Situational Sleights by Jonathan Bishop is not a book of two-minute variations based around easy sleights, but a collection of ideas which originate from someone who appears to be unaware of the limitations many of us place on ourselves and our magic. One of the tricks uses a straitjacket presentation – and in so doing breaks free from the strait-jacketed thinking prevalent in much of card magic. Many of us will look at certain sleights and think in terms of bad angles; Jon thinks about good angles; the right situation rather than the wrong one. Jon’s is a slightly mad world of butterflies, hungry hippos, and fruit machines – and some rather difficult sleights.

Several years ago, Mentalist Thomas Baxter offered an ebook version of his notes on the think-of-a-card theme for sale on a very limited basis, for a very short.

Even where the author has inadvertently reinvented some obscure sleight or idea, he has taken it to a level beyond the original; and clearly had a lot of fun in so doing. In any case, the end result is a book that will make you really think, instead of just sitting back and thinking, ‘That’s a nice handling’ – and then forgetting all about it.

Included are 'Spread-Count Poker 6', the most direct solution yet to stacking 5 cards via spread counts, a Shank-Shuffle convincer, a card stab based on a bold illogicality, an Ambitious Card with no Double Lifts, a think-a-card lie detector performed over an internet phone call, and two Ace Assemblies which avoid the usual addition moves. Apart from two or three items including the False-Count False Shuffle ( Bold and Illogical Card Moves) and Mindreader's Lucid Dream ( Clairvoyant / 75% Production), none of these items has seen print before.

(Those which have been published before contain additional information anyway.) 32 pages equivalent in size to A4 with over 60 clear black-and-white photos. Sent as an e-book via email (non-automated - please be patient - orders usually fulfilled within a few hours).

Also included is a Frank Lane style poker deal in which the spectator deals any small number of poker hands, yet the performer ends up with a royal flush (no palming, switching, etc.). Other items include impromptu blackjack demos, a spectator-shuffled full-house deal by Dylan Holmes, 'Pick-Up Restacking' by Ben Earl (4 methods), and a previously unpublished Bottom Deal for beginners by Edward Marlo. The section on '100% Poker Deals' follows on from The 75% Production in showing how to take a borrowed, shuffled deck and almost immediately deal yourself (or the spectator) four of a kind or a full house. At the end of the book are comments on the items in Pseudo Cheating Demos with further ideas and methods explained. This booklet explores ways to produce four of a kind from a genuinely shuffled deck without relying on culling (including shuffle-culling) or excessive use of memorisation or calculation. Unlike the deliberate, linear methods which, almost by definition, involve ‘brute force’ (manual or mental), the present approach involves letting the cards ‘decide’ what to do and how/when to do it.

This concept isn’t new (there is no ‘new’ information in this booklet), but few magicians use this approach, possibly due to the belief that it is inferior because it isn’t performed ‘to order’. The 75% Production and The Trick With No Method is not just a dissertation on four-of-a-kind productions, but the improvisational mindset used to create them. The 75% production is a form of ‘trick with no method’, in as much as a key element of the method (without which an effect may not be solved or reconstructed) is missing. This booklet expands on themes touched on in Secrets of Improvisational Magic and The KOSBE System.

30 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers. IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER: • This is not an extended or enhanced version of Vernon’s ‘Trick That Cannot Be Explained’. The latter revolves around (a) planning a specific effect and then (b) trying to improvise a satisfactory conclusion. Stata Mp Serial Macro.

The present booklet is to do with (a) noticing certain circumstances and then (b) making the most of them. The ‘trick with no method’ is the polar opposite of Vernon’s ‘Trick’. Don't let their similar-sounding names confuse you.

• My approach to improvisation is wholly context-based: tuning in to the vibe and feel of the moment and knowing exactly what to do: when to start, when to stop, and so on. There is no question of randomly making it all up for the fun of it and boring people to death with unstructured and pointless routines.

• Although the subject is four-of-a-kind revelations, it is shown how these can be made contextual and meaningful to an audience; this is the essence of the 75% concept. The routines do not come across as random and meaningless.

• As mentioned above (and also in the Foreword) there are no new concepts explained here, but instead how to make the most of concepts that the reader may already know. Full credit is given to Joe Riding for his work, which explained the essence of the 75% production. The present work goes into far greater depth than anything previously published on the subject. • Learn in a few hours what might otherwise have taken many years of experience and experimentation to discover.

The 15-Card Poker Climax – A climax phase for the classic 10-Card Poker Deal, culminating in the performer revealing a royal flush and a prediction which shows the hands that would be dealt by the spectator – even though they shuffled and distributed the cards themselves. Includes ideas and notes by Will Houstoun and Dean Bodenham. (Sleights used: simple overhand shuffle work and a false cut.) Spread-Count Poker 1 & 2 – A sleightless way of stacking the Aces, normally achieved via the Bottom-Deal Count. (Sleights: uses an optional palm replacement at the start.) Freedom Stacking (Joseph Barry) – Four Aces are dealt from a borrowed, shuffled deck – the classic pick-up build in a new form. (Sleights: full-deck false shuffle.) Bottom-Deal Count Substitute – The spectator cuts off half and 25 cards are counted off by the performer.

These are dealt into poker hands by the spectator, who receives the four Aces – another way of stacking the Aces in lieu of the Bottom-Deal Count. (Sleights: overhand shuffle work; also uses one bottom deal if stacking a royal flush.) Mini Faro, Named Centres – Four Kings and four Aces are openly alternated and placed in the middle of the deck. The spectator names either Aces or Kings and the performer ‘centre deals’ the chosen cards. The other four of a kind are shown still in the middle. (Sleights: dribble pass, turnover pass.) Also includes ‘Mini Faro, Two/Three Players’, ‘Mini Faro Hold ‘em’, and other ideas. The Compensation Deal – An illogical but fooling solution to the classic Vernon/Fulves poker problem: the Aces are openly stacked for four hands, then a freely chosen number of people join the game. The performer still deals the Aces.

(Sleights: double-card handling, bottom deals.) Pseudo 10-Hand Poker Stack – The Aces are placed on the deck and the cards given a selected number of riffle shuffles. The performer deals 10 hands of poker and receives the Aces. (Sleights: adding cards onto a top stock during a riffle shuffle, tabling a double, double push-off/deal.) Face-Up Deals – From a borrowed, shuffled deck the performer deals and wins multiple hands of blackjack, and also deals a full-house from a shuffled deck.

(Sleights: multiple second deals.) GM Poker – A solution to the problem of doing the classic ‘Gardner–Marlo Poker Routine’ with only one four of a kind being dealt throughout. (Sleights: turnover pass.) Plus related material. Two Shufflers – The performer and spectator each shuffle half the deck to test their shuffling abilities. The performer deals his/her half first revealing – nothing.

The spectator’s half is then dealt revealing four Sevens. ‘Maybe two shufflers are better than one’, opines the performer. The two halves are shuffled together and the spectator deals a royal flush. (Sleights: jog shuffle, milk-build shuffle, faro shuffle, and an easy switch taught in the text.) Stand-Up Poker Deal (Sav) – From a borrowed, shuffled deck the performer deals a full house. (Sleights: culling, faro shuffle.) 75% Poker Deal – The performer deals three of a kind from a borrowed, shuffled deck. (Sleights: classic pass.) Faro Flush Presentation – Fr.

Cyprian’s well-known effect brought up to date with a pseudo-memory presentation and a choice of draw poker or hold ‘em. (Sleights: faro shuffle, double undercut.) Pseudo-Memory Deal (Benjamin Earl) – The spectator shuffles the deck and the performer deals the Aces in a four-handed game. (Sleights: faro shuffle.) Pseudo-Memory Deal/Location – A way of dealing or cutting to the Aces in a deck shuffled by the spectator. (Sleights: faro shuffle (optional), basic cut and shuffle work.) First Flush – A royal flush is cut into the middle of the deck. Two hands are dealt, and one of these is ‘switched’ for the royal flush. (Sleights: simple false cut.) Poker Charade – A royal flush is dealt from a deck shuffled multiple times by the spectators. Based on a classic cheating concept called the count-down.

(Sleights: palm replacement and general card handling.) What Goes Around, Comes Around – Three hands are dealt from a spectator-shuffled deck. The performer receives a full house. (Sleights: none / general card handling.) The ‘Appearing’ Poker Hand (Ben Earl) – The performer ‘deals’ a royal flush with no false shuffles, stacks, deals, or switches.

(Sleights: general card handling.) Jungian Poker (Modified) – The performer locates a thought-of card and its matching straight-flush cards. (Sleights: top stock shuffle, false cut, spread cull, overhand shuffle work.) Also includes ‘Jungian Location’ and ‘Jungian Instinct’, where the spectator lifts off a packet and peeks its bottom card, then replaces it and immediately shuffles the deck. Cognitive Science Jose Luis Bermudez Pdf Viewer here. The performer locates the card and its matching straight-flush cards. (Sleights: spread cull and optional sleights.) 44 pages, A5 printed booklet, saddle-stitched with card covers. There’s a price to pay for everything in card magic. A move may be technically perfect and logical, but require a positioning of the body or special choreography to get into it, thereby creating limitations.

It may need years of practice and still never achieve 100% deceptiveness. Many of the moves in this new book are comparatively easy and need no special angles or setting up. The price to be paid is not years of practice, but boldness and confidence in the performer, an understanding of human nature and psychology, and an ability to engage spectators effectively by talking to and entertaining them – superficially known as ‘adding patter and presentation’.

Featured are finesses on the Bevelled-Riffle Force by Sav, including a 100%-burnable (but illogical) Prophecy Move and a force where you blatantly hand them the top card of the deck; Illogical Forces by Joseph Barry; an Illogical Convincing Control; a Fake All-Around Square-Up; a way of forcing a card on yourself; Bold Glimpses; applications of the Illogical Dribble Force; Ace-cutting methods; Fake Removals including a method by Will Houstoun; Bold and Illogical False Shuffles; a variation on the Losing Control; and even an Illogical Coin Switch by John Carey. This is a collection of over 20 previously unpublished items including: 5 variations on the classic Drop Switch 2 Tilt moves 3 Ace switches 2 Forces 2 Ace controls 2 packet switches 5 effects and various other ideas (including 2 simple card productions). Includes a cut-the-high-cards game which the spectator loses by cutting all the ‘low cards’ (the Aces), an instant sandwich where three effects happen simultaneously, a visual transition based on Geoff Latta’s ambitious card using the riffle pass, a rising card that can be performed in any bar environment, and a clock trick where a mentally selected card vanishes from a packet of 12 cards and reappears back in the deck at a thought-of hour (this does not use the clock-trick principle or other mathematics). Includes contributions by David Davies, Peter Dudley and Will Houstoun. 25 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers and 80 photos. Click cover for larger image This is a collection of moves and effects using the concept of Bill Simon’s well-known ‘Business Card Prophecy’ move. This concept involves forcing the position of one or more cards via a disguised-cut procedure.

Included is an effect called ‘Shared Prophecy’, where the magician writes down the name of a card in full view and a spectator then writes down any other card that comes to mind next to this. The Joker is inserted in the deck at a chosen point and the cards on either side are the two written cards. Bevelled-Riffle Bottom Force Bevelled-Riffle Prophecy Force (Will Houstoun) B Finds A Bevelled-Riffle Prophecy Move Pseudo-Extraction Moves No. 2 (Kevin Baker) No.

3 Tilted Fake Removal Alternative Handling Illogical Stab-Revelation Alternative Prophecy Move Half-Bluff Location Palmist’s ‘Business-Card’ Prophecy Palmist’s Non-Prophecy Prophecy Shared Prophecy Shuffled-Deck Version Fully Integrated Mindreader Mirrored Coincidence Prefigured Coincidence One-Ahead Double Prophecy (Kevin Baker) One-Minute Double Prophecy Undercover Card and Number Five-Ten-Twenty Estimation Pseudo Multiple Shift Ribbon-Spread False Cut Ribbon-Spread Prophecy Move Casual Transfer-Switch Force Illogical Swing-Cut Force Dual Peek Control Note on the Prophecy Move. Consider the following effects: • A card is selected, returned, and shuffled into the deck by the spectator. Yet the card instantly appears in your pocket.

• A thought-of card is revealed reversed in the deck. • Four Aces are produced from a borrowed, shuffled deck. The above three effects are the results of improvisation. This manual explains the ‘mental mechanics’ of improvisation which allow one to perform impossible effects such as the ones above.

In his previous book, Secrets of Improvisational Magic, Justin Higham explored the many different forms of improvisation and the fundamental (and often hidden) secrets of the art. In this companion volume (which may be read alone), stemming from nearly two decades of experience in improvisational magic, the actual thought processes behind improvisation are analysed and explained. If you want a nuts-and-bolts explanation of how to improvise then this book is intended to give you this.

Do not be misled by the title. ‘Mechanics’ refers to the mental mechanism or system of thought that is used when improvising. This is not a book of card effects or sleights, even though these concepts form the basis of the system in question. Based on the out-of-print (and superceded) 15-page booklet of a similar name published in 1995, this completely rewritten and greatly expanded volume, The KOSBE System: The Mechanics of Improvisation in Card Magic contains 72 pages of detailed explanation which not only answers the fundamental question, ‘How do I improvise card magic?’, but may alter your whole outlook on the art. 72 pages, saddle-stitched A5 booklet with card covers. Click cover for larger image Mention ‘card-cheating switches’ and magicians very often shy away due to (a) the fact that such switches are not really meant for performing, and (b) they are often quite difficult to execute. In particular, switches requiring one-handed pick-ups and throw-downs or complex palm changes and re-gripping, are avoided.

The switches in the present ms. Are pseudo cheating switches, and the reader may be pleasantly surprised to find that (a) they are not that difficult (requiring more coordination than manual dexterity), and (b) they can be used in pseudo-cheating demonstrations to good effect without having to reveal their methodology. Several of the switches may also be used in a magical context. Explained is the Basic Move, 'Empty-Hands' Method, No-Palm Method (Kevin Baker), Lateral-Palm Method, Jennings-Concealment Method, Underhand Method 1 and 2, Under-Deck Method, Modified Tent Switch, Pseudo-Deal Palm Switch, Pseudo-Removal Palm Switch and Variation, Flip-and-Fan Palm Switch, Turn-and-Look Packet Switch 1 and 2 (Benjamin Earl) and Variation, and End Notes with several more ideas and applications. All but one of the switches are packet switches, not single-card switches.

Most require palming (but not always in the conventional sense) but none require lapping (as in scooping or dropping cards into the lap or similar). This updated edition of an e-book first published in April 2010 contains 25 pages and is illustrated with over 100 photographs. A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers. This second volume of pseudo-cheating switches contains a wide variety of card and packet switches for both pseudo-cheating demonstrations and magical use, to be applied at the reader's discretion. As with the first volume, the moves here do not rely on advanced palm changes or hand-mucking techniques, but basic palming and switching manoeuvres well within the reach of the intermediate student.

CONTENTS INCLUDE: • The Anti-Gravity Shift – A one-handed pass as featured on Benjamin Earl's 'Past Midnight' DVD, explained here in full detail with eight 'covers', including two by Will Houstoun. • Illogical Strip-Cut Force plus. – Those who liked the Illogical Dribble Force will appreciate the Illogical Strip-Cut Force, Illogical Spread Force, Illogical False Throw-Cut Force, One-Handed IDF and Illogical Riffle Force, all explained here (no knowledge of the Illogical Dribble Force is needed).

• Logical Strip-Cut Force – For those who prefer logicality, Benjamin Earl offers this flexible and deceptive force of one or more cards. • Fake Zarrow Shuffle – For those who haven’t mastered a real one. Two versions are given. • CO2 - A bold, no-palming version of C.O. Williams' popular card-to-pocket. • Biddle Appearance Sandwich – Two buried Kings instantly and visually appear on top of the deck with a selection sandwiched between them – no passes or difficult sleights. • Jungian Poker – A spectator thinks of one of five random cards, and the thought-of card is produced along with its matching straight-flush cards. No large stacks or false deals.

• Spectator Cuts a Run of Seven – A 'mega' version of 'Spectator Cuts the Aces' based on Randy Wakeman's popular method. • Digital Poker – A full house is pulled interlaced between the fingers from a shuffled, pocketed deck. • The Magician, The Fool, and The Wheel of Fortune – The names of three Tarot cards are spelt in any chosen order to arrive at three playing-cards, one of which is selected.

This matches a tabled prediction. • Off-Center Coincidence – Two selections turn up together as cards are dealt simultaneously from two tabled halves. Nothing special – except the spectator shuffled the deck after the selections were lost. No palming or crimps. • Pseudo Topper - An impromptu version of Marlo's 'Mental Topper', where a 'mental selection' is revealed along with its three mates. Can be done straightaway with a borrowed deck. • Intuitive 21-Card Trick – Identical to the classic lay person’s version.except the entire trick is done with the cards face down.

ALSO INCLUDES: One-Handed Slip Pass, One-Handed Pull-Out, Around-the-Deck Reversal, Svengali-ish Convincer, Up-the-Ladder Finesse, Multiple Undershuffle, Deal Shuffle, One-Handed Flip-Over Force, Third-Eye Force, Tilted Fake Removal, Cognitive Transposition, Biddle-Appearance Collectors, Chinatown Bluff, Longitudinal Monte, Mini Faro – Pseudo Centers, Subconscious Culling, Riffle-Shuffle Sandwich, Deal – Count – Spell, Sense of Touch Location, The NoBo Lie Detector (including methods by Kevin Baker), and more. Over three dozen items in all, 68 pages, 50 photos, saddle-stitched A5 booklet with card covers.

In the early 90s Justin Higham published a method for the Hummer effect in which the dealing procedure was greatly simiplified and the book of tables eliminated. This provides the basis for this new study of 'Clairvoyant' and related effects, including Marlo's seminal 'Mental Topper': an effect where not only is a thought-of card produced, but also its three 'mates'. The present ms. - a revised edition of Clairvoyant and Related Effects (2007) - complements, and further examines themes previously studied in, Jon Racherbaumer's 2004 ms., Dreamwork: Minding the Mindreader's Dream. 48 pages, over 40 variations on 'Clairvoyant', 'Mental Topper' and 'The Mind-Reader's Dream', plus an easy in-the-hands False Dovetail (Riffle) Shuffle for use in these effects. A5 printed booklet, saddle-stitched with card covers. This volume combines the original booklet, The Illogical Dribble Force (2007) and the follow-up volume, Notes on the Illogical Dribble Force (2009).

The basic move is an easy force which can be done without any breaks, crimps, jogged cards or similar - although these elements may be added for more sophisticated applications. Indeed, the basic move can be done from a shuffled deck with no get-ready other than glimpsing the desired force card beforehand. (This can be done in any manner the performer desires.) Part One of the book contains over 20 individual items, and Part Two contains over 40 items. These include various other illogical forces which are unrelated method-wise to the Illogical Dribble Force.

These include Dave Buck's Revolving X Force, Kevin Baker's K.B. Illogical Dribble Force, David Davies' Illogical Swing Cut Force, the Illogical Riffle Force, plus effects and applications of the IDF by Paul Gordon, Will Houstoun, Andrew Murray and others.

56 pages, 35 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers. This book is an invaluable aid to anyone wishing to gain insight into a form of performing which can not only help us create more amazing magic, but also form a closer bond with our audiences. 8 chapters plus bibliography, 72 pages, A5 saddle-stitched booklet. '.an excellent introduction for all students, particularly of close-up card magic, to a vast and important subject.'

- Genii '.a must have gem' - Magic Week (see two separate reviews by and ). 'Justin has given voice to a too-often ignored side of card magic (indeed, all magic) and his carefully considered thoughts will make you reconsider what you do. And that's a good thing.' - The Magic Circular. '.the information could be a little dangerous for the inexperienced magician' - Magic Seen (rated 5 stars).