Counts Cuts Moves and Subtlety

Counts Cuts Moves and Subtlety
A Book of Basic Card Techniques
By Jerry Mentzer

Cost: under $8 at Penguin

If I had a nickel for every time I see someone complaining about how hard the Elmsley Count is I would be rich...well maybe not rich but enough money to buy a new Cups and Balls set! These Elmsley-challenged folk need this little gem of a book to get them up and over the learning curve.

One of my favorite tricks is Twisted Sisters by John Bannon. It's a brilliant little packet trick that has 3 mind-blowing revelations. Sadly, I've seen some people state that they skip the Elmsley Count (EC) portion of the trick. Arrggg! The EC is what sells the trick, it takes a simple trick and turns it into a mind-melting, mental miracle of magic.

When using the EC in Twisted Sisters, the spectator sees 4 red-backed cards and 4 blue-backed cards. By the time the trick ends, two cards turn face up and also transposition colors. Without the Elmsley, the trick is boring.

For some, false counts come naturally. For others, they try and move on. False counts are a staple move in packet tricks and every cardician should know the basic counts. Counts can be quite challenging but with enough practice and this book, you'll handle any count; easy breezy!

Counts Cuts Moves and Subtlety by Jerry Mentzer is a reference guide. Copyright in 1977, this small book is on it's 14th printing. Although I don't own anything else by Jerry, he appears to be a prolific author on magical topics including the book on Card To Wallet.

You'll find no tricks in this book. However, learn the moves in this book and I'll bet you could create some great, original packet tricks in no time. Combine these moves with an assortment of specialty gaffed cards and you're creative juices will be flowing. Here is a little video review to go along with this blog review.



Degree of Difficulty

Intermediate to expert. Some people think learning the Elmsey is easy and some think it is hard. I think it's kind of in the middle. Easy to learn, hard to perfect. I learned the Elmsley Count in a couple days but it took countless evenings in front of the TV, doing hundreds of Elmsley/Jordan sequences, to execute these counts with confidence under pressure.


Quantity of Effects

There is a ton of good material in this book. Here is what you'll learn:

Undercuts and Reversals

Double Undercut - controlling a card to the top of the deck
Braue reversal - this is an awesome move. It appears to be a flourishy cut but it keeps the deck in order and yet reverses one or more cards in the deck.
Concealed Reversal - Yet another reversal

Counts Cuts and Subtlety

The Biddle Move - Secretly steal away a card from a count.
Hamman Count - Swapping two packets of cards during a count
Veeser Cont - Another way to do an Elmsley Count
Another Count - Starting position is identical to the Jordan Count but you end up in the starting position
Flustration Move - Show the front and backs of all cards in a packet but really only show the back (or front) of one card.
Haback Count - Combines the Hamman and Flustration
Olram Subtlety - Display several cards while one or more are hidden
Downs Change - I guess T. Nelson Downs occasionally picked up a deck of cards! I've seen this executed differently as a one card or even a two-card color change. This book shows the move as a way of tabling a card from a packet but changing it for a different card during the motion of tabling the card.
True or False - Yet another false count that disguises the number of cards you really have.

Elmsley, Jordan, Etc.

The Elmsley Count - the "Ghost Count" as Alex Elmsley made famous using the finger-tip method.
The Elmsley Count Comment - the author makes the point that you can using the EC "push/shuttle" of cards between the hands to count 3 cards as 4, or 4 cards as 5.
The Jordan Count - Older than the EC, the Jordan accomplishes the same as the EC but starting with the card on 4th position and ending int EC starting position.
The Siva Count - show 4 face-up cards while hiding a 5th card.
Open Count - a "fair" way to accomplish an Elmsley Count
Smile Count - Apparently 4 cards are shown on both sides - but you've concealed 3 sides.
Pairs Count - variation on the Smile Count
Spirit Count - using ESP cards. 4 cards appear identical when in fact you have 2 like cards and another 2 like cards.

Spreads

The Simple Spread - instead of counting cards, you are spreading a small packet while concealing a card. The bottom card is hiding the extra cards
The Back Spread - the top card is hiding the extra cards
Buckle Count - Spread using a buckle move
Ascanio Count - The Ascanio Count hides the third card in a packet of five. This is a brilliant move that all card slingers should learn at some point in their careers.

Production

The book is has excellent written instructions on the moves and ample photos of the key hand positions during the move. Mentzer does a good job of crediting each move to it's creator and sometimes the trick in which the move was first made popular.

My Parting Thoughts...

This book is a reference guide but not the definitive guide. There are some things missing, in particular, variations on the same move. For example, I purchased this book because I created a count and didn't know what the name of the count was. I was sure it had previously been invented as it seemed to be useful counterpart to the Elmsley Count.

It turns out the the count I came up with was called the Jordan Count. I'd heard of the Jordan Count but didn't know what it was used for. I determined I needed such a count to get the third (hidden) card back into the starting position for the Elmsley Count. I didn't like how some tricks required you to place the last counted card in the EC back to the bottom - that just looks unnatural. Additionally, I had someone ask me to count the cards again - if you don't know the Jordan you're going to be stuck.

Turns out that my Jordan Count is executed differently than the one in the book. My goal was to make the Elmsley and the Jordan indistinguishable to lay people. It would be nice to see an updated version of this book with more variations of the counts and more cuts. There is another book called Counthesaurus by Jon Racherbaumer which appears to be a more complete treatise on the subject of counts. However, it is more expense so it may be a while before I feel the love for that book.

Overall: 7/10

If you're into packet tricks or looking for some material to get the creative process going this is a no-brainer purchase.

DVD Review: Ultimate Aces

DVD Review: Ultimate Aces

Living in a smaller Midwestern city, my opportunities to visit a brick and mortar magic shop is few and far between. Currently, I'm on vacation in Florida, visiting the mouse mecca known as Disney World. So I had to locate any magic shops close to our resort. Luckily, I found at least two shops with a few miles.

One shop is in Downtown Disney under a giant top hat called Magic Masters. Wow what an enormous disappointment. This is an absolutely beautiful magic shop that sells almost nothing. Perhaps 20-30 generic, overpriced magic items with such imaginative names such as "cups and balls." Magic Masters is clearly oriented towards selling tricks to tourists and not people interested in the art of magic.

The second shop was Magic Max in what's know as Old Town or the Fun Spot. This was also a bit of a disappointment however they did have a reasonable inventory of magic and novelty items (gags). The sales dude was a young but capable magician. He rattled off a dozen tricks and gags within the first few minutes in the store. After sizing me up by quizzing me on a few magical topics, he pointed me to a DVD called Ultimate Aces by Magic Makers. I really wasn't all that interested but it was pouring rain outside so I was stuck in the shop, and finally, the $25 slipped out of my billfold.

Here is an example of a trick learned from this DVD:




Marketing Fluff

Amaze people with seven stunning card tricks! These are all tricks with Aces. As Kings become Aces, Aces become Jokers, and Jokers vanish, it is no wonder why this small collection generates big impact. Each trick is performed and explained, plus a bonus section includes three spectator performances.
Special cards needed are included with this DVD.

Degree of Difficulty

Intermediate. You could probably take these on with a little experience in the basics. Ben Salinas teaches all of the sleights so you could attempt all of these tricks with no experience. However, if you are a beginner I would look elsewhere for some instruction in the basics first.

It is a great intermediate DVD though. You'll get an opportunity to work on your TLs and Elmsley Counts. Plus you'll learn the Ascanio Spread which is a brilliant and fun move.

Teaching

Ultimate Aces is my first encounter with Ben Salinas. Ben is a smooth magician and a reasonably good instructor. He appears to be left handed which is a bit confusing on his Elmsley Count explanation. If you have not learned the Elmsley Count you may want to reference additional instructional DVDs on this often used sleight such as the Born To Perform Card Magic DVD.

His patter is good and provides some little jokes to add a humorous flair. The only downside is that his pace is a little fast and he only shows you the moves once so be prepared to rewind a lot. Ben credits the creators of most of the sleights and the routines themselves.

The downside is that the performance videos are just for the studio camera. I'm getting used to the real, on-the-street or in-the-Castle demos on other DVDs. I would rather see real performances for real people as you get a sense of the reactions and how that affects the patter and timing during a routine.

There is also a "bonus" section on the DVD that has Salinas performing three of the tricks for "Ashley" in the studio. Ashley doesn't provide much reaction so this is not all too useful.

Quantity of Effects

Pretty good considering I paid well over retail price, I'm still satisfied with my purchase due to the number of good tricks on the DVD. I've learned a few new sleights including the wonderful Ascanio Spread. All in all, there are seven great tricks on this DVD and you can easily find it for $15 on the internet. That's a pretty good buy if you don't already have these seven dandy tricks.

Plus you get a packet of cards including one gaffed card. The cards are blue-backed Bicycles.

There is also a good variety of effects on here. Half of the routines are pure sleight of hand. The other half employs gimmicks or gaffs.

Quality of Effects

Solid, solid, solid. I've mastered two great tricks in just a couple days (I already am comfortable with the Elmsley Count so your mileage may vary).

Ultimate Ace Assembly (Mc Donalds Aces) - the aces vanish from three piles of cards only to join the ace of spades in a four pile of cards. This is a very visual trick in that one moment the aces is amoung three cards and the next second it is gone. I already have a version of the Ultimate Ace Assembly I purchased as an instant download from Penguin Magic. This is a killer trick but one that requires a good deal of set-up and a dedicated deck of cards, just for this trick. This version is a little different that the Oz Perlman version. Oz adds a few more magical moves in his version but Salinas' version is pretty good as well.

Mo Money Monte - yet another "follow the ace" routine. A good routine, but we'll have to see if it is good enough to replace my Color Monte.

Impossible (gimmicked) - Four Jokers are shown. One at a time the jokers turn face down. The four face down cards are turned to reveal that they were never jokers but the four aces. Really a brilliant trick but it does require some set-up and it is not instantly resettable.

Impossible (ungimmicked) - Virtually the same trick except that it is completely ungimmicked, the handling is a bit different and Salinas uses kings instead of jokers. This might be a great impromptu effect but it is a bit more risky to pull off as you might imagine.

Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces - I've seen other magicians do this trick but I've never learned it myself. Show four aces and turn them face down. One by one, each ace turns face-up in the packet. Brilliant piece of ungimmicked card magic.

Easy Aces - Taking the 4 Aces from the deck, you give a magical twist and spread the aces in a fancy flourish. One of the aces has turned face down. Each time the move is repeated, a different aces appears face down. This trick teaches you the pretty Ascanio Spread created by Arturo de Ascanio.

Spectator Cuts to the Aces - This is a straight forward, yet completely beguiling trick where the spectator is asked to cut the deck into 4 piles. Taking the top card from each pile, the spectator has unwittingly cut to the four aces. There are other versions of this trick - this is a very good version using a gimmick. I hadn't seen this simple gimmick before and I'll be using it for other situations. I'm still inclined to use the version of Spectator Cuts to the Aces I learned from Greg Wilson's Pyrotechnic Pasteboards DVD.

Production Quality

The overall production is good. The video quality is very good. There is very little editing as each segment is taken in one shot. The menus are sparse but functional. The sound track is okay but a little overly dramatic and repetitive.

Overall: 7/10

This isn't going to tear up the magic community but it is a nice collection of ace tricks. The false counts and Ascanio Spread are great additions to your toolbox if you do not already have them. Plus you get a packet of cards including a nice gaff. A solid value for $15 that will give you some classic effects to add to you repertoire.

REVIEW: Packet Tricks & The Color Monte

Marketing Fluff

"Show three cards; one with a blue spot and two with a red spot. Explain that this is a game for gambling, and whoever finds the blue spot wins a dollar, but if that person is wrong, he must forfeit a dollar. Then explain that you were once taken by this game, and show how you were taken, losing three dollars because every time you thought you picked the blue card, it was red. So, you accused the man of not even having a blue card. He showed the bottom card as blue, so you lost another dollar! So, you said that if it was the card on the bottom, it couldn't be the one on top, but again, you lost another dollar! It is then showed as the center card as well, and by then, there's been six dollars lost. So, you said that you thought he was using more than three cards, but were proven wrong and lost another dollar. So, the gambler gave you another chance, double or nothing. He showed you that one card was red, another as blue, and all you had to do was name the color of the third card. Red, right? Wrong again! It's not red, nor is it anything anyone would expect!"

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner to moderate. This trick is a series of moves using one of the most basic sleights in all of card magic. Each sequence is very easy to pull off. The difficulty is in remembering the story (or patter) that motivates the routine. Practice 10-20 times and you should have it down and ready for showing your pals.

What's a Packet Trick?

A packet trick is a small set cards for a specific trick. Packet tricks are very easy to tuck away in your pocket so that you are always ready to entertain. Packets usually have specially made cards called "gaffs" of "gaffed" cards. Packet trick are usually inexpensive and provide a big impact so you have every reason to buy one. I would suggest Color Monte as a killer packet trick.

You'll probably want to find packet tricks that have Bicycle rider-backs if you use the popular Bicycle playing cards.

The Effect

The Color Monte comes with 3 cards. Instead of normal faces, two cards have a red diamond and one card has a blue diamond (or so it would seem).

This is a "follow the card" trick where you tell the spectator to keep an eye on the blue card. Unfortuately for the spectator, that blue card is elusive and hard to find. Then the red card becomes hard to find. At times, it appears that all cards are red or all blue. Finally, a red card is turned over and a blue card is turned over. The spectator is asked to guess the color of the last card. The spectator will most certainly be wrong as it is neither red or blue!

Overall: 8/10

For under $6 you get the cards, access to the private forum for this effect, a performance web video, and a instructional web video featuring Jay Noblezada. Jay is an excellent teacher and covers the set up and all of the sleights required.