“My main goal is to fascinate the audience into thinking that they are dreaming, even if this is only for a few seconds”
Juan Tamariz is without a doubt, my favorite magician of all time. This classy yet eccentric Spanish maestro has wowed audiences for decades without ever losing his charm.
If you’re interested in learning magic like Juan Tamariz, read till the end where I’ll be revealing how to access my free ultimate guide to learning magic!
A little about Juan Tamariz
Juan Tamariz was born in Madrid, 1942. From a young age, he was interested in the world of magic and illusion, and it wasn’t long before his skills started developing. He was accepted into the Spanish Society of Illusionism at only 18, working alongside some of the best magicians of the time.
Despite academic forays into physical sciences and film, Tamariz will always be known best for his magic. In 1973, he won the World Prize of magic in Paris for a magnificent card trick that stunned everyone.
Since then, he has become a recognized expert in the field of misdirection, publishing multiple incredible books packed with magic theory.
Juan Tamariz, today, is a celebrated celebrity is Spain due to his numerous appearances on television and extremely likable personality.
He continues to perform magic.
Why he is THE BEST
Of course, when we talk about ‘the best’ of any given field, we are usually referring to those who push it forward the most. Filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and artists like Pablo Picasso are often named as ‘the best’ of their art form due to the way in which they helped push it forward.
No one since Dai Vernon, the Professor, has increased our understanding of magic more than Juan Tamariz. He has spearheaded a whole new school of magic within Spain that has given rise to world champions of card magic and pure artists such as Dani DaOrtiz.
His books such as ‘The Magic Way’ have illuminated our understanding of the subtleties required to perform magic to his standard.
Examples of his work
A general YouTube search of ‘Juan Tamariz’ will reveal some great little gems of his, but I would particularly recommend these:
This trick is a variation on a classic of magic – ‘the oil and water’. Usually the magician will perform a lengthy piece of sleight of hand where he firstly displays red cards slowly and fairly mixing with black cards but incredibly is somehow able to magically separate the two in a click of his fingers.
Juan Tamariz takes this classic concept and subverts our expectation by performing a very short and very clever oil and water piece. See if you can figure out the outrageous technique he uses (hint: once you see it, you’ve seen it).
Follow the leader is another great Tamariz trick that is not only astonishing but just plain funny. Tamariz is a comedic genius, and we can clearly see this genius at work within this effect. Always watch his hands during this one, or you will be fooled.
This trick seems a fairly simple one, but stay with it and you’ll be shocked by the reveal at the end. I know I was. The true magic of this trick though lies within the masterful presentation. Watch the way he reveals each card one by one.
How do you learn these tricks?
Tamariz has released a fair amount of teaching material. You could purchase his Penguin Live Lecture, which is available at Penguin Magic.
You could also consider having a look at one of Tamariz’s books; they are gems packed with pure magic theory that, if followed, can take you to the next level.
Mnemonica is not for the faint of heart or inexperienced magicians. If you are looking for a stacked deck system, you can’t do much better than mnemonica. Within this system, hundreds of possibilities are opened up.
The Magic Way is one of Tamariz’ most famous works. Within it, he tries to teach how to take a single magic trick and slowly evolve it to a level that is so impossible for the spectator to figure out that instead they stop trying to and just enjoy the trick. I would highly recommend this book, but if you are looking for a book that teaches you specific magic tricks, this isn’t one of them- instead, it is more about teaching theory of magic that can be applied to any trick.
Verbal Magic is another of Tamariz’s books that has been translated to English. This is an interesting one; within it, Tamariz discusses how to use solely the power of your voice to create effects.
Tamariz is well-known for performing magic over the radio, and in this book he teaches how to perform effects that only ever take place in the hands of your audience- all they need is your voice telling them what to do. A fascinating concept, but I would recommend The Magic Way just a bit higher.
Five Points In Magic is a book dedicated to the art of misdirection. In this piece, Tamariz teaches us how to use not just the hands, but the whole body as tools of misdirection. Highly recommended.
Sonata. Good luck trying to find this one; it appears to be out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy then you will be able to browse a collection of some of Tamariz’s personal tricks, sleights, and subtleties.
Most of his books are available in English, but it might take a bit of difficulty to dig around and find them. I have linked to the ones available on Amazon, but some may also be possible to buy on eBay!
I hope you learned something from this short piece on Juan Tamariz. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will try my best to answer them!
As promised, if you want to know how to learn magic tricks for free then check out my all in one guide right here!
And as a HUGE bonus allow me to regale you with one of my favorite ‘Tamariz tales.’
NOTE: This is a story I heard directly from a close friend (that I’ve never seen it told anywhere else) which I’ll repeat to the best of my recollection.
Our story starts ordinarily enough—a group of magicians spending the evening dining with Juan Tamariz in a local restaurant.
As you’d expect, midway through the meal they get to magic—and as part of one of Juan’s routines, he gets one of the group to sign a card. Naturally, once the trick is over, no one thinks twice about it.
That is until they leave the restaurant, and Juan asks them a strange question:
“Left or right?”
Bemused, they choose a direction, which Juan promptly takes them in. When they get to the next intersection, Juan again asks a simple question:
“Left or right?”
This goes on for a little while, each time they’re given a free choice about where to go. Eventually, they come to a stop next to an object (i want to say a bike but my memory is playing up) on the street.
Tucked into that object is a playing card.
When they pick it up and turn it over, they find…
…their SIGNED card.
Yep, the very same from earlier in the night.
Everyone’s jaws drop to the floor. They’re fooled so hard they don’t even know where to begin. And although I’m refraining from name-dropping…these are no ‘small timers’, they’re big names with decades of experience in professional magic.
And Tamariz, he just takes them to the cleaners. Absolutely floors them.
(btw, when I heard the method behind this, I couldn’t help but laugh. While it’s not my secret to reveal, rest assured it’s classic Tamariz deviousness.)
Here’s the moral of the story—Juan Tamariz might act like a lunatic, but he’s one heck of a clever guy.
And you can find what i believe are his most invaluable lessons and secrets inside his landmark book, Mnemonica.
You’ll discover:
* An idea used by the legendary Polish mentalist Chan Canasta to astonish TV audiences across the nation (this effect alone is worth the ‘cost of admission’). Found on page 79.
* ‘Mnemonicsis’, found on Page 97 (and used by pros like David Blaine on unsuspecting audiences and celebrities around the world)
* Juan’s A.C.A.A.N (this is about as close to the Holy Grail of card magic as you can get) found on page 82
* Juan’s bizarre but effective method to master the stack in one day (rather than the weeks or months it takes most people) found on page 21-27
* A little-known principle of mathematics that, when applied to the stack, will allow you to perform 8 of Mnemonica’s most stunning effects in a row (even though you’re genuinely shuffling the deck the whole time!) found on pages 169-171.
* A variation on Vernon’s ‘Triumph’ found on page 264 (if you recently picked up Stars of Magic as per my recommendation, first learn Vernon’s Triumph and then take a look at this for an easy way to make the whole effect ten times more fooling)
* A complete method to open a fresh deck of cards and be in stack in mere minutes. Used correctly, this will absolutely fry other magicians (and best of all, you do all the ‘dirty work’ in front of them). Found on page 14.
* And more than 400 pages of Juan’s 40 years experience creating memorized deck magic and effects of every kind.
My intel tells me the copies left at Amazon are rapidly dwindling (only 1 left in stock last I checked), so if you want to pick it up and get it shipped to you ‘mucho rapido’, I’d secure yours ASAP using the affiliate link below:
If you still haven’t clocked that Juan Tamariz is the ‘Vernon of our time’, check this out…
I found a video from ‘way back when’ in 1989, featuring Juan Tamariz, two decks of cards, and a performance that is fast becoming one of my all-time favorites.
You’ll watch:
* Juan’s ridiculously effective opener…that isn’t even a ‘real’ trick (but yet is vastly more entertaining than most)
* Juan’s stunning version of the now classic ‘two card monte’
* A bold ‘timing’ force executed to perfection (most magicians would never have the balls to go for this)
* A mini-masterclass on misdirection, audience engagement, and of course, the memorized deck
* Juan’s wonderful ‘ACAAN’ (the ‘holy grail’ of card magic)
Anyway, I could rave about Tamariz for hours, so you better stop me here.
Take a gander at this and see for yourself:
thedailymagician.com/tamariz-
The Blaine household using Mnemonica:
Here’s a crazy video of David Blaine’s daughter performing professional-grade card magic at the same age most of us are still figuring out which card is which.
Now, the Blaine household methods are theirs to keep, but I don’t think it’s a secret that many of the effects performed make use of a stacked deck. To be specific, the Mnemonica stack, which it looks like David taught to his daughter from a young age.
The whole thing reminds me of that oft-used quote:
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.”
Indeed, I would make that read:
“The best time to learn a stack was 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.”
The fact that of all the secrets and methods Blaine could have shared with his daughter (goodness knows he has a lot of them) he chose to go with this very stack is very telling.
It’s likely because Blaine believes there is no more powerful ‘reaction machine’ in magic than mastering Mnemonica.
I happen to agree.
The best magic video i’ve seen all year…
The following video is shot on a handheld camera with crappy audio and shaky filming—and it’s still the best magic video I’ve seen all year…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0MLJ1u0_KE
In this clip, you’ll get a rare chance to see one of Juan Tamariz’s impromptu close up sessions.
Keep in mind as you watch this that Juan is performing for a room full of magicians—including people like Jason England and John Carney (both incredible performers in their own right). And he practically runs rings around them. It’s pure gold.
I’ve watched this clip twice over the last week. It’s so good, I might just go watch it again now.
If you enjoyed that video, wait until you see this…
The link below will take you to ‘Part 2’ of yesterday’s video, another 10 minutes of pure Tamariz wonder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3YqC93GPHM
In this video…
* John Carney gets baffled by a ‘hands-free’ divination effect (I have ZERO idea how it works)
* Juan pulls off one of the cleanest ‘Card at Any Number’ effects I’ve ever seen (and then has the cojones to go and do it AGAIN less than two minutes later)
* Juan proves why he’s the master at directing attention with a sneaky card ‘load’ that NOBODY spots
* You discover why you should NEVER bet against Tamariz…
By now you might have guessed that Juan Tamariz is one of my FAVORITE magicians.
If you’ve been paying attention, you should know this by now:
Juan Tamariz is my favorite magician, and his methods are nothing short of genius.
In this email, you’ll discover how to use one of Juan’s best secrets to fool any magician you meet…
First, let me start with a story.
Back in 2017, an eccentric magician called Siegfried Tieber appeared on the hit show ‘Penn and Teller: Fool Us.’
He let Penn and Teller choose ANY two cards from the deck, return them to the pack, and cut the cards—all while his back was turned on the action.
And then, despite the fact he proceeded to fairly and cleanly destory every potential chance he had to guess their card…
…Siegfried easily and quickly named BOTH cards in an astonishing display of mental power!
Penn and Teller were astonished, and Siegfried went home with a ‘fooler’ trophy.
Little did they know, the secret was an extraordinarily simple principle first discussed by legendary mentalist Theodore Annneman and recently ‘rebooted’ by Juan Tamariz.
Click the link below to watch Siegfried stun Penn and Teller, and discover how you can get your hands on this astonishing effect.
https://thedailymagician.thrivecart.com/neither-blind-nor-stupid/
Anyone that watched that video should know by now, Siegfried is pretty ‘crazy.’
Which is why you might be shocked to learn that compared to the ‘original’ performance…
So, what’s the video?
In this performance, you get to watch Juan Tamariz perform the SAME effect as Siegfried—with ten times the ‘craziness’.
Juan Tamariz is undoubtedly the ‘king of crazy’ … but don’t let that fool you. His method is ingenious and relies on a hidden concept first discovered by legendary mentalist Annemann that will fool both magicians and regular spectators alike!
Click the link below to watch Tamariz go crazy…
https://thedailymagician.thrivecart.com/neither-blind-nor-stupid/
Here are a few more things you’ll find in the training that I thought you’d like to know:
You’ll discover:
* Why Juan thinks ‘presentation’ is NOT the most important aspect of an effect (and why most magicians get this plain wrong!)
* A bizarre metaphor Juan shares that illustrates more about magic in 2 minutes and 4 seconds than most 2 hour lectures (that frankly is worth the cost of admission alone)
* Why Juan goes ‘crazy’ performing this effect and what it would look like if he didn’t (the result is practically unwatchable)
* TWO easy but fooling false shuffles I haven’t seen ‘tipped’ before
* How Juan literally creates ‘false memories’ in his audience (this is as close to Jedi mind tricks as you can get)
* Why revealing two cards the same way is a huge mistake (and what to do instead)
* How to end with a ‘kicker’ ending that destroys audiences (by showing them the EXACT secret behind the effect without anyone realising!)
PLUS…
As an extra bonus for folk that grab theirs soon, I’ve included an alternative handling by yours truly that ‘cleans up’ this routine so you can immediately let your audience examine the cards afterward (this is a handling that you can’t find anywhere else.)
See, I discovered a method that is NEARLY identical—but with one key difference that allows you to ‘end clean’ and triple the potential power of this effect!
It’s a pretty simple concept, but it didn’t occur to me for a long time. Now that I have it, I would never perform it any other way.
This secret isn’t taught in the main training, and you won’t find it anywhere else.
Luckily for you, when you secure ‘Neither Blind nor Stupid’ using the link above, I’ll give it to you for FREE.
I hope you enjoyed this post on Juan Tamariz! Let me know if you have any questions.
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