.

Similar tricks you may also like:

Random Sample Shuffle-bored - Simon Aronson


Order and Chaos - Will Houstoun

In looking at the effects in this thread, it reminded me of watching Shin Lim on AGT do Con Cam Coincidencia. If you like Con Cam Coincidencia, then consider purchasing the download Killers which is the download version of the two DVD set that contains several killer tricks along with Con Cam Coincidencia for $6 more. The others included are; Yamfacaan, Randall Flagg, Sympathetic Soup, The Fair Deal Kid, The Fifth Wheel, Tupalo Paul, and PUT.

#4 - HANDS OFF EXTREME - RICHARD OSTERLIND



Description of the effect: A card is freely selected from a deck and placed into the middle. You name where it is and what the name of the card is from across the room. You never touch the deck!

Where it is from: Six Shooter (book) and Sapphire Collection (video)

Why I love it: I took the description of the trick from Osterlind's site. It is a very short and direct description. No fancy wording to get around specific methods or moves that need to be used. What you see is what you get. And Richard's touches and scripting during the performance is great, everything is done and said for a reason, and it makes the trick compelling. Richard Osterlind is a master showman, and he uses this as a closer. That says a lot about the strength of this effect.

Similar tricks you may also like:

The End - Rick Lax
https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/9257 (video shown at site, not able to embed here)

Infinite Improbability - Jonathan Pendragon
http://www.jonathanpendragon.com/videos.html (video shown at site, not able to embed here)

#3 - 4,5,6 PACKET TRICK - SAL PIACENTE



Description of the effect: The magician looks away and the spectator shuffles the deck and proceeds to make several packets of cards on the table. The spectator then chooses one such packet, shuffles the cards and remembers his card and the number of its position in that packet. The packets are then reassembled in any order and handed back to the magician. The magician is then able to divine the spectator's chosen card that he or she has just merely thought of.

Where it is from: Expert Card Magic Lecture Notes, Vol. 2

Why I love it: Sal Piacente's Expert Card Magic Lecture Notes DVD set is one my favorite sets of DVDs that I have. There are not a lot of effects on each DVD, but they are all excellent with no filler. Initially, I was more interested in these DVDs because of the gambling and memory applications, but when I saw 4,5,6 Packet Trick performed it blew me away. Sal was apparently looking away the whole time, while the spectator shuffled, peeked at a card and never said anything, shuffles and then gives back the cards to Sal. It just looks so clean and fair. The dirty work that is involved is handled in a way where the spectator doesn't even realize it.

This is similar to Devastation by Geoff Williams, which is also a fantastic trick. The reason I prefer Sal's version is because of his scripting and how he reveals the card. It might be also because I first saw this before I saw Geoff's creation. Either one deserves a place in every magician's repertoire.

Similar tricks you may also like:

Devastation - Geoff Williams


Fragment - Michael Murray

Merry Christmas, everyone!!

#2 SAL'S MEMORY OPENER - SAL PIACENTE



Description of the effect: Sal memorizes the deck of cards instantly, even as a spectator repeatedly shuffles the deck.

Where it is from: Expert Card Magic Lecture Notes, Vol. 1

Why I love it: As mentioned before, I have really become fascinated with memory these past few years. Similar to tricks with Rubik's cubes and math (i.e. Magic Square), to me these are like real magic. While some of them are pseudo effects meant to look real, there are also many that are genuine, showing the potential of the human mind.

I've come to really appreciate Sal's material. His themes of both gambling and memory are both of which I am interested in. Back in 2019, he did his Rain Man act and lecture on Penguin Magic where he taught this and many other fantastic routines. To date, I have seen many, many magic lectures and this one is probably my favorite one. Dan Harlan, the host, even commented on how good it was and Sal received a standing ovation. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Similar tricks you may also like:

Photographic Memory - Denis Behr


Amazing Memory Demonstration - Richard Osterlind

Such a great collection of effects.

Well done

I am busting to see #1 ! ! !

Waiting for #1

Sorry for the delay, things have been busy, have a Happy New Year everyone!!

#1 THINK OF ONE - ALLAN KRONZEK



Description of the effect: The deck is shuffled in view of the spectator who is asked to just think of a playing card from the deck. The audience member then removes a portion of the deck and hides it in their pocket or the card box. The remainder of the deck is cut in half on the table. The magician feels the energy of the deck, and after reading the mind of the spectator removes a single playing card from the deck and places it on the table. The spectator is asked to name their card out loud, and it matches the card on the table exactly.

Where it is from: Artful Deceptions, also available as a download from Penguin Magic.

Why I love it: There is a great thread on this trick in the Café at: Think of One by Allan Kronzek. I'm going to slightly modify my post from there for here.

My first exposure was to a variation of this, John Bannon's AK47. As evidence of in this thread, I am a huge Bannon fan, but for some reason, I didn't gravitate toward it at the time. Not until I learned about Allan Kronzek's Think of One did I really start to fall in love with the plot.

Since then, I have tried to research other variations such as John Carey's Think and Sync, and Deconstructed Construction by Ryan Schlutz. In Deconstructed Construction, I like the way the cards are selected to determine the value of spectator's card. Ryan came up with a later version called Decon 2.0 where he was able to remove more of the fishing, at least at the beginning. I just purchased it and I'm looking forward to digging into this.

At this time, Think of One is probably my go-to trick if someone asked me to do something that is impromptu and can be done with a borrowed deck. In the Café thread listed above, there are some other really good tips suggested by other users, so I recommend checking it out.

As you can probably tell, many think highly of this trick, many famous magicians have come up with plots of their own. I have come to appreciate all of the versions listed above, but I still have Think of One as my favorite.

Similar tricks you may also like:

AK47 - John Bannon


Think and Sync - John Carey


Deconstructed Construction - Ryan Schlutz


Decon 2.0 - Ryan Schlutz

Well, that is my list, hope you got some enjoyment out of this and maybe learned of a new trick you were not aware of. Feel free to let me know if you agree, disagree, or what I missed. I'd love to hear your thoughts and what other tricks you would have added.

Thank you so much!

Thanks very much for all that sharing and routines, really a great selection ! Happy new year to you !

Thanks for putting all this work. It’s been a real pleasure following this personal count down of magic tricks. Happy new year to you Robert!

This thread has become a brilliant resource of wonderful but eminently doable magic. And for me, a great mixture of old friends, tricks I had forgotten, and many new ones that your write-ups have sent me scurrying away to read up on and learn. Thank you Robert for all your hard work on this very inspiring thread, it will keep me, and I’m sure many other visitors to the Café, happily busy for a long time to come!

Thank you for the friendly words, I'm really glad you were able to get something from this. I haven't been in the Café too much lately, my father has been in the hospital with Covid for the last week and a half. Good news is that he is getting better, though, so I am very thankful for that.

I did have a question for some of you, Jason Ladanye put out a self working trick on Youtube:



But I am having trouble following it. For me I am not seeing it or able to make it work, especially after the chosen card is placed anywhere in the deck. Am I missing something, were you able to do this trick?

I may be wrong, perhaps it is a psuedo explanation/trick for those that keep commenting on his page to teach something?