Effect:
10 cards are taken from the deck. These cards are shuffled by the volunteer and handed back to Derren. Derren deals 1 card to the volunteer and one to himself. He then places the remaining 8 cards in front of him. Asking the volunteer if he's a good poker player (the guy is and has ben picked specifically because of this) Derren asks if he thinks he could get the best hand if he got to chose which cards he wanted. He proceeds to hold up the cards 2 at a time and allows the volunteer a "seemingly" free choice to chose which one he wants to keep. I say seemingly because Derren makes out he's using some kind of psychological skills to make the guy chose which card he wants him to take. End result... of course Derren wins.
Explanation:
This idea of psychologically forcing a card on someone is a very nice idea and something I'm very interested in... but total nonsense in this case. It's a good patter to have though as it takes peoples thinking away from what's really going on. The volunteer will be looking to double bluff the magician and trying to read signals from him to do the reverse, oblivious to the fact the trick has already been set. It makes no difference what he does.
The 10 cards picked aren't random..... the ones he uses in the special are three aces, three kings, three sevens and a queen - so I'll go with this setup. Basically, all Derren does is when selecting the 10 cards leaves the queen on top. He then palms the top card (the queen) off the top and hands the 9 cards to the volunteer to shuffle, they wont notice a card is missing unless they're really good. When the volunteer hands the 9 cards back the queen gets palmed back on top. He then deals the queen to the volunteer and a random card to himself. Then he goes into the patter of psychollogy etc. It makes no difference what the volunteer choses, beause he has the queen he will lose. It's as simple as that.
To try and explain this - imagine you are the volunteer and you have the queen - the best hand you can possibly have is three of a kind (three aces, a king and the queen). Not bad, but you will still lose because Derren will have three of a kind and a pair (3 sevens and 2 kings). At the start of the game Derren merely has to deal the queen to his opponent, and then he will win no matter what cards his opponent chooses.
You can alter the cards around for this trick to try and vary it slightly (3 two's instead of sevens, a jack instead of the queen etc), but it's always good to have Aces, Kings and a Queen... it brings out the greediness in people. Hope I've explained this well enough.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Gambling Tricks of the Trade
Thanks to Master of Trickery for this video.
http://media.putfile.com/Gambling-Expose
http://media.putfile.com/Gambling-Expose
Cheating at Cards
So you've got those moves down. Ready to put them to action?
So, what should you do at your first game that you INTEND on all out cheating? What steps should you take to ensure that you're not caught and beaten to death by your "friends". This article will discuss such things in hopes of better preparing you, so that your first experience will be a successful one (and hopefully won't end up with broken limbs :P)
Firstly, one should first consider the conditioning/preparations BEFORE the game. Things you should do include warming up your hands. This is only really required if you plan on advantage playing the first few hands to get a remarkable lead early on, as you want your hands to be as nible as possible. If I want to do this, I normally play guitar or bass for a little while doing extremely "techniquey" stuff. I don't know about you guys, but whenever I pick up cards after playing guitar my hands feel incredibly lively and ready to perform. If you don't have or play a guitar, then I suggest just doing passes over and over again to warm up your hands, and get the joints in motion. You could also do some deals/stacks or whatever you plan on doing that night just to see how your hands are responding that day.
After your hands are sort of ready, you might want to consider, like many different sources say, some brand of hand lubrication. Normally, I just use and unscented hand lotion that doesn't leave a huge film on my hands. It is important to use unscented for two reasons: One, they'll make fun of you if your friends smell it, and two: If they are at all aware of card cheating, if they smell hand lotion, they'll suspect something's up. Being unsuspected is the most important aspect.
So by now you're all prepped and ready to take the entire game down. As I said it is best to show minimal dexterity with the cards. So don't just walk in and be like "hey guys, lets play" while openly faroing and sybling the cards. This is just plain stupid. Also don't announce that you can do card tricks of any sort. You want to take a relaxed persona, not a total naive persona, as they should assume that you know how to play the game, but try not to come off as "intense" as you want to minimize the amount of attention you recieve. Do not try to be the centre of attention.
My preference for advantage playing is base dealing, as it seems to be the easiest, and least fuss/preparation of all the different methods. Typically though, I'll throw in some faro stacks if the number of players is 4 or 8 at the time.
At any rate, don't try to win every pot. This is just a bad idea. Try to win only the pots that are worth winning. Fold the rest, or play them honestly and tightly. It's always nice to have a reassuring smile that encourages players to join in the "fun" that is throwing ridiculous amounts of money into the pot. Try to keep everybody at ease by being personable and unintimidating. However, remember that you are effectively trying to take their money, so don't get too chummy and start exchanging personal information.
The last little bit of advice that I can give the potential advantage card player is not to lose your cool. As they say in "Shade", "You have to have the stones to move under fire." Be prepared to take action under the most nerve racking situations. Given, it is plain stupid to outright false deal when everybody's attention is on the cards, and you must choose your time to cheat correctly. It is helpful (if not required) to be able to excecute all moves without looking at the cards whatsoever. This allows you to look the players directly in the eyes, thereby drawing their attention away from the cards. Be aware that probably the first time, your hands will probably shake slightly, and this is normal until you get used to it. In the learning period, don't try to deal yourself overly complex hands. What I mean by this, is if you're playing Hold 'Em (which everybody plays nowadays), and a hand ended and you see an ace, just scoop it to the bottom of the pack and deal it to yourself somehow, but play the rest of the hand clean. Don't start off dealing yourself full houses or four of a kinds, and for the love of god, don't deal yourself royal flushes. For gambling demonstrations for laypeople, this looks impressive, but most of the time a nice ace high flush will take the pot or even trips will win. No need to arouse suspicion by dealing yourself highly unlikely hands every hand.
On that note, you don't necessarily have to do any sort of bottom dealing or second dealing whatsoever to successfully cheat at a card game. I've tried this alternate method just for kicks, and it worked out quite well. Here's how it works:
Deal yourself fairly, and while everybody (you need to be playing noobs) is checking their cards, look at yours, and don't bother reading other players, and then if you have an ace, king, or queen, just gambler peek (to be later described in another topic) and pass it to the top so that it will appear in the flop or turn or river. This eliminates a lot of risk in some aspects, in that you can deal very openly, but then there is the downside of having to peek at the cards and execute 1 or 2 passes per hand. Whether or not you choose to use this is ultimatley up to you.
At any rate, that's just a few words of advice from my minimal experience in the game. For the record, I've done it quite a bit but not in extremely fast company, so I can only advise you on what I've experieced. I wish you the best of luck, and please, don't abuse this. It's extremely rewarding but you must begin to question your morals. I know I have. It's quite the unethical thing to do, but as they say on cardshark.com or whatever, everybody inheriently tries to cheat. I think it's basically all about who can do it better. If you have the talent, why not use it?
Oh yes, disclaimer: I do not adivse anybody to do this for real money. Entertainment purposes ONLY.
So, what should you do at your first game that you INTEND on all out cheating? What steps should you take to ensure that you're not caught and beaten to death by your "friends". This article will discuss such things in hopes of better preparing you, so that your first experience will be a successful one (and hopefully won't end up with broken limbs :P)
Firstly, one should first consider the conditioning/preparations BEFORE the game. Things you should do include warming up your hands. This is only really required if you plan on advantage playing the first few hands to get a remarkable lead early on, as you want your hands to be as nible as possible. If I want to do this, I normally play guitar or bass for a little while doing extremely "techniquey" stuff. I don't know about you guys, but whenever I pick up cards after playing guitar my hands feel incredibly lively and ready to perform. If you don't have or play a guitar, then I suggest just doing passes over and over again to warm up your hands, and get the joints in motion. You could also do some deals/stacks or whatever you plan on doing that night just to see how your hands are responding that day.
After your hands are sort of ready, you might want to consider, like many different sources say, some brand of hand lubrication. Normally, I just use and unscented hand lotion that doesn't leave a huge film on my hands. It is important to use unscented for two reasons: One, they'll make fun of you if your friends smell it, and two: If they are at all aware of card cheating, if they smell hand lotion, they'll suspect something's up. Being unsuspected is the most important aspect.
So by now you're all prepped and ready to take the entire game down. As I said it is best to show minimal dexterity with the cards. So don't just walk in and be like "hey guys, lets play" while openly faroing and sybling the cards. This is just plain stupid. Also don't announce that you can do card tricks of any sort. You want to take a relaxed persona, not a total naive persona, as they should assume that you know how to play the game, but try not to come off as "intense" as you want to minimize the amount of attention you recieve. Do not try to be the centre of attention.
My preference for advantage playing is base dealing, as it seems to be the easiest, and least fuss/preparation of all the different methods. Typically though, I'll throw in some faro stacks if the number of players is 4 or 8 at the time.
At any rate, don't try to win every pot. This is just a bad idea. Try to win only the pots that are worth winning. Fold the rest, or play them honestly and tightly. It's always nice to have a reassuring smile that encourages players to join in the "fun" that is throwing ridiculous amounts of money into the pot. Try to keep everybody at ease by being personable and unintimidating. However, remember that you are effectively trying to take their money, so don't get too chummy and start exchanging personal information.
The last little bit of advice that I can give the potential advantage card player is not to lose your cool. As they say in "Shade", "You have to have the stones to move under fire." Be prepared to take action under the most nerve racking situations. Given, it is plain stupid to outright false deal when everybody's attention is on the cards, and you must choose your time to cheat correctly. It is helpful (if not required) to be able to excecute all moves without looking at the cards whatsoever. This allows you to look the players directly in the eyes, thereby drawing their attention away from the cards. Be aware that probably the first time, your hands will probably shake slightly, and this is normal until you get used to it. In the learning period, don't try to deal yourself overly complex hands. What I mean by this, is if you're playing Hold 'Em (which everybody plays nowadays), and a hand ended and you see an ace, just scoop it to the bottom of the pack and deal it to yourself somehow, but play the rest of the hand clean. Don't start off dealing yourself full houses or four of a kinds, and for the love of god, don't deal yourself royal flushes. For gambling demonstrations for laypeople, this looks impressive, but most of the time a nice ace high flush will take the pot or even trips will win. No need to arouse suspicion by dealing yourself highly unlikely hands every hand.
On that note, you don't necessarily have to do any sort of bottom dealing or second dealing whatsoever to successfully cheat at a card game. I've tried this alternate method just for kicks, and it worked out quite well. Here's how it works:
Deal yourself fairly, and while everybody (you need to be playing noobs) is checking their cards, look at yours, and don't bother reading other players, and then if you have an ace, king, or queen, just gambler peek (to be later described in another topic) and pass it to the top so that it will appear in the flop or turn or river. This eliminates a lot of risk in some aspects, in that you can deal very openly, but then there is the downside of having to peek at the cards and execute 1 or 2 passes per hand. Whether or not you choose to use this is ultimatley up to you.
At any rate, that's just a few words of advice from my minimal experience in the game. For the record, I've done it quite a bit but not in extremely fast company, so I can only advise you on what I've experieced. I wish you the best of luck, and please, don't abuse this. It's extremely rewarding but you must begin to question your morals. I know I have. It's quite the unethical thing to do, but as they say on cardshark.com or whatever, everybody inheriently tries to cheat. I think it's basically all about who can do it better. If you have the talent, why not use it?
Oh yes, disclaimer: I do not adivse anybody to do this for real money. Entertainment purposes ONLY.
Matrix Levitation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicRMrYe3nE
The Matrix
METHOD: This effect is basically accomplished through the aid of a gimmick that
consists of a dual leg/back brace that locks out at just under 90%, which will help support
your body weight, combined with several mechanisms to shift your center of gravity
away from your upper body, allowing you to stay balanced while leaning backward at an
impossible angle. Simple, huh?
Making the Gimmick: To create the gimmick, you’re going to need (or at least
need access to) several things.
1. One or two (depending on your height) 5 gallon heavy duty plastic buckets (wal-mart,
lowes, k-mart…etc.).
2. A drill. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
3. A hinge that locks out. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
4. A jigsaw. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
5. Steel toe boots. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart, shoe stores, sporting good stores…etc.).
6. 2 pairs of the heaviest ankle weights you can find (no lighter than 10 lbs, totaling
40lbs…4x10=40) (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart, sporting good stores…etc.)
7. Some socks. (If you don’t know where to get socks, stop reading this book, and go
buy a helmet…which can be found at wal-mart or k-mart or sporting good stores).
8. Six nuts and bolts. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
9. A sharpie marker. (wal-mart, k-mart, gas stations…etc)
10. Some elastic bands large enough to fit around your leg. (wal-mart, k-mart, sporting
good stores…etc.)
11. Some sandpaper. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
12. Two pairs of pants, one a size or two smaller than the other (Pants-R-Us)
And last but not least
12. A measuring tape. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
Probably the most random shopping list you’ve ever seen. But don’t worry, it’s going to
start making sense in a minute. Hopefully. The first step in making this gimmick, is to
create the leg/back brace.
Making the leg/back brace-
1. The first thing you’re going to do is take your own personal measurements for the
leg/back brace. You want to take several separate measurements. First, you want to take
the width of your waist. Not all the way around, just from one side of your hip to the
other. Then, measure the length from just under your armpit, to your hip bone. This will
be the back brace part of the gimmick. Now, you’re going to draw out the exact
measurements of your back onto the bucket, except for this piece, and this piece only,
you’re going to add about an inch and a half to the length. What’s going to end up
happening is that you’re going to draw a rectangle with the two shorter sides being the
width of your hips, and the two longer sides being the length from your armpit to your
hip. Cut out this rectangle with your jigsaw, and sand the edges with the sandpaper until
they are smooth and have no sharp parts. Now, you’re going to do the do the exact same
thing (measure, draw, cut, sand), except you’re going to do it with the measurements
from the top of your buttock to your knee pit (the part just behind your knee), and from
your knee pit to your ankle. You’re going to end up with three separate pieces.
2. Now, You’re going to hinge the two leg pieces together. So, take the hinge, mark
where the holes need to be on the plastic pieces, drill the holes, and hinge the upper leg
part to the lower leg part with the hinge and nuts and bolts. Make sure the hinge is facing
the right direction. It should be attached so that it acts as sort of a knee between the two
leg pieces. (Note that the leg pieces should wrap comfortably around your own leg, with
the hinge directly behind your knee, and locking out in the position your leg would be in
if you were sitting down in a chair).
3. Now, you’re going to connect the leg piece to the back piece with the nuts and bolts
the same way you connected the two leg pieces, minus the hinge. You want this gimmick
to be attached to your strongest leg, so adjust it accordingly. Since most people are right
handed (right legged?), I’ll describe it from the right leg perspective. You want to
overlap the two pieces about an inch or an inch and a half, the upper leg on top, and
drill/bolt them together with bolts about an inch from each side. Since this is the right
leg, you want the right side of the gimmick to be completely flat, and the left side to be
the side that has the back brace section sticking out. You would simply reverse this for
the left leg.
Attaching the Gimmick- Now, you’re going put on your smaller pair of pants, and lay
the gimmick flat against the back of your leg OVER the small pants. Take the elastic
bands and wrap two of them around your lower leg, and two around your upper leg,
helping to fasten the gimmick in place. Now, you’re going to put on your regular pants
over top of the gimmick, and the small pants.
Adjusting Your Center of Gravity- Don’t go and try the effect yet, because, unless you
have very good balance, your center of gravity is too far towards your upper body, and
will just make you fall over and get hurt. You need to do a few things to help push your
center of gravity more towards your lower body, allowing you to balance more easily.
The first thing you’re going to do is attach all 4 ankle weights to your gimmicked leg.
They should be stacked one on top of the other, running from your ankle to just under
your knee. Walking to be uncomfortable, but for an effect like this, it’s well worth it.
It’s going to be hard for you to walk with 40+ pounds strapped to one leg and not the
other at first, but you’ll soon get used to it. Then, you need to take two socks, fold each
of them in half, stack them on top of each other, and place them in the heel of your right
(if your gimmick is on your right foot) steel toe boot. This is going to cause you to stand
sort of tiptoe on this one foot, shifting your center of gravity more towards your leg. The
combination of the heavy steel toe boot, the tiptoe positioning of your foot inside the
boot, and the ankle weights will be enough to shift your center of gravity more towards
your legs, and allow you balance better.
Performance- Now you’re ready to perform. With everything in place, have two
spectators hold your hands (one on each side of you), and slowly lower you back. You
want to do this very, very slowly. Not only does this give the illusion a more realistic
feel, but it helps to prevent the gimmick from snapping, and not only ruining your hard
work, but embarrassing you and possibly causing you SERIOUS injury. As soon as
you’re bent back in position and you can feel yourself being supported and balanced by
your right leg, tell them to open your hands, and allow you to let go of them. Slowly,
slowly, slowly let go of their hands, showing that you’re suspended in mid-air. Keep this
position for several seconds, and then slowly lift your left leg into the air. The funny
thing is that lifting your left leg straight out actually helps you balance by shifting your
center of gravity even further towards your legs. Keep this position for as long as you
want, being careful to keep your balance and not fall (falling could break the gimmick,
and possibly break YOU). As soon as you’re ready to get up, call for your assistants to
come over, grab your hands, and help you get back to your feet.
The Matrix
METHOD: This effect is basically accomplished through the aid of a gimmick that
consists of a dual leg/back brace that locks out at just under 90%, which will help support
your body weight, combined with several mechanisms to shift your center of gravity
away from your upper body, allowing you to stay balanced while leaning backward at an
impossible angle. Simple, huh?
Making the Gimmick: To create the gimmick, you’re going to need (or at least
need access to) several things.
1. One or two (depending on your height) 5 gallon heavy duty plastic buckets (wal-mart,
lowes, k-mart…etc.).
2. A drill. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
3. A hinge that locks out. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
4. A jigsaw. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
5. Steel toe boots. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart, shoe stores, sporting good stores…etc.).
6. 2 pairs of the heaviest ankle weights you can find (no lighter than 10 lbs, totaling
40lbs…4x10=40) (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart, sporting good stores…etc.)
7. Some socks. (If you don’t know where to get socks, stop reading this book, and go
buy a helmet…which can be found at wal-mart or k-mart or sporting good stores).
8. Six nuts and bolts. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
9. A sharpie marker. (wal-mart, k-mart, gas stations…etc)
10. Some elastic bands large enough to fit around your leg. (wal-mart, k-mart, sporting
good stores…etc.)
11. Some sandpaper. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
12. Two pairs of pants, one a size or two smaller than the other (Pants-R-Us)
And last but not least
12. A measuring tape. (wal-mart, lowes, k-mart…etc.).
Probably the most random shopping list you’ve ever seen. But don’t worry, it’s going to
start making sense in a minute. Hopefully. The first step in making this gimmick, is to
create the leg/back brace.
Making the leg/back brace-
1. The first thing you’re going to do is take your own personal measurements for the
leg/back brace. You want to take several separate measurements. First, you want to take
the width of your waist. Not all the way around, just from one side of your hip to the
other. Then, measure the length from just under your armpit, to your hip bone. This will
be the back brace part of the gimmick. Now, you’re going to draw out the exact
measurements of your back onto the bucket, except for this piece, and this piece only,
you’re going to add about an inch and a half to the length. What’s going to end up
happening is that you’re going to draw a rectangle with the two shorter sides being the
width of your hips, and the two longer sides being the length from your armpit to your
hip. Cut out this rectangle with your jigsaw, and sand the edges with the sandpaper until
they are smooth and have no sharp parts. Now, you’re going to do the do the exact same
thing (measure, draw, cut, sand), except you’re going to do it with the measurements
from the top of your buttock to your knee pit (the part just behind your knee), and from
your knee pit to your ankle. You’re going to end up with three separate pieces.
2. Now, You’re going to hinge the two leg pieces together. So, take the hinge, mark
where the holes need to be on the plastic pieces, drill the holes, and hinge the upper leg
part to the lower leg part with the hinge and nuts and bolts. Make sure the hinge is facing
the right direction. It should be attached so that it acts as sort of a knee between the two
leg pieces. (Note that the leg pieces should wrap comfortably around your own leg, with
the hinge directly behind your knee, and locking out in the position your leg would be in
if you were sitting down in a chair).
3. Now, you’re going to connect the leg piece to the back piece with the nuts and bolts
the same way you connected the two leg pieces, minus the hinge. You want this gimmick
to be attached to your strongest leg, so adjust it accordingly. Since most people are right
handed (right legged?), I’ll describe it from the right leg perspective. You want to
overlap the two pieces about an inch or an inch and a half, the upper leg on top, and
drill/bolt them together with bolts about an inch from each side. Since this is the right
leg, you want the right side of the gimmick to be completely flat, and the left side to be
the side that has the back brace section sticking out. You would simply reverse this for
the left leg.
Attaching the Gimmick- Now, you’re going put on your smaller pair of pants, and lay
the gimmick flat against the back of your leg OVER the small pants. Take the elastic
bands and wrap two of them around your lower leg, and two around your upper leg,
helping to fasten the gimmick in place. Now, you’re going to put on your regular pants
over top of the gimmick, and the small pants.
Adjusting Your Center of Gravity- Don’t go and try the effect yet, because, unless you
have very good balance, your center of gravity is too far towards your upper body, and
will just make you fall over and get hurt. You need to do a few things to help push your
center of gravity more towards your lower body, allowing you to balance more easily.
The first thing you’re going to do is attach all 4 ankle weights to your gimmicked leg.
They should be stacked one on top of the other, running from your ankle to just under
your knee. Walking to be uncomfortable, but for an effect like this, it’s well worth it.
It’s going to be hard for you to walk with 40+ pounds strapped to one leg and not the
other at first, but you’ll soon get used to it. Then, you need to take two socks, fold each
of them in half, stack them on top of each other, and place them in the heel of your right
(if your gimmick is on your right foot) steel toe boot. This is going to cause you to stand
sort of tiptoe on this one foot, shifting your center of gravity more towards your leg. The
combination of the heavy steel toe boot, the tiptoe positioning of your foot inside the
boot, and the ankle weights will be enough to shift your center of gravity more towards
your legs, and allow you balance better.
Performance- Now you’re ready to perform. With everything in place, have two
spectators hold your hands (one on each side of you), and slowly lower you back. You
want to do this very, very slowly. Not only does this give the illusion a more realistic
feel, but it helps to prevent the gimmick from snapping, and not only ruining your hard
work, but embarrassing you and possibly causing you SERIOUS injury. As soon as
you’re bent back in position and you can feel yourself being supported and balanced by
your right leg, tell them to open your hands, and allow you to let go of them. Slowly,
slowly, slowly let go of their hands, showing that you’re suspended in mid-air. Keep this
position for several seconds, and then slowly lift your left leg into the air. The funny
thing is that lifting your left leg straight out actually helps you balance by shifting your
center of gravity even further towards your legs. Keep this position for as long as you
want, being careful to keep your balance and not fall (falling could break the gimmick,
and possibly break YOU). As soon as you’re ready to get up, call for your assistants to
come over, grab your hands, and help you get back to your feet.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Stapled!
The Stapled! routine in AoA1 is a great routine, but I wanted to make a version where the Jokers never come in contact with the deck, and the result was this one, which I think has a very nice surprise at the end.
Pre-work: Rip the tabs off the mouth of your card box. Put a staple in a Joker and then remove it. Put another normal joker from another deck (to be clear: neither one should have a guarantee) on top of the deck and the pre-stapled joker on top of that. Put the deck in the box so that it faces the side of the box with the half-moon cut-out on it. When you start your routine, pull out all cards except the two jokers and replace the box on the table with the half-moon down and away from you. If you're right-handed, set it to your right. Do a few tricks before coming back to this one.
1) Spread out the deck and have a card selected. Signed on the face if you like, although this is far from necessary. Have it replaced and control to the top however you like. May I suggest my Dribble Cover Pass or the Thumb Slide? Immediately top palm as you mention that you need the Jokers from the box.
2) Ask to have the deck shuffled by the spec and hand it to him. Immediately, yet deliberately, put your palming hand on the box, palm down (obviously), pick it up, turn it over, and grab it from above with your other hand, letting the fingers and thumb hold the card in place. Use the now free hand to flick the flap out of the box and fold it back slightly. You may recognize this sequence from Wilson's "Joke In The Box."
3) Pull the two jokers a half in. and then keep pulling the top one all the way out. Turn this card face down, and stick it back in the box half-way as if to pull out the other joker, but let the fingers go all the way under the box, receive the spectator's card which you now drop onto them, and pull it up past the bump in the flap.
4) Now, holding the top joker with your thumb and the spec's card with your finger flip the card box over and onto the table so that the box arrives on the table flap up and toward you and the boxed joker arrives at the bottom of the box at the same time.
5) Spread the two cards you're left holding, showing the now face-up guarantee joker. Put them both in the other hand, and pick up the stapler. Put a staple in the middle of the cards in exactly the same place the boxed joker was stapled.
6) Use the thumb of the hand holding the cards to fold down the bottom card to prove they are genuinely stapled. Do that fake turnover move where you rotate your hand and flip out the cards with your thumb at the same time to place them in the other hand rotated 180 degrees but not actually flipped. Pull back the corner with the thumb of the opposite hand, but don't mention why this time. . .that would be over-proving. Drop them as-is on the table.
7) If you like, casually show your empty hand and then use it to push the flap back in the box. Don't point out that you're doing this: ask whether the deck is thoroughly shuffled instead. Pick up the box and drop it on the stapled cards. Have the spec put the deck on top of the box and his hand on top of that. Ask him to steadily but not too firmly apply pressure to the deck (if he presses too hard, he will crush the box, duh). Tell him his card will pass through the deck through the box and in between the cards that are stapled together.
8) Pull off the hand, deck, and box, and act surprised that there are only two cards on the staple. Show that the bottom card is still a joker, and turn it over and again act surprised that the other card isn't. Ask if it's the spec's card (it is, duh). Spread out the deck face up and try to find the missing joker. You also give suspicious folk a chance to check for dupes if you didn't have the card signed.
9) When you don't find the joker, let the spec open the box to find the other joker with staple holes still in it. Tell them they must have pushed too hard.
Pre-work: Rip the tabs off the mouth of your card box. Put a staple in a Joker and then remove it. Put another normal joker from another deck (to be clear: neither one should have a guarantee) on top of the deck and the pre-stapled joker on top of that. Put the deck in the box so that it faces the side of the box with the half-moon cut-out on it. When you start your routine, pull out all cards except the two jokers and replace the box on the table with the half-moon down and away from you. If you're right-handed, set it to your right. Do a few tricks before coming back to this one.
1) Spread out the deck and have a card selected. Signed on the face if you like, although this is far from necessary. Have it replaced and control to the top however you like. May I suggest my Dribble Cover Pass or the Thumb Slide? Immediately top palm as you mention that you need the Jokers from the box.
2) Ask to have the deck shuffled by the spec and hand it to him. Immediately, yet deliberately, put your palming hand on the box, palm down (obviously), pick it up, turn it over, and grab it from above with your other hand, letting the fingers and thumb hold the card in place. Use the now free hand to flick the flap out of the box and fold it back slightly. You may recognize this sequence from Wilson's "Joke In The Box."
3) Pull the two jokers a half in. and then keep pulling the top one all the way out. Turn this card face down, and stick it back in the box half-way as if to pull out the other joker, but let the fingers go all the way under the box, receive the spectator's card which you now drop onto them, and pull it up past the bump in the flap.
4) Now, holding the top joker with your thumb and the spec's card with your finger flip the card box over and onto the table so that the box arrives on the table flap up and toward you and the boxed joker arrives at the bottom of the box at the same time.
5) Spread the two cards you're left holding, showing the now face-up guarantee joker. Put them both in the other hand, and pick up the stapler. Put a staple in the middle of the cards in exactly the same place the boxed joker was stapled.
6) Use the thumb of the hand holding the cards to fold down the bottom card to prove they are genuinely stapled. Do that fake turnover move where you rotate your hand and flip out the cards with your thumb at the same time to place them in the other hand rotated 180 degrees but not actually flipped. Pull back the corner with the thumb of the opposite hand, but don't mention why this time. . .that would be over-proving. Drop them as-is on the table.
7) If you like, casually show your empty hand and then use it to push the flap back in the box. Don't point out that you're doing this: ask whether the deck is thoroughly shuffled instead. Pick up the box and drop it on the stapled cards. Have the spec put the deck on top of the box and his hand on top of that. Ask him to steadily but not too firmly apply pressure to the deck (if he presses too hard, he will crush the box, duh). Tell him his card will pass through the deck through the box and in between the cards that are stapled together.
8) Pull off the hand, deck, and box, and act surprised that there are only two cards on the staple. Show that the bottom card is still a joker, and turn it over and again act surprised that the other card isn't. Ask if it's the spec's card (it is, duh). Spread out the deck face up and try to find the missing joker. You also give suspicious folk a chance to check for dupes if you didn't have the card signed.
9) When you don't find the joker, let the spec open the box to find the other joker with staple holes still in it. Tell them they must have pushed too hard.
A Quaint Happening
Effect: Two decks in their boxes on the table. Spectator choses one, shuffles it and cuts the deck. He names the value of the card he cut to. You take the remaining deck, take it out of its box, count down from the top of the deck the amount of cards equal to the value they told you, and you find that at that number is the exact same card as the one they cut to!
Setup: (deck 1)Take a deck and take out all the hearts and clubs. Shuffle those two suits together so they're in no particular order. Here's how you re-stack the deck. From the back to the face: 6 indifferent cards, 13 hearts and clubs, 13 indifferent cards, the remaining 13 hearts and clubs, the remaining 7 indifferent cards. Put that deck in its box.
(deck 2)Take another deck and take out all the hearts and clubs. Keep them seperate from each other. Stack the two suits so they each run from ace to king, ace being at the back and king being at the face. Take the remaining of the deck, cut it approximately in half and turn one half over so they are now face to face. Place the clubs face down on one side and place the hearts face down on the other side. You can now deal from either side of the deck and be dealing through either hearts or clubs, in order from ace to king. When you reach the king, the next cards are still face down for several cards. Put this deck in its box. Make sure you know which suit is on which side.
Make sure you know which deck is which. If you want you can use a red deck and a blue deck.
Method: Ask them to pick up one of the decks. If they pick up deck 1, have them take out the cards and proceed with the trick. If they pick deck 2, have them hand it to you, you take out the cards and hand them the cards.
They now hold deck 1. Have them cut it in half and riffle shuffle them together. What they have just done is put all the hearts and clubs in the center of the deck in a big chunk. Have them cut somewhere in the middle of the deck and to show which card they cut to. It will be a heart or a club. Let's say it is the 6 of clubs.
You pick up the remaining deck and take the deck out of its box so clubs is on top. That means that if you inserted the deck with the clubs against the half moon cut out, open the box and take it out so that side is up most. You don't want to take out the deck with the wrong side up and have to turn the deck over only to show backs on the other side too. Also make sure not to spread the cards on the bottom of the deck because they are face up. Cleanly deal down the amount of cards equal to the value of their card, in this case 6. The sixth card will be the 6C. If they had cut to the 6H, you would have taken the deck out the other side up and the 6th card would have been the 6H.
Setup: (deck 1)Take a deck and take out all the hearts and clubs. Shuffle those two suits together so they're in no particular order. Here's how you re-stack the deck. From the back to the face: 6 indifferent cards, 13 hearts and clubs, 13 indifferent cards, the remaining 13 hearts and clubs, the remaining 7 indifferent cards. Put that deck in its box.
(deck 2)Take another deck and take out all the hearts and clubs. Keep them seperate from each other. Stack the two suits so they each run from ace to king, ace being at the back and king being at the face. Take the remaining of the deck, cut it approximately in half and turn one half over so they are now face to face. Place the clubs face down on one side and place the hearts face down on the other side. You can now deal from either side of the deck and be dealing through either hearts or clubs, in order from ace to king. When you reach the king, the next cards are still face down for several cards. Put this deck in its box. Make sure you know which suit is on which side.
Make sure you know which deck is which. If you want you can use a red deck and a blue deck.
Method: Ask them to pick up one of the decks. If they pick up deck 1, have them take out the cards and proceed with the trick. If they pick deck 2, have them hand it to you, you take out the cards and hand them the cards.
They now hold deck 1. Have them cut it in half and riffle shuffle them together. What they have just done is put all the hearts and clubs in the center of the deck in a big chunk. Have them cut somewhere in the middle of the deck and to show which card they cut to. It will be a heart or a club. Let's say it is the 6 of clubs.
You pick up the remaining deck and take the deck out of its box so clubs is on top. That means that if you inserted the deck with the clubs against the half moon cut out, open the box and take it out so that side is up most. You don't want to take out the deck with the wrong side up and have to turn the deck over only to show backs on the other side too. Also make sure not to spread the cards on the bottom of the deck because they are face up. Cleanly deal down the amount of cards equal to the value of their card, in this case 6. The sixth card will be the 6C. If they had cut to the 6H, you would have taken the deck out the other side up and the 6th card would have been the 6H.
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