Semi-Automatic Card Tricks by Steve Beam Vol 2

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

CIRCLING THE SANDWICH

Steve Beam This sandwich has been well chewed. Scott Robinson came up with a startling ending to a sandwich effect in an effort to duplicate Impaired from Volume One. I described this to Ken Krenzel who then used Scott's ending with Audley Walsh's optical insertion. After playing with both of these handlings, I devised the following which I think has the best of both and is also semi-automatic. Effect. This is an unpolluted version of the jack sandwich plot. The spectator chooses a card from a face up fan. Two jacks are inserted face down about a dozen cards on either side of the selection. The pack is squared and turned face down. Riffling the pack, the cards are spread, showing a single card between the two jacks. It is the spectator's selection. The Work. Remove the two red jacks and place them on the table face up. Make a two handed fan in your left hand as shown in figure 1. Ask a spectator to name a card in the middle of the pack. When she does, upjog the card in the fan as shown in figure 2. Pick up one of the jacks and hold it face outward in your right hand. Lift the fan up to chest level along with

the jack as shown in figure 3. In the process of lowering the fan, insert the jack immediately above the outjogged selection. You can ensure the jack goes in immediately above the selection since the selection is outjogged. Time the actions so that the jack is inserted into the spread as the edges of the spread meet the angle of view of the audience.

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IMPOSSIBLE

REVELATIONS

ending with the selection injogged. Turn the pack face down in your left hand keeping the selection injogged. Push down on the injogged selection with your right thumb, picking up a little finger break above it. Riffle the cards above the break with the right thumb as you square the pack. This is apparently when the magic happens. You are now going to execute Scott's ending which will show the selection, trapped alone between the two jacks. Spread the cards from your left hand to your right until you come to the first face up jack. Separate the spread above the jack. Square the right hand's cards against the top of the left packet and table the As soon as the jack is in, continue lowg the fan as you pull the jack to the right as shown in figure 4. Note that the jack appears o be at least a dozen cards to the right of its actual location. This is the optical insertion and t is made easier by the fact that the selection is sutjogged. Pick up the other jack and insert it ace down about a dozen cards to the left of the lection. Slowly and methodically tap the acks flush with the rest of the cards in the fan. ote how the left edge of the leftmost jack rojects past the edges of the other cards. See figure 5. Close the fan from the left to the right, right hand's packet to the left. Now bring your right hand back to the left hand's packet. Lift up all the cards above the break in your right hand in Biddle position. Transfer this packet as if it were the lone jack, to the top of the tabled packet. As soon as you place this on top of the tabled packet, spread all of the tabled cards to the right. Return your right hand to the left hand's packet. Deal the top card of the left packet, the selection, onto the tabled spread, jogged slightly to the right. Take the next card, the second jack, from the left hand's half and place it on top of the spread, jogged slightly to the right. See figure 6.

Figure 5

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Take the left hand's remaining cards in the right hand in Biddle position and use these cards to finish the spread. Pause a moment for the effect to sink in. All the cards but one have vanished from between the jacks. Slowly remove the sole survivor as you ask her for the card she selected. Turn the card face up for the

finish. Background. This originally appeared in issue #51 of The Trapdoor along with the versions by Ken Krenzel and Scott Robinson. The optical insertion can be found in Audley Walsh's Ace Assembly in Volume 5 of The Tarbell Course in Magic.

Card tricks in this volume have a mean time between failures (MTBF) in excess of 10,000 hours.

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IMPOSSIBLE

REVELATIONS

HALF MOON RISING

Joe Rindfleisch & Gene Maze As soon as the card is in the case, drop the case to the table with its mouth away from the audience. The flap is uppermost, the half moon cut out against the table. "Wait! I forgot to show you that the cards are all facing the same

This is a novel approach to the rising card plot where, despite the spectators who will claim to the contrary, the card never actually rises. It is semi-automatic by working, not by design. Bffect. A card is selected and returned to the pack. The pack is placed in the card case. Holding the pack with the case mouth down over . the top, the case rises up. Removing the case exposes the supposed modus operandi. The selected card pushed the case upward as it rose out of the pack. The Work. Start by having a card selected and controlled to the bottom of the pack. The best method for accomplishing this that I know is Steve Pressley's A Cut Below from Volume One. Hold the pack in the left hand in position for the Charlier pass. See figure 1. Use your left forefinger to pull down on the bottom card as you pick up the card case. Bring the case over as if you are going to insert the cards inside. As soon as the flap of the case covers the near edge of the pack, use your left forefinger to push (almost kick) the selection into the case. See figure 2.

way." Spread through the pack face down, thoroughly enough to reveal any cards that would have been reversed. Read the following carefully to ensure that you understand the instructions. Hold the pack face up in your left hand in Charlier pass position. Pick up the card case with its mouth to the left. The card inside the case is resting against the half moon cut-out. Place the near left corner of the pack directly into the half moon, so that the card which fills the gap is inserted into the corner of the pack. See figure 3. Once you get the card in the corner of the pack, slide the rest of the pack into the mouth of the case, passing that same corner through the half moon. In other words, you are using the gap in the case as a means for inserting the selection into the middle of the pack. As 43

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

This looks much better than it reads. When the case is close to the top of the pack, you are going to lower everything so that the audience can see both sides. As you do, quickly move your left forefinger from the back to the side of the case with the other fingers. The larger movement of lowering everything covers the smaller movement of moving the forefinger. See figure 5. Use your right hand to slide the case the rest of the way off the deck. As you do, there is a visual discrepancy. If the card was truly pushing the case up, the card would be extended from the deck as much as the case was. This is not the situation, but it will not be noticed. Simply pull the case off the deck and drop it to the table. The emphasis is on the face down card protruding from the deck. Ribbon spread the pack on the table with the face down card still protruding and ask for the name of the selection. Dramatically remove the face down card and turn it over revealing the face of the chosen card. Joe Rindfleisch and Gene Maze. Joe is a relative newcomer on the magic scene, having been doing magic for about four years. Having been mentored by Gene Maze and Ken Krenzel, he has been able to move along faster than a jiggle pass. Joe enjoys sharing his magic with other magicians. In addition to a few marketed ef-

soon as the card is in the deck, you can move the rest of the deck into the case. This has the effect of moving the selection away from the front of the card case and centralizes it. Push the deck one third of the way into the case. Your position is that the cards are one third of the way into the case and the selection extends from the deck, hidden by the case.

"That's funny. Something seems to be moving inside." Lift the pack up to the position shown in figure 4. Note that your forefinger is not visible to the audience. Use it to slowly push up on the card case. Push the case up for about an inch.

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IMPOSSIBLE REVELATIONS fects, he has effects published in Apocalypse, The Minotaur, and a one man issue of The Trapdoor. Later this year (1995) a book will be published featuring his rubberband material. He is twenty-four years old and lives in Belleville, New Jersey. By day, he works with the handicapped in a group home. He is engaged to be married in two years, which means he will soon be creeping along in magic at the same pace as the rest of us. Gene Maze is both well known and well respected among fellow cardmen. His printed contributions are always anxiously awaited by those wanting material that is both strong and practical. He is known for difficult sleight of hand and unusual effects.

He can be found almost every Saturday at Reubens, a cafeteria in New York where the magicians gather weekly. Gene arrives a couple of hours early because it's too difficult to squeeze enough card tricks into just three or four hours. The Gene Maze Card Book (Richard Kaufman, 1980) is a required textbook for anyone seeking to be well informed relating to sleight of hand card-switching techniques. His recently published Gene Maze And The Art of Bottom Dealing (Stephen Hobbs, 1994) will provide the same type of seminal material for this sleight. Additional material can be found in Apocalypse, Richard's Almanac, and several of his effects are scheduled for publication later this year in The Trapdoor.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

SLY STEBBINS

Allan Slaight The following effect is incredibly simple, yet hard to reconstruct. The first few times you perform it, it will even puzzle you. This is the perfect trick for this chapter since you don't locate the selection, you reveal it. Effect. The magician has a spectator cut the pack and remove the card to which he cut. It is placed face down on the table without being looked at by the spectator. "The first thing we must determine is the color of your card." Giving the pack a quick cut, he spells CO-L-O-R by thumbing off a card for each letter from his left into his right hand. The five card packet is tabled and the next card, a red card, is turned over. "I see that your card is red." The red card is placed face up on the tabled packet. "Now we want to know the value, or number of your card." He spells "N-U-M-B-E-R" thumbing cards over into his right hand. These cards are tabled and the next card, a nine is turned face up. "Your card is a nine." The nine is tabled face up on top of the second pile. "That means your card is either the nine of hearts or the nine of diamonds because we know it's red. Your card is not in the deck, so we' 11 find the matching card." The magician spells, "M-A-T-C-H-I-N-G C-A-R-D as before and he turns the next card face up, the nine of diamonds. "Show us the card you selected. It must be the nine of hearts!" The spectator turns his selection face up, the nine of hearts. The Work. While this can be performed with a borrowed and shuffled pack (see Leftovers) it uses the Si Stebbins setup. This is the setup shown in the chart on the next page where the suits are rotated in "CHaSeD" order and each card is three higher in value in numerical rotation than its predecessor. This effect has the added benefit of retaining the order so that

you can proceed into another effect utilizing the setup. After a few false shuffles (see The Underhand Shuffle) table the prearranged pack. Ask a spectator to cut it and remove the card he cut to. Complete the cut for him. Now give the pack a quick false cut if you wish and hold it in the left hand in dealing position. (You can follow the above example by cutting the setup pack at the nine of hearts and removing it.) You can proceed to spell color, number, and matching card by thumbing cards from your left hand into your right without reversing the order of the card. After spelling each word or phrase, table the packet and turn over the next card. Each time because of the setup, you will arrive at the proper card you require to answer the question asked by spelling. When finished, simply retrace your steps by sliding the top card of each packet face down underneath its packet and replace the packets on top of the pack in reverse order (last dealt, first replaced). Finish by placing the selection on top of the pack, resetting the entire stack. Leftovers. I really like this effect. It is my favorite trick utilizing the Si Stebbins setup. I do it slightly differently. First, it dawned on me that the trick will work exactly the same whether the pack is face up or face down during the spelling. When performing for magicians or laymen I think will appreciate it, I offer to spell with the deck face up or face down, their choice. While this seems to make the results more impossible, the stack allows for it without any additional effort. It is also quite disarming to see the desired answers appear at the desired locations with the pack face up. It tends to communicate (without saying so) that the cards are in no particular order. It has the added advantage of confusing magicians who might try to come up with a stack that 46

IMPOSSIBLE REVELATIONS accomplishes the above results. It seems far more difficult to have a stack that works in both directions. However, the cyclical nature of the stack accomplishes everything. I also have added a question to the three existing ones. I spell, color, number, answer, and match. After spelling the color and number, I explain that we know that (using the above example) the card was a red nine, but the remaining question is whether it is a heart or a diamond. "To find the answer, l will spell `A-NS-W-E-R.' The next card will be the desired suit, a heart in this example. I finish by saying that we can't spell to the selection since it is not in the deck. However, we might be able to locate that card's match. Spell M-A-T-C-H and turn over the next card, the nine of diamonds in this example. Finish by revealing the identity of the selection. Not necessarily useful in this trick other than in the preparation of the setup, it might prove valuable to those of you who have not worked much with the Si Stebbins setup. At first you will find that you have trouble arriving at the next value when you get past the court cards. This is because for the lower values, you simply add three to arrive at the next value in the sequence. How do you add three to a court card to arrive at a lower number? Remember that the jack, queen, and king have a value of eleven, twelve, and thirteen respectively. The ace has a value of one. To calculate the next value from a court card, think of it in terms of its numeric value. Then subtract ten or just eliminate the first digit in the number. Thus, the value which follows a jack would be an ace. (Eleven minus ten equals one.) A queen and king are followed in the setup by a two and a three respectively. irteen minus ten and twelve minus ten.) It is possible to arrive at the Si Stebbins setup in seconds (versus a couple of minutes) if you start with a brand new deck. This can be a borrowed and magician-shuffled deck. For the best method (which requires sleight of hand) consult The Si Stebbins Secret in Darwin Ortiz's

SI STEBBINS SET-UP Ace of Clubs Four of Hearts Seven of Spades Ten of Diamonds King of Clubs Three of Spades Six of Diamonds Nine of Clubs Queen of Hearts Two of Spades Five of Diamonds Eight of Clubs Jack of Hearts Ace of Spades Four of Diamonds Seven of Clubs Ten of Hearts King of Spades Three of Diamonds Six of Clubs Nine of Hearts Queen of Spades Two of Diamonds Five of Clubs Eight of Spades Jack of Hearts Ace of Diamonds Four of Clubs Seven of Hearts Ten of Spades King of Diamonds Three of Clubs Six of Hearts Nine of Spades Queen of Diamonds Two of Clubs Five of Hearts Eight of Spades Jack of Diamonds Ace of Clubs Four of Hearts Seven of Spades Ten of Diamonds King of Clubs Three of Hearts Six of Spades Nine of Diamonds Queen of Clubs Two of Hearts Five of Spades Eight of Diamonds Jack of Clubs

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

1988 book, Darwin Ortiz at The Card Table. Its predecessors include Rusduck's version (Cardiste No. 3) and Marlo's experiments in Hierophant #2. Finally, while I haven't decided what I will do with this idea, you could alter the handling considerably by not tabling the selected card. Simply have the card peeked at by a spectator and pick up a break beneath it. Double cut the pack, sending the selection to the bottom while retaining the order of the pack. (The pack is cut, but the rotating sequence is not disturbed. This is easy to comprehend if you view the pack as an endless chain or loop with the top card linked to the bottom. You have broken the chain at a different point, but the order of the links is still intact.) From this point, do the spelling with the pack face down, arriving at the card which matches the selection. With the selection still on bottom, you can reveal it in a number of ways. You may wish to take advantage of the fact that the pack is still in Si Stebbins order and you have two halves of exactly twenty-six cards (assuming a full deck without jokers). Background. Since its origination in 1898, the Si Stebbins setup has become the most popularly used prearrangement among American magicians. With a nod (rather than credit) to Si Stebbins, a version of the setup was published in 1901 in Howard Thurston's Card Tricks as The "Thurston System" of Expert Card Manipulation. However, that version alternated pairs of colors rather than colors. In other words, the sequence consisted of "R-R-BB-R-R-B-B" rather than "R-B-R-B-R-B." The suit order was clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds. This made the face up display of the cards riskier since the colors were paired. The improved version has been published in numerous sources since. (One of the advantages of the popular method with the colors alternating is that you are set to move into tricks using the Gilbreath Principle such as those in the first chapter of Volume One.) Allan's effect is a further development 48

of an unpublished item of his called The Deck Will Tell. Both effects were inspired by Francois Ziegler and Richard Volimer's, Ask The Deck which appeared in the November 1988 issue of Apocalypse. I wonder if I would be borrowing further from that source when I say that this new trick is worth the price of this book. A precursor to both of Allan's effects was Stewart James' Spell of Mystery which he marketed in 1929. It was the first card trick Stewart produced for the world and it is still considered one of his best. Allan Slaight. Allan is well known in Canada and the United States. He is the President and CEO of Standard Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. in Toronto. In magic, most know him from his contributions to Apocalypse, Pallbearer's Review, and The Trapdoor. He is also the co-editor with Howard Lyons of Ibidem of one of my all-time favorite magic books, Stewart James In Print, The First Fifty Years. Finally, he serves as the cohost with Stewart of the Stewart James Gettogether (aka Fechters North) in a suburb of Courtright, Ontario. This is a cozy annual gathering of forty to fifty of the faithful from southern Canada and the north central United States. For those of you who are anxiously awaiting the sequel to the first James book, The James File is already far along in the process. At the 1994 rendition of Bob Weill's Inn Event in Niagara Falls, Canada, Allan dropped three three-inch thick notebooks in my lap which were packed with the draft form of the book as it stands now. (Fortunately, Dawn and I have since decided that three kids are plenty for us.) Currently the count is well over five hundred tricks with 95% of them unpublished. Rumor had it that I disappeared into my hotel room for the rest of the evening. Rumors are seldom true. I spent the entire afternoon, evening, and most of the night pouring over the pages. When the book finally hits print in a couple of years, take your crane with you to the magic store and purchase at least one copy. Your biceps will swell with appreciation.

IMPOSSIBLE REVELATIONS

SIGH STEBBINS

Scott Robinson flips the card he's holding face up onto the top of the pack as he delivers the punch line. "I didn't think so." This is a very funny moment. Although he raised everyone else's hopes, he apparently knew all along that the spectators didn't have a chance. "This magic thing isn't as easy as it looks, is it?" When the laughter subsides, the magician addresses the audience again. "Burl didn't ask the three volunteers to find your card. I asked them to tell us the location of your card." Pointing to the face up card on the table which we will assume is a six, "I wonder if that' s what this card does. Let me count down to the sixth card." He deals five cards and holds the next card dramatically. Addressing the lady who chose the card, "What was the card you selected? The ace of spades? That's what I thought." The magician flips the card he's holding face up to reveal the selection. The Work. Despite the freedom the spectators have with their guesses, the magician has everything under control. Regardless of the guesses the threespectators offer, the resulting number of letters spelled will be between twelve and sixteen, exclusive. Further, it doesn't matter whether you spell the suits as singular or plural. There is a small set up. From the top of the pack, there are eleven indifferent cards followed by nine cards arranged from nine to ace in descending order, followed by the rest of the pack. Since the suits of the cards don't matter, this can be set up in well under thirty seconds. You can start with a break underneath the ace in your setup (the twentieth card) or you can breather crimp the ace so that you can cut beneath it. Have a card selected from underneath your nine card stock. Have it replaced beneath the ace and give the pack a quick false

I called Scott and discussed Allan Slaight's Sly Stebbins while Scott was out of town on a business trip. Since he had nothing else to do that week (it was, after all, a business trip) he set about devising a related effect without the full deck setup. This is a good trick in its own right. It may not be as inherently powerful as its inspiration, but it does have a great potential for situational humor. Effect. The magician has a card selected and replaced in the pack. Only the person who selected the card knows its identity. The magician addresses the audience. "You look like a pretty astute audience -- lots of gray matter. I' m going to see if you can locate her selection." Turning to one spectator, "What color do you think her selection is? I'm going to spell your answer." The spectator guesses either red or black. We will assume he guesses red. "Okay. R-E-D." He deals one card to the table for each letter in the spectator's guess. Turning to another spectator, "Okay, we know it's a red card. Do you think it's a heart or a diamond?" Assume the spectator guesses the latter. The magician spells D-I-A-M-O-ND-S, dealing one card for each letter. The magician turns to third spectator. "Okay, so we know it's a red diamond. What value do you think it is?" Assume the spectator guesses a nine. The magician spells N-I-N-E, dealing one card for each letter. He holds onto the last card spelled. This is the decisive moment. The magician turns his attention to the lady who selected the card. "Were they right?" All eyes are on her as the tension has mounted to a fever pitch. This will truly be an incredible location. She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. No." Immediately, all attention reverts to the magician. After a brief pause, the magician 49

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

shuffle. Spell the three guesses as if this is a sure thing. You appear to expect success from their guesses. Your delivery of the line, "I didn't think so" is critical to the situational humor. It should be delivered with a smile, pointing up the futility of what preceded it. Flip the last card face up onto the top of the pack. It will be one of your nine card stock. When you deal that card's value to the table, hold the last card you deal. Ask for the identity of the selection and then dramatically flip the card face up onto the tabled pile.

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Background. As stated earlier, this was inspired by Allan's Sly Stebbins. I dubbed it "Sigh Stebbins" since "Si" is not needed to accomplish the trick. This is actually closer, although still light years apart, to the effect which inspired Allan, Ask the Deck. In method, it owes more to the uncredited Divining Deck from the GravattfHugard Encyclopedia of Card Tricks. If you like this, you should also consult Middle Gauge Spread from this volume, and Lucky Thirteen from Volume One. Each of these three exploit the same principle in a uniquely different way.

CARDS OF COLOR

COLOR BLIND

Steve Beam selves since they know the magician is confidently proceeding directly into an embarrassing predicament. He sorts the last couple of cards slowly as if a little more cautious about his success. " Is anyone else in here getting warm?" After all the cards are "sorted," the magician says, "You may want to applaud now. This is the climax and it doesn't get any better than this." He squares the cards and rips off his blindfold. He sees a red card on top of one pile and a black card on top of the other. This is the way things would appear if he had legitimately sorted the cards into two colors. After some byplay, he triumphantly spreads the two piles on the table. He looks to the audience for a response and doesn't notice the multi-colored piles. When he finally notices, "You mean you let me continue dealing the cards like this and you knew 1 had made a mistake!?! You knew it! I'mhurt. But,l don'tunderstand. I didn'tmean I would separate them by the colors on the faces of the cards. I meant I would separate them by the colors on the backs of the cards. At this, the magician flips the two spreads face down to reveal one spread of red backed cards and one spread of blue backed cards." The Work. There are several ways to accomplish this. Using an old magician's trick, you could tie the blindfold in such a way that you can see the faces of the cards by looking down through the gap created by the side of your nose. Unlike most blindfold tricks, there is no heat on you and the blindfold because you proceed to miss the colors. If you could see the colors, why would you miss them as you deal? To use this ruse, remove all the odd black cards and even red cards from a red-backed deck. Remove all the even black cards and odd red cards from a blue-backed deck. Shuffle them

This is a humorous routine. The magician takes a shuffled deck and explains that after years of practicing card tricks, his fingertips are now so sensitive that he can tell the color of playing cards by the sense of touch alone. He claims that he can separate the cards by color using the sense of touch alone. He removes his glasses and holds the deck face up. He starts dealing the cards into two piles. The red cards are going into one pile and the black cards are in the other. "This one is red... this one is not." After dealing six or so cards, it becomes obvious to the audience that the magician is simply glimpsing the color of the cards as he deals them. "You don't act all that impressed. What's wrong. You think I'm peeking? I can't see a thing. I removed my glasses. I can do the same thing while wearing a blindfold." At this, the magician puts a blindfold around his neck and continues sorting a couple more cards. He notices the uneasiness of the audience. "Oh, you mean you want me to cover my eyes with the blindfold. Well, why didn' t you say so?" He pulls the blindfold up over his eyes. He continues dealing the cards, only now his misses dramatically increase. He is dealing some red cards into the black card pile and some black cards into the red card pile. However, he deals faster and faster, obviously confident in the outcome. During the course of the sorting, he makes several comments: "I'm feeling lucky tonight." "This morning, my horoscope saidl couldn' t miss."

"Whoa! I can just feel the energy flowing from the fingertips." The audience will be snickering to them53

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

together and you are ready to proceed. The six cards on the face should consist of three redbacked red cards and three blue-backed black cards mixed together. This ensures that the cards you deal in the opening when actually sorting the cards by the colors on their faces, will not ruin the sorting based on the colors of the backs. The top two cards at the back of the deck should consist of a red backed red card and a blue backed black card. This ensures that the piles will look as they should (with a red on the red pile and black on the black pile) when the magician removes his blindfold. Introduce the deck as one you had laying around the house. It consists of odd cards and parts of several decks. This explains the ending which reveals two different colors of cards. Riffle shuffle the cards face up as you deliver your opening lines. Be sure not to mix the bottom six cards (on the face) or top two cards (on the back). Start the dealing with the cards face up. Place the red cards on the left and black cards on the right. When they complain, put the blindfold on. As you peek at the cards, place the even red cards and odd black cards in the pile on the left. Place the even black cards and the odd red cards in the pile on the right. Make sure you don't spend unnecessary time doing the deal through. You don't want any excess dead time. When finished, reveal that the backs are segregated. Alternative. While you could use the card punch and sort the cards legitimately by touch, Gary Plants suggested using black line work as described in Darwin Ortiz's Gambling Scams. To prepare, start with two decks with two different colored backs. Remove 26 random red backed cards. From the blue-

backed pack, remove the cards which would bring the red backed pile to a full deck of 52 cards. That is, the 52 card "deck" should not contain any duplicates. On the back of the blue-backed cards, use a razor blade to scour the cards at the index corners. This "work" should be put in along the line which separates the white border from the blue design. It should only be about half an inch long at each of the two corners. You should only scour the surface of the card. Do not allow the razor blade to penetrate the card. Note that there is little heat on the marking of the cards because there would apparently be no benefit to marking them. After all, you have access to the face of the cards and you are missing the colors. If they were marked, wouldn't they be marked correctly and therefore wouldn't the effect be working? Set up as before. This time, the six cards on the face should consist of three red cards with red backs and three black cards with blue backs. The top two cards should consist of a red backed red card and blue backed black card. Hold the cards face up and start dealing. Make sure the top six cards are sorted properly. Then blindfold yourself. From this point forward, if you feel the mark on the back of the corner with your right forefinger, deal the card into the pile on the right (the "black" pile). If you don't feel the scouring, deal the card to the left into the "red" pile. When you get down to the last two cards, make sure the red card goes onto the "red" pile and the black card goes on the "black" pile. After the appropriate byplay, remove your blindfold. Flip the spreads face down showing that you knew what you were doing after all.

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CARDS OF COLOR

CHOOSING SIDES

Steve Beam This self-working color separation effect packs a wallop. While it has essentially the same effect as Paul Curry's wonderful Out Of This World, it is presented differently. Effect. The magician hands the deck out for a thorough shuffle by several spectators. The deck is reassembled. The magician explains that since the spectators have shuffled the pack, it is up to them to "unshuffle" the pack. He spreads the cards either in his hands or on the table. He asks that the spectator slide out approximately 26 cards toward himself. These 26 cards are stripped out and tabled. "You have

him and place them on top of the left hand's cards. Finally, take back the right hand spectator's cards and drop them on top of the pack. Despite the free shuffling, you have reassembled the pack with the red cards on top of the blacks. Spread the cards on the table with a smooth and even spread. Explain that you want the spectator to unshuffle the cards they just

unshuffled the cards, now I will uncut them." The magician cuts the two halves and completes the cuts. Let's see how well you did. When the two halves are spread on the table, the spectators see that they have separated the pack into two halves, one red and one black. The Work. Separate the two halves into red and black piles. Place the face down red cards on top of the face down black cards, holding a slight separation between them with your left little finger. To perform, cut off the top thirteen cards or so (half the cards above the break) and hand them to a spectator on your right. Cut off the remaining cards above the break and hand them to a spectator directly in front of you. Hand the rest of the cards to someone on your left. Ask that all the spectators shuffle their respective packets. When they finish, take back the bottom half from the spectator on your left. As you reach for the middle spectator's packet, use your left little finger to place a bow in the left hand's half of the pack by squeezing the pack against the base of the left thumb. See figure 1. This is done on the offbeat as all your attention is directed to the middle spectator. Take the middle spectator's cards from

shuffled. Ask him to quickly but smoothly slide about 26 cards half way out of the spread. When he has slid out half the cards, scoop up the spread. Strip out the outjogged cards and place them on the table. Because of the bow in the cards, there will be a natural break in both halves of the pack. "You unshuffled the cards, but you didn't uncut them." At this, cut the tabled half at the natural break. Cut the top half of the cards forward and place these 13 or so cards on the mat directly in front of the balance of the packet.You are now going to cut the cards which remain in your left hand. With the right hand, lift the cards above the natural break and deposit them on the forward tabled pile. Use 55

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS,

VOLUME TWO

Leftovers. To avoid too much dead time, you should ensure that the spectator quickly slides cards out from the spread. Too much time sliding the cards out will cause the trick and the audience's attention to lag.

your right hand to pick up the packet remaining in your left hand and deposit it on the rear tabled packet. Immediately turn both tabled halves face up and spread them on the table showing the color separation.

Beam's Law #2 — Dead time in magic can always be eliminated. If it won't go by itself, it can accompany the trick to which it is attached.

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CARDS OF COLOR

MEMORABLE MAGIC Wayne Kyzer Wayne is one of my oldest friends in magic (which means that I have a lot of younger friends who do magic.) One of my favorite magic-related stories involving Wayne was when he first purchased an answering machine to catch all the phone calls from people wanting magic shows. He assumed he was missing thousands of these while he was at work. This was back in 1985, before answering machines were a staple in most homes. When he told me about it, he also warned me not to play any jokes on him. Until he mentioned it, the thought hadn't crossed my mind. However, since he brought it up, I thought he was really wanting some attention. The next week I had a lady who works in my office call him with the following message. "Hello. My name is Ruby Myerson with Croft's Wholesalers. My boss, Mr. Sanderson, has asked me to call you and ask you if you'll be free to perform your little magic show for our annual Christmas party on December 14. I feel so silly talking into your machine. I have $400 in the entertainment budget but I don't have any idea what a magician costs. Please return my call as soon as possible since we want to have everything finalized by this Friday. Thank you. Bye." You will notice, among other things, the degrading, "perform your little magic show." I thought that added a nice touch. More importantly, you will notice the lack of a phone number for him to call. This was to be the humorous part. I could picture him frantically trying to locate the lady, her boss, or her company --- none of which existed. I thought he would rush home for a few nights to check the machine to see if she had called, and then I would let him in on the joke. Little did I know that he would start checking all the phone and city directories for the state of South Carolina.

He had Ann (his wife and Trapdoor proofreader) rushing home at lunch to check the machine as well as using all of her contacts to try to locate the mythical caller. There was only one Myerson in the Columbia directory and they hounded that poor man to death. They badgered him with the fact that he had to be related to the person who made the call. Surely he knew Ruby. He just had to know her. Four hundred dollars was riding on his knowing her. The search took on a state-wide status since Wayne had performed several out of town shows recently and he thought Ruby might have been one of those who asked for his business card. The FBI would have done well to take a lesson from Wayne in how to locate a missing person. Being an Assistant Procurement Director, he went through volumes of suppliers trying to locate Croft's Wholesalers. Keep in mind that I am not an inherently mean person. While practical jokes many times ring with sadism, I had intended this to be a minor "gotcha," the kind Wayne and I exchanged almost daily. Well, to top it all off, Wayne finally told me about it coming home from the Atlanta Harvest of Magic. As he described the torment he endured, I almost had tears in my eyes. Remember that as he sat there pouring his guts out, he did not know that I was the culprit. By the time he finished, even I was ready to kick myself. I confessed... and almost had to walk the rest of the way home. Wayne saw very little of the humor in the situation. Sure, after another hour of chiding me, he finally forgave me. So I learned something. I will never try a stunt like that again. Before pulling another practical joke, I promised to consider the consequences more thoroughly. But, maybe your friends have a better sense of humor. Maybe they would like some attention. What are you wait57

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO ing for? Don't they have an under-utilized answering machine? Wouldn't they appreciate some of your attention? Effect. The magician has a card selected and replaced. In an attempt to locate it, he produces a blank card. He tries again, this time revealing that the only card with an odd colored back is the one that was previously selected. To return everything to normal, he changes its back to match the rest of the deck. The Work. Start with a red/blue doublebacked card on the bottom of a blue-backed pack with the red side up. Place a blank faced card blank side down on the top of the pack. Approaching a spectator, "What's your first name? Roger? Okay, Roger, I'm going to ask you to select a card." Spread the pack for a selection, being careful not to flash the red back on the bottom of the pack. While the spectator is looking at his card, transfer the pack to the right hand in Biddle position. Use the right forefinger to swing or kick the top half of the pack over into the palm-up left hand. Extend your left hand and instruct the spectator to place his card on top of that packet. After he complies, place the right half on top of the left and square the pack. "I guess you have noticed by now that I seem a little distracted today. I've been to the doctor. He says I'm losing my memory and it really has me depressed. Only problem is ... I don't always remember why I'm depressed. Now it has started to affect my ability to perform card tricks. But, since you've been such a great audience today, I'm going to try another one ... just for .... uh ... you! That's right. Justfor you." Addressing the audience, "I will remind you thatRalph here had a free choice of any card in the pack. My job is to ... uh ... find it!" Here you have obviously forgotten the spectator's name and then forgotten what your job was. The last two words are said with glee as you apparently remember just why you are there. "Now, the first thing we need to do is to

have a card selected." Pause for a moment for reflection on the events which have occurred. "Oh, no. We already did that part when George here took a card. Now I'm going to attempt to read George's mind." The magician waves his hand over the volunteer's head. "I think I have it!" Run through the pack anxiously and withdraw the blank-faced card without showing its face. Also, be careful not to flash the doublebacker just two cards to the left of the blank faced card. Immediately before triumphantly revealing the card, exclaim, "My mind just went blank." At this, drop the blank faced card to the table. Square the cards. "I'm sorry. I just hate it when that happens. But, maybe my memory is going, but I still have my magic. I'm going to make your card stand out to me." Riffle the pack and then immediately spread the back between your hands. Spread to the middle, revealing the red backed card in the center. Spread a few cards past the gimmicked card, allowing you to get a left little finger break under the card immediately beneath the gimmick, the selection. With your right hand, table the cards above the gimmick to your right. Now, using the break just obtained, double lift the top two cards, showing the face of the selection. Replace the double on the pack, with the selection showing. This is the first climax --- his card has changed the color of its back. Pause for the audience to appreciate this before proceeding. Take the half you hold in your right hand in Biddle position. Pull the top card, the selection, face up into the palm up left hand as you place the remaining cards on top of the pile on the table. Lift the card up so that the back is visible. Without mentioning the change, Wayne closes with, "Well I do still have my magic, cry.

Background. This is a presentation for a piece of Paul Curry's Color Changing Deck. Wayne has added the patter and the blank card to make it topical.

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CARDS OF COLOR

WELL SHAKEN Steve Beam This trick is meant to be an opening item to a series of card tricks. Unlike most of the tricks in this book, it will not stand on its own. It provides a humorous lead-in to other, stronger effects. Effect. The magician removes a deck of cards from its case. He spreads the cards with the faces toward the audience and out of his view. "As you can see the cards are well mixed." At this point, the audience protests. The cards are in new deck order (arranged in numerical sequence and grouped by suit). Apologetically, the magician says, "The cards have been sitting around for a while and I forgot to read the directions." At this, he turns the card case over exposing a "shake well before opening" decal. After giving the pack a vigorous shake, he spreads the cards out again, this time showing them in random order. Setup. Remove the clubs and hearts from the pack. Arrange them in numerical sequence by suit. From the face of the pack, ace through king of hearts, ace through king of clubs, and the remaining twenty-six cards in random order. Case the deck. Locate a "Shake Well" sticker. I found the one I use on a bottle of Parkay' Margarine (or was it butter?). Place this on the side of the card case you are most likely not to flash while removing the cards. Pocket the case and you are ready to perform. The Work. Remove the cards from the case and hold them up at chest level in your left hand with the faces toward the audience. Spread the cards slowly from your left hand to your right. See figure 1. You will not spread more than the top twenty-six cards. As you spread the cards: "As you can see, these cards are well shuffled. As a matter offact, I stayed up most of last night arranging them in random order, just to save time today." Note that it is natural for

you to spy :ad the cards in this manner so that they can see the faces and you cannot. Someone will object to your statement because they can see the cards are in numerical sequence and grouped by suit. Apologize and mention that you didn't read the instructions on the side of the box. Lower the cards and turn them face up in your left hand. Hold them in your left hand in dealing position as you reach for the card case with your right. Call attention to the "shake well" sticker on the box and then table the box.

Take the deck in the right hand from above and vigorously shake it as if mixing up a condiment. Take the cards back in the left hand and spread them face up from your left hand into your right. By virtue of the fact that you are now spreading the cards from the face, you will display only the twenty-six cards on the face of the pack. See figure 2. Be careful not to go past the middle of the pack. As you 59

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

remember from the setup, the cards on the face of the pack are mixed. To clean everything up before proceeding to your next effect, execute a quick riffle shuffle, "Just to make sure..." Background. This originally appeared in issue #15 of The Trapdoor (1986). It utilized a pass along with a setup. Later, in my lecture notes Magic With No Entertainment Value (1989) I explained the above self-working version. It substitutes a subtlety for the sleight. The same patter line was later used by John Bannon in Shake Well Before Using in Smoke and Mirrors (1991).

60

CARDS OF COLOR

THE HONOR SYSTEM Steve Beam Effect. The magician opens: "Since are all among friends here, I thought you we ' wouldn t mind trusting me a little bit and letting me try doing a card trick based upon trust. Here, I will show you what I mean." The magician spreads the deck face up on the table for the spectator to remove one. "Show it to your friends. Or, show it to my friends --- it won't take as long." The selection is returned to the face up spread. The magician cuts the deck a few times and then spreads the pack on the table again. "My job is to find your card. I think you took this one." He points to the card the spectator selected. Nobody is impressed because the magician saw the card when it was removed from the face up pack. Noticing this lack of enthusiasm, the magician gropes for a response. "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't look at the card you took out?... That I found your card by magic? I should add that this is where the trust I spoke of earlier comes into play." The audience will continue to stonewall. "Well, I could have done the same thing with the cards face down... but that would have been too easy. Uh, yea, that's right. That would have been too easy." The audience continues to stonewall. "I am sensing disbelief here. Either that or blatant hostility." The magician turns the pack face down and spreads through it. He displays the backs of the cards. All of them are blue except for one red backed card. "See, I would have done it with the cards face down but all the cards are blue except for one. And that was the card you freely selected." The odd-backed card is turned face up and it is the selection. Setup. You will need twenty-six random cards from a red-backed pack. Included in this packet, you should have the two red aces. You will need the twenty-six cards which are

not represented among these red-backed cards taken from a blue-backed deck. When combined, you have all 52 playing cards present. Place two like cards, I use the red aces, on top and bottom of the red-backed cards. Now place the red-backed playing cards in the middle of the blue-backed playing cards. In other words, from the top of the pack, the setup will be: thirteen blue cards, twenty-six red cards, thirteen blue cards. Case the deck and you are ready to perform. The Work. Remove the cards from their case, being careful not to expose their backs. Spread them face up on the table. "Think of any card in the pack and remove it. You have a free choice." They can take any card in the pack. Use the border cards, the red aces, to let you know whether the card is red or blue backed. If the card is from the center stack of red cards, scoop up the spread and cut it as close to the middle of the pack as you can. Do not study the edge of the pack to make the cut even. You must do this casually. Immediately spread the pack on the table again. Now, the blue cards are in the center of the spread. If the card they chose was blue backed, it means they chose a card from one of the ends. Leave the cards spread on the table. Do not pick them up and spread them again. "Please place your card back in the center of the pack." As this line is spoken, point to the center of the spread. They will replace their card somewhere among the middle twenty-six cards. There is no reason for them not to. They know you will be able to find their card since you have seen its face. If they insist on placing it near one end, remove their card and replace it in the middle of the spread. "It would be too easy to find near the top or bottom." Scoop up the spread and cut at least 61

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO thirteen cards from the bottom of the face up pack to the top. I try to cut between thirteen and sixteen cards. After the byplay explained above, turn the deck face down. Spread through the cards in groups, being careful not to spread more than the top half. There will be one card with an odd-colored back. Remove this card and flip it face up on top of the face down pack. It will be the selection. Leftovers. Rather than using the red aces to approximate the borders between the red and blue-backed cards, you could use two breather crimps. Crimp the top and bottom cards of the center stack before starting. Perform the trick as above. However, rather than cutting thirteen to sixteen cards from the bottom to the top, you can cut exactly thirteen cards by cutting at the lower crimp. As an alternate presentation, you could convert this to a prediction by placing any redbacked card in an envelope labeled "prediction." Have a card selected from the center of the face up spread, forcing a red-backed card. Assemble the spread and cut it in the middle and respread the pack. The card is inserted among the blue-backed cards. Cut the cards between the different colored backs sending the blue-backed cards to the top (back) of the pack. Turn the pack face

down. Have the prediction opened. The audience will think you have failed since the face of the prediction card doesn't match the face of the selected card. "I'm sorry, but I was predicting

the card would have a red back like the card in the envelope." They will think you are covering an error here. "See, I predicted that you would select the only red backed card in a deck full of blue-backed cards." Spread the pack face down in your hands showing a solitary red card among the top twenty or so blue-backed cards. Be careful not to spread more than twenty-six cards or you will expose the red bank beneath the blue stock. This is a fairly strong brainwave-type of effect with very little setup. Finally, I'll give you a line I use whenever working with a face up deck. After the spectator removes a card and I scoop up, cut, and respread the pack, "I will now attempt to discern your card." This statement carries little weight since the cards were face up and you obviously saw their card. "Well would you When she answers in the affirmative, drop your head so that you are looking at the floor. "Okay, you can replace your card now." This line will either get a laugh or get you shot.

rather I do it face down?"

Four out offive laymen surveyed, preferred watching card tricks to chewing shards of broken glass. (The other one was probably a magician's wife.)

62

CARDS OF COLOR

THE TERMINATOR

Steve Beam She starts dealing again. She may or may not stop dealing again. If she does, the magician says the same line to start her back up again. Everyone realizes that the magician is playing a bigger role in this than he originally stated. She continues dealing until she comes to one card with a large stop sign on it. Obviously she is to stop there. Asking for the name of her freely selected card, the magician asks her to turn the card over. Despite the fact that she had a free choice of any card in the pack, she apparently chose the only one with a stop sign on its back. Effect #2. The magician performs the same routine above except that "Keep Dealing" and "Don't Stop" are written on the backs of all the cards except the one with the large stop sign. The subtle hints are not wasted on the audience members who realize that they have been taken in. The Work. For the first effect, you will need to obtain one-inch stickers with the word "Stop" on them. You will need about twenty of them. These come in rolls and are available at toy shops and school supply stores. Place them on the back of twenty cards which you then sandwich in the middle of the pack. Spread the pack on the table, making a wide spread near the middle. Ask someone to draw a card out using her forefinger as described above. These instructions accomplish two things. First, it ensures her selection will be one of the cards with a decal on the back. Second, drawing the card out with her forefinger prevents her from picking the card up as one normally would when taking a card. This keeps the decal on the back a secret until it is required. Pick up the pack and cut it as close to the middle as possible without appearing to study the action. "Remember your card, I won't look." She realizes that you have already seen

This trick borrows methodology from The Honor System, but the effect is completely different. It offers further humorous opportunities to explore. I will give two variations of it. You can choose the one that fits your personality and performing style the best. Effect #1. The magician spreads the deck face up on the table. "Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we have a special treat. I am pleased to announce that tonight we have with us a guest magician, the Amazing Lola." (He calls the name of a spectator who is present.) "In order to convince everyone that you are not using sleight of hand, please use your index finger to slide one card out of the spread. " The spectator complies. "Please commit your card to memory and push it back into the middle of the pack." The magician scoops up the pack and squares it. "You now have the opportunity to find your own card. That's right. lam not going to give you any help at all. Of course, you are going to have to do it the hard way --- face down." The magician hands the pack to the spectator. "I want you to deal cards slowly to the table, one at a time. Whenever you get the urge, stop dealing. I will be over here minding my own business, unable to help or influence you in any way. Remember to deal slowly." The spectator takes the pack face down and starts dealing. "A little more slowly please. I don' t want you to miss any subconscious urges you have to stop." After dealing a few cards, the spectator stops dealing and looks to the magician for his next instructions. The magician responds with, "Just keep on dealing, until you get the urge to stop." The spectator replies that she has stopped. "That's right, just keep on dealing, until you want to stop." The magician places more emphasis on the "keep on dealing" part of the sentence, until the spectator gets the hint. 63

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

her card so this last line is delivered without being convincing. Spread the pack on the table again. "Please push your card back into the middle of the pack." After she returns the card, square the pack. Cut the bottom thirteen to fifteen cards to the top. (Refer to the previous trick for suggestions on this.) Turn the pack face down. The top half of the pack consists of normal cards with one card with a decal on it, her selection. The bottom half consists of the rest of the decal cards, with perhaps a couple ordinary cards on the bottom. Hand the pack to her with the dealing instructions provided above. She will stop on the decal card. For the second effect, simply replace the ordinary cards in the trick just explained with cards that say, "Don't Stop" and "Keep Dealing" on them. All the cards they come to will tell them to continue dealing until they arrive at the card with the stop sign on it. This card will be the selection. Since you are writing on the cards, I would recommend redbacked cards. Black ink shows up much more clearly on red-backed cards than on bluebacked cards. Alternate Method. If you don't feel comfortable handling a pack which has been so extensively gimmicked, you may prefer this handling. Start by placing a stop sign on the back of one of the jokers. This card should be controlled to the back of the face up pack. Spread the pack face up on the table and ask a spectator to slide a card out. When she does,

scoop up the spread while keeping it face up. Start an overhand (or Hindu) shuffle and ask the spectator to stop you at any time. When the selection is replaced, drop the remaining face up cards (with the joker on the back or bottom) on top of the selection. Turn the pack face down and square it. The selection is directly above the stop sign. Ask the spectator to start dealing as explained above. When she sees the stop sign on top of the cards in her hands, there is only one card in easy reach. That is the card on top of the tabled pile, the selection. This was the card which was dealt immediately before the selection. Ask her to turn this card over. It is her selection. Leftovers. This last method has the least opportunity for the spectator to inflict a mishap upon the procedure. For those of you who don't feel comfortable handling an audience, you may prefer this almost error-free handling. When using the last method, I ask the spectator to think of a card and remove it while I turn away. "Now, hold that thought." Then I turn back to the pack and scoop it up, apparently without looking at anything that would give me a clue. I start the shuffle with my head turned so that I don't see the selection when it is replaced. This adds more of an air of impossibility to the effect. I immediately hand the pack to the spectator to start the deal. I appear to have nothing to do with the effect since they control everything. Try it.

Good taste prevented me from naming this book with my first choice, "The Joy of Decks." Unfortunately, the same good taste didn't prevail when it came to telling you about it.

64

CARDS OF COLOR

DOUBLE BRAINWAVE

Ron Ferris arm of the "+.' Have the spectator note and remember his card. See figure 1. Ask the other spectator to cut half of the pack just cut off toward you. He is cutting the top half of the cards the first spectator cut off toward you so that this third of the pack becomes the lower arm of the "+." Take the card at which he cut (the top card of the middle third) and place it to the right. It becomes the right arm of the "+." It is his card. Have him peek at it and remember it. The current position is show in the illustration. You are now going to reassemble the pack in a random fashion which will resemble the way in which they were cut. Pick up the bottom pile of the "+" (the top third) and place it on the card at the left arm of the "+." Pick up this combined packet and drop it on the cards at the middle of the configuration. This combined packet is placed on top of the card which forms the right arm of the "+." Finally, the combined packet is dropped on top of the cards at the top of the "+." To the audience, you haven't done anything yet. However, the first selection is the only black card in the middle of the red half. The second selection is the only red card in the middle of the black half. You have completed the control just by assembling the pack. Background. If desired, this could be used in lieu of the control used in The Three Stooges. This was originally published in issue #32 of The Trapdoor (1990). Ron Ferris. Ron lives in Las Vegas and generates an enormous amount of card magic. He prefers creating magic to performing it — which delights those who like performing his creations. His style of writing is as original as his magic. The largest compilation of his unique work is his highly recommended Ferris Wheels and Deals (Magic, Inc., 1980).

This is not a routine. It can be appended to any of the red/black separations which involve a selected card. I attach it to an as yet unpublished routine by Jerry Andrus. It is a clean way to have two cards freely selected and returned. At the conclusion of the process, you are left with the selections as the only cards of their color in halves consisting of cards of the other color. In other words, one selection will be the only red card in the black half and the other will be the only black card in the red half. The Work. Start with the pack separated into reds and blacks. For the sake of explanation, assume the red cards are on top. Place the pack in front of two spectators. The spectators are going to cut the pack into a "+" shape on the spectators ' side of the mat. Ask the first spectator to cut about two thirds of the pack toward you. This packet becomes the middle of the "+." Reach over and take the card he cut at (the top card of the bottom third) and place it to the left of the packet just cut off. This card becomes the left

BOTTOM THIRD

CARD BOTTOM THIRD

MIDDLE THIRD

CARD MIDDLE THIRD

TOP THIRD

Figure I

65

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

FOOLED

Steve Beam This effect was one of my first excursions into the world of self-working card magic. I like to think that the method is one of the best I have devised. It is certainly different from most other effects. Even the effect gets away from the standard "pick-a-card." Effect. A deck of cards is spread on the table. "You may push out any two cards you like

hearts, plus nine spades.) To start the trick, spread the cards in a straight row on the spectator's side of the closeup mat. Ask the spectator to push two cards halfway out of the deck. This way when you have two cards "pushed" out of the pack, two things happen. First, because of your wording, they will push the cards out toward you. This is what you want them to do. Second, because of where you spread the cards on the mat, they have no choice but to push them toward the vacant spot on the mat. When they push them forward, usually the cards immediately above or below the chosen cards will jog slightly in toward you forming an "injog." Don't panic if the cards don't injog, read on. Slide both cards out of the spread with your right fingers. As you slide the upper card out with your right forefinger, engage the card immediately above it with your second finger, dragging it along with the card below it for about half an inch. See figure 1. This should not appear to be a calculated action on your part. This should appear to be an accident. (Actually, it shouldn't cross anyone's mind —

--- and the value of one of the cards will tell me the identity of the other." The spectator pushes

two out and the magician turns one face up. Assume it is the nine of spades. " This card tells me that one of the cards you pushed out was the nine of spades." Since the magician is looking

at the nine of spades when he says that, the effect is wasted on everyone. "I sense your lack of enthusiasm with that marvel. But further, this nine of spades tells me that the other card you pushed out is the ace of hearts." The nine is

shoved back into the deck. The magician turns over the tabled card and it is indeed the ace of hearts. "Now let me see what impression I can get from the ace of hearts." The magician holds the ace to his ear and pretends to listen to it. "The ace of hearts tells me that the nine of spades is now fourteen cards down from the top of the deck." Upon counting down to the

fourteenth card, the spectator finds the nine of spades. The Work. The deck is set up in any order that you can easily remember. Any of the memorized deck stacks will work. However, I will use sequential order to illustrate the method. The cards are set up from the top to bottom: ace through king of clubs, followed by the ace through king of hearts, spades, and diamonds. With this set-up, if someone were to name a card, you would immediately be able to tell what position the card is from the top. For example, the nine of spades would be thirtyfive cards from the top (thirteen clubs, thirteen 66

CARDS OF COLOR something about the nine."

Hold the ace to your ear. Calculate silently the location of the ace in your set-up. It is the fourteenth card (thirteen clubs, one heart). "The ace has just told

you haven't done anything yet.) Scoop up the spread, making sure you don't lose track of the jogged card. When you place the deck aside, the card should still be injogged. It's better if the cards aren't neatly squared. This helps to hide the jogged condition. Turn over the lower of the two cards which were selected by the spectator. We will again assume that the nine of spades and the ace of hearts were the two cards selected. Turn the nine of spades so that only you can see the face. Hold the nine as if receiving a psychic impression from it. "Believe it or not, this card

me that the nine is fourteen cards down from the top of the pack." Pick up the pack and deal

thirteen cards face down to the table. Flip the fourteenth card face up. It will be the nine of spades. Alternatives. I injog the upper card of the two selected so that there will not be too much counting at the end of the effect. You could just as easily injog the card above the lower selection with one minor change. Using the ace of hearts/nine of spades example, you would calculate the position of the nine of spades and end up with thirty-five (thirteen clubs, thirteen hearts, and nine spades). However, you must account for the fact that the ace of hearts is not among the other hearts. Therefore, you must subtract one, yielding thirtyfour. The ace of hearts would be replaced thirty-fourth from the top of the pack. Leftovers. Attitude is everything here. You confidently state that you know the identity of the first card immediately prior to finding out the value. Because you apparently know it at an earlier point in time, there is little heat on the glimpse. Background. This started as a problem posed by Don Morris, now of Knoxville, Tennessee. It was originally published in my Magic The Vanishing Art --- Or How To Turn A Trick For Fun & Profit (1979). The present handling reflects several refinements including the simplified creation of the injog, but it is still the same basic trick.

has just told me that one of the cards you selected was the nine of spades." Pause for this pathetic

attempt at magic to sink in. Slowly lower the card so that everyone can see its face. "Okay, you guys are hard to please. The nine also told

me the identity of the other card you selected."

State this confidently, despite the fact that you have no idea regarding the identity of the other card. Use your left hand to lift up the top half of the pack, your left thumb lifting at the injogged card. Slide the nine into the pack at this point, glimpsing the card immediately above it. That is, glimpse the bottom card of the upper packet. This card will be the king of clubs because in our example, since you slid the ace of hearts out from underneath it. Using your set-up, you know to add one tothe king of clubs in your sequence. This simple calculation yields the identity of the tabled card, the ace of hearts. Act as if the trick is over when you flip the ace face up. "Okay, let me see if the ace will tell me

67

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

FOLLOW THE OIL & WATER John Riggs This effect has its heritage in a well known plot, Follow The Leader. As in the children's game, the cards in the rest of the pack follow the actions of two cards, one red and one black, designated as the leader cards. Effect. The deck is cut into two packets. One consists of red cards and the other black. One card is removed from each pack and placed in front of the other, whereupon the colors of the cards in the packets change to match the colors of their new leaders. The two halves are placed together with the leaders and they magically consolidate into one deck with the red cards and black cards mixed. The Work. Although this employs an ordinary deck, it exploits a principle commonly associated with gimmicked cards. To prepare, take the red cards and alternate them with the black cards using a riffle or faro (preferred) shuffle. Do not square the pack just yet. Make the shuffle, alternating the red cards with the black as evenly as possible. If you find you cannot make an even shuffle, you can deal the cards onto the table, upjogging the red cards

and downjogging the black cards. Magicians familiar with the faro shuffle can use it to insure a perfect interlacing of the colors.

Figure 2

Pick up the telescoped pack. Slowly and evenly push the two halves together. Force the halves together until they are 3/16ths of an inch from being square. In actual performance you will use 1/8th of an inch or less but this

68

CARDS OF COLOR

larger measurement will serve for the purpose of learning. I will assume that the face card of the pack is black and the black cards are farthest from you (outjogged). Hold the pack as shown in figure 1 and use your left thumb to split the pack. You want to split the pack so that the upper half has a red card on its face. Cut these cards to the table so that the red cards project to the right and the black cards to the left. Use your left forefinger to bevel the left hand's remaining cards as shown in figure 2. Grasp the hand held packet in your right hand as shown in figure 3 and rotate it face up. Riffle

the packet with your left thumb from face to back as shown in figure 4, showing the audience that the packet consists of all black cards (short card principle). This action is identical to one you might use for a similar purpose with the Svengali deck. Table this packet face down with the black cards jogged to the left and red cards to the right. In the process of tabling it, remove the face card of the packet and place it face up in front of the packet on the table. Pick up the other half with your right hand as indicated in figure 5. Take the packet in your left hand with the thumb on the face and fingers on the back and rotate the packet face up

4, 0

0

Figure 5

69

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

as shown in figure 6. Recognize that in this position, the red cards are outjogged. Show the packet consists entirely of red cards by riffling the packet from the face to the back with the right fingers. Refer to figure 7. Table the packet by turning your left hand palm down, and taking the packet in the right hand from above. As you lower the packet to the table, remove the face card of the packet. Table the single red card face up in front of the packet. Status Report. You have used two distinctly different handlings to show one half to consist of black cards and the other to consist of red cards. Further, you have removed the face Table the packet. Pick up the packet on your right with your left hand and take it into your right hand with the thumb on the face and fingers on the back as shown in figure 8. Turn it face up in the right hand. Riffle the packet from face to back with the left thumb as depictein figure 9, showing all of the cards to be black. Turn this packet face down and drop it on top of the other half. Pick up the two face up cards and flip them face down. Mix them up in your hands. "Watch what happens if Imix the red and black cards." Drop the pair of cards face down on top

of the pack. Snap your fingers and pick up the deck. Turn it face up and ribbon spread it on the table. All the red cards will be intermingled with the black cards. Leftovers. This is an excellent effect to follow a red/black separation effect. Also, you will notice that it leaves you in position for any effect using the Gilbreath principle. (Refer to the section on gambling effects in Volume One). Further, you will notice that I have set up the displays so that all of them are from the face to the back. This prevents the audience from glimpsing the small gap between the red and black cards. This is an example where the ability to

card of each half and placed them in front of their respective halves. Now, by reversing the actions previously used, you can show that the halves have changed color. That is what you are about to do. Switch the positions of the two face up cards explaining that the cards will "follow suit" (literally). Pick up the packet on your left with your right hand and transfer it to your left as previously illustrated in figures 5, 6, and 7. The is the method you just used to show the right hand packet only this time you are showing the left packet consists entirely of red cards. 70

CARDS OF COLOR execute a faro shuffle between tricks when there is very little heat on your hands allows you to take a trick that would not normally be practical and convert it to an impressive illusion which sets in seconds. This is an interesting concept. The actual performance does not require sleight-of-hand, only the setup does.

Those of you who fear the cards will not stay in their minutely telescoped condition with all the handling have only to give it a try once to see just how practical the effect is. You can bevel the cards back and forth at will with no effect on their relative positions.

Performing card magic became a lot less stressful when I started thinking of the pass as aflourish rather than a secret maneuver.

71

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

FRIENDS Aldo Colombini Aldo has recently moved to the United States from Italy. I have corresponded with him off and on for more than ten years. I finally met him at the Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic (4F) convention in Buffalo a few years ago. In 1991 he won the award as the person who contributed the most to this prestigious annual event. He has published several books, most recently The Close-Up Magic of Aldo Colombini. The following effect should fool and entertain magicians and laymen. Effect. Two cards are selected from a packet of twenty cards under test conditions. The participants seem to control everything, including the mixing of individual cards within the packet being used. Despite this, the magician is able to separate the packet into two halves, red and black. There are two cards which don't belong in their respective halves. They are the selections. The Work. Take the borrowed/shuffled pack from the spectator. "Choose any number

grouped together which go into your right hand. After tabling a red/black pair, the next card on the face of the left-hand packet might be black. Rather than bypassing it, consider pairing it with the red card on the back of the righthand packet. Do this by replacing the backmost card of the right-hand packet on the face of the left-hand packet and tabling the red/black pair as you have done with the others. Now that you have twenty cards which alternate in color, you can do a quick false shuffle. The haymow or Charlier shuffle cuts the packet although it appears to be a thorough shuffle. Also, you can use single card runs in an overhand shuffle as long as the total number of cards run is odd. To perform, hold the packet in your right hand in position for an overhand shuffle. Run three, five, or seven cards singly into the left hand. Complete the shuffle by tossing the remaining right-hand cards on top of the left. Table the packet. Ask a spectator to cut the packet and complete the cut. Instruct spectator #1 on your left to take the top card. Spectator #2 on your right is to pick up the second card. Both are told to remember their cards. Now ask spectator #1 to replace his card and then spectator #2. You have switched the order of the two selections. Instruct one of the spectators to cut the packet and complete the cut. You are going to perform a reverse faro. That is, hold the packet in your left hand. Take the top card in your right palm-up hand. Take the second card underneath the first, outjogged for half its length. Take the third card under the second, square with the original top card. See figure 1. Continue outjogging and injogging all the way through the packet. When finished, there will be ten cards outjogged. Strip these

between, oh say, nineteen and twenty-one cards." They, of course, choose twenty. "Okay, then, we will use twenty cards." Thumb through

it with the faces toward you and away from the spectators, looking for the first red/black pair. That is, you are looking for the first pair that has a red card followed by a black card. Sequence matters at this point. Split the pack to the right of the pair. Thumb the red/black pair face down to the table. Continue the spreading until you come to the next red/black pair. Split the pack to the right of this pair and thumb them to the table, face down on top of the first pair. Table the next pair and the next. Repeat this process until you have tabled ten pairs, a total of twenty cards. The cards will be in red/black/ red/black order from the face of the packet. Note that during this process of setting up cards, you may pass by several red cards 72

CARDS OF COLOR

Take the next card and ask, " Top or bottom?" If he chooses the top, deal the card jogged to the right on top of the tabled card. If he chooses the bottom, slide the card underneath the tabled card, jogged to the left. Repeat this choice with the next card, and then the next. Count the cards mentally as you do, until you get to the eleventh card. At this point, you have dealt ten cards in the "U" shape shown in figure 2. Remember where you place the eleventh card. If he chooses top, place it on the top right of the tabled cards. This will be the rightmost card since you are ultimately going to form the "U" into a circle. If he chooses bottom, the eleventh card will be-

cards out as a unit with your left hand. "Top or bottom?" Allow a spectator to choose whether the cards in the left hand go on top or bottom of those in the right. Square the packet. You have divided the packet into a red bank with one black card and a black bank with one red card. The odd cards are the two selections. You are now going to offer the spectator a series of choices designed to make it look like he can order the cards as he wishes. Aldo credits this idea to Ron Ferris. Hold the packet in the left hand in dealing position. Deal the top card to the table.

come the leftmost card of the circle you are about to form. Continue giving the top or bottom choice with the remaining cards. At the conclusion, you will have twenty cards in a circle on the table. See figure 3. The cards are apparently in random order. Break the circle at the eleventh card and scoop up the circle with the eleventh card. This card becomes the bottom card of the packet as you square it. Now thumb the top ten cards of the packet into the right hand. Drop the two packets face up to the table. Spread them slowly showing that the spectator has split the 73

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

cards into two packets, one red and one black. Remove the odd colored selection from each spread and take your applause. Leftovers. This routine is more effective if you quickly move from choice to choice as if they control everything from start to finish. It should not appear hurried, more like casually frantic. I find that if I am moving too quickly to count and remember where the eleventh card goes in forming the circle. So I pick up a break between the two halves when I complete the reverse faro. This places my left little finger above the eleventh card in the packet. I don't have to count the cards. I simply note and remember where the card beneath the break goes. It becomes the leftmost or rightmost card

in the circle. Aldo Colombini. Aldo has recently moved to the United States from Italy. I have corresponded with him off and on for more than ten years. I finally met him at Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic ("4F") convention in Buffalo, a few years ago. In 1991, he won the award as the person who contributed the most to this prestigious annual event. He has published several books, most recently Impact! and The Close-Up Magic of Aldo Colombini. He has been published everywhere, including Apocalypse, Genii, Magic Manuscript, Magigram, M.U.M., New Tops, Pabular, and The Trapdoor. He makes his living doing magic and has been a very active contributor to scores of recent conventions.

74

CARDS OF COLOR

COLOR CHANGING CARD CASE

Steve Beam This effect is a great opener when doing card tricks. It allows you to have magic happening before you even remove the cards from the case. While it is not impromptu, it can be prepared in about two minutes and is set for an eternity. Effect. The magician tells the audience that he wants to show them a card trick. He pulls out a blue card case and starts to open it to remove the cards. "I was going to show you some `blue' card tricks, butl see there are some children in the audience... so l' 11 show you some ` red card tricks instead." He points to the blue card case as he says the above. When he finishes talking, he tosses the case up into the air where it instantly changes to a red case. An alternate presentation would be for the magician to remove a red-backed case and hold it over a red-backed close-up mat. "I didn't realize that the backs of the cards matched the color of the mat so closely. That's a problem. Every time I hold the red cards in front of the red mat, the cards will seem to disappear. I think I have a solution." Preparation. The impact of this effect

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Figure 2

is matched by the ease of performance. It is simple to set up and simple to perform. Start by obtaining a red and blue card case which are both of the same size (poker versus bridge). You are going to cut off a portion of (for example) the blue case and glue it onto the red case. Take the blue case and either cut or tear the section shown in figure 2. Figure 1 is the blue case. Figure 2 is the piece you remove

-------■A—E=W--.

—rE--/-II MI IM•l WWI =11 MI I ■1111 =I I= a. I= NE EN 1■111 II I= 111■ NE I= - - - - - - - - - - - - - WI .......... I I N N W. -------.---O===. U----=—•• . ...~--E--I --W EI--111 ■111 EEO 1111•1 WI WWII. I= 1 INS OW 1•11 =I =I We I= OW .11 =I =I ■..--UW..—NW . —/ — WWI N== ■—fit----I WE WE WIN •1E OW =VIE 1.1 II WE •1■1 =I 1111I

--------

Figure I

Figure 3

75

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

You will notice that your thumb and fingers cover the red edges on top and bottom. The base of your hand covers the red half of the face of the case. The only edge you have to be careful about is the one on top of the flap of the card case. As long as there is no one to your left, you won't have any angles to worry about. Remember to be casual at this point. Since you haven't yet removed the cards from the case, the spectators will not be watching very closely. Just remember to aim the false blue face of the case toward the spectators' line of vision. To execute the change, lower the hand in preparation for tossing the case into the air. As from the blue case. Figure 3 is the red case and figure 4 is the finished card case gimmick. Use rubber cement when assembling to keep the card case from warping and use it sparingly. Apply to both surfaces you plan to glue. Allow the cement to dry before attaching the surfaces. The Work. Start with the case in your right coat pocket with the gimmick facing outward and the opening toward the front. Your right side should be turned slightly toward the audience. Reach into the pocket and take the case as shown in figure 5. This is the spectator's view. (To get the performer's view, turn the illustration upside down.)

000 . u,unil

~Ilumm ndll

li

t

you do, position the case so that you are holding it on the same plane as the floor. The right hand completely blocks the spectators' view of the case. See figure 6. Now, as you start your upward motion with the deck, pivot it outward so that the ungimmicked side is facing the audience. Toss the deck in boomerang style, straight up about two to three feet in the air. The spectators will see an instant change from blue to red. Have your left hand ready to catch the falling object. As soon as you catch the case (and don't forget to catch the case) you should position it in the left hand as shown in figure 7. 76

CARDS OF COLOR You are now going to show both sides of the case. Do not emphasize what you are doing. You are apparently just displaying a newly changed case on all sides. Bring your right hand over to grasp the deck, fingers over the gimmick and thumb on the opposite side. See figure 8. Let go with the left hand as your right hand pivots the gimicked side toward the audience. They obviously can't see the false face because your fingers are covering it. Do not pause here at all! Any pause will destroy the whole trick. Immediately retake the deck with the left hand with the fingers at the back and the thumb at the front and continue rotating the case so that the normal side is again case and instead of gluing it, slide it into position under the cellophane which surrounds the other card case. Background. My inspiration for this effect came from Paul Sorrentino of Blacksburg, Virginia. Paul performed his original (and totally different) color changing card case at the 1982 Winter Carnival of Magic in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Paul's was later published in Apocalypse. I came up with this version while I watched Paul perform — I thought this was the method he was using. That evening we compared versions and discovered that only the effect was similar. (I was able to toward the audience. See figure 9. Your right hand now approaches the case to open and remove the cards. Be sure to place the case out of the reach of the spectators, preferably back in your coat pocket. I always have an extra red case in my pocket so I can switch cases. When I am finished doing card tricks, I remove the ungimmicked case and place the cards inside. I do not call attention to this. The subliminal message is that the case is ordinary. Leftovers. You can construct your gimmick impromptu if you have two cases of differing colors. Tear your gimmick from one

Figure 9

77

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO add a delay to his so that it changed after it was tossed into the air. I taught this version in my lecture from 1982 until it was published in issue #9 of The Trapdoor in 1984. One of the nicest color changing card

cases I have witnessed is the one featured by Michael Powers in his 1992 lecture at Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic, a convention held annually in Buffalo, New York. You may also wish to consult volume two of Marlo's Magazine for another version.

Occasionally, dead time in a trick can be routined into the highlight or feature of a trick.

78

FUTURE FORETOLD

TIMELESS

Jack Birnman to ask you to stop me as I deal these cards, whenever you feel the urge to do so." Time the above sentence so that you can deal at least twelve cards to the table. Also, you want to side jog the twelfth card to the right. Continue dealing until she stops you. When she stops the deal, offer her the option to continue. "Did you feel something telling you to stop here? Eerie, isn't it? If you stop at the wrong spot, the spirits won't cooperate --- please be certain." When she is sure, deal the next three cards face up on the table. These cards, you explain, will forecast her fortune. You are looking for some imaginary bridge between these face up cards and the card you glimpsed earlier. Start "reading" the cards, linking the information to the spectator. "Let's see what the cards tell us about you. The accomplishment of big things is within easy reach for you if you will be satisfied with none but the very best results. You cannot be discouraged easily. Your nature is extremely sympathetic and affectionate and the troubles of your friends become your own troubles." Or, "You appear to possess considerable psychic ability --- and should, once you overcome any negative thoughts and mental confusion, be able to help others with this great gift. Your impressions and premonitions are nearly always correct, but you do not follow them. Therein lie some of your difficulties. You should always heed these impressions and warnings as they can make your path through life much brighter, happier, and more successful. Study the three cards that are face up. Use whatever verbal gymnastics you can muster to link these three cards with the glimpsed card. If you can't link them with some combination of addition, subtraction, or just plain deduction, deal another three. You can eliminate the cards you don't need once you

While Jack has a lot of original material, very little of it has seen print. This is because he has been working on his own book for an eternity. Most of his material is based upon What follows is a semioriginal sleights. automatic effect by Jack. Effect. Six cards from a shuffled deck are used to forecast someone's fortune. In turn, they predict the name of a card. The Work. Retrieve a shuffled pack from a spectator. "Would you like to have your fortune told? You know, cards have been used to tell fortunes for centuries. Have you shuffled the deck thoroughly? Then no one can know the location of any card, right? Good. Take these cards ... here's a few more." Thumb off three groups of three cards and hand the nine cards to the spectator. As an afterthought, thumb off three more, bringing her total to twelve. As you hand the cards to her, glimpse the bottom card of the deck you are holding. Nothing fancy is necessary. Simply twist your left hand slightly to bring the card into your line of vision for a fraction of a second. Remember this card, it's the one you will predict shortly. "Pleasegive your cards a shuffle." As if demonstrating, overhand shuffle your packet, bringing the sighted card to the top. Square and table the deck. Turn your back to the spectator. Instruct her to cut off a few cards from her packet and pocket or otherwise hide them. She doesn't need to know the number of cards she pockets, but don't call her attention to this. Have her replace her remaining cards on top of the deck and square everything. Turn around, pick up the pack and false shuffle it, being careful to retain the top twelve card stock. Start dealing cards into a tabled pile in a haphazard fashion. "We need some cards which will help us with our forecast. But they must be arbitrarily chosen by you. So, I' m going 81

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO decide which ones you do need. Simply pass your hands over all the cards in a mysterious manner, pushing away those which don't contribute to the desired scenario. Declare that for her fortune to come true, another condition must prevail. Read the remaining cards to arrive at the predicted card. Call this card and ask the spectator to remember it. Now ask her to remove the previously secreted cards and count them. Hand her the deck and ask her to count down and turn up the card at that number. She does so to find the predicted card. Background. This is a reworking of the clock theme. From a technical viewpoint, it avoids counting and dealing the cards into a fixed packet, a desirable improvement. At the beginning, you can have a dozen cards set off by a crimp, but Jack prefers to start with a shuffled pack. The readings were culled from the writings of David Strong and Robert Nelson. Leftovers. I don't fare well with serious patter. It's not that I don't like it. It's that people laugh when I try to deliver serious readings. When I perform a trick such as this, I mix "legitimate readings" (now there's an oxymoron) with humor. "I'm new at this reading stuff." Pause for this to sink in. "Not only that, but I seem to be having trouble reading these cards." Study the cards in a serious manner. "This combination says that you will marry a rich man and live in a mansion on a golf course..." Pause for this reading to sink in. "...Or, that you will become a caddie working 80 hours a week for tips." "These two cards say that if the moon is in the proper position, you will make a killing in the stock market." She'll probably say something about how pleased she is with this. "Oh, that's a four of diamonds! I thought it was a four of hearts. That means that... you're going to moon yourstockbrokerfor the beating you are about to take in the market. Isn' t it amazing what

just a slight change makes?" The ability to entertain using this type of misreading is dependent upon your ability to sound convincing with your initial translation. The follow-up then packs more wallop. Jack Birnman. Jack is among the eminent researchers of the century in two fields: cryptomnesia and hypotenuses. As an expert in the former field, he developed experimental designs and contributed profound theoretical ideas on measuring the information in data, condensing it without loss of information, and estimating unkown parameters in a model. Birnman held strong views on the philosophy of hypotenutial inference which he expressed frequently and pugnaciously. Hypotenusians remain deeply divided in their approach to his inferences, though all admire Birnman's technical work. His magic reflects some of this thinking, with the result that his work exhibits some of the screwiest creations in magic. Jack Birnman. Take Two. Jack is an incredibly young seventy-four. He retired as a sales manager for a glass company where he used magic to make and foster relationships with clients. He is also a noted checker player and composer of problems. In 1975, he represented the United States in a World Championship Stroke Composition Tournament and tied for first place with a British composer. He has attained the title of National Master in the game of "International Checkers," which is played on a 100-square board with twenty men on each side. While he does not perform magic professionally, he has created many of his own sleights and effects. A favorite ploy of his is to use one move to accomplish a secondary operation for a later application. He is a firm believer in originality and deplores contemporary tricks of hoary origin which contain no new ideas. A book of his work will be published soon.

82

FUTURE FORETOLD

GAFFUS MAXIMUS

Steven Youell six cards which match the cards you just discarded. Place these twenty-six cards in the redbacked twenty-six, alternating red and blue backs. You can now riffle shuffle this deck and you will show only red backs. Further, a riffle shuffle will mix the cards but will keep the pairs intact. This is because they will riffle off your thumbs in pairs. When ready to perform, remove the bottom card of the pack. This will be a blue-backed card since whenever you cut the cards, you will cut above the short cards. (Also, all riffle shuffles send the blue cards to the bottom.) Discard this bottom card which we will assume is the queen of spades. Case and pocket the gimmicked pack. Perform a few tricks with an ordinary blue-backed pack with a back design matching the one used for the blue cards in the gimmicked pack. When ready to perform this effect, scan through the pack with the faces toward you and table the queen of spades face down. Discard the rest of the blue-backed cards. Remove the gimmicked pack from its pack. Give it a riffle shuffle or two, showing the red backs in the process. Be sure retain the top card during the shuffles because this is the short card that has to be paired with the long card you just removed from the blue-backed pack. Pick up the queen and place it on top of the gimmicked pack. Cut the pack, being sure to lift up on the short ends so that you won't prematurely expose a blue back. You now have a complete pack of fifty-two cards. Hold the pack between the left thumb and first two fingers as shown in figure 1. Hold the pack so that the faces are toward the audience. Notice how the pack is beveled diagonally upward and to the right. This is important for the selection process which has been designed to further thwart those familiar with

Steven makes his living doing magic. In the following effect, he gives you something that will make a killing. Effect. After a series of card tricks, the magician says that he wants to try something different. "I'm going to try to control your !thoughts. I'm going to make you think of one out offifty-two cards. So we can be sure that I have been successful, this is the card I am going to make you think of." He removes a card and tables it face down. Assuming he has been using a blue-backed pack, now he removes a ed-backed pack from its case. He places the lue-backed card into the red-backed pack and huffles it thoroughly. "Now it' s your turn. I am oing to show you the cards really quickly. I just ant you to think of any card you see. But you ust see it clearly. I want a clear picture of the and in your mind." The spectator looks at the faces of the ards and selects one. The magician spreads the ack face up on the table. "What was the name f the card you selected? The queen of spades?" e magician locates the queen of spades and fides it out of the spread. It turns out to be the lue-backed card placed in the pack a few oments earlier. The Work. There is a some preparation ecessary. If you don't have a magic shop earby, you may wish to purchase the required mmicks from Haines House Of Cards in incinnati, Ohio. You will need a short deck. at is, a deck of cards where the ends of the ards have been trimmed slightly, making the ards slightly shorter than regular cards. Actuy, you can make two decks with each pack of hort cards. Assuming you have red-backed short ack, mix the cards thoroughly. Deal 26 into a ile, discarding the remainder. Now, from an rdinary blue-backed pack, remove the twenty83

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

backed cards are visible to him. Once he has thought of a card, square the pack and give it a quick riffle shuffle. Ask for the name of the card he selected as you spread the pack face up on the table. Remove the card he names and turn it face down. It is blue backed. Casually gather the remaining tabled cards and dribble them face down from your right hand into your left. This flashes the red backs once again, confirming the miracle. Steven Youell. Steven is a trade-show magician who spends his time doing three things. One, doing card tricks. Two, trying to convince people they should pay him to do card tricks. And, three, digging a hole large enough so that some day he can become known as an underground legend. He is 33 years old and has spent the last twenty years doing magic. On Saturday afternoons he can be found at Gerry Griffin's California Magic and Novelty in Pleasant Hill, California. He can also be faxed there, something which facilitated the proofing of Steve's tricks by the creator. (And now that I have thrown in a gratuitous plug for Gerry, I'm sure you'll be able to purchase both volumes at the above location.) Steve's claim to fame is that he has never, ever(!) performed the 21 card trick' and claims he doesn't know how it works. Steve has been published in several issues of The Trapdoor. Commercial manufacturing rights to Gaffus Maximus are reserved by the originator.

Svengali packs. Using your right forefinger at the upper right corner, pull back on the pack. Allow cards to riffle off your forefmger for a selection. While you are mimicking the action of a standard peek where you would run your forefinger along the side of the pack, actually, you are allowing pairs to drop from the top of the pack. The sideways bevel makes it appear as though the cards are being released in the normal manner. The upward bevel makes this possible. Allow the cards to riffle off the right forefinger as you instruct a spectator to think of one of the cards he sees. The reason you ask for a clear mental picture is that you want to ensure he doesn't think of a card not visible to him. Because of the trimmed ends, only the blue-

84

FUTURE FORETOLD

WHEEL AND DEAL

Steve Pressley their card at the 27th position. This is a lot of effect from a borrowed, shuffled pack. The Work. Take a shuffled deck containing 52 cards and start spreading them from the face. When you hit the first nine from the face, start counting. The nine is the count of one. You will count to 21. If you arrive at another nine during the count, you will place it face down on the table without counting it as part of the 21. As soon as you reach 21 cards, place these cards face down on the table to the right. Continue spreading through the remaining cards to remove any remaining nines. When finished spreading, turn these cards face down. Pick up the tabled packet and place it on top of the packet in your hand. You now have three nines face down on the table in a row. The other nine is the 21st card from the top of the pack. Table the pack and ask a spectator to cut off a small number of cards --- less than Ask him to count his cards but to keep the number secret. While he does, you will count off the top twenty of the remaining cards by fives. Do not reverse the order. Also,, do not act as though the number of cards you count is important. Execute a reverse spread (right to left) with these twenty cards on the table. Starting from his left (the bottom of the tabled spread) the spectator is to count over to his secret number. In other words, if he had eleven cards, he should count over to the eleventh card in the spread. It will be the nine you originally stacked. As soon as he notes the card, ask him to square the spread and replace those cards on the deck. Pick up the pack, face down in the left hand in dealing position. Take the top two cards in the right hand and gesture toward his packet. Ask him to replace the cards on top as you casually transfer the two cards to the bot

This is a great item with a borrowed and huffled pack. The magician does almost nothng for the trick to work. It is truly automatic and that leaves you free to concentrate on an entertaining presentation. Effect and Presentation. "I'm going to make a prediction. In fact, I'm really going to stick my neck out. I'm going to make three predictions. " The magician runs through a shuffled pack and removes three predictions Which are placed face down in a row. The spectator cuts off a secret number of cards. The ~~ . gician cuts off another group and spreads m face down on the table. The spectator is ked to secretly count his cards. He is then to ount over in the spread to that number and k at the card at that location. The deck is en reassembled without any false moves. The magician now turns over the first rediction card. Let's assume it is the nine of earts. "Ipredicted your card would not be the... me of hearts." He turns over the second rediction which we will assume is the nine of pades. "Ipredicted that your card would not be nine of spades. " The magician turns over e third prediction. It is the nine of clubs. "I redicted your card would not be the nine of " lubs. " The magician pauses for a moment. Is yone else noticing a pattern here? Let me take 1 wild guess..." Again he pauses for the humor `•. set in. "Was your card a nine? Yes? Let me ther step out on a limb by saying your card was diamond. You chose the nine of diamonds. " "But I still haven' t found your card. I predicted what it would be. There is no way my could have known how many cards you would e cut off to arrive at your secret number. But, p elieve it or not, I predicted the location of your and as well as its identity. If we add the three rediction cards together, they total 27. Count wn to the 27th card." When they do, they find

L

85

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Background. The 21 card force is used almost exactly as explained in Frank Garcia ' s Million Dollar Card Secrets. However, rather than dealing the twenty cards at the beginning, a reverse spread saves time and has been substituted. (If you have problems using a spread, you can count them if desired.) You should also consult The 29th Card from Harry Lorayne's Afterthoughts. While it has a similar concept, it is much more involved and not self-working. In Steve's version, you are left with a four of a kind and proof that you predicted their card (the other three matches). Both versions feature a count down at the end and use a similar method of forcing the card. Steve Pressley. Steve was a very good friend of mine who lived with his wife Jill and two sons in Cary, North Carolina until his death at age 43 on April 5th, 1992. After I moved to Raleigh, we met once a month over at his house and worked on card problems until ridiculous hours of the morning. His passion for the pasteboards made him a pleasure to spend time with. His reputation for top-quality card magic was just beginning to heat up. He had just finished a one-man insert in The Trapdoor and had published his first book on semi-automatic card magic, Endless Possibilities. I strongly recommend that you beg, borrow, or steal a copy of this 75 page book. It features material which is within the grasp of most magicians and all audiences.

torn of the pack. Turn the deck face up and place it over to the side. The trick is now set up for the revelation. You have three nines face down on the table which match his card, the fourth nine. If you add the values of the three nines, they total 27. If you will count down to the 27th card from the face, you will find the fourth nine. Leftovers. If you start with a deck of 50 cards instead of 52, you don't have to transfer two cards from the top to the bottom of the pack. When I discovered this, I used it to fool a fellow card magician. I borrowed his deck and removed the two jokers. I then asked him to shuffle the pack. When he finished, I proceeded with the trick. When I-completed the trick, he took the pack confident that he could reconstruct it. He couldn't get the card to come out at the 27th position for the final climax. This is because I didn't transfer the two cards from the top to the bottom during the trick. Instead, when I told him I was removing the two jokers, I was actually removing two regular cards. His pack didn't contain the jokers. I have since started performing the trick this way whenever possible for magicians. Note that you can use sevens for the trick without the two card transfer. In this case, you would count from the top of the face down pack at the end and the fourth seven will be the twenty-first card. Steve felt this would be a hint to the method of the 21 card force. Finally, by altering the number of cards transferred, you can use eights, nines or tens.

86

FUTURE FORETOLD

DOUBLE HIT

Steve Pressley the audience you are looking for two predictions. Spread through the pack quickly. When you reach the back of the spread, remember the two last cards in the spread. Assume the top card of the pack is the king of spades and the second card is the three of hearts. When you get to the back of the spread, the three of hearts will be on your right and the king of spades on your left (spreading from the left hand to the right). Remember red three and black king. By remembering them in this order, you won't have any trouble matching the prediction to the correct spectator. Pretend that you have missed finding the predictions the first time through the pack. Start at the face of the pack again, spread through to locate the other cards which match the same criteria (red three, black king.) When you come to them, remove them from the pack. Place the three of diamonds in front of the spectator on your right and the king of clubs in front of the spectator on your left. (This is the same order their mates were when you spread through the deck the first time.) The Secret Numbers. Close the spread and hand it to the spectator, the one on your right. Ask him to think of a number between five and fifteen, so as not to take too long, and remember that number. Turn your back. Ask him to deal that secret number of cards onto the table as silently as possible. Instruct him to hand the remainder of the pack to the second spectator who has a prediction in front of him. Ask the second spectator to think of a secret number between five and fifteen and deal that number of cards onto the table. Finally, ask the first spectator to place his packet of cards on top of the packet in front of the second spectator. Since the two cards you have predicted (top two cards of the deck) are now on the bottom of the pile dealt by the first

This is a semi-automatic, borrowed and shuffled deck, behind the back, double prediction, mental selection effect. The spectators do all the work for you. This is an added bonus until they get around to unionizing. Effect. A spectator shuffles his pack and hands it to the magician who removes two predictions. One is placed in front of each of two spectators. The order of the cards is not changed at all from the shuffle. The magician turns his back as he returns the deck to one of the spectators. He asks the spectator with the deck to think of a secret number, between five and fifteen. He is to deal that number of cards to the table. He is then to hand the deck to the other spectator who has a prediction in front of him. The second spectator is instructed to think of a secret number between five and fifteen. Like the first spectator, he is to deal that number of cards to the table. The balance of the deck is discarded as the fast spectator places his cards on top of the second spectator's cards. The magician turns to face the audience. He takes the assembled pile and explains that since the piles are combined, there is no way he can know what the two secret numbers are. One at a time, he deals the cards to the table and asks the first spectator to remember the card which falls at his number. This is repeated with the second spectator. The packet is shuffled and handed to the spectators to remove their cards. Each is directed to place his selection on the tabled prediction in front of him. After suitable buildup, the predictions are turned over. Despite the fact that they had secret numbers which led to secret mental selections, the predictions match the selections in both color and value. The Predictions. Offer the deck to be shuffled. Take it back from the spectator and spread the cards with the faces toward you. Tell 87

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO spectator, they will be sent to the middle of the combined packet. You may now turn around and take possession of the combined packet. Turn the packet face up and spread it on the table from your left to your right. A cloth performing surface will facilitate an even spread. Pick up the top card of the spread, the right most face up card, with your right hand. Transfer it to your left and use it to point to the other cards in the spread. When I made my prediction, I had no idea how many cards would be on the table since you hadn't even thought of your secret numbers then. This is misdirection to cover what you are about to do. Slide the face up card in your left hand under the left most end of the spread. Use this card to scoop up the rest of the spread. With this natural action, you have transferred one card from the face of the packet to the back of the packet. Without this transfer, the trick will not work. The Selections. Flip the packet face down. Turn to the first spectator, the one on your right. Tell him to think of the card which falls at his secret number. If he is thinking of the number five, he is to remember the fifth card. He is not to give you any clue when he has thought of and remembered a card. One by one, hold cards up for him to see and then place them in a pile on the table. In addition to showing all the cards to him, this also reverses the order of the cards in the packet. When you run out of cards, pick up the

packet and turn to the second spectator, the one on your left. Repeat the dealing procedure, asking him to remember the card which falls at his secret number. When finished, I pick up the packet and shuffle it as I remind them that they shuffled the deck at the start. I hand the packet to each spectator in turn with the request that they each remove their selection and place it on the prediction in front of them. You chose the three of diamonds. Which card in the deck looks the most like the three of diamonds? The three of hearts. And you chose the king of clubs. Which card in the pack looks the most like the king of clubs? The king of spades. Turn over the predictions to reveal the match. The Why. In essence, you have used an old principle to force the mates to the two predictions. When you combine the two packets and the single card moves from the face of the packet to the back, the cards are setup. The first spectator's force card is his secret number from the top (back) of the packet. The second spectator's force card is his secret number from the bottom (face) of the packet. While forcing the first spectator to select the card which falls at his number from the top, you reversed the order of the cards so that now the second spectator's force card is his secret number from the top also. (And, at the conclusion of the deal, the first spectator's card is his secret number from the face.) Background. This was originally published in issue #43 of The Trapdoor.

88

FUTURE FORETOLD

CHANCE BY CHOICE

Scott Robinson Pick up the pack with your right hand from above with the fingers on the far short end and the thumb on the near short end. The next two actions occur simultaneously. Turn your right hand clockwise at the wrist rotating your right palm as to the left. Turn your left hand counterclockwise at the wrist rotating your left palm to the left. See figure 1. You are in a position to take the pack in the left hand in dealing position and then return both hands to the starting position. This effectively turns the pack around under the pretext of squaring it. Hand the pack to a person in front of you with the same instructions. When he returns the pack, mentally gauge whether he is now in your bank of thirteen cards arranged in sequence. If he is, give the pack a quick overhand shuffle, shuffling the top card to the bottom. Execute an all-around square-up turning the deck over end for end. As you do, flash the bottom card to the spectator on your left. This tells him the number to choose for himself. If the first two spectators haven't yet meandered into your bank of sequenced cards, give the pack to someone else after a quick false shuffle and square-up. Have him repeat the actions of the previous spectators, secretly cutting off a number of cards behind his back. By the third spectator, you should be in your stack. Shuffle the top card to the bottom and flash it to the spectator on your left during the course of an all-around square-up. He apparently has a free choice of one to fifty-two. Using a pad or dry-erase board, ask the spectators to call off their numbers, starting with the last spectator. Hand the pad to someone to total. The sum will equal your prediction. Reveal it in as dramatic a fashion as you can muster. Leftovers. There are many other stacks

Scott has contributed several items to both volumes of this book. In addition, he is a frequent contributor (including a one-man issue and a one-man insert) to The Trapdoor. Working for Microsoft, he is also my computer advisor. Prior to his input, I was pasting up the issues of The Trapdoor using real paste. Effect. The magician states that he has made a prediction before the show. He removes an envelope he says contains the prediction and places it in full view on the table. Each of three spectators is instructed to cut off a small number of cards and count them while the magician's back is turned. "The first three numbers were arrived at by chance. Now I would like for you (a fourth spectator) to have a choice. Please think of any " The four number between one andfifty-two.

numbers are added together and the number divulged. Despite the complete lack of control exercised by the magician, the prediction is opened and read aloud. The number matches. The Work. There is a small setup for this. Arrange the thirteen cards, king through ace, in descending order from back to face. Place ten cards on top of these and place this combined packet twenty-three cards on top of the balance of the pack. Predict the number "23." You must also set up a stooge for this. He doesn't have to know how the trick works, only what his part in it entails. False shuffle the pack, retaining the order of the top half of the pack. A jog shuffle works well for this. Hand the deck to a person on your right. Instruct him to cut off a small number of cards, up to ten. Take the pack back from him. Give it a quick false shuffle retaining the top stock followed by an all-around square-up. To execute an all-around square-up, hold the pack in your left hand in dealing position. 89

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

that would accomplish the same thing. One of them can be found in Doug Canning's Counter Cards elsewhere in this volume. However, Scott's requires a simple thirteen card setup which is very quick to procure. For patter, I would suggest placing the prediction in your wallet before you start. "I

a new idea. He is creative and selective about his magic. After graduating from college, Scott worked as a magician at King's Island in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of my favorite stories involves this particular job. In 1985, he was performing close-up in one of the King's Island restaurants. He had a terrible cold and the accompanying nasal drip. He accidentally added a new topping to one of the spectator's strawberry shortcake. Never at a loss for words, he immediately covered with, "er.... I'm sorry." He bought the spectator another cake, but allowed her to go get it so she could choose her own topping. Who says doing magic isn't glamorous? Most of Scott's non-ice-cream magic has been featured in The Trapdoor. He has several of the cover tricks, two one-man inserts, and a one-man issue. He explains that his favorite issues are #47 and #11. #47 was his one-man issue. #11 was the No-SteveBeam-Issue. (Did I already mention that #47 would probably be his last one-man issue?)

made a prediction before the show. I placed it into the wallet next to pictures of my loved ones. You know, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton." If this line gets the desired response, follow it with, "I've always loved my country."

If this is performed at a table, you don't have to flash the bottom card to the spectator. It is also not necessary-try cut the key card to the bottom of the pack. Simply have him peek at the top card before he counts out his secret number of cards. Scott Robinson. Scott lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. As I stated earlier, he works for Microsoft, so he keeps me posted on the latest technological trends which I can't afford for all the magic books I purchase. He is one of the magicians I call when I want to try out

90

STABBING EFFECTS

HAVE IT YOUR WAY

Steve Beam This is one of my favorite tricks to do with a brand new deck. Not only is the deck setup, but you use that as a premise for performing a trick. Effect. The deck is spread in the magician's hands for a free selection. The face of the selection is not seen, but the card itself remains in full view from this point on. The deck is spread slowly for the return of the card. It is important that the spectator knows that she has a free choice where to replace the card. The pack is turned face up. The cards are in new deck order. The noted card was replaced in its proper position in the sequence. The Work. Start with the pack in new deck order. (Again, from top to bottom, we will assume ace through king, with the suits in CHaSeD order.) Spread the cards for a selection, casually cutting the pack at the point where the selection is removed. The spectator is to keep the card face down and not look at its face. Spread the pack slowly for the replacement of the card. Ideally, it should go somewhere in the middle third of the pack. Leave the card outjogged in the spread as you square the balance of the pack. "Before

I push your card in the pack, I guess we should all see what it is." Spread through the pack and execute Bill Simon's wonderful Prophecy Move (explained elsewhere in this book). This cuts the pack in the process of turning the spectator's card face up. This replaces their card back in the proper sequence with the rest of the pack. Square the pack. Turn the deck face up. "All ofus like to

have things our own way. I prefer to have things neatly in order. You placed your card back at a random location. I am going to attempt, by magic, to return the card to its proper place in the pack. You see, these cards were in perfect numerical order until you removed your card. When you returned your card, you placed it" [pretend to weigh the cards] "about 12 cards from its proper location. I am going to try to send it back to its originalposition ... by magic." Now riffle the pack and spread it face up on the table. Once again, the pack is in complete numerical order. Background. This was originally published in Issue #41 of The Trapdoor (1992). It was the second trick in a special insert titled, Semi-Automatic Card Tricks.

93

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

OPENING STAB

Steve Beam This is almost identical to the previous trick in method but not effect. It's a strong opening prediction trick. Effect. A deck is removed from its case. It is not shuffled. Instead, an envelope is removed from the magician's pocket. The envelope is labeled "PREDICTION." The magician asks that the envelope be placed somewhere in the middle of the pack. The magician takes the pack and spreads it face up on ,the table. It is in perfect order, except that one card is missing. Strangely, it is missing from the same place where the envelope is located. The magician asks that the envelope be removed by a spectator and opened and the prediction read. When the contents of the envelope are removed, it is seen to be the missing card. The Work. Take any card from a deck which is in new deck order. Place it inside a bank envelope— one as close in size to a playing card as you can find. The envelope must be opaque. On the back of the envelope, write the word "Prediction." Place the envelope in your breast pocket with the writing toward you. Arrange the rest of the deck in ace to king order, suits in "CHaSeD" order. Cut the pack at the missing card. That is, to restore the pack to its proper sequence, the card in the envelope would have to be placed on top or bottom of the pack. To perform, introduce the pack. Place it face down on the table. Bring out the envelope, keeping the writing from the audience. Ask that the envelope be "stabbed" into the middle of the pack. Square the pack. Pick up the cards and spread from left to right. "Did you notice the writing on the envelope?" As you say this, execute the Prophecy Move. This turns the envelope over so

that the writing is visible. It also places their card in sequence. It also cuts the pack so that this sequence is in the middle of the deck. (Do you see why I like this move so much?) They can now read the word "prediction." Square the pack. Stress the fact that they had a free choice where to place the envelope. They could have placed it deep or shallow in the pack. However, they placed it in one position out of 52. "Was there any reason for choosing that location over the other 52 possible locations?" Spread the deck face up on the table in a wide spread. The place where the card is missing from the sequence is filled with the envelope. Make a big deal about it. They were able to locate the position where the card was missing. "Let's try for a double whammy... open the prediction and read itout loud." They do, and they remove the chosen card. Leftovers. I refer to "reading the prediction" so I don't telegraph the climax. One does not normally "read" a playing card. I also refer to the double effect — so they appreciate that two things have happened. One, they mysteriously found the location of the missing card. Secondly, I predicted it. Scott Robinson suggested spreading the pack in a circular manner rather than in the standard straight line. By bringing the top and bottom cards together, you disguise the relative positions of the "top" and "bottom" of the pack. This is because a circle has no beginning or end. This way it is not obvious that the top of the pack is not an ace or a king. Background. This was originally published in Issue #41 of The Trapdoor (1992). Subsequently, it appeared on Volume II of Michael Ammar's video, Easy To Master Card Miracles (1994). 94

STABBING EFFECTS

STUCK ON YOU Steve Pressley up half the deck and drop the envelope on top of the lower half. The upper half may then be replaced. "The envelope marks the place where you cut the cards." The reason for the joker inside the envelope is so that the spectator does feel something inside. Pick up the pack and turn it face up. As you do, give the pack a gentle squeeze— allowing the wax to take hold of the adjacent card. Immediately execute a face up table spread. The card beneath the envelope will cling to the envelope and hide underneath. Upjog the envelope in the spread. Call their attention to the fact that the deck is in perfect order except for the missing card. "Let me read the prediction to you." Pick up the envelope by its edges — dispensing with any thoughts that there may be something beneath it. Open the envelope and pretend to remove its contents. Actually, remove the card underneath which is clinging to the wax. Casually discard the envelope with the joker still inside.

This was originally published in issue #41 of The Trapdoor. The preceeding two 1 tricks led to development of this one. Effect. An envelope with the word "PREDICTION " clearly visible on it is placed on the table. The magician introduces the deck and asks that the spectator cut off the top half and insert the envelope. The deck is immediately spread face up. The deck is in perfect order with the exception of one card which is missing. This place is marked by the envelope the spectator placed in the pack. The magician opens the prediction envelope and removes the missing card. The Work. Start with an indifferent card (joker) placed in an opaque envelope. Write the word "PREDICTION" on one side of the envelope. On the same side, smear a small piece of magician's wax. There should be so little wax that it is invisible when smeared. Place the envelope on the table, writing side up. Explain to the spectator that he is to lift

95

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

A MATCH MADE IN ZEBULON

Steve Beam If you are willing to stick with me through this description, you will have a very impressive revelation. It starts with a shuffled pack. One card is selected and lost in the pack. Another is selected under impossible conditions. The deck is split into two packets which are simultaneously dealt face up. Both of the selections appear at the same time. It appears impossible that the magician could have known the subsequent events which the spectator would have done which would have altered the location of the first selection. Further, the conditions for the second selection are such that they make it impossible for the magician to know the location or the identity of the second chosen card. Indeed, the magician knows none of the above — He is as ignorant as he was at the beginning of the trick. (I'll let you interpret that any way you want.) However, he finds both cards in short order. Background. Stephen Minch's The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley was easily the best magic book of 1991. The book contains wonderful material by one of the top minds to grace our fraternity. The book will provide seeds for even better items for decades to come. None of the material is new — but much of it is timeless. One item, dated September 21, 1957 piqued my interest. It appeared to be unfinished. There seemed to be so many possibilities for improvements (and I don't use this term lightly). I am referring to Penny Plain on page 374. This is a revelation of a selected card under circumstances which seem impossible. I would encourage you to consult the book so that you can compare the results. The Work. Have the deck of cards shuffled by a spectator. Have a card selected and controlled to the top of the pack. If you are doing this for magicians, try using a lesser

known control. You don't want them to deduce the selection's location at the conclusion of the I control. You want to leave them guessing. Riffle shuffle, retaining the top card of the pack. Hand the deck to a second spectator and instruct him to start dealing the pack into two { piles. When he has dealt almost half the pack, tell him that he may stop the deal whenever he j gets the urge. For now, we will assume that he stops the deal with an even number of cards in each pile. Pile A contains the selection on the bottom. Pile B is the other pile which contains the same number of cards as pile A. Ask the spectator to choose either pile. Arrange to have him select pile B. He may shuffle pile B, then note the top card and , remember it. To lose this card, he is to cut off the top half of pile A and place it on top of pile B. Note the approximate size of the remainder of Pile A. Is it five cards, ten, fifteen, etc.? It= is helpful to get within five cards either way. He now places the remainder of pile A on top of the talon (the balance of the pack which remains undealt). Note that this sends the first spectator's selection to the middle of the tabled cards. The spectator hands you his packet which contains the second spectator's selection. There are now two ways to proceed, depending upon whether you can do a Faro shuffle. Since the shuffle is my preferre method, I will describe it first. In both methods, you will apparently take your packet behind your back and arrange to place the secon' selection in a position identical to the firs selection in the tabled cards. Using the Faro. State that there is n way for you to know the location or identity o either card. This, in fact, is true. To make i even more difficult, you will shuffle the cards 96

STABBING EFFECTS Suiting actions to words, split the packet you hold at the center and execute an out-faro. (When you are finished, the original top card will be back on top. If the packet had an odd number of cards, ensure that the extra card goes with the top half.) Small packets are easier to faro than a complete pack so you should not have any accuracy problems here. After openly shuffling the packet, take the packet behind your back or under the table. State that you will move the second selection to a position which will locate the first selection. A moment ago, you noted the approximate number of cards left on the table from the original pile A. Assume this to have been 15 cards. Go down to a card approximately 15 cards from the bottom of the packet and outjog a card. Bring the packet back into view with the outjogged card showing. Square the packet. You want the spectators to think that you actually moved a card to that location while the cards were out of view. Actually, you left the cards in the same order they were originally. Place your packet on the table face up beside the face down tabled pack. Deal through both packets simultaneously, one face down card with one face up card. Ask the second spectator to call "STOP" when he sees his selection. Both selections will appear at the same relative location at the same time. When he tells you to stop, ask the first spectator the name of his card. Turn over the top card of the face down packet. It will be his card. Alternative to the Faro. If you prefer not to use the faro, take your unshuffled packet (Pile B plus the top of Pile A which the spectator placed on top of his selection) behind your back or under the table. Run through the following "shuffle" to arrange the cards as needed. Hold the packet in the right hand in Biddle position. Peel off the top card into your left hand by itself. Now, using your left thumb and fingers, simultaneously pull off the top and bottom cards of the packet, onto the single card in the left hand. Continue this "milking" procedure until you 97

have exhausted the cards in the right hand. Place your packet on the table face down (unlike the instructions for the faro method) beside the face down tabled pack. Deal through both packets simultaneously, flipping the top card of each half face up. Ask both spectators to call "STOP" when they see their selection. Both selections will appear at the same relative location at the same time. Important Note. One of the stronger points of this effect for magicians is that the two packets (A & B) do not have to be identical in size when the spectator originally dealt the pack into two piles. That is, the magician doesn't have to instruct the spectator to deal two equal piles. The spectator can stop after dealing a card on either A or B. For this reason, the piles will either be identical (if they deal two even piles) or Pile A will have one more card than Pile B when the spectator stops. Up until now, we have assumed the piles were even. If the spectator stopped the deal after dealing a card on Pile A, there is one slight variance in handling when you later take the pack behind your back or under the table. If you are using the faro method, secretly transfer a card from the top (back) of the pack to the bottom (face) while the pack is out of sight. If you are using the alternate method, transfer a card from the bottom of the pack (face) to the top (back) while the pack is out of sight. You will have your favorite method of doing this, either using the faro or the alternate. You do not have to remember both procedural adjustments. Simply remember which one applies to your particular favorite method. Leftovers. I feel there are several advantages of this over the original Elmsley creation. First, the faro is a cleaner and simpler handling when compared to the "shuffle" which arranges the cards behind your back. Second, if you prefer the alternative to the faro, the description described above takes a fraction of the time to execute as the shuffle used by Elmsley. The shuffle itself is twice as efficient, pulling two cards instead of one. It is

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO used with approximately 1/4th the pack instead of 1/2. (Finally, you don't even have do it with the full packet. You can do it until you know you have more cards in your left hand than twice the number which was left on the table as the remainder of pile "A") Third, you are not required to deal all the way through the pack. This makes for a quicker trick, less drawn out. It also hides the free-cut principle better since you are not dealing with two piles which are exactly 26 cards each. Fourth, not requiring both packets have the same number of cards would make it harder for a well versed magician to reconstruct. Fifth, having two selections and arriving at a coincidence further disguises the principles involved. In the Elmsley trick, the remainder of Pile A remained on the table. After you execute the shuffle behind your back, you

deal through pile A and your pile. When you run out of cards in pile A, you arrive at the sole selection in your pile. This seems to call attention to the number of cards in pile A being the key to the trick, which of course it is. By having another selection on the bottom of pile A and then combining it with the undealt balance of the pack, there is no heat at all on the number of cards in each packet. The number of cards doesn't play a role, all attention is directed to the location of the selections. And, this is exactly where you want the attention directed. After I showed the workings of the trick using the alternate method to Steve Pressley, he noticed the trick's resemblance to the method used in his Completed MasterpieceI& II (Trapdoor #39). He suggested I try using a faro. I tried it and I realized that the packet must be turned over and dealt from the bottom (face).

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STABBING EFFECTS

A MATCH MADE IN KNIGHTDALE

Steve Beam the faro, the queen of spades is as far up from the face of your packet as the ace of spades is from the top of the pack. From here, you will proceed based upon which shuffle method you used. You can become proficient with either, or you can learn both and offer the spectators the choice as explained in the last trick. Faro Method. If you are using the faro, place your packet face up to the right of the face down pack. Each hand simultaneously takes one card from each packet, forming two new packets in front of the original packets as shown in figure 1. You are dealing toward the spectators. The piles being dealt are in the same condition as those being dealt from. That is, the face down cards remain face down and the face up cards remain face up. As before, ask for the spectator who chose the final selection (the queen) to call stop when he sees his card. When he calls stop, you will be holding the queen of spades face up in your right hand and the ace of spades face down in your left. Hand this face down card to the person who selected it. (He was the one who selected the card you originally controlled to the top of the

This takes the last effect a step further. You should thoroughly understand the previous trick before you start on this. Almost everything is the same until the end of the trick. Start by having two cards selected. Control one to the top and one to the bottom of the pack. For this example, we will assume that the selection on top is the ace of spades and the selection on the bottom is the ace of clubs. Remember whose card is on top and whose in on bottom. This is the same as the previous version except that you only controlled one card to the top. You may have noticed that during the previous routine the bottom of the pack is never disturbed. This allows the selection which you controlled to the bottom to stay there throughout the original trick. To elaborate, hand the pack with the two selections to a third spectator who deals the pack into two tabled sister packets. He picks up and shuffles the sister packet which does not contain the original top card, the ace of spades. He notes the top card of his packet (we will assume the queen of spades). To lose the queen, he cuts off the top half of the tabled sister packet which contains the original top card (that is, the other sister packet) and places it on top of his packet. The balance of the tabled sister packet (still containing the original top card) is placed on top of the balance of the deck. With the packet in your hands, execute either the faro or the behind-the-back milk shuffle as explained in the previous trick. Status. You now have a packet you are holding and the balance of the pack on the table. The ace of clubs is on the bottom of the pack on your left. If you used the behind-the-back shuffle, the queen of spades is as far down from r the top of your packet as the ace of spades is from the top of the pack. However, if you used 99

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO pack.) While the spectator who took the ace of spades is confirming his selection, use the queen in your right hand to scoop up the face up pile closest to the spectators. Drop this packet (with the queen on the bottom) back on top of the face up pile from which it was dealt. This puts the queen back in the same position it was in at the start of the simultaneous dealing. The cards above have been reversed during the dealing but that won't affect the trick. The ace of clubs is on the bottom of the face down pack on your left which you are dealing from. Pick up this pile ("the pack") and drop it on top of the cards which were dealt from the top of the pile, " This blatantly places the ace of clubs the same number from the face of this packet as the queen is from the face of the packet on your right. Have you no shame?

of spades face up in front of the person who selected it. Use the queen of spades in your right hand to scoop up the face up packet on your right closest to the spectator. This is the packet which was created by dealing from the packet which contained the queen. The queen goes under this packet. The right hand turns this packet face down and places it into the left hand. The queen is on top of the face down packet. The right hand returns to the table to pick up the face down packet which is to your right and places this on top of the packet in your left hand. This combined packet is replaced face down on the table to the right. To reassemble the left hand packets,

"We have one more selection to find. Let's try to find it the hard way --- with both packets face up." Turn the pile on your left face up and table it again. Ask both the remaining spectators (ace of clubs and queen of spades) to call stop when you are holding either of their cards. Simultaneously deal one card from each pile until they call stop. You will be holding both of the remaining selections. Milk Shuffle Method. If you are using the milk shuffle method behind your back (as opposed to the faro) you will bring the packet back out face down. Place it face down to the right of the balance of the pack. Deal through both, simultaneously turning one card face up from each packet and creating two new piles closer to the spectators as shown in figure 2. Both the person who chose the ace of spades (card originally controlled to the top) and the queen (last card selected) are to call stop when they see their cards. You will come to the two face up selections at the same time. Think of the two packets on your right as one broken packet. Think of the two packets on your left as one broken packet. Now you must reassemble the packets in such a way that will set up for the final revelation. Drop the ace

place your left hand palm down on the face up packet. Pick this packet up and rotate your hand palm up which turns the packet face down. Pick up the remaining left hand packet (with the ace of clubs on the bottom) and drop it on top of the packet in the left hand. Replace the combined left packet face down on the table to the left of the packet already residing there. State that you have found one person's card the easy way, with the packets face down. You will now try it the hard way — with the packets face up. Turn both packets face up and table them again. Ask the spectators who chose 100

STABBING EFFECTS cards will be at the same position from the face of their respective packets. Background. This was originally published in issue #41 of The Trapdoor.

the ace of clubs and the queen of spades to call stop when they see their cards. Simultaneously deal through both packets face up. Both spectators will call stop at the same time. Their

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Laws of Motion Fur Elise Relativity Pasteurization Mona Lisa War and Peace Wireless Telegraphy The Gettysburg Address Swan Lake The Double Undercut

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

SIAMESE STAB

Steve Beam This routine demonstrates how an otherwise simple effect can be elevated to a feature piece when properly presented. The story in the effect section should convince you of the value of the trick. While it may appear to be too long a story for a card trick, I can only tell you the audience is "hooked" and genuinely interested in the outcome. They enjoy the journey. Effect. `Let me tell you something that

happened to me the otherday when I was getting ready for the show tonight. I went to a drug store to buy a deck of cards. It was not this deck of cards, but I can use this deck to illustrate what happened. I bought a deck of cards, took them home and started to practice. "After a few minutes, I noticed that the deck felt light. It felt as if it wasn't a full deck. Well, I've been accused of not playing with afull deck in the past, and I didn't want it to happen again. So I counted the cards. Sure enough, there were only SI cards. So I started to take the deck back to the store to get my money back. "However, I didn't want to go all the way back down there, just to find that I had miscounted, so I turned the deck face down and counted again. When I counted them a second time, I found the missing playing card. It was printed on the back of another playing card. The manufacturer had made a mistake. "Again, I started to take the cards back to the store. But I started thinking. When the United States mint makes a mistake, they double stamp a coin for example, those coins are later worth thousands of dollars. And, the U. S. Playing Card Company is no small company. They are a major corporation. If they made a mistake, that card is likely to be worth a lot of money. So, I had the card framed so I wouldn't damage it. And, I hung it in my den, between the Rembrandt and Picasso.

"That brings us to tonight. I got to thinking that this card might have some unique powers. So, this afternoon I rushed into the den and yanked the frame offthe wall and ripped into it. In my haste, I tore the contents. I was devastated. Then I realized I had made a mistake.... I had torn the Picasso. Thank goodness. I thought the card might have been damaged. You can imagine the relief I felt. "Anyway, I brought the card with me tonight." At this, the magician brings out a small combination safe. He removes a package from within. Upon opening the package, he produces a playing card which has a card face printed on both sides. He passes the card for examination.

"Please be careful with this because I believe it will one day be worth a lot of money. You will notice that this is one card, and it's printed that way. It is not two cards glued together. And you will notice that it is an ace on one side and a seven on the other side. You sir, wouldyou holdonto the cardforamoment. I'm going to ask you to insert the card into the pack. Butfirst, would you turn the card face down?" The magician pauses while he waits for the spectator to realize that you can't turn a card with two faces face down. "Well, if you can't

turn itface down, would you please turn it ace down? Now insert it into the middle ofthe pack and square the deck." The magician continues. "As I said, I discovered this card might have some unique powers. You had afree choice where in the deck you would insert the card, did you not? You could have put it in deep, or shallow. However, you placed it at almost the exact center of the pack. And you placed it between two other cards."

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The magician removes the gimmick along with the card above and below it.

STABBING EFFECTS "Wouldn't it be amazing if the card attracted its two mates?" The two ordinary cards are turned over and are shown to match the two faces of the gimmick. Applause. "And for those of you who are looking for an investment opportunity, be sure to see me after the show." The Work. A double-faced card is available at most magic shops. Despite my apparent concern over the card, you can purchase one for less than a dollar. You do not have to worry about matching it to the deck you have. You can use a bridge sized gimmick while using a poker sized deck. This is because the card is not supposed to have come from the deck you are using. If it was from that deck, there would be no explanation for the other two cards in the pack which match the gimmick. Wrap this gimmick in paper and seal it in a box. Place the box inside the toy safe. When ready to perform, conspire to get the cards which match your double-faced card to the top and the bottom of the pack. You can riffle shuffle all day long and retain the top and bottom cards. (Although, more than three shuffles and you probably won't retain your audience.) Everything up until the insertion of the card is window dressing. You want the spectator to insert the gimmick in the same relative condition as its mates. That is, if the ace is on the bottom of the pack, the ace should be on the bottom of the gimmick as it is inserted. If the seven is on the top of the deck, it should be facing up on the gimmick as it is inserted. This is why I use a double faced card with an ace on it. First, I can ask them to turn the card they hold face down. After getting a mild response from that, I proceed to get a play on words with the next line. "If you can't turn it face down, turn it ace down." This puts the gimmick in the correct position for insertion. If you can't locate a double-faced card with an ace on it, leave out the line. Then, just ask them to turn the card over if you need its position adjusted prior to the insertion. When the card is inserted, ask the 103

spectator to square the pack. Pick the deck up and spread through it. When you come to the gimmick, execute Bill Simon's Prophecy move from his Effective Card Magic. This secretly cuts the deck and sandwiches the gimmick between its mates, all in the guise of turning the gimmick over. (My handling of this move is explained inBackwards Prophecy in the section on moves.) Now you need a little time misdirection. Recap what has happened and the freedom of their insertion. Then, spread the deck and remove the gimmick and the two cards which sandwich it. Slowly and dramatically reveal one card at a time. The card must be magic. It has attracted its mates. Leftovers., The story is long and the trick is short. Do not attempt to memorize the story. The story has grown during the last 15 years into the above epic. I have told it so many times that I almost believe it. You should highlight the major parts which you feel contribute to the effect. Then, rewrite them into words which sound like you. Then, tell the story over and over until it sounds as though you believe it. Only then will you be ready to do it justice. The card itself is unique and it holds the audience's attention. Members of the audience are not familiar with double-faced cards. The card they see is truly Unique. Tying in the story about the mint making mistakes helps to lend credence to the story I feed them. I have had wives smack their husbands for treating the card too roughly when they were able to handle it. "You don't want to have to buy it, do you?" they would ask. All the while I'm thinking, go ahead and mangle it. I'm sure we can work out an equitable settlement. Background. Bill Simon published a trick called Business Card Prophecy in his Effective Card Magic (1953). His original trick was basically the same thing. He wrote the names of the top and bottom cards on his business card and then had the card inserted into the pack. The cards on either side of the

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO business card matched his written prediction. This effect was the first appearance of the prophecy move although its not-fully-evolved ancestor appeared in Scarne on Card Tricks (1950) credited to John Scarne and Bill Simon. I have developed numerous uses for the Simon move. Several others have developed variations of the move and I perform the move slightly different than it was originally described. Refer to Backwards Prophecy in the section on moves for the differences. Siamese Stab was originally published in issue #7 of The Trapdoor in 1985. It was later published in my lecture notes, Magic

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With No Entertainment Value in 1989. It has been a feature of my close-up show and lecture since 1982. When Michael Ammar was researching the material to use for his videotape series titled Easy To Master Card Miracles, he thought so much of this routine that he called and asked to include it on the tape. I reluctantly declined since the effect was scheduled to appear here. Per the L & L Publishing newsletter, this effect has the dubious honor of being the only trick which the inventor wouldn't approve for inclusion on the set of three tapes. As a consolation prize, Michael then selected Opening Stab from elsewhere in this volume.

STABBING EFFECTS

RETURN TO SENDER

Mary Leventhal For the last five years, Mary has been the co-editor with Dan Harlan of The Minotaur, a quarterly publication featuring fine close-up magic. While technically The Minotaur is The Trapdoor's competition, most people say that The Minotaur is no competition for The Trapdoor. And while it is also true that I have often referred to it as the Cud-Chewing-Mammal-Magazine, Mary is a friend of mine so I would never do it within earshot of him. (It really is a fine magic magazine, something else I would not say within earshot of Marv.) Having gotten all the free obligatory plugs accomplished during the first paragraph, I am free now to focus on the trick which follows. It is a unique presentation for Opening Stab, kind of a combination of that with the story in Siamese Stab. Mary has a good sense of humor which is reflected here, giving you a logical reason to perform all of the actions and a humorous result. The story and the props help lift this up to more than just a card trick. (Although, "just a card trick" is not a bad thing.) Mary was kind enough to write this up and send it to me in his inimitable editorial style that makes The Minotaur so unique. (And I was kind enough to you to translate it into something which could be understood by those for whom English is a primary language.) I will assume that you have read Opening Stab and are familiar with its workings. Effect. The effect is identical with Opening Stab. However, it is presented in such a manner that it is not exactly a prediction, but more of a story revelation. The Work. Prepare by arranging a deck of cards in ace to king order by suit from the top down --- clubs, hearts, spades, diamonds (CHaSeD). Remove the four of diamonds (for no particular reason) from the deck and cut the

deck at that point. The deck is cased with the three of diamonds on the bottom and the five of diamonds on top. You can get rid of the four of diamonds as it doesn't play a role in the rest of the effect. Next you need an envelope as close to the size of a playing card as possible. The envelope should be opaque enough so that its future contents can not be seen through it. Since poker-sized envelopes are next to impossible to find, Mary constructed one from a 9 X 12 inch brown mailing envelope. If you would like to make one, cut a brown mailing envelope to the dimensions shown in the pattern below. Fold along the darker black lines of the center rectangle as follows. Fold the right flap over the first. Then fold the left flap over the right flap and glue the left flap into the right flap where their edges meet. Now fold the bottom flap up over the left and right flaps and glue it onto both of them to form the bottom of the envelope. Just fold the top flap and your poker-sized envelope is complete. (I bet next time you'll try harder to find the right sized envelope.) With the open end of the envelope to the right, address the envelope on the side without any seams as if you were going to mail it to yourself. Place the following return address in the upper left-hand corner. U.S. Playing Card Company Cincinnati, OH 45212 Take the time to type this on the envelope so that the story will have more credence. The more professional this looks, the better. Now go to your neighborhood post office and purchase a 32 cent stamp. (By the time this sees print, the stamp prices will probably have risen again. Purchase a stamp adequate to mail the envelope first-class.) Place the stamp 105

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

on the envelope and ask the person behind the counter to hand-cancel the stamp for you. To get this done, it helps if you know that person. If you don't, try explaining that you are a magician, and you need the stamp handcancelled for a magic trick. This probably won't work, so instead, do as Mary did, and explain that they are actually saving their employer money by doing this. After all, the stamp cost you 32 cents and now the post office doesn't even have to mangle or lose the envelope en route to you. At this point, the teller will probably hand cancel it just to get rid of you. (By the way, if you live in Ohio, now would be a good time to ask him not to mangle the magazine you -- the,guy who is ticking him off -- publish, The Minotaur.) You should now have a poker-size envelope that looks like it was mailed to you from U.S. Playing Card Company, except for the fact that the cancellation is incorrect (unless of course, you had it cancelled in Cincinnati). Inside this envelope you will place two items. One of them is a card which matches the card you removed from your deck but with a different color back. If you are using a blue-backed deck, place a red-backed four of diamonds in the envelope. Place the card in the envelope so that its back is against the side of the envelope with the addresses on it. The second item you need in the envelope is the following letter which should be on a piece of paper roughly four by five inches in size. Again, the letter should be typed. If you are using a computer, you may also wish to print it on a phony stationery. Dear Valued Customer, We here at U.S. Playing Card Company pride ourselves on manufacturing the highest quality decks of playing cards available anywhere. However, even with our numerous quality inspections, occasionally a defect does creep through. We

regret that such was the case with the deck you purchased, and we sincerely hope the enclosed rectifies the situation. Yours truly, The Staff and Management of U.S. Playing Card Company Once you have prepared the letter, fold it into quarters and place it in the envelope onto the face of the playing card. Fold the top flap inside the envelope, and your preparation is complete. Place the envelope on the card box, address side against the box. Place both in a convenient pocket, and you are ready to perform. Bring out the box and envelope, making sure that your audience doesn't see the address side of the envelope. Then explain, `7 was in one of those discount stores a couple ofmonths agoandsaw abunch of decks ofplaying cards on sale for a dollar each. At that price, my first reaction was to buy them all. But then I thought to myself, `Gee, atthatcheapprice, there mustbe something wrong with them,' so insteadl bought only one, and this is it." Display both sides of

the box as you casually place the envelope on the table, address side down, as if it were unimportant.

"Sure enough, when I got home and took the deck out of the box, there was something wrong with it. Well, since I couldn't use it for playing card games, I thought maybe I could at least do a magic trick with it." Take the cards

out of the box so that they are face down and place the box on the table off to one side. Hold the deck face down in dealing position in your left hand and then pick up the envelope between your right thumb and index finger. Extend the corner of the envelope diagonally opposite the one you are holding toward your spectator and ask her to hold it between her thumb and index finger. Make sure she takes

106

STABBING EFFECTS Spread the pack on the table in a large circle as suggested by Scott Robinson and explained in Opening Stab. As you spread the deck say, "You see, when I got home and took

this corner in this manner so she doesn't accidentally feel the stamp on the underside of the envelope. Immediately ask her to "stab" the envelope somewhere in the middle of the deck. Once she has, square the pack as best you can with the envelope within. "Well, when I found

out there was something wrong with he deck, I wrote to U.S. Playing Card company about it. They wrote me back." At this point, do my handling of Bill Simon's Prophecy Move as follows. Spread the cards from your left hand into your palm up right hand until you come to the envelope. Separate the spread at that point, taking the cards above the envelope into your right hand, leaving the envelope on top of the cards in your left hand. Outjog the envelope for about half its length with your left thumb as your right hand squares the cards it holds. Now turn your right hand palm down and take the outer right corner of the envelope between your right thumb and the now lowermost card of your right hand's packet. Then relinquish your left hand's grip on the envelope and turn your right hand palm up again. This turns the envelope over and brings its address side into view. As the address side of the envelope comes into view, "Really, they did. See, it's

the deck out of the box, I found that there was one card missing— the four of diamonds." Point to the envelope and act as if you just noticed that the envelope is in the location of the missing four. "And look --- you could have

placed the envelope anywhere in the deck, but you placed it in the exact location of the missing four ofdiamonds." Pause for a moment to let the magnitude of this accomplishment sink in. (Okay, so it may take longer than a moment.) Pick up the envelope and open its flap. "And if that wasn't

amazing enough, when I opened the envelope and looked inside, do you know what Ifound?" Invariably at this point, someone will say either the missing card or the name of the missing card. Wait for this response and act surprised by it. Then say in a somewhat exasperated manner, "No, a letter!" Your response should come as a complete surprise to your audience and should get a laugh. Now take the folded letter out of the envelope, hand it to the spectator and ask her to read it out loud. When she has finished, refold it and place it off to the side. "So I looked back

addressed to me from the U.S. Playing Card Company." Point to the address and return address with the left index finger of your palm up left hand as you deliver this last line. Once everyone has read the addresses, place your left hand's face down packet on top of your right hand's face down packet and the envelope, square the deck and the envelope as best you can. Table the deck. That's the Prophecy (For greater detail, see Backwards Move. Prophecy in the section titled Moves.) Since it secretly gives the deck a complete cut, the envelope now rests between the original top and bottom card of the deck. In my case, this would place the envelope between the three and the five of diamonds.

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in the envelope. And, ‘ what' even more amazing is the fact that even thoughlfailed to mention the name of the missing card in my letter, somehow they managed to send me the correct replacement for it." As you end this sentence, hold the envelope address side down and slide the face up card out of it. Table it face up. The comment about not mentioning the card in the letter somehow seems to make the appearance of the missing card from out of the envelope more magical than it really is. Finally, gather up the face up circular spread on the table and respread them face down in a straight line. "But you know, even

thoughtheysent me the right card, I still can't use this deck to play cards with. Do you know why?" This time you don't wait for an answer.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Instead, conclude by saying, "Because even

years old and lives in North Royalton, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He works at a major medical facility as a database and project research manager, following his Bachelor degree in mathematics and Masters degree in statistics. He is also a part-time instructor at the University of Akron. He has been in magic for the last fourteen years and prefers close-up to stage magic. To his wife Eileen's chagrin, he is now in his sixth year of publishing The Minotaur, a quarterly magazine focusing on close-up magic. Although I'm with Eileen on this one, I would encourage you to check out Marv's publication. It has established a niche for itself in a market filled with the corpses of other, less successful publications.

though they sent me the right card, they sent it with the wrong color back!" As you say "back," flip the card on the table face down to show its different colored back. Also, say "wrong colored back" very slowly and distinctly. This makes for a very humorous ending to your "true" story. Leftovers. I like Marv's routine and the words sound like something I would say to an audience. It is believable and interesting. If you like the routine, be sure to subscribe to The Minotaur after renewing your subscription to The Trapdoor. Come to think of it, you may want to prepay a couple of years of The Trapdoor first. Mary Leventhal. Mary is forty-one

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IN-DECKS John Riggs This is not a routine although you will probably find it useful in some. It's a way to accomplish several things which can help you to build your own routine. It's basically a deck which is rigged up as an index. This is accomplished by corner-shorting all of the aces, fives, and tens. Then, arrange the pack in ace through king value order, and in "CHaSeD" suit order. It isn't necessary to short the ace of clubs since it is on top of the pack. You can now, with a minimum of effort, riffle down to the desired location or card. This may be done openly or in secret, depending upon the need. Let's assume you want the four of hearts. All you have to do is riffle to the third corner shorted card (five of clubs, then ten of clubs, then ace of hearts) followed by two more cards (the two and three of hearts). The next card is the four of hearts. You can cut the pack bringing it to the top. If the routine requires the desired card to be brought to the bottom, simply riffle it off with the others and cut the pack below it.

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Leftovers. It dawns on me that the same concept would work well with a stripper deck. Simply reverse the cards that you would otherwise corner short. Then riffle down one of the corners of the wide end of the pack. The reversed cards will act like corner shorts. John Riggs. John is one of my oldest friends in magic and one of the most creative. In addition to several cover tricks and a oneman issue of The Trapdoor, John has a new book coming out from Jerry Mentzer's Magic Methods. He has an unpublished book (he and I may have the only copies as of this writing) called The Man With The $1.98 Hands. Despite the fact that it hasn't been published, it is currently in its second printing. His Optical Location and The Solution from Volume One, are two of my favorite card tricks. John lives in Knoxville, Tennessee and divides his time between magic and computer -aided design. He is also a talented (non-magic) artist.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE EYES HAVE IT Simon Aronson What follows is much lighter than most of Simon's other work which features killer work with the memorized pack. According to Simon, " The Eyes Have It is quick, snappy, and visual — a distinct departure from the sort of magic that I customarily create." Effect. The magician has a card selected and replaced in the pack. He attempts to find the selection, instead locating the wrong card. He asserts that this card is indeed the correct card, "There must be something wrong with your vision." When the audience continues to protest, "Maybe you need your eyes tested. Read the middle row." At this, the magician produces an eye chart and points to the third row. When this row is successfully read, the magician points to the fourth row. It's just a matter of time before the audience realizes that the letters on the eye chart spell out the name of the selected card. Turning over the tabled card which has now changed into the selection, the magician finishes with, "Some things just have to be seen to be believed." The Work. Prepare the eye chart by photocopying the eye chart on the next page. Mount it on a piece of cardboard using spray mount adhesive, available at most office supply stores. You need to do a riffle force and a double lift to accomplish this feat. Start with the eight of diamonds on top of the pack. Cut the pack and place the bottom half on top of the top half, holding a left little finger break between the two. Run your left thumb down the left outer corner of the pack, asking a spectator to call stop. Time the riffle so that he stops you at or immediately above the break. Bring your right hand over and lift up all the cards above the break as you offer the spectator the top card of the lower half, the eight. Have the eight replaced on top of the 112

pack and give the deck a quick false shuffle, controlling it back to the top. Turn over the top two cards as one using the double lift. Boldly state, "This is your card!" When the spectator denies this, you question his vision as above. Flip the double card face down on top of the pack and then deal the top card, the eight, face down on the table. Grab your chart and ask him to read the third row. Block as many letters not in the third row as possible. This prevents premature disclosure of the card hidden in the letters of the chart. If they complete the third row without breaking into a smile, they haven't spotted the message. So, ask them to read the fourth row. If they don't catch on then, have them start at the top and read each row sequentially. The longer it takes for them to notice the message, the funnier it will be. Finish the routine as above by revealing the selection on the table. Simon Aronson. Simon practices deception as a full-time profession — he's an attorney. He is well known in magic for his work with the memorized pack and his quality magic books including The Card Ideas of Simon Aronson (1978) Sessions (1982, with Dave Solomon) The Aronson Approach (1990) and Bound To Please (1994). The latter is a compilation of earlier publications. Simon is one of the members of the Chicago session group which now meets, according to Simon, "in my kitchen." I recently visited Chicago and participated in one with Simon, Dave Solomon, Jim Krenz, and John Bannon. Simon's kitchen features a panoramic view from almost thirty stories up of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago. Simon's delightful better half, Virginia ("Ginny") is also an attorney and together they do some incredible two-person mind-reading. (I still don't have a clue.)

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE PAIRABLE

Tom Craven Tom is a master of taking a trick you couldn't use to fool a wall, changing it, and then fooling all the people in front of the wall with it. His Super Speller and Cascade from Volume One are two of my favorite tricks. This effect is presented as a test effect for the magician, almost a challenge. Note that he is challenging himself, not the audience. Effect. The magician takes a borrowed and shuffled pack from the spectator. Cutting off the top half, he spreads it face up on the table. He slides two cards out of the spread which indicate a third card. For example, he slides out one card with a value of five and another with the suit hearts. He gathers all the cards except for the two just removed. He now cuts the pack and turns over the top card. It is the five of hearts. This can be repeated with the spectator shuffling as desired. The Work. Start with a spectatorshuffled pack. As you turn the top two thirds of the pack face up to spread them on the table, secretly glimpse the bottom card of the pack. Assume it is the five of hearts. Push a five and a heart from the spread toward the spectator. The five should be on the spectator's left. While the cards are spread on the table, take this opportunity to note the bottom (backmost) card of the face up spread. (You can forget the first card you noted, the five, and concentrate on this new key.) You won't need this information now, but you will use it should you decide to repeat this accomplishment. Assume it is the ace of diamonds. Reassemble the pack, being careful not to flash the bottom card as you replace the tabled cards face down on top of the pack. Now, act as though you are about to accomplish a difficult maneuver as you double cut the bottom card of the pack to the top. Pause as if you aren't sure of your success, and slowly turn

over the top card of the pack. Take your bows. Now execute an overhand shuffle, running the first card singly followed by the rest of the pack. This sends the ace of diamonds to the bottom ready for the repeat. Pick up the three tabled cards and casually stick them in the middle of the pack. Cut the top two thirds of the pack face up to the table and spread them. Pick up the above instructions from this point. Leftovers. I have to admit that I have only done this for magicians. I am not sure why this fools them, only that it does. Perhaps, since they are not sure of the location of the card you are predicting, they may feel it has a betterthan-equal chance of it being one of the face up cards. This, of course, would never happen if you perform it as explained. I have also limited my use of this to occasions when a spectator happens to flash the bottom card during a shuffle. Armed with this knowledge, I ask him to cut off the top two thirds of the pack and spread them on the table. I pull out the appropriate key cards and then ask him to reassemble the pack by, "Replacing the tabled cards on the pack." Up until this point, it would seem impossible that I could cut to any card. I then take the pack from him, breathe deeply as I lapse into deep cerebral meditation, and then proceed to do the impossible. (Okay, sometimes it gets real deep when I'm performing.) After having set the audience up with the fact that I can do it under test conditions such as the spectator shuffle, those conditions tend to carry over to the repeat in the minds of the spectators. That is, once they shuffle the pack, additional shuffles would seem superfluous. I have only handled the pack to cut to the desired card. I would not have had time to set up any of the cards. By noting the bottom card of the face up 114

SINGULARITIES spread again and providing the appropriate overhand shuffle as above, I am equipped for the repeat without touching the pack again. I return the pack to the spectator and ask him to spread the top half out again. Tom Craven. Tom is one of my closest friends in magic. Unfortunately, he lives about M00 miles away in Ohio so we have to communicate by long-distance. Tom is a master of close-up magic, writing the Linking Ring's monthly close-up column, Havenly Close-Up. Tom is currently traveling around with his wife Nancy giving his ninth completely

different lecture. He is the youngest sixty-yearold at the annual Fechters Finger Flicking Frolic. If you can't find him still up at 5:00 a.m. every morning doing card tricks, you're at the wrong convention. In addition to nine separate sets of lecture notes, The Sixteenth Card Book, and two books on the magic of John Quine, there is T.I.P.S. ("Tom in print somewhere"). The next volume will have to include his contributions to both volumes of Semi-Automatic Card Tricks, The Minotaur, and The Trapdoor.

"The audience must be shown when to look, where to look, and when to applaud." Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant in Our Magic (911)

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THREE WAYS Simon Lovell You are already familiar with Simon from his excellent stage routine from Volume One, Packed Wallet. Simon is known for a quick wit, British accent, and strong card magic. You may not be born with the first or able to develop the second, but here you will be provided with the third. Simon uses an entertaining patter story to cover a simple method of locating a selected card. Simon contributed this effect to me at the March 1993 Winter Carnival of Magic in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This was the second most memorable part of the convention. The first was the thirty inches of snow which stranded us in that small mountain village with 2000 Amway salesmen. In our anxiousness to exit the city and the salesmen, we left a day earlier than we should and ended up spending the night in the middle of I-40 in a twenty-plus mile traffic jam which lasted from 9:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. Some days you just have to wonder if this affection for card tricks is an addiction or an affliction. I will jump right into the method. The effect will be obvious from the description. The Work. Start with the pack set up sequentially and grouped in suits. In other words, from the top of the pack, you have the ace through king of clubs, ace through king of hearts, ace through king of spades, and ace through king of diamonds. Spread the pack face down in front of the spectators. "I could askyou to select a card

like this. But I'm going to show you the most unusual way described in magic books to find a selected card." Notice how you have used your

through the cards. Whenever you want, stop me and you can take the card at that location." Quickly thumb cards from your left hand into your right without reversing their order. As you do, silently count to yourself, "Ace, two, three, four, five ..." Whenever the spectator stops you, thumb the next card to the table for him to note. You already know the identity of the selection, but the spectators are concentrating on how you will find it because of your patter. Table the deck in front of a spectator.

"Here are the three ways a magician is taught to find a selected card from the famous book... Three Ways To Find A Selected Card. In thefirstmethod, you ask them to place their card on top of the pack." Point to the top of the pack where they are to place their selection. "The methodfor this is that you chat with

them long enough for them to forget where they put their card and then you can perform a miracle by showing the card has appeared on top of the deck. Unfortunately, this method is not surefire." "In method number two, you ask them to cut the cards, burying their card in the middle of the pack." Direct them to cut the pack and complete the cut. "While that looks fairer, in method number two the magician has sneakily looked at the bottom card of the pack so that he now knows the card which is right next to the selected card. This method works on more intelligent people, but not on the cognoscente who have studied magic." "Method number three which is at the bottom of the page is when you ask the spectator to shuffle the pack as many times as they wish." The spectator is directed to shuffle the pack. Note that these should be fairly thorough shuffles to eliminate all traces of your original stack.

patter to take the heat off the selection process and shifted it to the location of the selection. This places the heat just where you want it to fry the audience. Square the spread. "1 am going to run

"When you turn the page, it says, `Tech116

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ique: There is no known methodfor finding the chosen card at this point." Pause for this to sink in. Everything you have done up to this point is apparently for nothing. You aren't going to find the card. "So then you have to guess. So you put

on your best David Copperfield look."

At this point, Simon lifts up a strand of his hair out to the side and makes a wind-blowing sound with his mouth. This is a take-off on the easily recognizable choreography from the Copperfield specials. I have omitted this part from my presentation. My body can produce the sound — it just can't produce the hair.

"The book says to pick up the deck, look smooth, and casually wander through the deck. You are going to guess which card was chosen." You are building suspense here. Take your time. "Sigh lightly. Take a small sip of Scotch -you require couragefor this. " Spread through the cards with the faces toward you and away from the audience and remove the selection. Table it face down. Spread the rest of the now thoroughly shuffled deck face up on the table. Ask for the name of the selection. Point to the face down selection. Ask them to turn the card face up for the climax. Simon Lovell. The last four of Simon's

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thirty-seven years have been spent in the United States. Prior to that, he lived in Manchester, England with his other three passions --- golf, pool, and poker. He married and now resides in Connecticutt. He specializes in magic for bars and country clubs and has lately started lecturing for magic groups all over the world. L & L Publishing will be bringing out a new book featuring his magic in 1995. His Packed Wallet from Volume One is a great platform item. I worked a convention with him in January of 1994, the New England Magician's Convention ("NEMCON"). We were both on the stage show together and he suggested that we do something together. Days passed, and since we hadn't come up with anything as of ten minutes before show time, I assumed we were not going to do anything. I bumped into him out in the lobby five minutes before the show and he said he was ready for whatever it was we were going to do together. During the following five minutes, we came up with a trick using the entire audience. Despite its warm reception (who says northerners aren't kind?) the quality of the trick can perhaps best be explained by its absence from this volume.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Jack Birnman This effect, while not physically challenging, has the appearance of requiring sleight of hand. If you can hold a break, you can do this trick. As with all of Jack's routines, it is efficient both in method and effect. Effect. Four aces are placed on the table. The deck is formed into a triangle, per the Bermuda Triangle title above. One of the aces is placed into the pack. An indifferent card is taken from the pack and waved over the remaining three tabled-aces. They change to match the indifferent card. The aces are found face up in the middle of the pack. The Work. During the course of the previous trick, obtain the following arrangement at the top of the pack: three kings, four aces, and the fourth king. Hold the deck in the left hand in dealing position and get a break under the top seven cards. You can do this by casually spreading the top cards and then squaring them, procuring the break in the process. Thumb the top four cards over into the right hand. "If you play poker, you know that the four aces are a powerful hand." Replace the four cards squared on top and then turn over all seven cards above the break. Spread the first three cards (only) to reveal the four aces. "But I' m not going to show you a gambling trick." Square the packet and flip all seven cards face down, retaining a break beneath them. Deal the top four cards into a face down pile on the table. These are supposed to be the aces they just saw. However, from the top down, they are an ace followed by three kings. From the top down, the pack consists of three aces, a break, a king, and the rest of the pack. You are now going to perform a Braue reversal as follows. Transfer the pack from the left hand to the right hand which holds it from above in Biddle position. The right thumb

takes possession of the break beneath the top three cards. Riffle off the bottom half of the pack into the palm up left hand. Rotate this half over and around face up onto the top half of the pack, adding it to the cards above the break. Now release all the cards beneath the break into the palm up left hand. Turn this portion face up, placing it underneath the first, tilted to the left in a V-formation as shown in figure 1. This is similar to the Charlier pass position. "Here's my `Bermuda Triangle.' Okay, you have to use a little imagination here. As you know, strange things take place in The Bermuda Triangle." Pick up the top card of the tabled pile. You can flash its face showing it to be an ace. Place it along your left thumb, completing the triangle as shown in figure 2. "For instance, when I place one of these aces in the triangle, anything can happen." After showing the triangle, allow the face down card to fall between the two face up halves. Your right hand can help the process. Note that it goes in face down immediately beneath the other three face down aces.

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SINGULARITIES This king will do. When I wave it over these aces —look! They allchange to kings!" Use the king to flip the tabled cards face up, showing the four kings. Ribbon spread the aces on the table showing the four aces face up in the middle. Leftovers. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina so I have an added line for this routine. There is a large research and development area called Research Triangle Park. The "triangle" is formed by the three universities, N.C. State, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Duke University. I introduce the Bermuda Triangle by saying that there is a lot of research in process trying to discover its secrets. "They do their research in the . . . Research Triangle. Thus, the name of the park." I'll know the line is not as bad as your groaning would indicate if there is a sudden influx of magicians into the Raleigh area.

Turn the deck face down in the left hand in dealing position. Turn the top card of the pack face up, the king. "Let's take any card.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

ROLLOUT

Steve Beam This is a flash revelation of a selected card. While it may take a while to acquire the knack, it is not at all difficult. You may even find you hit it the first time. The hardest thing to acquire is consistency. This will come with practice. Effect. The magician cuts the selected card into the pack. Holding the pack between his thumb and forefinger to prevent the use of any sleight of hand, he flips the pack into the air. The pack lands facedown on the table, with the selection face up on top. The Control. Control the selection face up to the bottom of the pack using your favorite method. My favorite method is Woody Landers' Finger Flinger Reversal (The Trapdoor, issue #9). Since Woody's method is not selfworking, I tried to come up with a method which would control the selection to the desired location. This handling of the Braue Reversal is the result. Note that the regular Braue Reversal controls the top card of the face down pack to a position face down on the bottom of a face up pack. You can't simply reverse the process because you will flash the face of the selection on the top of the face up pack when you start. Control the selection to the top of the pack. (Refer to the Bye Pass Operation located in the section on moves.) Pick up a break underneath the top card as you take the pack in the right hand in Biddle position. "Your card is lost somewhere in the middle of the pack. I could try to cut to it like this . . ." Riffle off the lower half of the pack into the palm up left hand. Flip this half up and over face up onto the right hand's half. As you square the cards, maintain a break beneath the selection. Now release all the cards beneath the break into your left hand and flip them over

face up and place them beneath the cards in the right hand. "Or, like this ... but that would just be luck." Square the pack. The selection is reversed in the middle of the pack. Now flip the pack face down and cut it beneath the single face up card. This is automatic because of the natural bow that will exist with a face up card among the face down cards. The single face up card acts like a breather crimp making it almost impossible to cut elsewhere. Complete the cut, sending the selection to a position face up on the bottom of the pack. I prefer this handling to the Finger Ringer Reversal if I am using this to reveal one of the four aces in a succession of flourishes. I use Woody's control when working with a selected card. The Revelation. With the selection reversed on the bottom of the pack, take the deck in your right hand between your right thumb and forefinger as shown in figure 1. You are now going to use your forefinger to flip the deck over in the air. It will revolve, book fashion, a full 360 degrees and fall onto the

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table face down. If it revolves more or less than 360 degrees, the revelation will not work properly. Simply by following the instruction from the last paragraph, the reversed card should have revealed itself face up at the conclusion of the spin. Let me explain why it works. First, the card when reversed on the bottom has a natural separation between it and the rest of the deck. As the deck is spun in the air, the air current flows between this card and the deck proper. This current pivots the card way from the deck. As the deck pivots around, the face up card remains face up. It should fall face up onto the face down deck. The second reason this works is the drag the first finger has on the card. It pulls on the card which further aids in the separation and keeps this card from flipping over with the rest of the deck. If you find you have problems with this, you might try some of the following suggestions: (1) This will not work with an old or sticky deck. The deck doesn't have to be new, but the cards must be able to slide around on each other. (2) Make sure the cards are not perfectly

flat. Most decks have a character all their own. After continual tricks or card-playing, they develop a bend to them. This bend, as explained above, plays an important part in the working of the trick. If a bend isn't already there, put one there. (3) Do not intentionally drag the bottom card out with the forefinger. The amount of drag that occurs naturally should be sufficient. (4) Make sure the deck makes exactly a 360 degree revolution. Too much or too little will cause the selection to fly off to one side. A few degrees can make all the difference. (5) If the card doesn't fall face up on top of the face down pack, it may still land face up immediately beside the pack. This is acceptable. Such variations in outcome tend to make the performance that much more exciting for the magician. Background. Rollout was originally published in issue #9 of The Trapdoor (1984). However, I wasn't happy with any of the controls which reversed the selection on the bottom of the pack. They all used sleight of hand. Then it dawned on me that the Braue Reversal along with a cut at the natural break would accomplish exactly what was needed.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

CARD CLEAVAGE

Steve Beam Extend the deck toward one ofthe spectators and ask her to blow on the deck. As soon as she does, the right hand moves suddenly about three inches to the right and then immediately back to where it started. If you do this correctly, the top and bottom cards will remain in the right hand while the rest of the deck will shoot into the palm up left hand which is waiting there to catch the pack. This is not a flourish. The less motion there is, the better. Your right hand is left holding two face down cards. "You see, that's all it takes to split the four into two... deuces." As you say this, your left thumb is snapping the left edges of the cards in the right hand to highlight the fact that you are now holding two cards. Pause for a second, then turn them face up in the right hand. You are also showing that the four is nowhere to be seen. Display the deuces as shown in figure 2. "Of course, the deuces were not always deuces. At the factory, deuces are assembled by combining two aces." While all attention is on the deuces in your right hand, your left little finger digs itself

This is an excellent opener to a four ace trick such as the QuadruplePrediction located in Volume One. It is a visual effect, unlike many of the self-working tricks. Effect. The magician shows a four. Blowing on it, it splits into two deuces. Rubbing the deuces on his sleeve, they split into the four aces. The Work. The setup from the face of the deck is as follows: deuce, four aces, 45 cards in random order,= a four, and a deuce. Hold the deck face down in the left hand in dealing position and obtain a left little finger break under the top two cards. (The break is to facilitate a double lift. If you don't require a "get-ready," forget the break.) With your right hand from above, lift up the top two cards of the pack as if they were one. This will show the four, with a deuce secretly behind it. "This four wasn't always a four. In fact, at the factory, it started out as two deuces." Drop the two cards back on top of the pack. Take the deck in the right hand with the thumb on the top and the fingers underneath as shown in figure 1.

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into the deck about ten cards up from the bottom. It accomplishes this by pulling down at least seven or eight cards at the near right corner. See figure 3. This is hidden from the audience's view by the deck. Rotate the deuces face down again and apparently place them on the bottom of the pack. Actually, place them into the break formed by the left little finger. Square the deck and immediately take it in the right hand from above. Rub the face of the pack on your left sleeve as in figure 4. "If the deuces are placed

somewhere warm — like the bottom of the deck —and they arerubbed a bit, you can seethat they

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Flip the deck over face up into the left hand and deal off the four aces onto the table. If you are sure you placed the deuces in the pack sufficiently above the aces, you should spread the next few indifferent cards to show the deuces are completely gone. Alternate Ending #1. If you are conversant with a color change which transfers the back card of the pack to the front, do not deal the aces to the table. Instead, leave them on the face of the pack. You can then execute the change, changing the four aces back to the four with just a pass of the hand. Alternate Ending #2. If you don't perform a color change of the type just mentioned, you can use moves you just learned to recombine the aces into the four. Rather than dealing the four aces to the table at the conclusion of the trick, thumb them off the face of the deck into the right hand. While your right hand displays the aces, use your left little finger to pull down three or four cards at the near right corner again. This is the same move you used a moment ago except that (1) the deck is face up and (2) you are biting off fewer cards. Before you had to pull down the four aces plus a few extra cards. Now you only have to pull down the single card, the four, plus a few extra cards. Insert the acesinto the break and square the pack. You have apparently placed them on the bottom of the face up deck. Turn the deck face down and riffle the near edge for effect. Snap your right fingers and turn over the top card showing a four. To emphasize that the aces are completely gone, I drop the four onto the table. After I acknowledge the audience's response, I turn the new top card of the pack face up and use it to scoop up the four from the table top. This conveys, without my having to say it, that the aces are gone. Background. The initial splitting action from the four to the two deuces was inspired by an old gambling false shuffle called

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO the milk build shuffle. (Reference page 145 of John Nevil Maskelyne's Sharps and Flats, originally published in 1894.) More recently, the action has been used to sandwich a selection between the top and bottom cards as published in Harvey Rosenthal's handling of Reinhard Muller's 3Card Catch. The original version can be found in the July 1971 issue of Karl Fulves' Pallbearer's Review. Harvey's handling, the popular rendition of the original, can be found in the October 1971 issue of the same publication. It is also the cover feature of Karl Fulves' Self-Working Card Tricks. By adding a double lift and turning the principle cards face down, I was able to obtain

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a splitting rather than a sandwich effect. Pieces of this were originally published in issue #22 of The Trapdoor (1988). At that time, I had not come up with the self-working second ending which fits so well with the routine. Just as a side note, the same milking action is used to produce four aces in Frank Shields' Four Card Display Move from Jerry Mentzer's Card Cavalcade Four (1977). This is one of the best sleight of hand ace productions available. According to the text which accompanies the description, this predates the Muller handling since it was originally scheduled to be published in Hugard and Braue's Royal Road to Card Magic (1949).

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PUZZLER

Steve Beam I like just about all kinds of magic. Included in this vast assortment is a group called puzzle tricks. These are tricks with negligible entertainment value other than when shown to fellow magicians. This particular trick is a good representative of the standard mathematical location and is very hard to backtrack. Find a magician and have fun. Effect. A spectator notes and remembers a card. The magician hands the pack to the spectator who then proceeds to locate his own card. The Work. Take a shuffled pack. Spread it face up, apparently to show its mixed condition. Actually, you want to glimpse the top and bottom cards of the pack. Add their values together. If the sum is more than seventeen, cut the pack between two other cards whose sum would be seventeen or less. This sum is your secret key number. For the sake of example, we will assume the top card of the pack is a six and the bottom card is a seven. Your key number is thirteen. You are now going to have a card selected and returned to a specific location. Start

spreading the cards from your left hand to your right. Do not offer the spread for a selection yet. First you need to get some of your secret counting out of the way. Start counting with the top card equal to the number just above your key number. In this example, your key is thirteen. The top card is fourteen, the second card is fifteen, etc. Continue spreading the pack until you arrive at the number thirty-four. The card at the count of thirty-four is your second key. You can count by twos, threes, or fours to speed the process. As you reach the second key, offer the spread to a spectator to make a selection. Use your right fingers to retain contact with the second key. You want the spectator to touch a card beneath your second key. When he touches a card, outjog it as shown in figure 1. Now, move all the cards above and including the second key forward. As you do, your right second finger rests on the face of the outjogged card and drags it forward with the cards above the second key. See figure 2. Lift the right hand's cards up so the spectator can see the face

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO of the card he selected. Now lower the right hand's cards and place them back on top of the left hand's packet. Square the pack. The selection is now directly under your second key at the 22nd position (34-13+1=22). A false cut at this point would help the illusion. Hand the deck to the spectator who chose the card. "It's time for my break. So, I' m going to let you find your own card. I want you to split the deck into three perfectly even piles. Please deal one third of the deck, seventeen cards, right here." Point to a spot on the table where the spectator is to deal the cards singly and face down. "Please deal another seventeen cards here beside the first pile." Point to a spot to the right (your right) of the first pile. Finally have

him drop the remaining third to the right of the other piles. He does not deal the last third. He simply places them on the table. The rest of the trick works itself. Ask him to turn over the two outside piles. He is to add the values of the face cards of the piles. Since the six and seven are on the face, the sum is thirteen. Instruct him to pick up the middle pile and deal down to the thirteenth card. It will be his selection. Background. This was inspired by Warren Wiersbe's Numerical Discovery from his Action With Cards. This version eliminates a complete deal through of the deck and uses two indicators instead of one. Puzzler was originally published in issue #6 of The Trapdoor (1985).

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PUZZLER II Steve Beam This is a variation of the Puzzler. While I don't like it as well as Puzzler, I include it because it enables you to use any two cards without being concerned whether their sum is less than seventeen. I will assume you are conversant with its predecessor. Effect. This has the same effect as the original. The Work. Take a shuffled deck and glimpse the top and bottom cards. Add them together to arrive at your first key. Assume there is a ten on both top and bottom. That will give you a key of twenty. Start counting the top card as 21, then 22, then 23, etc. as you spread the cards for a selection. You must spread count to a number at least twice your key number so you must count past the number forty (2 X 20 = 40). This should be done quickly (and without moving your lips) to avoid suspicion. Once you spread past the card at the key position, the spectator can touch any card. Let's say that he touches the card at the forty-fourth position. (Remember that we are talking about relative positions here. The selection falls at the count of forty-four. It is actually the twentyfourth card from the top of the pack.)

When the card at the count of forty-four is selected, it becomes your key card and the number forty-four becomes your new key number. Have the chosen card controlled immediately beneath your new key card as in the last trick. Square the deck and hand it to your spectator. Divide your new key number by two yielding twenty-two (44 / 2 = 22). Hold your hand mysteriously over the deck as if you are getting a psychic impression. "I am getting an impression of the number twenty-two. Please deal twenty-two cards here on the table." The spectator deals the desired number of cards to the table. "Deal another pile of twenty-two cards here to the (my) right of the first pile." He deals another pile of the same number. "Place the last pile to the right of the first two." You are now in the same position you were in at the end of the last trick. Ask the spectator to turn the two outside piles face up and add the values of the cards on the face of the packets. He will arrive at the number twenty since there is a ten on the face of each of the packets. Instruct him to deal down to the 22nd card where he will find his selection.

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TWO TIMING AUSSIE Doug Canning While it seems to have confused a lot of people, I thought the title of this book was selfevident. Semi-Automatic to me implied that the tricks were not totally automatic, but they were partially. They were to be physically selfworking. I don't believe that any trick is totally automatic, presentation being a requirement for all public performances. However, this trick is as close to automatic as one gets. Effect. Two spectators mentally think of a card from a random group of ten. With very little "process," the magician is able to locate the selections. The Work. From a borrowed and shuffled pack, ask a spectator to your left to deal ten cards face down to the table. "Think of a number from one to nine. You can think of one or nine, or any number in between. This can be a random numberora significant one, such as the number of lives your cat has remaining. And just to make it interesting, why don't you whisper your number to your neighbor." Turn to spectator #2 to your right. " S o that you have a unique number, why don't you add one to his (the first spectator's) number. Now that each of you have a number, I would like you to remember the card which falls at your number." Pick up the ten card heap in your left hand and hold them with the faces toward the spectators and backs toward you. Transfer the cards one at a time from your left to your right hand without reversing the order. Count each card as it makes its journey, pausing long enough for the spectators to associate a card with their mentally chosen value. Once the spectators have made their mental card selections, square the packet of ten. Hold the cards face down in your left hand in dealing position. You are now going to execute a quick false shuffle. Since you are holding a packet consisting of only ten cards, it might

more aptly be considered a series of false cuts. Thumb the top three cards over into the right hand which takes them as a group between the thumb on top and fingers underneath. Thumb over three more which are taken on top of the first three. Finally, place the remaining four cards on top of the first six. Square the packet and retake it in the left hand. Repeat the series backwards. That is, instead of pushing packets of three, three, then four, push packets of four, three, then three. This effectively reverses the original mixing, returning the packet to its initial order. You are now going to cut the packet in the exact center and complete the cut. Simply proceed with this action as if it was a continuation of the previous actions. During this mixing procedure, you should not be looking at the cards. Instead, you will talk with the audience. "If I could simply name your cards right now, that would be quite a feat wouldn't it?" Pause for a response. "But I'm after a big hand, not a big feat. Let me try something else." Hand the packet back to spectator #1. " Take the cards behind your back and transfer a number of cards equal to your secret number from the top of the packet to the bottom. You can move them all together or one at a time." As he brings the packet forward at the conclusion of this, you appear to have another thought. "Go ahead and transfer one more card, so we can be sure to get his (spectator #2's) card too." This puts the cards in position for what is about to happen. The spectators' selections are at the fourth and fifth positions from the top respectively. Take the packet from the spectator in the left hand in dealing position. Perform the Australian deal as follows. Deal the top card to the table. Tuck the second card underneath the packet. Deal the third card on top of the

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SINGULARITIES previously tabled card. Tuck the fourth card underneath. "You have no doubt recognized the Australian EliminationDeal whichl am using to discard the cards I don't think are yours." Continue dealing until you have one card remaining in your hands. It will be the first spectator's selection. Ask the spectator to name his card before dramatically snapping it face up. Pick up the tabled cards as you address the second spectator. "You took the second selection. Your card will be twice as hard to locate which meansl' m going to have to do twice as much work." Pause for this line to sink in. "I sense your worry and concernfor me Thanks." This last line is delivered sarcastically since there will be very little worry and concern if the first card you revealed was indeed the first selection. (If it was not the first selection you revealed, the worry and concern would more aptly be displayed on your face.) "I will have to execute the famous Australian Double Down and Under Elimination Deal—that is, two cards ata time. You may wish to stand back, I don't want anyone to get hurt." You now have a choice. Doug prefers to deal two cards singly to the table, then tuck two cards singly underneath. With the patter I use ( in italics above) I think it's not only quicker

but more consistent to simply push two cards over together into the right hand and table them. Now push two more over and take them as a unit to the bottom of the packet. It will work either way, it's your choice. When you are finished with one card in your hands, "What was the name of your card?" He tells you. "You will notice thatl am now left with one card. Coincidence? Perhaps." Flip the card face up. "But what a coincidence!" Leftovers. This is not exactly the way Doug submitted this but the changes have met with his approval. He takes the packet out of sight after they note a card rather than mixing them. He takes them underneath the table, "to put the selections in the correct positions." During this period out of sight, Doug cuts the packet in the exact middle. He then brings them back out and continues with the effect by handing them the packet to take behind their backs. Since Doug does a lot of work for magicians, keeping the fact that he needs to cut five cards from the top to the bottom a secret, he can repeat the trick as often as he wishes. Doug also wanted it clear that there was one more piece of this trick that was not his --the patter. Hmmm, I wonder what he meant by that.

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ONE-DECK WONDER

Stewart James This effect is best when performed with a borrowed, shuffled, pack of fifty-two playing cards. I like it better this way than with an incomplete pack which will not produce the chosen card at the conclusion. Effect. The magician takes a borrowed pack and removes seventeen cards. Four cards, represent the four suits are tabled face up. Another thirteen, representing the values, are also removed and tabled face up. One card is removed from each pile, "a suit card" and "a value card." The spectator than chooses a card from the balance of the pack. When the two predictions are turned face up, the magician shows that he correctly predicted both the suit and the value. The Work. The card which the spectator will choose will be one of two force cards. In this example, he can choose from the five of spades or the queen of hearts. As you are removing the suit and value packets, arrange to maneuver these two cards to positions ninth and eighteenth from the top of the pack. It does not matter which is where, only that they occupy the two positions. Further, as you remove the seventeen cards, make sure the five of hearts ends in one of the packets and the queen of spades in the other. Note that these two cards are the crossmatches of the cards you just positioned in the pack. State that you have just removed seventeen cards from the pack, so that leaves thirtyfive. Direct a spectator to choose a number between ten and thirty-five. "We require a twodigit number to demonstrate a numerological miracle, so concentrate for a moment and then name any number you wish between ten and thirty-five." If a number is chosen below thirty, use the count-back force to arrive at the card. In

other words, assume they choose twenty-two. They would deal twenty-two cards from the top of the pack to the table. Then they would pick up the tabled pile and add the two digits of their number together for a sum of four (2+2=4). They would deal four cards back onto the other pile. The next card in the packet they hold is their selection. It will either be the five of spades or the queen of hearts. Turn the prediction cards over and interpret the prediction so that it matches the selection. If the selection is the five of spades, then the five of hearts is the prediction for the value and the queen of spades is the prediction for the suit. If the queen of hearts is the selection, the five of hearts is the prediction for the suit and the queen of spades is the prediction for the value. If they choose a number thirty or higher, follow the same procedure but deal all the cards face up. The ninth card from the top is the twenty-seventh card from the face. Leftovers. Obviously, you can use the cards which fall naturally at theninth and eighteenth positions from the top. Or, you can take the shuffled pack at the beginning of the effect and spread through noting the first and tenth cards from the face. Continue spreading until you have spread a total of eighteen cards (eight past the tenth card) and cut these to the back of the pack. Then you can search for the desired seventeen cards. Background. This effect was culled from a letter from Stewart to Francis Haxton dated April 15, 1950. It uses the nine-force or Count-Back Force. Apparently, the first time this was applied to playing cards was in Billy O'Connor's After The Four-Ace Trick in the June/September, 1935 issue of The Magic Wand. It required four separate counts to produce the four aces.

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Stewart James. If you do magic, you already know Stewart. Miraskill, Sefalaljia, and Further Than That are just three of his classic creations. There are dozens more. His Stewart James in Print--The First Fifty Years is a thousand-page, must-read for any serious student of magic. The sequel, The James File is currently in preparation and will consist of another 500-plus tricks, 95% of which haven't yet seen print. These two books alone will eat up better than six inches or 10 percent of the proverbial five-foot bookshelf of required reading for magicians.

Born in 1908 and starting magic eight years later, Stewart pioneered semi-automatic magic. Referring to sleight of hand as "muscle magic," he has spent most of his creative time devising subtleties and devious alternatives to sleights. One has only to skim his incredibly prodigious output to see the endless possibilities with this branch of the art. His first published effect was in 1926. Besides his many books, and LII-kelihood in Volume One, you will find his material in Arcane, Jinx, New Phoenix, New Tops, Phoenix, etcetera, etcetera.

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GOOSED

Steve Beam You are about to read the story of a man who has allowed himself to lose all sense of proportion relating to card tricks. This sad tale is one of affliction. It is the depiction of a man who has gone over the edge. Yes, he has crossed the line and is now in the Marlovian Twilight Zone. It all started about twenty years ago when I first learned a self-working trick called, among other things, "Pairs Repaired." This is the ancient Mutus Noreen Dedit Cocis. In the original, people are allowed to choose pairs of cards from a total of twenty cards. Each person remembers a pair. The pairs are gathered into a pile which is dealt randomly face up on the table in four rows of five cards (a four by five card matrix). One by one, the magician asks each spectator which row or rows contain his or her pair. After being furnished with this information, the magician reveals the spectator's two selections. This is repeated with each spectator who chose a pair. It can be used for up to ten spectators. The trick is based upon a mnemonic which uses the following Latin words: MUTUS NOMEN DEDIT COCIS These words have special properties. You will notice that the four words contain exactly ten pairs of different letters. That is, there are two Ms, two Us, two Ts, etcetera. Further, each word contains no more than one pair. That is, "MUTUS" contains two Us and three other single letters. "NOMEN" contains two Ns and three other single letters. The fact that there are two (no more and no less) of each letter and that each word con-

tains no more than one pair allow the trick to work. To perform, take the ten pairs back from the spectator. You don't know which pairs were chosen, but you know they are grouped in pairs. Imagine the words above on your closeup mat. The "M" from "MUTUS" is at the top left corner (your view). Deal the top card on the mat face up where the imaginary "M" is. Deal the next card face up where the match to the " M" is. This would be the "M" in the middle of the word "NOMEN". Place the card in that location. Return to the top row to find the next pair of letters, the Us. The third card is dealt right next to the first where the imaginary U from "MUTUS" is located. The fourth card is dealt in the location occupied by the other "U". It happens to be in the same word, "MUTUS." Place this card in the top row also, leaving a space for the third letter in "MUTUS," the ".I.

Continue this procedure until all the pairs are exhausted. By distributing the ten pairs of cards in the same distribution as the ten pairs of letters in the above words, you will be able to locate the selections by knowing which row(s) contain each pair. Note that this dealing just explained must appear to be random. Ask the first spectator which of the four rows contain his pair. If he were to say the first row and the second, you would run through the mnemonic to yourself. Since the only pair of letters represented in both rows is the "M," his pair consists of the first card in the first row and the third card in the second row. If he said his pair was in the first and third row, you would recognize the "T" as the only letter in both rows. Thus, his pair would consist of the third card in the first row and the fifth card in the third row.

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SINGULARITIES In the final example, if he said that his pair was contained entirely in the fourth row, you would know that the letter "C" is the only letter repeated in the fourth row. His pair would consist of the first and third cards of the fourth row. For what it's worth, according to Professor Hoffman's 1874 book, Modern Magic, " Mutus dedit nomen Cocis, which being interpreted, signifies, 'Mutus gave a name to the Coci,' a people as yet undiscovered." I assume the professor knows what he's talking about. He opens his book with "Populus vult decipi decipiatur." Let's face it, the man could turn a phrase. Important Note. The rest of this discussion is derived from the principle explained above and is therefore dependent upon it. If you are not thoroughly familiar with the foundation, you will not understand what follows. Now might be a good time to reread the above to develop a complete understanding. The first improvement on the above that I learned was Annemann's updated words for the effect. Rather than use the Latin words which were hard to remember themselves, the missing Jinx Extra contained: GOOSE ATLAS RILER THIGH You will notice the above combination contains exactly ten pairs of different letters and none of the four words contains more than one matching pair. You will also note that the word "Riler" is not a really a word. In Jay Marshall's Instant Magic, you will find the word "Bible" substituted for "Riler." In 1988, I was preparing for a session with some other magicians at Paul Sorrentino's house in Virginia. Knowing that most magicians are not familiar with (and are therefore fooled by) Pairs Repaired, I ran through it a couple of times to attain the speed necessary to

make the deal-through appear random and natural. While working on the trick, I felt that the full potential of the effect had not been realized. My first thought was that it didn't make sense to use only twenty cards. My second thought was that the use of pairs in the effect seemed to point to the method. There should be a way to increase the number of cards and to downplay or disguise the use of pairs. These two became my goals as I worked with the trick. The original trick is very strong. Up to ten people think of cards. You can reveal up to twenty cards. That alone is impressive. When you realize they are merely thought of, not removed, the effect is even more astonishing. With this in mind, I proceeded with the following "refinements." These are not all major enhancements. My dictionary (The American Heritage Dictionary) defines "refine" as, "To use subtlety and precise distinctions in thought or speech." Keeping in mind the two goals above, note the way subtlety and precise distinctions have moved me closer to my destination. Refinement #1. The original trick is a puzzle. It can't be repeated for the same audience as they might recognize the dealing pattern. Then it dawned on me that it was a simple matter to change the order of the words in the mnemonic. This does not affect the outcome as the order does not play a part in the method. Simply reverse the words so you have Cocis, Dedit, Nomen, Mutus. You could also change the deal so that the words are spelled in columns. This would further throw off spectators when they were asked in which columns ( not rows) their pairs reside. Refinement #2. Twenty cards just didn't seem to be as impressive as the trick could be. After all, finding two cards out of twenty doesn' t sound as impressive as the usual one card in fifty-two. With John Riggs' help, I later discovered Phil Goldstein's Silentwe, a 1982 pamphlet dealing entirely with this trick. In it, he mentions that the trick should be

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performed with a closed set of objects. That is, something which is normally found in groups of twenty. He then dealt with T. A. Waters' solution which used the 22 Major Arcana cards of a Tarot deck. (However, since I don't wear a goatee, this idea was useless to me.) Since a deck of cards is normally found in sets of fifty-two (or fifty-four with jokers) I wanted to do the trick with fifty-two cards. Finding thirteen four letter words which contained all twenty-six letters duplicated only once and with no more than one duplicate pair in each word seemed to be a little more than the effort I was willing to expend. Also, cutting the number of columns seemed to make the trick easier to do, not more difficult. This led me to my first major refinement. Why not bluff with the remaining thirtytwo cards? That is, after dealing the cards in the grid outlined above, why not continue filling in the available table space with the next thirtytwo cards? This solution would make any group of objects a closed set. To make the trick more impressive, I had the twenty cards (or ten pairs) returned to the middle of the pack. I accomplished this by spreading a known quantity of cards, say eight, into the right hand. I would then separate the spread at this point for the return of the cards. Then, I would deal out the first eight indifferent cards before arriving at my twenty card stack. I would deal this out in the "Goose" grid above. The remaining twenty-four cards would then be dealt out in any fashion -- extending both rows and columns. I showed this to Gary Plants and he suggested that the first eight cards be used as a border. The border, represented by Xs would be dealt around the grid as follows. XXX GOOS E ATLAS XBI BLEX T H I GH XXX

Since you will eventually have fiftytwo cards on the table, it is important to remember the first card of your setup. This is the card which falls at the first "G" in the northwest corner of the grid. By visualizing this card as the starting point of the twenty card grid, you will not be confused by the indifferent cards which surround the grid. After filling in the grid, fill in the spaces between the "X" cards on the border. Then, either extend the current rows or columns. With a fifty-four card deck containing two jokers, you may like a rectangular layout. This would consist of six rows of nine cards or nine rows of six cards. I think an untidy approach is better. I think ending up with a few extra cards which can be tacked on to the end of a couple of rows adds to the apparent randomness of the procedure. Refinement #3. The fact that I was now able to apparently do the trick with all fiftytwo cards did not satisfy me. I was still going to have to limit the spectators' selections to ten pairs or twenty cards. I wanted more. My thoughts were to lengthen the words involved. Instead of four words of five letters, why not five words of six letters? It didn't matter that Professor Hoffman's Modern Magic provided a twenty-four letter solution where the cards were dealt in triplets, instead of pairs in The Magic Triplets. The most magical thing about this combination would have been my ability to memorize the mnemonic (LIVINI, LANATA, LEVETE, NOVOTO) without a tattoo. Using the five hour trip home from Paul's house, I wrote a series of six computer programs designed to locate the words I needed. I started with the computerized dictionary from the word processor. From this, I extracted all the words which were no more than six letters in length and repeated no more than one letter. This resulted in 1400 words to test. The computer started with the first of these 1400 and found 400 words which would work in conjunction with it. Then it looked at the first word of the 400 and found about 90

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which would work with the first two. It was to continue until it hand tested all possible combinations of the original 1400 words. I let this program run all night. The next morning, I came in and discovered an error in my logic. I spent two hours correcting this and started all over again. Another night revealed another error. Then, over the three day New Years holiday, I let it run the whole weekend. It didn't locate any perfect matches. Only after a couple of days of thinking about it did I realize that while I located all combinations, I only tested about a thousand. After the computer spent all its time finding the combinations, I was testing the first in each file, then killing off the files and moving on to the next word. To complete this windfall of humility, Wayne Kyzer sent me a copy of the Missing Jinx Extra. This booklet which I had read long ago contained not only the "Goose" grid, but also a six word, thirty-six letter version. I had spent all my time reinventing something which had been published over half a century earlier. Here are the words Annemann came up with without being hindered by a computer. AUGUST RAGOUT CL I NI C TOLLER NOS I NG CREASE

I was delighted to find that I had wasted forty hours of my life working on this. Then I had a revelation. I could do the trick with forty cards, not merely the "pooh-pooh" version Annemann had using only thirty-six cards. (You may notice how quickly the larger word concept fell from grace once I discovered that others had successfully trod that ground.) The solution was simply to make the grid twice, one above the other. I would have eight rows of five cards plus fourteen filler cards. This resulted in the following layout.

GOOS EX ATLAS X BI BL EX THI GHX GOOS E X ATLASX BI BL EX THI GHX XXXX XX Refinement #4. You will note that you cannot have the ten (or now twenty) pairs of cards freely cut. This is because the grouping of the pairs is critical. While you can get around this, it involves using a complicated one behind system which is not worth the effort. Instead, crimping the bottom card will allow the cards to be cut as many times as desired. This is followed by cutting the crimp back to the bottom. Agreed, this is not a major revelation. However, it beat working the one behind system just alluded to. I should mention that you can cut the cards even without a crimp as long as you cut between even numbers of cards. That is, you can cut any even number of cards from the top to the bottom. I know you are thrilled to find out this interesting but useless piece of information. To expand on this (and to provide something that is useful) you can run any even number of cards singly from the top to the bottom of the pack with an overhand shuffle. This will keep the pairs intact. Don't over work this or it will appear deliberate. Refinement #5. Now it is time to tackle the grouping of the pairs. Having the cards selected in pairs points to the fact that you locate them in pairs. You must either provide a logical explanation for having them choose pairs, or you should disguise the choice of the pairs. Attempting to explain it away led me to a strong and logical patter theme. Tell the audience that you are going to show them the magicians' version of the popular television game show, Concentration. In this show, pairs

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO of objects are on rotating panels on a board. The contestants take turns choosing two panels. These are turned around to show what is on them. If they match, the contestant wins the prize or the amount of money. If they do not, they are turned around again. They try to remember what is located where for future tries. There is also an old card game by the same name. In this, all cards are turned face down on the table. The contestants turn two cards face up at a time. If they match in value, the person keeps the pair. If not, they are returned to their respective positions on the table. The idea is to concentrate and remember where these cards are so that you may use that knowledge when someone turns over the matches to those cards. "Magicians are notoriously famous for bad memories, so we have never been any good at playing this game which depends upon a good memory. Sometimes we forget that we are no good at it which leads to some embarrassing scores in the resulting games. But I have come up with a remedy. We now play the game with the cards face up. You would be amazed at how much better our scores are now." Those who are following your patter will realize just how ludicrous this method would be. It would be like dealing all cards face up in a poker game. The betting on the hands would be nonexistent. By telling the audience that you are to demonstrate the magician's version, you have a logical and interesting "hook." The cards may be selected in pairs because that is the way Concentration is played. This adds some reason to the "random" way you deal the cards into the Goose grid. Refinement #6. Disguising the use of pairs may be done either during the selection process or the revelation process. Let's take the selection process first. How can you have the spectators choose two cards at a time without making that seem critical to the trick? You could have six people choose a card. Then, collect the cards two at a time. This

gets away from the mental selection so prevalent and so appealing in the original. You could use the explanation that you are going to use the "buddy system." You could say that you want everyone to remember their cards. To make sure nobody forgets, their "buddy" will help them remember and they will help their buddy remember. If you have an audience consisting of couples, you could pair them up by couples. This could lead to some amusing patter lines. If "cute" patter isn't your forte, you might like the next idea. (After all, if "cute" card tricks were my goal, this volume would be titled Semi-Precious Card Tricks.) It is macho enough to require a perfect faro shuffle. It's just like a cardman to place a perfect faro right in the middle of a self-working trick. Start by taking twenty-seven cards in each hand (assuming jokers are in the deck). Execute a perfect faro. In keeping with the selfworking vein, you may prefer to arrive at this position with a slower (more reliable?) reverse faro shuffle. Place the telescoped deck in your left hand in dealing position so that the top card is on the inner half. If the top card is part of the outer half, turn the deck around end for end. Hold the deck up so that it faces the audience. Use your right forefinger to riffle up the outer right corner. Ask a spectator to tell you when to stop. When he does, break the pack by lifting up on the card in the top half enough so that you can get your third and fourth fingers under the corresponding card in the lower half. Split the deck and have both cards memorized. This could be done with the casual comment that having two cards selected simultaneously will save time. (We will save a discussion of just how ludicrous this last statement is until later. After all, someone who reverse faros and deals fiftytwo cards onto the table can't be all that interested in saving time. Either that, or you are saving time so that you can do the reverse faro and the deal.) Replace the right-hand cards on top of

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the left. Ask for another spectator to call stop. How much you must limit their selection depends on whether you are using the standard twenty, pooh-pooh thirty-six, or testosteroneladen forty card version of the grid. If you are doing the forty card version explained in Refinement #3, you have only to make sure they don't choose a card from the top or bottom six cards. (If you are using fifty-four cards, make sure they can't select from the top six or bottom eight cards.) After you have had as many selections made as you desire, tell the audience that you have no idea where their selections are located. You only know which half contains their cards. To fix this, dramatically dovetail the cards together. You have now lost all the selections and any prayer of finding them again. Your group of twenty, thirty-six, or forty cards is in the middle of the pack. Cut the necessary number of cards from the top to the bottom to bring your group to the top. This must be an even number of cards. It does not have to be the exact number which will bring your stack to the top. It may be an estimate. The most difficult version to use in conjunction with this is the twenty card version. It narrows your selection to the middle ten pairs and makes this cut more difficult. If you know that none of the sixteen top cards were selected ((52-20)/2) then you can cut the top sixteen cards to the bottom and start your grid. Or, you can use the top sixteen cards as a border as explained in Refinement #2. When using the forty card version, use the top six cards as a border and start your grid. After dealing through the deck, you are ready to find all the selections. The grouping of the cards in pairs necessitates the top card of the pack being on the inner half. If you have the pack turned around with the top card on the outer card, the stack will be one card off. Of course, you can remedy this by cutting an odd number of cards from the top to the bottom or using an odd number of cards for your border. 137

This method of selection has fooled many magicians and brought a lot of spectators several minutes closer to death. Refinement #8. This is a big improvement over the method of revealing cards in that the grouping of cards in pairs appears to have no relation to the conclusion of the trick. You realize that knowing which row contains one of the cards of a pair is of no value. The location of one card simply tells you that it is one of five cards. The location of both cards of the pair is required to discern the names of the selections. The trick would be much stronger if you asked each person for the row in which their card (singular) resides. This would break the bond connecting the first card to the second, the third to the fourth, etcetera. To achieve this requires little on your part. Assume you had three spectators each remember one pair. You could have done this using either the Concentration patter theme or the faro method explained above. We will further assume you are using the forty card method. Ask the first spectator which row contains his first selection. Note that you did not specify which was his first selection. Only now are you placing the pairs in any order. Remember the number of the row in your grid which contains his card. It is important that you don't count any border rows or you will get confused. Without revealing his first card (you can't yet) ask him which row contains his second card. This gives you enough information to find both his cards. However, if you reveal them now, you have once again steered them to the pair grouping. Instead, use this second row to make a two digit number. If his first card was located in the third row and the second card was located in the fourth row, you will combine the row numbers to give you the number "34." The sequence is important. If the first card was in the fourth row and the second in the third row, the number would be "43." Perform the same procedure with the second

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO and third spectators arriving at two more twodigit number. With these three two digit numbers in mind, return to the first spectator. Ask him to concentrate on his first selection. "It may not help... but it couldn't hurt." Study the rows which contain his pair to locate the common letter. This gives you both his selections. Reveal only the one residing in the row corresponding to the first digit of his two-digit numbers. In this example, the two digit number for the first spectator is 34. Rows three and four share the "I" in "bible" and thigh." Since the card in the third row corresponds to his first selection, you will reveal the second card in the third row. Now ask him to concentrate on his second card. You already know it is the third card in the fourth row. Pause for a moment of deep thought, then reveal his card. Follow through to locate the cards of the other spectators in similar fashion. To make the above even more impressive without making it more difficult, use six spectators with one selection each. You might use this in concert with the faro selection process above. Ask the spectators in order from left to right which row contains their card. Only you are linking spectator one to spectator two, three to four, and four to five. You will do this mentally to arrive at three two digit numbers. After you have the three numbers, you can use a suggestion by Wayne Kyzer. You can ask them whose card you are to reveal first. By revealing the selections in random order, you further break the link between the pairs of cards. Refinements #9. #10. & #11. Now that we have established that any group of objects can function as a closed group, you can use any items handy to perform the trick. You do not have to use playing cards. You can use anything which can be paired together. I use borrowed business cards. In addition, I will provide

another method to group the cards in pairs discreetly. In effect, the magician asks the spectators to drop their business cards into a fish bowl as they enter the room. When ready to perform, the bowl is passed among the spectators for each to take one. This is done as the magician pulls selected cards from the bowl. " John Smith... where are you?" When John answers, "What exactly does a male mud wrestler do?" asks the magician as he apparently reads from the card. "Joe Doe? Where are you? So you are an attorney?" He pauses for a reply. "Do you think it's wise to print "Shyster" at the top of your business card?" The spectators are asked to remember the card they are holding. The magician collects the cards, mixes them, and deals them out in an array on the table. He asks each spectator one by one which row contains his/her thought-of card. One at a time, he triumphantly pulls the cards out of the tabled array. When finished with six or eight spectators, the magician asks if it would be possible for him to keep the cards he collected as souve nirs, "mementos of this special occasion." Upon receiving a positive reply, the magician removes a small trash can and tosses the cards inside before proceeding with his next routine. Or, he places them nicely into a box labeled " Amway prospects." This routine combines the subtlety explained in the eighth refinement with a new way of arranging the cards in pairs. By collecting the cards from the audience, you determine the order in which they are collected. You remember in which order you collect ten or so cards. Since you are walking down the aisles in order, it is a simple matter to remember in which order twenty or more cards are replaced. You have only to track these twenty cards, even if you have more in the audience. Assume forty people are in the audience and that each has a card (unrealistic). Start at the front row from left to right collecting face down cards in your left hand. When you get to

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SINGULARITIES the second row, move from right to left. After twenty or so (an even number of) cards have been replaced, crimp the top card and collect the rest in any order. You are only going to use the twenty cards starting with your crimp. You can have the packet cut by the spectator. Or, you can use the haymow or Charlier shuffle, which only cuts the packet while giving the appearance of shuffling it. To start the deal, cut the crimp close to the top. This cuts your twenty cards to the top. Deal the cards out with the usual mnemonic using the indifferent cards above the crimp as your border. The crimped card becomes the first card of your array. (If you used more than twenty cards, use one of the methods explained earlier to allow for the extra cards.) Having collected the cards in order, you now know where everyone's card (among the twenty) is located. In reverse order of collection, they will follow your mnemonic. In other words, the last person who replaced a card is the first card (the crimped card) in your setup. Using "Goose/Atlas/Bible/Thigh," his card will be the first "G." The second to the last person to replace a card (one away from the last in the chart below) will be the second "G." The third to the last will be the first " 0 " and the fourth from the last will be the second "O."

fashion as shown in the chart below. Because of the way in which the cards were collected, you don't have to ask any questions, Simply concen trate (calculate) and reveal the thought of card. If you wish, you can tear the business cards in two and perform Mating Season HI from Volume I. While it is explained with playing cards, it will work equally well with business cards. Refinement #12. This is an idea, not something I have used. This is for those of you who haven't found something you like in the above but like the original trick. Since you don't have to show the backs of the cards at any time, you can have a smash climax at the end. Start with two odd backed cards together in the pack. Remove their counterparts in the regular deck. Arrange to have these two cards as a pair in the faro selection method explained above. After all the selections are made, square the pack. Turn the pack face up and deal your array. Make a big deal out of the fact that seeing the faces doesn't help you in this trick since you couldn't remember all the selections anyway. You will know someone chose the odd-backed pair if he or she names the two rows which contain the pair. (You of course remember the faces of the odd-backed cards.) Pretend to have trouble with that pair and proceed with the rest of the pairs. Come back to that pair at the end. #1 from the end (Crimp) "I can't seem to do it face up. Let me see if I can 0 (Crimped Card) 1 (G) eliminate any cards." Start flipping cards face 1 2 1 (G) down randomly. Flip all cards face down 3 4 2 (0) except the odd-backed two. Take your bows 5 6 2 (0) since the remaining pair is the selected pair. " 7 8 3 (S) This effect would have been easier if I hadn't etc. 3 (S) been able to see the faces." Flip the two cards 4 (E) face down and show them to be the only ones 4 (E) with odd-colored backs. 5 (A) Refinement #13. Reverting back to the etc. method of having cards chosen in pairs, the following idea is a fairly recent idea of mine. In Locate enough of the selections in ran- effect, the deck is shuffled by the audience and dom order to make the trick impressive. Only then tabled. "To save time, we will have two you have tied the people together in linear cards selected in pairs." Or, "We are going to 139

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

use the 'buddy system' to remember your selected cards. The first spectator is asked to cut the pack in the middle. He and his wife are to look at the two cards where he cut. He then replaces the top half and hands the pack to another gentleman. The second man is given the same instructions so that both he and his wife finish with a card. This can be repeated with another couple if desired. Despite the apparent freedom, the magician is able to locate the selections. Procure a short pack of cards from your local magic shop or Haines House of Cards in Cincinnati, Ohio. Take twenty-six cards from this pack and interlace with twenty-six different cards from an ordinary deck. This deck can be riffle shuffled and the pairs will still remain intact. The pack will automatically be cut between the pairs of long and short cards. Specifically, it will cut beneath a long card. If you don't feel comfortable leaving this to the spectators to accomplish, you can dribble the pack from your right hand to your left, asking a spectator to call stop. The freedom he has in his cut "in the middle" depends upon whether you use the 20, 30, 36, or 40 card pattern discussed. If you use the 40 card method (making the 20card grid twice) he can cut any where in the middle forty stock. He will turn over the top two cards, a short card and the long card with which it is "paired." The couple remembers the cards, replaces them, and then replaces the top half of the pack. Then they hand the deck to another spectator to repeat the actions with another pair. When two or three couples have chosen four or six cards respectively, take the pack and cut the top ten or so cards to the bottom of the pack. By cutting at the short ends of the pack, you will cut an even number of cards to the bottom and keep the pairs intact. Immediately start laying out your grid with the top half of the pack. The effect will work as previously described. This is a very strong multiple location

which easily could have stood on its own in the section on multiple locations. Background. Most of the above was originally published in issue #29 of The Trapdoor. It has been updated and revised with many new ideas since its first appearance in 1989. For those of you who can't be dissuaded from reading even more about this effect, allow me to suggest the following sources and then some professional (non-magic) help. Modern Magic (Professor Hoffman) Greater Magic (John Northern Hilliard) The Magic of Stewart Judah Hugard's Magic Monthly - March 1956 Pallbearer's Review (Karl Fulves) May 1970, June 1972, August 1973, plus seven other versions. Silentwe (Phil Goldstein) Chronicles #6 (Karl Fulves) The Card Magic of Edward G. Brown ( Brown) The New Phoenix (#319) Omnimancy (T. A. Waters) Modern Close-Up Problems (Joseph Schmidt) The Linking Ring (June, 1989) The June, 1989 Linking Ring magazine contained an offer by Frank Syren who computerized the trick on a Commodore computer. (I wonder if his worked the first try.) For two dollars plus a self-addressed stamped envelope, he offered to send the program along with thirty-eight pages of instructions and code. It seems that I'm not the only one who substituted this trick for a real life. One final note. In the Hugard's Magic Monthly reference cited above, there are several alternatives for the standard five card setup. In Stewart Judah's book (The Magic World of Stewart Judah) he suggests the mnemonic, " UNDUE / GOANO / TETRA / RIGID." One has to wonder what Stewart was sipping to think of "GOANO" as an improvement.

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6 :6.6 *

TOPOLOGICAL CARD EFFECTS

THE ILLUSION CARD Joe Rindfleisch

This is one of the more interesting card tricks I think you will find. While the angles are critical, the effect is physically easy to do. I think the effect is well worth the time spent mastering the angles. If you don't put in the time mastering it, don't attempt it in front of an audience. You won't just die. You will writhe in unrelenting spasms of toxic pain. (I thought that might be more convincing than simply saying that you will bomb miserably.) Effect. The magician tears a couple of slits in a playing card. Passing his finger through the slit, he shows that his fingertip floats away from the base of his finger. This is a close-up version of the zigzag illusion using the magician's finger as the assistant and a playing card as the box. The Work. I suggest you start with a couple of dozen old Rider Back Bicycle cards to learn this. This is very complex so I will break it down into several small segments. Stick with me and you will have a very visual performance piece. The Tear. Look at the back design of the Rider back playing card. There is a rectangle in

the middle of the card, 9/16ths from the edges of the card. This rectangle will be your guide for tearing the card. Start by folding a card in half from top to bottom so that the back is on the outside. Hold the card with the fold uppermost and tear down the rectangular guidelines, both of them, until you have reached the edge of the rectangle. See figure 1. Unfold the card, leaving two parallel tears in the card along with the crease down the middle. Turn the card face down and insert your right forefinger through both slits as shown in figure 2. Notice how the right forefinger projects past the far long edge of the card. This plays a part in the deception to follow. Phase I. Bring your left hand over to the right, "scissoring" the right forefinger between the left first and second fingers as shown in figure 3. Up to this point, everything has been done openly. That will now change. You are going to apparently bring both your hands up so that your right forefinger is pointing upward. As you do, you are going to substitute the tip of your left forefinger for the

TEAR HERE-

7(

Figure 1

Figure 2

143

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

right fingertip. Keeping both hands together, raise them up to eye level. As you do, straighten your left fingertip. Simultaneously, use the curled left forefinger to push the card upward so that the tip of the right forefinger no longer protrudes over the edge of the card. See figure 4 for the resulting configuration. Figure 5 shows the audience view at this point. Try this position in front of a mirror. It should appear that your right forefinger is visible through the middle of the card and extends up over the top edge. Actually, the tip of the finger projecting past the edge is the tip of the left forefinger. Since your left forefinger

is angled slightly, it's best to turn slightly to your left when performing this. This keeps the fingernail of your left forefinger from being visible to the audience. Now, behind the cover of your hands and the card, move your left forefinger to the left and then to the right. The movement should be slow and mysterious. Further, you should not belabor this effect. Too long will give them an opportunity to piece it together. See figure 6 for the audience's view of the zigzag illusion in progress. To clean up, lower your hands quickly, simultaneously moving your left hand to the

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left where it can grasp a corner of the card and appear to be steadying the card as shown in figure 7. In other words, you want the left hand out of the area where the action is occurring by the time your hands are lowered. Slowly slide the card off your right forefinger with your left hand. Phase II,. You are now going to demonstrate a similar zigzag effect with your thumb. Hold the card face down and insert your right thumb through the double slits as shown in figure 8. Extend your right arm to your right, apparently to show both sides of the thumb through the card. This is actually to set up for

a sweeping motion to your left. As you bring your right hand back over to your left, your right thumb ducks out of the second slit simply by curling in toward the thumb. When your right hand arrives at your left hand, insert your left thumb into the second slit as shown in figure 9. The audience's view of the result is showing in figure 10. Without delay, move your two thumbs in opposite directions, creating the zigzag effect shown in figure 11. To clean up, straighten both thumbs as you move your right arm to the right and separate your hands. When done properly, this

Figure I0

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

simple act will cause your right thumb to be scrapes off the card providing the tearing noise. back in the position shown in figure 8. Display Display the torn card with the missing this "clean" position for a moment before middle in your left hand as shown in figure 14 proceeding. as you pretend to place the middle of the card in Phase III. With your left thumb and your right pocket with your right hand. Pause fingers, pull up on the short ends of the card as for a second for the missing middle to sink in. shown in figure 12. Slide your right thumb out To restore the card, bring both thumbs of the slits and slide your right hand around so to the opening of the "V" formed by the folded that it covers the gap in the middle of the card. card. Open the card and push upward on the Figure 13 shows your view at this point. You face with the fingers of both hands as shown in are now going to pretend to rip the middle of figure 15. You should feel the sides of the card the card out with your right hand. Do this in where the slits are, snap into place. Quickly your best Slydini-esque manner. That is, ex- rotate the card a couple of times showing that it ecute the tearing action as your right thumbnail has been restored. Do not pause with this since

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TOPOLOGICAL CARD EFFECTS

going to tear the card into thirds. This is made easier by the hidden slits. Again fold the card in the middle with the back out. Tear the card down the slits, but this time tear all the way through the card. Do this with both slits. Now you have a card which has been torn into three lengthwise sections which are folded in the middle. Drop these pieces on the table and take your bow. Leftovers. I have concentrated on the mechanics during the description of this effect because this is the part most likely to be misunderstood by the reader. Patter is equally important in this. The proper story to accompany this will keep the heat off what is really happening. I prefer to discuss stage magicians who cut a the slits will still be visible under close scru- woman in three pieces. After explaining the tiny. zigzag effect, I show them my "close-up" Phase IV. You are now apparently version of it.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE ONE-HANDED ZIGZAG Joe Rindfleisch Joe has come up with a method of accomplishing the previous effect without using the left hand during the illusion. You can use it by itself, or substitute it for the first phase of The Illusion Card.

The Work. Fold and tear the card as in the previous trick. Insert your right forefinger through the two slits and leave your other fingers extended as shown in figure 1. As you extend your right arm to the right, curl your right third and fourth fingers into your right palm. Bring your right second finger directly behind the right forefinger and use your right thumb to cover the base of the right second finger. Also, use your right thumb to slide the card up slightly so that the forefinger does not project over the outer edge of the card. The audience's view of this position is shown in figure 2. The view from behind is shown in figure 3. For the illusion, slowly move your right second finger up and down along the edge of the

card. When finished, bring your right hand over to your left. Using the larger movement to cover the smaller, curl your right second finger into your right palm in the process. Slowly remove the card from the right forefinger with your left hand.

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IMPOSSIBLE LOCATIONS

BIRTH CARD Wayne Kyzer This trick uses Norm Houghton's control to position the selected card at the desired location. Wayne has altered the selection procedure slightly and has streamlined the revelation. To obtain this, he has also added a crimped (or short) locator card. The Work. Start with a crimped card at a position 20th from the top of the pack. Ask a spectator to cut off a small number of cards (" ten or so") from the top of the face up pack. He is to count the cards and keep that number to himself. Deal twenty cards from the face up pack onto the table, asking that the spectator remember the card which falls at his secret number. (This is a number equal to the number of cards in the packet he cut.) When you have finished dealing (and reversing) twenty cards, pick up the tabled cards and replace them on top of the packet in your left hand. Turn the pack face down and cut above the crimped card. The chosen card is now 12 cards from the top of the remaining cards ( lower half). Now that you know how to get the cards in this position, let me show you how to use this information. Routine. "As you know, everyone has a birthday. But, did you know that everyone has a birth card? Let me show you what I mean. We will work with a period of time of one year to find your birth card. This deck will represent one year because a year has 52 weeks just as this deck has 52 cards. I will fix it so that only you can know the identity of your particular birth card. "Cut off a small packet of cards, say ten or so. Count the cards to arrive at a secret number, and then put them out of my sight. Remember that only you know your secret number. "As I deal through the cards, I want you to remember the card which falls at your secret

number. This will be your birth card. Got it? "Spread the packet face up on the table. Remember that your birth card could be any one of these. Only you know which one it is." ( Thanks to Norm Houghton's control, the card is now 32 cards from the top of the pack.) "Nowlmust ask you one question so that Imay try to find out which one is your card. Were you born in the first half or the last half of the year?" This is the magicians choice. You want to use the bottom half of the deck (which is the top half of the pack since the deck is now face up). Depending upon the spectator's answer, you will either leave the pack face up or turn it face down. Close the face up spread as the spectator answers the question. If the spectator says he was born in the first half of the year, you will leave the deck face up and cut off the cards at and including the crimped card. You will flip the cut off packet face down and work with it. If the spectator says he was born in the first half of the year, turn the deck face down. Cut all the cards above the crimp to the side and discard them. You are allowing the deck to represent the year in both of these scenarios. Regardless, by cutting at the crimp, in both instances you are discarding the 20 cards which originally started on top of your crimped card at the beginning of the trick. Holding the lower half of the pack in your left hand, "There are twelve months in the year." Count twelve cards into your right hand without reversing them. Discard the remaining cards, holding only the twelve in your hands. "There are four weeks in a month." Deal the top four cards to the table, discarding them. "There are seven days in every week." Deal off the next seven cards, discarding them. You are

151

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO left holding one card. "It appears thati have put over to reveal it. "Happy birthday!" off finding your birth card until the last day." Background. Both Norm Houghton's This is uttered as you flick the remaining card, Recognition Reflex which positions the selected showing its singularity. card and Wayne's Birth Card were published in "What was your birth card?" Turn it issue #40 of The Trapdoor (1991).

• • • • • •

Old card workers never die. They just shuffle off. Old sleight of hand cardmen never die. They just pass away. Old magicians making a great living off of magic never die. They just lie horizontally instead of lying while standing up. Old Ed Marlos never die. They just continue to publish from the underground. Old mathematical card tricksters never die. They just go to hell like everyone told them to do. Semi-automatic magicians never die. They just do a down and under deal.

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IMPOSSIBLE LOCATIONS

CARD COUNTERS

Doug Canning Doug is from Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. (Question: What do you call a magician from Plano? Answer: A Plano' Magician.) His UnCanny appeared in Volume One along with a true story about crediting magic that still gives Doug nightmares (page 132-135). You may wish to reread that section before attempting to comprehend the credits listed at the end of this effect. Regarding the effect about to be described, this location will seem impossible to both laymen and magicians. It has the novelty of having the cards themselves find the selected card. The Work. Start by arranging the top twenty-four cards in sequential pairs. From the top of the pack, you have two aces, two deuces, two threes, etc. The suits of the cards do not matter. Now place two indifferent cards on top of the stock and you are ready to begin. Execute any false cut or shuffle which will not disturb the order of the top twenty-six cards. Table the pack and instruct the spectator to cut off a small packet, "say about a third of the pack." When he does, execute an overhand shuffle running the top two cards singly, followed by the rest of the pack. Ask him to shuffle his packet. Table your cards near the spectator when you finish your shuffle. When he has finished his shuffle, he is to note the card on the bottom (face) of his packet and drop the packet on top of the tabled cards. Ask him to square the pack. Pick up the pack and hold it face down in the left hand in dealing position. Buckle the bottom card with your left little finger so that you can pick up a break with your right thumb as your right hand takes the pack in Biddle position. Double undercut the bottom card to the top of the pack. This splits the two cards you previously cut to the bottom, leaving one on the bottom and sending the other to the top.

"Your card is completely lost. I could find it.... really. But if I were to miss, you would blame me. If I let you try to find your own card, that wouldn' t be much of a miracle. So in the interest of magician-audience harmony, I will let the cards themselves find the selection." Table the pack near the spectator on the far left side of the mat at point A (see figure 1). "Would you cut off and hand me about three fourths of the pack? Thanks." The magician spreads the cards he has just been given from left to right, face down on the table. He turns the packet at point A face up and replaces it on the table. Assume the card on the face of the packet is a nine. (By the way, this is one of the cards you originally cut to the bottom.) Use your forefinger to count off nine cards from the right end (top) of the spread without reversing their order. Square these cards and place them at position B, immediately to the right of the face up packet. Turn over the top card of packet B and replace it on top face up. Assume this card is a ten. (Once again, this card is one of the two you originally cut from the top to the bottom.) Count ten cards off the right side of the spread without reversing their order. Square these forming another packet which you will place to the right of the first two at position C. 'A'

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Figure 1

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Turn over the top card of packet C and replace it face up on top. This is an indifferent card. Count a number of cards equating to this card's value off the right end of the spread without reversing their order. Square the cards forming another packet and dramatically push this packet toward the spectator who chose the card. "What was the name of the card you mentally thought of?" Ask him to turn over the top card of the packet. It is the selection. Background. Doug combined two of my favorite card tricks into a third impossible location. The first is Bernard Billis's Calculated Zarrow from John Mendoza's Mendoza Portfolio No. 1. This effect used the above setup to let the magician know how many cards the spectator cut from the top of the pack. The two cards which remain on top of the pack ( which you then shuffled to the bottom) tell the number of cards the spectator cut. Doug uses this information without knowing the values of the cards to reveal the selection. By maneuvering one of these key cards to the top and one to the bottom, he was able to perform Counter Cards which was published in the 1964 book for the lay public, Mathematical Magic by William Simon. By coincidence, this was the first trick that I performed on a regular basis that I learned from a magic book. It has fooled magicians and laymen alike for the last twenty-five years. I thought so much of the trick that I didn't want anyone else to read it. After all, this was a real magic secret. (I was eleven at the time — but things haven't changed that much since.). I went to the library and told them I had lost the book but that I was willing to pay for it. Six dollars and countless lawn-mowings later, I was back in the black and my secrets were once again safe. (Theft by any other name...) Then, in 1988 the same trick was published in More Lost Inner Secrets, Volume II of The Vernon Chronicles as Why Am I Here? (Funny, I asked the same question. What was my trick doing there?) Some time later that year I gave up on the idea of buying/stealing all

copies of the book from magic shops in my region of the country. Doug's combination of the two ideas offers a unique variation of the latter. He sets the trick up to work without knowing which key cards will be used to count to the selection. Further, the spectator determines the location of the selection (not the magician as in Counter Cards) by the number of cards he cuts at the beginning. I encourage you to consult these references to appreciate the differences between these three excellent illusions. Finally, I would like the historical record to be as complete as possible. For this reason, I will include an excerpt from a letter of Doug Canning's which included the above effect. `I leave it to you to think of a title to name it. You seem to have a knack for titles. The only suitable title I could come up with is `Stacked... With a Nice Pair of Pips,' alluding of course to the setup. Amusing, but still... it lacks the noble grandeur one usualy associates with the titling of card tricks. I would prefer something less obvious, something less to do with pandering. "At any rate, please feel free to include it in Volume II of Semi Automatic along with my best wishes. Of course, you can be sure that someone will climb the stage at the nextlnternationallBM convention and announce thatMarlo showed Phil Goldstein this exact handling in the hospitality suite of a Holiday Inn in downtown Chicago in 1957. And eventually someone else will send a letter to the territorial vicepresident that they read it in Elmsley's unpublished notes dating back to 1955 and there the masses will be forever divided. Even the title you haven't thought of yet will be the same as the one Elmsley originally referred to in a letter sent to his friend Gordon Bruce in Scotland dated January 24th, 1956." I don't care what they say about the trick, but they better not slam the title I have bestowed upon it. If so, I am liable to visit their personal magic libraries and .... Well, suffice it to say that I am not above mowing a few more lawns.

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LIII-KELIHOOD Richard Vollmer Richard lives in Ostwald, France. I met him through the mail after the publication of Volume One. He wrote to ask if he could include The World's Greatest Magician from that volume in a French card magic book he was writing. According to Richard, "It so happens that the sentence `Who is the world's greatest magician?' translates into French with the same number of letters. Therefore, adaptation into the French language would be quite easy." I knew that. I would have mentioned that in Volume One but I ran out of space. In one of Richard's letters, he also clarified a mystery which relates to Volume One. On page 56 you will find a trick of Stewart James calledLll-kelihood. Allan Slaight named it with the comment "I'm going to call it LIIkelihood. A touch of Latin to add some class!" I said in the introduction that I had no idea what Allan was talking about. Richard sent me the following: "Ul-kelihood =52-likelihood. ZII' = 52 in Roman numerals." Okay, I get it. ("I" as in me, not "I" as in the Roman numeral one.) Richard continues: "You might call my trick LllI-kelihood!?! I love Stewart's magic." Suffice it to say that I didn't know how to say "No way!" in Latin. Richard sent this effect of his which, like the World's Greatest Magician, "Is based upon Norman Houghton' s control and a counting procedure devised by Henry Christ, I think. I devised a "muscle version" (to use Stewart James' phrase) of the effect --- the advantage being that the pack need not be complete. (The selection is controlled to ninth from the top. Two out faros send it to 33rd from the top, where it must be for the trick to work.)" While there is a fair amount of dealing, your patter about searching for a coincidence makes it logical and keeps it from dragging. Try this and see if it doesn't fool you the first

time. (If not, you might want to try it with French patter.) Effect. The magician starts with a borrowed and shuffled pack. The spectator cuts off a small packet of cards and secretly counts them giving him a secret number. He remembers the card which falls at this secret number in the pack. The magician patters about coincidences. `I am going to deal the pack into three face up piles. As I deal, I will count out loud and backwards. If the number I am on corresponds with the value of the card being dealt, I will stop at that coincidence. If there are no coincidences, I will `kill' that pile by placing the next card face down on top of that pile. I have no idea what the odds of these coincidences occurring are—I was doing card tricks when I should have been in statistics class." While the opening statement may seem confusing, the actions which follow rapidly clear up any uncertainties. Without knowing the number of cards the spectator took (really!) he starts dealing cards one at a time into a pile on the table face up. As he deals the first card, he counts, "ten." As he deals the second card, he counts, "nine." This counting/dealing process is continued until, for example, a seven is dealt at the same time the magician counts seven. If this occurs, he starts dealing the next pile, again starting with a count of ten. If no matches occur during the first pile, the next card (eleventh in this case) is dealt face down on the pile, signifying that it has been discarded. This procedure is conducted for three piles. At the conclusion, there will be three piles with either a face up and or face down card on top of each. Assume that there are two face up cards and one face down card. Adding the value of the face up cards together, the magician deals down in the balance of the pack to that number. The

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO card he counted to is the selection. Reflect for a moment on the strength of this effect. The magician had no idea of the secret number the spectator was concentrating upon. Therefore, he couldn't have known the identity of the card. Further, since it was a shuffled pack, he couldn't have known how many, if any, coincidences would have occurred during the dealing. This is not only the audience's perception, it is the true state of events. The Work. We will start with Norm's control. I will describe it as I think most of you will work it, with a pack of fifty-two cards. Under Leftovers I will describe it the way Richard performs it. You will need a full pack of cards. Allow someone in the audience to shuffle the pack. While this is not important in every effect, the shuffling adds credibility to your discussion about coincidences later in the effect. Ask a spectator to cut off a small number of cards, less than a third of the pack. Instruct him to count this packet, then hide it in a pocket or under the close-up mat. Take the remaining cards and hold them face up in your left hand in dealing position. "I am going to deal some cards to the table and I will call out the number of each card as it is dealt. If your secret number is five, I want you to remember the fifth card dealt. If your number is fifteen, remember the fifteenth card. Do not stop me, even after you have selected a card becausel don' t want to have any clue which card you selected. Is everything clear? Yes? Then will you explain it to me?" Deal cards one at a time to the table, counting each card as you do. Count and deal nineteen cards. Then look up and ask if the spectator "got one." Of course if he followed your instructions about cutting less than a third of the pack, he will have a selection. There is a trade-off here. If you deal too slowly, the effect will drag. If you deal too quickly, the spectator may not be able to react quickly enough and make a selection. Experience will show you how best to adapt your

speed. Pick up the face up tabled cards and drop them on the face up cards in your left hand. Turn the pack face down. The selection will now be the thirty-third card from the top of the face down deck. Explain that you have no idea what the selection is (true) or where it is (false). Talk about the coincidences you may or may not encounter as you deal the three piles. Follow the effect as above, dealing three piles face up. At the conclusion, you will have three face up piles of varying numbers of cards. On top of each will either be a face up or face down card. Add the values of the face up cards. Deal down that many cards in the deck to find the selection at that location. If all three piles have a face down card on top, you have two choices. You can talk about the lack of coincidences. However, the next card you turn over from the pack is the selection. "Now that's a coincidence!" Or, you can pick up all of the dealt cards and have the spectator shuffle them as you false shuffle the cards you hold retaining the top card. Replace the spectator's cards on top of yours and repeat the deal. The odds are strongly in your favor that you will encounter at least one value which coincides with the number you are on at that point in the deal. Add the values of the face up cards and count down to that number in the cards you hold to arrive at the selection. Leftovers. Richard deals twenty cards, rather than nineteen, during the selection process. This is consistent with Norm Houghton's original control. However, this sends the selection to a position thirty-second from the top of the pack. Since it needs to be at the thirty-third position, he adds a joker and performs this with a fifty-three card pack. This puts the selection at the correct place for the trick to work. I'm going to go think of a trick using 1009 cards. I can call it "MIX The Cards." I'm not going to tell you why. Maybe you can worry about it until Volume Three gets here.

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POLAR STAB Steve Beam & Scott Robinson This is a simple location of two selections. As with other effects of this type, do not let its simplicity prevent you from using it. Effect. A spectator is given the deck to shuffle. Upon receiving the pack back, the magician turns the conversation to magic. "I am going to have two cards selected. For this to be more impressive than the average effect, we must make sure that each of the volunteers peeks at a different card. I have decided on an easy way we can guarantee this." At this, the magician spreads through the pack and removes the joker and then asks a spectator to insert it face up in the middle of the face down pack. The magician spreads the pack on the table. "To arrive at two random cards, please insert the joker face up anywhere in the pack. I would like you to look at the card immediately above the joker and you (looking to another spectator) to look at the card immediately below the joker. Note that since you placed the joker into the pack, there is no way I could know the identity of the cards on either side of the joker. Now please square the pack." The magician takes the pack. "There is one clue to the location of your cards—the joker. So if this is to be much of a miracle, I am going to have to dispose of the clue." The magician removes the joker from the pack and allows the cards to be cut as desired. Despite all of this, the magician is able to locate the selections. The Work. When you spread through the pack at the beginning of the trick to remove the joker, remember the top and bottom cards of the pack. These two cards will be your key cards to locate the selections. Have the joker inserted face up in the deck and spread the pack on the table. Instruct a spectator to re-member the card above the joker and another to

remember the card below the joker. Close the spread. To remove the joker, deal the cards one at a time to the table. Note that the first card you deal will be one of your keys, the top card. Continue dealing until you reach the face up joker. Deal the joker off to the side. Status Report. At this point, you are holding half the pack in dealing position and the other half is on the table. There is a selection on the top of each half and a key on the bottom of each half. Drop the hand held packet on top of the tabled packet and cut the pack. This places the key on the bottom of the hand held packet directly on top of one of the selections. Now, when you cut the pack, the key on the bottom of the pack is placed directly on top of ( above) the selection which is now on top of the deck. You can allow the deck to be cut as many times as desired. To find the selections, spread through the pack and remove the card directly in front of each of your keys. They will be the selections. If you can execute a faro shuffle, you can toss one in to throw off the magicians. This will place an indifferent card between the keys and the selections. Simply remove the second card in front of each of the keys and you will have the selections. Background. The basic principle for this, the key card, is ancient. Ted Annemann published his Locatrik in issue #39 of The Jinx (1938). This was later published as Locatrix in his Full Deck of Impromptu Card Tricks ( 1943). This trick utilized the dual keys on top and bottom of the pack to locate a single selection. Adding the face up joker accomplished two things. First, it became the means of secretly learning identity of the keys. Second, it also provided a logical method for dual selections.

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BESTIMATION Tom Ladshaw In the following trick, a card is selected under test conditions. Despite the apparent fairness, the magician brings the effect to a certain conclusion. Effect. The spectator shuffles the pack. The magician directs him to cut the pack and remember the card where he cut. He reassembles the pack, returning his card to the center. He can cut the pack if he wishes. The magician takes possession for a quick shuffle. "I am going to cut off small packets from the deck. I will hand them to you. If your card is in there, I want you to remove it and place it on the table. If not, I want you to remove any card, as if it was yours, and place it on the table. Don't let me know whether you are lying or telling the truth." The magician cuts off the top fifth of the pack and hands it to the spectator who removes and tables a card. The balance of the spectator's packet is discarded. This is repeated four more times, until there is a pile of five cards on the table. One of these is the selection. From here, there are many ways for the magician to end the trick. I will describe my favorite which is Joel Givens' handling. The magician takes the packet behind his back and states that he will remove one card, the selection. He brings both hands into view, his right hand empty but apparently holding something. "This, is your card." He places the imaginary card on the table. "I can see that you don't believe me. That's because you haven't seen the face of the card." The magician mocks turning the invisible card over. "How about that?" He pauses for the lack of response to sink in. "Okay, I will place the invisible card in the middle of the other cards." He pretends to place the imaginary card in the middle of the packet.

"So what was the name of your card?" Upon receiving the identity of the selection, the magician immediately spreads the packet. There is one card face down among the face up cards. "You will remember that I turned your card over." He moves the spread toward the person who selected the card so that he can slide the inverted card out and reveal it to everyone. It is the selection. The Work. This is estimation in its crudest, yet most accurate form. The magician watches where the spectator cuts the pack. Assume he cuts it within five cards, either way, of the center of the pack. He notes the bottom card of the cut-off half, and replaces it. There is a lot of freedom at this point. You can cut the pack at approximately the same location and riffle shuffle the two halves together. This sends the selection to a position near the top or bottom. Cutting the pack near the center and completing the cut, sends the card back to the middle again. You don't have to know any more than the general location of the card. The secret is in the removal of the pack ets to hand the spectator. Cutoff the top five to ten cards and hand them to the spectator. He removes a card. It won't be the selection since this batch came from the top. Repeat with another packet of five to ten cards. Direct him to remove a card as before, the selection if it is available to him. Now cut the cards which constituted the original middle fifteen card stock off the pack and hand them to the spectator. His card is among these so he will remove the selection making it the third card in the pile. Repeat the process, making two packets out of the remaining cards for him to remove a card from each. He will end with a pile of five cards on the table, the middle being the selec-

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tion. Here is where you have several options for revealing his selection. An under-and-down deal reveals the third card in a packet of five. Or, you could spell a sentence, transferring a card to the bottom of the packet for each letter. The sentence would have the desired number of letters so that you would end the spelling at the selection. For the above handling, take the fivecard packet behind your back. Cut the top three cards to the bottom and reverse the bottom card. Bring the packet back out in your left hand in dealing position as your right hand places the imaginary card on the table. When they claim they don't see their card, pretend to turn the card face up. Take the top two cards of the packet into the right hand and spread them slightly. Use your left thumb to push the top card of the three it holds to the right, displaying two cards. Apparently, both hands each hold two face down cards. Actually, the face up selection is on the bottom of the packet in the left hand. Pretend to scoop the imaginary card up with the right hand's cards and place them under the cards in the left hand with the cards squared. Ask for the name of the selection. " Watch." The magician snaps the packet and spreads the cards. The face up selection is there smiling at everyone. Leftovers. The handling with the imagi-

nary card may seem simplistic, but you should try it in front of an audience. It has visual impact not found in many sleight of hand effects. When Joel performs Tom's trick for magicians, he picks up the original five card pile and spreads them from his left hand to his right. Underneath the spread, he uses his right fingers to crimp the corner of the middle card. He says, "Right now, you are the only one who knows where your card is. But I want you to mix the cards so that even you don't know." He hands the packet to the spectator to mix. When he receives it back, he takes it behind his back and cuts the crimp to the bottom. Then he proceeds with the revelation above. Background. This is Tom's method of accomplishing an effect which was attributed to Rufus Steele. Tom Ladshaw. Tom recently relocated his magic business from Boca Raton, Florida to Metairie, Louisiana — a suburb of New Orleans. Tom has been doing magic since age five. In 1992, he published his first book, Funny Stuff and Assorted Mysteries. He was also featured on Secret Sessions #2, a videotaped compilation of tricks culled from Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic attendees. He has performed in forty-nine of the fifty states and all over the world. As a magic dealer, he can be seen at a large number of conventions in any given year.

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NO QUESTIONS ASKED Richard Vollmer This is a clever combination of ideas to form an extremely deceptive location of a selected card. While it does incorporate a full deck deal-through, it has a straightforward handling and impossible effect. Effect. While the magician has his back turned, a volunteer shuffles a pack of playing cards. He selects a card and replaces it in the pack. The magician turns back around, takes the pack, and deals the deck into five piles until it is exhausted. The magician spreads each packet toward the spectator and asks him to remove his card if he sees it. If he does not, he is to remove another card. When finished, there will be a packet of five cards, one of which is the selection. The magician reveals the selection. The Work. Ask a spectator to shuffle the pack while you turn your back. Instruct him to table the pack and cut off a packet of cards from the top. Ask him to count the cards he cut off and add the two digits of the total together to form a new number. If he doesn't have enough cards to form a two-digit number, ask him to cut off more cards to add to the packet he holds. When he has a sum consisting of two digits, direct him to deal that number of cards from his packet, forming a new pile on the table. Ask him to look at the last card he dealt, remember it, and then drop his remaining cards on top of this new packet. Now instruct him to pick up this packet and drop it on top of the deck proper and square the pack. Turn around and pick up the pack. Deal it into five piles from your left to your right. Although you had no idea what number he chose, his card can only be in one of five locations:

The tenth card from the face of pile #1 ( extreme left pile); The eighth card from the face of pile #2; The sixth card from the face of pile #3; the fourth card from the face of pile #4; The second card from the face of pile #5 (extreme right pile). If you wish, you can have the spectator deal the piles for you. However, you must remember to note which side he starts on (left or right) so that you can reverse the above positions if needed. The possible positions of the selection in the various piles are now your only clue to the location of the selection. You need to remember the sequence 10-8-6-4-2 from left to right or 2-4-6-8-10 from right to left. Since the progression consists of all the even numbers under and including ten and they are in sequence, this should be an easy matter. Pick up the leftmost pile and fan the cards toward the spectator. Ask the spectator if he sees his card to remove it and place it face down on the table. If he does not see it, remove an indifferent card from the packet. Repeat these instructions with the remaining four piles. As the spectator removes the five cards, note whether he removes a card from one of the positions cited above. If he does, remember that card's position in the new pile he is assembling. If the spectator removes more than two cards from among the five positions above, remember where both fall in the newly formed pile. If only one card is drawn from a key position, you immediately know that it is the selection. Pick up the five cards the spectator removed so that the selection is the second from the top. Have him perform a down and under deal until there is one card left, his card. That

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is, the first card of the five is placed down on the deck, the second is placed on the bottom of ( under) the pile he holds. The third card goes down, the fourth under. The sole survivor in this process will be his selection. If there are two possible selections in the five-card packet you hold, arrange the cards as you pick them up so that one goes to the top and the other to the bottom. Peek at the bottom card so that when he names his card, you know whether it is on the top or bottom. (If it is not the one you glimpsed on the bottom of the packet, by default it would be the one on the top.) Hold the packet at the long side between your right thumb on top and forefinger on the bottom. Ask the spectator to hold his hand out palm-up. Ask for the name of the selection. If it is the card on the bottom of the packet, allow the packet to fall into his palm-up hand, flipping face up as it does. He will be left staring at his selection. If he names a card which is not on the

bottom, his card is on top. Use your right thumb to pull the top card slightly to the right. Allow the rest of the cards to fall from the right forefinger, flipping over in the process. You are holding one card face down. Dramatically repeat the name of the selection as you turn the face down card over and drop it on top of the ones the spectator holds. Leftovers. If the selection is narrowed down to one of two, the following out solves the problem. Glimpse the bottom card as before. Then arrange to get that card and the other possible selection to positions two and three from the top of the face down packet. You must know which location holds the card you glimpsed. From here, a down-and-under deal reveals the second card from the top of five card packet. An under-and-down deal reveals the third card from the top of a five card packet. Ask him for the name of his selection. From here, simply execute the appropriate elimination deal.

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TRIPLETS I

Steve Beam Effect. The deck is split among three spectators for shuffling. This is accomplished by having each cut off about a third of the pack. One of the spectators is given the choice whether he would like to give or to receive. Assume he wishes to receive. "So much for the golden rule, huh? It's every man for himself here." The magician asks one of the other spectators to remove a card from his portion of the pack. He gives it to the receiver (aka Mr. Selfish). The receiver's third is now sandwiched between the other two thirds (after each is thoroughly shuffled). The magician claims that only one card in the pack has both the giver's fingerprints as well as the receiver's fingerprints. The magician's job is to locate this card. Fanning through the pack, he removes one card. It is the selection. The Work. Start with a deck set up in red/black order. The top 26 cards are red, the bottom 26 are black. Execute one or two false shuffles and then place the deck on the table. We will number the spectators 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Assume #1 is on your left, #2 in the middle, and #3 is on your right. Ask spectator #1 to cut off the top third of the pack and shuffle it. Spectator #2 cuts off "half the remaining cards," approximately one third of the pack. He is to shuffle these cards. Spectator #3 picks up the remaining third from the table and shuffles it. Spectator #1 gets all red cards, spectator #3 gets all blacks, and spectator #2 gets a mixture of reds and blacks. Ask spectator #1 if he wants to give or to receive. It doesn't matter to you. Assume that he wants to receive. Ask spectator #3 to remove a card from his packet, remember it, and insert it into spectator #1's packet. All packets are shuffled again and placed on the

table. Ask spectator #1 to place his packet on top of spectator #2's packet. Ask spectator #3 to place his packet on top of the packet consisting of the other two spectators' combined packets. Pick up the pack and give it a quick false shuffle. Turn the pack face up in the left hand. Start spreading cards from the left hand to the right. As you spread, the spectators can see the red cards mixed with the black. When you have spread about a third of the pack, raise the cards up so that the spectators can no longer see the faces. This should appear as one consistent spreading action. Without saying anything about the colors of the cards, you have eliminated a red/black set up as the possible method for the location. As you continue spreading, you will come to a long run of red cards. Somewhere in the middle of the red run, there will be one black card. This will be the selection. Upjog it and remove it. While you don't need to know it, the back third of the pack consists of all black cards. Leftovers. There will be rare occasions ( about 11% of the time) when there will not be a black card in the middle of the red card run. That means that when the selection is either the black card immediately before or immediately after the red card run. Cut one to the top of the pack and the other to the bottom. Remember which card is where. Hold the deck face down between the outstretched thumb and forefinger. Ask for the name of the selection. If it is the top card, ask the spectator to turn over the top card. If he calls the bottom card, drop the pack to the table, allowing it to flip face up en route. This dramatically reveals the bottom card. Attitude is everything here. Just act as if, however the card is revealed, that is what you intended to do

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMIAUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO all along. If spectator #1 had chosen to give rather than receive, adjust the routine as follows. Have spectator #1 choose one of his (red) cards and insert them into spectator #3's (black) cards. Ask spectator #3 to place his packet on top of spectator #2's packet. Ask spectator #1 to place his packet on top of the combined packet, consisting of the packets belonging to spectator #2 and #3. Pick up the pack and hold it face up. From the face, the deck will be divided in thirds in the following order: red/black mixed cards, black cards with one red card in the middle, red cards. Fan through the mixed cards, allowing the audience to see the mixed condition of the colors. Raise the spread as described earlier so that the audience cannot see the color separation. Upjog the lone red card among the blacks.

It is the selection. Do not underestimate the power of the initial card spread to convince the audience that the cards are truly mixed. Subtleties can sometimes put the final lock on the secret to the effect. The humor in this routine is derived from the giver/receiver patter. If the first person opts to be the giver, say, "Good, it's more blessed (two syllables) that way." Look to the person who will be the receiver. "If he is the giver, that makes you the no-count, moneygrubbing, looking-out-for-#1 , probably a yankee, receiver." Of course you would alter this last line to reflect your region of the country. When the person you have just described looks at you, point at the other spectator and follow with, " Don't look at me. He's the one that chose that role for you."

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TRIPLETS II Steve Beam Although this is based upon Triplets I, try to duplicate the effect using the preceeding trick's method. The second selection from a mixed packet would seem to eliminate the method used in the preceeding trick. Effect. Three spectators each take a third of the pack and shuffle it. Two spectators take a card from their half and give it to the third spectator to shuffle into his third. His third is sandwiched between the other two thirds and the pack is given to the magician. The magician spreads through the pack and removes the two selections. The Work. I will assume you have read and understand the workings of the preceeding trick. The deck is stacked with 26 red cards on top of 26 black cards. Each of three spectators take a third of the pack. Spectator #1 cuts off the top third of the pack (all red) and shuffles it. Spectator #2 cuts off the top half of the remaining cards, the middle third of the pack. This third consists of reds and blacks. He shuffles them. Spectator #3 takes the remaining cards ( all black) and shuffles them. Again, spectator #1 has the choice to give or to receive. We will assume he chooses to receive. Ask spectator #3 to remove one card, remember it, and place it in the middle of spectator #1's packet. This places one black card, the selection, among spectator #1's red packet. Now look to spectator #2. Ask him to choose red or black. If he says black, ask him to spread through his packet and remove any black card. Instruct him to remember the card and place it in the middle of spectator #1's packet. This places two black cards, the two selections, in the middle of spectator #1's red packet. Have the packets assembled, #1 on #2, then #3 on the combined packet consisting of #1 and #2. Take the deck face up and spread it from

hand to hand. The audience is allowed to see the faces of the first third of the pack. However, as you continue spreading, you will raise the deck out of the line of vision of the audience. In the middle of the deck, you will come to a solid line of red cards with two black exceptions. Remove them. They are the selections. (Refer to the previous trick in case there is only one black card in the middle of the red cards. The other selection is either the black card immediately before or immediately after the red card run.) Assume spectator #2 chooses the color red. Ask him to spread through his packet and remove any red card. Instruct him to remember the card and place it in the middle of spectator #3's packet. This will result in one selection being the only red card in the middle of a black run; and the other selection being the only black card in the middle of the red run. The packets are reassembled with spectator #2's mixed packet going on the bottom. This allows the faces of the initial part of the spread to be seen by the audience. Leftovers. Since you are allowing spectator #2 to look at his packet, the colors should be thoroughly mixed. A riffle shuffle is the best method for this although it is not absolutely necessary. When the initial shuffling is going on, you should casually notice how thoroughly spectator #2's packet is being shuffled. If you don't think it is being shuffled thoroughly enough to allow the packet to be spread before the audience, you can take the cards and shuffle them yourself. After the choice of colors, you would then spread the packet before spectator #2 to remove a card of that color. The audience would assume that this was the course of action you would have pursued regardless of the spectators' actions.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

SELECTIVE SERVICE Steve Beam This is a quick multiple location. In effect, the magician shuffles the pack and then divides it in two. Each of the halves is given to a spectator who in turn deals cards into another spectator's hands. This gives the magician four quarters to deal with. Each person stops dealing when they choose. Each person now looks at the top card of their packet and then cuts their packet. The packets are combined and given to the magician. The magician can either scan through the pack removing the four selections or can cut the pack at each selection without looking. The Work. As with Jinxed and Killocation from Volume One, this effect is best when accompanied by a false jog shuffle which sets it up. If you are not familiar with the use of injogs and outjogs, you can start with the deck secretly divided into two halves, separated by a left little finger break. The top and bottom cards of each half are the aces. The best way to get into this position is with the following shuffle. Start with the four aces on top of the pack. You can do a couple of genuine riffle shuffles which retain the top stock if you wish. When ready for the stacking procedure, hold the pack in the left hand in position for an overhand shuffle. Undercut half the pack with the right hand. Outjog the top card of the left half and shuffle off the cards in the right hand. Undercut beneath the outjog. Run one, injog the next, and throw the remain-der on top. Pick up a break beneath the injog as you transfer the pack into dealing position. You now have an ace on top and bottom of each half and the halves are separated by your left little finger. Approach a spectator on your right. You should have at least four present to per-form this. Ask the spectator to call stop as you run your left thumb down the far left corner of

the pack. Time it so that he stops you approximately at your break. Bring your right hand over from above and pick up all the cards above the break and hand them to him. Turn to a spectator on your left. Take the remaining half in your right hand from above. Use your right forefinger to kick or swivel cut the top half into your left hand and drop the cards which remain in your right hand into the new spectator's hand. Pick up the cards in your left hand with your right hand and drop these on top of those already in the second spectator's hands. You have apparently cut the half you hold in the process of transferring it to the second spectator. Actually, it was a false cut. Ask both spectators to turn to an emptyhanded neighbor and to deal cards into their neighbor's hands until they decide the packets are roughly even. When that is complete, the four spectators are each holding about a quarter of the pack, each with an ace on the bottom. Ask them to look at the top card of the packets they hold and remember them. Now ask them to cut their packets, burying their cards in the center. Now assemble the packets so that they are stacked intact. Revelation #1. You can simply spread through the cards with the faces toward you from your left hand to your right. Upjog the four cards to the right (front) of each ace as you come to it. These will be the four selections. As dramatically as possible, reveal the four selections. Revelation #2. If you would prefer the showier version where you cut to the four selections, you have a price to pay. You must corner short the non-index corners of the four aces before you start the effect. This would allow you to riffle down the left outer corner of the deck, stopping immediately beneath the

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aces. (As an alternative, you could use multiple breather crimps.) Cut the pack at this point and drop the card you cut to face down on the table. Repeat this four times rapidly. Pick up the cards and ask for the names of the selections. Reveal them one at a time by dropping them in front of the person who selected them. You can corner short the aces with a sharp pair of scissors or on the spot with a nail clipper. Obviously you could use any value and it might work better for the rest of your routines if you picked a less conspicuous foursome. Leftovers. For those of you proficient with culls, you can convert this into an absolute miracle. Not only can you dash through the pack a single time and know the identity of the

selections, but you can also secretly control them to the top in the same time frame. You are then set to remove them from different pockets or produce them using various flourishes. Background. Use of the double key was inspired by Annemann's Locatrik from issue #39 of The Jinx (1938). This was later published as Locatrix in Annemann's Full Deck of Impromptu Card Tricks (1943). In this trick, he used two keys to locate a single selection. Actually, it narrowed down the selection to one of two cards which was then ferreted out using multiple outs. Using the same dealing procedure here allows you to have four selections made in the same amount of time used for one selection. Then, when you are finished, you know all four selections without any outs.

Beam's Law #8: "Always try to prepare for the unexpected. Remember that Three Mile Island could have become Three-Mile-High Island."

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

IDENTIFICATION CARDS Joel Givens This was Joel Givens' attempt to devise something which resembled my Multiple Impact effect. In effect, the deck is shuffled by a spectator. It is then cut into three to five piles. Each spectator is asked to note a card from the center of the packet. The packets are reassembled and given to the magician. He then locates the selections. The Work. There are several different methods I will explain. Some are physically self-working, others are mentally self-working. Neither are both. I will start with the physically self-working. Take the shuffled pack from the spectator and spread the the cards face up on the table. As you comment about how thorough the shuffle was, note the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth cards from the back of the spread. Commit these cards to memory. (In case you were wondering, this is the part that keeps it from being mentally self-working.) Gather the spread and give it a quick false shuffle. (See the Underhand Shuffle in the section on Moves.) Hold the pack face down in the left hand in dealing position. Thumb the top three cards as a unit into your right hand and drop them to the table. This sends the first card you noted to the bottom of the tabled packet. Repeat with another three card packet, dropping those cards on the table to the right of the first packet. Repeat this with two more packets each going to the right of its predecessor. This establishes four packets on the table, each with a noted card on the bottom. Randomly drop two to four cards on top of each pile making it quietly obvious that you don't care which cards go where. In fact, you can hand the balance of the pack to a spectator to finish distributing the cards between the packets if you wish. If you do this, ask that the piles be approximately equal when they finish. When the volunteer has finished, ask

four spectators to each pick up the pile in front of them. Direct them to reach into their respective piles, remove a card from the center, remember it, and drop it on top of their packets. They are then to cut their packets. You then gather the packets, picking them up in the same order in which they were dealt, left to right. The leftmost packet goes on top of the packet nearest to it. This combined packet goes on top of the packet to the right of it and so on. Square the pack and give it a quick false shuffle. Now, with the faces toward you and so that the audience cannot see them, spread the pack from your left hand to your right. You have simply to upjog the cards to the immediate right of the cards you noted and remembered. Remove them and place them in front of the spectators who noted them. You know the order. The rightmost spectator selected the card closest to the face (right side) of the spread. Variations. What makes this so disarming is the calculated casualness with which you form the initial piles. You are not dealing any single cards in the process which would have the aroma of a key card being used. By dealing the cards in packets, you apparently don't have any knowledge of where any individual cards could be. I have not developed a knack for flash memorization. You could, of course, start with the pack set up so that known cards are at positions three, six, nine, and twelve from the top of the pack. While this would accomplish the desired goal, something cleaner would make this stronger. Luckily, a sleight makes the effect much easier for me to accomplish. Cull the ace through four of any suit to the top of the pack in sequence with the ace on the top. Riffle shuffle the pack a couple of times and then execute two in-faros. (This would be the men-

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tally self-working version.) An in-faro is when the top card of the pack winds up second from the top. When two in-faros are performed, the ace through four wind up at positions four, eight, twelve, and sixteen. Note that the shuffles do not have to be perfect except near the top. ( That is, the top eight cards on the first shuffle and the top sixteen on the second.) Executing a couple of riffle shuffles followed immediately by a couple of in-faros will convince all laymen and most magicians that the pack is indeed thoroughly mixed. Square the pack in the left hand, face down in dealing position. Thumb packets of four over into your right hand and drop them to the table. Now the known ace through four key cards are on the bottom of the four packets. Continue the effect as above. Another variation would be to have the packets assembled in a random order. Since you memorized the keys in a known order, you can reveal the selections in any order. Presentation. Joel presents this using the method just described. He uses as many as seven spectators by culling the ace through seven of hearts in order to the top of the pack. After two in-faros, he is ready to proceed with

the selection process. He has the packets assembled in any order. Then he states that he will find the cards in the same order as the age of the spectators. He asks for the ages of the spectators. One by one, he reveals the cards in the order the ages dictate. While this seems far more impossible to the spectators, remember that the first spectator's selection is immediately to the right of the ace, the second to the right of the two, and so on. When I have performed this, I reversed the revelations. I explained that I did it this way since the older participants were that much closer to death and I wouldn't want them to move onto their great reward without knowing whether or not I was able to find their selections. This method also had the added advantage of teaching the younger participants patience. While seen in the harsh light of print this may seem a little morbid, delivered tonguein-cheek and without any elderly participants, it is quite humorous. Also, if there is a lady in her forties or fifties, I start by saying, "She is twenty-nine. Is there anyone here older?" This gets a laugh and also keeps her from having to reveal her age. Not only that, I have a friend for life.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Steve Beam There's a precept among long-time magicians—make the most of everything. If the wall of the auditorium falls down during your performance, see if you can twist the audience's perception to believe that you caused it. Using this axiom, many a perfectly ordinary event, when properly timed, can become a miracle. The trick that follows started out as a simple, albeit impressive, multiple location. Then it dawned on me that I had additional information which the audience didn't know I had, and that I was not using it. Not wanting to waste it, I recycled it into a prediction and another multiple revelation. The process will become clear when I explain the trick. Effect. The magician tables an envelope labeled, "Prediction." He tosses a deck to a spectator and asks him to shuffle it, then cut it into thirds and hand a third to two of his friends. Each is to shuffle his third and then count his cards quietly. Each then discards some cards under the close-up mat into a single discard pile. Once again, they each discard some cards, this time pocketing them. They then select a card from their respective packets. The magician explains that its tough to keep a secret. But in fact, the spectators now each have three secrets. The first is the number of cards in the discard pile. The second is the number of cards each has in his pocket. Finally, the third is the mentally selected card each is now concentrating upon. The magician takes the packets one at a time and removes two cards from each packet and tables them side by side in front of each spectator. Then he turns his attention to the prediction envelope. Asking a spectator to count the number of cards in the discard pile, the magician removes his prediction from the envelope. He predicted the exact number. One at a time, he asks for the number of

cards each person has in his pocket. After each says the number, the magician turns over one of the cards in front of the spectator. The value of the card matches the number of cards the spectator is holding. Finally, the magician asks for the name of each of the mentally chosen cards. The remaining face down cards in front of each spectator are turned over to reveal the three chosen cards. The Work. Before you start, you have to know how many cards the pack has. We will assume you are working with a fifty-two card pack. Write the number "25" on one side of an opaque piece of paper such as an index card. Write the number "16" on the other side. Place this in an opaque envelope but remember which side is uppermost. This is your prediction for the discard pile. Hand a deck of cards to a spectator. Ask him to divide it into thirds and share a third with two friends after giving it a quick shuffle. Each person silently counts the cards in his packet. Each will end up with a two digit number. Ask each to add the two digits so that they arrive at a one digit number. Ask them to discard that number of cards from their packet. The discard pile should go somewhere out of sight. All three use the same discard pile. Since this is the familiar 9-force, following these instructions will cause each to wind up with either nine or eighteen cards. If each started with a third of the pack (17 or 18 cards) they would all now have nine cards. That means that the discard would consist of 25 cards ((52 - (3 X 9))). If one of the volunteers received more than a third, say 22 cards, he would end up with eighteen cards after discarding four (2 +2). The other two helpers would have nine cards each. In this case, the discard would total 16 cards ((52 - (9 +9 + 18))). With your prediction. you are set up to reveal either discard total.

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Now ask each of them to think of a new number, a small number, something less than half the cards they still hold. Instruct them to secretly count that many cards off their packet and pocket them. Finally, ask them to remember the card which falls at that position from the face of their packets. If their number is four, they pocket four cards and remember the fourth card from the face of their packet. When they are finished, ask them to square their packets and drop them face down on the table. Pick up one of the packets and appear to study it. Actually, count the cards secretly to yourself from the face to the back. When you get to the back of the packet, start again at the front of the packet, until you reach the next multiple of nine. For example, assume that the packet in front of the first spectator consists of seven cards. The next higher multiple of nine is the number nine. So after counting the seven cards, you would return to the face of the packet with the count of eight. The next card is the ninth card you have counted. It is the person's mental selection. Before you remove the selection, you now also know that the spectator has two cards in his pocket. This is because the selection is second from the face of the packet. Look for a two among the cards you are holding. If you find one, place it face down on the table. Then remove the selection. If you don't find a two, remove the selection and table it face down. Move to the next spectator. Pick up his pile. Repeat the process. Assume he has fourteen cards. Return to the face of the packet, counting the face card as number fifteen. You will arrive on the fourth card from the face when you reach the next higher multiple of nine (eighteen). That also tells you that the spectator has four cards in his pocket. Remove a four and place it face down near the spectator. Remove the selection and place it on the table, just this side of the card just tabled. Now remove a two from the spread if you were unable to find one for the first spectator. Place it in front of the first spectator.

Finally, repeat the process with the third spectator, finishing with two cards face down in front of him. You are now set for the climaxes. Return to the first spectator. Ask him to count the discard pile. Remove your prediction with the appropriate side showing. This is the first climax. Ask him for the card he mentally selected. Flip the card in front of him (his selection) face up. Repeat with the other two, revealing the other selections. Return to the first spectator. Ask him for the number of cards in his pocket. Snap the card remaining in front of him face up. It coincides with his pocketed number. Repeat this with the other two spectators for the final climax. Background. After reading Van Osdol's Number Trick in Rufus Steele's 50 Tricks You Can Do You, You Will Do, Easy To Do, (a compilation of three books from 1909, 1924, and 1935) I invented what I thought was a pretty good location which was similar to this. It was so good that it was later printed in Rufus Steele's 52 Amazing Card Tricks (1949) as Audley Walsh's "Calling All Cards." Having been frustrated at the coincidence, I applied the basic revelation to multiple selections. Using this method, it takes no longer to have three selections made than it does to make one. Then, when I discovered that I could predict both the discard and the pocketed cards, it was molded into the above routine. Use of the multiple participants allows you to get away from the contrived method of narrowing the number of possible outcomes used in both of the above tricks. In both, the spectator was to cut the pack into two equal halves and then worked with one of the halves. There was no reason for working with half the pack. The above turns that weakness into a strength by splitting the pack into thirds and allowing two other selections. Leftovers. You might think that exposing the number of cards in the discard pile

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO telegraphs the 9-force. However, you are predicting a consolidated number, not the individual discards. Further, you are predicting the discard, not the multiple of nine being forced. The individual discards lose their identity (and their relationship to a multiple of nine) when they are combined in a single pile. However, if you don't feel comfortable predicting the discard, try the following variation. Instruct the three spectators to glance at the face card on their packet after the first discard. (This means that they are looking at the face card of a packet which contains a multiple of nine cards.) They simply drop their packets on top of the discard pile. For the sake of explanation, we will assume that you have mentally numbered the spectators and they have replaced their packets on the discard pile in one, two, three order. Since you have been watching the proceedings during this handling, you know both the number in the discard pile and how many cards each spectator had, either nine or eighteen. It's a simple matter to pick up the entire pack, false shuffle, and then count to the first selection from the face. After counting the discard pile off the face, the next card is the first selection. Upjog it. Count the number of cards in the first spectator's pile, starting with this

first selection, and the next card will be the second spectator's selection. Upjog it. Starting with this upjogged card, count the number of cards in the second spectator's pile, and the next card will be the third spectator's selection. Upjog it. Strip all the cards out and reveal them. The above method of forcing multiple spectators to arrive at a known number of cards has many benefits. You will find another use for these in the description of Multiplocation. There is only one warning I should share with you. The first instruction you give the audience is to cut the pack into thirds. In order to correctly predict the discard at 16 or 25, your flexibility with the size of their piles is limited. Each "third" should have between 12 and 29 cards. Since a third of the pack is 17 cards, this is a fairly broad range. If you don't feel comfortable controlling or monitoring the cut, you could add a third out or prediction containing the number "7." I prefer to control things by saying that, "To make it interesting, each of you should have at least a dozen cards." If two of them have at least a dozen cards, the most the third person can have is 28. Remember to start with a deck with exactly 52 cards. (52-12-12=28.)

"...Puns

are no longer held in such esteem: banished from good society... They are not proper in a performance of sleight of hand. The reason is very simple: not only do puns raise a belief that the artist fancies himself a wit, which may be injurious to him; but, if he succeed(s) in raising a laugh, it weakens the interest felt in his experiments." Robert-Houdin in the Memoirs of Robert-Houdin (1858) (Are you going to listen to a guy who took his wife's last name?)

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MULTIPLOCATION Steve Beam I have started doing this trick as an impromptu version of Multiple Impact. While I'm not sure that it's as strong as the original, it has the added advantages of using a borrowed and shuffled pack. Since the pack doesn't have to be complete, this can be done under almost any conditions. The only requirement is that you have at least three spectators available to participate. Effect. The magician starts with a borrowed and shuffled pack. He hands a small packet of cards to three spectators. Each is instructed to shuffle the packet he receives. They are then to cut off the top half of the packet and remember the card they cut to — the bottom card of the cut off packet. "To guarantee that I can locate at least one of the selections, I'm going to choose one too." At this, the magician follows suit with the cards which he holds. He cuts off the top packet and notes the bottom card of same. "To make it completely impossible for me to find the selections, I am going to ask you to mix your packets." The magician has each spectator place his upper half on top of someone else's lower half. The packets are then gathered and shuffled again. The magician goes through the pack and removes and tables three cards face down. He pretends to be having trouble. "I can't remember which one I chose! This is embarrassing." He continues thumbing through the cards. "Oh that's it!" He tables a fourth card face down. "You each started with ten or fifteen cards. You merely thought of one card. Let's see if I was able to accomplish the impossible, the location of all four cards. First, I chose the four of hearts." The magician turns over the last card he tabled, the four of hearts. "If it's okay with you, I will take my applause now. There may not be any later." The audience may or may not comply

with this request. There is only so much appreciation one is willing to show for a magician who finds his own card. One at a time, the magician asks for the names of the other selections. The tabled cards are turned over as the selections are named. They are the selected cards. The Work. Take the pack from a spectator who has just shuffled it. We will assume that you are seated at a table facing three spectators. The one on your left is number one, the middle one is number two, and the one on your right is number three. The actual number of participants doesn't matter. It will, however, dictate the size of the packets each is given. I prefer three or four participants. Taking the shuffled pack, I like to execute a quick version of the Underhand Shuffle. While this has no effect on the order of the cards, it establishes this as an acceptable shuffle at a time when it does not matter. In other words, why would the magician false shuffle at a point when the audience has just decimated any secret arrangement that may have been present? Hold the deck in the left hand in dealing position. Thumb over two packets of five cards each into the right hand. Hand these ten cards to a spectator. Repeat this process, giving each spectator ten cards. Instruct the participants to shuffle their packets as you overhand shuffle yours. (While the type of shuffle doesn't matter here, once again I use the Underhand Shuffle. ) You will note that the line above about each of the spectators having possessed "ten to fifteen" cards was technically correct but misleading. They all had exactly ten cards, but your "creative reconstruction" of the effect for them helps them to steer further from the correct method. Here comes the only real "procedure"

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO in the trick. When the volunteers finish shuffling their packets, ask them to cut off the top half of their packet and look at the card they cut to. You lead them by following your own instructions. Cut off the top half of your packet and pretend to look at the card on the face of the upper packet. Actually, you need to secretly glimpse the top card of the lower half. I use the old gambler's bubble peek where I buckle the top card of the lower half with the left thumb under cover of pretending to note

the card on the face of the upper half. See figure 1. "You have each had a free choice of a card from your packet. Now to make it completely impossible for me to find the selections, I am going to have you mix your packets. Everyone's cards will be mixed with everyone else's." Extend your left hand with your lower half to spectator #3. Have him place his upper half squarely on top of your lower half. Note that his selection goes directly on top of the card you just glimpsed. Now have spectator #2 place his upper half on top of spectator #3's lower half. Instruct spectator #1 to place his upper half on top of spectator #2's lower half. Finish by placing your upper half on top of spectator #1's lower half. While this may seem confusing to read,

remember that you are there to direct the activity. Once you give them the reason for what you are doing (to eliminate each packet's individual identity) it is a logical procedure. Further, everyone is doing the same thing and they are all doing it in sequence. Most times I don't have to tell the first spectator what to do. He deduces what is expected of him and does it. You will now reassemble the pack by extending your left hand for the third spectator to place his newly formed packet on top of yours. Extend the combined packet to spectator #2 for his packet to be placed on top. Finally, have spectator #1 drop his packet on top of all. At this point, I execute a quick Underhand Shuffle. This is both quick and convincing without belaboring the point. Further, it is completely natural since I have set them up with the shuffle twice in this trick already. The audience will remember that the deck was shuffled at every opportunity during the effect. The magician and audience shuffled before the effect. Each spectator and the magician shuffled the individual packets. And once they were collected (and the packets mixed during the process) the combined pack was once again shuffled. To find the selections, lift the pack up so that the faces are visible only to you. Spread through the pack from your left hand to your right until you locate your key card. This is the card you glimpsed earlier in the effect. The card to the immediate left of your key is the third spectator's selection. Upjog this card. Starting with the card to the immediate left of the upjogged card, count ten cards. Try to make this seem as if you are looking through the cards, not counting through them. The tenth card will be the second spectator's selection. Upjog it. Count to the tenth card to the left of the second selection and it will be the first spectator's selection. Upjog it. Now wander through the packet as if you are still looking for a selection. They will wonder what you are doing since you have

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apparently located their selections. This little dramatic pause heightens the drama of the effect and adds a little humor. When you have built their curiosity to a fever pitch (okay, I'm speaking metaphorically), " I can't remember which onel chose!" [Pause fora moment for the first statement to sink in.] "This is embarrassing." Continue to look for a card as the laughter subsides. Finally upjog any card, to the left of the first three upjogged cards, and remember it. Remove all four of the upjogged cards as a unit and place them face down on the table. The audience should recognize the ludicrous situation you have created. You are now about to attempt to generate applause for finding your own card. (If this seems ridiculous, just imagine how much applause you would get if they realized that the tabled card you just removed is not really your selection.) "Let's see if I was able to accomplish the impossible, the location of all four cards. First... I chose the four of hearts." Name the card you just remembered. Turn the top card of the face down packet face up. " I f it's okay with you, I will take my applause now. There may not be any later." Regardless of the response, ask each spectator for his selection and turn the proper card over as they name it. Remember that they are in order with spectator #1's card on top of the packet. Take your earned applause. Variations. While I described this handing ten cards to each of the spectators, in actual performance, I hand each spectator a different number of cards. This further disguises the fact that the number of cards each spectator has plays a significant roll in the effect. Assume you hand packets containing eight, ten, and twelve cards to spectators one through three respectively. Spectator #3's cards will be immediately to the left of your key card. Twelve cards more to your left you will find spectator #2's card. Ten more cards to the left and you will find spectator #1's selection. While this may not seem mathematically balanced, remember that the cards you

will count when arriving at the second spectator's selection are the cards which were in spectator #3's packet. If performing for magicians who may be familiar with the free-cut principle, you may wish to vary the proceedings. Rather than handing each spectator a predetermined number of cards, you can allow them to apparently determine the size of their own packets. You can do this by forcing three cards which will tell them how many cards to take. You would instruct them to bury these cards in the center of the pack so there is no clue how many cards they will take. You can then turn your back while they deal off a packet corresponding in number to the force card they took. You could use the method explained earlier in Location, Location, Location to arrive at a known number of cards. Since you will be watching the spectators, you will know how many cards are in the discard pile they create. Rather than predicting this number, this pile would become the fourth spectator's packet from which he would choose a card. The effect is that each of three spectators would start with approximately a third of the pack which they allocated among themselves. Wanting to include another spectator, the magician asks that cards be handed to the fourth spectator. Using the method described in that trick, you now know the number of cards each spectator has. Take half or so of the fourth spectator's packet (since he now has the largest packet) and you have a packet of cards from which to get your key. Also, subtracting the number he deals onto your hand from the number you know he holds, gives you the remaining number he has. I don't like superfluous dealing. I also ' don t think there is much heat on the magician who simply spread counts the appropriate number of cards and hands them to the spectators. However, if that concerns you, tell the audience that you are going to play a game of mental poker with them. "We are going to play seven card stud. We'll deal all the cards face down — I' 11 play the part of the stud." Have a spectator

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO shuffle the pack and then deal as many hands of seven cards as you feel comfortable using. The remainder of the pack is returned to you. The participants pick up their "hands" and proceed as you describe above. You can use patter about their poker faces helping you to discern which cards are theirs. Leftovers. If you have at least four spectators present, you may wish to use another piece of humor straight from my Multiple Impact. Add a crimped blank-faced card to the pack. After allowing the audience to shuffle at the beginning of the effect, cut the blank faced card to the bottom. This keeps it in the magician's possession for the rest of the effect so no one can accidentally select it. At the conclusion of the effect, upjog the three selections, the blank card, and the indifferent card that you supposedly selected. Reveal your

selection as well as those belonging to spectators one and two. Now turn to a spectator who did not choose a card. "What was the name of your card?" She will tell you that she didn't select a card. Flip the blank card face up. " That's whatl thought!" Continue by revealing the last selection. Background. This is a tidy application of John Hamilton's Free-Cut Principle, which was exploited in another of my favorite card tricks, Quadruple Prediction from Volume One. This started as an attempt to accomplish my marketed effect Multiple Impact with a borrowed and shuffled pack. Each has its own advantages, and I use them both as different occasions permit. You may also wish to investigate Alex Elmsley's Multiple Mind Reading from Volume Two of The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley.

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BYE-PASS OPERATION Steve Beam

Authors of card tricks are known for starting with the statement, "Control the selection to the top of the pack by your favorite method." This means that you must secretly bring the spectator's selection to the top, without the spectator realizing it. Perhaps this will becomeyourfavoritemethod.Itis ldeceptive,andrelativelyeasyto

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accomplish. And, while not absolutely necessary to use that section, there is a visual retention handling at one part which makes this impossible to follow. The Work. Hold the pack in the left hand in dealing position. Spread the cards into your palm up right hand with the left thumb. Ask a spectator to touch a card in the spread. When he does, bring your left thumb to the left edge of the touched card as shown in figure 1. Underneath the spread, place your right first and fourth fingers on the face of the card two cards above the selection. Your second and third fingers hang loosely for the moment. See figure 2 for an exposed view. Now move your right hand to the left. If your fingers are placed correctly underneath

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the spread, your right first and fourth fingers will engage the card directly above the selection, sliding it to the left. This action will continue until that card joins the selection, butting up against the left thumb. This bumping action against the left thumb squares the selection with the card immediately above it. Once the two cards are square, place

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

your right second and third fingers on the face of the selection and lift all the cards above and including the selection with your right hand. This brings the card they touched into their view. See figure 3. Once they have noted their selection, lower the right-hand spread and place the double card outjogged onto the left packet as shown in figure 4. Here is where the visual retention comes in which makes this difficult to reconstruct. You are apparently going to transfer the outjogged selection from the left packet to the top of the right. It will appear that the selection

has never been squarely on top of the left packet even though that is not the case. Position your left forefinger on the far edge of the outjogged double-card. As you bring your left hand over to your right, pull the double card square with the left packet and immediately push the top card to the right. Take this single card outjogged onto the right half as shown in figure 5. Try this action in front of the mirror a few times so that you can appreciate the illusion. When done smoothly, the illusion is perfect. Place the left-hand packet on top of the right-hand packet, bringing the selection to the I top of the pack. Neatly square the outjogged card in the middle of the pack. Variations. As stated earlier, it is not necessary to outjog the double card. You can simply place the double card squarely onto the left hand's packet and immediately push it to the right. However, I prefer to isolate the selection to make the transfer to the right hand easy to follow. You can also control the selection to a position second from the top by squaring the selection with the two cards above it rather than just the one. You would then transfer a triple card to the top of the left packet. The rest of the move is identical. Background. This control resembles in handling the many variations of Edward Marlo' s Convincing Control. However, my inspiration came from a combination of Steve Pressley' s A CutBelow and Bill Simon's Prophecy Move, both from Volume One. Steve's handling, using a riffling action from a squared packet, controlled the selection to (or near) the bottom of the pack. A Cut Above, which followed Steve's control in Volume One brought the selection to (or near) the top of the pack. I wasn't 100% happy with the openness of my move. This handling which I discovered shortly after Volume One went to press (as is usually the case) more than adequately addresses that concern.

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MOVES You will find several variations of the Convincing Control as well as other strong magic in Frank Simon's Versatile Card Magic. Finally, the closest thing I could find in print to the above appears in The Amazing Miracles of Shigeo Takagi in a trick called Total Triumph . In this handling, the selection is controlled to the bottom of the pack via a fake transfer from the face of the right-hand spread to the top of the left-hand packet.

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Leftovers. The name of the move refers to the fact that this is an operation which serves as an alternative to the pass for bringing a selected card to the top of the pack. (Therefore, you can say goodbye to the pass.) The name was inspired by my father, Jim Beam, who this month was a participant in an operation which is a synonym for this move. Having sampled both, he prefers the above version. This preference, he assures me, comes from the heart.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

DRIBBLE PEEK

Steven Youell This is a quick move which allows you to glimpse a peeked at card. It covers an action that many magicians have a tough time doing naturally. That is, converting a broken card to a known card. The Work. Hold the pack in your left hand in what is normally referred to as peek position as shown in figure 1. Your left fingertips rest along the long right edge of the pack. Use your left thumb to bevel the pack to the right expanding the surface area of the right edge of the pack. You can allow the spectator to peek at a card or you can open the pack for him. I will explain it as if you are going to handle the duties. Run your right forefinger up the far right corner of the pack as you ask a spectator to stop you. When he stops you, open the break larger, allowing the spectator to see the card in the opening. See figure 2. Insert just a bit of flesh of your left fourth finger into the break while he is looking at his card. Do not stick your finger in the break. Instead, you just want a bit of flesh pinched when the break is closed. As soon as he has seen the card, allow the

rest of the pack to riffle off the forefinger as you lower the pack. Pause for a moment as you continue with patter relevant to the trick you are performing. This is important. You should not move immediately into the glimpse after the peek. You need time between the peek and the glimpse to take the heat off the glimpse. My favorite delaying tactic at this point is to act as if you are aren't aware that the

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MOVES spectator already has a card in mind. When you allow the balance of the pack to riffle off the right forefinger say, "Oh, I'm sorry. The cards slipped. We can try again." At this, the spectator will let you know that he saw the card. "You did? Really? Okay, if you are sure. but that was the fastest peek I've ever seen." This verbal subtlety was originated by the late Eddie Fechter and is explained in Jerry Mentzer's 1993 book, Fechter. Now that you have the break with your left little finger, bring you right hand over to the pack. Engage the near left corner of the lower half (only) with your right thumb. Your right second and third finger grasp the (entire) pack at the front end. Note that your right thumb has no contact with the upper half or the break. It is touching the lower half only. Failure to follow this point will generate a huge step in the cards when you convert the break to a step momentarily. Likewise, your left fourth finger merely maintains the break with a light touch. Any pressure applied to the break by the fourth finger will enlarge the step significantly. Your right hand remains stationary as your left hand revolves the pack face up using your right thumb and second finger as the pivot point. You will notice that as the pack is flipped over, a step forms at the break. This step is covered from the spectators' view by the right hand but the magician gets a perfect view of the near index corner. See figure 3. However, now is not the time to catch

the glimpse. You should time your casual glance downward so that it is just in time to catch the needed glimpse. If you watch the entire action, you will appear to be overly concerned about what you are doing. Remember that the audience sends their attention to the same place the magician directs his. In a continuous motion, pick up the pack with the right hand and dribble it off the right thumb and fingers into the palm up left hand. As the cards start to dribble, catch your glimpse of the stepped card. The fact that you don't even look at the pack until the cards are dribbling is very disarming. This is a perfectly natural action which allows you to gain knowledge of the selected card. Leftovers. Briefly, I will mention the motivation Steve uses for the peeking and dribbling actions. Immediately after the card has been peeked, he says, "If these cards were marked, I would have to see the backs to learn the identity of your card." As he proceeds into the dribble, "But this is not one of those trick decks. All the cards are different." With the above patter lines, he has justified both the peek and the dribble. The peek as a method of selecting cards prevents the magician from seeing the backs of the cards, particularly if he turns away. The dribbling action is then used to show that the cards are all different. I believe that this type of patter can best be described as "greasing the wheel with manure." You might as well use a resource that is readily available.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE UNDERHAND SHUFFLE

Steve Beam I came up with this after playing with the dozens of shuffle variations in S. W. Erdnase's Expert at The Card Table although it more closely resembles a tabled running cut from Expert Card Technique. Since it is a full deck false shuffle, it will be welcome for those of you who are using tricks with a full deck setup. After explaining the basic technique, I will explain a novel variation to throw magicians off the scent. The Work. Hold the pack in the left hand in position for an overhand shuffle. Undercut the bottom fifth of the pack and throw it on top of the pack, outjogged for about a quarter of an inch. Your left forefinger rests on the face of the outjogged packet for ease in separating the pack at that point later. Repeat the above actions by undercutting another fifth of the pack with your right hand. Throw this fifth on top of the pack in such a way that it disguises the outjogged condition of the fifth which preceded this one. You can achieve this by tossing it on top of the pack outjogged for half the amount of the first fifth. This haphazard placement of the packets adds to the illusion of a well mixed pack. Repeat the same undercutting and throw ing action with the next two fifths of the pack. For the final fifth, undercut the cards beneath the original outjogged packet and toss this packet on top of the pack. Your left forefinger has marked the outjog for you so there should not be any delay in locating it. Finer Points. Rhythm is the most important part of this shuffle. This undercutting process should emulate the up and down rhythm of the standard overhand shuffle. It gives the illusion that you are dropping small packets from a large packet held in the right hand while you are in fact cutting packets from the bottom of the pack to the top.

Without a smooth and consistent cadence, you will give the appearance of having a plan in the placement of the packets. Further adding to the illusion, you should not look at your hands as you shuffle. You should be addressing the audience. The audience views the shuffle peripherally which takes the heat off it. Once you learn the mechan ics of the shuffle, you should practice it without watching it while doing something else. This is a great item to practice while watching television. The finished product should make it appear that you are simply toying with the pack as you talk. The number of slices you split the pack into doesn't matter as long as the rhythm is consistent. Anywhere between three and six slices I think you will find convincing without the overkill. Why It Works. Mentally number the slices of the pack one through five from the top to the bottom. The first undercut places number five on top of number one. Next, four goes on five, three goes on four, and two goes on three. When you undercut beneath the outjog, you are sending the original packet number one back to the top. Leftovers. When performing for magicians, I incorporate the following handling to steer them off the solution. Hold the pack face up in the left hand in position for the overhand shuffle. Undercut the bottom fifth of the pack as above. However, as you lift this packet with your right hand, outjog the top card of the left hand's packet. Toss the right hand's packet on top of the pack, covering the outjogged card. In this variation, you don't have to outjog this first packet since you have outjogged the top card. Instead, this packet helps to cover the jogged card as the second

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packet did in the shuffle above. Now undercut the next three packets as in the original and then undercut beneath the jogged card and throw on top. You have finished with the shuffle and the face card of the face up pack has changed. From the audience's point of view, if this had been a false shuffle, nothing would have

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changed. However, because of the shuffle, you have simply moved the card from the face of the pack to the back of the pack. To bring things back to normal, simply turn the pack face down and repeat the exact same shuffle. Do not overlook Budget Cut later in this chapter. It is another full-deck false shuffle which is very convincing.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

BACKWARDS PROPHECY

Bill Simon This is my backwards handling of Bill's have called more attention to the move and its original move which can be found in his semi- possibilities. I am reprinting this from Volnal book Effective Card Magic (01952, ume One because there are several routines in

Louis Tannen). I found it interesting that the move is hidden in a trick called Business Card Prophecy in a chapter called Choice Tricks. There is a separate chapter called New Sleights And Tricks Therewith which probably would

this volume which require it and I would like this volume to stand on its own. I also wanted to clarify the differences between my handling and Bill Simon's original. This discussion follows the description of the move.

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MOVES Goal. During the course of this move, the pack is secretly cut. This is done while apparently turning an outjogged card over and replacing it in the middle of the pack. The Work. Start with the deck face down in the left and a joker outjogged in the pack as shown in figure 1. Assume that you have a red ace on top and bottom of the pack. Spread through the pack from left to right. Split the spread above the outjogged card as shown in figure 2. Turn your right hand palm down so that you can take the outjogged card on the back side of the right hand's packet, clipped between the right thumb and the top of the packet. See figure 3. Rotate your right hand palm up again, with your right thumb carrying along the joker. See figure 4. The action of turning the hand over is done overtly to show the other side of the joker. Pause for just a second for everyone to see the face. Then, place the left hand's half on top of the right, sandwiching the outjogged joker between the two halves. Leftovers. Perform this move openly. The overt action of turning the joker over covers the covert mission of cutting the pack. The naturalness of the bigger movement covers the hidden action. This is because the action is "hidden" out in the open. While I explained this starting with the joker face up, I normally start with a card inserted face down. This gives you a reason to turn it over, to remind everyone of the identity of the card they inserted. To start with the card face up, I would execute the move for the apparent reason of turning the card face down. "Oh, I meant for you to turn the card face down before inserting it." It then appears as though you simply turn the card face down in its existing location. Actually, the deck is cut in the process. Background. The original Prophesy Move was published in Bill Simon's Effective Card Magic. Its only flaw (which the handling above corrects) is that it flashed the bottom card of the pack. This happened be-

cause the left hand (with the original bottom half) did the turning. That is, the pack was split above the outjogged card as shown in figure 2. The left hand, holding the bottom half with the outjogged card on top, then rotated palm down and deposited the outjogged card on top of the right hand's half. At this point, the bottom card of the pack is blocked from the spectators' view by the left hand. It is very easy to flash this card, which is one of the sandwich cards, during this action. In the original, you would finish at this point by pivoting the left hand palm up again and depositing the left hand's half on top of the cards in the right hand. By splitting the pack at the same point but allowing the right hand to rotate as shown in figure 3, the only card which is flashed is the indifferent card (the four of diamonds in the illustration) immediately above where the spectator actually stabbed the card. Another benefit of this handling is that the eye follows motion. A larger action covers a smaller. As the right hand moves from the position in figure 3 to that in figure 4, the outjogged card travels a greater distance than the rest of the cards. All focus is on that card, not the relative positions of the two packets. For both reasons, I encourage you not to overlook this change in handling. If you do not have access to Effective Card Magic, you will find another description of the same move in Allan Ackerman's Here's My Card (1978) under the trick called Quick Coincidence and in his Las Vegas Kardma (1994) as part of the trick, A Self-Working Quick Coincidence. There are other variations of the move in print. No doubt the parent of Bill Simon's original would be the inferior version published in Scarne on Card Tricks (1950) and credited to John Scarne and Bill Simon. Max Abrams' handling of the move appeared in the November 1992 issue of Genii ( Volume 56, #1) under the title, Controlled Prophesy . Jerry Hartman's handling appeared in his Card Craft under the title, A-D Indicator Force.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

BOUNCE C O N T R O L I

Tom Craven This semi-automatic key card placement will allow you to control a peeked card with nothing more than a break. The goal is to arrive at a known card, your key, directly above a peeked card. If you overlook this, you will be missing something that can bring you many seconds of immense pleasure. The Work. Take a borrowed and shuffled pack from a spectator. While taking possession, secretly glimpse the bottom card of the pack. This will be your key. Hold the pack face down in your left hand in dealing position. Lift your hand up so that the cards face the audience with their backs toward you. Ask a spectator to pull back some cards and peek at a card. Point to the upper right corner with your right hand so they know which corner to use. The fact that it is the only free index corner makes this corner the logical one to use. When the spectator pulls a corner of the pack to peek at a card, pick up a break with your left little finger. This is a standard peek control so far. Once you have the break, lower your hand to dealing position. Here is where it gets interesting. Use your left thumb to push five to ten cards into your palm up right hand. Take these cards with your thumb on top and fingers underneath. Separate your hands and again use your left thumb to push another five to ten cards onto the first group in your right hand. Separate your hands again. Push off another group of cards, taking this packet underneath the cards in the right hand. Push off another group and take them again on top of the right-hand stack. You should be five to ten cards from you break now. Lower your left hand and push another group of cards underneath the righthand packet. This time, push all the cards above the break to the right, but use your left finger-

tips to retain the card immediately above the break. Pull this card back flush with the left hand's packet. The right hand takes the rest of the cards which were above the break underneath as before. You will push off three more packets to complete the move. Bring the left hand up and push approximately one third of its cards onto the top of the right-hand packet. Lower the left hand and push half of the remaining cards onto the bottom of the right-hand cards. Finish by placing all of the remaining cards (including the bottom card which is the original bottom card you glimpsed) on top of the right hand's cards. Since the top card of the right-hand packet is the peeked card, your key is being placed directly on top of the selection. The Follow-Through. The pack has been reassembled after the apparently random mixing procedure. Currently your key is on top of the selection, approximately ten cards from the top of the pack. You are now going to follow through with a quick cut which will retain the key with the selection. Square the pack and take it in the left hand again. Push at least fifteen or twenty cards from your left hand into your right, imitating your previous actions. By pushing the top twenty as a group, you maintain the key and selection intact. From this point, alternate pushing small groups of cards above and below this right-hand packet as before. This is a legitimate running cut, but the two cards which are important to you are still together. Leftovers. This simple control is very deceptive. The important points are timing and rhythm. You should practice so that there is no hesitation when you arrive at your break. This should look identical to the previous bites which are taken from the packet. Your rhythm must be the same on each push.

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MOVES You can also place a desired number between the key and the selection. Rather than placing the key directly on top of the selection, run the desired number of separating cards from the top of the left half directly on top of the selection. Now bounce back to the bottom of the packet, transferring another group of cards

from the top of the left half to the bottom of the right. Finish by placing the original bottom group directly on top of the pack. There will now be the desired number of cards between the key and the selection. You do not need to watch your hands during the move. It is accomplished by the sense of touch.

One of the most important differences between man and other species is the opposable thumb which allows man to both overhand and riffle shuffle.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

BOUNCE CONTROL II

Tom Craven This is similar in handling to the preceding move, thus the clever name. I have a million of these descriptive names just waiting for tricks on which to bestow them. If you understand the working of Bounce Control I, this will be a cinch. The goal is the same. You want to arrive at a scenario with a known card, your key, directly above a peeked card. The Work. You can use either a riffle or a faro shuffle for this. Basically, you are going to execute the previous control with a telescoped pack. The technique varies slightly depending upon what type of shuffle, faro or riffle, you use to get into it. I will start by explaining the easiest, the faro shuffle. This is a perfect riffle shuffle with the cards from both halves alternating perfectly. Start by performing a faro shuffle. The bottom card of the pack should be on the side nearest you. If this is not the case at the conclusion of the shuffle, turn the telescoped pack around. Glimpse the bottom card of the pack, your key. Hold the telescoped pack in the left hand in dealing position as shown in figure 1. This is called an "incomplete faro."

Lift your hand up so that the faces of the cards are toward the audience. Direct a spectator to peek at a card in the top half of the extended pack. You can allow him to split the pack for the peek or you can run your right fingers along the right edge of the upper half and direct him to stop you. Pick up a left little finger break in the lower of the two halves as a result of the peek. So far, everything has been identical to the preceding control. However, here is where the differences begin. Use your left thumb to push the top five or six pairs of cards off the top of the pack and into your palm up right hand. The right hand takes the cards with the thumb on the back (top) and the fingers on the face (bottom). Push off the next group of five or six pairs and take them on top of the first group in the right hand. You should be approaching your break by now. The third group of cards goes to the bottom of the right-hand packet, but this one is done differently. Use your left thumb to push all the cards above the break to the right. As you do, you will feel the card immediately above the break moving too. Allow that card to go with the departing packet as the bottom card of the packet. This will leave you with the selection as the top card of the left-hand packet. Push the next group of cards with your left thumb, five or six more pairs, to the top of the right-hand packet. The top card of the telescoped pack is the selection. It is on the outjogged half, the cards closest to the audience. To clean up, push half the cards from your left hand, five or six pairs, to the bottom of the right-hand packet. Finish by placing all the cards which remain in the left hand, including your known key which is on the bottom of the packet, directly on top of the right hand's

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MOVES cards. This places your key directly on top of the selection. Of course, your key is injogged and the selection is outjogged, but that doesn't change the fact that the two cards are directly adjacent to each other. Follow-Through. You have two choices here as well. You can square the cards and execute the follow-through as described in Bounce Control I. Or, if the cards remain neatlyaligned, you can leave them telescoped and perform the same thing with the incomplete faro. I would not overlook this disarming part of the move. Riffle Shuffle Method. If you arrive at a telescoped pack via the riffle shuffle, the results are achievable but the mechanics vary slightly. You cannot let the spectator do the peek by himself. This is because, with a sloppy riffle shuffle, the cards fall in groups or clumps. When the card in the outjogged half is peeked, it must be the face card of one of the clumps. If you use your right forefinger to riffle off cards until they stop you, you will find that the cards riffle off the forefinger, one clump at a time. Since the clumps are small, this is not obvious. You will pick up a break during the peek as before. Push your first packet off the pack into the right hand as before. The second packet

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goes on top of the first. You are near your break when you get ready to push the third group of cards. Push all the cards including the one directly above your left pinky break. Glance at the card immediately below this card. It will be outjogged. If it is a single card, finish exactly as you did above with the incomplete faro. That is, thumb off all the cards above this outjogged card so that they go underneath the right-hand half. Separate your hands and then thumb over the top group from your left hand to your right, sending the selection to the top of the right-hand half. Thumb another group to the bottom of the pack. Finish by placing all the cards remaining in your left hand on top of those in your right. This last action places your key directly above the selection. If, on the other hand, there is a clump of cards, push all the cards in the clump except the one on the face, along with the card above the break, onto the top of the right-hand packet. The card on the face of the clump (the selection) becomes the top card of the left packet since all the cards above it just went to the bottom of the right hand's cards. Finish as above by pushing a third of the remaining cards on top of the right hand's packet. The next third goes beneath, and the final third back on top.

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

BUDGET CUT Steve Beam This type of move is not for everyone or every occasion. It's a full deck false cut which is meant to be done on the off beat --not as if it's a planned event. Its believability factor is drastically increased by the apparent haphazard manner in which it is performed. It appears that the magician is pushing cards from all different places to all different places. The Work. Hold the deck face down in the left hand in dealing position. Bring your palm-down right hand over to trap the pack in the "V" formed by the crotch of your right thumb. Spread cards with your left thumb over into the right hand. You are going to spread and take half the pack over to the right hand. However, don't just push half the pack over. Your left thumb should smoothly push cards as you would normally spread cards from your left hand to your right, only this time your right hand is palm down. Further, your left thumb should appear to be moving fairly quickly. See figure 1. When your right hand has about half the pack, separate your hands. Without pausing,

you are now going to perform two actions simultaneously. Rotate your right hand palm up and rotate your left hand palm down. Do this with an exaggerated movement. You want to visually deceive the audience with the relative positions of the two packets. Bring the two hands together, with your right hand slightly under the left. Now you will push cards from the right hand's face up half back onto the bottom of the face up half in the left hand. Again, rather than simply pushing over a bunch with one bite, spread the cards over with the right thumb, pushing three to four little groups. See figure 2. If you will study what you are doing, you are pushing the same cards you just pushed from your left hand to your right back over from the right hand to the left. But, you have changed the relative positions of the hands, the direction the cards are moving (right to left) and you have turned the halves face up. All of these deceive the mind and make it appear that the cards are going to completely haphazard locations. Return your hands to their opening po-

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MOVES sitions shown in figure 1. You should do this with an exaggerated motion. Spread more cards with your rapidly moving left thumb from the left hand to the right. Repeat the actions of the last paragraph, moving to figure 2's position and thumbing cards back from right to left. To finish the move, rotate your hands again ending with your left hand palm up and your right hand palm down. In one continuous motion, slap your right hand's cards face down on top of the left hand's cards. Leftovers. You don't want to overdo this. Otherwise, it will be obvious that you are shuttling roughly the same cards back and forth from hand to hand. You do not have to save the slapping action for the conclusion of the effect. You can lightly slap the packets together each time you rotate the hands to restart the spreading action. Remember that nearness does not count.

The more haphazard this appears, the better. If you are doing this close-up and you have the pack in a obvious setup, be sure to keep the edges of the cards toward the audience when the packets are face up. Otherwise, the audience might see the faces of the cards as they pass from hand to hand. Background. I think my subconscious inspiration for this was from a handling of the slop shuffle I saw over twenty years ago. While it actually shuffled the pack, it did not as the effect was, mix face up cards with face down cards. My conscious inspiration for this was from the haymow or Charlier shuffle. You can find the original in, among other places, Expert Card Technique (Jean Hugard & Fred Braue) and John Northern Hilliard's Greater Magic. The later reference suggests that the label "hay-mow" was a result of the shuffle's popularity in agricultural regions.

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"Make your act just a bit shorter than the length of time you are confident you can hold your audience's highest attention." Dariel Fitzkee in Showmanship For Magicians (1943)

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B O N U S E F F E C T

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BONUS EFFECT

GOTCHA COVERED

Steve Beam In April of 1994, I was standing at my booth at the Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic which is held annually in Buffalo, New York, demonstrating effects from Volume One. Anthony Brahams of England was standing at the booth and said that I ought to devise a trick with the book itself. I appreciated this timely suggestion since effects like this are usually designed before the book goes to press. However, the comment was barely out of his mouth when an effect came to mind. It has since become one of my favorite effects. While it is not completely self-working, those of you who like sleight of hand will enjoy using it. Effect. The magician has a card selected. "I would like to show you a trickfrom the latest magic book I bought. Actually, it's not a trick from the book. It's a trick with the book." The magician gestures to a magic book on the table in front of him. "It's a shame that the king of clubs isn't your card. It would be a coincidence, but I would take credit for it." The magician is referring to the four of diamonds which is on the dust cover of the book. At this, the magician splits the pack of cards into two fans. Passing both fans over the card on the dust cover, the card changes into the selected card. Everything can be passed for examination. The Work. It was entirely by luck that a four of diamonds was part of the dust cover design of Volume One. It was even luckier that the card on the cover was the same size as a regular playing card. While I haven't seen the cover design for this volume yet, Lisa Weedman has been asked to include another playing card on its cover. This way you will be able to perform the trick with either volume. Since I don't know what that card will be as of the time of this writing, I will assume you are doing this trick with the four of diamonds which is on the

cover of Volume One. (Now I have seen Volume Two's cover and it is also the four of diamonds. We're nothing if not consistent.) You are going to perform a simplified version of my Visine Change. Start by placing any indifferent card on the dust cover of the book, directly on top of the four. You may use a small amount of saliva or magicians wax if you think the book will be jostled prior to the performance. You don't want the card to be fastened to the cover, rather you want it to slightly adhere. Control the card which matches the one on the cover to the bottom of the pack. Place the book on the table in front of you, casually calling attention to it. Immediately shift attention to the deck of playing cards. Cut the cards, holding a break between the two halves. Hold the pack in the left hand in dealing position. Riffle the outer left corner of the pack with your left thumb, asking your volunteer to stop you. Time it so that he stops you near your break. Lift all the cards above the break with your right hand up so that he can see the bottom card of the upper half, the four of diamonds. Ask him to remember this card as you replace this half on top of the pack. Shuffle the pack a few times to make it obvious that you have no control over the selection. Split the face down pack into two one hand fans. Only at this point do you refer once again to the book. Call attention to the king of clubs on the cover. Do not delay here. Depending upon the light in the room where you are performing, close scrutiny may reveal a difference in the reflection from the real playing card and the reflection from the four. If you don't pause too long, the difference will not be noticed. Immediately cover the king with the two fans with the right hand's fan being directly above the card. Use your right third

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO finger to drag the card off the book as both hands separate revealing the four of diamonds on the cover. As your right hand reaches the edge of the book, use your right fourth finger to go beneath the card as it projects over the edge. See figure 1. Both hands should continue moving smoothly off of the book, not pausing for the pickup. When both hands clear the book, the fans should be brought together and closed into each other. The reversed indifferent card will wind up in the middle. However, because it is reversed, there will be a natural break which you can use to cut it to the bottom of the pack and correct when you wish. Leftovers. I would suggest that you leave both volumes of Semi-Automatic Card Tricks on your coffee table set up for performance. Further, you should buy 52 copies of each book so that you can perform the above trick without forcing the card. If you feel that $37.50 is too expensive to pay for each copy of the book, you can buy just the dust cover with another playing card printed on it for $36.95. By the way, this trick will not work with any other magic book, even those with cards printed on their dust covers. Just thought I would save you wasting the time to find out for yourself. It' s the least I could do. I know you are a busy man. Background. The color change was originally published in They Don't Make Trapdoors Like They Used To or You Too Can Walk on Water as Quick Change (1979). It was based upon Matthew Corin's Novel Card Discovery which appeared in the May 1972 issue of Genii. In my version, two cards are placed face up on the table as one. The remainder of the pack is cut into two one hand fans. These are passed over the tabled double, the right third finger sliding the face card off. The card can either be released into the lap or picked up from the edge of the table. The above handling is easier since you don't have execute a tabled double lift and because picking the card up 200

from the edge of the book is easier than picking it up from the edge of the table. (Corin's version did not use the fans, his hands provided the only cover for stealing the face card of the tabled double.) In later renditions, (Teaching An Old Deck New Tricks in 1980 and The Changing Of The Cards in 1982) I published this as The Visine Change. While the change was identical, the routine was different. I would force a black card and control it to the top of the pack. I turned the deck face up and instructed the spectator who selected the card to remove a card which hand the same value as the card he selected, but was a different color. That is, if he chose a black card, he should remove a red card with the same value. If he chose a red card, he should remove a black card of the same value. When he touched the red card, I would use the fourth finger buckle to place it second from the bottom of the face up pack while it apparently went to the bottom. Squaring the pack, I would then turn it face down and double lift the top two cards as one. The dialog would then resemble the following: Magician: "This card is the wrong color, right?" Spectator: "Right." Magician: "Oh, it's the right color?" Spectator: "Yes." Magician: "But I asked you to remove the wrong color." Spectator: "I did. I meant that the card is the wrong color." Magician: "So this card is the wrong color, right?" The above banter continued as long as it evoked laughter from someone other than the magician. At that point, the double was tabled face up. "In other words, your card was nota red card." The magician then removed a small container of Visine Eye Drops. Waving the container over the double, the magician paused,

BONUS EFFECT "Visine --- It gets the red out." (This was a frequently.) The magician then executed the common advertising phrase for Visine in the change from the red card to the black revealing late seventies when I was performing the effect the selection.

Figure I - This is the exposed view of the indifferent card being scooped up by the right third and fourth fingers as it projects over the edge of the book.

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"I also wished to see those ingenious personages who, not having a theatre to display their talent in, visit the cafes. Such men as these are obliged to employ an extraordinary degree of skill, for they have to deal with people who are set upon detecting them." Robert Houdin in the Memoirs of Robert-Houdin (1858)

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GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY Biddle position - Holding the pack from above by the short ends with the palm down hand. The fingers rest at the far short end and the thumb at the near short end. bottom of the deck - The lowermost card when the deck is face down. The position of the pack, face up or face down, does not change which card is considered the bottom card. When the deck is face up, the bottom card is the card on the face of the pack. break - a secret gap between cards, usually held by inserting the fourth finger so that it will not be visible from the spectator's point of view. breather crimp - a card which has been crimped by placing two crosswise bends in a playing card as shown in the illustration. Unlike most crimps, the bends in the card are not detectable from the edge of the pack. To cut the pack at the crimp, simply lift up on the cards as you cut them. The pack will break at the crimp.

below the crimped card. control - (verb/noun) To bring a card or cards to a desired position secretly. For example, "control the selection to the top" means to secretly relocate a selection from a known position to the top. The secret process which accomplishes this relocation is referred to as " the control." crimp - secretly bending a card so that it can be located among other cards. The normal process is to cut the crimped card to the top or bottom of the pack. Care must be exercised since most crimps are visible from the edge of the pack. cut - The process of breaking the pack into several components and mixing them. A " simple cut" is when the pack is cut into just two parts and the upper and lower halves are transposed. A false cut is an action which emulates a legitimate cut but leaves the deck, or a particular portion, undisturbed. The act of breaking the pack into parts is referred to as "cutting" the deck. The act of reassembling the parts is referred to as "completing" the cut. dealing position - This is the manner in which one would normally hold the pack in readiness for dealing cards. Unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that dealing position refers to holding the pack in your left hand. double undercut - a move invented by Dai Vernon where two undercuts are performed in succession. It can be used as a control or a false cut. As a control. Assume a card has been selected. Hold the pack in the right hand from above with the thumb at the near short edge and the fingers at the far short edge. Use your right forefinger to kick or swivel the top two thirds Placing the the bends in the card with the card of the pack over into the palm up left hand. face up or face down dictates whether the pack Instruct the spectator to replace his card will break immediately above or immediately 203

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO on top of the packet in your left hand. When he complies, place the right hand's third on top of the left hand's packet and pick up a left little finger break. Pause for time misdirection. Your right hand is free during this pause to do anything else. To proceed, your right hand takes possession of the pack again, with your right thumb taking possession of the break. Release half of the cards beneath the break into the palm up left hand and transfer these to the top of the pack. Repeat this action, this time transfering all the cards below the break to the top of the pack. The selection is now on top of the pack and the pack is in its original order (with the exception of the card which was removed from the middle). As a false cut. Repeat the above actions without removing a selection and you will return the entire deck back to its original order. The time misdirection is optional when this is used as a false cut. dovetail shuffle - a riffle shuffle performed in the hands. effect - The description of the trick as it appears to the audience. The effect section in this book is generally more detailed than in many card books. This is for three reasons. First, I think you should have a clear understanding of the product your efforts will eventually produce. This will let you know if it is the type of trick you wish to perform. Second, a clear understanding of the effect is necessary for complete mastery of the method. Finally, in my opinion, the effect on the audience may be affected by the presentation. Therefore, the effect is not complete without including at least a skeleton of the presentation. In magic books from previous centuries,the object was to state the effect in a single sentence which preceded a discussion of the method. Not all effects condense well into a single sentence. But some of my favorites are: Modern Magic (1874 - Professor

Hoffman): "To teach the company a trick which they learn without difficulty; then to allow them to succeed or to cause them to fail at your pleasure." In case there was any doubt, this should settle the argument about who is supposed to enjoy the performance, the magician or the audience. The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584 Reginald Scot) - "How to tell what card anie man thinketh, how to conveie the same into a kernell of a nut or cheristone, &c: and the same again into ones pocket: how to make one drawe the same or anie card you list, and all under one devise." Also, "To Thrust a peece of lead into one eie, and to drive itabout (with a sticke) betweene the skin and flesh of the forehead, until it be brought to the other eie, and there thrust it out. " Obviously, the hand is quicker than the eye. Otherwise the eye would never permit the effect to occur. face - the surface of the playing card with the identity of the card printed on it. faro - a type of shuffle resembling the riffle shuffle in effect (although not necessarily in handling) where the cards in one half of the pack perfectly interlace with the cards in the other half of the pack. A "perfect faro" would appear to be redundant, but not all tricks with the faro shuffle require that the entire shuffle be perfect. impromptu stooge - an accomplice arranged on the fly, usually during the performance and often while the audience watches without realizing what is happening. injog - a card which protrudes less than a quarter of an inch toward the magician which is used to secretly mark a location in the pack. jog - a card which protrudes from the pack which is used to secretly mark a location in the pack. outjog - a card which protrudes less than a quarter of an inch away from the magician which is used to secretly mark a location in the pack.

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GLOSSARY

overhand shuffle position - holding a deck in position for an overhand shuffle. peek - (verb/noun) - the action of secretly glimpsing a card. Also, a move used to accomplish the secret glimpse. A "spectator peek" is an action where the spectator pushes or pulls back the index corner of the pack which is held by the magician in order to note a card. riffle - a flourish accomplished by drawing your fingers sharply up the far edge of the pack or your thumb up the near edge of the pack. It is used (perhaps too) frequently to call attention to the point in the effect where the magic is supposed to be happening (as opposed to when the chicanery actually occurs). It is equivalent to tapping something with a wand or snapping one's fingers. roughing fluid - a chemical compound which when applied to the surfaces of playing cards, erodes the smooth finish. When two surfaces of separate cards which have been treated are placed face to face, they do not

slide easily over each other. When spread as part of a fan with untreated cards, the surfaces cling together and a conscious effort must be applied to separate the cards. This has the effect of hiding the rearmost card until the magician desires to separate the "roughed" pairs. stack - a secret prearrangement of playing cards. stock - a group of contiguous cards. The "top stock" refers to the cards on top of the pack. The "bottom stock" refers to the cards on the bottom of the deck. stooge - a confederate or plant. A member of the audience who secretly assists the magician in accomplishing a feat. The arrangements with the accomplice are normally arranged prior to the performance. Refer to " impromptu stooge." For the average magician's opinion of using a stooge to accomplish an effect, one has only to evaluate connotation of the term bestowed upon one. stranger - a card from another deck added to the deck in use. stripper - a pack of playing cards which has been gimmicked by slightly tapering either the long or short edges, allowing cards to be removed or "stripped out" by the sense of touch alone. top of the deck - This is the uppermost card when the deck is face down. The position of the pack, face up or face down, does not change which card is considered the top card. When the deck is face up, the top card is the card at the back of the pack. undercut - To draw out the bottom portion of the pack, usually in the act of cutting or shuffling the pack.

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LEFTOVERS

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

"That 'the hand is quicker than the eye,' is one of those accepted sayings invented by someone who knew nothing of conjuring -- or, as is more likely, by some cunning conjurer who aimed still further to hoodwink a gullible public." Henry Hatton and Adrian Plate in Magicians' Tricks and How They Are Done (1910).

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PREVENTING PASTEBOARD HARASSMENT A Public Service Magicians everywhere have been reading too much into the nonverbal communication of friends and coworkers. While this may not seem to be a large problem, legal questions arise when the victim is a subordinate employee of the harasser. It's important therefore for us to understand the meaning behind various intersex communication. Below I will provide the communication from the alleged recipient of said harassment. Immediately following this, I will provide the meaning the magician reads into it. I am assuming that the alleged victim is a female and a subordinate employee of the magician in his day job. You will first receive her actual words followed by what the magician hears in parentheses. Then you will read the magician's verbal response followed parenthetically by his non-verbal intent. Remember that everything in parentheses is taking place in the card magician's mind. Female: "Good Morning." (Take me, trick me, I'm yours.) Magician: "How are you?" (Is there any reason I shouldn't take you right now and show you card tricks, on the floor if necessary?) Female: "Fine, thanks." (It's time to deal, stud.) Magician: "Good." (Was that "deal stud" or "deal-comma-stud?" ) Female: "What's new?" (What new card tricks can you show me - comma - stud?) Magician: "Not much. What's new with you?" (Sorry, the next Trapdoor isn't due for another month.) Female: "About the same." (Ooh, Ooh, Baby. Sleight of hand really sends me!) Magician: "Can I get you something before we start?" (Perhaps a little Vernon or Marlo to warm you up?) Female: "No thanks." (Damn the foreplay, break the seal, and let's shuffle.) Magician: "What time are you going to lunch today?" (It's 8:30 now and I have five hours worth of card tricks to show you. Should 1 break it into two sections?) Female: "No particular time." (I want to see every minute's worth of card tricks you can show. I won't hunger --- card tricks are food for the soul.) Magician: "Where?" (Your place or mine? I can do card tricks anywhere.) Female: "I'm easy." (I'm easy.) Magician: "That's what I was hoping." (Wow!) "Perhaps we could send out for lunch." (I might be able to stretch the five hours worth of tricks to eight hours if I throw in some story patter. No since going to lunch when we can wallow in the pasteboards.) Female: "I may even skip lunch." (Make it last baby.) Magician: Pulling out a deck of cards........"Pick a card." (Pick a card.) Female: "Huh?" (Huh?) Magician: "I said, pick a card." (Pick a card, dammit!) Female: "What are you talking about?" Magician: "Huh?" Female: "You can't force me to take a card." Magician: "But I've got a new sure-fire force." Female: "You're nuts. I'm filing a grievance!" 209

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Magician: "You mean you want to see some coin tricks?" The scene ends with the employee calling her lawyer requesting a pasteboard harassment suit be filed against our hero. Lawyer answering a ringing phone: Simon Aronson, Attorney At Law ...[Fade out]

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LEFTOVERS

EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

"Razzing" other magazine publishers is my self-appointed mission in life. Since most of us know each other very well, it's all in fun (except when they do it in their usual mean-spirited way) . While some of the editors / columnists have changed since this was published in 1991 (issue #38) the material is still valuable to those of you who may consider entering this lucrative field. ( Now that I think about it, this article may have been responsible for some of those changes.)

For this issue, I am once again relinquishing the space which I could dedicate to the purely commercial aspects of promoting this magazine. Rather than extol the virtues of subscribing to The Trapdoor ($30 never made you feel so good) I am taking a bold new step toward furthering magic. I will use this space to educate future magic magazine publishers with the first in a series on how to be successful publishing a magic magazine. This first installment will deal with the gentle art of turning down contributions which don't belong in the magazine. However, before I continue, I must present the following caveat. Warning. This is another behind-the-scenes peek at big time magic publishers. Usually, I try to protect you from the cut throat competition in the dog eat dog magic publishing world. However, I feel the shock value inherent in an article of this nature is justified by the potential rewards. (In case you forgot, $30 a year.)

THE BEAM COURSE IN PUBLISHING MAGIC MAGAZINES LESSON #1 HOW TO REJECT UNWANTED CONTRIBUTIONS At the recent (1991) Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic, most of the other major close-up magazines were represented. Bill Miesel (Precursor) Harry Lorayne (Apocalypse) Mary Leventhal and Dan Harlan (The Minotaur) as well as John Bannon (The Card Corner) Phil Willmarth (Linking Ring Parade) and Tom Craven (Craven's Haven) were all out in search of material. It was not pretty. Then, John Bannon asked Tom Craven about one of the most difficult parts of publishing magic material. That is, how does one gracefully refuse unsuitable contributions. Tom suggested that he ask me since I had been doing it for a long time. Below you will find some of the secrets I shared with him. Method #1. I recommend that we face these sensitive situations like real men. If you choose to publish a magazine, you should boldly accept the responsibilities which come with it. Open all envelopes which contain incoming trick contributions carefully. If the contribution isn't fit for publication, meticulously reseal the envelope so that it appears untouched by human hands. (The postal service does not qualify as "human" hands.) Write "Addressee has moved — no longer at this address" in large legible type across the face of the envelope and drop it in the mail. This is the fastest, cheapest (return mail is free) and simplest method to deal with unwanted

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO contributions. And, if you find it is useful often enough, you may wish to have a stamp printed up with the above lie. This would give it that official governmental flavor which adds so much to an otherwise simple ruse. Method #2. If you know that the contributor to your magazine also subscribes to a magazine from one of your competitors, send him a rejection letter on your competitor's stationery. This is easily made up using the other magazine's masthead, a scanner, and a laser printer. When the contributor receives the letter back from your competitor, he will assume he made a mistake and sent it to the wrong magazine. He will be disheartened that the other guy didn't publish it and will probably assume that you wouldn't either. If you really want to score some brownie points here, you can write a scathing letter explaining why the material is unfit to publish anywhere. (Use a Busby review as an example to get you started.) Since he thinks it is from the other editor, he will cancel his subscription to that publication. This not only solves your problem, it reduces your competition. Method #3. This is really an extension of Method #2. Write a letter to the contributor on your stationery containing the following. "I have forwarded your wonderful contribution to Magazine (one of your competitors) because I am currently overstocked on material and wouldn't be able to publish it any time soon. I know that my good friend (the editor of the other magazine you are trying to run out of business) would welcome a contribution of this caliber to the pages of his publication." Send a carbon copy of this letter to the editor in question along with the contribution. Let us ponder the benefits of this method. First, it solves your problem. You have not said the contribution is unfit. You have said that you don't have space. He's thinking the other editor must be groping for material since he gets your leftovers. Further, the other editor will waste valuable time which he should be spending competing with you, trying to figure out how to break the news to both you and the subscriber that he doesn't want to use the contribution either. He may even feel obligated to send you something out of his " A" stack to compensate for the donation to his cause. Trading "F" material for "A" material is always a bargain. (I personally know one trick that is making the rounds which is now on its fourth editor.) Method #4. Research is the editor's best friend. If an unwanted contribution arrives, return it with the explanation that it is similar to a trick which was published in the Genii which arrived in March of 1987. Notice the wording. You are referring to the issue which arrived that month, not the issue which was published that month. Since Genii publishes on a schedule known only to God, nobody knows what issue arrived in a given month. It could have been anything from January of 1982 to December of 1990. The subscriber will either take your word for it or go nuts trying to locate the issue in question. This will tick off the contributor at Genii. I personally think that this is why Genii has never hit the 10,000 subscriber mark. Method #5. If you have run out of other editors to pick on this month, you may wish to face the contributor with a nice, honest lie. Return the contribution with a note explaining that the contribution was "too good to tip." Ego being what it is among magicians, they will understand your desire to "keep a lid on the inside material." This is especially true when you explain that, "It's an unpublished rule among magical editors that we don't tip the real stuff." ( Note: Unpublished rules go hand-in-hand with unpublished contributions.) 212

LEFTOVERS Conclusion. While I understand that you cannot become an expert in publishing simply by studying the above methods, they will form the first step in your apprenticeship toward becoming a magic editor. On the following pages, I have reproduced actual rejection letters from each of the major magical publications. This will allow you to study and observe the subtle differences in style among the various editors. I remind you that these are actual letters to actual contributors which were obtained at no small risk to the lives of our investigative staff. The names have not been changed in order to embarrass the guilty. If this is the type of gutsy reporting you respect in a magic magazine, you know where to send your $30 and future magic contributions. Come to think of it, maybe you should put the check and the contributions in separate envelopes. You never know when I might be moving and we would want at least one of the envelopes to reach me. I'm sure the other envelope would be returned to you by the post office if they were unable to deliver it.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE PRECURSOR

GENII John Contributor 115 Park Street New York, NY 10036 Dear John:

Dai Vernon c/o Magic Castle Hollywood, CA 98893

We are two years behind and I'm on my way out of town as I write this. There is no chance of my catching this thing up during either of our lifetimes. And, as you know, your material really needs to hit print soon. May I suggest that you send it to The Phoenix or The Jinx. I understand Ted is looking for some of this type of material.

Thank you for your contribution. However, your trick requires illustrations --- my magazine does not. I suggest you make other arrangements. (Such as Si Stebbins maybe --Ed Eckl . )

Dear Dai,

Sincerely,

Geniially, William P. Miesel Bill Larsen, Jr.

/ H E CARD CORNS\

7'11E MAGIC 1 1 : - t . \ EXAMINER

Dear Ed: Thank you for the card trick you submitted. As you know, this column is named The Card Corner. It was designed to address a specialized area of magic. Since your trick does not use a corner or corners in any way, it does not fall within the jurisdiction of this column. I regret this, but this is an official rule of the IBM's. I think they even put it in their charter. I'm sorry. You just can't fight city hall.

SORRY DUDE: We only publish reprints. Please submit something which has already been printed. Catch you on the flip flop...

Sincerely,

Outa here ....

John Bannon

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LEFTOVERS

Linking Ring Parade

1

IN II

f

M. U. M. II

II

II

II

•

Dear Mr. Ishmael Resoluttio: Thank you for your contribution to M.U.M., the official publication of the S. A. M. I regret that I must return your trick because we are the Society of American Magicians. While I understand that your home, Cleveland is technically a part of the U.S., it is obvious from your name that you are not. Please forward your trick to our branch office which handles foreign contributions at the address below: IBM, Kenton, OH 60625

Dear Paul: Thank you for the trick you submitted. I assume this was for review in my other column, Hocus in Focus. However, as it was not commercially released, I regret that I cannot review it. Please resubmit it for review once your work has been published.

You can appeal this decision, but to resolve the matter, they will put you in aroom with the president and all of the presidential hopefuls. Trust me... drop it.

Thanks, Phil Willmarth

Sincerely, David Goodsell, American Editor

HARRY

THE MINOTAUR

LORAYNE'S

APOCALYPSE Dear Sam, I was talking with Annie Bancroft & Mel Brooks on the Riviera when your contribution arrived. I had just finished doing a card trick when Annie remarked, "Harry, you're the greatest! Better than Karl Fulves, even!" Then we all laughed as we sipped our wine and looked out over the Thames. We do that alot. What was I wanting to say? Oh yea. I'm a memory expert, and even I can't remember when I have seen a trick which sucked hind pasteboard like yours does. Besides, it was 60% mine. Don't send me any more stuff unless you become famous. As a consolation, I'll mention you in the Ellipses section of the next issue. I'll say something complimentary. Something like... you think I'm the best cardman who ever lived. See ya, Harry

215

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry, there are no recorded examples of The Minotaur refusing material.... SB]

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

A PERSONALIZED INVITATION The editor of a trade journal must be all things to all people. At a minimum, he must be able to detect and fulfill the needs of his subscribers. In the following heartfelt plea for renewals, I'm afraid I may have opened up too much to my subscribers. I guess it just goes to show that even editors have a soft, feminine side. (This originally appeared in issue #43, page 770 of The Trapdoor. I was sensitive way back then.) I understand that these subscription renewals may seem to commercialize our relationship. You may feel that you have to pay money ($30 USA, $42.50 overseas) to be my friend. You have probably received this impression from previous issues where that is word-for-word what I have told you. Not seeing the broad picture, this may bother some of you. It shouldn't. You aren't supposed to be looking at pictures of broads in the first place. Regardless, being forever in tune with my subscribers, I have come to the realization that I should be more friendly, less commercial. Toward this end, I have drafted a personal invitation for you to renew your subscription. Working together, I think you and I can deepen our relationship while at the same time getting me the cash needed to maintain this blossoming friendship. Please take a moment to help me personalize your invitation. Your job is to fill in the blanks.

Dear [fill in your name], also known as the great / the magnificent / the amazing / the sufficient / the world's greatest magician [circle one]. Please grant me the emotional gratification of telling my other friends that my dear friend in [your state or country] has renewed his/her [circle one] subscription. I am misty-eyed as I pause to reflect on what your past renewals have meant to me. I know they meant more to me than the editor of [fill in other magic magazine you currently subscribe to]. I guess I'm just an emotional kind of guy. Let us join hands (if you circled "her" above) or male bond (if you circled "him" above) through the mail and bring this brotherhood of ours to a higher plane while simultaneously rejuvenating the economy. Very, Very Sincerely Yours, Steve Beam ("Uncle Stevie" to my subscribers)

If this does not feel cozy enough for you, you may wish to have a personalized handwritten invitation to renew. I don't blame you and you can feel free to hand write this whole invitationword for word on a separate sheet of paper. Damn the copyright laws — nothing is too good for my friends. (Remember that you should sign my last name with an "m" not an "n." Damn the forgery 216

LEFTOVERS laws while we are at it!) Before rewriting this note, please take a moment to respond to the above personalized invitation. Lest you take too long and allow your subscription to inadvertently expire, remember that I know where you live and I know that you have broken at least two laws in the last ten minutes. (Did I mention that there are rewards for turning in most copyright and forgery law breakers?) Let's never let this commercialism thing come between us again.

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO

THE TRAPDOOR OR DEATH THE CHOICE IS YOURS When the "sensitive approach" which precedes this does not work, I am not above frightening subscribers into renewing their subscriptions. As I prepared this for publication in issue #42, I had visions of subscribers being so afraid of dying that they would be scurrying all over themselves trying to get a renewal check off in the mails. Of course, being the sensitive guy I am, this troubled me terribly. During this recession, I am not totally unsympathetic to the financial woes of magicians around the world (I said, not totally). During the current economic downturn, you may be scrutinizing your magical purchases more closely. Let me try a different way to explain why this is a foolish idea. See, if you scrutinize your purchases, you may, in a moment of weakness, decide that The Trapdoor is not worth your investment. You then toss me aside for food and a mortgage paid to strangers. (Boy, that didn't take long. So much for brotherhood, huh?) When your renewal checks are not forthcoming, then there is a cash flow problem with the magazine. If the magazine suffers, then I have to start scrutinizing my purchases more closely. I ( being a loyal member of the brotherhood) would choose magic to such luxuries as groceries. So, I would stop spending money at the neighborhood grocery chain. This would create cash flow problems for the grocery store which would echo throughout the chain. It would cause stores to close throughout the nation. It would ultimately affect your neighborhood grocery. When it closes, you will once again evaluate your purchases, deciding that maybe The Trapdoor is worth your money after all, since you can no longer purchase food. You would send me your check along with some drivel about the brotherhood of magicians. Foolishly, you would think that I can turn my emotions on and off like a prop from Collector's Workshop. (And, while we are at it, why didn't you quit ordering from them before you canceled your subscription?) You may even feel guilty enough to include a little extra bribe money with your renewal check, hoping that I will simply forget your previous mistreatment of me. (I would guess that it would be hard to remember anything with, oh say, about $20 extra in the renewal envelope.) So being the magnanimous kind of editor that I am, I renew your subscription (after thinking about it over, oh say, a $20 dinner). You once again start receiving the magazine and your life is whole again. You think you are back to normal. You are so enthralled with the magazine arriving at your house five times a year that you forget that you still can't buy food. You get hungry and die. And, this story does not have a happy ending. Since you are no longer around, I lose a subscriber. (Of course, I don't know this until a year later when the renewal comes due.) Aren't you just real pleased with yourself now? You're dead, grocery chains are closed, and to top it all off, I'm back to scrutinizing my expenditures. This is darned inconvenient for me. See what happens when you try to skimp by cutting back on The Trapdoor? So, before it is too late, refuse that shipment from Collector's Workshop, eat a hearty meal from your local grocery, and send your $30 (USA) or $42.50 (overseas) plus $20 in bribe/ forgiveness money for even considering cancellation to Trapdoor Productions.

218

"THANKSGIVEN"

"THANKS GIVEN"

Coincidentally, as I write this, it is the Thanksgiving weekend for 1994. As I put the finishing touches on this volume, I want to once again credit the contributors for sharing their creations with you. For most of the magicians below, creating magic is a passion which they would continue persuing even without reaping the .00003% discount on the retail cost of this book. Simon Aronson Doug Canning Tom Craven Joel Givens Stewart James Mary Leventhal Gene Maze John Riggs Scott Robinson Richard Vollmer

Jack Birnman Aldo Colombini Ron Ferris Wayne Kyzer Tom Ladshaw Simon Lovell Steve Pressley Joe Rindfleisch Allan Slaight Steven Youell

Beverly Flynn, Ann and Wayne Kyzer, Don Morris, and Scott Robinson reviewed the drafts, perhaps more accurately described as full blown hurricanes, for both typographical errors and workability. They had five of the hardest jobs relating to the finished product you now hold. Your job was made considerably easier by their efforts. You don't know what confusion is until you have read my unedited prose. The mistakes which remain are those I made while fixing the mistakes they found. Other mistakes I'm sure have been added during my impatient wait for them to accomplish their tasks. I tinkered with the text, not knowing when to finally stop. Miss Dabunch, my normal proofreader, assisted as usual and really lived up to her name. On the other side of the coin: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This book would have been considerably thicker had they not forced me to delete the duplicate tricks, superfluous illustrations, and extra punctuation. Talk about your sticklers for the rules! They insisted on only one period at the end of each sentence despite my affection for punctuation. And apparently the world isn't ready for what I can do with the lowly pronoun. I was mastering the art of changing the sex of spectators during trick descriptions when their red pens hemorrhaged all over the manuscript. For the first time with one of my books, I let an English speaking person (translation: nonmagician) proof the copy. It all started when Beverly Flynn (you can call her "sis" but you better have your pronouns matching when you do) looked through a borrowed copy of Volume One. She immediately started locating the "typographical errors." Of course she would not have been doing this had she not had to borrow a copy. Nobody critizes a complementary copy. Not realizing that Volume Two was, for the most part, already written, she made the empty offer to proofread any future volumes. Less than twelve months later, she received the 400 page stack (illustrations were on separate pages) in the mail. I assumed that her offer had simply been a ploy to "guilt" me into giving her a freeibe. That she had no intention of proofreading anything. I predicted that the copying and postage for her draft was just money down a trapdoor. I admit it. I was wrong. 219

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO At first, she would mark errors with an apologetic note in the margin. By page 50, she became violently obnoxious. She started quoting a manual by some bozo named Gregg about the proper length of a dash. That is, how many hyphens make a dash. According to Gregg, the proper number of hyphens is two (not three!) - - - - - - - - - - - - just thought you would want to know. Lisa Weedman is a wonder-worker. She generates covers for The Trapdoor with an amazing ability to communicate with art. She created both the cover and chapter-dividing art work. She works magic with a pen and ink — okay, and sometimes a computer. Without her work between the chapters, the tricks would run together forming one long, 200 page trick. I think you now see just how important she was to the project. And to think, you thought it was just cool artwork. Dawn, Casey, Michelle, and Leslie are due thanks for relinquishing my computer long enough for me to work on the book. It seems they would rather have me processing words than showing them card tricks. Dawn, along with my parents deserve the credit or the blame for supporting me for so long in a passion I'm not sure even I understand. Rick Johnsson once referred to my contributors as "Beam's stable." I'm not sure that I am thrilled with the metaphor when one considers the main product of a stable --- especially when you consider that I spend a fair amount of time dealing with "Leftovers." I prefer to think of them as very creative friends. In addition to those listed above, they include Michael Beam, Evert Chapman, Gary Hipp, Harry Levine, Billy McDonnell, Fred Mitchell, John Moran, Lorraine Moran, Gary Plants, Henry Pettit, Paul Sorrentino, Ed Voorhees, and Phillip Young. I'm wearing my stable boots and leaning on my shovel even as I write this. Now that the proofreaders have read their names, they have no doubt stopped reading. ( This is why I placed their names at the back of the book --- to ensure they read the whole thing.) Now I can set the record straight. Any and all typographical errors that you find in this book are the sole and complete responsibility of the proofreaders. Finally, I want to thank the subscribers of The Trapdoor. They have shown me that magic can not only be fun, but can also provide a bottomless hole into which one can sink an enormous amount of money.

220

INDEX A Abrams, Max 189 Ackerman, Allan 189 Action With Cards 126 Afterthoughts 86 Amazing Miracles of Shigeo Takagi, The 183 Ammar, Michael 94, 104 Andrus, Jerry 65 Annemann, Ted 24, 135, 157, 169 Apocalypse 45, 77, 211 Arcane 131 Aronson Approach, The 112 Aronson, Simon 112, 210, 219 Ask The Deck 48, 50 Australian Crawl, The 36 Australian deal 36, 128

B Backwards Prophecy 103, 188 Bannon, John 60, 112, 211 Beam, Casey 220

Beam Course in Publishing Magic Magazines, The 211 Beam, Dawn 48, 220 Beam, Jim 3, 183 Beam, Leslie 220 Beam, Marilyn 3 Beam, Michael 220 Beam, Michelle 220 Bermuda Triangle, The 118 Bestimation 158 Biddle position 203 Big Deal 31

Big Finish, The 29

Billis, Bernard 154 Bimman, Jack 81, 118, 219 Birth Card 151 black line work 54 blindfold 53 Book of Thoth, The 24 bottom of the deck 203 Bounce Control 1 190, 192 Bounce Control 11 192 Bound To Please 112 Brahams, Anthony 199 Braue, Fred 195 Braue Reversal 118, 120 break 203 breather crimp 203

Budget Cut 194 Bye-Pass Operation 36, 181

C Calculated Zarrow 154 Canning, Doug 14, 90, 128, 153, 219 Card Cavalcade Four 124

Card Cleavage 122 Card Counters 153 Card Craft 189 Card Ideas of Simon Aronson, The 112 Card Magic of Edward G. Brown, The 140 Card Tricks From Mount Olympus 24 Cardiste 48 Cards of Color 51 Carnegie, Dale 19

Cascade 114 Chance By Choice 89 Changing Of The Cards, The 200 Chapman, Evert 220 Charlier shuffle 72, 195 Choosing Sides 55 Christ, Henry 155 Chronicles 140

Circling The Sandwich 40 Close-Up Magic of Aldo Colombini, The 72 Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, The 96, 178 Colombini, Aldo 72, 219 Color Blind 53

Color Changing Card Case, The 75 Color Changing Deck 58 Completed Masterpiece 98 Complete Mike Rogers, The 34 Concentration 136 control 203 Convincing Control 182 Corin, Matthew 200 corner-shorts 111 CountBack Force 130

Countdown 23 Counter Cards 90 Craven, Tom 15, 18, 39, 114, 190, 211, 219 crimp 203 Cud-Chewing-Mammal-Magazine 105 Curry, Paul 55, 58 Custom Card Trick 18 cut 203

221

STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO Cut Above, A 36 Cut Below, A 43

Full Deck of Impromptu Card Tricks Fulves, Karl 124 Funny Stuff and Assorted Mysteries Further Than That 131 Future Foretold 79

D Darwin Ortiz at The Card Table dealing position 203 Deck Will Tell 48 Devant, David 35, 115 Discoverie of Witchcraft, The 204 Divining Deck, The 28 Double Brainwave 65 Double Hit 87 double undercut 203 double-backed card 29, 58 dovetail shuffle 204 down-and-under deal 36, 128 Dribble Peek 184 Dukes, Wes 35 E

48

157, 169 159

G Gaffus Maximus 83 Gambling Scams 54 Garcia, Frank 86 Gene Maze And The Art of Bottom Dealing 45 Gene Maze Card Book, The 45 Genii 34, 189, 200 Gilbreath Principle 48, 70 Givens, Joel 16, 19, 33, 158, 170, 219 Glossary 203 Goano 140 Goodsell, David 215 Goosed 132 Gotcha Covered 199 Gravatt, Glenn G. 50 Greater Magic 140, 195 Griffin, Gerry 84 Guess Your Weight 34 H

Easy To Master Card Miracles 94, 104 Educational Supplement 211 effect 204 Effective Card Magic 103, 188 Einstein's Favorite Trick 32 Elmsley, Alex 96, 178 Encyclopedia of Card Tricks 24, 28, 50 Endless Possibilities 86 estimation 158 Expert at the Card Table 32, 186 Expert Card Technique 186, 195 Eyes Have It, The 112 F face 204 faro shuffle 23, 68, 96, 99, 136, 204 Fechter 185 Fechter, Eddie 185 Fechter's Finger Flicking Frolic 72, 78, 159, 199, 211 Ferris, Ron 65, 219 Ferris Wheels and Deals 65 50 Tricks You Can Do You, You Will Do, Easy To Do 173 52 Amazing Card Tricks 173 Finger Flinger Reversal 120 Flynn, Beverly 219 Follow The Leader. 68 Follow The Oil & Water 68 Fooled 66 14/15 principle 24 Fourteen Deck, The 24 Free-Cut Principle 178 Friends 72

222

Haines House Of Cards 83, 140 Half Moon Rising 43 Hamilton, John 178 Harlan, Dan 105, 211 Hartman, Jerry 189 Have It Your Way 93 Havenly Close-Up 115 Haxton, Francis 130 haymow shuffle 72, 195 Here's My Card 189 Hierophant 48 Hilliard, John Northern 195 Hipp, Gary 220 Hobbs, Stephen 45 Hoffman, Professor 133, 204 Honor System, The 61, 63 Houghton, Norm 151, 155 Howard Thurston's Card Tricks 48 Hugard, Jean 24, 50, 195 Hugard's Magic Monthly 140 Hull, Ralph 24

I I Cannot Spell A Lie 15 Identification Cards 170 Illusion Card, The 143 Impact! 74

apaired 4 0 npossible Locations 149 npossible Revelations 21 npromptu stooge 204 ijog 204 finer Secrets of Card Magic 31 Istant Magic 133 itroduction 11

ames File, The 48, 131 Imes, Stewart 48, 130, 219 inx 131, 157 inxed 168 )g 204 )g shuffle 168 Dhnsson, Rick 220 Imbo card 29 umbo Surprise 31

ey card placement 190 allocation 168 Ling, Bob 34 renz, Jim 112 renzel, Ken 40, 44 yzer, Ann 57, 219 yzer, Wayne 57, 135, 138, 151, 219 J

& L Publishing 104 .adder Prediction 18 ,adshaw, Tom 158, 219 Sanders, Woody 120 .as Vegas Kardma 189

;eftovers 2 0 7 ,eventhal, Mary 105, 211, 219 ..evine, Harry 220 ; ie Speller 15 LII-kelihood 131, 155 Llll-keli hood 155 Linking Ring 115, 140 Location, Location, Location 172 L ocatric 157, 169 l.ocatrix 157, 169 Lorayne, Harry 86, 211 Lovell, Simon 219 Lucky Thirteen 50

M Magic and Showmanship 24 Magic Corner, The 35 Magic of Stewart Judah, The 140

Magic The Vanishing Art --- Or How To Turn A Trick For Fun & Profit 67 Magic Wand, The 130 Magic With No Entertainment Value 60, 104 Magician Foolers 34 Man With The $1.98 Hands, The 111 Mario, Ed 48, 182 Marlo's Magazine 78 Marshall, Jay 133 Maskelyne 124 Maskelyne, Nevil 35, 115, 124

Match Made in Knightdale, A 9 9 Match Made in Zebulon, A 96 Mathematical Magic 154 Mathematics, Magic and Mystery 32 Mating Season III 139 Maze, Gene 43, 219 McDonnell, Billy 220

Memorable Magic 5 7 Mendoza, John 154 Mendoza Portfolio No. 1 154 Mentzer, Jerry 124, 185 Middle Gauge Spread 27, 50 Miesel, Bill 211 milk build shuffle 124 Million Dollar Card Secrets 86 Minch, Stephen 96 Minotaur, The 45, 105, 115, 211 Miraskill 131 Missing Jinx Extra 135 Mitchell, Fred 220 Modern Close-Up Problems 140 Modern Magic 133, 140, 204 Moran, John 220 Moran, Lorraine 220 More Lost Inner Secrets 154 Morris, Don 67, 219 Moves 179 Muller, Reinhard 124 Multiple Impact 170, 178 Multiple Locations 163 Multiplocation 174, 175 muscle magic 131 Mutus, Nomen, Dedit, Cocis 132

N Name That Trick 19 Nelms, Henning 24 Nelson, Robert 82 NEMCON 117 New Invocation, The 15 New Phoenix 131, 140 New Tops, The 34, 131 No Questions Asked 160

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STEVE BEAM'S SEMI-AUTOMATIC CARD TRICKS, VOLUME TWO 0

S

O'Connor, Billy 130 Omnimancy 140 One-Deck Wonder 130 One-Handed Zigzag, The 148 Opening Stab 94, 105 Ortiz, Darwin 47, 54 Osdol, Van 173 Our Magic 35, 115 55 outjog 204 overhand shuffle position 205

Scaling The Cards 34 Scarne, John 104, 189 Scarne on Card Tricks 104 Scot, Reginald 204 second deal 19 Secret Sessions #2 159 Sefalaljia 131 Selective Service 168 Self-Working Card Tricks 124 Semi-Automatic Card 93 Sessions 112 Shake Well Before Using 60 Sharps and Flats 124 Shields, Frank 124 short deck 83 Si Stebbins Secret 47 Si Stebbins setup 46 Siamese Stab 102, 104, 105 Sigh Stebbins 49 Silentwe 133 Simon, Bill 103, 182 Simon, Frank 183 Simon, William 154 Singularities (Miscellaneous) 109 Sixteenth Card Book, The 115 Slaight, Allan 15, 46, 49, 155, 219 Sly Stebbins 46, 49 Smoke and Mirrors 60 Solomon, Dave 112 Sorrentino, Paul 77, 133, 220 Spell of Mystery 48 spelling effects 13 stabbing effects 91 stack 205 Standard Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. 48 Stebbins setup, Si 46 Steele, Rufus 159, 173 Steinmeyer, Jim 15

P Packed Wallet 116 Pairable, The 114 Pairs Repaired 132 Pallbearer's Review 15, 124, 140 peek 184, 190, 192, 205 Penny Plain 96 Personalized Invitation, A 216 Personalized Pasteboards 16, 19 Pettit, Henry 220 Phoenix 131 Plants, Gary 54, 134, 220 Polar Stab 157 Powers, Michael 78 Precursor 211 Pressley, Jill 86 Pressley, Steve 43, 85, 87, 95, 98, 182, 219 Preventing Pasteboard Harassment 209 Prophecy move 103, 182 punch, card 54 Puzzler 125, 127 Puzzler II 127

Q Quadruple Prediction 122, 178

R Recognition Reflex 152 Remote Control 15 Return to Sender 45 105 ' s Almanac Richard riffle 205 Riggs, John 68, 111, 133, 219 Rindfleisch, Joe 43, 143, 148, 219 Robinson, Scott 40, 49, 89, 157, 219 Rogers, Mike 34 Rollout 120 roughing fluid 205 Royal Road to Card Magic 124 Rusduck 48

Stewart James in Print--The First Fifty Years 131 stock 205 stooge 205 stranger 205 stripper 205 Strong, David Stuck on You Super Speller Svengali deck Syren, Frank

82 95 15, 114 17 140

T T.I.P.S. 115 Takagi, Shigeo 183

224

Tarbell Course in Magic, The 42 Teaching An Old Deck New Tricks 200 Telephone Lying 14 Terminator, The 63 They Don't Make Trapdoors Like They Used To or You Too Can Walk On Water 200 Three Stooges, The 25, 65 Three Ways 116 Thurston, Howard 48 Timeless 81 top of the deck 205 topological card tricks 141 Trapdoor or Death, The 218 Trapdoor, The 28, 42, 60, 65, 78, 88, 93, 94, 95, 101, 104, 121, 126, 140, 152 Triplets I 165, 167 Triplets II 167 Trost And Us 34 202 Methods of Forcing 24 Two Timing Aussie 128

U undercut 205 Underhand Shuffle, The 46, 170, 175, 186 V Vernon Chronicles, The 154 Vernon, Dai 31, 101, 203 Versatile Card Magic 183 Visine Change 199 Vollmer, Richard 32, 48, 155, 160, 219 Voorhees, Ed 220

W Walsh, Audley 40, 173 Waters, T. A. 134 Weedman, Lisa 199, 220 Weight Limit 33 Well Shaken 59 Wheel and Deal 85 Wiersbe, Warren 126 Willmarth, Phil 211 Winter Carnival of Magic 77 World's Greatest Magician, The 155

Y Youell, Steven 83, 184, 219 Young, Phillip 220

Z zigzag 143

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EYE CHART

DEU CE O

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DIA M N

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Bonus Eye Chart -- Refer to page 112 for its use. 227

S

EYE CHART

T

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F O U ROFS PAD E S Bonus Eye Chart -- Refer to page 112 for use. 228

EYE CHART

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EU CEO FDIA

MON D S Bonus Eye Chart -- Refer to page 112 for use. 229