Jon Racherbaumer – Processean Princess

Henry Hardin’s classic plot has captivated audiences for over a century, first detailed in The Art of Magic (1909). At a time when card tricks relied on physical selection, Hardin introduced a unique twist. In “The Princess Card Trick,” he challenges the performer to identify a mentally chosen card using only tactile means, with five cards concealed in his pocket.

Here’s how the trick unfolds: Five cards are displayed to a spectator, who is asked to think of one. The magician then places the cards into his pocket, removing four cards one by one to reveal the spectator’s choice, which is ultimately shown to be the last card remaining in the pocket.

• Introduction
• Looking Back…
• Who Was Henry Hardin?
• Early Explanations of the Hardin Version (1946)
• The Improved “Princess” Card Trick
• Improved Princess
• Princess Card Trick (George Kaplan)
• Dogging the Princess (Jon Racherbaumer)
• People’s Princess (Edward Marlo)
• Spots Before Your Eyes (Edward Marlo)
• After the Princess (Edward Marlo)
• Pocket Princess (Roy Walton)
• On Vernon’s “Mental Card Miracle”
• Princess Anytime (Anthony Brahams)
• Surprising the Princess (Jon Racherbaumer)
• Three-Card Princess (S. Leo Horowitz)

1st edition 2018, 40 pages. Word count: 10,771, equivalent to 43 standard pages of text.