Effect: Spectator picks a card and another different card and places it on the table and
says he won't touch that one ever. The spectators card disappears and the magician flips
over the other card on the table and it's their card!
Preparation :Get 4 Aces out of the deck
Trick : Have the spectator pick a card and place it face up on the table. Flip the ace
packet over and indicate your deck with them, saying you need another card. As you do this
let one Ace drop on the deck. Cut the deck and put that Ace face down aside. Don't let
them see it. Place the spectator's card face down on the table, them the Aces face down on
top of it, this packet goes in right hand biddle grip. Draw the top card into your left
hand, say 1 Ace, then go back and replace it on the BOTTOM of the packet as you draw the
second card, say 2. They shouldn't see you put the card back under. Then draw the next on
top of that one and say 3. Then 4. Now your left with an Ace in your right hand, they
think its their card. Reveal it, say its disappeared, put that card on top of the left
packet, flip it face up and do an Elmsley Count, showing it disappeared. Pick their card
out of the packet, they think it an Ace, and go to the face down card. Do a Mexican
Turnover revealing their card, and your left with an Ace, exactly what it should be.
Effect : Spectator signs the face of a card. The magician clearly puts it in the middle of
the deck, and is wrapped by a rubber band so the card can't "escape." The
magician says he will do something else, and spots a thumb tack on the floor. He says that
could be dangerous and puts it in his pocket. He says keep an eye on his pocket. He says
he needs one more thing and bends to pick up a quarter, but he trips! and the deck goes
flying, slams in the ceiling, and one card is nailed to the ceiling by a thumb tack. It's
the spectators signed card! Magicians pocket is shown empty.
Materials and Preparation : Deck up cards you don't card about or get a junk card and give
it to them to sign, 1 thumb tack (flat back, not the kind with a handle, and 1 rubber band
that fits fairly tightly around a deck. Put the thumb tack and a quarter on the ground, be
sure not to step on it! : )
Procedure : Have a spectator sign a card and cut the cards in half. Have him put it on the
bottom half, push it half way out with the top half giving them another look, but as you
do add another card on top, push the card flush and take the top card off the bottom
packet, and put it in the middle of the two packets, (bottom goes on top). Flip the deck
face up and get a break under their bottom card. Wrap the rubber band around the top left
corner, stretch it down and around the bottom right corner of all the cards except theirs,
it goes in-between their card and the deck, but one corner really holds it on. I should
have two strands going diagonally on the face and the back side should have a
"triangle" in one corner, don't show this though. Pick the tack up and pretend
to put it in your pocket. Then bring both hands to the deck, slide the tack in between the
deck and their card and stick the tack into their card, point going into face. Pretend you
trip, flip the cards back side up again and throw it at the ceiling with a spinning motion
so the back hits, the deck forces the tack to stick and the spinning action pulls it out
of the other triangle rubber band shaped thing. The deck falls to the floor still intact.
Comments : Do this only in your own home unless you give the owner of the house warning
and they agree. (It's only a pin hole. I practiced fifty times in one spot and you can't
see anything. If your bored, you can patch it up though). You can put the tack anywhere
and make it disappear. You can also use magicians wax, but then you need a completely flat
ceiling with no bumps. Michael Ammar's book suggests having a mini-baseball dart board,
and the card sticks to that.
The performer lets somebody think of three numbers between 1-9. This person must memorize
those three numbers from high to low.
(for example 8-5-3)
The spectator must write it down and under these three he writes the same numbers
backwards.
Then a line underneath it and subtract them.
853
358 -
495
The three new numbers must be turned around again and added together to get a new sum.
495
594 +
1089
The first three numbers (108) designate a page number in the telephone book. The last
number (9), designates the 9th person from the top of the page.
Now the performer tells the spectator the name, address and telephone number in the book.
The outcome of any numbers the spectator selects will ALWAYS be 1089!!
321 963 642
123 369 246 -
198 594 396
891 495 693 +
1089 1089 1089
So the only thing you have to do is memorize the 9th number of page 108 in the telephone book.
Patrick Groenhorst (sasenpat@casema.net)
Den Haag
Holland
For this trick you need to master the Double Lift.
It also works best with more than one spectator.
First have the spectator shuffle the deck to prove that you haven't set up the deck. Now have the spectator hand the deck back to you. Next execute a double lift, show the card to the spectator and put it back on top of the deck. Hand the top card to the spectator (the card appears to be the same one that you just showed them). Make sure they don't look at
it. I usually make them put their left hand over it. Now execute another double lift. This time you look at the card and if there is another spectator show it to him, if not then pick up the card and "accidentally" allow the only spectator look at it. Place the cards on top of the deck and now take the top card off and either keep it
(it's best to sit on and let it stick out a little so that it is in the view of a
spectator, just to make sure you aren't changing your cards) or give it to the other spectator, if there is one, but make sure he doesn't look at it. Next execute another double lift and place the cards back on top of the deck. Take the top card and give it to the first spectator, make sure he doesn't see this card either. Now execute another double lift and this goes
with your other card, don't let the first spectator see it, unless there is only one spectator. Now stare at the back of the first spectator's first card, make him remove his hand from it. Say something like "I think you are cheating, give me that card." Take the card, make sure it remains face down. Place it anywhere in the deck, I usually place it somewhere in the middle. Now take off the very top card, and give it to the spectator, again don't let anyone see this card. Have the first spectator turn over his cards. He could have sworn that those where his cards under his hands, but they aren't. The other spectator will probably tell him that those are your cards, if not then
it's ok. Now take your two cards and turn them over. Magically you and the first spectator have switched
hands! This trick can be done multiple ways, just use your imagination.
Inventor of this trick: Adam
Ok, so you've had your spectator pick a
card. You've got your patter down and you've performed your slights flawlessly.
The chosen card has been controlled to the top of the deck and all that stands
between you and infamy is the simple revelation of that card....Now What!!!?
Simply turning over the top card and
showing it to them seems like a pretty lame ending for all the time and practice
it took to get you this far. So here are a few alternatives that are a little
more worthy of an illusionist of your caliber.
Enjoy...
1) The chosen card is on top of the
deck. Take the deck in your right hand with the thumb on the top short end and
with the bottom short end resting on the tips of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers.
The index finger is curled behind the deck (against the top card) and pressing
forward. (standard rifle position). Rest both hands on the table, you're right
hand ready to rifle the deck and your left hand in catching position about 18
inches away. Now just let 'em fly! You'll end up with a stream of face down
cards between your two hands and the last card (the top card) will not only leap
forward to the middle of the stream but it
will flip over and reveal itself as well! (What more could you ask for!!!?)
The result is pretty impressive and if this were any more self-working you
wouldn't have to show up at all. Try it and see!
2) The chosen card is on top of the
deck. Casually show both hands empty then place the deck face down on the right
palm with the front edge just below the first joint of the index finger. The
fingers and short end of the deck should be pointing toward the audience. Now
bring your left hand over and place it palm down on top of the other creating a
card sandwich. The heels of your palms should be touching slightly as well as
your fingertips. Now turn your hands so that the thumbs are pointing straight
up. (A quick glance toward heaven at this point is always good for a laugh.) Now
begin quickly rubbing your hands together back and forth, keeping the heels of
your hands touching and allowing the cards to begin falling from your
fingertips. Keep this up until almost all the cards have dropped to the table
and then begin steadily slowing the motion. The last two cards in your hands
will be the original top and bottom cards. All you have to do now is be careful
to let the card on the right (the bottom card) drop out first and you're left
with one card in your hand which you reveal to be the chosen card. Way Cool!
You may have noticed that this one will work for top cards, bottom cards,
or even both for that ever popular "double pick", depending on how you
handle those last two cards. This is a messy one but the illusion of chaos only
adds to the wonder of the result.
3) The chosen card is on top of the
deck. Lay the deck face down across an open palm. We're going to do a one handed
cut here so use whichever hand feels the most comfortable. One long edge of the
deck should be resting in the crook of the thumb with the other long edge
pressed against the second joint of all four fingers. Now curl the tips of the
2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers over to grip the deck. Pull the thumb back to rest
against the long edge of the deck. As you do this your hand will naturally
stretch bringing the edge of the deck up slightly to meet the thumb. Now push
about half the deck up with the thumb while slightly easing the tension in the
fingers. This should form the top and bottom halves of the deck into a V shape.
Now curl the tips of the 2nd and 3rd fingers down again. This will flip the top
part of the deck over face up with the thumb on top and the fingers in between
the two halves. Leaving the index finger curled in between, bring the 2nd, 3rd
and 4th fingers out and over the deck. Release the thumb and straighten out the
fingers. You should now have two face down halves; one still resting in the
crook of the thumb and the other held between the index finger and the other
fingers. All there is to do now is to slide the top portion (originally the
bottom portion) forward and pull the bottom (originally the top) underneath it.
If you're following along with a deck of cards you already know what comes next.
As you withdraw the index finger just let the original top card slide out with
it. This happens quite naturally, in fact, you almost have to practice in order
for it not to happen! Grip the card
between the index and 2nd fingers as it comes out and you've just produced their
chosen card right from the middle of the deck! I usually perform the cut
quickly and slow down for the pull out. Give them plenty of time to see
the card actually coming out from the middle before you turn it over
There are lots of ways to convert a
so-so ending into a spectacular one. The more time you spend just "playing
around" with a deck of cards, the more you will discover. Have Fun!