Of all the bare-face swindles to cross my path in many moons, I consider this original effect of Mr. Solomon's worthy of the highest award. I only fear the reader will think it all too simple and not give due consideration to the effect upon the witnesses. I think it to be the acme of parlor and drawing-room conceptions. Presentation The performer has a deck of cards, a gummed sticker, a pencil, and paper. He starts by taking a card from the deck, for instance, the Two of Diamonds, on the face of which he makes a notation and covers…
A neat version of the think of a card spelling principle is to be had in this effect, and it also brings out a nice mixing idea of which I wasn't aware. I'll describe the working as I go along. Have six extra cards to match your deck and they are such that they can be arranged to spell out with 10-11-12-13-14-15 letters. I've been using the AC-6H-JS-8H-9D-QD. Take these same cards from the pack proper and arrange them as above from back to face. Put them on the deck with three cards above (any three from the deck). On…
During the summer I met a bartender who told me about a trick he had seen years ago and done by some transient bum who had been in his place. As he related it to me, the fellow had taken the house deck and asked for a tray. A card was selected, replaced and shuffled. The tray was placed on the floor bottom side up, the deck dropped upon it from a standing position, and upon turning the tray over, the card was found beneath. I realized that the working could be very simple but the bare bones of the…
Versions of a chosen card in an inflated balloon are many, but invariably by mechanical methods. The following was designed as an emergency method and its simplicity will be appreciated by all Club performers. Effect The performer exhibits four colored balloons on a small tray. A spectator who will act as an assistant is requested to select one of these after which it is inflated by blowing air into it. A tape ribbon is tied securely around the neck to keep it so. Another spectator selects a card, a corner is torn from it for the spectator to hold, and…
The performer borrows any deck and proceeds to deal four piles of eight cards each. The onlooker selects any one of these piles, and picking it up, the performer has him think of a card when they are fanned face outward. The four piles are grouped together and again dealt into four piles. Fanning each pile for the spectator to glance at, the performer asks him to state when he sees his thought of card. The others are discarded and this pile dealt into two rows of four cards, one under the other, and with all of the cards face…
Although there isn't much originality in this effect, it is one I have been using quite constantly and with which I have had much success. To the audience you have performed quite a miracle in psychic tests. Your assistant or medium goes out of the room and the performer then spreads a deck of cards face down on the table. A spectator is asked to step forward and take three cards in a bunch from the pack. He is then to give two of the cards to different people in the gathering and keep the other for himself. All of…
There has long been a need for a simple and deceptive way of dealing seconds. This method was devised to fill that need. Take a sharp razor blade and slit along the long edge of the closed end of your card case at the opposite side to the flap. Make the slit exactly along the crease of the cardboard and it will not be noticeable. Sometimes the whole end of the case will open out when you do this. When this happens, a couple of daubs of glue on the side tabs will remedy the trouble. Now, if the cards…
In the book Shh-h-h–! It's a Secret by Annemann is an effect where the spectator takes ten chances to find the performer's card and fails, whereupon the performer takes one chance to find the spectator's card and succeeds. The method as explained used an impression device, but this improvement in procedure for gaining the information simplifies it, and may make it more desirable an effect for many. The subject is asked to think of any card in the deck and write it on a slip of paper which the performer hands him. This is folded and dropped into a glass…
This is one of those rare effects wherein the performer does it all and never requires the taking of a card. It is simple, the sleights are nil, and the routine, while not astounding, is neat and gives the impression of great skill with the pasteboards. It is impromptu and uses only eight aces at any time. Remove the aces from two decks, and while the backs of all should be alike, in a pinch backs of the same color will do. If a pinochle deck is handy, take the eight aces from it. Routine : The eight aces are…
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…