Power Plays by Mike Powers

This ebook contains a large collection of visual magic including 20 impromptu card mysteries, 12 mathematical mysteries, 10 prepared card mysteries, 11 coin mysteries, and 6 miscellaneous mysteries. The focus is on card magic but you will also find mentalism, coins, rubber bands, drinking straws, paper money and other types of magic. Illustrated by Tony Dunn with a foreword by Allan Ackerman.

A couple of highlights are:

ITH Triumph: An in the hands triumph effect with three distinct phases.

Impromptu Terror: An impromptu moving hole effect with a card signed by the spectator on both sides. A hole is visibly moved across the card to join a second hole. Now one hole jumps to a different card and then back. Both cards are given away at the end. (Completely impromptu.)

The amBIGuous Card: A selection shrinks and grows in a highly visual manner.

PM Plus: The deck is examined by two spectators who then make free cuts for selections while the magician's back is turned. The deck is reassembled and the card case is placed on top so that the magician can see nothing. Now the magician deals cards to the table from the face down deck while looking away (the backs and faces are never seen by the magician). The magician stops dealing and creates a second pile. Again the dealing stops. Now the magician names both selections. When the top cards of the piles are turned over, they are found to be the selections! (Conditions: full examined deck, magician never sees the faces or backs of any card.)

Code 5: A two person effect in which a spectator creates a random 5 card poker hand from a full deck. This is done while one of the two person team is in another room. Now the other team member goes to a remote location without making any contact with his partner. The partner now enters and tells the spectator that she may keep any card as her 'hole' card (face down). She is instructed to turn the other four cards face up. After studying the four face up cards, the spectator is told what card is in the 'hole'.

Total Freedom: A shortened version of the Bannon item 'Degrees of Freedom' where six totally free selections are used instead of a royal flush. The spectators mix cards face up and face down. In the end there are exactly six face down cards as predicted by the magician. And yes, they are the six selections. (All 6 selections are free choices and are shuffled into the deck by a spectator.)

Animazement: A flip book trick (like Cardtoon) where an animated stick figure draws an X on a single card. Of course the card is the signed selection. A template is provided so that you can create your own animation sequence.

Finders Keepers: A card freely named by a spectator ends up sandwiched by two jokers while the cards are under the spectator's control.

Flipped Out: A spectator counts four coins. The magician's hands are otherwise empty. The spectator holds all four on her outstretched palm. She shakes her hands together and finds that one coin has jumped to the magician's hand. The three coins are placed again on her outstretched palm. The magician places his hand under the table. Now the spectator dumps the three coins onto the table. Only two hit the table! The magician brings his hand into view, now holding two coins.

Routined Rubber: A four phase rubber band routine that begins with a single band transforming visibly into two.

Smokin': Ron Jaxon's incredible jumping filter routine Outsmokin. The filter of a cigarette jumps from end to end in a highly visual manner.

Table of Contents

• Impromptu Card Mysteries
  • Open Travelers Transpo Redux
  • Impossible Collectors
  • ITH Triumph
  • Red Rover
  • Ace To Face
  • Expert Cards to Pocket
  • M-Mail
  • Sawing A Lady
  • Maxi Switch
  • Open Prediction 999
  • Psychic Birthday Predictor
  • Impromptu Terror
  • Natural Poker Power
  • Twist on Simon (Jay/Powers/Givens)
  • The amBIGuous Card
  • Best of All Worlds
  • Hoochie Coochie Aces
  • Signed, Sealed and Delivered
  • Virus
  • Reverse Faro Coincidence
• Mathematical Mysteries
  • Punch Intro
  • PM Plus
  • Punch Drunk
  • unch for Two
  • Numerical Analysis
  • Hide and Seek
  • Heisting Histed Heisted
  • Sunken Treasure
  • Code 5
  • The 7 Card 21 Card Trick
  • Total Freedom
  • Cut and Run
• Prepared Card Mysteries
  • Animazement
  • Back to Back
  • The Mystery Card
  • Red Shift
  • Subtle Princess
  • Invisible Triumph
  • Double Decker Sandwich
  • Finders Keepers
  • The Money Game
  • Tri-EASY-Thon
• Coin Mysteries
  • Flipped Out (Jaxon/Gerard/Powers)
  • Ten to One
  • Tarnex
  • Matrix Reverse Surprise
  • Expanding Expenditure
  • Twice Told Tales
  • Pushing "Two Quarters" (John West)
  • Progressive Matrix
  • Captain Hook
  • Minimalist Matrix
  • More Flippin' Out Ramsay
• Miscellaneous Mysteries
  • Smokin'
  • Double Your Money
  • Ring Transpo
  • Routined Rubber
  • Paper View
  • Science Friction

1st edition 2006, 232 pages; PDF 2019, 232 pages.
word count: 120948 which is equivalent to 483 standard pages of text