Selected Card Tricks 1

7/27/2019 Selected Card Tricks 1

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SELECTED CARD TRICKS Volume 1

CONTENTS

A Restoration Is In OrderA Thin Line Between Good and EvilA Visit to BoiseAlarm ClockBack To The FutureBill and Card PredictionBlind-SightedBoxed InCartomancer's DelusionThe Dos and Don'ts of CheatingChoice CutCloning The AcesCoincidentalDetectiveFace-offFooled-U!Forgettable PredictionHand of Death, Sword of Justice

Having WritHaVoC

A Restoration Is In Order

Effect: A card is selected (ex. 8S), signed, torn into fourths, and placed inside the box.Unfortunately, the classic torn and restored card effect doesn't work. On to another trick,a second card is selected and replaced in the deck (ex. JH). The deck is shuffled andcut, then spread face up and amazingly the deck is in new deck order, but one card is

face down between the 10 and Q of hearts. There card must be the JH, but when youturn it over it's the signed 8S completely restored, the pieces in the box are removedand to everyone's disbelief it's the JH!

Setup: One deck is in ace through king order alternating color suits. Remove one cardfrom near the center (ex. JH) and place it on top. Corner crimp (downward) the 10H.Place a duplicate JH with matching back on top of the deck. This deck is in a left sidepocket, while a marker is in a right side pocket. Another deck is on the table that you've


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been performing with. This is in case you want to do the deck switch, if not just have thedeck set up in order and your ready to go.Performance: Have this stacked deck in your left pocket, then while performing withanother identical deck say "I guess we should do a signed card effect" then as youreach into your right pants pocket for a marking pen casually switch the decks in your

left pocket. It doesn't matter how you do the deck switch, just make it effective. This is asimple deck switch idea, which should make this effect seemingly even moreimpossible. False shuffle and false cut the deck, then ribbon spread face down andhave a card removed. This is a totally free selection. Now hand the spectator a pen andhave them sign their name across the face of the card. While they are doing this, dropyour hand to your side and secretly flip the top card of the deck face up using your legfor support, but keep the deck necktied. Get a break beneath this card then replace thesigned selection (ex. 8S) face up on top of the deck. Bring the deck up to your mouth,and blow on it to help the card dry. Now lower your hands and show the card once moreand rub it to subtely show that the signature will not rub off. Turn the double face downthen tear the card (now JH) into four pieces then place them inside the card box. You

tell them you are going to perform a classic in magic, the torn and restored card trick,except you'll use the card box as your "magic chamber." Shake the box, or use somemagical gesture, then show that the card is still in pieces. "Oops, I guess that one needsa little more practice." (This psychologically implies to the spectators how incrediblydifficult it is to perform this effect, which makes the ending that much more powerful!)

Now, since that effect didn't work say you'll have another card selected and you'll trysomething else. Double cut the top card to the bottom of the deck, then perform adribble force allowing them to select the JH. Now double cut the bottom card back to thetop and tell the spectator to look at their card and show it to everyone. While their doingthis very casually get a little finger break at your crimped card. Now turn away "becauseyou don't want to see the card" and with this misdirection very quietly slip cut the topcard into the center and you will lever it face up using the top packet. Now you have thesigned selection between the 10H and QH face up in the deck. Have the JH replacedand control it to the top.

Perform a couple false cuts, being sure not to prematurely expose your face up signedcard. Make a magic gesture, then hold the deck face up in right hand biddle grip andslide the bottom card over to the right about 3/4 of an inch (this is covered by the backor your right hand) then spread the deck face up (now the extra JH is concealed underthe spread) to show everything is now in new deck order. Patter, "Now not only is theentire deck in new deck order, but now there is one card face down, exactly betweenthe 10H and the QH, which must mean your card was the JH, is that right. However,when you turn over the card it is now the first signed selection completely restored. Actsurprised, then check the card box, open the case and slowly dump out the pieces, ohmy it's the JH now completely torn into pieces! Take your well deserved bow.


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A Thin Line Between Good and Evil

Effect: You explain to the spectator that there is a very thin line between good and eviland heaven and hell. A card is selected by the magi and the spectator. The spectatordraws an angel on the face of their card and the magi draws a demon on the face ofhis/her card. The cards are lost back into the deck. The deck is cut by the spectator, themagi takes the top half face down and the spectator takes the bottom half turning it faceup. Each packet is shuffled, then the spectator begins to deal their packet face upstopping when they deal their card on the table. The magi deals his/her packet facedown one at a time along with the spectator, so they will stop at the exact samepositions within their packet. When the magi turns his card face up it is seen to behis/her selected card at the same exact position in the packet as the spectators selectedcard. However, of course the line between good and evil is very thin, and everything

that is evil has a little bit of good in it as well. The magi turns over his/her card to showthe two angels on the back of the card (Bicycle deck) then the spectator turns their cardover and to everyone's surprise, they are now staring at a red backed card with ademon drawn on the back that will send chills up their spines.Setup: 1 blue backed Bicycle deck of cards. Take a red backed card and draw a demonon the back of it (this is your force card, ex. 2H) and place it face up on the bottom ofthe deck. Remove the blue backed 2H from the deck. Performance: Remove any card from the deck as your selected card and draw ademon on the face of the card (ex. 9D). Now spread through the deck face down andhave a spectator touch the back of any card. You will perform David Regal's "IsolatedForce" from his book Close-Up and Personal. Upjog the card that is touched and then

turn all the cards above the selected card face up, keeping them spread slighty, andthen turn the cards below the selection face up as well (by keeping the top half spread alittle it helps cover the reveresed card that shows on the bottom half when you turn themover). You can now spread the cards face up and display apparently one face downcard among the face up cards. Now square the deck keeping the card upjogged. Lift offthe top half of the deck and at the same time square the selection onto the bottom half.Place the top half off to the side and then turn the double face up, which swithces in thered backed force card.Have them draw an angel on the face of their card. (This is a great time to do this forcebecause they definitely see a blue back on their card.) Now gather up the rest of thecards and hold the deck face up then get a break under the bottom card. Kick cut the

top half and replace the two selections on top, and as you place the bottom half on topyou will add the card at your break and then double cut everything at the break back tothe face. Now turn the deck face down and double cut the bottom two cards to the topwhich places your selection on top and their selection on the bottom. Perform a riffleshuffle losing their card into the bottom half and keep your card on top. They now cutthe deck in half and turn the bottom half face up, as they shuffle their packet you shufflethe top card of your face down packet to the bottom of the packet. Now as you both dealsimultaneously, you watch their packet looking for their card. When you see them about


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to deal their card to the table you get ready to perform a bottom deal from your packet(this is very easy because everyone's attention is on the face up cards being dealtanyway) which I do by buckling the bottom card and then simply reaching under anddealing it. This is really easy because the packet is thin, so do not worry about thismove at all! Now just finish as in the "effect" portion and build it up as much as you'd

like, your work is done from here on out, and there is still a lot of revelations!

A Visit to Boise

Effect: The four queens are placed face up on the table, separated in pairs by color.Jenny selects a card from the remainder of the deck, signs it and the inserts it facedown between either pair of face up queens (well assume she chose the red queens).You fairly spread this packet to show there are only three cards, the two red queens and

her selection. You give Jenny one last glimpse at her sandwiched card to dispel anydoubts and then square the packet and table it. The two face up black queens areinserted together in the middle of one half of the face down deck, at a point of Jennyschoosing. The packet is squared and tabled. You pick up the red queen packet, showthe face down selection is still between the face up red queens, and square the packet.These three cards are placed in the middle of the second half-deck. After a magicgesture, you immediately spread this packet. In the middle, the face up red queens areseen. There are only the red queensthe selection has vanished! You ribbon spreadthe first half-deck across the table. Near the center are the face up black queens, butthere is now a face down card between them! You allow Jenny to remove this facedown card. It is her signed, chosen card!Method and performance: Remove the four queens from the deck (or better yet,precede this effect with one where you produce the four queens). Set the red queensface up to your right, the black queens to your left. Spread the deck between yourhands, asking Jenny to remove any card from somewhere in the middle of the deck.Give her an opportunity to exchange it for a different card if she wants. When she hasdecided upon a card, cut the deck at the point where she removed her card. Table theupper half to your right and continue to hold the lower half in left dealers grip. GiveJenny a marker and ask her to sign her first name on the face of her card. Look away asshe does this. In the meantime, push the top card of the packet in your hand to the rightwith your left thumb and then pull it back flush, getting a left pinky break below it.

Ask Jenny to choose a pair of queens, red or black. Again, well assume she chose red.

Instruct her to place her card face down between the face up red queens. Pick up thispacket with your palm up right hand and fan it by pulling inward on the top card withyour right thumb. Drop the fan on top of the half of the deck in the left hand, square itand lift all the cards above the break (the queens/selection sandwich and indifferent topcard of the deck) in right Biddle Grip.The next sequence, which comes from Gary Ouellets Close up Illusions, is Garyshandling of a Gerald Kosky move. Bring the packet over the deck such that the far endof the packet is about an inch and a half forward of the far end of the deck. Bring your


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left thumb onto the face of the first queen, holding it in place (outjogged on top of thehalf-deck) as the right hand pulls the rest of the packet to the right. Peel the next card(face down selection) on top of the half-deck in the same manner, but this time injoggedabout a quarter of an inch. With the back of the right forefinger, push this card forwarduntil it is flush with the half-deck. Place the double in the right hand on the half-deck as

one card, injogged about an inch, and hold a left pinky break below the double. With theright thumb and forefinger, lift up on the far edge of the face down card to show Jennythat it is, in fact, her card. Let this card drop and grip the near end of the double withyour right thumb underneath and the first two right fingers on top. Hold down on theselection with your left pinky (this is the reason for the break) as the right hand pushesforward on the double. As soon as the selection is completely covered by the double,push the bottom face down card of the double forward with your right thumb, such that itprotrudes about an inch in front of the bottom queen. Everyone will assume this is theselection. Continue pushing forward until the far left corner of the lower queen passesthe same corner of the deck. Extend your left forefinger to get it out of the way for whatfollows. Contact the edge of the packet with your right forefinger, just in front of the far

left corner of the half-deck. Rotate the packet clockwise, using the left middle finger as apivot, until the packet comes free into right dealers grip. As you carry out these actions,move slowly, and explain that it is imperative that everyone remembers that Jennyscard is between the two red queens. Drop the packet, still spread, on the table. Youhave just undetectably switched the two face down cardsthe selection is atop thedeck, and the indifferent card between the queensright under the noses of thespectators! This is a powerful move, and well worth being in your arsenal.

As you chat to with the audience, the right hand picks up the black queens in BiddleGrip, while your left obtains a pinky break below the top card of its packet. Briefly set thequeens on top of the packet, ostensibly to square them. Take over the break with theright thumb as the left thumb stretches across the face of the top card. The left thumbholds the top card in place as the right hand moves the other two cards, as one, to theright and then drops the double on top of the packet. Give this packet one complete cutin the hands, burying the queens near center, and table the packet to your left.Pick up the spread three-card packet, place it in left dealers grip and square it. Grip thepacket at the right edge at your right fingertips, just as in a dealers grip Elmsley Count.Move the left hand forward and to the left, taking the first queen, retaining the other twocards squared at the right fingertips. Bring your left hand back to the right andapparently take the face down card on top of the first queen. Actually, the left handleaves its queen under the other queen in the right hand and takes only the face downcard, leaving the two queens, as one card, at the right fingertips. Finally, take the doubleon top of the left-hand card. The audience believes the left hand holds the selectionbetween the two red queens. In reality, you hold an indifferent card face down under theface up queens.Take the three cards in right Biddle Grip and set them on top of the packet on your right.In a continuing motion, cut off the top half of this packet and set it just to the left of theremainder. Complete the cut, burying the queens near center.Reiterate the supposed situation to the audience: the black queens are face up in themiddle of the packet on your left, and Jennys signed selection is sandwiched between


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the face up red queens in the middle of the packet on your right. As you speak, casuallygesture, showing both hands on both sides.Make a magical gesture. Ribbon spread the right packet, revealing the face up redqueens together in the middle. Ask Jenny to remove them to verify there is no longer acard between them. Take the red queens from her, one in each hand, and ask her to

spread the other packet, revealing a face down card between the two face up blackqueens at the center of the spread. Allow Jenny to remove the face down card and turnit over to find her selection!

Alarm Clock

You seem to be able to read the spectators thoughts, then to have incredible intuition,

and finally you prove you knew everything before the whole experiment even began!To prepare, get a deck of cards. Remove the two of diamonds and turn it face down.Either mark it as explained under Marked for Death in my book, Never Miss a Trick! orget a needle and scrape away the line at the border in the outer left and inner rightcorners, as shown by the arrows in figure one. Place this card face down, 13th from thetop of the face down deck. With a pen, write, The Two of Diamonds on the flap of thecard case. Insert the deck in the case. The preparation is complete.I recommend you use this routine as an opener. Otherwise, youll have to maneuver the2D to 13th position during the course of the effects prior to it.Remove the deck from the case and give it an overhand shuffle. Make sure to take atleast thirteen cards on the first chop. Injog one card on this block and then shuffle off.

Square, getting a right thumb break under the injogged card. Shuffle to the break andthrow the remainder on top. Give the deck a false cut and set it on the table. Turn to Bernice. Ask her to think of her favorite hour of the day. Instruct her to wait untilyou turn your back to her, and then she is to silently remove cards from the top of thedeck equal to her hour. In other words, if you thought of two oclock, remove two cards;eleven oclock, eleven cards. Understand? Good! Tell me when youve done that.Turn around and let her remove the cards. When she tells you she is done, ask her toput the cards in a pocket or her purse, so you cant possibly know how many cards shehas. Then turn around to face her and pick up the deck. Remove twelve cards from thetop of the deck, reversing their order, as you state that you are going to make a clock.Deal the cards in a face down circle, starting at one oclock and ending with twelve

oclock. As you deal, actually say the hour as each card goes down. Deal the card attwelve oclock sideways, so that it is easily distinguishable from the others, avoidingconfusion and making it easier for her to find her hour.The marked card will land at the number she thought of, so if you see it at six oclock,you know that was her chosen number. Again, turn your back to Bernice and ask her topick up the card at her hour, look at it and commit it to memory, and replace it. Then tellher to gather all twelve cards and thoroughly mix them. While she does all this and yourback is turned, you are not idle. You know that (in this example) she thought of six


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oclock. Quickly spread through the deck and remove a six and then place it face upnear the center of the face down deck.When Bernice is done, turn to face her once more and table the deck. Pick up thetwelve cards she has mixed, and begin dealing them slowly, one at a time into a facedown pile on the table. After each card is dealt, hold your palm down right hand above it

for a moment, as if trying to sense something. When you get to the marked card, afteryou hold your hand above it, start to deal the next card and then stop. Hold your handover the pile again. Pick up the marked card without flashing its face and deal it off tothe right. Gather the other cards in the pile, drop them onto the cards in your left hand,and drop the combined packet on top of the tabled deck. Id like you to concentrate on the hour you chose. Look Bernice right in the eye, as ifpulling the information out of her mind, through her eyes and into yours. Yes, yesitwas...six oclock! Is that correct? After she agrees that you are right, have her bring outthe cards she counted off the deck earlier. Tell her to count them one at a time into apile to verify the number. Remark, Actually, I knew ahead of time that you wouldchoose six, and I can prove it! Ribbon spread the face down deck to show a six face up

in the middle.Point out that there is one card isolated on the table. Review the actions that took placebefore that card was isolated: she looked at the card at her hour and mixed up all twelvecards from the clock while your back was turned, then you set that card aside, withoutlooking at the faces of any of the cards. Ask her to name her card. After she respondsthat it was the 2D, let her turn over the card to reveal that it is, indeed, the 2D!Believe it or not, I also knew ahead of time that your card would be the two ofdiamonds. And I can prove that as well! Open the card flap so that Bernice can see thatyou wrote the two of diamonds on it long before the experiment began. This is a mind-numbing finale.

Back To The Future.

Effect: You tell the audience, I had a premonition earlier today, and I wrote down acouple of the key points to see if it was accurate. You produce a folded piece of paperand set it on the table. Next, you introduce a deck, remove the jokers and shuffle it afew times. As you begin to deal cards off the top into a pile, you say, Often, peopleattribute to magicians the skill of professional gamblers. They see me deal like this andthink that I could possibly be dealing the second card or the bottom card, while making itappear that Im dealing the top card. Theres only one way to absolutely convince youthat Im dealing fairly. You pick up the dealt pile, replace it atop the deck, and turn thedeck face up. If I deal with the cards face up, you can see that the top card is the one Iactually deal. You ask Jacob to give you a number between ten and twenty (assume hesaid 14) and then fairly deal that many cards into a pile. Explain that, to arrive at a card,you will add the digits of his number and stop at that card in the pile. In our example,


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you then remove five cards from the pile and remove the card remaining on top of thepile, setting it aside. You repeat this process with Daniel, LeAnna and Melissa. The fourselections are left in a row and the deck set aside. You open your prediction and read,Four people will select cards! Amazing! you say. Noticing the audience isunimpressed, you point out that there is another prediction. Unfolding the prediction,

you read, None of the chosen cards will be jokers! Still, the crowd is underwhelmed.Wow, tough audience! Thats alright, I have one more prediction. Unfolding the papera final time, you read, The four chosen cards will be different! You look up at theaudience expectantly, only to be crestfallen at their sneers and contempt. I dontunderstand it! you say. I think thats amazingthe four chosen cards are different!You turn the four selections face down. Each has a different back. You ribbon spreadthe deck to reveal all the other cards are the same. Everything may be examinedthereis nothing to find.Requirements and preparation: Get a deck of cards with two jokers. Ill assume youreusing a blue Bicycle deck. Now get four indifferent cards with different backsnot redbicycles, but truly DIFFERENT backs. You could buy a Rainbow deck from your dealer,

or just go to your local drugstore or department store and get four decks with differentbacks (Coca-Cola, Fritos, Budweiser, puppies, flowers, etc.). Ill refer to these as thestranger cards. For explanation purposes, lets say your four stranger cards are the5C, 7H, 4D and 9S. Do NOT use aces or face cards, for reasons that will becomeobvious as you go through the trick. Remove these same cards from your blue deck andput them awaythey are not used for this effect. Place the stranger cards on the face ofthe deck. Remove eight cards from the back of the deck and place them on the face ofthe strangers. Case the deck.Go get a piece of paper and a ballpoint pen. Ill wait Back so soon? Ok. On the paper, write, The four chosen cards will be different! Writein large letters, covering the page. Fold the page in half along its width, with the writinggoing inside the fold. On the half sheet facing you now, write, None of the chosen cardswill be jokers! Fold the page in half again, this time along the length. On the quarterpage now facing you write, Four people will select cards! Fold the page a final time,widthwise. Make sure that the writing goes on the INSIDE each time you fold. On eachside, write, My Premonition. Put this in your pocket, and youre ready to perform.Method and performance: Bring out the paper, patter about your premonition, and setit on the table. Bring out the deck. Remove it, face up, from the case and spreadthrough it so you can remove the jokers. Be careful not to expose the stranger backs tothe audience. Set the jokers aside, square the deck and turn it face down. Give it acouple of jog shuffles as follows. Undercut about 2/3 of the deck with your right hand.Begin to overhand shuffle these cards on top of the deck until your right hand holdsabout 1/3 of the deck (careful not to shuffle enough to expose a stranger card!). Injogthe next card and drop the remainder on top. Pull down on the jogged card with the rightthumb as you square the deck, getting a break above it, and immediately undercut allthe cards below the break. Fairly shuffle these on top of the deck. Do a false cut if youlike.Begin dealing cards off the top of the face down deck as you talk about spectators beingsuspicious of your dealing (as in the effect description above). Replace these cards ontop of the deck and turn the deck face up. Ask Jacob to give you a number between ten


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and twenty. In our example, he chose 14. Fairly deal 14 cards from the face of the deckinto a face up pile on the table. Explain that youll add the two digits together and thenremove that many cards from the pile to arrive at a card. One at a time, remove fivecards, replacing them on the face of the deck. Set the card now atop the pile (the firststranger card) on the table and then pick up the rest of the packet and drop it on the

face of the deck. Repeat this procedure with Daniel, LeAnna and Melissa. When all fourcards have been chosen and are in a face up row on the table, set the deck face up tothe side.Pick up the folded paper as you remind the audience of your premonition, and explainthat it is time to see how accurate it was. Unfold it once and read the first prediction.

After the groans, laughs, etc., unfold it again and read the second prediction. Finally,unfold it and read the last prediction. Act genuinely surprised that no one is impressed.Say that you think that is pretty amazing as you turn over the four selections and thenribbon spread the deck face down across the table to end.

Bill and Card Prediction

Effect: The magician removes 4 prediction cards from a shuffled deck and has aspectator seal them in a envelope. A second spectator is asked to remove a random billfrom their wallet and seal it in a second envelope.Both envelopes are signed and placedin the middle of the table. After a few other effects, the magician hands the envelopewith the cards to the spectator and takes the bill envelope himself, rips it open, removesthe bill and places it on the table. He asks the spectator read the last four digits of the

serial number on the bill, the other envelope is opened by the spectator and the 4 cardsmatch the 4 digits of the serial number on the bill.Setup: You'll need 2 envelopes, one normal and the second has a hidden pocket withyour bill sealed in it. You can buy these envelopes at your local magic dealer or makeyour own. If you make one, make sure to buy the envelopes that have the privacydesign on the inside. This makes it impossible the see through the envelope, hiding thesecond bill from view. Remember to write down the 4 last digits from the hidden billbefore you seal it in the envelope.Presentation: Lay the 2 envelopes and a pen on the table (remember which envelopeis which). Shuffle the deck of cards as you explain that you will use the cards to make aprediction of the future. Remove 4 cards from the deck (these cards match the 4 digits

from the serial number of your hidden bill) and seal them in the normal envelope, signyour name across the envelope and place it in the middle of the table.Ask someone to remove any dollar bill from their wallet and seal it in the other envelope,which on it they sign their name. It is then placed on top of the other envelope in thecenter of the table.Your setup is complete, perform a couple of other effects and then come back to theenvelopes. Hand the envelopes to the spectator to confirm that the envelopes aresealed, have him hand the envelope with his signature to you and he holds onto the


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envelope with your signature. You rip open the envelope from the end and remove yourhidden bill placing it on the table. Crumble up the envelope and discard it. Hand the billback to the spectator and have him read the last 4 digits of the serial number, then havehim rip open the envelope and remove the 4 cards matching the serial number.

Blind-Sighted

Comments: Here is a mentalism routine you can do anytime, anywhere, with any deck.There is no "pumping" or "fishing" and it doesn't require any heavy sleight of hand! It isbased on a mathematical principle that I don't recall ever seeing in any books, videos orlectures, but I have to believe that someone has discovered it before me. At any rate, Iam as proud of the following routine as any in this book. Effect: Rowena thinks of a number from one to ten. We'll assume she thinks of seven.She then shuffles a deck of cards to her heart's content. You turn your back and closeyour eyes (if there is a suitable hanky, scarf or towel handy, you can even beblindfolded!). Rowena spreads through the cards, remembers the one that falls on hernumber (say, the QC), squares the deck and gives it to you. You hold the deck underthe table, so no one can accuse you of peeking. Asking her to concentrate on her card,you begin to go through the deck, trying to receive an "impression." After struggling for afew moments, you bring the deck out and give it to Rowena. Explaining that you'rehaving some difficulty, you ask her to spread through the deck and to cut it so that hercard is once again at her number. You take the deck back under the table, and ask herto concentrate on her number. With your eyes still closed, you bring the deck back into

view and shuffle it a couple of times. You begin to deal cards off the top of the deck,counting them as you do. Rowena is to think, "stop" when you reach her number. Onthe seventh card, you say, "I felt something there, like that was it. Was your numberseven?" She admits it was. Keeping your eyes closed, you pass your hand over the lastcard dealt. "I sense that your card was a face card. It was a black card. Was it thequeen of clubs?" Stunned, Rowena answers in the affirmative. You turn over the card. Itis, indeed, the queen of clubs!Method and performance: Introduce a deck or borrow one. Ask Rowena to think of anumber from one to ten. Hand her the deck, turn your back to her and either allow her toblindfold you or just close your eyes. Ask her to shuffle the deck thoroughly. Then askher to spread over cards from the top of the face down deck equal to her mentally

selected number. She is to turn these cards over and remember the one at the face,and then replace the cards and square the deck. Mime these actions over your shoulderto help her better understand.With your eyes still closed, turn to face Rowena. Ask her to give you the deck facedown, taking it in left hand dealer's grip. Bring the deck under the table. Take the topcard between your right thumb and forefinger. Take the bottom card under it. Take thenew top card under these two. Continue taking cards, alternating from the top andbottom of the deck, counting them silently as you do. Be sure to take the cards under


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the packet. Stop when you have twenty cards in the right hand and drop the packet ontothe deck. Put an Infinity Crimp (or a Breather Crimp) into the bottom card of the deckand then move it to the top. Bring the deck into view, remarking that you're experiencingsome difficulty. Give the deck four or five straight cuts and hand it to Rowena.

Ask her to spread through the deck with the cards facing her. She is to cut the cards so

her card is once again at its original position in the deck. Once accomplished, take thedeck from her and immediately bring it under the table again. Turn the deck face up.Rub your right fingertips across the face card. You're feeling for the crimp. If you don'tfeel it, take the card in the crotch of the right hand as you mentally count, "One."Continue this procedure until you feel the crimped card. In our example, it would be theseventh card. Whatever the number is, it is Rowena's mentally selected number! It isalso the position from the top of the deck where her card now lies! Replace the righthand cards on the face of the deck and turn the deck face down. Spread down to theseventh card and bring it to the top. (It's important that you spread the cards rather thandeal them. If you dealt them, Rowena could hear, and she'd realize that you know hernumber, which would spoil the climax.)

Here is the only time you open your eyes during the entire effect, and it is only for amoment. You need to get a glimpse of the card. Tilt your head forward slightly. Openonly one eye just enough that you can see downward. If blindfolded, do the well-knownpeek down the side of the nose. As you bring the deck into view, do a bubble peek. Assoon as you glimpse the card, close your eye and relax your grip. Do an overhand shuffle, running six singly on top of the QC, injog one and shuffle off.

As you grasp the deck for a second shuffle, get a right thumb break below the joggedcard. Shuffle fairly to the break and then throw the remainder on top. The QC is now theseventh card from the top. Tell Rowena that you are going to deal cards one at a time,and she is to think, "Stop!" when you reach her number. Begin dealing and reveal hernumber and her card as explained in the effect description above.

Boxed In

Effect: The Magician removes the deck of cards, and shows the top card to be aJOKER. "This cardhelps me with all of my tricks," The Magician places the Joker face down in the empty

card box and closes the card box. The Magician then cuts the deck and has a spectatorselect a card and replace it back into the deck. The Magician then openly shuffles thedeck and scans through the deck face up and the card is gone! The Magician thenplaces the deck down and goes to the box with empty hands and hands it to thespectator. The spectator opens the card box themselves and pulls out their chosencard!


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Setup: Your deck is set up like this. 2 Force cards. One on the bottom and one on thetop, with a Joker second from the top. A card box (duh) Also, the Joker should have apiece of double stick tape on the top of it.Performance: You'll need to know how to double-lift and riffle force. That's about ashard as this one gets.1) Pull the deck out and double lift the top two cards (easy because of the tape)

2) Separate the two with slight pressure and put the top card (force card) in the box andhand it to a second spectator to "guard" for you.3) Cut the deck and leave a break and riffle force the second force card.4) Leave the break open and have the force card placed back on top of the lower half ofthe cut - directly on top of the sticky Joker.5) Cut the deck again and turn the deck and scan through the cards6) Note the Joker is back - but their card is missing.7) Have the box opened by the spectator and VIOLA! They are amazed.Sounds simple, or way to easy - but to the spectator this is an impossible feat. be sureto play it up.

Cartomancer's Delusion

Effect: A deck of cards is given to a spectator to shuffle. The performer asks aspectator for any number between 10 and 25. For example, the spectator chooses thenumber 14. The performer then asks a second spectator for a number between 25 and40. Let's assume the number chosen is 30. The performer takes the deck and counts offourteen cards, the first number chosen by a spectator. The performer then deals off afew cards face up, explaining that the cards at the first spectator's number will lead to aprediction. The performer studies the face up cards for a moment, writes a prediction,and hands it to the second spectator. The performer decides to take a risk, gathers upthe cards, and makes another prediction, this time handing it to the first spectator. Thedeck is given to the second spectator and told to count down to the card at his number,which he does, and sets the card aside. The deck is handed to the first spectator, whocounts down to the card at his number and, again, sets it aside. The cards, fairlycounted to by the spectators at their freely chosen numbers, are turned over. When theslips of paper areopened, the predictions are seen to be correct, naming the cards the spectators located.Setup: You'll need a deck of exactly fifty-two cards. Set the Jokers aside for now. Performance: There's a few things at work here -- some simple math, a bit of chicanerywith the cards, and a very slight verbal force. Don't worry; it all adds up to a verycomfortable level of subtlety.1) Give the deck to a spectator to shuffle. As she's shuffling, ask her for a numberbetween 10 and 25. Let's say the number she picks is 14. Here comes the bit about theverbal force.


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For this routine to work, you cannot have the two numbers, chosen by spectators, addup to a number greater than 52. Therefore, you have to use the first spectator's numberto dictate the next range of numbers a spectator can choose from. You don't have to bespecific here, asking a spectator to pick a number from 1 to 28 is too much; keep thenumbers easy and not too contrived. In this case, ask for a number between 25 and 40.

2) Ask the second spectator for a number within the range determined by the firstspectator's selection (in this case, have the spectator pick a number between 25 and40). Let's say the spectator chose 30.3) Take the deck from the spectator and deal the first spectator's number of cards (14 inour example) in a face down pile on the table. Once you do that, it's time for the math.

Add the two spectators' numbers together, then subtract that total from 52. The result isthe number of cards you will deal face up on the table (within the presentation, theseare the cards which will indicate to you the basis of the prediction). In our example, thefirst spectator chose 14; the second spectator chose 30. Adding these together givesthe total of 44. Subtracting 44 from 52 gives the result of 8. You'll need to deal 8 cardsface up. Deal those cards from the cards in your hand face up and in an overlapping

row on the table.

4) Study the cards, performing a "reading" of them. In other words, act a bit. Whileyou're doing that, glimpse the bottom card of the pack in your hands. Act a bit moreafter the glimpse, and write on a slip of paper the name of the card you just glimpsed.Fold this slip of paper so the contents are nice and hidden, then hand it to the secondspectator.5) Drop the cards in your hand onto the pile of cards you counted to the table, leavingthe face up cards alone for the time being. Pick up the pack, glimpse the new bottomcard of the deck.6) Again, do a bit of acting, and write the name of the glimpsed card onto a slip ofpaper. Again fold the paper so no one can see your prediction and hand this to the firstspectator.7) Gather up all the cards, turning the face up cards face down and putting them underthe deck.8) Hand the now complete deck to the second spectator. Have him count the cards, oneat a time, stopping on the card at his chosen number (30). When he gets to the thirtiethcard, have him set aside without looking at it.9) Have the spectator place the deck on top of the cards he dealt and hand the deck tothe first spectator. Have her duplicate the counting and setting aside as the secondspectator did.10) You're effectively done. Do whatever build-up you may, then have the spectatorsturn over their cards and read their predictions. You've done good.Notes: When you're going for the glimpses, don't worry about it. Since you're staring atthe face up cards, the audience will as well. Take advantage of that misdirection toglimpse the bottom card. You'll find you are more than adequately covered.In the event the two numbers add up to exactly 52, count off the first spectator's numberof cards, deal a few of the cards after that face up, then go into the "reading" bit(glimpsing the bottom card). Gather up the face up cards, putting them on top of thecards in your hand, then putting all of the cards you hold on top of the stack on the


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table, then proceed as normal. It sounds more complicated than it is -- go through itonce or twice with the deck in your hand and you'll see how it all works.

The Dos and Don'ts of Cheating

This is a really outstanding trick, possibly one of the best. There's nothing else to say,just, practice this one a lot and perform it a lot because it's worth it!Effect: You explain about what you don't want to do and what you do want to do whenyou are cheating in a game of cards. You show that you have four ace of diamonds.Then as each turns over, they change into a royal flush! You only have five cards andthe backs and fronts are shown clearly threw out the trick!Setup: You need two double faced cards and three regular ones. From the top down:

Normal Ace of DiamondsAce of Diamonds / Queen of diamonds (ace side up)Normal King of DiamondsNormal Jack of Diamonds

Ace of Diamonds / Ten of Diamonds (ace side up)Performance: You ask the spectator, "What is the best hand in a game of poker? (ARoyal Flush.) Yes, a royal flush. It is almost impossible to get a royal flush withoutstacking the deck. (If the spectator doesn't know what stacking the deck is, then youhave to explain it to him.) What's another REALLY great hand to get in a game ofpoker? (Four aces) Yes, four aces is a really great hand. But, you would probably haveto stack the deck to get that also. The odds are so far against you that it would be nearly

impossible to get four aces. I am going to show you what NOT to do when stacking thedeck to get four aces. You do not want to stack the deck with four ace of diamonds.Trust me on this one, you will have some problems!"You will now have to do a modified Smiley Count (a.k.a. "the Smiling Elmsley." You arereally just doing an Elmsley count, but you are hiding the backs of some cards also.)Here's how: Hold the cards face up in your right hand at the fingertips. Take the top aceoff the packet with your left hand and show the back of it by turning your left hand palmdown. Count one. You will now do the standard Elmsley count move where you pushover the top two cards and take them in your hand whileputting the single card on the bottom of the packet. Turn both hands palm down andcount two, three. Finally take off the top ace of the right handed packet and show the

single card and count four. Put this card on the bottom of the packet.The order of the cards from the top down should be:AD/10DAD/QDKDJD

AD


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"You never want to have four ace of diamonds. You should only have one, and in myparticular stack, it should be the top card. This is because I would bottom deal the firstcard." All that this line of patter does is it makes the move you are about to do, makesense.Here's what you've been waiting for..... THE NEXT MOVE!!!

The packet should be in your left hand. (I think all of the moves in this book would workwith either hand. I'm left handed so I explain everything in a "lefty's" point of view.) Withyour thumb, push over the top four cards as one and turn them over. This should bevery easy because you are just pushing over all the cards above the bottom card. Youdo this when explaining that you should just have one ace.When you say that the ace should be on the top of the stack, buckle down the top threecards and do a double lift while turning the hand face down so you don't expose thequeen that is now on the face of the packet. Put this "ace" on the top of the packet."This is what happens if you do stack the deck with four aces of diamonds. One will turnover! You don't want that to happen."Now do a Vernon through the fist flourish without inverting the packet. Do an Elmsley

count to show that one of the aces turned over. When you come to this ace, upjog it alittle. "If you keep your cards on the table, another ace will turn over. This will blow yourcover."Do another through the fist flourish without inverting the packet. Do another Elmsleycount but don't Injog any cards. Also, put the last card onto the bottom of the packet sothat on the top there are the two face up aces. You can now spread the cards out,holding the last card as a double, showing two face up aces and two face down cards."Very soon, another ace will turn over. If this happens, you're dead."Do another through the fist flourish without inverting the packet and do another Elmsleycount but Injog the only face down card that is showing. (Remember, after every timeyou upjog a card, you have to push it back into the packet before doing the through thefist flourish.)"But, when that fourth ace turns over, it might not be that bad. Because, a better handwould be a royal flush. Now I only have four cards here, so I can't have the ten, onlyace, king, queen, jack."Now when you do the through the fist flourish, you will invert the packet. Deal the cards,reversing their order, holding the last card as a double, showing the Ace, King, Queen,and Jack of diamonds."But with magic and cleaver sleight-of-hand, I can get the ten to come into my hand andcreate a royal flush. Now before I do that, a lot of people ask me about the backs of thecards. I say, 'What do you want to know about them. There are four red backed cards.'(well, of course, if you're using blue backed cards, then you would say, four blue backedcards.) So here it goes. I'm going to get the best hand in poker, a Royal Flush."Turn over the packet and do an Elmsley count to show four "backed" cards. Then turnthe packet back over, and show the ten on the bottom. Reorder the cards so that theyare in order. You have just performed a miracle!Comments: I really love this trick. I think Vernon had a trick that he made up that'ssimilar in effect to this one. I have been told this by a few magicians and am not totallysure if this is correct becuase I have never heard of the trick myself. I have a couplesuggestions you might want to try.


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You should try switching the gaffed packet for a normal diamonds royal flush at the end.This way, you can give the spectator's the cards and tell them to go home and practice.

Another thing you might want to try is to cut out the end with the Elmsley count to showall the backs to be normal and just fan out the cards at the end. I don't usually do this,but it will make the cards in order at

the end. Otherwise, you need to reorder the cards at the end. If the spectators insist onseeing the packet, and you don't want to switch the packets, you can just do aFlustration or Rumba count to show that the backs are all normal.This is something you may want to try with The Do's and Don'ts of Cheating: Packettricks may make the spectator's suspicious when you take the packet out from one ofthose neat little plastic wallets. So, I've devised a method to get around this: You cankeep the patter and everything in the above pages, you just need a little more setup andit will hide the "packet-trickish" feel of this effect. Yet, for many months, I got away withthe above method as the only way I do the trick. I'm glad I thought of this way because itseems to have a much larger effect on magicians and spectators.So now for the method: Setup the deck like this: (x means any card)

x AC x KC x QC x JC x 10C x AD x AS x AH x KSThen have the original packet of five cards under these cards with the top ace ofdiamonds turned over to hide the faces. Put all these cards on the top of the deck.Deal five cards to each you and to an invisible person sitting in front of you as you say,"I have to stack the deck to get a royal flush." (Remember to deal the first to the invisibleperson.)Then show your hand to be a royal flush. Then as you're putting the cards to the side,add the bottom two cards of your royal flush hand onto the top of the deck while movingyour hand to pick up the other hand you just dealt. Take these eight cards, supposedlyten, and put them in the lower third of the deck.Deal out another set of poker hands and show that you have to cheat to get four acesalso. When you get your hand, reorder them so that the ace of diamonds is the facecard and the king is the top card. Pinkie count down the top five cards of the deck andtop change the four-ace hand for the gaffed packet.Then as you say, "This is what you don't want to do," turn over the top ace and make itface up, the same way as the other cards. This is a really great way to switch thepackets.

Choice Cut

The effects are Larry Jenning's Spectator Cuts the Aces, and Roberto Giobbi' s As YouLike It, with slight variations. The result is an impossible, impromptu close-up stunner.Performed briskly and confidently, it totally floors people.

A spectator is asked to select any four-of-a-kind from a deck they have shuffledthemselves. When they cut the deck into four piles, the top card of each pile is found tobe the selected quadruple.


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Ask a spectator to shuffle the deck as you explain that this allows them to get a mentalimpression."This mental impression could be a particular suit, number, or court card. Those are thecards with the pretty pictures on them."

Ask them if they have a mental impression of any four-of-a-kind in the deck. Let's say

they name the four Queens. Take the deck back and turn it face-up as you explain that,"Although you shuffled the deck, there might be those that think we're in on this togetherand that I asked you to pick the four Queens. So, I'd like to show everyone that thecards are fairly mixed and the four Queens are separated randomly in the deck. Now,we didn't pre-arrange this, did we? Because I'd hate for you to think that I wascheating."

As you patter, spread the deck face-up between your hands and cull the four Queens tothe top of the deck secretly.The spread cull can seem daunting to some performers. The following subtlety allowsyou more control over the cards under the guise of displaying them. It's logical andunsuspicious. I like to move slowly from one to spectator to another to cover the move.

Trust me, it goes unnoticed, and they don't suspect a thing.

"Now, I've seen the cards, so let's shuffle them."Perform an overhand shuffle, running the top three Queens to the bottom of the deck."To make this fair, why don't you cut the deck at four random spots to make four piles." Put the deck on the table face-down. There is now one Queen on top, and the otherthree are on the bottom. The spectator cuts the deck into four piles. Take the originalbottom stock and spread the cards as you indicate that since the cut was random, anycard could have been cut to. As you do this, get a break above the bottom threeQueens and square up the packet.Sidejog the top card of that packet (an indifferent card) to the right. Take the top card offthe next two packets one at a time onto the first so they all overlap one another. Finally,take the top card of the original top of the deck, the Queen, on top of all. The four cardsare displayed in a fan on top of the packet in the left hand. Your left pinky fingermaintains its break over the three Queens at the bottom.Square up the packet. You will now perform a slip cut as follows: the left thumb holdsdown the top card of the packet (Queen), as the right hand strips all the cards betweenit and the picky finger break out, and tables them next to the other three packets. Allfour Queens are now face-down in your left hand, although the spectator believes theyare just four random cards.Deal each Queen face-up onto each packet. You can make turning over the four cardsa slight flourish, although it should not be a flashy one. Make it a subtle deal. Often,when spectators see ordinary playing card being "flourished" about, they tend toassume you might be using gimmicked cards. Don't ask me why.


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CLONING THE ACES

Effect: The performer introduces his deck of cards as he removes the four Aces and

sets them aside from the rest of the deck. An indifferent card is selected and shown toeveryone watching. As it is being signed by the spectator who chose it, the Aces arereplaced on top of the pack. The signed selection is thrusted into the middle of the deckas the Aces are taken away and displayed again. The performer discards the rest of thedeck into his pocket. One by one, each of the Aces transform into the signed selection!Each card is genuinely shown to be the signed card, and the Aces are nowhere to befound. Three of the four cards are then changed back into Aces, but the selection takesthe place of the missing Ace-- the Ace of Hearts. Everyone's attention is directed to anearby window where the Ace of Hearts is tightly taped to the other side of the glass!

Preparation: For this effect, I simply take the Ace of Hearts and hide it in my impossiblelocation before the trick is performed. In this case, it was taped to the other side of awindow where everyone's attention was diverted off of. I then take the three remaining

Aces with the Ace of Diamonds at their face, and place the small packet on top of thedeck. I put the cards into the case and begin performing.

Procedure:1) Introduce your deck of cards as you take them out of the case. Bring up casualconversation as you thumb off the top four cards, but secretly only take the top three inthe right hand (the Aces). As you talk, Elmsley Count the cards faceup to display thefour Aces. Table this packet of apparently four cards facedown to the right. "I want toshow you something interesting I can do with a deck of cards. We'll need the four Acesto do it. [Elmsley Count] We'll keep them aside until later."

2) Have the rest of the deck thoroughly shuffled until everyone is satisfied. RibbonSpread through the cards to have one freely selected. As it is being shown to everyonewatching and signed by the spectator, square up the deck facedown on to the table, andElmsley Count the Aces again before replacing them on to the deck. "I don't like peoplethinking I cheat. Please shuffle the deck as much as you want. Cut the cards; mixeverything up for me. [Ribbon Spread] You can take whatever card you want. You caneven change your mind if you want, but once you make a final choice, just sign yourname across its face. We'll start using the Aces now-- [Elmsley Count] -- The Heart,Spade, Club, and Diamond." Miscalling the Diamond the first time it's shown is a niceconvincer.

3) Tilt the top card in preparation for the Depth Illusion. I personally like using Daryl'sConvincing Tilt. See 'COMMENTS' for brief explanations of this sleight and the ElmsleyCount. Apparently thrust the selection facedown into the middle of the deck, when inactuality, you only thrust it into the gap made by the tilt. Square up the deck, and takethe top four cards into the right hand. Pocket the rest of the pack. Spread the 'Aces'


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between your hands, and take the bottom two cards with your left hand, and flash theirfaces. You now have two cards spread in each hand. When you bring your handstogether, secretly slide the bottom card in the right hand (the signed selection) betweenthe two cards in your left hand and square the packet again. "Keep an eye of your card;we'll just lose it into the deck like this. Watch the Aces though. [Pocket the pack and

spread the cards, flash two Aces, and slide the selection into the third position of thefour cards.] I want what you think about the topic of cloning these days..."

4) You will now execute a Marlo-style false count with the four cards you're holding. It isthoroughly explained in David Harkey's Juke (Paul Harris' Art of Astonishment volume3, 211). In short, you buckle the bottom card, and turn the top three cards over as oneto show the signed selection. Turn the triple card back facedown, as you deal the realtop card on to the table. Still keeping the buckle, Double Lift the next two cards as onedisplaying the signed selection for the second time. Turn the double facedown; deal thereal top card into the right hand. Use it to lever the next card face up again to show athird signed selection. Lever it facedown again, and clip its corner into your left thumb

crotch. Your right hand immediately pulls off the bottom card, and uses the two cards inits right hand to lever the last card face up-- another signed selection. Turn it facedown,and replace the tabled card on top of the packet of four. Flushtration Count the cardsagain to show the four duplicates of the signed card. Display the signed card faceup onthe facedown packet of four. I like using the Shapeshifter Color Change to make theselection visibly transform into an Ace. See 'COMMENTS' below to see how this colorchange is performed. "It's a really disturbing thought, actually. Imagine if I had the abilityclone not only something simple like your card-- but something more personal like yourname-- in mere seconds? [Marlo Count] What makes you think I couldn't clonesomething more valuable to you? [Flushtration Count] I know it might scare you toexperience something so strange, but I'm sure you heard that clones only last a veryshort time, so you have nothing to worry about. [Shapeshifter] "

5) Immediately spread all the cards in your hand face up to show only three Aces andthe signed card. After your patter, slowly direct all attention to the Ace of Hearts tapedbehind the window and let loose one of those charming magician's smiles.. "You saw allfour Aces before we started this experiment. They were all cloned into your card... andeven had your name on them. [Direct attention to the window.] It looks like that one wastrying to escape... good thing all the clones died before they could do any real damage."

.Shapeshifter: The cards are held facedown in Mechanic's Grip in the left hand. Theselection is controlled to the second position. The top, indifferent card is displayedfaceup, as a break is obtained under the two back-to-back cards, creating a temporarydouble facer. The right hand holds the double facer from above by opposite cornersusing its thumb and middle fingers. The thumb holds the lower right corner of the doublecard as the middle finger holds it by the upper left corner. The left hand's griprepositions itself with the double facer in the same way. The left thumb contacts thelower left corner of the double facer, and the left middle finger holds the upper right


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corner of the double. The left hand is holding the double card from below, and is stillhandling the deck. By pulling upwards with the right hand sharply releasing the doublefrom the left hand grip, the double facer will spin by its corners very fast, creating theillusion of an instant color change. The double is then placed on to the deck, and thefeckup card is dealt on to the table. This sleight was also used by David Blaine on

'Street Magic' and 'Magic Man'.

Coincidental

Effect: A series of unbelievable coincidences, where Vandella and Walt seem to haveESP and the cards seem to have a life of their own, changing in sympathetic reaction!Comments: In his book, Sonata, the incredible Juan Tamariz has a wonderful effectcalled, "Total Coincidence." It uses two decks. I wanted to adapt it to one deck, to make

it shorter and less cumbersome to carry. The first phase is from "Jumbo Coincidence"by my good friend, Aldo Colombini. The set up seems very extensive, but once youunderstand it, you can do it in less than one minute.Set-up: Separate the deck into suits. Shuffle the hearts, then ribbon spread them faceup. Arrange the diamonds into the same sequence as the hearts. For example if thehearts run: four; nine; six; eight; jack; five; three; ace; seven; queen; two; king; ten; thenthe diamonds should be arranged: four; nine; six; eight; jack... etc. Follow the sameprocedure with the spades and clubs. Now switch five or six cards between the two redpackets and five or six cards between the two black packets. Replace them so that thenumbers between their respective packets are still in the same sequence but eachpacket has a mix of two suits. Straight cut one red packet and one black packet.

Assemble the packets in red, black, red, black order.Method and performance: Pick up the deck and spread through it, facing you. Usecaution not to allow the audience to see the faces of the cards. Separate the deckwhere the colors meet at the center. Set one half down. Separate the other half wherethe colors meet. Place these two packets in front of Walt, asking him to riffle shufflethem. Pick up the other half, separate the colors, and ask Vandella to riffle shuffle them.(It is absolutely imperative that the cards are shuffled only once and it must be a riffleshuffle!) Allow them both to give their packets as many straight cuts as they'd like.Pick up Walt's packet, turning it face up. Spread through it, openly outjogging all the redcards. Strip out the red cards and set the black cards down. Give the red cards aCharlier Shuffle and then set them face down in front of Walt. Have him give them a

straight cut or two. Pick up the packet and glimpse the bottom card (say, the ten ofdiamonds), then table this packet to your far left.Turn your attention to Vandella and point out that she, like Walt, has shuffled and cuther cards as much as she wanted.Note: Notice this wording! "... shuffled and cut as much as you wanted." In fact, she cutas much as she wanted, but only shuffled once. You don't actually say, "... shuffled asmuch as you wanted." That would be a lie and she would recognize it as such. Theformer wording is ambiguous, and in its ambiguity lays truth. Because of this wording, a


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seed is planted which may cause her to later remember that she did shuffle as much asshe wanted. Most of the time, that's exactly how she does remember it!Pick up Vandella's cards and separate the reds as you did with Walt. Table the blackcards face up. Spread through the reds to show that there are no blacks among themand casually cut the ten of hearts to the face. Set the red packet face down to your far

right. Have Vandella give the face up packet a few straight cuts. When she is finished,remember the card at the face (say, the eight of clubs). Turn this packet face down andtable it in front of you, just to your right. Pick up Walt's black packet and spread it faceup, pointing out that the cards have been thoroughly shuffled and cut, and casually cutthe eight of spades to third from the face. Turn this packet face down and spread itbetween your hands. Ask Vandella to just touch, but not remove, a card. When shedoes, outjog it. As you close the spread, get a break two cards below the selection. Take all the cards above the break with your palm up right hand. It appears that youreholding the selection at the bottom of this packet. Actually, there are two cards belowthe selection. Turn the packet counterclockwise 90 degrees and clamp the outjoggedcard down on the left packet with your left thumb. Place the right hand cards on top of

the packet, leaving the selection protruding sideways near the center of the packet.Place this packet on the table just to the left of the other black packet. Using both hands, simultaneously begin dealing the cards face up from both packets.None will be mates. Deal the cards into two piles in front of their respective packets.When you reach the selection, set it aside with the corresponding card from the otherpacket. Finish dealing the rest of the packets.Point out that none of the pairs matched and pick up the left packet. Spread it face upand casually double undercut two cards from the face to the rear. Table this packet facedown. Pick up the two cards you set aside and show that they are mates! Drop theselection face down on the face down packet. Drop the mate face up on the face uppacket. Pick up the face up packet and double undercut the top card to the bottom. Riffle shuffle the face up packet into the face down packet, then ribbon spread thecards. Ask Walt to touch any face up card. Mentally count the face up cards to theselection from the nearest end. For example, assume Walt touched the two of spades,and that it is the sixth face up card from the left end of the spread. Slide out the two ofspades as you mentally count to the sixth face down card from the right end of thespread. Get a break above this card as you pick up and square the packet. Classicforce the card below the break as you ask Walt to touch any of the face down cards.Everyone will be amazed that he chose the two of clubs, the perfect match to the two ofspades!Spread the cards between your hands, outjogging all the face up cards. Strip them outand set them face down to your right. Set the packet in your left hand face down to theleft. Pick up of the two of spades and two of clubs. Place them face up in front of the twopiles. Deal the cards from both packets simultaneously with both hands as before ontothe twos to show that every pair is now a perfect match. Wait quietly while everyone is reacting. Usually, someone will eventually say, "Can youdo that with the red cards?""Well, I doubt it! The black cards weren't good enough? But, since you asked sonicely..."


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Slide the two red packets beside the black packets. Deal the red packets face up intotwo piles, simultaneously with both hands, as before. Indeed, every red pair is also aperfect match! The response from the audience will be everything you could hope for!

Additional comments: Just one quick a piece of advice: only use this trick as a closer orencore. It simply cannot be followed!Notes: The Charlier Shuffle is a very effective method for apparently thoroughlyshuffling the cards. Actually, it ends up having the same effect as a straight cut. Holdthe packet in left hand dealers grip. Push several cards on the top to the right with yourleft thumb. Take these cards in your palm up right hand at the fork of the thumb andmove them away to the right. Now, with your left fingers, push some cards from thebottom to the right. The right hand takes these cards above the ones it holds and movesaway to the right. The left thumb pushes over some more cards from the top, which theright hand takes under its cards. Keep alternating, taking cards from the top and thenthe bottom of the left hands packet. Just remember, cards from the top in the left handgo on the bottom in the right hand, and cards from the bottom of the left hand go on topin the right hand!

Detective

This effect begins with Aldo Colombinis fine effect, Sherlock Holmes versus Moriarty,and adds a new, and logical within the story line, royal flush production.Setup: From the top of the deck down, place the 10D, AD, any 6, KD, JD, QD. If yourean old hand at culling, you can perform this set-up while youre going through the decklooking for the two black Kings. If thats not your style, simple setup the small stackbefore you begin. Presentation & Effect: Remove the black Kings, explaining that theyare brand new rookie detectives on a case to figure out who is committing all of theseburglaries in town. Place them aside for a moment. Have a card selected from the deck(making sure the spectator doesnt choose one from the stack on top of the deck, ofcourse). Control the selected card to the top of the deck. You now reverse the order ofthe top seven cards (the six card stack and the chosen card). The easiest way of doingthis is to do an overhand shuffle control, running the seven cards one at a time, injogthe eighth card, then run the rest of the deck onto these cards. Cut at the injog card,putting the seven cards back on top of the deck.Turn the deck face up and cut small packets of the deck onto the table. Instruct thespectator to tell you to stop at any time. When the spectator stops you, pick up on of theKings and place it face down on the tabled cards. Put the cards left over in your hand ontop of the King. Youve effectively buried the King where the spectator told you to in thedeck. Pick up the deck, turn it face down, and spread it in your hands, showing the Kingface up in the center.

As you do this, count seven cards past the face up King. This is the seven cards thatform your stack. Catch a break under the seventh card as you close the spread. Cut atthe break, bringing the stack to the bottom of the deck.


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Repeat the process again, but this time hold the deck face down in your hands and cutoff small packets to the table also face down. When the spectator stops you, place thesecond black King face up, then place the remaining cards in your hands onto thetabled cards. Pick up the deck and spread the cards in your hands. Explain that therookies seem to have eliminated all of the suspects in the deck except for the cards

trapped between the two Kings. Remove the packet of nine cards (the seven cards plusthe Kings) and set the deck aside. Tell the spectators that the rookies will need to do abit more leg-work to get to the bottom of the burglaries. Holding the packet in yourhands, Australian deal the cards as follows: Deal the face-up King to the table, thenplace the top card of the packet to the bottom of the packet. Deal the top card of thepacket onto the tabled King, then place the next card on the bottom of the packet.Continue this dealing until get to the second face up King. Place this King onto thetable. Put the cards you are still holding in your hands onto the top of the deck. Pick upthe tabled packet, and repeat the dealing again, starting with the face-up King to thetable. At the end, again place the cards left over in your hands on top of the deck. Atthis point, you ll have a single card face down between the two black Kings. Apparently,

the rookies have finished their investigation, and found their criminal. Turn the cardover, showing the 6. Explain that, being rookies, they gave up there, and turned thecase over to a master detective. Hand the deck to a spectator. Have them deal sixcards onto the table, turning over the last card. It is the selected card. Congratulate thespectator on a job well done, and show that they have stopped the criminal fromcommitting the biggest theft of allthe theft of the best diamonds in town. Turn over thefive face down cards, revealing the royal flush of diamonds.Notes: In Josh s original routine, the patter had the thief getting away with the crimebecause the rookies gave up. The effect is unchanged, but I found from performing thislittle jewel that the audience involvement made it more fun for the spectators. By makingthe card the thief, and the spectator the "master detective" and letting them do thedealing, the effect becomes a bit more entertaining. Either way you perform it, any storyyou tell, this is a great variation on Colombini s effect.

Face-off

Louis Falanga (of L&L Publishing fame) created a wonderful effect called Jo-King,which was included in Harry Loraynes book, Best of Friends, Volume 2. This effect is apacket trick that uses a gaffed card (double-facer) to accomplish an almost

instantaneous change of four jokers to four kingsYoull need to get one blank-faced card with a back that matches your deck. (I can hearsome of you raising your hackles already, saying, I thought you said there were nogaffed cards! I dont consider a blank-faced card to be gaffed in the sense that youwill be openly showing it, as opposed to a double-facer, where one side is alwayshidden.) Start with the blank at the face and the joker face down on top of the shuffledface down deck. Place the deck in its case. This routine was designed to be an opener.


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Remove the deck from the case, tabling it face down, and place the empty case in yourleft jacket pocket. Ask Art to name his favorite four-of-a-kind. For explanation purposes,well say he named the eights. Spread through the deck without allowing anyone else tosee the faces and upjog the eights halfway as you come to them. When all four eightsare protruding from the top of the deck, square the spread. In a continuing motion, bring

the right hand from the right side of the deck to the top to strip out the eights. As you dothis, bring the right thumb onto the face of the blank card and draw it out with the otherfour cards. Table the face down deck without flashing any faces.Set the packet into left dealers grip, getting a pinky break below the top two cards.Reverse-count the packet as four cards, taking the double on the first count and theother cards singly on top of the double. As you do this, ask Art if he trusts you. Duringhis reply, half-pass the card on the bottom of the packet, reversing it. Remark that hellhave to trust you. Spread the packet, holding the last two as one, and take the top twoin the right hand. Pause for a moment, apparently displaying two cards in each handand then replace the cards in the right hand under those in the left. Tell Art that the backs of these cards are fine as you do an Elmsley Count to show four

face down cards again. Then explain that its the faces that are the problem, as theeights in this particular deck werent printed.The following sequence, which apparently shows four blank cards, is taken directly fromMr. Falangas routine. Turn your left hand palm down to show a blank card as you say,This bottom eight was left blank. Turn the hand palm up again.Do a modified Anneman Alignment Move. To wit: pull back the top card about an inchwith your right fingers. Place your right hand over the injogged card, thumb at the nearedge, forefinger on the center and middle finger at the far edge. The middle finger alsocontacts the back of the second card. Move your right hand forward until the near edgeof the top card is square with the packet. This simultaneously outjogs the second card.

Approach the packet from above with your right hand. Contact the exposed edge of theoutjogged card with your right second finger and angle it to the left. This exposes theouter right corner of the rest of the packet, which your right middle finger then moves toas the right thumb moves to the inner right corner. Gripping the packet (except for theoutjogged, angled card) between thumb and middle finger, slide the four cards as one tothe right and flip them over onto the remaining card (catching a left pinky break abovethe bottom card) as you say, This top eight wasnt printed, either! Turn the block overonto the bottom single card.Note: I know a couple of quadruple turnovers may make some of you nervous, but if youdo it smoothly, without hesitation and just keep going, no one will catch you.Immediately take the packet in right Biddle Grip. Slide off the bottom card with your leftfingers and turn your right hand palm up to show a blank, saying, The eight that issecond from bottom wasnt printed Drop the block face down onto the single card inyour left hand.Thumb over the top card, and as your right hand takes it, either buckle the bottom cardor do a pinky pulldown. Use the right-hand card to flip over a triple, showing the blank.Remark, And the eight thats second from top is also blank! Leave the packet in yourleft hand as it is and drop the card in you right hand face down on top. Say, Thats why


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I said youll have to trust mebecause I can tell that these are the four eights, eventhough they arent printedyet!

As you speak, do an Elmsley Count, showing the blank card 2nd among four cards, theremainder of which are face down. In other words, everything appears exactly as itshould. Snap your fingers and do another Elmsley Count, stopping on the 2nd count.

Each hand holds two cards; a face up eight on top of a face down card in the right handand (apparently) two squared, face down cards in the left hand.Let the face up eight drop onto the table. Flip the other card in your right hand face up toshow a second eight and drop it on the first. With your right hand, flip the cards in theleft hand face up into left dealers grip, taking care to keep them squared, to show a thirdeight. Immediately grip the cards in right Biddle Grip and slide out the bottom card withthe left fingers, revealing the fourth eight, which you then drop onto the double in theright hand. Take these cards in left dealers grip, so your right hand can pick up the twoeights on the table. Drop them onto the left-hand cards.Pick up the deck in right Biddle Grip and slide it under the packet into left dealers grip.Remind Art that when you started, you asked him to name his favorite four-of- a- kind,

and he said the eights. Spread the deck face down between your hands, and let the foureights drop off the top of the deck onto the table. Isnt it interesting that you named theonly cards in the entire deck that werent printed?Square the deck, turn it face up and spread through it, holding the last two cards (jokerand blank) as one. Take the rest of the deck in the right hand and table it, as the left,holding the joker (actually a double) goes to the left jacket pocket. Once inside thepocket, thumb off the blank, grab the card case and come back out with the case andthe joker. Place the joker in the case and set it aside, and go on to the rest of your cardact. There is nothing to find, so let Art check out the deck, the case and the joker to hislittle hearts content!

Fooled-U!

Effect: A spectator picks a card and puts it back any where in the deck. You then takeout your magical packet of three blue backed cards. You show that all three cards arethe spectator's card. Then you change them because you say you don't need three ofthe same card and you make them into three blank card. Now you say, if I ever wantedto get a refund on these three cards, the store wouldn't take three blank cards. So youchange them into three cards that have a picture of yourself on them (Or your businesscard or something, you could even use a blank card with a bunch of scribbles on it.)

Then yousay, I know I look good but in a card game with these magical cards in the deck, whatam I supposed to say, "Got any ME'S?" So I'll change the cards one more time. Youthen change the cards into three jokers.Now for the real climaxes!!! You show that an extra card just popped into the threecards. It has a red back and it's their card! Then you take the four card stack and makea magical pass the four top cards are turned over. They say FOOLED U!!! Then youturn over the last red backed card on the bottom and it says, THE END!!!


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Then you show the rest of the deck and all the cards all TOTALLY BLANK!!!!Setup: You need a red backed joker, a red backed blank card, one red backed card withyour business card on it or a picture of you or if you know who you are going to be doingthe trick to, have their picture on the card, four blue backed cards that are prepared likethis:

1st card says FO 2nd OL 3rd ED 4th U!!!Then have a red backed card that says THE END!!! on it, and a blank deck (or just oneblank card and you could reverse fan the deck to show that it's blank).Have the four FOOLED U cards on the bottom of the deck and have the THE END cardunder them.Have the packet of the three changing cards set up like this from the face: Blank card,the joker, and then the picture card.Now you are all setup for a really great trick that will always confuse and mystify thespectator!Presentation: Have the spectator pick any card out of the blue deck and sign it largeacross the face. Have them put their card back in the middle. Immediately, side slip it to

the second position from the top. Take the top "chosen" card and put it, out joggedabout an inch from the top of the deck. Set the deck down exactly the way it is now.Then take out your magical three changing cards from the packet. "These are my, everyexpensive, one of a kind, three magical color changing cards !!! What no applause?!Well, I don't think you know the true magical powers of these cards yet. But little do youknow, you will be astounded by this trick!"Count them on the table, and out loud to show they are three and only three cards. Geta break under the top card of the main deck. Do a Vernon Add On move adding thechosen card onto the bottom of the three card packet while saying this patter: "Now ofcourse you card wasn't a joker right? OK good. Jokers are really hard to control." Pushthe card out jogged of the deck, flush with the deck. Now put the deck down for a while.Take your packet of three cards and start pattering"Remember these magical cards? Well they are just three copies of your SIGNEDCARD. You don't believe me?! Why not? Look." Show the bottom card of the stack tobe the chosen signed card. Do an Anneman Alignment Move to show that the chosencard is in all three positions in the packet.Now pass the top two cards from the top of the packet to the bottom of the packet. Thenfor further effect, do a Flustration Count to show three or his card. Make sure you don'tlet the red card peek out under the blue ones or else the ending effect will be ruined."See, I told you I had three of your cards! Now, what good will it do me with three ofyour cards with your signature. I mean, I can't put them in the deck because they willhave your signature on them and they'd have a different feel and.. well you know. So Imight as well make three blank cards!"Rub your finger under the packet pretending to "burn" off the ink. Then with a fastmotion of turning over your hand, show that the card is now blank.This is key!!! Do a Flustration Count first this time. But it's a modified Flustration count.You hold a break under the second card in the packet. Then with your thumb, you peeloff the top two cards as one. Then

just finish the Flustration Count showing three blank cards.


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Again, you need proof that there are three blank cards so you do an AnnemanAlignment Move. WAIT!!!! STOP RIGHT THERE! DON'T DO THE MOVE YET!First pass the top blank card to the bottom of the packet. Then just continue as normalwith the Anneman Alignment Move but at the end, don't strip out a double from themiddle. Only take one from the middle and don't show the red card.

"Well, blank cards are really cool when playing a poker game. You can say, 'Let's playblanks wild!' But for a normal deck of cards, blank cards don't really work. So we'llchange them into something else"Turn over the packet and show the picture card (Or whatever you put on the odd card).Then do the modified Flustration Count like before. Pass the top card to the bottom.Then do the Anneman Alignment Move to reinforce the effect that there are threestrange cards.You can do a really cool thing to show the Joker. "Here's a strange card. (Nowassuming that you have your picture on the card. If you don't want to do this then youcan just make up your own patter.) Well, I know I am soooo beautiful in this picture, butstill I can't use it. I have to change it into a well you'll see." Just do a modified

Flustration Count to show all jokers.Now, spread the packet so that you only show three cards but you reveal the bluebacked card. "Well, how did that get in here?! Well, let's take a look at it. Oh my gosh!It's your card but with a blue back. Sheesh! That's pretty weird!"Then bottom change these four cards for the bottom five cards. Make sure that the bluebacked chosen card is on the top so it looks like the same packet. Set the top card tothe side and deal out the first card face up on the table. Show that it says FO. Thenspell out the rest of the cards and show that they spell FOOLED U!!! Then show the lastcard says THE END!!!Reverse fan the deck and show that all the cards are blank!!!Comments: This trick is so amazing!!! DO NOT do any tricks after this one for a fewreasons. One being that this is possibly one of the most astonishing tricks a spectatorwill see and another being that a few cards have different backs and it's really hard toditch them. You could of course switch the deckfor a different normal one.

Forgettable Prediction

Effect: Magician approaches a table full of onlookers, and hands an envelope with a

prediction inside to one of the persons involved. A few standard tricks are performed.Then the magician asks the spectator who is holding the envelope to open it and revealwhat is inside. A card is found, say the Jack of Clubs. Then the magician realizes thathe totally forgot to have anybody choose a card. The prediction card is placed back intothe envelope. Magician asks spectators to pretend nothing happened yet. (laughing)one person is asked to choose a card, the faces of the deck are fanned toward them.Spectator sees the cards to be all the same (The Jack of Clubs). The cards are tilteddownward to have the spectator simply touch the back of one of the cards. One is


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touched and placed on top of the deck, then turned face up. To everyone's surprise it isthe three of hearts. Envelope is opened to reveal a Three of Hearts. Everything can beinspected.Set Up:All that you need is a one-way deck and 2 duplicate cards, for example; One-way deck= Jack of Clubs and 2 three of hearts. Place a Jack of clubs inside of an

envelope. Both three of hearts on top of the one-way deck. The one-way deck is boxed.

Procedures: This one is easy. Hand someone the prediction envelope. Perform a fewtricks to create a time delay. "Will you open up my prediction and show everyone?" Asthe prediction is being opened, remove the one-way deck from it's case, and in yourfavorite manner, secretly turn the top card, a three of hearts face up, keep it necktied.Now take the card from spectator hold it and say "Oops. I forgot to have someonechoose a card" With the deck necktied, place the jack of clubs face up on top of thethree of hearts. Now lower the deck to display the jack. "Will everyone pretend theyhaven't seen anything yet?" "Let's start over"Now execute a double lift, and place the top face down card into the envelope, close itand hand it back to the spectator. Grab the deck, and slip cut the top card into the

middle of the deck. You are now left with a full deck of Jack of Clubs, the three of heartson top and a three of hearts in the envelope. Now fan the faces in front of anotherspectator. Now fan the faces in front of another spectator, be obvious, let others see thedeck, be careful not to expose the top card three of hearts. Lower the deck and ask newparticipant to just touch any card. Remove the card touched, without showing it's face."This is the card you want, are you sure?" This should create some laughs. Place thecard on top of the deck "You could have chosen any card" Now perform another doublelift to reveal the three of hearts.Execute the KM move and place the three of hearts face up near the spectator whoholds the envelope. Ask them to remove the prediction. It just happens to be a three ofhearts.

After I created this effect and started performing it. A few friends pointed out it'ssimilarity in effect to McCombical prediction by Billy McBomb. I still have not looked intoexactly how this effect works, it is my understanding that a special trick deck is neededas opposed to a special one-way trick deck, LOL So if you are so inclined please lookup the McCombical prediction, or someone who knows, please notify me of thesimilarity and differences.

Hand of Death, Sword of Justice

This routine is dark. Very dark. And I imagine that I'll be the only one ever to performthis effect. It is frightening when done correctly, and can cause nightmares with the righttheatrical approach behind it. This is not hype just to get you to read further; this is thehonest truth. Most effects have disclaimers concerning personal injury. I pres

Selected Card Tricks 1

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