LAST UPDATED: 15 December 2025

THIS site features products and information on card magic by Justin Higham.  See below for books, pdf e-books and digital video content currently available from this address.  (Dealer enquiries welcome.)

To order any products, click here for postage and ordering information.

While you’re here, please see the archive page for some free articles on card magic by this author.

PRODUCT LIST

Discrepancy Poker

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £5.50 / $7.50 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Ten blue-backed cards are shown and the spectator is offered pairs of cards to choose from; five pairs in total. From each pair they take one and discard the other; no forcing. Their five chosen cards are shown to form a full house of mixed Queens and Kings. The performer’s hand is revealed to be a royal flush. The spectator is asked to turn their cards face down. Nothing remarkable; they are blue-backed. But when the performer turns his cards face down, the royal flush is seen to have all red backs.

This is a new packet trick using ordinary cards (supply your own – no cards included). May be done standing without a table, quick reset.

8 pages, 11 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

The Effects of Saturday

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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This is a companion volume to Twelve Ways to Sunday. Where that book focuses on cerebral magic done at a leisurely pace over the kitchen table, the effects in the present volume explore shorter and more visual tricks with cards for amateur performers. Included are stand-up poker deals (11 methods) based on Elmsley’s ‘Power Poker’, several 3-card monte routines (again designed for standing) including Bobby Bernard’s monte routine, and miscellaneous effects including a visual card change and a palm-less triple card to pocket routine. Also included is an extra chapter on Sunday-afternoon routines to round out the book (none of the latter appear in Twelve Ways to Sunday).

72 pages, 52 photos, A5 wire-bound booklet with card covers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE EFFECTS OF SATURDAY

Double Side Steal Methods

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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A Double Side Steal may refer to stealing two cards into one hand or two hands stealing one card each. Methods for both are contained in the following pages. With clear text and large photos, the reader is guided through over seven methods for stealing two or more cards plus extra related techniques:

FOREWORD
DOUBLE MASTER-MOVE STEAL
VARIANT TWO-HANDED SIDE STEAL (AFTER MARLO)
SEQUENTIAL HANDLING
DOUBLE-PIVOT SIDE STEAL
DOUBLE LONGITUDINAL SIDE STEAL
MODIFIED LONGITUDINAL SIDE STEAL
MULTIPLE LONGITUDINAL SIDE STEAL
SEQUENTIAL COMBO DOUBLE STEAL
LONGITUDINAL BLOCK STEAL EXTENDED
BASIC TWO-HANDED SIDE STEAL
MAKE YOUR OWN DOUBLE SIDE STEAL
BEVELLED DEALING-POSITION PALM

36 pages, 44 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Twelve Ways to Sunday

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Not all card magic needs to be *exciting!*, *commercial!* and so on. A really good card trick should fool and amaze, and thereby entertain. This is a book of twelve card tricks (plus ancillary material) suited for the coffee shop, the kitchen table, the Sunday-afternoon environment, where the slow burn is more apt than the visual-impact type of effect. Nonetheless, this is not an excuse for bad magic; Sunday-afternoon card tricks should still be designed with so-called commercial protocols in mind, meaning they should be well designed and entertaining.

Included are an easy version of the classic ‘Magic in Your Hands’ where spectator names a number between 5 and 10 – say 8 – and an Eight-spot is immediately revealed; deck is then handed to spectator who counts 8 to find their card; a handling of Elmsley’s ‘Power Poker’ where spectator cuts the packet between deals; and an effect where Marlo’s ‘Streamlined Classic’ meets Hamman’s ‘The Signed Card’: four cards, all of which are shown to be the selection, change to Kings, and the selection is revealed to have been sitting on the table from the start.

52 pages, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR TWELVE WAYS TO SUNDAY

Spectator-Shuffle Effects

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These are notes accompanying Higham’s 2025 lecture/workshop, first presented at The Session Convention on January 10, 2025. About half of these items have seen print in the various mss. referenced in the text (Pseudo Cheating Demos and Effects, The 75% Production, Bold and Illogical Card Moves, Highlights 2, Prophecy Moves and Effects, and Impressionistic Poker Demos); hence full descriptions are not provided here.

The exceptions are The Queen Has It, Fake-Silver, Illusory Thompson–Elias Production, and most of the items in Part Two including: Fate, Chance, Freewill, Prefigured Draw Poker, Sure-Fire Prefigured Full House, Eight-Card Spread-Separation Cull No. 2, Covered Spread-Separation Cull (Aces), Royal-Flush Combination Cull, Another Royal Prophecy (Gambin–Higham), Another Quick Coincidence, Culling Through Shuffling (theory), Saturday Night / Sunday Afternoon (theory), Hidden in Plain Sight, and One-Shot Effects (theory).

As the title indicates, the underlying theme is effects with a spectator-shuffled deck – or one seemingly shuffled by them.

28 pages, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Multiple Forcing Sequences

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Forcing multiple cards is more of a challenge than first meets the eye. The classical methods of forcing can be used, simply repeating the same actions (or varying forces) for each card. However, as Lewis Jones said in his Encyclopedia of Card Forces, the key element is that the force cards should come from different parts of the deck. I would qualify that definition with the word apparently. Indeed, as will be seen in these pages, methods using visual discrepancies may achieve the illusion that cards are coming from separate sections of the deck, with the added benefit of streamlining the handlings.

Please note this booklet contains only a bare-bones description of the Illogical Riffle Force which has previously appeared in Dexterity Manual and The Complete Illogical Riffle Force. The face-down / palm-down Illogical Riffle Force is not explained here as it has appeared in Non-Automatic Card Tricks and Bold and Illogical Card Moves. The present ms. focuses on forcing sequences using methods that the reader knows from previous works. The Illogical Revolve-Cut Force is explained in full (having first appeared in Operandi).

CONTENTS:

Solution #1: Illogical Riffle Force – Multiple Forcing Sequence #1
Solution #2: Illogical Revolve-Cut Force – Multiple Forcing Sequence #2
Solution #3: Face-Down Illogical Riffle Force – Multiple Forcing Sequence #3
Combination Forcing Sequences – 7 variations
Other Multiple Forces –
Necktied Illogical Run Force
Repeat MS Move & Hofzinser Force
Cross-Cut Aces – 2 methods

12 pages, 11 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Additional Card Notes

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Eight pages of notes on Combined Card Notes, with contributions from Kevin Baker, Jordan Waller, Ennio Lenti, and Greg Cook. Please note, this booklet is sold only to those who have purchased Combined Card Notes, as the booklet contains incomplete descriptions that pertain to items fully explained in Combined Card Notes.

CONTENTS:

Double-Crossed Again
Double Double-Cross (Kevin Baker)
Spin-Cut Set-Up (Jordan Waller)
Tabled Four-Way Thompson
KM Aces Plus (Ennio Lenti & JH)
Note on ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’
Open-Switch Coins Through Table – Note
The Trick That Can Be Explained Again – Note
Locating a Royal Flush – Note
Live Improv Examples – Notes
The King of Diamonds (Greg Cook)
Probability Full House Plus
I Prefer Poker
Flushtration Control
All Ends Well

8 pages, 4 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Combined Card Notes

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These two sets of lecture (or workshop) notes were released at The Neatcon
convention on July 8th 2023 in London. I ran two 50-minute workshops on the day, the subject matter of which is contained in this booklet.

The lecturers were invited to bring along ‘some unpublished material’ to teach, so I
took them at their word and brought two sets of new lecture notes which have been combined here into one booklet.

PART 1: Double-Crossed Aces, Cognitive Transpo – Alternatives, Impressionistic Ace Controls – Part 2 (4 methods), KM Sandwich Production (Shiv Duggal), Four-Way Thompson Cut, Monte Plus Move – Finesse, Geiger Meets Hofzinser, All’s Well That Ends Well, A Pedantic Poker Player’s Picnic, Easy-Going Gambler, For the Less Perceptive, Thought Card Across Finessed, Be Honest, Did You See It?, Open-Switch Coins Through Table; PART TWO: A Short Introduction to Improvisation, The Trick That Can Be Explained Again, The Workshop – Aide Memoire, Live Improv Examples (6 ideas), Anson Chen Improvises, 20 Reasons for Improvising, Real vs Fake Interaction.

44 pages, over 35 photos and illustrations, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Highlights  1 & 2

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This volume combines Justin’s two sets of lecture notes: Highlights (2015) and Highlights 2 (2021).

Part One of the book contains over 15 individual items, including ‘Spread-Count Poker 6’, the most direct solution yet to stacking 5 cards via spread counts. Also included is a card stab based on a bold illogicality, an Ambitious Card with no Double Lifts, a think-a-card lie detector performed over a Zoom call, and two Ace Assemblies which avoid the usual addition moves.

Part Two contains 7 items including ‘Quicksilver’, a 6-to-7-minute informal kitchen-table card act. This act allows you to take a borrowed, shuffled deck and start producing multiple fours-of-a-kind, one after another. The act was first publicly demonstrated at the 2016 Session Convention in front of about 500 people. It involves a mix of set tricks, some minimal Culling, and improvisation.

Also included in Part Two is a named card to normal wallet, and an ACAAN (named card at named number) with a shuffled deck and a 2-card set-up.

60 pages, over 75 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Impressionistic Poker Demos [out of stock]

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Impressionistic Poker Demos is the follow-up book to Pseudo Cheating Demos and Effects.

The first part of the book further explores Spread-Count Stacking, a way to stack the Aces or a full house/royal flush to a desired number of hands using combinations of spread-counts. The idea is to get away from standard stacking methods, although several pseudo stacking effects are described which make minimal use of techniques such as Riffle Stacking and Overhand Stacking.

Also included is a Frank Lane style poker deal in which the spectator deals any small number of poker hands, yet the performer ends up with a royal flush (no palming, switching, etc.). Other items include impromptu blackjack demos, a spectator-shuffled full-house deal by Dylan Holmes, ‘Pick-Up Restacking’ by Ben Earl (4 methods), and a previously unpublished Bottom Deal for beginners by Edward Marlo. The section on ‘100% Poker Deals’ follows on from The 75% Production in showing how to take a borrowed, shuffled deck and almost immediately deal yourself (or the spectator) four of a kind or a full house. At the end of the book are comments on the items in Pseudo Cheating Demos with further ideas and methods explained.

Aside from the items explained in the Appendix, this book can be read alone without having read Pseudo Cheating Demos and Effects.

48 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR IMPRESSIONISTIC POKER DEMOS

The 75% Production and The Trick With No Method

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £7.50 / $12.50 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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This booklet explores ways to produce four of a kind from a genuinely shuffled deck without relying on culling (including shuffle-culling) or excessive use of memorisation or calculation.

Unlike the deliberate, linear methods which, almost by definition, involve ‘brute force’ (manual or mental), the present approach involves letting the cards ‘decide’ what to do and how/when to do it. This concept isn’t new (there is no ‘new’ information in this booklet), but few magicians use this approach, possibly due to the belief that it is inferior because it isn’t performed ‘to order’.

The 75% Production and The Trick With No Method is not just a dissertation on four-of-a-kind productions, but the improvisational mindset used to create them. The 75% production is a form of ‘trick with no method’, in as much as a key element of the method (without which an effect may not be solved or reconstructed) is missing.

This booklet expands on themes touched on in Secrets of Improvisational Magic and The KOSBE System.

30 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER:

• This is not an extended or enhanced version of Vernon’s ‘Trick That Cannot Be Explained’. The latter revolves around (a) planning a specific effect and then (b) trying to improvise a satisfactory conclusion. The present booklet is to do with (a) noticing certain circumstances and then (b) making the most of them. The ‘trick with no method’ is the polar opposite of Vernon’s ‘Trick’. Don’t let their similar-sounding names confuse you.
• My approach to improvisation is wholly context-based: tuning in to the vibe and feel of the moment and knowing exactly what to do: when to start, when to stop, and so on. There is no question of randomly making it all up for the fun of it and boring people to death with unstructured and pointless routines.
• Although the subject is four-of-a-kind revelations, it is shown how these can be made contextual and meaningful to an audience; this is the essence of the 75% concept. The routines do not come across as random and meaningless.
• As mentioned above (and also in the Foreword) there are no new concepts explained here, but instead how to make the most of concepts that the reader may already know. Full credit is given to Joe Riding for his work, which explained the essence of the 75% production. The present work goes into far greater depth than anything previously published on the subject.
• Learn in a few hours what might otherwise have taken many years of experience and experimentation to discover.

“The 75% Production is an easy book to recommend.” – Genii

“…a superb manual on making the most of opportunities that you see.” – Elliott Hodges, Magic Week

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE 75% PRODUCTION AND THE TRICK WITH NO METHOD

Pseudo Cheating Demos and Effects [out of stock]

by Justin Higham

A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £10.00 / $16.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Over 20 pseudo cheating effects in 7 chapters and numerous notes on related material, ideas and history.

CONTENTS INCLUDE:

The 15-Card Poker Climax – A climax phase for the classic 10-Card Poker Deal, culminating in the performer revealing a royal flush and a prediction which shows the hands that would be dealt by the spectator – even though they shuffled and distributed the cards themselves. Includes ideas and notes by Will Houstoun and Dean Bodenham. (Sleights used: simple overhand shuffle work and a false cut.)

Spread-Count Poker 1 & 2 – A sleightless way of stacking the Aces, normally achieved via the Bottom-Deal Count. (Sleights: uses an optional palm replacement at the start.)

Freedom Stacking (Joseph Barry) – Four Aces are dealt from a borrowed, shuffled deck – the classic pick-up build in a new form. (Sleights: full-deck false shuffle.)

Bottom-Deal Count Substitute – The spectator cuts off half and 25 cards are counted off by the performer. These are dealt into poker hands by the spectator, who receives the four Aces – another way of stacking the Aces in lieu of the Bottom-Deal Count. (Sleights: overhand shuffle work; also uses one bottom deal if stacking a royal flush.)

Mini Faro, Named Centres – Four Kings and four Aces are openly alternated and placed in the middle of the deck. The spectator names either Aces or Kings and the performer ‘centre deals’ the chosen cards. The other four of a kind are shown still in the middle. (Sleights: dribble pass, turnover pass.) Also includes ‘Mini Faro, Two/Three Players’, ‘Mini Faro Hold ‘em’, and other ideas.

The Compensation Deal – An illogical but fooling solution to the classic Vernon/Fulves poker problem: the Aces are openly stacked for four hands, then a freely chosen number of people join the game. The performer still deals the Aces. (Sleights: double-card handling, bottom deals.)

Pseudo 10-Hand Poker Stack – The Aces are placed on the deck and the cards given a selected number of riffle shuffles. The performer deals 10 hands of poker and receives the Aces. (Sleights: adding cards onto a top stock during a riffle shuffle, tabling a double, double push-off/deal.)

Face-Up Deals – From a borrowed, shuffled deck the performer deals and wins multiple hands of blackjack, and also deals a full-house from a shuffled deck. (Sleights: multiple second deals.)

GM Poker – A solution to the problem of doing the classic ‘Gardner–Marlo Poker Routine’ with only one four of a kind being dealt throughout. (Sleights: turnover pass.) Plus related material.

Two Shufflers – The performer and spectator each shuffle half the deck to test their shuffling abilities. The performer deals his/her half first revealing – nothing. The spectator’s half is then dealt revealing four Sevens. ‘Maybe two shufflers are better than one’, opines the performer. The two halves are shuffled together and the spectator deals a royal flush. (Sleights: jog shuffle, milk-build shuffle, faro shuffle, and an easy switch taught in the text.)

Stand-Up Poker Deal (Sav) – From a borrowed, shuffled deck the performer deals a full house. (Sleights: culling, faro shuffle.)

75% Poker Deal – The performer deals three of a kind from a borrowed, shuffled deck. (Sleights: classic pass.)

Faro Flush Presentation – Fr. Cyprian’s well-known effect brought up to date with a pseudo-memory presentation and a choice of draw poker or hold ‘em. (Sleights: faro shuffle, double undercut.)

Pseudo-Memory Deal (Benjamin Earl) – The spectator shuffles the deck and the performer deals the Aces in a four-handed game. (Sleights: faro shuffle.)

Pseudo-Memory Deal/Location – A way of dealing or cutting to the Aces in a deck shuffled by the spectator. (Sleights: faro shuffle (optional), basic cut and shuffle work.)

First Flush – A royal flush is cut into the middle of the deck. Two hands are dealt, and one of these is ‘switched’ for the royal flush. (Sleights: simple false cut.)

Poker Charade – A royal flush is dealt from a deck shuffled multiple times by the spectators. Based on a classic cheating concept called the count-down. (Sleights: palm replacement and general card handling.)

What Goes Around, Comes Around – Three hands are dealt from a spectator-shuffled deck. The performer receives a full house. (Sleights: none / general card handling.)

The ‘Appearing’ Poker Hand (Ben Earl) – The performer ‘deals’ a royal flush with no false shuffles, stacks, deals, or switches. (Sleights: general card handling.)

Jungian Poker (Modified) – The performer locates a thought-of card and its matching straight-flush cards. (Sleights: top stock shuffle, false cut, spread cull, overhand shuffle work.) Also includes ‘Jungian Location’ and ‘Jungian Instinct’, where the spectator lifts off a packet and peeks its bottom card, then replaces it and immediately shuffles the deck. The performer locates the card and its matching straight-flush cards. (Sleights: spread cull and optional sleights.)

44 pages, A5 printed booklet, saddle-stitched with card covers.

Bold and Illogical Card Moves

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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There’s a price to pay for everything in card magic. A move may be technically perfect and logical, but require a positioning of the body or special choreography to get into it, thereby creating limitations. It may need years of practice and still never achieve 100% deceptiveness. Many of the moves in this new book are comparatively easy and need no special angles or setting up. The price to be paid is not years of practice, but boldness and confidence in the performer, an understanding of human nature and psychology, and an ability to engage spectators effectively by talking to and entertaining them – superficially known as ‘adding patter and presentation’.

Featured are finesses on the Bevelled-Riffle Force by Sav, including a 100%-burnable (but illogical) Prophecy Move and a force where you blatantly hand them the top card of the deck; Illogical Forces by Joseph Barry; an Illogical Convincing Control; a Fake All-Around Square-Up; a way of forcing a card on yourself; Bold Glimpses; applications of the Illogical Dribble Force; Ace-cutting methods; Fake Removals including a method by Will Houstoun; Bold and Illogical False Shuffles; a variation on the Losing Control; and even an Illogical Coin Switch by John Carey.

Some of these moves vary and extend previous ideas from The Complete Illogical Dribble Force, Prophecy Moves and Effects, and Non-Automatic Card Tricks, but none have seen print before apart from the briefly re-described Illogical Dribble Force.

54 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers and 150 photos.

“…excellent book….  I enjoyed following along with the pictures and suddenly realizing that my mind was following the discrepancy of the move and fooling me.” – Wayne Kawamoto, magic.about.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR BOLD AND ILLOGICAL CARD MOVES

Non-Automatic Card Tricks

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £7.50 / $12.50 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Self-working and semi-automatic card tricks are more popular than ever, but card tricks of the ‘non-automatic’ kind are not always difficult to master. The material in this book ranges from very easy to difficult, but most of it is within reach of the average card student.

This is a collection of over 20 previously unpublished items including:

5 variations on the classic Drop Switch
2 Tilt moves
3 Ace switches
2 Forces
2 Ace controls
2 packet switches
5 effects and various other ideas (including 2 simple card productions)

Includes a cut-the-high-cards game which the spectator loses by cutting all the ‘low cards’ (the Aces), an instant sandwich where three effects happen simultaneously, a visual transition based on Geoff Latta’s ambitious card using the riffle pass, a rising card that can be performed in any bar environment, and a clock trick where a mentally selected card vanishes from a packet of 12 cards and reappears back in the deck at a thought-of hour (this does not use the clock-trick principle or other mathematics).

Includes contributions by David Davies, Peter Dudley and Will Houstoun.

25 pages, saddle-stitched A5 printed booklet with card covers and 80 photos.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR NON-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS

Prophecy Moves and Effects [out of stock]

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
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This is a collection of moves and effects using the concept of Bill Simon’s well-known ‘Business Card Prophecy’ move. This concept involves forcing the position of one or more cards via a disguised-cut procedure.

Included is an effect called ‘Shared Prophecy’, where the magician writes down the name of a card in full view and a spectator then writes down any other card that comes to mind next to this. The Joker is inserted in the deck at a chosen point and the cards on either side are the two written cards.

Several non-prophecy but related items are also included.

CONTENTS:

Bevelled-Riffle Bottom Force
Bevelled-Riffle Prophecy Force (Will Houstoun)
B Finds A
Bevelled-Riffle Prophecy Move
Pseudo-Extraction Move
No. 1
No. 2 (Kevin Baker)
No. 3
Tilted Fake Removal
Alternative Handling
Illogical Stab-Revelation
Alternative Prophecy Move
Half-Bluff Location
Palmist’s ‘Business-Card’ Prophecy
Palmist’s Non-Prophecy Prophecy
Shared Prophecy
Shuffled-Deck Version
Fully Integrated Mindreader
Mirrored Coincidence
Prefigured Coincidence
One-Ahead Double Prophecy (Kevin Baker)
One-Minute Double Prophecy
Undercover Card and Number
Five-Ten-Twenty Estimation
Pseudo Multiple Shift
Ribbon-Spread False Cut
Ribbon-Spread Prophecy Move
Casual Transfer-Switch Force
Illogical Swing-Cut Force
Dual Peek Control
Note on the Prophecy Move

A5 saddle-stitched printed booklet with card covers, 26 pages and over 60 photos.

The KOSBE System: The Mechanics of Improvisation in Card Magic

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £11.50 / $16.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Consider the following effects:

• A card is selected, returned, and shuffled into the deck by the spectator. Yet the card instantly appears in your pocket
• A thought-of card is revealed reversed in the deck
• Four Aces are produced from a borrowed, shuffled deck

The above three effects are the results of improvisation. This manual explains the ‘mental mechanics’ of improvisation which allow one to perform impossible effects such as the ones above.

In his previous book, Secrets of Improvisational Magic, Justin Higham explored the many different forms of improvisation and the fundamental (and often hidden) secrets of the art.

In this companion volume (which may be read alone), stemming from nearly two decades of experience in improvisational magic, the actual thought processes behind improvisation are analysed and explained. If you want a nuts-and-bolts explanation of how to improvise then this book is intended to give you this.

Do not be misled by the title. ‘Mechanics’ refers to the mental mechanism or system of thought that is used when improvising. This is not a book of card effects or sleights, even though these concepts form the basis of the system in question.

Based on the out-of-print (and superseded) 15-page booklet of a similar name published in 1995, this completely rewritten and greatly expanded volume, The KOSBE System: The Mechanics of Improvisation in Card Magic contains 72 pages of detailed explanation which not only answers the fundamental question, ‘How do I improvise card magic?’, but may alter your whole outlook on the art.

72 pages, perfect-bound A5 booklet with card covers.

Pseudo Card-Cheating Switches and Related Moves [out of stock]

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £7.50 / $12.50 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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Mention ‘card-cheating switches’ and magicians very often shy away due to (a) the fact that such switches are not really meant for performing, and (b) they are often quite difficult to execute. In particular, switches requiring one-handed pick-ups and throw-downs or complex palm changes and re-gripping, are avoided.

The switches in the present ms. are pseudo cheating switches, and the reader may be pleasantly surprised to find that (a) they are not that difficult (requiring more coordination than manual dexterity), and (b) they can be used in pseudo-cheating demonstrations to good effect without having to reveal their methodology. Several of the switches may also be used in a magical context.

Explained is the Basic Move, ‘Empty-Hands’ Method, No-Palm Method (Kevin Baker), Lateral-Palm Method, Jennings-Concealment Method, Underhand Method 1 and 2, Under-Deck Method, Modified Tent Switch, Pseudo-Deal Palm Switch, Pseudo-Removal Palm Switch and Variation, Flip-and-Fan Palm Switch, Turn-and-Look Packet Switch 1 and 2 (Benjamin Earl) and Variation, and End Notes with several more ideas and applications. All but one of the switches are packet switches, not single-card switches. Most require palming (but not always in the conventional sense) but none require lapping (as in scooping or dropping cards into the lap or similar).

This updated edition of an e-book first published in April 2010 contains 25 pages and is illustrated with over 100 photographs. A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

More Pseudo Card-Cheating and Related Switches [out of stock]

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
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This second volume of pseudo-cheating switches contains a wide variety of card and packet switches for both pseudo-cheating demonstrations and magical use, to be applied at the reader’s discretion. As with the first volume, the moves here do not rely on advanced palm changes or hand-mucking techniques, but basic palming and switching manoeuvres well within the reach of the intermediate student.

CONTENTS:

Behind-the-Hand Switch
As a Pseudo Blackjack Switch
As a Full Packet Switch
Two-Stage Sequence Switch
Push-Forward Unload Switch (with Chip Cover)
Bank-Note Unload Switch
Lateral-Palm Swivel Switch (Will Houstoun)
Ringing In a Fooler
Fake Deck Switch
The ‘Appearing-Deck’ Packet Switch
Casual Palm-Replacement Switch
Illogical CPR Switch
1-of-2 CPR Switch
2-for-2 Spread Version (Houstoun)
1-of-2 Spread Version
1-of-2 Squared Version
Modified CPR Switch (Houstoun)
Secret-Transfer Switch
Secret-Transfer Deal-Off Switch
Turn-and-Spread Transfer Switch (Houstoun)
As a 3-of-4 Switch (Houstoun)
Tip-Up Hole-Card Switch
With a Forward-Tabling Action
Underhand Hole-Card Switch 1
Underhand Hole-Card Switch 2
Modified Kardyro Hole-Card Switch
Two-Faced Hand Muck (Bobby Bernard)
Simulated Placement Flick Switch (David Davies)
Arm-Rest Muck (Daniel Madison/Benjamin Earl)
Lap Variation
Pseudo Turnover Switch
As An Addition
As a 1-of-2 Switch
Mechanical Queens Revisited
Being a Magician
Spread-Cover Unload Aces
Spread-Cover Unload Switch
An Extra Layer of Deception
General Note on Presentation

41 pages, over 140 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

Dexterity Manual

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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This is Justin Higham’s largest card book since Collected Card Notes (1999), and contains an array of moves, subtleties, and effects. Although the format is a technical manual – or rather, a ‘dexterity manual’ – most items require only an intermediate level of manual dexterity.

CONTENTS INCLUDE:

• The Anti-Gravity Shift – A one-handed pass as featured on Benjamin Earl’s ‘Past Midnight’ DVD, explained here in full detail with eight ‘covers’, including two by Will Houstoun.
• Illogical Strip-Cut Force plus… – Those who liked the Illogical Dribble Force will appreciate the Illogical Strip-Cut Force, Illogical Spread Force, Illogical False Throw-Cut Force, One-Handed IDF and Illogical Riffle Force, all explained here (no knowledge of the Illogical Dribble Force is needed).
• Logical Strip-Cut Force – For those who prefer logicality, Benjamin Earl offers this flexible and deceptive force of one or more cards.
• Fake Zarrow Shuffle – For those who haven’t mastered a real one. Two versions are given.
• CO2 – A bold, no-palming version of C.O. Williams’ popular card-to-pocket.
• Biddle Appearance Sandwich – Two buried Kings instantly and visually appear on top of the deck with a selection sandwiched between them – no passes or difficult sleights.
• Jungian Poker – A spectator thinks of one of five random cards, and the thought-of card is produced along with its matching straight-flush cards. No large stacks or false deals.
• Spectator Cuts a Run of Seven – A ‘mega’ version of ‘Spectator Cuts the Aces’ based on Randy Wakeman’s popular method.
• Digital Poker – A full house is pulled interlaced between the fingers from a shuffled, pocketed deck.
• The Magician, The Fool, and The Wheel of Fortune – The names of three Tarot cards are spelt in any chosen order to arrive at three playing-cards, one of which is selected. This matches a tabled prediction.
• Off-Center Coincidence – Two selections turn up together as cards are dealt simultaneously from two tabled halves. Nothing special – except the spectator shuffled the deck after the selections were lost. No palming or crimps.
• Pseudo Topper – An impromptu version of Marlo’s ‘Mental Topper’, where a ‘mental selection’ is revealed along with its three mates. Can be done straightaway with a borrowed deck.
• Intuitive 21-Card Trick – Identical to the classic lay person’s version…except the entire trick is done with the cards face down.

ALSO INCLUDES: One-Handed Slip Pass, One-Handed Pull-Out, Around-the-Deck Reversal, Svengali-ish Convincer, Up-the-Ladder Finesse, Multiple Undershuffle, Deal Shuffle, One-Handed Flip-Over Force, Third-Eye Force, Tilted Fake Removal, Cognitive Transposition, Biddle-Appearance Collectors, Chinatown Bluff, Longitudinal Monte, Mini Faro – Pseudo Centers, Subconscious Culling, Riffle-Shuffle Sandwich, Deal – Count – Spell, Sense of Touch Location, The NoBo Lie Detector (including methods by Kevin Baker), and more.

Over three dozen items in all, 68 pages, 50 photos, saddle-stitched A5 booklet with card covers.

Clairvoyant, Mental Topper and The Mind-Reader’s Dream

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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In the early 1950s, Bob Hummer caused a stir with his rendition of ‘Think-a-Card’ called ‘Mind-Reader’s Dream’, in which a card merely thought of was discovered without any questions asked. It’s drawback – a fairly complex dealing procedure and a book of tables consulted by the magician – inspired many card magicians to seek streamlined methods.

In the early 90s Justin Higham published a method for the Hummer effect in which the dealing procedure was greatly simiplified and the book of tables eliminated. This provides the basis for this new study of ‘Clairvoyant’ and related effects, including Marlo’s seminal ‘Mental Topper’: an effect where not only is a thought-of card produced, but also its three ‘mates’.

The present ms. – a revised edition of Clairvoyant and Related Effects (2007) – complements, and further examines themes previously studied in, Jon Racherbaumer’s 2004 ms., Dreamwork: Minding the Mindreader’s Dream.

48 pages, over 40 variations on ‘Clairvoyant’, ‘Mental Topper’ and ‘The Mind-Reader’s Dream’, plus an easy in-the-hands False Dovetail (Riffle) Shuffle for use in these effects.

A5 printed booklet, saddle-stitched with card covers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR CLAIRVOYANT, MENTAL TOPPER AND THE MIND-READER’S DREAM

The Complete Illogical Dribble Force

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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This volume combines the original booklet, The Illogical Dribble Force (2007) and the follow-up volume, Notes on the Illogical Dribble Force (2009).

The basic move is an easy force which can be done without any breaks, crimps, jogged cards or similar – although these elements may be added for more sophisticated applications. Indeed, the basic move can be done from a shuffled deck with no get-ready other than glimpsing the desired force card beforehand. (This can be done in any manner the performer desires.)

Part One of the book contains over 20 individual items, and Part Two contains over 40 items. These include various other illogical forces which are unrelated method-wise to the Illogical Dribble Force. These include Dave Buck’s Revolving X Force, Kevin Baker’s K.B. Illogical Dribble Force, David Davies’ Illogical Swing Cut Force, the Illogical Riffle Force, plus effects and applications of the IDF by Paul Gordon, Will Houstoun, Andrew Murray and others.

56 pages, 35 photos, A5 saddle-stitched booklet with card covers.

“I’ve been playing around with the IDF and I like it a lot….” – R.F., Canada

“The Illogical Dribble Force (IDF) is a very interesting procedure….  The IDF should be a welcome addition to a worker’s arsenal.” – The Linking Ring

“I think that this move is incredible and versatile.  I’m really having to push myself to reserve the move for special occasions and not to let it become my go to move at all times.  It’s SUCH a good move.” – Magic Bunny (for review click here)

“Illogical Dribble Force teaches a great, simple, direct, all-purpose force that will be of interest to any card worker because of its welcome felxibility.” – Online-Visions.com

“Pretty ingenious really.” – Reader comments, The Magic Cafe (click here)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE COMPLETE ILLOGICAL DRIBBLE FORCE

Secrets of Improvisational Magic

[out of print]

by Justin Higham
A5-size printed booklet with card covers
Price: £12.50 / $20.00 (I can receive USD so please don’t convert to GBP when using PayPal)

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In this concise guide to improvisation, Justin Higham reveals the fundamental secrets of creating and performing close-up card magic on-the-fly.

Including chapters on Interactive Magic, the Improv Show, Jazz Magic, and The Trick That Cannot Be Explained, the various styles and modes of improvisation are stripped down to basics and their methodologies revealed.

Topics include:

• What Jazz Magic is and how it works
• How to create an Improv Show
• How to transform a standard trick into an impossible near miracle
• Meet challenges, such as when someone says, “Tell me what card I am thinking of!”

This book is an invaluable aid to anyone wishing to gain insight into a form of performing which can not only help us create more amazing magic, but also form a closer bond with our audiences.

8 chapters plus bibliography, 72 pages, A5 saddle-stitched booklet.

“…an excellent introduction for all students, particularly of close-up card magic, to a vast and important subject.” – Genii

“…a must have gem.” – Magic Week (see two separate reviews by Al Smith and Alan Hudson)

“Justin has given voice to a too-often ignored side of card magic (indeed, all magic) and his carefully considered thoughts will make you reconsider what you do.  And that’s a good thing.” – The Magic Circular

“…the information could be a little dangerous for the inexperienced magician.” – Magic Seen (rated 5 stars).

CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

Your workshop at the session was the highlight of the weekend for me so looking forward to getting stuck into the books. – A.S., Scotland

Books arrived earlier today and all present and correct……………….I’m a very satisfied customer indeed. – J.B., Ireland

Thank you so much for the parcel and the extra booklet.
I was most surprised.
It looks very interesting indeed! – G.S., Iceland

I just wanted to drop you a line and say how much I’m enjoying the booklets I picked up from you at Ron’s Day. There’s some seriously clever and subtle stuff in here. – D.F., UK

For years I’ve been reading, watching attending lectures and never really found what I’ve been looking for.  Finally wit your booklet it has became clear 75% is by far one of the best card magic booklets I have ever read. I love the feel, it just feels right just to be able  to produce four of a kind from a shuffled deck or simingly.  Thank you so much and for £12 well worth every single penny.  I love card magic and you have reinspired me to move forward. – P.T., UK

Yeah all the books arrived very well packaged no damage
Happy with them 100% – R.C., UK

It is obvious from reading your works that you take a great deal of time and effort in putting these booklets together, I guess my email is just another one of many to let you know all the effort is much appreciated. – A.H., UK

Justin, I received the books today in perfect condition. Like your thinking and ideas. – D.C., Canada

I received the 75% book today – thank you very much.  I will be a loyal customer for life. – P.G., USA

The books arrived safe and sound last week.  Thank you once again for offering up your material and thoughts for study and practice. – N.H., USA

I’m enjoying your books so much. Thanks for all the great work. I’m really fan of the, can’t think of a better name, “English School”. People like Ben Earl, Joe Barry, you. – R.O., Holland

Thanks, I loved The Secrets of Improvisations and The KOSBE System so I am looking forward to this. – M.P., USA

Thank you for sharing this with us, I have all your collection and it’s full of gems.  I really enjoyed your last offering.
I’m a big fan of the spread poker procedure, it’s a great idea. – P.A., France

The Bold and Illogical stuff is brilliant and I’m really enjoying using these sneaky manoeuvres. – A.H., UK

Thank you very much. I had already so much fun with pseudo cheating demos which I ordered from you before, that I am really interested to explore more of your thoughts and theories.
Great little booklets! – P.S., Germany

Loved the complete IDF and Dexterity manual! – L.K., UK

I ordered both your card switching books via vanishing inc. last week. Best things I’ve read in a long time. – B.T., UK

I’ve read the book and … it is awesome. I love the effects and clever principle you use in there and the contributions from your friends are also really good! You could make an entire gambling act from a shuffled deck in use with the material in there!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us – P.A., France

I really like your books and actually have the pseudo card-cheating switches and related moves i really like it a lot. – J.L., Singapore

Hi Justin, I just wanted to say thanks for the brilliant service, I can’t wait to start studying them. – S.B., UK

Purchased a copy of non-automatic card tricks and was most impressed. Your work on the braue addition is a welcome addition to my arsenal. – A.P., UK

Wonderful, thank you Justin. I’m sure I will, I absolutely loved ‘non automated card tricks’. – C.A., UK

Just got your complete illogical dribble force and loved it. – L.K., UK

Many thanks for your quick handling and your cooperation. – C.SW., Switzerland

I’ve heard great things about your Anti-Gravity Shift from Tyler Erickson, and I look forward to learning it. – J.L., USA

I have just received your mail today, perfect condition, thanks a lot for the rapidity, the seriousness, your kindness and the dedication. – C.R., France

Not only are you a clever inventor and an honourable man, you’re a good bookkeeper as well!!! – J.G., USA