Hello everyone!
Today’s topics are: CCCCC – The Criss-cross Cut Count Convincer Force; The Top-card Dribble Glimpse; Mysterious Kid Cutting the Aces
These are The Magic Memories 188, gone online Sunday, August 4th, 2024, at 0:07h sharp.
All The Magic Memories from 2021, 2022, and 2023, including the Magic Advent Calendar from 2020, can be found HERE.
It is full summertime here in Basel, Switzerland, and it is hot. I cannot say whether it is my age, or my overweight, or the global warming, or all together, but it is exhausting and almost feels like work.
Fortunately, in such situations I am quick to remind myself of what Confucius is reported to have said: “If in life you do what you like, you will never have to work.” I have appointed myself to that occupation a long time ago, so…
This wise man hit the nail on the head, but still, it is a bit too warm…
Therefore, and in spite of all climatic adversities, I am working full-time at finishing Unexpected Agenda.
That is, Barbara and me are working, Barbara having already passed by far the two-hundred-hour work time to produce the photos and illustrations for the book, and is now layouting each and every page of what will very probably be a 384-page publication. (I started the Unexpected Agenda-file in October 2021, so by now have already invested over one thousand work hours in the project.)
Recently, Maxwell Pritchard, who already helped us with Sharing Secrets in an admirable way, has joined the team and is donating most of his time in August to editing the book (I cannot count his hours…). As a favor to him, please, nobody who is reading these The Magic Memories tell him about them: If he read them, he would suffer a heart-attack (as I have said repeatedly, the The Magic Memories are completely unedited, and I read through them only once, with all the consequences, for which I take up all responsibility…).
Soon Mike Vance will reread the entire book once again, to make sure that I correctly installed all of Max’s edits; if you count at least ten minutes per page, that will be another 3’840 minutes (64 hours!).
After that we will print out every page for the second time (you have to print the text to see how it really looks…), look through everything again for the n-th time, and finally send off everything as a print-PDF to my friend Francesco Mugnai, who sits in Florence, Italy (yes, “bella Italia!”), with his Florence Art Edizioni, and will set the finishing touches on the printable PDF, plus create the cover and supervise the printing, binding, cellophaning, shipping, etc. All this done by different companies to optimize the costs of production, which are getting worse every day.
Add to this that eventually I will be paid in Euros and in Dollars, once the book starts to sell, and that these two currencies keep falling toward the Swiss Franc (one Dollar used to be 1 Franc 80 Cents in 2000, today it is less than 90 Cents…), but the Cappuccino now costs up to CHF 6.50 (today equivalent to €7 and US$7.6), well, then you might wonder why we are doing all this.
Answer: I am stupid, but I would not know anything else to do…
I had to say this, it’s therapy… thank you for listening 🙂
All this said, let us turn to today’s The Magic Memories, all on cards 🙂
The CCCCC Force – The Criss-cross Cut Count Convincer Force
No, the sleight did not originate at FFFF…
The first three C’s are a natural from the Criss-cross Cut Force, also known as Cross-cut Force.
The “Count Convincer” part came from rereading what is possibly Dai Vernon’s very first publication – certainly the first publication for the lay market – namely Secrets of Magic, from 1924 (take note!), in a trick named “The Whispering Queen” (I will reproduce that with an addition on one of the 365 days of Unexpected Agenda).
The spectator is handed the deck for shuffling. Ask another spectator to cut it, and then complete the cut by placing the lower half askew on top of the other; that is the standard procedure.
However, note that the deck was shuffled before it was cut, or else the cut does not make any sense. You will obviously have to glimpse the top card now, if it does not matter which card is forced, or replace the force card(s) from the Palm, or (false) shuffle the deck yourself (use the Curry–Tamariz telescoped-deck ploy).
Ask, “Do you know how many cards you cut off?” This is, of course, Ascanio’s “Clouding Question” (Sharing Secrets, p. 30).
Quickly count the upper packet’s cards face down onto the table, e.g., twenty-two.
Immediately take the top card of the tabled packet and give it to the first spectator, “…you get the twenty-third…” Give the next card to a second spectator, “……you get the twenty-fourth…” Ask the third spectator to take the next card, commenting, “…and you get the twenty-fifth card. Please look at the cards and remember them.” This is in case you want to force three cards. Adapt to one card, etc.
Lest I forget…
In spite of its simplicity, the Criss-cross Cut Force has received quite a bit of attention over the years. If you are interested in the subject, the indefatigable Jon Racherbaumer has published an e-book available from library.com, titled CRISS-CROSSINGS – Unleashing the X-Force, 34 pages all dedicated to this polyvalent Force. It was actually while reading in that publication that I forced myself to look again at the Criss-cross Cut Force, identifying its illogical bits. As a result I came up with what I think to be the best handling of it, at least to my criteria, and I called it “The Arete Crisscross Force”; it will be the entry of December 10 in the upcoming Unexpected Agenda, and the first time it sees print in English.
The Top-card Dribble Glimpse
This is an extension, or variation, if you will, of what I have dubbed the Top-card Riffle Glimpse in Card College Volume 2 (p. 355).
Cannot remember if I ever told you how I got the idea of the Top-card Riffle Glimpse.
In an older book by Rolf Andra (Karten-Kombinationen 1949 and Karten-Magie – Das Handbuch der Magie 1956), he described what he called “das Ankippen”, where you lifted the inner end of the deck’s top card to glimpse it.
Albeit practical, I found it a bit obvious. So, I thought that the Glimpse would be better covered if the deck’s inner end was lightly riffled, and the last card lifted off a bit more and its index sighted.
This was a bit better, but still obvious to the attentive spectator.
Then I was reminded of Erdnase’s “Blind Riffles – I. To Retain the Top Stock.” Look at figure 6 on p. 35:
Erdnase glimpses the top card during a Riffle Shuffle by slightly drawing it inward as the riffle ends.
If you have older cards, you might not be able to cleanly pull the top card inward.
So, I started to obtain a break under the top card before starting the riffle, and this worked like a charm.
It had the added advantage, that I could sight the index of the top card already when mid-way through the shuffle, so that I could lift the gaze and look into the audience, saying something, as the Riffle Shuffle ended.
In an act of interdisciplinarity, I transferred this idea to Rolf Andra’s original “Ankippen” and as a result got the Top-card Riffle Glimpse.
And now for the variation, which is really minimal, you will say, but I found it to be really very practical: Hold the deck in Dealing Position, obtain a break under the top card, briefly holding it with the little finger. With the other hand grip the deck in End Grip, the thumb taking over the break, and then dribble the cards onto the table.
As with the Top-card Riffle Glimpse, you will be able to glimpse the top card’s inner left index when you have dribbled off about half the cards, so you can then look up and say something (meaningful!), e.g., “Your card is somewhere here in the pack – please do not forget it.”
To avoid flashing the maneuver, turn to the spectator furthest to your left, if you are right-handed.
Mysterious Kid Cutting the Aces
This next item will probably only please a few among you, so I apologize to the rest, but I find it a lovely item.
I got the inspiration by reading “The Cull Riffle of the Mysterious Kid” on p. 212 of Dai Vernon’s Revelations, which Vernon called “the final book of the New Testament” 🙂 I still prefer the edition of 1984 that respects the original pagination of The Expert at the Card Table, and has Persi Diaconis’ superlative “Introduction”.
Here it is, directly from my Evernote-Notebook:
Cutting the Aces with Block Transfer
Variation I
Inspired by reading Cull Riffle Mysterious Kid
Effect
The deck is riffle shuffled 4 times, each time about a quarter of the deck is cut forward to the table. Eventually 4 packets rest on the table – the top card of each is an Ace.
Method
False shuffle and false cut to retain the 4 Aces on top.
Do the 1st part of Vernon’s Cold Deck Cut, ending up with about one quarter of the deck separated on top. Undercut at the break to the left, and Riffle Shuffle the packets together, letting an Ace fall last. Do Vernon’s Triumph Shuffle, transferring the top Ace onto the right packet, which is then pulled out and cut forward to the table: it will have the Ace on top, with the balance of the deck having the other 3 Aces on top.
Repeat twice, leaving 4 packets on the table, each with an Ace on top.
To vary the handling, use a Pull-out Shuffle With Block-transfer, or a Push-through With Block-transfer, or a Zarrow Shuffle, or a Slip Cut (on the last 2 Aces).
Variation II
In my small white notebook it says «Fechter Cutting the Aces with Zarrow», but I couldn’t find it in Fechter’s book. It reminds me of a similar effect and handling shown to me by Jason England in Toronto, in a lunch break at 31 Faces North.
Effect
The deck is riffle shuffled and run cut, then about half the cards lifted off – the top card of the lower packet is an Ace, the card below and above being shown as indifferent cards. The deck is completed, and the other 3 Aces are found in a similar way.
Method
The 4 Aces are on top. False shuffle and false cut to retain them there.
Add 2 x-cards in 2 ordinary Riffle Shuffles. Show that there are no Aces on the top and the bottom.
For the first Ace: Do the first two parts of Vernon’s Cold Deck Cut, Zarrow under 2 cards, retain a break between the two packets as you square up, slide the deck forward, and then cut and complete the cut. Turn the first Ace face up and leave it on the table.
For the second Ace: Do the first two parts of Vernon’s Cold Deck Cut, undercut to the left, Zarrow under 2 Aces, retain a break between the two packets as you square up. Slide deck forward and with your right hand cut off at the break, turn top card of tabled packet face up to reveal the second Ace. Show top few cards and bottom few cards of tabled packet to be indifferent cards. Complete deck by placing the packet in your right hand on top of tabled packet.
The third Ace: Dribble cards on the table, as you say that the third Ace is at position 37.» Do the Benzais Spin Cut to cut off apparently 37 cards and reveal the third Ace. Show top and bottom cards, and then complete the deck to bring the last Ace on top.
The forth Ace: Add 2 x-cards in 2 ordinary Riffle Shuffles. Show that there are no Aces on the top and the bottom.
Do the first two parts of Vernon’s Cold Deck Cut, undercut to the left, Zarrow under 2 Aces, retain a break between the two packets as you square up. Undercut to the left. Riffle the packet from the right hand into the left packet, dropping the top 2 cards last. Do a Vernon Simple Push-through, run-cutting the extracted packet on top of the tabled packet, retaining a break. Slide deck forward, cut at break, and reveal top card of tabled packet to be the last Ace.
To end replace the 4 Aces on top of the balance of the deck and do three Riffle Shuffle à la Vernon Top Stock Control (see Secret Agenda, May 26 – Top-Stock Control with Riffle Shuffle… this is sensational) ; reveal the Aces to have returned to the top.
Wish you all a successful and happy week,
Roberto Giobbi
