On Jan 2, 2015, JanForster wrote:
After I few PMs I will explain it here:
I know that only people knowing 4PH will understand the following, but that’s o. k., isn’t it?

In order to speed up the process of secret counting I have to touch the cards briefly for a moment. Of course I want to make people forget that I touched the cards at all.

Once A got his packet (remembering the top card) and also C, I ask both to shuffle their packets. Talking about job sharing I ask A and C to give a part of their cards to B and D. Now four people are shuffling, nice picture. So far everything was totally "hands off".

Only then I tell them that each one has to know in which packet his THOUGHT OF card lies, but to keep absolutely poker face and silent... Therefore I take the small pile of A (approximately half of X) and spread the cards (faces to A an B) while I turn my head completely away (doing it "blind"). Immediately I hand A back his packet face down. I repeat with the second half of X (held by B) for A and B.
The same I do with C and D.

Of course, secretly and "blind" I count the cards (easy, each small packet may contain something like 6 to 8 cards). Important: I do a continuos count for the piles of A and B, and for the piles of C and D. That means: once I counted A, I continue to count up once I have the small pile of B in my hands. Same I do with C and D. Therefore I reach immediately X and Y without any need of further additions.

Once I have finished each one knows where his card is, and each one holds again a small pile in his hand. The secret counting is very quick! I ask each one again to shuffle his pile, helpful "smoke" to make forget I touched the cards briefly at all. Besides that it is a nice picture to see 4 people shuffling again their cards.

They keep their piles and now I can continue to read their minds following the original. The fact that the conditions of mind reading are getting increasingly more difficult or impossible I point out clearly as in the original. Jan

On Jan 3, 2015, J-L Sparrow wrote:
Back in December of 2003 Nick Pudar posted a trick named "Fingertip Reading" in the Secret Sessions section of The Magic Café. It's a double-card location that I got pretty good reactions with.

On Jan 3, 2015, lcwright1964 wrote:

Quote:

On Jan 3, 2015, J-L Sparrow wrote:
Back in December of 2003 Nick Pudar posted a trick named "Fingertip Reading" in the Secret Sessions section of The Magic Café. It's a double-card location that I got pretty good reactions with.

A wonderful gift to the community!

I found it quickly using the Quicksearch field above, and have already exported the text to a PDF for close review.

Thanks for sharing.

Les

On Jan 4, 2015, JanForster wrote:
Still a very good routine. But I agree - as already stated - that the routine might gain if you do not tell the fist spectator his card but only the position of his card. You can then create easier a climax with the second spectator naming position and his card.

Besides that you wouldn't need a sh..r or m..ked deck if you proceed like that: Before you tell the fist spectator the position of his card show him how you want the card to be counted/dealt. Take the top card and deal this card face up onto table and immediately replace this card back on top of the deck . Don't pay any attention to it, but you saw what you need to know... I know it is bold, but works. Jan

On Jan 4, 2015, JanForster wrote:
As a mentalist I got meanwhile b..ls made of steel . Jan

On Jan 15, 2015, J-L Sparrow wrote:
I've heard a lot of good things about Simon Aronson's The Invisible Card, so when I finally read Simon's book Try the Impossible this week, it was one of the first tricks I turned to.

I wasn't disappointed. It's fairly easy to do (provided you already know a memorized deck quite well), is stack-independent, doesn't destroy the stack, and packs a powerful and delightful punch. To the spectator, the effect is similar to the standard Invisible Deck trick, but to the magician, it's a completely different method.

And it's rewarding, too -- in that the better you know your memdeck, the easier (and more fun) it is to perform!

On Jan 15, 2015, J-L Sparrow wrote:
I've heard a lot of good things about Simon Aronson's The Invisible Card, so when I finally read Simon's book Try the Impossible this week, it was one of the first tricks I turned to.

I wasn't disappointed. It's fairly easy to do (provided you already know a memorized deck quite well), is stack-independent, doesn't destroy the stack, and packs a powerful and delightful punch. To the spectator, the effect is similar to the standard Invisible Deck trick, but to the magician, it's a completely different method.

And it's rewarding, too -- in that the better you know your memdeck, the easier (and more fun) it is to perform!

On Jan 17, 2015, bartleby wrote:
I am really more into bizarre magic and moving away from card tricks, but I wanted to learn a stack for some divination ideas. I got Mnemonica for Christmas and at first glance thought, this stuff is too difficult for a hack like me.

In time I went back and reviewed the non-faro tricks and the divination tricks and Mnemonicosis.

So I had a friend from work over to watch some fights and he agreed to sit in on some new experiments I was working on. We worked on Tarot and book tests and then had some beers and watched the fights. At one point in the evening my buddy says he was telling his seven year old daughter (whom I have not met) that he was going over to a magician's house (a great exaggeration). She asked for an update on his return.

I felt terrible. None of the effects we had played with were appropriate for an update to a seven year old girl. So when the fights ended I told him "let's do a card trick so you have something to tell your family".

A false shuffle and cut and Mnemonicosis. In my head it was ugly and unpolished - though my bizarre effects are always done the same way (Eg "I don't know if this will work").

The effect was astounding to me. He called out his dismay. He repeatedly said "you didn't touch the deck!". I have never had such a reaction from a trick.

A week later at work we were leaving a meeting and he leaned over and said "I still can't get the 9 of spades out of my head".

This stuff is way more powerful than I first considered.