If one can use a clever force of a specific card with the appearance of a genuine selection, this is it. Two cards can be forced at the same time with no more effort. Suppose, for instance, you are going to force a deuce. Put the three other 2 spots on top of the deck and have near the center the one to be selected. To locate this from the back, it is best to dot the upper left and lower right corners. Fan the deck near the center and have 1 or 2 spectators take out three or four…
Effect: A spectator freely selects a card from an ordinary deck. After being replaced, the deck is genuinely shuffled and cut several times. This may be done by the spectator himself. Saying that he will locate it, the performer removes a card at random. Upon seeing it however, the spectator says it is not the one he picked. A two foot ribbon is fastened with a sticker to the back of this card and it is cut to the center of the deck. The spectator now names his card and gently pulls on the ribbon. He pulls out the card…
Once again I introduce an effect that has been tested under fire and which has proven a good item for small club and close-up programs. It uses one of my favorite subterfuges - that of introducing an odd card into a borrowed deck - than which there is no other principle more intriguing at the moment. Asking two members of the audience to assist, you have one on each side and announce a most baffling problem with the borrowed deck. With the cards face up you deal them onto the spectator's hands, the man to your right getting the black…
I discovered this back around 1928 but, to date, it has never appeared in print to my knowledge. The discovery was quite accidental but at that time I was spending a lot of time and study on one-way back effects and chanced upon it. I can't guarantee this with any other back than the League Backs of Bicycle make. I consider that design the best one-way backed card for many reasons. Faces of cards are susceptible to the one-way principle in twenty-two instances if only the spot cards are considered. Picture cards generally have some differences that can be noted…
An extremely cute method of handling a one-way deck makes this secret of importance to those who favor such effects, and it will throw off the few who may know of the principle and possibly suspect it. There is an older subtlety invoked in many cases - that of reversing half the deck. A card is now selected and replaced after noting but it isn't necessary to reverse either the card or the deck. Simply have the card drawn from one half and replaced in the other. The deck is now cut at the center of the two sections and…
Usually a performer is serious about finding a card in front of an audience, but in this case I have departed from that rule. After working it out and trying it under actual conditions, I found that people still took it seriously! And, best of all, it always gets appreciation for some intangible reason, possibly because it appears like a lunatic's method, YET WORKS! It can be worked by two methods. I prefer the first because it is cleaner. Use your own deck and have 13 or 14 duplicate cards to match. In your left coat pocket put the same…
I thought for quite a while before deciding to release this secret because I've used it a lot for press work and the effect is absolutely original. I had it listed as a dollar trick should I ever let it go, but Spring has made me weak so here it is. Pick out a friend from the telephone book. Count down and remember its position from the top of its column. Make 26 one inch square cards containing letters of the alphabet. Make 25 more all containing the first letter of the friend's last name. Put the 26 duplicate letters…
A most unusual test that can be introduced into a program at any time is one which needs no preparation in one version and but a little in another. It is one of those tricks that can be done before practically any sized audience and it is just as effective if presented for a single person. Professional performers know only too well how rare and hard to find such an effect is. The first version is impromptu with any cards that may be borrowed. The performer states that what he is about to do must not be confused with card…
Here is a nice card effect for club programs and one that will be found different from the usual run of card tricks. The performer has at hand a deck of cards, a ticket punch, and a two yard length of half inch ribbon threaded to a large darning needle. A spectator freely selects a card and the performer hands him the ticket punch with the request that he punch a hole near one of the four corners. The card is now returned to the center of the deck and shuffled. Picking a card from the top of the deck,…
One of the cleverest location methods is this idea, and while it might be classed as one for the advanced card man, there are few who cannot make a half circle fan of cards with the two hands. The fan is made in the left hand with cards face down, after one has been selected by the spectator. The left thumb is on top of the fan, and the fingers are underneath. If a card is now pushed into this fan, one of your left fingers will feel it coming in, due to the fact that the fanned cards are…