- An Incomprehensible Divination
- Circus Card Trick
- Black Jack, Detective
An Incomprehensible Divination
The old war horses, as we have mentioned, are good tricks, if only because they have survived the passage of time. [Note: “Old war horses” refers to classic magic tricks that have proven their worth through decades or centuries of performance – RJW] This feat is one of the most satisfying in the whole range of card magic; it is easy of accomplishment, utterly baffling to one unfamiliar with its mechanics, and has a simple plot that is easily understood.
To perform the trick, quietly remove the following cards in sequence, using any suits: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Joker. The ace is the top card, the joker the bottom card.
- Holding the cards face downwards, you apparently mix the cards well but actually perform the Charlier shuffle. In squaring the cards secretly sight and remember the top card, which let us say is a 4. Tell a spectator that you want him to think of a number between 1 and 10 and that, while you turn your back, you want him to transfer this number of cards, one by one and silently, from the top to the bottom. Illustrate by transferring three cards from top to bottom, which will make the new top card a 7. Subtract this number from 12, and remember 5 as your key number.
- Turn your back as the spectator follows instructions, and when he is finished turn back and take the cards. Spread them and, without seeming to count, run through the packet and cut the card at your key number, the 5th from the top in this ease, to the top. Request the spectator to name the number of which he thought, and when he does so turn the top card face upwards and show that its value corresponds to his number.
- Turn the top card–which let us say is a 6–face downwards, and again subtract its value, 6, from 12, arriving at a new key number of 6. “This time I want you to think of a number, and I also shall think of a number,” you remark. “Take the cards and transfer as many to the bottom, one by one, as the number of which you are thinking.”
- Turn away until he has completed the transfer; then take the cards saying, “I am thinking of the number 6,” naming whatever key number you arrived at before giving him the cards. Transfer one less than this number to the bottom (5 in this case), and turn the 6th card face upwards at the top. It will have the same value as the number of which he thought. Turn the card face downwards and deduct its value from 12; if the card is a 9, then 3 will be your new key number.
- “Now I shall name a number while you think of one,” you continue. “Let me see.., well, I’ll take the number 3,” naming the key number. Turn your back once more as the spectator transfers as many cards to the bottom as the number of which he is thinking. Take the cards, saying, “I named the number 3.’ Transfer one less than your key number, in this case 2 cards, and turn the next card face upwards at the top; its value again corresponds to the number of which he thought.
- Note the value of this number as before, and deduct it from 12. If the card is an 8, your new key number will be 4. Hand the cards to the spectator, turn away, and have him think of a new number and transfer that number of cards from top to bottom. Turn back and, standing a short distance away, request him to deal cards on to the table. When he has dealt one less than the key number, in this case 3 cards, request him to stop the deal. “What is your number?” you ask, and when he has named it, you say, “Turn up the next card.” He does so and again its value corresponds to that of his number.
Occasionally someone will attempt to confuse you by refraining from transferring any cards. In such a case, when you count down to your key number the joker will be turned up, and you say, “There’s a joker in every pack, and there’s also a joker in every gathering. You’re the joker in this case; you didn’t think of any number at all,” and the spectator will be forced to admit that this is the case.
When the joker is the top card, consider its value to be 11, which when deducted from 12 tells you that your next key number will be 1, the top card. Take advantage of the circumstance by taking the packet, giving it a little shake, having the spectator name his number, and turning the top card to show that its value corresponds.
Circus Card Trick
In the old days this trick was used by cardsharpers to fleece the unwary. [Note: Cardsharpers were professional gamblers who used sleight of hand and trick methods to cheat at cards, particularly prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries – RJW] It is an amusing swindle for use with a small group when presented as legitimate entertainment.
- Have someone shuffle the pack, and in taking it back glimpse the bottom card for use as a key card. Spread the cards and ask a spectator to remove one, having him show it to everyone. This is important, for later you may need witnesses.
- Have the card replaced, and place the key card above it by using the key undercut method. Shuffle the pack by means of the key undercut shuffle, which will leave the chosen card and the key card somewhere near the middle. Next have someone make two complete cuts.
- Take the pack and assert that you can find the spectator’s card unfailingly by sense of touch alone. Deal the cards face upwards, watching for your key card. When it falls, the next card dealt is the chosen card. Deal this card, maintaining an impassive expression; remember its name and deal a half dozen cards more.
- Finally push a card off the pack, feel its face with your right index finger tip, hesitate, and feel the card again. Glance up triumphantly, tapping the card. “I’ll wager you a nickel that the next card I turn over is your card!” [Note: A nickel was worth 5 cents, representing a small but meaningful bet in the era this book was written (1940s-1950s) – RJW]
- Having seen you deal the chosen card, and mistakenly believing that you will turn over the card at the top of those you hold, some people will gleefully accept your wager. You then say, “My grandfather was right. He said that you should never bet on a sure thing!” Reach out and turn the chosen card face downwards, thus living up to your promise to turn this card over.
The trick causes a good deal of laughter, and since this was your objective you naturally refuse to permit the loser to pay his debt.
Black Jack, Detective
A chosen card and the jack of clubs, which you introduce as Herlock Sholmes, a detective card, are placed in different parts of the pack; yet, after several cuts, when the cards are dealt the detective card and the chosen card come out together. [Note: “Herlock Sholmes” is an obvious play on Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle – RJW]
- Have a card freely selected from a shuffled pack, and leave it in the spectator’s hands.
- Run through the pack to find the jack of clubs, and as you do this note and remember the top card, which let us say is the ace of hearts. Remove the jack of clubs and place it to one side.
- Square the cards and hold them face downwards in the left hand. Using the key undercut, strip out the lower half of the pack with the right hand, and have the chosen card replaced on top of the cards remaining in the left hand, which will place it above the key card, the ace of hearts.
- Hand the other packet to a second spectator, inviting him to take about half the cards, place them on top of the chosen card, and square the cards.
- Have a third spectator place the jack of clubs on top of these, and then have the remaining cards of the cut placed on top of all.
- Finally have a fourth spectator make two complete cuts, which will more or less bring the pack back to about its original order.
- Holding the pack as for the glide, patter about the marvelous accomplishments of your detective card, the jack of clubs, and order it to find and arrest the chosen card. Deal from the bottom, placing the cards face upwards until you deal the ace of hearts, your key card.
- Glide back the next card, the chosen card, and continue the deal with the cards above it until the jack of clubs appears. Now draw out the glided card and place it face downwards on the face-upwards jack.
- Have the chosen card named and then with the jack flick the other card over, showing that your Herlock Sholmes has succeeded in his mission.