Mind Mysteries 2

VOLUME 2: THE OSTERLIND BREAKTHROUGH CARD SYSTEM

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Written by

RICHARD OSTERLIND Text & Layout by

JIM SISTI

www.osterlindmysteries.com

© 2006 by Richard Osterlind All rights reserved. Reproduction or utilization of this work in any form by any means now known or hereinafter invented, including, but not limited to, xerography, photocopying and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission from the publisher. First E-Book Edition March 2006

OTHER BOOKS BY RICHARD OSTERLIND The Breakthrough Card System - 20th Anniv. Edition The Memorized Breakthrough Card System The Very Modern Mindreader The Perfected Center Tear The Principles of Magic The Business of Magic Making Magic Real Making Real Magic Essays

Dedication It didn't take long for some friends to point out that I didn't dedicate my first guidebook to someone! So, let me take this time to dedicate the entire series of Guidebooks to first, my loving wife and best friend, Lisa; my girls, Ruth, Rachel, Brittany and Megan; and to all my supporters who keep asking for more Osterlind material. Finally, please join me in thanking my good friend, Jim Sisti, who is responsible for my affiliation with L&L Publishing and all that has followed.

Foreword Traditionally, if you wanted to learn the “real secrets” and benefit from the twenty-five or thirty years a professional has put into his profession to learn what – and, more importantly, what not – to do to be successful in his field, you had two choices: go out for twenty-five or thirty years and gain the experience yourself, or pay the already successful guy several hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour in consulting fees. (That’s if you could pull him away from earning his living long enough to teach you.) Through the magic of pre-recorded video instruction, the world of magic and mentalism occasionally gets to benefit from the wit and wisdom of a truly successful full-time professional performer, but it’s awfully rare that we get handed the “inner secrets” – the real details and knowledge that only comes from twenty-five or thirty years of constantly performing those tricks for real-life audiences. (Kindly consider for a moment why that may be.) With that in mind, I feel more than confident in saying that magicians and mentalists in 2006 sure have it pretty good when one considers the contents of Richard Osterlind’s Mind Mysteries series of videos. With them, you have the opportunity to learn and subsequently perform stunning performance pieces that were honed over the course of hundreds and hundreds of performances in front of real audiences. The explanations include performance tips that give you a window into the “whats” and “whys” of turning an already good trick into a guaranteed audience killer. But, as it turns out, there was more. When I learned that Richard was working on a series of guide books to augment the material in the videos, I was initially stunned. Understand that Richard earns his living per-

forming this material. I was certainly not alone in being surprised he released all of it on video, but the guide books go even further and are, essentially, the equivalent of personal instruction (please see paragraph one above.) Usually one had to perform a trick hundreds and hundreds of times to learn why, for instance, a phrase constructed one way always elicits a favorable response while a similar, though slightly different wording, fell flat. (Wouldn’t you like to know the difference?) Given my personal admiration and respect for him, and the fact that Richard considers the Breakthrough Card System his greatest accomplishment, I was truly honored when he asked me to write this foreword. Having read this guide book cover to cover three times now, I can say you are in for a series of treats. The Breakthrough Card System has a number of absolutely wonderful features built into it that allow you to concentrate on routining. The second volume of the Mind Mysteries videos explored some of those best routines. This guide book sharpens your performance skills and allows you to perform some of the most astounding mentalism your audiences will ever see. The best part? It won’t take you twenty-five or thirty years to learn them! John LeBlanc Lafayette, LA March 2006

Introduction It is with great relief and satisfaction that I write this introduction to the second installment of the Mind Mysteries guide books. From the first day I began writing Volume One, I was worried (or “a-scared,” as we say in Kentucky) that my efforts would be seen as an attempt to cash in on the success of the Mind Mysteries video series. I knew I had a lot of important things to say and, now that the first volume has been scrutinized, the positive feedback has been profound. To date (I’m sure this will end soon!), there has not been one bit of negative feedback about the book. Some of my e-mails have shown even more analysis of the material than I went into myself. It is my intention to go into as much practical detail as I can muster up with each video. Each one has its own unique flavor and I am now happy I recorded such a diverse array of material so as to leave the door open to different kinds of study. With this volume also comes the realization that I must talk about some blunders I made in the making of the series. The Act has been with me for over two decades and pretty much runs on its own. I can do those routines in my sleep. As we progressed over the next six videos, however, I found myself doing routines in different scenarios than I usually do them and, in trying to keep the flow going, sometimes sacrificed diction and even thinking to presentation! In this second video, for instance, you can see my brain malfunctioning when, in the Corinda routine, I talk about the cards being mixed above and beneath the deck instead of the table! Although bad, that is nothing in comparison to the drastic blunder I made in the Blackjack Routine that could have made that twice as effective as it was. I will talk about that in due time. In a bit of self-defense, please let me point out that the

order and routining of these effects is not what I would normally do. As much as I would like magicians to purchase all of the videos available, I realize that many only choose the ones they feel will be to their most benefit. It therefore became necessary to include all the Breakthrough Card System material on one video. I would normally only perform one or two of these routines in a single performance. As already mentioned in the previous guide book, the Card Calling routine fills the second slot in my stage act, not as a close-up item. Still, the versatility of the system is apparent in the completely different effects it obtains. Nothing on this DVD is redundant and all of these routines could be done in one session if so desired. Finally, this book is about the Breakthrough Card System and about the use of cards in general for both magic and mentalism. There are, however, continuing examples of stagecraft that I will point out whenever pertinent and different from those already mentioned. Each video has its own distinguishing trademarks when it comes to audience handling and each offers uniquely different situations because of the characteristics of the routines. I sincerely hope you find this guide book as useful as the first volume. Richard Osterlind Falmouth, KY March 2006

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Mind Mysteries Guide Book

MIND MYSTERIES Volume 2 The Osterlind Breakthrough Card System

The Use of Cards in Mentalism I find this a strange subject to be writing about. The use of cards in mentalism was never even questioned when I was going through my formative years. I have a Tannen’s Magic Catalog in hand as I write this. It is Catalog number 10 from the year 1973. Turning to the mentalism section, I find Dr. Jaks’ Supersonic Card Prediction, Supreme Control Deck, Perfected Mental Masterpiece, Vantastic, Menta-Match, X-Credible, etc. Other catalogs I remember, such as Abbott’s and Hank Lee’s, had the same type of line-up. Just about every fourth or fifth mentalism effect used playing cards. The Amazing Kreskin was always on TV during those days and he always did card effects. From what I had read of Dunninger, he did many, too. When I bought books about Annemann, Corinda and Koran, there were all kinds of card routines in those pages. The thought that playing cards were inappropriate for mentalism never existed! How could they be when every mentalist I looked up to used them? To be fair, the magic scene was much different then, also. There were far fewer magicians and magic club membership was much lower. Card magic, as we know it today, was also not so prevalent. Yes, it was true that most everyone in my local club did some card work, but it was usually just part of their repertoire. After two or three card effects, most guys moved on to something else. There were about three or four Harry Lorayne books out, a couple of Garcia and Vernon books, along with the standard material in the major texts from which to draw from. The inventory of hundreds (if not thousands) of tomes on every variation of every card sleight ever concocted simply did not exist. The result was that a magician was not automatically a guy who did card tricks. Now, of course, things

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are often different. I can’t help but wonder just how many card effects any audience is willing to sit through before they scream, “Enough!” I believe many performers who come from this magic club environment assume everyone in the world thinks of playing cards as something magicians use to do tricks with. This may come as a complete shock to them, but most regular people think of cards as something you play games with! This is only reinforced with the present popularity of casinos, online gambling, and tournament poker. To bring out a deck and do something mind bending with them, especially if it relates to gambling, is right on target these days. It should also be mentioned that since time immortal, there have been those who use cards for telling fortunes. Long before Tarot decks were so readily available, this was standard fare. Along those same lines, playing cards were often used to test ESP before the Rhine cards became more common. I have to mention, and this should go without saying, that you have to choose your effects wisely. You cannot, for instance, attempt to do card mentalism that obviously uses sleight of hand. (For that matter, you should not do any magic that obviously uses sleight of hand! Any such sleights should be hidden and invisible.) You should also try to stay away from long and involved effects that smack of mathematics. If there is anyone in the group who knows a card trick or two, it is probably the 21 Card Trick or a similar effect. Using a direct approach that seems to offer no room for trickery will completely throw off the occasional magic dabbler you might run into. There will be those, of course, who choose not to use playing cards in their performances for one reason or another. That is their prerogative and I certainly won’t get into a debate about their reasoning which, I’m sure in their minds, is sound. My point is that if you do choose to use them, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t and precedence is on your side. Finally, please do not feel guilty about taking out a deck of

Volume 2: The Osterlind Breakthrough Card System

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cards. The moment you look suspicious doing anything, you telegraph that to the audience and the entire mood changes. Try using some of the gambling patter I used on this DVD and see if it doesn’t instantly get the interest of your audience.

The Breakthrough Card System The first copies of the Breakthrough Card System were published 23 years ago in 1983. Over the years, there have been reprints of the original, the 25th Anniversary edition, The Memorized Breakthrough Card System, articles in magazines, as well as the performances and explanations on this video. The system itself is thoroughly explained on the DVD with all the shortcuts and other handling tips. It is the intention of this series of guide books to present new ideas and not repeat what has already been presented elsewhere. With that in mind, and not wanting to repeat myself, I would like to give some further information on the background of the Breakthrough Card System and its very nature. I have already explained in the discussion of the Radar Deck how I came to set out for a new stacked deck. The more I advanced in mentalism, the more I realized just how powerful a tool such a stack can be. The only ones I was aware of at the time were the Si Stebbins, the Eight Kings and the Nikola arrangements. (The John Cornelius stack was around, but it was designed for an entirely different purpose.) So, the state of affairs was such that, if you wanted to have a stacked deck that looked entirely random, it was the Nikola or nothing. Most books teaching the Si Stebbins or Eight Kings guaranteed that a quick spread of the deck would never reveal any set order. Although I found that to be true, I knew that a really random arrangement would allow much greater freedom of working, especially in those effects where the cards are placed in the spectators’ hands. That turned out to be of much more importance than I anticipated and I will explain its significance in a moment. To paraphrase the words Banachek once said to me, the


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Breakthrough Card System is my baby! That is why I can talk about it completely independent of myself like a father showing snapshots of his daughter. Many of those who first encounter the BCS marvel at its ingenuity, but I wonder how many understand its beauty? We start with one of the oddest number bases ever created (i.e. 52 cards made up of 4 different sets of 13) and create a mathematical formula that allows these cards to be arranged in what appears to be a totally random order. Not only are there no exceptions to the mathematics, but the system repeats upon itself, creating an endless loop. The arithmetic itself is hidden in the real “breakthrough,” which is, although the value of the second card is determined by the first card, the suit of the second card is determined by that card and not the previous one! That is the momentous point that is most often overlooked by those examining this system for its uniqueness. To achieve the goal of the Breakthrough is impossible if the value and suit is determined by the first card only. I have seen many magicians on the forums trying to determine a mathematical way to locate any card at any position in the BCS deck. They always fail since they don’t take into account this intricacy built into the system. So you see, even the mathematics themselves have a secret within the system! I believe one of the subconscious appeals of the BCS to magicians is that it is not contrived. It is mathematically pure and exists rather than being made up or manufactured! It somehow feels more like gold than stainless steel! One also gets the feeling there are other hidden treasures within its dimensions that have yet to be discovered (and there are!) The Breakthrough Card System has been compared to other systems and rated for its degree of randomness. I disagree totally with many of those findings and contend that the Breakthrough Card System is much more random looking than most other stacks. Many do not even have two cards with like values lying next to each other! This would certainly be expected to happen with a legitimately shuffled deck. This gives the BCS a

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tremendous advantage over its competition. Please spread out the deck and look it over closely. Notice the unequal sequence of the colors and suits. Look at the locations of the 10’s and court cards. Notice the unequal spacing of the Aces. Take any value and see if you can find a relationship to other cards of that same value. Even notice how the top half of the deck bears no resemblance to the bottom half. This all may seem as though I am splitting hairs, but I would hope by now you would understand I am a totally practical person. It is the supreme randomness of the Breakthrough that makes it so effective in the performance situation. Now let me finally explain why. In the first guide book, I discussed the difference in having something written in the center of a folded piece of paper and in the corner. Although some may argue that it makes no difference to the audience, I contend that it does. On a very profound psychological level, the paper with the writing in the center seems very much more secure to the spectator than one with the writing in a corner. Because it is obvious the writing cannot be peeked, the scrutiny level falls far below the circumstance when a word is written in the corner. I, personally, would never leave such a paper or card with the audience afterwards because of the fear they would find the not-so-difficult-to-workout secret! Similarly, the randomness of the BCS affects the psyche in the same way. As you go through this video with the guide book in hand, please notice how often I take the time to spread the deck in front of the spectator and just hold it there before I begin, letting him or her scrutinize the order and letting the randomness sink in. Also notice how the effects are purposely routined so that the spectators themselves often spread the deck and look through it. Pay attention to how often I actually ask if the cards are mixed up before beginning. Seeing the randomness of the cards disperses any doubt that the cards are unprepared. Although you might think it far too subtle to matter, the random nature of the setup does, in fact, sink into the subcon-


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scious of the audience. When they see three Tens within four cards or two Jacks followed by a Queen, their minds say, “These cards can’t be in any set order. They are really mixed up!” I can’t tell you how often I get e-mails and letters asking me what I do when someone wants to shuffle the deck. Please look at how this never happens and understand why that is the case! There is no need to shuffle cards if a person is already convinced they are thoroughly mixed! Please re-read that last sentence again! Finally, I want to address the ongoing debate of whether or not a memorized deck is superior to a deck that is sequentially stacked. Although I have published The Memorized Breakthrough Card System and have stated many times over that any deck can be memorized, there are still detractors who insist the BCS should be used as simply a stepping stone for the higher plateaus of card magic using a memorized deck! I have nothing but respect for the work of magicians such as Aronson and Tamariz, but this advice clearly misses the mark and defies logic. Rather than repeat the arguments I have painstakingly made in the above book, such as the incredible benefit of having both a numerically stacked and memorized deck, let me just say that I believe there are some who would try to justify their beliefs simply because they have put in a lot of hours in learning such a system! I work on a need basis. I don’t understand how I would need to know how to get a new deck into a stacked order. Not only would I need to have many new decks available at any one show for each group of people I approached, but I seriously wonder if they would patiently wait while I went through a series of Faro Shuffles and other handling while I got the deck into position. I also think I would feel a bit of apprehension with the thought that one single mistake could mess up everything! Neither do I need a multitude of other effects that can be done with my stack. I already have more than enough and know plenty of card magic with a legitimately

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shuffled deck to handle situations once the cards have really been mixed! In truth, I wonder if I did go through all the trouble of learning a memorized deck that could be stacked from new deck position and went through all the shuffles and cuts necessary to set the deck, if I would then be willing to do a routine that ruined the stack in one effect! If that effect were so memorable to warrant all that, then wouldn’t I want it to be such that I could repeat immediately with a legitimately shuffled deck? My bottom line is always audience amazement. If any other card system can be shown to somehow increase that factor for the effects I demonstrate on this DVD, I would like to be shown how. I use the Breakthrough Card System for certain purposes and for those effects it is 100% effective. With that said, let us begin the work.

CARD CALLING

History As I stated in the explanation section of the DVD, I first saw Ronnie Gann do this in his stage show. For those of you who don’t know who Ronnie was, outside of seeing his picture in Corinda’s 13 Steps (and perhaps own his only book, The Wizard of Odds), let me tell you from first-hand knowledge that he was a magnificent entertainer! Ronnie was the epitome of a real worker and spent many years doing his act on the Playboy Club circuit. This resulted in a show that was totally polished and perfected. It is a real testament to the classics of magic to know that nothing in Ronnie’s show could be considered ground-breaking or trendsetting, but it was all solid material that will never be old. His opening was simply a monologue that any stand-up comedian would have been proud to call theirs. It lasted about five minutes and was the perfect opener for Ronnie. By the time he was finished with it, the audience was laughing and loving him! I hope this reinforces my thoughts in the first guide book about the importance of other things in a magic or mentalism act besides the secrets! After the monologue, the first effect Ronnie performed was Card Calling with jumbo cards. Ronnie is long gone and I have no idea if he first learned this effect from Chan Canasta, but whatever the truth is, Ronnie certainly made this effect his own. I can truthfully say I don’t know how much of the way I perform it now was copied from Ronnie as it was a long time ago that I saw him do it, but he certainly showed me how effective this single effect is. It instantly made him a mindreader in the eyes of the audience. Ronnie used the Si Stebbins stack when he performed the routine. I have to admit, as I sat there in the audience, I was tempted to say the name of the next card aloud to the person I


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was with! I didn’t, of course, but just the thought of someone being able to do that scared me a bit. When I decided, years later, to add the routine to my own show, I wanted to have a system where that couldn’t happen. That was where the search for a new stack all began. I realize that the same could be done to me today if someone knew the BCS, but I would like to believe that anyone who is that advanced in magic would have enough morals not to do so! If that day ever does happen, I guess I will just have to invent a new stack and keep it to myself! I would like to say a word about the Card Calling effect itself. It is certainly the right of every magician to decide what effects he feels are the strongest, but there seems to be an almost universal conviction these days that the Any Card at Any Number effect is the greatest card demonstration. That might be true from a magician’s point of view, but I firmly believe it is not from a lay person’s. In my books, The Principles of Magic and my trilogy (Making Magic Real, Making Real Magic, and Essays), I discuss time and time again the importance of doing magic that has meaning to real people. What power do you suppose the average Joe would rather possess, the ability to know where a freely-named card was situated in a deck or the ability to know all the cards in an opponent’s hand? The first is clever; the second means making big money in card games! Card Calling is, in my humble opinion, the single greatest mindreading card effect you can do. That is why I think so highly of it, always include it in my show, and why I spent so much time devising the perfect stack to make it happen!

Analysis The routine begins and I look around to decide who I will use for this routine. I spot the gentleman sitting near the front

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and say, “Do you ever play cards?” He responds at once with, “Yes, quite a lot!” Now I almost always use a man for this routine since it normally goes in my stage act and I use women for both the Watch Routine and the Magazine Test during that show. I had picked him because he looked like a normal person and not one of the magicians at the shoot. (Louis almost always has any attending magicians sit in the back of the audience.) Still, his instant response of “A lot!” makes me suspicious that he might be a magician and I never use a magician as a helper unless it’s for a special purpose (Test Conditions II). So I instantly ask the lady next to him – Margaret – if she plays cards and her response is a lot more to my liking. I know that I will be using men for other routines and I decide to use her. The point I am making is one I have stressed in my books; it is better to take your time choosing an assistant and get one that’s desirable than to grab the first person and risk having trouble with your effect. In all likelihood, the gentleman would have been fine, but I don’t take unnecessary chances when I don’t have to! Also notice that I did not give any reason why I didn’t take him instead of her. I just moved on and nothing was said. Again, as magicians, we seem to feel compelled to explain or justify everything we do instead of just doing it! I invite Margaret up and the first thing she does is plant a nice kiss on my cheek! I immediately put my arm around her and respond, “We’ll be taking a short break…” and it gets a great laugh! I want to talk about something here that is very important – flirting with your audience members! Margaret is a wonderful and charming middle-aged lady and my saying that to her was funny and warm-feeling. No one took offense and it was one of the high points of the show. If, however, that had been Cassandra, Brittany or one of the other beauties in the audience, that remark would have been totally inappropriate. I could have looked like some kind of cad or dirty old man! Just because David Copperfield gets beautiful women on stage and flirts with them does not mean you can do the same thing re-


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gardless of your age or how you look! Besides, those women in Copperfield’s show are, for the most part, paid assistants and the lines are rehearsed. Over the years, I have seen many magicians become far too familiar and outlandish with their lady assistants. Please, never do this as it is in extremely poor taste and helps no one. Now let’s go back to the routine. Again, when I begin, notice how I do not lecture about mindreading and ESP. Instead, I talk about the typical size of my audiences, stressing how some are quite large. This is interest building (they wonder where all this is going) as well as stating, in a very delicate and indirect way, that I must be good if I work for huge audience like that! I use this kind of indirect reinforcement of my professional standing constantly when I work. More importantly, I use these lines to lead up to the joke about the jumbo deck. Notice how the laugh covers any negative connotations about the cards and offsets any suspicion they might be gimmicked. Although you could do the Card Calling routine with a normal-sized deck, I would always use the big one if just for the joke! As I take out the jumbo cards, I talk about how these are available in many stores. I won’t try to cover the fact that I made a blunder in saying the cards are made by the “Bicycle Corporation.” Yes, I know the company is the U.S. Playing Card Company, especially as it is very close to where I live. Rest assured, every time I perform this routine live, my mind drifts back to this DVD and that mistake! As I show Margaret the cards, notice how long I go through the deck showing the random order. I will point this out in all the routines to come. In this routine, however, the very nature of the effect will show the haphazard order of the cards. I want to point out a peculiar oddity I have noticed since making these videos. I have found that when I look directly at the cards, or any prop, as I talk about it, the room seems to become very quiet and everyone else looks, too. This goes

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against some magicians’ advice that you try to constantly look at your audience even when describing something. Looking at a prop directly focuses attention and is not a bad thing at all. I use the ruse about the size of the cards to justify the cutting-only shuffle. (You might want to notice that, in a moment, when I ask Margaret to shuffle the cards she has, she makes the exact same motions!) When I spread the cards for her to make a selection, notice how I use the word clump. I say, “Please pull out a clump of cards from anywhere in the deck.” I have gone through many words trying to find just the right one so that they grab the proper amount. I used to say bunch, but that didn’t quite make it. Clump is almost a funny word and seems to work just right. Also notice how I control how many she takes by making the jokes such as, “She’s got about half the deck! That’s OK. You can take a few more.” I actually got her to put some back and then take some more until she had about just the right number for the routine. As soon as she has the cards, I turn my back. I do not look at the bottom card at this time. I wait until I hand the cards to an audience member. I should point out that the peek on the video is a bit obvious. Usually I am walking to someone who is seated in the audience at some distance and it is easy to get that peek while on the move. Still, it goes by here unnoticed and that is what is important. I should also point out that this idea of giving out the rest of the deck to another person is mine. Ronnie did not do that nor do I know of Canasta doing it. It is a nice proover and throws all suspicion off the deck as it is totally out of my hands. I ask Margaret to hold the cards as though she is playing Poker or Gin Rummy. One of the problems in this routine is having someone not spread the cards enough so that they miss one you call out. Even if they later find it, it subconsciously strikes home that you must not be reading the person’s mind as they did not see it themselves. That is the effect in this rou-


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tine and you want to keep it that way. Just before I begin naming the cards, I have a little fun with John holding the rest of the deck and make a few jokes. But I immediately turn it serious by talking about there not being any secret cameras or other devices to allow me to see the cards. This takes the audience back to the serious level for the benefit of what I’m about to do. I ask Margaret to look over the cards, “Let your eyes go from one card to the next to the next,” and then I say, “Go back to the Two – the Two of Diamonds.” What just happened there is very important! First, I got her to look over all the cards and then I said “go back to,” implying that she just looked at the card and I picked it up as she did. See, the idea in this routine that makes it play so strong is to make it appear I am calling out the cards as she is looking at each one. This is where I want to get to so I have to work into it and get her agreeing with me. Please pay attention to how Margaret is gradually led into agreeing with me more and more as the routine progresses until the goal that I am calling out the cards she is choosing to look at becomes a reality instead of a suggestion. By first calling out one she has just looked at, I am safe. It could be anyone. But, to the audience, it is one that she just looked at. Then I get a little stronger and say, “That was an 8 you just looked at. The 8 of Clubs!” By saying “8” first, I lead her eyes to it and then elaborate on the “Clubs” after she is doing so! The next card uses the same ruse again as I say, “That was a 6. Look at it again. The 6 of Spades.” Notice how I am directing her while making it appear that she is randomly looking at cards. Now another ruse is demonstrated that I am very happy about. I say, “I know you just mixed them up, but right around there, wasn’t that the King of Diamonds? Your eyes picked up that one.” Look at Janelle’s face as Margaret removes the King

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from right next to where the 6 was! See, because you can’t mix jumbo cards that well, I am fairly safe using this strategy occasionally. I also know they are not mixed very well as I watched her mix them earlier! Let me make a very important point here about something else I have been doing. Notice how, as I turn to Margaret to take each card called, I am turning just enough to see how many cards she is still holding. It is a very deceptive move and you might not even be aware yourself that I can see the cards. When I get down to about half a dozen cards, I know I can use the above ruse with a degree of certainty. It also allows me to do the following. Since I saw her remove the King of Hearts from the center of her spread, I make a bold leap here and actually say, “That is the 2 of Hearts you just looked at!” I am figuring that card is right in the middle of the spread and I just saw there were only five cards left. You can see that was right on the money and Margaret takes the 2 from right next to where the King was! I now take it even further. I actually say, “OK, that’s a 6 and a 3. The 6 of Diamonds and right next to it is the 3 of Diamonds!” She removes them together, completely verifying what I am saying! This was really not too much of a long shot based on my analysis and you can see how much it adds to the presentation. Not only am I now disclosing what card she is looking at, but the exact location of the cards! I do this because I am almost at the end of the effect and I am trying to make it build! Although I mentioned this earlier, notice how two small diamond cards, the 6 and the 3, subconsciously support the fact that the cards are in a completely random order. In any routine where the basic effect is repeated, you must add an element of suspense that keeps each step new. You can see how each card becomes more and more impossible and continues to further enhance the mindreading nature of this routine. Notice at this time that as I take those two cards, I do NOT look at the cards in Margaret’s hands at all. I already know she


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only has four cards at this point and will be left with two. We now come to the end of this beautiful number and I am very pleased with what I came up with for the ending. As just stated, you must build each phase of the routine and the ending must be something very special and different. I came up with this idea many years ago when I first started performing Card Calling and it has never failed to end exactly as you see on the video. This is the premise: As I am calling out the cards, the audience realizes in a more and more convincing manner that I am naming the very cards she is actually concentrating on. This has to be what comes across or the whole presentation becomes a trick. I realize, of course, that many in the audience simply won’t accept that and are looking for some kind of explanation. I know many are actually thinking, “Can he ask her to think of ANY card and then name it?” That is exactly where I go! I say to Margaret, “OK, wait a minute now. Are you down to two cards?” She says, “Yes” and I say, “You are?” If you listen carefully to the background, you can actually hear John say, “How does he know that?” I then say, “Think of either card!” There it is! I can almost hear the audience thinking, “Yes, that is what I want to see!” You have gotten to the real ultimate moment where you finally prove yourself. And that is exactly where I try to add even one more element to the ending both to satisfy the challenge and enhance it even more. Without any hesitation I say, “OK, here’s what happened. First she thought of the 10 of Spades, changed her mind over to the 8 of Diamonds and then went back to the 10 of Spades!” Look at the reaction on the DVDs. It is always the same! Always! I have been doing this routine for over 20 years and this is how it always ends! If you do your part up to this point, with all the clever subterfuges I have outlined above, you will have slowly gotten your assistant right into the palm of your hand and have them agreeing with everything you say. When you get to this ending, they will hand you the two cards in total agree-

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ment with what you just said and it will create spontaneous applause! (And, without using my line!) Also notice how I hold one card in each hand in applause condition as I dismiss Margaret and retrieve the rest of the deck with the line, “Any duplicates?” This will reinforce the fairness of it all in anyone’s mind who forgot that you gave out the rest of the deck. Finally, notice how, after I put away the cards, I make the joke about getting up a game of Poker after the show is over! I always use this joke and it always gets a great laugh. But equally important, it reminds the audience of the practical nature of the ability I have just demonstrated.

TWO CARDS IN POCKET

History I have to be completely honest about this effect. I first saw The Amazing Kreskin do this on stage many years ago! This was long before I even knew who Chan Canasta was. I have always admired Kreskin and he certainly has influenced my work more than any other living mentalist. He has the ability to take a marketed effect and perform it right off the shelf and make it look like a miracle, but he also can come up with original ideas that knock me right off my feet for their ingenuity! Most importantly, Kreskin demonstrates that what is important is the effect on the audience and not where the material comes from. In this case, he showed me how he constantly searches the archives of mentalism for gems and then presents them in a flawless fashion. I try to create effects when I feel there is a need for a change and not just to do something different. I also have found that taking any effect and working on it as though it were your own will cause it to evolve into something that can truly be called your own. When I first saw Two Cards in Pocket performed, I knew it was tailor-made to use in conjunction with the Breakthrough Card System. I immediately put it into my act and started working on the presentation. Although what I demonstrate on Mind Mysteries is not very much different from the Chan Canasta version or what I saw Kreskin do many years ago, there are quite a number of presentation angles I have developed which might very well change your whole idea about how certain things should be done. These principles can apply to all card magic and not just mental material. This particular effect will also demonstrate, to the very letter, what I said earlier is so important about the Breakthrough Card System! I believe you will understand when we get there.


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I also want to relate out a funny story that happened to me a couple of years ago in Las Vegas. I was out there working with Criss Angel for his new television series. It had been years since I last saw my friend Johnny Thompson and it was such a treat to spend time with him again. We somehow got to talking about this effect and he told me a story. He was a friend of Canasta’s and told me how he watched him perform the Two Cards in Pocket night after night and he always hit on the correct pockets. He constantly wondered what Canasta would do if the spectator got it wrong! Then Johnny asked me what I do if that happens. Frankly, I was reluctant to say because, try as I might, the best response I could ever come up with was, “Well that shows why you shouldn’t play cards!” I personally thought this was a bit lame and didn’t want to tell that to Johnny so I beat around the bush and didn’t really answer. Finally, he told me what Canasta said when he finally got it wrong one night. It was almost word for word what I say! I couldn’t believe it, but of course, I couldn’t tell Johnny then because I would sound like a fool! So I had to bite my tongue and shut up. Let me add that I sometimes do a variation of what you see on the video. Although the idea of allowing the spectator to guess what pocket each card is in is a very strong and entertaining idea, I sometimes vary that just to be different or if I am not feeling lucky that night! What I will sometimes do instead is to let the person remove three cards, one at a time, and put them in three different pockets. I turn away as he does this, but not enough so that I can’t see what pocket each card goes into. Then I turn back and put the deck away (doing the work). After I have computed the cards in my head, I ask the person to touch any pocket that has a card in it. I then hold my hand near that pocket (as I do with the cards in the Corinda Effect) and then name the card. I repeat the same thing with the other two cards. Yes, you do loose that added element of the spectator choosing the card and pocket, but you gain the advantage of the “3”

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factor in effect and never have to worry about missing. Another variation I sometimes use, similar to the above, is the Tarbell/Annemann idea of having a spectator remove three cards and place them into his inside jacket pocket. If he reaches in quickly, he will almost always remove the cards in order! Much can be made of that and this is another effect I have seen Kreskin use with great result. So, as you see, there are all kinds of variations on this basic idea. Those I have mentioned use just one spectator. Other variations with multiple spectators work well with smaller audiences in the parlor setting if you want to get many people involved. Hopefully all of this, and what follows, will get your creative juices flowing!

Analysis You can see that after the Jumbo Card Calling and the joke about getting up a card game, I continue my talk about gambling. You can hear the murmuring in the background when I mention how good that ability (that I just demonstrated) would be in a game of Poker. Then I start to talk about Blackjack and how mindreading would be of no help there. Notice please how I have, after the fact, basically told them I just did mindreading without ever having it said it before and in such a way that it is just accepted! I also tell the story about being banned from playing Blackjack in two casinos and mention one in Monte Carlo in an off-hand manner as though this were a place just down the street! Again, this is all very prestige building and gives the feeling I move in Bond-type environments! As I talk about the game of Blackjack, I make it clear that reading someone’s mind wouldn’t help in any way (again reinforcing what I said earlier) and then explain that I seem to have this ability to win at Blackjack. Notice that I do not ex-


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plain what the ability is, but just that I have it! This is so intriguing to a normal person. In truth, most people would much rather just have the ability to win at Blackjack without even knowing how than the ability to count cards, etc. See, that’s work. Isn’t it just so much nicer to just win somehow? It is interesting to look back after many years at Mind Mysteries and try to remember exactly what I was thinking as I did certain things. I believe as I was talking, I was thinking about using the guy in the front in shorts to help me with this. He had said he often plays cards and I think I felt I owed it to him a bit since I skipped right over him earlier and chose Margaret. I still was wondering if he might be a magician and was planning just how I would handle him. After asking him up, I position him on my left. As a little aside here, let me explain why I repositioned people a number of times from my right to my left during these videos. Traditionally, I usually have my volunteers stand at my right. Since I am right-handed, I find it easier to do my center tear, swami effects, etc. with the person on that side and automatically position an assistant there. Because of the audience set up and the arrangement of the cameras, however, I had to reverse that positioning and have them on my left. These are the kinds of minor details you have to constantly be aware of and be willing to be flexible with. I always keep the Jokers in my decks. This always seemed to me to make the deck appear more ordinary and, on a practical note, it keeps the cards flatter and newer looking in the case. (There are also numerous possibilities for crib sheets on the Jokers.) Now I want to cover a very important lesson. Notice how I spread the cards for him (twice!) to look over before I begin and what I say! “Look, you can see the cards are pretty well mixed up,” and he says, “Yeah, they really are!” Please pay attention to the look on his face. You can see he really believes they are totally mixed. This is because of what I talked about earlier. The groupings of the duplicate values and all the rest of

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the randomness of the Breakthrough Card System is what does it! Subconsciously, it just radiates innocence. When I go into the false shuffle and start talking about how I am going to simulate a game of Blackjack, there is just no question of him wanting to shuffle the cards. Suspicion is also nullified by instantly placing the cards in his hands. I am going to backtrack here for a second to show you something that is profound during this performance. I guarantee you that once I explain this, your mouth is going to fall open a bit in amazement when you understand the psychology. When the gentleman comes up next to me, notice he is wearing shorts. Please understand that most of the audience members are local residents who dress this way in Lake Tahoe. In addition, many do not really know what kind of performance they are going to and what to expect. Some magicians might have made a comment like, “I see you dressed for the occasion!” That would be insulting and, even if said in a light manner, would play on that person’s mind and the audience in general. That is one tiny step in them not liking you quite as much. Please don’t do this kind of thing. What I did do, however, was far more important and cunning! Remember how I told you I was a bit apprehensive about this person and what he might do? I want him to follow my instructions to the letter so I used a little psychological trick on him to put him just a bit off ease. As I shuffle the cards and begin to talk to him, notice how I look directly at his legs. Watch his reaction to my gaze! Did you see it? That slight shuffle he makes shows he is aware of my stare and is just a bit put off by it. He feels conspicuous at that moment with nowhere to hide! When I put the cards into his hand to have him cut them, he is relieved because the attention shifts to the cards and the effect. The heat is now off him and he is more than willing to follow my instructions to keep it that way! Do you see what that slight maneuver accomplished and isn’t that so much better than insulting him?


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When I turn my back to the spectator as he cuts the cards, it adds greatly to the effect. I use this strategy often as it is so strong. There is just something about the mentalist having his back to the spectator that seems to imply it is impossible to cheat. When I ask him if he is satisfied, I notice now that he actually looked at the face of the cards. If I had seen him doing that, I would have insisted he cut the cards again. But, here again, the Breakthrough Card System comes through with flying colors as a quick glimpse at the order of the cards completely satisfies him that the cards are well mixed. As he puts the cards in his pockets, I joke a bit with the audience. I ask them if he did it. It is a small thing but, once again, implies I cannot see a thing. Then I immediately ask, “Fair?” and they all respond with a “Yes.” I talked about this in the first guide book, but I want to replay the reasoning just a bit. By getting them to admit everything is fair, they will have nowhere to go in a few minutes. Some may be expecting further actions to take place before I do whatever it is I am going to. Up to now, nothing has happened that looks suspicious in any way. So when that doesn’t happen, the effect jumps into a completely different realm than ordinary card tricks! The only place trickery could seem to take place is with the rest of the deck. But that possibility is quickly eliminated when I have the gentleman put the rest of the deck into the box and when I hand it off to another person. To drive this entirely home, I take the time to go over everything that has happened. Notice how I subtly substitute the word mix for cut when describing what he did with the deck! This same subtleness is apparent when I say that he took two cards and put them into his pockets. That is true, but they were the top two. The recap seems to imply they could have been any two! The whole point is to get them to say, “Yes, everything is fair!” and agree with the slight modifications I have made in the re-telling! Again I reiterate that even if I could read his mind, it

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wouldn’t help me anyway. At this point, John makes the funny comment, “It would be blank anyway!” It gets a laugh, which is fine, but I do not say a word. You can see me thinking and my decision here is to just let it play and move on with the effect. I don’t want to slow things down here and put a gap between the proving process and the culmination of the effect. I mention again that I do not know how I do this and really can’t explain the process (which I talked about before) and then, without any further hesitation, I name the cards! The camera does not show the audience at this time, but let me tell you the look on their faces was astonishment. I am sure they expected some other maneuver to take place so that, when I just name the cards, they are startled. I also want to point out how I made sure to tell him not to take out the cards from his pockets as I named them. Many years of experience has taught me that if I don’t say that here, some will take out the cards prematurely. The cards are the 7 of Spades and the 2 of Spades. Again, the BCS provides 2 cards that just do not seem to be in any way related to each other and could not be part of some stack! I repeat the names – in order – a second time. Finally I look him right in the eyes, pause, and say, “What cards do you want to be in what pocket?” Now let me analyze the timing and reasoning here to explain why they almost always name the right cards. I have told him not to remove the cards. Then I look at him in the eyes, but say nothing. He is wondering, “What does he want me to do?” Then, when I say, “What cards do you want to be in what pocket?” he has to be thinking, “What does he mean by that? Does he mean the two cards he just named? What were they again? The 7 of Spades and the 2 of Spades? Yes, I guess that’s what he means!” After all, is it any wonder he will follow the line of least resistance and call the first card for the first pocket (the right is always the first!) and the other for the left? As soon as he says the 7 of Spades is in his right pocket, my


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mood changes. It becomes serious. I say, “You say the 7 of Spades is in that pocket? Then take it out!” You can almost see the “you’re kidding!” expression on his face as he reaches for it. When he comes out with the 7, the reaction of the audience has to be one of the best ones ever on any magic video! Since there is no bettering this reaction, I immediately have him take out the 2 from the other pocket and let that reaction just blend into the first! As I thank him and lead him back to his seat I ask for a round of applause for him. I haven’t mentioned this before, but this is mandatory with all your assistants. I cannot imagine any performer not doing so for anyone willing to come up on stage and help them. Finally, to finish, notice how I retrieve the cased deck I gave out earlier. Since I never told that person to open the case and inspect them, I know they will still be all set to go. But giving them out and taking them back again just adds one more element of mystery than if I had just put them down on the table.

CHALLENGE MIND READING

History When I developed the Breakthrough Card System, I sent a deck to Jeff Busby, told him it was stacked, and challenged him to figure it out. When he couldn’t, I sent him the instructions. He was so taken with the system (and perhaps afraid that someone else might publish it before him!) that he took my original manuscript and published it word for word. I had included just one effect in the instructions. It was from Corinda’s 13 Steps to Mentalism and was in the section Some More Tricks Using the Eight Kings Stack. It was meant to be demonstrative of the types of effects possible with the BCS. Ken Krenzel gave me a call after the book was released, praising the system and offering two other effects to use with it. The first one was called Test Conditions and the second Test Conditions II. Both are found in the 25th Anniversary edition of The Breakthrough Card System. Somehow, Test Conditions became Challenge Mind Reading on these videos! I can’t even tell you how. I didn’t even notice until the videos had been out for awhile! (Test Conditions II did retain its name and that can be found on Volume 7 of this series.) When Ken first explained this effect to me, his idea was to use two decks, one for the spectator and one for the mentalist to demonstrate with. I never liked that idea and decided to use the two Jokers from the deck instead. Over the years, I dispensed with them also and just use my two hands as seen in the video. The test conditions idea was one I devised almost immediately. I cannot remember doing it differently. Somehow my instinct told me that if I were going to require the spectator to go through all these steps, there ought to be a good reason for it. What I came up with is the best reason of all – to make sure I

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don’t cheat! I love magic and I love the kind of logic that can cause the greatest amount of misthinking! (I just invented that word...) In this effect, you have a whole series of actions that are, in reality, quite demanding, and yet make the effect look like one of the purest and most direct demonstrations of mindreading imaginable! You got to love it!

Analysis Let me begin with an apology. I called Brittany – Cassandra! That was foolish and it was a mistake. A person on one of the forums attacked me for doing the same thing on a later video. His take was that any person who could the things I do should never forget a person’s name as it blows the whole image! If I can offer the tiniest of excuses, the order of the effects on Mind Mysteries Volume 2 is not what I would normally do in a show. As mentioned in the first guide book, we wanted to keep all the Breakthrough Card System effects on one video to make it self-contained. I was paying a lot of attention to the flow of effects and slipped a bit with my memory. Since it happened, however, perhaps I can offer a small redeeming thought that may help you to forgive me a bit and give some advice at the same time. Because the character I play is one of an everyday person who somehow can just do these things, I leave myself room for a certain number of slipups. I am normal and normal people are not perfect. After the mistake, by turning to the audience and saying, “I’m a mentalist!” I get a nice laugh and we just move on. It shows I am human and am willing to laugh at myself. This is an advantage of using a normal guy image. Audiences are more forgiving. If Max Maven did that (and, of


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course, he wouldn’t but, if he did...), it would be a little more difficult to recover. The know-it-all attitude of his character (that’s what the word “maven” means) would make the mistake more serious. This might be something to consider when choosing your performing persona. Back to the videos... When I get Brittany up next to me, I give the speech about designing something that would meet test conditions. That is the reason I give for doing this effect and I turn it into a little joke by saying, “What I mean by that is so none of you will go back home and say, ‘Maybe the guy did this – maybe he did that...’” If you think about it, there are only two ways you can take that above line. Either I am claiming to have real ESP and am offering to prove it conclusively, or I am claiming that no matter how hard they try, they will not figure this out! Either way is OK with me and even the ambiguity of the statement works to my favor. It’s somehow a funny line and if you look close, it brings a smile to everyone’s face. I immediately follow that up by saying to Brittany, “But I need you to follow my instructions to the letter. Do you agree with that?” Then I wait for her to shake her head, “Yes.” It has been my experience that most people in the audience and those who you get up on stage are honorable. If they agree to help and do what you ask, 99% of the time they will. Usually this is just implied, but in this routine, I come right out and ask for it. In addition to making sure this routine will go smoothly, it also helps with the control factor for the rest of the show. I talked about this in length in the first guide book. Basically, this type of patter gets the audience used to following my instructions – to the letter! Notice how I reposition Brittany when I get the thought that since there is a camera behind her, she had better move so nothing will see what she’s doing. This is just another form of the cancellation principle. It implies that I want to cancel out every possible way the audience might think I could cheat! I ask her to think of a card and, as I am asking this, I am shuffling the cards. Let me dwell on this for a second. The fact

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that the cards are mixed and shuffled is constantly implied as I work. Asking Brittany to think of a card, not the Ace, keeps her mind occupied while I casually shuffle the deck. It goes by without anyone even questioning that they are being mixed. It seems secondary and no one pays it any attention. This is verbal and mental misdirection at work. A person cannot occupy their mind on an important thought and still be trying to carefully analyze everything you are doing. Having John cut the cards after the shuffle is just what card players always do and expect to guarantee the cards are mixed. Magicians might look at that and think, “It’s just a cut,” but card players look at that and think, “OK, he can’t cheat!” Always think like a lay person! I go into the routine and all the performing details are described on the video. Notice how I make sure I tell her to stop when she sees her card and not close up the fan. If you don’t, they will. Now I want to talk about a part of this routine that has tremendous overlap in general magical thinking and needs to be addressed. I am constantly reading on the magic forums how this or that needs to be more logical. “It is not logical to rip up the paper!” “It is not logical to have something written down!” “It is not logical to use a book to read someone’s mind!” I respectfully say, “Hogwash!” Look at the blatant illogic in this routine that goes unnoticed! First, I talk about all this test condition stuff and base the whole effect (and its secret) on a very involved procedure in order to keep the back of the card out of sight. Then, and pay attention to this, I ask her to slide it off the face of the deck and bury it in the middle of the deck! Think about it. Doing that allows the back of the selection to be seen which completely negates all the reasoning for what went before! On top of everything else, this comes right after the long explanation of why I do not want the back of the card to be seen! And yet, not a single person questioned it. It just flies right by without a word being said. And it always flies right


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by. Then, to add insult to injury, I actually challenge the audience’s reasoning by saying, “Fair?” They not only agree, but you can hear someone say, “Very fair!” Such is logic in magic! For years I have been saying that if you keep some distance between you and the spectator, they will lower their guard. It’s as though they don’t think you can see from more than a few feet away! Here, Brittany does just what I have written that spectators do all the time. She flashes the bottom card of the deck to me! As soon as I see it, I make the most out of it by handing the card box to her and letting her put the cards away herself. This is the kind of dynamic that jumps your magic ten notches above the norm. With the factor that you didn’t touch the cards or see a single one, this routine now really becomes totally impossible! The line, “Is that fair? Man, I wish I could do this one!” is just my little way of driving home what I just said about the impossibility of the effect while getting a nice laugh at the same time. I now add a line that is very important and might be overlooked if I don’t point it out. When I say, “No one knows the card except you. So you could lie and blow everything,” that is a very cutesy and funny way of telling her, do not lie! The situation really is such that she could mess you up big time by just not telling the truth, either permanently or long enough to ruin the punch of the effect. This routine depends on her not doing that. This line makes it work! When I ask her if it would impress her if I took the deck, found the card and handed it to her, she says, “Yes,” I want her and the audience to believe, just for a second, that’s what I will do. Then when I say, “Let’s not use the cards. Just think of your card,” the audience hardly has time to react to the impossibility of that when I say, “Two of Hearts!” The climax comes out of the blue! You can almost tell that even if Brittany had intended to mess things up, her own surprise is uncontrollable! I put on my Jack Benny face at that point as though I’m think-

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ing, “Of course I can do this. I do it all the time!” Look at the expression on Janelle’s face at that moment. I can’t believe some people say that the L&L audience is staged! The finest actress in the world couldn’t come up with that expression! And look at how, at the last minute, Brittany actually turns around to check that there is no camera or someone behind her! It is priceless! Finally, I give the deck to her to take back to her seat. Any thoughts of a special “magic trick” deck of cards are evaporated!

CORINDA EFFECT

History I explained the history of the first Breakthrough Card System book in the last chapter. When I was writing it up to send to Jeff Busby, I wanted to send along an effect. I had begun to do the one found in Corinda’s 13 Steps called Some More Tricks Using the Eight Kings Stack, as already mentioned. It is interesting to see how the routine progressed over the years. If you look up the effect in your copy (that would be page 75), you will see the effect is nothing more than a mere paragraph. The deck is placed behind the spectator’s back, a card reversed and the face-up deck placed on the table. In my original manuscript to Busby, I had already come up with the idea of catching a peek at the face card as the spectator brings the deck forward and then had him cover the deck with his hands. So, you can see, right from the beginning, I was adding to the effect, trying to make it stronger. I can’t actually tell you where along the 20+ year history I began to do the effect at a table. I really can’t remember when I didn’t, so it must have been a long time ago. In thinking back, I realize it must have been during the six-year stint doing closeup magic at the Farmington, Connecticut Marriott’s elaborate Sunday brunch. Many of my present ideas had their start there. I used the card case to have the deck covered on the videos. In truth, when I do this at live shows, there is usually a napkin or a menu sitting on the table that can be used. That looks more impressive and more natural. Somewhere along the line, I also came up with the idea of having the person turn over either the top or bottom card. This may seem like a minor point, but again, that is magician’s thinking. It is a big point to a lay audience and seems as though you really don’t care what card they turn over. Since they repeat-


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edly cut the deck themselves, offering the top or bottom card is just like offering any card in the deck. Don’t leave out this subtlety! This routine really does play strong. I don’t do it all the time anymore. Most of my close-up work uses the Radar Deck and the Test Conditions (Challenge Mind Reading) effect. I only use this one for that really special person, perhaps the CEO of the company, and his table. That way it becomes really special. As a bit of a sidenote to that, I remember when I first performed this routine for Governor Lowell Weicker of Connecticut. Up to that time, he seemed to be taking me with a grain of salt. I did a few things and then did this effect. When I named the card, he looked at me and said, “No way!” I just smiled and motioned for him to turn over the card. When he did, what he said can’t be printed here! Governor Weicker never minced words! After that, I was a regular performer at the Governor’s Mansion! May this effect do the same for you!

Analysis There is a slight break in the video so that we can reset the stage with the table. Notice how I am standing while the rest of my spectators are sitting. I want to point out that in 99% of real-world working conditions that is the situation when doing walk-around performing. I was talking to Jim Sisti about this recently and he confirmed that, like me, even if someone has you sit down at their table to talk awhile, when it comes time to perform, he, like me, stands! Also notice that even though there is a table present, I still do the false shuffle on my knee. This probably comes from years of performing table magic where, instead of a neat

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empty table, it is strewn with dishes, glasses, etc. After choosing Janelle to help me, I explain that in a moment she is going to place the cards under the table. I do this because, in real life, when I perform this effect at dinners, that person sometimes has to adjust their chair, remove the napkin on their lap, adjust their purse on the floor, or whatever. I take care of that now so as not to delay the effect later. Now here comes another reason for the superiority of the randomness of the Breakthrough Card System. I ask Janelle to look through the deck to make sure no cards are turned over. To do this, she has to fan through the entire deck. Not only does this add to the effect, but once again, it allows her to see the completely random order of the cards! I have her cut the deck a couple of times above the table before she puts them underneath. Sometimes, when I am doing this routine, I mention that the reason I want them to practice cutting the cards is because, in a moment, they are going to be doing it under the table and I don’t want to get down on my hands and knees picking up dropped cards! Then I have her place the cards under the table for more cutting. Notice how many times I have her cut the deck. Here again, magicians think, “It doesn’t matter. They are just cuts.” That’s not how a lay audience thinks. In their minds, it is, “The more they cut, the more mixed up they are!” As mentioned in the previous chapter, I now give Janelle the choice of reversing either the top or bottom card. It doesn’t matter, of course, but looks like I am giving her even more freedom. After she does this I ask her to turn over the whole deck, so “when you put them down, even if they slide, your card will be face down in a face up deck.” Please notice how that sentence not only gives a reason for her actions, but also tells her what she will be doing in a moment and clearly illustrates that she will be putting the deck on the table face up. I am about to get a peek and I don’t want her to do anything else except to place the deck that way on the table. If she knows


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what she is expected to do, when I ask her to do it, she will be mentally prepared and not fumble. This, in turn, will allow me to keep my timing in tune with her actions. When I do tell her to put the cards on the table, look at how I am standing and where my gaze is. Notice how quickly I glance down at the face card and then look away. Also replay the video and watch where everyone else’s eyes are at that moment! You will see them all looking down at the deck with absolutely no chance to see where I am looking! By the time anyone looks up, I am far away on the other side of the table. Also, by telling them to cover the cards with the case, it psychologically implies that I must not have seen the cards already and that is to prevent me from doing so in the future. We are all set for the finish, but before I go there, I recap! I do so in this routine since I want to build up, once again, the complete impossibility of what has happened. In the previous effect with Brittany, I was lucky enough to see the face card without touching the deck. That sometimes happens, but you can’t count on it. In this routine, however, it always happens that I do not touch the deck or go anywhere near it. I want to make the most out of it and always go over all the impossible conditions I have imposed on myself! You might also notice that, during this recap, I mention how Janelle had reversed any card of her choice and buried it upside down. Doesn’t that sound like she just grabbed any card in the deck and reversed it? Again, it’s these little things that add up to big things! I also go through the whole bit about being on the other side of the table and no one, certainly not me, could have seen the card. And, of course, I end with, “Is that fair?” On a sidenote, you have to remember that we had reset the staging and some time had elapsed between this effect and the earlier routines. That’s why I used the same line, “I wish I could do this one!” again. In truth, this is the effect where I normally use that line and where it plays best. I think, in retrospect, I used it during Challenge Mind Reading because I did

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catch that glimpse! Sometimes actions speak much louder than words. Watch how after all the joking; I suddenly just hold my hand over the deck, pause, and just say, “Three of Clubs!” Please look at the audience reaction at that moment. They are stunned that I just named the card like that! They really weren’t prepared for it and it catches them totally off guard. You can see it clearly in their facial expressions and their actions. It’s almost as though they think I might be kidding! Then, when I tell Janelle to spread the cards and see, they know I am not! When Janelle finally turns over that card, there is nothing left to do but smile!

BLACKJACK DEMONSTRATION

History I have to be honest and tell you I cannot remember when I first thought up this effect. I have no idea no matter how much I search my memory. (Harry – help me!) I do remember doing it many times, one year, in hospitality suites in Canada. The president of the company I was working for was completely taken aback by my work. After our own hospitality suite closed down, he dragged me around all the other hospitality suites in our hotel! I remember having 4 BCS stacked decks in my small case and I went through all of them before we finished. Each time, I would make a big deal of clearing off a table and gathering everyone around for the demo. It killed all night long! You can expect that there will be people who will really want to take you to the Casino after you do this routine. A year later, after the above happened, I was almost forced to go with a group to a casino on a riverboat and play Blackjack for them! Luckily, everything worked out well and I came out a winner, even if everyone else didn’t! I already mentioned this earlier, but I have to say this again. If you were a newcomer to magic and read only the comments on the Internet forums, you would be led to believe that entirely different effects are the strongest you can do in card work. Again, the leader these days seems to be Any Card at Any Number. That is constantly mentioned as the ultimate card miracle and the greatest achievement possible with a deck. Well, people have a right to think what they want, but I know the truth. There is nothing better for a lay audience than giving the impression you can win at gambling! That shows value and not just something that is clever. A good Poker demonstration is wonderful, and I know a great one, but I still prefer the Black-


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jack Demonstration. For a mentalist, it is the epitome since it involves brain work rather than card slinging. That also seems to appeal to the greatest number of gamblers who understand all the intricacies of the game. The Blackjack Demonstration also has the advantage of looking just like a real game of Blackjack played with a single deck. Unlike some gambling demonstrations which might stretch just how a particular game is played, this is the way people play Blackjack in their homes and the way it was played in Casinos before the shoe and multiple decks came into being. It is fun and challenging to do and always comes out a different way. If you can think far enough ahead, you can do some profound things. I have had instances where I have had two people stand on hands like a 7 or 10, knowing that would later cause the dealer to bust! It is so gratifying to hear people saying things like, “What, are you crazy?” only to show them you knew what you were doing all along. This is a wonderful routine! Please do it justice! Oh, and yes, I know what you’re wondering. I really was banned from two Casinos!

Analysis When I begin this routine, I once again talk about my being banned in certain casinos. Remember, I normally would not do all these routines in one sitting. Also, the Card Calling routine is used in my stage act so any duplication of patter is in a different performing environment. It is quite alright to say the same thing on stage that you said earlier to a few people when doing close up. It is, in fact, a good thing as those people will be saying to their friends, “Yes, he told us earlier how he is banned from playing Blackjack!” When I begin the routine, notice how far I am standing

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away from Annie and I don’t even appear to see what the card is that she is turning face up and burying in the deck. In truth, I don’t think it would even matter to most people, but if someone was looking, it appears I haven’t even seen that. You can see how I turn my head away at that point. I direct Annie to deal the cards the way I need them for whatever amount of spectators I will be using. I sometimes actually do this with up to five people playing the game besides the dealer. Notice how I instruct her to put the rest of the deck down when she is finished. She doesn’t do it at first, but I make her do it before I move on. I don’t want her absentmindedly cutting the cards or dropping them! When I begin with the actual demonstration, I have Cassandra secretly look at her hole card and then tell her what she is holding. Notice that this has nothing to do with the Blackjack routine and is for effect only. In a real game, it wouldn’t matter if I knew what the hole cards were and it wouldn’t help my play at all, but it is a vital part of the routine and just reinforces my powers! Since I always do this routine after doing a few others, it only comes as a “half surprise” that I can do this! It also reinforces the mental giant theme that I hope I have developed by now. Remember, I make it a point to stress that I won’t explain how I can win at Blackjack and the telepathy portion of this routine further enhances that confusion! Cassandra has a 17 and I advise her to stay. When I turn to Janelle, she peeks at her hole card quickly. I know what it is, of course, but because she looked at it so fast (I saw that out of the corner of my eye), I ask her to look at it again. I want to portray the fact that such a fleeting glance was not long enough for me to pick up on the exact card. I often have someone think of something a second time and look a bit troubled as though I’m not sure if I got it right the first time. That adds so much realism. She has 15 and I tell her she looked at a black King. Notice that with both her and Cassandra, I do not name the exact


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card. Just the value and color are enough for now. That looks better and not too perfect. It gets as good, or better, a reaction than if I had named the suit, too. I ask Janelle if she should hit the 15. I always do that with an iffy hand. She says, “You tell me!” and that’s just what I want! At this point, I want the players to be asking me what cards to hit and how to play their game. If I can get them there, it means they have surrendered themselves completely to the belief that I am the supreme master of Blackjack and anything I say, goes! Notice here that I tell Janelle that she should probably take a hit and that she should wind up with about 20. I do not say she will get a 5, but that she will wind up with about 20. I want the audience themselves to do the figuring, small as it is, so that they deduce she needs a 5. Also notice how, at this point, I make mention of the dealer’s Ace and how she needs to play aggressively because of it. I also mention how I feel good about the hit because of the other cards showing. All of this implies I am doing some kind of card counting without my actually saying so. If anyone is bothering to try to figure this all out, I am now using telepathy, some kind of clairvoyant sense about how the cards will come up, and traditional methods of card counting all rolled up into one! As I said in the beginning, “I will try to explain what I am doing, but it is a little complicated!” Just before Janelle is dealt the card, I say that she might get a 19 or 20. This is different from what I said before. I first said it would be a 20. The little bit of hedging with the 19 makes it almost sound as if I am backing off a bit and am not sure of myself. I want that because, a moment later when she gets the 5, it vindicates me! Now we come to John. He is lucky enough to catch a Blackjack, but I don’t say it. Instead I say, “Oh, that’s good!” That is even better than saying what it is! It plays like I just had an instantaneous conversation with John where his mind said,

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“Blackjack!” and I say, “Oh, that’s good!” Nothing more needs to be said and I don’t. Instead I just let him turn over the hole card and show everyone what it is. When the Ace appears, it is evident to everyone what I meant by my comment. He stays, of course. Now I get to Annie and announce that she has a soft 14. She turns over the hole card to show it is so. I have to tell you, my mind is racing here to figure out what will happen and how I can best play up the ending. I, in fact, have a perfect setup going that could not be better. I am thinking, “Man, this is going to be so good!” And then I blow it! See, I know that the next two cards coming up will be the Jack of Hearts followed by the Queen of Clubs! That means the dealer will go from a soft 14 to a hard 14 then bust with another 10! It is perfect since all three players will win and the dealer will go from what at first appeared could be a Blackjack to a bust! Perfect! Knowing all this, I go into a huge build up of how everyone likes to play with me as I somehow can control the dealer to bust so often. I have everyone right in the palm of my hand and am all set for the huge finale! Then, because I have gotten so wrapped up in this perfect ending, I announce that Annie will draw a red Jack and, when she does, I jump the gun and announce, “You bust! You win!” Everyone does applaud, but, months later, when I get the first copies of the video, I look at this routine and think, “You imbecile! You blew it big time!” And I did. I suppose the lesson to be learned here is to keep your cool. Good as the ending was, can you imagine how much better it would have been if I kept it going? After the first Jack, I could have talked about how unlikely the dealer would be in drawing another high card. I could have mentioned how often this happens in Casinos and the dealer winds up with 21. Then I could have said that I would stick to


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my feelings and believe another picture card was coming, perhaps a black Queen. That would have been great. Hopefully, you will never make such a blunder!

A BREAKTHROUGH BONUS

The Poker Demonstration Many of the newer memorized deck systems are lauded because they contain built-in effects such as Poker demonstrations, spelling effects, etc. Although I have great respect for these stacks, I have already stated my viewpoint concerning what I believe is necessary and what is not. With that said, I am reluctantly offering this routine with the Breakthrough Card System. I say, reluctantly, because I do not want the merits of the system to be based on the following routine or anything similar. The Breakthrough Card System is remarkable for what it is and that is enough. Still, what follows can be a powerful tool to have at your disposal. It is integral in the system. The Poker Demonstration is offered as a companion effect to the Blackjack Demonstration. It is similar in that it is meant to be done at the end of the night and built into an incredible closer! The Blackjack Demonstration was designed to look just like a real demonstration of a single-deck version of that game and is what gives it its strength. The Poker Demonstration, likewise, is meant to look exactly like a real game of Draw Poker. It does not come across as contrived and has a feeling of complete fairness. Still, the incredible climax is all that you could want from such a routine. Once again, because of the randomness of the BCS, it follows that any ingrained effects will also look like the legitimate thing. This game of Poker has all the little nuances that happen so often in real Poker and yet the unexpectedness of a dazzling finish. Like the Poker game in the classic movie, The Sting, this routine has everything you could want. What makes this Poker Demonstration so powerful is that it really is a game of Draw Poker. Each player can stay or toss in his cards and each can draw as many cards as he likes. The

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dealer discards three cards during the draw and the cards dealt to him are determined by the other’s play. That he can still win seems incredible! Two versions for the routine are offered. The first is totally self-working while the second incorporates some traditional card artifice that makes it look even better! It is being released here for the first time.

The Corner Short I have been using the Breakthrough Card System constantly from the day I devised it. I have always felt that the effects possible with a stacked deck were staggering and I hope that those I have demonstrated on the Mind Mysteries video series and discussed in these pages show that to be true. In all honesty, I often use nothing but the BCS for my professional performances and never feel lacking in suitable material. I do, however, know a wealth of other card magic that is not dependent upon a stacked deck. I use that material as well. One of my favorite subterfuges with a deck of cards is the use of a corner short. The classic tome, The Fine Art of Magic by George Kaplan, contains some astounding material in the chapter entitled Tricks Employing the Corner Short. If you don’t already own the above book, may I suggest that you obtain one as soon as possible. All the material in it is of the highest quality and the card work alone is well worth the price of the book. I always keep a corner short in my decks including those stacked in the Breakthrough Card System order. Should the cards be dropped, accidentally mixed up or if I just get the urge to do something different, I know I am always ready to go with material that matches my other effects in strength and deceptiveness. Because of the routine I am about to explain, my corner short is always the 8 of Spades.


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While I am talking about the corner short, let me tell you about a helpful device known as a corner rounder. This is sold in craft stores and is used for cutting perfectly round corners on photos, etc. It is also tailor made for making a corner short card! You simply slide the card into the device, press the top down and you are done. You must, of course, trim the inner left corner of the face down card and the outer right corner which is diagonally opposite. This is thoroughly explained in The Fine Art of Magic and other card books.

The Poker Demonstration Like the Blackjack Demonstration, this routine should be used at the end of the night for the finale. You must get a clear table with five chairs around it. You will, in fact, be acting as the dealer in a five-handed game of Draw Poker. The deck is stacked in the Breakthrough Card System order and should have been used for other routines as demonstrated on Mind Mysteries. By the time you begin this routine, there should be no question that the deck is unprepared and thoroughly mixed. The only other additional preparation is that the 8 of Spades, as discussed earlier, is a corner short (I will give you some advance handling tips after the main instructions). Before you start, you must get four spectators who are familiar with the game of Draw Poker and who believe they are good players. Begin by seating everyone around the table. Your own position is not important. You must explain that you will be playing a very serious game of high-stakes Draw Poker and that everyone should play as though their own money were at stake. You also mention this game will be the last of the night and that the betting will be extremely high. Therefore, you caution the players not to bet on bad hands and that, if they are not even holding a pair, they should drop out. While you are

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discussing all this, you are making the following moves. Holding the deck face up to show the randomness of the deck, get a break under the Ace of Diamonds. Double cut the cards, bring the Ace to the bottom of the face-up deck and then turn the deck face down. The Ace of Diamonds should now be the top card of the face down deck. Shuffle off six cards singly into your left hand and then throw the rest of the deck on top. (The goal is simply to reverse those top six cards of the deck and this small unobtrusive shuffle does just that.) Use your right thumb to riffle to the corner short and double cut it to the top. Now finish with a few jog shuffles making sure that you only grab about twenty cards or less from the bottom of the deck. (I just use the bottom quarter of the deck to be safe.) You can, of course, substitute any false table shuffle, such as a Zarrow Shuffle, that retains the entire order of the deck. Just make it look natural. A casual cut before you go into the deal is also a very good idea – more about that later.) Deal out the five hands in the traditional way. (I suggest you turn the dealt cards face up during this explanation so you can see the exact conditions of the cards.) Notice that Player 1 will have two pairs; 8s and 3s. Player 2 has nothing. Player 3 has a pair of Jacks. Player 4 has a pair of Queens and you have a pair of Aces. Ask the first player if he can open with Jacks or better. Of course he can and you tell him he should bet five thousand dollars! Since no real money is being used, he will, of course, do it. Ask Player 2 if he can stay in with at least some kind of pair. When he says no, have him throw in his cards. (Notice how you control him to toss in his cards instead of giving him an option!) Now ask Player 3 if he is in. He should say yes, as he has a pair of Jacks. So tell him to toss in his five grand! (If he should say he is out, simply say to him, “So I guess you don’t even have a pair?” When he says he does, coax him into staying in


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the game. Believe me, this never happens and I am only giving you some reassurance here.) Turn to Player 4 and handle him the same way as Player 3. Since he has a pair of Queens, there is no problem. Announce that you are in, too, and pretend to throw in your money. (I always fan my cards in front of my eyes and let a couple of people take a peek!) Now pick up the deck proper and ask the first person how many cards he wants. He will say 1 and you should raise your eyebrows as you deal him that! (Remember that Player 2 is out.) Player 3 will take three cards and so will Player 4. You announce that you will also take three cards and deal them off to the side, but do not pick them up! Note: the first player will get no help. Player 2 is out. Player 3 will get no help, but, just like what so often happens in a real game of Poker, he will draw two of the very same cards he just threw away. This adds tremendous realism! Player 4 will draw two more Queens; he now has four! And you, if you take a look, will have two more Aces! The last two will separated by the 6 of Hearts. Go back around the table asking everyone how they want to bet. You can have a lot of fun here and, hopefully, Player Four will start to raise his bets! Let him and try to prod the other players into raising him back! All the while, you should say that you are happy with what you already saw and don’t even look at your own hand. Finally, have each player show his hand. When you see that Player 4 has four Queens, mention how you started out with a pair of Aces. Turn them over. Then turn over the top card of the three face-down ones. It will be the Ace of Hearts! Then turn over the next card. It is the 6 of Hearts. Act a bit nervous and then slowly turn over the last card. The Ace of Diamonds comes into view and the applause will be thunderous! This routine plays so well because it really does resemble


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how a real Poker game sometimes plays out. It is not too perfect – just perfect enough! Again, this routine reminds me of the poker game in The Sting and I can almost hear the song The Entertainer in the background!

The Expert Handling Although I have tried to make the construction of the Poker Demonstration as real as possible, there are a couple small points you may have realized are just a bit not quite Kosher and that can be improved upon with a bit of expert card handling. If any of the following handling scares you a bit, just remember that gamblers have a bit of an edge over magicians. Whereas audiences watch a magician constantly looking for tricks, most card players do not constantly scrutinize another player and therefore, the card cheat can make his moves with caution and much misdirection. On the other hand, if the magician is caught, he is a bad magician; if the card cheat is caught, he gets shot! The first change we can make in the routine is that the deck may be set without the use of a short card and without the shuffling being done out in the open. It can all happen while the players are being seated or even before that. Simply look through the deck for the Ace of Diamonds, cut it to the top, run six cards and throw the rest of the deck onto them. Then, later, look through the deck for the 8 of Spades and cut it to the top. You can do this right in the open as you play with the cards. In reality, it just looks like you are shuffling the cards and casually looking through them while getting ready. If you take this approach, you have to make your opening shuffles very convincing. Zarrow and other similar false shuffles should be used and these must be practiced to perfection to look like the real thing. You must do them with ease as you talk


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about the game and set things up. One of the most common requirements used in gambling is to have someone cut the deck just before the deal. In the first version of this routine, you did that yourself, but if you really want to make this routine look real, you need to let someone else cut the deck. Now, you may be wondering, “If someone else cuts the deck, how can I do the routine?” The answer is simple – the Pass! If you know your Erdnase, you will know that the Pass, or Shift, can be used to reverse the action of the cut. Although he does not recommend it in fast company, it can be used in our situation without too much worry. Since you are just demonstrating one Poker hand and are viewed as an entertainer, the scrutiny will be far less than if you were sitting at a real card game! As a matter of fact, most of the expert handling version of this Poker Demonstration uses the Pass. It is a great way to force yourself to practice and improve your skills. You offer the deck to be cut to one of the players and they cut off half the deck. You complete the cut leaving a slight offset as you pick up the deck. The offset allows you to catch a break between the halves and perform the Pass as you ask a question or get some misdirection in some other way. (An alternative handling is to get the break as you complete the cut and do the Pass as your bring the cards off the table.) The next improvement is not restricting the second player’s choices in any way. If he wants to stay in the game, you can let him. Just remember, after the first player’s draw (he has to take just one card) you have six cards above the cards you need. The first three don’t really matter, but the second three contain Player 4’s other two Queens. So, if the second person elects to play, you can give him up to three cards off the top of the deck, but you have to replace these from the bottom of the deck by use of the Pass. If, for instance, he takes three cards, after dealing him the cards, pick up a break over the three bottom cards and pass them to the top before moving on. This

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sounds difficult, but it really isn’t. You deal him the cards and ask him to pick them up. As eyes go to him to see his reaction, you have plenty of time to get things in order. You can also chit-chat with Player 3 about how many cards he wants while using the time to make your adjustment. One try in a live situation will show you just how easy it all is. Finally, you will sometimes find that Player 3 may only want two cards. Again, you must get rid of one top card by means of the Pass. You have to do it then as that is an indifferent card, not one of the twp under it which are the last two Queens. The same applies to Player 4. If he wants only two cards, fine. They will be Queens, but you have to bury the next card before dealing your own (or Second Deal). Giving all these options during the play makes your own outcome that much more remarkable. Which method you use will depend upon your skill level. It is also possible to use parts of each to personalize the handling for yourself.

Mind Mysteries 2

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