CONTENTS Introduction—Simon Aronson Preface Contributors
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PART I Chapter One—The Memorized Deck: a Bit of History The Key Card From Ace to King The Mathematical Deck The Rosary Deck Non-periodical Numerical Decks Disguised Arithmetical Decks The Mnemonic Deck The Mnemonic Deck with Added Properties Tamariz’s Mnemonica
3 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 8 10
Chapter Two—Tamariz’s Mnemonica (Structure) 1. The Order of Mnemonica 2. How to Attain This Order First Method: With Faros Second Method: Without Faros Third Method: Direct Setup 3. Specific Properties of Mnemonica 4. From Mnemonica to Stay-stack
11 13 14 14 16 16 17 19
Chapter Three—Ultra-Rapid Memorization Questions and Answers 1. The Auditory Method 2. The Visual Method 3. The Muscular Method 4. The Conceptual Method 5. The Security Method Chapter Four—Tricks Specific to Mnemonica—Tricks with Stay-stack 1. Super Poker 2. Aces, Kings—and Other Poker Hands 3. Everything in Order—an Outstanding Climax 4. A Grand Bridge Deal 5. Other Tricks
21 23 24 25 26 26 27 29 31 34 35 35 36
Chapter Five—Specific Tricks with the Mnemonica Order 1. Deal of a Complete Suit A. The Heart Suit B. Other Versions for Producing the Heart Suit (Cuesta and Tamariz) C. The Club Suit D. The Spade Suit E. The Diamond Suit SPELLINGS
2. Spelling a Thought-of Card 3. Spelling the Color, Value, Suit and Card 4. Spelling Four Cards and Four Aces GAMBLING DEMONSTRATIONS
5. Any Poker Hand Called For Pair Two Pair Three of a Kind Low Full House Middle Full House Four of a Kind Straight Flush (Including a Royal Flush) Resetting the Stack Other Deals Observations A General Presentation 6. Rummy Exhibition 7. Blackjack Exhibition (Jim Krenz) 8. Flushes and Pluses (Routine by Áriston) 9. Back-to-back Deals—After Dai Vernon’s Formula (Cuesta) 10. Poker Demonstration for Eight Players OTHER TRICKS
11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Controlled Pairs The Three Hours (Aronson and Riobóo) Prediction à la Kruskal (Antonio José Arenillas) A Strange Coincidence (Ángel San Frutos) The Good Fortune Routine
Chapter Six—Tricks with the Whole Stack FIVE CLASSICS
1. Divination 2. Any Card at Any Number A. The Classic Method with the Pass B. With a Different Back (Mago Antón) C. Impossible Conditions (Mago Antón)
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D. With False Dealing E. With the Tamariz Perpendicular Control (TPC) 3. The Three Piles First Variation (With a Medium) Second Variation (Ideas) Third Variation (A Classic) 4. Obedient Cards 5. Total Memory A. The Classic Version B. My Version—Triple Threat Memorization THREE CROWN JEWELS
1. Prediction A. The Hofzinser Method B. With a Regular Deck and Two Jokers C. With a Regular Deck, Without Jokers D. With a Stranger Card E. A Stage Version: “The Joker” 2. All of a Kind 3. Mnemonicosis (Tamariz on Ideas by Marlo and Vernon) A. Mnemonicosis B. Card Control C. Mnemonicosis Over the Phone EIGHT MORE JEWELS
1. Flying Through Thin Air 2. Cards to Pocket A. With Ray Grismer’s Shuffle B. With the Zarrow Shuffle 3. Sha-la-la-la-la (A Multiple Musical Location) 4. Memorized Brainwaves Variation I: With a Waxed Card (Antón López) Variation II: With an Ungimmicked Card 5. Coincidence with Two Decks and Three Cards 6. Control in Chaos (Aronson and Riobóo) 7. Carbuquillo 8. Cutting the Aces or Any Four of a Kind A FEW DIRECT ONES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The Direct Production of Cards Called For Rising Cards Double Color Change Reversed Cards (Mago Antón and Tamariz) Cards Called For to Pocket A. One Card B. Two Cards
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6. Thought-of Card to Pocket (with an Added Advantage) 7. A Card Vanishes Instantly OTHER BEAUTIFUL TRICKS
1. Sympathy (Tamariz’s version of a classic) First Variation—Through Pencil Reading Second Variation—With a Nail-writer Third Variation—With a Billet Index Fourth Variation—Using a Pass A Presentation—Muscle Reading (Oscar Hugo) 2. A Star is Born 3. The Stop Trick A. First Version (With the Second Deal) B. Second Version (With Other False Deals) 4. Face to Face (Marlo and Tamariz) 5. A Grand Triumph (Camilo Vázquez) 6. A Predicted Triumph 7. The Theft of the Century 8. Royal Location 9. Double Prediction (Zingone and Tamariz) 10. Exact Location (Jordan, Clive and Tamariz) 11. Cards from Pocket Stop Trick (Ramblar) 12. Named Card from Pocket (Ramblar) 13. Card to Number in Pocket (Ramblar) 14. Card to Wallet (Ramblar) 15. Assembly of Selections in Poker Hands (Leipzig and Tamariz) MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
A Special Idea: the Eight Mnemonicas Stay-stack with Mnemonica A Card Index An Assortment of Very Beautiful, Loose and Simple Ideas An Idea for Magicians: Mnemoncia and Strippers
THE ART OF IMPROVISATION WITH MNEMONICA
1. To Introduce the Subject 2. The Techniques 3. The Effects Chapter Seven—Tricks Specific to Mnemonica Using Stay-stack 1. The Missing Card (Marlo and Tamariz) 2. Prodigious Memory (Evans, Hull, Annemann and Tamariz) 3. The Rite of Initiation (Luis García Soutullo) A. Tamariz Version with Faros B. Tamariz Version Without Faros
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PART II Prologue to Part II Chapter Eight—Tricks Unique to Mnemonica Using the Half Stack 1. Incredible Card Control 2. Total Spell (Dr. Jacob Daley) First Version (Classic and Daley’s) Second Version (Tamariz) Third Version (Tamariz) 3. Spelling to Four Cards 4. Spelling to the Four Deuces 5. Colors on Parade (Based on Scarne, Ascanio and Simon) To Reassemble the Stack A Good Routine Another Routine Scarne’s Concept Alternated Sequence from Normal Mnemonica Order Color Separation (with a Divination) 6. Two Stories First Story (with the Top Half of Mnemonica) Second Story (with the Bottom Half of Mnemonica) Chapter Nine—Tricks with the Half Stack ONE TO BEGIN WITH
Memory Jumble THREE CLASSICS AND A SEMI-CLASSIC
1. Weighing the Cards 2. Total Memory Version with Faros Version with Deals (Antifaros) 3. Sense of Touch—and Other Senses I. Sense of Touch II. ...and Other Senses a. Eye-scan b. Fine Eyesight c. Subtle Hearing d. A Spectacular Routine 4. A Card and a Number (Gombert, Baker and Tamariz) Variations FIVE ACES
1. Any Cards Called For (Jordan and Tamariz) Mago Antón’s Variation 2. Come and Go Variation
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3. The Liar—a Classic (Dalban, Nyquist and Tamariz) 4. Answering Computer Other Presentations A. The Trip B. The Labyrinth C. Hangman 5. T.N.T. (Finley, Jordan and Tamariz) THREE COINCIDENCES
1. The Miracle (Chesbro, Thompson and Tamariz) 2. Telescopic Coincidence 3. Stop at the Same Time (First Version) FOUR DIRECT ONES
1. 2. 3. 4.
A Gambling Demonstration Card to Wallet (Daley and Tamariz) The Reversed Card The Selection Between the Aces
FIVE DIVINATIONS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Fingerprints and “Cardprints” Double Divination Jumbled Divination Mnemonicosis with a Half Stack Spectator Misses, Magician Hits A Different Climax
FIVE ASSORTED ONES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Half Sympathy (a Classic with Tamariz Variations) Pocket Calculator (a Classic, Variation by Mago Antón) Tell Me Who You’re with and I’ll Tell You Who You Are Bingo! How Many Reds? Variant I Variant II
TWO IDEAS
1. Mnemonica with the Spanish Deck or with Other Decks 2. The Half Stack with the Spanish Deck ... AND AN ENDING 1. Some Time Ago (Dr. Daley) Appendix I—Tricks That Improve with Mnemonica 1. Neither Blind nor Stupid (Version for a Half Stack) 2. The Clock (a Classic) 3. Stop at the Same Time (Second Version) 4. A Curious Coincidence (Hofzinser?) 5. Triumph (Dai Vernon) 6. Mnabacus (Jack London)
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Appendix II—About Order and Disorder 1. Tricks That Don’t Alter the Stack 2. Actions That Don’t Alter Deck Order While Appearing to Do So Multiple False Cut 3. Resetting the Stack A. Resetting One Card B. Resetting Two Cards C. Resetting a Group of Cards D. Resetting the Stack After a Spectator’s Riffle Shuffle E. Resetting the Entire Stack After a Spectator’s Overhand Shuffle F. Resetting Stack After a Riffle Shuffle and an Overhand Shuffle G. Resetting the Half Stack H. Resetting the Stack After Several Hands of a Card Game 4. Setting Up the Stack in Front of the Audience A. Setup from a New-deck Order... With Faro Shuffles With Antifaros Justifying the Open Setting Up of Ace-to-King Order B. From a Random Order I. In One Stage a. The Cardoso Method b. The Nikola Card System c. Between the Fingers d. Stacking a Borrowed Deck II. In Two Stages (Half and Half) a. Memory Jumble b. Biddle Style c. Two-pile Divination d. Divining One Card Out of Thirteen e. Using the Methods for Stacking the Whole Deck III. In Three Stages (A Half, a Quarter and a Quarter) a. The Clock b. The Imaginary Trick c. Directly Behind Your Back d. Using a Strip-out e. Using the Methods for Stacking Half the Deck Appendix III—Notes About “Any Poker Hand Called For” Appendix IV—About the Structure of Mnemonica Appendix V–The Antifaro Concept 1. For a Fifty-two-card Deck Out-antifaro-1 Out-antifaro-2
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Out-antifaro-3 Out-antifaro-4 Anitfaro-4 Pick-up (Two-handed) Justifying the Antifaros 2. For a Thirty-two-card Deck 3. A Very Important Observation Appendix VI—Useful Sleights 1. Glimpses A. Glimpsing the Bottom Card of the Deck B. Glimpsing the Top Card of the Deck C. Glimpsing a Card in the Middle of the Deck D. The Chorus-line Multiple Top Glimpse E. The Chorus-line Multiple Bottom Glimpse 2. Finding Cards A. With the Charlier One-handed Cut B. By Estimation C. By Riffling D. Learning the Identity of a Selection Without Glimpsing It 3. Shifting the Position of a Card FIRST OBJECTIVE: To Move a Card Without Altering Rest of Stack A. With the Tamariz Perpendicular Control (TPC) B. With a Slip Cut C. With a Double Break and a Double Cut D. With the Hofzinser Spread Cull E. With Dai Vernon’s Triumph Shuffle F. With the Zarrow Shuffle G. With the Side Steal SECOND OBJECTIVE: Pretending a Selected Card is Returned... Multiple Divination THIRD OBJECTIVE: To Exchange Two Cards... A. With Multiple Cuts B. With an Overhand Shuffle (Áriston) FOURTH OBJECTIVE: To Gather Several Cards... 4. False Shuffles The False Butt-shuffle Other Kinds of False Shuffles 5. Deck Switches A. Seated at the Table B. Inside the Pocket C. With Gimmicks D. Other Switches E. Switching Half of the Deck
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6. Other Useful Sleights A. The Corner Crimp B. Counting Cards Secretly C. Palms D. Hofzinser’s Spread Cull E. The Tamariz Perpendicular Control (TPC) F. The Green Angle Separation G. Lorayne’s “Great Divide” and Marlo’s “Fifth Objective” Culls NOTE FOR SAILORS
Bibliography (with Commentary)
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