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Fresh from the success of his Confession and Oblivion manuscripts, Avik is back, this time with a short treatise on cards.
The star of this show is his 'Vortex principle' - a method for covertly spotting and controlling multiple cards from a fairly shuffled deck. One could describe it as a 'control in stages', because it is not one single movement you do to control a card. It is something you do while you casually shuffle your cards.
Next, comes an effect called "Any Card at Any Name", which employs an age-old principle to powerful effect.
The central section of the manuscript details 'The Narcissus Peek', subtlety for peeking information - be it a card, a billet, a book, a crib or any other peekable information. It's a stunning idea that, used sparingly, could be very deceptive.
The penultimate section of the book describes a routine employing the 'Vortex principle' in which the performer displays powers of "Shuffle Tracking". It's a two-phase routine with some nice psychological elements at play and in which the performer actually does almost exactly what he claims.
The final section is an essay detailing methods of practicing estimation and location (both by eye and by feel) with a deck of cards. Anyone serious about developing these skills could use this essay as a solid starting point.
