Try the Impossible

Try the Impossible

Try the Impossible by Simon Aronson, a book with tributes to decks in the Aronson Stack order, fans of math-based card tricks, and anyone who likes card tricks in general.

Weighing in at almost 300 pages, this book was set to please any fan of Aronson's, and it did just that. Self-published back in 2001, Try the Impossible introduces a new magic principle known as "UnDo Influence." This is a diabolical principle that requires minimal setup, becomes practically self-working, and packs a whopper of an effect that can be performed in so many ways.

In the Postscript section, Aronson also dives into a ring and rubber band effect, departing from card magic for a quick minute. The explanation for the trick is robust, but it looks quite worth it.

One note about the memorized deck section, subtly named "Unpacking the Aronson Stack", is that you don't actually need to memorize the stack. The entire chapter is full of tricks that utilize the stack, as a stack -- not as memdeck work. It is stack-dependent though, these tricks will only work with a deck in Aronson Stack order.

Where to buy?

Last I checked, you should be able to pick up Try the Impossible at Amazon.

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Contents of Try the Impossible

UnDo Influence

  • Prior Commitment
  • The Face-Down UnDo
  • Variation 1441
  • Variation 1839
  • "Surprise!"
  • Queenspell
  • The Face-Up UnDo
  • Divide and Conquer
  • Euph-Oracle (an Alternate Take)
  • Euph-Oracle - a Double Elimination Procedure
  • More-or-Less-acle
  • Alternate Take Deck Switch
  • Random Tandem
  • Worker Bees
  • Double Progressive Spell Stack
  • Twice as Hard
  • UnDo Influence: Theory and Practice

Eccen-tricks

  • Head Over Heels
  • Transposition
  • Glimpse
  • Into a Visual Change
  • Invisible Card
  • In-the-Hands Triumph
  • O'Aronson Aces
  • Zarrow-Elmsley Addition
  • Nosnora Aces
  • Marlo's Swindle Count Vanish
  • Elmsley Count plus Partial Rhumba Count Vanish
  • Broken Elmsley Count Vanish
  • Simon's Flash Speller
  • Spell It Out
  • Mark-a-Place
  • Decipher
  • Two Deck Canasta
  • Choices
  • Breathing Spell
  • Dizzy Spell
  • Queens and Kings
  • Two Beginnings
  • S. A. Combination
  • The Invisible Card
  • Oddly Enough
  • Rap-Ace-ious

Unpacking the Aronson Stack

  • Introduction: Stalking the Stack
  • Aces Awry (Producing the Aces)
  • Four on a Match (Producing the Fours)
  • Jack Coincidence (Producing the Jacks)
  • The Mind Reading Deck, Part 6 (Producing the Sixes)
  • The Mind Reading Deck, Part 9 (Producing the Nines)
  • The Mind Reading Deck, Part 7 (Producing the Sevens)
  • Two by Four (Producing the Twos)
  • Fit Four a King (Producing the Kings)
  • Joshing with the Threes (Producing the Threes)
  • Routine Maintenance (Poker Deal Restoration)
  • Truth-Sayer
  • Odds and Ends
  • Deal and Duck Poker
  • Reciprocal Spell Pairs
  • Threespell
  • Built for Two
  • Triple Trick Tip
  • Sequence Spells

Postscript

  • Ringleader
  • An Interview by John Bannon
  • Bibliography
This book is written by and featuring the work of Simon Aronson. It includes illustrations by Anne White, Susan A. Thomas, and Yolanda Salinas. Mine is a hardcover copy published in 2001 by Simon Aronson with a total of 288 pages.