Cunning Attractions by Jon Racherbaumer

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Tom Frame
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Cunning Attractions by Jon Racherbaumer

Postby Tom Frame » June 6th, 2013, 5:38 pm

Cunning Attractions (Ebook) by Jon Racherbaumer $5.00
43 pages, 45 photographs
Available at: http://www.realworknow.com


I’ve been a rabid fan of Jon Racherbaumer’s work for nearly 40 years. He is my favorite magical writer. In the interest of full disclosure, I must also tell you that we are friends. If you need to take this review with a grain of salt, so be it.

In his sublimely titled Cunning Attractions, Mr. Racherbaumer teaches six card effects that employ the celebrated tiny plunger. He also includes a bonus non-plunger effect and a control.

Lest you suspect that the author is merely capitalizing on the feeding frenzy generated by Kozmo’s Tiny Plunger DVD, bear in mind that Mr. Racherbaumer released this ebook on March 31st. The Tiny Plunger DVD was released on May 6th. So there.

The author is an excellent writer and does a great job of teaching the material. He dutifully cites his inspirational sources, primarily Jon Armstrong’s already classic routine.

The photographs vary in quality, but they are helpful nonetheless.


Stuck Up: A participant freely selects a card, which is lost in the deck. She gives the deck several straight cuts.

The performer introduces a miniature plunger. He presses it against the top of the deck. He lifts the plunger and it picks up a packet of cards. He tables the packet away from the deck. He presses down on the plunger and spreads the cards toward him. He displays the bottom card of the spread. It is the selection.


I like it.


Suck-Up Sleuth: A participant cuts the deck into three equal piles. She shuffles the original top portion of the deck and places it onto the center pile. She shuffles the original bottom portion of the deck and freely selects a card from it. She places her card onto the combined pile and places her in-hand cards on top of her card to bury it. She gives the deck several straight cuts.

The performer retrieves the deck and shuffles it. He presses the plunger against the top of the deck. He lifts the plunger and it picks up a packet of cards. He displays the face card of the packet. It is the selection.


You must be able to execute a perfect Faro shuffle.

I like it.


Malini Lite: A participant freely selects a card, which is lost in the deck. The performer tables the deck and uses both hands to slide the cards around haphazardly. In casino parlance, this is called “washing” the cards.

He introduces an opaque handkerchief and spreads it over the cards so they are completely covered. He places the plunger under the handkerchief, onto the center of the spread of cards.

The participant grasps the shaft of the plunger through the handkerchief and moves the plunger around until she decides to stop. She presses down on the plunger, sticking it to a random card. She lets go of the plunger.

The performer grasps the shaft of the plunger through the handkerchief, lifts up and rotates everything to display the face of the card. It is the selection.


I really like it.


Pokerratum: The performer spreads the deck face-up and up-jogs one card. He continues spreading the cards and a participant touches four more cards. He strips out the up-jogged cards and places them on the face of the deck. One at a time, he turns each selection face-down and places it on the bottom of the deck. He turns the deck face-down.

The performer spreads the top four cards to again display the selections. He flips them face-down onto the deck and tables it.

He presses the plunger against the top of the deck and rotates the shaft of the plunger between his fingers. The top five cards spread in a circular fashion, creating a rosette. He lifts the plunger and the five cards and tables them. He disengages the plunger. The participant turns the cards face-up and discovers that they have transformed into a royal flush.


Mr. Racherbaumer’s procedure of placing the selections face-up onto the deck, then turning them face-down under the deck, then turning the deck over to display them again, then turning them face-down onto the deck, then removing them again (whew!), is protracted and contrived. Superior methods exist for accomplishing the switch.

I don’t like it.


A Plunger Went A’Courting: The performer thumbs over the top four cards of the face-down deck. He flips them face-up onto the deck, displaying the four Jacks. He turns the Jacks face-down onto the deck, removes them and tables them.

The performer shuffles the deck and tables it face-down in front of a participant. She cuts the deck into four piles. The performer displays the Jacks again and deals one on top of each of the tabled piles.

The performer places the plunger on top of the left-most pile, but he doesn’t stick it to the card. He picks up the plunger and taps it on the pile to the right, then the next one, and finally he places it on the right-most pile.

He presses down on the plunger and lifts it and the four cards beneath it. He tables the packet away from the four piles. He turns the four cards face-up and reveals that they are the Jacks. The participant turns the top card of each pile face-up and discovers the four Aces.


I really like it.


Aces Take a Plunge: The performer shuffles and cuts the deck. He states that he will cut to the Ace of clubs. He cuts a packet off of the deck, turns his right hand palm-up and reveals the Ace of Clubs. He tables the Ace face-down off to the side. He reassembles the deck.

The performer states that he will attempt to cut to the Ace of Diamonds. He shuffles and cuts the deck. He cuts a packet off of the deck, turns his right hand palm-up and reveals the Ace of Diamonds. He tables the Ace face-down with the first Ace. He reassembles the deck.

The performer repeats the feat with the Ace of Spades. He tables it with the other Aces.

He cuts the deck and asks a participant to name a number between ten and twenty. The participant names the number fifteen. The performer shuffles the deck and tables it face-down.

The performer presses the plunger against the top of the deck. He lifts the plunger and it picks up a packet of cards. He removes the plunger from the packet and tables the packet in front of the participant. She counts the packet and discovers that it consists of fifteen cards. She turns the top card of the packet face-up and discovers the Ace of Hearts.


I like it.


In-Depth: Here, Mr. Racherbaumer teaches his finessed method of executing Tilt. In this familiar handling, after the performer ostensibly inserts the selection into the center of the deck, he leaves it in-jogged for about half its length. He turns the deck sideways and the participant pushes her selection flush.


I like it.


Ham-Fisted Find: A participant freely selects a card and places it face-down on top of the face-down deck. She cuts the deck several times to lose her card.

The performer retrieves the deck and cuts it. He spreads the deck with the faces toward him and then he closes the spread and cuts the deck.

The participant names a number between ten and twenty. Let’s say she chooses the number sixteen. The performer shuffles the deck and tables it face-down.

With his right hand, he makes a fist and presses it against the top of the deck. His lifts his fist and a packet of cards adheres to it. He slams his fist and the packet onto the table.

He draws his fist toward himself, causing the packet of cards to spread. He picks up the cards and counts them in a face-down pile. There are exactly sixteen cards. The participant turns the top card of the pile face-up and discovers her card.


I like it.


It would have been reasonable for Mr. Racherbaumer to charge $15.00 for this meritorious material. Putting a mere $5.00 price tag on it is a magnanimous gesture, for which he earns bonus points. If you’re a petite plunger enthusiast, get off the pot, pull up your pants and buy this ebook immediately!


Highly Recommended

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