ESPecially Good ESP Routines

To celebrate the release of AF ESP Deck, we asked our CFO and Erudite Magician, Jeff Kowalk, for some recommendations on for routines using ESP cards.

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What Are The Best ESP Card Routines?

As the resident “book guy” on the VI team, I’m sometimes asked how to make classic effects feel fresh. The answer in this case is from the 1930s. With the release of the AF ESP Deck, we aren't just releasing a modernization of a tool; we’re reviving an era where “extra-sensory perception” was a believable, captivating premise. Thinking through my recommendations

The standard 25-card “Zener deck” (so named because of its creator, psychologist Karl Zener) entered the zeitgeist in the 1930s and was quickly adopted by magicians and mentalists alike who wanted to spice up their acts with demonstrations of “extra-sensory perception.” Once the community got hold of these cards, their creativity exploded into hundreds of fooling effects. The best part about these tricks? What’s old is new again. It’s been almost 100 years since these cards were introduced to popular culture, which means that they’re now “vintage” with their own history and stories to tell an audience.

Below, I’m going to share a list of ESP tricks from magic literature that I think deserve your attention. But before I do, I want to return to the phrase “extra-sensory perception,” because it’s an important distinction from straight “mind reading.” Using ESP cards is something all magicians can pull off, because it taps into a more believable premise: that humans have an intuitive sense. This isn’t some sort of mystical woo-woo; it’s an untapped ability that all of us have and can use if we learn to listen to its quiet impulses. So even if you’re not a “mentalist,” I believe there’s a fantastic edge to presenting tricks with an ESP deck.

There’s just something about these cards...

To help you put this vintage aesthetic to work, here are some choice routines from magic literature that truly sing with a vintage ESP deck. I’ve arranged them to help you find a piece that will work for your character and situation:

What Are The Best ESP Routines for Close-up?

• "YGGDRASIL" - First introduced by Ted Annemann in 1938, this beautiful multi-phase routine is the gold standard for ESP card magic. While the original write-up calls for two decks, the clever performer can adapt the concepts into a one-deck miracle. I love this because it isn't just a trick; it’s a three-part psychological journey that builds while establishing the performer’s credibility from the first phase. You can find it in Practical Mental Magic.

• "The Third Dimension" - If you ask any veteran ESP practitioner for a recommendation, the name Nick Trost will invariably come up as a prodigious creator of such effects. Found in The Card Magic of Nick Trost, “The Third Dimension” is an ultra clean, ready-to-go test of a participant's intuition. It’s technically effortless, allowing you to focus entirely on the presentation. Because the AF ESP Deck contains markings within the vintage back design, the “fairness” of this routine is amplified since you can perform it face down instead of face up!

NOTE: Nick’s 9-book series, Subtle Card Creations also share a ton of these ESP routines, so I invite the curious student to dig into them as well!

• "Burnt Offerings" - Max Maven was not only prolific, but also brilliant, and this ESP effect (from Prism, p. 13) is no exception. Unlike many of the other effects on this list, you don’t actually need ESP cards, nor are you the one to reveal the participant’s chosen symbol. This is a simple code sequence to be used with a friend, spouse, or significant other as you see fit. Plus, it’s intended to give out your business card, so that’s a win!

I thought it was appropriate to use ‘30s technology to write this…

What Are The Best ESP Card Routines for Parlor?

• "It’s in the Bag" - Larry Becker’s World of Super Mentalism opens with this powerhouse routine, and for good reason. It’s one of the few ESP routines specifically designed to play for a larger room using three participants. Whether you present it as mind reading or a demonstration of '“unconscious signaling,” the technical requirements are nearly zero, letting the props and the mystery do the heavy lifting. (As an aside, the dimensions of the AF ESP Deck cards make this even easier than the original write-up using a poker-sized deck).

• "E.S.P. Design Duplication" - from the fertile mind of Bruce Bernstein, this is another effect with the ESP deck that can be performed in front of as large an audience as you can gather. In my opinion, the AF ESP Deck is perfect for this, both due to the size (larger for parlor audiences) as well as the easy-to-read markings required. In the words of the author, “... This would be a great effect with which to start. It’s direct, easy to understand, and this type of E.S.P. design duplication plays well for almost any type of audience.” You can find this in his excellent book, Unreal (p. 22).

What ESP Card Routines Do Professional Magicians Use?

• The Zenith Stack - while not specifically a trick, this is a useful stack for the ESP deck to help disguise any pre-arranged order for magical purposes. Most of us are familiar with the basic version of an ESP deck stack, but this takes it to the next level. It may look complex at first, but don’t despair; walk through it with cards in hand and prepare to have a new superpower unleashed. You can find it in Doug Dyment’s Calculated Thoughts (p. 110). If you do elect to use this stack, be sure to check out “ESPerimental” (p. 167) for a killer start to a short ESP interlude.

• "Bob’s Your Uncle" - Also found in Calculated Thoughts (p. 159), this is the perfect follow-up to a solo demonstration. It shifts the spotlight to two participants, proving that they are the ones with “the gift.” Using a vintage-style deck like the AF ESP Deck makes the experience feel less like a magic trick and more like a shared, strange experience from a 1930s laboratory.

Where Can I Learn More ESP Card Routines?

There are hundreds of tricks you can do with an ESP deck. These are a few that stand out for me, but if you want to see a complete bibliography, Denis Behr’s Conjuring Archive is an excellent resource.

I hope these sources serve you!

Now you might be looking at my list and thinking that you don’t have many of these resources, or that the tricks themselves might not work for you. But, let me share a broader tip that will help you no matter what. It comes from the fertile mind of Stewart Judah all the way back in 1963:

“To the layman, there’s an added touch of mystery in the mere use of ESP cards…and this is to the advantage of the magician who likes to use an occasional mental effect in his program. Even the oldest card trick can be so dressed up by using ESP cards that the principle becomes unrecognizable! But remember - in such a case, the effect must be presented as scientific phenomena - mere card tricks have no standing whatsoever in the realm of mentalism!”

The important part of the passage is that you can use ESP cards in place of a standard deck in a plethora of card tricks, AND THE EFFECT WILL HIT HARDER! Practically speaking, there are an infinite number of tricks that can be done with the “Zener Deck,” so let your creativity go wild. The AF ESP Deck was designed to look vintage, so it fits in perfectly with the “scientific phenomena” presentation. What trick will you use to showcase your new ESP deck?!

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Want more like this? Check out Jeff's Substack here!