ACOCAVAN I came up with this trick as I was designing an examinable ACAAN-related effect using two ordinary decks. The handling is inspired by a previous trick of mine basically an impromptu ACAAN effect which is described at the end of this ebook as a bonus. In this new version I added a special setup so only two cards can be actually selected which allows you to place the right card at the right position in an off-beat moment and without the need of openly spreading the deck face up unlike the impromptu version. !or your knowledge the title is an acronym that secretly stands for A Couple Of Cards At Virtually Any Number. As a magician this is what you"re going to deal with. #o no it is not the $rail but keep in mind that from the audience"s %&' this is ultimately Any Card At Any Number (in case they are aware of this denomination)*. This effect is certainly inspired by The Berglas Effect and the last phase unintentionally slightly inspired by +ave !orrest"s ACAAN Again. !inally as this trick re,uires no table it may fit perfectly in your parlor act.
EFFECT: The magician shuffles a deck of cards and asks a spectator to cut the deck a first time to determine a suit and a second time to determine a value (the suit and the value of the cards he cut to, let's say a Diamond and a 4). Then, the magician asks the spectator to imagine where his card may lie into the deck and thus, to think of any number. The spectator reveals he's thinking of the number 4. The magician turns ! cards face up and only now the spectator reveals the name of his thought"of card, the 4D# The 4th card is turned face up by the spectator... $t is the 4D###
RE!"RE#ENT$: % regular deck of cards.
$ET%!&: Discard the &okers. Thanks to the set"up, the spectator may finally think of only two cards of your choice. These two cards must be of the same value but not the same color. et's pick the 4D and the 4. They are removed from the deck for the moment. ow, the deck has to be divided in two halves. The top half contains all the Diamonds and lubs cards (the suits you want to force) in any order. The bottom half logically contains all the *pades and +earts cards in any order. ou're going to force the value by placing any remaining 4 (*pades or +earts) on top of the face down deck. The 4D and 4 are placed third and fifth from the top, not necessarely in that order but keep in mind which one comes first when the deck is held face down. $n this e-ample, my deck is set"up this way, from the top of the face down deck 4* " D/ card " 4D " D/ card " 4 " remaining of the D/ cards " remaining of the */+ cards.
&ERFOR#ANCE: 0nbo- the deck and hold it face up. 1verhand shuffle the top 2 (*/+) cards but replace them on top, so the set"up is kept intact.
%sk the spectator to cut a packet among the top half of the deck (among the Diamonds/lubs pack) and to turn it over the pack. *pread the cards toward yourself and when you reach to the first face down card, separate the packets at the first face down card and show it to the spectator. $t will be either a Diamonds or a lubs card. %sk him to remember the suit of this card. 3eplace this packet onto the remaining cards, and suare up the deck. ow, ask him to cut a packet among the bottom half of the deck and to turn it over the pack.
*pread the face up cards toward yourself. 5limpse the last face up card and remember its suit. This is the previously selected card# *how the spectator the first face down card (which is the forced 4) like you did with the first card. %sk him to remember its value.
" $f the glimpsed card is a Diamonds 3eplace the face down selection on top of the face down bottom half and take a pinkie break under it. Turn the upper half over it. ift up all the cards above the break and cut them to the bottom. The 4D is now second from the top.
" $f the glimpsed card is a lubs %s the spectator takes a look at his card, take a pinkie break under the top two cards of the bottom half. $t may be helpful to e-tend your thumb to push the top card, and with the right pressure, it will automatically push the ne-t card also# $t will allow you to insert your pinkie under the top two cards. 1nce it's done, suare up the bottom half with the same hand that holds the bottom half. 3eplace the face down selection on top of the face down bottom half so you have a break under three cards. Turn the upper half over it. ift up all the cards above the break and cut them to the bottom. The 4 is now second from the top. This is based on the 6alducci's ut Deeper 7orce.
%s you ask the spectator to mentally visuali8e his card, grab around 9 cards from the bottom of the deck and faro shuffle or riffle shuffle them into the upper half, so when the deck is suared up, the bottom card of the upper section is now the new bottom card of the deck and the top two cards remain on top. The idea is both to lose the forced 4 (that is on the bottom) into the deck and to mi- up the D/ cards with the */+ cards. 7eel free to empha8ise that his card has only been thought of and he has never actually seen it# $t makes the trick even more impossible#
Turn the deck face up to flash the top card and ask the spectator to imagine where his card may be into the deck. *aying that, push the top card to flash the ne-t card also. ow, ask him to think of any number between : and 2. %s you openly display the top two cards at the face of the deck (the 2:st and 2nd cards of the face down deck), he will choose neither 2: nor 2.
Turn the deck over and take a pinkie break under the top two cards. %sk him to reveal his number.
" $f the spectator says ;:;, casually perform a double"lift and show the right card. To clean up easily, you may eventually turn the deck up and slide out the selection with your fingers. Turn the selection face up and table it. *pread the deck to proove that all the cards are indeed different. %s soon as you've spreaded around < cards, turn them face down and replace them at the bottom of the deck. *pread the remaining face up cards and replace the cards at the bottom. $f you insist a little bit that you ask for a number 6=T>== : and 2, both of these numbers won't be chosen. ou may also avoid the spectator to select ;:' by directly turning the top card of the deck face up when you e-plain your modus operandi of turning the cards face up one by one, and so on.
" $f the spectator says ;;, ?ust let him deal the cards by himself#
" $f the spectator selects a number between ! and 29, you're going to perform a very convincing +enry hrist force adapted to this %%% plot et's say the selected number is :<. Turn the top card face up and in?og the top two cards as one, pinching both cards on their inner short side and say ;:;. Take the ne-t face down card out and turn it face up on top of the in?ogged cards, saying ;;. Do that again until you put the :2th card on top of the in?ogged cards saying ;:2;. %t this moment, you may ask the spectator if he wants to change his mind and change his number# $f he wants to go further, deal the cards accordingly. $f he wants to keep his number, suare up the deck and spread the face up cards asking him if he has seen his card among these face up cards. +e will answer negatively. The first face down card is now the selection. 1ut?og this card and ask the spectator to reveal his thought"of card. %sk him to remove the card and turn it face up, revealing that the thought"of selection was at his freely selected number#
F"NA' NOTE$: %t the end, when you spread the cards face up, asking the spectator if his card is among them, you may deal them in his hands, making small packets of two or three cards (so you may count them out loud again uickly). Deal the first face down card onto them and turn the ne-t few cards face up the same way you did with the hrist force (in?ogging the face up cards onto the pack) so everything looks copasetic. 1nce you've shown that he could have stopped further displaying indifferent cards, ask him to name his card out loud and to turn the face down card over for the revelation.
%nyway, if you definitively want the spectator to be able to choose 2: or 2, you may put the &okers away (in your pocket) at the beginning of the routine and put them back at the bottom once the deck has been shuffled when you ask the spectator to think of a number. ou remove the &okers from your pocket and say they have magical powers. ou grab them between your thumb and first finger and hold them faces toward the spectator. ou push them back and forth between your fingers like a magical gesture, e-plaining that they're reading in the spectator's mind. @lace them at the bottom of the deck and riffle up the deck with your fingers as you say that they will magically move the spectator's card at his chosen number. =nd as e-plained above.
Bonus tric(: )A'*%ACAAN As its title suggests this trick is perfect for walk-around situations as it has been especially designed to be performed stand up and is completely impromptu so it resets instantly. And it"s examinable)
EFFECT: % spectator shuffles a borrowed deck. The magician gets the deck back and asks a spectator to cut the deck a first time to determine a suit and a second time to determine a value (the suit and the value of the cards he cut to). %s the spectator mentally visuali8es his card (let's say, the Aing of Diamonds), the magician removes the &okers and asks the spectator to think of a number between : and 2. et's say, 4. The magician turns ! cards face up and only now the spectator reveals the name of his thought"of card, the AD## The 4th card is turned face up by the spectator... $t is the AD###
RE!"RE#ENT$: 1ne borrowed full deck of cards. $'ll ?ust give a small tip at the end if the &okers are missing.
&ERFOR#ANCE: % spectator shuffles the deck and you get it back.
%sk him to cut a packet among the top half of the deck and to turn it over the pack. *pread the cards toward yourself. 5limpse the last face up card and remember its value. et's say it is the Aing of *pades. >hen you reach to the first face down card, separate the packets at the first face down card and show it to the spectator. et's say it is the B of Diamonds. %sk him to remember the suit of this card. 3eplace this packet onto the remaining cards, and suare up the deck.
ow, he has to cut a packet among the bottom half of the deck and to turn it over the pack. *pread the face up cards toward yourself. 5limpse the last face up card and remember its suit. $t is the BD# *how the spectator the first face down card like you did with the first card. %sk him to remember its value ($t is the A*#). 3eplace the face down selection on top of the face down pack and turn the face up packet over it. This is based on the 6alducci's ut Deeper 7orce.
%s the &okers can be anywhere into the deck, you may want to tell him before the cutting process that if he cuts on a &oker, he has to tell you so and you will show him the ne-t card. >hen you will be taking a look at the face up cards, if the last face up card is a &oker, you will have to remember the suit or the value of the card placed 6=713= the &oker.
%sk the spectator to think of a number between : and 2. $n doing so, spread the deck face up toward yourself and casually cut the deck so the tought"of card is placed second from the bottom of the face up deck. =-plain that you're going to remove the &okers as there are only 2 cards in a deck and the &okers don't count as they could be any card. *trip the &okers out and place them on top of the face up deck.
Turn the deck over and ask the spectator to reveal his number out loud. $f he says ;:;, casually make a double lift. $f he says ;;, let him deal the cards himself. 7or the remaining numbers, use the hrist 7orce e-plained in the first trick to bring the selection at the right place and fry him with an ama8ing coincidence#
$f the &okers are missing, here's what you have to do after the variation on the 6alducci's ut Deeper 7orce *pread the cards toward you saying that his card could be anywhere and it's impossible for you to know it as it is only in his mind. *pot the thought"of card and cut the deck to bring it second from the bottom. *uare the deck up and show him the top card of the face up deck. asually push this top card and flash the ne-t one. Turn the deck over and turn the top card face up. %sk him if it is his card. *till wrong# *ay that it is too hard for you to find it but it may be easier for him as he already knows it# %sk him to choose a number between : and 2. +e will
logically pick a number between and 29. 0sing the hrist 7orce, bring his selection at the right number for a stunning finale#
A'TERNATE +AN,'"N- by Tommaso -uglielmi: Tommaso has published many interesting ebooks about the ACAAN plot. e kindly allowed me to share this handling for the final dealing. $raie Tommaso) $nstead of using the hrist force, you will use a subtlety that allows the spectator to deal the cards himself at the end. +old the cards in dealing position and ask the spectator to put the cards one by one in your other hand. %s soon as he dealt the second from the top card (the selection), stop him and ask him to deal them face up instead. Turn your two"card packet over (now the selection is at the bottom of the face up packet) and ask him to continue his dealing. et's say his number is :!. *top him once the :th card has been dealt. 3ecap what ?ust happened and turn your packet over. @lace the :!th card on top of your packet and do a double lift to display the selection 6 $f you master it, you may also perform a top change. Cake your choice#
3aphaEl 8a?a F ovember 9:9
