Is anyone familiar with the marketed effect "Gordon's Diary"? How strong is the effect and is it really as direct and fair as the description?
Effect: A spectator is asked to name any date as he shuffles a deck of cards. He then takes out any card and places it face down on the table. Magi takes out a mini-diary type of booklet and asks spectator to look for the page with the date that he freely selected. On the date the name of a card is printed. The tabled card is turned over and it is the same one!
No stacks, no switches.

HI,
The gordon diary trick is as stated in the ad. at any time you can pull out the diary and perform the effect even if the pack is borrowed. the only thing I would say is that this version is more of a card trick than a mental effect such as the Bob Cassidy version. Provided you understand this it is a great trick.
phillip

It may be a great tric once mastered, but there's the rub. As I recall, it requires quite complex memorisation/calculation on the one hand, and good card skill on the other. Still a little complex, but simpler is Mark Leveridge's Diary of a Nobody - and it has an additional punch. My own favourite currently is Peter Duffie's cinchy Deadly Dates: again a double whammy, and worry-free. Also available I believe from one Paul Hallas, bachelor of this parish...

If you are a mentalist, I strongly urge you to get the Bob Cassidy version of the effect. Much stronger than others. You can find it on his video, available at most major magic dealers. Since you are also interest in cards, the video also contains his card memorization routine.

... and the card memorisation routine as mentioned by Marcelli is a SUPERB effect that I cannot recommend too highly. Interestingly, Bob has recently started a sort of e-mail newsletter to invited individuals, and the one topic that comes up more than anything else is the memorisation stunt. Buy the video and you'll see why!

Does Mr. Cassidy have only one video? I saw one at Denny's site...does it contain the above effect?

Ah dinna ken how many he's released. The video in question is entitled Mental Miracles and has a pic of Bob on the front in which he has just taken a sip of something remarkably vile from an invisible bucket.

Interesting note: those of you who already have this video might like to know that the fella' in the Card Memory piece, masquerading under the name of "Mo" is no less a person than Marc Salem in the days before he cut off his pony tail!

There is one video. The original, which I have, was reboxed, but I understand has the same material.
I believe L&L did it. They show it in their catalog for $29.95 plus S&H. Their site is
http://www.llpub.com

Bob Cassidy's privately produced recent CD has short videos of him in performance, in addition to providing his out of print Principia Mentalia books . The limited edition of the CD is sold out, but he may produce some for dealer sales.

Thanx for the input guys. I'll put Mr. Cassidy's video on my wish list.