The author's effects give the impression that real magic is at work, so impossible do they seem, not only for laypeople but also for many magicians! Free for the most part of secret or visible manipulations, of surreptitious moves, of all those techniques that usually signal to spectators they are watching a magic trick, Simon's tricks thus come as close to magic as it is possible to get.

A selection of the best card tricks by Simon Aronson, chosen, translated into French and presented by Richard Vollmer.

The author polishes his routines and explores their every ramification, so that it is virtually impossible to improve them in any way. This perfectionist approach results in a level of magical quality rarely achieved, so much so that one is almost tempted to say that Simon's effects are at times tantamount to real magic!

If we had to characterize the tricks you'll find in this anthology, we could identify two essential qualities: first, they are totally incomprehensible, not only for laypeople — which, after all, is the least you can expect! — but also for almost all cardicians; second, they all make sense, thanks to a carefully crafted presentation, and will captivate every spectator, even the most jaded.

What's fascinating about Simon is that, beyond the effects themselves, one is equally amazed by the incredible subtlety and supreme refinement of the principles on which they rest! The unheard-of methods invented by Simon are doubly extraordinary: first, you wonder (often in vain, in fact!) how they work, and then, you're left speechless by the mystery of their design! In other words, you'll find in this Very Best tricks that will mystify you yourself for a long time — magician though you may be! — before they mystify your spectators.

Simon's devilish methods don't show off; they work for you silently, underground, manifesting only through the astounding effects they produce, backed by presentations that are both attractive and entertaining and that help cover them. This third dimension of magic — presentation — turns the tricks, however subtle and refined their modus operandi, into so many extremely "commercial" effects, as they say. You've got it: Simon's magic is not a flashy magic, the kind done quickly: it demands the spectators' attention and intelligence, and the more attentive and perceptive they are, the more astounded they'll be, since they can't rely on your moves to try to pierce the mystery, given that you do practically nothing!

Contents:

Chapter I: IMPROMPTU TRICKS... OR ALMOST!

• Three for two
• Doublestop simplified
• Mark-a-place mates
• Self control
• Mismate
• Meditations on Christ's Aces
• Paragon poker
• Simon's favorite card trick.

Chapter II: TRICKS USING A MEMORIZED DECK

• General considerations on the memorized deck
• Two beginnings
• The invisible card
• Everybody's lazy
• Some people think
• The lie detector
• Topsy turvy
• Past, present, future
• Bait and switch
• Histed heisted
• Four stop intersection
• Madness in our methods.

Chapter III: TRICKS WITH SETUPS

• Shuffle-bored
• Point spread
• Double lazy
• Prior commitment
• Queenspell
• Divide and conquer
• Random tandem
• Two deck Canasta
• Simple double duke
• Mix and match
• Countdown triple prediction
• Aces up, countdown.

Chapter IV: VERY SPECIAL EFFECTS

• Happy birthday!
• The calendar card
• Twice removed transposition
• The Aronson artifice
• Under cover four-play

Professional magic within reach of amateurs.

It's not that Simon Aronson is opposed on principle to manipulation itself, but he believes the less of it there is, the better in terms of efficiency and impact on the audience. Based on this truism, he has therefore replaced almost all moves, secret or not, with ploys, subtleties and invisible principles that will do all the work for you.

Thanks to these methods of devilish ingenuity, unknown of course to laypeople but also to the vast majority of magicians, your spectators will be unable to find even the beginning of an explanation for the effects you'll present!

The almost total absence of card techniques gives their analytical faculties nothing to grab hold of, and each trick will remain for them an unfathomable mystery.

The effects, seemingly impossible, appear to happen naturally, with no suspicious gestures or visible artifice, without even any misdirection. On the contrary, the more attentive your spectators are, the more they'll be mystified by what they see!

This natural approach to his art places the author of this book among the aristocrats of card magic.
If you haven't been fooled by a card trick in a long time, you will be by the genius of Simon Aronson, whose new ideas and principles, and their applications, will astonish you yourself before they mystify your audience.

Approx. 400 pages

Book in French

Format: 16.5 x 23.5 cm Offset printing - Illustrated.