New David Berglas Book

[Richard Kaufman]

I'd like to apologize for the tone of my initial post. It was correct, but rude.

This statement is simply not true:
"There is far too much handling of the cards."

Only a person who has not read and FULLY UNDERSTOOD the 200,000 words in the book (which very few people could do in a week, or even a month), could possibly make such a statement. MOST of the time there is NO handling of the cards when David does "The Berglas Effect." The method and techniques which David uses to achieve this are fully explained in the book.

If you have made the statement that there is too much handling of the cards in terms of "The Berglas Effect" then you have not read the entire book from front to back and familiarized yourself with all the techniques and presentations. I think for most people this would take several months at least.

I wrote the book and I know exactly what's in it. Making declarations like that a few weeks after you've read it only tells me that you didn't really comprehend exactly what David does as explained in the book.

[exmagician]

I purchased this book influenced by other buyer :-(

This is my big mistake. The methods and the techniques are already explained very well
in other books written by Juan Tamarize and better too.

Richard tries to explain how you can build the Berglas Effect using a full memorized deck
or without any setup or using a partial stack (In this last case he teaches you how to setup the deck as you performing other effects before "Think of Card" or "Name a card": ACAAN from Think of a Card, ACAAN from a Named Card, etc. ) Apparently, the effects are hands off without he touches ever the deck, but actually he touches the deck and set-up it some seconds before to perform the effect using misdirection. The ACAAN methods explained are very hard to do. I have seen, as suggested inside the book, to see first the DVD 2. I have seen his performance and my sister figured out immediately the secret. Perhaps this kind of magic was really good 60 years ago, but actually these methods doesn't work. The modern guys are very smart and youtube help them to become smarter to figure out the secret.

The funny thing is that the book starts saying the they will teach you how you can perform card magic without any sleight and then, in ACAAN parts, there are a lot of unworkable ACAANs with a lot of sleight.

If you perform exactly like Richard and David will teach you, I believe you will appear like someone that don't know what he is trying to do i.e. like a beginner that tries to perform a trick with some attempt.

If want to buy this book just for the Berglas effect please don't buy it. The Berglas Effect is not what you are thinking of.

Save your money, on the market there is many good stuff better than this one and with a good price too. I suggest: Juan Tamariz book he explains very well all the concepts explained inside this book and for ACAAN part any other book on the maket is better.

R.R.

[haroldross]

Mr. Kaufman-

I stand by my statement, "There is far too much handling of the cards." Please don't take that as a negative. When I do an ACAAN routine, I prefer not to touch the cards after setting them on the table at the start. This is me.

I can read fairly fast. Some would say I am a speed reader. No, I don't fully comprehend the entire book. No one but you and Mr. Berglas will ever do that. The book is a great read and has some very useful information. It is like my eyes have been somewhat opened a bit more. As I watch other magicians, I am seeing things I did not notice before in their techniques. I am glad that I purchased the book. As I said before, there is more to the magic of David Berglas than his ACAAN effects.

There will never be another David Berglas!

[Pussycat]

I showed the DVD performances for the THINK A CARD and ACAAN to my mother who is 82 years old. After the card was named, I wasn't surprised when my mother said..."what is he doing with the cards?" David Berglas was looking at the cards and cutting the deck while pattering. The method on the DVDs is so obvious, it is embarrassing. I'll stick to Meant To Be by John Born. Berglas' method is OLD, FRIED, and SET ASSIDE!

Try to state anything negative about The Berglas Effects book on his GENII Forum and you will be BANNED by Richard himself.

Shame on you Richard!

[Richard Kaufman]

I see comments above on this page that are simply not true.

First, there are no sleights used in the versions of Any Card at Any Number from a shuffled deck. Yes, you do move cards around, but it is not done with a sleight.

Second, the DVDs are meant to INSTRUCT. If you watch the Bull Theatre Show and see David make the adjustment the first time he performs "The Berglas Effect," and you are writing about how awful that is here, then you have NOT read the final chapter of the book which explains why NO ONE in the audience sees this. Do you think David is an idiot and has been fooling only himself with this for 50 years? Do you not understand that DVDs are a "dead" eye and don't allow for misdirection and stagecraft? Telling me that you showed it to your ancient mother as a "test" of some sort only informs me that you don't understand ANYTHING that is being explained to you in the book.

Third, for doing The Berglas Effect with a set-up deck, there are at least 14 numbers that let you reach any card in the deck without touching it, plus the 8 (or 12) convenient cards, plus the Aces and Eights effect (another 8 cards). For a professional magician who wants to perform MIRACLE EFFECTS without touching the deck, almost half the cards in the deck can be named and you can do that. And if you read the final chapter in the book you would know this, and you would also know that by having several spectators call out numbers, you are virtually guaranteed to hit at least one.

None of you seem to have read the book all the way to the end and really understood the information completely--a process which, I'll repeat, will take months at least. I'm not surprised by this, mind you. In fact David and I expected it.

As for John Born's method, it's overly-complicated. Asi Wind's is FAR FAR superior if you insist on thumb counting and doing a Pass as the deck comes out the box. Mind you, the effect is NOT the same to the audience as when the deck is on the table the entire time, or the spectator removes the cards from the box. With Asi's handling, you are always holding the box. With Berglas's handling, most of the time you never pick up the deck.
//merged//
ex magician, writing this like the quote below only proves how little you know about magic and what a poor magician you are:

"If you perform exactly like Richard and David will teach you, I believe you will appear like someone that don't know what he is trying to do i.e. like a beginner that tries to perform a trick with some attempt."

Do you really believe that? Do you think that when David performs for an audience he seems like a beginner that doesn't know what he's trying to do? YOU are the one who doesn't know what you're trying to do. Your comments only reveal the limitations of your own abilities as a magician and thinker.

And as far as all this material having been in print before in books by Juan Tamariz or anyone else--it's just NOT TRUE.

You guys need to read the book carefully several times, try out some of the material, and then you'll be qualified to pass judgment. At the moment, you don't know what you're writing about.

[Pussycat]

On the Magic Cafe Forum someone wrote:

The Magic Cafe Forums - The Berglas Effects by Richard Kaufman

"Berglas' method requires no gimmicked cards and no deck switch. That said, 95% of readers will never truly learn it... and many who do will stick with something less headache-inducing for actual performances.
Despite this, the book is a valuable read - just not something those expecting real magic (and there are many!) will appreciate."

Magician Mark Lewis responded to this comment by writing:

"In that case it seems like an awful lot of pages are taken up with something that nobody is ever going to do."


As a card performer for over twenty years and owning a huge collection of several hundreds card magic DVDs, I have never witnessed a card performer who peeks and fumbles the cards as much as David Berglas does. In a way, it is part of his act as Richard wrote in his book. That is Berglas' style. Not very practical in the real world. I agree that the book makes for a valuable read, but those seeking to impress an audience will shy away from Berlgas' methods.

One comment made by Richard that strikes me as misleading: " With Berglas's handling, most of the time you never pick up the deck." NONESENSE! Unless you rely on pure luck or unless you under estimate your spectators, hoping that they never saw you pick up the deck...or better yet...they forgot that you did...then perhaps you'll have a miracle.

But If my 82 year old mother can detect poor misdirection, trust me, Berglas' methods is not worth the risk. His methods leave me feeling like a clumsy con artist.

[exmagician]

Richard,

Look this video

YouTube - ‪The Mind of David Berglas Ep 4...

and tell me what he tries to do????

He seems like someone that don't know what have to perform.

I don't see the magic I see just a beginner, where someone names a card
and he looks for his card inside the deck, openly. My syster (14 years old) has seen this performance and revelead me immediately all the secrets.

The same happens with the performance in your DVD.

This is a ridicolous attempt to sell something very bold making it to appear like a miracle! D**n the day I purchased this book.

In the book you can find:

Forget math trick
Forget sleight of hand
....

I add

Forget you lost your money
Forget you are a magician
Forget everything and become and idiot

R.R

PS. Don't try to play with numbers with me!!!! You say 14 ways to find a card without you touch deck... I want to inform you that there is a very simple way to find Any Card at Any Number without you touch the deck ever without any misdirection = 3 / 4. Look the Lu Chen presentation: 3 times on 4 I am able to perform the same effect. How? Do you know The Birthday Paradox???? If you apply the same concept in your presentation you have a Lu Chen effect 3 times on 4. Please return to the school and start studying the math before to steal the money as you try to do with this book.

[Pussycat]

I'm not disapointed that I purchased the book because I know I can sell it on Ebay. At least my curiosity was satisfied. However, I am SHOCKED at how old fashioned Berglas' style is. I can tell he uses stooges when in different videos, at the beginning of his performance, someone shouts ACE of CLUBS or the ACE of HEARTS and he takes a large EIGHT of CLUBS or an EIGHT of HEARTS out of his jacket and changes it into an ACE...to be humorous. Nonetheless, he uses stooges. In all of his performances he uses the same lines...(i.e referring to people as two jokers...) He also awarded Uri Geller a prestigious award. Uri Geller is mentioned in the book twice...and we all know that Uri Geller is not just a phony (someone who claims to have super natural powers) but famous for exaggerating his feats. Richard did the same thing with Berglas. He depicted Berglas as an amazing magician, a legend. Richard's tour de force was his ability to sell Berglas by his book's TABLE OF CONTENTS. An impressive table of contents that doesn't deliver...

The funny part is how Richard states that it might take months to fully understand the book. This is a great exageration. Richard might be a famous magician but he is known mostly by magicians as a great writer of magic books. A writer that tends to conveniently exagerate.