Effective Card Magic by Bill Simon (PDF)

Martin Gardner had the following to say:

“Bill Simon has achieved an astonishing mastery of the medium. His mind is constantly probing for new and subtler moves, and bold effects which break fresh paths in the card jungle. In this book he has given generously the fruits of his thinking and experience. The result is a book almost certain to become one of the basic texts of modem card conjuring.”

This ebook covers many entertaining plots, novel sleights, shuffles and fancy cuts as well as useful information on practice, structuring, presentation, audience participation and patter. Bill Simon writes at great length on the second deal and describes in full detail his excellent routine, Call to the Colors.

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Observations
• Part I Choice Tricks
  • Coincidence
  • Business Card Prophesy
  • The Instant Reverse
  • Three Queens Monte
  • Sympathetic Control
  • Elevator Cards
  • The Turnabout Cards
  • Card Affinity
  • The Gambler Controls The Aces
  • A Touching Experiment
  • The Ambitious Card
• Part II The Second Deal Tricks With The Second Deal
  • The Component Parts Of The Second Deal
  • Exercises
  • Performing The Deal
  • Concluding Thoughts
  • Tricks With The Second Deal
  • Call To The Colors
  • Two Numbers
  • Danbury Delusion
  • The Middle Deal
  • The F.B.I. Card
  • Four Card Location
• Part III New Sleights And Tricks Therewith
  • The Simon Card Control
  • Set-Up Of Four Cards
  • The Two Card Peek
  • A Piquant Peek
  • The Peek Force
  • The Simon Fan Steal
  • Telepathy
  • Automatic Writing
  • The Simon Secret Addition
  • The Thought-Of Ace
  • A Transposition
  • Cover For The Side-Slip
  • Tricks With The Cover For The Side-Slip
  • Predict Switch
• Part IV Interludes (Quick Tricks)
  • Discoveries
  • The Finger-Stab
  • A Trick With A New Twist
  • Half And Half (Elimination)
  • A Strange Card
  • Card In The Mouth
  • Four Deep
  • Unexpected
• Part V More Choice Tricks
  • The Magnetic Cards
  • Double Rise
  • Reverse Card Effects
  • The Ubiquitous Jack Of Spades
  • Rapid Transit
  • Mind Reading
  • “Touch” Retouched
  • Similar Twins
  • The Locator Three Of Clubs
  • The Somersault
  • Night Club Card Assembly
  • Double Prediction
  • Four Deuces And The Ace Of Spades
  • Deuces Wild
  • Four-Way Coincidence
• Part VI Shuffles And Cuts
  • The Basic Cut
  • The Simon System Of False Riffle Shuffles
  • The Top Stock Control
  • The Bottom Stock Control

1st edition 1952, 181 pages; 1st digital edition 2015, PDF 141 pages.
word count: 58226 which is equivalent to 232 standard pages of text