Finally…
“One of the biggest breakthroughs in memorized deck magic since Juan Tamariz wrote Mnemonica…”
Dear friend,
Do you have a deck of cards memorized?
If you don’t, stop reading…
…what we’re about to present is categorically not for you.
However, if you do have a deck memorized, then you should already know that the effects you can achieve using this tool are—bar none—the greatest routines available to magicians.
As German magician Denis Behr once put it to us, sleights are replaceable—but the memorized deck is not.
Which leads to the following question…
If mastering the memorized deck is MORE important than anything else…why is there so much online training on everything BUT the memorized deck?
It’s puzzling, right?
To answer that question, we need to give you a little context:
The memorized deck first ‘exploded’ in popularity when Simon Aronson published his stack in 1979.
25 years later, Juan Tamariz changed magic forever when he released his stack work, in Mnemonica.
Since then, magicians have been performing these routines at every opportunity.
(us included).
But since 2004…
…a lot about magic has changed.
As the Internet has exploded with popularity, magicians have hurried to build companies based on teaching sleights, street performing, selling premium playing cards, or even by revealing magician’s tricks to laymen.
(And just about anything else that puts pennies in the piggy bank.)
And through it all…it seems the mem-deck has been left behind.
How crazy is that?
We can find hundreds of YouTube videos and expensive courses promising to teach you advanced sleight of hand…
…but barely ANY online resources for mastering the memorized deck—a tool far more important than any one sleight or move.
We realised the memorized deck was being ‘under served’ in July 2020—and what we did next changed the game…
This is where our unique ‘set of skills’ came in handy…
See, we’re not just memorized deck nerds.
For the last few years, we’ve been doing online sales, marketing and business.
The more experience you gain, the more you realise ONE rule is the key success:
Create products that solve needs—and you’ll rarely lose.
We saw two pressing needs in the magic market:
1. The need to bring the memorized deck ‘online’ in a respectful and detailed way.
2. The need to use cutting-edge marketing strategies to grow this new resource by promoting it to as many eligible magicians as possible.
(And if you’re reading this, I suppose we succeeded at #2.)
Those two needs require skill sets that don’t often overlap—and so we decided to fill the gap.
With that said, let’s be clear:
We’re NOT Juan Tamariz, or Simon Aronson.
However, we’ve stood on the shoulders of these ‘giants’—and created something that’s never been seen before…
In other words:
Although we aren’t the world’s leading experts on the memorized deck, our combination of skill sets made us the perfect candidates for this project.
Before we created this project, we had three main goals…
The first was to collect everything you need to know to be ‘up to date’ on the mem deck in one easy, accessible place.
The second was to take some big risks—and experiment with memorized deck ideas that had never been played with before.
The third was to do it all FAST—in a matter of weeks.
We’d either strike gold, or get burned—but no inbetween. No sitting around waiting for years.
Basically, if our experiment was a failure—we wanted to fail fast.
This was going to change the memorized deck, or it wasn’t—but either way, we’d find out in a few weeks.
The Story—How 2 English College-Age Kids Built The World’s Largest and Most Successful Memorized Deck Online Training Course…In Just 73 Days
Bold claim, right?
Hopefully, if you read our emails, you’re willing to hear us out for a moment.
If you do, you may soon discover an untouched vault of memorized deck magic that very few other magicians will ever be allowed to get their hands on.
We should probably start at the beginning…
July 2020.
We had just launched The Daily Magician in earnest. Our email list was growing rapidly, but we were low on products to sell.
At first, we were selling other magic company’s products, and earning a pittance.
Soon we realised that, if we wanted to get serious about this, we needed our OWN product.
But there was a problem…
We weren’t ‘expert’ magicians.
We hadn’t won FISM, fooled Penn and Teller, or appeared on a global ‘Got Talent’ show.
But we did have one thing going for us…
We were ‘nerds.’
The kind that stay up all night cramming for tests, and walk out with A+ across the board.
Magician Adam Grace, co-founder of the world’s biggest online magic club, once called Benji ‘one of the smartest magicians he’s ever met’.
So we had an epiphany…
What if we just did what we did best and ‘crammed’ EVERYTHING there was to learn about the memorized deck into our brain?
After very little discussion, we decided that YES—that could work.
So Benji hopped onto various magic retailers and ordered a whole library of books.
But for the first few weeks, the books we were waiting for…
…didn’t arrive.
Creating an online memorized deck course, as big as we wanted it to be, was unprecedented…
…and now, we would have to start nearly 3 weeks later than we’d planned.
Finally, the books started arriving, and on July 27th—Benji dove into them like a sprinter released from the blocks.
For the next few weeks, he studied and immersed himself in the memorized deck.
The hypothesis was that a month of deep focus would rival years of regular study.
That might sound outlandish, but it’s actually rather common…
Have you ever heard of someone who studied German in high school for 5 years but couldn’t actually speak to a native for longer than 20 seconds?
(it happens all the time)
On the other hand, we all know that living in a different country can result in children speaking an entirely new language…in mere weeks.
The only difference is one word…
IMMERSION.
This is exactly the approach we took.
The result?
Benji surfaced a different man.
Like the magician-version of Isaac Newton under the tree, memorized deck ideas just fell out of the sky and started hitting him over the head.
Then came the masterstroke…
See, there was a problem.
Benji wanted his friend and fellow magician Jacob to help him create the memorized deck course.
To achieve this, we had originally planned to get Jacob to undertake the same level as immersion for the next 4 weeks.
But we were very pressed for time, and simply couldn’t afford to do so.
So we decided to do something much better—and a lot more crazy…
We filmed Benji teaching Jacob EVERYTHING he’d just discovered about the memorized deck.
(which included concepts that some of the world’s best magicians had never even considered before)
We sat down on August 28th, and filmed for 7 consecutive days, with no breaks.
Like before, full immersion was the name of the game.
The end result (before we edited it down) was 40+ hours of film.
Next, Benji decided to sit down and write out all the concepts and methods we had just discussed—which came out at 100k words when the dust settled.
The whole process—from opening the first book to finishing the write up—took approximately 51 days.
The result was incredible…
We call this training the ‘Skyscraper Method’—covering everything you need to know about the memorized deck, with a wealth of NEW effects and ideas.
But then came the scary part…
Releasing our product to the outside magic world.
We first did a test run by releasing one of the effects to a bunch of memorized deck experts.
Their feedback was phenomenal.
Wow, we thought.
But we didn’t want to get our hopes up too soon—creative projects can often astound critics but flop with real audiences.
(we won’t name names, but we’ve all seen it happen)
There was nothing left to do…
We ponied up and announced the course to our email list—and the email list of a friend.
At the time we first launched it, it had been approximately 73 days.
We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best…
The result—why nearly 100 magicians have already made the ‘Skyscraper Method’ their go-to resource for the memorized deck.
The good news:
People bought the course.
The even better news:
People LOVED the course.
Not everyone, of course.
But the majority of feedback we got was stunning—and made all the effort entirely worth it.
For example, here’s what people have said about some of the effects we devised:
“When The Daily Magician team and I recently had a magic jam session together, the effects they showed me, explained in the Skyscraper Method, left me amazed.” – Danny Goldsmith
“That […] was a lot of work, it seems! I’m impressed.” – Denis Behr
“Very interesting. I’ve never seen anything even close to this in print.” – Andy Choy
“Thanks so much for sharing your findings!” – Tim Heinlein
“Just finished reading the whole thing. WOW — you must have been spending so much time on it. Absolutely fantastic. This really makes me VERY EXCITED. This will be a fun piece for ALL mem deck users in the magic community…I think Simon Aronson would be proud!” – Arthur Poon
“Wow, this is fantastic! Combining […] is genius. Knowing that this is going to be the beginning of something bigger is fantastic! This shows once again how the right person can make something good even better.” – Jordi Thys
“I’m genuinely impressed you were able to find this!” – Chris Grossack
“Very clever. As you said, if you’re at a convention and […] it would be a real killer of an effect.” – Jim Turnpaugh
“Wow, this is a seriously cool idea!” – Marco V
“Dude! This almost makes me wonder if they made this together as an Easter egg. Really amazing.” – Randy Shirley
“I gotta say…. that is really impressive. That must’ve taken so much time to figure out. Really great stuff here.” – Kevin Gao
Here’s what people have said about the course…
“There’s so much information there that you can take as much or as little from it as you want […] it’s basically a library.”
“You’ve got all these building blocks you can just keep building upon, it opens up another world…” – Steven Bridges.
“The whole idea is great. The consecutive course structure makes it really easy to follow. I am not finished yet, but I already learned more about the memorized deck then in the last 5 years. The teaching style is also very casual and even not being a native speaker I understand everything.
Two cool guys just changing the way you see card tricks. And casually opening a new dimension to magic.” – Tamlin
“Now I have a powerful tool that doesn’t take up any extra pocket space that helps me perform real magic.
The explanations and examples about the stack mechanics are great. With a simple trick like ‘squared’ you can start playing with the mechanics without learning a stack. I am really enthusiastic about this and the material is really good.” – Randy H.
“I like having the writing complementing the video teaching style. Having two or three tabs opened to look at the teaching from a different angle does help. I am still early in the course, but I do like having the thought processes explained!”– C.M.
“I really enjoyed the thoughts about approaching the memorized deck and also the tips on how to work the mem deck into my current repertoire. I learned how to come up with ideas with the memorized deck and fit my existing routines with the memorized deck!” – Benjamin Wongyonze
“You guys are awesome!” – Filip S.
“Thanks for the incredible work you put in!” – Glen Macken
“The overall structure of the training and the insights provided have been invaluable. I’m a big fan of memorized deck work and the applications covered in this program are excellent.” – A.K.
“I have loved learning all the tricks. There have been various skill levels that I can start on and continue to build up to. I’ve learned new ways to think about the memorized deck. There’s not just one way to apply it to tricks, that there are properties that go well beyond what card is where.” – B.H.
“I was surprised how much I retained in such a short time. The memorized deck is such a powerful and INVISIBLE tool that is angle proof!!” – P.L
Even with all that feedback, we had a problem…
See, the first module in our course was all about how to memorize the deck.
As a result, some people bought the course in its entirety…but only ever completed the first module.
When we saw that…
We freaked out.
That wasn’t the point at all.
The memory-training section was simply a ‘primer’ for the rest of the content. But people were viewing our course as a ‘memory method’ rather than a boundary-pushing exploration of the memorized deck.
We realised we’d screwed up (majorly) by advertising the full course to people who hadn’t memorized a deck yet.
So, like any good entrepreneur, we decided to ‘pivot’.
The sales page you’re reading now is a direct result of that.
We decided to be VERY careful about who we offered this material to.
We decided three things:
1. We would only offer this material to magicians already experienced with the memorized deck
2. We would give them a 5-day window to purchase—after which, we would never offer them the course again.
3. We would tell them exactly the story behind how the course was created—so they could go in with ‘both eyes open’ and only purchase if it genuinely lined up with their needs and desires
If you’re still reading, good. Chances are you’ve met the conditions above.
If, somehow, you’re still reading this page even though you don’t meet the conditions, please do not purchase this product.
We automatically and instantly cancel any purchases made by people who don’t meet the criteria laid out above.
Why?
There’s this quote we’re fond of…
“Don’t cast your pearls before swine.”
This project is our ‘pearl.’
We messed up by offering it to the wrong people. That’s our mistake—and we won’t make it again.
We want to make sure that only magicians we curate and choose get a chance to peek inside our minds.
As a result, this course isn’t available via any other magic retailer.
Now that you’re viewing this page, you have 5 days to purchase…and only 5 days.
The sales page is not accessible from anywhere else.
You’re only getting this because you’re into the mem deck, and you have been enjoying the emails we sent.
So if you DO meet the criteria above, and you’re still interested in what exactly we packed into this product—excellent.
Let’s get into the juicy part…
7 Modules to Mastery—why The Skyscraper Method is an ‘oasis’ in a memorized deck training drought
As soon as you purchase the Skyscraper Method, you’ll get instant access to…
Module One ft. The Babylon Secret—how to memorize ANY deck of cards in minutes.
This module is all about how to memorize a deck of cards using our personal system. This system was designed to work with ANY stack—so you can reuse it as many times as you like.
It also shows you a method to memorize cards in seconds—which comes in VERY useful later in the course.
(We were originally planning to remove this ‘memory training’ module from your purchase, but we decided to give you access as a special bonus for buying.)
Furthermore, the methods we reveal in this module are used in some of the later effects—so we want to make sure you’re entirely up to speed on our techniques.
That said, the real ‘meat’ begins here:
Module Two ft. The Square Circle—a system for discovering the best effects in magic, plus a whole host of original routines and tricks
Module 2 is where we really hit our stride…
We start by defining our memorized deck philosophy—the Square Circle.
The ‘Square Circle’ theory underpins the BEST memorized deck magic (and is intuitively ‘grasped’ by the world’s best magicians)
Next, we get into the details of how to apply this theory via practical methods, techniques, and effects…
This module includes:
* The No.1 thing both Juan Tamariz and Dani DaOrtiz do to make their memorized deck magic both powerful and compelling
* The 4 ‘core’ categories of effects you can create using a memorized deck (there are others, but these are the MOST powerful)
* The ‘Rockefeller’ principle that explains why different magicians can perform wildly different effects using the SAME techniques. (and how to ‘tap into’ this knowledge to construct your own show)
* An idea Tommy Wonder used to devastate audiences (shared with us by underground card star Alex Slemmer)
* How to create memorable moments in your magic performances (this idea is constantly used by the world’s most successful comedians at sold-out stage shows)
* The Burj Khalifa tactic for exploring different performance styles without stepping ‘out of bounds’ (how to combine creativity with controlled construction of effects)
* The ‘Rock and Roll’ secret to creating routines that make your audience FEEL like they’re seeing real magic (this is admittedly a difficult idea to ‘grasp’, but once you do—you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the best magicians of all time)
* 7 principles that help you perform stunning magic using a memorized deck
* Our controversial stance on whether memorized deck magic is really ‘jazz’
* An effect routinely praised as the ‘single most powerful thing you can do with a deck of cards’ by celebrated performers like Woody Aragon, Richard Osterlind, and Tamariz himself.
* The ‘Kung Fu master’ advice shared by Juan Tamariz (this sounds insane but is actually, all things considered, not a bad idea…)
* The ‘key card’ concepts on steroids (if you can just understand THIS, the power of your effects will be miles ahead of most magicians)
* A natural way to ‘glimpse’ a card without calling any attention to it (plus a ‘bold’ glimpse favored by Chan Canasta)
* A subtlety used by the great Chan Canasta that makes his signature routine twice as fooling (that also gives you a perfect ‘out’ if you mess up)
* Why the ‘secret identity’ of playing cards makes performing incredible magic laughably easy.
* How to perform a seemingly impossible effect even after the entire deck has been shuffled!
* How the best memorized deck performers ‘overload’ their spectators’ system until they flat-out give up on figuring out the method
In addition, effects featured in Module 2 include…
1. ‘Predictably Unpredictable’
Three spectators each FREELY select cards from anywhere in the deck. You turn your back as they shuffle their cards.
Then, you offer to take it one step further…
All three of the spectators ‘pool’ their cards together in one packet and shuffle the entire thing.
Even after all of that, the instant you turn back around—you can instantly prove you know which card belongs to which spectator!
Here’s the really great part about this effect:
– It’s ridiculously EASY (but your spectators won’t have the faintest clue how it works)
– You don’t need to touch the cards at any point (no sleight of hand required)
– No glimpses required (this might throw even advanced magicians ‘off the scent’)
2. The ‘Per Capita’ effect
You give a deck of cards to the spectator, who freely shuffles it and spreads them on the table. You do the same with your cards.
Now, you select a card ‘at random’ from your spread, and turn it face up. You ask the spectator to find that same card in THEIR spread.
You repeat this a few times, and needless to say, an impossible coincidence follows…
You reveal that they picked the EXACT same cards as you (out of a shuffled deck)…
This effect is actually an ‘upgrade’ on a trick discovered in a magic book from 1909 (the good news is that the ‘basic’ version is ALREADY a powerful effect)
3. The ‘Ninja Warrior’ effect
The spectator names ANY card in the deck (a true free choice).
You pick up a Joker and toss it face up into the deck while dribbling the cards.
When you spread the cards, they discover that you placed the Joker EXACTLY next to their named card.
The only explanation HAS to be uncanny skill…right?
Fortunately for us, we don’t need ‘uncanny skill’ to perform this—just a memorized deck… ” />
4. The ‘Any Card At Any Dice’ effect
The spectator names ANY card. They roll some dice. You deal cards based on the numbers on the dice…and you arrive, impossibly, at THEIR named card.
This is one of my ‘pet secrets’ that I’ve never shared with anyone before now.
(I’ve never seen this principle discussed anywhere before)
And YES…
– Freely chosen card
– Zero gimmicked dice
– No advanced sleight of hand
I’ve been fooling Jacob with this for ages, and it’s one of my favorite things to do with a memorized deck.
(in the Live Session, I got so ‘into’ this that Jacob had to force me to stop…it’s THAT much fun)
But this module was just our initial exploration.
We started to go ‘deep’ in the next module…
Module Three: How To Use Our ‘Greasing The Hinges’ Tactics To Make Your Memorized Deck Invisible To Almost Any Audience
Everything has an Achilles heel.
The memorized deck is no different.
It has one ‘fatal flaw’ that, if handled incorrectly, will make it very obvious to your audience that you’re relying on a stacked deck.
This module contains our solutions to this problem, via our ‘greasing the hinges’ methodolgy.
(It also contains some of our favorite effects.)
In total, you’ll discover…
* The ONE factor that’s more important than any single memorized deck technique or tactic (you can do nearly everything else WRONG, but if you do this…you’ll still amaze people)
* Why a creaky elevator in Boston tells you everything you need to know about the danger of NOT making your mem deck invisible
* How to make your memorized deck work ‘invisible’…even to other magicians
* The 8 different ‘greases’ we use to make it nearly impossible to spot we’re using a stack
* Why it ‘pays’ to act like you don’t care (Dani DaOrtiz does this all the time, and it’s genius)
* What you should NEVER do if someone asks to shuffle the deck (this one might SOUND counterintuitive, but it’s essential)
* Why you have more control over the audience’s attention than you might think (even if you don’t know the first thing about ‘misdirection’)
* A single sentence I once heard Michael Close say that changed the way I perform memorized deck magic (you can perform without this, but chances are you’re missing out on reactions)
* A line we heard Dani DaOrtiz use that is nearly guaranteed to ‘lock in’ your effect in the spectator’s mind (to the point that they’re lying awake at night, unable to sleep because they just can’t stop thinking about it)
* How to ‘estimation cut’ to any card in the deck (and how to perform an estimation cut AND glimpse in the SAME move)
* A tactic employed by Pit Hartling that takes all the heat off of the cards while you perform the ‘move’
* A diabolically devious method for glimpsing a card (tipped by my buddy Adam Grace)
* How Juan Tamariz uses psychology to convince his audiences that he’s NOT done something he blatantly HAS (a little ‘off topic’, but so valuable I think you’ll forgive me)
* A variety of false shuffles (that you can ‘mix and match’ to your preferences)
* Why some of the MOST fooling false shuffles are actually the EASIEST (don’t underestimate
these—some of the best magicians of all time use them…)
* One of the most fooling properties of the stack
* Our variation on a Tamariz false shuffle (that uses the ‘Trampoline’ principle)
* The secret to false shuffles that FEEL like real shuffles (no, it’s not about how they ‘look’)
* A false shuffle that has been fooling audiences for over a hundred years (found on Pg 159 in a book we’ll be providing for you)
* Why you don’t need to be an expert card handler to pull off fooling false shuffles
* How to implant ‘false memories’ into your audience
* How to make the audience SWEAR they shuffled the deck (when really, everything was under your control the entire time)
* How to let the spectators ‘actually’ shuffle the deck…without putting a single card out of place
* The secret of the half-stack and ‘level it up’ even FURTHER (I’ve only ever seen Pit Hartling do this, but it’s devastating when done correctly)
* A simple tip that puts the classic force on ‘easy mode’
* A simple but elegant deck switch (that also happens to be a powerful effect in its own right)
* How to stack a borrowed deck in your memorized order (a method first devised by Louis Nikola that still works like gangbusters today)
* How to get back into stack after the spectator genuinely shuffles the entire deck (a tactic discovered in 1920 by one Charles T. Jordan for ‘unshuffling’ the deck that most magicians STILL don’t know about)
Of course, you’ll also get all these effects…
1. The ‘Blue Herring’ routine—our homage to a classic Ben Earl effect
The spectator cuts the deck anywhere they like. They deal cards to the table, shuffling the deck as they do so.
Once they’ve finished, they deal cards to the table again, and wherever they stop—we discard the cards they dealt.
(no ‘magician’s choice’ here.)
Now, they have the choice to bury the top and bottom card in the middle of the deck.
In fact…we give them the chance to do that again!
No matter what they decide, once they finish, we know the exact card they’re thinking of.
This effect uses an astonishingly good idea from Simon Aronson to make the whole thing both EASY and completely ‘hands off’.
(zero sleight of hand required. No marked cards used.)
2. Our ‘25%’ effect
You hand cards to different spectators, who all shuffle.
(legitimate shuffles—these cards are mixed, baby!)
They each then freely select ONE card, and you tell them the exact card they picked!
3. Our ‘Polygraph’ effect
The spectator shuffles the deck. They then read out cards from the deck, and they are free to ‘lie’ about the identity of the card at any point.
Despite the fact that THEY shuffled the deck, we know EXACTLY when they’re lying—every time!
(each time you get it right, it gets more fooling!)
4. Our ‘Histed Hoisted Foisted’ effect—based on ideas by Simon Aronson and Matt Baker
The spectator just THINKS of a card as you deal through the deck. When he announces the name of his card, you reveal that it was in your pocket all along.
But that’s just the ‘prelude’ to what’s coming…
You now hand cards to TEN different spectators, and ask each of them to think of ONE card.
You proceed to read each mind in an entirely astonishing demonstration of mental prowess.
And, at the end of it all…
…the deck is stacked!
Once you have the knowledge we give you in Module 3, you’re ready to explore some of the most exciting concepts in, not just memorized deck work, but ALL of card magic.
Introducing…
Module Four: How to make card magic’s most deceptive (but difficult) technique EASY using the ‘Steel Skeleton’
When we were planning this module, we ran into a dilemma…
The faro shuffle is the ultimate way to ‘upgrade’ the memorized deck to the next level of effects.
When you combine the principles found in the faro shuffle with the principles in the memorized deck…the result is routines that will fool even the most experienced of magicians.
However…
The faro shuffle is a hard move to do.
So, we weren’t sure how to approach this module.
That was until we had a crazy discovery…
We figured out a radical approach to the faro shuffle that is both very easy and highly convincing.
We show you that method early on in the module.
In other words…
…you can master all the material in this module without actually being able to do the faro shuffle!
With that in mind, here’s what you’ll discover in Module 4…
* The ‘Pg 146’ secret to maximising the power of the faro (this literally feels like ‘cheat codes’ to magic)
* A stunning discovery that allows you to perform a perfect faro every single time—using any deck, and without any difficulty whatsoever (and no, we’re not talking about an ‘anti faro’)
* Why the ‘steel skeleton superstructure’ of skyscrapers is THE key to unlocking the most powerful memorized deck effects
* How to open a new deck of cards and get into stack within mere minutes (and vice versa)
* Why the faro shuffle is the most underrated tool in magic (and how to leverage the audience’s perception of a ‘shuffle’ against them)
* The one faro shuffle fact that audiences have ZERO clue about (this is so astonishing that it almost feels UNFAIR)
* Juan Tamairz’ ‘Monte Carlo’ technique for justifying even the most bizarre shuffles
* The admittedly ‘niche’ website that I recommend all mem deck users seek out (it’s totally free, and comes in VERY handy in a pinch)
* More faro facts that take this concept to a whole new level (once you get to this point, you’re well ahead of most magicians)
In this section of the course, you’ll find the following effects…
1. The ‘Squared’ effect
We first discovered this in a ragged, dusty, and moth-eaten book from 1909 called ‘The Art of Modern Conjuring.’
When we first started reading this book, most of the stuff in there felt a little ‘outdated’ or ‘antique.’
I wasn’t really expecting much…
…until I turned to page 34.
The effect on this page is so powerful, you might just fool yourself (in fact, for the first few years of performing this, I had no idea how it worked—and it really felt like magic!)
You start with all the court cards—Kings, Queens, Jacks and Aces.
You get the spectator to mix the cards as much as they like in a fair manner. Once they’re done, you deal the cards back into 4 piles.
You turn over the piles to reveal that, despite all of their mixing…
…all the Kings, Queens, Jacks and Aces have come together!
This routine works completely ‘hands-off’ and draws on devious Juan Tamariz subtleties that make the whole thing feel so ‘fair’ when it’s really anything but.
It’s also the perfect ‘training ground’ for the faro shuffle (and memorized deck work as a whole)
For example, we implemented the ‘Steel Skeleton’ techniques into this effect and instantly discovered an additional THIRTEEN routines, effects, and ideas.
Packed into these 13 ideas, you’ll discover:
* How to use the Squared principle for a direct ‘Card to Pocket’ effect
* How to double the power of the basic ‘Squared’ effect with a little known secret (which, incidentally, also makes the effect feel even more ‘fair’)
* How to reveal a card only known in your spectator’s MIND
* How to perform ‘Any Card At Any Number’ using the Squared principle (without using any gimmicks or stooges)
* A stunning kicker ending for Squared using the full deck
* How to perform a stunning ‘Poker deal’ using Squared (starting to see just how versatile this is?)
* An ‘Oil and Water’ effect (even after they’re sure THEY shuffled the cards)
* Out of this World (again, after THEY mix the cards)
* An easy but seemingly impossible ‘card location’ (free choice, no forces)
* How to ‘sense’ the color of cards (even when those cards are held under the table!)
* An idea based on Juan Tamariz’ incredible ‘Total Coincidence’ (yet again, the Squared principles work with this too)
2. The ‘Sliced Bread’ effect that accidentally ‘reinvented the wheel.’
A bit of context:
Basically, I stumbled upon an idea first published by memorized deck pioneers Juan Tamariz and Luis Garcia, that lets me:
* Cut to any Four of a Kind after seemingly shuffling the deck
* Deal any Four of a Kind in a ‘head to head’ poker game after shuffling
* Deal any Four of a Kind in a four-player game after shuffling
* Display a random-looking deck
* Perform a mind-bending ‘Odds and Evens’ prediction routine
* Perform Triumph, ending in New Deck Order (after shuffling the deck)
* Perform Out of This World (again, after shuffling the deck)
3. The ‘Los Ojos’ effect:
The cards are shuffled, the spectator cuts and deals a game of poker.
You then proceed to correctly guess who has the ‘high card’ each round, after convincing the spectator what an impossible task that is.
You’ll also get:
A series of effects inspired by Marlo’s ‘Fingertip Miracle’ that allow me to…
* Let the spectator freely choose 3 cards (in between shuffles), only for those cards to be magically—and impossibly—revealed!
* Let three spectators choose 3 cards (in between shuffles), only for the second two selections to ‘sandwich’ the first (even though none of the spectators know who has which card!)
* Place ANY named card in ANY position—by shuffling the deck.
Okay, so now that you’ve mastered the hardest move in magic…
…what could possibly be next?
Good question.
When you learn all the incredible ways the faro shuffle and memorized deck work together, you might be inclined to think you’ve reached the ‘limit’ of the mem-deck.
Surely there’s nothing else out there that’s even more powerful than this stuff?
Well as it turns out…
There’s a LOT more still to come.
We introduce you to the next incredible concepts in Module 5…
Module Five: The Wet Paper Towel Dilemma—Make Yourself LOOK Like a Vegas Card Cheat…
….and Blow The Lid Off Your Wildest Expectations Of The Memorized Deck With The ‘20th Floor’
This was one of Jacob’s favorite modules to record…
…and it’s packed full of incredible effects that will leave you reeling.
Early on, we tackled a HUGE part of memorized deck magic—the Any Card At Any Number effect.
And for the first time ever, thanks to the kind permission of Pit Hartling and Denis Behr—share the incredible ‘Quartet’ principle and some original applications.
In total, you’ll discover…
* How to make yourself LOOK like a banned-from-Vegas level card cheat…even if you have the sleight of hand skill of a wet paper towel.
* Why each time you THINK you’ve figured out ‘everything’ the memorized deck can do—you’re almost certainly wrong (don’t worry—that’s GOOD news…)
* How ‘stacking’ the concepts we’ve discussed in previous modules can push your effects to new heights (no pun intended)
* The ‘Running Back’ method for revealing TWO freely chosen cards in an impossible looking coincidence
* The ONE word that we recommend you keep in mind while performing ANY memorized deck routine (if you do this, you’ll be able to create stunning ‘off the cuff’ coincidences like they’re nothing)
* How to deal the best possible poker hands to any player (so easy you could do it in your sleep!)
* The secret to building a poker hand into a stack without anyone noticing (which, when you think about it, actually makes the whole routine MORE believable)
* How to reset the stack after dealing poker hands with this simple formula
* Why the humble ‘Word Search’ game is the perfect tool to decipher the Aronson stack
* The mind-expanding Quartet principle discovered by German magicians Pit Hartling and Denis Behr (that opens up a whole new world of memorized deck magic)
* How to force ANY Four of a Kind without looking at the faces of the cards!
* An Alex Elmsley tip that allows us to count cards as we spread them—without making it obvious
* A simple timing force that works like gangbusters
* The Gilbreath Principle—quite possibly one of the only pieces of ‘math magic’ that actually FEELS like magic.
Effect 1. An intensive session on the ‘Holy Grail of Card Magic’, Any Card at Any Number.
A chosen card is found at a chosen number—it’s hard to get MORE direct than that. ALL the best methods for this effect use a memorized deck.
The good news is, if you’ve come this far…you’re all ‘set.’
In this subsection, we go over:
* The Dale Carnegie secret to instantly ‘hooking’ your spectator so he literally can’t look away (using his own chemistry against him!)
* The 3 core methods for accomplishing this effect (I prefer the third method, but they’re all jaw-dropping)
* How to get ANY card in ANY position while barely touching the cards (often, this part is completely ‘hands off’)
* A simple tip that DOUBLES your chances of a ‘direct hit’
* How to do all the ‘dirty’ work before the audience even realizes the effect has started (occasionally, you won’t need to do ANY ‘dirty work’)
* All of my many methods to increase your ‘reach’ during this routine
* Why, in many cases, you don’t even NEED to perform the ACAAN (and what to do instead)
* The ‘attitude’ you need to keep in mind while performing this (it doesn’t matter which method you use, you need THIS)
* An audacious method for performing the ACAAN using a shuffled deck
2. My ‘Ambitious Quartet’ effect
This effect combines a unique Mnemonica property with Mr. Hartling’s Quartet principle to create an effect that looks like this:
The spectator chooses a card. We attempt to perform the Ambitious Card Routine, but keep on getting thwarted by the Kings.
Then, just when everything looks like it’s gone wrong…there’s a stunning ‘double whammy’ kicker ending.
(this effect is so convincing, I even made JACOB think it really ‘went wrong’)
But that’s not the end of it.
3. Our ‘Jazz Quartet’ effect
This is an effect that combines improvisation with the Quartet principle to create a ‘one of a kind’ experience.
In the Live Show, Jacob chose the 8 of Spades in one deck.
He then ‘fed’ me words to spell—and each time I spelt one of the words, I landed on an 8.
(out of all the effects in the course, this is hands down one of the most FUN to perform)
4. Our ‘Which Hand’ effect—a mouth-watering combination of ACAAN and the Gilbreath Principle.
The spectator shuffles, deals, and hides their cards—but you know things about their card (including WHERE they are in a second deck) before THEY even look at the card!
This module was definitely Jacob’s favorite up to this point, and I have a suspicion you’ll enjoy it too.
But don’t worry, because it gets even better…
Everything you’ve seen so far has been based on existing routines and methods?
But what about creating your own original memorized deck magic?
In Module 6, we show you our exact creative process…
Module Six: How to Become a Creative Machine Pumping Out Original Effect after Effect—Even if You Don’t Have a Bone of ‘Creativity’ in Your Body—Using the Secret of the ‘Ghost Protocol!’
In this module, you’ll discover…
* Why ‘unconventional’ effects are often the most fooling, memorable and FUN to perform
* The Tom Cruise stunt that inspired me to ‘think differently’ with the memorized deck
* The biggest mistake most magicians make when they try to be ‘unconventional’ (many people completely overlook this step, and wonder why they’re not getting the results they should be)
* How to palm a card even if you suck at sleight of hand—and the one thing to NEVER do while palming (if you do this, it’s a ‘red flag’ to audiences that something’s wrong)
* How to ‘merge’ other magic props and routines with the memorized deck (even if they have NOTHING in common at first glance)
* Why it’s a GOOD idea to write down all your bad ideas (we first heard this from prolific creator and magic consultant Danny Garcia, and I couldn’t agree more)
* The correct place to ‘start’ building ANY routine from (this isn’t the ‘definitive’ method, but it’s served us very well)
* How to use the ‘Babylon Secret’ to communicate the identity of any named card to a partner…in a way that would fool even advanced stack users!
* The ‘Inception Principle’—how to merge unconventional routines with the ‘fundamentals’ of powerful magic
* How to structure an entire memorized deck act (and the ‘unchanging’ factors of magic performance)
* What you should NEVER do at the beginning of your show and how Darwin Ortiz recommends you end your act (we happen to agree)
* The Derren Brown cooking recipe to ‘bake’ structure into your routines
* How to adapt the ‘classics’ of magic to the memorized deck (and why the memorized deck often makes the classics EASIER to perform)
Effects: The ‘Live Jam’
During the session, we decide to have a Live ‘jam session’ and create effects on the spot. These were the results…
* An ‘Any Card At Any Number’ using a Rubik’s Cube
* The Color Changing Deck—featuring a simultaneously color changing Rubik’s Cube, and a ‘kicker’ card revelation to boot
(plus a couple sneaky ways to force a color)
* The ‘Chicago Opener’ featuring a pair of ‘sniffer dog’ sponge balls (this is, no joke, my new favorite variation on the classic)
* A ‘Which Hand’ routine featuring sponge balls, freely chosen cards, and a devastating ‘full circle’ revelation to end it
* How to ‘tap into’ ancient magic books for practically limitless new ideas—I do this in the module, and the result is…
* A stunning three-phase ‘Magician Vs Gambler’ routine that uses the memorized deck to make you look like a bona fide card mechanic (in reality, it’s incredibly easy)
* A color changing deck routine that starts with a freely named card changing color…before the whole deck follows suit!
* Over 10 knockout ‘duo’ effects sparked by a Jacob Daley idea found on Page 449 of Mnemonica, including…
* How to covertly communicate the identity of any named card to your partner over the phone (you don’t say a word, but they know the card with unerring accuracy!)
* An impossible card to wallet effect—they freely choose any card while your partner isn’t even IN THE ROOM, yet he manages to pull the chosen card from a wallet that’s been in plain view the entire time! (again, you say NOTHING!)
* An ‘elevator’ card trick (this won’t work for most of us, but the underlying idea is so audacious that I think you’ll have to laugh…)
PLUS, a ‘walkthrough’ of how the memorized deck can apply to some of the strongest routines in magic, including…
* How to instantly strengthen the power of your Ambitious Card (you really don’t need to ‘change’ anything, just do this)
* A breathtaking Ambitious Card finale we picked up from Larry Wilmore (that I’ve never seen anywhere else)
* Why the Triumph routine is ‘primed’ to work with the memorized deck
* How to perform Out Of This World immediately after the deck has been shuffled by the spectator
* Dr Daley’s Last Trick…using ‘thought of’ cards (this routine was ALREADY one of the most powerful in magic—when we add the memorized deck to the mix, things get serious…)
*A subtlety from Chan Canasta that, when used alongside the classic Princess Card trick, allows you to actually DO what you SAY you’re doing (makes for a change, doesn’t it?)
Okay…
We’re in the home stretch now!
At first, we didn’t know how to close out this course.
We’d already given away so many methods and effects…what did we have left in the tank?
As it turned out, our favorite effect yet.
Introducing…
Module Seven: Our ‘Ultimate’ Effect: The Final Countdown—and how to push the boundaries of memorized deck magic
Honestly… Module 7 is our ‘baby.’
It contains the one creation we’re most proud of—an effect named The Final Countdown.
Now, before we get into this trick, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page:
This effect has plenty of glaring holes in it.
For one, it requires having a long list of ‘outs’ that not all magicians will want to carry around with them.
Secondly, there’s no going around the fact that it was a LOT of work to create (and learn) for just one effect.
When we shared it with German magician Denis Behr, he told us “That…trick was a lot of work, it seems! I’m impressed.”
It’s important to remember that Denis Behr is the founder and owner of the magic website ConjuringArchive.
He’s archived (by himself) over 2000+ classic magic books.
That, ladies and gentleman, is what we’d class as ‘a lot of work.’
So if Denis Behr thinks this trick took “a lot of work” to come up with…he probably knows what he’s talking about.
However, this module isn’t really about the effect or the work.
It’s about how, when you push the boundaries of what you think is possible with the memorized deck—it rewards you.
See, this kind of effect had never even been tried before.
Within a few weeks of having the idea—we turned it into a reality.
The end effect wasn’t quite what the initial idea was—but that’s okay. By taking that initial idea and running with it, the memorized deck rewarded us with XYZ
What is the effect?
This effect utilises a hidden property of memorized decks that we’re pretty certain no-one has even thought about before—let alone turned into a fully fledged showstopper.
Here’s the context:
Vernon’s ‘Cutting the Aces’ is a classic of card magic.
The magician manages to cut to three of the Aces in a row. But on the last Ace, it looks like he messes up. Instead, he uses the value on the card he cut to to count down in the deck and reveal the final Ace.
I love the idea of that final phase, and I wanted to see just how far I could push it using a memorized deck.
The Final Countdown allows you to perform an effect not dissimilar from the final phase of Vernon’s Cutting the Aces, but with the spectator cutting the deck, PLUS an astonishing ‘kicker’ reveal at the end.
It looks like this:
You tell your audience you have card cheating abilities that allow you to instantly cut to any card in the deck.
You tell them that they can cut anywhere in their deck, and whatever card they cut to, you’ll be able to do the same in your deck within a few cuts.
They cut to a card.
You cut to a card in your deck.
Unfortunately…it’s the wrong card.
But, after an appropriate magical gesture, you use the identity of the card you cut to to count to their card.
(that’s where this routine would usually end.)
But then you go one step further and get them to deal the identity of THEIR card.
The card they land on after dealing?
Your initial ‘wrong’ card!
In essence…
your wrong card finds their right card, while their right card finds your wrong card!
It’s an astonishing effect, made even more astonishing by this fact:
There are ZERO forces, and this works for EVERY card in the deck—right in the spectator’s hands.
Even better, you can repeat it as many times as they ask you to.
In this Module, we explore the idea that makes this effect possible.
Then, we finish by inviting you to do something so outrageous and innovative, we’ve never even seen it discussed before.
It’s certainly not for the faint-hearted.
But if you’re into the memorized deck, it might be the single best way to drastically ‘level-up’ your entire repertoire.
Again, if you don’t like the idea of doing some work—this module will probably be worthless to you.
But if you’re willing to try out our suggestions, this might be one of the most thought-provoking sessions in the entire course.
What now?
That’s a description of everything inside the course.
But we realise we got pretty deep into the details there, so let’s take a step back for a moment…
Let’s recap!
You’re about to get your hands on 7 modules, 20 hours of video, 100k words of written content and over 30+ original effects—and we’re not EVEN done yet!
First, let’s ‘run the numbers’ on what you’re about to get:
1. The FULL Skyscraper Method
Shot over 7 days, the course runs at a whopping 21.33 hours.
How much would this cost if we were to charge by the hour?
At $50/hr, you’d be paying…
…$1066.50 for 21.33 hours of training.
Now—don’t worry.
That’s not even CLOSE to what you’ll pay.
But before we get to that, let me introduce you to…
2. The Skyscraper Method—the write-up
We don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that we’re some of the most prolific writers in magic—and this project, clocking in at over 100,000 words, is undoubtedly our most ambitious yet.
This write-up is designed to be a perfect ‘companion’ to the course.
(Both are available side-by-side as you go through the course online.)
If we were to sell this as a stand-alone book, we could reasonably price it at $85.
But of course, it goes without saying that every single one of these 100,000+ words will be given to you for free as part of the Skyscraper Method.
But we’re not done yet…
You’ll also be receiving a special bonus…
…All in—that’s $978.2 in value!
If that sounds crazy, wait until you hear this…
If you purchase the Skyscraper Method, and you aren’t blown away by the content, ideas and effects…
…we’ll refund you in full—no questions asked.
How long does this refund guarantee last?
Simple:
For life.
If, 1 year down the road, you realise you never got round to properly making the most of this content—just send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll refund you instantly.
Heck, if you wake up 5 years from now and want your money back, it’s yours within 72 hours.
No questions asked, no hidden catches.
In fact, this lifetime refund guarantee means we can literally promise you:
You’ll either discover memorized deck ideas and methods that amaze you—or you won’t pay!
If you’ve been following our work for any length of time, you’ll know that integrity is key to everything we do.
We’ve never liked the fact that most magic companies have very harsh refund terms.
We want to make sure, if you choose to become our customer, we give you all the respect we’d like to receive ourselves—and this lifetime refund guarantee is our way of trying to do so.
On that note…
For customers that would rather split the payment up, we’ve created an option where you can pay $29.99 over four payments, rather than the one-time purchase.
The choice is yours.
Is there a catch to all this?
The only condition is this:
The page you’re viewing now will only be viewable for the next 5 days.
Once the clock hits zero on the fifth day, we’ll never offer you this product again.
If you want to secure everything we’ve discussed on this page, you’ll need to fill out the form below within this 5-day window.
When you’re ready, fill out the order form below to get your hands on the Skyscraper Method…