A very cute trick with great misdirection and an even better finale.
PREPARATION: You must wear long sleeves to perform this trick. Slide two Jokers into your
right sleeve. It is best if the Jokers are identical.
TRICK: (Note: You can replace the dialogue, but this is my way of doing it. Also, the
action will be in parentheses.) Get out the Queen of Hearts and a King and Jack. It is
best if both are either Spades or Clubs because the black sets them apart even more. Set
the Queen out on the table face up and begin your story.
"It was Friday night at Queenie's house and she felt very lonely. So
she invited the King of Spades/Clubs so she would have some company.(Set the King on the
table face up next to the Queen.) After a while, they wanted to play a game of cards, so
they invited over the Jack of Spades/Clubs. (Set the Jack on the table on the other side
of the Queen.) The game got very heated, however, and the King and Jack began to argue.
So the Queen called the police and they were dragged to jail. (At this point, bring
the King and Jack into your right hand and use a palm so the audience can't see the
cards.) After the police questioned them, (Move your left hand to your right and SECRETLY
push the King and Jack up your sleeve. Act as though you still have the cards in your
hand.) the police released them on bail. (Remove the two Jokers instead of the others from
your sleeve and put them face down on the table. ) Now the King and Jack were angry at the
queen, so they painted graffiti all over her house and went home. When the queen awoke the
next morning and saw her house, she said (Turn the jokers face up) "What a couple of
Jokers!"
From and By: Adam Kosberg
For this trick you need 3 cups that can "nestle" together. We will call them
cups A, B, and C. A is on the far left, B is in the middle, and C is on the far right.
(Note: The cups will change places as the trick progresses, but still confirm as above.)
You need 4 balls, cotton balls probably work best because they don't rattle around in the
cups. Before the audience gets there, lay all 3 cups on the table and palm the 4th ball.
Now you are ready to go.
Start by advertising the 3 cups and 3 balls.Secretly sneak a your palmed ball under cup B.
Now put a ball on top of cup B and cover them with cups A and C. Make a magical gesture
and lift all 3 cups, revealing the ball, which has apparently passed through Cup B. Now
turn the cups over so they are mouth up. Take each cup and flip them mouth down onto the
table from left to right. Make sure nobody notices the secret ball, which should be under
cup B. Now repeat the above process, but this time put 2 balls on top of cup B. You should
reveal only one ball. Flip them over again, but now 2 balls are under cup B. Put the 2
balls you still have out on top of cup B. Reveal 2 balls. Flip them over again. (Reminder,
when you reveal any balls, set them aside for a moment.) Now for the finale.Put 1 ball
under cup B so the audience thinks there is one but there is really 3. Take your other
ball and put it on top of cup B, put the cups on and reveal 3 balls. In a sense, the
audience believes that the one ball under cup B somehow tripled, thus creating an almost
undetectable effect.
From and By: Adam Kosberg
EFFECT: The magician folds up a coin in a piece of paper, then burns it completely and
the coin is gone.
EQUIPMENT: A quarter or nickel sized-coin. A small square piece of paper, and a matchbox
with 1 match in it.
First, set the matchbox on the table. Now put the coin in the middle of the piece of
paper. Fold the two sides in, and then the bottom up. Turn the packet around set it in
your right hand. Squeeze the sides and the quarter will fall into your hand. Use a finger
palm to conceal it. Finish the folding and pick up your matchbox. ( Note: If you feel
uncomfortable or are inexperienced palming, have the matchbox in your pocket and when you
reach to get it, deposit the coin.) Otherwise, open the matchbox so the opening goes
toward your right hand. As you get the match out, deposit the coin. Ignite the match and
burn the packet completely. (If possible, burn it into an ashtray.) OPTIONAL: Reveal the
coin inside the matchbox.
EFFECT: The spectator selects a card from a shuffled deck. The spectator keeps his card
face down, and the magician spreads the deck face up. The spectator tells him how long he
has to figure out what card the spectator picked. The magician is correct every time.
EQUIPMENT: A deck of cards.
SECRET: When you tell the spectator what you are going to do, you should have already
decided what method to use. You can: Force a memorized card, you can glimpse the bottom
card and shuffle it to the top, etc. Just make sure you know what card he picked. From
there, simply spread the cards face up and tell him his card.
From and By: Adam Kosberg
This one is basically a "betcha" trick which was taught to me by a friend in my
local S.A.M. club. I personally use it to get at a wise guy who thinks I put
everything up my sleeve or claims to know how I do every trick. Basically all you do is
ask the wise guy or spectator a simple question--"Can you balance a playing card, on
top of which is a nickel, on the tip of your index finger and remove just the card,
leaving the nickel still perched upon your index finger and without dropping either?"
Then you give them a playing card and nickel to try for themselves. After several failed
attempts take back the card and nickel and place them just as you said (a card balanced on
your finger and on top of the card a nickel). Then simply give the card a hard snap
(flicking it) sideways and it will fly away leaving the nickel still upon your hand. This
can usually be done the first time tried, all that's required is a steady hand and some
concentration.
This trick has gone on to become one of my favorites and I usually always use it when I
perform. I can always get a good reaction out of it, no matter how what size the audience.
Although it requires a little preparation, it is
well worth the time spent making it and will most likely become one you will enjoy
performing as well.
THE EFFECT: The performer displays a red-backed bicycle card (a ten of spades for
example). He also shows two blue-backed bicycle jokers. He places the red ten of spades in
between the two blue jokers. By simply rubbing the top joker against the red ten of
spades, it is shown that the 10 has jumped to the very back of the card packet. This can
be repeated
several times even where the 10 is placed on bottom of the two jokers and jumps to the
middle of them.
THE PREPARATION: All that is required to perform this effect is two blue-backed jokers and
a red-backed ten of spades (or any other card as long as it is black--clubs and spades).
The Bicycle brand of cards seems to make the effect stronger. Now, all that is needed is
to turn one of the jokers face-up and cut it on the lower right side. The cut will run
about two thirds of the card. (example below)
__________________
| |
| |
| | <---The Joker
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| -----------------------| <---The Cut
| |
| |
__________________
Now you are ready to perform the trick...
THE PRESENTATION: Display the red-backed ten of spades and display the two blue-backed
jokers, careful not to expose the slit in the cut one. When I do this I freely show the 10
but display the jokers differently. Have the uncut joker overlapping the cut joker which
hides the slit and show them that way. Make sure to point out the differences in the color
of the backs of the cards. Now, make sure that the jokers are on top of each other--the
cut one on the bottom, the top one slightly beveled to the right. Place the 10 in between
the two jokers, but make sure that when you do the 10 slides into the slit. Now part of
the ten is between the jokers while the other part is behind them. Of course, the top
joker covers all this so that the spectators do not see the slit. Make a rubbing motion
with the top joker slowly sliding it up so that eventually it is seen that the 10
magically jumped from the middle to the back. I always say I'll do it again, only slower
and with the 10 face-down this time so the action may be followed more closely. Even so,
this only strengthens the effect because the spectators still won't catch how it's done.
The next thing to do is to either finish off the trick, performing it slightly differently
or to just stop and leave the spectators gawking at your amazing manipulative skill with
cards. Although, by doing my finish the trick becomes even better. To finish, do the exact
same thing as before--performing the trick where the 10 is face-up and then again, slower
with the 10 face-down. The only difference
is that now the card is placed at the bottom of the two jokers and jumps to the middle.
Again, by utilizing the slit in the bottom joker the card just slides in the back and
through the slit. This places the top portion of the deck in back of the two jokers and
the bottom portion of the 10 between the two jokers. And the top joker hides it all. And
that's all there is to it, save for making up your own patter.
NOTE: When making the 10 jump from the middle to the back I always execute a certain
movement when pulling the card out. All this does is allow the spectator to definitely see
that the card is really now in back. All that you do is this--instead of just pulling the
10 out from the back and doing the trick again, I hold the 10 at the bottom left and turn
it diagonal so that when I pull it out, it stays underneath both jokers until it finally
clears them. Good luck with this one. I hope the instructions are clear. If you have any
problems, email me --Josh
(TriksJoker)