What Is the Berglas Effect?
The Berglas Effect is widely considered amongst magicians to be the holy grail of card magic. In its purest form, the magician hands the deck to ‘spectator 1’. Following this the magician asks ‘spectator 2’ to name a card and ‘spectator 3’ to name a number. ‘Spectator 1’ then proceeds to count off the number of cards that were named and lands exactly on the spoken card. It should be noted that some versions of the Effect involve a shuffled deck.
There is a fierce debate amongst magicians as to whether the Berglas Effect is a controlled card trick, an instance of luck or the stuff of mythology. I am inclined to believe it is a combination of all three factors. Two phenomenal performances of the Berglas Effect can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mdXIVQ-asqU
The original Berglas effect, which is only known and performed by David Berglas and Marc Paul, has four strict criteria.
1.The deck is available for viewing prior to the trick (the cards are not touched by the magician.)
2.The genuine spectator can name any of the 52 cards in the deck.
3.A second genuine spectator is permitted to name any number between 1 and 52.
4.A third genuine spectator counts down the selected number of cards.
To the layperson, the Berglas Effect may appear to be a mildly entertaining card trick. To the magician who is familiar with the intricacies, methodologies and secrets of illusion, it is impossible. Some magicians have exclaimed that as the magician does not handle the deck, the trick can be one of either luck or fiction. A primary source recount of the Berglas Effect can be read here:
http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=31790
There are of course methods to maximise the chances of the Berglas Effect working. Psychological manipulation to somehow force the spectator to name a certain card or number is one such method. Another method involves the use of a stacked deck. There is (I suspect) a mathematical likelihood of females selecting a certain card (e.g. a queen) and males selecting a specific card. Following on from this theory, there would exist an order of likelihood of cards being named. These cards could be duplicated and spread throughout the deck at certain intervals. The Berglas effect in some instances will not work- the magician will realise that the named card and number will not match and he will have to improvise with an ulterior trick.
Most versions of the Berglas effect will involve the magician being aware of the order of the deck, having memorised it. Using psychological force to make the spectator count the cards from the top or bottom of the deck will double the chances of a successful trick. Many have speculated that the Berglas Effect requires the use of stooges for it to work however there exists enough evidence that the Berglas Effect performed by Marc Paul and David Berglas does not involve stooges. In fact a handful of lucky illusionists have witnessed a personal showing of a successful Berglas Effect by the aforementioned illusionists. Given the above techniques to maximise the likelihood of success of the Berglas effect, one is still left with a low percentage of successful performances. Unlike other A.C.A.A.N. effects, the conditions stipulated at the beginning of this article make it problematic for the magician to have any more involvement and hence trickery in the Berglas Effect than already mentioned.