In the words of a famous Italian plumber, “Let’s-a go!”

Mark Leveridge Magic Podcast 🎙

Recently, I’ve been seriously considering becoming a part-time professional, so I’ve been listening to past episodes of the Mark Leveridge Magic Podcast to learn more about the practical and business side of performing magic for a living. While I have a day job I like, the UK university where I work is in the middle of cutting 20% of its staff. Consequently, there’s a small but significant chance I might not have a job by the end of the year—fun times indeed! 🤣😭 I’ve decided that, regardless of what happens, it might be better for my future career prospects to establish multiple income streams, and performing magic for payment is an obvious option.

Back to the podcast. Mark began his monthly magic musings in January 2013, with no idea how long the show would last. Although he’s since moved to publishing it every two months, it’s still going strong: there are currently 115 episodes available on Podbean, although the first 23 episodes, from January 2013 to November 2014, appear to be missing from the archive. I like the show because, as a professional magician with over forty years’ experience, he shares practical tips and advice on the realities of making a living from performing magic—something very few magic podcasts do.

If you’d like to explore the podcast but aren’t sure where to begin, I’d recommend the August 2020 episode, in which Mark recounts a funny story about a close-up gig and a vicious seagull! This story perfectly encapsulates how he uses humorous, self-deprecating personal disasters to teach life lessons about the unpredictability of working as a professional magician.

As there are so many episodes, each 30 to 45 minutes long, I downloaded them all and added them to an AI-powered notebook using a Google service called NotebookLM. By doing this, I have access to an accurate transcription of each episode and can use Google’s Gemini chatbot interface to interrogate the text. For example, I asked it to provide me with Mark’s top five tips for amateur magicians who want to go pro. Here’s the response I got:

Here are Mark Leveridge’s top five tips for amateur magicians looking to make the leap to a professional career:

1. Calculate your financial needs and have a buffer

Before giving up your regular salary, you must recognise that professional magic income is often sporadic while living expenses are systematic. Mark advises calculating your total living expenses and dividing that number by your average show fee to find out exactly how many extra bookings you need to survive. You should also ensure you have some savings to fall back on during your initial transition.

2. Diversify your income streams

Mark warns against putting all of your eggs in one basket by relying on a single type of performance. To sustain a long-term career, you should branch out and offer multiple services, such as children’s parties, close-up magic, stand-up shows, trade show entertainment, lecturing, and even selling magic products.

3. Eliminate your fallback plan to enforce perseverance

Success requires a “never say die” attitude to survive the inevitable dips in bookings and income. Mark strongly advises against keeping a “parachute” or fallback option, such as planning to simply return to your old day job if magic does not work out. He argues that lacking an easy alternative provides the intense motivation required to make your magic career succeed.

4. Treat it like a genuine business

Show business is made up of two words: the show and the business. If you only focus on your act and ignore essential business skills like accounting, strategy, and self-promotion, you will not succeed. Mark recommends treating lead generation and marketing as your daytime job, utilising both online and offline advertising, and actively networking with local business groups.

5. Conduct a “risk assessment” on your act

The difference between an amateur and a professional is that an amateur expects everything to go perfectly, while a pro fully expects things to go wrong. You should perform a critical risk assessment of your act to anticipate potential technical or prop failures. By establishing contingency plans for major disasters—such as a broken invisible thread or failing electronics—you can recover seamlessly during a live performance.

This isn’t word-for-word what Mark said. The AI is consolidating and paraphrasing from the sources uploaded to the notebook. But, because NotebookLM is a “source-grounded AI”, it doesn’t introduce unverified information into its responses; it only uses the sources you’ve uploaded to the notebook—in this case, all 115 episodes of Mark’s podcast.

This technique, sometimes called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), can be used with any of the current crop of AI chatbots. The catch is that with most chatbots, RAG only adds information and, crucially, doesn’t prevent the model from using its broader training data (which might not always improve output quality). Source-grounding, however, is built into the very fabric of NotebookLM’s operation, making it much less likely to hallucinate (make stuff up). It also generates inline citations (footnotes) that link directly to the specific sections of your uploaded material. These citations allow you to verify the accuracy of AI-generated content and trace any information back to the original source it was extracted from (in this case, specific locations in the podcast transcripts). All of this makes it a much more reliable research tool than your average general-purpose chatbot.

I asked Gemini—the AI that powers NotebookLM—to compile a list of the podcast episodes it drew on to generate the top five tips. I did this on the assumption that some of you might also benefit from listening to the original source material. If you have a similar interest in “going pro”, the twelve podcast episodes below provide an excellent primer:

• May 2015 - This episode provides foundational financial advice, including calculating your required show volume relative to your living expenses, ensuring you have a financial buffer, diversifying your income streams, and compartmentalising your marketing websites for different audiences.

• March 2015 and November 2017 - These episodes emphasise the importance of keeping props immaculate, such as replacing dog-eared cards, swapping out dirty grey ropes for fresh white ones, and regularly polishing brass items.

• May 2017 - This is where the strategy of proactively collecting testimonials and including relevant quotes in every email you send to a potential booker originates.

• July 2017 - This episode contains advice to filter your inquiries by requiring bookers to complete a detailed form, thereby deterring casual “cold” leads.

• April 2018 - Mark details the importance of compartmentalising your marketing to appear as an expert and explains that 90% of a professional’s energy should go into audience management, leaving only 10% for the trick mechanics.

• May 2020 - This episode discusses cultivating a relentless “never say die” attitude by eliminating fallback plans, such as returning to an old day job, and introduces the concept of doing a “risk assessment” for your act.

• April 2022 - Expanding on the risk assessment concept, this episode highlights the difference between amateurs who expect perfection and professionals who actively expect and plan for things to go wrong.

• October/November 2022 - This episode addresses the unique challenges for semi-pros, emphasising the need to consistently project high energy and professional standards, even after a tiring day at a regular job.

• April/May 2024 - Mark advises protecting your hard-won reputation by having the confidence to walk away from gigs where a booker has completely unrealistic expectations.

• August/September 2024 - This episode provides actionable tips for mastering the live environment, specifically identifying amateur physical habits to eliminate, such as fidgeting, swaying, avoiding eye contact, and failing to project your voice.

• December 2024/January 2025 - This episode is the source for the advice to step outside of magic circles and join local business networking groups to connect with business owners face-to-face.

If you’re sceptical of, or even a little intimidated by, AI, I’d encourage you to try NotebookLM to support your magical studies. You don’t have to stick to a single repository of information, as I did here. You can mix and match your favourite magical sources—podcasts, blog posts, magic books and periodicals—and start asking interesting questions.

I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Mark Leveridge for recording and sharing these podcast episodes for free. They’re an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to build a successful career in magic.

Imitation Aces

This month, I wrote up a fast-paced four-Ace trick called “Imitation Aces”. You can learn more about it in the latest edition of Packet Trick Paradise:

🃏🌴 Read Packet Trick Paradise #14: Imitation Aces 👈

This is the opening effect of a three-trick set called “Duty Aces”, which I’ll share in the next instalment of Corrupting the Classics (which is taking me a little longer than anticipated to write, but should be published sometime in May).

Royal Variety 👑

Paid subscribers can now learn one of the best packet tricks I’ve ever invented: “Royal Variety” in Packet Trick Paradise #13. The routine features four classic card-magic plots—Wild Card, Ambitious Card, Card Warp, and Cards to Pocket—all wrapped up in a playful circus-themed presentation. 🎪

Here’s what happens:

You announce that you’ll recreate the circus with just three cards.

“First into the big top are the clowns,” you say, displaying three identical Jokers. “But I prefer the quick-change artists.” The Jokers transform, one by one, into the Queen, King and Jack of Hearts.

“Then come the acrobats.” You perform a short, Ambitious Card sequence: the King repeatedly leaps to the top of the packet on your cry of “Allez Hop!”—finishing with two backflips (turning face down, then face up again, while trapped between the other two cards a la Card Warp).

“But my favourites are the magicians and their glamorous assistants.” The Jack is placed in your pocket and instantly jumps back to your hand. The Queen makes the same impossible journey. Finally, the King vanishes from between the Jack and Queen, reappearing in your pocket. All three cards are handed out for examination.

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Square Holes

I recently came across an old Numberphile YouTube video about the “Square Hole” illusion—a geometric puzzle in which a large circular drinks coaster passes through a much smaller, rigid square hole in a sheet of paper. It works because folding the paper creates “elbow room” (ambient three-dimensional space) that isn’t present when it is flat, allowing the disc to pass through.

I think it’s this particular video, featuring Tadashi Tokieda, that inspired the recent wave of viral videos showcasing the puzzle on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. A good example is Pete Firman’s Square Hole video on TikTok. (I’ve featured puzzle-based magic like this before in the Ruseletter—see Monthly Updates #8 and #9 if this stuff tickles your fancy.)

Three years ago, Canadian magician and master mischief-maker Ryan Pilling released a more magical version of the puzzle. For the ridiculously low price of $7 (about £5 or €6), you can learn several variations that add “one-degree” improvements to the optical illusion. He also provides a few alternative presentations and teaches you how to make the props (using custom-designed PDF files included with the package). My favourite approach is his “Houdini Through A Brick Wall”, which is the perfect paper-based trick to keep in your wallet.

You can find Ryan’s “Square Hole” at your favourite magic dealer. However, I’d recommend buying it directly from Ryan himself—creators tend to earn more per download this way.

Buy Square Hole

Disclaimer: I’m not being paid to promote this product. I bought it myself and thought it was woefully underappreciated at the time of release and didn’t receive the attention it deserved. If you like what Ryan does in the video above, you won’t be disappointed.

Three Videos Worth Watching 📺

Here are three videos I’ve watched this month that I think you should watch too.

The Zabrecky Hour 💀

Duration: 15 minutes

A weird and wonderful performance by Rob Zabrecky, in which he hosts an unconventional birthday séance and invites audience members to participate in a series of mysterious spectral experiments. Attendees handle odd artefacts and take on strange challenges to determine whether communication with the afterlife is truly possible.

Strong Magic Show by Michael Vincent

Duration: 21 minutes

Here’s another full act from the incomparable Michael Vincent. The show features a variety of classic routines, including the Hold-Up Trick and the Linking Rings. Between effects, Michael shares personal stories about his magic mentors, the philosophy behind magic, and the importance of elements such as drama, suspense, and perception in creating a successful trick. The performance combines technical skill with masterful storytelling, culminating in a philosophical reflection on balance and beauty inspired by Lao Tzu.

Oz Pearlman on the WHCD Attack

Duration: 13 minutes

I was startled to hear that Oz Pearlman, mentalist and former demo guy for Penguin Magic, was performing right next to President Trump during the recent White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting. What was even more shocking, at least to me, was how many people seemed indifferent to the event, as if an assassination attempt on the President of the United States were the most ordinary thing in the world. We live in very strange times!

In the video, Oz recounts his harrowing experience. He describes the sudden shift from performing a mind-reading routine for the President, First Lady and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to diving for cover as Secret Service agents took the President to the floor on stage. He describes the surreal moment of locking eyes with Trump from a few feet away amid the chaos, and his initial fear that a bomb was about to go off.

I hope you enjoyed this monthly update. If you’d like more tips on using AI as a study aid, please let me know in the comments or by replying via email.

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. I thought I’d start adding bonus content at the very bottom of the newsletter to reward my most dedicated readers.

The Brutal Business of Professional Magic

You may be aware that NotebookLM can generate new forms of media from the sources in your notebook. One of these is an “audio overview” featuring two over-enthusiastic American podcasters discussing the source material. Here’s an example on the topic of becoming a professional magician. I’m not sure whether it encourages me to become one or puts me off entirely! But it does synthesise much of Mark’s excellent advice on the topic into a handy long-form podcast episode.

Finally, here’s the prompt that I used within NotebookLM to create the audio overview above. You might like to try using it with other AI-powered tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, or Lumo (a more privacy-focused option).

You are a professional magician and performance career coach with deep experience guiding amateur performers through the transition to full-time professional magic. I’m an amateur magician, seriously considering going pro, and I want a comprehensive, honest assessment of everything I need to think through before making that leap.

Analyse the full picture of this transition—covering the artistic, business, financial, psychological, and practical dimensions. For each area, go beyond surface-level advice: identify the non-obvious pitfalls, the things most amateurs underestimate, and the decisions that tend to make or break early professional careers. Where relevant, distinguish between different professional paths (close-up/table magic, stage shows, corporate entertainment, children’s parties, trade shows, etc.) since the considerations differ meaningfully.

Draw on real patterns you’ve observed in performers who succeeded versus those who struggled. Be direct about the hard truths—the income reality, the rejection, the identity shift from hobbyist to professional—not just the inspiring upside. Prioritise depth over breadth: if certain considerations are genuinely more critical than others, make that hierarchy clear.

Welcome to another edition of Packet Trick Paradise, my regular column in which I share my never-ending love of packet tricks with Ruseletter readers. In this instalment, we’ll explore a fast-paced routine that uses four regular playing cards, called “Imitation Aces”. I’ve designed this trick to function as a prelude to Dai Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces”, but it can also be used before you perform your favourite version of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick (or any four-Ace trick for that matter).

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“Imitation Aces” is the first effect in a three-trick set called “Duty Aces”, which will be published in the next issue of Corrupting the Classics. Each trick in the set uses the same set of simple props (the four Aces and a black envelope). This is my attempt to create a short packet trick that doesn’t rely on extra cards; something that’s surprisingly difficult to do.

The Effect

Here’s what happens in “Imitation Aces”:

Four Aces of Spades are displayed by the magician, who explains that only one of them is genuine. The three “counterfeit cards” visually transform into the Aces of Diamonds, Hearts and Clubs, leaving the performer with four regular Aces.

Beyond the handling itself, which is well within reach of intermediate card workers, I’ve developed a unique presentation for the trick based on the fascinating—and largely forgotten—history of the Ace of Spades and its link to the British tax system.

The Death Card 💀

From 1711, the British Government collected tax revenue on playing cards through a series of stamp duty laws, initially requiring a hand stamp to be placed on one card, typically the Ace of Spades, as proof that duty had been paid on each pack of playing cards sold.

In 1765, this system was formalised, and card makers were required to purchase every Ace of Spades directly from the Stamp Office, which printed them with an elaborate royal coat of arms to deter forgery. Counterfeiting these “duty Aces” was regarded as a serious crime and capital offence; in 1805, the card maker Richard Harding was hanged at the Old Bailey for making fraudulent copies of the Ace of Spades. No wonder some people call it the death card! 💀

In 1828, an even more ornate version was introduced—printed by Perkins Bacon on behalf of the Commissioners of Stamps (see image above). It bore a lion, a unicorn and considerably more foliage than its predecessor. This elaborate, banknote-style design became known as “Old Frizzle”. The system remained in place, in various forms, until the duty was finally abolished in 1960. However, the tradition of ornate, intricate pip designs on the Ace of Spades has endured and become a standard feature across most modern deck designs.

Shake, Snap and Sniff! 🫨🫰👃

Like many magicians, I also collect playing cards, so it makes perfect sense to talk about their history when performing card magic. This trick enables you to begin with a strong hook, such as:

• “How good do you think you are at spotting a fake?”

• “Do you think you could tell a forgery from the real thing?”

• “Have you ever held a card that was worth a man’s life?”

• “I’d like to show you something I probably shouldn’t—not because it breaks the magician’s code, but because it’s treason. Well, at least it used to be.”1

• “In another century, what I’m about to show you would have cost me my neck.”

• “In 1805, four cards like these cost a man his life.”

You can then continue by saying, “In this envelope, I have four playing cards—one is genuine; the other three are forgeries.” This gives you a compelling way to begin the routine and instantly captures your audience’s attention. The historical details help to sustain that interest as the routine progresses.

I particularly like the silly way the transformations are described as historic tests for detecting forgeries; you begin with the “shake test”, then the “snap test”—both of which sound semi-plausible (although they are, of course, complete nonsense). But you finish with the most absurd: the “sniff test”! 👃 This presentational framing gives you plenty of scope to interact and have some playful fun with your audience, e.g., by getting them to smell the cards themselves. Of course, you can lean into the more serious and solemn side of the presentation if that’s more your thing. As I perform this as an opener, I tend to take a more lighthearted approach with a touch of the ridiculous.

Want to learn it? The full tutorial, along with performance tips and credits, is now available on my blog:

Learn the Trick

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. Incidentally, the suggested presentation that I’ve included would also work well when paired with Peter Kane’s Wild Card plot, in which you transform the cards into duplicate Aces of Spades. In fact, I’m currently playing with a handling by Eric DeCamps called “Impromptu Wild Card,” which was released as a video download by Fantasma Magic circa 2008. While the product is no longer available, you can still watch a performance of it on YouTube. I’ve found that it is possible to modify the handling so that you appear to print four Aces of Spades before transforming three of them, all at once, into the Aces of Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. Once I’ve worked out the details, this will be published as “Forged Aces” in a future edition of Packet Trick Paradise.

Props: A Jack, Queen and King of Hearts, along with a Joker, all with matching back designs. A small box or bag of popcorn (optional).

Well, it’s been almost a year since I published a new packet trick in the Ruseletter, so I thought I’d better share something good—a brand new, multi-phase packet trick called “Royal Variety”!

This trick was originally titled “Three-Card Stunner” in my notebooks. I delayed publishing it because, to be frank, I didn’t have a decent presentation to accompany it. The method was great, but there was no compelling hook or theme for the magic taking place. In other words, the trick had no heart—and a heartless trick is barely worth performing, no matter how good the method.

Then it struck me. The routine could be presented as a homage to my favourite variety performers and an expression of my love of the circus. Here’s what happens:

You remove some cards from your pocket and announce that you’re going to recreate the wonder and excitement of the circus using just three cards.

“Traditionally, the first performers to enter the big top are the clowns during the come-in,” you say as you display three identical Jokers. “Their zany antics are a lot of fun, but I find clowns a little creepy. I prefer the quick-change artists…” As you say this, you transform the three Jokers into the Queen, King and Jack of Hearts.

“I also love the acrobats,” you say, as you perform a short, ambitious card sequence with the three cards. The King of Hearts keeps jumping to the top of the packet when you cry, “Allez Hop!” He finishes his act by performing two backflips (the card magically turns face down, then face up again when trapped between the other two cards).

You then share that, unsurprisingly, your favourite circus performers are the magicians and their glamorous assistants. The Jack is put in your pocket, but amazingly, he manages to jump back into your hand. The Queen makes the same invisible journey with the same impossible result. Finally, the King visually vanishes from between the Jack and Queen, then reappears in your pocket. All three cards are handed out for examination.

Why should you bother learning “Royal Variety”? Let me make the case as simply as I can: four classic card magic plots, four ordinary playing cards, and a memorable presentation that often stirs fond childhood memories of going to the circus. For a packet trick, it punches well above its weight. 🥊 That said, the method is better suited to intermediate card magicians, so be prepared to put in some practice before performing it.

The routine features four of the most beloved plots in close-up card magic—Wild Card, Ambitious Card, Card Warp and Cards to Pocket—woven into a single, seamless routine that plays in under ten minutes. Each phase functions as a standalone effect, yet together they create something greater than the sum of their parts. Audiences don’t experience a packet trick. They experience a miniature circus show. 🎪

And then there’s the practical side. You end completely clean, with three examinable cards. It resets instantly—just drop the cards back in your pocket, and you’re ready to go again. You don’t need a table. You don’t need any gaffs or special cards. You don’t need anything except a Jack, Queen, King and Joker. These can be taken from your working deck or kept in a wallet, envelope, or pocket, making the trick a practical choice if you’re performing mix-and-mingle magic and intend to repeat it for multiple audiences.

Additionally, the modular structure means you can cut the routine short if you’re interrupted without the audience feeling short-changed; you can exit cleanly after Phase 2 (Quick-Change Clowns) or Phase 3 (Ambitious Acrobatics) without disrupting the overall flow of the piece. This makes it ideal for restaurants, banquets, parties, or any setting where the performing environment is somewhat unpredictable.

Finally, the circus presentation gives it warmth, humour and a through-line that pure card magic often lacks. Audiences leave with a memorable story to tell—and that, more than anything else, is what makes a trick worth learning.

This is an odd-numbered edition of Packet Trick Paradise, available only to paid subscribers. It seems thirteen is indeed unlucky for some—namely, my free subscribers, who won’t have access to this tutorial unless they upgrade. Fear not, though. I’ll be publishing another instalment of Packet Trick Paradise in a few days for all Ruseletter readers. In it, I’ll be sharing a fantastic packet trick called “Imitation Aces”, designed as a perfect prelude to Dai Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces”.

Read more

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The update closes with my plans for the next (expanded) edition of Corrupting the Classics. It’s going to be a good one!

New on MBOT: Hay’s Paradox

Reading time: 10 minutes

I finally managed to write a more robust article on Hay’s Paradox and its connection to Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). You can read the article on Marty’s Bag of Tricks (if you haven’t done so already):

Read the Blog Post

Do You Like David Blaine’s Style of Magic?

It’s certainly undeniable that David Blaine transformed the public perception of magic—and magicians—in the late 1990s. In short, he made magic cool again. Like many amateur magicians my age, I was profoundly influenced by his first few TV specials—an influence that led to a deep love of close-up magic that persists to this day.

However, whenever his name comes up online, at magic clubs, or at conventions, his style tends to divide the room. It’s a classic Marmite situation—people either love him or hate him. I’m not entirely sure why this happens. Perhaps it’s driven by professional jealousy, or maybe some magicians simply dislike his monosyllabic, deadpan delivery (though, make no mistake, this performance persona is entirely intentional and thoroughly disarming).

Personally, I’ve always appreciated Blainesian close-up magic—his straightforward, no-nonsense style of conjuring. Most magicians talk far too much—and far too quickly—when performing card tricks. They speak a lot, but often say very little. Blaine’s minimal dialogue does something critical: it allows his audience the time and space needed to respond. This approach places the attention entirely on the spectators and their reactions to the magical moment. It’s a far less egocentric way to present magic. While I don’t love everything he does (especially the squirm-inducing stunts with frogs and needles), his minimalist method acting is a remarkably generous way to share magic with people.

Blaine Meets the Golden Knights

Blaine’s signature style was on full display earlier this month when he performed for the Vegas Golden Knights, a professional ice hockey team based in Las Vegas.

I really enjoyed the performances in this video; it brought back memories of old-school David Blaine. Those early TV specials—the ones I recorded on VHS and watched repeatedly until I could reconstruct some of the methods. Those were the days! 📼

A few things stood out to me as a magician: I love how he casually blocks the Top Change from the camera’s view when performing for Braeden Bowman. You rarely see this level of situational awareness when magicians perform on live TV or for social media. (He did the same thing recently when filmed by fellow passengers while doing impromptu magic on a plane—see Monthly Update #36).

Using Bowman’s jersey number (42) as the reveal for his interpretation of Eddie Fechter’s “Be Honest, What Is It?” was a brilliant touch. It made the magic feel personally connected to Bowman and the Golden Knights. Notice how Blaine doesn’t point out the number himself. He simply hands the card over and lets Bowman discover that the two cards match his jersey number. By remaining silent, he amplifies the impact of the effect tenfold.

So, what can we learn from Blaine’s performance for the Vegas Golden Knights? We should probably all speak less when performing our tricks.

Do you like Blainesian card magic? Let me know by replying or posting your thoughts in the comments on Substack.

Whispering Jokers 🃏🃏

In the video above, Blaine starts with a version of Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN). I’m not entirely sure which method he’s using, but I like the hands-off nature of the trick and the way he builds up the effect once everything is in place. This trick reminded me that I had written an unusual variation of ACAAN based on Craig Petty’s “Destiny Deal” and Ladson Butler’s “The Whispering Queen”. I put this together a few months ago and had completely forgotten about it, so I thought this would be a good time to share it. I hope you have fun with this one.

Learn the Trick

The Mystery of Piggly Falls 🐖🏞️

This month, I’ve been re-reading some of Eugene Burger’s thought-provoking essays on the art and theory of magic. Eugene’s teachings have been a major influence on me as a magician, particularly the way I approach presentation and performance. One of my favourite pieces written by him is “Creating Interest”, which can be found on page 115 of Magic in Mind, a free collection of essential essays for magicians from Vanishing Inc. Magic. (The essay originally appeared in Eugene’s 1983 booklet, Intimate Power, and is also included in his anthology Mastering the Art of Magic.)

I’ve read the essay several times, but on my most recent reading, I noticed that Eugene mentions a place—presumably in America—with the curious name of “Piggly Falls”. Here’s the opening paragraph of the essay:

Every exploration begins somewhere. If I want to visit Los Angeles, for example, I must begin from somewhere else, from someplace concrete—Chicago or New York or Piggly Falls. In much the same way, every exploration of an area of thought and action, such as conjuring, begins with the assumptions and preconceptions of the explorer.

Now, colour me naïve, but I assumed Piggly Falls was a real place. Naturally, I searched the web for this mysterious location. I found “Pixley Falls” in New York, but no sign of Eugene’s “Piggly Falls”.

Then it hit me: it was a classic “Burger-ism”! Eugene was a master of using wit and whimsy to make his deep philosophical insights more interesting and accessible. The “folksy” name of Piggly Falls—an intentionally silly, rural-sounding fiction—serves as a rhetorical device: the “podunk” starting point, the Everyman’s hometown.

And for most of us, our “Piggly Falls” is the comfortable delusion that magic is inherently interesting.

Burger thought the opposite was true: that magic tricks really are not very entertaining in and of themselves. He believed that to a stranger in an informal setting, a card trick is often an “unwelcome intrusion”—and even when the magic is warmly received, the spectator’s likely response is that it’s all “a bit trivial”. By starting from this “place” of assumed boredom, Burger argued, the magician is forced to do something vital: actually create interest in his words and actions.

Not everyone agrees with Burger’s starting assumption. Darwin Ortiz calls it “Fitzkee’s Fallacy”, arguing that strong magic is inherently entertaining. Joshua Jay’s own experience, as expressed in the editorial introduction to the essay, is that the premise is “entirely conditional”. But I think the point holds for most of us who perform informally: we cannot rely solely on our tricks to do the work for us.

Burger didn’t just theorise about this. He spent years crafting compelling hooks and opening lines. One of his best was a direct question: “Would you like to see the greatest card trick of the 20th century?” It’s designed to do one thing: create interest before a single card is touched. As Burger notes, the number of people who said “No” was surprisingly small. If you read nothing else in Magic in Mind, read the passage where he describes watching two strangers in a restaurant lounge, timing his approach, and delivering that line. It’s a masterclass in what “creating interest” looks like in practice.

The lesson of Piggly Falls isn’t just that we all start somewhere; it’s that we must recognise the biases we carry from our starting point. If we assume the tricks are enough on their own, we remain stuck in Piggly Falls. But if we accept that it’s our duty to make the audience care, we might finally leave our small-town thinking behind us.

Sure, I felt like a complete idiot for searching for a fictional town, but I’m glad I did. It reminded me that in magic, we all start in Piggly Falls. The question is whether we’re willing to leave.

Not familiar with Eugene Burger and his magic? I strongly recommend you watch the video below of him performing on Paul Daniels: Live at Halloween in 1987.

Twist and Transpose

I’m currently working on the next instalment of Corrupting the Classics. I’ve decided to make this a bumper edition and showcase two of my favourite small-packet card effects: Dai Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces” and Dr Daley’s Last Trick. The reason I’ve chosen to pair them is that I usually perform these two tricks together; I’ve always felt that “Twisting the Aces” works better as a prelude to the two-by-two transposition. In fact, I don’t think Vernon’s most famous packet trick makes a good stand-alone trick or opening effect. For me, it functions much better as a “transition piece” between, say, a four-Ace production and Dr Daley’s Last Trick. I think this has something to do with the unusual nature of the effect from a layperson’s point of view. If they’re expecting to pick a card for you to find, having cards mysteriously turn face up and face down can be quite disorientating because they have no frame of reference for the magic taking place.

The article will include an in-depth discussion of both tricks, along with various ways to perform and present them within the context of a three-trick set. In total, I’ll be sharing ten previously unpublished tricks! (The first five will be available to both free and paid subscribers—hopefully, this will keep all my valued readers happy.)

For a long time, I’ve been trying to group my card tricks into “triplets”: short, three-trick card sets. This approach is often attributed to the late, great Michael Skinner, who famously held court as the resident close-up magician at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas for over two decades. He had one of the largest working repertoires in the history of magic. To manage hundreds of effects without ever drawing a blank, he relied heavily on this “sets of three” philosophy.

Skinner didn’t just group tricks into triplets as an aide-mémoire; he did it to guarantee a professional performance every time he approached a table. Grouping your repertoire in this way provides three important benefits:

• A Built-in Narrative Arc: A set of three naturally creates a beginning, a middle and an end. (The same three-act structure used in cinema and theatre.) A three-trick set usually consists of a quick, highly visual opener to grab attention, an interactive middle routine to get the spectators involved, and a hard-hitting closer to leave a lasting impression.

• Banishing “Magician’s Panic”: When you know exactly what trick follows the one you are currently performing, you can eliminate that awkward “what should I do next?” pause.

• Playing “Magic Jazz”: Once you have several three-trick sets memorised, you can dynamically mix and match them. If you sense someone wants to see more magic after your first set, you simply launch into another pre-planned set of three. While the three tricks are linked, you can choose which specific triplets to perform in the moment, giving your overall performance a strong sense of spontaneity. 🎷🃏✨

With all this in mind, I’ll be sharing a card set I call “Only Aces” “Duty Aces”. As the name implies, this is a set of three tricks that use nothing more than four regular Aces. It begins with a fast-paced routine called “Imitation Aces”, in which three “imitation” Aces of Spades visually transform into the Ace of Diamonds, Hearts and Clubs. Next, you transition into “Traditional Twist”, a classic handling of Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces”, before finishing with a witty presentation of “The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley” called “Death and Taxes”.

I’ll also use this article as an excuse to revisit some of the ideas I shared in my blog article Twisting the Aces Three Ways. I’ll be publishing two alternative presentations for “Twisting the Aces”: the first is “Pasteboard Puppies”, using the four Fours; the second is “Crazy Eights”, using the four Eights (read the blog post for a preview).

For paid subscribers, I’ll also return to a three-trick set from my regular Ruseletter column, Vernonesque. It begins with a rendition of “Underambitious”, a minimalist take on the Ambitious Card. Next comes “Twisting the Numbers”, a version of “Twisting the Aces” that uses the Ace, Two, Three and Four of Diamonds. The set concludes with “Stolen”, my favourite way to present Dr Daley’s Last Trick.

To round things off, I’ll also share five extended routines inspired by these two classic plots:

• “Twist and Snap”—A version of “Twisting the Aces” with a kicker ending involving the entire deck.

• “Twisted Logic”—Another handling that sees each Ace turn face up and then face down again.

• “Pasteboard Puppies Plus”—A version of “Pasteboard Puppies” in which the four “dogs” find a chosen card lost in the deck. 🐕🐕🐕🐕

• “A Tale in the Twist”—A tribute to The Professor that includes a colour-changing-back kicker.

• “A Ghostless Tale in the Twist”—An alternative handling of “A Tale in the Twist” that avoids the Elmsley Count entirely. 🚫👻

Wish me luck on this epic writing adventure—I hope to have all of these written up by the end of April.

Three Videos Worth Watching 👀

As usual, here are three videos that I watched this month. I think you should watch them, too.

Stamper by Alexis De La Fuente

This new printing packet trick from Alexis De La Fuente and Alakazam Magic is exactly the type of small-packet effect that I love. 💖

I particularly appreciate that this can be performed in the hands without a table, making it practical for mix-and-mingle or strolling-style performances.

While this is the newest card trick from Peter Nardi and the Alakafam, this is technically a rerelease. “Stamper” was first released by Alexis three years ago (watch the original release video).

I’ve long enjoyed the video reviews created by Alexis. He releases them in both his native language of French and in English:

🇫🇷 French Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LesavisdAlexis
🇬🇧 English Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexisReviews

“Stamper” is available from Alakazam Magic for $25 or £22.

Very Wild and Charge It

You may have noticed that the trailer for “Stamper” was filmed at this year’s Blackpool Magic Convention. Here’s another demonstration from the Dealer’s Hall. This time, it’s Christian Schenk of Card-Shark performing Charge It - Next Generation and Very Wild.

The video neatly highlights how you can combine two gaffed packet tricks to cancel out the inherent weaknesses of both effects. Yes, I know the switch using the wallet was rushed, but this was a “dealer dem” where speed was of the essence.

Sh*t Magic Shows

Finally, here’s another fun video from Singapore magician Jeremy Tan. As someone who’s never been to Vegas, I found this a very helpful overview of the current magic scene in Sin City.

Well, that’s another monthly update done and dusted. I can’t quite believe we’re already a quarter of the way through the new year. Oh, well.

Yours Magically,

Marty

My solution is simple: I don’t set resolutions in January. Instead, I delay making them until the Chinese New Year, which falls on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February each year. 🌚 This year, it fell on 17 February.

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I like this approach for three reasons. First, it gives you time to settle into the New Year before making any concrete plans. Second, aligning your intentions with the first new moon of the year feels more appropriate—and, well, magical. Third, the Chinese New Year is celebrated for fifteen days, from the first day of the lunar calendar through to the Lantern Festival, giving you an extended window in which to commit to the changes you most want to make.

This year also carries an added layer of significance for anyone, like me, with a love of folklore: 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse. 🔥🐎 Appearing only once every sixty years—the last time was 1966—the Fire Horse is widely considered the rarest and most intense animal-element combination in the Chinese zodiac. Fire Horses are said to be charismatic, bold and passionate: qualities any magician, amateur or professional, would do well to cultivate. Whether or not you put any stock in such things, it feels like an auspicious year to raise our magical game.

So, even though Chinese New Year has passed, you still have time to make some magic-related resolutions (the big secret is that you can make habit-change promises to yourself at any time during the year). Here are my main ones for 2026:

1. Build the magic den of my dreams: a proper, dedicated space for creating, practising, rehearsing and sharing my magic.

2. Say yes to more performance opportunities, however small.

3. Deliver Developing Daley, Volume 1—no more delays.

That second resolution is the one I suspect many of you will share. It’s easy to keep learning, keep practising and keep telling yourself you’re not quite ready yet. James Clear, whose work on habits I’ve returned to many times in this newsletter, puts his finger on why this resolution matters:

“Learning more will increase knowledge, but only attempting more will reduce fear. The more you try it, the less you will fear it.”

It’s a reminder that no amount of practice in front of a mirror can substitute for standing in front of real people and performing a magic trick for them. Which brings me to this month’s article.

Recently, I shared two new romantic card tricks inspired by Jane Austen’s novels, which got me thinking about a question recently discussed on The Magician’s Forum: Do Women Really Hate Card Tricks? What started as a few short paragraphs has somehow morphed into a five-thousand-word theoretical essay on gender politics in the world of magic! Enjoy.

Pride, Prejudice & Pasteboards: Do Women Really Hate Card Tricks?

Reading time: 20 minutes

In the discussion, it was noted that Joel Bauer—a successful American magician, trade-show performer and self-proclaimed “infotainer”—believes that many women dislike playing cards. In a recent episode of The Magic Word Podcast with Scott Wells, he made his opinion on the matter abundantly clear (the emphasis is mine):

“Women don’t particularly like cards, and magicians don’t understand that. But if you’re gonna use a deck of cards, use a Tarot deck. They’re interested in that. OH YEAH. It’s totally different, And if you’re gonna do a haunted pack, do a haunted Tarot pack. And tie it in and make it personal. I’m not telling them to be Bizzare. I’m saying you gotta care about the male and female. They’re different.”1

I found this somewhat sweeping statement at odds with my own, admittedly more limited, experience. On the whole, I’ve always found that women are more receptive to magic, wonder and astonishment than the average man. While I don’t disagree with his general advice to make your magic more personal, I think his central premise—that women don’t like cards, and by extension, card tricks or magic in general—doesn’t hold up.

Joel isn’t the first high-profile magician to make such a polarising statement. Writing in his Genii column, “The Vernon Touch”, the Canadian-born close-up maestro Dai Vernon expressed a remarkably similar view as far back as October 1968:

“Talking about doing magic for women, I have lived a long time, and I don’t think really, honestly, I ever met a woman who likes magic… who REALLY likes magic. They’ll watch a card trick to please some guy, but I don’t think they really enjoy watching a card trick.”2

Later in the same column, he added:

“By the way, if there are any normal girls who refute this statement, I hope you’ll write in and let me know.”

The postbag, it seems, was more instructive than Vernon had anticipated. By December 1968, he was already backpedalling a little:

“I was surprised, and at the same time enlightened, by the fact that to date, I have heard from at least three girls who told me that they simply love and adore magic. These may be exceptions to the rule… they are really exceptional girls. I still am not firmly convinced yet. I’ve only known three or four girl magicians like Lady Frances and Celeste Evans. They like magic because they make a living from it. But I mean the average magician’s wife who has to put up with this sort of thing. They learn to hate it. ”3

In 2026, the condescension is jarring and, if I’m honest, a little cringeworthy. Back then, women who liked or even dared to perform magic were not magic enthusiasts or fellow performers—they were anomalies, curiosities, and exceptional enough to write home about. It is worth remembering, though, that Vernon was performing and writing at a time when such attitudes were both tolerated and largely invisible, even to those who held them. He was a product of his era, but at least he was willing to be persuaded.

And persuaded he eventually was. Writing years later, in 1977, from his perch at the Magic Castle, Vernon quietly reversed course:

“In my past days I never felt that the girls especially enjoyed watching a magician but I have changed my thinking since being here. Of course, any effect with a fortune-telling atmosphere to it is doubly enjoyed by the ladies.”4

It is a small yet significant concession. But it matters because what changed Vernon’s mind wasn’t an argument, a theory or a sudden epiphany. It was simply watching women enjoy magic night after night at the Magic Castle.

With this historical example in mind, I can’t help but think that Joel’s general performance advice is right, but for entirely the wrong reasons. You only have to read Jane Austen’s novels to appreciate that women have enjoyed playing cards as a social pastime for centuries. It follows, therefore, that they should also enjoy card magic.

It isn’t the cards women dislike—it’s the chauvinistic performer who treats them as a prop, or worse, as an unpaid magician’s assistant. The problem, in other words, isn’t the pasteboards. It’s the ego behind them. They don’t hate magic—they hate male magicians. And who can blame them when they behave in this way?

Laura London—Inner Magic Circle member, recipient of a standing ovation at the Magic Castle, and one of the finest card mechanics working in Britain today—puts it just as bluntly. Asked for her best advice on approaching strangers and getting them to like you, she was unequivocal:

“Don’t approach people and be arrogant. People don’t like that. People certainly don’t like you telling them that you are some mystic being, either. We’re in [the modern era] now, and nobody believes that we can actually do real magic, so don’t treat your audience like idiots… like fools.”5

This idea has percolated in magic theory circles for some time. In an October 2003 discussion on the long-dormant Usenet group alt.magic.secrets, Hawaiian magician Jim Kawashima reported that fellow illusionist John LeBlanc had relayed a remark attributed to Max Maven: that magic is fundamentally a “power thing”, and that women had, until relatively recently, not been encouraged to be part of the “power sphere”.6 (I cannot verify that characterisation in any published source, and it’s at least two degrees removed from Maven himself, but anyone familiar with his thinking will find it entirely plausible as something he might well have said.)

Detectives & Dreamers

To understand why the ego-driven approach to card magic fails women so consistently, it helps to examine what it does to any audience.

In his essay “Tough Customers” in The Books of Wonder, Volume 1, Dutch-born master magician Tommy Wonder identified the problem with characteristic insight. The magician who presents his work as a challenge—however subtly or unconsciously—pushes his audience into a role they were never meant to play: the detective.

“It is highly desirable not to push spectators into the role of detectives on the trail of your secrets, because it can make your job harder; and, what is more important, it can prevent your audience from experiencing other elements of your performance, elements capable of far greater entertainment potential than mere puzzlery can offer. Good magic has so much more to give than puzzlement.”7

By definition, the detective is adversarial. He is looking for the trick, the method, the moment of deception. He is not there to be moved, delighted, or transported. He is there to catch you out. And the magician who presents his performance as a puzzle, consciously or not, has invited him in and handed him a deerstalker and magnifying glass! 🕵️ (It should be noted that what Tommy Wonder isn’t saying is that we should attempt to eliminate the puzzle element from our tricks entirely, only that we shouldn’t treat them as puzzles to be solved when presenting them to an audience.)

Here is where the question of gender becomes directly relevant, and where we need to be careful, because the argument is easily misread. The claim is not that women are incapable of analytical thinking, or that they are more credulous or more easily impressed than men. The claim is considerably more surprising: that the detective role, as Wonder describes it, is one most women are considerably less inclined to adopt than most men. This difference is cultural rather than innate. Let me explain.

Most male magicians were introduced to magic as young boys, drawn in by the very puzzle element that makes card magic so alienating when it goes awry. The astonishing Ace Assembly, the baffling Two-Card Transposition, or the Card to Impossible Location that defies all logic—these were the things that first captured their imagination. That early enchantment leaves a deep mark, shaping not only how they perform magic but also what they believe magic is: a challenge, a contest, a demonstration of their superior knowledge. The detective is not the enemy to be disarmed. For many male performers, he is, at some level, their ideal audience—because he represents the boy they once were.

Women, on the whole, approach magic differently. They tend to inhabit the role of the dreamer. Without that early card-trick conditioning, they respond less to the puzzle of a magic trick and more to the experience itself—the narrative, the emotional hook, the sense that something mysterious is being shared. They are, in Wonder’s terms, natural dreamers rather than default detectives. And the performer who’s never questioned his boyhood assumptions about what magic is (or should be) will, almost inevitably, fail to meet their needs.

It would, however, be a mistake to push this argument too far. The detective role is not exclusively male. Nor is the dreamer always female. Mark Leveridge—one of Britain’s most experienced close-up professionals and the author of the long-running Chatter blog on magic—discussed this very issue in an August 2004 piece on precisely this subject. He described a woman who had booked him for a corporate dinner. When he approached her group, she promptly told him she couldn’t stand magic and slipped away. Halfway through the meal, she returned; her friends were worried he would skip their table because of what she had said. He went and performed at the table. She watched. Her verdict: “Oh, it drives me crazy because you just can’t see how he’s doing it!” Leveridge diagnosed her as a spectator so fixated on the how of magic that she found it harder to enjoy it for what it is actually meant to be (or, as Mark puts it, the “how” versus the “wow”).8 She was not immune to wonder. She was a frustrated detective and, as Leveridge pointedly noted, a self-identified magic-hater who had booked a magician for her own event.

The same culture that alienates women in the audience also shapes the experience of those who wish to perform magic. Megan Swann—the first woman to serve as President of The Magic Circle and the youngest person ever to hold that office—has described arriving at her first magic club meeting as a ten-year-old:

“As 10-year-old me, little 10-year-old me, quite shy, turning up and seeing this room full of 80 boys who seemed like giants… it was a bit scary. It was a bit of a shock. Fortunately another girl did turn up… and I don’t know quite what would have happened if she hadn’t, because I think 10-year-old me would have been too scared. I probably wouldn’t have come back.”9

Laura London tells a similar story. Walking into the Magic Circle at eighteen, she was about to turn around and leave the profession entirely:

“I walked in and was about to walk out and never come back… it wasn’t that it wasn’t particularly friendly, it’s just I was really out of place.”10

She stayed. She went on to become the youngest ever female member of the Magic Circle, the first elected female Chair of the society, and a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, the club’s highest honour. She has also appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us and performed for Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Yet the fact that two of British magic’s most distinguished female practitioners describe the same instinct—to walk away from a room full of male magicians—tells us something important about the culture that room reflected.

Swann did come back, too, of course, and rose to lead the Magic Circle. But most ten-year-old girls, confronted with that room, would not. And the boys who filled it grew into the magicians who now wonder why women don’t enjoy their dull card tricks.

The conditioning runs in both directions, and its consequences are long-lasting. Swann herself is a case in point. “I learned quite soon that card tricks really bored me,” she admitted in the same interview. “I just don’t like card tricks... maybe it’s just from those early days seeing so many card tricks, often done quite badly—maybe it put me off.”11 Here, in one sentence, is the entire arc of this article compressed into a single confession: a woman who loves magic, has devoted her professional life to it, and has risen to lead the most prestigious magical organisation in Britain, has been put off card tricks for life by a succession of thoughtless male performers.

Don’t worry, this is not a counsel of despair. It is, if anything, a golden opportunity. The dreamer is not a lesser audience than the detective. She’s a better one: more open, more responsive, and more willing to participate. The only thing standing between her and a transformative experience of magic is a magician willing to set aside his ego and offer something worthy of the spectator’s wildest dreams.

Pride Before a Fall

So, what does all this have to do with classic romantic literature? Jane Austen is precise about what she means by pride. Mr Darcy’s failing isn’t simple arrogance—it is the complex conviction that his superior knowledge and judgment make him above the need to please others. He doesn’t perform for anyone’s approval. He condescends. And it’s that pride that makes him initially repellent to the very person he most wants to impress in the world.

The parallel with the ego-driven magician is remarkable, almost uncomfortably so. The performer who frames every trick as a puzzle is destined to disappoint. Hoarding his secret knowledge like a private currency, he isn’t performing for the people in front of him. He is performing above them. They are not participants in something wonderful. They are witnesses to his smug superiority. Maven’s “power thing” is, at its root, nothing more than Darcyian pride in a badly fitted dinner jacket doing condescending card tricks.

But here is where Austen’s novel offers much more than a useful metaphor. Mr Darcy doesn’t remain proud. He is humbled—not by defeat, but by the gradual recognition that his pride has made any opportunity for genuine connection impossible. He has to dismantle something fundamental in the way he presents himself to the world before Elizabeth can see him clearly. And only then, stripped of the performance of superiority, does he become someone worth knowing and worthy of her love.

The magician faces exactly the same choice. The tricks don’t change. The methods don’t change. What changes is the relationship the performer offers to the people in front of him—and whether it’s one of condescension or of shared wonder.

So, if ego is what drives the prideful approach to performance, prejudice is what that ego does to the women in the room. Surprisingly, it operates, more often than not, without the performer even noticing…

Performance and Prejudice

I’ve been to enough magic conventions to recognise a troubling pattern that persists to this day. When women are present, they’re almost always the first to be selected as “volunteers”—again and again, by performer after performer. This is particularly obvious when very few women are in attendance, as the same two or three female faces appear on stage repeatedly. What seems like a natural choice—it’s true that women are often warmer, more expressive, better at playing along—looks very different from the audience’s perspective. She’s not being chosen because she’s valued. She’s being chosen for her utility.

I witnessed this at close quarters at one such convention, seated beside a female companion (whom I’d met and befriended earlier that day). A well-known and experienced American cardician performed for us (who shall remain nameless). She was asked to sit beside him and be his spectator. He was technically brilliant.

However, he was entirely oblivious to the negative effect his actions were having on her emotional state. The way he handled her involvement, the casual assumptions he made about her role, and, in particular, the chauvinistic jokes he carelessly made at her expense all indicated that he was performing at her, not for her. When she eventually returned to her seat, she was visibly flustered, red-faced, upset, as well as a little angry at his treatment of her. He never even noticed.

Mark Leveridge identified the same pattern as far back as 2006. Writing at a time when the magic world was far less inclined to discuss such matters openly, he observed that at any major convention, if there is a single woman in the audience, almost every performer who needs an assistant will select her. He was candid about the likely explanation: either it is a male ego thing, or a condescending assumption that a woman is less likely to be a fellow magician and therefore more likely to respond well. Either way, he found both explanations wanting. More pointedly, he noted that women attending magic events still routinely endured sexist jokes, wisecracks and thinly veiled innuendo. He appealed directly to performers to treat female audience members with the respect that might encourage rather than repel them.12 Very good advice indeed.

This gap—between what the performer believes he is offering and what the woman in front of him is actually experiencing—is prejudice in its most precise sense. Not malice. Not even indifference. Simply a judgment formed in advance, before a single card has been selected or silver coin produced: she is here to assist me, to look pretty, to react favourably, to be charmed. To make me look good. Her role has been assigned. And no amount of technical brilliance will compensate for the fact that she has been told, wordlessly but unmistakably, that her place in this exchange is a subordinate one.

Megan Swann has spoken about this assumption with the authority of someone who has encountered it repeatedly, from both sides of the table. Speaking on Craig Petty’s Talk Magic Podcast in 2021, she described the default expectation that greets women in magic circles:

“Just from my experiences being out in the public and even around other magicians, you almost assume that a woman doesn’t do magic—or you assume that they’re the assistants. Because there’s not been that many female role models over the years... Maybe if you go back and look at how women were persecuted as witches, maybe that’s had an effect. And the fact that... once upon a Shakespearean time women couldn’t even go on stage. There is a long history of women not being involved in the performing arts.”13

It’s a prejudice she had encountered long before she reached the upper echelons of the Magic Circle. In an earlier interview, she described the experience of attending magic events as a young woman:

“It’s a pet hate of mine when I meet new people at magic clubs or conventions who first assume I am not a magician, clearly because I am a woman. I get asked if I’m there with someone else, or if I want to see a ‘really simple card trick’ that even I could do.”14

The prejudice, then, is not merely personal. It is historical and institutional. Like all prejudice, however, it flows in both directions.

Just as Elizabeth Bennet’s prejudice against Darcy is a direct response to behaviour she has observed and reasonably generalised, the scepticism many spectators bring to a magic performance is a direct response to a performance culture that, too often, has given them good reason to be wary.

Craig Petty, one of the UK’s most prominent working magicians, has written about this in his trademark no-nonsense style. When an audience member tells him they hate magic, he doesn’t take it personally—because he understands exactly what they mean: “they have seen a cheesy magician with no skill or social skills and have judged all magicians on one performance.”15 The woman who greets you and your tricks with hostility isn’t being unreasonable. She has simply been here before—and the last time, she didn’t enjoy it.

Tommy Wonder identified the same dynamic from the performer’s perspective, with considerably greater analytical precision. In his essay “Tough Customers”, he observed that some spectators arrive already locked into the detective role, not because they are naturally adversarial, but because they have been conditioned:

“Some people are conditioned, have it engraved in their mind, that when they see a magician, they should try to determine how the tricks are done. The moment they know you are a magician, they throw themselves into the role of detective.”16

This is prejudice in its purest form and, like all prejudice, it is not irrational. It is the entirely logical conclusion of accumulated experience. The question Tommy Wonder asks—and the question this article has been pursuing from the beginning—is what the performer can do to dismantle it. His answer is unambiguous:

“If you can transport people out of the role of detective or, better yet, prevent them from entering into that role, you will have done them a good service, since you can then offer them something of much greater interest.”17

The responsibility, in other words, lies with the magician, not the audience. The prejudice flowing back towards the performer is an unforgiving mirror. What it reflects, whether beautiful or ugly, depends entirely on the magician and, ergo, the performance culture that created it.

The Relationship is the Remedy

The remedy to both pride and prejudice in performance is not a different trick, method or technique. It is a different relationship.

Laura London states the principle with the ease of someone who has understood it for years:

“It’s not about the magic, really; it’s about you. If you walk up to a group of people and they like you instantly, then what you do doesn’t matter as long as it’s good and it is entertaining… anybody can learn a trick… you can go into a shop right now, you can buy some really strong great magic, you can learn it in a few days. But if you can learn how to perform it well, that’s really the question… it’s all about presentation.”18

Eugene Burger—one of the most thoughtful performers and writers the magic world has ever produced—put it much the same way, summing it up succinctly in a single sentence:

“Presentation is that point where you put yourself into your magic.”19

It sounds simple. In practice, it is a radical reorientation of the usual performer-participant relationship. The magician who puts himself into his magic is no longer operating from a position of superiority and self-assured smugness. He offers something of himself: his imagination, his sense of wonder, his emotional intelligence. The transaction is no longer adversarial. It is, in the fullest sense, an invitation to astonishment.

Burger developed this idea further in Magic and Meaning, the remarkable book he co-wrote with Robert E. Neale, arguing that card magic is not fundamentally a puzzle to be solved or a demonstration of skill to be admired. Card tricks performed without meaningful presentation, he suggested, fail to engage the audience at the level of their deeper emotional lives—their hopes, fears and dreams. The difference between a “card trick” and “card magic” is the difference between watching and feeling.20

Mark Leveridge reached the same conclusion from a different direction—through a humbling personal experience rather than theory. Early in his career, he entered a close-up competition at a regional convention, confident that his technically accomplished act would carry the day. He lost decisively to a performer whose magic was considerably weaker, yet whose ability to make the audience feel involved and entertained was in a different class. The lesson he drew from that defeat stayed with him: that what an audience ultimately measures is not the quality of your sleight of hand but the quality and depth of the experience you give them.21

Reading all of this in light of everything Vernon and Bauer got wrong, it is clear that women don’t lack the capacity for wonder. They lack the patience for ego. Offer them a trick dressed up as an intellectual challenge—a puzzle designed to make them feel foolish—and, of course, they will disengage. Offer them, instead, an emotional experience that connects with their dreams, hopes, and sense of the mysterious. The response will not be different in degree. It will be different in kind.

It turns out this is not a modern insight. It is not even a particularly radical one. Jane Austen knew it two hundred years ago, and so did Dai Vernon in his later life. The question is whether we, as performers, are willing to act on it.

The presentation that achieves this doesn’t need to be Regency-themed, romantic, or literary. It needs only to offer the spectator something worth feeling—a story, an emotion or a fresh perspective. The theme is, of course, interchangeable. The principle is not.

Which brings me back to the pasteboards.

Two Austen-Inspired Card Tricks

Theory, of course, is only as useful as what you do with it. So let me show you what this looks like in practice. Recently, I’ve been assembling what I’ve come to call “conversational card magic” routines—tricks that can be woven seamlessly into casual conversation, making it easier for amateur magicians to create opportunities to perform more meaningful magic in everyday situations.

Here are two romantic card tricks inspired by Jane Austen’s classic works. The suggested presentations make it easier to transition into a performance when discussing this topic with a friend, colleague, or even a stranger at a bus stop! Asking someone whether they’ve ever read any of Austen’s books is perfectly normal (asking them to pick a card is not). This then gives you the opportunity to talk about the many and varied card games her characters play in her novels, opening up the opportunity for a card magic performance.

“Perfect Partners” is my full-deck handling of Cameron Francis’s “Coupling”, dressed in all the Regency finery of a Jane Austen character. Two spectators are invited to partake in an ancient “love ritual” and, after a sequence of apparently fair choices, find themselves holding the King and Queen of Hearts. No one selects a card. No one is put on the spot. No one is made to feel foolish or singled out. The routine has a strong romantic hook, a surprising kicker ending drawn from the Regency era card game of whist, and—crucially—it gives the two spectators all the glory. The performer is not the hero of this story. They are.

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“In Want of a Wife” does the same for a single spectator—ideally, though not exclusively, a woman—placing her at the centre of a romantic narrative rather than at the receiving end of a magical how-did-they-do-it. The effect, a treatment of Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages, unfolds in four distinct phases, each seemingly more impossible than the last, as the Kings and Queens find their partners through a playful Regency courtship ritual complete with Austen quotations. The method involves the Elmsley Count, a double lift and an Under-Down Deal—none of which are beyond the reach of any intermediate card worker. The mechanics, in other words, are modest. The emotional impact is not.

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What both routines have in common—and what I’d encourage you to look for in any trick you’re considering adding to your repertoire—is that the presentation does the ego-work for you. When your hook is a Regency love story, there’s no room for the performer to position himself as the cleverest person at the table, because cleverness isn’t the point of a love story. The spectator isn’t being challenged, tested, or managed. She’s being invited into something. That shift in framing changes everything about the dynamic between performer and participant. It opens the door to the kind of natural, unhurried conversation that makes card magic feel less like a technical demonstration of skill and more like a shared experience. The trick becomes a reason to talk rather than a barrier to conversation.

This is what I mean by conversational card magic. Not tricks that merely have words attached to them, but tricks whose very structure encourages the performer to listen as well as to speak—to be present with the person in front of him rather than overly focused on the execution of the next move. Austen’s novels work the same way: the card games her characters play are never really about the cards. They are about what the cards allow people to say to each other.

These two examples show that almost any card trick can be presented in a way that makes it more appealing to women. While not all women enjoy classic romantic literature, a Regency theme is more likely to resonate with a female audience than a standard gambling-themed trick, such as an Ace-cutting routine. The problem was never the pasteboards. It was never even the women. It was the story we chose to tell with them—and whether that story had room to include the people sitting across the table from us.

Conclusion

So, do women hate card tricks?

Joel Bauer thinks so. Dai Vernon thought so for a large portion of his life. Many of the contributors to alt.magic.secrets thought so, some with a fervour that said considerably more about themselves than about women.

The evidence, I would suggest, points elsewhere—and it comes from women themselves.

Megan Swann was nearly frightened away from magic at ten by a roomful of boys who didn’t know she existed. Laura London walked into The Magic Circle at eighteen and was on the verge of walking straight back out because she didn’t feel she belonged. Thankfully, both women stayed. Both went on to lead distinguished careers. But here is the question worth pondering: how many didn’t? How many women endured one too many card tricks done badly, performed by one too many men who treated them as props rather than participants, and simply decided that magic wasn’t for them?

Women don’t hate card tricks. They hate being condescended to. They hate being managed, manipulated and assigned a supporting role in someone else’s ego-trip thinly disguised as a magic trick. They hate the bad jokes, the sexist patter and the boring presentations. And they are entirely right to hate all of these things—because this isn’t what card magic, any magic, should be like.

What women respond to—what, if we’re honest, everyone responds to—is a performer who offers something beyond his own cleverness. A performer who understands that the trick is not the be-all and end-all; that the presentation matters; and that the person sitting across the table from him is not an obstacle to be overcome but a guest to be welcomed. A man who has, in short, grown up and no longer acts like a boy.

Austen understood this. Hofzinser understood this. Eugene Burger spent a lifetime trying to help the rest of us understand it. Laura London and Megan Swann have been demonstrating it—not in theory, but in practice, in real rooms, before real people, night after night.

Finally, I’d like you, dear reader, to consider the following tongue-in-cheek aphorism:

All the cards are on the table. The question is simply whether we’re willing to set our pride and prejudice aside long enough to find one.

Three Videos Worth Watching 📼

And, as usual, here are three videos worth watching.

Learn Josh Burch’s Three Queens Card Trick

Learn a fun, self-working card trick from Eric Tait and Penguin Magic. 🐧 The method is a good one, but the trick needs a better presentation than the one shown in the video.

If you’re a fan of the 2002 film Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, you could use a red Queen and the two black Jacks to represent Agatha, Arthur, and Dash—the “precogs” in the film. Somehow, they’re able to predict the future (the number of cards left in your hand).

Learn Josh Burch’s “Pincode” Card Trick

Here’s another solid self-working trick in want of better presentation. Josh Burch employs a “pincode” premise to justify the method’s mathematical basis, which is probably a stronger way to present this than Eric’s suggestions in the video (though his teaching is excellent). The method is, perhaps, more intriguing than the effect. It is based on Jim Steinmeyer’s “The Nine Card Problem”.

If you want to learn more about the underlying mathematics—it’s an application of the COATing (Count Out And Transfer) principle from Colm Mulcahy—I recommend reading this article and watching this video. A better trick for three participants using the same principle is Diamond Jim’s Insanely Easy Card Trick.

Ryan Pilling’s Magic Homework #8

Finally, here is the latest video in Ryan Pilling’s fantastic Magic Homework series. Derek Dingle’s “Too Many Cards” is very similar to a trick I’m working on at the moment—Larry Jennings’ “Ambitious Classic”—so I really enjoyed this episode. I think you will too.

You can watch all episodes of Ryan’s Magic Homework on his Tips & Tricks for Magicians YouTube channel.

I hope you enjoyed this month’s long-form essay. If you find this format enjoyable, I might continue writing more. Please let me know by replying to this email or posting a comment in the Substack section.

Yours Magically,

Marty

This instalment features a memorable trick called “In Want of a Wife”, a romantic, Austen-inspired treatment of Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages. 👰

It’s similar in theme and effect to “Perfect Partners”, the routine I shared a few days ago (see A Letter of Some Consequence). While it requires a modicum of sleight of hand (an Elmsley Count and a double lift), it isn’t at all difficult to perform. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do. ❤

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📋 Quick Reference

Effect Type: Small-Packet Coincidence Effect
Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)
Reset Time: Instant
Key Moves & Principles: Elmsley Count, Double Lift, Under-Down Deal

Regular Ruseletter readers will know that I’ve been quietly assembling a repertoire of romantic card tricks suitable for weddings, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day performances, and intimate social gatherings. (See Easy Does It #4: Sixpence Ceremony, Easy Does It #7: Simplex Soulmates, Easy Does It #8: Double Happiness, and Easy Does It #9: Algorithmic Love for previous examples.)

“In Want of a Wife” is a natural addition to this collection—but it’s also something a little different. While most of my romantic tricks are designed for couples, this one is designed specifically for a single spectator: ideally, an avid reader of Jane Austen’s novels. (It can also be adapted to be performed for a couple, of course.)

What Makes This Trick So Special?

Because “In Want of a Wife” requires no pre-arrangement, you can perform it with a borrowed deck at a moment’s notice. There’s no setup to remember, no secret stack to maintain, and no specially prepared cards or props to carry. All you need is a standard deck and the presence of mind to recall the simple sequence of moves that make the trick work.

While the routine isn’t self-working, the Under-Down Deal does most of the heavy lifting for you. No sleight of hand is required beyond the Elmsley Count and the double lift, both of which are within reach of any intermediate card worker. In addition, the Regency courtship preamble provides natural, engaging misdirection during the technically sensitive moments of the routine (the discrepant false count sequences).

Once the first match-up is revealed, many Royal Marriage effects become predictable, repetitive and even a little dull. The rich, historic presentation gives this effect an emotional resonance that audiences can connect with. The romantic theme is universally recognised, even by people who’ve never read the novel. In other words, this is a trick that appeals to a broad audience of all ages.

Finally, the effect builds beautifully across four distinct phases, each one seemingly more impossible than the last. The final line leaves audiences with something to take away beyond the coincidence of the cards matching.

Hay’s Paradox, Revisited

Regular readers will recall my discussion of Henry Hay’s Paradox of Practice in Easy Does It #8, where I introduced the concept of “easy hard tricks”—easy or self-working effects that are technically simple to perform but require significant time and effort to present in a compelling manner.

“In Want of a Wife” is a classic example of an easy hard trick. The mechanics are straightforward. The Under-Down Deal is completely self-working. The Charlier Shuffle requires no advanced skill whatsoever. Even the Elmsley Count and double lift are within comfortable reach of most card workers (after a modest amount of practice).

However, the presentation is rich and multilayered. The Regency courtship patter, the Austen quotations, and the “Love me, love me not…” elimination ritual all require thought, rehearsal, and genuine investment to deliver convincingly. The good news is that I’ve done much of that work for you. The basic script is written. The quotations are sourced. The misdirection is built in. Your job is to make it your own.

And that, as Henry Hay would remind us, is where the real magic happens.

Who Is This Trick For?

“In Want of a Wife” will resonate most powerfully with fans of Jane Austen’s novels—and there are more of them than you might think. Pride and Prejudice alone has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The 1995 BBC adaptation starring Colin Firth remains one of the most beloved costume dramas ever made. Even people who’ve never read a word of Austen will almost certainly recognise the dashing Mr Darcy and headstrong Elizabeth Bennet.

The trick truly shines when performed for someone who knows and loves the story—at a book club, a literary dinner, a Pride and Prejudice viewing party, or simply for a friend who owns more Penguin Classics than kitchen utensils. This is your opener, or a charming transition between stronger pieces.

For someone less familiar with the novels, it works equally well—it’s simply a beautiful romantic effect with a compelling narrative. Either way, the emotional impact is the same. I hope it might even encourage some spectators to pick up a copy of Pride and Prejudice.

And before you ask: yes, men are absolutely allowed to read Austen. Mr Darcy himself would almost certainly have approved!

This is the kind of trick that gets remembered. Not because the method is clever—though it is—but because it tells a heartwarming story. As I’ve said before, to paraphrase Maya Angelou, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

One Final Thought

At their heart, many of Jane Austen’s novels are about courtship, marriage and the elusive “happily ever after”. So is Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages plot. That’s what they have in common: both Austen and Hofzinser understood that the most satisfying stories are those in which everyone finds their perfect match. The Queens find their Kings. Lizzie finds her Darcy. And I hope your audience finds a little of that same quiet magic, drawn from a more genteel age that has long since disappeared.

As Austen herself might have observed, it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a magician in possession of a good trick, must be in want of a great presentation.

“In Want of a Wife” is, I humbly suggest, both.

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Yours Magically,

Marty

I write to you in a state of some excitement, having recently concluded a most agreeable correspondence with Mr. Warren, a gentleman of discerning taste and a valued patron of the Ruseletter, on the subject of a rather ingenious and delightfully romantic card trick by a Mr. Cameron Francis, entitled “Coupling”. You will find it documented in Out of Sleight, and, more recently, published within the pages of John Carey and Friends, Volume 2. Should you be unacquainted with it, I urge you most sincerely to remedy the situation at your earliest convenience.

It was Mr. Warren’s enthusiastic approbation of the trick that set my own mind to work. While I confess to a genuine admiration for the original, I could not help but feel that it might bear a fuller handling—one worthy of a complete pack of cards—and, moreover, that it deserved a presentation of greater romantic consequence. The result of these deliberations is “Perfect Partners”, which I humbly offer to your repertoire as a token of my earnest esteem.

The presentation is, I venture to say, an example of what I have taken to calling “conversational card magic”—that agreeable style of conjuring in which the performance is woven so naturally into polite conversation that one’s audience scarcely perceives the distinction between the two. The conversation in question concerns the works of a Miss Jane Austen and the Regency card game of whist—a most fitting subject, as the trick’s denouement involves thirteen cards, which is precisely the number dealt to each player in a hand of whist. Should you have long sought an occasion to introduce Miss Austen into your card work—and I cannot imagine who among us has not—I believe you will find this trick most satisfactory.

I have taken the liberty of composing a lengthy blog post on the romantic connections between whist, classic literature, and the conjuring arts, should you find yourself at leisure to peruse it. Alternatively, you may proceed directly to the free tutorial. The requirements are modest: an overhand shuffle and a Swivel Cut. Nothing that should tax a person of your obvious accomplishments in card table artifice.

Read the Blog Post

And should Valentine’s Day happen to find you in want of a suitable romantic diversion—well, the timing, I think, could scarcely be improved upon. ❤

I would also venture to solicit your opinions by way of the Ruseletter Reader Survey, should you find yourself possessed of a spare moment or two. Your candid reflections on this newsletter are, I assure you, received with the utmost gratitude and will be carefully attended to.

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I remain, dear Reader, your most humble and obedient servant in matters of cards and conjuring.

Yours Magically,

Mr. Jacobs

P.S. Attentive readers will have observed that this letter is written in the style of Jane Austen’s personal correspondence—a small indulgence, given the subject matter. Should you wish to explore the real thing, her letters are available to read in full at The Republic of Pemberley. Several original letters also survive in the collection at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire—including a delightful letter written the day after Pride and Prejudice was first published, in which Austen describes reading it aloud to an unsuspecting neighbour without revealing that she was the author. One rather suspects she would have made an excellent magician!

For those wishing to acquaint themselves further with Austen’s correspondence, I would also commend this charming video from the Morgan Library and Museum’s exhibition “A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250”, in which co-curators Dale Stinchcomb and Juliette Wells discuss some of their favourite letters—offering a most agreeable introduction to the wit, warmth, and quiet determination of the woman behind the novels.

As I’ve not been able to practise and perform magic this month, I’ve been concentrating on improving the way I capture, store and organise my thoughts on magic. Or, put another way, I’ve been getting my magical ducks in a row! 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

So far, I’ve created a new “magic tricks” database in Notion, a popular note-taking and productivity app, to keep track of all my ideas. I’ve done this to have a single central location for my magical notes and ideas. I was prompted to do this because I’ve been getting frustrated with all the half-formed ideas whirling around in my head, and the random notes scattered across multiple note-taking apps (including Trello, Google Docs, Google Keep, and Zoho Notebook). All these tools are great, and I like them; however, Notion lets me keep all my ideas and notes in a central database I can search, filter, and reorder as I see fit—basically, it’s better for my purposes because it is more customisable (the downside is that it’s a little more complicated to learn how to use the platform). There are 260 entries in the database so far! And that’s not even everything (I still have some ideas in electronic documents and physical notebooks to add).

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In addition, I’ve decided to migrate my GTD lists to Notion. GTD (Getting Things Done) is the “stress-free” productivity system I use at work to manage my tasks and projects; you can learn more about how I use it for magic-based projects in Monthly Update #29.

A few of the notes I transferred are not much more than a trick title accompanied by a few words, and, unfortunately, I can’t remember how to perform the effects they describe. For example, “Aristotle’s Prediction” and “The Curse of the Dead Man’s Hand!” both sound like great tricks, but I’ll be damned if I can remember anything about them beyond their intriguing titles! I assume the latter involved the black Aces and Eights in some way; I have a misty memory of it being a pseudo-gambling demonstration that began with the four Aces, and I think the former was a self-working prediction effect. Hopefully, using a single database to capture, clarify and organise all my magic ideas and notes will avoid such problems in the future.

Ruseletter Reader Survey

I’ve created a brief reader survey to help shape the future of this newsletter. Please help me make the Ruseletter better by completing it. It should take no more than five minutes to answer the questions. If you don’t want to answer a particular question, you can leave it blank.

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I’ll leave the survey open until the end of February and send a couple of reminders before closing it to responses. I’d appreciate it if you could complete it as soon as you’re able.

Learn Algorithmic Love 🤖💖

Even though writing has been a little tricky since my accident, I managed to publish another edition of Easy Does It (this one is for paid subscribers). In the article, I share a cute card trick called “Algorithmic Love” in which the “Aussie Algo” is used to locate the King and Queen of Hearts (and the rest of the Hearts, in sequential order, as a surprise kicker).

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What a SHAME!

Recently, I’ve been pondering the problematic way magic tricks are marketed, promoted, and sold to amateur (or hobbyist) magicians. If you’re a regular reader of the Ruseletter, you’ll know I often get a little grumpy about such things. This quote from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, neatly explains exactly why the current magic marketplace bothers me so much:

“The more you create, the more powerful you become. The more you consume, the more powerful others become.”

— James Clear

There’s nothing wrong with buying magic tricks regularly; I enjoy doing it myself. It can also fuel creative thought and activity. However, if that’s all you do—buy tricks, barely practise them, and seldom perform them—what’s the point of keeping magic, a performance art, as a hobby?

Now, if you’re content collecting tricks and hoarding secrets, then that is, of course, a legitimate way to enjoy magic as a hobby (I’m not convinced it’s the most rewarding, however). You’re a “Magic Enthusiast” or a “Magic Fan”, and there’s no shame in that (see my Taxonomy of Magic Engagement for more on this topic). And, as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to call yourself a magician.

This behaviour becomes a problem only when buying and collecting hinder your personal progress, resulting in a severe case of SHAME (Secret Hoard of Abandoned Magic Effects).

A recent video by The Underperforming Hobbyist captures this dynamic perfectly. In it, Fred describes himself as a “collector of possibilities” surrounded by “unused miracles” that he bought but never performed. It is a relatable, honest admission that highlights the trap many of us fall into. (I’ve embedded it at the bottom of this newsletter, if you want to watch it—I recommend that you do.)

But a modern magic marketplace that almost exclusively caters to this “collector compulsion” has created a toxic environment for those of us who also want to study, practise, and perform. Much like the modern food industry, which surrounds us with highly palatable, hyperprocessed—yet nutritionally bankrupt—food products, the magic industry surrounds us with tempting tricks that look amazing in the trailer but are often disappointing, of poor quality, and, worst of all, artistically shallow.

This situation brings to mind Neil Postman’s warning in Amusing Ourselves to Death. He argued that while George Orwell feared those who would ban books, Aldous Huxley feared that no ban would be necessary—because no one would want to read one in the first place. Huxley feared that “what we love will ruin us.” 💔

In the magic community, we’re not starved of secrets; we’re drowning in them. We risk becoming a culture of “trivial amusement” rather than meaningful art, distracted by the shiny novelty of the latest release while our fundamental skills wane and, in some cases, waste away completely.

This toxic environment creates additional friction, making it even harder to “eat healthy”—to study, practise, and grow as a performing magician. As James Clear notes:

“Success is often found by practising the fundamentals everyone knows they should be doing, but find too boring or basic to practice routinely.”

— James Clear

The ever-increasing cost of magic is also a growing concern for me. We often hear magic creators argue that high prices prevent magic from “falling into the wrong hands”, becoming a “cheap consumer product”, or diluting or even damaging the “art of magic”—I disagree.

High prices don’t protect the art; they simply turn magic tricks into a luxury commodity. When a single effect costs £65 and relies on FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) marketing, it restricts access to that magic, reduces diversity, and contributes to the ongoing hyperconsumerism of magic as a hobby. In short, it just makes matters worse.

Of course, consumers of magic products, myself included, must share some of the blame. We have to stop succumbing to the “sugar rush” of the next secret and start investing in the more “nutritious” behaviour of learning, practising, and performing the tricks we already own.

Three Videos Worth Watching

Finally, here are three more videos I recommend.

Is Anyone Else Just Collecting Magic?

Duration: 9 minutes

This candid video perfectly captures the concept of CUPS (Compulsive Uncontrollable Purchasing Syndrome), resulting in SHAME (Secret Hoard of Abandoned Magic Effects). In it, Fred offers a brutally honest look at how easily the quick thrill of a purchase can replace the actual work of performing.

Danny Goldsmith on “Angle-Sensitive” Coin Magic

Duration 52 minutes

If you’re looking for that “nutritious” content I mentioned earlier, look no further than this video. Instead of pitching a new trick, Danny Goldsmith—a phenomenal coin magician—shares some of the “real work”: the nuances of angle management. The best part? In a market obsessed with premium pricing, this almost hour-long masterclass is completely FREE. Thanks, Danny!

Buatier de Kolta’s Vanishing Lady Explained

Duration: 6 minutes

If you think the “cheapening” of magic is a modern phenomenon, then think again. In this beautifully produced video essay, the Art of Impossible channel explores the tragedy of Buatier de Kolta’s “Vanishing Lady” illusion. It’s a fascinating case study on how a masterpiece of intellect and precision was copied, commodified, and ultimately ruined by hack performers who treated it as a product rather than art. Sound familiar? 😉

That’s all for another month.

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. I’ll try my best to be less grumpy in my next update, but I’m not promising anything!

Welcome to another edition of Easy Does It, a regular Ruseletter column about simple (and sometimes self-working) magic tricks that you can learn to impress your friends and family.

In this article, I’m sharing a trick called “Algorithmic Love” that’s been in my notebook for so long that I’d completely forgotten about it! As I’ve published several similar routines recently, I thought it made sense to release this one into the wild as well.

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While I design most of my tricks primarily with the amateur magician in mind, I also strive to make them robust enough for the professional performer. For example, this piece would work particularly well as an opening effect for the bride and groom on their wedding day, or as part of a longer Valentine’s Day-themed parlour show.

“Algorithmic Love” is based on a bizarre magick effect I published more than two years ago, “A Swindle of Souls”, which, in turn, was inspired by the Max Maven masterpiece, “Wagers of Sin” (see Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks #2: Satanic Sorcery to learn my variation).

If you enjoyed “Double Happiness”, the routine I published in the last edition of this column (see Easy Does It #8), I’m confident you’ll also enjoy this offering. It shares a similar theme and is equally easy to perform. Furthermore, the presentational framework of “Algorithmic Love” provides a relatable narrative that turns the most boring part of the trick—the procedure—into the most interesting part of the experience. Even if you don’t like the provided method, you can lift the presentation and use it with a different trick.

Here’s what happens:

You shuffle the cards—some face up, some face down—creating a random jumble that represents the chaotic and overwhelming world of online dating. You explain that the first step on any dating app is to “filter out the noise.” Accordingly, you remove all the face-down cards and eliminate the face-up ones. A quick “Deal or Switch?” shuffle further randomises the packet.

Next, the spectator performs a Down-Under Deal, or, as you playfully dub it, the “Australian Algorithm.” This procedure randomly selects one card: the King of Hearts.

The cards are given another quick mix. You explain that the “Aussie Algo” must now find a compatible match for the King. The spectator repeats the elimination procedure, and when the final card is revealed, it’s the Queen of Hearts—a perfect pair!

You spread the remaining cards face up across the table: every card is a Heart, arranged in perfect sequence from Ace to Jack. As well as facilitating a royal romance, the algorithm has brought perfect order to the chaotic world of online dating!

In many ways, this routine is similar to my packet trick “Loved Eightfold” (see Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks #3: Soulmate Sorcery), but it doesn’t rely on the Count-Back Force (10-20 Force) and uses thirteen cards instead of eight, which makes the final display a little more impressive because more cards are spread across (or dealt to) the table.

If you’re an experienced cardician, you can likely deduce the method from the description of the effect above. Although it is essentially self-working, I believe the handling is deeply deceptive for a lay audience.

Note: As this is an odd-numbered edition of Easy Does It, the trick tutorial is exclusively available to paying subscribers. However, I operate a freeven publishing model, which guarantees all even-numbered issues of this series will be free to read forever.

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Ready to learn “Algorithmic Love”? Keep scrolling to learn the trick.

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The wound did not require stitches, but I still had the pleasure of dragging the whole family to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) department—the ER for my friends in the States—on Christmas Day. The cut was deeper than I first thought, and the bleeding proved impossible to stop with a tea towel and the usual magical incantations at home. Nothing says happy holidays like the sterile glow of a hospital waiting room!

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Needless to say, I have not been able to pick up a pack of cards or write much this past week. While typing is not strictly out of the question, it is very uncomfortable to do for any length of time.

Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that I’ve done any serious damage to my thumb, and I should be able to remove the dressing in a couple of days. Until then, my card handling is limited to looking at the deck and sighing heavily!

Soulmate Sorcery 👰🤵

Luckily, before I had my festive accident, I did manage to finish writing up thirteen new card routines with a romantic “soulmates” theme. These tricks are ideally suited for weddings and other romantic settings.

If you need some New Year reading material, look no further than this bumper edition of Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks.

Read the Article

(You can also access all the new tricks via links on my blog, Marty’s Bag of Tricks.)

‘Tis the Season to be Wrapping 🎁

Watching three daughters tear into their Christmas presents is one of the great joys of being a parent. The downside, of course, is that I must wrap almost every one of them (except those delivered by the “big man in red”, who can, unlike me, outsource wrapping responsibilities to his little helpers). To make matters worse, relatives often send unwrapped gifts via Amazon to avoid paying for delivery twice; understandable, but a little annoying nonetheless.

Despite our best efforts not to spoil the girls, the sheer volume of presents usually necessitates a mammoth festive wrap-a-thon, and this year was no different. As I was furiously cutting, folding, and sticking, it struck me: a magic trick is a great deal like a Christmas present.

You may spend hours meticulously wrapping a gift, only to watch it get ripped apart in seconds by an excitable child. In the same way, we magicians spend weeks, months, or even years scripting, practising, and rehearsing a piece of magic, only for it to be over in a matter of minutes (or, in some extreme cases, a few seconds).

Yet the effort remains worth it for that shared sense of anticipation. Whether it is a wrapped box or a conjuring trick, the joy lies in the fleeting moment of surprise and delight that follows the gift’s unwrapping or the effect’s magical revelation.

Three Videos Worth Watching

And finally, here are three more videos that I think are worth watching this month.

Blaine on a Plane ✈️

Duration: 2 minutes

This video of David Blaine performing his version of Eddie Fetcher’s “Be Honest, What Is It?” is an excellent lesson in adapting your sleight of hand to a challenging performance environment (he’s surrounded and being filmed by multiple people).

Watch the Video

I also like the way he incorporated a psychological number force into the trick; something I might try in the future.

H2O by Juan Colas

Duration: 4 minutes

I recently bought this trick by Juan Colas and Ellusionist. It is his excellent handling of Anthony Owen’s “Ultimate Oil and Water”, a card plot I usually find quite boring!

Fan Fundamentals with Biz

Duration: 33 minutes

I’m a big fan of flourishes, and while they can sometimes distract from the magic, I think, when used judiciously, they can also enhance it. For this reason, I was excited to see that Biz and Big Blind Media are planning to release a series of YouTube videos to create a Cardistry Bootcamp.

Here’s the first video in the series, on fans. Of course, I’ll have to wait until next month to take advantage of this and practise my thumb fans!

My thumb is getting a little sore, so I think that’s enough typing for now. Wishing all my Ruseletter readers a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year! 🥳

Yours Magically,

Marty

In this edition, we are trading the fire and brimstone of my previous article, Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks #3: Satanic Sorcery, for hearts, flowers, and the mysterious forces of fate and destiny. In short, we are moving from the Devil to dating! 👿🥰

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It is a drastic thematic shift. Yet, the underlying methods used here rely on similar techniques. Whether you are damning a spectator’s soul or locating their true love, you’ll be relying on the Count-Back Force (10-20 Force), the Principle of Nine, the Swindle Shuffle and the Down-Under and Under-Down Deals. So nothing particularly challenging on the technical front, which will enable you to focus on making a deep connection with your audience.

Like previous material I’ve shared via the Ruseletter, such as Red Thread of Fate, these tricks are ideally suited for performance at a wedding, especially for the bride and groom. Therefore, I’ve written most of them assuming you’re in this situation, either as a paid professional or a wedding guest who is “gifting” a magical experience to the happy couple. Of course, the routines can be adapted for any couple in nearly any situation, with some modifications to the included presentations.

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So, let’s move on from demonic pacts and explore magic suitable for a newlywed couple, though I’ll let you decide which is the riskier commitment!

Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄🎁

As this is the final Ruseletter before the holidays, I want to wish you a festive season filled with too many mince pies and lots of magic. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎄🥳

If you are looking to treat yourself (or perhaps avoid talking to your in-laws by practising magic in the other room), the 25% discount on annual subscriptions is still available until the end of December.

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This is the cheapest I’ll ever offer an annual subscription to the Ruseletter, and I’m not entirely sure when, or even if, I’ll repeat this promotion. Right, that’s enough shameless promotion for one newsletter!

The Principle of Nine

Much of the magic featured in this article relies on the Principle of Nine. I first encountered this mathematical curiosity back when I was at university (studying computer animation and special effects). One of my lecturers sent around a magic trick using a relatively new web software called Flash, which is now a dead technology.🪦 It was appropriately called The Flash Mind Reader and was created by a web designer called Andy Naughton (now Andy Wolfe). Thanks to the Internet Archive, you can still run the trick using an emulator.

This is what Andy has to say about it:

Soon after uploading it to my (then small) server it ‘went-viral’ (probably before the phrase viral was coined) and crashed my site within days. At one point I was getting up to 500 emails a day asking how the Mind Reader worked or suggesting that I was spying on people through their computers. Aaah the early days of the internet…

Over the years I have created many versions of the Mind Reader for clients, usually professional magicians or psychics.1

Anyway, this rudimentary computer-based trick perfectly illustrates the mathematical concept at the heart of the Principle of Nine and how deceptive it can be: if you take any integer, sum its digits, and subtract that sum from the original number, the result will always be a multiple of nine.

This is what makes the Count-Back Force work. Here’s the proof:

• 10 - (1 + 0) = 9

• 11 - (1 + 1) = 9

• 12 - (1 + 2) = 9

• 13 - (1 + 3) = 9

• 14 - (1 + 4) = 9

• 15 - (1 + 5) = 9

• 16 - (1 + 6) = 9

• 17 - (1 + 7) = 9

• 18 - (1 + 8) = 9

• 19 - (1 + 9) = 9

Therefore, if you place a known card in the tenth position from the top of the deck, you can force it on a spectator by asking them to choose any number between ten and twenty. Have them deal that many cards from the deck. Instruct them to add the two digits of the number together, then count that many cards back onto the deck. This puts the force card on top of the deck.

Alternatively, you can position the force card ninth from the top. This will cause the card to end up on top of the packet your participant is holding. I tend to prefer this method because you can ask them to peek at the top card, remember it, and then shuffle the packet. These cards can then be cut into the deck, and the cards can be thoroughly shuffled. This procedure makes the selection process seem much fairer than it actually is. (Even so, the initial selection of the card does still feel a little mathematical.)

As well as forcing a known card, you can also use it to force a known number of cards, e.g., 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54. In this way, you can also force a full nine-card setup (or any multiple of nine, for that matter). These ideas are explored in some of the tricks below, but I also encourage you to experiment with these ideas yourself.

Four Simple Routines

Let’s begin our exploration with four simple routines. The first employs the placement procedure from Karl Fulves’ self-working classic, “Gemini Twins”. There’s also a variation of another Karl Fulves trick, “Double Disclosure”, from his book Self-Working Card Tricks (1976, Dover Publications, Inc.). I’ve also included two basic applications of the Count-Back Force, one inspired by Johann Nepomuk Hofsinzer and the other by Ed Sheeran!

Simplex Soulmates 💕

🔒Paid-Subscriber Exclusive

Difficulty: ⭐⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Instant
Key Moves & Principles: Double Lift, E-Y-E Count

This is my “soulmate” handling of “Gemini Twins” by Karl Fulves (originally published as “Stopped Twice” in Impromptu Opener, circa 1979).

I shared this with paid subscribers back in September, in Easy Does It #7. The reason I’m including a link to it here is that this was my starting point for all of the tricks included in this edition of Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks. “Simplex Soulmates” was inspired by a similar card trick called “Soul Mates” in Magic for Dummies by David Pogue (1998, Wiley Publishing, Inc.). See Chapter 10, page 200, for complete details.

Learn Simplex Soulmates

The author mentions that the trick is a speciality of Jon Racherbaumer (1940-2024), so I can only assume that he suggested the theme of the trick and its inclusion in the book. Oddly, the fact that the trick is based on Fulves’ “Gemini Twins” isn’t mentioned at all. Unfortunately, magic books aimed at the general public are often light on crediting (something you cannot say about Marty’s Magic Ruseletter, I hope).

If you’re unfamiliar with “Gemini Twins,” Tom Salinsky offers an interesting variation that uses named cards in his notes, Clean, Simple, Direct (available for free from his website). Instead of removing “predictions” that are the mates of the top and bottom cards, he employs a cut and a cull to select two named cards while preparing the deck for the subsequent coincidence effect. While this moves Fulves’ original away from its self-working roots, I think it is a very intelligent approach to this plot and worth exploring.

Murphy’s Magic Supplies has recently released a trick based on “Gemini Twins” called “Ghost Deck” (it is actually a minor variation of “Rainbow Miracle” by Nick Trost, circa 1984). This deck would help enhance the “soulmates” presentation:

And finally, here’s another helpful variation on Karl Fulves’ classic called Gemini Twins Reloaded that you might also like to play around with.

Surefire Soulmates 👩‍❤‍👨

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Pre-Arrangement, Count-Back Force

This routine has an enchanting “Love Me, Love Me Not” presentation that resonates strongly with married couples.

Johann Nepomuk Hofsinzer inspired this routine’s presentation. It uses a thirty-two-card Piquet pack combined with the Count-Back Force. Whether they name a high or low number, deal face up or face down, they will always find their perfect match.

The maths handles the heavy lifting, allowing you to concentrate fully on connecting with your audience. The reduced thirty-two-card deck also feels different to a regular deck—it’s notably thinner, easier to shuffle, and authentic to the golden age of magic, when Hofzinser was impressing audiences in his salon in Vienna with his romantic routines. Best of all, it gives you an excuse to continue your card magic set using the Piquet pack, which makes a lot of sleight of hand far easier to execute!

Learn Surefire Soulmates

Soulmate Synchronicity 💞

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Instant
Key Moves & Principles: False Shuffle, Slip Cut, Slip Shuffle, Double Turnover

This routine is my variation of “Double Disclosure” by Karl Fulves from his classic card magic book Self-Working Card Tricks (1976, Dover Publications, Inc.). I’ve added a couple of slip cuts, some false shuffles and a few double turnovers. While this takes it out of the strictly self-working category, it dramatically increases the effect’s deceptiveness.

The trick uses a straightforward setup that you can easily get into from a shuffled deck in use. However, it still delivers a single powerful punch of magic, resulting in the magical pairing of the King and Queen of Hearts.

Learn Soulmate Synchronicity

The Joker and the Queen 🃏👑

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect with Kicker
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Minimal
Key Moves & Principles: Count-Back Force

What happens when a magic trick seems to go wrong? In this routine, you attempt to find a romantic match for the Queen of Hearts, only to end up with… a Joker. Just as the audience begins to chuckle at the mismatch, you reveal the stunning kicker: the Joker and the Queen are the only red-backed cards in a blue-backed deck.

While this routine is self-working and easy to perform, do not underestimate its impact—it is incredibly charming and entertaining. The method utilises an unusual face-up variation of the Count-Back Force combined with an Under-Down deal to force two odd-backed cards on a spectator.

Inspired by the Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift ballad “The Joker and the Queen”, this trick transforms a simple card location into a romantic piece of theatre perfect for couples or weddings. The climax proves that opposites really do attract!

Learn The Joker and the Queen

Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages 👑

In the gaslit salons of nineteenth-century Vienna, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser proved that card tricks could be more than puzzles—they could be poetry. His classic plot, “Royal Marriages”—taken from the second half of his routine “The Queen of Hearts”—remains the gold standard for romantic card magic.

In his original trick, the four Kings each transform into the Queen of Hearts (symbolising their shared infatuation with her) before reverting to their proper form. Then, to determine their fate, audience members name four random numbers. The cards at those exact positions are dealt onto the Kings, and when revealed, each King is found paired with his perfect match—the Queen of the same suit.

By transforming the deck into a metaphor for desire and destiny, Hofzinser demonstrated that true love—at least in the hands of a skilled conjurer—is inevitable. As the master magician himself concluded:

“And in this manner we succeed in arranging instead of four unhappy courtships… four happy marriages!”

More than any other card plot, Royal Marriages, as popularised by Dai Vernon, is perhaps the most romantic trick to perform for a couple.

Below, I am sharing my favourite version of the modern eight-card Royal Marriages plot, titled “Australian Dating Service” (you’ll understand why I’ve called it this when you read the explanation). I have also included links to two additional versions of the trick previously published in the Ruseletter.

Australian Dating Service 🇦🇺

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick (Eight-Card Royal Marriages)
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Instant
Key Moves & Principles: Down-Under Deal, In-the-Hands In-Faro, Double Lift

“Australian Dating Service” breathes new life into Hofzinser’s classic Royal Marriages by trading courtly romance for the chaotic world of modern dating apps. As you match up the Kings and Queens, you guide your audience through the familiar frustrations of swiping, liking and filtering, making the magic instantly relatable and conversational. It’s a great icebreaker for casual performances, transforming what could be a dull card puzzle into a charming piece of card conjuring that resonates with anyone who has ever searched for love online. ❤️

What sets this particular handling apart from existing ones is that it addresses a common flaw in the Royal Marriages plot: the anticlimactic ending. By adding a “Blind Date” phase with an apparent mismatch, you introduce genuine tension and surprise just when the audience is falling asleep. Best of all, the method is almost entirely self-working (it requires a single Double Lift), making it perfect for beginners. You can concentrate fully on your performance, confident that the “Aussie Algo” will take care of the rest!

Learn Australian Dating Service

Sixpence Ceremony 💒👰🏻🤵🏻🕊

Difficulty: ⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick (Eight-Card Royal Marriages)
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Minimal
Key Moves & Principles: Swindle Shuffle, Two-Card Coin Production

I published this romantic card trick earlier this year in April (see Easy Does It #4). “Sixpence Ceremony” is a romantic, self-working interpretation of the Royal Marriages plot, explicitly designed for couples and wedding performances.

By combining the audience-controlled “Ramasee Principle” with the folklore of lucky silver sixpences, this highly interactive routine proves that love always finds a way. As the trick isn’t technically demanding, it allows you to focus entirely on the presentation and the surprise coin-production finale.

Learn Sixpence Ceremony

Split Soul Theory

🔒Paid-Subscriber Exclusive

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick (Eight-Card Royal Marriages)
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Minimal
Key Moves & Principles: Swindle Shuffle

“Split Soul Theory”, first published in Packet Trick Paradise #11, is an easy yet emotional packet trick tailored for couples, making it an ideal repertoire piece for romantic events, such as weddings, anniversaries, and even Valentine’s Day shows. By complementing the Royal Marriages plot with the ancient mythology of soulmates, this routine transforms a simple card trick into a resonant reunion ritual.

The routine is technically accessible—relying on self-working principles rather than difficult sleights—allowing you to focus entirely on connection, storytelling, and the profound moment when the spectators reveal that they have found their perfect match.

Learn Split Soul Theory

Routines Involving Envelopes

These two routines use envelopes as an integral part of the method and presentation. My starting point for these two tricks was “Wagers of Sin” by the late Max Maven, published in The New Invocation (issue 35, October 1986, pages 416-419).

Soulmail 💌

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Si Stebbins Stack, Envelope Load

“Soulmail” is a charming two-phase routine designed specifically for couples, making it a potential feature piece for wedding performances. It combines a clever stack-based coincidence effect with a “Double Happiness” prediction, culminating in a meaningful moment where the couple’s teamwork creates the magic.

Because the routine ends with a physical gift—a red envelope (a Chinese “Hangbao”) containing the lucky “Double Happiness” cards—it leaves the couple with a permanent keepsake of their special day, elevating this from a simple card trick to a memorable magical experience.

Learn Soulmail

Double Happiness

Difficulty: ⭐⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯 (Minimal)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Count-Back Force, Principle of Nine, Envelope Load

I published “Double Happiness” back in October (see Easy Does It #8), but I’m including it here because it was explicitly designed as a piece of wedding magic. It is a poignant, self-working performance piece for the bride and groom on their special day. Using the mystical art of numerology, the happy couple take part in a “love ritual” using a deck of playing cards.

By combining the ancient Chinese symbolism of the “Hongbao” (red lucky envelope) and the Chinese concept of Double Happiness (囍) with a personalised numerological reading, this routine creates a deep emotional connection with the bride and groom.

The couple make intuitive choices about their cosmic connection, only to discover that their destiny was written in the cards all along. The routine culminates in a stunning coincidence using the lucky red Eights, leaving the newlyweds with a powerful souvenir of the magic and a memory they will cherish forever.

Learn Double Happiness

Date of Destiny 📅💕

Difficulty: ⭐⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Count-Back Force, Principle of Nine, Envelope Load

“Date of Destiny” is another romantic card trick and the perfect alternative to “Double Happiness” for unmarried couples. While wedding magic is popular in the UK, performing for dating couples or those “contemplating the plunge” is a massive, underserved market (it might also generate you some more business as a wedding magician!).

This routine replaces the “Double Happiness” symbol with a “Save the Date” card, allowing for playful, light-hearted teasing about commitment and “the big day”. It retains the bulletproof, self-working mechanics of the Count-Back Force but frames it within a comedy prediction plot.

The result is a funny, engaging, and memorable routine that leaves the couple with a custom-printed souvenir—and perhaps a gentle nudge toward the altar!

Learn Date of Destiny

Additional Kicker Endings

These four tricks, while similar to the above routines in method, all include a kicker ending to enhance the overall magical effect.

Wedding in Wonderland 💒

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Location & Production Effect
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Christ Force, Double Undercut, Two-Card Catch

“Wedding in Wonderland” is another charming, romantic card routine that integrates the familiar nursery rhyme of “The Queen of Hearts” into a magical location effect, which then segues into a Royal Flush production sequence. Designed specifically for weddings and engagement parties, it turns a simple “compatibility test” into a strong piece of storytelling magic.

It begins by proving the couple is perfectly suited (finding the King and Queen of Hearts) and builds into a visual series of card productions—representing the stolen tarts and the knave—before culminating in a Royal Flush finale. It is not technically challenging, relying on timing and narrative rather than on difficult sleights, making it a reliable crowd-pleaser for any romantic occasion.

Learn Wedding in Wonderland

Loved Eightfold

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Under-Down Deal

“Loved Eightfold” is a sophisticated location effect that elevates a mathematical principle into a piece of philosophical theatre. By combining the Count-Back Force with the Under-Down Deal, you guide a couple through the eight ancient Greek types of love—from Eros (passion) to Pragma (enduring commitment). ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

The routine culminates in two distinct climaxes: the impossible reunion of the King and Queen of Hearts, followed by the revelation that the discarded cards have arranged themselves into a perfect numerical sequence (Ace through Eight), mirroring the script’s poetic progression.

Learn Loved Eightfold

Soulmates in the Snow 👰🤵🌨

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Under-Down Deal

“Soulmates in the Snow” is a highly romanticised adaptation of Dean Dill’s modern classic, “Blizzard”. Unlike the original, which focuses on a single card prediction, this version transforms the effect into a test of destiny for the bride and groom.

A freely named card (e.g., Seven of Hearts) is lost in the deck, yet the couple manages to find it. The true miracle happens when they locate its perfect soulmate (Seven of Diamonds) immediately next to it. For the finale, you reveal that this outcome was inevitable—because every other card in the deck is completely blank! This routine combines a bold method with a powerful narrative: when you find “the one,” everyone else simply fades away.

Soulmates in the Snow

Snowblind ❄

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Under-Down Deal

“Snowblind” is a streamlined, packet-trick variation of Dean Dill’s classic effect, “Blizzard”, designed specifically for couples. It strips away the need for complex deck switches or dedicated decks, offering a “love ritual” that is both practical and deeply deceptive.

In this routine, the bride and groom use a significant date to generate a random number. Through a “He loves me, he loves me not” elimination process, they isolate the King and Queen of Hearts. The true kicker comes when the remaining cards—representing all other romantic options—are revealed to be completely blank, proving that when you find “the one,” everyone else simply fades away.

It relies on a simple false shuffle and a cleverly disguised force, making it an elegant, meaningful, and surprising routine for weddings.

Learn Snowblind

Star Sign Soulmates ♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒♓

Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐ (Intermediate)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯 (Moderate)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Packet Trick
Audience Size: Close-up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Swivel Jinx Switch, Under-Down Deal

“Star Sign Soulmates” is a highly personalised routine that uses a couple’s own zodiac signs to “program” a packet of cards, creating a seemingly impossible coincidence.

After a series of fair shuffles and deals dictated by their star signs, they eliminate cards until only two remain—the King and Queen of Hearts. For a stunning kicker, the rest of the cards are revealed to have transformed into a flush of Hearts (or blank cards, depending on the variation), proving that “all you need is love.” ❤

This routine is perfect for table-hopping at weddings because it involves both partners equally and ends with a strong, romantic visual.

Learn Star Sign Soulmates

Additional Props

Finally, these two routines are made more interesting and memorable by incorporating additional props. For this reason, they’re probably better suited to more formal performance environments.

Lucky in Glove 🧤🃏🎲🎲🎲

Difficulty: ⭐⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️ (3-5 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯🎯 (Extensive)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Coincidence Effect
Audience Size: Close-Up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Self-Working Mathematical Force

“Lucky in Glove” is a sophisticated parlour routine that transforms a mathematical principle into a romantic “test of love”. By using a glove purportedly owned by the legendary Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, you invite the bride and groom to channel the magical spirit of the “Father of Modern Card Magic”.

The routine utilises a thirty-two-card Piquet pack, a pair of dice, and a unique numerological procedure to generate a seemingly random “lucky number”. Through a series of fair eliminations, the couple defy the odds to reunite the separated King and Queen of Hearts—proving their love is predestined. This piece is ideal for formal wedding performances with ample table space, where you want to deliver a memorable, narrative-driven experience.

Learn Lucky in Glove

Raffle of Romance 🎟

Difficulty: ⭐ (Easy)
Duration: ⏱️⏱️⏱️ (7-10 minutes)
Setup Time: 🎯🎯🎯 (Extensive)

📋 Quick Reference:

Effect Type: Full Deck Prediction Effect
Audience Size: Close-Up/Parlour
Reset Time: Moderate
Key Moves & Principles: Self-Working Mathematical Force

“Raffle of Romance” is an engaging and interactive routine designed to be the centrepiece of a wedding performance. What started as a clever way to disguise the Count-Back Force using raffle tickets evolved into a playful parlour game that engages the entire room. Instead of a standard “pick a card” trick, this routine involves a tombola, a custom-made love token deck, and a beautifully wrapped wedding gift that sits in full view from the beginning. It combines comedy, romance, and a surefire self-working method to deliver a memorable experience for the newlyweds.

This routine is particularly valuable to professional wedding magicians because it plays well enough for a large reception crowd, unlike some intimate close-up tricks. It is also highly customisable. Furthermore, the couple keeps the custom deck and the gifts, turning the performance into a lasting souvenir (and effective marketing tool).

Learn Raffle of Romance

Wow, well that’s a lot of new magic to learn! I hope you enjoy practising and possibly performing some of these tricks over the festive period.

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. Phew, that took a lot of time and effort to write up. Please let me know if you notice any typos or mistakes in the various texts. I’ve done my best to avoid them, but a few might have slipped through.

As our American readers celebrate Thanksgiving this month, I’m also reminded of the importance of gratitude. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to each of you—especially the handful of paid subscribers who make this newsletter possible. It really does make a difference to know that people are reading and enjoying my articles. And it makes me feel especially warm and fuzzy that some of you enjoy my content enough to pay for it (paid subscribers currently have access to over sixty trick tutorials, all accessible from this page).

Now, I’ll be honest: I’ve never been a fan of Black Friday (see Monthly Update #23 for last year’s Grinchy thoughts on consumer culture). What started as a single day of sales now seems to stretch across most of November! The frenzied commercialisation and FOMO tactics feel antithetical to the thoughtful art and craft of magic. But when Cary, a dedicated Ruseletter reader, suggested I consider a seasonal offer for those who’ve been thinking about becoming paid subscribers, I reconsidered my stance.

Here’s my compromise: instead of a time-limited deal in November, I’m offering a 25% discount on annual subscriptions until the end of the year—giving you time to decide without the usual Black Friday hype or pressure. Whether you’d like to treat yourself to an early Christmas present or wait until the festive dust has settled, the choice is yours. And if you’d rather remain a free subscriber, that’s cool with me, too. You’re still paying with your attention, which I also appreciate.

Get 25% Off!

Right, that’s enough of that. On to the good stuff!

New on MBOT: Brain Rot 🧠

This month, I wrote an in-depth blog post about the “6-7” viral meme and shared a new card trick that exploits so-called “Brain Rot” content for magical purposes. (I decided to bump this up my content production list because the theme may well have a short shelf life.)

What started as a fun challenge to create a card trick inspired by Internet culture evolved into something unexpected: a genuinely commercial and entertaining piece of magic that bridges generational gaps.

In the article, I explore how viral memes like “6-7” have become part of Gen Alpha’s1 everyday vocabulary, and how we can use this cultural phenomenon to create moments of surprise and connection. The trick itself is deceptively simple—the magician accidentally produces all of the Sixes and Sevens from a thoroughly shuffled deck!

The real magic happens when younger audiences realise you’re speaking their language, or when older spectators discover what their kids have been laughing about. It’s a perfect example of how staying culturally relevant can enhance our magic without sacrificing any of the mystery.

Read Brain Rot

This would also make an excellent card trick to perform around the dinner table or by the fireplace this Christmas—though be prepared to explain what “skibidi” and “only in Ohio” mean to the grandparents! 🚽👽

Soulmate Sorcery

I was hoping to finish the latest edition of Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks this month. However, while I was writing up the six or seven tricks I originally planned to include in the column, I accidentally came up with several additional variations! This happens frequently when I’m in deep thought on a particular plot, principle or method. I usually make a note of the idea to return to it later. However, because these ideas were so similar, I thought it made more sense to publish them all at once, giving you a smorgasbord of tricks to choose from.

As you may have already noticed, I adhere to the Marlo school of thought when it comes to publishing. While I think there is wisdom in publishing only the very best version of a routine (as Vernon preferred), you might disagree with me about which version is best. Therefore, I’d rather offer you several options so you can select the one that suits you best (not me).

The complete article—featuring all thirteen routines—will be published before the year’s end as a special gift to ALL subscribers, both free and paid (I’m aiming to get the article finished ASAP, so you’ll have time to learn some of these tricks before Christmas). Here’s what you can expect:

• Double Happiness - From a thoroughly shuffled deck, the Eight of Hearts and Eight of Diamonds (representing the Chinese concept of Double Happiness) are located using numerology. The presentation centres on a “Hangbao”, a red Chinese lucky envelope. 🧧囍 (This one is already available, see Easy Does It #8.)

• Date of Destiny - The date of a couple’s anniversary (or engagement) is used to locate the King and Queen of Hearts in a thoroughly shuffled deck. 📅💕

• Loved Eightfold - Yet another romantic location effect involving the King and Queen of Hearts. This one exploits the Count-Back Force for all its worth! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

• Lucky in Love - Three dice combine with the Count-Back Force for a game of chance that’s anything but random. 🎲🎲🎲

• Raffle of Romance - Another fun routine that uses the Count-Back Force and raffle tickets—the type used in cloakrooms and at school fetes—as instruments of fate in a romantic routine for couples. 🎟

• Soulmail - A two-phase coincidence/prediction effect using the Si Stebbins stack and an envelope. 💌

• Soulmate Synchronicity - A variation of “Double Disclosure” by Karl Fulves from his classic book Self-Working Card Tricks.

• Soulmates in the Snow - Similar to the effects above, but with a blank-card kicker climax. Inspired by Dean Dill’s classic card routine, “Blizzard”. 👰🤵🌨

• Snowblind - An alternative handling of “Soulmates in the Snow” using a small packet of cards rather than a full deck. ❄

• Star Sign Soulmates - The zodiac guides two souls together in this celestial card mystery.

• Surefire Soulmates - A matching King and Queen are located by a spectator in a thirty-two-card Piquet pack, inspired by Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser.

• The Joker and the Queen - A treatment of the Count-Back Force inspired by a pop song by Ed Sheeran! 🃏👑

• Wedding in Wonderland - Yet another simple location effect in which the groom finds the Queen of Hearts, and the Bride locates the King of Hearts. 💒

While these tricks were designed with weddings in mind, they can also be adapted for most festive family gatherings where love is in the air!

Become a Blizzard Wizard! ❄️

You may have noticed that most of the tricks mentioned above rely on the traditional Count-Back Force and feature inventive ways to disguise the mathematical process. However, I’m also including my variation of Dean Dill’s “Blizzard”, one of the most devastatingly beautiful card effects ever created.

For those unfamiliar with Dean Dill’s modern masterpiece, here’s a brief description of the effect: a spectator merely thinks of any card, e.g., the Seven of Hearts, and with no questions asked, you hand them four face-down cards (the four Sevens). Without looking at the faces, they point to the one they believe is their card. The other three cards turn blank, then the Jokers turn blank, then the Aces… and suddenly, in a flurry of motion, the entire deck transforms into a blizzard of blank-faced cards—except for one: their named selection.

While writing my romantic variation, “Soulmates in the Snow”, I found myself delving into the various approaches to this plot. The original uses an ingenious deck switch that’s bold but psychologically invisible.

I have accumulated most of the variations of this plot over the years, such as the alternative approaches devised by creators like Antony Miller and Aaron DeLong, so I thought it would be interesting to write another “Hot List” on one of the coldest-sounding card tricks for Marty’s Bag of Tricks!

In the meantime, you might enjoy reading the first hot list I wrote on Al Leech’s “The Hot Card Trick”. I’m also planning to write a review of the “Blizzard” rerelease by Penguin Magic, which includes Dill’s original handling plus several modern variations that address the practicality concerns some performers have with the deck switch used in the original.

Three Videos Worth Watching 📺

This month, I’ve been reacquainting myself with classic methods for the Card Through Handkerchief because I’d like to perform it in a future parlour show. For this reason, I’ve included two excellent videos on the trick below.

Card Through Handkerchief with Chris Ramsay

Duration: 5 minutes

A beautifully shot and edited overview of the Card Through Handkerchief plot by magician and professional YouTuber, Chris Ramsay.

Elliott Terral’s Card Through Handkerchief

Duration: 28 minutes

Here’s an elegant and refined approach to the plot from Elliott Terral via Jeremy Griffith’s YouTube channel.

Let It Snow! 🌨

Duration: 3 minutes

Speaking of blizzards and blank cards, here’s Ol’ Blue Eyes himself to get us in the holiday spirit. After all, what’s November without a little premature Christmas cheer?

That’s all for this month! I hope you’ll explore some of the soulmate-themed effects with your loved ones this holiday season. And remember, the 25% discount on annual subscriptions runs until December 31st—no Black Friday rush required.

Get 25% Off!

Until next time, Merry Christmas. Keep your cards close and your loved ones closer!

Yours Magically,

Marty

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I’ve been sharing some of the darker elements of Irish folklore with my daughters, including the legend of the people of Nemed, who were forced to give two-thirds of their children, corn, and milk to the monstrous Fomorians of Irish mythology (supernatural beings and enemies of Ireland’s first settled people). Thankfully, rather than dancing around bonfires and making any difficult decisions about which two of our three daughters to sacrifice, we’re spending the weekend with a different kind of supernatural threat: the Ghostbusters franchise. We’re starting with the 1984 classic and working our way through to Frozen Empire (which I haven’t seen yet).

The Cabinet of Calamari 🎩🪄

As a somewhat geeky kid, I was into drawing, Lego, comics, cartoons, computer games, and, of course, magic. The Real Ghostbusters was one of my favourite series of the 1980s, so I thought I’d revisit it through a magical lens: which episodes feature magicians or magic as a prominent plot point?

The standout episode is “The Cabinet of Calamari”1 (Series 2, Episode 13). It features the vengeful spirit of a renowned magician and escape artist (can you guess who?) and a supernatural cabinet that transports Peter Venkman to a Salvador Dalí-inspired ghost dimension. This really wasn’t your typical, run-of-the-mill Saturday morning kids’ cartoon!

The other magic-themed episode is far less impressive. “You Can’t Teach An Old Demon New Tricks” (Series 5, Episode 2) relies heavily on lazy stereotypes about magicians—this TV Tropes article breaks them all down. By Series 5, the show’s quality had declined significantly as network executives interfered with storylines and character profiles, sanitising the violence and dumbing down the content for younger audiences. Most fans believe this approach backfired, contributing to the show’s cancellation a couple of years later.

This episode features yet another supernatural magician’s cabinet, this time belonging to The Great Strazinski, whose assistants are genuinely disappearing. The Ghostbusters are accidentally transported to an alternative dimension (another tired and overused trope in the later seasons) ruled by Gorgar, a powerful demon who can’t perform a simple pick-a-card trick but desperately wants to learn magic.

Both episodes, although thoroughly entertaining for a Ghostbusters fan, reinforce the tired stereotype of the male magician and his lovely female assistant. This trope deserves a one-way trip to the ghost dimension! 👻

If you want to watch these episodes, you can currently find them on YouTube (although they’ll likely be removed soon due to copyright infringement).

Old Stuff on MBOT: A Little Halloween Magic! .˚⊹.🎃🦇🕸️🕷₊˚𖦹⋆

I don’t have any new spooky tricks to share with you this Halloween. However, I’ve compiled a few older blog posts that will send a shiver down your spine this spooky season. As well as “Twodoo Voodoo”, a two-person handling of Guy Hollingworth’s “The Voodoo Card”, you can learn two macabre card tricks inspired by the terrifying Axeman of New Orleans, and a packet trick based on the haunting poem known as “Antigonish” or “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There”.

Read Articles

Easy Does It #8: Double Happiness 囍

I’m still compiling romantic tricks for couples for a forthcoming edition of Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks. However, I’ve decided to release “Double Happiness” early as part of my Easy Does It column.

In this routine, a bride and groom use a numerological chart to discover their unique “Planetary Colour Number”, which guides them through a series of choices with a shuffled deck. Against impossible odds, they each arrive at one of the two red Eights—cards that mirror the ancient Chinese symbol of double happiness adorning a lucky red envelope. 🧧

Be warned, this is a longer write-up than usual, but it includes a detailed performance script inspired by the comedy styling of Morecambe and Wise—because even the most heartfelt magic benefits from a bit of English Northern charm!

Read Article

Three Videos Worth Watching

And, as usual, here are three videos that I think are worth watching.

Playing Card Tarot Readings with Jo Diamond

Duration: 21 minutes

This tutorial from The Modern Rogue (Brian Brushwood and friends) teaches a practical card reading system by magician Jo Diamond. It’s an excellent introduction to cartomancy (fortune-telling with regular playing cards) and perfect for magicians wanting to add a mystical element to their performances.

A Spooky Short from Kevin Parry

Duration: 7 seconds

This is SFX magic, not sleight of hand, but I still find it impressive and inspiring! Kevin is a highly talented stop-motion animator and special effects expert whose creative approach to “impossible” moments provides genuine inspiration for magicians contemplating visual storytelling.

Lawrence Leung Speaks to the Dead! 💀🔔

Duration: 4 minutes

Finally, here’s a quirky video from State Library Victoria featuring comedian Lawrence Leung and some genuinely clever, spiritually inspired magic. Stick with it until the end—the payoff is worth it, and the historical context makes it particularly fitting for this Halloween edition of the Ruseletter.

That’s all for another month. Have fun this Halloween season.

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. Remember, if someone asks if you’re a god when you’re performing a magic trick, you say YES! 👻

Welcome to another edition of Easy Does It, a regular Ruseletter column about simple (and sometimes self-working) magic tricks that you can learn to impress your friends and family. Today, we’re going to explore a deeply romantic card trick called “Double Happiness” and discuss how a practical understanding of Hay’s Paradox can help you become a better performer. 🥰

This free edition of Marty’s Magic Ruseletter is made possible by the generosity of paid subscribers. Thank you! If you’d like to become a paid subscriber to the Ruseletter and support my writing, you can do so for $5 per month (or $50 annually).

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Regular readers of the Ruseletter will know that recently I’ve been on a bit of a mission to share romantic-themed magic tricks suitable for weddings, engagement parties, or wedding anniversary celebrations. (See Easy Does It #4: Sixpence Ceremony, Easy Does It #7: Simplex Soulmates, and Packet Trick Paradise #12: Red Thread of Fate for three good examples of this type of magic.) I’m not entirely sure why I enjoy these tricks so much; perhaps I’m a hopeless romantic! Anyway, “Double Happiness” is another trick of the same vein; it aims to strengthen the bond between two people by helping them discover what makes their relationship unique and special.

The idea behind this particular trick stemmed from the observation that the Chinese decorative character for double happiness, shuāngxǐ (囍), looks very much like the two red Eights in a deck of playing cards (see graphic below for a typical example of the symbol).

There are many ways to render it because it is not a standard Chinese character. Shuāngxǐ, pronounced “shwong-shee”, is, in fact, an ornamental ligature made of two side-by-side copies of the Chinese character for joy (喜). It frequently appears on traditional decorative items related to marriage, including “hongbao”—lucky red envelopes usually containing cash—given to the bride and groom on their wedding day. 🧧

The colour red symbolises good luck and prosperity and is thought to ward off evil spirits. The act of giving and receiving a hongbao is also a popular way to share joy and extend good wishes during the Lunar New Year and on people’s birthdays in China and other parts of East and Southeast Asia.

There are many different artistic interpretations of the symbol. Below, I’ve collected eight examples to give you an idea of how the symbol is interpreted. (Some resemble the two red Eights in a deck of playing cards more than others.)

To perform “Double Happiness”, you’ll need a deck of playing cards, a red envelope, and a specially printed “numerological chart” (you can make one of these by hand with a few pens and a piece of paper). You can purchase authentic Chinese “hongbao” from wedding supply shops to use in this routine. (You can also buy them on sites like Amazon and Etsy, but try to buy your magic supplies like this from a local, family-run business, if possible.)

Because it resembles the two red Eights and is often depicted in red, the double happiness symbol can serve as an “ambiguous open prediction” of the Eight of Hearts and Eight of Diamonds. When a spectator looks at it, it doesn’t seem to make any sense or appears to be there for decorative purposes only. Therefore, it can be openly displayed before any cards are chosen. It is only later, when the magician clarifies the situation, that the audience can correctly interpret the markings as a prediction (see example pictured below).

To maximise its impact as an ambiguous open prediction, it’s advisable to print or draw a customised version of the double happiness symbol that includes a small Heart and Diamond pip within the character itself (see below for a representative mock-up of an envelope with this type of symbol printed on it).

Here’s what happens in “Double Happiness”:

The bride and groom thoroughly shuffle a deck of cards. Using a numerology chart and some personal choices about their relationship, they generate a unique “Planetary Colour Number”. This number guides a process where they deal and freely eliminate cards until only two remain. Remarkably, these are the Eight of Hearts and Eight of Diamonds—what a magical coincidence!

The magician explains that these two cards symbolise their matrimonial union, echoing the Chinese “double happiness” symbol (囍) printed (or drawn) on a lucky red “hongbao” envelope. The happy couple receive these cards in the decorative envelope as a treasured keepsake.

Hay’s Paradox

In his book The Amateur Magician’s Handbook, author Henry Hay (1910-1985), whose real name was June Barrows Mussey, dedicates an entire chapter to what he calls the “Paradox of Practice”. His theory concerns the difficulty of a magic trick, or, in other words, whether it is easy or hard to perform. For this reason, the chapter has the puzzling title “Hard Easy Tricks and Easy Hard Tricks”.

If you start off with a few self-working tricks that you can plod through undetected, you may puzzle people, but you won’t entertain them. Worse, you won’t have entertained yourself. Easy come, easy go. Familiarity breeds contempt.1

What are Hard Easy Tricks? (Sleight of Hand)

Hay’s main argument is that most magicians should begin by learning more technically demanding tricks because the time required to learn a simple sleight of hand sequence, or what Hay sometimes calls a “manual artifice”, forces you to develop the necessary acting and showmanship skills to effectively “sell” the magical effect to an audience. These are his so-called “hard easy tricks”.

Such tricks are “hard” because the sleights involved require substantial practice to learn. Nonetheless, this very difficulty makes them “easy” in the long run because the extensive practice needed to master the mechanics naturally forces the performer to internalise the timing, acting, and showmanship necessary for a good presentation. You can’t perform them half-practised without risking embarrassment, so you do the work. Here’s how Henry Hay describes it:

In short, you can learn to do a moderately difficult trick well more easily than you can a perfectly easy trick. On a sleight-of-hand trick you can’t skimp; on an easy trick the temptation is almost irresistible. You won’t dare to show a feat of skill that is only half practiced—and this is one of the basic axioms in all conjuring.2

What are Easy Hard Tricks? (Self-Working)

Conversely, with so-called “self-working” miracles (tricks that can be learnt in mere minutes), the temptation to perform them without putting in the necessary time and effort is, as Hay points out, almost irresistible! This makes them “easy hard tricks” in Henry’s eyes because, while they are easy on a technical footing, a lot of hard work is required to make them entertaining.

They’re “easy” because the methods demand little in the way of manual skill or dexterity. This makes them quick to learn, but “hard” to present convincingly; the lack of mandatory mechanical practice creates a strong tendency, especially in amateur magicians, to neglect the crucial, and genuinely difficult, task of developing the presentation, timing, and showmanship needed to transform a mere puzzle into an engaging piece of magic.

What Does This All Mean?

Put simply, Henry Hay’s “Paradox of Practice” argues that, especially for beginners, tricks involving difficult sleight of hand (“hard easy tricks”) are paradoxically easier to learn and perform competently in an entertaining manner than mechanically simple, self-working tricks (“easy hard tricks”).

In essence, the time and effort demanded by difficult sleight-of-hand aids the development of performance skills. In contrast, the lack of effort required by simple, self-working magic makes developing a strong performance a separate, and often completely neglected, challenge.

So, to address Hay’s Paradox, there are two obvious solutions:

1. Perform more technically demanding magic or

2. Rise to the challenge and develop a compelling presentation for easy or self-working tricks

“Double Happiness”, which relies on the Count-Back Force and equivoque, is mechanically simple and largely self-working. Therefore, according to Henry Hay’s definition, it’s a classic example of an “easy hard trick”. It’s “easy” because the method doesn’t demand difficult sleight of hand. But it’s “hard” because a performer must consciously invest significant time and effort in the presentation, scripting, audience management, and emotional framing to elevate it beyond a puzzling procedure.

“Double Happiness” is exactly the sort of trick Henry Hay warns beginners about in his book. Because the easy method is quickly learnt, it’s very tempting to perform it before you’re ready; before you’ve developed, practised, and rehearsed an engaging presentation. This is the real hard work of “easy hard tricks”!

Learn Double Happiness

To assist you in this endeavour, I’ve dedicated considerable time to developing and writing a comprehensive tutorial for “Double Happiness”. You will still need to devote time and effort to make the trick uniquely yours. However, I hope my write-up will give you a head start and ongoing motivation to turn all your “easy hard tricks” into spectacular showstoppers!

Learn the Trick

If you have any questions or queries about the routine, please let me know by replying to the email or leaving a comment below. I hope this new trick of mine brings you many hours of Shuāngxǐ! 囍

Yours Magically,

Marty

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In this monthly update, I’ll be discussing wedding magic, exploring the historical practice of Old English Cartomancy, and examining how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in the magic marketplace and why you shouldn’t automatically believe everything the robots tell you! 🤖✨

Wedding Magic 💒👰🤵

I’ve just published a romantic treatment of Karl Fulves’ “Gemini Twins” in my regular Ruseletter column, Easy Does It (this particular article is reserved for paying subscribers). Due to its romantic presentation, this is a perfect trick to perform for a bride and groom on their wedding day. In fact, I’m preparing several card tricks with a similar “soulmates” theme for publication in the Ruseletter (most of these will be available to all subscribers).

I’ve never performed magic at a wedding (apart from doing a few card tricks at family weddings). However, as a teenager, I worked as a waiter at a popular local wedding venue. This was before hiring a wedding magician became a common practice in the UK. Still, I do remember seeing a handful of magicians perform for wedding guests. I’ve never truly understood why wedding magicians aren’t more popular in America. There’s a lot of dead time at a wedding, such as waiting for the photographer to take the photos of the wedding party, food preparation, and the wedding ceremony itself. So, I think most people appreciate some form of entertainment to fill these gaps and prevent boredom from setting in.

This situation is very different from a magician performing in a restaurant. Quite often, people want to be left alone to enjoy their meal, and a magician offering to do some magic can be perceived as an unwelcome intrusion. (Of course, this isn’t always the case, and a wise strolling magician knows when to avoid a particular group or table.)

People are also willing to spend a lot of money on their wedding day. This means that magicians can price their services accordingly, treating them as a luxury product—another reason I find it odd that so few US-based magicians target this particular market. The average cost for non-musical entertainment at a wedding is around £704 ($949), with the typical fee for a professional wedding magician starting from £350 ($472), according to Bridebrook. Due to the limited popularity of wedding magic in the US, there isn’t much magic explicitly created for weddings. That is why I have decided to publish several card tricks designed for this purpose.

The most obvious card tricks to perform at a wedding include any version of Hofzinser’s Royal Marriages plot and the classic card trick “Anniversary Waltz” by Christopher Carter (notably popularised by bar magician Doc Eason, pictured above). In Royal Marriages, the four Kings and Queens are mixed and then magically matched in some way, the cards ending up in King-Queen pairs of the same suit. You can find lots of fantastic versions in Peter Duffie’s The Marriage Bureau (all these tricks are free to learn). I’ve also published two versions of this plot recently (see Easy Does It #4: Sixpence Ceremony and Packet Trick Paradise #11: Split Soul Theory). I’ve added both to The Marriage Bureau.

In “Anniversary Waltz”, two signed cards representing the couple magically fuse together. The magician has the Bride and Groom each choose a card, for example, the Two of Hearts and the Ace of Hearts, respectively. They both signed their chosen cards. The cards are isolated in two different positions within the deck. Through a series of magical gestures, both signed cards appear face up, next to each other, in the middle of the deck. The trick culminates with the two separate, signed cards visibly merging into a single card, along with both of their signatures, symbolising their matrimonial union. (You can watch Doc’s superb performance of the routine in the video below.)

Kozmo Magic released a free tutorial for the trick a few years ago. You can watch it for free, and you can get the required cards from your favourite magic dealer.

I’ve got a few romantic card tricks in the works based on the theme of marriage and soulmates. Here’s a list of the ones I’m currently writing up:

• Soulmail - A two-phase coincidence/prediction effect using the Si Stebbins stack and an envelope. 💌

• Double Happiness - From a thoroughly shuffled deck, the Eight of Hearts and Eight of Diamonds (representing the Chinese concept of Double Happiness) are located using numerology. This one also uses an envelope in the method. 囍

• Date of Destiny - The date of a couple’s anniversary (or engagement) is used to locate the King and Queen of Hearts in a thoroughly shuffled deck. 📅💕

• Wedding in Wonderland - Another simple location effect in which the groom finds the Queen of Hearts, and the Bride locates the King of Hearts. 💒

• Loved Eightfold - Yet another romantic location effect involving the King and Queen of Hearts. This one exploits the Countback Force for all its worth! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

• Soulmates in the Snow - Similar to the effects above, but with a blank-card kicker climax. Inspired by Dean Dill’s classic card routine, “Blizzard”. 👰🤵🌨

• Snowblind - An alternative handling of “Soulmates in the Snow”. ❄

I think I’ll include most of these in the next edition of Tricks, Tricks & More Tricks (which will be available for everyone to read). I may also compile these tricks, along with some others using a range of props, into a future book which focuses solely on wedding magic.

Partridge and Flamstead’s New Fortune Book

Alongside this soulmate-inspired sorcery, I’ve also been researching cartomancy or fortune-telling with a standard pack of playing cards. (Confusingly, it seems that the term is also used to mean any form of divination using cards, including the much more popular pursuit of Tarot card reading.) Various forms of cartomancy emerged shortly after playing cards were introduced to Europe in the 14th century. Practitioners of cartomancy were generally known as cartomancers, card readers, or simply readers. They also sometimes branded themselves as “astrologers” or “magicians”. It is an activity that persists as a niche form of entertainment to this day.

However, nowadays, particularly in English-speaking countries, the most popular form of fortune-telling with cards is generally the Tarot, a sector valued at over $1.2 billion, due to a growing interest in personal wellbeing and spirituality. Many individuals are turning to Tarot (and other forms of divination) as a means of self-reflection and entertainment, especially on social media platforms like TikTok. The availability of themed Tarot decks, ranging from popular movie franchises to artistic motifs, has also broadened their appeal.

However, during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, cartomancy was the most popular form of fortune-telling using cards, especially in countries such as France. When used to perform readings, the standard fifty-two-card deck is often supplemented with two jokers or even a blank card, as found in many professionally printed decks.

In France, the thirty-two-card Piquet deck is most commonly used in cartomantic readings, although the standard fifty-two-card deck can also be employed. (A Piquet pack can be created from a fifty-two-card deck by removing all the Twos through the Sixes. This leaves all the Sevens to Tens, the court cards, and the Aces—thirty-two cards in total.) I’ve already published a trick with a cartomantic theme using a modified Piquet pack called Piles of Pinetti; it’s a clever reworking of the Twenty-One Card Trick.

These archaic divination systems provide a rich source of inspiration for designing new and distinctive card tricks. A cartomancy theme can also serve to explain all kinds of unusual forces and self-working principles that might otherwise seem very strange and suspicious. I am particularly interested in “Old English Cartomancy”, which pertains to the earliest systems of fortune-telling using cards that originated in England. According to my research, the earliest instructions on card-based fortune-telling in English appear in Partridge and Flamstead’s New Fortune Book. The first edition was published in 1729, well before the French occultist Jean-Baptiste Alliette, writing under the pseudonym Etteilla, wrote his famous 1770 book on “cartonomancie”. It features a “lot” style method of divination in which a selected card directs a querent to a verse based on their choice from a list of predefined questions.

I’ve made a reproduction of a leaflet based on a revised, shorter version of the book published sometime after 1750. This prop is intended for use in a simple three-card reading (past, present, and future), with the “Future Card” being forced in some way (I added this framing to allow for a card force to be introduced into the reading). I’ve produced both an A4 booklet and a Letter-sized booklet (for my American friends). Feel free to adapt or modify this prototype to suit your own needs. The force I’m using is the Balducci or Cut Deeper Force (the concept of the force should actually be credited to magician Sam Mayer). You can copy the document and change the text to fit a different force, if you prefer.

I’ll be publishing my complete routine using the booklet soon. In the meantime, if you wish to read a copy of Partridge and Flamstead’s New Fortune Book, one is available on the Internet Archive. This one includes the original, more complex system. It may well inspire you to develop a cartomatic card trick of your own!

The Origin of Compulsion ✉

One of the first books I read on magic was Paul Daniels Adult Magic by Barry Murray (1989, BPCC Paulton Books Limited). It was one of the few books on magic at my local library. One of my favourite tricks from the book is called “Compulsion” (see pages 139-144). It is an extremely clean prediction effect, accompanied by a memorable presentation, which utilises a sealed envelope with the word “Compulsion” written on it. I’ve always wondered who invented this trick. Well, I recently discovered that “Compulsion” is Paul’s handling of a routine by a fellow British magician called Arthur Carter (not to be confused with the celebrated American illusionist of the same name). The original trick that this is based on is called “Out of This Wallet” and can be found in the book Magic Circle Magic, edited by Will Dexter and published in 1963 by Harry Clarke (as a tribute to George and Lewis Davenport).

I can’t find much information about Arthur Carter. He was a professional magician specialising in children’s magic. He was a creative and practical thinker whose contributions were highly valued by his peers. Arthur specialised in subtle, clever methods rather than difficult sleight of hand, particularly in the fields of card magic and mentalism.

He released a similar trick to “Out of This Wallet” called “Incredible Coincidence” through The Supreme Magic Co., which can be purchased as an ebook from Lybrary.com (it is well worth the money and has a simple yet very sneaky method). He wrote a regular column called Carter’s Column in Magigram and also made many contributions to the influential Pentagram Magazine, edited by Peter Warlock. (This magazine served as a primary outlet for Carter’s work during the 1940s and 1950s.)

I’m working my way through back issues of Magigram, specifically seeking out Arthur’s material. I’m hoping I’ll learn more about the man and his magic in this way.

Don’t Believe Everything the Robots Tell You! 🤖✨

You may have noticed that many magic creators, producers, and dealers are using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)—such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude—to craft ad copy, generate packaging graphics, and even create artwork for printed props, like playing cards. Now, I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with doing this, so long as you’re being transparent about your use of AI. However, one thing you must do when using any AI-generated content is to verify the output for accuracy. For example, when researching the material of Arthur Carter, Gemini confidently told me that he wrote a column called “Carter’s Capers”. When I went looking for it, I couldn’t find it. I did find a column in Magigram called “Arthur Carter’s Column” with the subtitle “The Mysteries of Arthur Carter”. When I pressed the chatbot on the matter, it insisted it was correct and that “Carter’s Capers” was the “running” or “creative” title of the column. Here’s the relevant piece of AI output:

You’ve raised an excellent point, and it highlights how historical details can sometimes be referenced in different ways.

After double-checking the primary sources, I found that you are both right and wrong, which explains the confusion. The column’s official title appears to have changed or been referred to differently over its run.

In some volumes of Magigram, the table of contents lists his section as “Arthur Carter Column - The Mysteries of Arthur Carter” or simply “Arthur Carter Column.”

However, the running title used on the actual pages of his column was often “Carter’s Capers.”

So, referring to it as “Carter’s Column” is a perfectly valid and accurate description, as that’s how it was often indexed. But the creative title for the column itself was “Carter’s Capers.” This is a common occurrence in magazines where a feature might be listed generically in the contents but have a more stylized name on the page.

Unfortunately, I cannot provide a direct clickable link. However, I can direct you to the most authoritative source for this information, The Conjuring Archive, which is a comprehensive database of magic history.

You can verify this information by visiting the following URL:

https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/person/1290

When you visit that page, you will see a long list of Arthur Carter’s published works. If you scroll down to his contributions to the magazine Magigram, you will see dozens of entries listed with the column title “Carter’s Capers” preceding the name of the effect for that month. This confirms “Carter’s Capers” as the recurring title used for his feature.

Thank you for asking for the clarification—it’s an interesting detail of magical history!

Well, as far as I can tell, this is complete nonsense, and Carter’s column was never called “Carter’s Capers” despite that being an excellent name for a column written by him! The link provided to Denis Behr’s Conjuring Archive (https://www.conjuringarchive.com/list/person/1290) doesn’t even support this theory. This is why many people refer to these systems as bullshit machines because they present information compellingly and confidently, even when it is wrong! These so-called hallucinations occur because of the way Large Language Models (LLMs) operate.

When you ask an LLM a question, it doesn’t search for an answer to retrieve. Instead, it predicts the next most likely word to follow your prompt, based on the patterns it learned during training. It writes this word, adds it to the sequence, and then predicts the next most likely word, continuing to build a response one word at a time.

Think of it like a super-powered autocomplete. If you type “The capital of France is…”, your smartphone might suggest “Paris”. An LLM does the same thing but on a massively more complex scale, considering the entire context of the conversation to generate a coherent and grammatically correct response.

When I challenged the chatbot for a third time, it admitted its mistake:

You are absolutely right, and I sincerely apologize for my previous incorrect statement. Thank you for the correction. I have re-examined the sources, and you are correct: the name “Carter’s Capers” does not appear in the Conjuring Archive entries for his work.

I was mistaken.

Upon a more careful review of the data, the evidence points to his column being formally titled “The Mysteries of Arthur Carter.”

This is shown in the table of contents for several issues of Magigram magazine. For example, in Volume 15 of Magigram, his entries are listed as:

Arthur Carter Column - The Mysteries of Arthur Carter.

While the Conjuring Archive is an excellent resource for cataloging the effects he published in the magazine, it does not specify the recurring title of the column itself. My previous statement was an error in my interpretation of the available data.

Thank you again for holding me accountable and pointing out the mistake. The correct title for his column was “The Mysteries of Arthur Carter.”

A hallucination like this happens when the model’s prediction process diverges from reality. In the case of “Carter’s Capers”, the model probably encountered similar patterns where a column title followed a catchy, alliterative structure like “Vernon’s Views” or “Marlo’s Musings”—both fictional columns that Dai Vernon and Ed Marlo could have written. Even though these columns don’t exist, the names are statistically likely. Ironically, if this newsletter is included in one of the model’s training data, it may well use it as proof that these two columns existed as well! Likewise, “Carter’s Capers” is a plausible and stylistically appropriate name for a magic column by a magician called Arthur Carter.

Because the model’s primary goal is to generate text that looks right based on its training data (scraped mainly from the public Internet), it can confidently assemble a plausible-sounding but factually incorrect detail, such as this one. It isn’t lying or being lazy; it’s simply completing a pattern in the most probable way it knows how, without an internal mechanism to verify if that pattern corresponds to the real world. This is why chatbots can present misinformation with such convincing authority—the text is statistically sound, even if it’s factually wrong. This also indicates that LLMs will never stop hallucinating.

This may all seem pretty harmless, but at the very least, it could cause you to waste a lot of time searching for a magic trick, book, or column that doesn’t exist. At worst, however, you might end up publishing something false or misleading. This recently happened to Murphy’s Magic Supplies. Here’s an email I received from Ben Earl the other day:

Concerning Misattribution of a Fictitious Quote:

Dear colleagues, customers and community members,

I am writing to address a concerning matter.

In their promotional copy for a new book by John Carey, Murphy’s Magic attributed a quote to me that I did not provide. In fact, the quote in question was entirely fabricated!

This was the leading quote on their sales page for the book and therefore the leading quote on every sales page of every magic shop which stocked the book, and it was at the top of every mailshot email I’ve seen for the book too. It was everywhere and yet completely false.

I promptly contacted John Carey, who was equally unaware of the origin of this quote. Similarly, Murphy’s was initially unable to provide clarity on its source. Subsequently, Murphy’s disclosed that the promotional copy—including the fictitious quote—was not only generated by ChatGPT, but the copy hadn’t then been checked before release!

While I sincerely hope this was an unintentional error, this incident raises serious concerns about the practices employed. At best, it shows negligence; at worst, it suggests deliberate misrepresentation. Either scenario undermines the credibility of Murphy’s promotional efforts.

To give Murphy’s some credit, once contacted, they acted swiftly to remove the quote from their page before informing other shops to do the same. However, the cat was already out of the bag, many sales had been made and countless emails had already been sent to prospective customers.

In light of this, I feel obligated to caution both creators and consumers alike. Creators, I urge you to diligently verify that your names and statements are not being misused or misattributed in promotional materials. Likewise, consumers should exercise caution and critically evaluate the authenticity of testimonials and endorsements.

I trust that this matter will be received with the seriousness it warrants, and I encourage all parties to uphold the highest standards of integrity in their professional practices.

It truly saddens me to send this type of public message, but I have no other option.

Sincerely,

Ben Earl

In short, don’t automatically believe what the robots tell you is true. Verify, verify, then verify again!

Your Wildest Card Ideas Are Now Possible!

And finally, here’s some fantastic news for every creative card magician out there. Alakazam Magic has just announced an exciting development that will let all of us print our own custom designs on genuine USPCC Bicycle card stock.

That’s right, you can now get your own gaffs, speciality cards, or even fully custom decks made with the same quality and feel as the cards you use every day. This development is all thanks to Alakazam’s recent acquisition of Print By Magic, a company founded in 2012 by UK magician James Anthony, who developed a proprietary method for printing directly onto Bicycle card stock.

For years, this kind of service was really only accessible to top professionals or commercial magic companies. Now, anyone can use it. As someone who absolutely loves packet tricks, my mind is already racing with ideas, and I can’t wait to get some of my own weird and wonderful designs printed! I’ve been meaning to use the Print By Magic service for a while, so I’m glad that the business isn’t disappearing before I get the chance to have some personalised packet tricks printed.

This service opens up an exciting opportunity to make your magic truly your own. Imagine creating a completely personalised trick for a friend’s birthday, a unique deck for your own routines, or just finally making that one-off hard-to-find gaff card you’ve always dreamed of. And if you’re not a designer, don’t worry—Alakazam’s team can create the artwork for you.

Note: The machine that Alakazam will be using prints the ink on top of an existing Bicycle playing card. The more ink used, the less of the original surface remains. Therefore, designs with deep colours, like solid black and brown, can negatively affect how well the cards handle. For double-sided playing cards, this can add a roughing effect and slight stickiness when the cards are used alongside other double-sided cards. Fanning powder might be needed with these particular cards. All colours are colour-matched to Bicycle cards as closely as possible, allowing them to be handled and mixed with regular decks printed by the USPCC.

Get a Quick Quote

If you have an idea buzzing around in your head, get in touch with the team at Alakazam (sales@alakazam.co.uk) and bring your vision to life!

P.S. On a personal note, while I’m clearly excited about this, I have no affiliation with Alakazam, and this isn’t a paid ad. I’ve just been a happy customer of theirs for over 20 years and love to share great news like this that benefits the entire magic community!

Three Videos Worth Watching 👀

Here are three more videos I watched this month that I think you should watch as well.

Cavan Booth on AI in Magic

While I don’t agree with everything Cavan says in this video, he makes some excellent points about using AI in marketing copy. This short video is definitely worth a watch if you’re intrigued by AI and the uncanny “AI Slop aesthetic” that can be seen spreading across the magic marketplace.

Four-Card Fooler by Paul Gordon

Here’s a fantastic packet trick being demo’d by Paul Gordon. Paul has released numerous packet tricks, including this one called “Four-Card Fooler”. You can buy the trick directly from Paul for £17.

Seagulls (Stop It Now)

This has nothing to do with magic; I just find it hilarious. The Empire Strikes Back is my favourite film of the original Star Wars trilogy. I haven’t watched it with my nine-year-old daughter yet (who loves this song). I’m sure she’ll be disappointed that the bit where Yoda sings isn’t actually in the film!

Sorry, not sorry if this song gets stuck in your head! 😉

Well, that’s a wrap for another monthly update.

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. For those of you dedicated enough to read to the very end of this update, here’s the write-up for “Soulmail” so you can learn it before everyone else!

Learn Soulmail

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Picture this: On a couple’s wedding day, you hand them an ordinary deck of cards. What happens next is a magical moment that mirrors their own personal love story. Two cards, representing the bride and groom, find each other against impossible odds. By the end, there won’t be a dry eye in the house! 😭

Why am I so passionate about this particular effect? “Gemini Twins” is quite possibly the greatest self-working card trick ever invented. Yes, that’s a bold claim, but hear me out. The original uses two face-up “prediction cards” to mysteriously locate two perfect matches in a deck that the spectator has thoroughly shuffled. To lay people, this feels truly impossible.

Most variations of this particular trick attempt to “improve” it by increasing the number of prediction cards beyond the usual two. With “Simplex Soulmates”, I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction and reduce the number of predictions to one! The road less travelled has a lot of advantages:

• More suitable for a couple - When using a “soulmates” presentation, it makes more sense for a face-up Queen to find its matching King (or vice versa). Unless you’re performing for two single friends who aren’t romantically involved, then it doesn’t make much sense to find two soulmate cards. Of course, you can cast the spectator in the role of matchmaker or cupid. However, I like the idea that the two cards represent the couple.

• The effect is more direct - There’s little reason to perform the trick with two cards beyond the fact that the placement method allows for it. Using a single face-up card makes the trick more focused and the romantic story easier to follow. I’m not implying that there’s anything inherently wrong with the original (there isn’t). But if you want to strengthen the romantic connection between two people, I believe “Simplex Soulmates” is the way to go.

• The selection of the card makes sense - As the spectator selects a Queen (or King) to represent themselves, the choice of the card is logical; the central conceit of the routine—that the cards symbolise soulmates—fully justifies the trick’s mechanical process. In the original, no real reason is provided for the magician removing two specific cards from the shuffled deck. Referring to them as “predictions” or “lucky cards” helps. However, this is the main weakness of “Gemini Twins”, and unless you address it through your presentation, it could arouse suspicion.

So, what happens in this version of the trick? Here’s a brief description of the effect, as experienced by a bride and groom on their wedding day:

One of the four Queens is chosen to represent the Bride (let’s assume she names the Queen of Hearts). Then, she thoroughly shuffles the cards and hands them back to the magician.

The cards are dealt slowly onto the table. The spectator is instructed to call out “stop” whenever she wishes. When she does, the Queen of Hearts is placed face up on top of the pile, and the rest of the deck is dropped on top.

The pack is ribbon spread across the table. Then, the face-up Queen is removed, along with the face-down cards on either side of it. The three-card packet is reverse-counted until the Bride, once again, calls out “stop”. The top two cards of the packet are spread and dropped onto the table. The bottom card, the reject, is turned over to reveal an indifferent card. The magician asks the Groom to turn over the face-down card on top of the Queen. It is the King of Hearts—the Bride’s soulmate in pasteboard form!

I’ve included a clever method to force the card above the face-up Queen using Edward Victor’s E-Y-E Count. This allows you to remove the cards above and below it, which feels much fairer than removing the card above the face-up card without explanation. It also lets you show the participant the card they “almost selected”, adding an extra layer of deception to the method. However, this introduces a small amount of sleight of hand into what was a fully self-working routine (a double lift and the E-Y-E Count). Nonetheless, I believe it is worth it, and the trick remains accessible to beginner or intermediate card magicians. “Simplex Soulmates” delivers a strong and memorable effect with minimal effort, while also illustrating the usefulness of basic moves like the double lift (as a holdout). This makes it the perfect “next step” trick if you’ve only ever explored purely self-working effects.

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I also share some thoughts on the problem of “new trick addiction”—inspired by a recent article about how constantly buying new effects can stifle our growth as performers. Plus, I’ve got two new routines to teach you: a variation of Pipo Villanueva’s four-card production with a “Perverse Magic” twist, and “Box Jumpers”, a streamlined approach to “Jacks in the Box” by David Solomon. Finally, I recommend three videos worth your time, including Ben Hart’s excellent performance of “Voodoo Card” and Craig Petty’s comprehensive explanation of his new(ish) trick “Destiny Deal”.

Let’s dive in!

Is Coin Magic a Better Investment than Card Magic?

As you may have guessed from the content I share through the Ruseletter, my main passion is close-up card magic. However, I’ve started taking coin magic more seriously lately. I’ve experimented with it in the past, but now I want to incorporate some coin routines—including some that combine cards and coins—into my regular repertoire.

As part of my studies, I stumbled across a thought-provoking article by Jamy Ian Swiss on David Roth, arguably the most influential coin magician of the 20th century:

Coin Magic — Theory, Practice & Repertoire: Innovations, Influence, and the Impact of David Roth 👈

This piece made me reflect on a question that many of us face as we develop our magical skills: where should we focus our limited practice time?

The Case for Coin Magic 🪙

While I love card magic, I have a nagging feeling that coin magic might ultimately be a better investment in the long run. Yes, it has a steeper learning curve—and there isn’t much good self-working coin magic—but it helps you develop foundational skills that can be applied to all kinds of small object sleight of hand: tricks with poker chips, dice, balls, rings, and countless borrowed objects.

Swiss notes that because coin magic is so much more difficult than card magic, “the return on investment—the hard work of learning the techniques—is lower than with card magic.” At first glance, this seems to argue against coin magic, but I think there’s a deeper truth here. The difficulty itself becomes the investment. Master a classic palm, fake take, or retention vanish, and you’ve unlocked techniques that work with virtually any small object a spectator might hand you.

Much modern coin magic is also performed at chest height, enhancing visibility when performing for small groups. The effects tend to be more visual and immediate than many card tricks—coins appear, vanish, travel, and transform right before spectators’ eyes. There’s something primal about making money disappear and reappear that resonates universally. People, for obvious reasons, would love to be able to conjure money from thin air. Finding a person’s chosen card in a shuffled deck, on the other hand, isn’t exactly a life skill most people need or want!

Doug Conn, a friend and mentor, recommends starting with a simple one-coin routine: a basic vanish, production, and coin roll sequence. This serves as a great introduction to sleight of hand and offers a pathway to more advanced coin work. Once that skill is attained, you can do magic anywhere—provided you have a coin in your pocket.

The Enduring Appeal of Cards ♣️♥️♠️♦️

But let’s not dismiss card magic too quickly! Cards offer unparalleled versatility, encompassing everything from mathematical puzzles to engaging storytelling routines and pure sleight-of-hand showpieces. The barrier to entry is lower, enabling beginners to achieve remarkable results with minimal technique while gradually developing their manipulative skills.

This points to a larger truth: coin magic relies heavily on what Fitzkee calls “simulation” in Magic by Misdirection, or as Swiss puts it, “acting with the hands, and lying with the hands.”

Simulation is a bewildering way of saying something is made to look like what it is not. Webster defines simulation as the act of assuming the appearance of, without the reality-feigning. When one simulates there is an implication of the assumption of a false appearance. This suggests an attempt to make something seem other than what it really is by imitating the latter’s external identifying indications such as characteristics, marks, symbols or other signs.1

Much of card magic, by contrast, doesn’t rely so heavily on simulation, but rather on a mixture of mathematical, physical and optical principles—and what Swiss calls the “camouflage of depth” principle, where the physical characteristics of playing cards contribute to or outright provide the means of deception.

Card magic also provides something difficult to attain with coins: emotional connection through narrative storytelling. A rising card can tell a story of persistence; an Ambitious Card routine becomes a metaphor for determination and self-belief; Do As I Do can be presented as a mystical demonstration of cosmic coincidence. Coins, magnificent as they are for visual impact, seldom carry the same storytelling weight (David Roth’s material being a notable exception).

The Practical Considerations

Consider the performance contexts, too. Card magic often works best when performed seated at a table, creating an intimate setting perfect for close-up work in coffee shops, restaurants, or living rooms. I’d argue that the most elegant card work takes place at a table. While some routines can be adapted for strolling settings, it’s much easier to adjust a coin trick to be performed in the hands.

However, coin magic demands more controlled lighting and angles, making it less adaptable to challenging performance environments.

Yet coins have their own practical advantages. A few coins in your pocket and you’re ready to go—no setup, no deck switches. And some card tricks require a dedicated deck, taking up even more pocket space. With a handful of coins, you’re always prepared to perform. Borrowed coins can also dispel any suspicion that you’re using gimmicks. However, most people I perform for these days no longer carry coins—the university where I work is almost entirely cashless.

The Deeper Question 🤔

Perhaps the real question isn’t which is the “better investment”, but rather: what kind of magician do you want to become?

If you’re drawn to technical excellence and the satisfaction of mastering difficult sleights that few attempt, coin magic offers a path toward becoming a true specialist. The coin magic community is smaller, more connected, and deeply appreciative of technical skill.

If you’re attracted to the rich history, endless variety, and storytelling possibilities that cards provide, then card magic offers a lifetime of exploration across every possible style and approach.

My Personal Reflection 🃏🪙

Swiss notes that when working in the real world, David Roth did not rely solely on coin magic—he was an accomplished card worker with a commercial repertoire. I know it isn’t an either-or proposition, but very few magicians are experts in both disciplines.

For example, David Roth was primarily known for coins, while Swiss magician Roberto Giobbi is an expert on cards. Although he is best known for his monumental Card College series, it might surprise you to know that he also performs and teaches magic with coins. Some of his most renowned card routines actually incorporate a coin for a more complex effect—one notable example is “The Lucky Coin”, a staple of his professional repertoire that is taught in the Card College series (see video performance included below). His interpretation of a coin assembly by Shigeo Takagi, titled “Convergence”, is also excellent—it is taught on the European Coin Magic Symposium (Volume 3).

Even the great Dai Vernon, while competent in both, built his reputation on his card work.

As I begin incorporating more coin work into my performances, I’m discovering that the two arts complement each other beautifully. The finger fitness developed through coin work has actually improved my card handling, while my understanding of misdirection and magic theory from card magic has enhanced my coin routines.

Coin Magic 101: Conjuring with Coins for Complete Beginners

This topic deserves continued exploration—perhaps a more in-depth blog post examining the pros and cons of these two predominant types of close-up magic. The best advice I can give is to try both and see which one resonates more deeply with your performing style and personal goals.

As I improve my coin magic skills, I’ve decided to create a “coin magic curriculum” for myself, planning it in the same way I would when helping a university lecturer design a new eight-week module (in the UK, a module is equivalent to a course in the US—confusing, I know! Both are a single academic unit of study and typically cover 8 to 12 weeks of learning content).

Here’s the working file I’m using to document these ideas (note that it is not yet complete). I also plan to create a lecture and a practical workshop for each week—I’m not promising that this project will be finished anytime soon, though (it will be available to all paid Ruseletter subscribers). If you’re eager to begin, take a look at the document below and read the article by Jamy Ian Swiss.

Coin Magic 101: Conjuring with Coins for Complete Beginners 📄

To follow this curriculum, you’ll need two books: Modern Coin Magic by J.B. Bobo and David Roth’s Expert Coin Technique by Richard Kaufman. You’ll also need 4-6 half dollars (or similar-sized coins) and a close-up pad (or another suitable soft surface) to practice on. A mirror to practice in front of is also a good idea.

What’s your experience? Do you find yourself more drawn to the technical challenges of coin magic or to the versatile possibilities of card work? I’d love to hear your thoughts as I continue this journey of expanding beyond my card-magic comfort zone. Reply to this email or leave a comment on Substack—I always enjoy learning from Ruseletter readers.

The Trouble with Too Many Tricks

Here’s another article I enjoyed reading recently. It’s by professional magician Mark Leveridge.

How Tricks Can Stifle Magic Development 👈

This bit, in particular, chimed with me:

But I wonder how it would be if, all of a sudden, we weren’t allowed or able to buy any more tricks? What would happen to all that desire to acquire new things? Would it lead us to seek out more information and knowledge about how to use the tricks we already do have more effectively? Would we spend more time creating and fine tuning our act, or learning about good stagecraft, or getting a better understanding of what makes an entertaining presentation, or finding out how to engage and handle our audiences more skilfully?

This led me to write the following poem, inspired by T.S. Eliot:

I’ll be writing a longer blog post exploring the idea of the “Hollow Magician”. I also wrote a companion piece called Back to the Future, which you might find interesting—it includes an actionable insight that is, well, worth acting on!

Learn Pipo’s Perverse Production & Box Jumpers

This month, I’ve managed to write up a variation of a fun four-card production by Spanish magician Pipo Villanueva:

Easy Does It #6: Pipo’s Perverse Production 👈

My handling adds a “Perverse Magic” presentation to Pipo’s brilliant routine. My friend Claudio also contributed a refined handling for the switch used in the routine called the “Convincing Christ Force Switch”, which is well worth the extra effort required.

I’ve also written up a version of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick called “Box Jumpers” that works well as a follow-up effect to “Pipo’s Perverse Production”.

Learn “Box Jumpers” 👈

This is a streamlined approach to a charming David Solomon effect called “Jacks in the Box”. After learning “Box Jumpers”, Claudio mentioned that you could keep the selection on top without revealing it, then disclose it only at the end of the routine. This idea makes a lot of sense and will make the chosen card’s final appearance a more surprising event. If I were performing both, I would also adopt this approach. When I have some time, I’ll add this idea to the write-up. A big thank you to Claudio for improving these two routines!

Three Videos Worth Watching 👀

Here are three videos that I watched this month that I think you should watch as well.

Ben Hart’s Performance of Voodoo Card

Duration: 5 minutes

Here’s a superb performance of Guy Hollingworth’s “Voodoo Card” by British magician Ben Hart.

I love this trick, but I believe we should avoid using lazy stereotypes about Voodoo, which is a legitimate religion with roots in West Africa. The idea of the Voodoo Doll is actually an invention of Western writers and propagated by early Hollywood films. In Haitian Vodou, for example, Voodoo Dolls are, in fact, more akin to a lucky charm. They’re used to honour and communicate with the lwa (spirits) that are central to Vodouisant religious practices.

When performing this trick, or similar ones that utilise Voodoo as a theatrical device, I encourage you to challenge some of these cultural myths within your presentation.

If you’d like to learn more about this topic, I wrote a blog post on it a few years ago:

True Voodoo: 5 Voodoo Myths Busted! 👈

And here’s a two-person version of Hollingworth’s “Voodoo Card” called “Twodoo Voodoo”:

Learn Twodoo Voodoo 👈

Destiny Deal Exposed

Duration: 33 minutes

In this video, Craig Petty demonstrates the complete mechanics of his trick “Destiny Deal”. I really appreciate these “exposure” videos. They allow you to see whether the method and presentation of a product suit your particular needs before you decide to purchase it. This seems like a good solution to the problem of overconsumption of magic tricks (many of which end up at the bottom of a person’s magic junk drawer, never to be practised or performed).

However, I agree with Andy at the Jerx that the “instruction card” needs to be well justified (see his post Mailbag: Destiny Deal for his full thoughts on the matter). I would introduce the card by saying, “The United States Playing Card Company has started including instructions for a card trick with some of their decks instead of the usual advertising cards. But they only sell these in certain magic shops or at magician’s conventions.” I’d also mention that there’s a second card that contains “the secret to the trick” and that, for obvious reasons, I won’t be letting them see that card!

I have further ideas on how to address this issue and will incorporate them into a detailed review of the product on my blog (spoiler: if you like the trick after watching Craig’s video, then I recommend you buy it). I’ve also developed a similar effect inspired by it, called “Whispering Jokers”, which doesn’t require the gaffed card used in “Destiny Deal” (I’ve written this one up, and it will be shared in a future edition of Corrupting the Classics).

How to Do the Talking Queen Card Trick

Duration: 5 minutes

While researching the Whispering Queen plot, I came across an old Howcast video that explained how to perform a version of the trick using a key card. This video reminds us that sometimes the simplest tricks are the best.

That’s all for another month. Now I’m curious: has this convinced you to give coin magic a try, or are you sticking with cards? I hope this exploration of coins versus cards at least got you thinking about where to focus your practice time. I’d love to hear about your own journey with these different branches of close-up magic, and your feedback and topic suggestions always help shape these updates—so don’t hesitate to get in touch by replying to this email.

Yours Magically,

Marty

“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.”

— Traditional Māori Proverb

This beautiful piece of Māori wisdom translates as “I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.” For struggling magicians constantly seeking the next magic trick or the latest method, this proverb offers profound guidance. Progress in magic doesn’t come from endlessly reaching forward—it comes from walking backwards into what you already know, studying the fundamentals you think you’ve mastered, and deepening your understanding of the classics (that have survived for good reason).

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Every great magician understood this. Houdini didn't just study Robert-Houdin; he absorbed his essence and transformed it into something uniquely his own (then, bizarrely, tried to destroy his legacy, but let’s ignore that for now). Vernon didn't just dissect Malini; he reinterpreted and reassembled his techniques into a new form of natural magic. Malone didn't just learn from Ed Marlo; he internalised his wisdom. They didn't advance by ignoring their lineage—they moved forward by walking backwards. No plutonium-powered DeLorean required—just the willingness to study your past to unlock your future.

Think of it as your own magical time machine—but instead of needing 1.21 jigowatts and a flux capacitor, all you need is curiosity about your own repertoire.

Instead of learning something new this week, take a moment to reflect on one effect you think you already know and honestly examine it: Who created it? What problem were they solving? How has it evolved? The future of your magic isn't in the trick you haven't learned yet—it's in the one that you already perform.

Walk backwards, fellow conjurer. The future is waiting!

Yours Magically,

Marty

P.S. Great Scott, who knew Back to the Future and ancient Māori wisdom had so much in common?!

Welcome to the third edition of Vernonesque, a regular Ruseletter column exploring Dai Vernon’s unique style and influential approach to magic. In this instalment, I’m sharing one of my favourite versions of Dr. Daley’s Last Trick, a card plot that Vernon propelled into the limelight when he included it in his book The Dai Vernon Book of Magic as a posthumous tribute to his close friend, Dr. Jacob Daley.

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As you may know, I’m currently writing a book called Developing Daley, a book series solely dedicated to this particular trick. Once I’ve finished it, it will include over fifty variations of this classic card magic plot! You can read some of the content that will eventually end up in the books on my blog, Marty’s Bag of Tricks (you’ll also find some of the tricks that will feature in Developing Daley in other regular Ruseletter columns, such as Packet Trick Paradise #3: The Jaybird Jump).

I designed this particular variation to lengthen the transposition of the red and black Aces without deviating from the general theme of the plot (the Aces magically changing places). The structure of the final piece is very satisfying because each phase sets you up for the next one, and the magic becomes increasingly more visual and impressive as the routine progresses.

The trick only involves the four Aces, and I’ve put together a presentation that shares a little of the rich and quirky history of playing cards with your audience.

The Man, the Myth

Dr. Jacob Daley (1897-1954) was a Russian-born plastic surgeon who founded the American Otolaryngologic Society for Plastic Surgery. Despite being an amateur magician, he became one of the world’s greatest sleight-of-hand artists, with his work featured in the renowned Stars of Magic series. 🌟

Contrary to popular belief, “The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley” wasn’t actually Dr. Jacob Daley’s final performance before his death. This enduring myth has fooled magicians for decades, even well-respected performers such as Michael Ammar!

On February 17th, 1954, Dr. Daley collapsed after performing at the Art Directors Club in New York and died from a pre-existing heart condition. His actual last trick was likely “The Cavorting Aces” or his version of “The Travellers”. The confusion stems from Dai Vernon, who named the trick in tribute to his friend after his death. It was the last effect Daley developed before dying, but it was not the one he performed. Vernon’s well-intentioned naming created the legend that persists to this very day.

This story perfectly illustrates Vernon’s deep respect for his fellow magicians and his role as one of magic’s greatest chroniclers and preservationists.

Learn Three Times Daley

I’ve written up the trick and published it to a hidden page on my blog, so that you can learn it today. If you already know how to perform multiple turnovers and an Elmsley Count, you’ll pick this one up in no time at all.

What makes “Three Times Daley” so special is its escalating structure—true to Vernon’s philosophy that each phase of a routine should build upon the last. The first phase establishes the premise with a simple switch of the two black Aces, the second phase amplifies the impact by showing one of the cards face-up throughout, and the final phase delivers maximum impact with a completely impossible transposition that happens right under the nose of the spectator.

The routine also embodies Vernon’s preference for naturalness over flashy displays—every move serves the magic, nothing is wasted, and the method remains completely invisible when performed correctly.

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We are the watching magicians
Scrolling through our feeds
We are the buying magicians
Who never plant the seeds
Wizards without wonder
Reviews without shows
We are the hollow magicians
Whom no audience knows!1

Update: I fed this poem to an AI image generator, and this was the output. I presume the skeletal-looking guy in the back is the hollow magician. There’s something both beautiful and horrifying about this image—it’s certainly the stuff of nightmares! I welcome interpretations of this weird visual in the comments.

Here’s my interpretation: The skeletal magician in the background is the “Hollow Magician”. He is immersed—no drowning—in a sea of trivial, superficial magic tricks. The child symbolises our lost inner wonder, guiding the magician back to the real world of magic. The sleeping woman signifies our collective need to wake up from our shopping-induced slumber. Wow, I’ve had way too much coffee!