There is a self-working trick on lybray that I am in interested in but it is just one trick and one bonus. The trick uses a set of 10 double sided numbered cards (0-9) with red or blue numbers. The spec deals , flips and cuts the cards as many times as he wants -- then deals the cards into 5 piles. After this the magician goes through an explanation of which piles are eliminated and arrives at a single number that is used to locate a card.

A comment says this is a Howard Adams principle. Doing a search I found a reference to a Howard Adams' "dealflipcut" principle/trick. Anyone know if this is the procedure described above?

If it is the same principle / idea, for the price I would rather get a collection of Adams' tricks that contains this principle rather than just two tricks.

Howard Adams originally described the DealFlipDropCut effect from his book "OICUFESP" Volume 6 (2008) for use with ESP cards. Spellbinder uses a variation of that PLUS Paul Curry’s Swindle Switch, from his book "Paul Curry Presents" (1974) and you'll find both of them described in his "Deepest Sympathy" routine from The Wizards' Journal #28. So that gives you three choices. Both the Adams and Curry books are difficult to find and becoming more expensive by the year. Spellbinder, on the other hand, is still alive, kicking and churning them out, so his is both available and cheap!

Thanks, Jim. Will check them out.

Do any of these methods use double sided cards?

The card flipping principles work regardless of the cards, but Deepest Sympathy does not use double sided cards, so to get the effect you want, you may still need the trick described on lybrary, which you did not name, so I can't be sure. I just responded to your request for the Howard Adams' principle.

Hi Jim.

Probably should have posted link to begin with . Here's the link to the lybrary routine. With a video that shows part of the method. I guess the routine is sufficiently different that the small price is worth the knowledge.

I appreciate your help !

https://www.lybrary.com/accans-family-p-922160.html

Just bought the Deepest Sympathies routine too. Thanks!

Let me know if you need help with the Deepest Sympathies. As for the Accans Family trick, you definitely needed the starting set-up, so your money was well-spent. Just don't do the two tricks one after the other, or use the Paul Curry Swindle Switch alone when doing Deepest Sympathy.

Thanks for the input Jim! and the advice on the handling of Deepest Sympathies. Lots of good instruction in Prof. SpellBinder's eBook!

Hi Jim,

Reviewing my previous post I can see that I misspoke and gave the wrong impression about the accans family when I said "too." I meant "too" in the sense of in addition to my prior comment.

I bought Deepest Sympathies first to read about Adams' and Curry false shuffles and was able to figure out the Acaans Family setup since the video used the DealFlipDrop and *Cut* . The Cut being the dead giveaway on the set up of the double backed red and blue numbered cards.

BTW, let me say again the Deepest Sympathies eBook is a great buy. I'm getting a small chest with a lock hasp and a 5 digit combo security lock. (So I will just deal the top five cards). Will perform the routine for the Mrs soon!

Thanks for your help!
Phil

Or get two five digit combination locks and double lock a box containing a prize. Make sure the combination locks you buy really will let you change and use your own combination numbers... not all of them do!

I found resettable 5 digit combo locks on eBay and Amazon! The eBay ones are MIC and really inexpensive -- I suspect they would be adequate for the trick. I thought about using two combo locks but I'm a budget minded guy and thought one lock has enough punch! But I'll ponder it ! I would probably want a double hasp box/chest for two locks also.

Looking around the craft stores I found one inexpensive single hasp box -- but none will be in stock till maybe next week. and I'll check it hen to see if the hasp is big enough for those combo locks. I am also considering buying some MIC lock hasps on eBay -- that would solve the two hasp requirement. Will need to make sure hasps are right size and will accommodate the .28" lock ring thickness.

Keep your options open. One solution is to have a single lock box with two hasps - but having two separate single hasp boxes can be good if you want to involve two spectators instead of just one, each holding their own locked box. Also, the more "coincidences" you can find with the 10 digit number, the better. For example, the 10 digit number now becomes two five digit numbers, each of which opens a separate box. Inside each box is a dollar bill which happens to have a serial number matching the same five digits (some are repeated, but so what?). Put the 5 digit numbers together and surprise- they just happen to match someone's social security number... and so on. It's a lot of work to put together, but as each "coincidence" is revealed, you get a round of applause.

Well I was able to modify a craft box with a catch that will accommodate a resettable 5 digit combination lock ! The brass catch that came with the box was too small for the lock shaft. Using primitive metal working I bent clothes hangar wire into a loop and pound it a little flat at the ends and center to fit the hasp! Yay!

Hopefully I am going to put a smaller box inside with a smaller non-resettable 5 digit combo lock. The resettable one will be set to the numbers not in the fixed combo lock. That will make it a nested pair of boxes with a unique sequence of 10 different digits for the Deepest Sympathies effect.

See photo... Yes that is one big lock for such a small chest!

P.S. That's my DIY m*rr*r glass on the left

Click here to view attached image.

Here's another idea where a lock of that size might be more appropriate. Imagine two wooden frames like the kind artists stretch canvas on for paintings, only these have plywood nailed to the fronts. Put the frames together and there are two hasps, one on each side to lock the two frames together with two locks the size shown in your photo. The two spectators stand on each side of the frame. Following the sympathetic cards routine, one person uses his choices to open one lock, then the other person does the same with his set of five digits. The unlocked frame is then opened and inside are painted the same numbers "in sympathy" with the cards as a prediction.

Plan C: Two spectators wearing jackets with button holes - lock one combo lock to a buttonhole on each jacket. After the cards do their "thing" each spectator has the combination to open his or her lock and remove it from the jacket. Then you take your cell phone and punch in the 10 digit numbers backwards. A phone is heard ringing in one of the spectators' pockets. He removes his phone and it turns out to have been his phone number backwards (so he doesn't recognize it until you actually use it to call him). I'm sure you will think of other uses for 10 digit numbers, or pairs of five digits separately or together, so have fun and work miracles!

Good stuff Jim!

Hi,

I'm the creator of the trick mentioned above, ACCANS FAMILY.

I actually found the Adams principle in one of the three dvd volumes of THE AMAZING SELF-WORKING CARD MAGIC OF HOWARD ADAMS by Aldo Colombini.

I hope this helps and you have fun with this trick and principle.

RAPHAEL CZAJA

Hi Gang,

I, too, like Howard Adams's ideas. Supposing you're an IBM member, you can learn some more of his principles for free; see his "One Man Parade" in the _Linking Ring_, April 1999, pp. 105-119, with corrections in _Linking Ring_, June 1999, p. 125.

I learned Curry's Swindle Switch in _Bernstein on Number Predictions: An Overview_, Bruce Bernstein, (no place: no publisher, no date), pp. 12-16. I believe I bought this from Magic, Inc. Here's a quote from it:

"This approach makes use of the Paul Curry Swindle Switch, from his book _Paul Curry Presents_, which is a technique every mentalist should know, but not too many do. It allows many an impromptu miracle to be performed on the spur of the moment, yet it is deceptive enough to fool those in the know."

Thomas Henry