Issue #24 is a strong one — Stuart James contributes two effects including Jay's personal favorite, Annemann's Think It Over column returns with a long run of practical performance advice, and the issue closes with a two-person card match that hinges on a fan the helper thinks they can see through but can't.

Effects Covered

[1:05] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Blackstone has wrapped seven weeks of exposure columns without exposing a single trick from his own act — Annemann repeats his standing dare. Also: a con man's trick with a roll of bills, and practical advice on what to do when a spectator catches you mid-trick (don't walk away).

[3:14] Miraskill — Stuart James This one is Jay's personal favorite. A shuffled borrowed deck sorted by color pairs produces two piles whose difference the performer predicted — then a second shuffle produces piles of equal size, also predicted. The deck does the work; the only move is quietly removing a few cards before the first phase and secretly returning them before the second.

[4:56] Think It Over — Theodore Annemann Drop the clichéd opening line. Vary your handling between effects. Ten minutes of daily mirror practice beats ten magicians' opinions. Never borrow something you could easily carry. Don't needle your helpers for laughs at their expense. Buy the best materials you can afford — cheap materials cap the performance.

[6:29] Business Cards — Theodore Annemann Period magicians' business cards — at jinxnavigator.com under Issue #24.

[6:36] The Candy King — Stuart James The Mirror Skill principle adapted for a children's show, using candy kisses in red and white wrappers instead of playing cards. The prediction of who wins and by how many is revealed on the inside of the paper bag — or a cardboard crown, if you prefer.

[7:49] A Mental Test Revamped — Herbert Hood A refinement of Annemann's torn-newspaper billet method from Issue #6, moved to a deck of cards. The helper merely thinks of a card, writes it on a slip, the slip is torn and burned — and the correct card is produced. No impressions, no switches, no gimmicked paper.

[8:47] The Reticent Queen — Newton Hall A helper writes a deceased person's name on a card. The Queen of Hearts is supposed to relay it — but keeps failing, needing privacy, needing the helper to place the card herself — until finally the name comes through. The earlier failures are covering the glimpse. Jay's note: please come up with a presentation other than "who's your favorite dead person?"

[10:11] Climax — Henry Christ A helper thinks of a card from a fanned deck — convinced they saw the whole spread, they actually only saw one card. That card is forced on a second helper across the room who stops a riffle at random. The two match. Annemann calls it startling in front of a decent-sized audience.

[11:28] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #25 — featuring Lorne de Blois's 21st Century Silks.

Issue #23 delivers calendar math, a complete pocket act built around a pencil, a 25-minute mentalism program assembled from earlier Jinx effects, an odd-backed card that keeps switching decks without anyone claiming to do a trick, and a touch-based divination that's been sitting in Annemann's notebook since 1928 with no author attached.

Effects Covered

[1:13] Editorial — Theodore Annemann Annemann sketches a complete impromptu pocket act built around a single pencil, goes after a dealer whose second encyclopedia is more up to date in its plagiarism than the first, and closes with a verdict on collaborative magic shows: doomed by ego.

[3:18] Calendar Conjuring — Tom Sellers Three effects built on the fixed mathematical relationships in a calendar grid — name four dates from the total, work out nine from the highest and lowest, derive three from a row total. Annemann suggests stringing them into a complete routine and closing with a torn and restored page.

[4:28] A Mental Club Act — Theodore Annemann A complete 25-minute mentalism program built from seven previously published Jinx effects, all pocketable except a small slate, sequenced for clubs, lodges, and banquets.

[5:49] What the H — Vincent Lynch Not a trick — a piece of business where an odd-backed Ace of Spades keeps switching between two decks, presented as a puzzling personal observation rather than a formal effect. Lynch argues the lack of a trick frame makes it land harder.

[6:51] Dr. Daley's Death Divination — Dr. Jacob Daley A living-and-dead test with flash paper, aimed at convincing a genuine skeptic. Jay suggests flipping the premise so the living names burn and the dead one survives — proof they live on in memory.

[8:19] The Touch That Tells — Unknown The performer touches cards in a 4x4 grid while a helper plays cards from behind their back one at a time — and at the exact moment the helper plays their last, the performer's finger lands on a card whose value matches the number secretly pocketed. Annemann has had this since 1928 with no idea who originated it.

[9:28] Last Minute News — Theodore Annemann Two losses in the magic community, a new club forming in Syracuse, and a dry observation that Harry Blackstone's weekly exposure column is careful never to expose anything from Blackstone's own act.

[10:23] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #24 — featuring Stuart James's Mirror Skill, one of Jay's personal favorites.

Issue #22 opens fresh from the IBM convention, where a Toledo burglar declined the key to the city on professional grounds and proceeded to pick everyone's locks anyway. Annemann makes a career-defining argument about signature effects, surfaces a federal model for stopping piracy, and delivers a number total that spells the helper's name, a joker that keeps returning, and a coin routine where the half dollar quietly becomes loose change.

Effects Covered

[1:12] Editorial — Theodore Annemann One good trick can make a career, and it's almost never a new one — Annemann runs through a list of working performers each built on a single signature effect found in older literature. Also: attorney Jacob Steisel's account of stopping piracy by going directly to the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Bob Geisel of Toledo picking his way through every locked and bolted door at the convention. Max Holden hadn't laughed that hard in ten years.

[3:59] Numero — Al Baker A helper's rows of freely written figures produce a total that matches a prediction — then the digits of that total, run through an alphabet chart on the back of the slate, spell out the helper's own name.

[5:19] Business Cards and Notes of the Notables — Theodore Annemann Period business cards and newspaper clippings from the era — both at jinxnavigator.com under Issue #22.

[5:32] A Question of Power — Dr. L. Vosberg Lyons A joker shown at the top of the deck gets replaced by each of three chosen cards in turn when the deck is snapped — and at the end, turns back into the joker one final time. Three repetitions that actually earn it.

[6:46] The Card Phenomenon — Oddly Walsh A helper secretly counts cards, pockets some, notes a card, and returns the rest — the performer never knows the card or the count, yet the helper spells out their card and lands on it exactly. Walsh notes the performer's genuine ignorance is what fools people who think they've spotted the method.

[8:06] Here's Your Change? — Lou Brent A borrowed half dollar travels hand to hand — until the final transfer produces three nickels and a quarter instead. The missing dime turns up behind the knee. Brent's observation: a casual coin sequence as byplay before the main routine often impresses more than the main trick.

[9:22] Outro Links and a preview of Issue #23 — featuring Dr. Jacob Daley's Death Divination.