Performing with a one-way deck has a drawback that doesn’t seem
to have been appreciated by performers in general. This point, however,
makes itself apparent to the watchers after a trick or two and I’m surprised
that the idea I’m writing of hasn’t popped up before. To offset my various
bad faults when working I have one good trait I am always certain about.
I am able to judge an effect upon an audience and visualize myself in
their position. I can always figure close to what will be going through
their minds in following the actions of a performer and that may be one of
the reasons why I have had such good luck (so far) in merchandising the
various bits of business I have written.
When a performer makes use of the one-way back principle he must
always manoeuvre so that the backs can’t be watched. That’s elementary.
But I yet have to find a card man using this principle who doesn’t make
apparent his scrutiny of the backs in watching for a card to show up.
This registers every time (and don’t you think it doesn’t) and although
the spectator may not know anything about it all before or after, he does
know or realize that the backs have been watched. I wish I had a dollar for
every time the remark “Are these cards marked ?” has been passed during
work with a reverse back. I wouldn’t have to keep chain letters going.
With all due respect for that master book The Art of Magic, the book that
introduced one-way backs, a performer is a fool who attempts tricks with
a white dot reverse. There was a time when that white dot was the same
at both ends on Rider Backs. Then the reverse was a broken cloud line
and to me, the silliest trick in the world was anything that depended upon
such a mark.
League Backs tell another story. It is the fastest reverse back in existence
and brings to mind that famous Tex Rickard remark “You never seed
anything like it”. But even this super back isn’t practical for constant use
because of the reason in the first part of the last paragraph.
My extemporizing is a lead to the following. Why not make a face reverse
to combine with that on the back ? I did it. I tried many ways at first. I
fanned cards slightly and let them lay in the sun for a few days to discolor.
I tried a chemical wash to discolor a quarter inch at one end. Finally I used
the method given here and after using it for a long time I can say it is the
easiest to prepare and practical to use.
Now you can use the back design at will, but whenever it is necessary to
pick out a single chosen card, you can fan through the face up deck and
find it as easily as from the back, and get away from that continuous back-
watching.
A needle or pin is the only tool and at one end the suit indicator is scratched
as shown in the illustrations. Spades and Clubs are separated from their
standard. The center dip of the Heart is lengthened, and the bottom point
of the Diamond is cut off a trifle.
When you fan through such a deck, have upward the untouched ends.
The tampered with end shows up much quicker when among those left
alone. Now I know I’ve gone a long way to reveal this pet angle of mine
but I’ve done it for a good reason. My aim in writing for magi is to help
improve where I can and find fault when I find it possible. If I can fool
magicians with a subtle principle like this you can do the same and as far
as I know that is the chief desire of a great many devotees. And if you can
fool magicians, you won’t have much trouble fooling laymen as long as
you don’t lose yourself in technicalities and get away from simplicity and
direct action.
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