Welcome to Cardopolis and the first issue of 2025. Cardopolis is dedicated to the history and practise of card magic though occasionally the odd non-card item does creep in. It covers a broad range of card magic, everything from self-working material to sleight of hand and with a particular focus on overlooked items from the past. This issue goes out to paid subscribers. Paid Subscribers get an issue every month, Free Subscribers get two or three issues a year. If you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so here:
There’s a varied selection this month, some relatively easy to do effects, some out and out fakery, and some sleight of hand work.
In Saints & Sinners you divine, under seemingly impossible conditions, whether the spectator has chosen to sin or be a saint. It’s a moral choice for the spectator and a simple bit of math for you.
I suppose it was around 2000 when David Berglas showed me his handling of the Cross Cut Force. He used it in an advanced memorised stack routine, which was described in The Mind & Magic of David Berglas (2002) but it’s just as useful in lieu of the traditional Cross Cut Force. It’s a bit of a mind bender even if you are familiar with the traditional handling.
Sound & Vibration brings together three different sleight of hand techniques in a short routine. They are difficult but not knuckle-busters, and flow together quite nicely in a sequence that is intended to showcase several techniques.
Choose or Lose is a strange one. It’s a heap of fakery. How it came to mind I have no idea, but it appeared fully fledged. It probably owes something to James Swoger’s Mental 13, a trick marketed in 1969.
CHOOSE OR LOSE
This trick offers a base upon which you can build your own presentations. You show six pairs of cards and invite the spectator to choose a card from each pair. Choice made; you show that you predicted the chosen cards. For a moment it seems an unconvincing prediction until you turn over the chosen cards. The message revealed on the back of the chosen cards can be customised too.