Intuition ACAAN by Brad Ballew

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Tom Frame
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Intuition ACAAN by Brad Ballew

Postby Tom Frame » September 25th, 2014, 3:57 pm

Intuition ACAAN (Video download and four PDFs) by Brad Ballew $9.95
Running time: 57 minutes
Available at: http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S18588


Brad Ballew is the latest in a seemingly endless procession of card conjurors to offer his method for performing ACAAN.

For your dough, you receive a video download, a Getting Started PDF, an Original Version Supplement PDF, an Advanced Version Supplement PDF, and a PDF of a bonus ACAAN effect, “Entanglement”. The Supplement PDFs include useful diagrams and cool photos of the wormhole card.

Mr. Ballew does a good job of teaching the material, both on video and in print. He includes his engaging presentations.



Original Version: A participant freely names a suit, say Hearts. The performer tables a cased deck. The participant freely names three single digit numbers. The first number must be less than five. The participant names 2, 6 and 9. The performer states that those numbers represent a position in the deck and the value of a card, specifically the 26th position and the Nine of, in this case, Hearts.

The participant removes the deck from the case and tables it face down. She counts 25 cards off the top of the deck into a face-down pile. She turns the 26th card face up and it is the Nine of Hearts. The performer displays the faces of several cards to show that they are different.


Sometimes the card at the number is turned face up and sometimes the next card is turned face up.

Sometimes you remove two Jokers and sometimes you don’t.

While the participant is aware of only one deck, Mr. Ballew’s method requires four decks. To create one deck, you need to cannibalize several decks. Thus, you will need to cannibalize well over a dozen decks to create the four decks.

The deck can’t be examined, it can’t be spread face up and it can’t be used for other effects.

Mr. Ballew’s method also involves minor memorization and a simple mathematical calculation.

The author describes a one deck method that allows you to table the cased deck before the effect begins. In this scenario, you ask several participants to name a suit and you use the participant and the suit that corresponds to the deck in play.

Or, if you want to involve only one participant, you must employ equivoque to steer her toward the required suit.

There is one series of numbers that prohibit you from performing the effect. If those numbers are named, Mr. Ballew teaches a very strong “out” which produces an entirely different effect.

I’m not willing to pillage numerous decks to create a one-trick deck that can’t be displayed.

I don’t like it.


Advanced Version: The performer tables a cased deck. In response to an equivoque procedure, the participant chooses black. She then freely chooses either Spades or Clubs. Let’s say she selects Spades. She freely names any three single digit numbers that aren’t consecutive. Let’s say she chooses 1, 4 and 7.

The performer draws a diagram to illustrate that the participant selected the Four of Spades and the number 17.

The participant removes the deck from the case and tables it face down. She counts 16 cards off the top of the deck into a face-down pile. She turns the 17th card face up and it is the Four of Spades. The performer assembles the deck and displays the faces of several cards to show that they are different.


Sometimes the card at the number is turned face up and sometimes the next card is turned face up.

Sometimes you remove two Jokers and sometimes you don’t.

This version requires only one deck. You need to cannibalize several decks to create it. You can display the faces of a number of cards, but the deck can’t be examined or spread face up.

The number selection process is more restrictive, and you must verbally steer the participant away from certain numbers. And again, there is one series of numbers that prohibit you from performing the effect. If those numbers are named, you proceed with the previously-mentioned “out”.

A bit more memorization is required to perform this version.

Here’s a news flash. If you have to draw a damn diagram to indicate which card your participant chose, your method is flawed!

I don’t like it.


Entanglement (Bonus Effect): The performer introduces a red cased deck and a blue cased deck. He places the decks together and hands them to a participant.

The participant names a random number, say 21. In response to an equivoque procedure, the participant chooses Spades. She then names any Spade except for an Ace. Let’s say she chooses the Four of Spades.

Depending upon the performer’s choice of two potential methods, he executes one of the following versions.

After the participant chooses her number and card, the performer whips out a notepad, opens it and writes the participant’s number and card on a page.

He retrieves his blue deck from the participant. He removes the deck from its case, finds the Four of Spades and places it in the 21st position from the top (or bottom) of the deck.

The participant removes her deck from its case, counts to the 21st card from the top (or bottom) of the deck and discovers the Four of Spades.

In the second version, after the participant chooses her card and number, the performer introduces two cards that bear an image of a wormhole. He explains that the wormhole cards will connect the two decks.

The participant inserts one of the wormhole cards under the cellophane on her card case.

The performer inserts the other wormhole card under the cellophane of his card case. He removes his deck from its case, finds the Four of Spades and places it in the 21st position from the top (or bottom) of the deck. He puts the deck back its case.

The participant removes her deck from its case, counts to the 21st card from the top (or bottom) of the deck and discovers the Four of Spades.


Sometimes the card at the number is turned face up and sometimes the next card is turned face up.

Sometimes you remove two Jokers and sometimes you don’t.

Sometimes the cards are counted from the top of the deck and sometimes they are counted from the bottom of the deck.

In the first version, after the performer writes the card and number on the notepad, the notepad is not used or mentioned again. A conscious participant must wonder why the performer bothered to record the card and number on the notepad and then never referred back to it. She is likely to correctly conclude that the unexaminable notepad was somehow “special”.

In both versions, the participant cannot choose the number 27. If she names a number from 1-5 or 49-52, the performer tells her “that’s not very random” and instructs her to name a “harder” number. If she names 12, 19, 26, 28, 35 or 42, the performer instructs her to add or subtract a freely chosen small number to or from the original number to arrive at a new number that is “even more random”.

Is that a contrived, indirect, limiting selection procedure or what? Ick!

I don’t like it.


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Bob Farmer
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Re: Intuition ACAAN by Brad Ballew

Postby Bob Farmer » September 25th, 2014, 8:37 pm

Tom, you're a saint for doing these reviews.

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Tom Frame
Posts: 1339
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
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Re: Intuition ACAAN by Brad Ballew

Postby Tom Frame » September 26th, 2014, 11:29 am

Aw shucks. Thanks Bob.


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