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brad12d3 Special user 526 Posts |
I just had an epiphany recently on how to perform a near perfect ACAAN. Only one deck is used and shown to be a normal well mixed deck. A spectator freely selects a card. The performer has been holding the cards up til this point but will set the cards on the table and wont touch them ever again. Once the cards are out of the performer's hands a number will be called. No restrictions at all except for 52! The spectator gets to count the cards. There are no sleights or memory work however the deck cannot be examined. I would like to share my idea with a few of you who are well read on ACAAN plots. I would like to get some feedback.
I have never come across this method which baffles me a little. Please pm me. Thanks. |
brad12d3 Special user 526 Posts |
I just missed the edit time limit. So if you don't mind I will just paste my revised post here with some additional information:
"I just had an epiphany recently on how to perform a near perfect ACAAN. Only one deck is used and shown to be a normal well mixed deck. A spectator freely selects a card. The performer has been holding the cards up til the point of the card selection but won't come in contact with them for the remainder of the trick. He will shuffle the cards and put them table and won't touch them ever again. Once the cards are out of the performer's hands a number will be called. No restrictions at all except for 52, at least for the hands off approach! The spectator gets to count the cards. There are no sleights or memory work however the deck cannot be examined. You will need some audience management, but nothing too difficult to handle. Also, it is possible that the chosen card may be the next one after the number called. So if they said 15,.. it might be at 16. So it will either be a direct hit or the very next every time. However, with the right patter it will seem that what happened was what you intended to happen. I would like to share my idea with a few of you who are well read on ACAAN plots. I would like to get some feedback and see if I am really the first one to use this approach. I have never come across this method which baffles me a little. The gimmick is not new but I haven't seen it used for an ACAAN. Of course, I haven't seen every ACAAN plot out there either. So who knows? Please pm me. Thanks." |
Waterloophai Inner circle Belgium 1368 Posts |
An ACAAN where the magician let the cards count face up or face down is acceptable for me.
But the chosen number is the chosen number and not the card before or after. You can hardly speak of a near perfect acaan when the spectator says "15" and afterwards it is the 16th card. Sorry. |
brad12d3 Special user 526 Posts |
Quote:
On 2013-01-06 15:43, Waterloophai wrote: Perhaps when performing for another magician, but for laymen I can't imagine there is any difference at all. If it's off by one then they have managed to bring the chosen card to the top of the deck which is pretty amazing! It's all about how you present the effect. Kolossal Killer is an undeniable direct hit with the right patter no matter what the outcome. For me when it comes to ACAAN, the most important part is the performer being almost completely hands off and there being no hint of force in the selection process. This version fits both of those. One of my favorite tricks is Get Sharky. I can't tell you how many times I have performed this and the person swore that I did some amazing sleight of hand and pulled their card out as I was handing them the deck. In my opinion when it comes to ACAAN, it doesn't matter how great the method is, if the performer handles the cards after the selections have been made then most people are going to think that he is just really good at sleights. There is no miracle, just incredible skill. That's fine and all, but usually when people talk about ACAAN they talk about finding the Holy Grail,.. the version that seems like a miracle. Something the audience can't possible wrap their minds around. If they feel forced or think that it was because of sleight of hand then the miracle part can become a hard sale. To recap. The deck is shown to be normal. They can clearly see all the cards and that they are well mixed. It is handed to the first spectator before they even know what their card is. Past this point the performer never touches the deck. A number is called and the spectator counts down the number to discover the chosen card. There are no sleights. No Memory work. It's 100%. No restriction on number except for 52. Considering all this, I think adjusting patter for a direct hit or a one off doesn't seem so bad. Besides, if you really want a direct hit then there is a way of possibly having the spectator shift things for a direct hit. I would say that you have about a 75% chance of getting a direct hit with the right approach and while never touching the cards. That's a pretty good ACAAN. This version meets more of the criteria for a perfect ACAAN than many other versions I have seen. I also am not the first to come up with this approach. I have been talking to a few others about the method and a couple of other similar variations that have been done. In all the ACAAN threads I have visited, I have never seen it mentioned by anyone else until today. Not sure why, it's a terrific approach. |
brad12d3 Special user 526 Posts |
Actually after looking at some of the similar handlings I have been directed to by other Café members, there actually is a way to get a direct hit every time. It requires that the magician cuts the deck once after the card selection and innocently fishes for a certain piece of information prior to the number being revealed. This slightly spoils the completely hands off approach of the trick but it does insure a direct hit. Also, with the right audience management, you could literally never touch the deck at all for the entirety of the trick. Of course I would probably still show all the cards at the beginning so they can see the faces and know it is a normal well mixed deck.
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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts |
Hi Brad,
I had the privilege of doing some editing and proofreading of Tommaso Guglielmi's ACAAN manuscripts and IMHO (and not because I did the editing) they are wonderful explorations into the ACAAN plot. His work is available on Lybrary.com. If I may pass on three other names ... In J.K. Hartman's new book titled Card Dodgery, there is an effect called I Think I CAAN. It's a very magical routine and a bit off the beaten path of many ACAAN approaches. The spectator involvement is quite significant and there is more magic than merely a named card appearing at a named number. Barrie Richardson has an approach to ACAAN that many top magicians have lauded as one of the best approaches to this plot. Cameron Francis has done some very cool work with his marketed effects "Convergence" and "The Annihilation Deck." While not strictly ACAAN, these powerful effects fall into that family and worth the price of admission. I mention these creators only as reference points for your continued explorations of the ACAAN plot. Namaste, Vlad |
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