How To Master The "Any Card At Any Number" Card Magic Plot

Few plots in card magic are as beloved by magicians as Any Card At Any Number (ACAAN). And for good reason: it’s a direct effect, easy to present, and easy for the audience to understand.

All the greats in magic have created their own method for it—and unlike what we saw when analysing Out Of This World, ACAAN methods can vary dramatically from one version to the next.

These differences, as we’ll see, mostly concern the method, because the effect itself has rarely been altered in order to preserve its simplicity. That’s quite unusual, since creators often feel tempted to add twists and variations.

But ACAAN seems to carry its own aura of simplicity—and that’s something you just don’t mess with. We’ll come back to that.

Before we go further, a bit of housekeeping: not every “card at number” effect qualifies as an ACAAN. In most cases, they’re actually CAANs, where the routine doesn’t allow any card to appear at any number, but only a specific card that has been selected.

And careful—don’t think of a CAAN as necessarily weaker than an ACAAN! When performed well, it can be just as strong. Ultimately, it’s the performer’s responsibility to create the illusion that any card could have been used.

For decades, different versions of card-at-number have circulated, with the most well-known magicians offering their own methods—until David Berglas came along and completely changed the game.

We’ll explore the effect, the principles that make it so powerful, and how those principles have preserved the structure over time. We’ll look at Berglas’ work and discuss methods, all to put together the big picture of this iconic plot.

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