WRITTEN BY DENNIS LOOMIS
          For the January 2005 issue of Smoke and Mirrors

The trick by the above name was created by Ted Annemann; you’ll find it on page 236 of the “ANNEMANN” book by Max Abrams (The Life and Times of a Legend.) But, Richard Osterlind also performs and explains it on his new series of DVD’s entitled “Easy To Master Mental Magic.” (Both are available from Loomis Magic at www.loomismagic.com .)

This is a great trick with two decks of cards, each with the same 15 card stack on top. It’s convenient, if not coincidental, that the Aronson Stack has the necessary stack in position right on top. That’s because Simon built the same kind of spelling effect into his stack. However, the Annemann routine has a great “hook” which is the patter theme. It’s a demonstration of the difference between what a magician would do, and what a mind reader or mentalist would do in the way of a card routine.

In my walk around work, I usually have two decks of cards set up in Aronson stack order, although occasionally I lose the order in one of the other of them. However, it’s not difficult to reset the deck right in performance, and my eighth article in this series goes into some detail about that. (All of the articles in this series are available on my web site at www.loomismagic.com free of charge.)

So, if you have two decks in Aronson stack order you can go right into this killer routine. I carry two decks of the same color, while Osterlind does this routine with a red deck and a blue deck. Annemann did not specify that, and it makes no difference: the routine is equally good with two decks that are the same.

You can do a shorter version of this with just a single deck. You use the same basic patter, and it’s not bad. But, the second climax, with the second deck really takes this effect into the “killer” category.

Osterlind has a third climax with a prediction in an envelope. That’s not in Annemann’s version, but it’s certainly worth considering. I won’t go into that here, because it’s Richards’ addition. But, I urge you to get Richard’s set of Easy to Master Mental Miracles on DVD. If you do mentalism, this is a must-have item for your library.

Annemann suggests the use of a short card, and Osterlind uses a corner short for this effect. I don’t, and will explain some alternatives in a moment.

The basic effect: Two decks are brought forth, and the performer offers to explain the difference between what a magician does, and what a mentalist or mind-reader would do with a deck of cards. A spectator is asked to select either deck and place it in his pocket. No force or equivoque is necessary, since both decks have the necessary stack. He then explains that a magician would probably handle the cards a lot, showing them well mixed, possibly shuffling them some more, etc. During this, the cards are spread face up so that the audience can see they are well mixed. Then they are false shuffled to maintain the 15 card stack on top. A jog shuffle is one good possibility, here. Then the performer explains that a magician would have a card physically chosen. He pantomimes the selection procedure, but does not have a card actually selected. He explains, that when the card is returned to the deck in his hands, he has his opportunity to do some magicians sleight of hand. Then he locates the card in some mysterious manner.

The performer explains that a mentalist would do no such thing. He would simply have someone think of a card, and then read their mind. Having said that, he shows a fan of cards to one spectator and asks that they simply think of any of the cards. The fan is then placed onto the deck proper, and the cards are shuffled. (Another false shuffle to retain the top stock) The performer asks the spectator to name his card, and the card is spelled to, removing a card from the top of the deck for each letter in the cards name. On the final letter, the card arrived at is turned over and it is the card merely thought of.

The performer explains that since a card was merely thought of, then he must have read the spectators mind and then put the card into the proper position. Then he asks the spectator if he things that he might have known, in advance, which card he would merely think of. Whatever the spectator says, he is asked to remove the 2^nd deck from his pocket.

Then the performer has him remove the cards from the box, without changing their order at all, and again spell down to the card he thought of. He’s directed to turn each card face up as he deals it onto the table. When he reaches the final letter, sure enough, the card he mentally selected appears. This is very strong, and makes a great closer.

By now, my readers are probably ahead of me and understand the basic idea. As you may know, the tenth through 15^th cards in the Aronson stack were intentionally chosen by Simon because they all can be “spelled” from the top of the deck. The tenth card spells with ten letters; the eleventh card spells with eleven letters, and so on. While Annemann did not use all of the same cards, his stack achieves the same thing.

All that remains is to force one of these six cards. Annemann did this in a very simple way, and I recommend it highly. He picked up the top 15 cards of the deck, and fanned them in such a way that only the bottom six cards of that packet could be seen. Only the spectator that looks at the fan realizes that he has only a very small group to choose from, and he will probably think very little about that. The other spectators probably think that he sees a lot more cards.

Annemann used a short card to simplify cutting off the 15 card setup, but since this is my working deck for many effects, I don’t do that. I’ll give you three different ways to achieve the same thing. First, if you are good at thumb counting (as Max Maven is) during the preliminary patter, after you’ve completed the false shuffle, simply drop your hand to your side and thumb count 15 cards as you talk. Hold a break at that point, and when the appropriate moment arrives, lift up the deck and cut to the break with your other hand. Alternatively, if you are any good at all at estimation, you can easily cut to within a card or two of 15 cards. Glimpse where you are at, and, if necessary, add or take away a card or two so that the 15^th card (Seven of Diamonds) is on the fact of the packet you are cutting off. Finally, and easiest of all, just thumb over cards and sight count them until you have fifteen and remove that packet. I usually thumb over three at a time, so five quick pushes and I’m right where I need to be. It’s probably wise to glimpse the face card before proceeding to be sure that you’re in the right place.

That’s really all there is to it. Follow the procedures outlined above and both the first and second phases work easily. The second phase is all done in the spectator’s hands, and is automatic.

In the Osterlind version, the cards from the first deck are dealt face down on the table when spelling to the selection. This reverses the order of that block in your stack. It’s simple enough to avoid: just deal cards from one hand into the other, retaining the order of the cards. When the second deck is removed from the spectator’s pocket, and he spells to the same card, the fact that he deals them into a face up pile retains the order. Just replace the tabled cards on the top of the deck, and both of your decks remain in Aronson Stack Order.

Brief plug for my business: Loomis Magic carries a big line of magic DVD’s. And, we have great prices. So, please feel free to visit us at www.loomismagic.com when you’re contemplating a purchase. I think you’ll find our prices as good as any and better than most. We have a simple flat fee shipping charge, which means that you’ll save a LOT on bigger orders. Loomis Magic has great prices on Simon Aronson’s book: Bound to Please (as well as the rest of his books), Paul Green’s “In the Trenches” DVD, and Juan Tamariz’ “Mnemonica.”

Loomis Magic’s newest product: Sterling Dare’s Money Menagerie on DVD. Is now available.  This will be on two disks, and is a great way to learn to make Origami Animals for new paper folders and origami enthusiasts alike. Sterling’s book has been available for several months, but we are very excited about this DVD version. Visit the Loomis Magic Web Site for more information.

For those of you that have heard the buzz about the Loomis/Riser Micro Chop Cups for the past 2 years, be warned that Jim Riser will be producing the last of these during December of 2004. After that, no more will be made and when the inventory is gone they will not be produced again.

 Loomis Magic just finished producing the DVD Instructions for Gene Anderson’s marvelous trick, Picto Transpo. Gene has created a marvelous new version of the effect using white board. The trick is only available directly from Gene, who will be selling them at his lectures and via email, if you’re interested contact Loomis Magic at the link above and we’ll put you in contact with Gene. Gene and Dennis Loomis have been close personal friends for thirty years and Gene credits Dennis as the person that has performed Picto Transpo more than any one else. (Including Gene, himself.) The new props that Gene is manufacturing are first class in every way and Gene’s 30 minutes of instruction on the DVD teaches you everything you need to know to perform this wonderful piece of magic.

Loomis Magic is actively working on a new edition of Mentalism 101 with DVD instructions, a DVD on the design, construction, and performance of the Loomis Doll House, and a DVD release of Chuck Mignosa’s clever version of the Gene Anderson Newspaper Tear. (with the full knowledge and consent of Gene to release this… unlike that so-called “Better” version which is inferior in every way.)

Feel free to come and visit us at www.loomismagic.com for all your magic needs.

UPDATED May 15, 2007