Any Card At Any Number – Background

I used to think Any Card At Any Number was just for magicians.
Boy was I wrong. Presented properly, the Berglas Effect causes
screams of delight and is an absolute miracle. Take the time to
set it up. Tell as much of the totally true story as you can.

40 years ago in London, Martin Breese ran an ad for the Berglas

Effect, Any Card At Any Number, in his newsletter. The deck was
out at the top. No stooge. No force. No switch. The spectator
named a card. The spectator named a number. The spectator
uncased the deck. The spectator counted. The card was there.
The effect was 50 pounds, $100 at the time, more than $1000
today. Sales were limited to 100 orders. Breese got 100 orders.
Goodliffe died, the deal fell apart, and Martin refunded
everyone's money. Except for Steve Martin, yes that Steve Martin,
because he’s famous and Breese can’t find him. Martin Breese &
David Berglas do not speak for almost 20 years.

20 years later, Martin Breese is at David Berglas’s home in North

London. Berglas hands Breese a deck. Martin is vehement,
vehement the deck is out at the top. No stooge, no force, no
switch. Breese names a card. Breese names a number. Breese
uncases the deck. Breese counts. The card is there. Breese
turns on a tape recorder. For the next 3 hours, Berglas talks.
He tips it all, every detail, every nuance, every subtlety, the
whole thing. A week later, Martin sends Berglas a CD of the
recording. 2 days later, Berglas calls Breese and tells him to
hold off. Berglas is writing a book, which reveals the secret of
the Berglas Effect. The book comes out. It’s not there. To this
day, no one on earth has heard the contents of that recording,
other than Martin Breese and David Berglas. The master sits in a
safe in Martin Breese’s home in Brighton. This really, really
bugs me. Berglas won’t release the effect, twice. Breese won’t
talk.

David Berglas is driving in downtown London. My friend Marcello

Truzzi is in the passenger seat. Berglas hands Marcello a deck of
cards. Marcello is vehement, vehement, the deck is out at the
top. Marcello names a card. Pat, Marcello’s wife, names a
number. Marcello hands the deck to Pat in the back seat. Pat
counts to the number. The card is there.

Pat Page has seen Berglas do the effect 4 times. Each time, the
deck is out at the top. Berglas never touches the deck. The
spectator names a card. The spectator names a number. The
spectator uncases. The spectator counts. The card is there.
 Any Card At Any Number – The Work

The Court Deck is 26 alternating JD/KD – JH/KH, face to face with

26 alternating JC/KC – JS/KS. On top of each 26 is a face up
joker. Beneath this face up joker is a face down joker.

The Red Deck is 26 alternating 8D/10D - 7D/9D, face to face with

26 alternating 8H/10H – 7H/9H. On top of each 26 is a face up
joker. Beneath the face up joker is a face down joker.

The Black Deck is 26 alternating 8C/10C – 7C/9C, face to face with

26 alternating 8S/10S – 7S/9S. On top of each 26 is a face up
joker. Beneath the face up joker is a face down joker.

Three decks allow you to choose which cards to use, and to repeat
the effect with different cards. Equivoque is aggressively used
to give the illusion of no equivoque. For magicians, keep saying
“there is no equivoque.” For humans, keep saying “whatever you
choose, we use.”

My favorite equivoque, if you are not happy with the selection,

when all is done - tell the spectator to choose the opposite
card. If you have a low red spot card, tell the spectator to
choose a high black court card. I love this for magicians.

Hiding the Index - Half the time, the display of the card is
perfect, just cover the wrong index with your fingertip. The
other half, you have to cover a miss-indexed body. You have five
options. (1) Cover the wrong index with your finger tip, flash
the card, snap the corner, keep it moving. (2) Leave the deck on
the table, and stick the selection face up, half way in the deck.
(3) Flip over the selection with the joker, and display the joker
and selection in a fan on the table, covering the wrong index and
body of the selection with the joker. (4) Use your fingers to
cover the wrong index and bottom third or side of the card. (5)
Know where the good cards are in the run of 26, and equivoque a
good card number. 8/10 has either an 8 body or a 10 body. 7/9
has either a 7 body or a 9 body. Arrange the run so 1-13 are 8
bodies and 7 bodies, and 14-26 are 10 bodies and 9 bodies. I use
option (1) and occasionally (4).
 Court Deck - Presentation

Put the Court Deck in the case, face down on the table, bicycle
back against the table.

Say “Start the elimination. Choose red or black.” (Spectator

says red.) Say “Fine, we eliminate red. OR (Spectator says
black.) Say “Fine, we eliminate black.” Continuing, say
“Whatever you choose we eliminate. There is no equivoque.” (If
black was eliminated) Say “Choose hearts or diamonds.” (Spectator
says hearts.) Say “Fine, we eliminate hearts. OR (If black was
eliminated) Say “Choose clubs or spades.” (Spectator says
spades.) Say “Fine, we eliminate spades.” Continuing, say
“Whatever you choose we eliminate. There is no equivoque. We
have ace through king.” 1ST EQUIVOQUE. “We going with spot cards
or court cards?” (Spectator says spot cards.). Say “Fine, we
eliminate spot cards. We have the jack, queen and king.” OR
(Spectator says court cards.) Say “Fine, we have the jack, queen
and king.” 2ND EQUIVOQUE. “Boys or girls?” (Spectator says
boys.) Say “We have the jack and king.” OR (Spectator says
girls.) Say “We eliminate the queen. We have the jack and
king.” Continuing, say “Whatever you choose, we eliminate.”
(Spectator says king.) “The card is the jack.” Continuing, say
“We need a number between 1 and 52.” 3RD EQUIVOQUE. Do you want
to do the elimination above or below 26?” (Spectator says above
26. OR Spectator says below 26.) Say “Fine, name a number between
1 and 26. Whatever number you name, we use.” (Spectator names a
number.)

Remove the deck from the face down case, or turn over the case and
remove the deck. Discard the face up joker.

For a diamond at an even number or a heart at an odd number, deal

to the card. (Mnemonic DEEHO.)
For a diamond at an odd number or a heart at an even number, turn
face up and discard the face down joker, deal to the card.
For a club at an even number or a spade at an odd number, deal to
the card. (Mnemonic CEESO.)
For a club at an odd number or a spade at an even number, turn
face up and discard the face down joker, deal to the card.

Put the deck in the case and put it away. Turn over the card.
 Red Deck - Presentation

Put the Red Deck in the case, face down on the table, bicycle back
against the table.

Say “Start the elimination. Choose red or black.” (Spectator

says red.) 1ST EQUIVOQUE. Say “Fine. We have hearts and
diamonds.” OR (Spectator says black.) Say “Fine, we eliminate
black. Whatever you choose, we eliminate.” Continuing, say
“There is no equivoque. Whatever you choose we eliminate. Choose
hearts or diamonds.” (Spectator says hearts.) “We eliminate
hearts. We have ace through king of diamonds.” 2ND EQUIVOQUE.
“We going above or below 6?” (Spectator says above 6.) Say
“Fine, we have the 7 through king of diamonds.” OR (Spectator
says “below 6”.) Say “Fine. We eliminate below 6. We have the 7
through king of diamonds.” 3RD EQUIVOQUE. “Face cards, sorry,
court cards in or out?” (Spectator says face cards.) Say “We
eliminate the jack, queen and king of diamonds.” OR (Spectator
says court cards.) Say “We eliminate the jack, queen and king of
diamonds.” Continuing, say “We have the 7 8 9 10 of diamonds.
Whatever you choose, we use. Name the 7 8 9 or 10 of diamonds.”
(Spectator names the card.) “We need a number between 1 and 52.
Do you want to do the elimination above or below 26?” 4th
EQUIVOQUE. (Spectator says above 26. OR Spectator says below 26.)
Say “Fine, name a number between 1 and 26. Whatever number you
name, we use.” (Spectator names a number.)

Remove the deck from the face down case, or turn over the case and
remove the deck. Discard the face up joker.

For an even card at an even number, or an odd card at an odd

number – deal to the card. (Mnemonic even-even, odd-odd)

For an even card at an odd number, or an odd card at an even

number – turn face up and discard the face down joker, deal to the
card.

Put the deck in the case and put it away. Turn over the card.
 Black Deck - Presentation

Put the Black Deck in the case, face down on the table, bicycle
back against the table.

Say “Start the elimination. Choose red or black.” (Spectator

says red.) 1ST EQUIVOQUE. Say “Fine. We eliminate red.
Whatever you choose we eliminate. OR (Spectator says black.) Say
“Fine, we have black.” Continuing, say “There is no equivoque.
Whatever you choose we eliminate. Choose clubs or spades.”
(Spectator says spades.) Say “We eliminate spades. We have ace
through king of clubs.” 2ND EQUIVOQUE. Say “We going above or
below 6?” (Spectator says above 6.) Say “Fine, we have the 7
through king of clubs.” OR (Spectator says below 6.) Say “Fine,
we eliminate below 6. We have the 7 through king of clubs.” 3RD
EQUIVOQUE. Say “Face cards, sorry, court cards in or out?”
(Spectator says face cards.) Say “We eliminate the jack, queen,
king of clubs.” OR (Spectator says court cards.) Say “We
eliminate the jack, queen, king of clubs.” Continuing, say “We
have the 7 8 9 10 of clubs. Whatever you choose, we use. Name
the 7 8 9 or 10 of clubs.” (Spectator names a card.) Continuing,
“We need a number between 1 and 52. Do you want to do the
elimination above or below 26?” 4th EQUIVOQUE. (Spectator says
above 26. OR Spectator says below 26.) Say “Fine, name a number
between 1 and 26. Whatever number you name, we use.” (Spectator
names a number.)

Remove the deck from the face down case, or turn over the case and
remove the deck. Discard the face up joker.

For an even card at an even number, or an odd card at an odd

number – deal to the card. (Mnemonic even-even, odd-odd)

For an even card at an odd number, or an odd card at an even

number – turn face up and discard the face down joker, deal to the
card.

Put the deck in the case and put it away. Turn over the card.
 Any Card At Any Number – In a Nutshell, Berglas

Court Deck in a Nutshell

Whatever you choose, we eliminate - free choice of color.
Whatever you choose, we eliminate - free choice of suit.
1st equivoque – We going with spot cards or court cards?
2nd equivoque – Boys or girls?
Free choice of jack or king.
3rd equivoque – Do we do the elimination above or below 26?

Red or Black Deck in a Nutshell

1st equivoque - Start the elimination, choose red or black.
Whatever you choose, we eliminate - free choice of suit.
2nd equivoque – We going above or below 6?
3rd equivoque - Face cards, sorry court cards, in or out?
4th equivoque – Do we do the elimination above or below 26?

Deck Switch – I don’t see a deck switch working for Any Card At
Any Number. The heat is too high when you need to switch. That
said, Martin Sanderson fooled me with his Bill in Kiwi Crossing
the Gaze switch when the heat was on, so there might be a way.
That said, Tamariz did not fool me with his Crossing the Gaze card
silk switch. I’ve always wanted to build a Lazy Susan into a
tabletop and lever the correct deck up into a deck shell.

Born, Waters, Richardson – I have not seen Born do his card case
cut-dump, but I fear too much futzing is necessary to get the
break, and the dump telegraphs method. Water’s thin-card double-
deck also bothers me for the same reason. I don’t think
Richardson’s deck turnover would get by me, but that said, Del
Ray’s turnover in his poker and blackjack deals fooled me. Stooge
solutions are of no interest. Trick That Can’t Be Explained
varying the effect is of less than no interest. Martin Breese is
5 years younger than David Berglas. Berglas may not be able to
take it with him.

Thanks to Gene Anderson, Martin Breese, Tony Chaudhuri, Bob Farmer, Bruce Florek, Ken
Krenzel, Marv Long, Dennis Loomis, Geno Munari and Tommy Wonder. I got the idea for the
equivoque from Ingenuities. Krenzel suggested the face down card case and displaying the card in
the deck. Loomis told me about the alternating stack in the Aronson Approach. The double
indexers, 3 decks and aggressive equivoque are mine. See Goldstein’s book for more information
on equivoque if you need it.
Picture of the sort of gimmicked card used. This is a error cut card.