This is one of the classic card magic plots. There are a lot of variations to it, the Conjuring Archive lists over 100 entries when searching for the title. The basic plot is the spectator is invited to cut the deck, and—through a cleverly designed plot—the aces end up being revealed at the cut. One of the earliest versions was published in The Royal Road to Card Magic, titled “Poker Player’s Picnic.” This version sets the template for many of the ones that followed, namely having the deck cut into four piles on the table.
Continue reading “Spectator cuts the aces”In the hands four Ace control
Years ago I came up with a method for cutting the aces into a deck and controlling them to the top. (see https://robertjwallace.com/ace-control/ and https://robertjwallace.com/ace-control-notes/.) That control used cuts to the table to “lose” the aces. I recently decided to modify the principle so it could be done without a table.
Effect: Hand the spectator four aces. Take the aces one at a time, insert each into the center of the deck, followed by several in-the-hands swing cuts. After the second ace you can show the top and bottom cards. After inserting and cutting the fourth ace, you split the deck in half and give it one riffle shuffle. The aces are then shown on top. (That is a bare bones presentation, once you have the aces on top you could do anything you want. For example you could do an in-the-hands Triumph.)
Continue reading “In the hands four Ace control”One Shuffle Eddie – a four ace production
I found this in Marlo’s Magazine Vol. 5. Basically it is a Triumph style production of four face up aces in different locations in the deck. I like that the aces are widely separated in the production.
Continue reading “One Shuffle Eddie – a four ace production”Direct Ace Control
This is a variation on my Ace control that I described in this post from 2018. The main difference is that this one is more direct, but doesn’t show the top and bottom cards between each ace being lost.
Continue reading “Direct Ace Control”Twisted Assembly
One of the first card tricks that blew me away was the MacDonald Aces. This is the classic ace assembly trick. The downside, of course, is that the trick relies on gimmicked cards. You can read about all of the variations at https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ace_Assembly. My version uses two sleights, the Braue Add-on and the Elmsley count.
Continue reading “Twisted Assembly”Super Ace Speller
This is my handling of Martin Nash’s Super Ace Speller from the book “Nash Reloaded”
Continue reading “Super Ace Speller”Spectator cuts to the aces
Here is a simple “Spectator cuts to the aces” trick.
Start by getting the four aces to the top of the deck. I let the spectator shuffle the deck and then use my two step cull to accomplish this. You could also just start by already having the aces on top before you begin.
Continue reading “Spectator cuts to the aces”Four ace control
There are several methods I use for “losing” the aces into a deck of cards and controlling them to the top. Several involve cutting the deck into four piles and losing the aces, one in each pile. One day I was looking at some magic sites preview videos and saw a different method that I thought looked good. So I deconstructed the performance, figuring out what the magician had done. While I can’t be certain that this is the same method, I think it is close.
Continue reading “Four ace control”Only a second, almost
This is similar to “Only a second” so I suggest you look at that one as well. This one distributes the aces with two faro shuffles, hence the “almost” in the title.
Continue reading “Only a second, almost”Only a second
Another “find the aces” trick. This one is good for practicing your second deal.
Begin with secretly having the four aces on top of the deck. I typically have the spectator shuffle the deck, and then use my two-step cull to get the aces on top. Riffle or overhand shuffle to add eight more cards on top of the deck. I usually use two riffle shuffles to add four cards at a time.
Continue reading “Only a second”