Unnamed Magician – One of Card Magic’s Best Kept Secrets (official PDF + Video) Access Instantly!

Many of you may be familiar with the project “Sub Rosa” by Jason England, where he took a lost principle in card magic and popularized it for the first time. In this e-book of mine, I wish to do the same with another lost principle – I want to discuss a principle that has slipped under the radar of nearly every contemporary magician. Almost every single magician I’ve spoken to has no idea about the existence of this principle. Only very few know about it – and they’re generally ‘old school’ guys who have been on the magic scene for twice as long as I’ve been alive. However, in my experience, less than 0.1% of magicians under the age of 40 know about this principle. If I had to guess, maybe 1 in 5000 magicians under the age of 40 are privy to it. That’s how unknown it is. Thus, the chances of you knowing this principle or coming across someone that knows it are almost nonexistent.

It is one of card magic’s best kept secrets. However, I think it’s time to change that because, with the use of this principle, some truly impossible-looking effects are possible with a borrowed, shuffled deck. I have sent performance videos of effects – using this principle – to some very knowledgeable magicians and left them completely baffled. It’s that powerful. And it’s time that you learn it and make room for it in your own repertoire.

I was only fortunate enough to learn of the principle because a magician friend of mine created an effect using it (which he fooled me with, before teaching it to me). At the time, we both thought he had discovered something new – but subsequent research showed that the principle has been around since 1919.

In this e-book, I will first discuss what the principle in question is. Then, I will provide a full historical overview of the principle, spanning 68 years (from 1919 to 1987). I will discuss each and every single source (that I know of) in which this principle has appeared across that 68-year period. Most of the e-book covers this historical overview – that’s the main purpose of the e-book to begin with (to provide you with the full history behind the principle, compiled in one place).

I will also provide some of my own tips that you should keep in mind whenever you perform an effect using this principle. These are tips that existing sources don’t mention, but that I think are very important (if you wish to make the method as undetectable as possible).

My friend has created a video below where he describes three effects that are possible using this principle (all with a borrowed, shuffled deck).

In addition to the video, I’m attaching a written description here of a fourth effect that’s possible using this principle:

The magician asks the spectator for a deck of cards that he’s never seen or touched before. The spectator brings out their own deck and thoroughly shuffles it.

After the shuffles, the magician takes the deck from the spectator as he explains to them, “In a moment, I’m going to spread the cards face down across the table. Then, I will turn away – and, as my back is turned, I want you to select any card from the spread, look at it, and then put it back anywhere else. You can put it back wherever you want. You don’t necessarily have to return it to the opposite half of the spread; you can return it to somewhere else within the same half. It’s entirely up to you. After that, square the spread.” So, the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, turns his back, and the spectator does as instructed.

Once the spectator is done and the deck is squared, the magician turns back around. He then takes the deck and locates the selected card.

Some important conditions of note:

• The effect uses a borrowed, shuffled deck.
• Before the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, he doesn’t look at the faces of the cards (so there’s no memory work, no clocking, etc.).
• After the magician spreads the deck face down across the table, he never touches the cards again until the very end.
• When the spectator selects a card and returns it back to the spread, the magician is turned away (so he has no idea where the card is selected from or where it is returned to).
• When the spectator selects a card and returns it back to the spread, they return the card in the same orientation (so there’s no one-way principle).
• The magician doesn’t learn the identity of the selected card until the end (so this rules out any peek or force).

1st edition 2024, PDF 18 pages.
word count: 5340 which is equivalent to 21 standard pages of text