All magicians are familiar with the Princess Card Trick, wherein a card is mentally chosen from a group, and discovered by the magician, after he has placed the group in his pocket. In its simplest form, the trick is done with five cards; in his pocket the magician has four extras. Arranging the shown group in numerical order, he has simply to put it in his pocket, bring out the four extras, one by one, faces down; then pluck the mentally selected card from his pocketed group, as soon as it's named aloud. The trick always had two recognized draw-backs.…
As dictated to his private secretary Stuart Towne the effect is that, while a spectator shuffles his own deck, the performer writes a message on a slip of paper, folds it, and puts it someplace in full view. A second spectator takes the deck, cuts it, and deals out six cards from any places in the pack. The performer picks up these face down cards, fans them, and allows a third person to freely select any one of them. The prediction slip is opened by the fourth spectator and read aloud. "One minute after this is written a card will…
This little routine is based on an effect originated by Sid Lorraine, I believe, and later improved by Theo. Annemann. I have elaborated the effect and have applied some different methods. Three playing cards, a black jack, a black king, and a red queen, are handed a spectator. He mixes them well and then holds them in front of him fan-wise with the backs facing you. Up to now you have stood ten or fifteen feet in front of him. Walk towards him, look into his eyes, and say, "I am going to guess which is the queen." Exactly in…
The following two effects were received in the order printed, within a day of each other. Both have their individual good points and manner of presentation while using the same basic principle and thought. Here is a variation of the You Do As I Do card trick that borders on the miraculous. A spectator thoroughly shuffles a deck of cards and steps into a corner where he turns his back on the performer and the audience, while he fans out the deck. He is invited to select any two cards he likes and to reverse them in the deck. While…
This effect is an easy version of You Do As I Do getting away from "that hackneyed and utterly ridiculous exchanging of decks back and forth" as Ted puts it. The deck handed to the spectator is arranged in Si Stebbins order or any other favorite stacked manner. The one retained is a Brain Wave Deck of all blue-backed cards with a short Joker on its face. The face-up card of the tenth pair from the top, or back, is turned face down. The spectator's deck contains no Joker. Instruct the spectator to duplicate all of your moves, only, however,…
To quote Rudyard Kipling, who wrote somewhere: "There are five and thirty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right." Some years ago, I set myself the following problem. From a BORROWED pack of cards allow someone to remove the four aces and place them face upwards on table himself. On each of these aces the assisting party must put three ordinary cards, in turn faces upwards, and then choose any heap to be put aside. The selected packet having been removed, the twelve cards on table (three of which are aces) are to be…
This basic mixing (?) principle was discovered around 1907. There are many uses for it today. We'll take up only the bare effect. A borrowed deck is shuffled by anyone, dropped into a borrowed hat, and covered with a borrowed handkerchief. A spectator shakes the cards up with abandon, reaches in and takes one, followed by two or three others who do the same. The performer, apparently by clairvoyance or mind reading, can name the choices. Previously the wizard has stolen four cards from the deck and memorized them in order. They are palmed onto the mixed deck when it…
Most magical effects could stand enough of a "change of pace" during their execution (That last word is very fitting in too many cases. Ed.) to make them really seem different from the usual "here it is" followed by "now it's there," remarks. Of course, combining a number of separate tricks can produce some bad preponderosities. But there are exceptions, and I have thought the answer might be found by putting a strong finish effect with an otherwise mediocre and too standard start, together with a good starting trick of the mental type which so often begins well only to…
If one wants a cute little opening effect he can't go far wrong with that which follows. It is one of those "not-so-mysterious" tricks with a laugh at the end which should put you on good terms with the audience. "Once upon a time a magician was caught playing poker with a couple of other lowlifes. The policeman who arrested them brought the culprits before one judge noted for the novel ways in which he meted out punishments." "Taking three cards from the deck with which they had been playing, he showed them to the guilty prisoners. Next he shuffled…
Here is one of those "what you make them think you do" ideas that carries its potential wallop in the presentation. It is impromptu and simple. "For ages the mind and its little known capabilities have been investigated by delvers into the mental and psychic field. I would like to show you one of these strange mind perceptions." A card is chosen, noted and returned to the deck. After a shuffle the performer explains that he wants someone to take the cards and retire to a far corner where he is to fan them slowly before his eyes. This is…