More tricks with the Palm

Grab-Bag Card

This is an ingenious use of the palm which is made when all attention is diverted from the pack and from your hands. For that reason, this is a good trick for you to use while gaining confidence in your ability to palm. [Note: The authors understood that palming should be learned in performance contexts where natural misdirection occurs, rather than as isolated exercises – RJW]

1. Ask someone to step forward to assist you in your next feat, and when some obliging soul has done so have him shuffle the pack and remove any card, showing it to everyone. Take the pack, and in having the card replaced control it to the top by means of the overhand shuffle control.
2. Hand the deck to your assistant, saying, “Kindly deal ten cards into my left hand, then place the remainder of the pack to one side.” Count the cards as he deals, so that all may be assured that there are no more and no less than ten. Hold the ten cards high as he discards the pack, but with their backs to the audience so that no one can see the chosen card at the bottom of the packet; then place it in your outer right coat pocket with the face card innermost, thus bringing the chosen card nearest your body.
3. Say: “I’ll wager you haven’t taken a chance on a grab-bag in years, sir. Let’s try it tonight with the ten cards in my pocket. Here’s how we’ll do it.” Dip your right hand into your pocket and remove the selected card at the bottom, placing it face downwards in your left hand and being careful that no one sees its face. “I’ll take a card, number one. Now you take a card from my pocket–any card–from the top, the bottom, or the middle, just as you like.” When he removes one, count, “Number two,” and have him keep the card. [Note: The “grab-bag” presentation transforms a card trick into a game of chance, removing suspicion about methodical control – RJW]
4. “You see how simple it is? You don’t know what card you’ll get, neither do I.” Remove another card, counting, “Number three!” and slide it face downwards under the one you already hold in your left hand.
5. Have him remove another card, counting “Four.” Dip your right hand into your pocket to remove another card and as you do so turn the two cards in the left hand face upwards by tipping them over with the thumb. Do not make a sleight of this; everyone will be watching your right hand and in any event what you do with the cards in your left hand does not seem important. Count “Five,” as you place the card face upwards on those already in the left hand.
6. Have the spectator remove another card, urging him always to take any card he likes. Count it as six; then remove one yourself, counting it as seven.
7. As your vis-a-vis is removing the eighth card, palm the selected card from the top of those you hold. This is an easy palm as you naturally turn your right side forward to enable everyone to see him remove his card, and your hands are forgotten. Count “Eight,” as he adds his card to those he holds. [Note: This demonstrates perfect timing – the palm occurs precisely when attention is focused on the spectator’s action – RJW]
8. Place your hand with the palmed card in your pocket, and drop the card. Take the other two remaining cards, square them, and remove them as one card, counting “Nine.” Place them on those you already hold.
9. Have the spectator name his card. “Let me point out that you have had a perfectly free choice as to which cards you would remove from my pocket,” you recapitulate. “Yet if our grab-bag has been a success, the last card remaining in my pocket must be your card!” Have him remove the last card. It is his chosen card!

Good-Luck Card

Since your purpose in presenting card tricks is to entertain your audiences, you should have in your repertoire plenty of feats that will cause both amazement and amusement. In the following trick, which can cause much laughter, a spectator thinks of a card and discovers, much to his surprise, that you are sitting on it. [Note: This trick exemplifies the authors’ understanding that magic should entertain as well as mystify – humor enhances the magical experience – RJW]

1. Seat yourself farther away from the table than you would normally, for a reason we shall explain later, saying, “I haven’t played a game of bridge or poker for six years. If you will pretend to be me–” (address this request to one of the onlookers) “–I’ll try to show everyone why I quit those innocent pastimes.”
2. Take the pack, give it an overhand shuffle, and deal three poker hands of five cards each. “I was playing poker one night with two friends–one of those kill-time games–and this is what happened. Which one of these three hands shall be mine?” you ask the spectator. He points to one of the three, which you pick up and spread with the faces of the cards toward him. “I picked up my hand and noticed in it a card that has always brought me good luck. Since you’re playing my part, sir, will you think of one of these cards? Don’t name it, merely think of it.”
3. Drop the five cards on the pack, then pick up the other two hands and place them on the pack also. Shuffle, using the overhand shuffle control, retaining top stock to keep the fifteen cards at the top of the pack. As you make this shuffle you say, “My story doesn’t really become interesting until about two weeks later, when I was in a five-handed poker game.” Deal five hands from the top of the deck. The spectator’s card will be the third card in whichever hand he finds it in. Hold the remainder of the deck in your hand, saying, “On the very first deal, the dealer gave me my good-luck card. Since you know which card it is, sir, and I don’t, will you tell me if it is in one of these hands?” Show each hand in turn until he tells you that he sees his card. Drop this hand on one of the other hands, pick up both and drop them on a third, then pick up the three hands and drop them at the top of the pack. Finally pick up the two remaining hands and place them on top of all. Do this casually, saying, “Do you see what was happening to me? My good-luck card was following me around!” [Note: The mathematical principle here ensures the chosen card reaches a predictable position regardless of which hand contains it – RJW]
4. Undercut the pack, run one card on to the cards remaining in the left hand, injog the next card, and shuffle off the rest. Undercut at the injog and drop the undercut on top. You have returned the first fifteen cards to the top, with one extra card above them, thus placing the spectator’s card fourteenth from the top. As you do this, explain, “This is all background so that you will understand what happened next, when I was playing bridge. And I don’t mind saying that even now I don’t believe it could have happened.”
5. “On the very first hand the dealer gave me my thirteen cards.” Deal thirteen cards, push them over to him and say, “See if your good-luck card is in the hand.” When he has picked up the cards to look at them, palm the top card of the remainder of the pack, which will be the spectator’s card, and lay the rest of the cards on the table. In a natural manner, adjust your chair by seizing the edge between your legs with your right hand, at the same time dropping the palmed card on the chair seat as you rise a little to draw the chair closer to the table. When you are again seated, the card is well under you. [Note: The chair adjustment provides perfect natural cover for depositing the card, as this is a completely logical action that requires the described hand position – RJW]

The assisting spectator announces that his card is not among those you dealt him. “Amazing!” you exclaim. “It’s happened again! Tell me, what was the name of the card of which you thought?” When he names his card, you turn to the others. “Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to bear witness to what has happened here tonight. All that my friend has done is think of a card, nothing more nor less. He tells us now that it is the four of diamonds–” (or whatever the card is) “–and I say that it could not possibly have been the four of diamonds, because I have been sitting on that card all evening!” Get up, lift the chair for all to see the card, and jerk it on to the table. It is the spectator’s card! [Note: this is an example of “card in an impossible location. A popular variation is to find the card in a ring box, or in your wallet – RJW]

Do It and Fail

The trick which we now give you is one that has challenged the wits of many thousands of persons. It is especially suitable for use after dessert, when the company is relaxed, the talk is general, and everyone is in a congenial mood. It is not a trick for a set performance. [Note: The authors understood the importance of choosing appropriate tricks for specific social contexts – this informal puzzle-trick works best in casual settings – RJW]

The trick is one that people remember. One famous magician, while making an ocean voyage, performed it at the dinner table every night at the insistence of his fellow voyagers, and years later shipboard acquaintances would remind him of the trick and ask him to explain it. Such a trick is a good one.

The effect is that the magician does a trick, explains it, and then allows the spectators to do it, or fail utterly, at his will. One sleight only is used, the palm, but it is done at favourable moments and, since you present the trick as a puzzle, no one thinks of sleight-of-hand being used. [Note: Presenting magic as a puzzle rather than a mystery creates a different mental framework that reduces suspicion of trickery – RJW]

1. Take a pack of cards, turn it face upwards, and, saying that you will use a few cards of each suit in order to save time, take out seven cards of the same suit as the face card. Do not openly count them or give anyone else a chance of doing so; square them and put the packet down. Do the same with each of the other three suits, thus making a packet of twenty-eight cards. Secretly, however, you have slipped one card of each suit to the top of the remaining twenty-four cards. Lay these aside.
2. Arrange the twenty-eight cards in seven rows of four cards each, the first row consisting of a card of each suit, taking no notice of their values. The second row must begin with a card of the same suit as that with which the first row ended, then continue with the suits in the same sequence as the first row. The same rule applies to the remaining rows. For example, if the first row consists of a club, a heart, a spade, and a diamond, the layout will be:

C H S D D C H S
S D C H

and so on for the succeeding rows. The cards of each vertical row must overlap each other by half. [Note: This mathematical arrangement is based on the principle of cyclic permutation, ensuring the suits will separate when dealt in sequence – RJW]

3. Pick up the fourth vertical row, that on the extreme right, by sliding the cards together from the top down. Lay the packet on the bottom card of the third row and pick all up in the same way. Do the same with the last two rows.
4. Place the assembled packet before someone and have him make as many complete cuts as he pleases. Then deal the cards face downwards into four hands, one card at a time from left to right. Turn the packets face upwards and show that each one consists of cards of one suit only. Always deal face downwards and turn each packet face upwards in turn to show this result.
5. Explain fully how the trick is done and have a person on your left take the cards and do it. While he is doing this and all are watching the process, take the remaining packet of twenty-four cards casually and palm the four cards at the top in your right hand. No one will take any notice of you at this stage. Lay the packet down again. [Note: The palm occurs during the peak moment of audience attention on the spectator’s performance – perfect misdirection timing – RJW]
6. When the spectator turns each of his four packets face upwards and it is seen that he has succeeded in dealing each suit into a separate pile, reach out with your left hand and turn the packet farthest away from you face downwards. Draw it towards you and pick it up with your right hand, adding the four palmed cards. Turn the other packets over and assemble the whole into one pack and square it. Shuffle the cards, now thirty-two in number, and lay them down.
7. “A very easy trick when you know how it’s done, isn’t it?” you ask the spectator. He agrees and you continue, “You understand, of course, that one mistake in laying out the cards would spoil the trick?” “Yes.” “But you are sure that you know the proper procedure?” “Yes.” “And you are positive that you could do the trick again?” “Of course.” “Do you think that by mental control only I could cause you to make a mistake and ruin your trick?” “No.” “Very well,” you say. “Try again. This time I’ll make you fail.”
8. The spectator confidently lays out the cards and, as he does so, you keep up a running fire of comment, assuring him that he will make a mistake, and you appeal to the onlookers to make no remark when they see an error, and so on.
9. When he has completed the layout and the packets have been assembled, have a third person make as many complete cuts as he wishes and then have the spectator deal the four hands face downwards. Say to him, “You really believe that you laid out the cards exactly as before? You do? That’s strange! Turn over the cards yourself.” To his consternation he finds cards of every suit in each packet.

Most likely he will want to try again. Let him do so. Carry on the same bluff of causing him to make an involuntary error. The result is the same, there are mixed suits in every packet. In showing them and reassembling the thirty-two cards, contrive to get one card of each suit to the top and palm the four cards. Lay the packet down.

10. Apparently the trick is over. Casually pick up the other packet, adding the palmed cards to it; then lay it aside. After a moment or two, you say to your victim, “You don’t believe I really caused you to fail, do you? Well, I’ll prove it. This time I’ll allow you to succeed.” He goes through the same procedure as before, so he thinks, and this time, when the hands are turned over, there are the four suits segregated, each in its own pile!

That is your climax and you’ll find it a good one. Gather up the cards and add them to the remainder of the deck, thus allowing no opportunity for anyone to determine exactly how many cards were used. Presented under proper conditions, this trick will cause more talk and be remembered longer than many more ambitious card feats. [Note: This insight about memorable tricks is crucial – sometimes simple, interactive effects have more lasting impact than complex technical demonstrations – RJW]