taking the pack in your left hand, and addressing yourself first to the person on your right, request him to place the two aces which he holds respectively at the top and bottom of the pack. Then, turning to the other person, request him to place the two other aces in the middle of the pack, which you (apparently) open midway with the right hand for the purpose. In reality, instead of merely lifting up, as you appear to do, the top half of the pack, you make the pass by sliding out the bottom half of the pack to the left. This movement is completely lost in your quick half turn to the left as you address the second person, which so covers the smaller movement of the cards as to make it absolutely imperceptible; and it is in order to create the excuse for this useful half turn, that we have recommended you to place the aces in the hands of two different persons, and to begin with the person on your right. When the second pair of aces are thus replaced in the middle of the pack they are in reality placed between the two others, which the audience believe to be still at top and bottom. You now hand the pack to a person to hold, placing it face downwards in his palm, and requesting him to hold it very tightly, thus preventing any premature discovery of the top or bottom card. You then say, “I have promised to show you how to perform this trick. To make it still more striking, we will have this time a little variation. Instead of merely changing places, we will make all the four aces come together.” Then, addressing the person who holds the cards, you continue, “The manner of performing this trick is simplicity itself, though it looks so surprising. Will you take my wand in your right hand? Hold the cards very tightly, and touch the back with this end of the wand. Quite right. Now say ‘Pass!’ It is very simple, you see. Let us see whether you have succeeded. Look over the pack for yourself. Yes, there are the aces all together, as well as I could have done it myself. You can try it again by yourself at your leisure, but please don’t tell any one else the secret, or you will ruin my business.”
The above delusive offer to show “how it’s done” can be equally well adapted to many other tricks, and never fails to create amusement.
A Card having been thought of, to make such Card Vanish from the Pack, and be Discovered wherever the Performer pleases.—This trick should be performed with twenty-seven cards only. You deal the cards, face upwards, in three packs, requesting one of the company to note a card, and to remember in which heap it is. When you have dealt the three heaps, you inquire in which heap the chosen card is, and place the other two heaps, face upwards as they lie, upon that heap, then turn over the cards, and deal again in like manner. You again inquire which heap the chosen card is now in, place that heap undermost as before, and deal again for the third time, when the card thought of will be the first card dealt of one or other of the three heaps. You have, therefore, only to bear in mind the first card of each heap to know, when the proper heap is pointed out, what the card is. You do not, however, disclose your knowledge, but gather up the cards as before, with the designated heap undermost; when the cards are turned over, that heap naturally becomes uppermost, and the chosen card, being the first card of that heap, is now the top card of the pack. You palm this card, and hand the remaining cards to be shuffled. Having now gained not only the knowledge, but the actual possession, of the chosen card, you can finish the trick in a variety of ways. You may, when the pack is returned replace the card on the top, and giving the pack, face upwards, to a person to hold, strike out of his hand all but the chosen card (see page 44); or you may, if you prefer it, name the chosen card, and announce that it will now leave the pack, and fly into a person’s pocket, or any other place you choose to name, where, it being already in your hand, you can very easily find it. A very effective finish is produced by taking haphazard any card from the pack, and announcing that to be the chosen card, and on being told that it is the wrong card, apologizing for your mistake, and forthwith “changing” it by the fifth method (see page 32) to the right one.
Some fun may also be created as follows:—You name, in the first instance, a wrong card—say the seven of hearts. On being told that that was not the card thought of, you affect surprise, and inquire what the card thought of was. You are told, let us say, the king of hearts. “Ah,” you remark, “that settles it; I felt sure you were mistaken. You could not possibly have seen the king of hearts, for you have been sitting on that card all the evening. Will you oblige me by standing up for a moment,” and, on the request being complied with, you apparently take the card (which you have already palmed) from off the chair on which the person has been sitting. The more shrewd of the company may conjecture that you intentionally named a wrong card in order to heighten the effect of the trick; but a fair proportion will always be found to credit your assertion, and will believe that the victim had really, by some glamour on your part, been induced to imagine he saw a card which he was actually sitting on.
This trick is frequently performed with the whole thirty-two cards of the piquet pack. The process and result are the same, save that the card thought of must be one of the twenty-seven cards first dealt. The chances are greatly against one of the last five cards being the card thought of, but in such an event the trick would break down, as it would in that case require four deals instead of three to bring the chosen card to the top of the pack.
It is a good plan to deal the five surplus cards in a row by themselves, and after each deal, turn up one of them, and gravely study it, as if these cards were in some way connected with the trick.
To cause a Number of Cards to Multiply invisibly in a Person’s keeping.—Secretly count any number, say a dozen, of the top cards, and slip the little finger of the left hand between those cards and the rest of the pack. Invite a person to take as many cards as he pleases, at the same time putting into his hands all, or nearly all, of the separated cards. If he does not take all, you will be able to see at a glance, by the number that remains above your little finger, how many he has actually taken. Pretend to weigh in your hand the remaining cards, and say (we assume that you are using a piquet pack), “I should say by the weight that I have exactly twenty-two cards here, so you must have taken ten. Will you see if I am right?” While he is counting the cards he has taken, count off secretly from the pack, and palm in the right hand, four more. When he has finished his counting, you say, “Now will you please gather these cards together, and place your hand firmly upon them?” As you say this, you push them towards him with your right hand. This enables you to add to them, without attracting notice, the four cards in that hand. Continue, “Now how many cards shall I add to those in your hand? You must not be too extravagant, say three or four.” The person addressed will probably select one or other of the numbers named, but you must be prepared for the possibility of his naming a smaller number. If he says “Four,” you have only to ruffle the cards in your hand, or make any other gesture which may ostensibly effect the transposition; and he will find on examination that the cards under his hand are increased by four, according to his desire. If he says “Three,” you say, “Please give me back one card, to show the others the way.” This makes the number right. If “two” are asked for, you may ask for two cards to show the way; or you may say, “Two, very good! Shall I send a couple more for anybody else?” when some one or other is pretty sure to accept your offer. If one only is asked for, you must get two or three persons to take one each, taking care always by one or the other expedient to make the number correspond with the number you have secretly added. While the attention of the company is attracted by the counting of the cards, to see if you have performed your undertaking, again palm the same number of cards as was last selected (suppose three), and, after the cards are counted, gather them up, and give them to some other person to hold, adding to them the three just palmed; then taking that number of cards from the top of the pack, and again replacing them, say, “I will now send these three cards into your hands in the same manner.” Ruffle the cards, as before, and, upon examination, the number of cards in the person’s hands will again be found to be increased by three.
The Pack being divided into Two Portions, placed in the keeping of two different Persons, to make Three Cards Pass invisibly from the One to the Other.—This trick is identical in principle with the one last described, but the mise en scène is more elaborate, and several circumstances concur to give it a surprising effect.
