1944
Written by John Mulholland
Work of John Mulholland
142 pages (Hardcover), published by Charles Scribner’s Sons
Illustrated with drawings
Language: English
58 entries
Cover photograph
Creators Title Comments & References Page Categories
John Mulholland What Manner of Man “The general ideas which a magician must bear in mind about the performance of magic, and a description of what magic is and why it works”
1
John Mulholland The Freely Selected Card concept of one-way backs, three methods of locating a freely selected card using one-way backs
  • I. Standard location
  • II. Card at number
  • III. Spectator locates card
12
John Mulholland I. Standard Location one-way backs
12
John Mulholland II. Card at Number magician notes card’s position in deck (one-way backs), miscalls several cards’ values that add up to the card’s position and spectator counts down
14
John Mulholland III. Spectator Locates Card three piles, selection appears on bottom of chosen pile, one-way backs, equivoque
18
John Mulholland Arranging Deck Openly applications
  • Setting a one-way deck to all face the same way
  • General setup of the deck for a trick, see p. 22
21
John Mulholland Red/Black Location standard location of two cards using red/black setup
Related to 22
John Mulholland Rings and Strings two strings tied and knotted around a borrowed pencil and finger rings, spectator holds strings and rings are freed
Related to 24
John Mulholland Magic Spelling three spelling-themed tricks:
  • I. Selection is spelled to
  • II. Values of entire suit spelled to in order
  • III. All court cards spelled to
29
John Mulholland Magic Spelling - I deck is shuffled, magician sets selection in position to be spelled to
29
Cross-cut Force
31
Magic Spelling - II all cards of a suit are removed from deck in a packet and each is spelled to in sequential order
32
Magic Spelling - III similar to above, all court cards are removed from deck in a packet and each is spelled to in Jack-Queen-King order by suits
34
Scoop Lapping basic technique explained as a vanish, scoop-lapping coin off table and pretending to place into other hand, much detail about naturalness, three tricks using the move
  • I. Coin vanishes and appears under/in object
  • II. T&R napkin
  • III. One object transformed into another
35
John Mulholland I. Coin Vanish and Reappearance coin vanishes and reappears under a saltshaker, ashtray, in a sugar bowl or someone’s pocket, uses extra coin, see p. 43 for standing alternative
40
John Mulholland II. Torn and Restored Napkin T&R napkin, balled-up torn napkin is lapped and full one is already in other hand, see p. 43 for standing alternative
41
John Mulholland III. Transformation lapping used for transformation, “an olive can be transformed into a lump of sugar, a piece of paper can be changed into a potato chip, a blank domino can be turned into a double six”
43
John Mulholland Lapping Alternative When Standing
  • for coin vanish: scoop-ditching a coin off a plate so it falls behind it
  • for T&R napkin: scoop-ditching torn napkin behind book on table
43
The Hungry Jackass overview of stack
Related to 45
To Know Which Card Has Been Selected cutting deck at selection and then sighting bottom card
48
John Mulholland To Know By Sound Which Card Is Missing From the Deck spectator doesn’t see card, magician riffles deck to his ear and divines card, same method as p. 48
49
John Mulholland To Know How Many Cards Are Taken From the Deck cards taken in a group, cut deck at location of removal and sight top and bottom cards, magician says number of cards drawn and names each one
50
John Mulholland The Fortune Telling Cards deck is cut into three piles and top cards are set aside face down, packets are turned face up and magician gives a “reading” based on the bottom cards, then divines the three cards
51
John Mulholland A Current Prophecy spectator counts down to named number, card arrived at matches prediction, stack, crib card
53
John Mulholland Dealing the Winning Hand spectator chooses either Bridge or Poker and magician can deal himself a winning hand (Bridge), or himself and spectator a winning hand (Poker)
56
Further Tricks knowing the position of any named card in deck, using mental arithmetic or crib card
57
John Mulholland Shuffling the Deck and A Trick in Connection Therewith to give impression that stacked deck was shuffled, have duplicate deck shuffled and card selected, switch in stacked deck and have card replaced, find card and continue with stacked deck
58
John Mulholland The Prophetic Pennies spectator shuffles deck, freely chooses penny from a pile, date matches top four cards
62
Coin(s) Switch not so clear, possibly Shuttle Pass, possibly just a discrepant switch of hands, spectator is busy looking at chosen coin’s date
64
Coin(s) Switch switched in pocket on off-beat
65
Cards Secretly in Case
65
John Mulholland Wrong Way for the Answer spectator memorizes serial number of one of five bills, all five are placed in magician’s pocket and he is able to remove the four bills the spectator is not thinking of
66
Memory Technique memorizing numbers in pairs
70
John Mulholland String for A Parcel magician displays two strings that are knotted together forming a loop, he cuts off one knot, other knot vanishes leaving full string, string stretches
72
Stretching String “a coupling of suggestion with the optical illusion caused by the change in position of the arms”
76
John Mulholland By the Sense of Touch three selections are shuffled into deck, deck placed in magician’s pocket, he instantly pulls out each one
78
Reverse Deal Force bottom three cards end up on top of three piles after three piles are cut and remaining cards are dealt on top
79
Psychological Pocket Subtlety strategy of removing items from pocket at outset to imply it is now empty
80
John Mulholland A Matter of Luck discs, each showing a different word on them, are mixed and spectator chooses one, they are mixed up in hat, magician can blindly pick out correct one
82
John Mulholland Beelzebub's Letter a letter that was mailed to magician yesterday contains a marked coin that just vanished today
87
Gimmicked Handkerchief a half-washer in hem of handkerchief, used to vanish coin
88
John Mulholland Prepared Envelope and Letter slide/slot for coin to slide into and appear stuck to letter with adhesive strips
92
John Mulholland The Flight of A Coin marked coin vanishes and reappears inside an envelope inside a sealed box
96
Gimmicked Envelope coin vanish from envelope via slit in bottom, opaque disc inside envelope visible from outside is used as coin dummy
98
John Mulholland Mind Signals “A system whereby the magician can communicate secretly to his assistant descriptions of playing cards, money, jewelry, and those miscellaneous articles a man has in his pockets and a woman carries in her handbag.”
  • Coding Playing Cards
  • Coding Denominations of Money
  • Coding Type of Jewelry
  • Coding Personal Property
    • Arm Signals
105
John Mulholland Coding Playing Cards
108
John Mulholland Coding Denominations of Money
113
John Mulholland Coding Type of Jewelry
115
John Mulholland Coding Personal Property miscellaneous items people carry
116
John Mulholland Expedited Coding – Arm Signals quicker process, using position of arm in tandem with the regular system
120
Fake Blindfold so assistant can see arm signals, see p. 120
121
John Mulholland The Secrets Unraveled “Various additional items of information which a magician will find useful to know; such as how to make up a program and how to eliminate errors; as well as several additional feats of magic.”
125
John Mulholland Paper Card Through String string is threaded through a hole in a business card, under cover of handkerchief card is removed from string with hole intact, duplicate card
Related to 131
John Mulholland Combined Tricks begin with Hungry Jackass stack, deal into two piles to go into “Red/Black Location”, see references
Related to 135
John Mulholland Magic Flame sugar lump ignites and burns with blue flame, spectator cannot replicate this even with sugar from same bowl, lump dipped in cigar/cigarette ash
136
John Mulholland Jumping Flame two lit candles, after one is extinguished it is reignited from the other flame without touching it
137
John Mulholland Telekinesis object inside glass of ginger ale rises and sinks upon magician’s command
138
Self-igniting Match brief
139
Data entered by Yehuda Rauch.