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Hidden Gems Vol.2 Another guidebook of fabulous but forgotten material curated by

Mark Elsdon

Introduction Welcome to Hidden Gems Volume 2. As previously recounted, I’ve been making notes and sticking Post-its in all my books for decades, so I have hundreds of great tricks book-marked, annotated and logged, and after some (not so subtle) prompting by friends I finally decided to collect 100 of them together and published them in a book. The great news is that book – Hidden Gems – proved far more popular than I expected. So here we are with Volume 2 and another 100 great tricks that most of us have sadly forgotten about. Lots more of my favourite tricks and routines are here, all of it material that I have seen or read and then learnt and performed regularly. Some of the tricks I have used for many years and some I have only rediscovered and started performing again as a result of writing this booklet. This time round I have plundered Stan Allen’s MAGIC magazine for 10 tricks, just as I did with Apocalypse in Volume 1. And again, it could easily have been 20 or 30 items rather than 10. We truly have access to an embarrassment of riches when it comes to material, which is why it’s all the more disheartening to see so many performers doing the same tricks. Down with that I say, and I hope that this second Volume goes some small way to encourage its readers to broaden their repertoires. I haven’t published an index, nor have I graded them in terms of difficulty. I do usually tell you whether a trick is suitable for close-up, stand-up (cabaret) and more suited to professional performance or magic-sessioning. By far the majority are for the former. If you’ve been in magic for a while and buying the literature, most of the Gems will be in books or magazines that you already own or have easy access two. A small handful might take a little bit more tracking down, but again nothing too obscure. And don’t forget to join the Facebook group when you get a minute: https://www.facebook.com/groups/147515615896034/ Please apply to join as soon as you like and once I confirm you own this book, you’re in. So, enjoy these next 100 Hidden Gems and I’ll see you online. Mark Elsdon August 2018 1

The Hidden Gems Hidden Gem #1: 'Clipped' by Howard Hamburg, The “D” Notes (p27). This is the kind of trick that it’s impossible to appreciate until you’ve tried it out. It’s a hybrid ambitious card/two-card transpo trick, but the addition of a paper clip to mark the selection makes all the difference in the world. If done well, this is pure eye candy. Hidden Gem #2: 'Cellular Production' by David Acer, More Power To You (p3). Another one of those tricks that if it was released as download with a slick promo, everyone would be doing it. The performer shows a folded envelope, unfolds it and removes his mobile phone! It’s that clean. Great as a walkaround opener, but waaaaaay better used as a casual piece when you’re around laymen who have no idea you are a magician. Hidden Gem #3: ‘Reverse Tutorial’, By Bill Goodwin, Evolution eBook (p23). A brilliant, clear plot makes this card magic of the superior kind; it is a very clever trick that will fool anyone. Combine it with a Jerx-style ‘Engagement Ceremony’ presentation and you have a very powerful performance piece. Hidden Gem #4: ‘Scramble’ by Doug Conn, Tricks Of My Trade (p11). If you ever play Scrabble, you need to know this trick! And if you don’t play Scrabble this trick is so good that it’s worth starting. Essentially this is Chink-A-Chink done with Scrabble tiles, but the addition of the letters spelling out words that define what happens is genius. I started performing this trick when it was published in MAGIC, but even after being featured in Doug’s hardback book a few years later I’ve still never seen anyone else do it. Hidden Gem #5: ‘Time Is Of The Essence’ by Marc Spelmann, 101108 Notes (p6). A perfect piece of modern mentalism that has a compelling premise and a powerful, fooling effect. It is also completely impromptu (the only requirement is the involvement of someone wearing a watch), making it perfect for those times when you are requested to show someone “what you do” but can’t bring yourself to insult their intelligence with a star-sign divination. Hidden Gem #6: ‘The Torn Card’ by Charlie Miller, An Evening With (p22). A startling card effect that can also be done with your business card. It’s an instant restoration using perfect choreography and timing rather than gaffs or gimmicks, and all the more impressive for it. 2

Hidden Gem #7: ‘Mesmer’s Pencil’ by Barrie Richardson, Curtain Call (p13). An un-gimmicked pencil rises above your hand visibly and then slowly sinks back down. The participant tries to try to pick up the pencil from your open hand, but the pencil is so heavy that it is impossible to lift. A moment later the pencil returns to its original weight, and then becomes heavy yet again, returns back to normal and is finally given to the spectator to keep. This is Barrie's final version of ‘Pencil Pusher’ from Theater of the Mind and it is a perfect piece of close-up theatre. Present it as a magic trick, mentalism demonstration or straight hypnosis. However you choose, this is a powerful and organic in-the-hands routine. Hidden Gem #8: ‘Classic Triple Intuition’ by Dani DaOrtiz, Triple Intuition Plus eBook (p1). Much of Dani’s material is so idiosyncratic to him that it is hard to imagine anyone else ever doing it. I have, however, used this particular trick a lot and it never fails to be sensational. It was later released as a DVD with the deck, but you can easily make it up yourself using the instructions in the eBook available on the gkaps.com store. It is a total closer. Hidden Gem #9: ‘Throw Six To Start’ by Nik Taylor, Mystic Menagerie 3 (p21). A practical, commercial mentalism effect that is suitable for both close-up and stand up. The effect involves the memories of childhood board games and can provide some really powerful moments of mind or memory reading rather than just the revelation of a selection. Potent stuff. Hidden Gem #10: ‘Reality Glitch’ by Tom Stone, Vortex (p27). This is a very entertaining little card trick where the climax happens a beat before the audience expect it to. A short, sharp surprise and easy to do. Win. Hidden Gem #11 ‘Seeing Double’ by James Biss, Messing With Minds (p157). One of the best ‘Second Sight’ acts I’ve encountered, I have no doubt this would have totally fooled me. It doesn’t look like a two-person code act as one of the performers is acting as a confederate, but that is well hidden. And the coding method is very, very clever. Someone should take this and win a major magic competition with it. Hidden Gem #12: ‘Deckless Wonder’ by Stephen Tucker, The Linking Ring January 2008 (p93). One of the great trick titles of all time! And a killer trick too. I liked it so much that after using it for 5 years I asked Stephen for permission to include it in one of my CAM booklets. Someone thinks of any playing card, no restriction. You remove ‘nothing’ from an empty card case and explain that it is 3

an invisible deck of cards. You handle the ‘nothing’ as if it were a real deck and then reveal the thought of card. Fantastic ingenuity from Tucker. Hidden Gem #13: ‘Troika Twist’ by Ian Rowland, Acting, Lying & Enjoying It (p24). Rowland’s mentalism creations remind me of Jimmy Carr’s jokes: as well as being hugely entertaining they are very clever. This double layer of inventiveness makes Rowland’s material a treat to perform or watch. This incredible three-way coincidence effect is a perfect example, where a prediction is hidden in plain sight all along. And the theme of the effect is entirely customisable, so you can be really amazing and clever, in any subject! This is a fully-developed stand-up effect that can go into your show right now. Hidden Gem #14: ‘The Trick That Cannot Be Reconstructed’ by Dai Vernon, The Vernon Chronicles Vol. 2 (p89). I am a huge fan of two-card transpositions and I’m always swapping methods and info about new ones I find with my closest magic friends. Except for this one. Sorry fellas! It is a three-phase transpo that just looks so utterly impossible. No dupes or gaffs, just Vernon genius. Hidden Gem #15: ‘The Cheshire Cat Principle’ by Banachek, 2005 Lecture Series, (p44). Banachek says that he thinks that this is just as strong as ‘The Brain Game’ from Psychological Subtleties and, having used it extensively, I agree. It is another set of super smart techniques to describe exactly how someone is thinking as you are reading their mind! Further proof that the devil is in the details. Hidden Gem #16: ‘Dirty Harry’, by Andrew Wimhurst, Low Down Dirty Tricks (p14). In the first volume of HG I recommended Ortiz’s ‘Harry In Your Pocket’ and this trick is an outgrowth of that trick. Two participants, two selections and two separate pockets. Perfect for fooling your magician friends who know the original. Hidden Gem #17: ‘The Ball Trap’ by Gaetan Bloom, Full Bloom Vol. 1 (p245). Gaetan has some of the most offbeat effects and methods in magic, but unfortunately the two-volume career retrospective set of FB books simply don’t contain the required level of detail to be able to make most of the props. So frustrating… No such problem with this powerful stand up trick though! All the info is here to teach you how to perform a miracle that uses a deck of cards, a stack of numbered paper plates and the whole audience. Great entertainment value and a killer climax where the signed card appears between the layers of a paper plate. 4

Hidden Gem #18: ‘Floating Aces’ by Bruce Cervon, Ultra Cervon (p9). This is a beautiful, direct and magical card trick. The four Aces rise to the top of the deck one by one, and then as a group. Don’t let the simplicity of the description distract you from how startling this is. And to laymen, the ability to control the Aces in a deck and invisibly bring them to the top is one of the few magic concepts that makes any sense. Hidden Gem #19: ‘Snap Crackle Pop’ by Tom Ladshaw, Funny Stuff (p56). In the early 1990s this hilarious bit of business was everywhere, but thanks to being pre-internet, has been largely forgotten. It’s a simple stunt where you appear to crack your knuckles (or neck) but the sound it makes is huge! It might not sound like much, but trust me, if you saw it performed you would pay good money to learn it. No need though, all the details are here in Tom’s book. Hidden Gem #20: ‘Triple Alternative’ by Marvoyan, Bolivian Brain Bafflers (p10). I honestly love this trick! It was first shown to me by my good friend Paul Hallas many years ago and I have been using it ever since. You lay three envelopes out on the table. A participant picks three and leaves three for you. He opens his envelopes and they contain plain pieces of paper (or notes of commiseration) and then you open yours and they each contain a bank note! Very clever, very easy and very entertaining. No gaffs, gimmicks, sleights or other shady handling. Only the six envelopes are used. Man, I love these old Supreme booklets… Hidden Gem #21: ‘Travelling Man’ by Roy Walton, The Complete Walton Vol. 2 (p19). There are literally dozens and dozens of Walton hidden gems, but I’ve always loved this one since Peter Duffie showed it to me in the late 1980s. It is, as Bannon would call it, a ‘fractal’ packet trick – a multi-phase trick in which all the cards may be examined at the end. It is an incredible repeat transposition, with the second phase happening in the participant’s hands! Hidden Gem #22: ‘Energy Signature’ by Kenton Knepper, Anti-Tada eBook (p21). Whilst this is undoubtedly a great trick (that I have developed my own version of - with a much reduced script!) I am including it here as I think this manuscript should be read by everyone. Not just mentalists who obviously want to get away from those ‘Ta-da!’ moments, but also magicians who want to make their performances more natural and less clichéd. There will likely be some of the tricks in the book that you’ll hate, but that would be to miss the point as it is the concept and approach where the true value lies. Hidden Gem #23: ‘Penny Candy’ by Eric Maurin, Lifesavers (p73). An improvised Copper/Silver routine that just uses regular coins (any currency). A great 5

presentation and an impossible transposition where the participant is holding one of the coins. This should go into your repertoire right now. Hidden Gem #24: ‘Vibrations’ by Luke Jermay, Vibrations eBook (p15). More brilliant, contemporary mentalism. Psychometric readings for this century, not the last (or indeed the one before!) This is how it should be done. ’Nuff said. Hidden Gem #25: ‘An Ungaffed Ted’ by Allan Ackerman, Classic Handlings (p21). Ted Lesley invented a great trick (although several others have also published it!) where you and the participant each think of a card and then try to read each other’s minds. Each of you places a card down on the table and when you turn them over they are indeed the two thought of cards. Lesley’s method is a clever use of his marked deck. Well Ackerman has devised a way of doing it with a regular deck! It’s brilliant and he totally smoked me with it when he performed it for me at his kitchen table in Vegas in 2001. A total fooler for layman or other magicians. Hidden Gem #26: ‘Spinner’ by Ted Karmilovich and Neal Scryer, Scryer’s 13 (p54). A perfect walkaround mentalism trick that you can use any time. It’s a clever prediction of the outcome of a little game that a group of participants play using pocket change. Old school. By which I mean reliable and fooling. Hidden Gem #27: ‘Always Cut The Cards’ by Larry Jennings, The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings (p1). The opening trick in the book, and what an opener it is! The effect couldn’t be simpler: you and the participant take turns cleanly cutting the Aces into the middle of the deck. Immediately following the final cut all the Aces are instantly back on top of the deck. No extraneous actions or moves, just a pure, direct effect. Hidden Gem #28: ‘Double Down’ by Bryn Reynolds, Commercial Release (2006). This is a very powerful piece of pocket mentalism using just a small packet of ungimmicked casino cards. No weird selection procedures, no sleights and no guesswork. Everything is freely handled, and you cleanly read the minds of two participants. Someone should re-release this. Hidden Gem #29: ‘The Birthday Book’ by John Morgan, L.I.N.T. (p83). This is a long-kept secret weapon of mine that I know a lot of you will use. I use it as a follow up to my ‘Worker’s Diary’ although it is explained here as a follow-up to ‘The Fortuneteller’s Book of Days’. It is a killer follow-up to any Diary Trick. Totally practical and totally fooling. That’s all I’m telling you. 6

Hidden Gem #30: ‘Everywhere, Nowhere And On Your Face’ by John Carney, Carneycopia (p254). Commercial, practical and very magical, this was a staple of my close-up and bar magic repertoire from the moment I learned it. The full plot is in the title, but it is the way Carney routines the two tricks seamlessly together that results in a whole far greater than the sum on its parts. Whilst you have Carneycopia to hand, take some time to read or re-read the introduction, ‘Secret Philosophy’. It is required reading. Hidden Gem #31: ‘Spooning’ by Thom Petersen, Action Packed Notes (p11). I was lucky enough to learn this directly from Thom and have used it on and off ever since. To my mind it is the perfect visual spoon bending effect and the best part is that at the conclusion the spoon can be immediately examined, and it is indeed bent into an impossible ‘right-angle’ shape. Follow this up with the next trick in the same notes: ‘Revenge Of The Spoon’ which is a bend of a spoon drawn on a signed sheet of paper and you have a great little routine (consider this a Hidden Hidden Gem). Hidden Gem #32: ‘Poker Players Picnic REDUX’ by Ed Oschmann and Tom Dobrowolski, Tom and His Merry Men (p7) You and three participants each take quarter of the deck and shuffle, move and swap cards. At the end whoever has the highest card on top wins. And of course everyone has an ace. A perfect party trick with a great handling of this classic effect. Hidden Gem #33: ‘Collective Telepathy’ by Juan Tamariz, Genii Magazine, October 2002 (p52). Are you ready to learn the best piece of mentalism that you will learn this year? And probably next year as well? This routine is the very definition of ‘hidden in print’ and I only know about it as I was very fortunate to watch Tamariz totally fry a bar full of magicians and laymen with it. This was in 2012 if I remember which was about 10 years after it was published. I was lucky that immediately after I saw him perform it a light switched on in my brain and I remembered reading something similar years earlier… After a lot of research I found it. It’s an absolute brain-melter. Basically, someone writes down the name of someone only they know and then the audience comes up with information regarding that person such as where they live, their profession, characteristics and sometimes (including the night I saw Tamariz perform it) the person's actual name! No one has a clue what the hell is going! No stooging, dual reality or similar. Just typical Tamariz genius. You might read it and think, “Yeah, it’s nice, but not as good as Elsdon’s making it out to be.” Don’t! It IS that good I promise. One performance and you’ll be hooked for life.

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Hidden Gem #34: ‘Worditto’ by Stewart James, Stewart James In Print (p569). I’m a huge James fan and this is one my favourite tricks of his. Basically it is an offbeat magazine test that (impossibly) uses MIRASKILL as the method! No other creator would possibly have thought of this. Hidden Gem #35: ‘Inspected Gadget’ by Tyler Wilson, Reinventing The Real (p41). Whilst almost everyone else is trying to outdo each other with how clear the clear box in which their folded prediction resides can be, Tyler has gone in completely the other direction. For a signed-card-to-impossible location this is one of my two favourite handlings (the other appears later). And the impossible location is an envelope in which the participant can feel a card before the trick starts. Very smart and totally practical. Hidden Gem #36: ‘Rhymetime Sublime’ by Bill Cushman, Rhymetime Sublime eBook (p2). A completely impromptu word test, using any book, newspaper or magazine. Use the back of a serial box if you like. And great news: no anagrams! This is the kind of secret knowledge that should be in the arsenal of every magician and mentalist. Hidden Gem #37: ‘Four Coins And A Filipino’ by Homer Liwag, Magic Man Examiner Issue 1 (p2.) This is a very good shout for the best coins across ever published. I first saw Chris Korn perform it in the early 1990s and I literally could not believe what my eyes were seeing! The MME mags were very hard to find but were recently included with the reprint of Kenner’s Out Of Control so are much easier to find now. Hidden Gem #38: ‘Foto’ by Ben Harris, Off The Wall (p44). Forget the 1980s presentation about cameras and photo paper etc. this is an absolute peach of a card trick. Super visual (thanks to Harris’ underrated ‘Fandango Move’) and totally fooling (thanks to his great trick construction) this really deserves to be fooling a lot more audiences. Hidden Gem #39: ‘PM Plus’ by Mike Powers, Power Plays (p94). This might well be the best thing Powers has ever published. Two cards are freely selected whilst your back is turned and then found without you ever looking at the faces of the cards. Killer session material but with a good presentation this would be a real fooler for laymen too. Hidden Gem #40: ‘Millionaire Rummy Economy Version’ by Paul Hallas, Small But Deadly (p107). SBD is an essential book for every library as it is the best book ever written on packet tricks. It also features a number of excellent tricks 8

by Paul and others and this particular one is Hallas’ version of an old Larry Becker trick. It is very commercial and lots of fun to perform, ideal for close-up and restaurant workers. Hidden Gem #41: ‘Dirty Pool’ by David Harkey, Simply Harkey (p135). I could have listed almost any one of the tricks from Harkey’s fabulous book, as I’ve performed almost all of them at one time or another. But this one just might be my favourite. You show a small black balloon, which you only partly inflate. You then visible rip off the neck leaving you with a black pool ball. Everything is examinable. Surreal and wonderful. Hidden Gem #42: ‘Premeditated Prediction’ by Stephen Skomp, S’Komplimetary Mentalism (p11) This is a great publicity stunt! Predict the outcome of several different types of sporting event with 100% accuracy and then predict the next day’s newspaper headlines. And even easier to do in 2018 than it was when the book was written. Great thinking and completely practical. Hidden Gem #43: ‘Nailed!’ by Jay Sankey, Commercial Release (2006). Taking my love of two-card transpositions to another level entirely is this fabulous release from Sankey. It starts with you showing a photo of a face-up card nailed to a table. The participant holds the photo. They now pick a card but it doesn’t match. So you make the card in the photo transpose with the real card, which now has a nail-hole in it! And the selection is in the photo. It’s almost too strong. That hasn’t stopped me using it for the last decade though! Hidden Gem #44: ‘The Bottle Diabolique’ by Sid Fleischman, The Charlatan’s Handbook (p48). My fondness for Fleischman and his eclectically fabulous presentations knows no bounds. His handling for the old Chinese prayer vase uses a clear bottle of Perrier, or as I used to perform it, a clear beer bottle. For laymen, it is a crazy and memorable stunt that you can lift and swing a bottle using just a piece of rope. Hidden Gem #45: ‘Tearing A Lady In Two’ by David Britland, Tearing A Lady In Two (1989). Imagine getting to the final part of Card Warp where you tear both the ‘warped’ card and the cover card in half to hide the dirty work, and then fully restoring the warped card! This is basically that, although Britland prefers to perform it with a signed business card. Either way, it’s excellent. Hidden Gem #46: ‘Crosswords’ by Michael Weber, Lifesavers (p77). One could quite easily make an argument that this is the only progressive anagram effect ever published which makes any sense. It is certainly a fantastic piece of 9

improvised mentalism, and there ain’t many of those around! Bonus Hidden Gem: in his Lost In Translation (2010) notes, Weber gives a page of extras and updates to the effect which adds several notable improvements. Hidden gem #47: ‘Trio’ by Jay Sankey, 100% Sankey (p27). There is so much great magic in this hugely underrated book that I could have picked 10 other tricks; ‘Stirring Silver’, ‘Definitely Warped’ (card warp with one card!), ‘Dough’, ‘Identifying Features’, ‘Spookey’ etc. I’ve picked ‘Trio’ as at one time back when I was a magic bartender I was performing this trick several times a day. It is a sandwich trick where at the outset two mates are stapled together. Then a card is chosen and signed and… that’s right you know exactly where this is going. This is as clean and direct as it can get; no set-up or prep, no fiddling and the participant will swear that his signed card was stapled in the middle of the sandwich. Hidden Gem #48: ‘Never The Twain Shall Mix’ by Ray Kosby, Spectacle (p41). I’m not a fan of the Oil and Water effect. At all. But this, this is incredible. It’s not even a full effect really, just a phase. The difference here is that the participant is mixing his four red cards with your four blacks. And still they separate. Now if only there were two other phases that could bookend this one… Hidden Gem # 49: ‘Spectator Blindfold Drive’ by Oliver Meech, 5 For 5 Pounds – Stage eBook (p7). A participant is blindfolded and drives a remote-control car around a stage scattered with playing cards. The card they park on (or nearest to) matches your prediction. I’m so surprised that I have never seen Rune Klan do this trick. Or anyone else for that matter. This take on the pool-shot card prediction is brilliant. Pro-tip: in place of the regular deck use a Henry Evans Daredevil Deck. Hidden Gem #50: ‘A Magic Crystal’ by Eugene Burger, The Experience of Magic (p72). This is such a simple and beautiful effect: a small, rough and uncut crystal is rubbed between the hands and become smooth and round. There is much implied by this delightful little piece and if performed at the right time and for the right audience it can be both startling and powerful. Hidden Gem #51: ‘Beyond Touch’ by Sean Waters, Contemplations eBook (p86). I’ve read lots of colour-sensing routines with playing cards over the years, but this was the first one that motivated me to actually try it out in performance. It’s brilliant. If you have no experience of this kind of effect it’s hard to understand quite how much impact it has on laymen. 10

Hidden Gem #52: ‘H2O’ by Jack Curtis, Distorted Thoughts (p30). This is a beautifully offbeat effect where you twice predict the amount of water a participant will pour into a jug (the prediction takes the form of a sketch) before the tables are turned and the participant predicts how much water you will pour. Great routining and a clever use of complimentary methods that cancel each other out. Hidden Gem #53: ‘Underage Gambling’ by Matthew Dowden, Lecture Notes 2008 (p3) I’m not a fan of performing magic for children, but sometimes it simply must be done! Perhaps the guy who booked you loves you and your magic but your likelihood of getting further gigs from him depends on you showing his son a trick (because “he LOVES magic!”). Or his niece. Whatever. This is the trick. It’s a real feel good trick and will entertain the kid whilst frying the watching adults. Job done. Hidden Gem #54: ‘Hyper-Bent-elation’ by Daryl, Commercial Release (2007) I much prefer this effect to Card Warp as it leaves the participants with an impossible object as a souvenir. Two playing cards are placed face-to-face and then cut and folded ‘through the fourth dimension’. At the end the two cards have become Hypercards, one with two backs and one with two faces. This bald description does not remotely convey the powerful effect this trick can have on a smart audience. Hidden Gem #55: ‘Your Buttons Are Loose’ by Gene Kirk, Your Buttons Are Loose (p9). Imagine the Chinese Sticks done with the buttons on your jacket, starting with a button dangling off your left cuff. You pull a button on the front of your jacket and the cuff one retracts. Cue vanishes, transpositions and reappearances amidst much hilarity. This is another competition winner waiting for someone to perform it. Hidden Gem #56: ‘Tandem’ by Sean Waters, Tailored Suits (p277). Two random cards are cut to and in the old “guess what card is on my forehead game”. Neither you nor the participant can see the cards on your forehead but you both guess 100% correctly. The perfect framework for this kind of trick and it feels very real. Hidden Gem #57: ‘£ottery’ by Colin McLeod, Know Sh*t (p40). The problem all mentalists face if they do prediction tricks is that the audience’s thoughts will eventually turn towards the Lotto or Lottery. Great! THIS is the trick to show them. You hand out a Lottery ticket and have six people stand up and think of a 11

number. Those numbers are the exact numbers printed on the Lottery ticket! No switch of ticket. Game over. Hidden Gem #58: ‘Thwarpie’, Joshua Quinn, Paralies (p229). Unlike a lot of published magic and mentalism which devises solutions for problems which don’t exist, this is an example from the other end of the spectrum: a solution for a problem that I didn’t realise I had. This is a simple gimmick that works really well; a Sharpie thumb-tip writer that is reliable, practical, cheap and very easy to make. Hidden Gem #59: ‘Molly & Polly’ by Hector Chadwick, The Nailwriter Anthology (p80). Now that you have your ace new Sharpie thumb-writer you’re going to need a couple of killer tricks to do with it, so this and the next entry provide those. This one is a really smart Noughts and Crosses prediction. Hidden Gem #60: ‘Prophetriter’ by Paolo Cavalli, The Nailwriter Anthology (p76). And this is the second, an ingenious multiple prediction from the devious mind of Cavalli. All you need is a stack of business cards and you’re good to go. Hidden Gem #61: ‘Hold Out’ by Roy Walton, Out Of Sight (p14). Every Sadowitz trick in this booklet is great but Walton’s version is the pick of the bunch. A named card disappears from under the participant’s finger as he pins the card to the table and reappears in his own pocket. All while you stand a few feet away. A wonderful Sadowtiz/Walton combo. Hidden Gem #62: ‘Cryptext’ by Haim Goldenberg, Commercial Release (2008). Cryptext and the later Cryptext 2 are essential in the arsenal of any mentalist. It is a font that allows you to hide predictions is plain sight. A string of numbers (phone number, date of birth, etc.) is reversed and shown to spell a word or name. It doesn’t work for all names and numbers, but for those it does, it’s killer. And it’s still surprisingly well under the radar. Hidden Gem #63: ‘Fabian’s Oil & Water Surprise’ by Aldo Colombini, Magigram May 1978 (p747) As already mentioned, I don’t really like the Oil and Water plot, but I do love this! Go figure. I think the reason is that my good friend Iain Moran performed this for me (many, many years ago) and I didn’t see the end coming at all. It just goes to show that with a superior handling, even a plot one doesn’t like can be great. Hidden Gem #64: ‘Underhanded’ by Paul Brook, Underhanded eBook (2009). A practical, multiple-out billet effect where you never need to go anywhere near 12

your pockets! Paul has a ton of great effects, and this fooled me as badly as any of them. More smart, modern mentalism. Hidden Gem #65: ‘Ultimate Hold ‘Em’ by Jack Carpenter, Ultimate Hold ‘Em (2015). The title tells you everything you need to know. If you want to demonstrate that you can cheat at cards you need this booklet. And maybe one trick by Ben Earl too, and then you’re done. Hidden Gem #66: ‘Scryer’s Stone Soup’ by Neal Scruer and Alain Nu, PsychoChronetic (p35) An incredible coincidence and an impossible prediction effect using a bunch of non-working watches. Offbeat mentalism that is ideal for stand up and feels tonally different to so much other mentalism. Hidden Gem #67: ‘The Knowledgeable Cards’ by Roberto Giobbi, Card College 5 (p1233). My friend Paul Ingram turned me on to this beautiful, minimalist handling of the Hofzinser Ace Problem. The ending is something they just don’t see coming. A great piece of card magic. Hidden Gem #68: ‘World’s Funniest Joke’ by Jon Allen, Experience – The Magic of Jon Allen (p78). One of my all-time top three tricks to do using a bill switch. This is all kinds of clever. It’s magical, uses words and language in an off-beat way and leaves them with an impossible souvenir. What’s not to love? Hidden Gem #69: ‘Matching Wits’ by Bob King, New Magician Foolers (p9). A very entertaining and fooling gambling game using a deck of cards. The three phase routine builds to an impossible climax and as always with Bob’s work the handling is immaculate. Hidden Gem #70: ‘The Banned Choice’ by Ken Dyne, Lecture Notes 2015 (p9). This an excellent routine, but more importantly a presentational framework for any ‘Just Chance’ style effect where Ken has solved the problem of leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of the participants/losers. Great thinking as always from Ken. Hidden Gem #71: ‘Calligraphic Cash’ by John Carney, Carneycopia (p241). This is the second HG from the Carney book and with good reason: it’s one the best books of magic ever published. And whilst others are running around devising ever more elaborate gimmicks to accomplish the bill-to-pen effect, Carney has already published the best method here. His routine has perfect construction and timing and staging it as an unexpected transposition makes complete sense. And this is your second reminder to study ‘Secret Philosophy’. 13

Hidden Gem #72: ‘The Forbidden Palm’ by Tom Stone, Maelstrom (p69). A card trick that looks like trick-photography. This version of the Invisible Palm effect is visually stunning a looks exactly like card magic should: totally impossible. Hidden Gem #73: ‘True Pencil Through Bill’ by Vanni Bossi, The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi (p182). If there is one trick that I wish you could see performed before you learn how it’s done, this is it. It is the perfect trick: you really shove a pencil through the middle of a bank note, allowing it to be cleanly seen from every angle. And then you restore the note so that there is no hole. Really! No switch, regular note/bill and normal pencil. This is another once-in-a-lifetime creation and it demands far wider performance while there is still time (you’ll understand what that means once you read the method). Hidden Gem #74: ‘An Audience on Mars’ by Jim Steinmeyer, Nothing But Mystery (p18). The perfect no-prop mentalism effect for the next time you are at a party where everyone is smoking something recreational. Hidden gem #75: ‘The Third Man’ by Simon Edwards, Commercial Release (2010). I’m a sucker for tricks using photos and this is one of the best. Four photos, three envelopes and a compelling presentation make this a powerful examination of the participant’s ability to judge someone’s character, all confirmed by a 100% accurate prediction. Hidden Gem #76: ‘Amstel Heavy’ by David Regal, Approaching Magic (p377). You produce a large glass of beer from behind a menu. No jacket required, very easy to do, and a real fooler. Perfect for bar performances or as an opener at a large table. Hidden Gem #77: ‘Outside The Box’ by Jon Van Der Put, Cards Tricks For Money (p21). A great handling of the card under box effect (with repeat) that has been ‘creatively borrowed’ and released by several others. This should keep you going until Gordon Bruce releases his version (teaser alert!) Hidden Gem #78: ‘Digital Prediction’ by Calen Morelli, The Magic Session Underground Notes #3 (p6). You take a picture of a card on the participant’s phone as a prediction (and no, I still don’t like framing things as ‘predictions’ no matter how many of them are in this Volume!) and then they select any card, no force. The picture on the phone matches exactly. No apps and super easy to do. Hidden Gem #79: ‘Thought Extractor’ by Nick Einhorn, Commercial Release (2012). Two participants choose a paperback book each (they can be their own, 14

or off the shelf in a coffee shop etc.) and each chooses a random page. One chooses a word and the other a word that they can convert into an image. You read their minds and reveal both, with a drawing duplication thrown in if you choose. The gimmick employed is hidden in plain sight and will make you smile every time you use it. Sneaky thinking and a very direct routine. Hidden Gem #80: ‘OSYN’ by Marc Calabrese, The OSYN Notes eBook (p2). This is my other favourite signed-card-to-impossible location handling (along with Tyler’s referenced earlier). This takes the De Cova paperclip idea to another level entirely, and again I was lucky to be badly fooled by this when Marc did it for me. I was waiting for ‘the move’ but it never came. Brilliant thinking. NOTE: The next ten tricks are all from the main trick column in MAGIC magazine, written variously over the years by Kaufman, Racherbaumer and Jay. Much like the tricks from Apocalypse that featured in HG1, these are just the tip of the iceberg and the interested student will find a lifetime’s worth of great magic in 26-year run. Part of the joy of looking up these tricks will be seeing other great tricks that you had either forgotten about or never even seen before, and for that reason I have omitted the page numbers. And finally, in addition to the main trick column there was some sensational magic featured in separate columns by Steinmeyer, Cohen, Gardner, Farmer, Rowland and others. And my personal favourite – 20 columns of brilliant and crazy inventiveness by the Flicking Fingers. Happy hunting! Hidden Gem #81: ‘Ten For Ten’ by Yves Doumergue, MAGIC September 2003. I love four card productions from a shuffled deck and this is one of the best. A very deceptive handling and completely self-working. Hidden Gem #82: ‘Coin on Call’ by Aljaz Son, MAGIC August 2011. You borrow a copper coin from a participant and take a photo (on their phone) of them holding it. You now cause the coin to change into a silver coin and the coin in the photo has also changed. This is a totally practical and delightfully low-tech trick with no apps or anything else to worry about. Hidden Gem #83: ‘Reflipped’ by Yannick Chretien, MAGIC August 2004. Four Aces and four kings transpose. That description is completely accurate but does not remotely convey how excellent this trick is. Great visuals, a streamlined handling and a perfect effect. Bonus Hidden Gem: J.K. Hartman’s handling of the trick is also great and was published in the February 2005 issue.

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Hidden Gem #84: ‘Perfect Order’ by Tenkai Matsuura, MAGIC March 1994. What’s that? You want to perform Gertner’s ‘Unshuffled’ but can’t do faros? No problem! This incredible trick allows you to do just that. The effect is identical, but there is not a faro shuffle (or indeed any moves at all!) in sight. Hidden Gem #85: ‘Time Is Money’ by Asi Wind, MAGIC February 2005. This is one of the best tricks published in MAGIC during its entire run and is an absolute corker of an effect: you are holding two bank notes, one is yours and one is the participant’s. After some brief byplay of folding the notes, the participant’s note vanishes and reappears under their watch! A great handling that’s not too difficult and a killer ending that knocks laymen sideways. Hidden Gem #86: ‘Psychic Pickpocket’ by Terry LaGerould, MAGIC April 1992. A whimsical presentation hides a great piece of card magic: someone thinks of one card in a random group of five and then places the cards in their wallet. The thought of card vanishes from their wallet and reappears in your pocket. Practical and fooling. Hidden Gem #87: ‘Butter Bill’ by Daniel Garcia, MAGIC August 2008. One of the finest impromptu tricks to ever feature in MAGIC, this looks fantastic. A bank note penetrates twice through a clear straw, the second time looking like it just melts thru. It is a perfect illusion. Hidden Gem #88: ‘Look Snooker’ by Chad Long, MAGIC September 1995. So old it’s new! This was later marketed, but it appeared here first. It’s a hugely entertaining card trick with various messages appearing on the cards, several magical transformations and the surprise appearance of a selection. It is perfectly constructed and will fool anyone. I performed it for years but for some reason it fell out of my thinking and performances. I’ve started performing it again recently (prompted by writing this booklet) and I won’t make the same mistake again. This is a keeper. Hidden Gem #89: ‘Paper Balls’ by Peter Lentini, MAGIC March 2003. Much like the earlier Garcia trick this impromptu piece needs to be in your permanent repertoire as it provides a ton of magic with props that you can find almost anywhere. In this instance a couple of napkins are all you need to create a lovely magical routine. Hidden Gem #90: ‘Imaginary Twenty-One Card trick’ by Chuck Smith, MAGIC February 1995. You just know that any trick which lists its sole requirements as “an ability to be waggish and amusing in an odd way” is just going to be great. 16

And of course this version of the hoary old card trick is great because it’s the brainchild of the fabulous Chuck Smith. A card is freely selected from one of three rows of seven cards as per the original trick but then the cards are put to one side all the subsequent dealing is done with imaginary cards. Nonetheless, you name the selection! Bonus tip: search out any of Smith’s booklets you can find and snap them up. His material is golden. Hidden Gem #91: ‘The Call’ by Patrick Redford, Heptagon (p4). Over the years I have compiled a small repertoire of tricks that can be performed over the phone and the main requirements are simple: they need to be entertaining, have a minimum of process and be properly fooling. ‘The Call’ is one of them. Someone calls their friend up and then you speak to them and have them play a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. You repeatedly read their mind even though you obviously can’t see how they are playing. Simple and powerful. Hidden Gem #92: ‘Crypto’ by Phill Smith, Commercial Release (2015). When Phill first showed me this I just couldn’t conceive of how it could be possible. You have a stack of cards, each of which has an image on the front and some random letters printed all over the back. You also have a metal decoder card. The participant freely chooses an image, e.g. a gun. You place the decoder card on the back of the ‘gun’ image card and the holes in it line up with letters that spell ‘YOU WILL PICK ME’. You then put the decoder card on the back of each of the other cards and every single one says ‘YOU WILL PICK GUN’! It is entirely unfathomable and totally fooling. The props are easily introduced by saying that you were invited to perform at a cryptography conference and wanted to devise a brand new experience just for them. I love this trick. Hidden Gem #93: ‘Conjunction’ by Joshua Quinn, Conjunction Booklet (2006). They said it couldn’t be done, but they were wrong! Tear a single ungimmicked business card into two permanently linked examinable frames. No glue, tape or adhesives, no special printing, no switches and no extra hidden props. Start with one business card and end with an impossible object. I was so excited about this effect that after I’d bought the booklet I persuaded/pestered the creator to send me an eBook version as I couldn’t wait for the Airmail post to arrive! Some miracles only come along once in a lifetime – this is one of those. Hidden Gem #94: ‘Volition’ by Joel Dickinson, Head Tricks (p8). One of the greatest ‘impromptu’ mentalism effects ever released. You need just a handful of business cards and you are ready to create a sensation.

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Hidden Gem #95: ‘Artistic Licence’ by Gary Kurtz, Unexplainable Acts (p65). No one comes up with ideas like Kurtz! But then I’m sure you already know my feelings on the subject. This trick is basically a philosophical opinion about the merits of modern art, built into a card trick which is a series of colour changes. Except in this instance, the ‘colour changes’ are caused by huge patches of coloured paint appearing on the cards, then changing colour before finally mixing! Oh yes, and all done with a signed card. This single trick got me hired to live and perform in the Hilton in Dubai. Fabulous trick. (And fabulous hotel!) Hidden Gem #96: ‘The Mysterious Glass’ by Charlie Miller, Magicana, Genii January 1971 (p233). If you do (or want to do) any version of the glass through table or glass vanish from newspaper then you need to read the handlings here. The sound convincer alone is genius! Hidden Gem #97: ‘Shanghai Surprise’ by John Bannon, Impossibilia (p76). I just realised that this trick has been in my repertoire for almost 30 years. It is a short and sweet ‘Spellbound’ effect with that rare thing: a climax. Totally practical, not technically demanding and very commercial. As usual, I’m surprised I’ve never seen anyone else perform it. Hidden Gem #98: ‘Paper Switch’ by Benjamin Earl, Switch (p2). Two card transpositions don’t get much cleaner than this. Two cards, no deck, no gaffs, just some intermediate skills, intuitive psychology and relaxed handling. I watched Ben develop this over a number of years until he distilled the method down to perfection and amplified the effect up to impossible. The real work. Hidden Gem #99: ‘The Gold Cup Con’ by Carl Royle, How I Feed My Children (p5). I had never really spent much time on a chop cup routine until I read this. I really like ‘Psycho Ball’ by Peter Rosengren and ‘Fruit Cup’ by John Carney and whilst I had practiced and rehearsed both of them neither ultimately made it into my repertoire. But when I read this routine I knew I had finally found one I would use. This is a one cup and one ball routine that uses a mini cup and is performed entirely on your hand. And it makes no difference if you are totally surrounded. Job done. Bonus! Hidden Gem #100: ‘Zennerphobia’ by David Britland, Psychomancy (p4). A very effective mindreading/prediction effect which focuses on the participant rather than the cards. Too many ESP tricks get bogged down with process and procedure, but in typical fashion, Britland cuts to the chase and offers a clear and direct demonstration of his ability to predict the participant’s behaviour 18

using just a few business cards with Zener symbols drawn on them. A superior demonstration of ESP. Hidden Gem #101: ‘Drawing To Impossible Location’ by Wayne Houchin, Remix (p31). Several audience members create an abstract drawing on a small piece of paper. The drawing is openly burned only to reappear in the performer’s pocket. It is destroyed again and this time reappears in a sealed envelope being held by a member of the audience. Brilliant routining coupled with an under-used Hollingworth method serve to make this a perfect mystery that will fool absolutely anybody. Which makes this a great bonus Hidden Gem to conclude this second Volume.

Copyright © 2018 by Mark Elsdon. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy it, do not scan it, do not upload it. Thank you. More Elsdon goodies are available at: http://elsdon.blogspot.co.uk/ 19