An ‘Any Card At Any Number’ Method

Magicians obsess over one specific card magic plot, called ‘any card at any number’ (or ACAAN for short). Many will refer to it as ‘The Berglas Effect’, named after David Berglas, who popularised the effect. If, like me, you had not heard about Berglas when you first got into magic, you’ll likely have heard of his son, Marvin Berglas — that’s Marvin of the Marvin’s Magic sets brand.

Anyway, typically, a spectator or two will name both a playing card and a number between 1 and 52. The spectators then remove a deck from a box and count down to the freely named number. Resting at the correct position in the pack is the freely named card.

My favourite performed version of this effect is performed by Derren Brown. You can find a video online of him performing it on actor Martin Freeman and his then-wife, Amanda Abbington. His method is clean and efficient, and he uses all the tools available to him in his space.

Elsewhere, magicians inclined to masochism will enjoy Asi Winds' sleight-of-hand and stacked deck method. If you prefer a solo, easy and reliable method, I recommend looking at Christian Grace’s fully gimmicked deck method.

However, I’m not interested in difficult sleight of hand or gimmickry.

I want simple, easy, reliable methods for everyday settings.

You do, too, it seems.

Most of One Ahead’s readers say they perform in casual settings.

So here, have a casual, reliable and sexy ACAAN.

Part 1. An ACAAN

Part 2. Why It Works!

Here’s what Lloyd Barnes had to say when he learned the secret:

I’ll share the secret with you now…

I think magicians love ACAAN because of how easy it is to follow and how mathematically impossible it is. I cannot stress enough that laypeople don’t give a flying toot about ACAAN, and they’ll always be much happier to witness an ‘Out of This World’ or an ‘Ambitious Card’ routine. However, an ACAAN gives you a nice respite within a larger performance.

When performed correctly, and only when performed correctly, the trick is quite an impossible feat. To do so, you must find a suitable way to present the routine in its true impossibility. The audience needs to grasp how impossible it is, and you need to figure out what the pseudo method is.

An ACAAN effect can be either:

1. A coincidence

2. A prediction

3. A telekinesis

Are you magically moving the card to the correct position? Was it there all along? By chance or through intention? Ask yourselves these questions and answer them to create a much better performance.

This casual performance works method-wise for several small reasons. You’ve been shuffling the deck before the performance. Then, you’re using multiple spectators, but you’re getting each of them to decide if the other sticks or changes their choices (a great subtlety you should often use to make spectators and their choices appear more genuine). And finally — it makes sense for Jeremy to stare at the box.

Part 3. When Should You Consider Using a Stooge?

Almost always — provided they are not the hero spectator.

You might be surprised to know that most big-name magicians have used stooges at one time or another. Consultants I work alongside tend to have similar views and moral rules when it comes to stooges, and this surprises me, as they have all sorts of differing opinions on things like camera tricks, plagiarism and more.

Consultants tend to opt for no stooges or only a stooge as long as the stooge is not the hero spectator. A hero spectator is the main person the trick is performed for — both to the audience’s mind and the magician's. What I mean by this is that you can’t just use stooges for every trick on your TV show and pretend it’s okay because you reckon the audience at home is the hero spectator — they are not. The hero spectator is the person the audience and the magician believe to be the main witness of the performed trick.

Oh, by the way — a stooge is someone who is in on a trick. They know the secret. Sometimes, they’ll play an active role in an illusion. Other times, they’ll simply be sitting or standing where the method is within their view. However, being there and not reacting as they see the secret enhances the trick. This example of a stooge is what consultants will call a ‘passive stooge.’

Your friend Jeremy is an ‘active stooge’ — he’s playing an active role in this trick’s method. You invited him to do so because he doesn’t like magic that much, and you knew letting him in on a trick would make him far more enthusiastic about your weird hobby. It turned out he rather enjoyed the idea of being part of a method that would fool his new girlfriend — a bonus for him.

There’s also two more fun types called a ‘partial stooge’ and an ‘instant stooge.’ I’ll write about those next month.

To perform this ACAAN, your deck must be in a stack of your choice. It doesn’t need to be a ‘mnemonica’ stack but can be any stack you wish, even one of your own. A stack is an order of cards that is pre-determined and set by the performer. New deck order is technically a stack.

If you’d like to shuffle the deck before the trick as a convincer, then learn a good false shuffle, false cut, or a deck switch. Shuffling isn’t necessary, but an excellent addition.

Drawn or printed and pasted onto the back of the tuck box is a crib sheet. Magicians will use crib sheets to peek at certain information during a routine. In this case, it will be for your friend Jeremy, who will stare directly at the crib sheet on the card case.

The crib sheet has the numbers 1-52 on it: bold and easy to read. Alongside each number are two playing cards written in value and suit (4H, 6C). The first card is the card in that number position when dealt from the top of the deck. The second card alongside each number on the crib represents the card in that number when dealt from the bottom of the deck.

Jeremy (your stooge) can stare directly at the box because he’s joking about looking into the box to see the card inside in its correct position. He’ll simply find the number and say the first card displayed alongside it.

If the hero spectator then says your stooge must change their mind, then the stooge simply switches to the second card value displayed. If they do this, you must remember as the performer to ensure that the hero spectator deals cards down from the bottom of the deck to land on the correct card.

There are several subtleties to this routine that you’ll spot or figure out yourself. One big note of mine is that the stooge must choose second, and they must choose the card value. The simple reason is that finding numbers on a printed crib sheet is much faster than locating card values.

The real convincer in this routine is that the hero spectator feels like they can play a role in choosing both the card value and number position. The fact that they can decide if the stooge switches or sticks is a real kicker and gives them the impression of playing a significant role in its selection.

The trick is always better if the hero spectator forces the stooge to change their selection at the end. To encourage this, ask your stooge to always force the hero to change their card value selection. This encourages a tit-for-tat mentality and hugely increases the chances they’ll retaliate by asking the stooge to change their selection too.