A little history and background….
Back in England when I was about 13, 14 I watched a show called “The Magic Comedy Strip” On this show was a old man and a little kid doing a card trick. This was the first time I ever seen Red Bicycle cards.
I was in complete aww of these. (If you’re in the US reading this. Getting hold of your every day Bicycle cards back in 1990’s was impossible. We didn’t have the internet. We had no way of knowing what these cards was, or who even made them.) However, every single magic show I watched at this time it seemed like every magicians would use these amazing looking red, or blue backed style cards. I will admit at one point I thought they was actual magic cards… (I was young and very stupid back then okay :)p)
I asked 100’s of people if they’d seen these, or knew where to get them… Nobody did. Then one day I was at some kind of talent show with my family and this guy was doing a trick for the audience, I looked over, and this guy had these Identical Red backed playing cards! (At this point I still didn’t know what “Brand” They was, or who made them. I just knew I wanted them at all costs! After the show I offered this guy the contents of my savings for them cards. I must of given him like 20 pounds, back then that was like 79 USD.
So, though-out my book and in all my tutorials I’m going to be using these cards. I’ve had these cards now for over 30 + years. They are so worn and faded and damaged, but I felt it fitting and a good story on what got me interested in card tricks and magic. So what better way, but to build this whole website/book using this 30 year old deck!
I’ve managed to find the EXACT moment the EXACT trick on TV from this series that I seen these cards in. I’ve add a screen grab of the VHS tape. Imagine finding the exact moment back in time that inspired you so much that 30 + years later you still remember it like it was just yesterday. And using that inspiration to build a website, write a book and build a community to hopefully find like minded people… Below, are pictures of these cards I’m still using today. The best 20 pounds ever spent back in 1992 ish.
So how does this all tie in with ESP Card Tricks?
On moving over to the USA for my work… On the first day doing some food shopping I came across a double pack of Red/Blue Bicycle Cards in a local Target store for just under 5 dollars! I finally after all this time had a name to who makes these amazing looking cards. I did a YouTube search for this company on my lunch break as I wanted to find out if they did other colors/patterns other than the standard Red/Blue. On my searching I came across a very UN-usual channel… “The Gaffed Academy” (My now Mentor!)
The first thing that caught my eye was the Blue Magic Mat they was using. the second thing I noticed was the performer was actually English… The 3rd thing I noticed… This performer was using Red Backed Bicycle Cards… In England! And not just any Red Back Bicycle Cards… These had weird symbols and patterns on them. (Later I’ve learned they are ESP/Zen-er Cards.)
At this point I’d never seen anything to do with Magic Tricks on YouTube. And I’d certainly not seen magic tricks done with these ESP/Zen-er cards… And just like that I was hooked. Just like I was when I first watched that TV Show back in 1990’s. So, after watching this trick/reveal, I scoured YouTube/TikTok and the Inter-webs for any more tricks/tutorials using these special symbol cards… Expecting to come across 100’s and thousands of videos/websites/blogs to learn ESP Tricks from…
I was shocked to find out that none actually exist. I’ve not found a single dedicated website/blog that shows tricks, tutorials, reveals… So, Star-Gate Was Born!
So, next was being so naive to think it would be very easy to get a hold of all kinds of brands of these Special ESP Cards. As of today (01/04/2024) The only brands of these special cards I can find anywhere is over-priced Bicycle branded ESP Cards. These are like 15-20 bucks for a packet of cardboard? So, I reached out to the Gaffed Academy and let them know about my website and what my mission goal was… I was expecting the usual canned response of “Cool, awesome good luck” But, no… The Gaffed Academy (Now my friend/mentor) offered to ship me over one of their ESP Packs.
Since over in the USA getting hold of ESP Cards is as hard as getting poop from a wooden rocking horse… I gladly accepted a packet of these. I think this is an amazing story for how/why this website was born. The YouTube magician that got me so interested in ESP Tricks is actually going to be sending me a packet of their own ESP cards! This will be like when a new business makes their first dollar and frames it on the wall… Now, all the ESP tricks/tutorials I’ll be sharing with you all will be done with one of YouTube’s most loved and popular magic performer’s own cards! Pete AKA The Gaffer.
Which when you think about it. This guy was the reason I started this site to provide over 200 + ESP Tricks that I’ve collected over the last 3-4 years. And to be-able to do these tricks/reveals/tutorials with a deck of their own cards… I can’t explain how much of a honor and privilege that will be. Below is the amazing 1 of a kind ESP Zenner box he kindly gifted me. (Which will be framed to stop it getting damaged.) In almost all his videos these are the cards he used to perform his Tricks & Tutorials. Please visit his channel by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@gaffedacademy
If you’ve not yet come across The Gaffer then you are really missing out. If you want to learn some amazing card tricks from one of YouTube’s most friendliest teachers then head on over to their YouTube Channel. Every day the Gaffer will perform a magic card trick then give you 24hrs to figure out how it was done… Then the very next day if you can’t figure it out, he reveals it and gives a really good break down/walk-through how to perform the trick. There’s 1000’s of great magicians and performances on YouTube, but they don’t fill that black hole of wanting to learn more and more. Other magicians don’t seem to realize what the people want/need. They will show a trick and then maybe 4-5 weeks later show how it was done. This serves no purpose at all in the magic learning community. Pete seems to be the only magician who understands what the people want/need. [Click here to visit The Gaffed Academy]
Before you continue… I would suggest reading [here] first, to learn more about the real ESP Experiment Origins.
Welcome to my website that’s dedicated to everything ESP/Mental-ism. So you’re probably asking why? Well that’s a good question. Let’s get into that answer. First, try finding a website online that is dedicated to revealing and showcasing the 1000’s of ESP/Mental-ism tricks out there that’s performed by armature and professional magicians? The closest you will find is a few tutorials scattered all across the “YouTube/TikTok Platform” But nothing “Website” Based. So, if you’re like me and really enjoy anything ESP/Mental-ism related you’re going to love sticking with me on this project. (TLDR: Nothing online like this website actually exists as of yet.)
Second, I don’t believe ESP actually exists. (Even though I’m really interested in anything ESP) I’m a realist. If it does exist then I’ve not found any proof. However, with the interesting way “Some Math Principals actually work” Cyclic, permutation, Cyclic + permutation, Gilbreath’s, Kruskal Count, Si Stebbins Stack, Aronson stack, Mandelbrot, Erdős-Szekeres theorem, flustration counts, then the myriad of fake cuts, fake shuffles and the many variants of a Charlier Shuffle, Charlier Shuffle1, the 3 pile cut put down and pick back up and many more… We can actually really FORCE ESP/Mental-ism to look and feel real. And this is what makes me very interested. The fact that using all these principals combined it would take a real genius of a spectator to understand the mechanics of how these various principals work together to be-able to produce such an amazing visual out-come such as ESP/Mental-ism. So, in a nutshell it will leave everyone wondering if ESP really can be achieved. Or, if it was just a trick. That couple of seconds of doubt makes it all worth it. You’ve visually done something impossible that cannot be explained, but they’ve just witnessed it happen right in front of them.
As for my background I used to many many years ago be privileged to have joined the “Magic Circle” This was a community IRL where you paid a membership to shadow and travel with famous magicians who helped you go from a novice armature magician into a professional if you wanted to take that path. (I didn’t) But that doesn’t mean I’m not a professional. I’ve done many performances in my lifetime, mostly on charity cruise liners etc. But now I mainly do this just for fun with family, friends, and work colleagues. I’m no longer interested in doing this in a professional capacity, more now like a hobby in my spare time. And I enjoy learning others so one day they may end up having the same amazing opportunities that I was lucky enough to have.
Now, before I continue I hear the following statements a-lot from friends/co-workers/idiots on-line. “But the first rule of Magic is supposed to be never to reveal your tricks” I really hate that saying it boils my blood. So let me give you an example. You watch someone perform a card trick, or some kind of “Magic Trick” Only to be told they refuse to reveal how it’s done?… But, yet it was fine for them to learn from someone else how it was done no? So, it’s fine for them to learn from someone that’s fine… But, to let someone else know what they learned is wrong? Really???
At some point that person you watched must of asked the person they learned it from to show them… What if they’d of said no? Or the person that person learned it from said no? See where I’m going here… Yes, if you’re a spectator and LOVE to watch Magic tricks and have no interest in knowing the secrets behind them… That’s awesome, but for people who may want to know how it’s done because they have an interest in such things, to be told no sorry It’s a secret is just bollox. They learned it why do they think their so special?
With that being said… All the videos/performances on this website WILL have a tutorial/reveal. Anything that cannot be revealed I’m not adding. It’s pointless showing something and not being able to explain how it’s done. I hate it when people do this to me… So I’m not going to do this to anyone else.
ESP/Mentalist performances come in many variants! (Which I will be showcasing on this webiste) So in other-words, they are not just to do with playing cards, or special ESP Zener Cards. They can be done with coins, every day objects, blank pieces of paper, even blank/self-printed playing cards. There’s so much you can do with ESP/Mental-ism on the spot without very little setup.
Finally, I have spent the last year putting together my ” Magic Book” Yes, it’s for sale, but all the proceeds of the book honestly goes into paying for the hosting of this website. (Hosting is not cheap at all.) In my book you can find 120 colored step by step well wrote out examples of all kinds of self-working tricks you can perform at parties, social events, or even on stage in live performances.
I’ve took 120 of the most popular free and public non commercial tricks and give each of them a make-over. I’ve elongated their original presentations and added my own unique enhancements. I’m not going to go into “My Book” Here since there’s a dedicated page for it on the navigation menu that explains it.
I really do hope you enjoy following me on this project. It’s very new right now. So, I can only build and work on this in my free time.
And Pete, Gaffer, If you by chance ever drop on this website… Thank you for taking the time to first read it 🙂 And second, thank you for giving all your time to people like myself who like to learn to then teach others. Your ESP videos was the reason this website got created… And If somehow this website takes off big then we only have you to thank for it.