Passport To ELITES V5 Ebook

passport to elites v5

Written by Phillip Smith

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Contents Introduction 3 Introduction To Mnemonica

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The Whole Gang

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Toolkit: False Shuffle

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About Face

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Toolkit: Deck Switch

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Staquill 15 Keyquence 18 Ultimate Swapola Gold

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Getting Control

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References 28

Copyright © 2020 by Phillip Smith All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the UK

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Introduction

by drummond Money-coutts Dear friend in magic, What an unbelievable journey it’s been. Starting eight years ago with our very first edition of just a few hundred decks, the ELITES have since flourished into a magical behemoth, deck of choice to many thousands of professional magicians worldwide and now running into the many tens of thousands of decks per year. And with this - our fifth generation of the ELITES - the deck has without question taken it’s greatest leap yet. Whilst previous editions have focused mostly on refinements to Phill’s genius ‘Optical Marking System’, this fifth version now incorporates an entirely new beast: Juan Tamariz’s legendary Mnemonica system. As perhaps the most beloved stack system in all of card magic, we are honoured to be able to weave Juan’s genius into the tapestry of the ELITES playing cards. We hope that this deck brings you joy and countless beautiful moments of magic. It remains our sole objective to create a deck of cards that is the ultimate tool for all card magicians, and feel confident that with this release we’ve taken great strides towards that beautiful goal. With love always,

DMC x 3

Introduction to Mnemonica Since we launched the very first DMC deck our goal has always been to create the ultimate deck for performing card magic. Every time we have changed and updated the deck we have made refinements with this goal in mind - with the v5 ELITES we decided to change things up and incorporate a stack marking system. After discussing for weeks which stack system to use, we settled on Juan Tamariz’s remarkable Mnemonica. It is probably the most widely used stack at the moment, and Juan’s breakthrough text on the stack is easily available, as well as numerous apps and downloads that help users learn the stack. When you handle the deck you will notice a few things Firstly that it arrives from USPCC in full Mnemonica stack. Secondly, that the backs have a secondary set of markings on them which will tell you the stack position of each individual card. Thirdly, in addition to our usual story and instruction cards, there is a crib card that can help you to refresh your memory on the stack and even give you a chance mid-performance to double check your memory. This small text is of course not intended to be an exhaustive explanation of Mnemonica or to detail the real work or

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explain many tricks using it - that work already exists and we wholeheartedly recommend that you get it: Juan’s original bible on the stack, Mnemonica. In fact this slim text is intended only to introduce our expression of the system, and detail a few ways that it can be incorporated into your magic to create impenetrable moments of deep, inexplicable astonishment. There are tricks in this Passport that simply cannot be explained without knowledge of the principle behind the trick, as well as the stack, our original OMS marks AND the secondary stack marks. We have also endeavoured to introduce a few of the tools that you will need to supercharge your performances, in the form of a classic false shuffle, a few powerful simple deck switches and a method for controlling any named card. I can only hope that you enjoy working with the new ELITES as much as we do.

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The Whole Gang Effect Performing for a group you have each person select a card from the deck as you hold it out, looking away of course, so you can’t cheat. Once everyone has a card, you spread the deck and let them put the cards back. You cut the cards a few times and have the spectators make a couple of cuts, then begin to deal through the cards face down. “Your fingerprints on the cards are unique and the weight difference just of those invisible fingerprints is enough for a professional card handler like me to find your cards.” As you deal you occasionally drop a card separately on the table until you have one card for each spectator. One by one you slide a card forward, ask a participant what card they had chosen, then flip the card to reveal it as their chosen card. The last card you explain must be the last person’s card, so rather than simply hand it back you up the ante: you drop your hand on the face down card and ask them to simply concentrate on their card, which you then name.

Method The Whole Gang is a great, very direct trick that uses the stack marking to create an effect that works nicely with any number up to maybe seven or eight participants. You begin with the deck in stack. It hinges on two things: the first being that the cards are chosen in order: as you go through the deck the first person takes a card, then you continue spreading as you let the next person take a card, so their card is after the first in the

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stack sequence. Continue this until you reach the last person. Next, you let them put their cards back wherever they like this very free choice actually allows you to find their cards. As you begin to deal through the deck you simply pay close attention to the stack number marks, which will of course be in sequence. As soon as you hit a card that is fully out of sequence you deal it aside. If the gap between the stack number is two however, don’t deal that card aside - that’s the space a card *came from*. Once you have all the outof-sequence cards dealt aside you can then slide one out towards a punter and have them name their card, then you make the reveal. The final reveal you reverse and name the card, but of course you simply read the marks. When you do this trick you will definitely, almost every group, have someone who tries to take a card out of turn they want one from near the top dammit! This is no problem at all - remember you are using a marked deck, I’ve got your back! Simply glance back as they take their card out and clock the card itself, or if they simply won’t let you, note the stack number of the card next to it. It’s very simple and although some people see stack work as ‘fragile’, using it like this is actually very robust. Depending on the group, if they are being fussy and trying to pick a tricky card, I sight the card value and then say “of course you can pick any card at all, it doesn’t make a difference, but whatever you do don’t pick the Six of Clubs because it’s incredibly bad luck, just the worst…” (insert whatever card they chose). This is a silly bit that doesn’t necessarily fit the flow of the main effect but you’ll know when the moment is right.

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TOOLKIT: FALSE SHUFFLE One of the most important tools in the arsenal of the card worker who uses a stack like Mnemonica is the full false shuffle - this is a shuffle that appears to reorder the deck in a random manner, but which, in fact, does nothing to the order of the cards. There are a great many of these, but the one that I have always used is one from the auspicious pages of that classic of card magic, S.W. Erdnase’s The Expert at the Card Table. Referred to in the text by the gambler’s term, the Blind Shuffle Retaining Entire Order is perfect for our purposes since it is physically quite easy but visually compelling. Here is how to do it: Hold the deck in your left hand, vertically, with the faces facing to your right, as though you were going to do a normal overhand shuffle. Pick up the deck as normal with your right middle finger and thumb, and drop the top half of the deck into your left hand. Now drop the top few cards from the cards in your right hand (block 1) onto the top of the cards in your left hand (block 2): As you drop the cards off you use your right thumb and ring finger to pick up the rest of the deck, the section that was the top half of the original deck, so you now have two blocks of cards gripped separately in your right hand. With your left thumb, flop the cards in your left hand (block 3), to the right.

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Now, drop some of the cards from the bottom of block 2 on top of these cards: Now flop the cards in the left hand (block 3) to the left again: and drop some of the cards from the top of block one onto the faces of the cards in block 3. You continue to do this, alternating the shuffle, until all the cards are ‘shuffled’. If you have done it right, the cards should all be in exactly the same order they were in before. The shuffle is a little bit angle-sensitive if you do it slowly and you are being closely scrutinised by your audience. To really sell it you should shuffle the deck so the backs are facing the audience, and they can’t easily see that you are holding two packets of cards in your right hand. As important as getting the shuffle perfect is being able to create an off-hand moment in which to do it. Engage your audience and casually execute the shuffle at a time when they don’t seem to be paying much attention. Incidentally this is a great false shuffle because it looks really casual. People will not watch and think “Wow, he is slick with those cards!” They will simply look and think “Yeah, he is just shuffling those cards.” which is what you really want. It is subtle and does not draw attention to itself. Do it casually but precisely and don’t reference it.

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About Face Effect You have the deck shuffled, then spread through it, facing away from the spectator, until they say stop. Without looking at the deck you have them remember a single card then IMMEDIATELY hand it back for them to shuffle. They do this, and you spread the cards face-up on the table, showing them how well mixed the cards are. You have them hold their hand out, finger extended, and holding their wrist you run it along the cards, before dropping it down on their chosen card.

Method There are a number of rich, complex routines in this little Passport, but About Face is about as direct as you can get. You simply have a card chosen and immediately lost, then you are easily able to find it. This routine is only possible with the new ELITES V because of a very old feature that we have finally added - one way faces. In the olden days a magician would use the sharp tip of a scalpel blade to make a small scratch on just one of the indices on the face of a card, and so it was possible to turn all the cards the same way round and easily spot from a spread which card is reversed, by looking for the scratch. On the ELITES V this old method is obviated by the use of a simple design feature: the gap between the value and suit on one of the indexes of every card is slightly enlarged.

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(The deck is also marked one-way on the back with the large central chevrons and smaller side chevrons, as shown on the instruction card). By making sure all the cards are the right way round to begin with, the deck can be overhand shuffled without reversing any cards. To perform About Face, you need to hold the deck up with its face towards your spectator and look completely away. Spread through the deck and have them say stop at a moment of their choosing, then hold up the card they stopped at, rotating it relative to the rest of the deck as you do so. Hold it up for everyone to remember, then push it into the deck and, before you look back, hold the deck out for them to take, and give a quick shuffle. (Mime an overhand shuffle if you are worried they might do something more exotic) Looking back as they shuffle the cards you take them back and spread them across the table face up. You now know that their card is reversed and simply need to look along the line of cards and sight the out-of-line suit marker. This is a very robust method and lets you easily locate a lost card any one of a dozen different ways, by looking at either the front or back of the cards. Being able to hand the cards directly to the spectator, with zero moves, and have them immediately shuffled is very beguiling!

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Toolkit: Deck Switch Another important tool for stack workers is the deck switch: this lets you perform routines with a shuffled deck, normalising the deck and allowing the spectator to shuffle, before sequencing into tricks that DO use the stack. To start with, you will need two decks: there’s no way round that I’m afraid - one deck stays in stack, one can be freely handled. There are A LOT of different switches - if you go onto YouTube and search DECK SWITCH TUTORIAL you will find a whole swathe of them, some incredibly technical, some using cleverly made props, some reliant on specifics of your environment (needing to be seated at a table, or standing with a small table etc). Rather than dig into these, I am going instead to suggest a few tactics for ringing out the shuffled deck and bringing the stack into play. The absolute easiest of these is the Intermission Switch, which feels like it barely counts as a switch but which is, in reality, extremely strong precisely because of how casual it is. Simply, you wrap up what you are doing, box and pocket the deck and then either immediately or a little while later retrieve the deck and carry on performing. In reality of course the deck you take out is not the same deck you put away. There are a few convincers that you can use to increase the efficacy of this: your goal is to create a sense of continuity implying that it is the same deck. A great way of doing this is to begin your whole routine by removing the Jokers from the shuffled deck and putting them on the table. When you box the deck up and put it away, leave these in play, then notice

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them and take the deck back out, open the box and slide the jokers in, then just leave the deck on the table. It’s ideal to be talking about something completely unrelated as you do this and don’t verbally reference what’s happening at all - it’s obvious. As I’m boxing up the deck I’ll ask a question like “Where have you come from tonight?” or any kind of normal question that fits the event. “How do you guys know the happy couple?” “How long have you worked here?” etc. It’s just a conversational gambit to get them talking and give you a chance to talk and take the heat off the moment. Talking about something out of the context of your performance also creates a sense that what is happening is not part of anything and the audience will relax. You now have the stacked deck in play on the table and the audience will, without thinking about it, have already assumed it is the same deck that they were shuffling and handling freely just moments before. This is a great time to show them that coin trick or any other non-card piece you want to enjoy with them, safe in the knowledge that you can simply say “Actually let me show you something I’ve been working on…” or whatever, and bring the deck into play, and FLOOR them. An old school variation of this is the Dip Switch, which condenses the switch moment down immensely and leans much more on your ability to misdirect the audience. With this switch you have the stacked deck in your pocket, unboxed, and you are holding the shuffled deck in your hand. Essentially you ‘dip’ your hand into your pocket, drop the shuffled deck and lift out the stacked deck. This is best

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done with a jacket on, but actually a hoodie works well for it too. There are two important components to this switch: firstly you need to be able to execute the actual mechanics smoothly and cleanly, and secondly you need to be able to motivate the dip within your performance. The physical move is best done by holding the shuffled deck clipped between your first finger and the rest of your fingers, leaving your thumb free. This hand goes into your pocket, putting the shuffled deck on the outside of the stacked deck (away from your body) which is held with your thumb and first finger. Your hand immediately comes out of the pocket, and in the blink of an eye the deck is switched. Motivating the move is harder, but if you contrive to use the moment to either put something in your pocket, or take something out, it becomes simpler. I will often have a business card or folded piece of paper in my pocket next to the stacked deck, and my reason to reach in my pocket is to take this out. Be bold, and keep your eye out always for the exact moment. Next time you are in any normal conversation with someone, see if you can spot the exact moment that a deck switch would work - when their attention is elsewhere, when they look straight to your face, when they are focused on their own person etc. Great magicians have an almost sixth-sense for the perfect moment of misdirection, but you just need to keep your wits about you. Perfect the physical motions of the switch, and look out for the moment - it’s there, I promise you!

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Staquill Effect You hand the deck to a spectator and ask them to cut around a third of the cards from the top of the deck, turn them face up, and drop them back on the deck. Next have them cut about a half of the deck, turn this stack over, and drop it back on the deck. Then have them cut about three quarters of the deck and flip these over on top of the deck. Finally they turn over the whole deck, go through and take out the first three face down cards they come to. A random choice, you all agree, but one that has been created by their three freely made cuts. You have them mix these face down cards on the table and you take your wallet out and remove a piece of folded paper from it, and put it under a glass on the table to ensure no-one can move it. They are to pick a card from the three tabled cards, and you tell them to put it into their back pocket. They take another, and you tell them to put it in their jacket pocket. The last card they hold in their hand. At no point do they or you see the faces of the cards. You have a spectator take the paper you put down earlier, and open it just one fold and read what it says: “In your back pocket is the Four of Clubs.” They take out the card, and it is indeed the Four of Clubs. They open it one more fold and read what it says: “In your jacket pocket is the Two of Hearts.” They produce the card, and it is correct. You have them open the last fold of the prediction, and read it: “In your hand is the Seven of Diamonds.” They turn over the card in their hand and it is, of course, the Seven of Diamonds.

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Method There are two methods to this piece - firstly you are going to force the top three cards of the deck. There are many ways to do this but I have given the classic Balducci cut-deeper force here as an example because it will not disrupt the stack too much. The top three cards of the deck will always be the Four of Clubs, Two of Hearts and Seven of Diamonds (because, of course, you always have your deck in mnemonica right?) The cut-deeper force is a very clever force because it happens in the spectator’s hands and they make genuine real choices that (invisibly) have no effect on the outcome: They cut a third and flip it, half and flip it, three quarters and flip it, then when they turn the whole deck over, the first face down cards will be the original top cards of the deck. At the end of the process there is fairly minimal fixing to get the deck back in full stack (use the number marks on the back to right it). The image is always the same, so we are going to force not just the cards, but the pockets they are put in. You need to remember that the Clubs goes in the back pocket (I imagine someone sitting in a club), the Heart goes in the jacket pocket (next to their heart) and the Diamonds card in their hand (I imagine them holding diamonds in their hands). Once the three cards are on the table and mixed, you simply spot the marks, and as they take a card, you note which card it is, and tell them which place to put it in depending on what it is. It is vital that this sounds like it is invariable and always what you were going to tell them to do, so do not hesitate. This deceptive structure - of varying what seems like an invariable procedure depending on secret information only

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you know - is extremely powerful and almost impossible for spectators to backtrack.

Preparing the prediction The prediction is a sheet of letter sized / A4 paper folded in half three times. When it is fully closed, I write a question mark on the outside. Then I open it one fold, like it was a greetings card (with the ? as the front) and write the first prediction. Then I open it again and write the next prediction. Then I open it all the way and write the last prediction. This is a great way to theatrically structure the three part reveal - you could easily just write them or draw them as a single image, but this process creates a gradually increasing pattern and makes it more memorable for the audience.

Variations The force of course can be handled many different ways - I quite the rollover force for this piece, but if you are performing Staquill as a finale then you can do a shuffle force that destroys the sequence of cards. The cross-cut force also works nicely for this - the necessary time misdirection between them cutting and crossing the deck and the taking of the three cards can be created by using this moment to take the prediction from your wallet and having the spectators choose a suitable place for it to stay during the routine. Plus, the cross-cut force lets you immediately reset into the full stack. Experiment with your favourite forcing method to find your own perfect way to present the effect.

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Keyquence Effect You table the deck, turn your back, and ask the spectator to pick up the top half. You have them silently move cards from the top of the pile in their hands to the bottom, one at a time, as pairs or in threes - this way (you explain) it is impossible for you to keep track by listening, and they can go for as long or as short a time as they like. When they feel the moment is right, the spectator is to look at the next card, commit it to memory, then drop it on top of the tabled pile. They are then to cut this pile and replace the cut - as many times as they would like. You turn around and spread the cards face-down across the table. You run your finger across the deck explaining that although the procedure was impeccably fair, their thoughts have left an indelible mark on the card. “Amplify it.” you tell them. “Concentrate on your card.” You slide a single card out from the deck and place your hand palm down on top of it. “Your card was… the Seven of Spades.” they nod, stunned. You slowly flip over the card below your hand and it is, of course, the Seven of Spades.

Method Keyquence uses three systems together, and we’ve even engineered it so you can very quickly reset to full stack. You begin with the cards in full sequence, and proceed EXACTLY as in the effect outlined above. Nothing extra happens, but in following your procedure the spectator is

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creating a unique setup that you can easily unpick to learn their chosen card. When you spread the deck you sight the card numbered 52 and begin to look at the cards above it in the spread they will go in sequence - 51, 50, 49, 48 etc. Eventually this sequence will break and there will be a card that is not numerically next - this is their chosen card, so remember its location and sight the marks to learn its value. You can now make the reveal as outlined above. To reset the deck, you need to split the deck into the bottom of the deck (card #52 to whatever the sequence card was immediately below their card), the top of the deck (from their chosen card to card #1) and the middle (everything between their card and the top card of the bottom block). These can easily be seen from the spread - you simply break the deck at each spot and reassemble it. This may need some extra handling because of the cutting, but by understanding that it is just these three blocks that need to be located and assembled the task becomes easy.

Possible Problem If, when they are moving through the cards in their hands, they actually go through the whole stack and fully reset the cards, this trick will not work. In order to avoid this risk, you can, at the moment when you have asked them to pick up the top half of the deck, glance back and clock the top card of the bottom, and use this as your key card.

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Ultimate Swapola Gold Effect Turning your back, you instruct your participant to cut the cards, then deal the top three cards of the deck into a face down row. You have them glimpse the face of one of the three cards, remember that card, then put it back. They then swap over the other two cards. You turn back around, for the first time seeing the row of three face down cards, and immediately tell them the name of the card they are thinking of.

Method This is a behenched version of the effect Swapola from the original Passport to Marked Cards, which has been strengthened with the addition of the Mnemonica stack markings. This trick seems impossible even to someone who knows Swapola. The deck has to start in full stack order - cutting this doesn’t disrupt the order, only the start point, so they can make a simple cut as many times as they want. When the audience member deals down their three cards, they will still be in order from left to right (or right to left). You have them glimpse one card and switch the other two over - that glimpsed card is the only one still in its original position. When you turn back, you should be able to look at the stack position markings and work out which card is still in its original position. To simplify this, look at the middle card:

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if this card is the original middle card of the set, this is their thought-of card - you need simply read the main markings and make your reveal. If this card is not the original middle card, you know this card is not their thought-of card. Similarly, the card that WAS the original middle card must not be their thought of card. The other card must be the thought-of card. For example: if the card numbers are (from L to R) 34, 35, 36 then because 35 is the original middle number, this must be their thought of card. If the order was instead 34, 36, 35 then 36 is in the middle but is not the original middle number - 35 was, so neither 35 nor 36 can be their chosen card - it must be 34. As with all tricks where you turn your back, this piece is quite fragile to having the audience member do the wrong thing you can’t see if they mess it up, so you have to be very clear about what you want them to do. The fragile moments in this are them cutting the cards, dealing three in a row and the swap. Be very descriptive and clear in telling them what to do. Turning your back is a great moment to swap the deck by the way - if you have been using a shuffled deck, you can turn your back whilst holding it, quickly switch it (using a dip switch or even just hand to hand), then turn back to hand it back to your spectator. It’s such a non-moment it is a perfect time to make the switch.

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Getting control A powerful technique for using a stacked deck is the ability to get a named card to the top of the deck. With a traditionally stacked deck, this would require you to dead-cut the deck to the exact right card - with the ELITES V however, our dual marking systems make it very easy to locate the card and bring it to the top of the deck, without relying on technical precision - you can accomplish the control necessary by using a robust combination of estimation, checking and misdirection. If you know Mnemonica, it is easy to determine the position of any specific card, but if you need a reminder, or you haven’t completely learned the stack yet, we have provided a small crib card for you to use: I have this card stuck to the back of the card box so I can see it when I’m holding the box (just make sure you don’t flash it!). When you have the card named, the deck should still be in your pocket. Anytime you use a crib like this card, it’s important to do a mental get-ready: If they name the 7H for example, you need to mentally prepare to look where the 7H is on the crib so you don’t have to spend time looking for it. I know the bottom half of the crib is the section that allows me to go from card name to stack number, so I know I will need to look there. I know the cards are in four columns, Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, so I know I will need to look at the second column. And of course there are thirteen rows, from Ace to King, so I know I will need to look around halfway down this column.

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Before I take the deck out of my pocket I have mentally prepared to look in the exact right position, so there is no perceptible delay in acquiring the information. You can get this glimpse *as* you remove the face down deck. The 7H is the 41st card, so I know the card is around a fifth of the deck from the face. Talking to the spectator about how they could have named any card, I then spread the cards facedown around this area of the deck - I sight the stack number marks so I can tell where I am in the stack. You don’t need to spread directly at their card - if you are slightly off, you can just keep spreading until you hit it. At this point you can get a break at their card - I then look them in the eyes and gesture slightly as I ask them “What MADE you choose that exact card?” In making this gesture I split the deck at their card, gesture slightly with that half of the deck, then reassemble the cards so their card is now on top of the deck. OK the card is on top… now what? Me and DMC have been talking for a while about very organic / jazz ways to force this card, and he explained his approach: Get their card to the top, then give them the deck, telling them to place it behind their back. You tell them to cut it into two packets, then to give you whichever one they want. If they give you a packet without their named card on top, you take this pile and put it away as a discard pile, and tell them to split the remaining cards behind their back again. You simply repeat this process until they bring out a pile that does have the named card on top. If/when they give you a

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packet with their named card on top, you take that packet behind your back, split it into two packets but both hands have a grip on both of the packets. The easiest way to do this is to have the lower packet held between index and middle fingers (both hands) and the upper packet held between thumbs and index fingers (both hands). Once you are in this position, have them tell you which hand to bring out, making it clear that you are going to hand that pile to them. Whichever hand they name, you give them the packet with their named card on top. Following this process should quickly get you down to around 13 cards. You simply repeat the phase behind their back, and then once you’re down to a handful of cards, go into a simple equivoque sequence: Once there is a small handful of cards left (maybe five or six) with their card on top, you take the cards and spread them, telling them to take a chunk of cards out of the middle and discard them: this won’t affect the top card and will usually end up with two cards left. If there aren’t, simply spread again and have them take some from the bottom to discard. If you end up with a single card, you ask them what card they originally named and make the reveal. If you have two cards, have them take either one - if it is the named card, drop the other on the discard pile, if it is the named card, make the reveal as you see fit. DMC also suggested a cheekier version whereby you take the cards behind your back and simply slip their named card into your back pocket. You can now be extremely fair about the handling. As he explains:

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Once you’ve controlled their card to the top, you place the deck behind your back as you explain to the spectator, “You’re going to place it behind your back, shuffle the cards, split the deck into two packets—one in either hand—and then you’re going to eliminate one packet by placing it on the table”. As you say this you take the deck behind your own back, you pocket the top card (their named selection) then place half of the cards on the table to demonstrate the process. “Once that’s done, you’re going to do exactly the same thing again with the cards you’re left holding. You mix them again behind your back, you cut them into two smaller packets, and then you place one packet onto the table to eliminate it”. Handing the deck to the spectator (with their named selection now safely in your back pocket), you walk them through the process as they start eliminating packets of cards. Once they’ve done this twice and they’re left holding perhaps 12-15 cards you ask for them to split the packet in half one last time behind their back, but this time they’re going to place one packet on the table to eliminate it, and then hand you the packet they want to keep. As a justification for doing this you explain with a smile, “I want to make sure you’re not following any of the cards that you’re holding”. Following your instructions, they give you a small packet of 6-7 cards and add the remaining cards to the tabled pile of discards. Taking the small packet in your hands, you place it behind your back and add the previously pocketed card (their named selection) to the top of that packet. Just as described above, you now split that packet into two piles but you hold both packet with both hands (still

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behind your back) – one packet between thumbs and first fingers, and the other packet between first fingers and middle fingers. Asking the spectator very clearly which of your hands they’d like to eliminate, they point to a side. However, no matter which hand they select you take the packet that does not contain their selection, and you table it with the rest of the discards. You should now be left holding just 3-4 cards in your other hand—with their named selection on the top—which you bring back into view. From there you equivoque the final choice any way you like (perhaps they take any two cards they like, and hand you one – there are many resources for detailed equivoque methods). “Imagine this, you’ve shuffled the deck behind your back and discarded small packets, each time a completely free and fair choice. Together we’ve whittled the deck down to just these three cards, I will mix them around like this, and I want you to take two cards … great let me get rid of this one … and then of those two cards I want you to hand me one – your final choice. Perfect – this is your final choice? You’re certain? If you’d please drop that card to the pile, together we have gone from 52 cards down to just one – and at no stage have either of us even seen the faces of the cards. What was the card you named?” They name their card, and you slowly turn over the card to reveal it. For those who are particularly fond of a palm, you could simply cop the pocketed card as you take back the packet of 6-7 cards from the spectator. This way you needn’t take the cards behind your back a second time. You simply add it to the bottom of the small packet as they it to you, you have

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them “Take a few cards from the middle of the packet to eliminate”, and then you equivoque the remaining 3-4 cards in your hands just as before. Final thought, if you are either seated or surrounded all of this can be done by placing the cards underneath a table instead of behind your back, with one of your knees pinning the named selection to the underside of the table as a holdout. Same juice, different fruit.” All extremely cheeky, I think you’ll agree.

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References Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz Clearly we owe a deep debt to the maestro Juan Tamariz who created the remarkable stack we have incorporated into the ELITES v5. This magnificent tome goes deep on the stack and will open your eyes to many completely new ways of attacking card magic.

Impulse by Looch UK mentalist Looch has been performing commercially using marked cards for many years and his work on performing strong, organic mentalism with a marked deck is collected in this download from Penguin Magic. Looch offered for us to include his incredible effect The Dealer in this book but the instructions required to perform it as fluidly and effectively as Looch does was simply too much to include. Instead I can only recommend that you get this download as it is close to perfect.

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