Memorized Deck Archives - Bicycle Cards

Atlas Brookings & Raven Gairloch – The Solution – review

Phil Sweeting — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:01:46 +0000

This review of The Solution completes a virtual triptych of books relating to the idea of a memorised deck. Although this is the smallest of the tomes we have reviewed, I hope you won’t despise it on that basis. This is a quality publication which will repay careful study.

It is worth stating at the outset that this is a different kind of concept to your standard memorised deck. Rather than a brute force memory approach, there is a mathematical system taught which will help you to derive the locations of individual cards. And notwithstanding the ‘method’ – the deck itself looks very fairly mixed and will withstand considerable scrutiny.

It immediately reminded me of a memory deck system invented by Lewis Jones which I first read about in his book Cardiograms – published by Repro Magic in the 90s (and I think more recently re-released under the title the Prism Deck by Wayne Goodman). However, when I consulted that brilliant volume to refresh my memory the two systems whilst possibly being distant cousins are in fact completely different beasts. Jones’ system is far simpler but has a number of limitations which The Solution doesn’t have. All magic is about compromises…

Anyway, back to The Solution. I suspect, that after a period of using it, the calculations will become largely redundant as you will memorize the locations anyway. But it does mean that the initial learning process is relatively quick and can be ‘refreshed’ very easily compared to the alternative. It should be said that some memorization is still needed – but considerably less than a whole deck.

Having looked at a lot of memorised deck material recently (see our reviews of Temporarily Out of Order and Memorandum) it is worth making another distinction between this method/concept and more traditional memorised decks. Built into the Redford or Aragon or Tamariz or Aronson stacks are a number of set ups for specific magic effects (e.g. spelling effects, poker effects, etc.). The Solution is not like that. It is literally a method for knowing the position of any given card in the deck and vice versa. Since the creators are both mentalists, it is fair to say that this solution is geared towards mentalism type effects rather than some of the other classic memorised deck magic. Again, this is worth bearing mind in weighing up whether this is for you or not.

The book

I received this as an ebook, which I subsequently printed, so I have no idea what the perfect bound copy is like if you order it. But after an amusing introduction, there are 31 pages explaining the development of the system. An understanding of this process makes more sense of the shortcuts you’ll actually use when you get going with it. It is also fascinating to walk through the creative process with them and see how they have got around various challenges on the way.

The system is simple – in the sense that it can be explained easily. But it will require a bit of work to get used to the process involved. The maths isn’t particularly difficult (though I am one of those weird people who likes maths – so perhaps you should ask a second opinion of someone who doesn’t!) and I think you’ll soon get the hang of it.

One of the routines taught provides you with an easy out to use while you are still learning the deck. Which takes us on to the routines…

The routines

8 routines are taught – which range from a very simple ‘reading the spectator’s mind’ effect, via an incredibly cheeky ACAAN, to an incredible revelation of two cards which a spectator has merely thought of in a spread.

In my opinion they are all extremely strong effects, but best of all, they are all clearly effects which the authors have performed. And the details of the routines are loaded with helpful tips, wording and psychology which make them killers.

There are also some interesting perspectives on wider performance questions – for example whether ACAAN Is actually a good trick for a lay audience at all! Several of the routines would easily lend themselves to working with other memorized decks and so I would recommend a look even if you already have a different stack you use.

Is it really the solution?

I hope you are getting the impression that I really enjoyed reading this booklet. I am the sort of person that does like to try to read widely around particular effects or types of routine that I am researching, but even if I wasn’t this would come highly recommended. It is a brilliant way to go about memorising a deck of cards with a relatively small investment of time/energy. But will enable you to perform some truly astonishing effects once you’ve got your head around it.

The Solution is available from the Merchant of Magic for £32.50 (at the time of writing).

(I’m grateful to Atlas Brookings who kindly provided the review copy.)

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Patrick Redford – Temporarily Out of Order – review

Phil Sweeting — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 23:01:06 +0000

I have often observed that there appear to be trends in magic, and Temporarily Out of Order is the latest of a series of books to have been published in recent years on the Memorized Deck. We recently read and enjoyed Woody Aragon’s excellent Memorandum. And we will be doing a review of Atlas Brookings fine release The Solution any day now. I will try and make some comparisons between these works as we go (and if you are serious about getting into memorized deck work then you really need to consult the classic work of Tamariz and Aronson too).

Never judge a book by its cover

The old adage about judging a book on its appearance is true, and nowhere more so than with Temporarily Out of Order. I found the front cover unimaginative and the back cover rather stark, nor do I like the glossy paper on which the book is printed or the font used. Sorry! But don’t let this put you off – because the content is brilliant and more than makes up for these assaults to my aesthetic sensibilities! And in its favour it is well illustrated throughout.

Do we need another stack?

Many readers will already be familiar with either the Tamariz or Aronson stack and so this question is inevitable. The Redford Stack has been built from the ground up to enable a number of features not so obviously present in other stacks. It is loosely based on the well-known Si Stebbins stack, but this has been in altered in various ways to hide some of its more obvious features.

The design means it is very easy to get into the stack from new deck order (and back again), or from Si Stebbins order. There are multiple spelling and poker effects built in, and also numerous other features which make it a very powerful tool indeed.

The tricks

There are plenty of tricks – far too many to describe in detail. They are gathered in collections – spelling/location effects, gambling demonstrations/deals, faro effects (requiring perfect faros), and a couple of chapters of more general effects. One chapter includes five effects which are not stack-dependent – so you could use with an alternative stack you’ve already learned.

The title-routine, Temporarily Out of Order, is a very strong five phase effect in which a series of more and more incredible coincidences take place and the deck ends up being in full deck order. He even teaches a version which can be done without memorising the stack and is therefore more or less self-working.

Another chapter includes three ‘story’ effects – where a story is told as you deal through the deck. I like the way that he includes some magical effects to add further interest to the story, though one of the routines is sufficiently ‘adult’ that I wouldn’t use it in performance myself.

And there’s more

A short chapter explores combining the stack with other principles – notably the idea of end strippers. Then we hit some really useful ‘utilities’ chapters. The first teaches a brilliant false overhand shuffle and series of different false cuts. Another contains several deck switches – which are also very deceptive.

In a very generous idea, the final chapter which shows how to get into the setups for a ranger of effects by other people. It doesn’t teach the effects, but does give full references which you may well want to chase up on the strength of Redford’s recommendation!

On the subject of references – everything contains highly detailed references which I appreciate and enjoy reading. There is also a very helpful online ‘toolbox’ – with videos of some of the effects and techniques.

Final Thoughts

A good number of the effects can be performed without actually memorizing the deck. But for those who are going to put in the hard work, there is plenty of help in teaching memorization techniques and mnemonics.

There are also loads of great performance tips and wisdom buried away in the descriptions – so even if you don’t perform any of these effects you will still learn some useful stuff.

We often like to comment on the skill level of items we review but that is difficult in the case of a book like this. Some of the effects are essentially self-working and others require a high degree of proficiency with a deck of cards. And the process of memorization itself – if you decide to go down that route – will be harder for some people than others.

Comparisons are difficult, but my sense from a distance is that Memorandum contained more effects, but the effects in Temporarily Out of Order were of a more consistently strong character. I also felt that some of the extra techniques and ideas in this volume would be relevant whichever stack you choose to use – indeed even if you don’t perform mem deck work yourself.

For this reason I would strongly encourage you to add this volume to your library, in spite of the cover…

Temporarily Out of Order is available from MagicShop.co.uk for £45.50

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

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Woody Aragon – Memorandum – review

Phil Sweeting — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 14:34:59 +0000

Memorandum is a big book (not too far off 400 pages) which covers dozens of effects and ideas and concepts with Woody’s memorized deck (hereafter mem deck). So this Memorandum review can only begin to scrape the surface of the book – and my aim is to give you enough information to decide whether or not the book is worth your investment of time and money.

Woody (or his translators) write well in a very conversational style which makes the book a joy to read. He is a real enthusiast and that enthusiasm is infectious as a reader. However, don’t expect to sit down and read this book in a sitting. This is a book which will repay careful study over time.

I am increasingly convinced that mem deck magic is amongst the most fooling that you can perform – and there is also some satisfaction in the brute achievement of having memorized a whole deck! But beware. Although a few routines in this book will work without having put in the hard work of memorization, this is a serious work for serious magicians who are prepared to invest time and effort for their art.

Before I forget

Woody is very well read and I really appreciate the way he carefully attributes inspirations and techniques in the different routines. In any field of magic we are all standing on the shoulders of giants, but nowhere is this more true than for the mem deck. Juan Tamariz is clearly a huge influence on Woody Aragon and Woody himself encourages you to buy and familiarise yourself with Juan’s magnum opus – Mnemonica – if you really want to appreciate some of the subtleties and techniques which really make mem deck work fly. He also refers to Simon Aronson’s collection Bound to Please as another invaluable resource.

The first thing the book covers is the development of Woody’s stack. A LOT of thought has gone into this. The book is the result of years of study, experimentation and performance. And this is very reassuring – if you’re going to make the investment of time to learn the stack you want the reassurance that the material actually works!

As well as being a joy to read, throughout the book amusing illustrations help you to learn the stack pictorially – although they do not (if I have counted correctly) cover all of them. Perhaps they will be finished in the project volume 2! Plenty of other line and photographic illustrations make sure everything you need to understand is very clear.

Another early chapter describes the method (he calls it a game!) he uses to teach the stack to classes. If you’re familiar with memory techniques, there’s probably nothing new here – but it is a helpful summary nonetheless. He also gives some tips to help revise stack etc.

A plethora of effects

He starts by teaching tricks which don’t require the stack to be memorized – simply to be in order – as a way to help you learn the stack. He then moves on to the idea of the half stack – an incredibly powerful idea. It is easier to learn than the full stack – and the first half of Aragon’s stack has all sorts of clever attributes which open up many strong effects. These include spelling effects, gambling effects, weighing the cards, matching the cards etc.

There are then plenty more effects using the full stack – including more poker effects, some very clever prediction and ‘fishing techniques’ and other more original ideas.

He has a section on effects which aren’t dependent on the stack you use – so even if you already use a different stack there are ideas here for you. And in another chapter he specifically explores how to move between the Memorandum stack and the Tamariz or Aronson stacks. Unless you are a very competent handler of cards (and audiences) I would suggest this might be overkill – though if you have a particular favourite tricks you perform with different stacks I can see why you might want to do this.

For me, one of the most brilliant and exciting concepts in the book is the Siamese deck. I don’t want to give away the details here – but to my mind it opens up some amazing possibilities. I would like to devote some time thinking this principle through in relation to non-memorized deck work too since I think there is a lot of scope with this idea.

In addition to teaching the effects he also teaches how to reset the deck (and some intriguing rules about ‘undoing’ the effect of dealing various hands of poker etc.) – there is something verging on the fanatical in the depth of understanding he has of the mechanics of both his deck and the effect of various shuffles and combinations on a deck order.

There is also a chapter covering some false shuffles and cuts and the explanation of a clever little device you can make yourself with fairly simple craft skills which will help you to switch half a deck for another.

So who is this book for?

Potentially several different people. If you are already a user of mem deck material, then this book is well worth a look. Even if you don’t want to learn a new stack, there are ideas for routines and techniques which you may be able to develop or add to your existing stack and effects.

If you’ve not yet memorised a deck then Woody’s stack would be well worth the investment of time. You may wish to consult some of the other standard works referenced above in order to gain more ideas and techniques, but the Memorandum stack itself is a very powerful tool all on its own. And the book covers all you need to know to get started.

You may never want to memorise a deck but simply (like me) enjoy reading widely in magic to broaden your repertoire of techniques and influences. If that’s you, there is much to commend about this book. As I have mentioned, it has opened up a load of ideas and possibilities in my mind – if I ever get round to spending some more time on them. (To that end, it would also be worth looking at this book in relation to the Marksman Deck we reviewed recently.)

In fact, Memorandum would be well worth a read for anyone who shares my passion for good quality card magic. Don’t bother if you’re a hobbyist who just wants to perform tricks which require no effort, but if you’re prepared to make an investment in your art, then this comes highly recommended.

You can pick up a copy of Memorandum from magicshop.co.uk for £46.50 (at the time of writing)

Review copy kindly provided by Murphys Magic to whom dealer enquiries should be directed.

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