BARRY’S

DECEPTIVE DIARY

Barry Ray

ABOUT DECEPTIVE DIARY

Back in the latter part of the 1980’s, I was using an effect of mine called

“Deceptive Diary”. In 1990, I put this effect on the market. It was the first

diary trick to use only one diary…having a selection of over 40 cards!

Before that, the diary trick either used two or four (sometimes six) diaries,

forcing anything from two up to eight cards. As I said, “Deceptive Diary”

allowed for any one of 42 cards for any given date, but the major dilemma

with this, was that it required mental gymnastics to work out the value of the

card for any given date.

Over the years this got harder and harder for me to do…and I invented it! It

wasn’t just the brain cells…maybe I was interacting too much…people

would butt in…waiters would bump you…the usual distractions, plus the

noise didn’t help. So, I then created “Easy Diary” and started using that

instead. But every now and again, I would go back to “Deceptive Diary”,

hoping to find a better way of performing it. I tried a crib sheet, stacking the

deck, you name it, but I still wasn’t happy.

But the stacked deck was the closest I came to a solution, although I felt it

made the effect seem mathematical, counting down to their card. Then I had

a brainwave, or to be honest, it was more in desperation than anything else.

What if I reversed the stack and ran through the cards face up and found

their card? The only problem with this, you had to count the cards silently

and it looked like you were counting.

So, I thought, what if I marked every 5th, 10th, 15th card etc. With this, I

would only need to count a few cards…but how to mark the cards without

the marks being seen and you could see the marks, even in bad light?

It was then I discovered something so astounding, it completely took me by

surprise. Those positions were already pre-marked! And I’ve been using this

effect for twenty five years and never noticed it! Ah well, such is life.

OOO

THE OLD WORKINGS

“Deceptive Diary” is mathematically generated…otherwise you would never

be able to work out their card for any given date of the year. But don’t let

that frighten you…the mathematics have been done away with…and so has

the memory work! Here is a brief description of how it works.

1: Imagine the 52 cards of the deck laid out in the SHCD formation andeach suit running from ace to king. The top card (01) is the AS and thebottom card (52) being the KD. (All single digits have a zero prefix, thismeans, that all numbers contain two digits and can be reversed).

2: When a date is given, say, the 23rd of August, add 23 (the date) and 8(the month) together to make 31. Reverse this number, giving you 13.The 13th card in the stack is the KS.

3: If the reversing calculations exceeded 52, say, 63…you would subtract 5from the 6 and add it to the 3, making 18…and the 18th card in the stackis the 5H.

Now that you have read the above, you can forget it…because you will

never use it! Instead, the deck will be doing all the work.

However, if you wish to do it this way…by all means do so.

Over the years, the imaginary stack and the maths have been modified, but it

still needed mental gymnastics to work out the card!

OOO

THE OLD STACK

As I used a deck of cards for the revelation, why not stack the deck, this

would take away all the mathematics. So, I stacked the deck as laid out

below.

Face down this is the old deck stack. X indicates an indifferent card

X…7H…4C…AD…JD…2H…QH…9C…6D…AS…JS…8H…5C

2D…QD…3H…KH…10C…7D…2S…QS…9H…6C…3D…KD…4H

AC…JC…8D…3S…KS…10H…7C…4D…8S…5H…2C…QC…9D

4S…AH…JH…8C…X…X…X…X…X…X…X…X…X

The second card from the top is the 7H, which is January the 1st

If someone gave you the date of March the 3rd, you would count down to

that date, without reversing the cards, like so: January, February, March, 1st,

2nd, 3rd removing a card for each count. At the end of the count, you would

turn this counted packet face up onto the deck…and there would be the card

that was written alongside that date in the diary.

However, the above did seem a little bit mathematical in the execution of the

revelation. This still wasn’t quite the answer I was looking for. But the real

revelation came when I reversed this stack!!

OOO

THE REVERSED STACK

The whole object of reversing the stack was to run through the cards face up,

silently counting the cards, and cut their card to the face of the deck. So far,

so good. But when you got to the higher numbers, you looked like you were

counting the cards. Not so good. What if, I thought, I marked the 5th, 10th,

15th, 20th card etc? And that’s when the revelation hit me.

On reversing the old stack, I found those positions were already marked!

And don’t forget, this was a mathematically generated stack. On running

through the deck, counting the cards, at positions 10, 20, 30 and 40 I found

the AS, 2S, 3S and the 4S respectively, the AS being position 10 and the 4S

position 40. Running through the deck again, I noticed that the cards at

positions 5, 15, 25 and 35 were indicated by the JD, QD, KD and the 8S

(where did that come from?) So the only odd card amongst this group was

the 8S at position 35…easy enough to remember that.

As you can see from the above, counting to any card is dead easy. You want

position 33? Find the 3S and the 3rd card to the left is the 33rd card, the 7C.

This led me to thinking…I didn’t need the old mathematically generated

stack anymore. I could use any 42 cards, including my own marking cards.

OOO

THE NEW STACK

From a deck of cards I removed the AS, 2S, 3S, 4S and all the fives. Then I

gave the remainder of the deck a good shuffling. Once that was done, I went

through the deck placing the cards I removed at their new locations. The

new deck is stacked, face up, as follows:

X…10D…2C…8S…5D…7C…KC…7D…QD…AS…8H…JC…2H

9H…5S…8D…3H…AC…KH…2S…4D…9S…KS…8C…5H…10C

7S…JH…AH…3S…6D…4C…KD…6H…5C…10H…QH…10S…9D

4S…JD…4H…AD…X…X…X...X…X…X…X…X…X

I have highlighted the placement cards with a blue font. Also note that the

cards on either side of the placement cards are of the opposite colour,

making them easier to spot. The fives have also been placed strategically.

The 5S (1) is placed at position 15. The 5H (2) is placed in position 25. The

5C (3) is in position 35. As there is no 45, the 5D is placed in the singles, at

position 5.

The 5 positions of the 5’s are easily remembered as spades have one point.

Hearts have two humps. Clubs have three humps and diamonds have four

sides, but as I said, there’s no 45, so it goes at position 5 in the stack.

OOO

THE NEW WORKINGS

With this updated version, the deck does all the work for you. All you need

to know is the date. Let’s take the 6th of May. In your head, add together the

day and the month and that’s the card you go to in the stack. So, in our

example, 6 (day) + 5 (month) = 11. With the deck face up, go to the 11th card

in the stack, the 8H, and cut that card to the face of the deck. This card will

match the card written alongside the 6th of May in the diary.

There are two ways to perform this effect. The first way is with a simple

addition of adding the month and date together…and the second way is to

count down to the card. So, let’s have a look at both methods.

First Method: You are given any date…say the 15th of September. Add the

15th (date) and the 9 (month) together, giving you a total of 24. Run through

the deck face up, looking for the 5H and cut the card immediately to its right

to the face of the deck. This card is the 8C.

Another example would be the 31st of December. Add the date and month

together and you get 43. Run through the deck face up, looking for the 4S

and cut the 3rd card to its left to the face of the deck…the AD.

So, the first method is easy enough…but the second method is like falling

off a log! It’s a no brainer!

Second Method: For this, you will need to completely reverse the card

stack, so that the 10D is the second card from the top of the face down deck.

As there’s no mathematics in this, proceed as follows. You are given a date,

say the 7th of April. You will remove a card from the top of the deck, for

each word, without reversing their order as you say: January, February,

March, April. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and then turn this packet face

up on top of the face down deck. This card will be the 8H. When finished,

flip the face up packet face down on top of the deck and you are re-set.

If you look at what you have just done, you have turned the 11th card face

up. It’s the same as method one in that regards. In method one you would

have cut the 11th card to the face.

Had the month been October you would have counted from January to

October and then the number days for whatever the date.

Two methods for performing the effect…you can take your pick

You don’t have to use my stack…you can shuffle the cards yourself and

make a new stack. You can also have any placement cards you like and

place them at those positions. I have done this for completeness, because

later you will need to fill the diary out in a particular way to make it work

and you will be able to see the coalition between the stack and the diary.

OOO

THREE PRESENTATIONAL IDEAS

Many years ago, the prophets, seers and sages allocated lucky playing cards

to each day of the year. Wouldn’t you like to know the lucky card that has

been allocated to your birthday…or indeed, any other date that is personal

to you? To do so, just give me the date of your birthday, say, the 6th

September, the year doesn’t matter, just the day and the month. When they

have given you a date, hand them the diary and remove the cards. This diary

contains an exact copy of the playing cards for each day of the year, as laid

out by ancients. Look up your birthday…and note the card written alongside

it. Are there any duplicates of your lucky card on the pages you are looking

at? Any duplicates on the pages before or after your birthday? As you can

see, there is a playing card written alongside each date in the diary…all 52

playing cards are here and they are repeated randomly a few times

throughout the diary…after all…there are only 52 cards in a deck and 366

days in a leap year! Finish as in method One or Two.

Old Moore’s Almanac: Have you have heard of Old Moore’s Almanac?

You have! But have you heard of Old Moore’s Diary? In this diary, he

allocated lucky playing cards for each day of the year. To know the lucky

card allocated to your birthday…or indeed, any other date that is personal

to you…just give me the date of your birthday etc. Finish as above.

The diary and the year: Many years ago people used playing cards as a

calendar. If you look at a deck of cards and a diary…or even a year and a

deck of cards…you will find an uncanny similarity between the two. You’ve

got 13 cards in each suit…the number of lunar cycles in one year. There are

four suits…the number of seasons in one year. Twelve court (or picture)

cards…the number of months in one year. There are 52 cards in a

deck…and 52 weeks in one year. To know which lucky card was allocated to

your birthday, just give me the date of your birthday, not the year, just the

date and month. After they have given you a date. Last night, I had a

premonition that I would meet someone like you…meant in a nice way! Here

you describe the person before you and finish as above.

OOO

THE DIARY ENTRIES

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10111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Jan10D2C8S5D7CKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4C

Feb2C8S5D7CKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D

Mar8S5D7CKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H

Apr5D7CKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H

May7CKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10H

JunKC7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10H

OOO

Jul7DQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S

AugQDAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S9D

SepAS8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S9D

Oct8HJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S9D4SJD

NovJC2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S9D4SJD

Dec2H9H5S8D3HACKH2S4D9SKS8C5H10C7SJHAH3S6D4CKD6H5C

10HQH10S9D4SJD4HAD