When I unleashed my original ACAAN, a year or so back, I wrote..."Imagine a version of the legendary ANY CARD AT ANY NUMBER routine, which is 100% SELF-WORKING and requires NO MENTAL CALCULATIONS OR CARD SLEIGHTS WHATSOEVER. Well, imagine no longer because... it's here!" Well, now I've come up with an even easier version (101% self-working?)And... it doesn't use a note-pad, pen etc.
Please read the following review, by Phil Shaw, from the November 2007 issue of Magicseen
There have been many mathematical geniuses throughout history - Archimedes, Isaac Newton, and Stephen Hawking to mention a few. But could Stephen Tucker really be the Albert Einstein of the 21st Century? Well let's take a look...
For all you eagle eyed proof readers out there, no we haven't made an error in the spelling of Stephen's latest release. Even Stephen himself apologies for the mispelling in his instructions that accompany this effect, but as this is Stephen's new 'Any Card At Any Number' (ACAAN) effect he wanted to incorporate the letters into the title.
Here's the basic effect. You explain that you are conducting a survey for experimental purposes and are asking everyone you meet to name ANY card and ANY number from 1 to 52 and then recording their answers on your calculator.
You say that the last person you asked said the Queen of Clubs and the number 42 and that you amazed him by dealing down to the 42nd card in the pack revealing the Queen of Clubs. As an afterthought you once again ask the spectator their card and number. When they themselves deal down to the number they thought of it is the exact card they also thought of.
At first glance the method behind this effect looks extremely daunting to say the least. However, fear not, the scientific calculator supplied with this effect does all the hard work for you, so all you have to do is concentrate on the presentation.
There's also a crib sheet (supplied) that prevents you from having to cram this formula into your brain if needed.
The mathematical principle behind this version of the classic (ACAAN) routine is amazing really and I can only imagine how many hours were spent by Stephen to crack the code! As with many other versions of ACAAN, there can be a lot of dealing going on, especially if high numbers are called, so you'll need to get your thinking heads on for some original patter to fill in the inevitable downtime.
If you have a Harry Lorayne type memory and decide to commit the formula to your head then this same effect could easily be performed using a borrowed mobile phone, as most nowadays have calculators built into them. Having said that, however, this does not make this effect totally impromptu as there is a stack needed for it to work, so you will need your own prepared deck. There is also a reset time needed for repeat performances so it's maybe not ideal for table hoppers unless you have a number of packs ready prepared, of course.
All in all this is a good, well thought out version of a really powerful effect.
So, referring back to the 'is Stephen Tucker the next mathematical genius?' question. I think you should all make your own minds up by buying this. - Phil Smith.
