MAKE a key card by putting a pencil dot near the upper left corner and the lower right corner. The pack being fanned from left to right with either end outwards, face down, the dot can be seen instantly. When you fan the pack for the selection of a card note where the key card lies and, if necessary cut to bring it to the middle. The card having been noted, fan the pack and break it at the key card, the chosen card being replaced just below it. Close the fan and hand the pack to the spectator asking him to shuffle. Make a gesture with your hands indicating an overhand shuffle. After a short shuffle say, 'Thank you,' and take the pack from him.
Fan the cards again, noting where' the key card lies, and have a second card chosen. If necessary, cut to bring the key to the middle. Fan the cards, break the pack at the key and have this second card replaced at that point, thus bringing it on top of the first selected card. Hand the pack to this second person to shuffle in the same way as before, taking it back after a short shuffle. Announce that you will attempt the extra ordinary feat of bringing the two cards together, riffle the pack, cut at the key card, sending it to the bottom, and lay the pack down. Have the cards named and turn the two top ones.
Short overhand shuffles will rarely separate the cards, anyway the effect is well worth the risk of occasional failure.
HERE again the key card with pencil dot on top left and lower right corners is used. Let the Pack be thoroughly shuffled and four cards be freely drawn. Fan the pack to show the cards well mixed, spot the dotted card and split the pack so that the first card is returned under it. Cut the pack several times. Fan and locate the key card and divide the pack one card below it so that the first card returned is at the face of the portion you lift off for the return of the second, tilt this slightly as the second card is returned and so sight the first person's card. Cut the pack again, then locate the dotted card and have the third card replaced under it, cut several times and repeat the operation for the return of the last card.
Put the pack to your forehead and slowly name the card you sighted, the first person's card. Run through the pack, faces towards yourself and remove this card, at the same time memorize the card in front of it, the second card, the one behind it, the third card, and the one behind that, the fourth card. Hand the pack to the second man to shuffle, telling him to concentrate his thoughts on his card: put the pack to your forehead and slowly name it. Do the same with the remaining cards.
BEFOREHAND take a spot card, a 7 for instance, and with a pin prick the card on the face just near the top index. This will raise a tiny lump on the back of the card which can be felt with the ball of the thumb as you deal the cards. Put this card seventh from the bottom of the pack. To present the trick, shuffle the cards as thoroughly as you are able without disturbing the bottom seven cards. It is easy to manage this with a riffle shuffle.
Turn your back, put the cards behind you and have a card freely chosen from amongst those above the set card. Under cut about half the pack, have the card replaced and put the cut on top. Turn to the table, put the pack down and have a spectator cut it. Have your eyes covered with a blindfold and the pack handed to you. Deal the cards face downwards until you feel the little lump on the back of your key card, the 7. Put it aside face down, hand the pack to a spectator and tell him to turn over the card just put down. It is a 7. He deals cards to that number, finds his card is the seventh.
A FULL pack of fifty-two cards is required. Let the pack be freely shuffled: take it back and secretly press the outer index corner of the top card between the nail of the second finger and the ball of the thumb of the right hand. This will cause a slight lump on the back of the card, readily felt by the thumb in dealing.
Lay the pack down, ask for a spectator to assist you, first by calling a number, then by dealing cards to that number face downwards on the table. This done tell him to select a card from those remaining in his hands, note what it is, place it face down on the heap of counted cards, shuffle the remainder and put them on top of all, finally to cut the assembled pack as often as he pleases, completing each cut. Next he is to take up the pack and deal two heaps, one card at a time face down alternately, putting the heap on which the last card was dealt on top of the other, square the pack and again cut the pack.
You take the pack and deal slowly till you reach the marked card. you then at once announce the number at which the chosen card now lies. The calculations depend on the number of cards dealt by the spectator on top of which he placed his card. If it is an even number simply divide by two, thus twelve divided by two gives six, his card will lie six cards below the key card. If the number is odd, take the larger half and add to it twenty-six (half the number of cards in the pack), thus the larger half of seventeen is nine which added to twenty-six gives thirty-five, the card will lie at that number.
IN TAKING back a pack which has been shuffled by a spectator, note and remember the bottom card. Turn your back and holding the pack behind you invite a spectator to make a free cut, then take off the card on the lower section, look at it and remember it. As he looks at it turn facing him and explain that you propose to find his card by the fingerprints he leaves on it. Meantime quietly slip the bottom card, your key card, to the top of the portion left in your hand after the cut. Turn your back again, spectator replaces his card and then the portion he cut off, and carefully squares the pack. If you care to, let him give a short overhand shuffle, there is small risk of the two cards being separated.
Under pretense of looking for fingerprints, find the key card, the one above it is the selected card.
RUN through any well-shuffled pack to remove the Joker and, as you do this, note and memorize the three top cards. Hand the pack to a spectator and tell him to deal three heaps face down. After he has dealt several rounds tell him he can deal irregularly, two on one heap, three on another and so on. The three key cards that you memorized have already been dealt and will be the bottom cards of the three heaps, which is all that matters to you. Three persons each take a card from a different pile and look at it, replacing it on the top of the respective heaps. Spectator puts the heaps in a pile and cuts.
To discover the cards you have only to look for the key cards and take out the card just below each one. You can run through the pack and slip the selected cards to the top or bottom and then reveal each one in a different way.
WRITE two numbers on a slip of paper, six and four for instance, fold the slip and give it to a spectator to hold. Pick up these cards and throw out the top one face up to be used as a locator. Invite a spectator to thrust it into the packet at any point he wishes and then note the card lying above it and the one below. Leaving the locator card in its position between the two noted cards, square the packet, push the top card forward, pull the second card back, the third forward, the fourth back, and so on in the usual way for separating a suit from the rest of the pack. Twist the packets apart, the right hand taking the forward packet and putting it on top of the other cards. Repeat the operation exactly. Spread the cards' faces towards the spectator and have him remove the locator card. Hold a division at that point, one of the cards is now five cards up and the other is five cards down, counting from the division. Your prediction reads six four so you must let one card drop from the upper portion on the lower and then cut at that point, putting the lower cards on top. The sixth card from the top will be one of the noted cards, the fourth from the bottom the other one. By dropping two cards the figures can be made seven, three.
WITH any complete pack a spectator, after shuffling it, selects a card by thrusting the Joker into it and noting the card that lies above it. He squares the pack and cuts it as often as he wishes, then deals the cards into the face of the card about half an inch diagonally from the outer index when his card arrives you call 'Stop', that card is turned over, it is his card.
Take out the Joker and hand the pack to the spectator to shuffle. As he does this hold the Joker face up and press your thumb nail sharply into the face of the card about half an inch diagonally from the outer index corner, this makes two lumps on the back of the card instantly found by the ball of the left hand when you hold the cards in the usual position for dealing. When the spectator is satisfied the cards are well mixed, hand him the Joker, tell him to thrust it into the pack anywhere and note the card lying above it. The Joker is then pushed in completely in that position and he cuts the cards as often as he pleases, completing each cut. Now have him deal the cards into two face-down heaps and note the pile that receives the last card, that packet will consist of twenty-seven cards, the other will have twenty-six. Let him give you the heap containing the Joker, you deal the top card face down, he does the same from his heap and the dealing continues thus in unison. If he gave you the twenty-seven heap his card lies at the same depth as the Joker in yours, if you get the twenty-six heap it is one card lower. As you deal you instantly recognize the Joker as you come to it and you give the command 'Stop' as he takes his card to deal it.
WRITE something on a piece of paper, fold it and hand it to a spectator. He shuffles his own or any complete pack, thrusts the Joker into it and notes the card below it, thrusting the Joker right in and squaring the cards into four facedown heaps, a card to each in succession. Assembling the heaps you fan the pack and have the spectator remove the Joker. He takes the pack and cuts where he pleases. Reading your prediction he counts down to the number written and finds his card there.
Suppose you wrote 'Eleven'. When he has selected a card, as above, and has dealt the cards into four heaps, 1, 2, 3, 4, assemble the pack by placing No. 4 on No. 3, these two on No. 2, and the lot on No. 1. Now you know that if the Joker is in No. 2 or No. 3, the selected card will be thirteen cards above it: but if the Joker is in No. 1 or No. 4, it will be fourteen above it. As you fan the pack for the spectator to remove the Joker begin with the top card and count mentally. If the Joker is taken out at any number from fourteen to thirty-nine inclusive, break the pack there, the chosen card is thirteen cards above that point, but as your prediction was eleven you must slide two cards from the upper packet on to the lower and cut the pack there, thus bringing the card eleventh from the bottom.
If, on the other hand, the Joker is taken out at any number from one to thirteen, or from forty to fifty-three inclusive, the card will be fourteen cards above and you must slide three cards from the upper to the lower packet and cut there. Put the pack down and let spectator cut and touch one heap: interpret this so that he gets the lower heap. Pretend that the heap must have a certain number of cards and have him count them. He thus reverses the order and brings his card to the number predicted. Any number up to twelve may be used for the prediction. Avoid thirteen as being too suggestive.
THIS trick follows after Mephisto's prediction.
Use the same pack but discard the card chosen in that feat, leaving fifty-two cards. Have the pack shuffled and the Joker removed. Write a prediction, this time of two numbers. A spectator thrusts the Joker into the pack and notes the card above it and the card below. The same procedure follows as in the previous trick and the cards are found one in each packet at the numbers predicted.
In this case the total of the two numbers you predict must be twenty-six. For instance you write eleven and fifteen. You have the Joker thrust into the shuffled pack and the cards above and below it noted. Proceed in exactly the same way as before, the cards being dealt into four heaps and reassembled in the same way. This time there being fifty-two cards (four times thirteen) the two chosen cards will lie thirteen cards above and thirteen cards below the Joker, therefore, when the Joker is removed and you put the portion of the pack that was below it to the top, one card will be thirteen cards from the top and the other thirteen cards up from the bottom. To bring them to the predicted positions you have merely to divide the pack a card or two above the point at which the Joker lay. In this case you would drop two cards from the upper part on to the lower one before dividing the pack. Under some pretext have the lower part of the spectator's cut counted, thus bringing his card to the lower of the two numbers predicted, eleven, and the other card is already at fifteen from the top. The spectator's cut makes no difference as long as it is somewhere near the middle.
When the Joker is removed and you have dropped the card, or cards, from the upper portion to the lower, separate your hands for a few moments while you recount what has been done, nobody will notice then that in putting the packets together you transpose them.
ANY pack is freely shuffled by a spectator and he is asked to think of any number from one to twenty-six. Take the pack and show the spectator what he is to do, while you turn your back or leave the room. He is to deal cards, you tell him, to the number thought of, look at and note the last card dealt, replace it on that pile, put the rest of the pack on top of it and then give the pack a complete cut. As you actually do all this, by way of illustration, you have ample opportunity to note and remember the top and bottom cards. Suppose, for example, the bottom card is the 10C and the top card is the 7S. You retire and he carries out the instructions.
When you return, pick up the pack and run over the faces until you reach the 7S. Count that card as one and continue to count until you reach the 10C. Stop counting on the card before this one, that will give you the number he thought of and last card counted is the one he noted. It would be a very weak finish to merely announce your knowledge of the card and number right away. For instance you could hold a break at the card and after completing your run through the pack without apparent result, cut at the break, bringing the card to the top. Tell him you will deal cards one by one and at his number he is to think 'Stop'. Do this and stop accordingly. Put these cards on top and tell him to concentrate on his card and deal to his number. He does so and finds his card there.
~Card Subtleties Utilizing Key Cards~
Contents
A Couple Of Cards Get Together
Annemann
Mental Vision
Gravatt
Phenomenal Thought Cards
Indetecto
Buckley-Key Card and Calculation
Detected By Fingerprints
The Three Heaps
Double Prediction
Jordan
Impenetrable Stop Trick
Jordan
Mephisto's Prediction
Jordan
The Sequel
Jordan
A Count Down Mystery
The Card and Number
HAVE any pack shuffled by a spectator. Take it and cut off about a dozen cards, noting the bottom card of the packet as you do so. Put the remainder of the pack down. Run the cards off into your left hand, counting them and reversing their order, thus bringing the key card to the top of the packet. Spread the cards in a wide fan and invite a spectator to touch any one, lift the index and remember it. You note the number at which that card lies in the fan. Close the packet and drop it on the table, put the remainder of the pack on top and have the spectator make a complete cut. Deal the cards face up and when the key card appears, you have merely to count to the number noted to find the chosen card. When it falls make a mental note of it but continue the deal without hesitation. Later reveal it as you please.
AFTER having a borrowed pack well shuffled take it back, riffle shuffle it, seizing the opportunity to sight the two bottom cards. Hand the pack to a spectator and have him deal the cards into four heaps a card at a time in rotation. The key card will be on top of piles numbers 3 and 4. Ask him to select two heaps, 1 and 2, or 3 and 4. If he takes 1 and 2 have him put the two packets together, shuffle the cards and select any one and put it on top of either heap 3 or 4, finally putting their heap on top burying the card. If he chooses 3 and 4, do exactly the same but say you will use those two heaps to receive his card.
The chosen card having been buried in packets 3 and 4, let the spectator place the rest of the pack on top and make a complete cut. Turn your back and tell him to deal the cards face up calling their names as he does so. Warn him that no matter how careful he is you will detect his card by his voice when he names it. Since you know the key card immediately before it you have no difficulty in stopping him at his card.
THOROUGHLY shuffle any pack and, in handing it to a spectator, sight the bottom card by slightly tilting the pack which you hold with your thumb below it. Tell him how to divide the pack into seven packets. 'No need to deal,' you say, 'just cut the pack into seven heaps. From the earliest ages seven has been a mystic number. Now look at the top card of any heap and remember it. Replace it. To avoid all suspicion of any manipulation, I will place three heaps above it and three below it, making it safe from all interference.'
Put the heap which has your key card at the bottom, on the selected card first, then the others above and below. If he looks at the top card of the key heap, let him replace it and then cut that packet once and assemble the others in any order he wishes. In any case the card you glimpsed lies on top of the chosen card. Have the pack cut and lay the cards face upwards in rows. Note the card that follows the key card. Turn away and tell the spectator to pick up his card and hold it, then to have another spectator gather the rest of the cards and put them in his pocket. Continue, 'Put your card face down on the table, place both hands on it and concentrate your thoughts on its name.' Turn round and slowly get the name in the usual way.
ANY pack may be used: have it thoroughly shuffled by a spectator and in taking it back sight the bottom card. Put the pack on the table after secretly making a mark on the top card with your thumbnail. Instruct the spectators that after you leave the room some of them (any number) are to draw cards from the middle, look at them, put them on top and finally cut the pack ad lib. with complete cuts. This done you return, take the pack, run over the faces of the cards, note the previous bottom card and quietly cut it to the bottom, at the same time noting the card next below it which will be the fast of the selected cards to be replaced. Take off the top cards one by one, reversing their order, till you come to the card you marked with your nail and this gives you the number of cards chosen. Next miscall the first of these as being the card you noted next your key card. Note what it really is as you put it down, and miscall the next by its name and so on up to the last card.
YOU must know the top card of the pack. A good way to do this and leave the spectator confident that you cannot know any card at all, is to glimpse the bottom card, then shuffle overhand and so bring the bottom card to the top. Hand the spectator the pack to shuffle. If he does a riffle shuffle nine times out of ten the top card will remain there, if not you can see how many cards fall on it. Tell him to think of any number from ten to forty, then when your back is turned, or you leave the room, he is to deal cards face down to the number thought of, look at the card, replace it on the pack and bury it by putting the cards dealt off on top of it. You return and, since his counting has reversed the order of the cards, your key card will lie next above his card. Run through the pack, find the key card and remove the card below it, putting it in your pocket. He runs through the cards, his card is missing, he names it and you bring it out of your pocket.
If his riffle shuffle has added a card or two above your key card you make the necessary allowance for them. If he shuffles overhand you must sight the bottom card after the shuffle and when he counts to his number he must look at the top card of the pile dealt and drop the rest of the pack on top.
ANY pack is thoroughly shuffled by a spectator. Take it back and under cover of a riffle shuffle sight the two top cards. Tell the spectator that after your back is turned he is to deal a row of cards face down, any number he pleases, look at and remember the last card at the right of the row; then he is to deal across the row again, one card at a time, as many times as he pleases and discard the remainder of the pack. He is to pick up starting with that on the right, dropping that on the next one to it, these two on the next and so on, finally cutting the complete packet. This done you turn and take the pack.
To find the card deal the cards face up and watch for the first key card. When it falls begin counting the cards until the second one is dealt. Begin counting again with the next card and when you come to the same number you know that is the card.
FROM any pack, which has been well shuffled, let a spectator select and retain any three cards. Take back the remainder of the cards and quickly memorize the three top cards, false shuffle, keeping them in position. Deal the cards into three piles, a card at a time, until the spectator calls 'Stop', or you may allow him to deal, stopping when he pleases. Put the rest of the cards aside. Tell the spectator to mentally choose one of the three cards he selected, then place one of the three on top of each heap, cutting each heap, assembling them in any order and finally cutting the packet.
Take the packet and cut off about one-third, spreading the cards face up on the table. Now say, 'Your card isn't amongst these, is it?' If the answer is 'No', you are ready to go on, but if the card is there you continue, 'If you are sure of that don't give me any idea of which card it is, don't even look at it, just concentrate your thoughts on it. 1 will try to get it by the vibrations.' Seeing that one of your key cards is above the selected card you have no difficulty in finding it. If the card is not in the first lot, spread out about half the remaining cards, and if again it has not appeared, you know it must be in the last lot and you can locate it and reveal it in the most dramatic way you can contrive.
AFTER any pack has been shuffled by a spectator, take it and secretly sight the top card, suppose it is the AC. Write the name of this card on a slip of paper, fold it, and give it to a spectator A. On a second slip scribble some Chinese characters, fold and give it to spectator B. Hand the pack to B and ask him to secretly deal any number of cards one by one, note the last card dealt and replace the cards on the pack. Tell him then to hand the pack to A and whisper the number he dealt, but not the card noted. A deals to the same number and notes the last card, which will be the AC. Tell him to open his folded slip and read it. As he does so, pick up the cards he just dealt and in replacing them on the pack glimpse the bottom card, this will be the card that B looked at. Tell him to take out his slip and read it. Not being able to read Chinese he cannot do it, so you obligingly translate the characters for him by naming his card.
Compare with 'Twin Souls' Miscellaneous Section.
SHUFFLE any pack and glimpse the top card. The best way to do this is to note the bottom card as you take the pack from a spectator who has shuffled it, then with an overhand shuffle bring that card to the top. Invite a spectator to cut off about half the cards and spread them face down on the table. You do the same with the remaining cards. Tell him to draw out one card, look at it, put it on top of his packet, square the cards and make one cut. You do the same but you merely pretend to note the card you draw out.
'The card I noted was the of you say, naming the card you glimpsed. 'What was yours?' He names it. 'I just make a click with my cards and it gives my of such a fright that it jumps right over to join your card.' Spread your packet face upwards, the card is not there. The spectator spreads his cards and finds the card you named next to his.
TAKE any favorable opportunity, say in gathering the cards after a trick, to note the fifteenth card from the top. Hand the pack to a spectator and tell him to deal off several cards from the top and put them in the middle. Note the number and mentally subtract it from fifteen to give the new position of your key card. Suppose he deals five, your key card will lie tenth from the top. As a blind have him remove a few cards from the bottom and put them in the middle also. Tell him to think of any number between twelve and twenty, then as your back is turned, to count down to the number thought of and note the card that lies there, square the pack and cut it at any point well below his card. You have him tell you the number he thought of, this creates no suspicion since there appears to be no possible way for the knowledge to help you. However, you have simply to subtract your key card number, ten, from the number he thought of, suppose this was fifteen, which gives you the number five. Tell him to further mix the cards by dealing them into five hands, five cards in a row face down, then cards on each in rotation until the pack is exhausted, and collect the heaps in any order he pleases. His card must fall on top of your key card and you can reveal it in any manner you wish. All that has to be done is to have the pack dealt into the number of piles represented by the difference between your key number and the number the spectator thinks of.
TAKE any favorable opportunity to place two cards. which you memorize, in your left sleeve, safely out of sight but within easy reach. Have the pack shuffled, turn and hold your hands to receive it behind your back. Instruct the spectator to cut off a packet and count them secretly. When he has done so, turn facing him, keeping your hands behind your back and take the two cards from your sleeve, putting one on the bottom and the other on the top. To gain time for this you tell him to square his packet carefully and when you turn round again to put it back on the top of the pack and make one complete cut so that the cards will be buried in the middle, and square the pack carefully. This is done.
Turn again and bring the pack forward. You have only to run over the faces till you reach the first of your key cards, then count until you come to the second. You can reveal your knowledge of the number in any way you please. For instance by cutting off the same number.
FROM any pack freely shuffled have four cards freely selected. As the cards are being noted secretly bend the lower right corner of the bottom card a little upward by pushing it back slightly and bending it with the right thumb. With the right hand pull out the lower half of the pack and have the last card chosen placed on top of the portion in your left hand and slap the right-hand packet on top but insert the tip of your little finger between the packets. Keep the front ends of the cards tightly closed, tap them square and ruffle them. Go to the third person who chose a card, divide the pack at the little finger break and have his card replaced on top of the other one. Repeat the same operations with the remaining two, finally drop the right-hand packet openly on top of the fourth card without inserting the little finger, the bent corner will locate the four cards. If carried through quickly without hesitation the spectators will be satisfied the cards have been replaced in different places at haphazard. To confirm the fact that the cards are really lost in the pack, let a spectator cut the pack freely with complete cuts, then cut at the bent corner card yourself. Deal four piles, a card at a time and the chosen cards will be at the bottom of each pile. Assemble the pack by putting pile No. 1 on No. 2, these two on No. 3, and these three on No. 4. The cards will now lie thirteenth, twenty-sixth, thirty-ninth and fifty-second. Deal the cards face up, telling the third person to think 'Stop' when he sees his card. Mentally note the thirteenth and twenty-sixth card. Deal to the thirty-ninth card and stop, throwing the card out. Replace the dealt cards face down on the remainder. Discover the twenty-sixth card, the second chosen, by reading the spectator's mind. Spell out the first person's card, the thirteenth; any card can be spelt with twelve or thirteen cards by manipulating the words 'the' and 'of'.
Replace the cards dealt and casually display the bottom card so that the fourth person will note it. Turn the pack face down and glide the bottom card back. Tell him that you will deal from the bottom and stop at any card he calls for. Pull out the second card from the bottom and put it face down. Pull out the next one above the pulled-back card, show its face and replace it on the bottom, covering the chosen card and again casually display the pack face outwards. The person will be convinced you have made a mistake and that his card has been put on the table. Turn the pack down, deal the bottom card, letting its face be seen as you put it on the first card dealt. Draw back the next card, the chosen card and retain it, dealing the cards above it one by one until the person tells you to stop. Draw out his card, put it face down apart and place a coin or a pencil on it. You claim that that card is his. Having seen, as he thought, that his card was already dealt, he is bound to say you are wrong. Work this up, then turn the dealt cards face up, his card is not there. Have it named and turn it over.
HAVE a spectator shuffle the pack, take it and run cards from the left hand into the right, asking him to stop you at any point. When he does so separate the cards at that point and hold the right-hand packet before his eyes, spreading the indices of the last five or six cards and telling him to make a mental choice of one card. In the meantime turn slightly to the left away from him and with the left thumb lift the lower left corner of the top card of the left-hand packet and sight the card.
Square the right-hand packet and drop it on top of the cards in your left hand. Have the pack cut several times with complete cuts. You have only to locate the key card and finish the trick in your favorite way.
EFFECT. Shuffle and cut any pack and leave the room. A spectator then follows the instructions you previously gave him thus-he thinks of a number under ten and deals from the face-down pack cards to that number and notes the last card. He then continues dealing a card at a time on each card already dealt until there are not enough left to cover the row; these cards he places on the last pile, at the bottom of which is the card he noted. He picks up this heap first, places it on the next to the left, these two on the next and so on until the pack is reassembled. He cuts several times and you return. You deal the cards and stop on the noted card.
METHOD. Secretly note the two top cards of the pack after the shuffle; make a false cut. When the spectator follows your directions the original top card becomes the bottom card of the first heap, and the second card will be at the bottom of the second heap. When you return fan the pack and cut it to bring the second card you noted somewhere near the top of the pack. Turn the pack face down and deal the cards face up. Suppose the original top card was the 7H and the second card the 3C. When the 3C appears start counting and stop at the 7H. This gives you the number of cards dealt in each heap. Divide fifty-two by this number and if there is no remainder then the spectator's card is that number below the 7H. If there is a remainder add it to the number, the total will give the position of the noted card below the original top card.
EXAMPLE: with the two top cards as above, 7H, 3C. You find the 7H six cards below the 3C. Fifty-two divided by six gives eight and a remainder of four, six added to four equals ten, therefore the chosen card is ten cards below the 7H.