I have a question about routining a set to include a memorized deck effect. Before I ask my question, let me set some context to the thought processes I have been having...
I have recently learned the Tamariz stack and I am looking to how best utilise it. My favourite card effect using the memorized deck that I have read so far is 'Everybody is Lazy', so I wish to have this as the fourth or fifth effect of a five effect set. Due to the nature of 'Everybody is Lazy' the other effects will have to be table based effects, ideally for after a meal with friends.

So starting with the deck in mem. deck order the first effect I am toying with doing is Derren Browns 'Three Card Trick' which is his excellent opener on The Devils Picture Book DVD as well as in his Pure Effect book. This effect is not a memorised deck effect, but I believe it won't affect the order of the deck too much, maybe at worse there will be 6 cards out of place.

Next I was going to perform an effect called the 'Index Intuition' which I read in Lennart Green's lecture notes, but I believe is variation of a multiple spectator out of this world, where two spectators take turns in choosing whether the top card is their colour or not. If it is then they add the card to their pile, if not then the card is added to a discard pile. The effect ends with three piles, one for all discarded cards, one for all reds and one for all blacks. Obviously the spectator will think that these cards are now in a mess but they aren't. In setting up this effect, if I cull all the cards of one colour from the mem. deck and perform a faro. Then when the effect is over the three piles will each have a relative split, i.e. low stack cards on the bottom, high stacked cards on the top. It is now easy to keep low stacked cards from high stacked cards in displaying each pile. By picking up all the low stacked cards from these piles I am now well on the way to perform 'Shuffle Bored' with a prediction.

So the third effect will be 'Shuffle Bored' in which I will predict the number of face down cards and then name each one of them, thus creating a half stack.

So I now have a half stack and the spectators have seen three effects that look at though the cards have been well mixed. Now the question is, how best to get to a full stack from here so I can perform 'Everybody is Lazy'? I don't want to do a deck swap as I want this to be something I can perform impromptu. Is there an effect that takes you from half stack to full stack? Should I do a half stack trick here, and if so can you recommend one that will be equally as powerful as the previous effects?

All answers will be greatly appreciated. This is more of a vision of how I see things working and I am just trying to sort out the logistics.

Thanks.

You can now go into Neither Blind Nor Stupid (Version For A Half Stack) from Juan Tamariz's Mnemonica book. Reveal the first selection normally. Now you can call out the cards from the unordered half (into mem deck order) until you've reached one card (the second selection, which belongs in the ordered half). Keep in mind to skip the first selection when calling out the unordered cards. Now both halves should be in order, with the exception of the two selections.

Unfortunately, this card calling procedure may be too similar to your previous Shuffle-Bored effect. If that's the case, then you can also separate your unordered half into quarters (for example, 1-13 and 14-26) and have the spectator fan a quarter to themself and you do the same with the other quarter, in the premise of a game of cards. Then you can openly order your quarter in the fan and have the spectator try, but fail, to name all the cards in your hand. Then you proceed to call out every card in the spectator's hand in your mem deck order. It may be better to perform this game of cards procedure to stack the first half during Shuffle-Bored, then proceed to stack the second half by card calling in Neither Blind Nor Stupid, to avoid being anti-climactic.

These are just a few suggestions, so feel free to ignore them if they do not suit your performing style.

PS. By naming the cards the way you do in Shuffle-Bored, it seems to be more like the Juan Tamariz version Control In Chaos. You might want to check that out, also in his Mnemonica book.

Hi Panimen,

I hadn't read Neither Blind Nor Stupid but as soon as I read your reply I went and checked it out. This is a good effect and I liked your idea of calling out the unordered half but as you say it may be anti climatic straight after shuffle bored in the way that I had planned. Perhaps in shuffle bored I should summarise the cards that are there i.e. 14 reds 13 blacks, 8 spades, and even have a pre written prediction placed on the table from the start of the set. Then perform Neither Blind Nor Stupid as you describe which would lead nicely into 'Everybody is Lazy'. Mind you doing this gives me the same problem of only having a half stack.

I'm tempted to not allow shuffles in 'Everybody is lazy' so I can reassemble the stack and return to new deck order for the fifth effect. I do find it a little strange that you pick up a quarter of the pack shuffle it then pick the top card from the remaining three quarters. What is the point of shuffling in the first place? Especially after effects where the cards look to have been well shuffled.

Anyhow thanks for your response

P.S. I also read Control in Chaos which I had read before, but saw it as a shuffle bored variant so I dismissed it. Look at it with fresh eyes I think this what I should perform now instead of shuffle bored, so thanks again