Second Thoughts by Ramon Rioboo - Book
Silent methods. Loud reactions.
Ramón Riobóo has a rare gift: he makes deception feel effortless. His card magic doesn’t rely on heavy math or knuckle-busting technique—those things are there, but they’re hidden so well that even experienced magicians miss them. What the audience sees instead is a casual, almost offhand handling that leads straight into moments they can’t explain.
Second Thoughts is not a sequel in the usual sense. It’s a step forward.
If Thinking the Impossible introduced Riobóo’s voice, this book deepens it—sharper constructions, subtler traps, and routines designed to look completely unplanned while steering the mind exactly where he wants it. The magic feels innocent right up until it isn’t, and by the time the impossibility lands, it’s far too late to rewind.
Inside, you’ll find nearly fifty card tricks and routines, along with Riobóo’s favorite tools for building deception and thoughtful essays that reveal how and why these effects work so well. Familiar plots take unexpected turns. Simple actions hide layered thinking. Spectators—and magicians—are left searching for answers that never quite appear.
A longtime friend of Juan Tamariz, Riobóo shares that same instinct for psychological misdirection: using what people think they understand as the very thing that deceives them. His magic doesn’t rush. It invites curiosity, then quietly removes the ground beneath it.
This book is ideal for performers who value clarity over clutter, casualness over flash, and astonishment that lingers long after the cards are squared.
Second Thoughts doesn’t just give you new tricks.
It gives you new ways to think—about structure, timing, and how deeply you can mislead without anyone ever seeing your hands work.
Once you read it, you may find yourself doing the same thing Riobóo does best: letting the audience talk themselves into impossibility.
356 pages. Hardbound. A masterclass in elegant deception.
"His effects fool me, and his ingenious methods amaze me." -R. Paul Wilson
"Ramon Rioboo constructs card tricks with so many devious and interlocking layers of deception you just can't crack the code." -Steve Beam
"Wow! This new book is an incredible compendium of some genius-level thinking about card magic. Ramon’s forte is methods based on hidden mathematical principles, cunning psychological ploys and crafty stacks. Add in several innovative new sleights, some inspired use of gaffs and some extraordinary yet commercial presentations and you have a collection of fabulous new material that will be used by magicians for decades to come. But this book contains so much more. The theoretical underpinnings of Ramon’s style and approach are thoroughly examined and explained. And keener students will be pleased to know that’s just the start; Ramon discusses much of his philosophical research and conclusions about what makes for strong magic, powerful tricks and successful magicians.
If you like fooling other magicians, then this book has your name written all over it. If you are a professional performer, there are at least half-a-dozen killer tricks that you’ll want to add to your repertoire immediately. And I finally have an answer to my question: “If Einstein had been into card magic, I wonder what kind of book he would have written?” Now I know. Highest recommendation. - Mark Elsdon
"Every card magician will be fooled by his creativity and deeper concepts and thinking about card magic. I suggest you get his book before you become fooled, fried and Rioboo'd by somebody else." -Raj Madhok
"I was super impressed. Not just the volume of tricks (which there were a ton of!) but I found very often I was highlighting things throughout the book. Tools and insights within those tricks that I can apply to other areas. If you're looking for a book with a lot of really great material plus a lot of nuances you can apply to other areas of magic that you do, check out Second Thoughts." -David Corsaro