Easy Card Magic

W IL L ALMA M.I.M.C. (LO N D O N )

P R IN T E D

IN

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EASY CARD written b y

ROB ROY The State Library of Victoria “ A LM A CONJURING CO LLECTIO N ”

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G published b y

PADELL BOOK COMPANY N E W YORK C opyr igh t , 1944, B y R obert I saacson

EASY CARD MAGIC

CALENDAR CARDS Tricks that are easy to do are always very popular, not only with the magician but also with your audience. As a matter of fact, the less you seem to have to do with a trick, the better the effect.. . . What a joy it is to surprise your audiences. Here’s one that will. You ask a spectator to make four piles of cards, thirteen in each, face down, and when that job is done, you ask someone for a coin. Everyone has a penny, so you ask for the lowly copper one-cent piece. When you get it, you examine it, and just so you won’t be accused of doing anything underhanded, no . . . not you! . .. you hand it to anyone other than the person who gave it to you. You have had no contact with the cards since someone has dealt them out for you. And the coin is in possession of another spectator. With great gusto and mysterious hand-waving, you announce that you will call out the year on the coin, and then triumphantly, you turn over the cards and the year of the coin appears in the correct order of the numbers on the coin! Devastating? It certainly is! Now you want to know how it’s done, and who can blame you for it?

M odus Operandi:

Before you present this trick, you have a penny with 1943 or 1944 on it. Insist on a copper coin only. Say that the new penny interferes with the vibrations. Arrange the four top cards so that each number will appear in the same order as the numbers of the coin when placed as described above. When that is done, you must switch any penny that is given to'you, and give your penny to someone to hold. Pocket the acquired penny first chance you get. The reaction to this is terrific because once the trick is being performed, you impress upon everyone that you have practically nothing to do with it. One spectator deals; another holds the coin. Yes sir!

TAKE A CARD This trick is practically unfathomable unless you know how it works. And when you do, it works swell! Hand the deck to someone in your audience and have him shuffle the cards freely. Have him cut from 10 to 12 cards and hold them in his right hand. He puts the balance of the deck face down on the table. You now take the few cards from him and in doing so, note the bottom card of this small pile. Pretending to count them, you reverse them. Your key card is now on top. Using these few cards, you have him lift a corner of anyone of them and

EASY CARD MAGIC

remember it. And you cut these into the remainder of the deck and locate the correct card. TAKE A CARD is a cinch! Everyone likes it! M odu s O perandi:

The point in this trick is to note the number of the chosen card from the key card which is on top of the few with which you are working. Close the fan, pick up the balance of the deck which is on the table and put this larger part on top of packet with which you have been performing. Have your spectator cut the cards once. Now you are all set. Just deal the cards face up and when you get to your key card, start looking and counting for the card which has been chosen. Once you know it, keep on counting and looking. Now you can hold the deck to your head, give it a few waves to get the “vibrations” , reshuffle the cards and when you are good and ready, you can call it to the utter satisfaction of your very helpful spectator who really had nothing to do with it from the begin­ ning! Put TAKE A CARD in your bag of card tricks. It’s fascinating!

THE KICK TRICK A nursery rhyme has it, that Simple Simon tried to catch a bird by putting salt on its tail. Well, we make no boast about being able to catch birds in that manner but we are going to pick your card that way. No fooling! The new twist to finding a card in this trick is that you have to kick the deck to discover it. Without touching the cards with your hands, you have someone shuffle the deck and divide it into several piles which are placed on the table. You request your spectator to select a card from the center of any pile and place it on top of one of the stacks. Have the cards piled one on top

EASY CARD MAGIC

of the other, cut, squared and put on the floor. You kick the deck, and where the cards break most obviously, you pick up the selected pasteboard. Right again!

M odus Operandi:

That crack about the salt and the nursery rhyme is no gag because the secret of this trick is a tiny pinch of salt. Your back is to the audience when a card is selected. This gives you an opportunity to take a pinch of salt from your vest-pocket. When the pack is divided, the card chosen and placed atop one of the piles, you point to the pile, inquiring if it is the correct one. In doing so, you drop a few grains of salt on the chosen card. W’hen cards are piled, squared and put on the floor, all you need do is to kick them hard, and they will separate quickly where the salt is doing its job. The top card of the split is THE one! So now you're convinced that a little salt on a card’s tail, gets that card for you!

THE MAGIC ADDING CARDS Mathematical card tricks will make you appear to be a mathematical marvel, which of course you are, if you know the formula . . . and then it’s really a cinch. And your audience won’t be able to fathom it. THE MAGIC ADDING CARDS practically do the trick for you. This is the procedure. Before you leave the room, you ask your “ victim” (how I delight in calling them “ victims” ) to arrange the deck in piles, face down, in the following manner: Let us assume that the first card placed on the table is a THREE. The victim (please excuse my being facetious, but it’s all in fun) covers that card with the next card calling it four, then five, then six, etc., until he counts up to 12. Each pile must be built the same way. If the card starting the next pile is a SEVEN, then add eight, nine etc. up to 12 again. When piles of 12 are made in this manner a few odd cards will remain. That is all the work the victim has to do. He then calls you into the room. Pretending to read the cards, etc., you call out the total of the bottom cards of each pile. And to everyone’s amazement, including your own, the answer is correct! Isn’t it a dandy? You bet!

M odus Operandi:

As you come into the room, you count the number of regular 12 piles. Let us say there are eight piles. You now subtract jour, leaving in this case, four 12 piles. Multiply four by thirteen which is 52, and to it add the number of left-over cards. Let us say the number of left-over cards is 7. Ergo, 52 plus 7 equals 59. And that, is the TOTAL of the bottom cards of the eight 12 packs . . . 59! Oh yes, Jacks

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are regarded as No. 11, Queens as No. 12 and Kings as No. 13. But dis­ courage the use of pictures for bottom cards. Make that clear before you start. USE NUM BERS ONLY! O .K .?

MENTAL TELEPATHY You can have a barrel of fun with this trick by giving your audience a talk on MENTAL TELEPATHY, the name of this trick. You can impress them with the thought that if they concentrate properly with you, their thought will be transferred through the cards to you. If they doubt that this can be done, prove it to them. Take any standard deck and have somebody in your crowd shuffle them thoroughly. Ask them if everyone is satisfied. If anyone else wants to shuffle them, let them help themselves. Now you take ihe deck, and face up, make three piles, or rows, of seven cards each. Next have someone think of a card, and indicate the row or pile in which it appears as you deal them. In picking up the piles, it’s your job to always put the selected pile in the middle. You do this three times, and by pretending that you are concentrating, you call out the card your spectator is thinking of . . . with you!

M odus Operandi:

The key number of this trick is ELEVEN. And it requires nothing else. After doing what is described above, three times, the eleventh card from the top will be one card that was chosen mentally. If you want to make yourself out a genius, you can lay out another set of three rows of seven simultaneously, and do two mental telepathy stunts at practically the same time. If you’re really ambitious and have two decks, you can have four going at the same time. But first, try it with one person, and when you can do it speedily, try two or more; and remember, it’s MENTAL TELEPATHY THAT DOES IT!

PICK-POCKET The name of this trick is hardly conducive to proper behavior, you can tell your audiences, but that is exactly what you are going to do. You are going to pick a pocket . . . your own! Have someone in your audience shuffle the cards thoroughly, select a card, hold it up for everyone to see it, including the magician, keep it out of the deck, shuffle the cards thoroughly once more and return the deck to you. Without any hesitation, you put the deck into your pocket. Now, here is what you claim you are going to do. “ I am going to match, numerically,

EASY CARD MAGIC

the number of the card which you have selected.” You then proceed to pick your pocket. Let us assume that the NINE OF SPADES was chosen by the spectator. From your pocket, you pick first, an ace of diamonds and then an eight of clubs. These cards add up to NINE. Now if you have to match the color, which is SPADES, you can pick your pocket and get the two of spades, either before or after. In this case, it is better to get the color after you’ve matched the number. Let us assume that the original card selected was the N IN E OF DIAMONDS. In that case, when you pick your pocket for the numerical match, and the ace of diamonds comes out, you tell your audience that you have matched the color. You then continue to pick your pocket for the eight, which matches numerically the NINE. Isn’t it a honey?

M odus Operandi:

The ingenious secret of this one lies in the fact that before you do the trick, you have planted in your pocket the ACE OF DIAMONDS, TWO OF SPADES, FOUR OF HEARTS, and EIGHT OF CLUBS. With these four cards, you can match numerically, any card and any color. No fooling! Try it and you’ll be convinced.

THE GABBY OLD MAID It is almost a universally accepted fact that the Queen of Spades is regarded as the Old Maid. In this trick, she plays even a more important role. She talks! And if you don’t believe it, you will'soon be convinced. Of course, she talks only to the Magician in secret code. In performing this phenomenal trick this is what occurs. Someone in your audience selects three cards from a deck of cards, and places them face dqwn before you. Next, you take the Old Maid from the deck, slip her gently under each of the three cards, and then cupping your hand over her, you hold her to your ear. The GABBY OLD MAID will tell you which cards were selected. Colossal? You bet!

M odus Operandi:

Step number one is to have someone shuffle the cards. Now you run through the cards in order to pick out the Old Maid, which you do . . . but at the same time you memorize the 3 cards next to the bottom. In other, words, you memorize the 49th, 50th and 51st card. Next you put the deck on the table and have some lucky person cut the deck as near the center as possible. You then pick up the half that was the top part of the deck, and you ask your spectator to count

EASY CARD MAGIC

off the other half, card by card. You do the same. Thus, all the cards are reversed.

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C a r d s w i l l r o l l Thus

You now ask him to take the top card of his half and push it into the center of his pack. You take the bottom card of your pack and do likewise. Everything is hunky-dory, exactly as you want it. Now ask him to take the top card (which is the Slst) and put it face down on the table. Then ask someone else to take the next card (which is the 50th) and place it face down alongside of the one already on the table. Do the same with the next card (which is the 49th). The three cards which you have memorized are waiting for you to slip the Old Maid under each and then to your ear. Cup your hands for better mysterious effect. It’s a honey!

SEVEN KEYS Somehow or other, the number seven seems to be magical beyond human understanding. . . . And it is especially so in this clever card trick. You are blindfolded. Someone chooses a card from the pack. You cut the pack, have the card returned; you cut the deck once more, run over the cards; select a card which you place face down on the table. You now remove your blindfold. Turn over the card you picked while blindfolded, which is a 7, and from there, count off seven,cards, and voila! You have located the chosen card! M odus O peran d i:

There’s a little bit of villain in you on this one because you take a pin and in the index corner of the Seven of Spades, the face towards you, you push a little hole which makes a bump of the back of the card. Put this card seventh from the bottom and

EASY CARD MAGIC

fake a shuffle without harming this arrangement. Now you are blindfolded. You ask someone to take a card. You fake another shuffle. Ask them to return, the card to the top of the deck. You now cut, putting the bottom half on top. You are now ready to feel the card which has the bump in the corner. With no trouble at all, you locate it and place it face down on the table. Now you hand the balance of the cards, i.e., past the place where you found the seven, to your spectator. You take off the blindfold at this juncture and ask him to turn over the single card on the table. It's a seven. Correct. Now you tell him, “ Count off seven cards, turn the seventh card over, and it should be your card.” And by golly, it is. It ought to be. How could you miss?

JUMPING JACKS When you perform this card trick, you will probably be asked to “ do it again” . That is what invariably takes place when your spectator wants time to figure it out. So, obligingly you do it for him again, and again. But he only becomes more confused. In doing any card tricks, your intention is to enter­ tain by confusing your audience. You can repeat JU M PIN G JA C K S many times over, right before the eyes of your spectator. You deal, face down, one card to Mr. Inquisitive and one card to yourself; then another for him, and another for you; and next a third for him and a third for you. Now ask your spectator what he has. He’ll have three Jacks. And no matter how many times you do this trick, Mr. Inquisitive will be getting the same hand, three Jacks. How come? Read on, brother, read on!

EASY CARD MAGIC

Rippling through the deck, you show that there are only four Jacks in it. You place these four Jacks on top but while doing it, you secretly put any card between the third and the fourth Jack. Now deal a card to the spectator and one to yourself; another to him and another to you. Obviously, this fourth card is not a Jack. Now another to him and another to you. BUT the third card you deal to yourself, instead of placing it on top of your pile, you slide to the bottom. You now pick up your pile and place it on top of the deck, and picking up your spec" tator’s three Jacks, you place them on top of the deck also. The deck is now set for you to do the same thing over and over to your heart’s content. The Jacks will continue to jump from the deck, only to the spectator, who by now has had enough. He’s convinced!

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c o l le c t io n 1

M odu s O peran d i:

ALLAH! ALLAH! This mathematical card trick is unquestionably a marvel. It is one of the best impromptu magical card feats ever presented on your parlor table. All you need know for this clever stunt is to be able to say Allah! Allah!, with­ out even seeing or being near the card which you correctly call out to the utter astonishment of everyone. You tell your spectator to shuffle the cards. You ask to be blindfolded. Your audience will oblige, willingly! Now you instruct your spectator to take any card from the deck which he is holding. Let us assume it is a FIVE. Tell him to place it face down on the table and build a pile of cards on top of it, all face down, until he reaches 13. In other words if the card facing the table is FIVE, the next card he places on top of it is called 6 , then 7, etc., until he has counted up to 13. Now take another card and follow the same procedure. Make as many piles of 13 as the deck will allow. Put the extra cards to one side. Now you ask your spectator to leave any three piles, and to give you all the cards. You are still blindfolded! Now you instruct him to uncover the top card of any two of the three piles. You are now ready for your big dramatic moment! Have him tell you what the two upturned top cards are. When he does, you utter the magic words, ALLAH! ALLAH! You call out the correct card atop of the third pile! You remove the blindfold. They’ll never guess how it is done. M odu s O peran d i:

The secret of this remarkable trick hinges on the key number “ 10” plus ALLAH, ALLAH! Of course! Let us assume that if after they have followed your instructions, there are

EASY CARD MAGIC

three piles. The two upturned cards are a SIX and a TWO. Add them together and add “ 10” , or 6 plus 2 plus 10 equal 18. Correct? Now in your mind, subtract 18 from the number of cards you hold in your hands which you count without stopping to subtract. Let us say you hold 26 cards. Count off 18, and then start counting again with 1, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. The difference between 26 and 18 are 8. You call out that the card on top of the third pile is an 8. You ask your spectator to turn it over, and Ye Gods and Little Fishes! IT ’S AN EIGHT, ALL RIGHT! The picture cards are as follows: JACK is 11, QUEEN is 12, KING is 13. If done correctly, this never misses! NEVER!

THE CLIMBING CARD Ever since you were a kid, you have been fascinated by a magician who could make the card you pick out, rise from all the others in the deck. But how can you make a card climb? Do you use a rubber band?. Or is it done with the electricity in your hair? Neither, my lad! Neither! You’ve got to know how to coax it. You’ve got to use your voo-doo powers . . . and above all, you’ve got to know the secret. This apparition pleases nearly everyone if you do it gracefully and gently. You ask someone in your audience to choose a card and to think of it all the time; concentration is very vital . . . you know that, don’t you? 0 . K. Now cut the deck, bringing the selected card to the top. Only you know that. Now you go through your Yogi routine, coaxing the card to CLIMB, CLIMB . . . CLIMB! Facing the audience, and holding the deck in your right hand with the faces of the cards towards your spectators, you wave your left hand in an upward direction. Slowly the chosen card will rise.

M odus Operandi:

This entire trick is based on the simple device of pushing the chosen card upwards with your index and second fingers. By doing it slowly and by letting it flutter to the floor once it reaches the top, calling out the magic words, you will achieve an unusual effect. Remember to utter the words “ CLIM B” in your most persuasive and magical tone of voice.

THE QUIVERING VOICE Inflections and intonations of the voice are the principle of this scientific card trick. The sound of your spectator’s vocal vibrations will reveal to you what card has been chosen.

EASY CARD MAGIC Before handing a member of your audience a deck of cards, you ask for honest and accurate cooperation, otherwise you cannot scientifically deter­ mine the minute shadings of the human voice. You impress upon everyone that this demonstration is more difficult since you have to watch out for variations in tonal quality in order to call out the correct card chosen. With great seriousness and fuss, you ask to be blindfolded. When you are, you say, “ Follow my instructions. Everyone must remain absolutely silent. Do exactly as I tell you. Are you ready?” (Of course they are, you fool, and you know it.) But that is getting ahead of the story. “ Take the first four cards and lay them in a row face down, from left to right. Now, carefully, one by one. put a second row directly on top of them. Continue this pro­ cedure until you have four piles of 13 cards each. Now, listen to me care­ fully! Take a card from the center of any pile. Show it to everyone. Don’t talk! Now place that card on the top of any pile. Next pick up the first pile and put it on top of the second: the second on the third, and the third on the fourth. Don’t talk! Now turn the cards face up and you, only you, call them out, one by one, SLOW LY! I'll tell you what the card is that you have chosen.” And you do! And you are correct! M o d u s O p e rattd i:

The secret of this trick is that before you begin this demonstration, you have placed four 7’s on top of the deck and four A’s on the bottom. When the cards are laid out, you will note that a 7 will be on the bottom of each pile and an Ace on the top of each. When a card is selected from the center of any pile and placed on top of any pile, and then as the piles are put one on top of the other, you can see what happens. The chosen card lies between an Ace and a 7. When you hear an Ace called out, following any card, which is followed by a 7, you stop the proceedings, to T H IN K . You ask the spectator to repeat the last four cards, and “ from the quivering of the voice,” yes, yes, you know what the card is and you call it out! It’s really simple. It always is when you know how!

THE FLYING ACE You don’t have to know anything about aviation in order to do the FLY IN G ACE! Nor do you have to prepare a complicated “ system” to achieve success with this trick. It’s simple; it’s fast; it’s easy, and above all, it makes for grand entertainment! Your audience sees in your left hand three cards...the Two of Diamonds,

EASY CARD MAGIC the Three of Diamonds and behind these two cards held in the shape of a “ V,” just part of the Ace of Diamonds. You wave the three cards, ‘‘flying” them through the air, and after Hashing them you place them face down on top of the deck in full view of everyone. You now take the top card and place it in the center of the deck. Then you take the next card from the top and place it as nP*ar the center as possible, and then the third. You false shuffle the cards, tap the deck and the Ace of Diamonds is shown to be on the bottom. When the trick is done, remove the Ace of Diamonds and let anyone try to find a second Ace of Diamonds. There isn’t any!

M o d u s O p e ra n d i:

The terrible deception perpetrated on your spec­ tators will give you much delight. What you actu­ ally do in assembling the three cards described above is to substitute the Ace of Hearts for the Ace of Diamonds. By placing it carefully behind the Two and the Three of Diamonds which are arranged in a “ V,” and using the top of the heart as a corner of a diamond, the illusion is complete. It actually looks like the Ace of Diamonds. Flashing and movement prevent detection. So move rapidly, once you start doing the FLYIN'G ACE!

THE FOUR OF EIGHT MYSTERY Don’t try to figure out why this trick works. You don’t have to because it always does. This effect is one of the best table tricks ever devised.

EASY CARD MAGIC

Deal four stacks of eight cards. Have your spectator select any stack he desires. Pick up that pile face upwards, fan them and have him pick out a card in his mind. The four stacks are gathered together and dealt out again into four stacks. Fan each stack, asking your spectator to indi­ cate the pile in which his card is now located. Forget the other stacks. Next deal these eight cards into two rows, four in each, one row under the other, all face down. The spectator points out a row, then two cards in that row and finally, one card. He calls out the one he has in his mind, turns over the one that is left, and shiver my timbers, if it isn’t his card! M odu s O perandi:

Using the method described in the beginning, take one of the four piles selected . . . putting four in your left hand and four in the right, face down. Pick them up and have your spectator think of one card in one of the groups you fan. Now put the one in which the selected card lies directly under the other. Reassemble the^iles, placing one on top of the one in hand, and drop this pack on top of both remaining piles. Now deal face down, a row of four cards, and on top of these another row until thirty-two cards are down. Pick up each of the piles and show to spectator. When he sees his card, discard the other piles. Now deal his pile face down in two rows of four each, from left to right, one under the other. The chosen card will always be in the lower left-hand corner. Have him indicate a row, then one of the two rows, and finally one of the remaining two. You can now direct him to the last card which is the one he selected.

COIN ON CARD* In the strictest sense, this trick is more of a stunt than it is an honest-togoodness effect with cards. Yet you can get everyone in your audience quite busy trying to achieve it, and with it you can have a barrel of fun. It is excellent to use as a change of pace, especially after a trick which “ taxes your mentality” to the limit. They say that no less a literary light than George Bernard Shaw used to fool around with this one. Balance a card on the second finger of your left hand. Got it? Fine. Now take a coin, preferably not your own, and place it on top of the card, directly over the tip of your second finger. The trick here is to remove the card without touching or dropping the coin. M odu s O perandi:

It all depends on how deft you are. Just flick the card with the second finger of your right hand and

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catch it right at the end of one of the corners. The card will fly away in a whirling motion and the coin will drop directly on the second finger of the left hand. If you are not too absent-minded you will return the coin to its owner. If you don’t return it, you certainly will be reminded.

UP SHE GOES Every once in a while, a magician will look for something new, something different in card tricks. Well, here is one that will appeal to everyone, the old and the young alike. I t’s called UP SH E GOES, and that is actually what takes place. With your usual dexterity and hypnotic control, you make a chosen card mysteriously stick to the ceiling. And the sensational part of this trick is that the card stays there until you take it down. M o d u s O p e ra n d i:

After having a member of your audience select a card, you tell him to put it back in the deck. Now with all your skill, you work the chosen card to the top of the deck. Dur­ ing the time that you are having the card selected, you put your right hand into your right-hand pocket. Why? Because in this pocket you have a little tin can which is one-third filled with ordinary ten-cent store paste. Deftly, you rub some of this paste on your second finger, and take your hand out of your pocket. When you receive the deck and have worked the selected card to the top, you smear this bit of paste on the top card as you pretend to dovetail shuffle the deck. Squaring the deck and holding it in

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your right hand, you throw the deck, giving it a slight twist, to the ceiling, shouting "UP SHE GOES!” And up she does go . . . and since everything that goes up, must come down, fifty-one cards will flutter down, and there, on the ceiling is the card chosen by the spectator. And there it will stay until you take it down! If there is a ladder handy, or a broom, get it and retrieve the card yourself. This will give you an opportunity to wipe off the speck of ordinary paper paste. And the tin box can be an aspirin or an Ex-Lax can. (This is no ‘‘ad’’ for either.)

THE MAGIC SPELL To lend versatility to your bag of card tricks, it is always well to include a spelling stunt . . . which is exactly what this trick, THE MAGIC SPELL, does for you. What takes place before the eyes of your beholders is as follows: Some­ one in your audience chooses a card and after looking at it, returns it to the deck. And almost as quick as you can say Jack Rabbit, you start spelling out the card, taking off one card for each letter, and on the final letter, you turn over the card which was the very one chosen! And if that isn’t fast enough for you, what is? M odus O peran d i:

As you fan out the deck and ask someone to take a card, you look at the bottom card of the deck. Have him put the card back on the top of the deck, and as soon as he does, you cut the pack and put the lower part on top of the upper part. The chosen card is

EASY CARD M A G IC

now under the card you remembered at the bottom of the deck. Good! Now cut the deck several times, and riffle them just for the effect. On turning the deck face up in your hands, tell your spectator to watch for his card as you run through them. Actually, you are looking for your card which is on top of the chosen card. When you see your card, start spelling to your­ self the name of your spectator’s card. Let us assume that his card is the' Six of Clubs. As soon as you see your card, you spell S-I-X-O-F-C-L-U-B-S, and at the final letter, you put your “pinkie” in making.a split in the deck. Cut the pack at this point and place the top part above the split on the bottom. At this juncture, inquire for the name of the chosen card, spell­ ing off one card for each letter. On the last letter, wave the cards, letting the chosen card flutter to the table!

CARD CONCENTRATION You begin this phenomenal demonstration of CARD CONCENTRA­ TION with your back to the audience. That isn’t etiquette but perhaps the audience would rather see your “ other side” for a change. But all jesting aside, that’s how you begin, with your back to the spectators . . . holding a deck of cards. You ask someone to take a card, remember it, and return it to the deck. All cards are face down. And the marvel of this one is that you name the card without once removing the cards from behind your back. Not bad?

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EASY CARD MAGIC This trick should be performed with an old deck of cards, if possible. With your back to the audience, cards face down, your hands holding them behind you, you spread the cards and have someone select a card, remember it and return it to the pack. You hold the pack tight so that he, on pushing it back, can’t quite put it back all the way. Now you turn around facing the audience, the cards are still behind you, and you ask for deep concentration. This is when you do your stuff! ('I he cards are behind you and you are still facing the audience.) You tear off a corner of the card that is sticking out, the corner with the symbol on it, turn that card around and replace it so that it still sticks out a bit, as before. You pretend not to be able to getithe “ vibrations" so you ask for greater concentration. All this time, the corner is in your right hand. You bring your right hand to your brow, as if you are thinking. This gives you an opportunuity to see what the symbol is, and you do. You now know what the card is. You then turn around, with your back to the audience, and with great showmanship, you “strain” your­ self by calling out the correct card. Remove the torn card first chance you get.'

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IN THE BAG Deception without detection is one of the first rules in legerdemain. Anybody who conceals or diverts in a trick of magic can literally pull the wool over the eyes of thousands. IN THE BAG is one of these tricks where you have to deceive your spectator just a little. Just take it easy and you’ll like this one. Your friend shuffles the cards, looks at one and thinks of its number from the top of the deck. You then take the deck and place it in back of you. You remove one card and put it into your pocket (since you have no bag, and since it serves the same purpose), claiming it to be the card of which your friend is thinking. You then count the cards before his very eyes down to the number from the top that he has selected, and believe it or not, his card is gone! You, beaming with joy, take his card from your pocket! This is what takes place when you put the cards behind you. You take the bottom card of the deck and put it on top of the deck. You take another bottom card which you announce as the one, and without his seeing its face, you put it into your pocket. You then ask your friend to tell you which number from the top

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EASY CARD MAGIC is the card he chose. Let us assume that it was the sixth. Count off six cards slowly, handing him the sixth. You ask him if that is correct, and while he is looking at it, you palm the seventh card, which is actually the one he chose, going into your pocket. He’ll be quick to tell you that you are wrong, and then just watch his expression change when you pull out the correct card. Don’t worry about the extra card in your pocket. You can get rid of it when the opportunity presents itself.

THE ROYAL BLUSH Nearly everyone at sometime or other has played poker. Different high hands have been held from time to time but it isn’t often that the royal flush comes one’s way. This card trick is designed to give someone that ROYAL BLUSH by dealing him a royal flush. It’s astounding! Watch this one. You deal five poker hands, feigning to explain the game, or to see what hands come up. Of course, you're never satisfied. So you pick up the five hands and place them on top of the deck. You hand the deck to anyone of the five players and ask him, or her, to deal out five poker hands . . . which he does. You turn over each hand, one by one with the exception of the hand of the new dealer. . . . Looking over the field, you now ask the dealer to turn his hand over on the table . . . and Holy Mackerel! It’s a royal flush! And he dealt it to himself! Astounding? It’s astonishing! How is it done? Gaze below, brother, and you shall learn. On the top of the deck, before showing this trick, you plant a royal flush in irregular order. By that I mean don’t put the cards in the A, K, Q, J, 10 order. Hash them up some­ thing like Q, 10, J, A, K. Savvy? O. K. Now deal these first five cards to five different people. One of these cards will go to each. Finish out the poker hands. Now pick up each hand with the highest spade at the bottom and place on top of the deck. Do the same with the next hand, and the next hand, etc. Now ask any one of your friends to deal five hands of poker, dealing himself last. Since every fifth card is part of the royal flush, and will come to him, he’ll be thrilled at what happens. He will have dealt himself the best hand in the deck, the royal flush!

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THE ESCALATOR Once in a while, a trick is singled out as a natural,-and this is one of

EASY CARD MAGIC them. It requires no sleight of hand, and it can be continued ad infinitum if your audience wants it repeated. In this illusion, you foretell how many cards were moved from one end of the row to the other, and you are always correct. You deal eleven cards face down in a row from left to right. Xow you tell a member of your audience to move any number of cards, one at a time, from the right end of the row to the left. Tell him not to move more than 10 cards. While he is doing it, your back is turned. When he says “ ready,” you turn over a card which tells you how many cards were moved. If three cards were moved, you uncover a 3; if nine cards were moved, you pick up a 9. This can go on forever, like an escalator, from which the trick derives its name. It is all in the preparation. Arrange eleven cards in sequence from A to J inclusive and place on top of deck. Now you are ready. Lay these cards face down from left to right 10, 9, 8 , 7, 6 , 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, J (J stands for 0). Tell your spectator to move no more than 10 cards from the right end to the left, one at a time. (Your back is turned.) You are told when he is ready. For example, move six cards from right to left. You now have 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, J, 10, 9, 8 , 7, 6 . You do this before you have anyone do anything, just to illustrate. But actually you now are set. Your key number is “six.” Have someone move any number of cards up to ten. (Your back is turned.) He moves three cards. The cards are arranged as follows 8 , 7, 6 , S, 4, 3, 2, 1, J, 10, 9. Now, with great concentration' you say that you will turn up a card which corre­ sponds in spots to the number of cards moved. Since “six” is your key, you count back six cards from right to left and you turn over the three. You announce that three cards were moved. Now you are ready to repeat the trick but your key now is “ nine.” You get this by adding your pre­ vious key to the number of cards moved. Your previous key was “ six” plus three cards moved, or “ nine.” No matter how'many cards are moved the next time, all you need do is to count, from right to left, nine cards and the card you will expose will correspond in spots to the number of cards moved. You can continue to do this as long as you care to. It’s THE ESCALATOR! M o d u s O p e r a n d i:

THE TURNING QUEENS This trick is done with a standard deck, a handkerchief and it features the TURNING QUEENS, which, no matter how you think they are put into the deck, seem to turn within the deck and assume a regular position along with the rest of the cards.

EASY CARO MAGIC Have someone in your audience remove the four Queens and arrange them anyway they choose, face up or face down, in any order in a pile. You have them do this while your back is turned. When they have done so, you turn around and ask them for a Queen, one at a time, and also one at a time, you slip them into the deck, face up or face down, as they are piled. When you have placed the four Queens in the pack, you cover the deck with a handkerchief, say a few mumbo-jumbo magic words, remove the handkerchief, and spread the cards on the table. Queens which appeared to have been put into the deck upside-down, have as­ sumed the same position as the rest of the cords! They sure are TURNING QUEENS!

Whether you think so or not, this is a slick bit of deception. When you turn your back, you have an ulterior motive. You cut the deck in two, crimp or bend one half, reverse that half and then put the two halves together so that half of the cards of one half are facing the others. The top half is facing down; the bottom half is facing up. Therefore, my mad genius, when you are given a Queen which faces up, put her in the lower half. If the next Queen is handed yofi face down, she goes into the upper half, etc......... When the four Queens are placed in the deck, you cover the deck with a handkerchief, concealing your changing the direction of one half in the same direction as the other. On spreading the cards on the table, all the Queens assume the same position as the other cards. They sure have turned! M o d u s O p e r a n d i:

EASY CARD MAGIC

GHOSTS! SPOOKS! This trick is spooky because some strange influence seems to select the chosen card correctly each time. While you have someone shuffle the deck (52 cards), you write the name of a card on a piece of paper and give it to the person who calls out a number. He counts down to that number. N'ow he looks at the number on the folded paper, and “ heavenly days!”, it’s that card! This can be done with someone else immediately after the first.

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G H o s t s ! S p o o K s! After pack is shuffled and handed to you, note the bottom card. If it’s the 5 of Diamonds, put that on your sheet of paper, fold it and hand it to your selectee. Have him call any number from 30 to 40. He says “ 33”, for example. In your mind, subtract 33 from 52. You get “ 19” (or you should, if you can subtract). Feigning not to have heard him, you say, “ Let me show you. I ’ll deal off 19 cards' (into your right hand) like this; 19. Do you under­ stand?” You keep your hands apart. When he says he does, put your hands together but put the right part underneath the left. Now give him the deck, holding it with the right thumb on bottom and your fingers on top. (In doing this, look at the bottom card). Let us assume it is a Jack of Spades. Write it on a sheet of paper and hand it folded to another onlooker. Now ask the first person what number he selected. He tells you; deals off to it and it is the 5 of Diamonds. He looks at the paper, and it is the 5 of Diamonds! Now for the second act! Drop the rest of the cards on top of the ones just dealt. The Jack of Spades is 19th from

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EASY CAHD MAGIC the top. A second spectator chooses a number between 18 and 25. Place cards on table with last cards spread so that you can pick them up, leaving two cards on the table. Your second guest calls out “ 21” . You add two cards to the top. In picking up cards, leave two cards on the table, as if by accident. Now all you have to do it to put these cards on top of the pack, have him count off and the card he turns over, the Jack of Spades is the one written on his sheet of folded paper. Ghosts help you in the first half and Spooks assist you in the second half. Impress your guests with the fact that if you are friendly to ghosts and spooks, they will help you. If not, it’s curtains!

BLOW HARD! Passing a magic wand, making a mysterious movement or blowing on a trick will do wonders! Everybody knows that. It’s the unwritten law of prestidigitators . . . in other words, it’s high-brow for “ magicians”. Well, here’s a corker but it must be done quickly. You flash two cards, the NINE OF SPADES and the TEN OF CLUBS. You then ;.push these two cards into the center of the deck. Ask for someone’s handkerchief . . . it’s always better than your own (yours may get soiled), spread the handkerchief on the table, and put the deck in the center of it. With much fuss, tie the ends of the kerchief diagonally, then again. Now ask one of your by-standers to BLOW HARD! HARDER! “ Fine, thank you,” you reply. Onopening the handkerchief, the two cards apparently have moved from the center of the deck to the bottom! Miraculous! Wonder of wonders! How did that happen? You don’t know, do you? This one defies everyone, unless you know it. All right, I ’ll tell you. Just read on. The mystery of this trick lies in observation. When you start to perform this illusion, you have planted, unknown to your audience of course, at the bottom of the deck, the N IN E of CLUBS and the TEN OF SPADES. If you seem casual about flashing the two cards, no one will ever notice that the cards at the bottom really aren’t the same ones at all. The reason for the handkerchief routine is to confuse them. Isn't it terrible what a magician will do to put one over on his audience? Actually, it is their poor power of observation which makes this trick a success.

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THE TURNED-UP BOTTOM This trick packs a wallop, yet it is so simple that it can be amusing

EASY CARD MAGIC over and over without detection. Here’s what you do. Have someone in your group select a card. Have them put it anywhere in the deck, and presto! changeo! it always reverses itself to the delight of your spec­ tators.

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To avoid any undue suspicion, have the deck thor­ oughly shuffled. Then inadvertently reverse the bottom card. Next spread the cards and have your “ victim” select one. While the card is being shown to everyone, turn the entire deck bottom side up and then have him place the card back into the deck. Make certain that you do not reveal any edges since the entire deck is upside down, and only the bottom card is reversed to cover this illusion. In making a magic pass over the cards “accidentally drop” the reversed top one. Excuse yourself for having dropped it and replace it correctly on the deck. On spreading the deck before the eyes of your bewildered audience, the card which they have selected appears in the detk, backwards! This trick can be repeated immediately, if desired. However, it is always better to do another feat of card magic for the entertainment of your friends. . . . They like variety, too!

THE MAGIC MESSAGE This is probably one of the neatest tricks ever done with cards and if planned carefully, promises to establish the performer as a real clair­ voyant. In the presence of everyone, a member of your audience writes any three different numbers. Then he is asked to reverse them, and

EASY CARD MAGIC subtract the smaller from the larger one. You then ask him to add the digits of the difference and to call out that number. From the top of a deck of cards, you count off that number of cards and the last card will be the one which you have written on a small sheet of paper, folded, and found in a man’s pocket, a hat, or a lady’s purse! Wonderful, isn’t it? Well then, let us see how it is done. M o d u s O p e r a n d i:

This entire trick is prepared beforehand. Fix the deck so that you know the 18th card. Let us say that it is the Four of Hearts. We write “ Four of Hearts” on a slip of paper, fold it, and surreptitiously, plant it in someone’s coat, hat or purse. Now, whatever different digits which your audience selects, if your direc­ tions are carried out, etc., the key number must be 18. You already know that the 18th card of your deck is the “ Four of Hearts”, and you also know where your magic message is located. Then all you need to do, after you have predicted the “ Four of Hearts” , is to have your spectator deliver the “ sealed” message and open it in full view of everyone. Let us take three numbers: 943 and reverse them 349 and subtract them 594 The sum of 5, 9, and 4 is 18, the key to The Magic Message! It’s really sensational, isn’t it?

VICE-VERSA Sometimes the simpler a card trick is, the more it confuses your friends. And VICE-VERSA is one of those rare tricks. Here is what happens before the very eyes of your audience. You lake a deck of card and cut it in two. You have someone choose one, two or even three cards from one heap and put them into the other half of the deck. Ask your spectator to shuffle thoroughly the half in which he has put the cards. On examining it, you will pick out the card or cards which he has selected. Do you think you know this one? Are you certain? You may be wrong. Oh no, it isn’t the reds against the blacks; that’s too easy. See if you can figure it out before you read the instructions. M o d u s O p e r a n d i:

The secret of this trick lies in the fact that you have separated and classified the cards beforehand.

EASY CARD MAGIC

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In one half, you have put the even cards like 2, 4, 6 , 8 , 10 and Queen. All the others go into the “ odd” half. Then all you need do to discover which cards have been switched, with your back turned, if you care to, is to look at the half which your spectator has shuffled and handed you. We call it VICE-VERSA because you can either put odd cards in the even pack or, to try to be facetious, VICE-VERSA! It’s a corking good trick because both halves have both black and red cards. I knew you didn’t know this one because it was designed to fool seasoned magicians!

COME SEVEN Whether you believe that seven is your lucky number or not, you'll have to admit that this trick is really out of this world. You can’t be wrong, even if you wanted to. Here is what takes place: The magician takes a few cards from the deck and lays them face down. He then selects several more for a second packet which he also lays face down. These two piles are in full view of the audience and are not to be disturbed. While the magician, which is you, has attracted your audience's attention to the two piles, you write a mysterious message on a blank sheet of paper which has been examined, before you write anything on it, by your spectators. You fold this paper with a great deal of pomp and importance and give it to one of watchers, instructing him nqt to open it until you say so. Next, you haye the one, to whom you gave the mysterious message to hold, to select either pile, emphasizing the fact that he can change his mind after he makes his original selection, etc. At any rate, after he makes his choice, you put the other pile back into the deck. Now you ask him to open the message and read it. And without exception, the message, previously written in full sight of everyone, will predict the cards of the packet selected! Impossible? Well take a gander at the explanation brother! M odu s O perandi:

The main thing is to select the four sevens which you have already put on the top of the deck before beginning the trick. You take these and put them in one pile. Then you take seven more cards as they come from the top of the deck. Under no circumstances reveal that you are taking any specific number of cards for each pile. Keep the piles squared and face down. Now . . . show the blank piece of paper and with your back turned, write your message, fold it and give it to someone to hold. Are you anxious to know what the

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message contains? You are? Well you should be, for it contains the secret of the trick that makes you right all the time! The message reads . . . “ YOUR CHOICE IS THE SEVEN PILE”. Get it? If he takes the sevens, well, that’s the SEVEN PILE. If he chooses the other, which contains seven cards, that’s the SEVEN PILE too! Isn’t it awful how we deceive our friends . . . and how they love it!

HIT THE DECK You don’t have to look for a card trick that is slicker than this one, and if you make it appear to be difficult, what with waving your hands and uttering those absolutely and positively magic words, it’s sure to go over with a bang! At first you ask a member of your audience to select a card, any card from the fan . . . which you have made from the upper half of the deck. You then instruct him to put the card on the top of the deck and cut the cards. Next you tell him to hit the deck . . . “a little harder, if you please” . Of course, he will oblige. And by doing so, you explain to him, something has happened. He has caused one of the cards to reverse itself in the deck. But that is grand, you assure him because by doing so, he has helped you to locate the card which he has chosen. On spreading the cards, you note that a card is reversed, and by counting to yourself the secret key number, you uncover the card which was selected by your kind assistant.

EASY CARD MAGIC

The important preparation of this trick before it is shown, is reversing the sixth card from the bottom of the deck beforehand. Therefore, when you ask someone to select a card, put it on the top of the deck, and then cut the deck, you already know that the chosen card will be sixth from the reverse card. By having your spectator “ HIT THE D ECK ”, you are trying to divert his mind in order to confuse him. This horse-play is always refreshing and leaves you wide open for jesting. The only precaution you need concern yourself with is to make sure that the person who selects the card, does so from the top half of the deck. Got it? Now try it.

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HIDE AND SEEK Hide and Seek is an excellent card trick and should be included in your routine. What makes it so astonishing is the fact that in full view of everybody, a chosen card actually appears to vanish from sight. The illusion created is as follows: Anyone in your audience, give each one a turn at it so that you aren’t accused of favoritism, picks a card from the deck, shows it around, puts it back, cuts the deck two or three times and when told to look for it, is unable to find it. And strange as it may seem, the selected card just doesn't appear to be there! However, when you examine the deck, that card, as if controlled by some occult power, comes into view. You’ll be accused of sleight of hand, up your sleeve and goodness knows what else your skeptics will conjure . . . but {hey won't know the secret!

EASY CARD MAGIC M odu s O perandi:

The secret, when you know it, of course, is so very simple that you cannot refrain from smiling, once you know it. Here’s what happens. When a card is chosen, you separate the deck in two. On top of the lower half, you put a tiny bit of paraffin and when the card is returned on top of the paraffin, you press the other half of the deck down gently on it. What happens? Well, you see it now, don’t you? The chosen card sticks to the one with the wax on it and when the cards are spread out on the table, lo and behold, it isn’t there! But it is, as only we know . . . and by taking your time in dealing off the cards, you come to the card that has “disappeared” in your little game of hide and seek, and you produce it. As mysteriously as it appeared to go, so magically it appears to have returned to the fold. And a good place to conceal the paraffin is under your fingernail.

The “ gimmick’’ or secret here is elementary, my dear Watson! Just make sure that the number of cards you hold, is ODD. If you add your ODDS to EVEXS, the result is ODD. And if you add your ODDS to ODDS, you'll get EYEX! And no pun intended. Xot bad, eh?

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Here’s a card trick that will challenge the “savoir faire” of everyone who hasn’t read the instructions on how it’s done. This is one brain-teaser that defies the mathematical wizardry of even an Einstein. And when you find out how it is done, brother, will you be startled and amazed by its utter simplicity! Invite anyone to take any number of cards from a deck which he has shuffled. (Off the record, shuffling in this instance doesn’t mean a thing . . . but it looks impressive!) Xow you ask your “ fellow worker” to count them. While he is counting them, you help yourself to a number of cards from the same deck. Then you inform your friend, that if the number of cards you hold is even, the pack I hold, if added to yours, will make the number odd. However, if the number of cards you hold is odd, the pack that I have will make it even, that is if my pack is added to yours. In this case, let us assume that the pack your spectator holds is odd. You add yours to his and when he counts them, the result is even. Rather miraculous! Xow let’s try it the other way. . . . Let us assume that the pack the spectator holds is even. You add your pack to his, and the result he gets is odd. How odd! I don't mean to confuse you . . . but if you haven’t solved this one, read on!

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