190 As the spectator is finishing waving his hand, move your left hand behind him and rest it on his shoulder. Figure 17 is exposed for clarity. This crafty little move shields the four copped cards from view while also helping you guide him through the "switch." Once he has finished the wave, turn over the tabled card to reveal the Four of Spades. "So if the Four of Spades is now on the table, that must mean the Ace of Hearts has somehow found its way up your sleeve."
As if preparing to steady him, slide your left hand down the length of the spectator's arm until the bottom edges of the copped cards align with the edge of his sleeve. Figure 18 is exposed for clarity. This can be difficult to do without flashing the cards, but with practice you will get a sense of how to keep the cards from being seen. Reach into the spectator's sleeve with your right fingers and remove the double-facer with the Ace of Hearts showing. Set the Ace on the table. "Wow! I've never seen anybody do that so well on their first try!" In the offbeat after the reveal, insert your right second finger into his sleeve as your thumb and first finger go below and pinch the copped cards in your left hand. 191
192 "I'm very impressed However, I think the most impressive part is that you were also able to get the rest of the Royal Flush up there without anybody noticing!" Pull your right hand back and toward yourself, the cards coming along for the ride. Figure 19. Turn the four cards face up to reveal the rest of the Royal Flush. Set them down on top of the Ace of Hearts on the table. Figure 20. The production of a Royal Flush from your spectator's sleeve is a very powerful moment, so don't rush it. Take the time to bask in your glory.
The Clean Up You are going to switch the double-faced card for the regular Ace in order to end clean. Pick up the deck with the right hand and place it face down into left-hand dealer's grip. Pick up the Royal Flush with your right hand, holding the cards in a fan with your thumb on top and your fingers below. Move your right hand over top of the deck in your left hand; the fanned cards will shade the deck below. Clamp your left third and fourth fingers on the right edge of the deck, and then curl them outward slightly. The pack will lift upward and to the right. Figure 21, next page. Place your left thumbtip on the face of the Ace ( the doublefacer) while under the shade of the Royal Flush your right 193
194 second fingertip contacts the top card of the deck ( the regular Ace of Hearts). Figure 22. In one motion the left thumb pulls the double-facer to the bottom of the deck while your right hand moves upward slightly, keeping the right second finger in contact with the top card of the deck. As the hand moves upward, the regular Ace will flip the deck face down, the double-facer moving secretly to the bottom of the deck as the regular Ace takes its place. Figure 23. Set the clean Royal Flush on the table, and then take the deck in end grip with your right hand, copping off the bottom card of the deck (the double-facer) in your left hand. Spread the deck on the table as you ditch the copped card in your pocket.
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•••••••••••••• his is a physical illusion in the sense that the spectator actually feels it happen. The heart of this routine is the illusion of an empty card box suddenly filling with cards, with the spectator actually experiencing the moment it happens. I wish you could experience it in person before reading it. But here we are. It belongs to that rare class of effects that incorporates more than one of the senses. On its own, "Gravity Deck" is a fantastic late-night session piece. Once incorporated into a full effect, like the "Three Deck Illusion'', it creates a cerebral experience that has become one of the strongest things I do in casual performance situations. 197
The method is quite unorthodox. Before reading the method, I recommend imagining yourself experiencing the effect as described. Despite my being a professional liar, I can assure you that it actually feels this clean in person. Effect You introduce three empty, casino-style, card boxes. Each of these has a clear cellophane window, allowing the spectators to see the boxes are completely empty. You place a deck of cards inside one of the boxes, and then place the box, window side down, on the table. You ask the spectator to lift up the box and take note of the weight and feel of the cards in the box. You explain that there is a certain phenomenon wherein the cards will apparently begin to lose weight. You add an empty card box below the first on the table, and then invite the spectator again to lift up both boxes and feel the weight. The boxes will feel lighter to the spectator than they did before. You add another box below the first two and ask the spectator to lift up the stack again. It will feel even lighter still. For the kicker, all of the boxes are turned over and each box is seen unmistakably empty. Continuing, you drop one of the boxes, window side down, onto the spectator's outstretched hand. They feel an empty box. You drop another. Nothing. You show the third box unmistakably empty and drop it onto the spectator's hand. It lands with a thunk. The box is suddenly very heavy. You slowly turn it over and a complete deck of cards is seen inside. 198 -
Method Overview This breaks down into two parts. The "Three Deck Illusion'' is a genuine phenomenon with no secret method. The orientation of the boxes in the hand, mixed with some psychology, gives the illusion that the stack of decks is losing weight as boxes are added. The vanishing/appearing deck has two parts. First is an Omni Deck, which gives the box weight, but makes the box appear empty.42 To make the deck appear and vanish, a loose piece of playing card inside the box either covers the box window, creating the illusion of a deck of cards in the box, or it slides back, making it appear the box is empty Needed • Three card boxes with cellophane windows • Three decks of cards that match the boxes • An Omni Deck • A blank-back card • AJoker Building the Gimmick There are two components to the gimmick: a sliding piece of playing card and an altered Omni Deck. Figure 1, next page. To make the sliding gimmick, cut a Joker approximately in half. It should be sized so that it covers the entire box window (which we'll call the "full box" position), but isn't visible when it slides behind the cardboard portion of the window side of the 42. Danny Korem, Stephen Minch, and Jerry Andrus, "The Omni Deck", Korem without Limits (1985), pp.153-155. 199
box (which we'll call the "empty box" position). In the "empty box" position, the top edge of the Joker may be visible through the widow. To prevent this, trim enough of the top border of the card to ensure the gimmick can't be seen. However, when trimming the border, leave the side edges intact. Figure 2. These "stilts" allow the gimmick to cover the window entirely, but tuck away to either side of the window when in the "empty box" position. To make the altered Omni Deck, tape the short end of a blank-back card to the Omni Deck, the blank side facing the Omni Deck. Figure 3. If you hold the Omni Deck with the card on top, it looks like a face-up deck of cards. But if you place it inside the box with the taped edge closest to the flap and the card side away from the window, the blank side of the card on the far side of the Omni Deck will appear to be the 200 ----- - --
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202 inside of the card case, making the box appear empty through the window. It creates the perfect illusion of an empty box. Place the sliding gimmick on the side of the Omni Deck not covered by the blank-backed card, with the prongs pointing away from the flap. Figure 4. Basic Production Hold the box with the gimmick inside in dealing grip, window side up, with the flap away from your body. The sliding gimmick should be set in the "empty box" position. Figure 5. With your palm-up right hand, grip the box at the outer edge and turn it over end-for-end as you ask a spectator to hold out their hand. Figure 6. This will cause the sliding piece to shift in front of the window. Take the box in end grip and drop it onto the spectator's outstretched hand.
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204 Two things happen to convince the viewers the box is full of cards. First, when the box lands in the spectator's hand it will make an audible thud. Second, because the spectator catching the box is not expecting it to have weight, they will physically react to the impact, which will naturally cause them to lower their hand. The other spectators will hear the thud and see the reaction, which convinces them that something is now in the box, even though they themselves don't feel it. To remove the deck from the box, first pick it up from the spectator's hand and turn it over side-for-side, placing it into left-hand dealing grip, making sure the sliding piece does not shift. Display the sliding gimmick through the window, "proving" there is now a deck of cards in the box. Turn the box over end-for-end, allowing the sliding gimmick to move to the flap end of the box. Lift the box by the sides with the right hand, open the flap with the left fingers, and pull the Omni Deck out into dealing grip with the sliding gimmick hiding underneath. Figure 7 is exposed for clarity. Because the back of the blank-back card is visible at the top of the Omni Deck, it will look like you are holding a normal deck of cards. The crux of this appearance is the moment the box drops onto the spectator's hand. The sliding gimmick and altered Omni Deck together create the visual illusion of a deck, but the most deceptive moment of the routine is when the spectator feels a deck land in their hand. The sudden and unexpected appearance of weight, the substance felt in the box, and the sound of the deck hitting their palm combine to create conviction in the
viewers' minds. Everyone watching should be almost fully convinced there is a deck in the box before you even show it to them. The appearance of cards in the window should only confirm their belie£ Of course this is only part of the equation. Now that the deck has appeared, what do you do with it? Switch it? Well, yes. I often :find the best way to switch a deck is to do it openly and in the context of a larger effect or routine. 205
206 Setup Take one of the decks you removed from the card boxes and move the card that matches the blank-back card of your Gravity Deck gimmick to the face of the deck. This goes into your right jacket packet. Place the other two normal decks into the boxes. Place the Gravity Deck gimmick into the last box, with the sliding piece in the "full box" position. Stack the boxes with the Gravity Deck gimmick in the middle. The Three Deck Illusion This first phase of the routine is based on a concept called the Charpentier Illusion,43 also commonly referred to as the Three Deck Illusion or the size-weight illusion.44 Introduce the three boxes. The gimmick is kept in the middle of the three-deck stack so that, should the sliding gimmick move, it won't expose the gimmick or make the box appear empty. As you lay the boxes out on the table, necktie the stack so that the windows face you, making sure the sliding piece is in position to cover the window of the box before you place it down. Place the boxes window side up onto the table; carefully, so the audience won't hear a difference in the weight of the boxes. 43. 'Il1e Charpentier Illusion is named after the French physician Augustin Charpentier as he was the first to demonstrate the illusion experimentally. 44. Charpentier, A. (1891). Analyse experimentale: De quelques elements de la sensation de poids [Experimental analysis: On some of the elements cf sensations of weight]. Archives de Physiologic Normale et Pathologique, 3, pp.122- 135.
"This is less of a trick with three decks of cards, and more of a phenomenon. Well, let me clarify. It uses all three boxes, but only one deck." Remove the deck from the box on the left and place it off to the side of the table. Do the same thing with the box on the right. This leaves the gimmick in the middle box. "Before we start, I want you to become familiar with the size and weight of the cards. " Turn the box containing the gimmick window side down and place it in front of the spectator with the long sides toward them. As you do this, tilt the box with the flap side toward the table, causing the moving piece to shift to the "empty box" position. Be careful to not flash the window and reveal the box is empty just yet. Ask the spectator to reach out with their right hand, thumb on one side and fingers on the opposite, and gently lift the box up off the table, taking note of the weight. Demonstrate by lifting the box yourself as an example. Figure 8, next page. Wait until they place the gimmick back onto the table to continue on. "That makes sense to me, but what I can't explain is that if you add another box under the first, the combined boxes will suddenly feel lighter than before. " Turn one of the empty boxes face down and place it beneath the gimmicked box. Ask the spectator to reach over as before 207
208 and lift up both boxes. The stack will feel lighter because the weight is felt by the friction pulling against the skin of the fingertips and, as the heavy box moves farther from the fingertips, the weight is more evenly distributed against the surface area of the fingers that come into contact with the multiple boxes. This is what gives the illusion of the weight draining from the boxes. It sounds far-fetched, but it works. "With just two boxes, the change in weight is minor; but with a third box, it becomes much more noticeable." Turn the third empty box window side down and add it to the bottom of the pile. When lifted, the pile seems even lighter.
"1he more boxes you add, the lighter they become. 1he boxes become so light that they practically fie! empty. 1he reason they practically fie! empty is because they actually are empty." When the spectator places the boxes back on the table, reach over, pick up the pile and turn it face up, being careful to make sure the sliding gimmick remains in the "empty box" position. Fan the boxes out, pinching the middle box against the gimmicked box with your right hand, taking the third box in your left hand. Display the three boxes to be unmistakably empty. Figure 9. Use your right thumb to move the top box side-to-side. This will add to the illusion of the boxes being weightless and empty. 209
210 The Moment It Returns Place all three boxes into your left hand, window side up and flap away from you, with the gimmicked box on the bottom of the stack. Pick up the top empty box, turning it window side down, end over end, holding it in end grip, and drop it onto the spectator's outstretched hand. Ask them whether or not it is the box containing the cards. They will most likely say no, but if they are insistent that it is, explain that you should probably still check the other two. Pick up the empty box and put it onto the table. Do the same with the second empty box. The spectator will feel nothing. "7here's only one place left it can be. " Turn the gimmicked box over in the same way, which causes the sliding gimmick to move into the "full box" position. Drop the
box onto the spectator's outstretched hand and let it land with a thud. Pause to let them react. All of this work was done to create this particular moment. Savor it. Slowly turn the box over side-to-side and reveal that there is a deck of cards in the box. Figure 10. Turn the box over, end over end, allowing the gimmick to slide to the flap end of the box. Pick up the deck by the sides with the right hand, open the flap with the left, and remove the entire gimmick from the box, holding it in left-hand dealing grip. Throw the box onto the table with the others. Figure 11. 211
212 A Simple Deck Switch As you go to straighten up the mess on the table, drop the gimmick into the outer left jacket pocket. Don't draw any attention to this and the moment won't be remembered. Pick up the two decks on the table and put them into two of the boxes on the table. Without hesitation, reach into your right outer jacket pocket and pull out the real deck and place it into the last remaining box. Everything can now be examined. A Switch When Working Out of a Case If you like to work out of a close-up case, there is a fool-proof way to switch out the gimmick. Instead of beginning with the third deck in your outer right jacket pocket, place it in your case. At the beginning of the effect, pull the two real decks out of their boxes and place them into your close-up case. They should be resting near the third deck. At the end of the effect keep the gimmicked deck in your left hand as you reach into your case to retrieve the two decks of cards set aside at the beginning. As you reach into the case, drop the gimmick and pick up the extra deck with your left hand as you grab the other two decks, one held by the fingers of each hand. Put each deck in one of the empty boxes and you are clean.