Meet the Royal Family- Card Magic

If I had to tell a fellow magician one type of magic they should pursue that will come out with the most reward and pleasure, I would say card tricks. The first trick I ever saw was a card trick my father showed me. It inspired me to do magic. Just this year, he showed me the trick again and I was astounded at the simplicity of the method. This showed me how much I had grown in both card tricks and magic. If not for card tricks, I wouldn't have tried magic and I wouldn't have written this book. Go and shuffle along! (Ha ha! Get it? Shuffle like in cards...) I'm sorry about that really bad joke.

Sleights

- Double Lift
- Fake View, The
- Fake View Fan
- Glide, The
- Second Card Force [Shuffle], The

Forces

- Criss-Cut Force
- Turn-Over Force
- "Deal Down" Force
- "Overkill" Force

Tricks

- "Houdini's Metamorphosis"
- "How Could I Mess-Up"
- "Mathematical Paradox"
- "The Power of the Mind"
- "Lady's Aces"

The Glide

(Editor's Note: This sleight was formerly in the manual under the name, "The Bottom-of-the-Deck Switch". However, at the opinion of the author, the proper and original name for this effect has been substituted.)

You need:
A deck of cards

Begin by sliding the bottom card to the left about one inch. As you do so, place the other hand's fore finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie on the next card above the bottom card. Begin sliding the card to the right. Begin the to move the other hand the same direction. Stop moving the bottom card when it is straight with the other card. It seems that you had removed the bottom card when you had actually removed the second- to- the- bottom card.

How Could I Mess-Up?

You need:
A deck of cards

You need to know:
The Glide
Magician's Force (in Chapter 3- Anywhere Magic)

Fan the cards. Make sure that the backs are facing up, as not to reveal the cards to you. Tell him or her to memorize the card. As she or he does so, count off three cards and hold it in the palm of the hand that is not holding the deck. Instruct the audience member to place the card on top of the small stack of cards in your hand. Place this group of four cards on the bottom. I've been practicing this real cool trick. I'm not so sure this will work. all right. See this card on the bottom? Show her the bottom of the deck. It's not his or her card. Good. Watch this- Wave your hand over the card. Nothing happens. Ta da!!! It didn't work- did it? Hmmm... let me try again. Slide the card to the left and the right (don't do the switch yet, though). Place it on the table to the far left. Place the next card on the top of the deck. Repeat the patter and the actions, but this time perform the switch. Place the card on table, to the right of the first card, and place the next card on the top. Repeat again twice, without doing the switch. Aaaa... I just wanted to make the trick more interesting because... ummm... because now you saw each card and I can't trick you. Do the same thing as before, but do the switch on the first card. If everything was done properly, the card on the far left is the chosen card. Perform the magician's force, forcing the spectator to choose her own card. Place the other three cards back in the deck. All right... maybe I did mess- up, but let's first take a look at this card. What was your card? Let her or him answer. Really? Neat. Flip over the remaining card. You really didn't mess- up now, did you?

The Fake View

You need:
The Ace of Hearts
The Ace of Spades
The Ace of Clubs

Hold the Ace of Hearts upside- down in your hand. With the other hand, place the Ace of Spades or the Ace of Clubs on an angle in which the corner of the card block the small heart and the rest of the card blocks all of the left section of the heart, with an exception of the point. Repeat this with the other ace, this time covering just the remaining portion, without hiding the point. It now appears that the center card is the Ace of Diamonds- and not the Ace of Hearts (see image below).

Houdini's Metamorphosis

You will need:
The four aces
A small box that will fit one playing card

You need to know:
The fake view

Before the trick, insert the Ace of Diamonds in to the box. Remove the other three aces and hold them with a fake view. Explain to the audience what you are doing. One of my favorite magic tricks was one that Houdini use to perform. Here's Houdini- surrounded by the guards in black. Point to the Ace of Hearts. His brother would be placed in tied sack and put in a caravan. Pick up the box. Shake it. The audience will hear the sound of the card jiggling in the box. Houdini would turn around. Close the fan and straighten the cards. Turn them over again. Remember to have the heart face- up as not to reveal the secret. Huh? Let's check the caravan. Open the box and let the card fall out. Boy do I love this trick!

The Fake View Fan

You need:
The cards ace, two, three, four, five, nine, and seven in the same suit

Make fan of the cards, keeping the cards in the same order as described above. Turn the fan over. It appears that the nine is a six- but it's not.

The Second Card Force [Shuffle]

You need:
Nine playing cards

Hold the stack of cards face down. Deal one of the cards on the table. Transfer the next card on to the bottom of the deck. Continue. The last card your holding was the second-to-the- bottom card.

The Power of the Mind

You need:
A deck of cards
A small box with enough room to fit one playing card

You need to know:
The fake view fan
The second card force [shuffle]

Before the trick, insert the six of clubs in to the box. Begin the trick by setting up the fake view fan. As you get ready, tell them what you are doing. I am about to show you the power of the mind. If this power is harnessed, usually through hypnosis, weird things can occur. Let me show you. Display the fan of cards the proper way. Point to each card and say what it is (with an exception of the nine. You should call it a six). Point out that each card is the same suit. Hand over the rest of the cards to an audience member and ask him or her if they would be so kind as to check the deck for any doubles of the cards. There aren't any. all right. Let me prove that there are no secret cards hidden. There should be seven cards, right? Hold the cards face down. Count them as you deal them on to the table (this is to force the nine of clubs to the second to the bottom. Depending on how you fan the cards, depends if you should do this part of the trick. See which way better suits you.). Pick them up. Lets pick one. Does anyone know the what- the- heck- is- this- kind- of- shuffle? Nobody will. All right. I'll do it. Perform the second card force shuffle. Place the card left in your hand in to the deck (That card is the nine). Can you shuffle the cards, sir? Thank you. Well, wait. What was your card? Let's see. Display the rest of the cards. Place them on the table, putting them to the left or right of the card before it, depending on the order. Soon, it will be clear that the six is the one missing. Give the cards on the table to the person shuffling the cards. Tell him or her to continue to shuffle the cards. Everybody now concentrate on the card very hard. Hey, you! Point to someone. Come on!!! Concentrate. Now here's the cool part. Erase it from your mind. Because your mind power was so strong- well, look. Ask the person shuffling the cards to stop and now look for the six of clubs. Where'd it go? Only you know, but remember magic is half acting so don't let your facial expression tell the audience that you knew the card wasn't there. Take out the box. Everybody again picture the card. Let's try to create the card. You're doing it! Just a little bit more!!! Open the box and pour out the card. Turn it over if you have to. I guess the mind really is strong!

Double Lift

(Editor's Note: This sleight was formerly in the manual under the name, "The Thumb Lift". However, at the opinion of the author, the proper and original name for this effect has been substituted.)

You need:
Four playing cards

Count two of the cards of the top and, with the hand that's holding the cards, place your thumb in between the pair of cards and the rest of the cards. The break shouldn't be that big and should get larger as it nears the thumb. Your other fingers should be almost blocking the view of the separate cards. With the other hand, take the two cards off the deck that have been separated. They should be held tightly together and should seem as one card. Turn the card over. If done fluently, it will appear that the top card is the suit and number of the second card.

Mathematical Paradox

 You need:
The four aces

You need to know:
The Double Lift

Place the aces so that the two reds are sandwiched between the two black aces. Let me help explain to you what a paradox is. My dictionary says that it is a self-contradictory statement, whatever that means. I'll use magic to explain it. Ask your helper what the color of the top ace is. Coach her in to saying, "red." Perform the thumb lift, telling the person that he or she is correct. Replace the cards on top of the others and take the real top card off. One red ace. You were correct. That sentence might be a paradox. Lets try that again. Repeat what you just did. The participator thinks now that there are two red aces on the table. In reality, there are two black aces. Its a paradox. You see, even though you were right, you were also wrong. Turn the cards on the table over. Show that you have the red aces. Ta da!

Lady's Aces

You will need:
The four aces

You need to know:
Double lift

Remove the four aces from the deck.  As you show the four aces, casually shuffle the aces face up so that the two red aces are sandwiched by the black aces (black ace, red ace, red ace, black ace).  "I don't want to push my luck, but are you as smart as you are beautiful?" ask the pretty lady.  "Let's try a little experiment" (don't say "game"-- that would signify a challenge, which puts the spectator at the advantage and not you).  Do a double-lift to show the first red ace.  "A diamond," (if it's the heart, use the patter included for the second ace-- it doesn't matter) "a girl's best friend.  Watch closely.  If you would hold out your hand flat and face-up..."  Turn over the double lift and deal the TOP card to her palm, horizontally (see picture below for further clarification).  "I'll place it horizontally, to signify a diamond ring."  Count the cards one by one out loud.  "One, two, three remaining aces.  No funny business.  Diamond on your hand, three in mine."  Flip over the double, revealing the second red ace.  "A heart... I can hear yours beating already."  Flip over the double and place it vertically on top of the other card (its smaller end pointing towards you; see the picture below for further clarification).  "I'll place it pointing to your own heart, so you can remember."  "Now, do you remember which was on top and which on the bottom?  The heart on top and the diamond on the bottom, right?  When I snap my fingers, they'll switch places.  Watch closely.  One, two, three."  Snap your fingers.  "I did it.  Did you see it?  Turn over the cards in your hand."  They're the BLACK aces!  Turn over the cards in your hand.  "Told you they switched."

Why this trick works:  If you set the trick up right, the spectator is concentrating on whether the card is the heart or the diamond.  The premise that you will make the two cards in their hand switch places seems unbelievable and implausible.  By the time you've dealt the second card onto her hand, you've already done all the "dirty work."  She starts to looks for the dirty work just as you've finished it.  The surprise ending- a double transposition- is startling.  If you make them concentrate on the SUIT and not the COLOR, they'll never expect the ending.  As an added bonus, the patter I've included is great for meeting young ladies or as an icebreaker. 

The Criss-Cut Force

With the card on top of the deck, have a spectator cut the cards and leave the cut-off portion to the left of the pack. Take the remaining cards on the right and place them on top of the portion to the left, forming an plus sign with the packets. Slide the first card of the second portion on to the table face down for the spectator to look at. Look at the diagram below. This is what it should look like after the cards are cut and the remaining cards are placed on top of the cut-off portion offset. The "X" indicates the card that you should tell the spectator is the card that they freely selected.

The Turn-Over Force

Acknowledgements: "Mark Wilson's Encyclopedia of Magic: 'The Riffle-Down Force'"

Have the card you wish to force on the top of the deck. Instruct the spectator to cut a small packet of cards from the top, flip it over and place it back on top of the deck. Tell them to dig deeper, cut the packet from the deck, flip it over and return it to the deck. Tell them that they should cut almost the whole deck, flip it over, and place it back on the remaining cards. Tell them that the deepest possible cut is the whole deck and turn the whole deck over. Hand the deck to the spectator and tell them to find the FIRST face down card. This will be the spectator's card. If the force was done correctly, there should be a lot of face up cards before this face down card. This face down is the original top card!

The "Deal-Down" Force

With the card you wish to force on the top of the deck, hand the cards to a spectator. Tell them to deal down the cards-- ONE BY ONE-- and whenever they want to stop, they may stop dealing. When they are done, pick up the packet they just dealt down and show them the bottom of the pack. Tell them that this is the card they chose. That card will always be the original top card!

The "Overkill" Force

Acknowledgements: From Paul Harris' "Overkill" Routine (can also be found in Michael Ammar's Easy to Master Card Magic, Volume Two)

Have the card you want to force twenty-one cards from the top (that is, there should be twenty cards, the card you want to force, and then the rest of the deck).  Have the spectator randomly cut a SMALL packet from the top of the deck (1-20 cards).  As they count the number of cards, deal twenty cards from the top of the deck from RIGHT to LEFT.  Tell them that you are going to count the cards out loud and when they hear their number, to memorize that card (If they cut eight cards, for example, they are to memorize the eighth card shown).  Count the cards from LEFT to RIGHT (the opposite direction that you dealt them).  The card you set up twenty from the bottom will be the card they memorize. 

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