The PM Card Mark System

Plus Assorted Miracles

by Pete McCabe

No drawing
skill required
if you can write, you
can mark a deck.

70+ pages of
easy-to-follow
instructions
and great tricks

Mark your own Bicycle deck with a Sharpie.

Copyright 2010 Pete McCabe

Contents
The PM Card Mark System!
References!
Materials Required!
Understanding the System!
Drawing the Marks!
Key Card!
Card Case!

4
5
6
7
8
12
13

Assorted Miracles!
Stop Sign!
Core Meltdown!
Three Simple Miracles!
Simple Miracle 1!
Simple Miracle 2!
Simple Miracle 3!
The Rule of Three Prediction!
Perfect Prediction!
Seven Shuffles!
Markus Maximus!

14
15
17
22
23
25
26
28
31
33
36

Nothing But Script!

Echoes!
The Cincinnati Kid!
My Favorite Things!

39
40
46
49

Added to Existing Tricks!

The Tapping Card Location!
The Mind Mirror!
Two of a Kind!
First Incantation!

53
54
56
59
61

Stacking the Deck!

Simple Miracle 4!
Love Connection!
The In-Deck Index Plus Miracles!
The Remembered Deck!
Sylvania!

65
66
68
70
72
73

Last Word!

74

Click on a chapter to go to that chapter.

Also by Pete McCabe

Scripting Magic
Astonishing New Twists with Paul Harris Reality Twister Featuring Lubors Lens
Pizza Every Day for a Month
Bowling Every Day for a Month

Thanks to
Rick Cowley for proofreading.
Shawn McMaster for proofreading.
Bill Goodwin for everything else.

Everything I do is dedicated to
Pattie, Monty, and Robby.

The PM Card Mark System

The PM Card Mark System is an easy way to mark cards that you can apply to any
Bicycle Rider Back deck in minutes, for just pennies. Ive been using it for ten years now.
It works.
In this book/pdf/ebook/ibook/epub/torrent, youll learn everything you need to put
the PM Card Mark System to work for you. Youll learn how to mark your own decks
quickly and easily. Youll learn some great tricks using your new marked deck, many of
which are coincidentally dead easy to do. I have some ideas for using your marked deck
to strengthen tricks you already do, and a section on ways to use a PM-marked deck in
memorized order to create absolute miracles.
Youll See
The PM Card Mark System is the only one I know that has these three features:
! Mark it yourself with a Sharpie
! Value and suit are written in easy-to-read numbers and letters
! Marks can be read from a deck spread between your hands
For many years I worked on a way to mark a deck of cards to meet these criteria, and
ten years ago I came up with the system youre about to read. Now I mark every deck I
use. Its really not hard and it is incredibly powerful.
Just try it once. Tonight, spend a half hour less online in a magic forum, and use that
time to mark a deck of cards. See if you dont fool the hell out of everybody.

References
The first card mark system I used in any meaningful way was Bob Farmers Farmarx
system, which uses a Sharpie to its a little tricky to explain, because some of the
marks work differently than others. But basically you change part of the back design to
create shapes that indicate the numbers and letters of the values and suits. I used the
Farmarx system for years and it was the thing that convinced me to put in the time to
create my own system.
My primary goal was to move the marks closer to the corner so you could read them
from a spread. But I was also influenced by Ted Lesleys system, which was the second I
used. Teds is the easiest to readit puts the suit and value right on the cardbut
ultimately, it was too expensive for me to use it all the time. My system was created to
do the same basic thing, but in a way that I could put on myself with a Sharpie.
I have since learned that the idea of putting the suit and value right on the card was first
published by Al Baker as The Baker Readers in Pet Secrets (1951). I also learned that
the basic idea I usedcreating the marks by modifying the cards existing back design
was also Bakers. He drew white lines by scratching away the ink with the pointed
corner of a razor blade. If only he had an ultrafine permanent marker.
Ive also since learned that Harry Risers Marking System in The Feints and Temps of
Harry Riser uses an ultrafine Sharpie to block out certain white parts of the design of the
Bicycle back, so it resembles the index of the card. Thanks to Bill Goodwin for bringing
this to my attention. Feints and Temps also has a couple of great marked-card tricks to
add to your arsenal.

Materials Required
A deck of cards
The PM System is designed for Bicycle Rider Back cards and is specific to that brand.
Once you get the idea, you should be able to apply it to many other brands (although I
doubt youll be able to make it work with Bee-backed cards).
An ultrafine Sharpie
You can use a standard blue Sharpie for a blue deck. Ive done it and it works. But its
not perfect. Fortunately, a few years ago Sharpie introduced a rainbow of new colors,
and the Navy colored Sharpie is a perfect match for blue Bicycle cards. You may have
to go to an art supply store if your local Office Depot doesnt carry them, or just go to
officedepot.com. Get a couple.
The standard red Sharpie is a perfect match for red-backed Bicycles.
A comfortable chair
Use one that allows you to work comfortably leaning forward.
A desk or other clean working surface
Clear yourself a little extra space the first couple of times you mark a deck.
A good light
Dont underestimate the value of good light, especially if, like me, you mark your decks
at night, after everyone else in your family has gone to sleep. The marks are of necessity
small, and applying them in dim light adds unnecessary stress on your eyes. I can mark
a complete deck in about twenty minutes, but its twenty minutes of fairly close work.
A comfortable, well-lit working environment makes everything easier.

Understanding the System

The first step in putting this marking system to work for you is
to look at the angel, in the upper left corner of the standard
Bicycle back design.
All your marks are going to be written in this area. The value
of the card will be written in the body of the angel, while the
suit is written in the swoopy white thing under the
angel.!
Okay, lets have a look at the mark for the
Ace of Spades. Ill explain how to draw the marks in a bit: for now
lets just have a look inside the two white circles. The A is on a bit
of an angle, but even at a glance the A and S are immediately
obvious and easily readable.
Heres the King of Clubs. Again, both K and C are very easily
readable.
Reference Points
Now that you know what youre looking for, have another look at
the unmarked angel above. See the line formed between the crook
of the right elbow and the armpit? Believe it or not, that line is the
key to the whole system. Im going to call it the arm line, and Im going to call it that a
lot.
The next most commonly mentioned reference point will be the angels nipples. I swear
you will never hear angels nipples mentioned so many times in your life, but theyre an
integral part of the system.
Just remember that when I say the left nipple, I mean the angels left, so its the one to
the right from your perspective.
Between the arm line and the nipples, youre good to go.

Drawing the Marks

These instructions for drawing the marks might seem unnecessarily detailed. In fact,
they have been called insane by a magician you and I both respect greatly. You
probably dont need them. If you can draw, you can just look at the marks and
reproduce them, probably even better than I made them. If you cant draw, like me, then
you hate people like that. But you can still just look at the pictures and copy them.
Youre not making art, just a readable mark. So feel free to skip ahead.
The most important tip by far is: get into a routine. Put the deck on your table face up.
Take the top card and put it on the table face down. Mark it, then stack it face down
next to the (face up) deck. Doing this consistently will greatly reduce the number of
times you will put the wrong suit on the back of a card.
By the way, if you do mis-mark a card, immediately tear it in half, or maybe practice
your Mercury Fold with it. Dont take the chance of it getting into your deck.
When youre done, double-check the marks on every card, at both ends. You arent
finished marking the deck until you have checked every mark on every card.
Reference Card
Heres a picture of the angel again. Take a moment to notice the following details, all of
which will be mentioned in the instructions that follow.

the left
collarbone
the right
collarbone
the left end
of the arm line
the point of
the shoulder

the left nipple

the right nipple
the elbow of
the arm line
the place where
the right breast
line intersects
the arm line

Suits are drawn in the swoopy thing that covers the angels lower half. Im going to call
it the swoopy thing. There are no parts. Its just the swoopy thing.

Ace
Draw a line from the left nipple, through the right nipple,
down to the point of the right shoulder.
Draw a line from the left nipple, straight down through the
elbow of the arm line and across the arm.
Draw a line between the first two lines, filling in the arm line,
making it more even.
Two
Starting from the elbow of the arm line and moving left, draw
the curved bottom of the two.
Going up from the left side of the curve, make the hook top.
Three
First a straight line across from the middle of the neck to the
left nipple.
Then a straight line from the left nipple down to the left end of
the arm line.
Finally a curve that starts along the arm line and then curves
back under.
Four
First a line straight down through the left collarbone to just
past the left end of the arm line
Then a line straight down from the left nipple till it touches the
solid blue under the arm.
Finally a line connecting the two vertical lines, filling in the
arm line.
Five
Start with a short vertical line, from the end of the arm line, up
until youre level with the left nipple.
Now a short horizontal line from the top of the first line to the
left nipple.
Finally a curve that starts along the arm line and then curves
back under. This is the same as the bottom of the three.

Six
First, draw a small circle that starts at the elbow of the arm line,
sweeps left with the arm line, then curves down and circles
back around.
Now, starting at the left nipple, draw a curve that swoops
down through the right nipple and merges with the left/
bottom of the circle. Nipple nipple nipple! Sorry, I sorry.
Seven
A horizontal line from the right collarbone to the left nipple.
The line should just touch the nipple.
Diagonal line from the left nipple, through the place where the
right breast line intersects the arm line, across the arm.
This is a European 7 with the line across the stem.
Eight
Draw a circle that starts at the elbow of the arm line, sweeps
left with the arm line, then curves down and circles back
aroundlike youre starting a six.
Draw a duplicate circle above the first one. Try to incorporate
the breast line. For Gods sake dont stare at it.
Nine
The right breast is a quarter circle. Draw in the complete circle.
Draw a vertical line that just touches the rightmost point of the
circle, down across the arm to the solid blue. Note that the
vertical line doesnt blend into the circle; the left edge of the
vertical line just touches the right edge of the circle.
Ten
Draw a line from the left nipple, through the place where the
right breast intersects the arm line, across the arm to solid blue.
Draw a line that thickens and extends the left half of the arm
line all the way to solid blue on both ends.
Youve just drawn an X, a Roman numeral 10. The idea of
using X for 10 goes all the way back to Al Baker.

Jack
Start by making a shallow u-shaped curve along the arm line.
Then a vertical line through the left nipple.
Horizontal line on top goes across into the angels left arm.
Queen
All youll be drawing is an oval. It starts where the right breast
intersects the arm line, and goes up, following the right breast.
It sweeps around, not touching solid blue anywhere, and
comes back to the intersection where it started. The arm line
makes the tail of the Q.
King
Vertical line from the left collarbone, through the end of the
arm line, across the arm to the blue background.
Diagonal line from the left nipple to the end of the arm line.
Diagonal line that thickens the arm line then continues across
the arm.
Clubs
Your c can touch the right edge of the swoopy thing at the
bottom right, but not at the middle left or at the top right.
Diamonds
Make an uppercase D, and make sure the left straight side is
straight.
Hearts
Lowercase h. The single line sticking up is an important visual
cue for your eye.

Spades
S. Meh. Its an s. Dont touch the edges of the swoopy thing.

Key Card
The last step is to corner mark the Three of Clubs. Heres how:
The Rider back design has a thin white border that runs all the way
around the inside of the blue rectangular background. Fill in this line at
the corner. Do all four corners.
It may seem like overkill to mark a key card in a marked deck, but they really provide
different functions and work extremely well together. This simple mark can be spotted
in any spread much more quickly than a single card can be identified, and can be
detected from a greater distance than the marks themselves. A lot of tricks get much
easier or cleaner or more impossible seeming with just this simple mark on one card.

While were at it, put a breather crimp in the card. It cant hurt, and quite often it makes
real miracles possible. Most breathers Ive seen are made with the thumbs on the back
of the card, so the crimped card will cut to the bottom. I want to cut the key card to the
top of the deck, so I can see the corner mark and know where it is. So I make the
breather with the thumbs on the face of the card.
Even if you decide that this marking system is too much work, dont overlook the value
of having this simple key card in your deck. If I go to somebodys house, and theres a
deck of cards, Ill corner mark the Three of Clubs with a ball-point-pen.

Card Case
When you are done marking a deck, the last step is to mark the card case. I mark every
deck I use, but sometimes Ill open a deck without marking it. So its pretty handy to be
sure, before you even pick up the case, that the cards inside are marked.
What I do is apply the key card mark to the image of the back design on the cardcase.
Just fill in the four corners and youre good to go.

Assorted Miracles
Like any magical method, a marked deck is only valuable if there are extremely strong
tricks that use it. Fortunately, there are. Some of them are in this section right here.
The value of the following tricks is that they are great tricks, well constructed. They are
clean, direct, miraculous. What they arent is big original ideas; I use proven techniques
combined and adapted to the capabilities of the marking system. So what the following
may lack in novelty, they more than make up in directness and power.
What else?
Carl Ballantine used to levitate the lid of a basket, then take an oversized scissors and
cut the invisible thread that had been holding it up, whereupon it would fall to the
stage. He looked up at the audience with a shrug and asked how else?
There are a lot of magic tricks that suffer when considered from this perspective, and it
is an especially important consideration when using marked cards. Almost everyone
who has heard of playing cards has heard of marked cards. So if you do any trick with a
marked deck, you want to keep the audience from thinking that a marked deck may
have been involved. The best way is to combine the marked deck with another secreta
gaff, sleight of hand, or some other secret principalso that the audience wont even
consider a marked deck, because a marked deck wouldnt explain anything.
Each of the routines in this book uses some other secret in combination with the marked
deck. The secret may be an additional gaff, or a sleight, or a principle, or even, as well
see, just a compelling presentation. But there is always something to keep the idea of the
marked deck from even coming up.
Who is Alex?
When I wrote Scripting Magic I used some standard names for spectators. Lee was
anyone on your left, Chris was in the center, and Ricky was on the right. If the trick
required a couple, the woman was Eve and the man was Adam. The most common
name was Alex, which indicated anyone, either gender, sitting anywhere.
When I started writing this book I figured I wouldnt bother with this, especially since
all I would require is Alex. But in writing up the descriptions it quickly became very
awkward to write the spectator all the time. So every time theres a spectator, Im
going to call him or her Alex.
Alex. Remember that name.

Stop Sign
This is a severely clean version of the classic stop trick. You never touch the deck and
most of the trick can be done with your back turned.
No SetupGo
Alex shuffles the deck and tables it. While this happens, make a show of warming up
your mind-reading sensitivity. When Alex stops shuffling, say I knew you were going
to stop there. Im warming up. Rub your temples with your thumbs, as though this
were difficult work, and while your hand shields your eyes, read the top card.
Turn away. If you are not sure of Alexs ability to correctly interpret your instructions, it
may be better to move a small distance away, so it is clear that you cannot see the cards,
but you can watch Alex and make sure your instructions are followed.
Have Alex pick up the deck, saying Deal cards one at a time into a neat pile on the
table. Stop dealing any time when you have a card in your hand. Alex looks at this
card, memorizes it, and puts it back on the deck. The pile from the table is put on top
and the deck is tabled. Have Alex cut the deck, then cut it again.
Now Alex picks up the deck and begins dealing cards from the top, face up, saying the
name of every card. Please do not give anything away when you reach your card, just
keep reading.
Listen for the card you saw on top of the deck. The next card is the selectionyou can
say stop right when Alex names it.
Or
Let Alex go two cards past the selection, and say Wait a minuteyou just said it. I
didnt notice your voice change when you said it, but I noticed when it changed back.
Repeat the last three cards.
When Alex repeats the selected card, thats when you say Stop! Thats your card, the
three of whatever. Clubs! The three of Clubs!
Notes
The idea of this script is that I am hearing something in Alexs voice. So at the end, I
dont even know what card it is, because I wasnt paying attention to what was being
said, only how.
This is just one possible presentation. Stop Sign is one of those useful tricks where the
script is entirely separate from the method. You have to talk Alex through the process,

but the magical power you are demonstrating can be many things. And you are very
free to add details to that powerto make it more specific, thus more realwithout
worrying that the method wont support them.
I think this is because the underlying methodsmarked cards and the key-card
principleare both very basic. By this I dont mean simple, I mean fundamental. They
are more powerful because they are at the base. In many ways the most basic
assumption about playing cards is that you can not identify them from the back. That is
the basis of all real-world uses of playing cards.
Basic methods make it easy to develop presentations. The fewer requirements your
method imposes on what you say, the freer you are to say what you want. I like that.

Core Meltdown
This trick started when Magic Castle librarian Bill Goodwin showed me an online demo
of a Pit Hartling trick called The Core. In effect the spectator freely named any card,
and Pit went through the deck and eliminated half of it, again and again, until there was
only one cardthe selection.
With a marked deck, I realized, you could do the same trick but allow the spectator to
shuffle at the beginning. Gradually the presentation expanded itself into the following
which can involve up to five spectators.
This really is a damned miracle. Look at it from the spectators perspective: they shuffle,
they make a free choice of a card, they make all the choices to eliminate cards, and they
end up with the chosen card.
This trick uses the marked deck in combination with equivoque. This is not hard to do,
but the process is not fun to read about, and even less fun to write. Just remember that
any equivoque process takes many times longer to read than to perform.
There are a number of ways to do a full deck equivoque, so if you already know one,
use it.
Ill describe it for five spectators: Alex1 through Alex5. In the Variations section well go
over how to adjust to an audience of fewer than five.
Go
Hand the deck to Alex1.
Alex1 shuffles or cuts the deck and names either red or black. Alex1 hands the deck to
Alex2, who shuffles (or cuts, whatever) and chooses a suit. Alex3 shuffles, chooses even
or odd; Alex4 chooses high or low; and Alex5 chooses a single value. Lets say they end
up at the Three of Clubs.
So, and you might want to emphasize this, a single card has been named, in the fairest
possible way, and the deck is thoroughly mixed. Now youre going to have a card
chosen physically. To make it dramatic, well do it like a game show, by process of
elimination.
Now you pick up the deck and deal it into two piles on the table. Two things have to
happen here. The first is that you have to read the marks so you see which pile the
selected card goes into. The second is that you have to do it so casually that no one

would ever suspect you were reading the marks on the back of the cards. Your script
can cover both objectives.
Alex1, in a second youre going to have to make a choice. I cannot influence you, it
would invalidate everything, so I will not even look you in the face. (Look down, and
start dealing.) But everybody else can watch, as you do your psychic warmup, so you
can make a quick decision. What would a psychic warmup look like, anyway? Show us.
Remember, you must not think. Can you do that?
This script justifies your looking down, but more importantly, it allows Alex1 to join in
the fun of the show in a non-threatening manner, which absolutely commands
attention. Often, while you are looking down, everyone else will laugh at some funny
face Alex1 makes, which is a chance for you to say that you wish you could look, which
will get a laugh while making a memorable reminder of the fairness of the trick. You
end by asking if Alex1 can answer immediately, so you can play off of how fast Alex1
answers this question.
At some point along the way, you will see the named card. Deal it slightly jogged to the
right. Try to remember about how far down it is. Definitely remember what pile its in.
This is the hardest part of the trick, by the waydelivering this short speech in a
natural way while also reading the marks of every card. One thing that helps is to deal
carefully, keeping both piles square. This very naturally motivates going at a slower
pace. But what really helps is practicing this skill. Name any card, then deal the deck
into two piles, delivering your speech. It makes no difference whether you memorize
the script or improvise it every timeto do it effectively takes practice. How much? As
much as you practice any sleight-of-hand sequence.
When you are ready, turn your head towards Alex1 and say Ready? Immediately, now
left or right?
If Alex1 says Left, you say Left! and pick up the pile that contains the selection. If
Alex1 says Right, you say Right! and pick up the pile that contains the selection. In
other words, no matter what Alex1 says, you repeat it, then pick up the pile you want.
The deception works two waysyou dont say if you mean your right or their right,
and you dont say if youre going to eliminate or use the one they say.
In equivoque, I believe, clever wording is nice, but what really matters is that you act as
though you are simply executing the standard process of elimination, based on what
Alex1 says. You dont have to act, really. In fact, dont act. Just repeat what they said to
no one in particular, and pick up the packet.

While you are picking up the packet, get a break over the selection. This is optional, but
it makes the next deal even freer. Ace Proofreader and inveterate marked deck user Rich
Cowley suggests giving the card a quick corner crimp, which will come in very handy
in subsequent deals.
Take the 26 cards that remain on the table and hand them to Alex1. Here, you voted
these off the island, make sure the Three of Clubs isnt in there. While Alex1 is doing
this, you begin dealing the 26 cards into two piles, one in front of you and the other in
front of Alex2. This time you know exactly when the selection will come, so you can
note which pile its in, and rightjog it, without paying attention to the dealing at all.
Dont look at Alex2, but look sideways at other people; this is at least a little funny and
extremely disarming. At some point Alex1 will confirm that the Three of Clubs was not
eliminatedreact to that, youre impressed.
Turn back to Alex2. Alex2, you have the next choice. Are you ready? Again you have
a chance to discuss the immediacyor lack thereofof Alex2s reply.
When Alex2 is ready you say quickly: front or back? Whatever Alex2 says, you pick
up the pile with the selection, regaining the break. Hand Alex2 the eliminated pile to
check, and turn to Alex3. Tell Alex2 to make sure you didnt eliminate the Three of
Clubs. The same two-layer deception as in the first choice works for you here as well.
Tell Alex3 to do a quick psychic warm up as you deal out the 13 cards. Notice that each
time you deal, its only half the time of the previous deal, so you have less and less time
to prep each spectator for their psychic warmup. This natural rhythm can be a very
powerful thing, by the way. Ask Alex3 to pick up either packet; if it has the selection,
continue by saying and hand it to me. If it doesnt have the selection, nod, then pick
up the other packet.
Either way, turn and ask Alex4 to hold out both hands, and then, as an aside, remind
Alex3 to make sure you didnt chop the Three of Clubs. Deal your cardseither 7 or
6, depending on which pile the selection ended up ininto Alex4s hands. Start dealing
at normal speed, but speak fast, saying Alex4 you need to warm-up quickly, because
important decisions come upon you in life when you least expect it, and put down one
group of cards! Again, if the selection is put down, you pick up that packet. If Alex4
holds the selection, nod, and reach out for the packet.
When you turn to Alex5 you are left with either three (usually) or four cards, depending
on the selections in the previous two stages.
For three cards I use the following, which I believe was Annemanns preferred
procedure. Hand all three to Alex5 and say Quickly, hand me back any two. If Alex5

keeps the selection, you say You eliminate these two. If they are not the Three of
Clubs turn them both over, then direct Alex5 to turn over the card in her hand to
climax the miracle. If you get the selection, nod at the card Alex5 is holding and say
eliminate that one, turn it over. Alex5 does; its not the Three of Clubs. Now take one
from me. If Alex5 takes the selection, you wave the card you are holding and say
eliminate this one, show that it is not the Three of Clubs, and toss it to the table. Keep
staring at the card in Alex5s hand until it is revealed, then lead the reaction. If Alex5
leaves the selection in your hand, nod at the card Alex5 is holding and say eliminate
that one, turn it over. Wait until Alex5 does so, then look at the card in your hand,
smile, and reveal the miracle.
For four cards I use a sequence from Gary Ouellets book Close Up Illusions. Pick them
up, mix them around until the selection is third from top, then spread the four. Pick up
the first finger of your right hand and touch any card Usually Alex5 will touch the
selection (second from your left), in which case say We eliminate these last three, turn
them over, and conclude as above. If Alex5 doesnt touch the selection, just continue
and with the first finger of your left hand, touch any card. Now at this point if Alex5 is
touching the selection, you eliminate the two cards not being touched. Otherwise you
eliminate the two cards being touched. At this point in the routine you are basically just
mumbling eliminate those, like its not necessary to repeat but youre just saying it for
completeness sake. Either way there are two cards left. Hold one in each hand and say
take one of these. If Alex5 takes the selection, you turn your card over and toss it on
the table, saying eliminate this one. If you are still holding the selection, nod at the
card in Alex5s hand, say eliminate that one, and then reveal the miracle.
Whew!
One of the things that is difficult to convey in print is how energetic the equivoque part
of this process is. Every deal is twice as fast as the one before, so the pacing is built into
the routine. And each selection spins off a side eddy of activity as the eliminated pile is
searched andstill good so far!doesnt have the Three of Clubs. The drama builds
automatically and people cant help but get swept up in it. When the final card is turned
over, the release of tension is tremendous.
Variations
If you are doing the trick for fewer than 5 people, some of the people are going to have
to make more than one choice, both in selecting a card and in the elimination phase.
With two people you can just have one pick a suit and the other a value. I will leave it to
you to adapt to any number between 2 and 5. But I will say this: make the selection
process conversational. Talk to the people about the choices they make. Talk to them
about whether they choose to shuffle or cut the cards, and how they shuffle. Ask if they
play cards. Talk with them. This trick has tremendous potential for you to interact with

the audience. Thats one of the strongest features of the trick. That plus the fact that its
a miracle.
At several points you pick up half the deck, obtaining or reestablishing a break over the
selection. You can eliminate the need to reestablish the break by the simple expedient of
not squaring up the cards. Just pick up the partially unsquared packet, and deal without
squaring. If you try this youll see that it looks very fair.
Ace Proofreader Rich Cowley suggests corner crimping the selection when you locate it,
so you can keep track of it and grab your breaks more easily.
Credits
As mentioned, this was inspired by Pit Hartlings The Core, which uses a different
method. You can download the video of Pits trick at www.vanishingincmagic.com, or
read it in Steve Beams Semi-Automatic Card Tricks Volume 7.

Three Simple Miracles

This is a trio of closely related applications of a marked deck to one of the very best and
most powerful things you can do with a deck of cards. In effect, Alex freely chooses a
card, and you divine it. The reality is almost exactly that clean.
This basic effect is the first trick you might think of for your new marked deck. But if
you dont do it carefully, its pretty easy for your audience to come up with the very
same idea. For example, if you just have people choose a card from a spread, and you
read the back, and divine the card, it wont take too long before somebody says Aw,
those must be marked cards.
Because of the way these tricks are done, a marked deck will not occur to your
audience, since it wouldnt explain anything. In fact, in all of these tricks there is a
moment where you can mention that some people will think you are using a marked
deck, specifically to cancel that method.
Any of these tricks can be done by itself or in combination with other tricks, but they are
written to do all three in a row. They are just different enough that they can be
presented as demonstrating the same psychic power under increasingly strict
conditions.

Simple Miracle 1
This is very possibly the best trick in the book. The effect on the audience is very strong.
The handling is incredibly clean and it looks very much exactly like what real
mentalism would look like.
I mention this because it does not read like the great secret in magic youve been
looking for. Just try it.
Setup
Start with your key card Three of Clubs on top.
Go
Shuffle if you like, keeping the key card on top. Or you can shuffle freely and then at the
end, cut at the breather crimp to bring it to the top. Either way its very easy to shuffle
casually, completely disarming, and end up with the Three of Clubs on top.
Put the deck on the table and ask Alex to cut off any number of cards and hold them
together. Alex now looks at the face card of the cut off packet (i.e. the cut-to card) and
remembers it. Alex cuts the packet, and then lifts up some of the cards still on the table
to bury the packet in the middle. You can turn your back for some or all of this
procedure, but just keep in mind that if Alex doesnt follow your instructions, the trick
wont work.
At this point you recap how extremely fair that selection and return process was, and it
sure was. The selection was completely free, and it is well and truly lostneither you
nor Alex have any idea where in the deck it is.
But theres one thing you do know: you know that it is directly above your key card.
The Three of Clubs starts on top. Alex cuts off a packet, which has the Three of Clubs on
top, and remembers the bottom card. When this packet is cut, the selection ends up
directly over the key.
You are now going to read the marks in the context of a completely natural action,
which the spectators will not remember as part of the process at all. What happens is,
while you are talking about how fair that selection process was, you pick up the deck.
A lot of magicians, when you pick a card, they spread the deck, and here you pick up
and spread the deck, and some of them can make you pick a certain card. But you cut
anywhere, you continue, as you retable the deck, so I couldnt possibly force you.
To the audience, this little interlude is nothing more than an illustration of an alternate
process that wasnt used in this trick. So no one remembers it.

But its actually the method. Because when you spread the deck, you find the key card,
and then you read the mark of the card just above the key. Take your time and dont
stare. Spread until you catch a glimpse of the key, then look up to the spectator as you
are talking. Now, as you mention that other magicians can make you pick a certain
card, look back at the deck as you take the card above the key and outjog it, as though
pretend-forcing it on the spectator. Put the deck down, making a point of having your
hands off it when you get to the words so I couldnt possibly force you.
Now you read Alexs mind. I hate to tell you, after this sleight-free and dead easy
method, that this is by far the hardest part of the trick. If you can make it seem that you
are reading Alexs mind, the trick will be a miracle. If it seems like you somehow knew
the card, that will be a great trick. But not a miracle. So its worth practicing pretending
that you are reading someones mind.
Variation
A simple variation of the selection process is to hand the deck to the spectator and have
them pull any card out of the middle, memorize it, drop it on top, and then cut the deck.
I dont like this as much because I think that no matter how clearly you explain it, some
spectators will want to stick their card back into the middle. But it is entirely in the
hands, so its good to know.

Simple Miracle 2
Setup
Start by cutting the Three of Clubs back to top. You did put in a breather crimp, didnt
you?
Go
Go through the same selection process as Simple Miracle 1, pointing out all the points of
fairness. Ask the spectator to cut either high or low, just to add even more
randomness. If you didnt turn away during the first selection process, you can do it
now, since the spectators know what to do and are much less likely to screw up (talk
them through it, though, just to make sure).
At this point, to repeat the whole explanation of how some magicians can make you
pick a certain card would be extremely suspicious. So instead, when Alex leaves the
deck on the table, you lean in and try to get a telepathic link. But what do you know,
youre not getting it. Take a guess at the color, and then, right or wrong, say you think
Alex needs to see the card again, to solidify the visual image.
Pick up the deck and hold it in front of Alex, backs to you of course. Spread the cards as
you explain even though I couldnt know where the card is, dont react when you see
it. While spreading, spot the key and read the card above it. Ask if Alex saw the card;
Alex will say yes. Hmm. Still not getting it, so hand Alex the deck to find the card,
and cut it to the face.
Now, when Alex is staring at the card, you finally start getting an image. Slowly you
name the card.

Simple Miracle 3
Setup
None. This trick begins with Alex shuffling the deck, so its fairer than Simple Miracle 1.
But the revelation is not quite as direct. Just a trade off youll have to consider.
Go
Have Alex shuffle the deck and table it. You can talk about test conditions, or how
somebody must be suspicious.
Now lean in as you explain what Alex is going to do: Youre going to cut some cards,
from the middle. Pick up some cards with your left hand Mime doing this as you
explain, reaching out with your hand towards the deck and pretending to lift up some
cards. As you do this, read the top card. Remember; if you have the corner marked
Three of Clubs with a breather crimp, often this card will be right on top, which you can
see as the spectator puts the deck down on the table, so you dont even have to lean in.
While looking away, direct Alex, through a combination of words and hand gestures, to
cut off a group of cards with the left hand, then use the right hand to cut off another
group of cards, which comes from the middle. The group in the left hand goes back on
top. Cutting from the middle, you explain, is the fairest possible way to cut cards. Now
have Alex look at the bottom card of the packet, remember it, drop the packet on top of
the rest of the deck, and cut the cards.
The selection is now above the card you read, which you cant just spot in a spread, like
you could the Three of Clubs. So youre going to have to go through a little different
process to find it.
First, though, ask Alex to think of the card, while you try to read it. But again, its not
coming through.
So you ask Alex to imagine the face of the card, and hold that image. And you pick up
the deck, and turn the top card over, holding it in your right hand, right above the deck,
so only you can see it. Stare at it for a second, then shake your head and throw it on the
table. This isnt your card, you proclaim, and then, just in case, look at Alex and say
right?
When Alex agrees, you turn over the next card and repeat the process. Turn, look, toss
on table. Each time you toss a card, say no. Dont take too long with each card.

What you are really doing, each time you turn up a card, is reading the mark on the
next card, on top of the deck. When you see the card you read during the selection
process, you know that the card facing you is the selection.
Announce This is it, holding the card up back to the audience. Ask Alex to name the
card, and then turn it around to reveal that you have succeeded one last time.

The Rule of Three Prediction

This simple trick combines the marked deck with one of the most reliable forces in all of
card magic. Its a lot of fun to perform. You get to do a little acting, but its not critical to
the trick. In other words, if your acting doesnt fool them, the trick still will. So its a
good trick to work on your acting skills without any pressure. Remembera conjuror is
an actor playing the part of a magician.
A few years ago, Allan Zola Kronzek asked me if I would contribute to a book that
would teach magic to disadvantaged youth and adults. I thought this was a great and
noble idea.
I contributed this presentation, which is fun to do and fools the hell out of people. Since
Allans book, The Book of Powers, is for beginners, I described a non-marked-deck
version, with the performer openly looking through the cards before making three
predictions. But it is even better with a marked deck, as you never handle the cards.
The basic effect is that Alex shuffles the deck, you write three predictions, and Alex cuts
to three different cards. The predictions are revealed; the first two are just gags, but the
third is a miracle.
This is an extremely durable structure for comedy magic: the first gag is funny because
of the surprise, the second makes people suspect that the whole thing is a put-on, which
makes the third into a real stunning surprise.
Go
Have Alex shuffle the deck and place it face down on the table. While that is happening,
take out three small pieces of paperor one piece and tear it into three pieces. When the
deck is placed on the table, do not look at it.
Instead, stare at Alexs right hand and take a slow, deep breath. Take one of the pieces of
paper and write, so that no one else can see, Unexpected. Fold this and put it down
next to the deck.
Stare at Alexs left hand, then take the second piece of paper and write Funny. Fold
this and put it next to the first prediction, and while youre doing that read the top card
of the deck. Lets say its the Three of Clubs. Write Three of Clubs on the third
prediction, fold it, and put it on the table.
Now youre going to talk Alex through the Cut Deeper force. This is not hard, but its
worth remembering that many spectators are not familiar with playing cardscertainly
not as familiar as you are. So be careful how you word your instructions. If you say cut

off half the deck, Alex many not quite understand, or may just hear cut and pick up
and cut the deck. To avoid that, say With your right hand, pick up less than half of the
deck, turn it face up, and put it back on the rest of the deck.
Alex turns over a block of cards, revealing a random cardlets say its the seven of
hearts. Look surprised and say With your right hand you cut to the seven of hearts?
I did not expect that! Just remembertwo out of three is still a miracle. Take the seven
of hearts and put it on the table, next to the first prediction.
Return your attention to Alex and say Now with your left hand, pick up more than half
the deck and turn it over. Alex turns over another group of cards, revealing another
random cardcall it the queen of spades.
You react by laughing Hathats funny. Your left hand cut to the queen of spades.
Laugh again, then stop and say To me, anyway.Slide the queen of spades over next to
the second prediction.
Now spread the deck across the table. The top half is face up, the bottom half face
down. Slide the face up cards aside and point at the top card of the face down half,
saying Lets take the card both your hands cut to. Without showing it, slide that card
over next to the third prediction.
Pause for a moment to build a little drama, then say All three of my predictions are
correct! Your right hand cut to the seven of hearts. My prediction was Reveal the first
prediction and say Unexpected! You remember, I said, I did not expect that.
Pause for a second here. Just to give everyone a chance to laugh (maybe), or to groan
(which means theyre hooked), but mostly so they realize that you are just playing.
Continue your left hand cut to the queen of spades. My second prediction was
Turn over the second predictionit says Funny. Immediately: You remember the
queen of spadesthat was funny! (Laugh) To me, anyway. This mini callback helps
make sure that everyone realizes that the whole thing is a joke. You are about the pull
the rug out from under that idea, of course, but before you do, make sure that everyone
is standing on it.
Open the final prediction and look at it for a secondthis pause helps set the hook My
final prediction says Three of Clubs. Pause againnot long, but just a beat, before
you continue Wouldnt that be a miracle, if the card you cut to, with both hands
Turn over the final card. Its the three of Clubs!

Notes
I hope I dont have to explain, to a magician buying a manuscript of a method for
marking your own deck, the Cut Deeper Force.
Let me repeat my suggestion that you pay close attention to the wording of the
instructions you give Alex. You dont have to say what I say, but whatever you say, pay
close attention. And if Alex does it wrong and the prediction card is lost, dont panic.
Just apologizealways apologize, even if its Alexs faultand start the whole trick
over. At most you have to change one prediction.
This trick is a good example of misdirection. The script talks about cutting with the
right hand, then the left hand, then finally the card cut to with both hands. It makes no
difference which hand the spectator cuts with. But at the time, the spectators are so busy
with each individual cut that they cant follow whats really happening with the cutdeeper procedure. By the time you spread the deck at the end for the card both hands
cut to, its too late. The spectators have no chance.
This is what misdirection really is. Its not getting people to look the other way so they
cant see you do the secret move. Its getting people to focus on something else, so they
can watch everything and not see anything. That way you can relax during the trick
you cant get caught!
You can have two different people cut the cards, and just change the script: The card
you cut to, the card you cut to, the card you both cut to.
Variations
You can change the first two predictions. Any two gags will work. For example when
the spectator turns over the first card you can say the seven of heartsno! Then, after
the second card, say Queen of spadesYes! The predictions say No and Yes.
Anything that calls back to what you said when Alex cut the cards. The trick is to make
a big enough deal about it the first time so people will remember it later on, but not so
big that it becomes obvious that youre setting something up.
Buy the Book
Allans book is called The Book of Powers, and it is part of Hocus Pocus, an outreach
program run by Bill Kalush and the Conjuring Arts Research Center. Find out more at
www.conjuringarts.org.

Perfect Prediction
Effect
You jot a prediction on a piece of paper. Alex freely shuffles the deck and slides out one
card. Your prediction reads, say, the five of hearts. Alex turns over the card and its the
five of hearts.
Its exactly that clean. No force, no switch, no nothing.
Method
You only pretend to write on the paper.
Spread the shuffled deck across the table and ask Alex to slide a card half way outnot
all the way, half way, and slowly. Demonstrate as you do this by sliding any random
card half way out. Explain that Alex can switch to a different card; push the card back in
and slide out another. But when the card leaves the spread and is no longer touching
the other cards, the decision is final. Saying this you point at the end of the card where it
last touches the spread.
Now Alex will slide out a card, and either switch or not; this is fertile ground for
interaction with and about Alex. When the card finally leaves the spread, everyone will
be looking at the end of the card where it last touches the spread.
This is when you read the mark. Lets say its the three of Clubs. Direct Alex to leave the
card on the table without looking at it yet.
Pick up the paper, pretend to read it, and say my prediction was the Three of Clubs.
What card did you pick?
While Alex is turning over the card, you nailwrite 3C on the paper. Its a miracle.
Toss the paper to the table as though it were unimportant. Let someone else pick it up if
they want but please resist the temptation to suggest it.
The Details
The idea of combining a marked deck with a nail writer is old. Harry Risers
aforementioned Feints and Temps of Harry Riser has a classic version, which features a
terrific way of having the spectator choose and return their card while your back is
turned, delaying the reading of the mark in an extremely well-constructed way.
Definitely worth looking up.

Risers trick uses a construction which is standard, but which I think has a serious
drawback. In it, Alex picks a card and looks at it; you read the mark. Now, before Alex
announces the selection, you pick up your prediction, nail write the card, and hand it
out for a spectator to read.
I think this is the wrong time to do the nail writing. Once Alex knows the selection, all
attention is on the prediction. But if Alex doesnt know, when you miscall the
prediction, all attention goes to the selection. So the nail writing is much better covered.
If youre new to nail writing, this is a great first nail-writing trick.
If you fold your prediction, when you unfold it, turn it upside down before pretending
to read it. This is a great subtle convincer. Dont say anything about it. Youll ruin it.
This is another great example of the power of combining two secrets. They perfectly
cancel each other; neither a marked deck nor a secret writing device would, by itself,
explain the uncanny prediction.
Variations
David Regal thinks you dont need a nail writer for this trick. He thinks that instead of
pretending to write a prediction, you write your initials on the paper. After you
announce the prediction and it is proven correct, mumble something about initialing the
prediction, and thats when you write in the value. I think this is a tantalizing idea, but I
dont know when you would do it. Doing it after you announce the prediction seems to
call unwanted attention to the fact that youre writing on the prediction, right when
Alex wants to see if its right. Initialing the paper after the card is revealed seems very
strange and unmotivated.
If you could solve it, and you didnt need a nail writer, that would be a plus. Ive
considered just dropping my hand with the card into my lapall attention is on the
face down selectionand write the name of the card against your leg. I never tried it
the idea of putting the slip out of sight makes me uncomfortablebut perhaps you
could make it work. I continue to search for an impromptu, no nailwriter version.
I know I have said this already in this book, but imagine the effect on the spectator. You
write a prediction. They shuffle and select one card. The prediction is revealed, the card
is revealed, they match. This trick by itself is worth learning to nail write.

Seven Shuffles
A number of years ago, Persi Diaconis published a paper in which he proved that it
takes seven shuffles to really randomize a deck of cards. The paper is highly technical
and few magicians have read it or understand more than the most basic ideas.
Fortunately, whether you understand this paper or not, or even if youve never heard of
itit makes for an interesting presentation for this supremely direct miracle.
Effect
You spread the cards, showing that the deck is in new deck order. Alex shuffles the deck
seven times and puts it down; you watch the shuffling like a hawk but do not touch the
deck. Alex names any number from 1 to 52. You do a few mental calculations and
announce: the Three of Clubs. Picking up the deck, you count down to Alexs number,
and the card there is the Three of Clubs.
Setup
Deck in new deck order.
Go
First, spread the deck face up to show that it is in original order. Now hand it to Alex,
with instructions to give it seven riffle shuffles. You watch these shuffles very carefully,
while you explain that a magician and mathematician named Persi Diaconis once
proved that it takes seven shuffles to really randomize a deck of cards. But, even though
the cards will be randomized, an expert grifter can still track three or four important
cardsthe aces, sayeven across seven shuffles. Its whispered that some people can
track the entire deck, even after seven shuffles.
Alex finally squares up the cards and tables the deck. Reach out and very obsessively
square up the deck by slowly drawing your fingers over the sides. What you are really
doing, of course, is reading the top card. Lets say its the Three of Clubs.
Ask Alex to name any number from 1 to 52; lets say its 23. Furrow your brow, and
mentally divide 93 by 7. When you have the answer, announce Three of Clubs.
Now youre going to count down to the 23rd card, and show it as the Three of Clubs,
which is currently on top. If you can do a great second deal, youre all set. I cant even
do a bad second deal, so this is what I do:
The Move to be Named Later
Start with the deck in dealing position: Take the top card in your right hand, thumb
above and fingers underneath, and say one. The card is lifted up and to the right as it
is drawn away, but it is not tilted to show its face.

Take the next card underneath the first, slightly to its left and say two. As your right
hand comes back for the third card, it slides the top card of the two to the left, until its
leftjogged by about twice the border. Dont forget thisit makes the steal much easier
later on.
Each card after that gets shoved in between the bottom card and the right fingers.
As you get closer and closer to the number, as a gesture of fairness, you gradually begin
raising each card up higher and higher, until Alex can see the face of the last two or
three cards. By the time you are ready to count the 22nd card (n-1), your right hand is
coming up fully vertical in front of Alex.
Your left hand brings the deck up, and Alex clearly sees the 22nd card fairly coming off
the top of the deck to the face of the cards in your right hand.
What Alex doesnt see is that your left thumb takes the top card of the right hand packet
and slides it back onto the deck.

Hold your right hand where it is. The left hand pushes the Three of Clubs off the deck
right as you say 23 and put it under the cards in the right hand.
Notes
I worked out the sequence that lets you show the top card at any number about five
years ago. I first learned the basic idea of the sleightcounting cards one under each

other, then sliding the top card back onto the pilein The Secrets of Brother John Hamman
(Kaufman, 1989), where its called the Undercount. Hamman used it to count four cards
off the deck and steal one back. At some point I worked out the card at any number
version, and later came up with the shuffle tracking presentation you see here. Just as
this ebook was being proofread, Bill Goodwin handed me a copy of a trick from the July
1944 issue of Genii Magazine. The trick is called At A Mentally Chosen Number by
Sylvan Barnet. Its the exact same procedure I worked out a mere 65 years later. But it
was my idea to put it in an ebook for $20.
That doesnt answer what to call it, though. Ill be using it again later in the book, so I
have to call it something. Im going to call it the Sylvan CAAN. By the way, in 1940
Genii published a letter to the editor from Barnet, who was 13 at the time. This means
he was 17 when he published this move, and 19 when he had two tricks in J.G.
Thompsons classic My Best.
This move makes a sliding sound, as the right half slides out from under the top card. I
cant stop this, so every time I count a card off the top, I slide it off.
This is another example of the power of combining a marked deck with something else
in this case the Sylvan CAANwhich cancel each other. The resulting trick is
wonderfully clean and direct.

Markus Maximus
By Bob Farmer
Before releasing this ebook, I sent a copy to Bob Farmer, ostensibly to make sure what I
wrote about his Farmarx system was correct, but secretly to 1) make sure I was using
the word ostensibly correctly, and 2) secretly get him to contribute a great trick. My plan
worked to perfection. Bob originally created this trick using a gaffed deckit was called
AGAOG, but I dont know what that meansthen ten years later created the marked
deck version you are about to read.
Instead of me telling how great this is, just read the effect.
Effect
Three spectators assist: Alex1, Alex2, and Alex3. You hand a deck to Alex1 and turn
your back. Alex1 shuffles the deck freely, then chooses any card and hides it in a pocket
without looking at it.
Hand the deck to Alex2 and repeat this process, again with your back turned. Alex3
does the same.
Now, while your back is turned, the spectators memorize their cards.
Each spectator now shuffles their card freely back into the deck. While your back is
turned! Now you take the deck and spread it face down across the table. Asking the
spectators to concentrate, you wave your hand over the spread, picking up the psychic
vibrations from the cards.
Now, you get two quick impressions about the chosen cards, i.e. two of you are thinking
of red cards, right? Two of you are thinking of odd numbered cards, right?
Right and right.
Finally you turn to Alex1 and name the card he or she selected. Ditto with Alex2 and
Alex3. You are correct every time!
As Bob says: No sleights. No memorization. Never fails. No outs. The spectators cannot screw
you up. The cards are genuinely shuffled and you have absolutely no idea what the cards are or
where they are until you get your impressions. No confederates. No union soldiers.

The Method, Basically

The spectators make their selections from a marked deck, but they return their cards to
an unmarked deck (dont worrythe switch is easy). When you spread the deck, you
find the three marked cards and learn what they are. Then Bob has a great thing where
you can tell who has which card.
The Details
Set up by putting a marked deck in any handy pocket on your right side and an
unmarked deckminus any three cardsin the same pocket on your left.
Take out the marked deck, and do a few tricks with it. This is a closer.
Hand the deck to Alex1, and turn your back while he or she shuffles, picks a card
without looking, and hides it. Now you take the deck and hand it to Alex2 for the same
process. Repeat with Alex3. Your back is turned while all the important actions are
happening, but you occasionally turn back as needed to help out with the basic
procedure. The spectators will simply remember that your back was turned.
After Alex3 is done, you take the deck and give instructions that all three spectators
should wait until your back is turned before they look at their selections. As you are
turning your back, casually put the deck in your right pocket. Wait a few seconds, then
ask if everyone has memorized their card. When they say yes, take the deck from your
left pocket and hold it, behind your back, so Alex1 can take it. Direct the three helpers
through the replace-and-shuffle-freely procedure.
Like all good deck switches, this is based on boldness. But its covered by strong
misdirection. When you put the deck in the pocket, all attention is on the selections.
And theres time misdirection between putting the deck away and taking it back out.
Take the deck and make a very wide face-down spread across the table. Do this smartly
and dont stop to read the marksjust notice where the marked cards are. Now you go
back and adjust the spread in a couple of places, as if you are making sure each card is
equally exposed. This is when you read the marks.
Stare at Alex1 and wave your right hand over the length of the spread, pretending to
feel a psychic vibration. Dont forget this partthe pretending. Actually pretend to feel
a psychic vibration. How does this feel to you? Is it weird, or are you used to it by now?
Is it slightly uncomfortable? Answering these questions will make this moment more
effective.
Whatever you choose, repeat with Alex2 and Alex3.

At this point you know the names of the three selections, but you dont know who
chose which. Youre going to get this information using Bob Farmers Impromptu No
Nos Fishing system. Basically you announce something that is true about two of the
three cards, and when the spectators confirm that you are right, that tells you where the
third card is. You make a different statement that uses the same principle to isolate one
of the other cards, and when you know where two of the cards are, this tells you where
the third card is. Its easy, but you have to figure it out on the fly, so youll have to
practice a few times to feel comfortable. Heres a typical example:
Lets say the three cards are the Two of Clubs, Three of Diamonds, and Four of Hearts.
Thats two red and one black, so you say I can tell that two of you are thinking of red
cards. Whos thinking of a red card? Lets say Alex1 and Alex3 raise their hands. This
tells you hat Alex2 has the two of clubs. Now you say that two of you have even
numbered cards, is that right? Who has an even numbered card? Alex1 and Alex2 raise
their hands. Since Alex2 already has the Two of Clubs, Alex1 must have the Four of
Hearts, and that means Alex3 has the Three of Diamonds.
Now that you know who has which card, look each of your spectators in the eye and
dramatically read their minds.
Notes
Bobs Impromptu No Nos Fishing is great, but the need to improvise makes it seem a
little uncertain for some people. Really the process is both simple and foolproof. Just
remember that the audience does not know that you are planning to make two
statements. If you have to make a third statement, go ahead. Or if you cant figure it out,
just announce the names of the three cards, and say if I named your card, sit down.
This is a fine and miraculous ending.
But you should never need to. Since you are never wrong, every correct claim you make
will seem like a magical event. By the way, when you are thinking of these statements,
you are apparently concentrating on using your mental powers to read psychic
vibrations. So dont worry if you have to pause to think, as that is completely in line
with the presentation.

Nothing But Script

So far weve used a variety of magical secrets to cancel the possibility of a marked deck.
These next three dont use any additional secrets. In essence, the spectator picks a card,
you read the mark and name the card. In these three tricks, the What Elsethe thing
that keeps the spectators from thinking of a marked deckis the presentation.
These three scripts are designed to fascinate the audience so that they not only dont
think of marked cards, they dont think about the method at all. Each of these
presentations is designed to be more interesting to the audience than trying to figure
out the trick.
Ive done each of these tricks for knowledgeable spectators, both magicians and
otherwise, and never been called on the marked cards. But I never do more than one
trick like this in a performance, mostly because the effects are too similar.
These are written as scripts, in screenplay format. There are no notes on method: the
method is you read the mark.
Each of these scripts was first published in Scripting Magic. Think of them as a bonus,
rather than a cynical repackaging of old work.

Echoes
IntLiving RoomEvening
Pete sits at the table with his friend Alex, shuffling a deck of cards.
Pete
Echoes never die, really. Anytime energy goes out, it
bounces off something and comes back. It doesnt
come back as strong, so it fades. But it never goes
away completely. It just gets so faint we cant hear it
anymore.
Pete takes the deck and spreads it face up on the table.
Pete
This deck is in a random order, mostly. But its not
completely random. Because it started in new deck
order, and since then its been shuffled, I dont know,
hundreds of times, probably.
Pete picks up the deck and gives it a few more shuffles.
Pete
And with every shuffle, the original order gets fainter
and fainter, but it never goes away completely. No
matter how many times you shuffle, an echo of that
order will remain in the deck. Ill show you.
Pete spreads the deck face down across the table.
Pete
Alex, if you would, please touch any card, but dont
move it out of the spread, thats crucial.
Alex touches the back of a card.
Pete
Okay, leave that one face down. But were going to
turn up four cards on each side.

Leaving Alexs card face down, Pete turns over four cards above and below it. Pete
looks at the cards for a few seconds.
Pete
Well, its a Club.
Pete begins repeating the names of the cards surrounding the selection, to himself, over
and over.
Pete (to himself)
Lets see, Three of Diamonds, Four of Clubs, Ten of
Spades, Queen of Spades. Three of Diamonds, Four of
Clubs, Ten of Spades, Queen of Spades. (pause) Three
of Diamonds... Four of Clubs... Ten of Spades... Queen
of Spades. The echo is very faint, but that must be the
Seven of Clubs.
Alex reaches for the card.
Pete
Or maybe the Eight. But probably the Seven.
Alex turns over the card. Its the Eight of Clubs.
Pete
Let me do that again. You shuffle this time.
Alex shuffles the deck.
Pete
Because this probably looks like a card trick. You
shuffle, so you know... Great. Thank you.
Pete spreads the shuffled deck across the table.
Pete
Touch any carddoesnt have to be from the same
part of the deck. Its not any easier or harder. Its the
same echo.
Alex touches a card.

Pete
See if we can do it with just two cards. I usually close
with this, but I got four cards pretty well, so lets go.
Pete turns over two cards on either side of the touched card. He draws his breath in
sharply, as if he does not like what he sees.
Pete
Its... a black card.
Pete studies the two face-up cards. He takes a deep breath, and tries to relax.
Pete (very calmly)
If you force it, you get nothing. (pause) That is either
the Four of Spades, or the Jack of Clubs. Its the Four
of Spades.
Alex turns over the cardits the Jack of Clubs.
Pete
Damn.
Pete turns over a few more cards above the selected card. Then he turns over a few
cards below the selection, where he finds the Four of Spades.
Pete (to himself)
Below?
Pete frownshe does not understand what went wrong.
Pete
Well, I hope that was close enough that youll let me
try one last time.
Alex
Of course.
Pete
Shuffle three more times.
Pete gives the deck to Alex, who shuffles three more times.
Pete
Spread them across the table.

Alex spreads the cards across the table.

Pete
Touch one.
Alex touches one.
Pete
Now dont turn over any cards. Count all the cards
above the card you touched.
Alex counts.
Alex
Eighteen.
Pete
So you touched the nineteenth card in the deck..
Alex
Yes.
Pete
Okay. You could never do this first, just count to a
number, tell you what card that is. But because Ive
seen, what... half a dozen cards during the last few
phases. And I know where every one of them is in the
original deck order.
Pete takes three rapid breaths in and out, then one last huge breath in, which he lets out
very slowly. Suddenly it comes to him, and he looks up with a smile.
Pete
Its the Nine of Diamonds.
Pete turns the card around. Its the Nine of Diamonds. Pete picks up the deck and
begins shuffling.
Pete
And because the original order is still echoing around
in the deck, if your fingers are very sensitive, it is
possible to reverse the effect of all the shuffles that

have come in between, including the four or five

shuffles you gave.
Pete spreads the deck face down across the table.
Pete
Echoes never die. If you listen hard enough...
He slowly turns the spread over. The entire deck is back in new deck order.
Pete
...you can still hear them.
The End

Notes
This is just tantalizingly possible. Thats the keypeople want this to be true. But to
have this work for you, you have to act as though you are doing exactly what you say.
You do not have to be a great actor. Youre not pretending to experience the depths of
human emotion. Youre just pretending to make some calculations. If you want to be a
method actor, actually do some calculations. Divide 363 by 7, in your head. By the way,
studies show that when people do math in their head, they tend to look up and to the
right.
This script invites the audience to be profoundly silent at the end, so it may not generate
loud applause. But the profound moment will resonate long after the applause would
die down. Youll get that applause back at the end of the show, with interest.
Echoes is a great script for people who do not have a great deal of experience acting.
The acting requirements are really very straightforwardyou can do it, and if you cant,
you can learn how. But the acting is vital to the trick. You cant pretend, you have to act
as though you were actually doing it. A lot of magicians, when they come to a moment
that requires acting, just pretend to be doing the thing. Audiences can immediately tell
the difference. And, by and large, theyre not interested in watching people pretend.
So if youve always wanted to try acting, to see what it can do for your magic, grab a
marked deck and give this a go.

Method
If you use the (optional) new-deck-order climax, youre obviously going to have to
switch decks, then do a few false shuffles until you want to reveal the climax. Ive used
a deck shell for the switch, so the stacked deck is concealed on the table during the
entire routine. All the best deck switches I know are all based on scripting. In this trick,
you act as if the trick is over. At that point, you could just put one deck in your left
pocket and pull the other one out of your right pocket, and it would fly. In fact, the best
deck switch I know pretty much works exactly like that.
The climax is optional. Ive done this without it, and the final phase, where you
determine the card just by its number in the deck, is a good finish.

The Cincinnati Kid

IntLiving RoomEvening
Pete sits with his friend Alex.
Pete
Theres a scene in the movie The Cincinnati Kid;
Steve McQueen plays a great poker player, and this
woman, the love interest, asks why hes so good. He
says, Ill show you. He has her pick a card, and then
he looks at her and says Three of Clubs. And she
nods, like that explains everything. But I thought
that doesnt make sense. Do you play poker?
Alex
I used to play in college.
Pete
So you know that if you just pick a card at random,
not even the greatest poker player in the world can
tell what it is. The card doesnt mean anything. Only
when youre drawing to a hand can an expert read
your tells.
Pete begins running through a deck and removing a few cards.
Pete
Did you win, when you played?
Alex
I broke even.
Pete
My dad told me: The definition of a gambler is
someone who says I hope I break evenI need the
money.
Pete shows the cards he removed: the Six, Seven, Eight, and Ten of Hearts.

Pete
This is your hand. Okay? Youve got an inside draw
to a straight flush. Now shuffle the deck, give it a cut.
Alex shuffles and cuts the cards.
Pete
Now, deal yourself one card, onto your hand.
Alex deals the top card onto the four Hearts.
Pete
Now, I want you to imagine that youre playing
poker, and youve just drawn one to an inside
straight-flush draw. Go ahead and see what youve
got, but dont give away anything about your hand.
Alex slowly squeezes out the last card. Pete watches closely.
Pete
Okay, square up the cards and put them down.
Alex puts the cards on the table. Pete keeps watching, closely. Finally, Pete relaxes,
satisfied.
Pete
Okay. At first, you thought maybe you got the flush,
so it must be a red card, but then you didnt get it, so
it must be a Diamond. And you didnt get the
straight, but it did make your hand better, just... not
that much better. You must have paired up. But you
were mad that it was the lowest card you could have
paired, so it must have been the Six of Diamonds.
Alex shows the cardits the Six of Diamonds.
The End

Notes
In this script Ive written in a brief exchange about Alexs previous poker experience. In
an informal situation we could talk about poker for quite some time.

Obviously this routine will only play if both you and Alex are pretty conversant with
poker. Alex has to know poker to appreciate what youre doing, and you have to know
poker to be able to improvise a credible explanation of what thought process you are
detecting. Credibility is the reason this script plays. If you recited a list of fake tells
your left eye twitched, which means its a DiamondIt wouldnt be nearly as
effective. By describing Alexs thought process, you make the trick about Alex, rather
than the poker hand. And youll find that quite often at least one of your comments will
match very closely to what Alex was thinking. You only have to get one such comment
right on and the effect on Alex will be tremendous. And even if you get them all wrong,
only Alex will know, and when Alex shows that you have nailed the card, everyone else
will assume your analysis was equally right.
Adaptation
One night, while Jon Armstrong was trying this at the Magic Castle, he was talking with
a spectator and found that the man was more familiar with blackjack than poker. Jon
immediately improvised a version where they were playing multiple hands of
blackjack, and Jon read the mans tells when he looked at his down cards. This man got
a unique customized performance from Jon Armstrong. Thats one benefit of using a
marked deck its easy to adapt the presentation like this on the fly.

My Favorite Things
IntLiving RoomEvening.
Pete hands his friend Alex a deck of cards.
Pete
I want you to pick out your three favorite cards. Now,
I know a lot of magicians. And you can ask a
magician his three favorite cards, and hell actually
have three favorite playing cards. But you are a
relatively normal person, and so I believe that you
will not have three favorite playing cards, or one,
even. So I want you to go through the deck and pull
out whatever three cards appeal to you most right
now. Okay? Youre not necessarily saying that these
are your (air quotes) ...favorite cards. But I do
need you to pick three cards that appeal to you the
most right now. If you pick three random cards this
will not work.
Alex pulls out three cards.
Pete
Put your favorite here, second here, third here.
Alex places three cards on the table.
Pete
Now, if I can name your favorite card, thats pretty
good. But most peoples favorite card is pretty
obvious, like the Ace of Spades or Queen of Hearts.
Second favorite card is much harder, although
sometimes its just the other of those two. But if I can
get your third favorite card, that would be a miracle.
Pete rubs his forehead to get ready.
Pete
And so, let me ask you this: What is your favorite
flavor of ice cream?

Alex
Rocky Road.
Pete
How long has that been your favorite?
Alex
Long time.
Pete
You know, no one ever says vanilla, but its the bestselling ice cream in the world. Cup or cone?
Alex
Cup.
Pete
Interestingwhat kind of toppings?
Alex
Strawberry syrup and whipped cream.
Pete
Yeah, that wouldnt work in a cone, would it? Nuts?
Alex
No.
Pete
Well, those are all popular answers. In that case, I
believe that this will be the Queen of Hearts.
Pete turns over Alexs favorite card: the Queen of Hearts.
Pete
As I said, thats not that hardthe Queen of Hearts is
a very popular card. The second card is much harder.
Unless its the Ace of Spades, but I can already tell
you didnt pick the Ace of Spades, because its too
obvious. Let me ask you this: What is your favorite
day of the week?

Alex
Saturday.
Pete
And your favorite month of the year?
Alex
December.
Pete
Because of the holidays, or snow?
Alex
The holidays.
Pete
Whats your favorite hour of the day?
Alex
Eight to nine PM.
Pete frowns.
Pete
I had you, until the hour. That just means I need your
second favorite card to be either a Diamond, or a
Nine. If its the Nine of Diamonds, then I can not only
tell you what your third favorite card is, I can tell you
your PIN number. (pause) If its a Spade Im
completely screwed.
Pete turns over the second favorite: the Eight of Diamonds.
Pete
Close. Okay, Im pretty sure I know what your third
favorite card is, but let me ask you one last thing:
What is your favorite song of all time?
Alex
Somewhere from West Side Story.
Pete
Ive always loved that song, but I love it even more

now, because it confirms what I suspected: Your third

favorite card is the Three of Clubs.
Pete turns over Alexs favorite card. Its the Three of Clubs.
The End

Notes
This is my favorite of these three tricks. Actually, the presentation in Echoes appeals
more strongly to my personal aesthetic sense; the notion of patterns hidden in
randomness, of echoes that grow fainter but never die, the idea that you can extract
meaning from chaos. But I understand that these are fairly esoteric subjects. To many
people these ideas are mathematical and a bit confusing theyre things the average
person hasnt thought much about. My Favorite Things will resonate with more
people.
I also think its better because it involves the audience more directly. You can see that
just by comparing the scriptsMy Favorite Things has more lines by Alex than either
Echoes or The Cincinnati Kid. In an informal setting you can talk about Alexs
favorite month, or ice cream topping, for ten minutes, and then go back to the trick.
Adaptation
Obviously, you can replace all the questions I ask Alex with your own questions: What
is your favorite movie, car, soda, vegetable, bread, condiment, Beatle, food, animal,
color, TV show, shoe, etc. Most people will have a ready answer for any of these
categories, but you can also ask people questions that will require them to think. For
example, what is your favorite knot? Most people dont have a favorite knot, and many
might not know the names of different kinds of knots (square knot, slip knot, granny
knot, shoelace knot, double knot, etc.). So you explain the choices, and ask them which
they like. I would avoid asking people what their favorite number is, in case they say
seven and one of their favorite cards turns out to be the Seven of Hearts.

Added to Existing Tricks

It is a rare card trick that is not improved, even a little, with a marked deck. Some of the
improvements arent visible to the spectators. For example, in any trick where you have
a card selected, with a marked deck youll always know what the selection is. So if you
lose the card, you can either get it back or change to an alternate effect very easily. And
if you control it to the top, youll know for sure that it got there.
These benefits are automatic, and you get them without changing any of the tricks you
already do. But there are a lot of tricks that are already good, or even great, but which
can be made even better if you add a marked deck.
Thats what you have here: classic tricks improved to take advantage of a marked deck.
Now, many classic tricks have been improved to the point where they utterly suck. But I
think you will see that each of these tricks is more miraculous, fairer, or more direct, or
some combination of all three.
As a bonus, all of these tricks already use some magical technique to fool people. So
none of them will scream marked deck to the audience; the marked deck is already
covered.
By the way, now that you have a marked deck, its well worth your while to reread any
books of card magic in your library and see if you can find some tricks that can be
significantly improved when done with a marked deck. The tricks in this section are
from 13 Steps to Mentalism, Expert Card Technique, and Stewart James in Print; great books
all, filled with proven material. There are many thousands more that wait only for you
to find them.

The Tapping Card Location

Original by Alex Elmsley, Ton Tremaine, and Tony Corinda
This trick is an overlooked gem from Corindas 13 Steps to Mentalism. Its a great trick in
its own right, and is a perfect example of a trick that improves from a marked deck.
Go
Direct Alex to shuffle the deck, draw out just one card, and look at it. Read the back
when you can. What I do is have Alex spread the deck and push one card halfway out
of the spread, then give Alex one last chance to change cardsonce the card is
removed from the spread, you cant change. When you say removed from the
spread, sweep your hand across the spread, and read the selection.
Now have Alex take six more cards from the deck and add them to the selection. Mix
them up until you dont know where your card is.
When Alex is done mixing, say Now, I think you do know where your card is. After all,
you shuffled the cardsyou made every decision that mixed the cards. Somewhere in
your brain, you know which of these is your card. So what were going to do is arrange
a sort of subconscious detector.
Take the seven cards and arrange them in a line across the table. Dont overlap them
each card should be separated by about the width of a card. While you are doing this,
find the selection and remember where it is.
Turn your back, but stay close to the table. Tell Alex to start at either end and tap each
card, in order, two or three times, how many you want. When you get to the right card,
you will tap differently. It will happen automatically; you wont be able to help it. But I
should be able to hear it.
Now close your eyes and listen. You dont know how many times Alex is going to tap
on each card. But if you listen, you will find that you can easily tell which card Alex is
tapping on by counting the pauses. This is hard to explain but dead easy in practice. What
youll hear is tap tap tap (pause) tap tap (pause) tap tap tap tap etc. Each pause is
when Alex moves to the next card.
You will also find that you can easily hear which end of the line Alex starts on. And so
when Alex taps on the selected card, you will know. Say Stop. Tap that one again. Now
the one before that one. Now that one again. Thats itthats the one.
Have Alex name the card before turning it over.

Notes
This trick is better if Alex taps the cards with a pen than with their finger.
Credits
In the original version of this trick, on page 41 of the collected 13 Steps, the card is forced
and controlled to 4th from top. The deck is (false) shuffled, and then you deal 7 cards off
the top. This way the spectator can start at either end and the 4th card is the selection.
There are three things I never understood/liked about the original. First, why force a
card? Second, you apparently shuffle the selection into the deck and then just deal off 7
cards, and proceed as though the selection is among them. This seems to me to suggest
quite strongly that you know where the card is. Finally, the card is controlled to 4th
position so no matter which end Alex starts from, you can count to the fourth card. But
thats not necessarywith your back turned you can easily tell from which end of the
line Alex starts tapping.
This marked-deck version is much fairer; no force, and you only touch the cards to
spread them across the table. You can have Alex do this, but it wont make the trick
better and the pacing will suffer as you explain what you want Alex to do.
Pep Talk
Sound reading is one of those things you have to take on faith the first time you do it.
You cant practice it by yourself. You just have to try it. All I can say is that I was
skeptical, until I tried it the first time. It was totally obvious. After that it almost seemed
too obvious.
Remember, the audience has no idea where the card is, and they dont think you know
either. It really is a miracle.

The Mind Mirror

Original by Jack McMillen
This appears in Expert Card Technique by Hugard and Braue. Just to give you some idea
how old this book is, here is the first sentence of this tricks description: This is one of the
few really good tricks depending upon a set-up.
This is a great trick. If you dont already know it, I wish you could be fooled by it, like I
was, before reading this description. The writeup in ECT includes an optional repeat
phase, and it is here that we are going to apply our marked deck.
Setup
Ill tell you later.
Go
Hand the deck to Alex with the following instructions. Slowly deal cards on the table,
one at a time, into a neat pile. Stop at a random card, dont let me see it. Memorize that
card. Put it back on top. Bury it under the pile of however many cards you dealt, back
on top. Now give the deck a riffle shuffle. One morethat wasnt good enough. Much
better.
At this point you take the deck and find the card.
Now if you dont already know this trick, you might well be wondering how you could
possibly find the card after Alex stopped anywhere and shuffled the deck twice; Alex
will be wondering the same thing. Its time I told you about the stack.
You start with all the Clubs on top, with the corner-marked Three of Clubs on the very
top. Alex deals cards into a pile; since the Three of Clubs is the first card off the top, it
will be the bottom card of this pile. Alex stops sometime in the first 13 cards, which
means a club. This is why you tell Alex to deal slowly. Alex puts the selection on top,
and buries it under the pile of dealt cards. This means that Alexs card is the first club
below the Three of Clubs. Two riffle shuffles will distribute the Clubs throughout the
deck, but the selection will still be the first club below the Three of Clubs.
Try it, if you dont believe it.
Now youre going to look through the deck and find the selection, but at the same time
youre going to set up the repeat phase, using a sleight called the Count Cull.

The Count Cull

Pick up the deck in your left hand, facing you, so no one else can see the faces. Look at
the first card, mumble no, and take it away in your right hand. Repeat with the next
card, and keep going through the deck. Your eyes stay riveted on the deck in your left
handthe right hand just kind of flits in and out of your field of view as it takes away
the cards. If you try this, you will find that you can fairly easily learn to take the card at
the face of the group in your right hand, or at the back, and no one can tell which you
are doing. It makes the same sound, and no one pays any attention, for two reasons.
First, you are staring at the cards with extreme concentration, which is a very unusual
and compelling thing, especially since it seems really impossible that you will find the
card. But mostly they dont pay attention because the cards in your right hand are not
the selection; they are inherently uninteresting.
Anyway, while you are running through the deck, you are secretly separating the cards.
This may seem fantastically bold, but its really nothing at all. What you do is take every
card on the face of the right hand packet, but every 5, 7, and 9 goes to the back. When
you practice, alternate taking cards on the front and the back, and try to make both
motions as similar as possible. Youll find they are pretty close.
Hesitate at every club, as though it might be the selection; these hesitations help conceal
the secret separation. Dont forget that the 5, 7, and 9 of Clubs go to the back. When you
get to the Three of Clubs, pause, then put it on the table. Then, as if youre not sure,
back up and find the previous club, and put that on the table as well. Run through the
rest of the deck, as if youre just making sure, but keep culling cards. When youre done,
pick up the Three of Clubs, shake your head, and put it back on top of the deck.
Have Alex name the card, then show that you are right.
Repeat
Take the selection and put it back in the deck. Note: if it is a 5, 7, or 9, stick it back in the
top 10 cards. Otherwise shove it in near the bottom. Whatever you do look casual.
You are now all set to repeat the trick in even more amazing fashion. Instead of the
Clubs, the top 12 cards are all the 5s, 7s, and 9s.
Have Alex, or a different spectator, repeat the selection process. The potential problem
here is that Alex (or whoever) may want to go deeper into the deck, so heres where you
need to ask that the deal be done extra slowly, so that Alex stops before 13 cards go by.
The card is memorized, back on top, buried under the dealt cards, two riffle shuffles.

Now you take the deck and spread it, face down, across the table. Find the corner
marked Three of Clubs in the spread. The selection is one of the four or five cards below
that.
Now you close your eyes and wave your hand across the deck, which remember is
spread face down. Pretend to read the psychic vibrations, and then finally lower your
hand about where the Three of Clubs is. It should be pretty easy to put your hand down
somewhere over the Three of Clubs, even with your eyes closed.
Open your eyes and say its near here. Now youre going to push away all but the
five or so cards your hand is over, and separate those few cards widely across the table.
While you are doing that you read the marks and see which is the first 5, 7, or 9 below
the Three of Clubs. Thats the selection. Remember where it is.
Repeat the closed-eyes waving and detecting fake psychic energy, and bring your hand
down on the selection. Have it named, show it, and take a bow.
Notes
I dont really have any notes on this trick. The original is great. The marked deck
version, with the face down repeat phase, is even greater. This is one of those tricks
where the idea of a marked deck is so utterly buried that it is impossible for any
spectator to stumble onto it.
Oh, heres one note. I came up with the Count Cull many, many years ago. I used to
take a borrowed deck, count them, and separate into reds and blacks, then do Out of
this World. I have never read it nor seen anyone else do it. Its one of those things that
sounds like it would be so obvious to the spectator that maybe nobody ever tried it. In
any event, I cant really tell you if its original. I can tell you it works beautifully.
While were at it, if you learn the Count Cull you can do the original Mind Mirror with
any borrowed deck. Take the deck, and quickly count the cards before you do the trick.
While counting, cull all the Clubs to the top, remember which is on the very top, and
away you go.

Two of a Kind
Original by Terry Guyatt
This is another overlooked trick from Corindas seminal 13 Steps to Mentalism. Its
possible it was overlooked because it requires a full deck stack.
The PM marked deck version eliminates the stack and can be done anytime, anywhere
you have two decks, one of which is marked. It also enhances the conditions by
allowing the spectator to shuffle both decksits really very impossible.
This is a great trick to do for someone who is already holding a deck of cards; i.e. any
magician at a convention or local club meeting.
Setup
Not any more, there isnt.
Go
Have Alex shuffle the non-marked deck while you shuffle the marked one. Trade decks
say something like you probably dont trust me, so you shuffle my deck. Glimpse
the bottom card of the (non-marked) deck you are holding.
Tell Alex to do the same as you do, saying Hold the deck behind your back, pick out
any card, reverse it, and stick it in the middle anywhere. Although you say to pick out
any card, really you take the bottom cardthe one you glimpsedand reverse it in the
middle. Put your deck down.
Pick up Alexs deck and explain that there should be only one card reversed, lets just
make sure. Spread the deck face up across the table, revealing that yes, only one card
was reversed. Outjog this card, and read the marks.
If its the same card you glimpsed and reversed, youre done. Congratulations. If the
real miracle didnt happenand this happens surprisingly oftenyoull have to make
one.
Spread your face-up deck between your hands, showing that you too reversed one and
only one card; outjog it when you come to it. At some point you will see the card Alex
reversed, and cull it under the spread. It doesnt matter if you reach it before the
reversed card or not, since you have to spread through the whole deck anyway to
confirm that only one card was reversed. Usually with a trick like this you worry about
spectators seeing their card in the spread before you cull it. But in this trick the
spectators dont know what their selection is. This makes me smile every time.

Close up your deck and strip out the outjogged face down card with your right hand.
Flip the deck in your left hand face down (using just your left hand). Ask Alex to draw
out the face down card out of the tabled spread, but dont let anyone see what it is.
While Alex is doing that, Top Change the card in your right hand for the top card of the
deck. Ask Alex to hold the card just like you are.
Reveal the miracleAlex shows first, then you.
Notes
To keep the heat off your spread cull, do not let anyone peek at the cards as Alex is
reversing one. This is easy to justifyyou dont want to be accused of having someone
tell you the card.
If you dont want to do a Top Change
Drop your outjogged card on top of the deck, then do a double turnover. Youll want to
have a break under the top card before you do this.
But really, this is maybe the best covered top change you will ever have the chance to
do. There is no heat on any possible change of your card, because nobody knows what
it is, nor Alexs cardwhy would you change it? Alexs card is the focus of attention.
You know what? Just do the Top Change.

First Incantation
Original by Stewart James
This trick, in its original form, already used a marked deck. All I added was the use of
the corner-marked card. A small improvement, certainly, but it allows you to begin with
the spectators shuffling the deck, which produces a big increase in the audiences
reaction, which is the ultimate test. Besides nobody knows this trick and its fantastic. It
is in The James File, Volume One, page 1,171.
Effect
Two spectators shuffle a deck. You make two predictions on business cards, and the
spectators use random numbers to select two cards. The first prediction matches Rickys
card. The second prediction matches Lees card and is not writtenits printed on the
back of the business card.
Most of the tricks in this collection combine the marked deck with something else. This
trick uses three deceptive principlesthe marked deck, one ahead, and a very well
concealed mathematical forceall canceling each other. There is just no way a spectator
can penetrate the layers of deception. It really is a very, very impossible trick.
Fortunately its dead easy, and very straightforward for the audience.
Business Cards
Make up a stack of business cards, half of which are preprinted on the back with Three
of Clubs.
The easiest way to get this that I know is to buy some laser printer business cards. These
are designed to go through your inkjet or laser printer, and then you separate them
yourself along pre-cut lines into 10 business cards.
Setup
Breather crimp the Three of Clubs so it will cut to the top.
Put the Three of Clubs 27th from top. If youre handy with a faro, you can do this trick
anytime: cut the Three of Clubs to top, faro check, and cut the top half to the bottom.
This trick requires two spectators, one to your left, and the other to your right. To keep
them straight Im going to call them Lee for left and Ricky for right. Sorry, Alex.
Go
Spread cards and casually give Lee the bottom half, including the Three of Clubs, to
shuffle. Now give the top half to Ricky with the same request. It should look like youre

just giving them both about half, and you dont care if they each get exactly half. The
corner mark and breather crimp make it easy for you to do this casually.
Take back Lees half first, and check if the Three of Clubs is on top. If youve used a
breather crimp on the card, often it will be anyway. If not, cut it to the top. What I
usually do is say you shuffled. Did you cut? If not, I say Ill do it and give the deck
a simple Charlier cut, which brings the breather to the top. I usually act like I think this
is impressive, and then laugh at myself. If Lee did cut the cards, I say was it a fancy
one handed cut like this? and do the Charlier. Either way it seems like a joke and not
part of the method.
Take back Rickys half and put it on top of Lees. The Three of Clubs is now 27th from
the top. This will be forced in a most diabolical manner.
Put the deck on the table, and ask Ricky to take less than half the deck. Avert your eyes,
and ask Ricky to make sure its less than half, or we wont have enough cards later. By
the way dont bother saying cut offthe word take is more casual.
Now ask Lee to take some of Rickys cards. Again you avert your eyes.
Okay, so you both have some random number of cards, which nobody knows how
many. Count them, but dont let me or anybody else see how many.
While they are doing this, pick up the remaining slightly-more-than-half the deck and
deal it into a row across the table. Start to the left of center in your performing space
and deal an overlapping row to the right, across your performing surface. Secretly you
count as you deal, and space the cards so that when you have dealt 26, you just reach
the right edge of whatever your space is, so you have to deal the last few under the
cards on the left edge of the spread. Give this a few tries in practice and youll find its
not hard and looks extremely casual.
By the way, that was half the method of the trick. Because whatever the total number of
cards Ricky cut off, the Three of Clubs is now that many cards from the right edge of the
spread. If you doubt it, try it. Like a good chain letter, this works whether you believe it
or not.
Take a pre-printed Three of Clubs card and stare at Ricky. Gradually go through a time
warp, then write Lees name (note: not Rickys), and pretend to write a prediction. Fold
it and put it downmake sure it will not unfold and reveal the typed prediction.
Now have Ricky reveal the number of cards he or she counted; lets say its 13. Count
clearly and fairly from the right edge of the spread, and push out the 13th card; Lets

say its the Queen of Hearts. Leave it face down in front of Ricky, for drama. Dont
forget it.
Now turn to Lee. Pick up a blank business card and write down Rickys name, and the
name of the card you just pushed in front of Ricky. Fold this prediction to match and
toss it next to the first one.
Count down to Lees number and push out the Three of Clubs. You may thank Stewart
James for this, silently, every time you perform this trick. Check the mark, by the way;
you might have counted wrong or something could have happened. Its not too late to
switch Lees card for the Three of Clubs, which you can easily find in the spread.
Pick up both predictions, hold them both in your hand, and ask Ricky and Lee to turn
over their cards. While this is happening, slide the predictions in your hand, switching
their relative positions. Take the second prediction, open it but dont look it. You
randomly chose the queen of hearts. I predicted: queen of hearts. Show the prediction
to the audience and let them react however they will. This is pretty impossible, you
have to admit.
Open the other prediction towards you and turn to Lee. Your card was the Three of
Clubs. This says Three of Clubs. And its printed.
Turn the prediction to the audience and hold it out until someone takes it from you.
Notes
Do not say anything about the fact that you wrote the spectators names on the
predictions. Dont say, to yourself, let me just put your name on it while youre
writing it. Dont dont dont dont dont. Thereif that doesnt do it, I dont know what
will.
With a nail writer you can make both predictions while the cards are being shuffled.
This is basically Perfect Prediction from a few pages ago combined with the Stewart
James force. Ill leave the details to you.
Impromptu Version
You can do the trick without the pre-printed business cards, and it is a very clean and
impossible double prediction. The beginning changes a bit: Give Ricky and Lee each 26
cards; dont worry about the corner marked card. Read the top card of Lees half before
Rickys cards are put on topthats the 27th card and thus the card you predict for Lee.
Predict Rickys card using the one-ahead method, as above. Voilaa completely hands
off double prediction from a shuffled deck with no preparation beyond having the
marked deck.

History
The idea of having the second prediction printed on the paper was taken from another
Stewart James trick. I cant remember which one it is, but if you take just a few moments
and read The James File youll find it.

Stacking the Deck

Many magicians have explored the use of marked cards. And stacked decks have never
gone out of style, from simple rosary stacks like Si Stebbins to todays highly developed
field of memorized deck work. But the idea of combining the two seems to have been
largely overlooked. Thats a shame because, well, just read this chapter and see what
you can do. Try to imagine how incredibly clean and direct everything looks.
Memorized Deck
I tell you this: a marked, memorized deck makes possible some sensational magic. I can
say this despite the fact I have not yet memorized a deck.
Now there is a long and unfortunate tradition of magicians releasing tricks that havent
really been tested in the real world. But in fact I have tested all these tricks in the real
world. Not as many times as I would have liked, but enough to see that they work, and
are extremely powerful.
Just read the chapter. If you use a memorized deck, you will know immediately how
much a marked deck can add to your repertoire. If you dont use a memorized deck,
read The Remembered Deck. You can use it to try out any memorized deck trick, to
see if it works for you.

Simple Miracle 4
Lets start with a trick that uses a stack you dont have to memorize.
Setup
Stack your deck in Si Stebbins or Eight Kings or Jackass Ate Live Tree order.
Go
Spread the cards to show that they are all different. The spectators will see that the deck
is also shuffled, but dont say anything about it.
First phase: Put the deck on the table and ask Alex to cut off any number of cards but
only lift them up an inch or so. While Alex is holding this half-deck, you point out that
the face of the card is not visible and neither is the back. Naturally you look at the deck
while saying this, and thats when you read the mark on the card below the cut. Lets
say its the 5 of Spades.
Turn your head away and ask Alex to look at the card cut to, and then replace the half
on the deck. The looked at card will be the one just before the card you read. So if its Si
Stebbins, and you read the 5 of Spades, the selection is the 2 of Hearts.
Read Alexs mind and name the card, but dont get it completely right. Get it close, sure,
make it seem tantalizingly amazing, but maybe you cant get the suit, or you can only
narrow it down to two cards.
The problem, you say, is that the card was randomly chosen, so it didnt mean anything.
You will repeat the experiment with a different card. Ask Alex to think of any card, not
an obvious one like the Ace of Spades.
Hand Alex the deck, and turn your back completely. These instructions have to be
followed accurately, but you really dont want to make it seem that way. So talk
casually, but spend some time beforehand thinking about exactly what you are going to
say. Most of all, mime what you want Alex to do as much as possible.
Alex, spread through the deck until you see the card you are thinking of. Can you see
it? Separate the cards so your card is at the front of the left hand cards. Put the rest
behind the deck. Okay, stare at your card and count silently to three. (pause, counting
silently to three.) Goodtake your card and put it in your pocket or hide it somewhere.
Put the rest of the deck down on the table. Is your card hidden? Okay.
Turn back to face Alex. Recap the fairness of the procedure, including some mention of
the fact that Alex could have chosen any card in the deck. As you say this, tap the deck

sitting on the table, and thats when you read the top card of the deck. The selection is
the card before that in the stack, so if you see 7H, and you are using Si Stebbins, the
selection is the 4 of Clubs.
Notes
I say this a lot in this book, but think of how impossible this is to the audience. The
selection is completely fair, and you the magician dont do anything at all.
If Alex plays cards, you can give your instructions differently. In the repeat phase, you
might say Find your card in the deck, and cut the deck so your card comes to the face.
This is a very casual and minimal instruction.
History
The basic idea of using a marked deck in Si Stebbins order goes all the way back to Al
Baker, who casually tosses it off as a variation on a simpler, stackless version.

Love Connection
This is a great example of the power of adding a marked deck to memorized deck work.
Heres the effect: You approach a couple, she names any card, you spread the deck, and
he touches any card; its the named card. Its just that direct.
You can do it for a single spectator, who names a card and then touches a card and they
match. But it really shines for couples. Give a big presentation about the love
connection, and if you have it you can do miracles, etc. When he hits the card she
named, you will know that you have helped the guy get laid. Many professional
magicians have written about the importance of managing the boyfriends of the women
you are performing for. I am not a professional magician, but I promise you this: If you
get the guy laid, he will be your biggest fan.
Im going to call the man Adam and the woman Eve. No reason.
Setup
Deck marked and memorized.
Go
Eve names any card.
If she names a card very near the top or bottom, youll probably want to casually cut the
deck before you spread. It makes it a little easier to recalculate the selections position if
you cut at 26 each time; youll know immediately if you hit it, of course, another benefit
of the marked deck.
Turn to Adam and spread the deck, saying Please lift your right index finger. Spread
down to about where the named card is in the deck. Youll find that its easy to spread
the cards enough that you can read the marks. This allows you to very quickly hone in
on the named card.
Now ask him to lower your finger and just touch the back of any card. As his finger
comes down, you helpfully raise the deck, and try to Classic Force the named card.
If you hit it, great! (Obviously)
If not, you switch to Gary Ouellets Touch Force. Very simple: outjog the touched card,
and close the spread, grabbing a break below the force card. Your right hand approaches
the deck in biddle grip, thumb at the near end, fingers at the far end of the outjogged
card. Pull the outjogged card into the deck and just as it comes flush, lift up all the cards

above the break and turn them towards yourself. Smile and show the named card to the
couple.

Notes
This is a damned miracle. Just think of how direct and artless this is when compared
with 99% of card magic. Eve names a card, Adam touches a card, bang!
To me, the most annoying thing about the Classic Force is all the magicians who suggest
that you do the Classic Force and if it misses, just switch to another trick. I always felt
this was utterly unhelpful advice. Gary Ouellets Touch Force is the perfect out, because
it allows you to continue with the effect you were already doing.
An alternate handling is to cut the selected card near the top, then do the MC Spread
Force from Workers 2 by Mike Close. The ability to read the marks in a spread means
you dont have to worry exactly how close you get the selected card to the top.
Credits
The Touch Force is in Close Up Illusions by Gary Ouellet. This is a great book, by the way.
Still available from Camirandmagic.com.
If you learn this force and use it, find a copy of Dear Mr. Fantasy by John Bannon. Read
Out of Touch and see what he does with the Touch Force. If you like the trick Out of
Touch, imagine it with a marked deck. When you spread at the beginning, you can
upjog specific cards to make the order easier to remember. You never have to look at the
faces of any cards. And right before the Touch Force, you dont have to remember
anythingyou can see which card is the selection. This all makes sense if you buy Mr.
Bannons book.

The In-Deck Index Plus Miracles

Love Connection showed one of the best features of the PM Card Mark System, which is
that you can read the marks from a spread. Thats what lets you find and force the
named card so directly.
But you dont have to force the card. If you can get control of any named card, you can
do truly mind-blowing versions of the of the most classic effects in magic.
Alex names any card. You hold up the deck and the named card rises.
Alex names any card. You give the deck a riffle, and then reach into your pocket and
pull out the named card.
Alex names any card. You cut off half the deck, turn it face up, and shuffle into the face
down half. But when you spread the deck, all the cards are face down except for the
freely named card.
Take the red queens and put one on top, one on bottom, face up. Alex names any card.
Both queens vanish and appear in the center of the deck, with one card between them:
the named card.
The In-Deck Index
Hold your marked, memorized deck in your hand and ask Alex to name any card. Lets
say its the 9 of hearts. Now you say something about that being the fairest possible way
to pick a card. A lot of magicians, when you pick a card, they spread the deck, Here
you spread the deck between your hands. Some magicians can make you take the card
they want. Close the spread. Not here. This is a completely fair selection.
In this course of this demonstration, you get a break at the named card. This is quite
easy and fast, because you know how far down it is, so you just spread to the general
vicinity of that number, then read the marks to find the card. The entire spreading
process flies by completely unnoticed, since its a demonstration of the procedure you
didnt use. This same psychological concealment is also used in Simple Miracle 1.
Of course this is just one way of getting control of the selection. A simpler way is to
casually cut the deck while talking about anything, trying to cut the selection to the top.
Read the top card to see if you missed and by how many; double-undercut the required
number up or down. If you use a memorized deck, you have probably already tackled
the task of cutting to any named card. Whatever your technique, a marked deck makes
this easier.

Finishing
Now that youve got a break under a freely named card, you can take your pick of
miracles. You can control it to top or bottom, but before you do, take a moment to
imagine the effect on your spectators if you simply hold the deck up and their named
card rises from the pack.
This is very directly accomplished if you corner-jog the card while closing the spread,
then do any sleight of hand card rise. Ken Krenzels On the Up and Up, from the liketitled book by Richard Kaufman, is classic. If you dont read, Chris Kenners Schwing
is similar and available from Theory11.com. Its not that hard to injog the card above
and below the selectiondo this during the spread sequencethen use Jack McMillans
Plunger principle.
Think about this for a sechow much do people pay for gimmicked decks that do this
trick and nothing else?
If the rising card doesnt appeal to you, you can bring the card to the top by cut, pass,
the side steal, or just do a spread pass as you are closing the initial spreadthis is
extremely well covered. Once its on top, palm off and produce from your pocket.
You can control the card to the bottom even more easilyjust do a spread cull as soon
as you find it.
You can go into a Triumph routineyoull be the only one doing an any-named-card
Triumph routine. Just make sure your Triumph handling doesnt destroy your stack.
You can do a face-down version of the great Roy Waltons Smiling Mule. Bring out two
Jokers, drop them face up on top of the deck, and cut them into the middle. Spread to
show them in the middle and get a break between them. Ask Alex to name any card,
and say the Jokers will magically surround that card. When the card is named, do a pass
at the break to show the Jokers have ended up on top and bottom of the deck. The pass
brings the deck back to its original order, so while youre spreading the deck to explain
the joke, (i.e. that all the cards are between the Jokers), find and cull the named card
under the spread, to the bottom. Another pass anywhere near the middle vanishes the
Jokers, which are found back together in the center, with the named card between them.
This is a very straightforward and clean version of this trick. I like it because the passes
are used as visual changes, so you can use Steve Drauns Midnight Shift, the only pass I
can do.

The Remembered Deck

I dont use a memorized deck. But when I first thought of putting my marked deck in a
memorized order, it really seemed like it would be a powerful tool. So I put the deck in
an order I could remember, and tried out a few memdeck tricks.
It works. Its not really a full-time replacement for a conventional memorized deck. But
it works, and its very very easy. And maybe it will inspire you to memorize a deck.
From the top down:
AK of Clubs
AK of Diamonds
AK of Hearts
AK of Spades
Thats it. Name any card and you can spread to it instantly.
By the way the suits are in Bridge order. You can put them in CHaSeD order if you like.
The potential problem is that if you do a trick where somebody names a card, and then
magically that card appears, and it later turns out your deck was in order, thats going
to seem like a dead giveaway. For a professional this isnt that much of a problemyou
can walk around false shuffling a deck, and have people name a card, and it rises from
the deck, thats pretty cool. But at some point you need to show your audience the faces
of the cards.
Heres an idea: create a short routine that starts with some named-card miracles. Maybe
a named-card rise, produce one from your pocket, etc. Now do Love Connection. Say
something about how maybe you know what cards the spectator will name, so well
pick one at random. Then do Simple Miracle 4. Now let Alex shuffle and do Simple
Miracle 3.
That should hold you until you memorize a deck.

Sylvania
The combination of the In-Deck Index and the Sylvan CAAN create an extremely direct
version of the popular Any Card at Any Number.
Setup
Marked and memorized.
Go
Alex names any card. This time well use the Three of Clubs as the example. Find it as
explained and control it to the top; a method that cuts the deck will make it easier to
reset.
Now Alex names any number from one to 52. Lets say its 23. Are you sure? Youre
sure.
All you do now is the Sylvan CAAN procedure used in Seven Shuffles on page 33. This
will very cleanly show that the 23rd card is the Three of Clubs.
Notes
If I wanted to hide this trick in print, this is exactly how I would do it. Minimal
description, no pictures or illustrations, perfect.

Last Word
Obviously, I hope you use this system. Or at least, give it a try. Most of the tricks are
physically easy, so you should be able to get a good idea of what this can do for you
without a large investment of time or effort. I can tell you that Ive used it for 10 years,
and I have never regretted it. This system has served me very well indeed.
If you like this book, and you like me, I hope you dont just pass this pdf around to all
your friends. Let a couple of them buy it.
If you have any ideas for any of the material in this book, I hope youll send it to me at
pete@saythemagicwords.com. Id like to include some of my readers good ideaswith
creditin a future version of this ebook.
If you bought this pdf, you are entitled to a free copy of any future revision thats also
released as a pdf. Email me at pete@saythemagicwords.com and Ill take care of you.

When we start in magic we do the simple things, because we dont know anything else.
Then we go through complications, because we think this is the way to progress.
Eventually we come back to simplicity, because this is the way of purity.
Roberto Giobbi