In modern mentalism by Matt Mello it says that there is an acaan effect. In the reveiws: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view ... &forum=218
It says that this is one of the highlights of the product. I would like to know what the spectater experiences. I will probably get this anyhow, but I want to know if its better to just get it, or to also get hands off by Patrick Redford.

Craig Petty went crazy over this effect on the Wizard Product Review. I bought this 2 DVD set and I have to say that there is a lot of good close-up mentalism. I really like it.

That being said. The ACAAN is NOT an Any Card At Any Number. It is a MSCAAN (Magician Selected Card At Any Number). I watched the demo and Matt Mello gets a good reaction. But I could instantly see what he was doing. I'm really surprised that this fooled Petty.

Of course there are many variations of CAAN but the one I use is a super simple one from the Encyclopedia of Card Tricks. I personally think it is WAY better. I stumbled across this book at my public library. The trick is called The Magic Breath. I'm been having a blast with it, enhancing the presentation and adding a subtlety's to the handling. Even the bare-bones presentation in the book got me great reactions. One time, someone did figure it out so I've been tweaking it to prevent a clever spectator from backing into the solution.

This effect is 99% theater and 1% getting the card to the top of the deck via a your favorite method. The spectator selects a card from a shuffled spread or fan. The card is lost in the deck. The spectator names any number. You explain that about the "magic breath" and how it can move any card to a specific spot in the deck. Inevitably I fail because I forgot to blow on the deck or sometimes I pull out some Tic-Tacs mint implying that maybe my bad breath might be the problem (provides some time misdirection). Then I give them the deck and have them blow on it and then let them deal to the selected number. Amazingly, its their card. Trick done, amazing reactions. Try it.

If your library doesn't have this old book, Penguin sells it for $11 and it has hundreds of tricks. Not a bad read!

If you think close-up mentalism is your thing, then buy the Matt Mello DVDs - great stuff!

I really enjoyed Modern Mentalism. I completely agree with the above post as far as it not being an "Acaan" effect as listed. It still works as a nice effect for the layperson though. I LOVE the roulette cup and nail routine featured in disc 2 i believe. All in all, I would say that the effects are fun and easy. Nothing to earth shattering but I feel they are worth every penny and a great value. Go ahead and getem!