Stephen Tucker’s E-book...
ACAAN ‘Any card At Any Number’
* NEW FOR 2006 *
Stephen Tucker ’s...
ACAAN
a SELF WORKING version of (Any Card At Any Number) (Any Card At Any Number)
I was originally going to use the title ‘CAAN’ to represent ‘Card At Any Number’. This seemed ideal as one of my favourite movie stars is James Caan (The Godfather trilogy, Rollerball, Misery etc.). However, I then realised that the effect was in fact ‘ANY Card At Any Number’, which is a far more complex problem to solve. So, my new title became ACAAN. Wondering if it existed in some form or other, I typed it into Google and was directed to www.themagiccafe.com and the topic – ‘card at named number’. During the topic Chris Matt said, as part of his comments, “...a true Any Card at Any Number (ACAAN)”. I then realised that the acronym ACAAN was already being used by the magical cognoscente. Also in the topic Scott Xavier said, “I like making a selected card appear at the end of the spelling of the client’s name”. This also set me thinking. I can go no further without mentioning that, as a callow youth, I remember listening to a Martin Breese Magicassette. It was an audio-interview with David Berglas. On the tape David asked Martin to name ANY card and ANY number from 1 to 52. Martin said (say) “The King of Clubs and seventeen.” David asked Martin to pick up the tabled deck and deal down to the seventeenth card. Martin did so, and was astonished to discover that it was... the King of Clubs! As you can imagine, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end! Years later I discovered that the effect was known, to the magical community, as ‘The Berglas Effect’. I never discovered David’s method(s), but the following SELF-WORKING method was definitely inspired by him.
The Basic Effect You table a cased deck, then remove a small, thin note-pad from your shirt pocket and ask one person to name ANY card. Let’s assume he says, “The Queen of Spades.” You record this on the pad. You next ask a second person to name ANY number from 1 to 52. Let’s assume this person says, “22”. You record this too, then pick up the cased deck. You remove the cards and show that they are all different. You hand the deck to one of them, and ask that he deals down to the 22nd card... it’s the Queen of Spades! Preparation: Arrange your own regular deck of cards in the Bart Harding stack: 10C, 7H, 4S, AD, JD, 6C, 7C, 9S, 6D, AC, JC, 8H, 5S, 2D, QD, 3H, KH, 10S, 7D, 2C, QC, 9H, 6S, 3D, KD, 4H, AS, JS, 8D, 3C, KC, 10H, 7S, 4D, 8C, 5H, 2S, QS, 9D, 4C, AH, JH, 8S, 5D, 9C, 6H, 3S, KS, 10D, 5C, 2H, QH. The Queen of hearts is at the face. Case the deck. Required: A dry-wipe (whiteboard & flip chart) marker pen, five 105mm x 97mm sheets of white paper, a drawing pin (thumb-tack) and a stapler. You will also need to laminate two pieces of paper. If you don’t have your own laminator and pouches, you will find that virtually all stationery shops will offer this facility.
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Preparation: Laminate one of the five 105mm x Q X 7 4J 5 2 H X C HS 4J A D A 97mm sheets of white paper. Trim away any K CH 6J SD 3 S D4 5 5 5 1 2 3 5D C A 6 4 excess plastic from around the edges. Next, S 4 9 0 12 D 7 54 C 4 8 6 C 7 print out the crib-sheet wheel, shown 7 opposite, that you’ll find on page 8. Cut it out A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X J Q K 10 20 30 40 50 6 7 35 45 1 11 21 31 C roughly, leaving an area of white paper H 41 51 16 26 36 46 2 12 22 32 42 52 17 outside the circle, laminate it then carefully trim away any excess plastic (and paper) from around the outer circumference of the S 27 37 47 3 13 23 33 43 8 18 28 38 48 wheel.
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Next, position the wheel on top of the laminated 105mm x 97mm sheet, but so that the wheel is a few millimetres further from the upper edge of the sheet that it is from the lower edge, as shown opposite. Push the pin (tack) all the way through. I do this on a carpet. You now need to bend the protruding pin (tack) flat against the back of the laminated sheet. I do this by holding the edge of a metal ruler against the protruding pin then, with a hammer, tap it flat onto the ruler. I finally remove the ruler and tap the pin down further.
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Push the drawing pin (thumb-tack) through the EXACT centre of the wheel (using the cross hairs as a guide). Remove the pin (tack). 97mm
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Finally, position the other four 105mm x 97mm sheets of paper so that they cover the bent over pin and staple them to the laminated 105mm x 97mm sheet, so that the two bent over stems of the staple emerge from the paper side of the resultant pad. The staple should pass through the centre of the 97mm edge and the centre of the staple should be lined up with the QH on the wheel. If it isn’t, rotate the wheel until it is, as shown opposite.
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Set-up: I carry the stacked deck in a side pocket, and slip the pad (with the pen) into my shirt pocket. Before you perform, QH must be lined up with the centre of the staple. QH is always easy to ‘quickly’ spot, as it has a green circle just below it. Note: If the wheel turns slightly, in transit, it is a matter of a second to line up QH with the centre of the staple before you start.
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Method: When the first person names ANY card, you first deduce its current position in the cased deck by looking at the rows of numbered squares in the central area of the wheel. You will use a visual cross-reference, as with maps, to spot the number that lies at the intersection of the value and suit. In the above example, the Queen of Spades was named. The imaginary blue lines, in the illustration above, intersect at the number 38. This tells you that the Queen of Spades is currently the 38th card. Look at the blue numbers around the wheel, find QS/38 and place a red dot (assuming you are using a red pen), at the side of the blue 38 on the wheel. Finally, write QS in the area – all as shown above.
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You now ask the second person to name ANY number between 1 and 52 (inclusive). In the above example the number 22 was named. Visually locate the blue 22 on the wheel and place a red dot, with the pen, onto the LOWER laminated sheet by the blue 22 on the wheel, as shown below. Finally, write 22 in the area shown.
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You now have to rotate the wheel until the red dot at the side of the named card lines up with the red dot on the lower laminated sheet. To give you the few seconds that Q X 7 4J 5 2 H X H HS 4J A D A are needed to do this, ask if they both had K DC 5 5 C 6J 1 2 3 D SD 3 S 4 5 C A6 5 4 completely free choices of the card and S 4 9 0 12 D 7 54 C 4 8 6 C number they named... they HAVE to admit 7 7 that they did! You can place your thumb on A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X J Q K C 10 20 30 40 50 6 7 35 45 1 11 21 31 the edge of the wheel, by the named card, H 41 51 16 26 36 46 2 12 22 32 42 52 17 ready to rotate it. You know roughly where it needs moving to, so you can make the initial movement without looking at the pad. You only look at the last moment – to S 27 37 47 3 13 23 33 43 8 18 28 38 48 D 5 14 24 34 44 9 19 29 39 49 4 15 25 line up the two dots perfectly. 3
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The Revelation: Pick up the card case and remove the cards. VERY QUICKLY spread through – showing that they are all different. In fact, you spot the 3H (which you know is 16th from the top – so you already know roughly where to find it) and separate both of your hands, at this point with cards in each. When you bring your hands together again, you secretly cut the deck – bringing the 3H to the face.
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Finally, look at the staple, and will see that 3H/16 is now opposite the centre of the staple Remember this information, and table the pad, blank side uppermost.
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The illustration opposite shows the two red dots aligned.
Note: If you don’t want to have to cut the deck, there is an alternative on page 7. To continue... Flip the deck face down and table it, as you pick up the pad. Look at it, and verbally remind yourself (as if you had forgotten) of the card and number named. Ask one of your spectators to pick up the deck and have him deal cards singly off the top, turning them face up as he does so, forming a face up tabled pile. You count (aloud) as he deals and the 22nd card (dealt onto the tabled pile) is the card named... the Queen of Spades!!! To Reset The Deck: Take the undealt cards from him, flip them face up and drop them onto the dealt cards on the table. Pick up the deck, spread through and cut the Ten of Clubs to the back of the face up deck (so that it is the top card when the deck is face down). Case the deck. Note: If you are making a one-off performance, and you don’t need the deck to be re-set, you can let the spectator deal down to the 22nd card... ANY WAY HE LIKES! To Reset The Pad: Simply wipe away the two dots, the card and the number from both laminated surfaces. You can do this with a cloth or even a fingertip.
Other ideas ANY CARD NAMED IS SPELLED TO Assuming that the Queen of Spades is named... mentally calculate how many letters there are in the words ‘QUEEN OF SPADES’ = 13. So, if you place a dot by QS and a dot (on the lower laminated sheet) by the blue 13, then rotate the inner wheel to line
up the two dots... you’ll see that KD/25 is written opposite the centre of the staple. You now manoeuvre the KD to the face of the deck, as previously explained. Hand the deck to the spectator and he can deal/spell to his named Queen of Spades. Note: I know that the above method uses very basic addition, and my advertising said that no calculations were used at all, but I was referring to the BASIC effect. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Using the above approach, it is obvious that you can reposition ANY named card to ANY position in the deck. This means that you can spell ANY word (or phrase). This could be the words ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ (13 letters); the name of the company you are representing at a trade show ie. ‘OXFAM’ (5 letters); ANY person’s FULL name; the names of their four children; their dogs etc. You would obviously acquire these names beforehand and work out the total number of letters that they contain. AN INCREDIBLE BOOK TEST Borrow ANY book, as you table the cased deck. Quickly flick through the book, explaining that you are speed-reading the first 52 pages. In reality what you do is turn to page 42 and remember the second word on line 4. You now introduce your pad and ask someone to name ANY card. Once again, we’ll use the Queen of Spades. As with the previous routines, you determine that the Queen of Spades is currently the 38th card. You then placed a dot by QS and a dot (on the lower laminated sheet) by the blue number 42. You rotated the inner wheel until the dots lined up. You then looked at the staple and saw KS/48 opposite it. You now manoeuvre the KS to the face of the deck, as previously explained. Hand the deck to the spectator and he can deal through the cards looking for his named Queen of Spades. You count aloud, as he deals, and it turns out to be the 42nd card. You tell him to turn to page 42, count down to the 4th line and look at the 2nd word. It only remains for you to enter your trance like state and s-l-o-w-l-y reveal the word that you previously memorised! Note: Don’t be tempted to use your own book, as you could simply have a crib sheet on the pad that lists all 52 words that correspond with the pages 1 to 52. The strength of this application of ACAAN lies in the fact that ANY book can be used! Mind you, this isn’t a bad trick in it’s own right. You wouldn’t need to use a deck of cards, as they could simply name ANY page! You’d need a much longer crib though. WHY USE THE BART HARDING STACK? I have used it because I know that a great many magicians are already familiar with it. They can (almost) instantly name the position of any card in the deck or, if given a number, can calculate (almost) instantly what card lies at that number. If you are one of them, you will not need the cross-reference aid, on the crib sheet, to calculate what position in the deck any named card currently is. If you are not one of them, I urge you to track down books and magazine articles on the Bart Harding Stack and... learn it.
I don’t want to secretly cut the deck... You don’t have to. When you look at the card and number opposite the staple, (example: 3H/16) you can explain that you were trying to transmit the Three of Hearts and the number 16 to them, not the card and number they named. Take the deck and deal a pile of 16 cards to show that the Three of Hearts is the 16th card – that’s why you were trying to transmit this information. Assemble the deck, with the Three of Hearts on the bottom [face], then hand it to one of them to deal down to the named number and... there is the named card!
Final thoughts... With the book test presentation, you COULD use your own book. Write down the 9th word on the 2nd line of page 29. Fold the paper up and, before you start, hand it to someone as a prediction. Reposition the card they name to the 29th from the top, as previously explained. Let the spectator locate the named card then, using it’s position in the deck, have him locate the required word. He opens the prediction and... it’s correct! I use a current BEST SELLER so that people can later, if they like, verify that it really was the 9th word on the 2nd line of page 29. Print-out and laminate the gag-card on page 9, then once they have named their card and number... you can reply, “That’s a shame, as I was trying to transmit the Three of Hearts and the number 16 to you”. You now explain that you have a VERY large playing card in your inner jacket pocket. Ask if they’d be impressed if the named Queen of Spades was on its face, and the named number 22 was on its back? They say, “Yes.” You remove the card and... ALL the numbers from 1 to 52 are printed on its back, and ALL 52 card faces are printed on its face! Allow five minutes for the laughter to subside? Should you ever wish to re-make the pad, make a bigger pad or even attach a new laminated white sheet of paper and wheel to any other object of your choice. You will be able to print out the template on page 8 (to ANY size), laminate it etc. If someone names 2, 3, 51 or 52... when you show that the cards are different, it will simply look as if you located the named card and cut it into the desired position. You could, instead, simply double cut the small number of cards from the bottom to the top or from the top to the bottom, but that would involve some dreaded sleight-of-hand!
ACAAN is © January 2006. Stephen Tucker, 1 Castle Haven, Foley Terrace, Great Malvern. W orcs. WR14 4RQ. England. Email:
[email protected] www.stephentuckermagic.co.uk
Final, final thoughts... in developing ACAAN, I have now improved the construction technique, as follows... The jumbo-gag card, the inner wheel (crib sheet) and the upper laminated sheet of the pad are first printed out. The gag-card is folded in half and any excess paper is trimmed away, by hand, until the card takes on the shape of a jumbo card with the corners rounded. I then laminate it, leaving a few millimetres of lamination around the edges and finally round all the corners of the lamination. I next laminate the inner wheel, cut it out by hand and push a pin through the EXACT centre. I then laminate the upper sheet of the pad and cut this to size. The wheel is then placed centrally onto the laminated sheet of the pad and a drawing pin (thumbtack) is pushed through the centre of both. I now flip the unit over and insert the protruding stem of the pin into a slot that I have hack-sawed into a metal ruler. Using a hammer, I tap the point of the pin over and flat against the ruler. I revolve the ruler (disengaging it from the pin), then tap the ‘point’ only of the pin down until it is touching the back of the laminated sheet. Here’s a side view... I now take four sheets of white paper, that I have cut to the same size as the laminated sheet of the pad, and staple them to the back of the laminated sheet, so that they cover the bent over pin. Top sheet of pad template
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The gag-card template below can be cut out, folded in half and then laminated, leaving a small margin of clear plastic all around.
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