Here’s an addition to the “outs” in last month’s article on Jazzin with the Aronson Stack. Outs for three specific cards, actually. Built into the Aronson stack are three natural “sandwiches.” I’m referring to the set of three cards at positions 29, 30, and 31, as well as the set of three at 34, 35, and 36, and also the set of three at 48, 49 and 50. The first set is the King of Hearts sandwiched between the two red fours. The second set is the Ten of Clubs that’s sandwiched between the two red jacks. The final set is the Six of Diamonds sandwiched between the two black queens.  If any of the three center cards in those sandwiches is named, you can, as an alternative to the spelling procedures, take advantage of the natural sandwiches. For example, lets say spectator names the King of Hearts. (Or that’s the card picked up from the floor in my version.) You say “Oh yes... the King of Hearts. I always have great difficulty with the King of Hearts. But, the two red fours can always locate the King of Hearts. If I simply press down on the top of the deck, the four of hearts will travel through the deck and position itself right above the King of Hearts. And, if I press again, the four of diamonds will travel through the deck and position itself directly below the King of Hearts. They form a kind of “sandwich” with your card between them. I know that’s hard to believe, but take a look.” At that point, you simply turn the deck over and quickly spread down through the face up cards to the King of Hearts. You know it’s at position thirty from the top, so locating it takes just a moment. You then remove it along with the two red fours on either side of it. That’s about as easy as it gets. It’s an interesting alternative to the spelling in the rest of the Jazzin routine.

                The new Robert Giobbi book, Card College 5, has recently been released. I recommend it highly to all students of card magic. It’s full of strong routines. (Brief commercial: you can get it, at a great price from Loomis Magic at www.loomismagic.com ) On page 1146, Giobbi presents an effect he calls “Strange Harmony.” It’s his solution to one of the Hofzinser card problems; one that has never before been properly translated into English. The effect is very straightforward: Someone cuts off a number of cards from a deck. A spectator chooses two cards from the resulting packet. Their values are added and the total equals the number of cards that’s been cut off. About this effect, Giobbi says: “You will agree that this is a different effect, and although not an earth-shaking miracle, an interesting problem that can be made into a charming mystery if properly staged.”

                Exactly. A cute interlude between stronger effects. But, this “interlude” requires a special 26-card stack. I knew that I wouldn’t be carrying a stacked deck just to do this. Perhaps there was a way to do the same effect with the Aronson Stack. I’ve found two solutions so far and there may be others.

                To begin, cut the Seven of Spades to the bottom of the deck. (It’s nineteen down, of course.) One way to do this is my Haymow Shuffle technique described in a previous article. Now, you must get a break between the King of Hearts and the Four of Diamonds. One way to do this is to openly turn the cards face up and spread through to the King of Hearts, showing that the cards are well mixed. Simply sight the King of Hearts and get your break. You can injog the King of Hearts and then turn the packet over and catch your break at the injogged card. Or, you can get your break face up and do the Marlo “book” turnover catching the same break with the cards face down. Now, do a riffle stop force at the break. The top packet is placed in the card box; it contains eleven cards. The packet left has the Four of Diamonds on top, and the Seven of Spades on the bottom. In the Giobbi routine these two cards are forced in the following manner: Begin to deal cards from the top of the deck in a face down pile. Have a spectator call out stop at any time and you stop dealing when he does. The packet is left on the table and you offer to do the same thing again with another spectator. But, you suggest that perhaps it would be interesting to see the cards. So, you turn the remaining packet in your hand over and begin to deal cards down onto the table again. But, you turn the cards face down as you deal. The second spectator stops you at any point. You now turn the two packets face up and the Four and Seven are the cards on the face. Adding the four and seven, you get eleven. You show that the first spectator predicted this, because the cards in the box total exactly eleven.

                Here’s the other “solution” contained within the Aronson stack. Initially, you cut the nine of spades to the bottom of the deck. Since it’s only five cards down, an easy way to do this is to just thumb count five cards and hold a break. Then double undercut to the break. Next, you need to catch a break between the Ace of Hearts and the Eight of Spades. (The Ace will be seventeen cards from the top.) Again, the easy way is to turn the deck face up and spread the cards, sighting the Ace of Hearts.) Now, when you do the riffle stop force, the top packet will have seventeen cards, and the cards at the top and the face of the resulting packet will be an eight and a nine.

Instead of the riffle stop force, you can also use Gary Ouellet’s Cabaret Force from his video series “The Best of Gary Ouellet.” It’s recently been made available as a 3-volume set of DVD’s. (Also available at a good price from Loomis Magic.) It you use the cabaret force, you probably should do the version with the nine of spades on the bottom. The cabaret force to the 17^th position works better.

                As an alternative to getting your break by running through the face up cards, you can simply spread the deck between your hands and sight count. It’s fast and easy, and appears to be innocent. As an alternative force of the top and bottom cards of the second packet, you can use the Bill Simon Prophecy move. This excellent force of two cards can be found in the book: Scarne on Cards. It’s used in the effect  “Double Prediction.” It’s also in the book Effective Card Magic by Bill Simon. It’s used in the effect “Business Card Prophecy.”

For this version, you write, on the back of one of your business cards “Count the Cards in the Box.” After the packet of cards has been placed into the box, bring out the business card. Make sure the writing is on the underside. Have the second spectator plunge it into the remaining packet at any spot. Doing the prophecy move will put the credit card between the four and the seven. If you use this method, it’s far easier to reset your Aronson Stack. After the four and seven have been shown, return them to the top and bottom of their respective packets and reassemble the packets with the four going on top and the seven on the bottom. After the eleven cards in the box have been counted (without reversing their order, of course) place the packet on either the top or bottom of the other packet, cut the Nine of Diamonds to the face of the deck, and your Aronson Stack is ready for your next miracle.

                Hofzinser called his problem “The Strange Coincidence.” Giobbi dubbed his version “Strange Harmony.” So, let’s call this one “Strange Interlude.”

                Next month, I’ll share a procedure for resetting the Aronson stack from Andrew Wimhurst. It was pointed out to me by one of the faithful readers of Smoke and Mirrors and I’ll also share some of his thinking on Simon Aronson’s great effect “Some People Think.”

                As always, feel free to visit my web site to see those commercial items that Loomis Magic has available.

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UPDATED OCTOBER 16, 2004