Post by hi224 on May 26, 2021 22:37:47 GMT
New York Times has a featured article about what's known as the Berglas Effect, undoubtedly the world's strangest card trick. Developed decades ago by the now 94-year-old British magician David Berglas, it's variation of a very old trick known as Any Card at Any Number (ACAAN) but unlike the versions which countless magicians have used it defies easy explanation.
To perform a "standard" version the magician asks a member of the audience to name any card in a deck and another person to name any number between one and 52. Let's say that the first person names the Jack of Diamonds and the second person names the number 27. The magician then deals the cards face up, and the 27th card revealed is, well, you can figure that one out.
In every ACAAN variation from every magician there's one thing in common - the magician always touches the cards. When Mr. Berglas performs the trick, however, he does not touch the deck, so there's no sleight of hand. He swears up and down that neither of the two audience members are shills and has done one-on-one demonstrations for other magicians so his vow seems quite correct.
How does he do it? All Mr. Berglas will say is that it's not so much a secret as an improvisation, such as one a jazz magician might do, and therefore cannot be taught to anyone else.
www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/style/berglas-effect-card-trick.html
To perform a "standard" version the magician asks a member of the audience to name any card in a deck and another person to name any number between one and 52. Let's say that the first person names the Jack of Diamonds and the second person names the number 27. The magician then deals the cards face up, and the 27th card revealed is, well, you can figure that one out.
In every ACAAN variation from every magician there's one thing in common - the magician always touches the cards. When Mr. Berglas performs the trick, however, he does not touch the deck, so there's no sleight of hand. He swears up and down that neither of the two audience members are shills and has done one-on-one demonstrations for other magicians so his vow seems quite correct.
How does he do it? All Mr. Berglas will say is that it's not so much a secret as an improvisation, such as one a jazz magician might do, and therefore cannot be taught to anyone else.
www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/style/berglas-effect-card-trick.html