Place the card from your pocket face up and rightjoggcd onto the left-hand packet, to create a small spread, lake the entire spread (with the exception of the palmed cards) into right-hand end grip (fig. 9). Place the left hand into the left front pocket with its two hidden cards, and leave the Five in the pocket and bring out the Queen (closest to your body). Place the Queen onto the right-hand cards, but this time leftjogged, so that it covers the two Fives (fig. 10). Continue, “ 7he other two, o f course, went into the back pockets.” Gesture with the hands apart to show the left palm empty. Immediately palm or cop the bottom two cards in the left hand; this is easy as they are set together, hidden under the spread of two Queens and a Five. Reach into your right back pocket with your free right hand to bring out a Queen and to place it on top of the packet. Square the packet and take it in right-hand end grip, so your left hand can move to the left back pocket with its two palmed cards. Leave the Five in the pocket and remove the Queen, which is farthest from your body. Place the Queen on top of the packet in your hand. People will think the trick is over after this, so hold your hands far away from your body and accept the reactions. This is so that the audience doesn’t suspect anything sneaky when they aren’t paying attention. Pause a few beats and then peel the four Queens off the packet into the left hand. However, as you peel off the final Queen, secretly load the first three back under the bottom of the packet. Fan the four-card packet with the backs toward the audience (fig. 11);
the audience will assume that these are the four Fives. In reality, they are three Queens with the Five of Clubs at the face. If the Queens are signed, tap the face of the apparent Queen packet (really just one Queen) to show that they are the same, signed Queens. Square the fan, ensuring that you don’t flash the Queens. Place the four cards face up on top of the left hand’s Queen. However, just before the four-card packet is aligned with the single card, execute the start of a Herrmann Pass with the single Queen, placing it perpendicular to the rest of the packet (fig. 12, with the right hand removed). The right hand covers the card. 13. Complete the pass by squaring up the Queen with the face of the packet as you place your entire right hand over the packet, apparently taking the Fives into your palm. Move the hand away, tensing your hand as if you have the four Fives palmed, and then slowly turn your hand to show that it is empty. Turn the packet toward the audience and spread over the top three cards to show four Queens (fig. 13). Place the double card at the back of the packet. Place the packet face up in your left hand. Reach into your right pocket with your right hand and remove the first Five, gripping it between your right index finger and second finger (fig. 14). Place the five-card packet face down into right-hand dealing grip, keeping it separate from the Five you just removed. Your left hand is now free to reach into your left pocket to remove the next Five. Put the right hand’s Five with this one into a spread in your left hand.
Reach behind your back with your right hand and thumb off the top face-down card from the packet, enough to grip it between your right index and second fingers. Stretch out the two fingers, turning the top card (a Five) face up to mimic the way you held the first Five. All this happens behind your back. Move your hand back to your front to show the third Five, which apparently came from your right back pocket. Finally, place the two left-hand cards with the right-hand card, forming a three-card spread, freeing your left hand to reach into your left back pocket to remove the final Five. Credits Tomas’ starting point was Jack Carpenter’s “Multiplex Reset” from Modus Operandi by Stephen Hobbs (1992). However, the pocket interchange plot was created by Jerry Sadowitz who published his “The More Things Change,” in Alternative Card M agic (1982).
“Signed Hot Mama ” was Tomas first published effect and it perfectly illustrates what I mentioned in myforeword: everything in Tomas magicfits together perfectly. It saw print on The Second Deal website in 1998 and follows on perfectly in both effect and method from “Tattwo You ’ (page 62). Effect Tomas has two cards selected (one of which is signed by a participant) and returned to a red-backed deck. After a brief magical gesture, Tomas makes the unsigned selection turn to have a blue back, which he leaves in full view on the table. He then fairly shows the signed selection and places it into the deck. He tries to change this card to a blue back, but apparently fails miserably. However, in an unexpected turn of events, he shows that he has changed the unsigned blue-back selection to the now blue-hacked signed selection ... even though the audience saw it very clearly go into the deck a few moments before. Requirements A rea-backed deck and any blue-backed card. Tomas uses a blue-backed Two of Diamonds because the card will be signed on its face and this card allows the signature to be very clearly seen. During the explanation I will assume that you are doing the same. You will also need a marker pen. Setup Place the red-backed Two of Diamonds on top of the deck and the blue-backed Two of Diamonds on the face. in left-hand dealing grip, acquire a little-finger break above the blue-backed Two at the face of the deck. Spread through the deck, keeping the little-finger break, and ask someone to point at a card. Time the spread so that the participant touches a card in the upper portion. Outjog the selected card and angle it a little to the right (fig. 1, next page). Handling Holding the deck
Continue spreading and have another card pointed at from below the outjogged card. Outjog this card too, but angle it to the left (fig. 2). Square up the deck, leaving the two cards outjogged and maintaining your little finger break above the blue-backed Two of Diamonds. Execute a Vernon Strip-out Addition, adding the blue-backed card from the face of the deck beneath the two outjogged cards. Specifically, to execute the Vernon move, take the deck by the inner right corner with your right thumb on top and the right index and middle fingers inside the break (fig. 3). Move the left hand forward, secretly dragging the blue-backed card under the two outjogged selections (fig. 4, from below). Clamp your left thumb down onto the outjogged cards and pull them out of the deck (fig. 5) with the bluebacked card secretly beneath them. You will notice that the reason you angled the cards earlier is to provide plenty of cover for this secret addition. 3. 4.
Place the deck face up on the table with your right hand, at the same time squaring the left hand’s three cards. The audience will focus on the larger action of the deck being tabled, giving you a little cover in case the blue card is accidentally flashed during the squaring action. A careful handling will avoid this, but the cover is there just in case. Take the face-down three-card packet in right-hand end grip and peel the first selection into your left hand, levering it face up with the left side of the double (fig. 6). Name the card out loud (let’s say it is the King of Hearts) and then carefully flip the double face up on top of it to show the second selection (really the blue-backed Two of Diamonds). Hand the pen to the second participant and ask that he sign the face of his apparent selection on the face while you hold the packet. Explain that one selection will be signed and that the other will be marked with an invisible thumb print. Once the card has been signed, take the top two cards, as one, in right-hand end grip and blow on its face to make the ink dry. This also shows that the signed selection has a red back (fig. 7). Place the single card square on top of the face-up double, and ask the first spectator to touch the face of the card to mark it with his thumb print. Ask the first participant to lift up about half of the face-up deck from the table and call attention to the card at the face of the remaining tabled portion (say, Six of Diamonds). Say, “Notice that you cut to the Six o f Diamonds. I w ill place your card directly next to this Six." lake the three-card packet in left-hand end grip and reach your left hand under the packet and use your left fingers to separate the lowermost card. Move the top two cards 7.
away, as one, as you immediately flip the remaining card face down with your left fingers (fig. 8). The timing is such that the audience never gets to see the face of the bottom card, which they assume to be the signed selection. Place this card face down on the table, far enough away from the second participant that he cannot reach to turn it over. Place the face-up double card on top of the lower portion of the deck and ask the participant to place the cards that she cut off back on top, losing the first selection. Turn the deck face down and make a gesture to apparently make the back of the first selection change colour. Spread through the deck until you reach the blue-backed card and break the spread above it. Flash the face of the card above the blue-backed card to show the Six of Diamonds and then execute a double turnover of the top two cards of the lowermost packet to show that the first selection now has a blue back. Flip the double card face down, and thumb the bluebacked card onto the table. Restore the deck by placing the right-hand packet on top of the left. As you square the cards, obtain a little finger break below the top card (red-backed Two of Diamonds). Pick up the apparent signed selection with your right hand and place it injogged on top of the deck (fig. 9). In a continuing action, slide it and the card below it forward using the Relativity Pushoff on page 81. Cut the top half of the deck to the very top, using a Hindu shuffle style technique (fig. 10), trapping the outjogged double in the middle of the deck (fig. 11). V 10.
The reason for cutting the top half is that you do not want to risk the first selection ending up on the face of the deck. During this, slightly misname the first selection by naming the wrong value or the wrong suit. Turn your left palm down to briefly flash the duplicate Two of Diamonds as if you felt that you named the wrong card. Correct yourself and square it into the deck. This decoy card isn’t signed, but as only part of the card is in view, the audience will not question it. Make a gesture to apparently turn the card to a blue-backed card and then spread through the deck to show only redbacked cards. Ask, “Do you see a blue card anywhereE as you spread through the deck again. The participant will answer that he does not see a blue card and therefore will take a little coaxing into pointing out the tabled card. When he finally notices it, invite him to turn it over to find his signed card. Credits “Chicago Opener” was first published in Frank Garcia’s M illion Dollar Card Secrets (1972), where he explained that it was a trick that he learned in Chicago. The trick that he learned was A1 Leech’s “Red Hot Mama,” which was later published in Jim Ryan Close-Up: Entertaining Card Quickies (1980). n.
A Brownian bridge is a random process that starts and ends in predetermined states even though everything between them is completely random. This makes for the perfect title o f Tomas’ variant ofE. G. Browns “Twelve Card Thought Transition. ” Those who are aware o f prior variants o f Browns trick will notice that Tomas’ effect is considerably different from the norm. Effect Tomas removes two packets of ten cards from the deck. He has someone think of a number from one to ten and then remember the card that lies at that number in one of the packets. The packet is then shuffled, and Tomas removes a card from that packet and places it into the other packet, which he also shuffles. The participant names her card and number. Tomas counts down to the number in the second packet to show that he correctly moved the thought-of card and placed it at the exact number the spectator chose. Performance Remove any twenty cards from the deck and place the deck aside, as it is no longer required. Hold the twenty cards face up in right-hand end grip, catching an Erdnase break above the bottom card as you get into position. Ask a spectator to think of a number from one to ten (there’s no equivocation here; she can even think of the numbers one and ten). Peel cards into your left hand, one by one, counting slowly from one to ten, and asking the spectator to think of the card that lies at their thought-of number. On the count of ten, however, you will switch the two packets. To do this, bring the two packets into alignment (just as you did for the previous nine cards) and drop the card below the Erdnase break onto the left-hand packet. Continue by wedging the entire upper packet into your left thumb crotch and holding the cards in place there (fig. 1). Finally, take away the lower packet (the cards that you originally counted into your hand) with your right hand. All this happens in one second, and it should appear that you simply peeled the last card off the packet on the count of “ten.”
The right-hand packet now contains the spectator’s card (assuming she didn’t think of the number ten), but the audience just assumes that it contains ten random cards. Place the righthand packet face down onto the table. Turn the left hand’s packet face down and overhand shuffle the packet as follows: run off three cards, throw the packet on top, run off another three cards and finally throw the packet on top. Explain that you are shuffling the packet to ensure that the spectator’s card is lost somewhere in it, but that you will still attempt to find the card. Remove the fourth card from the top of the packet and place the remaining cards aside. This is the original face card of the deck, and while unlikely, it is possible that it is the card of which the participant is thinking (if her thought-of number were ten). Pick up the tabled packet, holding it face down, and buckle the bottom card. Insert the card you removed from the packet into the break so that it ends up second from the bottom. Next, you will false shuffle the packet so that the audience has no idea where you placed the card. The overhand shuffle that Tomas uses is to undercut about half the packet and then to run the remaining cards off singly, counting the number of cards that you run. Then, repeat the shuffle by running off the same number of cards that you counted and throwing the rest on top. The cards are back in their original order. Place this packet down to your right. Ask the spectator to name her card. Turn over the first eight cards in the left packet one at a time (counting them as you go) to show that none of them is her thought-of card. Before you turn over the ninth card, ask the participant to repeat her mental selection. Look a bit disappointed at the face of the last card, but then triumphantly turn it face up showing that it is not the selection. This is the first effect: you succeeded in removing her thought-of card from the packet. Turn to the other packet and remind the participant that you shuffled her card into a random position. Ask her what her secret number was. Spread down to her number and outjog the card in that position and square up the sides of the packet. Slowly turn over the packet to show the outjogged card to be her selection. This is the second effect: you managed to shuffle the card into the position of her secret number. Remove her card and drop it onto the face of the tabled packet to make it clear that it was from that packet you removed it earlier.
Credits Edward G. Brown’s “Twelve Card Thought Transition” was published in The Card M agic o f Edward G. Brown by Trevor Hall (1973).
r^ i “Chase the Red” is a small packet Out o f this World-style effect, but with a very different handling and method than the norm. Effect Tomas shuffles about half the red cards and half the black cards together. A participant is then asked to use her intuition to remove the black cards from the face-down packet. She does it perfectly! Handling Casually spread through the deck and cut it at a point where the three cards at the face of the deck are of alternating colours. Let’s say you have a Queen of Spades at the face of the deck, followed by a Seven of Hearts and then any other black card. You will now split the deck into four packets using the initial sequence of Paul Harris’ “The Perfectionist.” Spread over the top three cards, but casually keep the second card from the face (the Seven of Hearts) hidden behind the top card. Continue spreading through the deck, upjogging every red card (fig. 1). Upon completion, keeping the red cards upjogged, cut about half of the cards from the bottom of the deck onto the table (fig. 2). Note that these cards remain interwoven as you table them. Angle the remaining cards a little toward yourself and use the left thumb to push the face card of the inner packet upward (the Queen of Spades, in our example), square with the
iipjogged cards. Strip out the upjogged cards (actually the red packet, but with a black cover card) and place the two packets face up onto the table, side by side. Pick up the tabled telescoped packet, fairly strip out the upjogged red cards and place each packet onto the table side by side, too. You supposedly have two red packets and two black packets, while in fact two of them have a top card of a different colour compared to the rest of the cards in their packet. Explain, “/ w ill shuffle h a lf the deck so that we have a mixture o f red cards and black cards. Then / w ill place this mixed packet between h a lf the red cards and h a lf the black cards. I w ill do everything slowly so that you can see everything that I do. ” Take the packet with the Seven of Hearts at the face and riffle shuffle it face up with the real black packet, letting the Seven of Hearts fall on top of the packet. Keeping the supposed red packet to your left during the shuffle will prevent black index corners from flashing during the shuffle. Pick up this combined packet and overhand shuffle it with the backs toward the audience. During this shuffle, control the Seven of Hearts to the top of the face-down packet. Place this packet face down on top of the face-up Queen of Spades packet and drop the remaining red packet face up on top of all. The end result of this sequence is that apparently a packet of mixed red and black cards are face down between two face-up packets of solid colours. The entire sequence needs to be handled very slowly and fairly to ensure that everyone follows along. Spread the deck between your hands and cull the first face-down card (Seven of Hearts) to the bottom of the deck. The audience should believe that the face-down cards consist of mixed red and black cards, but they are actually all black cards. Do not spread past the face-up Queen of Spades, because otherwise you’ll flash the face-up red cards. Explain, “ The face-dow n packet has mixed red and black cards. I want you to use you r intuition to try to remove only face-dow n cards o f one colour. You may like to concentrate on the face-up cards, which w ill help focu s your m ind on the cards that you are rem oving.” As the spectator removes cards, ask her to place them face down into a pile on the table. She is to remove about half of the face-down cards from any places she wants. Spread to the face-up Queen of Spades (but don’t spread any cards below it). Using the mechanics of the Annemann/Christ alignment move, square up all of the cards above the Queen and leave them injogged on top of the left hand’s squared packet (fig. 3). Push the injogged cards flush, using your right second finger to openly outjog the Queen of Spades (fig. 4). This manoeuvre is designed so that you don’t flash the red cards
below the Queen as you remove the Queen. Drop the Queen face up onto the tabled cards as you say, “I ’m using this black card to represent that I think you mainly rem oved black cards from the deck. ” Continue, “ That means that I think you lefi mostly red cards. ” As you say this, casually spread the deck to indicate the facedown cards left in the deck, and catch a break above the first face-down card as you square up. Execute a half pass at the break, and then turn over the deck (Tomas uses Bob Farmer’s Turnantula to achieve both of these actions in one move) and immediately spread the deck on the table, showing all red cards face up between two face-down packets. Say, “/if looks like y o u ’ve done a great jo b so fa r! But there may still be some red cards am ong the cards that you removed. ” Oneby-one, turn over the cards that the participant removed at the start of the effect (increasing your pace as you go) to show that she really did remove all the black cards. Credits Tomas combined Paul Curry’s “Out of This World” (1942) with the basic method of Roy Walton’s “Pass at Red” {MAGIC magazine, May 1992) to create this effect. The idea of setting up the packets comes from Paul Harris’ “The Perfectionist” (A Close-up Kinda Guy, 1983). While Tomas wasn’t aware of it when creating this trick, John Scarne had been performing a similar effect and handling in the 1930s, before “Out of This World” was even created. Scarne’s “New World Order” was eventually published in Karl Fulves’ U nderworld magazine (issue 1, 1995). Jack Parker helped with the construction of this routine. 4.
Tomas works with developing wood-industry equipment to automatically grade boards, based on knots, holes and other defects. He designed this moving hole trick for wood tradeshows using a presentation o f holes in wood being moved near knots, to make it a more valuable piece. We have changed the presentation to work in more generic circumstances. Effect Tomas draws a black dot on both sides of a selected card. The dot will apparently act as a target. He then punches a hole in the opposite side of the card, far away from the target and slowly drags the hole to the target. Setup Turn the deck face up and secretly reverse the back card of the deck. This card will be destroyed, so you might like to use a Joker. Handling Spread the face-up deck and have any card selected. Ask the participant to sign the face of the card near the short end, farthest away from him. Pick up the selection and blow on its face, flashing the back of the card in the process. Slip the selection face down onto the bottom of the deck and then turn over the deck. You now have two face-up cards on top of the face-down deck. Take the pen and draw a small circle in the inner left corner of the selection. The circle should be about the size of the hole created by your punch (fig. 1). Flip the double face down, keeping a break below it, and draw a circle on the back of the card in the inner right comer. This is the same location as the circle you made on the face of the selection, except that the card is turned over, so you are drawing on the right side instead of the left.
Pick up the double to display both sides so the spectators are very clear about where the circle is. Drop the double face down on top of the deck again, keeping a break below it. Rotate just the top card one hundred and eighty degrees, so that the black dot is now at your outer left corner. Square the top card with the deck, and then lift up the double card at the inner end and punch a hole in the inner right corner (fig. 2). This hole has to land in the same spot in which you drew the dot on the opposite end of the card, so use the back design to compare the position of the hole as you line up the hole punch. Replace the double card square on top of the deck. Drag the top card to the right and rotate it ninety degrees counter-clockwise so that the right short side of it extends past the right side of the deck (fig. 3). The left short side of this card covers the hole in the card below. Now you can wiggle a finger below the hole so that people see that it is a genuine hole. Continue rotating the card counter-clockwise for another ninety degrees, so that it ends square on top of the deck with the hole in the upper left corner. Explain, “I f the card is on the deck, it is difficult to see the hole, so I ’ll m ove it like this so that you can clearly see the hole in the card. ” Cover the deck with your right hand and push the top card forward, as per the Erdnase Change (fig. 4). Slide the hand back so that the audience can see the hole again, and then execute the Erdnase Change with one exception. Do not push the outjogged card flush with your index finger, as is normally done. Instead, curl your right fingers around the card and push it flush with the deck. In this instance, the Erdnase Change is not done as a colour change, but as a secret action to put the selection 3.
on top of the indifferent card. Because the cards have changed places, there won’t be a hole in the outer left corner. As you have demonstrated that the hole is hard to see when the card is square with the deck, you do not need to rush to cover the position of the non-existent hole. There is actually a hole in the inner right corner, but the card under it has a black circle there, so everything looks as it should (fig. 5). Tomas likes to focus attention on this black spot to further take attention away from the non-existent hole, while ensuring that everyone knows where the black spot is. Cover the position where the hole should be with your left thumb. Push the top card off the deck for about half its width, and as the card moves, cover the hole with your right thumb (fig. 6). Stretch your right thumb diagonally across the card, so that the base of the thumb covers the hole and the tip takes over the left thumb’s covering duties, too. Slowly pull the thumb back along the diagonal to apparently pull the hole from one side of the card to the other. Lift your thumb to the display the hole. Finally, hand out the card for examination to show that the hole has travelled to where the black dot was. Comments This handling can be easily adapted to use a stack of business cards. Credits David Acer uses the same idea to turn over the top card of a double to seemingly punch a card in the other end in his “No Holes Barred” from Natural Selections (1995). John Houdi also published an impromptu handling of this nature in M agical Arts Journal, Volume 1, No. 2, September 1986, under his birth name, Johnny Lindholm.
_ J r i This is Tomas latest version o f his “Gramps Case” effect, which he published in 1997 on Hie Second Deal website. The title “Gasp! Scream! ” is an anagram o f “Gramps Case. ” Tomas created “Gramps Case” after watching David Copperfieldperform a beautiful Ace Assembly that he calls “Grandpa. ” In that trick, each Ace vanished instead o f transposing with an indifferent card, and the leader Ace started out alone, not together with three indifferent cards as is most common in Ace Assemblies. This is Tomas latest version o f that style o f effect. Effect A participant nominates two sets of four-of-a-kind (let’s say Aces and Kings). One Ace is placed into the card box, and Tomas makes the other three clearly vanish (each more impressively than the last) using the King packet. The Aces then re-appear inside the card box. Handling Start with the empty (and open) card case to your left with the flap-side down and opening toward the audience. Ask the spectator to nominate one of the court-card values for this experiment. Let’s say she goes with Kings. Outjog the four Kings and strip them out so that one colour gets sandwiched between the others (while the exact suit sequence doesn’t matter in performance, I will use Diamond, Clubs, Spades, Hearts for the explanation). Hold the deck in right-hand end grip and take the packet in left-hand dealing grip and catch a break below the face card of the King packet (in this case, the Diamond). Drop the rest of the deck face up on top, explaining that you’ll get back to the Kings later.
Also ask the spectator to name which spot-card value should be used (I will assume Aces). The reason for asking the participant to choose which cards is a presentational ploy to help remove the suspicion of using duplicates. Keeping the break above the three Kings at the back of the deck, spread through the deck and outjog the four Aces. Execute Dai Vernon’s Strip-out Addition to add three Kings to the back of the Aces and then table the deck face down. You are now holding a seven-card face-up packet with the four Aces on top of three Kings. Reverse count the Aces face up from end grip, obtaining a little-finger break below the final quadruple card as it is placed on the fourth count. Turn the packet face down, utilising the classic Tenkai Book Break Turnover. In short, move the packet to the left fingertips, keeping the little-finger break (fig. 1). Use the right hand to lever the packet over to the right, whilst keeping the little finger securely in place. It will cause the break to be lost, but force the lower packet to be anglejogged (fig. 2). Finally, place the packet back into left-hand dealing grip, re-taking the break with your left little finger. Remove the face card of the packet by contacting its face with the right fingertips at the outer end of the packet and levering it face up onto the packet. Refer to it as the “leader Ace” as your right hand lifts off the top four cards in deep end grip. The grip should cover the outer edge completely so that it looks like it could be a single card. The left thumb immediately spreads its three cards and thumbs them off onto the table in a row from right to left. You have apparently tabled three of the Aces, but in reality they are Kings. Grip the long sides of the card box with the left hand and place the packet (apparently just an Ace) into the case. Close the box and table it again.
4. Pick up the deck, taking it into face-down dealing grip, and spread the top card into right-hand end grip and turn the right hand palm up momentarily to flash the face of the King of Diamonds (fig. 3); this is a reminder that the Kings are supposed to be on top of the deck. Use this as a gesture to point at the three face-down cards on the table, and also to remind the participant that she decided that Aces and Kings were to be used in this trick. Turn the right hand palm down and pick up three more cards below the King in a spread condition (fig. 4). Square the four cards, outjogged on the deck, and then move the packet backward and forward in a squaring action, letting the lowermost three cards secretly coalesce with the deck as you move forward. Set the deck aside. First Vanish Lower the apparent King packet (really just the King of Diamonds) onto the leftmost face-down card on the table and pick both up in right-hand end grip. Rub the face of the packet with the left hand as a magic gesture to make the first Ace vanish. Tilt up the right hand to display the King of Clubs. This is the first vanish, and you really do not need to further prove that the Ace is gone, since you clearly placed it onto the face of the packet and now there is a King there. Second Vanish Hold the two-card King packet face down and execute a two-as-four EYE Count. This is simply a case of holding the two-card packet as for an Elmsley Count, snapping off the first card into your right hand, and then stealing it back as you snap off the next card. Repeat this again until you have shown four cards. Do not consider this false count to be part of the disappearance of the first Ace, but the start of the second vanish to come. Place the second apparent Ace (really the King of Spades) injogged on top of the packet (which is in left-hand dealing grip) and tilt the hand forward to make it fall square with the two other Kings. This is a Jack Parker finesse. Rub the back of the top card and then flip it face up, letting it fall squarely on top. Turn the packet face up and execute John Bannon’s Discrepancy City Display to show three face-up Kings and a face-down card. The Bannon sequence is just an Elmsley Count where you upjog the face-down card and strip it out at the end. Keep the outjogged card (King of Spades) separate from the other Kings, after turning it face up.
Third Vanish Ask the spectator to hold out her left hand, palm up, as you place the King of Spades at the back of the King packet. The timing here is carefully chosen so the audience doesn’t get a clear picture of the order of the packet. Hold the packet as for an Elmsley Count and execute the first two beats of the count (take a single card, and then do the switch). Turn the right hand (with the single King of Clubs) palm down, and use it to scoop up the apparent last “Ace” (really the King of Hearts) outjogged onto it. At the same time, slightly spread the other hand’s cards lengthwise by moving the face card inward slightly to show the King of Spades and the index of a red “K” below it (fig. 5). Turn that hand palm down, too, and place the two facedown cards square with the lowermost King. The King of Hearts (but apparently an Ace) is now outjogged third from the top in the King packet. Place the King packet, with the card still outjogged, in the participant’s hand and ask her to put the thumb of the same hand across the backs of the cards. This grip makes sure that she can’t tilt the face of the packet up toward her in any other way other than to uncomfortably contort her hand! If she looks closely, there are two cards above the “Ace” which is injogged from her point of view. This injogged card covers the fact that there is only a single card, and not two, below it, so it looks perfect. You might be scared that she’ll want to take a look at the injogged card, but try putting the cards into this position in your own hand and see how you’d have to struggle to get a peek of the injogged face of the card. Allow the participant to push the apparent Ace flush with the Kings. Make a gesture, and then have her deal the cards face up one at a time, to show that she now only holds four Kings. Take the four Kings from the participant and put them back onto the deck. Move all focus to the card box, open it and remove the packet to show that all four Aces have now collected in the box.
Credits Ed Mario suggested the idea of an Ace Assembly with vanishes instead of transpositions in his “Real Gone Aces,” which he posed as a problem in the The New Phoenix #334 (December 22, 1955), while at the same time sending his solutions in a sealed envelope with the instructions that they were not to be opened until the readers had time to work on the problem. John Guastaferro worked with Tomas on this variant. He suggested the two-as-four EYE Count as well as the final vanish.
My intention for describing this item is less about sharing the effect (which is both quirky and original) but instead to share an intriguing versatile concept that allows you to change the writing on the backs o f two cards. Effect Tomas writes the word “Mirror” on the back of a signed selection, and the participant chooses what word should be written on the back of a second signed selection. When held against a mirror, the writing on the backs of the cards magically changes into a mirror image of what was originally written! The mirror-imaged writing is permanent, and the signed cards can be kept by the spectators. Requirements A red deck of cards, a pen and a small pocket mirror. If the lighting is bright enough, you may also use the screen of a mobile phone, or similar device, that gives a clear reflection. Setup Write the word “Mirror” on the back of any card and the mirror image of the word “Mirror” on the back of another card (fig. 1). Stack the deck with an indifferent card fa ce up on top of the facedown deck, the mirror card below that and then the reversed mirror card (both face down) below that. Start with the deck face up to hide the reversed indifferent card. Handling Spread the face-up deck between your hands and have someone touch any card. Clearly remove the selection, turn it face down
and place it on the bottom of the deck. I urn over the deck to display the selection and have the face of the card signed. Ask the participant to name any short word that has some significance to her. As she ponders, catch a break under the top two cards and execute a double turnover to turn the top two cards face down. As you do so, tilt the deck toward you so you don’t flash the writing on top of the deck. Write the word she names on the back of the top card. Spread over a few cards as you deal the top card face down onto the table (writing side toward the audience), so that you can easily get a break under the top three cards. Execute a triple turnover (facilitated by the break you just acquired) and have the participant sign what is apparently the face of the top card of the deck. Turn the triple face down, keeping a little-finger break below it. Tilt the deck toward yourself and pretend to write the word “Mirror,” while in fact you write the mirror image of the word the spectator chose. While this likely seems like a daunting task, Tomas has a smart way of doing this that makes it very easy. You need to mirror the letters of the writing that you see on the tabled card, which is facing toward the audience, and to write it from left to right. After a little practice for difficult letters (such as R or S), you will find it quite easy to write in this manner. aw i. Whilst keeping the deck angled toward you, lower the left thumb on the top card as the right hand pulls the two cards below it to the right, free from the deck (fig. 2). Retain a break under the top card (the card you just wrote on) as it falls square with the deck. Blow on the double card (which shows the word “Mirror”) and then place it onto the deck as you bring the top of the deck into view. The outward appearance of this sequence is simply that you wrote the word “Mirror” on the top card of the deck and then blew on it. Really, you have written a mirror image of the named word and moved the pre-written “Mirror” card to the top. Explain, “Some magicians m ight make the words change places.” Push the top card a little to the right as your right hand picks up the tabled card and slides it onto the deck. The right hand comes away with the “Mirror” card. This is a gesture to illustrate what you said. “I ’m goin g to do som ething a lot stranger. “
Place the right-hand “Mirror” card on top of the deck, rightjogged for half its width. Execute a quadruple lift, utilizing the break that you have been holding for the last few seconds and allowing the rightjogged card to square as the packet is turned over. Immediately spread off the two signed cards and place them onto the table, as the left hand wrist-kills the deck to hide the reversed cards. Pocket the deck, leaving you with just two cards in play. Lay the mirror onto the table and hold the reversed “Mirror” card over it so that the audience can view the writing through the mirror. Then flip over the card to show that the writing has become mirrored. This is a moderately impressive effect, let down by the fact that it was you who chose the word. Therefore, it is much more impressive when you repeat it with the second card, which bears the spectator’s word. Comments The true beauty of this concept is that just about anything can happen to the words. They can vanish, jump to the same card, become written with another colour or style, random dots can change into words and so on. You could even use drawings instead of words. Credits This trick was based on Gary Kurtz’s trick “Name It!” from Unexplainable Acts by Richard Kaufman (1990).
Tomas first ever magic book was Allan Ackermans Las Vegas Kardma, a volume that isn’t exactly aimed at the beginners’ market. This baptism by fire gave Tomas a penchant for difficult sleight-of-hand magic and, o f course, Ackermans work. Therefore, it is fitting that the groundwork o f this effect is a move o f Ackermans. Effect Tomas has two cards selected and then fairly lost back in the deck. A participant inserts the two black Queens together into the deck. Within a split second, though, the Queens have separated toward two different parts of the deck. Iomas points out that the eyes on the Queens are looking toward two different cards. Those two cards are removed and shown to be the selections. court cards with heads turned in different directions. Tomas tends to use the two black Queens from an ordinary Bicycle deck (fig. 1). Place the Queens face up on top of the deck, or onto the table. Handling Remove any two 1. Spread through the deck to have a card touched somewhere from within the top half, and raise the spread with the selection on the bottom of the upper half to show the first selection. As you square the spread, execute a Convincing Control, outjogging a decoy card and culling the actual selection under the spread. Continue spreading and have another card touched. This time, raise the lower half of the deck to show the selection (fig. 2). This avoids having to show the face of the outjogged card. Genuinely outjog the second selection and square up the
other cards, sending the culled first selection to the face of the deck. Slowly push the upper outjogged card into the deck (this is a decoy of the first selection) and then secretly get a littlefinger break above the second selection as you square it into the deck. This is a simple matter of slightly angling the selection as you square it into the deck, allowing the card to protrude from the right side of the inner end (fig. 3). You can now push down on the protruding card with your left little finger, forming a break. Now comes Ackerman’s move. The deck should be held in left-hand dealing grip, with the thumb along the left side of the deck and the little finger holding a break above the selection. Move your left third finger alongside the left little finger so that it helps to hold the break. Also grip the deck from above in right-hand end grip and then push inward with the ring and little fingers, causing all the cards below the break to angle slightly clockwise (fig. 4, exposed view). The right thumb (at the back of the deck) and the right fingers (above the deck) cover this movement completely; therefore it looks as though nothing has happened. Adjust your left thumb so that it lies across the top of the deck and use your right index finger to fan the deck (fig. 5). The mechanics of the fan are exactly that of a standard thumb fan, but with the index finger taking the starring role instead of the thumb. The end position is a fan of cards with the bottom third of the deck completely concealed by the fan (fig. 6 from underneath). 4.
Allow the participant to place the Queen of Spades face up into the fan, and then insert the Queen of Clubs directly on top of it so that it is clear that both Queens are together. The farther down the Queens are in the fan, the easier the next move will be. If you are using different cards than the black Queens, you must simply ensure that the eyes on the cards at the outer end are looking preach other if the top card is spread to the right. You will now square up the deck, but in an unusual manner, such that the hidden block gets inserted between the Queens. To do this, reach around with the right hand to the leftmost portion of the fan, holding it with thumb on top and fingers below (fig. 7). Move the right hand in a clockwise arc, closing the fan. When you reach the face-up cards, pull up on the lower portion of the fan a little so that you split the fan between the face-up Queens (fig. 8), automatically allowing the hidden block to be inserted between them (fig. 9, exposed). Continue to close the fan.
Do something of a magical gesture to apparently make the Queens hunt for the two selections. Then, fairly fan the deck to show that the Queens have separated. Point out that the Queens are looking at two particular cards, due to the placement of their eyes. Remove the card below the Club and the card above the Spade to show that they are the two selections. Credits The plot of two mates travelling into the deck to find two selections belongs to Jon Racherbaumer, whose “OffShoot” effect was published in H ierophant magazine (Number 7, 1975). In particular, Tomas was inspired by Steve Reynold’s trick “A, X, X, X, A,” which was published in Mike Power’s Card Corner {Linking Ring, August 2009) and then in Reynold’s book Route 52 (2009). The Allan Ackerman move described in this routine is his P.H. Move and was published in his lecture notes Ackerman 2004. As Allan says in his lecture notes, the move could be substituted with Lee Asher’s Pulp Friction.
Edward Mario and Carmen D’Amico's Devilish Miracle plot was originally described in a simplistic form: “A selected card vanishes, reappears, vanishes and transposes itself with another previously selected card. ” It has moved on a lot from that over the past half a decade to the point where Tomas now presents a thought-of card version. The truth is, this effect doesn’t stick closely to Marlo/D’Amico’splot, nor does it even adhere to their ideals. To them, the Devilish Miracle should be presented as a sucker trick, where the audience feels as though you are teasing them. Tomas restructuring doesn’t allow for that, but it does pack quite the punch that we hope Mario and D’Amico would have liked anyway. Effect Tomas has a participant think of a card from a packet of ten cards, which is then shuffled into the deck. He has a second person think of a different card from another packet of ten cards. Tomas never asks for the identity of the cards; there is clearly no way he could know them. A face-down card is suddenly found in the second participant’s packet. Everyone assumes this to be the card he thought of, but when the deck is spread, his card is actually found face up in the deck. So what is this reversed mystery card in his packet? The first spectator names the card he thought of. It turns out to be the card that magically appeared reversed in the second spectator’s packet.
Handling Start by having the deck shuffled and then hand any ten cards to each of two participants: one on your left and one on your right. Hold on to the remainder of the deck. Explain the selection process to them: “I w ould like you each to think o f a num ber between one and ten. To ensure that everyone remembers that number, you should take that num ber o f cards from the p ile in fro n t o f you and p u t them away.” By way of demonstration (and to secretly learn the identity of the top card of the deck), continue, “Ifyou r num ber is one, take one card and p u t it into you r pocket or sit on it. ” As you talk, take the top face-down card in your right hand with the thumb below, and angle the face of it toward your body. Do not look at this card. Instead, look down at your pocket; you’ll then automatically glimpse the card as you start to place it into your pocket. For the purpose of this explanation, let’s say you glimpsed the Eight of Spades. Remove your hand from your pocket, keeping hold of the Eight. “Ifyou r num ber is two, take two cards and p u t them into a safe place.” Take the next card below the right-hand card and gesture with both cards. Place the two cards back onto the deck and place the deck in front of the participant on your left. Cut off about half the cards from the top of the deck and place it in front of the participant on your right. Say, “After you have hidden you r chosen num ber o f cards, please place the leftover cards on top o f these packets so that I can’t know how many you took. And don’t fo rget to rem em ber the num ber o f cards you have hidden/” Turn away and let the participants go through your instructions of taking some cards from their packets and hiding that number of cards. With their task complete, they must then place their remaining cards on the tops of the packets in front of them. When the time is right, turn back to the audience and restore the deck by placing the packet in front of the participant on your right on top of the left participant’s packet. False shuffle the deck in any way that keeps at least the top ten cards intact. Openly spread over the top ten cards—without changing their order—and take them face up in right-hand end grip. Keep the deck in left-hand dealing grip. Address the participant on your left and explain, “I w ill countfrom one to ten, showing you one o f these cards on each count, and I want you to ju st think of, and remember, the card I show you when I say you r secret number.” On the first count, tilt the hand to show the top card to the participant as you peel it off onto the deck, jogged to the right for half its width (fig. 1). Slide the card under the right hand’s packet, lifting up the packet a little. This sequence mimics the actions of Tomas’ Delayed A.T.F.U.S., which will be used later.
Continue in this way to show all ten cards to the participant, counting each one as you do so, and ending with the first card back on top of the packet. During this counting, remember the number you said when you showed the Eight of Spades. This is the right participant’s secret number. I’ll assume it is number six during this explanation. Turn the packet face down and drop it on top of the deck. Execute a false cut onto the table, in front of the left participant. Tomas uses the following cut, which keeps the top stock cards undisturbed: Swing cut at least ten cards into your left hand and put the bottom section on top, keeping a little-finger break between the packets. Cut off about a third of the deck and place that packet onto the table. Place all of the cards above the break on top of the tabled section and, finally, place the remaining cards on top. This disturbs the bottom portion, but keeps your ten-card packet on top. Finally, explain to the participant on your left that she can forget her number now and that only the card is important. Therefore, she can place her hidden cards back on top of the deck. With this done, pick up the deck again and casually execute another false cut. Turn to the right participant and explain that he’ll do exactly the same thing to think of a card, too. Spread the top ten cards to the right, but spread a few extra cards so that you can catch a break below the twelfth card from the top. Take the top ten cards and hold them face up in right-hand end grip as before. It may surprise you to learn that the top card of the deck is the card that the left participant chose. Repeat the same process as before; peel off the top card and slide it to the bottom of the packet on the count of one. Continue until you reach the second participant’s secret number that you remembered from the first run-through (six, in my example). At this point, secretly add the two broken cards from the top of the deck to the bottom of the packet. Continue to take the sixth card at the bottom of the packet, as before, and push it flush with your left thumb, as the left fingertips push the second card from the bottom of the packet a little to the right. This allows the right little finger to catch an Erdnase break above the card second from the face as the left fingers pull down on it and pull it square with the packet.
2. Unload both cards below the break onto the deck as you peel off the seventh card. To do this, contact the right edge of the two broken cards with your left fingers as you slide the packet to the right (fig. 2). The packet should be square with the deck before the right edge is contacted by the left fingers. When the packet has moved a little to the right, press down on the face card with your left thumb and continue to slide the packet away, dhis action of unloading cards as the next card is peeled during an A.T.F.U.S. is a move that Tomas calls Delayed A.T.F.U.S. Continue counting and showing cards, until card number one is on top again. If the secret number was ten, however, simply drop off the bottom two cards secretly at this point. Square the packet and place it face up onto the table. Extend the rest of the deck to the right participant and have him discard his secret cards on top, as they are no longer important. Give the deck a cut and place it face down to the left. Pick up the face-up packet and explain to the participant on the right, 11 One o f these ten cards is currently on you r mind." Spread the packet to show a face-down card. Count down to it aloud to show that it’s in the correct position. "Six. That was you r secret number; wasn’t it? What was you r card?’ The routine was constructed in such a way that your audience would expect the reversed card to be the selection. It isn’t! It’s actually the left participant’s selection, but do not show it at this stage. Instead, spread the face-down deck as you say, "Oh, you mean this card?" The just named thought-of card will be staring him in the face! Ask the first spectator to name his thought-of card. Reveal that the face-down card in the small packet is in fact his card. Credits Edward Mario collaborated with Carmen D’Amico on “A Devilish Miracle” and published it in a booklet of the same name in 1948. It was one of Mario’s favourite effects, and he dabbled with it for many years.
U.E Grant’s little known “Elastic Scape” is a basic vanish and revelation o f a card from between two rubber-banded packets. Tomas has turned this revelation into a multi-phased routine and added a few interesting elements to the basic vanish o f the selection. Effect Tomas cuts the deck in half and places a rubber band around each packet. A participant is invited to select a packet and then to remove a card from that packet. Tomas then causes the selection to penetrate the rubber band around the participant’s packet so that the selection ends up reversed in the middle of the packet. He then removes the band and dribbles the cards onto the table. As the cards fall, he thrusts the other banded packet into the cards and somehow manages to catch the selection, leaving it protruding from his packet. Requirements A deck of cards and two rubber bands (approximately size 16). the trick, you need to cut the deck in half and to have a card reversed about fifth from the bottom of each face-up half. Tomas’ method for doing this is both easy and sleight free: Spread the deck face down between your hands and break the spread just a few cards above the halfway point. Catch a break below the top card of the lower half and momentarily flip the upper half face up on top. Immediately grip all the cards above the break with your right hand, thumb on top, fingers below (fig. 1). Handling In order to start
Continue spreading a few more cards from the face-down lower packet and flip them face up with the help of the right-hand face-up packet. Spread these five or so face-up cards and put all but the last face-up card under the right hand’s face-up packet. Your motivation here is apparently that you did not initially turn up enough cards. As you spread the cards, angle the left-hand packet toward yourself so that the audience does not see the remaining face-up card on top of the packet. Place the right-hand cards onto the table and then manoeuvre the left-hand packet into an overhand shuffle position, with the reversed card facing you. Overhand shuffle about five cards to the back of the packet and place it face up onto the table. The end result is that you have two face-up halves on the table with a card reversed about five or six cards from the bottom. Wrap a rubber band width-wise around each of the two packets and place them fa ce down onto the table. Invite a participant to pick one of the two packets and take the other one for yourself. Hold the packet in dealing grip and riffle up the packet, inviting the participant to do the same as you. Tell her to open up her packet near the middle, to remove a card and to place it onto the table. As you riffle up the back of your packet, look for the reversed card near the top and hold a little-finger break beneath it. Ask that the participant show everyone her card. As she does so, take back her packet and drop it face up on top of the banded cards in your hand (fig. 2). Immediately drag all of the cards above the break to the right (fig. 3). Notice how the band from the lower packet stretches, and thus everything looks as it should. This means that you can pause here for a few seconds as you check on the participant, effectively breaking up the setup of the deck.
Continue to pull the upper packet to the right until there is a clear gap between the upper and lower packets (fig. 4). Twist the upper packet forward, twisting it one hundred and eighty degrees end for end (figs. 5 and 6), and then tilt it back up onto the lower packet in Tent Vanish position (fig. 7), with the thumb stopping the packets from coalescing. If the two bands don’t line up on the side of the upper packet, you might need to roll your left thumb over the bands to align them. Once everyone has seen the selection, ask the participant to insert it face down between the two banded packets. Gently collapse the decks. It appears as though the selection goes between the two packets, but really it is being inserted a few cards down from the top of the lower packet, thanks to U.F. Grant’s idea. Pick up just the upper packet, pretending to hold the selection below the packet, and place the packet onto the table. As you do so, adjust your grip on the left-hand packet so that the thumb grips only the bottom cards of the packet. With this grip, turn your left hand palm down; the deck will naturally open a little due to the twist in the band, allowing you to get a glimpse of the selection (fig. 8). 6.
The glimpse is motivated by your pushing down on the tabled packet with both hands (fig. 9) as you apparently cause the selection to penetrate the band and to move up through the participants packet. Keeping a firm hold of your packet, pick up the tabled packet, remove the band and spread through the cards until you get to the face-down card. Remove the card, look at it yourself (but do not show anyone else) and miscall it for the selection, which you glimpsed a few seconds ago. Turn the participant’s packet face down and without showing its face put the selection un-reversed into the packet and drop the packet face down onto the table. Take your packet into right-hand end grip as you slide your right middle finger between the band and the back of the packet (fig. 10). Shimmy the packet down the hand until the band is approximately at the knuckle of the hand (fig. 11). Some care is required to ensure that the selection doesn’t prematurely jump out of this packet. You may find it easier to turn the hand palm up and to straddle the sides of the deck with the right index and little fingers.
Now for the revelation. Pick up the tabled packet with the left hand and allow the cards to dribble onto the table. Push the right hand palm down into the mess of cards as they dribble and release the tension from the right hand. This will cause the selection to spin out of the packet, and end up perpendicular to the rest of the cards (fig. 12). Display the selection to show that you have somehow caught the selection from the spray of cards! You may need to immediately square up the right-hand packet so that you do not flash the reversed card that is five or six cards from the top. Credits U.F. Grant’s “Elastic Scape” was published in M -U-M magazine (Volume 66, Number 2, July 1976) and later in Elastrix by Ed Mishell and Prof. Abraham Hurwitz (1990).
Before getting into the ejfect, I will breakform and explain how it works. Essentially, a deck o f cards is tied with a ribbon so that Tomas apparently cant manipulate it. However, by the simple action o f pulling on the ribbon to remove itfrom a box, the deck automatically cuts itself to place a forced card at a freely named number. It is a thing o f beauty, and to see it in action really is quite astonishing, perhaps even more so than the effect itself Effect Tomas shows a small wooden box and out of it lifts a piece of ribbon that has a deck tied to the bottom of it (fig. 1). He asks the participant to name a number and then removes a playing card from an envelope that has been in full view the entire time. He then carefully removes the deck and asks the participant to count down to her chosen number, where she finds the Ace of Spades. He turns over the card from the envelope and shows that it is the Ace of Spades, completing a genuine hands-off miracle! Requirements You must first make Tomas’ Schrodinger s Tie gimmick. Acquire a loop of ribbon about 1" wide and approximately 35" long and sew the ends of the ribbon together so that it forms a loop (fig. 2). 1. You also need a Norman Houghton Kismet Envelope, which you can easily make yourself. Start by taking two identical pay envelopes (they normally measure about 3.25" x 4.75"), and cut the flap and sides from one of the envelopes, leaving a V-shaped piece of paper that is just a little narrower than the other envelope (fig. 3). Slide this sheet into the envelope. You now have a three-way envelope. Squeeze the envelope by its sides so that the envelope naturally opens to the middle compartment.
You also need a deck of cards with just one Joker, and three duplicate cards (say the Ace of Spades, Two of Hearts and Three of Clubs), which will be used as your force cards. Finally, you will need a small box of any size, so long as it comfortably fits the deck. Tomas’ box is about 5" square. Setup Place tne duplicate cards inside the Kismet Envelope in an order that you will remember (for example, Ace at the front, Two in the middle and Three at the back), with the backs of the cards toward the back of the envelope, so that the cards are face down when they are removed. You now need to stack the deck before securing it into the ribbon. Form three face-down packets in the following order, each from the top down: Packet 1 (12 cards) Any twelve indifferent cards Packet 2 (29 cards) Nine indifferent cards First force card (Ace of Spades) Indifferent card Second force card (Two of Hearts) Indifferent card Third force card (Three of Clubs) Fifteen indifferent cards r ' a
Packet 3(12 cards) Any twelve indifferent cards Lay the ribbon flat onto the table. Take packet 1 and place it at the left end of the ribbon (fig. 4). Roll over the cards width-wise, turning the packet face up, and moving it along the ribbon (fig. 5). Do this once more, turning the cards back face down (fig. 6). This process positions the packet in the exact place in the ribbon for the effect to work. Lift up the top layer of the right end of the ribbon and insert packet 2 between the two parts of the ribbon (fig. 7). Place the deck down on top of the twelve cards so that a layer of ribbon is between the two packets (fig. 8), with a small loop of ribbon overlapping on the right side (fig. 9 shows a close-up of the loop). This small loop should not be longer than the thickness of the middle packet, but longer than the thickness of the bottom packet.
Allow the rest of the ribbon to go over the deck and back to the right. Place packet 3 on top of the deck and pick up both sides of the ribbon (without moving the deck), and slide the end of the right side of the ribbon into the loop of the left side (fig. 10). Pull the longer, right side all the way to the right (fig. 11). You should now be able to pick up the ribbon, leaving the deck dangling at the bottom (fig. 12). Lower the deck into the box and leave the ribbon hanging over one side.
On the back of the box, attach a piece of paper, with the following printed on it so that you can easily see it (the meaning of this grid will become clear shortly): 9-10 (F) 11-12 13-14 (B) 1 13-16 (B) 17-18 19-20 (F) 2 FU 21-22 (F) 23-24 25-26 (B) 0 27-28 (B) 29-30 31-32 (F) 0 FU 33-34 (F) 35-36 37-38 (B) 2 39-40 (B) 41-42 43-44 (F) 1 FU Handling Place the envelope onto the table and lift the ribbon to show the deck tied to it before lowering it back into the box so that the knot is on top. Do not let go of the ribbon, but keep your hand palm up inside the loop (fig. 13). Ask someone to imagine that she holds a full deck of cards, including the Joker, and ask that she mime dealing cards from the deck, counting loudly as she deals each card. When she has mimed dealing about nine cards, explain that she can stop whenever she would like. She must stop at any point from nine to forty-four cards, so if she stops quickly you can invite her to continue if she would like. The ideal scenario is that the participant stops on an even number, as the deck will automatically position a force card to any named even number. However, if she stops on an odd number, ask her to imagine dropping the rest of the cards in her hand on top of the imaginary dealt cards. This ploy will allow you to use a little presentation to turn over an even-numbered card later. You must now adjust the deck to place one of the three force cards at the named number. To many, this will be the most interesting part of the routine. You should still be holding on to the ribbon with your hand palm up inside the loop (refer back to fig. 13). Pull directly upward on the upper strand of the ribbon, and the large middle packet will rise upward. When the larger packet is almost vertical, slowly loosen your grip so that the original middle packet ends up on top, with the original top packet ending up in the middle (figs. 14 to 17, without the box).
IS There is a second scenario in which you need to cut the two small packets to the top of the deck. To do this, we jump to the point where the middle packet stands vertically. Continue pulling on the upper strand of the ribbon, and the bottom packet will position itself under the original top packet. Loosen your grip on the ribbon and the original middle packet will end up on the bottom of the deck (figs. 18 to 20, without the box). In both of these scenarios, the knot around the deck will be tightened again, by pulling the inner end of the ribbon. The key to knowing how to cut the deck comes from the key, which you can glance at from the back of the box. The key is included below, for ease (ignore the letter at the end of each crib item for now): 9-10 (F) 11-12 13-14 (B) 1 15-16 (B) 17-18 19-20 (F) 2 FU 21-22 (F) 23-24 25-26 (B) 0 27-28 (B) 29-30 31-32 (F) 0 FU 33-34 (F) 35-36 37-38 (B) 2 39-40 (B) 41-42 43-44 (F) 1 FU
This is easily translated to do what you need to do. The first three columns represent the number named by the participant, and the fourth column is how many times the deck needs to be cut using the ribbon. For example, if the number is between nine and fourteen, you pull the ribbon once (as per the first scenario) and then remove the deck. If the number is between fifteen and twenty, you pull the ribbon twice (as per the second scenario). If it is between twenty-one and thirty-two, you don’t need to cut the deck at all; just gently remove the ribbon. The reason for the number range spanning three columns will become clear shortly. Do not rush the cut; just pull gently as you talk and everything will work automatically. With practice you should just be able to get a feel for the deck being cut and thus not need to look down at it. Where “FU” is listed in a row on the crib, you must turn the deck face up before counting down to the named number (we’ll return to this later). Point to the empty space on the table where the imaginary deck is supposed to be and say, “ You don't know what that card is on top o f the deck, and you don’t even know why you stopped there. It’s clear that you had a completely free choice! But here is the interesting thing: I placed a card into this envelope before I cam e here tonight, and we’ll soon see what it means." Pick up the envelope with your left hand and shake out the relevant card. There are three ways to open the Kismet Envelope, depending on which card you would like to remove. The crib tells you which card to remove, as the letter at the end of the row stands for either front or back. The middle row always represents the middle card, so no letter is required there. All three methods for opening the envelope require you to grip the envelope back up in the left hand with the thumb on the right side and fingers on the left side (fig. 21). Before putting the envelope away, remove the card as follows: Back (Three o f Clubs): Press your left forefinger down onto the centre of the envelope and gently squeeze the sides with your thumb and second finger (fig. 22). This will cause the partition to push down against the front of the envelope, bowing open the back compartment. You can now tip the envelope forward to slide out the card.
Middle (Two o f Hearts): This is the easiest of the three. Simply squeeze the envelope a little; it will bow open at the division, allowing you to slide out the card from the middle. Front (Ace o f Spades): Press your left second finger onto the bottom of the envelope, bowing it upward, and then squeeze the sides of the envelope with the left thumb and fingers. This will cause the partition to bow upward, opening the front division. Place the card face down onto the table and put the envelope away. Then lift up the deck by the ribbon, to lay the deck onto the table in the orientation as stated in the crib. Carefully remove the ribbon, so it is clear that you do not change the order of any cards. Ask the participant to pick up the deck and to deal just as she did during her imaginary deal. Remind her to drop the undealt portion on top of the dealt portion, if she dealt an odd number of cards. If the selected card is face down, she is to turn it over now, and to place it next to the prediction card. All of the other cards are spread face up, so she can see that it’s a full deck (which she can even take home) with no duplicates of her selection. Tell her that now she knows which card she selected earlier with the random dealing. Have her turn over the prediction card to show that it was all meant to be. Comments If you are happy to limit the number that the participant can choose, the deck can be set so that you only need one, or two, prediction cards in the envelope. Obviously, the smaller the range of numbers from which the participant can pick, the fewer prediction cards you need. For example, for just one force card, the setup would be: Packet one: 4 indifferent cards Packet two: 21 indifferent cards, force card, 23 indifferent cards Packet three: 4 indifferent cards However, the participant would only be able to pick a number from twenty-one to thirty-two, which is harder to justify in your presentation. Credits Norman Houghton’s Kismet Envelope was marketed by Micky Hades International and described in Ted Lesley’s Paramiracles (1994).
Honesty time: this is probably not the most captivating effect in the book. The construction o f the methodhowever; is downright smart and would foolintrigue and surprise other magicians. It is not an easy method, but in Tomas’ hands it looks absolutely perfect. Once you have worked through the effect, we have included a little surprise at the end that you would probably not expect. Effect Tomas invites a participant to cut the deck into four packets. Using just one hand, he turns over the packets to show that the participant has cut to four random cards. He turns the packets face down again, and then, still with just one hand, he turns them face up to show that the face cards have changed into Aces. But that’s not all: he turns the packets face down and then face up again to show that the Aces have now turned into Jacks. M ethod First, you must learn a Dai Vernon move from his “Given the Slip,” and I must warn you that it is not an easy move to learn. By way of example, cut the deck into four roughly equal piles, with the original top portion ending up to your right, angling them at roughly an eleven o’clock position from your vantage point (fig. 1). The move is far easier if done on a soft surface such as a close-up pad. Reach toward the rightmost pile with your palmdown right hand, with your thumb along the left long edge of the packet, your index and second fingers at the top right corner and your third and 2L