Interesting. I've been learning the Tamariz stack using mnemonics from Aronson and Lorayne's Memory Book, without any idea of what effects I will learn later on. I'm not big on gambling routines... Worst case, it's just a mental challenge. I decided to just pick one and jump in, rather than worry any more about which stack to learn. Maybe I'll learn both eventually. One thing I've tried to do is not use Aronson's peg words wherever possible in case I do end up trying to learn his stack later. Something I did learn recently is that Derren Brown uses a different pattern of sounds for his peg words.

I learned the Joyal six hour memorized Stack years ago and got hooked on Simons books soon after.
Tamariz then came out with his book and it was/is great as well.
If you really memorize a deck,i feel both are required reading.
Both have tons of effects that are not stack dependant(any MD will do)and both shine a light of brilliance in their own unique way.

In addition to the mem-deck work and effects, Bound to Please's latter third is devoted to one of the greatest (non- mem deck!) hands-off mental card effects of all time: Shuffle-Bored. I think the book is one of the best magic bargains ever.

No idea why my last post showed up five times. Not intended.

No idea why my last post showed up five times. Not intended.

No idea why my last post showed up five times. Not intended.

But it's getting better this one showed up only three times Jan

To pnielan,

As my two ex-wives can attest to, I'm not always right on. But it was very kind of you to say so. You didn't have to say it five times, though.

The writings of Simon and Juan are quite different in style. Simon is a brilliant attorney and has a very organized mind. He is the master of explaining details. He may sometimes tell you more than you want to know about the inner workings of some of his effects, but you'll never be at a loss as to the complete details about how his effects work and how to do them. Juan's writing reminds me of Ted Annemann. He will toss out little ideas and not always flush them out for you. He doesn't take you by the hand and try to explain every little detail. He give you the broad strokes and you can fill in the details. Not that you can't learn the tricks... you certainly can. I enjoy both writing styles. I probably learn more from Simon and have more fun with Juan.

I think the final answer is that you should buy everything you can afford on mem-deck magic. Don't stop with The Aronson books and Mnemonica. Get the things that Mike Close, Eric Mead, Eric Richardson, Darwin Ortiz, and Allan Ackerman have published. (That's not a complete list, just the ones that come immediately to mind.) Then crack those books daily and get to work. The process will be fun and the benefits enormous. One other thing... don't leave the house without a stacked deck in your pocket.

Dennis Loomis

I'm new to the memdeck stuff, so I'm going through the memorization process for the first time. I'm finding the 'flashcard' method helpful, and many of Tamariz' techniques - but I'm also using the Roth Memory system (as used by Vernon). Once you have the mnemonics, e.g. Hat Sewer, Cat Hill and so on, in your head, you almost can't forget them. Plus, you get a great improvised card coding system for free (see the Revelations tapes with Vernon and Freeman coding cards). I agree with MagicJuggler that mnemonics are a good standby if the other techniques let you down. Though I bet it'll cause me to pause and have to think, which is bad - but not as bad as forgetting the whole thing.

But I'm new at this, so this opinion probably isn't worth much...

Volto what helped me was to write out the suits ace -king then their number then their mnemnomic name. In other words write it all out yourself. Then at least once a day work on memorizing one suit. On Mon. Clubs on Tues. Hearts on wed. Spades Thur. Diamonds. Then switch it up try 2 suits on Friday sat. and sun. Also learn them forwards and backwards and finally what card is before and after the named card its number and mnemnomic names. Another great trick is putting a mixed deck in stack order. By doing this you will learn what cards follow other cards. Before long you can easily restack quickly and know all the cards numbers and their mnemonic names and their relationship in the deck. Then find a card trick you really like that uses you're stack for me it was acaan and start using it all the time. Work on very aspect of the trick.

Is an ACAAN routine mentioned in Bound to Please?

To magicman491,

Simon's contribution to ACAAN routines is in "The Aronson Approach." It's called "Any Card, Then Any Number" and would be a fun trick to do with a brother magician at a magic convention. This one made me laugh out loud when I read it. (I was laughing WITH Simon, not at him.)

Dennis Loomis

He also has an amazing variant with two selections and two selected numbers called "Twice as Hard" in his book Try The Impossible.

Many years ago, before the memorized deck was widely known, I witnessed Michael Close and Eric Mead do a similar thing at a magic convention in Colorado. Minds were blown.

To Denns Loomis,
What do you mean by a brother magician? literally brother magician?

No, not literally your brother. I was using the broader sense. You see, all magicians have a special bond with each other because we can talk about magic, including the secrets with each other. We can have good friends that are not in magic, but since we have to keep many secrets from them, the bond is different. Not saying that the magical relationship is better, just that it creates the kind of bond which actual biological brothers sometimes have.

In this case, I was referring to another magician that you knew well enough so that you could work on this effect together. One of you is doing some card tricks and apparently you do not know each other. You arrive at different times, introduce yourselves to each other, etc. But one of you becomes the "stooge" or "confederate" for Simon's great trick. You both have to know the stack numbers of a mem-deck.

To Barry... yes I can envision those two just frying other magicians with this kind of collusion.

Dennis Loomis

Dennis,

Thanks for reminding me of this great effect. I always passed it by on my way to the next effect in the book, namely, "Four Part Harmony".

After re-reading "Any Card, Then Any Number", my interest in the effect has been renewed. In this regard, I am thinking of combining Dan Harlan's "Speakeasy" principle with this effect to provide Stan (see the Aronson effect's description of Stan) with the "intuitiveness" to select the appropriate card location number. Dan's principle should prove to be a whole lot easier (and quicker) for a Stan to learn than would a memorized deck. Then again...maybe just forget that idea and go with one of Simon's numerous presentation/methodology variations. (grin)

Thanks again for the reminder.

Mike

Hey Mike/Turk,

Perhaps we can arrange to do this together some day at a convention. Or, perhaps we can be in touch in this forum about which mem-deck workers will be attending conventions this upcoming season and we can work out the details in advance. Could be fun.

Denny

To my fellow mem-deck workers:

Most of you probably know about the 22 articles about mem-deck work on my web site. Some of them were written a long time ago and I've meant to update them and add more. But, I just have not gotten around to it. However, I did make the time to rewrite the article on how I move around within the Aronson Stack using the Haymow Shuffle. (My methods would work with any mem-deck.) It will be up on the site soon, but if you just can't wait send me a PM and I'll email it to you. Please be sure to give me your email address in your PM. I've continued to work on this frequently since the original article was written and have a lot of new things to share.

Dennis Loomis

Thanks, Dennis. That's very generous. Your articles are extremely helpful and it is really great that you are willing to revise them.