little fingers at the upper long right edge (fig. 2). This slightly unusual grip provides full cover for the move, so it is suggested that you precisely mimic the illustration for the best results. Dig your thumb under the packet and use it to pull the packet vertically on its right long side (fig. 3). Whilst leaving the packet in contact with the table, raise your hand about an inch, dragging the face card with the thumb (fig. 4). Continue to turn the packet and allow it to fall face up onto the table. As the packet falls down, continue to push the face card into the hand (fig. 5), so that it ends pushed into the fork of the index and second fingers in what is essentially a gamblers cop (fig. 6).
Now that the basic move is understood, there are two important points to make. Firstly, the move is executed in one continuous action; do not stop to steal the card, but instead steal it as the packet is rotated. Secondly, a word on angles: the card is completely hidden from those in front of you and to your right (to the point that you can actually relax your hand and open your fingers), but is completely visible to those on your left. Therefore, you should be sure to adjust your position before performing this effect. For Tomas’ handling, you will also need to acquire the knack of stealing a card from the top of the packet. This is simply a case of curling the second finger inward as you turn over the packet in order to pull the top card into copped position. Once you have learned the initial version, this handling will fall into place very quickly. With the steal done, we will now look at loading the card onto the next packet. Move your hand over to the second packet and repeat the exact same actions of turning over the first packet. Halfway through its rotation, the packet will meet the palmed card (fig. 7). At this point, let go of your grip on the card and allow it to be added to the top of the packet. As you continue to turn over the packet, you can easily steal the face card exactly as already explained. To perform Tomas’ effect, you must stack the deck as follows from the top downward: Ace, Ace, Jack, rest of deck, Jack, Ace, reversed Jack, Jack, reversed Ace. Ask a spectator to cut the deck into four roughly equal piles, so that the top of the deck ends up farthest to the right (from your view) and the bottom portion ends up farthest to the left.
First turn (to show that the participant cut to four random cards): Steal the top card. Add the palmed card to the top of the packet. Turn over the packet fairly. Steal the Ace from the face of the packet. Second turn (to turn the packets face down): Add the palmed Ace to the face, at the same time slipping the Ace from the back. Add the palmed Ace to the face, and slip the Ace from the back of this packet, too. Add the Ace to the face and do not steal a card. This is an unusual one: flip over the packet right to left, using the same “Given the Slip” methodology to steal the Jack from the face of the packet. Third turn (to show that the face cards have changed into Aces): Turn over the packet fairly, keeping the Jack palmed. Add the Jack to the back of the packet as you fairly turn it over. Turn over the packet fairly. Turn over the packet, stealing the Jack from the face as you do so (like the other packets, this packet now shows an Ace at the face). Fourth turn (to turn the packets face down again): Add the Jack to the face of the packet and steal the Jack from the top of the packet. Repeat the same action as the previous packet: steal the top Jack and load the palmed Jack onto the face. Add the Jack to the face of the packet and turn it over. Turn over the packet, stealing the Ace from the face (flipping the packet from right to left, as in the last stage of the second turn). Fifth turn (to show that the Aces have turned into Jacks): Add the Ace to the back of the packet as you turn it over. Turn over this packet fairly. Turn over this packet fairly. Turn over this packet fairly.
I promised you a surprise and here it is: if you can find a justification for it, the tops of all but the original top packet can be signed, or in some way marked on the backs, as those cards are never moved during the routine. Credits The key move here is the crux of the method of Dai Vernon’s “Given the Slip” effect (where the face cards of the packets turn into Aces) from Further Lost Inner Secrets, Volume Three (Stephen Minch, 1989) and is Vernon’s attempt at replicating a move that Nate Leipzig told Vernon he saw a gambler do. This story is backed up as a rather crude version of the technique taught in Harry Lorayne’s Deck-Sterity (1967) in Art Johnston’s effect “The Choice is Yours,” where it is explained that the move was used to cheat in a card game called Bankers and Brokers. The steal was first published in Collins Card Conceits (1932) within the effect “Pictures and Pips.” Tomas’ introduction to the move (like many of us) came from Jerry Sadowitz’s video tape Selected Card Secrets (1994), although he had initially explained the effect in The Crimp as “Solution to a Vernon Trick” (issue 20, January 1994).
With Jack Parker I had the honour o f writing 52 Memories: a book on the magic o f Jack Parker. This trick was originally included in that volume, but Jack eventually decided that Tomas should be the first to publish his move and therefore wanted me to save the trick for Tomas book. I am finally able to fulfil that promise. It makes use o f the Low Life Display (page 94). Effect Tomas has a participant cut the deck into four packets and then places a Queen on top of each packet. He first causes the Queens to collect into the end packet. Almost as an afterthought, Tomas shows that the participant somehow cut to the four Aces when she cut the four packets! Setup Place the four Aces on top of the deck with the third Ace face up. Handling Spread through the face-up deck and outjog the four Queens. Square up the long sides of the deck and turn over the deck. Catch a break below the third card from the top (this is easy due to the natural break caused by the face-up Ace) and then strip out the Queens, turning them face up on top of the deck. Arrange the Club and Diamond to be the last two Queens (these will be the Queens that are shown twice each during the display sequence, and Tomas believes that audiences don’t notice when these are repeated as much as Hearts and Spade court cards). Casually injog the third Queen from the top, and then pick up all seven cards above the break, turn them face down and hold them in Tent Vanish position (fig. 1). Pull up on the injog, allowing the lowermost two Queens to fall back square with the deck, as you take the packet into your right hand.
Place the deck face down in front of the participant and demonstrate how she is to cut the deck into four piles from left to right, the rightmost packet being the original upper quarter of the deck. Assemble the deck and have her cut the deck into four piles just like you did. As she does this, explain, “I am goin g to teach you how to cut to a fo u r o f a kind. Please cut the deck like this." Once she has cut the packets, continue, “It is impossible to have someone cut to a fo u r o f a kind, so you need to cheat a little! I simply place the fo u r Queens on top o f the packets while nobody notices! Slowed down, it looks like this... ” Execute the first phase of the Low Life Display sequence to place a card on top of the leftmost pile, but don’t make it land square, so you later have an excuse to square it up. Perform the next phase of the Low Life Display sequence, but as you lift off the apparent Queen, wrist turn your left hand to square the first Queen on top of its packet, as the right hand puts its card squarely on top of the second packet. This squaring action helps cover the wrist turn required during the display sequence. Continue with the next two phases of the Low Life Display sequence, placing the single card on top of the third packet, followed by the double on top of the end packet. Say, “Ifanyone catches you putting the Queens on top, there’s a little thing you can do to make them all move over to one packet." Do a magical gesture to perform the apparent effect and then to show that all four Queens have assembled on top of the rightmost packet. Finish by saying, “You had a free choice o f where you cut, right! The truth is, I did want to show you how to have someone cut to a fo u r o f a kind. It looks like this... ” Ask her to turn over the top card of each packet to show the four Aces. 1.
There aren't many modern tricks that have inspired an entire book (especially unpublished tricks like this one). But ]. K Hartman and Gordon Bean liked this effect so much that they dedicated an entire book fC.A.A.N. Crafty) to their variants o f Tomas concept. The concept is simple: by performing an Any Card At Any Number at the same time as a less impressive location, the strengths o f A. C.A.A.N. are highlighted. Plus, in this instance, the less impressive location actually provides the method for the strong A. C.A.A.N. Effect Tomas has one person fairly select a card, and a second person simply think of a card without naming it. He points out that there are two ways of doing this trick: a good way and an amazing way. He starts by performing the trick the good way: he names a number between one and fifty-two and counts down to that number. The first person’s selection is found at that number. That’s a good trick, but the amazing way really is amazing. The second participant names her own number and finds her thought-of card at that number. Requirements Twenty-six identical cards (during this explanation, I will assume these cards are Sevens of Hearts) and all of the black cards from a deck with a matching back design.
backs of all twenty-six Sevens of Hearts so that you can easily identify them in a spread. The easiest method is to use a matchingcoloured marker pen to colour in the top right and bottom left corners of each card (fig. 1 shows how part of the border has been coloured). Stack the black cards in numerical order with the Ace of Spades first, then the Ace of Clubs, then the Two of Spades, the Two of Clubs, and so on. Alternate these cards with the duplicates so that the end result is, from the top to the face: Seven of Hearts, Ace of Spades, Seven of Hearts, Ace of Clubs, Seven of Hearts, Two of Spades, Seven of Hearts, Two of Clubs and so on. The King of Clubs is the face card. Setup Mark the Overview Before I explain the exact handling, I want to take a minute to break down the basic method as understanding the bigger picture will help as you learn the rest of the routine: The first participant’s card is forced from the bank of duplicates, whereas the second participant has a free choice to think of any black card. Through a simple calculation, you are able to name the exact location of any black card in the deck. The second participant counts to any number, but will always end up on a duplicate of the first participant’s forced card. When apparently naming the position of the first participant’s card, Tomas actually names the calculated location of the other participant’s card. The two cards are switched so that it seems as though each participant found his or her own card. Handling By way of introduction, say, “ There is a m ythical trick in m agic circles called Any Card At Any Number. In the trick, someone names any card and a num ber between one and fifty-two. Amazingly, the card they name is always at that number. It’s a great trick, but there’s a problem : it’s impossible!
“Therefore, magicians always settle fo r a more basic version. In this version, someone picks a card, and the magician names a number. It’s a pretty good trick, so I ’ll show it to you now?’ False shuffle the deck and spread it face down along the table. Invite a spectator to run his finger along the table next to the spread and to stop at any point. When he stops, push the closest force card (Seven of Hearts) toward him, still keeping it inside the spread. He won’t always stop dead on a force card, but nobody will notice if you push the card just next to it toward him. Ask the participant to lean down and to gently lift up the end of the card so that he can see its suit and value. Point out just how fair this procedure is and how there is absolutely no way you could know the selection. Square up the deck (leaving the selection in the same place that it came from) and give it a quick false shuffle or cut so that the participant is no longer aware of the exact location of his selection. Spread the deck on the table again. For the second selection, explain, “/ don’t normally do this, but let’s try an experiment. Why don’t you ju st think o f a card, and I'll try to perform the most amazing version, too. This is the version where you ju st think o f a card and a position in the deck. I hope it works!” Continue to explain that you want the two selections to be different cards, so have the first participant whisper the colour of the card to a second participant. 'Ihis way, the second participant can name a card of a different colour. This ploy is a simple way of ensuring that the participant thinks of a black card. The spectator should name his card out loud so that everyone can hear it. Ask the participant who is just thinking of a card to name any number between one and fifty-two. “You g et to do the amazing trick. So please ju st name any position from one to fifty-tw o.” Whatever number is named, have the participant count down to that number along the tabled face-down spread. If the number is odd, instruct him to count that many cards from the top of the deck, and if the number is even, have him count it from the face. This way, he will always end up on one of your force cards (which will later be switched for the selection). This clever idea was pioneered by Max Maven and Allan Ackerman. When he reaches his named number, have him outjog the card, leaving it in the spread and clarifying that the card will never leave the audience’s sight. As he is busy counting, you must calculate the actual position of the thought-of card. There are two ways of doing this, depending on which direction the participant counted to his card: From the top: Multiply the value of the card by four, and if it is a Spade, subtract two. For example, the Seven of Clubs is in position 4 x 7 = 28, and the Eight of Spades is in 4 x 8 - 2 = 30.
From the face: Repeat the same procedure, but subtract the total from 53. So, the Eight of Spades is in position 53 - 30 = 23. Ask the first spectator (who was forced the Seven of Hearts) to try to imagine the position of his card. But then, before he can think of one, say, “ Yours is the good trick. And in the good trick, I have to guess where I think it is. I think you r card is at position...” Name the result of your calculations and count to that number in the deck (including the other participant’s outjogged card if you come to it). Outjog the card on which you land. The direction that you count from should always match the direction from which the first participant counted. Slide the first card that was counted to out of the deck (the Seven of Hearts) as you explain, “So we have two selections. This one should be the card that you ju st thought of.” Point to the outjogged card and continue, “And this one you ju st looked at.” Clearly push all of the cards above the outjogged card to the side and add them to the bottom of the deck, leaving the selection on top. Do this very slowly and inform the audience of your actions so that they do not suspect anything sneaky. Square the deck and pick it up. The end result is that the thought-of card is on top. Now for the revelations. Explain, “So let’s start with the good trick. You looked at a card and I nam ed a number. Please tell everyone you r card.” He will say that his card is the Seven of Hearts. Execute a double turnover to show that you found his card. Address the second participant and say, “But you ju st thought o f a card. And you nam ed a number. Please name you r card.” Turn over the double to take the top face-down card in the left hand as the deck is tabled to the side. Pick up the tabled card with the words: “You ju st nam ed any card, while you physically pick ed the Seven o f Hearts.” Illustrate this by seemingly flipping over the card in your left hand, while in fact executing a Mexican Turnover with the right-hand card. This shows the Seven of Hearts again, showing that nothing has changed. Recapitulate all the differences in fairness in the two tricks, and then finally show the right-hand card to be the named card. Comments If you compare the effect description to the method, you will notice that I used a little artistic license to describe the order of the selections. The reason is that it is exactly how the audience should perceive the effect: first you reveal the good version, and then you reveal the amazing version.
I should note a special-case scenario. It has only happened to Tomas once, but is worth knowing. If the card named by the second participant is directly above the position that the second participant named (for example, if the second person names number eleven, and the named card is at position ten), you cannot do a double lift to show the Seven of Hearts. Instead, you must use a triple lift. Credits Tomas’ inspiration was a similar effect created by Bob Farmer called “Svenvoodoo.” Bob shared his effect with Tomas in January 2007, but it remains unpublished at this date. J. K. Hartman and Gordon Bean published their variations ofTomas’ trick in C.A.A.N. Craft (2011). Tomas’ effect has inspired a number of other clever tricks, including creations by Bill Nagler and Ken Krenzel, who used the plot of finding two selections at the same time to their advantage. 0-DECK CVENSK U00D00 “Svensk Voodoo" can be perform ed with two decks, instead o f one. There are three key advantages to this: it becomes much clearer that you are perform ing two tricks simultaneously, the second participant can name any card and the counting is always done from the top o f the deck. Requirements A one-way force deck and a normal deck. You must also know a memorised stack, and your force deck must match the card that lies at position two in your memorised stack. Setup The normal deck should be set in your memorised stack. I’ll assume that the force deck is the Two of Hearts, which is the second card in theTamariz Mnemonica stack. Handling Place the memorised deck in front of the participant on your right, and the force deck in front of the participant on your left.
Ask the participant on your left to think of a card (but not to name it) as you spread the force deck in front of him. Turn to the participant on your right, pick up the memorised deck and catch a break under the top card. Cut the deck and execute a riffle force on this participant, forcing the Two of Hearts. After showing the card, let one card drop off the upper packet onto the Two of Hearts and catch a break below it. Cut at the break, returning the force card to second from the top of the deck and putting the deck back into your memorised order. Ask the first participant to name his card and then to name the number in the deck that he thinks the card is at. Invite him to count down to that number with his deck and then to place the card on the table. You can now put the deck away, allowing you to end clean. Identify the position of the named card within your force deck (let’s say it is the Ace of Spades, which is seventh from the top in Senor Tamariz’s stack). Confidently say that you believe the second participant’s selection is seventh from the top, and pick up the memorised deck and spread the deck, counting down to that number. However, as you count the second card, push it into spread cull position so that you can cull it under the spread as you count the cards. Outjog the seventh card and execute the TB Spread Double (page 55) to show that you correctly found the second person’s card at your named number. Unload the face card of the double in whatever manner you prefer (Tomas likes to use the Push-In Change as the upper card of the double is removed from the deck). Put the deck away, leaving the selection in your left hand. Finish as in “Svensk Voodoo” by executing a Mexican Turnover as you flip over the card in your left hand, using the tabled card to show that both cards are the selections. Comments The reason for having the force card second from the top in the stacked deck is to cut down on the number of special cases that would be required if it was on top. There are three special scenarios to consider in this version: Should the named card be the top card of the stacked deck, you simply do a double turnover to show the selection.
Should the named card be the second card in your stack, you do not need to switch the cards, because they are identical. The final special case is when the named card is at the face of the deck in position fifty-two. The easiest solution is to move it to the top of the deck and do a triple turnover. It may seem strange to force the Two of Hearts from the memorised deck when you have a perfectly good forcing deck in play. However, Tomas believes that for the clarity of the presentation, it is best to keep the two decks separate, so that the participants select and find their own cards in their own decks. He does, however, have a way of using the forcing deck to force the Two. You start with the memorized deck on the table between the two participants and the force deck in front of the first participant. Have him fairly shuffle the forcing deck and select a card from it. Pick up the deck yourself and have the selection returned and then shuffle the deck. Pick up the tabled deck and execute Daley’s Delight Switch. While this switch is normally done with single cards, it can easily be adapted to entire decks. You are currently holding the forcing deck in left-hand dealing grip. Pick up the tabled deck in right-hand end grip and then bring the hands together, switching the decks. The easiest way to do this is to shove the right-hand deck into the left thumb crotch and to take the left-hand deck (the forcing deck) in right-hand end grip (fig. 2). In a continuing action, move the left-hand deck forward (figs. 3 and 4) and place it onto the table in front of the first participant. The end result is that you picked up the memorised deck and put it back down in front of the first participant.
Credits Daleys Delight Switch was part of his “Daley’s Delight” Follow the Leader routine that was first published in Phoenix, Number 220 (January 1951). The illustrations in the Phoenix are unclear (and Bruce Elliot’s other attempt to publish the move in 100 New Card Tricks was incorrect), so I have explained the version that has been passed down verbally from other magicians. The full version involves putting both decks down at the same time, but Tomas’ handling requires that you keep hold of the forcing deck.
Approximately ten years ago, when I first met Tomas in Chicago, I asked him if he really could perform his legendary “ TSAR ” effect. Back then it seemed like an effect with so much going on that it would be impossible to remember the entire sequence. But Tomas didn’t disappoint; he performed the routine flawlessly. He has since streamlined the effect and put it within everyone’s reach. Welcome to one o f the catalysts for me wanting to write this book. It’s time to tackle “TSAR”: Technicolor Successive Assembly Reversed. Effect Tomas places four blue-backed Queens into a row on the table and then puts three red-backed indifferent cards on top of each Queen. He picks up the first packet and causes the Queen to undeniably vanish from the packet, leaving an indifferent red-backed card in its place. He then picks up the second packet and makes the first blue-backed Queen appear in that packet. But it doesn’t stay there for long; one by one, both blue-backed Queens vanish from the second packet, leaving four red-backed cards in their place. As you’d expect, he does the same with the next packet, making three blue-backed Queens appear in it, before making all three travel to the last packet. But here it gets really interesting. Moments after all four cards appear in the final packet, they all disappear and travel back to their original packets. Requirements A rea-backed deck and a blue-backed deck.
Setup Stack the red deck, from the top: Queen of Diamonds, the two black Queens, Queen of Hearts, followed by the rest of the deck. The blue-backed deck can be used in performance before you start “TSAR.” Handling Assuming you are using the blue-backed deck in performance, when you are ready to perform “TSAR,” cut any three red spot cards to the top. There arc almost always three red spot cards together in a shuffled deck, so this is as easy as cutting the deck. Remember the value of the third red card from the top of the deck and place the deck onto the table. Remove the red deck and spread through the deck with the backs toward the audience to show red backs. As you square the face-up deck into left-hand dealing grip, catch a break above the four Queens at the bottom. Spread through the deck and outjog any seven red spot cards, avoiding the value of the card that you spotted third from the top of the blue-backed deck. Do not call attention to the numbei of cards you upjog. In fact, to further confuse things, Tomas likes to upjog a couple of pairs of cards, so that it is difficult to see exactly how many he is upjogging. Strip out the seven.red cards, secretly adding the four Queens to the bottom using the Vernon Strip-out Addition, and then place the deck aside. You must now adjust the packet so that it is in this order, from the face: two black Queens, Queen of Diamonds, two spot cards, Queen of Hearts, five spot cards. Tomas prefers not to belabour this, so he simply holds the packet face down, spreads off three cards into his right hand, and then spreads three more on top of them before dropping the rest on top. He then carelessly tosses the packet face down onto the table. Explain that you also need four Queens. But to make things really interesting, you are going to use bluebacked Queens. Pick up the blue-backed deck and spread it with the backs toward the audience to show blue backs. Just as before, this gives you the opportunity to catch a break above the bottom three cards, as you move the deck face up into left-hand dealing grip. Spread through, upjog the four Queens and execute another Vernon Strip-out Addition to add the three red spot cards to the back of the four Queens. Place this deck aside, too. You don’t need the two decks for the rest of the effect. lurn the seven-card blue packet face down and drop the eleven-card red packet face down on top. Spread the packet to show all the red cards and a couple of blue-backed cards, too. Square up and turn the packet face up.
The Laydown Spread the four Queens at the face of the packet, remove the Queen of Diamonds and place it face up to your right. Deal the other three Queens fa ce down in a row to the left of the Queen of Diamonds in Heart, Spade, Club order from left to right. Tomas likes to add an air of randomness to this procedure. He remembers the order of the three Queens, turns them face down and then places them into the correct order on the table. This way, it looks as though any Queen could have fallen at any position. He also likes to act as though he is doing something fishy during this laydown when performing for magicians, to make them incorrectly think that he has switched out the three Queens. Turn the packet face down and hold it in righthand end grip, catching an Erdnase break above the face card of the packet. You will now apparently place three cards onto each Queen as follows: Queen o f Hearts: Peel the top three cards face down, one at the time, into a spread in the left hand (fig. 1). Angle the packet to show the faces of the three cards and then place them onto the Queen of Hearts, tapping the lower long side of the cards against the back of the Queen to square them. Queen o f Spades: Peel three more cards into a spread in your left hand, but as you turn your left hand to show the faces of the cards, drag the top card of the three inward with your left thumb (fig. 2), so that the audience can only see the faces of two cards, effectively hiding the red-backed Queen of Hearts. Place these three cards onto the Queen of Spades. Tap the side of the packet to square it, as before.
Queen o f Clubs: Peel three cards into the left hand (keeping them roughly squared this time), but on the third count, pull the top and bottom cards of the right-hand packet onto the left-hand spread as one. Tap the packet to square as before, ensuring that you do not flash the blue-backed card second from top. Put this four-card packet on top of the Queen of Clubs. Queen o f Diamonds: Grip the left edge of the packet and execute the first two counts of the EYE Count, leaving you with a single card in the left hand. Flick the single card, and then place the right hand’s packet on top of the left-hand card. The motivation for this is that you apparently realise that you need to free your right hand to turn over the tabled Queen of Diamonds. Turn the Queen face down and then place the packet on top of it. The Transpositions - Left Packet Pick up the leftmost packet and spread it face down to show three red cards and a blue-backed card at the bottom. Explain, “ When I display the packets, I w ont ju st spread them like this, as that only shows a small part o f the backs o f the cards. Instead, I w ill completely show both sides o f each and every card during this trick." That small presentation point is Tomas’ smart excuse for using false counts instead of just spreading the packets throughout the routine. Take the packet in right-hand end grip and turn the hand palm up to show the Queen of Hearts on the face as you explain, “ The Queens have odd backs, so it is easy to see where they are whichever way up I hold the cards." Turn the packet down and reverse count the packet into your right hand to illustrate that the odd-backed Queen cannot be hidden. Execute a Siva Count to apparently reverse the order of the cards again. A Siva Count starts like an Elmsley Count, as follows: 1. Peel off just the top card (blue-backed card) into the right hand. 2. As you peel off the second card, execute the familiar Elmsley Count switch. 3. Place the remaining two cards square on top of the right-hand packet and immediately execute a block push-off, allowing you to come away with the bottom card of the packet. 4. Place this card on top of the packet on the count of four. 3. The end result is that the blue-backed Queen ends up third from the top. Continue, “ Ihe blue back also makes it easy to see where the Queen isn’t f Take the packet back into left-hand pinch grip and rub the face of the packet with the right index finger as a magical gesture. Tilt the face of the packet toward the audience to display a spot card; the Queen has vanished. Elmsley Count the packet
face down to show all red backs. Place the packet on the table back into position, but rotated forty-five degrees to differentiate it from the other packets (fig. 3). Explain, “/ am goin g to make the Queens ju m p along the line from packet to packet before ending at the leader packet. They don't ju m p immediately, but each Queen takes a fe w seconds to arrive." Second Packet Pick up the second packet in right-hand end grip, dhen, grip the left side of the packet with the palm-down left hand and turn over the hand to display the face of the packet. However, just as the face card comes into view, curl the right hand into a loose fist to grip the outer end of the face-up cards (fig. 4). Tire right thumb tip should cover the outer left index, and the rest of the hand should cover most of the card, including the inner right index. Only the head of the Queen facing the spectators is seen. This is a slightly strange grip, but is designed to mask the face of the packet temporarily. Since the Queens obviously do not appear instantaneously in the leader packet at the end (a red back is seen on top of that packet), Tomas pretends that the Queens don’t appear immediately in any of the packets. Therefore, he creates a magic moment between turning the packet face up and counting it to show the appearance: “It has not arrived y e t i ... There it has arrived,T Hold the packet face up in pinch grip and reverse count the packet fairly (mimicking an Elmsley Count) into the right hand to show a Queen on top and a Queen on the bottom. The second Queen is the Queen of Hearts, which is the same card that vanished from the first packet. Immediately turn the packet face down and Elmsley Count to show two blue-backed cards exactly where they should be.
Say, “Now to make the two Queens vanish. Watch the first one got' With the packet in left pinch grip, rub the face card with your right hand as before. Turn left hand palm down to show a spot card instead of the Queen. Turn the hand palm up again and execute a Siva Count to show that only one blue-backed card remains. For the second vanish, take the packet back into left-hand pinch grip, and rub the face card as before, but do not show that the card has vanished. Instead, Elmsley Count the packet to show four red-backed cards. Turn over the last card to show that it is a red spot card and not the Queen that was apparently on the face a few moments ago. Place the spot card face down on top of the packet and then table the packet, rotated like the first one. Third Packet Pick up the third packet (with the Queen of Clubs at the face) in right-hand end grip. Slide out the blue-backed face card with your left hand and flip the other cards face up on top of it. Point to the face card, name it (the Three of Diamonds, for example) and say, “ The m agic hasn't happened yet. It’s a slow process. But when the Queens have arrived\ this card w ill be the only ordinary card lefit in this packet." Execute a buckle spread to show three, face-up, spot cards and a face-down Queen (fig. 5). Take the three face-up cards (actually four), keeping them spread, and slowly flip them face down onto the packet. The audience will clearly see three red-backed cards being turned over onto the blue-backed card. Square the packet. Turn the packet face up in left-hand pinch grip and cover the indices of the face card as before. Perform a gesture to apparently make the magic happen (Tomas squeezes the packet). Execute an Elmsley Count and pause after you have counted the Three of Diamonds. Spread the remaining two cards longitudinally to show that the two cards are Queens, but without showing the suit of the lowermost card (fig. 6, next page). Count the last two cards singly onto the Three of Diamonds. Turn the packet face down and Elmsley Count again to show three blue backs exactly where they should be. Holding the packet in left-hand dealing grip, riffle one card off the packet from the back with the right
thumb, and pull out the card second from bottom and show it to be the Three of Diamonds. Like all the other displays in this routine, the Three is removed from the exact location that it would be in if you performed the routine for real. Show the face of the Three and place it on top of the packet. Hold the packet face down in left-hand pinch grip and rub the face card to apparently make it disappear. Do not turn the hand to show the face, but instead execute a push-off count to show that the bottom card now has a red back. A push-off count is simple: 6. 1. Holding the packet as for an Elmsley Count, peel off the top card into the right hand. 2. Peel off the second card, spread on top of the first. 3. On the count of three, execute a block push-off of all the cards above the bottom card (in this case, just two cards) and place them spread on top of the first two. 4. Place the final card on top to complete the spread of four cards (really five). Square up the cards and explain that the second Queen from the bottom will change, too. Make a gesture to apparently make the card vanish (like squeezing the packet) and then execute the same push-off count, but pause when you have pushed the double off a little and show that you now hold 7. two red cards in the left hand (fig. 7). Tilt the packet upward to show the fhrec of Diamonds on the face—exactly where it would be if you could do the trick for real. Finish the count and square up the packet.
To make the final Queen disappear, execute an Elmsley Count to show four red backs. Table the packet, rotated like the previous two. It is important to take a moment to point out just how magical this sequence is. It really is beautifully constructed. Three blue-backed cards are shown and then one-by-one apparently change places with redbacked cards from the leader packet. Leader Packet If you could do this effect for real, the top card of the leader packet should already have a blue back. It doesn’t. This is why Tomas explained earlier in the routine (and often recaps throughout the trick) that the Queens take a few seconds to arrive. Pick up the rightmost packet, and turn it face up in left-hand pinch grip and cover its indices with the right thumb. Squeeze the packet as before and then Elmsley Count to show four face-up Queens. Then turn the packet face down and Elmsley Count it again to show four blue backs. The effect is apparently complete. But there’s more! The Reverses - Leader Packet Hover the leader packet above the leftmost packet and execute an Elmsley Count, outjogging the only redbacked card that is shown. Strip out the outjogged card without showing its face and drop it on top of the packet in your hand. Move the packet above the centre packet and execute a push-off count to show two red backs. Hold the packet above the rightmost packet and execute an Elmsley Count, outjogging the last two cards counted to keep the blue-backed card in view (fig. 8). Pull the blue-backed card inward and free from the packet, as the right index finger pushes the outjogged cards square. This is essentially a backward Anncmann Alignment Move.
Lever the blue-backed Queen of Diamonds face up onto the packet and turn over the packet. Execute another Elmsley Count, outjogging the face-down card as you come to it. Strip out the face-down card, turn it face up and hold it, blocking the face card of the packet. This is John Bannon’s Discrepancy City Display. Table the Queen of Diamonds face up below the row of three packets, as the right hand tables its packet face down to the right onto the table to form a discard pile. Left Packet To show that the Queens have returned to their packets, you’ll repeat the same sequence three times. To start, pick up the leftmost packet and take the top card in your right hand; flash its face by tilting up its outer edge and place it on top of the discard pile, but injogged a little. Deal the next card square with the rest of the discard pile. You may flash this card if you like, but only with this packet, not the next two. Deal the third red-backed card outjogged onto the discard pile, but turn over the card for a complete revolution, end for end. This gives a direction to the dealing that makes it look logical to not show the second card too clearly. As the right hand twirls the third card, finish by turning the left hand down and executing Vernon’s Through-the-Fist Flourish with the blue-backed Queen, letting it land on top of the tabled Queen of Diamonds, spread a little to the left. Middle Packet Repeat the sequence described above to form a spread of three face-up Queens. Right Packet Repeat the same sequence. However, you will be left holding a double card consisting of two blue-backed cards with a Queen at the face. Execute the Through-the-Fist flourish, and take the double into your right hand. Use it to scoop up the other three Queens, and finish by holding the packet and moving the hands out in a gesture to show that you have finished the routine (fig- 9).
Clean Up For a routine so detailed, the clean-up is surprisingly simple. Flip the Queen packet face down into left-hand dealing grip. Take the discard pile by its long sides and tilt it up to show a bunch of red spot cards. To free the right hand, drop the right-hand cards face down on top of the left-hand cards. With your right hand, lift off a portion of the red deck and let your left thumb push off its red cards into the gap in the deck. Finish by putting the rest of the cards under the blue-backed deck to make the three, red, spot cards blend in. You can now use the Queens for something else. Credits David Neighbors suggested the problem of a Technicolor Progressive Assembly with a Reverse on The Second Deal website in May 1998. Tomas provided a solution, and has evolved it over the past decade and a half. Jack Avis’ Siva Count was first published in Epilogue (Number 11, March 1971). Dai Vernons Push-Off Count was first published in M ore Inner Secrets o f Card M agic by Lewis Ganson (1960).
It was a relief to describe this item for the book, as it meant that Tomas finally had to teach it to me after several years o f me being fooled by it. It is an incredibly fair and convincing Oil and Water routine where the cards are kept on the table throughout. Effect Tomas fairly interlaces four red cards and four black cards. He then very carefully spreads the cards on the table to show that the reds and blacks have separated. It really is that clean. Setup The secret lies in the fact that you have three extra red cards. The order of the packet (from the face) is four red number cards, four black number cards and three more red number cards of similar values to the other red cards, so that they might be easily confused. Handling Hold the packet face up in right-hand end grip. Slowly peel four red cards singly into your left hand and place them on the bottom of the packet. Take the packet into left-hand dealing grip and deal the four black cards into a square on the table, dealing the top two cards left to right and then the bottom two cards left to right. lake the top red card in right-hand end grip and drop it on top of the black card at the outer left corner, sidejogged to the right for half its width (fig. 1). Repeat this with two more cards, first at
the top right and then at the bottom left. Take the remaining four cards as one (with the fingers covering the front edge), lower them onto the final black card and pick up the black card, leftjogged below the quadruple card. In a continuing motion, move to each pair and pick them up below your packet, maintaining the sidejogged conditions. Maintain an Erdnase break between the first and second packets (fig. 2). Lower the packet onto the table, but continue to hold it in the right hand. Lift the right long edge of the quadruple a little, and allow its left long edge to push down on the cards below it, as the left hand pushes the black cards square with the packet. This will automatically push the three, interlaced, red cards out of the other side of the packet, under cover of the right hand (fig. 3, exposed view). Immediately spread the packet along the table. The Nyquist Spread Hideout will come into play, causing the interlaced red cards to hide under the black cards, giving the impression that the colours have separated (fig. 4). Tomas finishes with a small, but convincing, subtlety to make the tabled spread seem a little less contrived. He puts his fingernails onto the table at the inner end of the spread and pushes forward to make the spread a little messier. The hidden cards will remain hidden, but it will seem like you have nothing to hide.
Credits Charles Nyquist’s Ribbon-Spread Hideout, as it has become known, was published within his effect “ Ihe Ribbonspread Reverse” in H ugard’s M agic M onthly (Volume 6, Number 3, August 1948). Hofzinser’s “Card Problem 12: Ihe Magic Separation” from H ofzinser’s Card Conjuring (1910, English translation in 1931) is an early effect (without a method) that bears some resemblance to an Oil and Water routine. However, Walter Gibson’s “Like Seeks Like” is much closer to what we now perform as Oil and Water. It appeared in Ted Annemann’s magazine The Jinx (issue 91, November 1940). The idea of pushing the cards forward at the end comes from Doug Conn’s “Chameleon Sandwich,” which can be found in Tricks o f My Trade by Paul Cummins (1999).
Tomas has combined Lennart Greens Snap Deal\ Larry Jennings Rhythm Count and Brother John Hammans Gemini Count to create an intriguing concept. It is a sequence that allows you to apparently place four Jacks onto the table, when you actually just place down two indifferent cards. I will describe it within the context o f a very clean Ace Assembly routine. Effect Tomas places four packets of three indifferent cards onto the table. He then places a Jack on top of each of the packets. With no secret movements whatsoever, he proceeds to magically make all four Jacks collect into one packet. Handling Spread through the face-up deck and put the four Jacks on the face, ensuring that the top and bottom Jacks are of different colours. As you square the deck, catch a little-finger break above the bottom two cards of the deck. Reposition the face-up deck in right-hand end grip, transferring the break to an Erdnase break. Peel the top Jack into the left hand, secretly taking the two cards below the break under the Jack as you peel it. This is the start of the Vceser Concept. Continue by peeling off another Jack onto the packet, keeping a break between that Jack and the three cards below it. Peel off the next Jack, and then as you peel off the fourth Jack, secretly load the cards above the break back onto the bottom of the deck. The packet in your left hand now consists of a red Jack, a blackjack and two indifferent cards. Turn the packet face down and place it aside. Turn the deck face down and openly spread off three cards from the top of the deck. As you square up the three cards, secretly drop the lowermost card back onto the deck. Ifiis leaves you holding just two Jacks. Drop these two cards face down onto the table directly in front of you.
Next, spread off another three cards, but catch a little- 1. finger break below a fourth card. Square up the three cards (mimicking your actions from the previous packet) and secretly add the fourth card below the packet. Place this packet in the upper left corner of your working surface. Spread off three more cards and fairly place them directly in front of the first packet. Repeat this once more, placing a three-card packet to the right of the other two. This creates a standard Ace Assembly configuration (fig. 1). The leader packet has two Jacks, the upper left packet has four cards and the other two packets have three cards. Place the deck aside and pick up the apparent Jack packet that you placed aside earlier. We now come to Tomas’ Rhythm Switch: Perform a centre double lift to take out the middle two cards, and turn them face up on top of the packet. Tomas uses Brother John Hamman’s Centre Double by nudging the top card upward a little with the left thumb (fig. 2) and then immediately buckling the lowermost card with the left index finger (fig. 3, from the side). This allows you to drag out the two middle cards with the right thumb and index finger (fig. 4) and to flip them face up on top of the packet. Keep a break under the double as it falls square with the packet. • Turn the double face down and deal the top card onto the upper right packet. This is actually an indifferent card. 3.
4. 5. 3. 4. 5. Take the top card into your right hand with the fingers below and thumb on top. The right index finger should lightly touch the outer left corner of the card (fig. 5). Turn the left hand palm down to show the Jack on the face of its packet (fig. 6). Turn the left hand palm up and thumb off the top card (an indifferent card) onto the upper middle packet. At exactly the same time as you push off the card, turn the right hand palm down to show its Jack. This allows you to steal the focus away from the fact that you are dealing off the wrong card from the left-hand packet.
s Apparently place the right hand’s card down onto the upper left packet, actually executing Lennart Green’s Snap Deal. In brief, place the inner end of the card onto the table (fig. 7, previous page) and then apply a little downward pressure with your right thumb. This pushes the card down past the second finger so that it ends up resting on the third finger, in lateral palm (fig. 8). As the card snaps off the index finger, it’ll create a sound akin to tabling a card. 7 At exactly the same time that the right hand executes the Snap Deal, show the final Jack in the left hand. This timing ensures that the snap deal is only visible in the audience’s peripheral vision. Take the final Jack face down, on top of the 8 . laterally palmed card in your right hand (fig. 9), and deal them together onto the leader packet. The sequence is now complete. Pick up each of the three upper packets, and create a magic moment to make the three Jacks apparently switch places with a card from your leader packet. Finally, turn over the leader packet to show that all four Jacks have collected in that packet.
R H YTH M SWITCH BLUFF ASSEMBLY Tomas reserves this version fo r magicians. It looks like a standard Assembly routine, but when you show the leader packet, your magician friends w ill be amazed that it actually ju st contains indifferent cards; the Jacks have apparently vanished. There are just two changes to the method. The first comes after you have removed the apparent four Jacks. Traditionally, you would be left with two Jacks on top of the deck, which would get placed onto the leader packet. In this version though, you must cut the deck (losing the Jacks) and pretend to place down three indifferent cards, secretly adding a fourth to them. The second modification is at the end of the Rhythm Switch. After you have shown the last card, take it in the right hand and execute another Snap Deal (onto the leader packet), loading the card onto the already lateralpalmed card. This leaves you with two lateral-palmed cards that you need to ditch somehow. Tomas does this by loading them on top of the deck as he picks it up and places it aside. You can now go through the motions of a standard Assembly effect, finishing by showing that the four leader cards are also just indifferent cards. It’s really quite a puzzling moment, as it completely goes against every magician’s expectation. RHYTHM IC TRRNSPO Here is a quick off-balance transposition using the rhythm switch. Start with a six-card packet in the following order from the face: black Jack, red Jack, two black Aces, black Jack, red Jack. With the cards face down, acquire a break above the bottom two cards, spread one card, and flip over all of the cards above the break as a unit, keeping a break below them. Thumb off the top card to show the two black Aces and explain that you will keep these two cards. Turn the block over and thumb off the top two cards directly in front of you, leaving them slightly un-squared. These cards are two of the Jacks.
Execute the Rhythm Switch to apparently deal four Jacks into a separate pile on the table and ask your participant to place her hands over the apparent four Jacks (actually just two Aces). As she does, move your hand back and unload the two lateral-palmed Jacks on top of the packet closest to you as you square it up. You could, if you like, carry out the switch directly into her hand, as Tomas sometimes does. Create a moment of magic and then spread over your apparent two cards to show that you actually have four cards. Turn them over to show that they are the Jacks and to allow the participant to see that she now holds the two black Aces. Credits Brother John Hamman’s Gemini Count was originally published in R ichard’s Almanac (Number 14, October 1983). Larry Jennings’ Rhythm Count is a variant of a Ray Grismer move, which itself is essentially a two-handed variant of Edward Mario’s Olram Subtlety. Larry first described it in his routine “Uni-Flection” in A Visit with Larry Jennings (1982), but without credit to Grismer. In the same booklet, Larry shared a technical variant of the move within the effect “A Logical Conclusion.” Ihis handling is the Rhythm Count as we now know it. Lennart Green’s Snap Deal was published in a booklet of the same name, written by Tom Stone (1995). Bob Veeser’s Veeser Concept was originally published in M -U-M M agazine (Volume 49, Number 7, December 1959) within Edward Mario’s article “Discourse on a Move.” The concept of a Bluff-Bluff Assembly was explained by Allan Ackerman in his “Really Real Gone Aces” from his Las Vegas Card Miracles DVD. He explains that the plot is an Edward Mario idea, but I have been unable to track down Mario’s actual handling.
When it became clear that Jack Parker’s illness was terminal’ he decided to put on a farewell party (or Pasteboard Soiree, as Jack called it) in the form o f a miniconvention for his close friends. Myself Tomas and a few others performed Jack’s effects for the group, and we all had a fun, but bittersweet, weekend. Tomas created this routine at breakfast one morning o f the party (based on ideas that he and Jack had experimented with many times before) and performed it for the entire group later that day. It is the style o f effect that has more recently been popularised by Dani DaOrtiz and Woody Aragon (almost-certainly influenced by Juan Tamariz): a few spectators join in with a little pandemonium before eventually finding their own cards in a very improbable way. Because the effect relies on a very intriguing (but hidden) mathematical principle, I urge you to mock-perform this for yourself by using three memorable cards as the selections. I guarantee that you’ll fool yourself. Effect Three participants each select a card from a shuffled deck. They then each cut some cards off the deck, giving them a third of the deck each. The participants then each think of a number between ten and twenty and deal down that many cards in the deck, dropping the remaining cards on top. The spectators’ packets are then swapped, before they count down to their number again. In fact, this is repeated once more, creating a completely random series of events.
Unbelievably, when each participant turns over the top card of their packet, they find that they have found their own selections. Handling Identify three spectators who would be willing to get involved. The trick becomes much easier to manage if you invite them to stand in a row behind your performance table. Hand one of them your deck. Instruct him to shuffle the deck, and then to pass it to the other two participants to take their turns with shuffling, too. As the deck is being shuffled, Tomas starts his opening monologue (which you’ll likely need to adapt to your own performances), “My hobby is statistics and probability theory. I ’m especially fascinated by random events that are dependent on each other. For example, i f you toss a coin, it is totally random whether heads or tails end upward. It is also totally random which side falls down. Yet, i f you know the outcom e o f one o f these random events, yo u ’ll automatically know the outcom e o f the other. We say that these random events are highly correlated. “This gets interesting when we fin d a correlation, but can’t quite understand why it occurs. For example, the num ber o f radio sets sold is highly correlated with the num ber o f mentally ill people. That’s a fact, but we do not know the underlying factors. I ’m goin g to let you experience such a thing here: random events that are connected in a way I can’t explain. ” Take back the deck and spread it for the first participant to select a card. Contrive the spread so that the participant selects a card from the bottom third. Leave the card in the spread, but show it to the participant. When complete, keep a break under the selection with your left little finger. Adjust the spread so that you can continue spreading for the second participant to select a card from the middle, and keep a ring-finger break above the selection. Finally, spread the top portion for the final participant to touch a card, which you keep a break below using the left middle finger. The spread will end in a pretty sloppy condition, so the breaks won’t be seen from the front or left sides. You will now cut the deck to the table, controlling the cards as you do so: 1. Cut all the cards above the upper break and drop them onto the table. 2. Cut all of the cards above the next break and drop them on top of the tabled packet. 3. Cut a number of cards from above the break (but not all the cards) and drop these on the table, too. You should aim to leave about one third of the whole deck in your left hand after this cut. 4. Cut at the break, but place this packet slightly jogged on top of the tabled pile (fig. 1), so that you can get a break below it later. 5. Place the remaining cards on top.
1. Pick up the deck and catch a break at the jog. The end result is that the third selection is on the bottom of the deck, and the other two are on either side of your little-finger break, about one third from the top. Cut off all the cards above the break, and hand the remaining cards to the third participant as you say, “Please cut some cards o ff the deck; about this many w ould work fine. That’s about h a lf the cards you hold. ” Have him place the cut-off packet on top of yours. Hand the cards that you hold to the first participant and have the second participant cut off about half of those. All three participants should have a third of the deck. The first participant’s selection is at the face, the second’s is on top of his packet and the third’s is at the face of his packet. Explain, “I ’d like each o f you to think o f a random num ber from 10 to 20. It’s a num ber y o u ’ll keep fo r the rest o f this demonstration. I ’m goin g to demonstrate what y o u ’ll do with you r number.” Turn to the rest of the audience and say, “Someone please shout out a num ber fio m 10 to 20.r Take the second participant’s packet and deal cards singly onto the table until you reach the number. Drop the remaining cards on top. Say, “ Should you run out o f cards before you reach you r random number, ju st stop. Do not pick up the packet again.” At this moment, all three spectators unknowingly have their cards at the faces of their respective packets. If you notice that the packets are too uneven, this is a good time to ask them to randomly move some cards between the packets (they’ll naturally move cards between the tops of the packets) to even out the packets. To be safe, there should be at most twenty cards in each packet. The reason is that two spectators may both think of the number ten, in which case the method would fail if the packets in which those two specific spectators count have more than twenty cards. The selections are safely sitting at the bottoms of the packets. Instruct the participants to deal to the numbers they chose. Once they are done, say, “Now you get to deal in a new packet.” First switch the first and second participant’s packets. Then, switch the second and third participant’s packets.
Instruct them to deal their numbers again. And then switch the packets again. This time switch the two outer packets before switching the second and third packets. All three participants now end up with their own packets again. You’ve essentially performed a Ihree Card Monte shuffle with packets, broken up over a minute or so. It’s great if they believe they have dealt in three different packets, but Tomas never mentions that, instead letting the participants convince themselves of it (a ploy that Brother John Hamman was often known to use). Have the participants count down to their numbers one last time and then drop the remaining cards on top, just as before. Recap what has happened: “You all selected random cards at random positions in the deck that had been randomised by you. Then you randomly cut the deck into three parts and randomly chose random numbers to deal to in the packets o f random sizes. How can all this be connected? I can show you that they are, but I can’t explain how.” Have each participant name his or her card, before turning over the top cards of their packets one by one, to show that unbelievably they all found their own cards. Comments Should a spectator count wrongly on the first or third deals, accidentally counting one too many or one too few, Tomas has an out. The participant would have named their card before turning over the top card, so you know its identity. Therefore, take the packet and glimpse the second card from the top to see if it matches. If it doesn’t match, have the participant turn her packet face up and deal down to her secret number. Either she will end the count exactly on her card, or it will be resting at the face of the packet from which she deals. Here is something very interesting that Tomas discovered about the hidden mathematical principle that governs this effect. Amazingly, if you do the deal four times instead of three, the exact order of every card will be restored. When originally published, Colm Mulcahy believed that the participant had to deal the exact same number four times. However, as you will see, the order of the packet is also restored if the first and third deals are the same, and the second and last deals are the same. The only rule is that the two numbers need to sum up to at least the number of cards in the packet. You might be tempted to simplify the selection procedure by having the participants first cut the deck in thirds, shuffle the packets and peek the face card of the packet, lh at would mean that they know for certain where their cards start and that they count in the same packet the first and third times. However you chose to
have the cards selected and controlled, the important point is that they should not know where, or in which pile, their card starts, and they should absolutely not know that they perform the counting twice in the same packet. Credits This is Tomas’ variation of Jack Parker’s “The Third Time’s The Charm” from Genii magazine (June 2007). Tomas first performed his version at Jack’s Pasteboard Soiree in May 2007 and later published it in Genii magazine (April 2008). The underlying mathematical principle here is Jack Yates’ “Miracle Mix-up,” from Abbott’s Anthology o f CardMagic, Volume 3 by Gordon Miller (1968), which is the basis of the more famous “The Nine Card Problem” by Jim Steinmeyer, which we looked at in “L-I-A-R,” page 191. It was Colm Mulcahy’s “Low Down Triple Dealing” concept from his column, “Card Colm,” on the Mathematical Association of America’s website (October 2004) that inspired Jack and Tomas to experiment with the principle.
Axel Adlercreutz is a clever Swedish magician who proposed a solution to perform the classic Open Travellers with only four cards. Tomas’ handling o f Axel’s effect has fooled some o f the best in magic and has received great praise from Paul Harris and many others. Effect Tomas shows four Kings. He openly places one of the Kings into his palm and then slowly turns over his hand to show that the card has become invisible. He places his hand flat onto the table and makes the card become visible as it falls onto the table. He repeats this with each of the Kings, each one being more impressive than the last. The final King turns invisible in the cleanest way: he places it into his hand and then immediately shows it to be empty, with no cover or suspicious movements. Requirements You must make a set of Axel Adlcrcrcutz’s gimmicks, consisting of two special Kings and two normal Kings. Cover the King of Hearts with a black sticker and colour the edges of the card black. The intention is that this card should not be seen against a black close-up pad. The King of Diamonds is a specially gimmicked card provided in Max Maven’s “Shinkansen” trick. This card has a back that looks like a spread of two cards (fig. 1; for clarity, the illustration shows one side of the gaff to be grey, but in performance the cards have to be the same back colour) and could also be made by splitting off the back from one card and gluing it to the back of the King.
You also need a black performing surface that will hide t e black art card. If you have not worked with black art in the close-up arena before, it is important to understand that the card will not be completely invisible. Tomas has constructed this routine in a way that the black art card is never left in a vulnerable position. Setup Arrange the cards in Spade, Heart, Club, Diamond order from the back to the face. With the packet face down, the back of the King of Diamonds packet should be positioned so that the two backs spread to the left (fig. 2). Handling Flip the face-down packet over sideways, spread the cards face up and take the Kings of Diamonds and Clubs into your right hand, moving the cards to show that you are just using four cards (fig. 3). Appear to assemble the spread, but really square the two left-hand cards (Spades and Hearts), keeping them in your left hand. Immediately turn both hands palm down to show the backs of the two cards to the audience. The gimmicked card makes it appear that you hold three cards in the right hand and one card in the left hand (fig- 4). Put the left-hand double card face down onto the table. It does not matter if the double splits a little, as the black art card will not be seen on the table.
First Travel Square the right-hand cards face down into left-hand dealing grip, and then position the top card for a Tent Vanish (fig. 5), being careful to not show the extra back on the card below it. A good way of helping to cover the gimmicked card is to curl your left index finger around the front end of the card (refer back to fig. 5). Execute the Tent Vanish by fully covering the propped-up card with your right hand, as if you are about to palm it (fig. 6). With the card covered, let go with the left thumb and allow the card to fall square with the packet. Move the right hand away, pretending that you have the card palmed in that hand. As soon as the card has been supposedly taken, push the top card a little to the right with the left thumb (fig. 7) to clearly show two backs (this further implicates that you palmed a card in your right hand). s.
Turn the left hand palm down to show the faces of the two cards, reverse spreading them so that the King of Clubs can be seen below the King of Diamonds (fig. 8). In this position, it is easy for you to see the backs of the two left-hand cards, so this is a good time to adjust them to ensure that the gimmick doesn’t show two cards! Slowly turn the right hand palm up to show that the card has apparently been palmed invisibly. Lower the empty hand palm down onto the tabled double card. Curl your fingers around the front edges of the cards, and lift them up, end for end, and then spread them to display the Kings of Hearts and Spades (fig. 9). Second Travel Place the left-hand cards down onto the table, still in their spread condition, with the top card leftjogged on top of the gaff (fig. 10). This is Allan Ackerman’s idea to set up for the third travel by simply placing down the wrong packet. While this seems bold, it has been in frequent use by magicians for several decades and works perfectly.
Take the other two cards, still spread, with the left hand. Move the King of Spades to the face of the packet, casually flashing its back in the process (fig. 1 1, previous page), and then square up. Immediately execute a side steal of the face-up King of Hearts (fig. 12, exposed view) and drop it on top of the King of Spades as you pretend to palm that King off the packet (fig. 13). Whilst everyone is concentrating on your right hand, turn the left hand palm down and drop the double card face down onto the table. Again, the bottom card has black art working for it, so it is not important that the double is perfectly aligned on the table. Slowly turn the right hand to show that the palmed card has once again become invisible. Move the right hand face down onto the tabled spread, and then spread the top card to the left so that more of the gimmicked card comes into view, to give the appearance of three tabled cards (fig. 14). Final Travel With the right hand, grip the inner end of the black art double with the right fingers on top and the thumb slightly under the double card (fig. 15). Start to turn over the double card, end over end, and as the card starts to turn face up, curl the fingers inward to pull the bottom card (King of Spades) into Tenkai palm (fig. 16). Take the single King of Hearts face up into the left hand. This is essentially Ed Mario’s Miracle Change. Immediately lower the right fingertips down to the tabled spread. Dig the right thumb under the back
With the help of the right hand, openly palm the King of Hearts in the left hand, with the face pointing outward. This w ill take a little m irror rehearsal to ensure that you do not flash the back of the card. of the spread (fig. 17) and push over the packet, end for end, allowing the palmed card to drop at the face of the packet as it falls onto the table. This displays three face-up Kings in a spread (fig. 18) in Spades, Diamonds, Clubs order from face to back.
Turn over the tabled spread with the right hand, gripping the spread from the inner end so that you can easily adjust the gaff to only show a single card. Under this misdirection, secretly lower the left hand and drop the palmed card onto the table. The black art will help ensure that the card is not seen. However, you should also move your palm-up right hand toward your left, positioning your right arm somewhere over the tabled card. Bring your two palms together and rub the hands together, before slowly opening them to show that the King of Hearts has become invisible, too. Move the left hand back to cover the black art card with its shadow to help hide it further. Press the right hand down onto the spread, as before, and spread the top card to the left to expose the gimmick, so that it shows four backs. Treat this as the final phase, so that what follows merely appears to be cleaning up after the effect. Push down on the black art card with your left hand and slide it slightly under the spread (fig. 19; on a white surface), and then flip over the entire spread end for end to show four face-up Kings (fig. 20). Credits The Open Travellers plot has a long and winding history that stems from the 1960s. 20. The first known Ace assembly of this nature was William Miesefs “Invincible” (The New Phoenix, October 1961). The Miesel routine has all the hallmarks of an Open Travelers effect, with the exception of the cards being apparently invisibly palmed. In his handling, the cards simply vanish from a packet that is held in the performers hands. It is reported that Dai Vernon set the challenge of devising an Ace Assembly using only the Aces to Bruce Cervon in 1966. Many years later, we now have the luxury of looking back at Cervon’s notebooks to fact
check this. In Bruce Cervons Castle Notebooks, Volume 3 (2008), Cervon described “4 Ace Effect,” which was his first solution to the problem. The notation is dated August 22, 1966. In November 1968 in Epilogue No. 4 , Bruce Cervon published “Face-up Flyers,” stating that it was his solution for Vernon’s challenge. Given the use of the deck in this handling, it could be considered a step backward from its more elegant predecessor by William Miesel. Several more recent authors have claimed that the Cervon handling is a version of the Miesel handling, however in Genii (April 1988), Cervon writes that he was unaware of “Invincible” when he published his version. One year after Cervon published his handling, Larry Jennings published “Jennings’ Open Travellers” in Alton Sharpe’s Expert Card Mysteries (1987). It is this routine that introduces the notion of invisibly palming the Aces. In Jennings '67 (1997), Jennings talks in depth about his version of events. He claims that Vernon’s challenge to Cervon comes after seeing Jennings routine and that Alton Sharpe had seen, and asked to publish the effect several years prior to Cervon’s version seeing print. Incidentally, the name “Open Travellers” comes from Edward Mario’s effect that was published in The New Phoenix (No. 275, December 1962). While not credited as such, Mario’s handling was clearly inspired by Miesel’s “Invincible.” Tomas and Axel are not the first magicians to use a black art card for a four-Ace trick of this nature. While they were never published, both Cliff Green and Jack Parker performed effects of this nature. Jack sometimes used it at the end of his “Travelling Without Moving,” an effect that he published in Genii magazine (Vol. 69, No. 6, June 2006) with a traditional non-black-art ending. Allan Ackerman’s Two-Packet Display Switch was published within Paul Harris routine “P. H. Invisible Palm” from Art o f Astonishment, Volume 3 (1996). Max Maven’s “Shinkansen” is a Cards Across routine that was marketed in 2002 by Murphy’s Magic. It also appeared in his book Focus (1990), but the gimmick was not supplied. This type of gimmick dates back to Theodore DeLand’s work at the beginning of the 20th century and has recently been re-popularised by Joshua Jay, who refers to a card of this nature as an “overlap card.” Mario’s Miracle Change appeared in M iracle Card Changes (1954) under the title of Miracle Card Change No. 1.
One o f Tomas many talents, as you will have likely noticed throughout the rest o f this book, is to modernise classic handlings. The B lorn berg twist is a valuable lesson in economy o f method and clever, considered construction. Tomas twist on the Christ Force introduces a smart way o f forcing two cards instead o f the usual one. In effect, the participant is asked to take the deck under the table and to turn over about a quarter o f the cards. He is then to turn over the deck and to repeat the same procedure. Afier this process, the first face-down card o f each section is the force card. Along with the two cards to force, you need two similar cards, such as pseudo-mates, court cards or Jokers. For this explanation, I will use the Jokers. Stack the deck as follows, from the top down: Face-up Joker Face-up force card Remainder of the deck (face down) Face-down Joker Face-up force card Turn over the deck so that the second force card becomes the top card. Assuming that it fits the context, this setup can be made by taking the deck out of sight and saying that you 11 place two special cards into two special locations.
Handling Hold the deck face down in left-hand dealing grip, and turn your hand palm down as you point to the spectator’s hand during the request to ask him to extend it. Quickly point out that the Joker is on the face of the deck, as this will later help the audience follow the procedure. Place the deck face down on the participant’s hand and ask him to take the deck under the table and to follow your instructions: 1. Turn over the deck. 2. Cut off less than half the deck, turn it over and replace it on top. 3. Turn over the deck again. 4. Cut off less than half the deck, turn it over and replace it on top. 5. Turn over the deck and hand it back to you. Spread through the deck until you come to the first face-down card. Outjog it and slowly turn all cards above the outjogged card face down, explaining that those were the cards the spectator turned over. Continue spreading until you sec the last face-down card and outjog it, too. The index of a Joker will show below it, selling the illusion that they turned over all cards below the outjogged card. Point out that that was the Joker that started at the face of the deck, so they clearly turned over all cards below the outjogged card. Turn the face-up bottom portion face down, ensuring that you don’t flash the face of the Joker for too long, and replace it at the bottom of the deck. Ihe two outjogged cards are the two force cards, and it will seem as if the spectator cut to them fairly. Comments Tomas has half a dozen ways of getting into the setup. Here is a particularly economical version that utilises Roy Walton’s Trigger Move. Insert a Joker between the two force cards (all face down) and place the three-card packet face down on top of the deck. Place the other Joker on the face of the deck. Turn the deck face up and secretly half pass the three-card sandwich at the back of the deck. Spread the deck face up between your hands to clearly show all cards facing the same way, but stop before you reach the end of the deck. Call attention to the Joker on the face of the deck.
1. Seemingly turn the deck face down, while in fact executing Roy Walton’s Trigger Move with the bottom card. In brief, to execute the Trigger Move, catch a break above the bottom card and execute a turnover pass (passing the bottom card to the top), immediately followed by turning over the deck end for end (figs. 1 and 2). A Joker will remain on the face, and thus everything looks copacetic. Hand the deck to the participant and continue as described. If you know Bob Farmer’s Turnantula Move, you may also find this version of use: Start with the two force cards back to back between the Jokers and put these four cards at the face of the deck. It will simply look like a Joker is at the face of the deck. Spread the face-up deck, pushing a few cards as a group so that you do not expose the reversed card, and then square up and execute Turnantula with the top two cards to make it seem like the deck is turned face down, fhe exact same Joker will still be at the apparent face of the deck, but in the end of the trick, the other Joker will show. Henry Christ’s force was originally published as “The 203rd Force” in Theodore Annemann’s SH-H-H-!It's a Secret (1934). The reason for the name was that Annemann thought he covered every force in his book 202 Methods o f Forcing (1932), but Christ proved him wrong by showing him his new force one week after the publication of the force book! Credits Christ’s force used a double-backed card. The earliest known force to replace the double-backed card in place of multiple turnovers is Sam Mayer’s force from his effect “Another Do as I Do” from the July 1946 Sphinx (Volume 45, Number 5), predating the more commonly known Balducci force. Roy Walton’s Trigger Move was published in a booklet of the same name in 1976 and later in The Complete Walton, Volume 1 (1981). My brief description does not do it justice, and I urge you to study the description in Roy’s book. Bob Farmer’s useful move, Turnantula, appeared in Wesley James’ Enchantments (2004).