AN Ixcexrrrrcs STUPLER

, Ixcp,NUITY #1-At the finish of an

Ambitious Card routine, the per-
former places the deck in its case, then
clearly inserts the signed selection into
the center of the bored deck. He
makes a magical gesture and asks
someone to slip the top card from the
,case. It is the signed one, risen myste-
riously to the top! The deck is ungim-
micked.

IxcEt{uITY #2-Aspectator is given

rwo coins, one coppet the other silver.
He leaves one in his pocket and holds
the othbr,,in his hand. Yet the per-
former causes the two coins to chrnge
placesl The coins are normal.

IxcExuITY #3 *The red Queens are

refnoved from the deck, A card is then
freely chosen, noted and replaCed in
' the center of the pack.' The Queens
are set face up on top of the face-dorvn
tabled deck and the performer waves
hfs hands over the cards. In an instant,
the Queens vanish, only to be found
face up in the center of the pack, with
the selection trapped between theml
The cards are unprepared.
trwcnwutrv #+:The, performer shows
, his hands unmistakably empqF, then
produces a full,length pencil frorn
,.' ' them. The $encil is then pushed back
into his closed fist,,'and visibly melts
,.i".r,a#ay, lebving the hands empty once: , ,

,more! The pencil is solid andordinary

IxcExtr{rv #5-The Queen of F{earts

'is taken from the deck'and$sibly split
into three identical Queenso plus a
miniature one I The Queens then in- " i

stantly merge back'into one again!

The cards are...a litde funny.
These are but five of the thirty-four
Ingenuities fully explained in these
pages. Prepare yourself for a feast of
fresh magic.
 ,
J5EN J5RENZELS
lNGENUITIEID
~ritten by
~TEPHEN H)INCH

Illustrator:
l5ELLY !JYLES

~re-illustrative ~hotography:
QEBBIE BjURRAY

-~-
Hermetic Press, Inc.
Seattle,WA
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Deepest thanks to David Michael Evans and
Stephen Hobbs, whose careful proofreading and
thoughtful suggestions contributed significantly
to whatever merits this volume may display.
And to Lloyd Hackett, for his dedication
behind the video camera.

"Pocket Passport", "The Million Penny Mystery" and

"The Lost Aces of Louie the Loser" originally appeared
in Ken Krenzel's 1995 lecture notes, Close-up Power,
under the titles "Spectator Coin-troll", "Pencil Tunnel"
and "Krenzel's Dream Evapor-aces". All items have been
revised and rewritten for this volume.

Copyright © 1997 by Ken Krenzel and Stephen Minch.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American

Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by
Hermetic Press, Inc., Seattle.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN 0-945296-19-3

First Edition
654321
 €ONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: by Jon Racherbaumer v
PRIMORDIA RERUM: Magical Magic by Ken Krenzel vu
CHAPTER ONE: OUT OF HAND 1
BoxTop 3
Simulacrum Mirabundum 9
Remote Chance 17
Open Prediction: a New Angle 21
Halfway to Hell 24
Shoe-in 29
The Other Shoe 33
CHAPTER Two: THINGS CHANGE 37
Around the World in Several Ways 39
Change at a Rapid Clip 48
Slip-lap Change 56
Sequence Mechanique 60
It's a Wrap 67
CHAPTER THREE: ESCAPING CARDVILLE 73
Pocket Passport 75
Flipperoon 79
Obstacle Course 86
Flippant Alchemy 92
Poor Miser 97
The Million Penny Mystery 100
CHAPTER F OUR: NEW TOOLS 109
Peak Decks 111
A Natural False Cut 116
Top-cover Dribble Pass 120
Mr. Fingers Goes to the Bottom 125
The Eclipse Production 128
Opti-stack 131
CHAPTER FIVE: TALL TALES AND SHORT CONS 13 5
The Lost Aces of Louie the Loser 13 7
Cloning Queens 145
The Last Heist 15 2
Gravity Travelers 161
Under Wraps 168
Poles Apart 175
Sand-witches 179
Sluggard's Monte 186
Strip the Leader 195
Fired Up 200
I
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INTRODUCTION
BY JON 1.'\ACHERBAUMER

c.___@<1Krenzel is a Thunderer in Cardopia. (Stephen Minch concocted

this term for the utopian world where cardmen aspire, inspire and per-
spire. It is a world of dysphoric, driven souls who seek, celebrate and
sometimes create the Real Work. It is a wild arena of abstractions.) Since
"astonishment" is the watchword these days, it pays to know its Latin
derivation ("out" or "to thunder"). Long ago, when one was astonished,
one was stunned as by a blow and in a trance. "I astonysshe with a stroke
upon the head." Well, Krenzel hurls thunderbolts. He wants us to appre-
ciate impossibilities. He wants spectators to be thunderstruck.
Cardopia is like a virtual world. It has mental geography-immaterial,
unfixed, without boundaries, non-spatial, timeless. It is a parallel universe
sustained almost entirely by pure information: books, manuscripts, diaries,
snail-mail, faxes, hard-copied e-mail, video tapes, audio tapes, CD-ROMs
and remembered telephone conversations. This is how most of us know
anything about magic, especially card magic. Most ideas, principles, tricks,
sleights, patter, presentations, mindstuff, memories and histories come
from Cardopia. There the dead are alive, the unmet are met, the distant
become near and secrets are made manifest. There dream-sharing and
meme-propagation take place. There threads of information dynamically
crisscross-complex vectors shooting from region to region, sodality to
sodality, from cardman to cardman. There is where I met Ken Krenzel-
not in person, but in the textual form of "Mental Discernment Improved",
v
courtesy of Rufus Steele's 52 Amazing Card Tricks. This whetted my I
appetite, as did further textual bits arriving piecemeal in magazines like N
G
M-U-M, Hugard's Magic Monthly and Epilogue. But the trick that really E
rocked me was "The Magic Bullet". I thought, Who is this guy? N
u
I also admire Krenzel's ken. He knows a lot. More important, his pas-
sion for assimilating, tinkering, analyzing, modifying, enhancing, T
synthesizing and creating new forms is steadfast. Keep in mind that he I
entered Cardopia when it was a restricted area, when most information was E
s
suppressed. Inner circles were closed; the Underground was a loose con-
federation. And good ideas, moves and tricks were precious things-too
precious to be promiscuously cast like milkweed seeds in the wind. In
those days, would-be cardmen had to earn acceptance by dint of their
passion, sincerity, raw ability and respect for Cardcraft. Krenzel earned
this acceptance by reading, studying and developing his own stuff, and
soon became an integral part of Cardopia's next Generation of Card Stars,
following Malini, Findley, Scarne, Horowitz, Daley, Christ, Carlyle,
Annemann and Vernon.
Besides numerous contributions to magic journals (including my
Hierophant), there are two seminal books to study: The Card Classics ofKen
Krenzel and Ken Krenzel's Close-up Impact! The book you are about to read
supplements the others, broadens Ken's accessibility and provides vital,
Krenzelian information-infused with his usual untrammeled enthusi-
asm, meticulous attention to detail, appreciation of subtlety, and strategies
for creating astonishment. Shakespeare wrote that every eye must nego-
tiate for itself, but this book, thanks to Minch and Krenzel, makes that
negotiation easy, exhilarating and worth the effort.
February 18, 1997

VI
M
0
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I
A

I<\
E ~RIMORDIA 1<\ERUM:
R
u
M H)AGICAL H)AGIC
BY I)EN I)RENZEL

'----@<1Some of the most magical magic is the kind which happens in a

spectator's hands. The public perceives such magic as Miraculous, Mind-
boggling and Memorable. These 3Ms, I believe, define great magic, the
sort of magic that elicits exclamations like "That's impossible!" and "It
can't be!" Close-up, restaurant, barroom, walk-around, trade-show and
parlor settings best capitalize in both directly and vicariously involving
spectators in a total magical experience. Though I am a practitioner and
lover of pure sleight-of-hand, I nevertheless believe that dexterity alone
can sometimes be counterproductive to the performance of truly aston-
ishing magic.
Annemann utilized ingeniously subtle, sleight-free methods in many
impossible card effects, during which spectators shuffled and selected
cards without the magician touching the deck. Hugard and Braue took a
more eclectic stance, combining sleight-of-hand and "self-working" feats
in an artfully constructed routine, which would leave spectators literally
"gaping in awe". Moreover, they held that it is only the seasoned, expert
magician who can best perform a self-working effect and still have an
audience credit him with incredible skill.
Parenthetically, in my estimation the term "self-working" is a misno-
mer. "Sleight-free" may be a more accurate designation, denoting a
VII
method that resorts to subtle, sleightless artifices and gaffs. Further, an I
adjectival "self-working" (e.g., self-working card tricks) tends to trivialize N
G
the role of the performer, focusing rather on ease of execution. Little E
wonder, then, that many accomplished magicians are disdainful of self- N
working tricks and tend to exclude them from their repertoires. It is u
interesting to note, though, that even a self-proclaimed technical purist T
like Ed Marlo (see his negative views on gaffs in his preface to The I
Cardician, 1953, p. 3) later adopted a more synergistic approach, integrat- E
ing sophisticated sleight-of-hand and gimmickry, including gaffed cards
s
and decks, in his ingenious "Marlo's Revenge" issue of Ibidem (No. 19,
Dec. 1959).
In my performances, I always include one or more effects during which
the magic happens in the spectator's hands, even when sleight-of-hand
is employed. Francis Carlyle powerfully concluded his Ambitious Card
routine by imperceptibly top changing a signed selection. He then handed
the deck and switched card to a spectator, instructing him to insert the
card into the center of the deck. Next Carlyle told him to riffle the cards,
say the magic word and slowly turn over the top card in his own hands.
Needless to say, both helper and audience were stunned.
I used to do the classic Acrobatic Aces, wherein four Aces or Queens-
two of one color in the center, the other two on the top and bottom of
the deck-magically transpose several times. For years I held the deck
throughout the routine, following in the footsteps of tradition. Later I
devised a hands-off approach in which the magical transpositions seemed
to happen while the spectator held the cards. My occasional handling of
the deck was designed to appear casual and innocent. (See "Krenzel on
the Cavorting Aces" in Close-up Impact!, 1990, p. 52.) To the laity, and even
to many magicians, this hands-off presentation achieved a magical expe-
rience, which nullified any suspicion of sleight-of-hand. The magic just
seemed to happen effortlessly without a clue to the modus operandi.
In a poll taken by Fred Braue in Hugard's Magic Monthly to determine
the five best card tricks (the results reported in the February through
September, 1947 issues), magicians overwhelmingly chose Paul Curry's
masterpiece, "Out of this World". Richard Himber went so far as to select
it five times as his best effect! The original version still dumbfounds the
public, and beautifully exemplifies how an effect becomes truly magical
Vlll
 when the performer handles the cards or any other given prop minimally
or not at all. Paul Curry had a penchant for effects which happened in
the spectator's hands.
M
0 I have found that many types of effects, both with and without sleights,
R can be greatly enhanced by involving a spectator at some critical point
D
in the presentation. For example, permit your assistant to count or spell
I
A to a card while he holds the deck, or to remove a magically transposed
card from your jacket pocket. "Further Than That", a wonderful sleight-
~ free creation by Stewart James, can be presented in a way that makes the
E
R spectator seem to be endowed with temporary magical powers. He
u handles and deals the cards from first to last. This whimsical type of pre-
M
sentation, done tongue in cheek, can be both humorous and astonishing.
Does this violate the Too Perfect Theory, which maintains that the
audience should be left with some possible loophole of a solution to the
mystery, albeit false? From my own experience, I have not found this to
be the case. Here I am in accord with Juan Tamariz, Tommy Wonder and
others who maintain that the goal to be sought is one of absolute, clueless
bewilderment.
Of course, it is helpful to present such stunning magic as an excursion
into a realm of fantasy, not as a display of magical braggadocio. Non-
patronizing, fanciful, amusing patter can greatly add to the impact of a
given effect. Whenever possible, personalize the presentation with some
attribute of your participating spectator in order to engage his interest.
You are the most important ingredient in the art of making your magic
magical. If you are an interesting, genuinely nice person, without hubris,
who respects your audiences, then they will accept your offerings and
willingly enter your magical wonderland. To achieve this goal it is impera-
tive that you study, absorb, then apply the principles of presentation and
misdirection as found in the works of such magicians as Ascanio, Elmsley;
Burger, Giobbi, Fitzkee, Hugard and Braue, Nelms, Ortiz, Tamariz and
Wonder. Their profound insights are essential reading for all concerned,
thinking magicians who wish to upgrade the quality of their magic. A
mediocre musician may be technically adroit, but without "soul" he can
never capture the full beauty and spirit of the music as envisioned by its
composer. Similarly, magicians who focus on dexterity and fail to develop
presentational skills, especially those of spectator management, can never
fully realize their potential as magical magicians.
IX
 In his monumental work Greater Magic(l938)John Northern Hilliard I
cogently compared the performance styles ofJohn Scarne and Dai Ver- N
G
non. "Mr. Scarne might create really great mysteries with cards if he E
would but forego showing his technical skill," (p. 572). In sharp contrast N
(p. 575) he said of Dai Vernon that "Under cover of perfectly natural u
I
movements his subtle sleights completely bewilder even the card expert T
himself!" Following Macaulay, Hilliard concurred that "the moment the I
skill of the artist is perceived the spell of the art is broken .... Art con- E
sists in hiding art." I couldn't agree more.
s
Yes, we magicians love to parade our finger-flinging skills for fellow
magicians. However, the public tends to view such displays when done
gratuitously and repetitively as a form of magical jugglery, devoid of
mystery. I made this point in Close-up Impact!, but it bears repeating.
Laypersons may inevitably attribute your magic to deft, rapid manipula-
tions, thus robbing your effects of their potential to bewilder and mystify.
Compulsive overhandling of the cards, filled with flourishes soon ceases
to entertain and can become annoying.
Yet, within an artistically constructed routine, as exemplified by the
quintessential Cardini, manipulation attains a level of sheer beauty and
elegance, akin to a magical ballet. In this context, Cardini's motivated
flourishes were truly magical. When applied to the close-up domain,Jerry
Andrus contends that flourishes should be integral to the structure of your
effects and should not be an irrelevant demonstration of your manipula-
tive skills. Although an audience may admire your digital prowess, your
effects will be attributed to dexterity, even if they couldn't quite "catch
it". You really can't wear two hats-that of the magician or cardician and
that of the gambling authority who demonstrates the arsenal of the card
sharp-without paying a price. When you display total card control (false
shuffles and cuts, culling, stacking, seconds, centers, bottoms, palms,
prearrangements, shiners, etc.) you also give your audience a crash course
in the methods of card magic. Such an overview of methods, albeit pre-
sented in the context of a gambling expose, will arm your spectators with
information which could possibly explain much of your card magic. Con-
sequently, the effectiveness of your magic has been seriously
compromised-assuming that you wish your audience to perceive your
magic as magic, and not as digital ability alone.

X
~ A vital element of your presentation is that you be interesting, even
R . fascinating, and never boring. One thing that contributes to an interest
I
in your work is your ability to handle cards, coins, any props gracefully
M
0 and expertly. This style of presentation was, on many occasions, impressed
R upon me as a youngster by the master himself, Dai Vernon. I still remem-
D
ber how he baffled knowledgeable magicians with his "Twisting the Aces",
A before it was published, as he delicately held the Aces at their very edges
to enhance the illusion of utter fairness. He astonished both magicians
E and the public with his exquisite depth-illusion principle, also known as
"tilt". Here is another essentially sleightless technique which, when prop-
erly done, creates a bewildering effect.
Human nature being what it is, the aphorism "familiarity breeds con-
tempt" is certainly apt when magicians repeatedly ask, "What's new?"
while forgetting about older, really wonderful, reputation-making magic.
Eddie Fields recounts a story that illustrates how powerful the impact of
such magic can be. The full story is told in his biography, A Life Among
Secrets by Stephen Minch (1992, p. 197). In brief, an elegantly attired
woman entered the Forks Hotel to watch the near legendary Eddie
Fechter perform his brand of potent magic. After his performance she
thanked him, saying, "That's very nice." She then explained why she had
come. Both she and her husband had seen a magician do something truly
impossible. Her husband covered his own quarter with a handkerchief,
held it over a glass and dropped the coin in. They heard it fall into the
glass. The magician never touched a thing. And when her husband
uncovered the glass the coin was gone!
Fechter and the other magicians present immediately recognized this
old trick, one found even then in magic sets and beginners' texts. She
related how she had tried, without success, to find another magician who
could do the trick for her. Although she admired Fechter's cleverness, she
doubted that even he could perform this feat. Inasmuch as neither Fechter
nor any of the magicians in the bar at the time had the requisite gimmick,
he was unable to do it for her. As she left, she remarked with disappoint-
ment in her voice, "I thought not. There is probably only one magician
in the world who can do that trick and I've seen him." Fields, Fechter and
all the other magicians present "newly appreciated that the simplest trick,
no matter how hackneyed, can be a miracle to those unfamiliar with it."

X1
 To this observation, I would addJean Hugard's sage comments, found I
throughout his books and in Hugard's Magic Monthly, regarding the N
G
overarching importance of presentation and address in an artistically E
constructed routine. I can only speculate about the magician who so N
impressed the lady at Fechter's bar, but I think that he was surely a show- u
man who transformed this elementary feat into a magical masterpiece.
T
Further, I suspect that this vanishing of a coin was part of a longer, equally I
impressive routine of magic. One-armed MacDonald, he of the "Mac- E
Donald Aces", regularly performed the Vanishing Coin in Glass and,
s
according to Dai Vernon and Faucett Ross, made his audiences think they
had seen a miracle. The reason why this simple trick represented the
epitome of magical magic to that lady at the Forks Hotel is that it met
all the 3Ms. To her it was Miraculous, Mind-boggling and Memorable.
She and her husband knew that the coin, handkerchief and glass were
ordinary everyday objects. Moreover, he held the coin himself. They
heard it drop into the glass. And most importantly, throughout the pro-
cedure the magician never touched a thing. The coin inexplicably vanished
in her husband's hands, leaving not the smallest clue to it disappearance.
Isn't it fascinating that, to this lady, this simple trick was much more
impressive than any of the more advanced feats that Eddie Fechter per-
formed for her. Surely there is a message here from which we all can
benefit. Don't underestimate the magical potential, for the public or in
some cases even for magicians, of either an effect or its method, just
because it may be simple.
Jack Miller and Al Koran transformed "The Lazy Man's Card Trick",
a hands-off location, into a veritable miracle. Recently, Simon Aronson
has taken this premise into a realm of impossibility, which perplexes even
the most knowledgeable magicians.
Skillful spectator-management and appropriate spectator-participation
are cardinal factors in making magic magical in both close-up and plat-
form performance. Francis Carlyle was a master of spectator management
and participation. On many occasions I witnessed his powerful handling
transform common effects into miracles. He barely seemed to touch the
props, and made the effects crystal clear by recapitulating what was done,
just before proceeding to the climax. Bob Baxter is another masterly
exponent of spectator management and sharply defined presentation.

Xll
 I recommend that you utilize those techniques which occasionally
permit spectators to shuffle the deck after cards have been selected or
peeked at and returned. For any audience, this procedure negates the
M
0 possibility of your controlling the chosen card, thereby making the sub-
R sequent revelation even more incredible. The classic "Ladies' Looking
0 Glass" effect becomes truly incomprehensible in Hugard and Braue's
I
A version, which allows audience members to shuffle the pack after the
selections have been returned (see Royal Road to Card Magic, 1949, p. 267).
Similarly, there are methods which enable you to deal winning poker
hands after spectators have shuffled and cut the deck. No, you do not and
should not shuffle the cards in a run-up expose after the deck is mixed
..
''
by the audience. Under these impossible conditions such a demonstra-
tion becomes quite magical. An utterly baffling example of this approach
is the Ten-card Poker Deal. Harry Lorayne, Tony Binarelli, Bruce
Bernstein, Larry Becker, Darwin Ortiz and Bob Farmer have developed
outstanding routines for this trick, wherein audience members appear to
shuffle and deal the cards themselves. The plethora of card literature
contains other gambling effects of this type, featuring equally devastat-
ing effects which expose nothing.
In the following pages, you will find a number of tricks in which the
magician appears to have little or no contact or control over the cards.
The spectator shuffles and handles the deck, and the magic just seems to
occur in his hands. A similar hands-off approach is utilized in a two-coin
transposition. I know you will appreciate the power that lies in these
effects. I hope, though, that you will not learn the material in this book
in a magical vacuum. As I've said, you must study and intelligently apply
the principles of presentation and misdirection, so instrumental to making
your magic truly magical. These principles can be found in the works of
Hugard and Braue, Eugene Burger, Dariel Fitzkee, Darwin Ortiz, Juan
Tamariz, Arturo Ascanio, Tommy Wonder and Roberto Giobbi.
In conclusion, I extend my heartfelt thanks to Stephen Minch, who
has so eloquently and explicitly described my magic-to my friend Lloyd
Hackett, who patiently video taped the material for these descriptions-
to Kelly Lyles, for her crystal-clear illustrations-to Jon Racherbaumer,
for his introduction and friendship-to Greg Webb, for his magnificent
cover art-and to all those magicians whose ingenuities inspired the
magic in this work.
Xlll
 I DEDICATE 'll-IIS WORK
-To my Queen ofHearts, Charlene; my son, Cliff;
his wife, Janet; and my grandson, David Steven,
who have so enriched my life.
-And to the legion of past and present creative
magicians who have so enriched our art.
Ken Krenzel
€HAPTER ~NE ~
~UT OF [}ANo
~
u
t
0
f

[l
a
n
d
~ox ~oP

Effect: It may seem unusual to begin a book with a final sequence.

c.____@<1
I admit I find the novelty irresistible. But there is another, better reason
for such a beginning. This piece deserves a position of importance, as you
are about to see.
To conclude an Ambitious Card routine, the performer slips the deck
into its case, eliminating any possibility of manipulating the cards. The
signed selection is then fairly and clearly inserted into the center of the
deck, the spectator's signature on view to the very last, and the case is
closed, locking the cards in their positions.
A magical gesture is made over the cased deck, then the flap is opened
and the spectator who selected and signed the card is asked to remove
the top one. When she turns it face up, it is her selection, seen moments
before in the center! She also removes the deck from the case. The cards
can be examined, as they are innocent of trickery.
Method: Ever since 1984, when Daryl finally marketed his "Ultimate
Ambition" effect (see Daryl's Ambitious Card Omnibus, 1989, p. 117, for a
description), Ken has been fascinated with the idea of performing an
Ambitious Card sequence with the deck bound or contained in a man-
ner that seemed to preclude sleight-of-hand, a "test-conditions"
conclusion to an Ambitious Card routine. Daryl bound the deck with a
length of rope. Ken, though, feels it more logical (even though less amus-
ing) to imprison the deck in its own case for the final ascension. But how
could one get the signed card from the center of the contained deck to
the top-without the aid of a gaffed pack? Only recently did Ken strike
3
on an expedient and prac-
1 I
tical method. n
g
The deck is entirely e
unprepared. However, the n
card case is very simply u
I
gimmicked. The bottom t
of the case is slit on the I
front and sides to create a flap (Figure 1). Any little tabs at the mouth or e
bottom of the box are removed, so that they don't impede the insertion
s
of the deck and its motion inside the case.
When you unease your deck to perform, after removing the cards,
secretly use your thumb
to push the bottom flap 2
slightly into the case (Fig-
ure 2). This prevents it
from springing open and
exposing the preparation.
Set the case, with its bot-
tom turned toward you,
off to one side as you con-
tinue with your card act.
On beginning your Ambitious Card routine, ask someone to choose
any spot card, explaining that you wish her to sign the face of the card,
for purposes of identification, and that her signature will be too difficult
to verify on a court card. Have her sign her name across one end of the
card (Figure 3). Then perform whatever Ambitious Card sequences you
wish, building to the cased finale. When you
come to the final phase of the routine, leave
the ambitious card lying face up on the table ·~
as you pick up the card case in your left hand,
mouth turned outward and the top flap folded
back under the case. Hold the case between
your left thumb, on top, and first two fingers,
underneath. In addition, curl your third and &
fourth fingers in a natural manner, so that the 2
third finger rests against the bottom of the

4
~ case, preventing the bottom
u flap from springing open.
t
Insert the deck face down
0 into the case, leaving about an
f inch of it protruding. Then
pick up the signed selection,
fla turn it face down and insert its
n unsigned end into the middle of
d the deck. Push the selection
into the pack for roughly half
its length (Figure 4) as you
show the deck from all sides.
The signed card is unquestion-
ably in the center of the pack.
With your right thumb and
forefinger, pinch the deck by its
outer right corner and push it
completely into the case, while leaving the selection outjogged. If the
bottom flap is not already free to open, it will be knocked loose by the
end of the deck, but your left third finger holds it closed. Transfer the right
hand's grip from the comer of the deck to the corresponding corner of
the case and hold it momentarily while your left hand alters its grasp, shift-
ing the thumb to the left side
5 of the case, the second finger
to the right side near the inner
right corner, and positioning
the third and fourth fingers in
line beside the second finger
(Figure 5).
Apply firm pressure with
your left thumb and second
finger, to stop the deck from
sliding inside the case as you
now raise your left hand until
the top of the case is turned
straight up and the face of the
5
selection is exposed to the audience. The signature can be clearly seen I
on the card, resolving any doubt that the selection is indeed resting in n
g
the center of the pack.
e
You will now push the selection down, almost flush in the deck-but n
more occurs behind the scenes. In essence you execute Ernest Earick's u
I
bow-to-stern control (ref. By Forces Unseen, 1993, p. 16) while the deck t
is in its case. Here is the action: I
Bring your right hand over the deck, its forefinger extended to con- e
s
tact the top end of the selection. Curl in your right second, third and
fourth fingers behind the card. Then slowly and deliberately push the
selection down into the pack. In
the same action, with the tip of 6 \
your second finger, secretly con-
tact the top end of the block of
cards that lies behind the selec-
tion and push it down into the
case and out the bottom about an
inch (Figure 6). As you do this,
use your left thumb and second
finger to exert strong pressure
against the sides of the case to
prevent the cards in front of the
selection from slipping down as
well. Your left hand completely
hides the downjogged block
from the audience's view.
Stop just before the selection
moves flush with the front
packet. Pinch its end between
your right thumb and forefinger,
and pull it up again, ostensibly to
display the signature once more.
When you feel the bottom end
of the card clear the down jogged
block, stop; then slowly push the
selection back down again, but

6
~ with a difference. This time, as the forefinger presses down on the top
u end of the card, the right thumb pushes firmly against the back of the card
t
near center, causing it to bow outward concavely (Figure 7). This forces
0 the bottom end of the selection to move inward, contacting the inner wall
f of the case. Then, as you continue to push the card down, it passes
between the case and the back of the downjogged packet. This is not
lia evident from the front, as the thumb and forefinger keep the visible
n portion of the card pressed against the back of the forward block. Thus,
d while from the audience's view the card appears to be going into the center
of the pack, it is actually being bowed inward and slipped to the top.
Getting the card to slip between the deck and the case is easier than one
might suppose. It happens almost automatically. However, mirror practice
must be done to learn how much the card needs to be bowed to create
the desired illusion from the front. It is also imperative that the left thumb
and second finger prevent the forward portion of the pack from dropping
or being pushed down in the case.
8 When you have apparently
pushed the selection flush with
the pack, neatly close the flap.
As your right fingers push the
flap home, you will find your
right thumb positioned very
near the protruding end of the
downjogged block, where it can
push the block up into the case
(Figure 8) and close the bottom
flap in one motion. This secret
action is completely hidden by
the left hand.
With your right hand, imme-
diately grasp the case by its ends and briefly display it. All looks perfectly
fair. Replace the cased deck in your left hand, taking it into dealing posi-
tion, but with your left fourth finger curled up at the inner end of the case
to hold the bottom flap closed. With your right hand, make a magical
gesture over the case. Then very cleanly flip open the top flap and ask
the spectator who selected and signed the card to remove the top card of
7
the deck. You can, if you like, shake the deck slightly out of the case to I
assist her in this. n
g
When she draws the top card from the case and turns it over, she will e
see that it is her signed selection. She can also remove the deck from the n
u
case and examine it as well, while you casually pocket the case which I
contains the only clue to a most perplexing mystery. t
I
e
s

8
u
t
0
f

lia
n
d
0JMULACRUM
H)IRABUNDUM

~Effect: The Any Card at Any Number problem has intrigued

magicians for at least a century; and despite the labor of many brilliant
minds, the ideal method has continued to elude us. Some very fine solu-
tions have been devised, the best using a secret accomplice to guide the
selection of either card or number to the desired conclusion. Still we yearn
for that one method permiting the performer to work alone, without com-
plex or roundabout procedures, while using genuinely free choices of both
card and number. At long last, the perfect method has been devised!
Well, not quite. I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.
In his continuing search for the perfect solution, Ken, by twisting around
his marketed trick "It Can't Be" (1958), has come up with an ingenious
approach to the desired effect, with only a short digression in reaching
our goal. The action perceived is this:
The performer brings out two decks, still in their cases. He sets these
on the table and asks that someone freely choose either, with the under-
standing that that deck will be guarded by her until the very end. The
performer will not touch those cards from start to finish.
The person possessing the pack next points to someone else in the
group. The new person is asked to name a number between one and fifty-
two, the range encompassing the number of cards in a deck. Let's say the
number named is eighteen. The second spectator then indicates another
9
in the group. This third person names any card; for instance, the Three I
of Diamonds. n
g
The performer takes the second deck from its case and runs through e
it until he finds the Three of Diamonds. This he places face up on the n
table, so that it won't be chosen accidentally during the next procedure. u
I
Yet another person is enlisted to help. He is asked to turn up the cards t
in the second deck one by one, stopping at any point he wishes. The very I
next card is turned up and placed beside the named card on the table. In e
our example, we'll make this the King of Spades.
s
The first helper is now told to unease the deck she has held through-
out, and deal cards face up from the top until she arrives at the card just
chosen, the King. At this point the performer asks the second helper to
name once more the number he freely chose. The person with the first
deck is told to deal that many cards (eighteen, as you'll recall) carefully
from the point where she found the King of Spades, stopping when she
reaches the card at that number.
At this climactic moment, the performer stresses that he has not
touched the cards dealt by the first spectator, that the card chosen from
the second deck was freely and randomly selected with the pack in the
fourth spectator's possession, and that the other two helpers named any
number and any card that entered their heads, without the slightest
coercion. The person who named a card is asked to name it again: the
Three of Diamonds. Then the spectator who has done the counting is
told to turn over the card found at the freely named number ...
The Three of Diamonds it is!
The number of spectators involved in the procedure negates the pos-
sibility of collusion, and indeed there is none. In addition, the cards are
handled by the spectators, making sleight-of-hand impossible. The cards
are entirely normal and may be left in the hands of the helpers. An extra
challenge is added to an already demanding feat, in that the freely named
card turns up at a freely named number, the count starting at a random
point dictated by another spectator's choice of a card. A final point to be
enjoyed by the performer is that no memory work is required. In all, a
mystery that stretches the boundaries of coincidence.
Method: While the decks are normal, they are not completely with-
out preparation. One is thoroughly shuffled; then the other is arranged
10
GJ in the same shuffled order. In other words, while the decks are not stacked,
u the order of their cards, though essentially random, is identical. While
t
not mandatory, for the sake of clarity it is also preferable that the decks
0 have contrasting backs. Place each deck in its case and the stage is set.
f Introduce the effect by bringing out the cased decks and setting them
on the table. Ask someone-let's call her Justine-to choose either one,
fla explaining before the choice is made that the deck chosen will remain
n untouched by you and in the possession of the spectator. Have her take
d the cased deck of her choice. It makes no difference, since one is the twin
of the other.
Now have her indicate anyone else in the group, say Balthazar, whom
you then have name a number between one and fifty-two. Very high and
very low numbers are awkward to manage. Fortunately, they are rarely
chosen and your request for a number between one and fifty-two gently
pushes the selection toward the middle (this psychological subtlety was
suggested by David Michael Evans). In those unusual situations where a
difficult number is called, gently convince the spectator to choose another.
If a very low number is chosen, you might say something like "That's near
the top. Pick something a little more challenging." And for very high
numbers, "In a few minutes we will be using the number you choose to
count cards. If we use the number you've just named, no one will be awake
to see the end of the experiment. How about something not quite so
large." However, as I've already said, such measures are seldom required,
and the first number named can almost always be used.
With a number named, have the second spectator point to a third,
David. Ask David to name any card in a standard pack of fifty-two. (This
phrasing neatly eliminates the Joker, although you can work with fifty-
three card packs if you wish, including the Joker as a possible choice.)
These three choices having been made-deck, number and card-
pick up the unwanted deck and remove it from its case. With the faces of
the cards toward you, spread through the pack from the face, looking for
the named card. When you spot it, don't stop there. Instead, start count-
ing silently, beginning with the card just past the named one; that is, the
next card to be spread off the pack. To accelerate the counting, push the
cards over two at a time as you count by twos, until you reach the num-
ber named by the second spectator. You will soon force the card lying at

11
the end of the count, but you I
needn't remember it. Without n
pausing, spread over another
g
e
three cards, then stop (Figure n
1). Cut the deck at this point, u
I
closing the spread in the pro-
t
cess. This places the named I
card four cards deeper than e
the named number from the s
top of the deck, and the card
you will next force is fourth
from the top.
Without comment, begin spreading through the pack from the face
again, acting as if you missed the card for which you are looking. Since
you now know the approximate location of the named card, this second
spread can be done fairly rapidly. Stop when you find the named card and
remove it from the spread, laying it face up on the table as you say to the
third spectator, "There it is. I want to remove the card you named, David,
so that it isn't chosen again by accident." Then square the deck and turn
it face down as you ask David to indicate a fourth in the group.
Show your new helper, this time Clea, what you wish her to do with
the cards. While holding the deck face down in dealing grip, use the
fingertips of your free hand to contact the back of the top card near its
inner end and draw it back (Figure 2); then grip the end of the card
between the thumb and
fingertips and turn it end 2
over end, revolving it face
up on the deck and out-
jogging it roughly an inch
(Figure 3). Repeat these
actions twice, placing each
new card face up and square
over the outjogged one.
Start to draw off the
fourth card (the one you
wish to force), but stop after
12
 only lifting its end slightly away
from the pack, as you look up at
Clea and ask if she understands the
procedure. While she replies, re-
r
I
lease the card back onto the deck,
catching a fourth-finger break be-
neath it. Then bring your free
hand over the pack and slide the
outjogged three-card packet flush
with the deck in a brief squaring
action. Immediately grip all four
cards above the break and carry
them forward and off the deck.
This simple action, done on the offbeat, secretly loads your force card
face down under the face-up packet.
Hand Clea the face-down deck. Once she has it securely in dealing
grip, set the face-up packet outjogged on the deck, so that she holds the
cards in the same configuration created by you. Then let her draw off
cards and turn them face up until she wishes to stop. At this point, reach
over and with the backs of your fingers neatly tap the outjogged cards
square with the pack as you say, "You chose to stop at this precise point
rather than anywhere else in the pack." Immediately have Clea spread the
cards out on the table.
"Clea, you stopped right here," you emphasize, pointing at the first
face-down card below the face-up ones. "No one, not even you, knows
what this card is. Please turn it over so that everyone can see its face."
This "selection" is the card that originally rested at the named number
above the third spectator's named card. The procedure is Henry Christ's
stop when ready force. (See The Jinx, No. 74, Jan 6, 1940, p. 496. The
in-the-spectator's-hands variation taught here has seen print before, but
our research to date has failed to locate a reference.) Of course, another
force can be used, at your discretion. However, it must be a direct one
that gives a convincing appearance of a free choice and permits the spec-
tator to make the selection with the cards in her own hands (such as
Holden's crossing-the-cut force, Balducci's cut-deeper force, etc.). You
wish to leave the impression that all the card handling in this trick-or

13
at least all the important handling-was done by the spectators, with little I
or no interference from you. n
g
Leave the newly chosen card lying face up beside the named one you e
earlier removed from the deck. Then gather the rest of the cards and put n
them in your jacket pocket, along with their case, clearing the table and u
I
leaving an uncluttered stage on which to play out your climactic scene. t
Return to the first spectator who has all this time been guarding the I
first deck. Ask her now to remove the cards from their case. Take the case e
s
from her and pocket it. Then ask her to deal cards from the top of the
pack into a face-up pile on the table, until she reaches the duplicate of
the card just chosen by the fourth spectator. Ken suggests, when dealing
with someone who may not be experienced in handling cards, that you
have the deck left on the table as the cards are turned over and placed in
a face-up pile. This eliminates disastrous fumbles and errors in dealing.
When the sought-after card is turned up, pick it off the pile and set it
opposite its mate from the other deck. Then instruct the spectator to turn
the dealt pile face down and drop the rest of the pack onto it. Again, you
are keeping the visual picture as simple as possible.
"In the beginning, Justine, you chose someone to name any number
between one and fifty-two, right? Who was that?" When your helper
indicates the second spectator, turn to him and say, "And Balthazar, you
named what number? That's right." Turning to the fourth spectator, "And
you, Clea, freely chose this card with the deck in your own hands. Did I
tell you when to stop? No, you made that choice of your own free will,
and now we have stopped at that same card in this deck, a position in the
pack that no one could have foreseen." Addressing the first spectator
again, "Justine, will you now please count down in your pack to the freely
chosen number. You are starting at the spot just determined by Cleas ran-
dom actions. Please deal the cards face down into a pile."
Let the spectator do so, halting her just as she is ready to pick up the
final card of the count. "Stop right there for a moment. At the start,
Justine, you were given a choice of two decks, and you freely chose this
one. Is that correct? And as I promised then, I have not touched the cards,
not even once, right? You have done all the dealing, all the counting. You
picked Balthazar here, who freely chose a number, which you have just
counted to, from a position randomly decided by Clea's free choice of a

14
 card. And you, Balthazar, chose David, who named any card he liked.
Right? And the card you named of your own free will, David, was ... "
Point to the card on the table and let him name it.
0 "A free choice of a deck, a free choice of a number, a free choice of
f cards. I haven't touched the cards. You have done all the dealing and
counting. Now, Justine, turn up the card to. which you have counted."
fla Unless I'm completely misguided, when she does and it is seen to be the
n named card, you should hear the joyous sound of gasps and, eventually,
d heartfelt applause.
Before we close this explanation, two contingencies must be discussed.
There will be times when the named card rests too near the top of the
pack to complete your secret counting to the named number and three
beyond. When this occurs, the solution is simple. Just square the cards
and spread through them again, continuing your interrupted count from
the face of the pack. When you reach the named number, spread three
cards past it and casually cut the pack at that point. This places the needed
card fourth from the top. You can then resume your spreading of the cards
until you find the named card once more.
At this point you proceed with the force. However, a simple adjust-
ment must now also be made in the other deck, since the mate to the
chosen card presently lies below the named card there, and it must be
brought above it. Have the spectator remove the cards from their case,
then have her give the deck one straight cut before looking for the mate
to the fourth spectator~ selection. If anything, the cut adds another degree
of impossibility to the procedure. All else follows as previously explained.
The second contingency is an offshoot of the first. If the card named
lies near the top, and you continue as just outlined, a problem can arise
in adjusting the positions of the two cards in the other deck if the named
number is a high one. A high number will place only a few cards between
the mate to the forced card and the named card above it in the deck; and
the two cards will both be situated above the center of the pack. These
circumstances make it unlikely that the spectator will cut between the two
targeted cards, as is required to set things right. In such situations (thank-
fully rare) you do not have the spectator cut the cards. Instead, she is
instructed to deal them into a face-up pile just as explained in the origi-
nal procedure. This means that the named card will show up in the course

15
of the dealing, before the mate to the chosen card appears. You proceed I
nevertheless to the climax, ignoring this fact. VVhen the mate is reached, n
g
have the spectator turn the tabled pile face down and drop the balance
e
of the face-down pack onto it. The premature appearance of the named n
card may somewhat undercut the suspense, but the eventual reappearance u
I
of the card at the named number still delivers sufficient impact to carry
t
the day. It is a bit irksome when this set of circumstances arises, but it is I
hardly a disaster, and it occurs so seldom that it should in no way deter e
you from learning and performing this exceptionally baffling trick.
s

16
 ~EMOTE €HANCE

<:___@<~ Effect: Ken tackled Paul Curry's Open Prediction problem in his
previous book, Close-up Impact! (1990, p. 50). Fascinated by the challenge,
this time he returns to the plot to offer a method that allows near-perfect
performance conditions. All the action happens in the hands of a spectator,
as it ideally should in this effect, making it appear utterly impossible that
the performer could influence the outcome. Yet, his open prediction is
conclusively proven correct.
The performer shuffles the deck fairly, then hands it face down to
someone. As he does this he announces or openly writes down the name
of a card, calling it a strong premonition. The person holding the deck
is asked to deal cards into a face-up pile on the table and stop when he
sees the predicted card. He is also asked to leave one card face down
whenever he wishes, showing its face to no one, not even himself.
This the spectator does, and at the end of the procedure he has clearly
turned up every card but one. The predicted card is not among them. He
then turns the deck over and finds the card he chose to leave face down.
It is, as everyone now suspects but can't quite believe, the very card openly
predicted by the performer!
Method: The main principle responsible for this hands-off effect is
the brainchild of Edward Marlo, and seems to have escaped the notice
of most magicians. A shame, since it is a brilliant idea with potential for
wide utility (as shall be shown in this volume). The principle was pub-
lished in 1983 in the context of the Open Prediction in Racherbaumer's

17
Marlo Without Tears (p. 293), but it required that the performer take back I
part of the pack at a critical moment in the trick. Eight years later Mr. n
g
Marlo contributed an improved and simplified handling of the underly-
e
ing principle to "The Card Corner" column in The Linking Ring (Vol. 71, n
No.2, Feb. 1991, p. 92). There the principle was applied to a coincidence u
I
effect titled "Dark Side of the Moon". It was this handling that set Ken's
t
mind working. He applied this new handling to the Curry plot, then I
added a finishing touch, the addition of one double-faced card (a famil- e
iar tool in Open Prediction methods, most notably Stewart James's s
contributions), to create a method that allows a spectator to do all the card
handling, from start to climax.
You will need to add a double-faced card secretly to the bottom of your
deck. One face of this card will be the card you predict. Turn this face
upward and place the gaff under the face-down pack. Also remove from
the deck the normal counterparts of the two faces shown on the gaff.
These simple matters can be accomplished in several ways. You can begin
with the deck set up, and do a trick or two not affected by the absence of
two cards, and during which the double-facer remains hidden. Or you can
palm out or lap the unwanted cards and palm in the gaff during the course
of your routine. Or you can slough off the two cards in your jacket pocket
while adding the gaff, as you place the deck into the pocket under some
logical pretext. (These last two expedients can also be employed to clean
up after the trick.)
Having moved the gaff in and its duplicates out, casually mix the pack
as you introduce the effect, shuffling or cutting approximately six or seven
cards below the double-facer. Then hand the deck face down to someone
you judge as pleasant, cooperative and capable of following instructions.
Announce your prediction (the upper face of the gaff) and write it down
if you like, so that everyone remembers it. Then ask the spectator to begin
dealing cards from the top of the pack into a face-up pile; and as he does
this tell him to watch for your predicted card. After he has dealt six to
eight cards, casually mention that, as he continues to deal through the
deck, he should deal one card, any one he wishes, face down on the pile
without letting anyone see its face.
Wait until he does so. This, by the way, is why you have picked a
cooperative, nonconfrontational helper. You don't want a pugnacious or

18
) competitive type who adopts the role of challenger and deals through
forty-five cards before he reverses one. This, though, shouldn't be a prob-
lem if you yourself are engaging and don't incite a challenge.
When the spectator does deal a card face down, instruct him to con-
tinue dealing cards face up while looking for your prediction card. Let
him deal another six to eight cards in this manner, then stop him and
suggest that, to speed things up, he simply turn the remainder of the deck
face up and spread through it to locate your card. When he does so, of
:::; course he fails to find the prediction card.
The double-faced card is now roughly eight cards from the face of the
spread talon. Have your helper square up the spread cards in his hands,
then have him pick up the dealt cards and drop them onto the rest. When
he has done this, ask that he turn the deck face down. His reversed card
is now face up in the deck, but some cards above it is your double-facer,
predicted side upward.
At this point, halt the action and build suspense. Remark on how
curious it is that your card has not been seen. Point out that it couldn't
have been missed because the spectator has dealt and searched through
the entire deck for it, and the cards have never left his hands. There is
only one card the face of which no one has seen: the card he chose to leave
face down in the deck.
Ask him to spread carefully through the pack, from the top, until he
comes to the reversed card. When he does this, he eventually arrives at
the double-facer-and your open prediction is successfully concluded!
Since his real choice lies quite a number of cards farther down in the pack,
there is virtually no chance that he will accidentally expose it.
Promptly, but with no sense of hurry, reach out and neatly extract the
face-up gaff from the spread deck. Then lay it on the table (beside your
written prediction, if you made one), assuring that its telltale underside
is not exposed. Extend your hand to give the spectator a congratulatory
hand shake as you hold out your other hand to receive the deck.
Yes, a discrepancy exists between the position of the gaff and that of
the honestly reversed card. However, it is not perceived for several
reasons. First, the spectators aren't concentrating fully on the position of
the face-down card. After it is dealt, they are intent on watching for your
predicted card in the pack. Then you have the dealt pile set onto the

19
remainder of the cards and the deck turned face down. All this aids in I
obscuring the position of the reversed card. Quite a bit happens between n
g
the dealing of the face-down card and the exposure of the double-facer
e
in its place; and you add to this time misdirection by pausing to recap the n
procedure and stoke the drama. In this way, your cheat is covered. u
I
While it may seem a bit chancy to place a deck containing a gimmicked t
card into the hands of a spectator, it is really quite safe, given one pro- I
viso: You must competently guide his actions with the cards, using clear e
s
instruction delivered a step at a time, so that your helper doesn't become
confused or get ahead of you, trying to anticipate your wishes.
The true selection lies face up in the bottom portion of the pack. It
can be cut to the bottom (its natural opposing bridge making this nearly
effortless) and righted with a half pass as everyone relaxes. Better yet, it
can be used in the next trick, which you have cannily chosen because it
requires a secretly reversed card. That is, if you have a trick that can fol-
low this one. Otherwise, put away your cards and retire triumphant.

20
 ~PEN I%'REDICTION:
A BEW csANGLE

c.@<l Effect: Here is another method of Ken's for achieving Paul Curry's
"Open Prediction" effect. The features of this approach are that the deck
can be borrowed, it needn't be complete and nothing is added. The spec-
tator shuffles the cards and does all the handling from beginning to end.
Yet, the one card she chooses to leave face down when dealing through
the deck proves to be the card openly predicted by the performer.
Method: This handling is designed for circumstances when you are
performing seated at a table. It's basis rests on a concept of Edward Marlo's
called "adjustment misdirection", described in his 1957 monograph The
Tabled Palm (p. 8).
One minor bit of preparation is made before you begin the presenta-
tion. You must secretly get one card from the deck into your lap. The
identity of the card doesn't matter, so long as you know what it is. The
card can even be glimpsed after it is in your lap.
This done, the rest of the pack is handed to someone for shuffling.
While the person mixes the cards, you make your prediction, either by
announcing the name of the card in your lap or by writing it openly on a
piece of paper: When you have done this, rest your right hand at the near
edge of the table, fingers lying on the table, thumb hanging over the edge.
Drop your left hand nonchalantly to your lap and do Slydini's imp-pass.
That is, your left hand grasps the card, face outward, by one end and raises
21
the opposite end to your other I
hand, where your right thumb
1 n
g
grips the card in Marlo palm, a
e
close relative of the Tenkai palm, n
but with the card held farther u
I
back in the hand, its upper end
t
caught at the corners between I
the hypothenar and middle pha- e
lanx of your thumb (Figure 1). s
With the card palmed, your
left hand returns above the table
and points to a spot about two
feet in front of you, asking the
spectator to set the shuffled deck
\
face down there. Casually adjust
the angle of the deck, canting its
outer end about forty-five de-
grees to the left. (The precise
angle needed is governed by the
natural position of your right hand when you load the palmed card onto
the pack, an action that will soon be described.) You then instruct her to
turn over the top card and place it face up in front of the pack (near the
end of the deck closest to her). Have her continue turning cards over one
by one and depositing them in a pile on the first. As she is doing this you
also tell her to stop dealing whenever she reaches a card she wishes to
leave face down. As all this is going on, your right hand remains stationed
at the edge of the table, keeping its card concealed. However, it should
not stay frozen in position. You can move it to the left or right, and close
and open the fingers casually. In other words, make the hand look natural,
relaxed and unoccupied.
When she stops dealing, casually move your right hand straight for-
ward to the deck and, with the tip of your forefinger, spread the pile of
face-up cards as you ask, "You haven't dealt the Three of Diamonds [the
card you have predicted] yet, have you?" During this gesture, the angle-
palmed card is brought directly over the face-down deck (Figure 2) and
is dropped swiftly and neatly onto it. It needn't land precisely square, as
22
C\
1..::.1
u
2

0
f

fia
'l
d
the top few cards of the pack will likely be slightly out of alignment from
the dealing. However, you should practice to make this load cleanly and
without having the hand linger suspiciously over the deck.
Withdraw your right hand and say, "You stopped to leave a card face
down at this point. Please place it over here, but don't turn it over yet."
You point at the top card of the deck, then at a spot to one side.
When the spectator has done this, have her continue to deal a few more
cards face up from the deck onto the pile, reminding her to watch for your
predicted card. However, after she turns up four or five cards, suggest that
the process be accelerated. Have her turn the deck face up and spread
through it until she finds the target card. Of course she fails to do so.
To conclude, point out that she shuffled the cards at the start, that she
has done all the dealing, that she decided when to stop and put one card
aside. You haven't touched the cards or influenced her choice in any way.
Recall your predicted card, then dramatically have her turn over the card
she chose to leave face down!

23
 I
n
g
e
n
u
I
t
I
e
s
tlALFWAY TO tlELL

~Effect: Done to a cheery theme of death and resurrection, a spec-

tator is cast in the part of Charon and safely ferries an innocent soul across
the Styx and back.
The soul is a freely selected card, which is placed between two face-
up Aces. These three cards are cut into the deck, and when the Aces are
found again, the card between them has completely vanished. The Aces
are again cut into the deck, and return holding the selection once more
between them.
All this would certainly be perceived as a curious set of events on its
own, but when a spectator does all the card handling from start to finish,
the effect becomes a genuine metaphysical marvel.
Method: To make this out-of-your-hands routine possible, Ken has
again cleverly combined the principle of double-faced cards with the
Marlo ruse described in "Remote Chance" (p. 17). Secretly you will need
to add two double-faced red Aces to your deck and remove the two nor-
mal cards that correspond to the reverse faces of these gaffs. For this
description, we will assume the reverse sides of the double-faced Aces are
black Fours. The honest black Fours are taken from the pack to avoid
inconvenient appearances of duplicates. (Ken mentions that it is conceiv-
able to do this trick with a borrowed deck, secretly adding your gaffs and
removing the necessary indifferent cards. Since red Aces look much the
same from deck to deck, noticeable discrepancies between your gaffs and
the native Aces are unlikely.)

24
 We will present the trick in the guise of Greek fable, though it can be
u' given a number of story lines. It can, in fact, be performed without any
t
story at all, but where's the fun in that!
0 Begin with the double-faced Aces together, Ace-sides up, in the face-
f
down deck, positioned near the bottom with roughly eight to ten cards
below them. Shuffle the deck, retaining the gaffed Aces in place (or shuf-
fla fling them into position), as you introduce your tale.
n "For this next piece, we need an actor to play a major role. You, sir.
d
Do you have any Egyptian or Greek blood in your heritage?" Here you
choose someone you judge cooperative and able to follow instructions.
If he answers yes to your question, say, "Wonderful, the part will fit you
perfectly." If he lacks the proper pedigree, respond, "Good, new blood
always brings a freshness to the part."
You continue: "You will play the role of a famous ferryman of history.
The ancient Egyptians called him Charon, and the Greeks employed him
as well. Charon's job was to carry the souls of the dead safely across the
rivers Styx and Acheron to the underworld. It's a role I know you can get
into. Since the position is new to you, perhaps we should work with a small
soul first, until you're familiar with your duties. Please spread out the cards
on the table and find the two red Aces." Here you set the shuffled deck
face up before your helper. For a layperson, spreading the deck may be
the most demanding task you will require of him. As magicians, we often
take the action of ribbon spreading cards for granted; but for someone
unskilled in handling a deck, spreading out the cards neatly and efficiently
can be a challenge. Ideally, you don't want to touch the cards from this
point on. However, if you sense that your helper will have trouble making
a neat ribbon spread, do it for him. You can also aid him in spotting the
red Aces, although you should let him pick or slide them from the spread.
"These Aces will be your boat, Charon, in which you ferry your first
soul. Please point at any other card in the deck." Here you gesture over
the spread pack and let your hand come to rest above the end of the spread
containing the two double-facers, which lie indifferent sides up. Keep
your hand relaxed in this position, as you wait for the spectator to make
his choice. By positioning your hand in this fashion, you subtly persuade
the spectator away from the area where the gaffs rest. The key here is
25
subtlety and timing. Your hand must look relaxed and waiting, not protec- I
tive in its placement. In the unlikely event that the spectator should still n
g
point at one of your gaffs, use its value to count to another card in the e
spread, explaining that the first victim is chosen by lot. Asking the spec- n
tator to point at the card first, allows you to control the situation u
I
effectively if he indicates one of the gaffs. The counting procedure, t
though, should seldom if ever be needed. Another fail-safe approach is I
to suggest that a court card be chosen, as they are the clearest represen- e
s
tatives of humanity in the deck. This, of course, assumes that your
double-facers carry spot-card faces.
"Remove that card. The Queen of Hearts [the name of the card chosen]
then will be your first passenger. Now, gentle Charon, you must signal
to the underworld that you have a soul on the way. Pick up the red Aces
and rub them together. The sound of your preparing your boat for pas-
sage carries down the Styx and all the way to Hades." The reason you have
the spectator rub together the Aces is to derail future thoughts of sticky
cards, before they can arise.
"Now turn the Aces face down and place your passenger into the boat,
its face up, between the Aces. This is the last time we will see her face.
Turn the three cards over, so that the Aces are face up-and set the packet
on the table." This handling is designed to convince your stygian helper
and everyone else that the cards are just what they seem to be.
"This is now the Styx river." Here you indicate the ribbon-spread deck.
"Please gather the cards-and turn the deck face down. Now place your
boat on the waters." You clarify your meaning with a gesture that indi-
cates that the Ace packet is to be placed onto the deck.
"And spread the top three cards a bit to make sure that your passenger,
the Queen of Hearts, is comfortable." This again assures that everyone
is aware that the chosen card rests face down between the face-up Aces.
"You're doing fine. Now square up the cards-and cut off a packet." Point
to a spot beside the deck where you wish the packet to be placed.
"You have begun your journey across the river. Continue it by com-
pleting the cut. This sends your boat on its way." When the top packet is
cut beside the deck, you must note if the cut has been made off center or
near the middle. If the deck is divided fairly evenly, instruct your helper
26
J to complete the cut and to cut again, much deeper this time, to take his
boat across the Acheron as well. This second cut serves to confuse the
spectators' sense of where the face-up Aces rest in the pack. It is impor-
tant, though, that you guide the cutting below the Aces, to retain the
relative positions of the normal Aces and the double-faced ones.
"Well done, apprentice Charon. You have just delivered your first soul
to Hades." Make a gesture above the deck, as if plucking the card from
it and tossing it into the air, where it melts away. "Pick up the deck. Now
slowly spread through the cards from the top, and stop when you see the
first red Ace, the prow of your boat." Guide the spectator carefully in
these actions, and stop him the instant the first face-up Ace comes into
view. This Ace is one of your double-faced cards.
"Set down the face-down cards from the top. Now look in your boat.
The Queen is gone." Indeed, the selection between the Aces seems to
have vanished. "Look at this card." Point to the top card of the tabled pile
and let the spectator assure everyone that it is not the Queen. "Deal the
first Ace face up onto the cards on the table; then the second Ace. Now
look at that card." Point to the top card of the talon. "Your passenger has
really vanished. The first time this occurs, even Charon is amazed." Your
goal during all this is to keep things moving and your helper occupied
and under control, since at this point he is handling the double-faced
cards, and you don't want him to expose their undersides accidentally.
"Drop the cards you hold face down onto those on the table. Good.
Your job is done. Oh, by the way, what did you do with the obolus? Wait
a minute. You mean you didn't take the silver obolus from under your
passenger's tongue. Charon, that coin is your payment for the journey!
Well, you're a good ferryman but a bad businessman. You can't take souls
all the way to Hades for nothing. You're going to have to bring her back.
Cut a large group of cards off the deck and put it here. You must bring
the Queen back across the Styx. Complete the cut.
"Now turn the deck face up. This reverses time." Make a gesture of
catching the invisible soul of the Queen and toss it back into the deck.
"Spread the cards on the table." Again, if you sense that your helper can-
not make a reasonable ribbon spread, help him; but do so in a way that
makes it clear that you are doing nothing covert. As the cards are spread
27
the two face-down normal Aces will appear with the chosen card face up I
between them. The indifferent sides of the double-facers blend in with n
g
the other face-up cards of the deck and nothing looks amiss.
e
"Please remove your boat and passenger from the river-and take your n
passenger from the boat." By having the spectator do these things, you u
I
again reinforce that the cards are normal and all is as it should be. "Thanks t
for all your help; but next time you send someone to Hell, get the money I
up front." e
s
That completes the trick, which as you will perceive has potential for
tremendous impact, since the spectator does all the card handling. Of
course, clarity in your instructions is imperative for an effect of this sort,
and your words should .be carefully chosen and rehearsed.
As everyone is responding and relaxing, you can gather the deck, in
the process cutting the two double-faced cards to either the top or bot-
tom, and dispose of them by palming, lapping or thumbing them off into
a pocket. The deck is now examinable, albeit short the normal counter-
parts to the indifferent faces of the double-facers. If these cards are
required for subsequent tricks, they can be secretly restored to the deck
at some opportune moment.
Requiescat in pace.

28
0
f

r
2

d
®HOE-IN

c@<l Harry]. Smith seems to have been the first to conceive a method
for forcing a card while the deck was contained in its case (see his "Auto-
matic Seconds" in The Jinx 1935-1936 Winter Extra, p. 88). Mr. Smith's
idea was to slit the bottom of the card case, so that the top card or two
could be secretly pushed back and out of the slit, permitting the performer
to deal apparently from the top of the pack, while actually taking cards
from beneath the top card. When someone called stop the reserved top
card was secretly pushed flush, then dealt. Jack Hughes, the British manu-
facturer of magic apparatus, later brought this principle to platform and
stage, building it into a wooden houlette made for a "jumbo" deck.
Ken has devised another method for forcing a card under close-up
conditions, while the deck is contained in its case. The outward appear-
ance of the procedure is similar to the Smith method, but has the
advantage of using an ordinary deck and unprepared case.
The cards are shuffled, then slipped about halfway into the case. They
are then removed in an obviously fair manner from the top of the pack,
one by one, until someone calls "Stop." The next card to come off the
deck is used as a free selection, yet that card is one determined by you,
not the spectator.
This method of choosing a card goes rather to an extreme to prove
that you exert no control over the selection, and therefore it should be
reserved for special occasions that warrant such measures; where utmost
fairness is necessary, or where the use of the case to hold the deck can be
29
put into some presentational context, like a gambling expose in which you I
explain the use of a dealing shoe to eliminate cheating. Within such n
g
contexts, this force can become a formidable tool for deception.
e
Ken has discovered a way of adapting Harry]. Smith's idea to an n
ordinary card case. Rather than passing the top card secretly through a u
I
slit in the bottom of the case, Ken leaves the deck partially protruding
t
from the mouth of the case, which permits the top card to be pushed back I
into concealment. The details that make this idea deceptive follow. e
s
When you desire to force a card, manage it secretly to the top of the
pack during the previous trick. Slip the face-down deck into its case, the
front (thumb-notch side) of which is turned toward you. You explain that
you are doing this to assure that you can exert no control over the cards
as a free selection is made. Let the deck slide entirely inside the case; then
pull it halfway out again, leaving the top card behind. This is easily done
by using your palm-down left hand to grip the case by its narrow sides
and squeezing, which causes the top few cards to buckle slightly away from
the deck inside the case (Figure 1). The buckling creates a space for the
tip of your right thumb to enter between the top card and the rest of the
deck as you grip the pack and pull it partially out. Use the tip of your left
forefinger to contact the top edge of the force card and hold it back as
the rest of the cards are withdrawn (Figure 2). Naturally, you should angle
the top end of the case toward you as you do this, preventing anyone from
observing the details of your actions.
Next ask someone to stop you at any point as you remove cards from
the top of the pack. As an explanatory gesture, slip the apparent top card
(actually the second) from the protruding deck. Immediately replace it
square on the deck, but slip it over the card hidden in the case (Figure
3). This conceals the bit of that card that is otherwise exposed in the
thumb-notch. You can now lower the half-cased deck.
Shift the case to left-hand dealing grip, freely displaying the back of
the deck for a moment before you start to deal. Then, as you take the first
card from the top of the pack and set it on the table, move your left thumb
over the thumb-notch to keep the retracted card hidden (Figure 4). It is
wise to tip the front end of the deck up slightly, directing it at the eyes of
the spectators as you deal this first card. If the force card should acciden-
tally ride forward as the top card is drawn off, since the top of the pack is

30
 2

31
 n
g
e
n
u
I
t
I
e
s

angled just beyond the audience's range of vision, your left thumb can
check it and pull it back.
Continue to deal cards singly from the top of the deck, as openly and
cleanly as possible, until you are told to stop. Then, tip up the front end
of the deck again as you extend your right thumb inward to contact the
exposed portion of the force card within the thumb-notch (Figure 5). Pull
the card forward and lower the end of the deck once more as you deal
the card either face up onto the table or face down before the person who
stopped you, as dictated by the effect. And the deed is done.
Besides its usefulness as a card force, this idea can be used to perform
the classic Stop Trick, or for loading a particular card onto the deck at a
place determined by a spectator. Ken has even used it on occasion as an
impromptu method for Paul Curry's Open Prediction. If a logical pre-
sentational context is devised for the special handling of the pack in the
case, this force can prove extremely deceptive.

32
 I
J

spHE ~THER ~HOE

c._@<~ Ken has come up with several other interesting methods for forc-
ing a card from a cased deck. This next one was inspired by an idea of
Karl Fulves, writing under his nom de plume of Peter Alexis in The Pall-
bearers Review (Vol. 1, No. 11, Sept. 1966, p. 53). Mr. Fulves:S ingenious
force relied on a stripper deck placed in half of a card case. (Ken and Mr.
Fulves have noted that related precursor's to this idea exist in works by
Leon Maguire, Charles ] ordan and Don Nielsen. See The Pallbearers
Review, Vol. 10, No.5, March 1975, p. 874.) Ken's approach employs a
normal pack and its case. The case is unprepared, aside from the neat
removal of the small side tabs from its open end. These are torn off, so
that they don't get in the way when you must insert the deck into the case.
As you remove your deck from its case, contrive to leave behind one
card: the one you wish to force. The cleanest way to do this is described
in the previous method (p. 30). Set down the case, mouth toward you, to
prevent anyone from spying the card inside, and continue with whatever
tricks you wish.
When you come to the point where you need to force the card in the
case, first have someone shuffle the deck. While he does this, casually pick
up the case by its sides and hold it upright with its back turned outward
and its mouth tilted toward you. Doing so causes the card within to fall
against the near side of the case; that is, the side with the thumb notch.
If you now squeeze the sides of the case again, you can make the card bow
outward, away from you (Figure 1). With your free hand, take back the
33
shuffled deck and, holding it face
outward, slip it into the mouth n
of the case. In this action, let the
g
e
upper end of the card in the case n
enter the deck somewhere above u
I
center. Due to the bowed condi-
t
tion of the card, this is easily I
done, and should cause you little e
or no hesitation. s
Slide the deck about halfway into the case and lower it to a horizontal
position, the pack projecting from its mouth. Unknown to the audience,
the card you wish to force lies injogged and out of sight inside the case
(Figure 2).

As with "Shoe-in", you should explain that putting the deck into the
case in this fashion assures that you can't manipulate the cards or alter
their arrangement, much in the way a gambling shoe is used in casinos
to prevent cheating.
Ask a spectator to pull a block of cards from the top of the deck,
extending the pack toward him while you hold the case in dealing grip
and exert firm pressure on its sides (Figure 3). This keeps the deck from
34
 slipping out of position-and the force
3 card from being drawn from the case.
Thus, when the spectator pulls a packet
0 from the top of the deck, the force card
remains behind and falls on top of the
remaining cards. If the spectator doesn't
fla remove enough cards to free the force
n card, simply encourage him to pull out
d another small block.
To conclude the force, tilt the mouth
of the case upward slightly, letting the
deck slip inside as if by accident, as you
hand case and enclosed cards to the
spectator. Tell him that you don't wish to
touch the cards, and instruct him to
remove the top card himself and note it.
Force accompli.
This force is most convincing, since
the spectator has shuffled the cards, and
apart from inserting the pack into its
case, you haven't handled it. Again, given
a logical context for the cased handling
of the cards, this can be a potent tool.
Before leaving the subject of cased card forces, the student of card
magic will be interested in examining another approach by Bill Woodfield,
published in Phoenix, No. 128, June 20, 1947, p. 516.

35
€HAPTER SJZWO:
~HINGS €HANGE
 cAROUND THE WORLD
IN ®EVERAL WAYS

~Victor Sendax, in the November 1952 issue of Hugard's Magic

Monthly (Vol. X, No. 6, p. 1007), described an intriguing card revelation,
in which a face-down indifferent card was placed widely outjogged in the
deck, then pushed in a circle around the edges. At the completion of its
revolution the card was shown changed to one previously selected. A
double lift accounted for the switch of the cards. An indifferent card was
displayed, then the double returned face down to the top of the deck. The
top card (the selection) was then removed and sent around the pack before
the change was revealed with a further flourish.
Ken liked the prettiness and novelty of the Sendax transformation, and
wondered if it was possible to make the change more visual by sending a
face-up card around the edges of a face-down pack, and having the card
change en route. Eventually he devised two methods to accomplish this.
Method One: Begin by bringing the card you wish to produce (a
chosen one, perhaps) secretly to the top of the pack. Execute a double lift
and turn the double card face up to exhibit it as an indifferent one. Mean-
while, the deck remains face down in left-hand dealing position.
Insert one end of the face-up double card into the front of the deck,
somewhere near center, and leave it protruding for roughly half its length.
It is wise to tilt the front of the pack down a bit, and to press lightly up
with the tip of the left forefinger on the back of the double, to assure that
its front edges can't be clearly seen and that they don't separate.

39
 You will now push the I
N
double card in a clockwise G
circle around the edges of E
the deck. With your right N
forefinger, contact the outer u
left edge of the double (Fig- T
ure 1) and push it rightward I
in an arc until its outer end E
s
protrudes from the right
side of the pack at a three
o'clock position (Figure 2).
Notice that the other right
fingers are curled in, so that
they do not obstruct the
audience's view of therotat-
ing card. In addition, your
left thumb lies at the left

side of the deck and your fourth finger tightens on the inner right cor-
ner of the pack to keep the cards square and neat as the double makes the
first quarter of its rounds.

40
 Shift your left hand's grasp
on the pack, gripping the
outer left corner securely in
the fork of the thumb while
you straighten the fourth fin-
ger away from the pack to
permit the double card to
continue its rotation, twisting
around to the inner end (Fig-
ure 3). This alteration of the
left hand's grip should hap-
pen smoothly, allowing the
right forefinger to continue
to push the double without
4 hesitation to the six o'clock
position.
Without a pause, the right
thumb takes over at the inner
right corner and continues to
push the double card around
to nine o'clock (Figure 4).
There the right forefinger
resumes its task, revolving
the double from nine o'clock
back to twelve. In doing this,
you must move your left thumb aside to let the double card pass over it.
This first revolution of the double card is a feint, meant to accustom
the spectators to this rotary flourish. You should find it reasonably easy
to perform while keeping the double card in perfect register. You will now
send the double around the deck a second time, but with more surpris-
ing results.
Having brought the double card back to its starting position at the front
of the pack, adjust it if necessary, so that about three-quarters of its length
protrudes. Then, again using the right forefinger, begin it on its journey
around the deck. This time, however, when it reaches the six o'clock
position, tilt the front of the pack up slightly, angling the in jogged double
41
just beyond the spectators' line of sight; and at the same time pinch the I
N
inner right corner of the double card between your right forefinger and G
thumb, and with the forefinger push the upper card of the pair deeper E
into the deck (Figure 5). N
u
5 T
I

--- E
s

Here, just as in the feint, the right thumb takes over and pushes the
card around to nine o'clock, but this time only one card, the lower one,
completes the trip, and as that card comes into the audience's view it is
perceived to have changed.
Again, as in the feint,
when the card reaches nine
o'clock, your right forefin-
ger smoothly takes over for
your thumb and finishes the
circuit, bringing the card
back to an outjogged posi-
tion. During this action, the
right thumb is naturally
positioned to contact the
inner end of the card left
behind (Figure 6) and se-
cretly pushes it flush.
42
 At this point you can exhibit the deck on all sides and strip out the
changed card, letting it be seen obviously single and unprepared. The
abandoned card lies face up in the deck and can be righted later or used
to advantage in your next trick. Or you can apply this procedure of
Edward Marlo's (ref. Ireland~ Yearbook 1961, 1962, pp. 65-75):
Leave the upper card
of the double injogged
about a quarter of an
inch as you complete
the change. You can still
show both sides of the
deck by grasping it in
your right hand at the
inner end, using the
right fingers to conceal
the injogged card (Fig-
ure 7). Then replace the
deck into left-hand
dealing position, strip
out the outjogged card
and toss it face up onto
the table.

43
 While attention rests on I
that card and everyone re- N
G
laxes, bring your right hand E
palm down to the front of the N
pack and grasp it. Simulta- u
neously grip the injogged T
card by its inner corners be- I
tween the tip of the left fourth E
s
finger and the heel of the
thumb (Figure 8). Then, with
your right hand, neatly draw
the deck forward, secretly
stripping out the injogged
card, and turn the deck end
over end, face up and square
onto it (Figure 9). The card is
righted and on top of the
pack, where it can be hidden,
palmed away or used in some 10
further effect. (This is Mr.
Marlo's embellishment on an
old bottom reverse described
by Hatton and Plate in Magi-
cians' Tricks: How They are
Done, 1910, p. 70.)
Method Two: For this
handling, a simple setup is
required, which allows you to
begin with a single card in-
stead of a double. The setup
consists of getting the card
you wish to produce injogged
and face up in the center of
the deck. One way of achiev-
ing this is to control the
desired card to the bottom of
44
 the pack, then reverse it there with a half pass. As you complete the half
pass, your right thumb can easily catch a break above the card at the inner
end of the deck.
Immediately perform a swing cut, using your right forefinger to cut
off a bit less than half the pack (Figure 10), delivering it to the waiting
left hand. Then, as your right hand completes the cut, it moves its packet
straight forward over the left hand's portion, releasing the face-up card
:.. onto the lower packet just before the right hand's packet is brought into
alignment with the left's. In other words, the face-up card is dropped off
in transit and left in jogged for roughly a quarter of an inch slightly below
the center of the deck (Figure 11).
You can now remove
the top card of the deck
or pick up a card left on
the table for the purpose,
handling the card in a
manner that shows it to
be single without making
an issue of it. Insert it face
up into the outer end of
the pack, slightly above
center, and send it once
around the deck, exactly
as explained for the feint
in Method One. In doing
this it is wise to bevel the
upper cards of the deck
inward a bit to aid in con-
cealing the injogged card
(Figure 12). Your left
thumb can easily make
this small adjustment.
You will find that the ro-
tation of the indifferent
card does not disturb the
injogged one.
45
 With the feint com- I
pleted, you can, on a
13 N

~
G
second revolution, effect
E
·the transformation. You N
must first secretly in- u
I I
crease the size of the
injog. A maneuver of --- T
I
Jerry Andrus's accom- E
plishes this. As your right
s
hand spins the indiffer-
ent card back to twelve
o'clock, use the tip of
your right thumb to kick
the injogged card right-
ward at an angle (Figure
13). Then immediately
use your left fourth fin-
ger to push the angled
card back to the left and
into injogged position.
These two quick and
simple actions cause the
card to work its way at
least twice its original
distance from the pack.
Using the right forefinger as described in the Method One, again
rotate the face-up indifferent card around the deck. But when it reaches
the six o'clock position use your right thumb to push it flush into the pack
while your right forefinger smoothly and without hesitation moves from
the edge of this card to that of the injogged, lower one (Figure 14) and
continues to push it around to nine o'clock (Figure 15), then twelve. As
with the first method, at the moment the switch of cards is made at the
inner end of the deck, you should gradually tilt the outer end upward a
bit, to obscure the rotating card momentarily from the spectators.
The conclusion of the transformation is handled as discussed in
Method One. You may also leave the upper card injogged slightly as you

46
 15

complete the change, then secretly right it with the Marlo procedure
previously described.
With both methods, it is important that there be no hesitation as the
switch of cards is made at the six o'clock position. By studying the posi-
tions of the fingers and cards you will soon understand how this can be
achieved. The actions of the switch should look exactly like those of the
honest revolution of the card.
Before leaving the subject it is worth noting that these two methods
can be used in combination to cause the rotating card to transform twice,
changing, then returning to its original identity. First perform Method
One, but leave the upper card of the double injogged a bit. Remove the
single changed card, display it, then insert it back into the deck, slightly
above the injogged card. Now perform Method Two, magically return-
ing the card to its former state.

47
 I
N
G
E
N
u

T
I
E
s
€HANGE AT A ~APID €LIP

c_@<1 Effect: Mter showing the top card of the deck to be an uninter-
esting one, the performer sets the pack face down on the table, then waves
his hands, with fingers spread, over it. Instantly, an Ace appears face up
on the deck! It is set aside and the procedure repeated, with each wave
of the hands producing another face-up Ace until all four have appeared.
Method: This visual Ace production serves to showcase a pretty tabled
color change. The sleight can accurately be said to be Marlovian, in that
it resembles Edward Marlo's rise-rise-rise tabled change (see his Tabled
Palm monograph, 1959, p. 23), but permits the steal to be done with
fingers spread, giving a more open and impossible look to the trans-
formation. In addition, it employs a technique suggested by Mr. Marlo
in his booklet Tilt (1962, p. 27) for an in-the-hands color change; however,
Ken's tabled variant differs in several salient details.
To produce the four Aces a setup is required. The Aces must be secretly
positioned face up second, fourth, sixth and eighth from the top of the
deck. Since this production makes an impressive opening feat, you can
simply begin with the cards set as described. However, there are various
ways of achieving the stack during performance. Here is one:
Control the Aces to the bottom of the deck and reverse them there
with a half pass. Next perform a faro shuffle, which alternates face-down
cards with the face-up Aces on the bottom. As you square the deck after
the weave, let it break at the inner end above the uppermost Ace (the
natural bridge in the cards should make this an easy task). Then riffle off
one more card onto the lower packet and cut that packet to the top.

48
 You must be seated at a table when performing this trick. With the
setup in place, begin by casually displaying the top card of the pack. Hold
the deck in left-hand dealing grip as you remove the top card and show
it. You must of course tilt the outer end of the pack upward a bit, so that
the first face-up Ace is concealed from the audience's sight. Replace the
right hand's indifferent card face down on the deck, then immediately
grasp the deck by its ends from above. In doing this, use your left thumb
at the far left corner of the pack to push the outer right corner of the top
card slightly to the right; just enough to allow it to be clipped between
the middle joints of the right second and third fingers. (Ken finds that
clipping the card between the middle joints, rather than deep in the fork
of the fingers as is more commonly done, provides a securer grip.) The
left thumb covers the far left corner of the upper Ace during this get-
ready, so that it isn't exposed (Figure 1). Take care that the corner of the
clipped card is not visible at the back of the hand, between the fingers.

The instant the card is se-

curely clipped, move it square
again with the deck and curl
your right forefinger on top.
Grasp the pack, your right
thumb stretched across the
inner end and your second and
third fingers at the outer end.
The thumb aids in keeping
the top card as flat as possible
on the deck, so that no bowing
49
of the card is visible to the I
audience. Also le t the
3 N
G
fourth finger se parate E
from the third in a way N
that appears natural (Fig- u
I
ure 2). T
With your right hand, I
E
set the deck on the table, s
about a foot in front of
you. Rel ease the right
hand 's grip on the pack,
but keep t h e hand in
place, holding the clipped
t o p ca rd square on the
deck. The open, naturally
spread condition of the
fingers and thumb give
the hand an appearance of
having no contact with
the cards (Figure 3, your
view, and Figure 4, the
audience's).
You pause here for just
a moment, to avoid a hur- 5
ried manner, yet without
stopping too long, which
(
would make the right
hand seem to linger sus-
piciously over the deck.
{ ---'\

After a brief moment,

swing your right hand in-
ward and to the left in an
arc, carrying the clipped
card away from the pack,
while hiding it behind the
hand (Figure 5). Keep the

50
fourth finger's side of the hand very close to the tabletop as the sweep is
made, to prevent the clipped card from accidentally flashing.
Almost simultaneously swing your open and palm-down left hand, fin-
gers spread, forward and rightward over the right hand and the deck. In
appearance, the hands wave over the deck in a magical fashion, and a face-
up Ace materializes. The production of the Ace is instantaneous and
visually surprising, particularly coming as it does while the hands move
above the deck with fingers spread. Fellow cardmen will be further
puzzled by the open position of the thumbs, which makes it clear that the
usual angle- or flat-palm grips are not employed.
Pause very briefly; then with your left hand, neatly pick the Ace off
the deck and toss it forward a few inches onto the table. Make sure not
to disturb the face-down card under the Ace, or the second face-up Ace
will be exposed.
As your left hand removes the Ace from the deck, swing your right
hand back to the pack, retracing its arc, and pick up the pack by its ends.
As you do this you imperceptibly replace the clipped card on the deck
(Figure 6). The left hand and its Ace, moving out in front of the right
hand, also aids in this secret replacement, by focusing attention on the
Ace. After tossing the Ace onto the table, immediately move your left
hand inward and take the deck into dealing grip.

To prepare for the second Ace production, push over the top card of
the pack, take it into your right hand and casually display its face. Since
a second face-down card is now on the deck, you needn't "necktie" it this
51
time. Then take the second card into your right hand, beneath the first, I
and flash its face as your left hand tilts the top of the deck out of the N
G
audience's view. Replace the right hand's two cards onto the pack and, as E
you square them up, quickly clip their outer right corners between your N
u
right second and third fingers. (If you don't wish to show the face of the
second card, you can leave it in place on the pack, then use your left thumb T
at the outer left corner to push the card slightly to the right as you bring I
the right hand's card back to the deck. This permits you to clip the cor- E
s
ners of both cards between your right fingers.)
Set the deck on the table and wave your hands over the pack as you
did before, this time stealing away the top two cards to produce the sec-
ond Ace. With your left hand, toss this Ace down with the first as your
right hand returns to the deck, simultaneously picking it up and replac-
ing the clipped cards on top. Retake the deck into left-hand dealing grip.
Three face-down cards are now on top of the third Ace. You can flash
the faces of the top two or three cards, then maneuver the three cards into
clipped position (using the same strategies explained above). Repeat the
actions of the change to produce the third Ace.
After the right hand replaces its clipped cards on the deck, the fourth
Ace lies fifth from the top. To cause it to appear, a couple of details in
handling are changed. Stealing away four cards in clip position can
become precarious, due to their weight. Therefore, as you display the top
three cards of the pack, let one or two of them escape from your right
fingers, apparently by accident. Replace the remaining one or two cards
on the deck, then drop the deck onto the fallen card or cards. In this seem-
ingly innocent manner you have moved a card or two from the top to the
bottom, leaving you with a manageable number on top for the final steal.
The second change in procedure occurs when the steal itself is done.
As you sweep your right hand away from the deck, move it almost straight
back this time, and release the clipped cards into your lap (Figure 7). You
can now bring the right hand forward as your left hand swings back to
the left, turning both hands simultaneously palms up for a very clean
ending to the production of the fourth Ace (Figure 8).
This tabled color change can, of course, be made useful in other con-
texts. Selected cards can be produced visibly on top of the deck. A card
52
 7

sandwich can assemble on top. An ambitious card can rise face up to the
top. Et cetera.
Ken often sets up the production of a single card with a K-M move.
The card targeted to appear is controlled to second position from the top.
You then turn the top card face up on the deck to display it. In the action
53
 I
9 N
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10

11

54
of turning it face down again, you execute a hit double lift, using the tip
of the right first or second finger to separate the top two cards from the
deck at the right inner side. Your left hand then turns clockwise, bring-
ing the deck to a vertical position, its left side uppermost. While doing
this, you drag the left edge of the right hand's double card over the top
of the pack in a light stropping action, until it meets the right edge of the
pack at a right angle and hits the tips of the left fingers (Figure 9).
Without a pause, continue to turn your left hand palm down, folding
the deck down over the right hand's double, as if closing a book. In com-
pleting the left hand's turn, smoothly move it a bit to the left, while its
fingertips secretly draw the under card of the double onto the back of the
deck (Figure 10). This leaves your right hand holding a single card, which
it carries to the right and away from the pack (Figure 11). Complete the
reversal of the selection by slipping the right hand's face-up card under
the deck as you simultaneously turn your left hand palm up to meet the
card and take it square onto the pack, without exposing the face-up card,
now second from the top.
Dr. Daley created another fine method for reversing the card second
from the top: The card you wish to reverse is controlled to the top of the
pack. Execute a double turnover on the deck to display an indifferent card.
Then tilt the outer end of the deck up, obscuring the top from the audi-
ence as you deal the top card into your right hand, turn it face down and
replace it on the deck, covering the face-up card there. If you are work-
ing surrounded, you can turn the left hand palm down, before removing
the indifferent card and turning it over. However, the first approach is
more natural and is the more desirable when conditions permit its use.
Whatever the application you choose, the resultant instant appearance
of the card, while the hands wave open fingered above the deck, is very
magical and a valuable addition to your repertoire of sleights.

55
 I
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Here is another card transformation, this one along more tradi-

<:..___@<1
tional lines. One hand, shown unmistakably empty, is passed once over
the face of the pack. Under the influence of this pass the card on the face
of the deck instantly changes into another-and the gesturing hand is
seen still to be empty. It's all over in two to three seconds, and is one of
the cleanest, most direct color changes extant.
You must be seated at a table to perform this. That fact along with the
title of this sleight convey the basic principle underlying the change.
When done correctly, though, there is no hint oflapping, as the hands
and deck seem too far from the edge of the table to make lapping possible.
Begin by holding the deck face up in left-hand dealing position. The
card you wish to transform is on the face, and the card it is destined to
become is directly beneath it.
As you talk and openly display your empty right hand, casually turn
your left hand palm down for a moment. Then use your left thumb to
push over the card at the face justenough to form a fourth-finger break
above it. This is a flesh break, held at the tip of the finger. Having done
this, turn the hand palm up again and position your left thumb along the
left side of the pack. Take care not to bow the top card, which would
visibly signal that something is not right.
Your left hand should rest three or four inches forward of the near table
edge, its knuckles contacting the tabletop lightly. Bring your right hand,
56
 1

-
palm up, to the right and somewhat in front of the left hand and deck
(Figure 1).
Next revolve the right hand palm down, as if the fourth finger were a
hinge, until the hand obscures the deck from the audience. The heel of
the hand should lightly contact the face of the deck near the outer end
(Figure 2). At the moment the right hand eclipse~ the pack, insert the very
tip of your left fourth finger into the break, letting the card above the
break rest lightly on the finger's nail (Figure 3).
57
 Without a pause, glide I
your right hand smoothly
3 N
G
back over the deck, as if mak- E
ing a magical pass over it. N
Concealed by this gesture, u
the heel of the hand draws the
T
card on the face inward and I
off the deck, until it falls into E
your lap (Figure 4). The card
s
should slide along effortlessly
since it is separated from the
deck and rides on the nail of
the left fourth finger, all of
which diminishes_friction and
assures that only the desired 4
card moves. As you practice
this steal, avoid making the
action appear "mechanical"
or as if the hand is being
dragged over the face of the
deck. The motion should
look relaxed, deft and natural.
Note that the sleight is
covered from all points of ob-
servation but your own. The
right hand and arm hide the
stealing and lapping from
those on your right; and your left thumb and forearm provide the same
kindness for those on your left.
How you reveal the change of the card is a matter of personal style.
Because the stolen card rides back under the heel of the hand, you can
perform the sleight with the right fingers spread, letting the transforma-
tion be perceived immediately. Or you can keep the fingers closed and
raise the hand straight up to exhibit the change. Or you combine these
two approaches, keeping the fingers closed until the stolen card drops into
your lap, then spreading them smartly as you raise your right hand. No

58
matter which of these approaches you adopt, your left hand and the deck
must remain stationary throughout.
"Whichever action you choose, when your right hand leaves the deck,
turn it immediately palm up, letting it be seen empty.
In concept, this sleight is very simple; so simple that it gives us the
uncomfortable feeling that the idea must have been infused into our lit-
erature at some point. Our research, however, has so far failed to bring a
previous description to light. Its simplicity may also suggest that the
sleight can't be deceptive. To the contrary, when done smoothly and
gracefully, it will fool even knowledgeable spectators.

59
 I
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u
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s
®EOUENCE H)ECHANIOUE

c.@<t Effect: The cards are spread face up and someone removes one.
That free selection is placed face down on the bottom of the deck. The
performer makes a magical wave over the pack, then spreads it to show
that the selection has risetT magically from the bottom, turning face up
in the process, and now rests in the center of the face-down deck! The
cards are squared and another magical gesture is made. This time the
selection rises to the top.
The performer now divides the deck at center, turns one half face up
and shuffles it into its face-down counterpart, creating a face-up -face-
down confusion of cards. He gives the deck a simple cut, makes one more
magical wave over it, then spreads the cards to show that all are now face
down, with one exception: the selection, which lies face up in the middle
of the righted pack.
Method: This sequence of strange adventures with a chosen card is
both magical in appearance and extremely direct in its actions. The secret
is Ken's mechanical reverse, which produces this peculiar set of events
with an admirable economy of handling.
No setup is necessary, other than to install a convex bridge along the
length of the face-down deck. Turn the cards face up and spread them
between your hands, asking that one be drawn from the pack. (If the
flourish spread is in your repertoire [see The Card Magic ofLePaul, 1949,
p. 36], you can use it to spread the cards and put in the bridge at the same
time.) When someone obligingly removes a card, square the deck into

60
sr left-hand dealing position and secretly form a break a few cards above
H center. Insert the entire tip of your left fourth finger into this break (Figure
1), then do the mechanical reverse as you turn the deck face down. This
N
G secretly turns the bottom half of the pack face up. The mechanical reverse
s has been described in a number of places, including Ken's two previous
books. However, so that this text is complete, a concise description of the
€ reverse follows.
H
A Your right hand is palm down over the pack, grasping it by the ends.
N Tilt the outer end of the deck down slightly and cover its entire front edge
G
E with your right fingers. Now dig your left thumb under the pack and push
up, causing the cards to revolve sidewise to the right and face down. Your
left fingers cooperate in this action by opening to the right, and your right
hand follows docilely along, adjusting its grip to remain palm down while

\~

61
maintaining its purchase on the ends of the pack. With this action, the I
fourth-finger break is transformed into a wedge break (Figure 2). N
G
Now, with your right hand, shift the packet above the break slightly E
leftward, anchoring it in the fork of the left thumb. Simultaneously curl N
u
your left fingers inward, rotating the packet clipped between them side-
wise (Figure 3). This reverses it invisibly under the upper packet (Figure T
4). The instant the reversal is completed, move your left fingers to the I
right side of the deck and let the break close. If you guard your left side E
s
with a slight leftward turn of the body, no extraneous finger motion can
be detected.

(
62
~ With your palm-down right hand, grasp the deck by its ends from ~

H above, freeing your left hand, which you hold out to receive the chosen
I
card. Flip this card face down and drop the deck neatly onto it. Then
N
G revolve the deck sidewise and face up, using actions that simulate those
s of the mechanical reverse. The selection is unquestionably seen to rest
on the face of the pack. However, hidden beneath it is a block of face-
€ down cards.
H
A With your right hand, grasp the deck by its ends, so that your left fin-
N
gers can back spread a few cards, showing their indices (Figure 5) as you
G
E say, "You could have picked any of these." This subtly reinforces the pic-
ture of a face-up deck.

~ \

Square the cards back into your left hand and establish a break between
the faced halves of the pack. This is where the bridge comes to work for
you. Then turn the deck face down, executing a second mechanical
reverse. As a result, the selection is now positioned face up in the center
of the face-down pack-all accomplished in the seemingly innocent
action of turning the deck over.
Make a magical gesture over the cards, then spread them between your
hands, revealing the selection face up in the middle. Pause to let the effect
register fully; then square the cards into your left hand, catching a left
fourth-finger break under the selection.
Turn the deck face up, doing another mechanical reverse, and rub the
face of the pack with your right fingertips. This, you explain, causes the

63
chosen card to travel from the center of the pack to the top. Turn the deck ...
face down, using actions identical in appearance to those used before. The N
G
selection is indeed on top, face down, with the top half of the deck face E
up beneath it. You must now display the face of the top card without ex- N
posing the reversed condition of the packet below. You do this as follows: u
Rest the tips of your T
right fingers on the back I
of the top card, near the E
s
inner end, and use them
to push the card forward
for roughly half its length
(Figure 6). The fingers
conveniently conceal the
face-up card second from
the top. As you push the
card forward, gently raise
the outer end of the deck
until the top is tilted just ----
beyond the audience's line of sight. This, at the same time, brings the face
of the outjogged card into view. Use your left forefinger, at the front of
the deck, to block any cards that may slide forward with the top one,
keeping them in check (Figure 7).
Without hesitating, move your right hand forward, grasp the selec-
tion by its outer end and remove it from the deck. Simultaneously turn

64
~ 8
H

/
/

1\
::J
-
--

your left hand palm inward, continuing to conceal the top of the pack
(Figure 8).
Mter displaying the selection, return it cleanly to its position on top
of the deck and bring its back once more into view. To all appearances,
~the deck is again face down.
Now take the deck into positi-on for a faro shuffle and divide it between
the backed halves. Openly turn the bottom half face up, then straddle
weave it into the apparently face-down top half (which will be slightly
larger, thanks to the position of the break formed before the first mechani-
cal reverse was executed). In reality, all the cards but the selection are now
face up. That card should remain on top; nothing else is required of the
weave. (In other words, it needn't be a perfect interlace.)

65
 At this point you can release the face-up portion and fan a few cards
at the face and back, to show them all face up (Figure ~). Then square N
G
the cards together. Don't spring or cascade them to do this, as this would E
expose the true condition of the apparently face-down packet. Simply N
push them square into each other. u
I
Give the deck a simple cut to centralize the face-down selection, and T
turn the deck face down. Make a magical gesture over the cards, then I
spread them, revealing their straightened state-with a single exception: E
s
the chosen card, which lies face up in the middle!

66
sr
H
I
N
G
s
€
H
A

ITS' A WRAP
N
G
E

<:.__._@<1 Effect:
The canhit the face of the pack is displayed. The deck is
then turned face down and a card freely chosen, noted and returned to
the center of the pack.
After the return of the card, there is no cutting or shuffling. The deck
is turned face up, bringing the bottom card, noted earlier, back into view.
Obviously no covert manipulation of the cards has occurred. But when
the performer riffles the cards, the selection instantly rises from its place
in the center to the face of the deck. And when the card is removed for
display, the card originally on the face is still there; a silent testament to
the unaltered state of the deck. This same effect can be done repeatedly
with two or three selections.
Method: This magical transportation of a card is built on the mechan-
ics of a card reverse believed to be Fred Braue's, fortuitously combined
with a variant of Ken's invisible reverse transfer (the original handling of
which is described in Lorayne's Card Classics of Ken Krenzel, 1978, p. 52).
You begin by positioning a prominent card, say the Joker, on the face of
the pack. While this is not strictly necessary, the presence of this card
throughout the trick adds an extra touch of impossibility to the effect.
Draw as much attention to the card as you deem fit.
Next turn the deck face down and have a card chosen or peeked at.
Mter the group has seen what it is, if it has been removed from the pack,
have it returned face down in the middle. Whichever procedure is used,
manage to form a left fourth-finger break beneath the selection.
67
 I
1 N
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E
N
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T
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s

Gesture and talk for a moment; then bring your right hand palm down
over the deck and grasp it by the ends. Immediately use the left finger-
tips to slip the chosen card out to the right for roughly half its width, as
if you were doing a side steal (Figure 1). Without h~sitation, use your right
hand to carry the deck a bit to the left, your left thumb relaxing to allow
this; then revolve the deck face up onto the left fingers, turning it side-
wise to the right. As you do this, the left fingertips remain in light contact
with the face of the sidejogged card, holding it stationary as you carry the
deck away from it, then over (Figure 2), square onto the card. Your right
hand and the deck mask the extraction of the card. In addition, you should
tilt the front of the deck down a bit, to keep the forward edge of the
selection concealed below the right hand. (As mentioned above, this
reverse is thought to be an idea of Fred Braue's. Research by David
Michael Evans notes that it appears in Hugard and Braue's Expert Card

68
 .
~ Technique [1940, p. 110], under the title "Facing the Bottom Card" and
H without provenience, as a reverse of a bottom card. On page 13 0 of the
I
same work, a variant is described in which a card second from the face of
G the pack is reversed and transferred to the top using similar mechanics.
s Twenty-one years later, the same bottom reverse was credited to Fred
Braue in Hugard's Magic Monthly on page 4 of Volume XIX, combined
€ issues 1 and 2, Sept.-Oct. 1961. Curiously, the same reversal, wedded to
H
the actions of a side steal-the handling used in Ken's trick-appears in
the same issue on p. 16, credited to Jay Bedsworth. The Bedsworth
G
handling, however, is an obvious and minor extension of that cited above,
on p. 130 of Expert Card Technique.)
Outwardly you have merely turned the deck face up, and the presence
of the Joker there strongly implies that nothing underhanded has
occurred, when indeed something litero/ly underhanded has: The selected
card has been transferred to the rear of the deck and lies there face down.
As your right hand
settles the deck back into a
loose left-hand dealing po-
sition, bevel the cards to
the right, so that the upper
ones overhang those be-
neath them. Then, with
your left fingertips, push
the right side of the face-
down selection to the right
and upward, curving it up
4
against the beveled edge of
the pack, but keeping it
hidden (Figure 3). Use
your left forefinger, along
the front of the pack to aid
in concealing the position
of this card (Figure 4).
(This setup position is bor-
rowed from Paul LePaul's
bottom deal.)

69
 You can now remove your right hand for a few moments as you explain I
that the Joker is a card magnet that can draw chosen cards to it from their N
G
unknown places in the deck. Bring your right hand back over the pack E
and grasp it again by its ends, thumb at the rear, forefinger curled onto N
the face, the other fingers together at the front end, near the right corner. u
The instant the right hand is in place, use your left fingers to thrust the T
selection to the right (Figure 5, shown from below). I
E
5 s

(
Immediately tip your hands upward at the wrists (that is, don't raise
your arms, just your hands), tilting the face of the deck toward you and
just beyond the spectators' line of sight. Simultaneously, use your left fin-
gers to wrap the selection around the right side of the pack and square
onto the face (Figure 6), briefly
lifting your right forefinger 6
and left thumb just enough to
permit the card to pass. Then
immediately lower your hands
to bring the face of the deck
again into the audience's sight,
and at the same time riffle the
outer ends of the cards off the
right fingers. To the spectators
it should seem that you have
merely riffled the cards, mak-
ing the selection appear on the

70
~ face of the deck. And when you take the card off the pack, the Joker is
H still in place underneath, strongly suggesting that the card has melted up
through the deck (and, for the wise ones in the group, that a pass hasn't
N
G been done).
s The up-and-down action of the hands is brisk, yet "soft", and should
be minimized as much as possible. It is more a rocking of the deck, a part
~
H of riffling the cards. You will have to revolve the chosen card very tightly
A around the edge of the deck to avoid its hanging up on your right palm
N
and fingers; and practice is required to assure that the card is brought
G
E square by the time the face of the pack again enters the audience's view.
Done correctly, this revolving transfer of the card from the back of the
deck to the face is deceptive and angle-proof.
It was mentioned that th\ effect could be repeated with several cards.
While one repeat is feasible, two should be the maximum considered, as
further repetition would become redundant and might jeopardize the
method) . For such a multiple production, you must first control the
desired cards secretly to the top of the pack, then reverse them under the
face-up deck (mechanical reverse, half pass, etc.). You can then wrap them,
one at a time, around the side of the pack and onto the face. These cards
might be various selections, the three Aces being drawn to their "master
Ace" of Spades, or any entertaining plot that occurs to you.
When first practicing this sleight, it will probably feel rather ungainly.
However, it can be done smoothly and neatly, and when it is its appear-
ance is extremely magical and well worth the effort necessary to acquire.

71
€HAPTER ~HREE:
ESCAPING
€ARDVILLE
.:
::
~OCKET ~ASSPORT

~ Effect: The Copper-silver Transposition is a venerable plot, and

still one of the best tricks that can be done with coins. Aside from the
simplicity of effect, what makes this piece so powerful is the impression
given of the magic happening in the spectator's hand. What follows is a
final sequence for a multi-phase Copper-silver Transposition, which
escalates the magic one significant degree higher: The spectator possesses
both coins when the transposition occurs. Here is an account of the
outward action.
After a copper coin and a silver one have changed places once or twice
in the hands of the performer, or between his hand and a spectator's, his
helper is handed both coins and asked to place them safely in one of his
pockets, which is otherwise empty. He then removes either coin and it is
displayed (with a slight assist from the performer). Let's say it is the sil-
ver one. He is told to hold it tightly in his hand, then to tap that hand
against the pocket that holds the copper coin. "These coins are from dif-
ferent countries, and when you do that they migrate, crossing the
border-the border of your pocket."
When the spectator opens his hand, the performer's words prove true.
He now holds the copper coin, and in his pocket he finds the silver!
Method: The means of causing the two coins to transpose is based on
Dr. Theodore Sack's classic "Silver-Copper" from Elliott's The Best in
Magic (1956, p. 46). An extra silver coin is used in a very cunning way.
The important feature in Ken's reorchestration of the Sack trick is his
75
 minimizing of the performer's handling of the coins, which leads the spec- I
tator to believe that the transposition has taken place while he was in N
G
control of both coins. Here are the specifics. E
You need two silver coins and a copper one of similar size. Two half N
u
dollars and an old British penny are the coins normally drafted into action
for such skirmishes. The audience is aware of only one silver coin and T
the copper one. The second silver coin is hidden through palming. Before I
E
beginning the sequence, Ken casually tosses the coins back and forth s
several times between his hands. The standard utility shuttle pass can be
used here, holding back a silver coin each time the copper is tossed from
hand to hand; but Ken prefers to use the Malini subtlety instead: Assume
the extra silver coin is hidden in right-hand classic palm. The other two
coins are shown openly in the slightly cupped left fingers. Your left hand
then gently tosses the coins onto the right fingers, which cup slightly to
receive them. The palmed silver coin remains concealed from the
audience behind the heel of the right thumb (Figure 1, performer's view,
) and Figure 2, the audience's).

76
 E The right hand then tosses the two received coins back onto the left
s fingers. During this the hands are seen open, palms up, relaxed and
c
A apparently in possession of only the two coins. (The angles for the Malini
p subtlety are very good from the right side and front. However, if you are
I
performing with people positioned on your left as well, you will have to
N
G resort to the standard shuttle pass mentioned earlier.)
Immediately after this nonchalant tossing, switch the copper coin for
€ the second silver one. This is done simply by holding back the copper coin
A
in left-hand finger palm as you seemingly toss both of the left hand's coins
R
0 back into the right hand. Actually, the right hand now holds the two silver
v coins, but disguises the fact by closing into a loose fist while simultane-
I
L ously turning palm down and moving forward.
L As you make this switch, look at your helper (who ideally should be
E
someone on your right, to lend motivation to your transfer of the coins
to your right hand) and ask him to hold out one hand. When he does so,
deposit your right hand's two coins into his hand and urge him to close
__/ his hand tightly around them so that they can't get away. Move your
obviously empty right hand away from his and tell him to place both coins
into his jacket or trousers pocket (which should have been emptied of all
other articles earlier).
Next have him remove either coin and hold it up. It will be a silver
one, of course. "So you have the copper coin snugly in your pocket and
the silver coin here." Take the coin into your right hand and display it to
the group. Then make a hand-to-hand switch of the silver coin for the
left hand's concealed copper coin, retaining the silver coin in right-hand
finger palm or classic palm as you appear to receive it in the left hand.
As you do this, again ask the spectator to hold out his hand. Of course, if
you are master of an efficient one-handed exchange, like the palm change
(see Kaufman's CoinMagic, 1981, p. 6), this can employed instead of the
two-handed switch.
Place the copper coin into his hand and have him grasp it tightly, as
he did the other two coins before. In doing this you must, without
appearing suspicious, make sure that no one gets a glimpse of the coin.
Your work is done. All that remains is to extract your payment in
drama. Have him tap his closed hand against the coin in his pocket,
77
believed to be the copper one, then open his hand to discover that he now I
holds the copper coin there. And when he brings the pocketed coin forth, N
G
it is silver, and everything is left in his hands to ponder. E
D espite the simplicity of the method, I think the exceptional impact N
u
of this effect on the spectator will be obvious. It is difficult to imagine a
stronger finish for a copper-silver transposition routine. T
I
E
s

78
E
s
c
A
p
I

~
A
R
D RLIPPEROON
v
I
~

~Effect: A card is freely chosen, noted and replaced in the center

of the deck. The cards are not mixed or manipulated in any way to alter
the buried position of the selection. Instead, the performer removes a coin
from his pocket and sets it onto the deck. Then, while everyone watches,
the pack is given a little shake and the coin instantly vanishes! The per-
former neatly cuts the cards, revealing that the coin has traveled magically
down into the center. When he tG'ms over the card just below the coin,
it is found to be the selection.
Method: The plot of a coin vanishing to locate a chosen card in the
deck, a concept of U. F. Grant's, has intrigued a number of magicians over
the years, Ken among them. Three of his approaches were published in
Lorayne's Card Classics ofKen &enzel (see "Down, Down, Down", p. 177),
and another was taught in Close-up Impact! ("The Coin of Mycroft", p. 38).
Something else that has long held Ken:S interest is Looy Simonoffs visual
card-change, flippant (see "The Profoundly Flippant Reverse", ibid., p.
124). In the trick about to be explained, he combines the Grant plot with
Prof. Simonoff's sleight to create a crisp piece of visual magic.
You need one gimmicked card, which is easily made. Take a double-
backed card, both sides of which match the deck you will use, and glue a
quarter onto one side, just a bit off center (Figure 1). Position this card,
coin-side up, second from the top of your deck. (You can, of course,
secretly add the gimmicked card to the bottom of the deck, during or after
another trick, then double-cut it and the card above it to the top.)
79
 I
1 2 N
G
E
N
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T
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s

You will also need another quarter, one that matches that glued to the
gimmicked card. This coin is concealed in your left fingers, and as you
ready to perform "Flipperoon" it is secretly worked to the fingertips
where it is pressed lightly against the beveled right edge of the deck. The
deck, in turn, is held in dealing grip (Figure 2). The top cards of the deck
are swayed rightward just enough to cover the edge of the coin, so that
'ir--is completely concealed. (Ken introduced this concealme'nt idea in his
1960s lecture notes, A Second Cavalcade of Subtle Sorcery, p. 1.)
One last thing: You should have some loose change in your front right
trousers pocket.
Begin the performance by asking someone to select a card as you slowly
spread the deck from left hand to right. Have the desired card drawn from
the spread and noted. In all likelihood, this will be from somewhere near
center, in which case you split the spread at the point of extraction, at the
same time smoothly stealing the quarter from the left fingertips, using

80
 E the tips of the second fingers to slip it onto the face of the right hand's
s spread (Figure 3, from below). If the spectator draws a card from a point
c near the top or bottom of the deck, you can simply break the deck some-
A
p where near center for the return of the card, and proceed as above. Note
how, by positioning the coin at the beveled edge of the deck, rather than
N
G under it, as is commonly done in such maneuvers, the adjustment of the
coin under the spread is facilitated.
€ Once the card has been noted, have it returned onto the left hand~
A cards. Place the right hand's spread over it and smoothly square the pack
R
D back into the left hand, loading the coin directly over the selection.
v You must next displace the top card of the deck to bring your gimmick
I
to the top. This is done openly, by removing the top card and slipping it
L
L into the deck. However, there must be some presentational motivation
E for this. Here are two viable ones, which may start you thinking of others
that fit your personality and style of performance.
"Now, you could have chosen any card in the deck. You could have
( taken this one." Here you remove the tpp card and flash its face. "That
would have made my job much easier-but you didn't, which is all right,
because my finding the top card wouldn't be terribly interesting." Or...
"Now, I could make your card rise to the top from wherever it is in
the deck." Remove the top card, then slowly expose its face, letting
everyone wonder for a moment if it will be the selection before you show
that it isn't. In other words, you are playfully teasing them. "But that
would be too easy. I've got something more challenging in mind."
As you remove the top card and show it, you must lift the front end of
the pack slightly, tilting the_top of the deck just out of the audience's line
of sight, so that the coin on the gimmick can't be seen. Your left thumb

81
should also rest across the back of the deck, lying just over the front of I
the coin, further concealing it (Figure 4, audience view). The thumb also N
G
applies light pressure to the pack to prevent the loose coin from slipping E
out. Light pressure is enough. Don't clench the deck. Any unnatural ten- N
sion in your hand will only raise suspicion. Since the thumb's pressure lies u
fon \·ard of center, it will also stop any gap caused by the coin in the deck T
from showing at the front end. I
.-Vter briefly displaying the face of the removed top card, apparently E
s
replace it on the deck, but actually slip it under the gimmicked card. This
is easily done, through a simple maneuver, a handling variant of Bill
imon's secret addition derived by Edward Marlo (see Simon's Effective
Cn·d Jiagic, 1952, p. 107, for the original and Sharpe's Expert Card Con-
juring, 1968, p. 34, for the Marlo handling). As you show the top card,
u e your left thumb to slide the gimmick backward about the width of a
w!lire border. Then, as you replace the right hand's card, it is a simple
arrer to slip it between the gimmicked card and the deck (Figure 5).

-
)

Of course, there should be no hesitation when you do this. Those

:1...'11iliarwith the ultra move (see Lorayne'sAfterthoughts, 1975, p. 11) may
·rh to use that sleight instead to displace the two cards. If you can't
r:1anage the secret transposition of the cards smoothly, simply insert the /
E d openly into the top portion of the pack. However, seeming to replace
:: on top is a more logical course.
E Now, with your right hand, reach into your trousers pocket and rattle
s the change there as you appear to get a coin. "To find your card, I'll need
c a special mind-reading coin." Bring your hand from the pocket, pretend-
A
p ing to hold a coin between your thumb and fingers. Without hesitation,
I appear to place the coin onto the deck, while actually only miming the
G actions as you lower the front end of the pack and let the coin on the
gimmick be seen. From this point on you must convincingly handle the
t: deck as if this coin were resting loose on top.
A "You mustn't forget your card, now. If you don't know what it is, the
R
J
coin can't find it." As you say this, directing attention gently away from
I the pack, use your left thumb to push the gimmick slightly rightward, so
I that you can procure a left fourth-finger break beneath it. You are now
l
I_ prepared for the flippant change. A full desc;:ription on this sleight is given
-
c on page 126 of Close-up Impact!, and the original description by Harry
Lorayne can be found in Apocalypse (Vol. 1, No. 9, Sept. 1978, p. 103).
For the reader's convenience, a succinct description follows.
The gimmicked card must lie
6 loose on the very tip of the fourth
finger. The tips of the second and
third fingers should lie at the right
edge of the deck, but no portion of
them must curl or press over the
right edge of the separated card. The
forefinger is at the front end, and the
thumb rests along the left edge of
the pack, with the flesh of its tip and
thenar barely engaging the left edge
of the gimmick (Figure 6).
What you will now do is deliver a short, sharp shake to the deck, the
intention of which is to cause the gimmick to do a brisk somersault on
top of the pack. When done correctly the revolution of the card and its
attached coin happens so t=aPidly, it is imperceptible to the eye. The coin
appears to blink out of sight. To cause this rapid revolution of the gim-
mick you must:
Drop your hand and the deck abruptly for a distance of two to three
inches, doing so with such suddenness that the gimmick, lying loose on
83
the tip of the fourth finger, is I
left behind, briefly suspended
7 N
G
in the air. However, it does not E
just hang there. Because the N
u
flesh of the thumb very slightly
I
engages the left edge of the T
gimmick, a counterclockwise I
E
revolution is imparted to the
s
double-backed card as it "trips"
over the thumb (Figure 7). The
weight of the attached coin aids
in making the gimmick flip over, turning a hundred-and-eighty degrees
above the pack. The gimmick is then caught square on the deck. Some
performers raise the hand and deck again, meeting the card as it flips over;
others just let the card fall the short distance to the deck. Either approach
can be effective.
For the sleight to succeed, the hand must move straight down with the
deck; and when the reversed gimmick meets the pack your fingers and
thumb open a bit to receive the card, then instantly press in again on the
sides of the deck. Otherwise, the card may land askew on the pack, or be
knocked out of alignment by the fingertips.
There is unquestionably a knack to this sleight, but fortunately its
details are largely intuitive, and given twenty minutes thoughtful prac-
tice over a bed (to save your back in picking up the gimmick when you
miss) you should have it. And, as already mentioned, the weight of the
coin aids the maneuver. There will be an unavoidable, though minor, slap
as the gimmick hits the deck in landing. However, given that a coin is
visibly vanishing, some sound caused by its leaving might be expected. It
is not something to be concerned about.
Pause a few moments to let the vanish of the coin register. Then, with
your palm-down right hand, neatly cut off the top portion of the deck,
cutting at the natural break caused by the loose coin, and reveal its pres-
ence in the middle of the pack (Figure 8). Let the coin slide off the lower
packet, then turn over the card that lay below it to show that it has magi-
cally found the selection!
84
 8

The gimmicked card atop the right hand's portion can be palmed,
lapped or secretly thumbed off into a pocket at some opportune moment.
There is no rush, as its existence is never suspected.
The visible disappearance of the coin, and its immediate reappearance
in the middle of the deck, give this version of the old Grant plot a strik-
ing visual quality that few other methods offer. It is a surprising and pretty
piece of magic.

85
 I
N
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E
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T
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~BSTACLE €OURSE

~ Effect: Here is a further embellishment on the Coin Seeks Card

plot. A freely chosen card is noted and returned to the center of the deck.
The deck is then slipped into its case without further manipulation. A
clear drinking glass is inverted over the closed case, sealing off the space
inside, and a borrowed and marked coin is slapped against the solid bot-
tom of the glass-upon which it visibly penetrates the glass and lands
inside, on top of the case!
The coin is next shaken under the glass and it suddenly vanishes. The
case is displayed on all sides-the coin is nowhere in sight. The deck is
then neatly removed from the case and set on the table. When the deck
is cut, the coin is found resting in the middle-and the card directly under
it proves to be the one chosen earlier.
Method: Ken's inspiration for this intriguing combination of effects
was an item of Rick Haslett's titled "Almost Impromptu Copentro" (sic),
which appeared in Harry Lorayne'sApocalypse (Vol. 16, No. 11, Nov. 1993,
p. 22 88). Mr. Haslett's effect was to cause a marked coin to penetrate
through the bottom of a glass inverted over a loose deck of cards. Ken
has incorporated this quick effect into a longer, more interesting routine,
and has simplified the handling.
You will need a deck, its case, a normal-sized drinking glass and two
quarters. For the record, all of these items but one quarter (the use of
which is unknown to the audience) can be borrowed.
As the performance begins, you have your quarter secretly resting on
your left fingers, while you also hold the face-down deck in dealing
86
E position. By glimpse or feel, you must determine which side of the coin
s is uppermost. Then begin the action by having a card freely selected,
c displayed and returned to the center of the pack. As the card is returned,
A
p you secretly introduce the hidden coin above it, using the method taught
I in "Flipperoon" (p. 80). The same side of the coin you noted earlier should
N
G still be uppermost.
While handling the cards in a way that clearly shows that you are
€ indulging in no manipulation, slip the deck into its case and close the flap.
A Set the case down while you ask for the loan of a quarter. With an indel-
R
D ible marker or label and pen, have this coin marked on the side opposite
v that you know to be uppermost on your coin in the deck. When the coin
has been marked, pick up the cased deck and hold it back up (that is, the
L
L side with the thumb notch is down) in left-hand dealing position. How-
E ever, hold it farther forward in the hand than usual, so that the inner right
corner lies near your left fourth finger.
Take the marked coin from the spectator and set it briefly on the cen-
ter of the card case. Then, with your free right hand, pick up the drinking
glass, which should be sitting conveniently to your right, and hand it to
the spectator, asking that she assure herself that it is nothing more than
it appears to be. While attention is momentarily focused on her and the
glass, you casually pick up the marked coin in your right hand-or, rather,
you appear to. In reality your right hand comes palm down over the coin
and pretends to pick it up at the fingertips; but behind the screen of your
right fingers the thumb contacts the coin (Figure 1) and secretly slides it

87
back and over the inner end of the case (Figure 2). The coin is left there, I
sitting on edge on your left palm and leaning upright against the end of N
G
the case (Figure 3). Your palm, being naturally cupped as it holds the card E
case, supports the coin at a level behind the case that keeps it concealed N
from the audience. u

T
2 I
E
s

88
E Move your right hand immediately up and away from the case, press-
s ing your thumb to your fingers, as if holding the coin (Figure 3 again).
c At this point you ask the spectator to set the glass mouth down over the
A
p card case. When the glass is in place, you can control and adjust its posi-
I tion with your left thumb. Move it inward a bit until the inner edge of
N
G the rim lies slightly beyond the inner end of the case. What is required
here is a narrow passageway between the mouth of the glass and the case,
€ through which the hidden coin can easily pass. (Ken has altered the
A positioning of the coin from that suggested by Mr. Haslett, who held it
R between the left fingertips and right edge of the deck. Ken found that the
D
v brisk action, about to be described, that loads the coin into the glass was
I easier and less problematic with the coin away from the fingers. Having
L
L
the deck cased also makes everything more manageable.)
E You now slap your right hand, which still pretends to hold the coin,
smartly down on the upturned bottom of the glass (Figure 4). The impact
of this action propels the loose coin up into the glass, where it then falls
onto the case. The illusion of the coin penetrating the bottom of the glass
is excellent and visually startling. Do hold your left hand well above the
_.--· .... ·
4

--J/

89
tabletop when you slap the glass, as it must be free to move sharply I
downward as a result of the right hand's slap. If its motion is impeded by N
G
the table, the intended propulsion of the coin can fail. E
Lift your right hand, letting it be seen empty as you display the coin N
u
clearly trapped inside the glass. Pause and let this first surprise register.
You will next vanish the coin as it rests under the glass. T
With your palm-down right hand, grip the bottom of the glass and I
E
slide it sidewise, left and right, over the surface of the card case, making s
the coin clink against the sides. This action should be perceived as a ges-
ture made to emphasize the penetration of the coin. However, on the third
or fourth rap of the coin against the left edge of the glass, knock it over
the right side of the case and onto the waiting left fingertips, which
straighten to receive it (Figure 5). The fingers then contract and close
against the case, drawing the coin beneath it. This steal of the coin is
perfectly covered by the position of the right hand over the glass, and is
imperceptible if done without hesitation.

\ .fi
<:::-

~\)
\

If you perceive that your audience doesn't immediately notice that the
coin is gone, you can delay the moment of its vanish a bit, letting the glass
sit on the card case before drawing attention to the disappearance.

90
E However, whether the vanish is immediately apparent or its realization
s is delayed, the effect is surprising. Raise the glass and let it be plainly seen
c that the coin is gone. Set the glass aside, then toss the cased deck from
A
p your left hand to your right, letting the concealed coin ride along beneath.
I Display the case on both sides while keeping the coin hidden under the
N
G right fingers. Then turn the case over in your right hand and open it.
With your obviously empty left hand, remove the deck from the case
~ and set the cards on the table, taking care not to let the coin in the deck
A slip out. As your left hand sets down the deck, your right hand puts the
R
0
case aside while classic palming the marked coin.
v With your left hand, cut off the upper portion of the pack at the break
I
created by the quarter, and set the packet to one side, revealing the coin
L
L in the deck. With your right hand, pick the coin off the deck as you ask
E the spectator the name of her chosen card. As she responds, with your
left hand dramatically turn over the top card of the packet, displaying the
selection. At the same time, your right hand switches your quarter for the
palmed one and sets the marked coin casually on the table. Any simple
switch can be used, as at this time attention is strongly focused on your
left hand and the chosen card. Your right hand's work should be done long
before anyone's thoughts turn to the coin. It can then be cleanly returned
to the lender, its mark visible but unmentioned. Thus end the travels and
adventures of a borrowed coin.

91
 I
N
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N
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T
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RLIPPANT ~LCHEMY

Effect: A copper coin is displayed on both sides, then held on the

<:..___@<1
open palm of the performer's hand. He blows gently on the coin and it
visibly transforms into a half dollar! The coin is never covered, even for
a second, and the hands hold only the one coin. The change is instanta-
neous and visual.
Method: This idea came to Ken after reading Howard Cohens tap
change in Steve Beam's journal The Trapdoor (No. 48, 1993, p. 868). Mr.
Cohen's change embodied a novel way of causing a copper-silver gaffed
coin to turn rapidly over as it was tapped with a pencil or wand. The
sleight yielded a strong visual transformation, but required a knack that
made complete dependability difficult to attain. As Mr. Cohen pointed
out in the write-up, if one missed, nothing was seriously lost, and you
could immediately make another attempt. However, the rapid flipping
action used for the Cohen change reminded Ken of a similar action
e:\-ploited in Looy Simonoff's flippant change with cards (seep. 83), and
he wondered if the same principle might be adapted to a coin to achieve
a \isual effect identical to the Cohen sleight, but with dependable results
and easier mastery. The answer was yes.
T he Cohen change and flippant share the same core idea. The card
or coin is made to turn over so rapidly that the motion is imperceptible.
The basic action as Ken has applied it to a half-dollar-sized copper-silver
coin is this:
The copper-silver coin is laid onto the palm of the open hand, with
its edge resting right at the crease in the flesh that demarcates the heel
92
E of the thumb: the life line
s 1 (Figure 1). If you con-
c tract that muscle slightly,
A
p you can make the flesh of
the thenar contact the
N
edge of the coin. If you
G
now sharply lower your
€ hand, moving it straight
A down an inch or two, you
R can cause the coin to trip
0 sidewise over the crease
v
I of the thenar and flip
L 2 rapidly over on the hand
L
~~~ ~\ (Figures 2 and 3). With
E
v ,,
1 '
\
some practice, this flip-
over of the coin can be
done with extreme ra-
pidity and the coin will
land exactly where it pre-
viously rested on the
palm. Refer to the expla-
nation of flippant cited
3
above for a better under-
standing of the action.
There is undeniably a
knack to it, but it is easier
to master than might be
thought. The resultant
visible transformation of
the coin from copper to
silver, or vice versa, is genuinely surprising and deceptive. With the gen-
eral principle of the sleight understood, let's now see how it might be
effectively presented.
Begin by casually displaying both sides of the coin, or seeming to.
Actually, you execute a false turnover. A number of these are in print.
Many have been collected and published by Harry Lorayne in his jour-
nal Apocalypse, including a couple by Ken (see Vol. 4, No. 6, June 1981,
93
p. 495; and Vol. 5, No.8, Aug. 1982, p. 666). For the record, here is one I
of them. N
G
Begin with the coin lying on the palm of your open left hand, resting E
on the fleshy mound at the base of your second finger. (This position isn't N
u
crucial, but it serves as a starting point for teaching the move.) Bring your I
palm-down right hand over the left and pick up the coin by pressing your T
right thumbtip down on its near edge, which causes the far edge to rise, I
E
so that your right second and third fingers can slip under it (Figure 4). s
You will now simulate the action of turning the coin over without actually
reversing it. To do the false action convincingly you must perform the true
action a number of times and study the right hand's motions, as these are
the model for the actions of the false turnover. Your right hand flexes
outward at the wrist, just as it does when legitimately turning over the
coin; but your right thumb merely slides the coin forward onto the left
fingers (Figure 5) while the right fingers ease away from it, leaving it with
the original top side still up. Your right hand then moves away from your
left, traveling diagonally back and rightward (Figure 6), while the
fingertips slide lightly over the coin, all just as in the honest turning action.
This false turnover is not so much an exercise in manipulation as it is
one of pretense. You simply pretend to turn the coin over while your fin-
gers neglect to do so. You may repeat the false turnover if you wish, but
whether done once or twice, no attention is focused on your actions. They
are perceived peripherally as you talk and apparently toy absentmindedly
with the coin. You now proceed to the transformation.
Since your hand must move perceptibly downward to effect the
change, the action needs to be in some way outwardly motivated or
obscured. One way Ken justifies the action is to raise his hand with the
coin about six inches toward his mouth, so that he can blow on it. As he
blows, he lowers the hand, making the coin flip over. The coin never
leaves the spectators' sight, and appears to transform in an instant. The
qualities of execution to strive for are an extremely rapid turn of the coin
combined with a fairly gentle lowering of the hand. In other words, you
don't wish the spectators to perceive your hand jerk downward as the
change is made. The hand should appear to drop at a natural rate of speed.
Mirror practice is essential to determine the deceptiveness of the change.
94
 4

)
/

95
 You can, of course, tap the coin with a wand or pencil as the coin vis- I
ibly transforms, as in the Cohen change, hitting the coin lightly with the N
G
wand immediately after it flips over. As Mr. Cohen observed in his write- E
up, this tapping action outwardly resembles those of David Williamson$ N
striking vanish (see Michael Ammar's Encore II, 1981, p. 21, or Richard u
Kaufman's Williamson's Wonders, 1989, p. 17), and the combination of T
these two ideas creates a pleasing sequence in which the coin is tapped I
once and made to transform, then is tapped again and vanishes. E
s
Ken adds one more application of his flippant coin change: a visible
transposition of a copper and a silver coin. For this effect you will need
two copper-silver gimmicks. You begin by displaying them as a copper
coin and a silver one, using a bold ruse of Jules DeBarros from his Coins
of Ish tar (1971, p.1 0). Hold the coins widely spread at the fingertips of
your palm-up hand, exhibiting one copper-side up, the other silver-side
up (Figure 7). Then casually turn the hand palm down, exposing the
reverse sides of the coins (Figure 8). One copper coin and one silver are
still seen. The discrepancy in their positions goes unnoticed, especially
when the action is done casually, with no hint of proving something.

Turn your hand palm up again and take one coin into each hand,
positioning them for the flippant coin change. Display the coins on your
palms, with the hands well separated to avoid any subsequent suspicions
that you might have merely tossed the coins from hand to hand. Then
perform the flippant change with both hands simultaneously. The result
is a completely visible transposition, accomplished without closing the
hands or any cover!
96
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~ J%'00R H)ISER
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E ~Here Ken offers a sequence for the Miser's Dream that should
prove very useful for anyone who performs this classic effect. What he
has devised is an easy and convincing method for producing an endless
number of coins from the air, when actually you are reduced to only one
in your hand.
Presume that you are holding the coin pail in your left hand. Your right
hand has been producing coins and dropping them into the pail, aided
by the left hand, which also holds a stock of coins that are released one
by one as needed. This is, as the reader will recognize, standard proce-
dure. But you eventually reach a point when the left hand's stock is
depleted and the right hand hides but one last coin. You could dig your
hand into the pail and spill the coins back into it while palming out a few;
or you could steal another load of coins from a holder. But before you
do any of this, consider the following.
Reach out and produce the last remaining coin at your right finger-
tips; then pretend to toss it into the pail as you have its predecessors.
However, instead you resort to an old swindle. On the hands descent, your
right thumb pulls the coin back behind the fingers and out of sight; and
the edge of the hand is brought down smartly on the lip of the pail,
delivering a short, sharp knock that causes coins in the pail to rattle,
imitating the sound of a coin dropping in.
Raise your right hand and pretend to pluck another coin from the air,
producing the same one. Again feign tossing it into the pail, but this time
97
you actually leave the coin
1 I
behind, clipped in the left fin- N
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gers and out of sight inside E
the pail. The details are these: N
u
As your right fingers dip mo-
I
mentarily below the mouth of T
the pail at the end of the toss- I
ing motion, you raise your \ E
s
left second finger slightly and
clip the coin between it and
the left forefinger (Figure 1). At the same time your right hand strikes
the edge of the pail, making the coins inside clink.
This time, when your right hand rises from the pail, you can let it be
seen unmistakably empty, since indeed it is.
Reach out again and go through the actions of pulling yet another coin
from the air. This time, however, your actions are empty ones. Never-
theless; you perform them with utter conviction and pretend to toss the
new coin into the pail. You right hand once more jostles the pail as it
makes the toss, causing the coins to sound. The result is that, although
the spectators haven't actually seen a coin in your right hand, they believe
one is there, since all your gestures suggest that you hold one, your actions
are identical in appearance to previous actions when you did, and a coin
is heard to drop into the pail. Coming as it does after a series of genuine
productions, the audience is conditioned to accept that you have produced
another coin, and believe in its presence without seeing it. This is a
particularly satisfying situation, given that you have performed this false
production with a hand clearly seen empty just a moment before! And
the strong illusion of this false production retroactively enhances your
previous genuine productions, in which the producing hand could not be
shown empty in as convincing a manner.
Repeat the right hand's pretense of producing a coin and dropping it
into the pail. At this point, though, if you were to continue with these
productions on faith, the ruse could quickly become suspect. So as the
right fingers dip briefly below the mouth of the pail, at the end of the toss,
they steal back the coin clipped in the left fingers.
98
E Your right hand now rises, this time concealing the coin in finger palm,
s and produces it at the fingertips, letting it be seen there. The appearance
c
A of the coin in your hand thus validates the two previous empty produc-
p tions. Pretend to toss the coin into the pail, but either pull it out of sight
I
N
behind your right fingers or leave it clipped again in the left fingers, as
G you make the coins in the pail rattle.
By alternating between the repeated production of this one coin and
€ false productions during which the coin is heard but not seen, you can
A
R pretend to produce coins in endless profusion, with your right hand often
D seen completely empty just before another coin is plucked from the air.
v This combination of simple techniques is extremely convincing. And it
I
L can be done while the left hand holds a stock of coins against the wall of
L the pail for future productions. In other words, you can alternate the ruse
E
of hitting the pail to rattle the coins inside, with that of letting a coin
escape from the left hand and drop into the pail. It is the frequent switch-
ing of techniques that makes this combination so deceptive. Just before
spectators begin to suspect that you might be doing one thing, you shift
to another method, which looks much the same, but provides a bit of
information that cancels the idea of the previous method. The strategy
is extremely potent.
Do not, though, be tempted to adopt this sequence as a low-skill
method for effecting an entire Miser's Dream routine. Conceivably you
could start with just two coins finger palmed in your right hand, produce
one, drop it into the pail and continue to produce the other coin time after
time, using the sequence just taught. Such an extreme extension of the
idea would render it transparent or at least highly suspect, especially when
no accumulation of coins can be shown in the pail. However, when used
in combination with other coin production techniques, this sequence
becomes a valuable and convincing addition to a Miser's Dream routine.

99
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~HE H)ILLION ~ENNY
H)YSTERY

Back in 1928, Walter Jeans and P. T Selbit premiered a

<:..____@<1 Effect:
joint invention that they called "The Million Dollar Mystery". It consisted
of a small empty box, sitting isolated center stage, from which an unlim-
ited assortment of items, animals and people could be produced. Another
odd effect performed with this apparatus was the production of a length
of solid board, many times longer than the box could hold. This board
was then pushed back into the box, only to come out another side at an
impossible right angle, or it vanished completely. ] eans and Selbit had
indeed created quite a mystery.
Why should I be talking about "The Million Dollar Mystery" in a book
of close-up magic? Because the next item for discussion makes it possible
to duplicate Jeans and Selbit's antics with a board under close-up circum-
stances, using only an ordinary pencil and two practiced hands.
The performer, with sleeves rolled back, shows his hands clearly empty,
makes a fist and immediately pulls a full-length pencil from it. He next
closes his other hand into a fist and pushes the pencil, which is obviously
and honestly solid, into one side-but it doesn't exit from the other.
Instead it visibly melts away, and both hands are opened, fingers spread,
to show the pencil completely vanished. The hand is once more closed,
and the pencil is immediately drawn from it. Now that's worth a million
pennies, isn't it? (Hint: Compute that amount before answering.)

100
E Method: You will need two things: a wrist watch on your left wrist,
s and a full-length wooden pencil. "Full-length" means approximately
c
A seven-and-a-half inches, which is fairly standard. The pencil must also
p be plain; no patterns and preferably no printing. A pencil with lettering
on one side only can be used, but will require a little extra care in han-
G dling, as we shall see.
If your watch band is not an
e 1 expansion type, you must wear it
A slightly loose, so that it will hold the
R
0 pencil in place on the back of your
v forearm (Figure 1), yet allow it to be
I easily drawn free. The point of the
L
L pencil should be near your wrist.
E Secured in this way, under your
sleeve, the pencil is safe from de-
tection and doesn't hinder your
freedom of motion.
"When you are ready to produce
it, begin by rolling back your right
sleeve well up your forearm; then do
the same with your left sleeve. In
rolling up the left sleeve, keep your
left hand palm up, so that the pencil
isn't seen under your wrist and arm.
This preparation speaks silently to
the fact that you are preparing for
something important.
Next, show your hands clearly
empty, holding them out in front of
you, palms up, fingers relaxed and separated (Figure 2). Bring your right
hand to your left, turning it palm down, and pass it gently forward over
the left palm with a light rubbing action. "When the right fingers reach
the left fingertips (Figure 3), rotate the right hand palm up around them
and back under the left hand, while your right thumb remains on the left
palm (Figure 4). These actions are partially a display of the empty hands
and partially an act of light massage.
101
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____
,__ ....::-:...._ ~

102
E As you press your right thumb into the left palm, the right fingertips
s should be naturally positioned under the left wrist, very close to the point
c of the pencil. By extending these fingers just a little, you can catch the
A
p pencil between your second and third fingertips (Figure 5, an underview).
I This must be done smoothly and without hesitation, as you complete the
G rubbing display of the hands.
Several things now happen at once. Your left hand revolves palm down
€ and a few inches inward over your right hand. This automatically draws
A the pencil forward and under the left hand. Simultaneously, you close the
R
D
. left fingers into a loose fist around the pencil (Figure 6)-and raise your
v hands as you turn roughly forty-five degrees to your left. Without a pause,
slowly and smoothly draw the pencil forward and slightly down, out of
L
L
c 5

103
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,,
\
,~-

\
your left fist. As you do this, the eraser-end of the pencil will angle out
away from your forearm (Figure 7), but is completely covered by the arm
from the front and right-side angles. If you have spectators on your left
side, either turn farther leftward as you make the production, or leave your
sleeves rolled down. Note the full illusion created here: You are not only
producing a pencil from your empty hand, but you are drawing the pen-
cil from the hand at an angle that makes it look impossible that the hand
could contain, let alone hide, such a long article (Figure 8).

104
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As soon as the pencil leaves your left fist, open this hand, casually let-
ting it be seen empty. At the same time, hold the pencil by its end at the
right fingertips and rap it once or twice on the table to show it solid.
Pause briefly to let the effect settle in, but not long enough to allow
the spectators time to respond or begin analyzing what they've just seen.
Almost immediately continue the action by passing the pencil to your left
fingertips, which grasp it by its eraser. Then turn your empty right hand
palm outward in front of you and form it into a fist around the point of
the pencil, curling the right forefinger around it as you hold the pencil
horizontally. Then slowly push the pencil into the right fist, letting it exit
the little-finger side of the hand (Figure 9). Stop pushing the pencil when
your left fingertips hit the right forefinger.
This sequence is simply a feint, done to give the spectators a clear
picture of how long the pencil is and how impossible it is for your fist to
contain or conceal it all. However, when you next seem to duplicate these
actions, an entirely different picture will be given.
Turn your right fist over, swinging the free end of the pencil around
to the left, so that you can grasp it in your left hand. Remove the pencil
from the right fist and adjust your grip on it, so that you are once more
holding it at the left fingertips by the eraser. During this, briefly open your
right hand, then close it again, palm down, in front of you, ready to receive
the pencil. Take the point of the pencil into the curl of your right
forefinger, as you did a moment earlier. However, while it appears that
you are feeding the pencil into the fist, this time you grip the point of the
105
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pencil securely in the curl of the forefinger, taking care that the sharp-
ened end is completely out of sight.
Now pretend to push the pencil straight to the right and into the fist.
But instead glide your left fingers and thumb along the length of the pen-
cil, letting it slip behind the left hand and wrist. This deception, borrowed
from an old cigarette vanish, creates an excellent illusion of the pencil
going into the right fist-as long as no marks or letters on the pencil are
visible to the audience to betray the fact that it does not move. (If you
are using a pencil with a printed surface, make sure that that surface is
turned inward and out of sight before performing this vanish.)
Continue to slide your left fingers along the pencil until the finger-
tips just enter the right fist and the eraser butts up against the edge of
your watch band on the inside of your wrist (Figure 10). The illusion of
the pencil passing into the right fist and evaporating is very good. When
your left fingertips contact the fist, extend the left second finger a bit, until
its tip can engage the point of the pencil. By applying light pressure, the
pencil becomes securely caught between the fingertip and the watch band.
Now raise the left thumb away from the hand, a signal that you have
released the left hand's grip on the pencil, and move your left hand to the
left as you simultaneously turn both hands palms up and open the fin-
gers, spreading them in a relaxed manner and directing the fingertips
upward. The left second fingertip remains slightly bent to maintain its
control of the pencil (Figure 11).
106
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L
E the hand from which the pencil has vanished) as you turn it palm out-
ward, displaying it unquestionably empty.
Again, pause only a moment, to let the vanish register; then continue
the action: Close your right hand back into a fist and raise it again. Insert
your left fingertips and thumb into the curl of the right forefinger and
release the point of the pencil, letting the right forefinger grip it.
Immediately move your left hand straight to the left, gliding the fingers
and thumb along the pencil until they reach the eraser. You are simply
reversing the action of the vanish to reproduce the pencil, apparantly from
your right fist.
Open the right hand and let the left hand hold the pencil at the fin-
gertips. End of interlude.
You will not find the actions of this sequence hard to do, while the
illusion created is excellent and quite surprising. However, practice is
required to do the moves smoothly and without hesitation.
This is obviously not a feature item. The entire sequence lasts about
twenty seconds. However, those twenty seconds are packed with magic,
making this a lovely piece between more substantial effects, any time you
use a pencil.

107
€HAPTER ROUR:
F)EW spooLS
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sp
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~EAK ];)ECKS

<:.____@'<~On Christmas day of 1942 Dr. Franklin V. Taylor gave to magic

the gift of his ingenious peek deck, delivering it on the front page of
Gibson and Elliott's The Phoenix (issue 25). From that date it fast joined
the ranks of classic gimmicked packs. Oddly, these days it is seldom seen
used, and therefore its potential for the astonishment of new generations
of audiences is increased. For the performance of mental effects with
cards, it is an admirable tool. Ken has always appreciated Dr. Taylor's deck,
and over the years he has sought to improve on its structure. His ideas
toward that end are presented here.
The Taylor peek deck is, in brief, made up of pairs of cards, a short-
ened one glued at one end to the back of one of regular length. The name
of the short card is written in the white margin of the joined regular card.
Thus, when someone pulls forward a section of the pack to peek at a card,
its name is instantly exposed to the performer. Because the pairs are glued
together, the deck can be casually shuffled and, if your spectator riffles
off cards while taking a peek at one, he will see a variety of choices go by.
Dr. Taylor was a clever fellow!
Ken has come up with a more efficient way of constructing a peek deck
than that given in the original explanation. Instead of dealing with the
taxing task of trimming twenty-six cards short, Ken uses a standard strip-
per deck. In joining the pairs of cards together, he turns the two cards of
each pair so that their corresponding wide and narrow ends are opposite
each other. He then writes the initials of the top card of each face-down
111
pair on the narrow end of the lower card, I
and glues only the left two-thirds of the op-
1 N
G
posite ends together, using rubber cement E
or stick glue (Figure 1). The twenty-six N
glued pairs are then gathered with their u
I
joined ends all at the end of the pack near-
T
est you. I
To have a card peeked at, you riffle the r,;;~!L9 E
s
upper right corners of the cards off your fin- glued here
gertip (actually only the unglued wide ends of the pairs) and pull the right
side of the deck open when you are stopped, to let the card be noted (Fig-
ure 2). Alternatively, you can have a spectator push open the corner of
the deck with his thumb to
sight the card. This method 2
of making a peek deck is
much easier than the origi-
nal-so much easier in fact
that we feel it wise to mention
that Ken reserves commercial
manufacturing rights.
This peek deck and the Taylor original, though, have one drawback:
If either is fanned or spread as a whole, only twenty-six cards are appar-
ent, making such actions ill-advised. Ken has devised another construction
for the deck, which permits a freer handling and greater utility. In addi-
tion, its preparation is even easier than that just explained.
With an indelible pen, write the initials
of each card (KS, 7C, 4H) on its back at the 3
outer right corner (Figure 3). This is done
on one corner only, and all marked corners
are arranged at the same end of the deck.
Place an unmarked Joker on top of the pack
to cover the initialing there. You now have
a very subtle peek deck. Here are some of
the ways it can be handled.
You can mix the cards, using an in-the-hands dovetail shuffle as you
tilt the faces of the packets outward to conceal the marks. Simply retain
112
B the unmarked Joker on top during the shuffle. You can also riffle shuffle
E the pack face up on the table; or overhand shuffle with the faces outward,
w keeping the ] oker in place by slipping off the top and bottom cards
together as the first action of the shuffle. When finished, square the cards
sp
face down, with the marked corners at the inner end, and demonstrate
0
0 how you wish someone to peek at a card. During this demonstration you
L casually riffle through the outer ends of the cards, letting backs and faces
s be seen. The marks, of course, are concealed at the inner end. When the
demonstration is over, square the deck again, performing an all-around
square-up; that is, turn the deck end for end as you square it, bringing
the marked corners to the outer right.
Now hold the deck vertically, with its face directed toward the spec-
tator who is waiting to peek at a card. Pinch the bottom half of the deck
firmly between your left thumb, on the back, and first two fingers, on the
face. For those in your audi-
4 ence who might know about
breaks, this grip negates such
suspicions. To make riffling
through the cards smoother
and easier, install a mild bevel
in the ends of the deck, with
the upper cards swayed
slightly above the lower ones
(Figure 4).
Now use the tip of your
right first or second finger to
riffle slowly through the top
end of the pack until the spec-
tator asks you to stop. Just as with the original peek deck, the instant the
spectator does so and notes a card, you see the initials written on the back
of the card in front of it. In this case, these do not indicate the card being
noted, but the card resting directly under it. You can note the identity of
this card and use it as a key, later spreading the pack briefly face up in your
hands or on the table and noting the selection next to your key card. Or,
as you let the pack close after the peek, you can first release one more
card off your fingertip, note its marking, then gently riffle off the rest of
113
the cards. No matter which course you take, you immediately know the I
identity of either the selection or the card directly under it. N
G
If you choose to use a key, you can make the subsequent revelation E
appear all the more amazing by first giving the deck one or two casual N
u
overhand shuffles, dragging off a block near the central point where the
I
peeked card and its known neighbor rest, which prevents them from being T
separated. Then, on the offbeat, spread the deck face up and note the I
selection beside its key. E
s
Using the key-card approach, you can also allow the spectator to push
open the deck himself, using his thumb, to note a card. Some perform-
ers will prefer this approach, as it seems further to decrease any chance
of manipulation. One can even let the spectator hold the deck while he
peeks at a card. Just have him grip the deck in one hand while he pushes
its top end open with the thumb of his opposite hand. Of course, you have
him do this while he holds the back of the deck toward you, consequently
giving you a good view of the marked corners. If you can remember sev-
eral cards in the heat of performance, you might have two, three, four,
even five cards peeked at by as many spectators, after which you can even-
tually discover or divine them all!
It will, I'm sure, have occurred to the reader that, with the initialed
corners positioned at the outer right, the face-down deck can be ribbon
spread or fanned from left to right without exposing the marks. It is also
a simple matter to conceal the initials on a card by holding it with a thumb
or finger covering them. Indeed, with only a bit of thought one can handle
this deck in a very disarming fashion, making it appear entirely ordinary.
If your goal is to learn the identity of a freely chosen card in a quick and
natural manner, it is difficult to conceive of a more direct and innocent-
ap pearing method.
N ow let's discuss an even subtler variant of the idea. Initial the corners
of only twenty-six cards in the pack and place them together in the center,
~-i th thirteen unmarked cards above them and the remaining thirteen
below. This permits you an even freer handling of the pack, since you can
overhand shuffle the deck with the backs outward, shuffling off up to
twelve cards, then dropping the center block and shuffling off the
remaining unmarked stock. With this deck, the card peeked at must reside
in the center bank, but spectators are naturally inclined to choose a
114
B centrally located card, making their selection of one easily managed. Since
E the center block of marked cards remains undisturbed in this handling,
w you can place the initials of the preceding card on the back of each card.
This preparation delivers the name of the peeked card to you without keys
~ or spreads.
0
0 While using any these peek decks, do consider some of the very clever
L applications devised for the original Taylor deck, which are just as prac-
s
tical with several of Ken's variants.]. G. Thompson, Jr., in Phoenix (No.
46, Oct. 22, 1943, p. 188) and later in his book My Best (1945, p. 112),
explained "Peek-deck Pappy", in which memorization was eliminated in
a code act with cards by writing the code words for the cards in abbrevi-
ated form on their backs. The deck then automatically delivered the
correct code word, rather than its name, to the magician, while the
medium availed herself of a hidden cue card.
This idea has also been applied to the Any Card at Any Number prob-
lem, in which a peek deck is constructed to cue the position of the peeked
card in a second stacked deck. (We have failed, to date, to ascertain from
whose clever mind this stratagem sprang.) Given these ideas as starting
points, it should be clear just how potent a tool the peek deck concept is.
It is hoped that these fresh variations and improvements by Ken will
popularize its use again among thinking performers.

115
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~ l3ATURAL RALSE €UT

c.___@<t Dozens upon dozens of false cuts are strewn through the litera-
ture of magic. Most are rather complex affairs in which the deck is divided
into multiple packets or put through a series of cuts varying in their degree
of intricacy. While there are times and uses for complex and flourishy false
cuts, the old adage "Less is more" pertains in most cases. Sadly, simple
false cuts that are deceptive are far fewer than their Byzantine brethren.
All this serves as introduction to just such a simple maneuver.
The principle on which this sleight is based is old. A somewhat crude
handling of it was given by John Nevil Maskelyne on page 148 of his
Sharps and Flats (1894). A more finished handling and better description
by Erdnase appeared eight years later in The Expert at the Card Table (p.
40), and Dai Vernon developed the idea further with his "simple false cut"
in The Vernon Chronicles, Vol. I (1987, p. 41). The basic idea also can be
found in Card Control (1946, p. 111) under the title "A Cute False Cut",
where Arthur Buckley serves it up in one short and undetailed sentence.
More recent variants include Mel Stover's Winnipeg false cut, which
appears in Garcia's Million Dollar Card Secrets (1972, p. 93), and Martin
Gardner's optical false cut from Martin Gardner Presents (1993, p. 318).
(My thanks go to David Michael Evans for his help in compiling this
indicative if incomplete family tree.)
Ken, in studying this style of false cut, has developed a refined han-
dling that looks very casual and natural, and at the same time is relatively
easy to learn. In appearance, while holding the deck in dealing position,
116
8 you seem to cut off the top portion, table it, then place the bottom por-
E tion on top, completing one straight, uncompromised cut. The visual
w
image is familiar and easy to comprehend. Therefore, it draws no undue
attention to itself and is utterly convincing. Like most sleights, it should
~ be done on an offbeat with misdirection. However, this false cut will bear
0
0 scrutiny without faltering.
L Begin by holding the deck face down in a loose left-hand mechanic's
s
grip, with the thumb lying obliquely on top of the pack at the outer left
corner. Assuming a relaxed, seemingly unprepared attitude just before you
execute the cut adds to the appearance of authenticity. Move your left
hand toward your palm-down right hand, until the deck can be grasped
by that hand. Without the least hesitation, and with a light touch, grip
and slightly lift the top half of the pack, right fingers at the front end,
thumb at the back. In assuming this grip, your right fourth finger should
lie just to the right of the outer right corner of the packet.
Continuing its rightward swing a bit farther, the left hand carries the
bottom half of the deck along under the right hand, while it permits the
top half to move deeper and at a slight leftward angle into the fork of the
left thumb (Figure 1). That thumb, however, does not slide over the top
of the packet, but instead moves leftward with it, maintaining its posi-
tion across the outer left corner. The important point to note here is that
the left hand moves to the right with the bottom half of the deck. The
right hand does not shift the top half to the left; it simply grasps the top
half and remains steady.

117
 The outer right corner of the bottom half of the deck is now angled I
to the right, and your right fourth finger is perfectly situated to contact N
G
it, allowing you to grip the bottom packet securely between this finger E
and the right thumb. Immediately move the right hand to the right and N
downward, releasing the top half and carrying away the bottom one (Fig- u
ure 2). Meanwhile, the left thumb firmly clips the top half, holding it back, T
and the left hand rotates at the wrist, swinging the right side of its packet I
downward (Figure 3) and clearing a path for the right hand to descend E
s
with its packet.

Set the right hand's packet on the table with an air of deliberateness.
If you execute these actions smoothly and without apparent concern, the

118
B illusion of the right hand cutting off the top half of the deck is wonder-
E fully convincing.
w
Rotate your left hand palm up again, bringing its packet back to a
horizontal position as your right hand returns to take the packet and place
~ it onto the tabled one, completing the cut.
0
0 While this is not a difficult cut to master, practice will be required to
L
shift the bottom half rightward without hesitating or momentarily "hang-
s
ing up". Start by doing the cut with exaggerated slowness until the actions
begin to flow comfortably. Then gradually increase the speed until you
can do the cut at a natural pace. Speed is not necessary or desirable, but
smoothness and a relaxed manner are. While the principle on which this
cut is based may seem too simple or bold, I urge you to give it a fair trial.
When done correctly, there isn't a more convincing false cut in existence.

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SfOP-COVER QRIBBLE ~ASS

~ In December 1900, in a letter published in Stanyon's early jour-

nal Magic (Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 23), Clinton Burgess described the idea of
performing the pass under cover of the top card of the deck. In later times
the idea was inaccurately identified as Ellis Stanyon's, who described it
in several subsequent works and confused matters by occasionally claim-
ing the idea as his own. (My appreciation goes to Stephen Hobbs for his
permission to summarize his research on this subject.) Over the ensuing
decades the idea of the cover pass gradually gained favor among those who
perform expert sleight-of-hand. The idea of applying a top-card cover
to a dribble-style pass has undoubtedly been experimented with by vari-
ous card magicians. Ken included a very interesting handling of the sleight
in The Card Classics ofKen Krenzel (p. 220), which is believed to be the ear-
liest recorded handling of the concept, and perhaps the only one so far
to reach print. What follows is a more recent development of Ken's on
the subject, utilizing an entirely different approach.
This new handling of the dribble pass with a top-card cover is quite
deceptive and has a pleasingly casual look to it. As we pick up the action,
a card has been selected and is to be returned to the deck. You are hold-
ing the cards face down in left-hand mechanic's grip, but with your left
thumb resting at its side of the pack. Your right hand comes palm down
over the deck and grasps it by the ends, thumb at the back, forefinger
curled on top, the other fingers stretched across the front.
Raise the deck two to three inches above the left hand and apply down-
ward pressure with your right forefinger, causing the cards at the bottom

120
Fj to spring softly off the right
E thumb and fingers (Figure 1).
Stop dribbling the cards at
about center and extend your
~ left hand for the selection to be
0
0 placed on top of the packet.
L Having received the card
s
square on the packet, bring
your left hand back under the
right and dribble the balance
of the cards loosely onto the
selection, burying it. A few
2 points to this procedure, how-
ever, aren't apparent to the
audience. First, you tighten
the tip of your left fourth fin-
ger against the side of the
packet, so that when the right
hand starts to dribble its cards,
the inner right corners of the
first few land on the tip of the
fourth finger (Figure 2).
Continue to dribble the
cards, at the same time grad-
ually lowering your right hand
down to the deck as you reach
the final few. Hold back the
top card when you reach it. (In
the beginning you may wish to
form a thumb break beneath
this card, before you invite the
return of the selection. With some practice, though, you will find that
you can hold back the top card without the aid of a break.)
As your right hand descends with the last few cards to meet the left,
straighten your left fourth finger a bit to the right, carrying the top por-
tion of the pack rightward half an inch or more. (You will need to keep
121
your fingernail closely trimmed to do this with any certainty, as other- I
wise the nail can simply skate over the face of the packet, failing to shift N
G
the cards at all.) Your right hand completely conceals this small action as E
it brings its last card down onto the pack, aligned with the lower portion. N
Tilt the left side of the top card down slightly, so that it meets the top of u
the lower packet and closes the gap between them (Figure 3). T
At this point Ken completes the pass in an unusual way that is I
extremely deceptive. The right thumb and second finger adjust their E
s
pressure slightly on their respective left corners of the deck, grasping the
bottom packet along with the top card. At the same time the left fourth
finger curls under the rightjogged upper packet, and the other left fin-
gers curl over it, grasping it and holding it stationary. The right hand now
moves rapidly, raising the inner end
of the cards it holds while pivoting 4
them to the left and forward in an
arc, which causes the lower packet to
swivel around the outer left corner
of the upper packet (Figure 4) and
come out in front of it (Figure 5). In
other words, the right hand quickly
swivels the under packet from be-
neath the upper one, going around
the left side, while the top card goes
along for the ride.
As this is done, the left fingers 5
hold their packet perfectly horizon-
tal and still. The instant the lower
packet swivels past the upper one,
your right hand twists at the wrist,
bringing its packet back into align-
ment with the left hand's (Figure 6).
-c-nlike similar pass actions, tilting
the front of the deck downward to
cover the transposition of packets is
no t necessary, nor must one guard
the right side. If the left hand's

122
FJ 6
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~
0
0
L
s

packet is observed, it appears to be the lower half of the deck, which the
right hand has left behind.
The salient point to be noted about the execution of this pass is that
the lower packet is pivoted out from under the left side of the upper
packet, while the upper packet remains stationary. The left side of the
upper packet is not levered up by the under packet, then snapped back
down onto the left palm. It remains horizontal throughout, while the right
hand rapidly pivots its packet from beneath and tilts up the inner end. In
this position the right hand's packet screens the left hand's packet from
view in front.
Immediately riffle the inner ends of the right hand's cards off the
thumb, letting them fall square onto the left hand's packet. In appearance,
all you have done is dribble the cards onto the returned selection, then
lifted about half of them at the inner end and riffled them off the thumb
again in casual emphasis. Yet, the selection is now second from the top
of the deck and ready to be dealt with as demanded by the trick in hand.
This method of transposing the packets, with a bit more practice, can
also be done just as deceptively without using the top card as cover. Sim-
ply insert the tip of your left fourth finger between the halves of the pack,
gripping the top half with your left fingertips as described above. Then,
with your right hand, quickly swivel the bottom half from beneath and
riffle or dribble the cards onto the left hand's packet. Since in this case
you have no cover card, briefly tilt the outer end of the deck upward as
you extract the packet.
123
 Like any pass, dedicated practice is needed to make the sleight imper-
ceptible and the handling casual in appearance. However, when mastered N
G
it is a remarkable tool to have at your disposal, and brings astonishing E
effects within your grasp. N
u

T
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124
B
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~
0
0
L
s
H)R. RINGERS
@OES TO THE ~OTTOM

~Years ago, the clever and entertaining Irv Weiner published an

excellent method for inserting a card into a face-up fanned deck and
immediately controlling it to the top (see Hugard's Magic Monthly, Vol.
XV, No.6, Nov. 1957, p. 67). Ken, thinking highly of this sleight, derived
two variants that deliver the controlled card directly into a palm. One of
these was the fan steal, explained by Harry Lorayne in The Card Classics
ofKen Krenzel (p. 186) This sleight maneuvers the card into Tenkai palm
grip. The other, described here for the first time, delivers the card to a
full bottom palm.
The initial action is that of the original Weiner procedure: The deck
is fanned face down in your left hand, after which you must secretly retract
your left fingers under the fan, so that
1 their tips all rest on the face of the
bottom card (Figure 1).
Take the card to be controlled, hold-
ing it face down by one end in your
right hand, and insert about half of its
free, inner end into the fan, approxi-
mately a third of the way up from the
bottom (Figure 2). Smoothly and with-
out hesitation, slide the card rightward
along the circumference of the fan and
125
 I
3 N
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toward the top, keeping it always in contact with the face of the fan. At
the same time, slide the card deeper into the fan, stopping when you feel
the inner left corner of the card disengage from the fanned cards. That
is, the entire card now lies free under the fan, positioned about a third of
the way from the top (Figure 3). The reason you repositioned your left
fingers under the fan in the beginning was to allow the card to pass
unobstructed to this position (Figure 4, exposed from below).
You now secretly advance your left fingers again-first the middle two,
then the first and fourth, keeping the fan always supported-until they
clip the loose card to the face of the fan. Release the card from your right
fingers, leaving it protruding less than an inch from the fan (Figure 5).
This convincing little touch, which cinches the illusion that the card lies
caught in the fan, was not part of the original Weiner handling, although

126
 he may well have thought of it. It was suggested to Ken years ago by Tony
E Noice, and its first description in print was in Ken's fan steal, cited above
(where Mr. Noice's name was inadvertently overlooked).
After pausing only briefly, bring your right hand back to the outjogged
~ end of the card and, with the fingertips, tap it flush with the edge of the
0
0 fan, apparently losing it. Follow this action by secretly using your left
L fingers under the fan to "walk" or draw the card farther back into the left
s
hand, its length parallel with your fingers, until it is positioned for palm-
ing. This should take less than a second.
Immediately use your right fingers to close the fan, right to left, bring-
ing the deck into left-hand dealing position. Under cover of your right
hand and its motion, reach out
6 with your left fingers and take
the card into classic palm grip. If
you should find that the card lies
a bit too far inward (that is, too
far past the fourth finger's side of
the hand), your right thumb can
help to adjust it in the left palm
by pushing it forward and even
with the hand (Figure 6).
With the card palmed, you can leave the deck in dealing position,
concealing the card under the pack; or your right hand can grip the deck
by its ends from above and move it forward, taking it from the left hand.
Simultaneously, your left hand turns inward to keep the palmed card hid-
den. In either instance, the card is stolen into bottom palm so quickly and
neatly that it seems impossible that anything covert can have been accom-
plished. The steal is a fine one, relatively easy, and many possible
applications should spring to mind.

127
 I
N
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SJZHE ECLIPSE ~RODUCTION

~ We feel that this idea holds enough intrigue and novelty to war-
rant placing it before you, although its uses may seem limited. Here is
what the audience sees.
You ribbon spread the face-down deck across the table; then, with a
dramatic sweep of your hand over the spread, the four Aces (or any other
cards) suddenly appear face up and interspersed in the spread!
The principle Ken has exploited here is one that has been used in card-
fanning routines for decades, the reverse double fan. The deck is fanned
in one direction, creating a fan of one color. However, only the bottom
half of the pack is used to make the fan. The top half is kept squared. Then
this top half is fanned in the opposite direction, forming a fan of a differ-
ent color over the first. This is essentially what Ken does on the table,
while ribbon spreading the cards.
The cards you wish to produce, say the four Aces, are secretly inter-
spersed face up in the top half of the face-down deck. Getting the cards
secretly into such a state may initially seem daunting, but there are sev-
eral simple ways of achieving the setup. One could, of course, simply start
with the Aces set, and use this as an opening production, or delay its use
by using only cards from the bottom half of the pack for the first trick or
two. However, you might also control to the bottom of the deck the cards
you wish to appear face up, reverse them there with a half pass, then cut
about ten cards from the top to the bottom and do one or two neat riffle
shuffles, scattering the reversed cards throughout the top half of the pack.
Other avenues will occur to each reader.

128
F) To make the production, begin by ribbon spreading the bottom por-
E tion of the pack in an inward direction, forming a fairly straight column
w of face-down cards, angled
1 roughly thirty-five degrees
qz from the vertical. If you do this
0
0 with your right hand, it will
L look like the spread depicted in
s Figure 1 (an audience view).
Keep the fourth-finger side of
your hand close to the spread,
,, obscuring the top portion of the
pack, which you hold squared

\\
under the hand. However, don't
become overly concerned about
the unspread block being per-
ceived. It isn't that important.
Pause a moment, until every-
one's attention is focused on the
spread. Then sweep your right
hand forward, retracing its path
over the spread, using mainly
your thumb and its heel to
spread the top half of the pack
forward and directly over the
first spread (Figure 2). If done
correctly, there will be little vis-
ible overlap of the opposing
spreads at the sides, and the
face-up Aces appear in the blink
of an eye!
The intention of this procedure need not be one of pure mystification,
although when done neatly and well, it can mystify. You can treat this as
a flourish, used to produce the Aces in a highly visual way. Ultimately,
you wish it to look as if you merely wave your hand over the spread deck
and the Aces appear face up in the spread. But even if this illusion is not
completely attained, the production is surprising and pleasing to the eye.

129
 Don't, though, sell short the potential deceptiveness of this produc- I
N
tion. While the reverse spread may seem an obvious procedure, it is not G
necessarily so to those unfamiliar with it, much in the same way that Harry E
Lorayne's highly deceptive spread control (Hugard's Magic Monthly, Vol. N
u
IX, No. 11, April 19 52, p. 91 7; also Lorayne's Close-up Card Magic, 1962, I
p. 121) seems obvious only after you know what is being done. Experi- T
ment with this a bit. We think you will find it worth your time. I
E
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130
B
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sp
0
0
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~PTI-STACK

~ Effect: The performer inserts the four Aces neatly and together
into the center of the fanned deck, clearly displays them there, then closes
the fan and squares the Aces into the pack. He then ribbon spreads or
dribbles the cards, silently emphasizing that he is exerting no covert con-
trol over the Aces.
He now offers to show how an expert card sharp can with a single
shuffle stack the Aces for a game of poker. Giving the deck one efficient,
unhesitating riffle shuffle, he deals out four hands in rotation, moving in
a manner that precludes any thoughts of false dealing. Yet, when he turns
over the four cards that have come to him, they are the Aces!
While this demonstration seems to be an example of expert riffle stack-
ing, in fact the skill required to perform it is far less demanding than its
appearance suggests. Instead, a clever optical illusion is employed to stack
the Aces in an almost effortless manner.
Method: The optical principle involved here is far from new. It was
discovered by Audley Walsh and exploited in his "Ace Assembly" (The
Tarbell Course in Magic, Vol. S, 1948, p. 133), However, Ken has turned
the Walsh concept on its head and applied it to stacking cards, a use be-
lieved to be fresh. To begin, remove the Aces from the deck and form a
neat, fairly tight pressure fan in your left hand. It is important that the
cards be evenly fanned, with no doubles or bunches left together, which
is a task the pressure fan does well.
131
 Hold the fan with its front edge I
tilted up toward the eyes of the N
G
spectators, so that the backs of the E
cards are just beyond the audience's N
line of vision. With your right u
I
hand, pick up the first Ace and in-
T
sert it into the fan, somewhat I
below center. Leave the Ace pro- E
truding from the fan for more than
s
half its length, and with its left in-
ner corner resting roughly half an
inch to the left of the card above it
(Figure 1).
Pick up the second Ace and slip it into the fan, apparently directly
above the first Ace, but actually three cards above it. The insertion must
be smooth and unhesitating. This is not difficult to do. Leave the second
Ace outjogged in the fan, with its left inner corner lying quite close to
that of the first Ace.
Insert the third Ace three cards above the second, positioning it simi-
larly; and ditto the fourth Ace. Thanks to the leftward placement of the
_-\ces in the fan, and the
proximity of their left inner 2
corners, the three cards in-
terve ning between each
pair cannot be seen, and the
_-\ces appear to lie together
in t he center of the fan
(Figure 2). Briefly tip the
fan upward, flashing the
faces of the cards to the au-
dience; then lower the fan,
displaying the backs.
The outward situation is quickly understood, so there is no need to
linger in this display. With your right fingers, neatly push the fan closed,
fro m right to left, so that the deck ends up held in left-hand dealing
position, with the Aces protruding from the front. Due to their placement
132
B 3
in the fan, they will be naturally stepped
E in the deck (Figure 3). To keep their sepa-
w
ration concealed, press lightly upward
with the tip of the left forefinger on the
Sf face of the lower Ace to close the gaps
0
0 between them (Figure 4). This continues
L to give an excellent illusion of the Aces
s lying together in the center of the deck.
Bring your right hand palm down over
the pack and, with the right fingertips,
4 push the Aces completely into the deck;
but in doing so secretly angle them
slightly to the left, causing their right in-
ner corners to break through the right
edge of the pack. Then, with the tip of
your left fourth finger, contact the project-
ing corner of the upper Ace and pull down on it as you push the Aces flush.
This forms a fourth-finger break directly above this Ace.
At this point the majority of the stacking is done, and all that is left is
to get your stock to the top of the pack while adding three cards above
it. A number of methods exist for achieving this goal. Here are several
efficient ones.
A Simple Approach: When your left fourth finger pushes the Aces square
and forms a break above them, dig the tip of the finger into the break,
contacting the back of the upper Ace, and drag it rightward until the inner
right corner projects approximately a quarter of an inch beyond the side
of the pack. Push up with the fingertip on this corner, crimping it; then
immediately push the Ace flush again, without holding a break. All this
is the work of but a few seconds. You can now set the deck down, ribbon
spread it or dribble the cards onto the table to show that you are not
holding a break. Then cut the deck at the crimp and do a single riffle
shuffle, adding three indifferent cards above your stock. This is not a
difficult skill to learn, if you don't already possess it, and is far easier than
the riffle stacking ability you are pretending.
A More Demanding Approach: Having formed a fourth-finger break
above the Ace stock you perform a pass or a top-'card cover pass to ·bring
133
the stock to the top. Dribble or ribbon spread the cards. Then square I
them and add three cards (following the pass) or two (following the cover N
G
pass) above the stock, as you perform either a riffle shuffle or an over- E
hand shuffle. N
u
More Demanding Still: If you can obtain a second break under the top
I
three cards of the deck, you can then do a cover pass under these three T
cards. This completes the stack and eliminates the need for a shuffle, I
allowing you to represent your demonstration as one of indetectable E
s
center dealing. However, forming the second break and making the pass
must be done without hesitation or a prolonged two-handed grip on the
cards. If you can't do this without arousing suspicion, use one of the
previous approaches.
Having completed the stack in one of these ways, all that remains is
to deal out four hands in an obviously fair fashion, then show that the Aces
are yours.
Ken, as he makes clear in his introduction, generally prefers magical
presentations to gambling exposes. Therefore, he often frames this deal-
ing feat as an act of magic rather than of skill. Using a cover pass as
described in the paragraph above, he brings the stacked Aces to the top
of the pack without visible manipulation of the cards. He then hands the
deck to a spectator and lets him do the dealing, investing him with magical
powers. This creates a strong mystery, since the Aces are seemingly
inserted together in the center of the pack and, with no further handling,
appear in the spectator's hand when he deals the cards. In the end, each
performer must decide: Do you wish to perform magic or to exhibit what
appears to be extraordinary skill? The choice is yours.

134
€HAPTER RIVE~
spALL spALES AND
®HORT €ONS
sp
A
L
L

sp
A
L
E
s
~HE lJOST ~CES OF
lJOUIE THE lJOSER

Effect: A woeful tale is told of "Louie the Loser", a chap whose

c.___(@&<t
luck was so unremittingly bad that he even lost in his dreams. However,
a happy ending is supplied.
Louie's story is illustrated by the performer's placing the Aces together
and face up in the center of the face-down deck. He gives cards one simple
shuffle and a cut, then deals four poker hands. Each time he reaches his
own hand, a face-up Ace appears on the deck, but as it hits the table it
instantly vanishes! When all four Aces have appeared, then disappeared
in this startling way, the performer spreads thoroughly through the deck,
showing that the Aces aren't there. They truly have vanished.
The happy ending arrives when it is revealed that Louie has a confed-
erate in the game. Someone is asked to point to any of the other four-card
hands that have been dealt. Amazingly enough, that hand is the very one
belonging to Louie's pal. When it is turned up it is found to contain the
vanished Aces, which far outrank the remaining two unremarkable hands.
Method: This plot melds elements from Jim Swain's "Poker Inter-
change" (Arcane, No.7, May 10, 1982, p. 79; and Swains own Don't Blink:
The Magic of]ames Swain, 1992, p. 2 5) with Lennart Green's "Laser Deal".
With acknowledgments gratefully tendered to these clever gentlemen,
we think you will find Ken's plot and method distinctive.

137
 The first part of the routine uses Ken's opti-stack, just explained. I have
chosen to teach the opti-stack on its own because I felt the idea deserved N
G
showcasing and was afraid its utility might be overlooked if taught in the E
context of a longer routine. However, having highlighted its merits, we N
can now examine how Ken has incorporated the opti-stack into a rou- u
tine that combines it with other elements to create a sequence of visual
T
effects presented in the context of an entertaining story. I
There is no preparation. As you begin the story of Louie the Loser, E
you are seated at a table. If they aren't already available from your previ-
s
ous trick, openly remove the Aces from the pack and set them on the table.
"This is the story of Louie the Loser, a born gambler who lost even
in his dreams. Let me explain. Whenever Louie played a game in his
waking life he never won. One night he went to sleep and had a dream
in which he thought he had everything wrapped up." By this point you
should have removed the Aces and be holding the deck face down and
fanned in your left hand. Insert the Aces face up into the center of the
face-down fan, apparently together but actually separated by three cards.
In other words, you execute the opti-stack insertion.
"Louie dreamed he had x-ray vision. So when the Aces were placed
into the deck ... " Close the fan and push the Aces flush, as described in
"Opti -stack", but omit the anglejog, making it clear by the way you hold
the deck that no breaks are kept.
" ... he could see where they were as clear as day." Spread through the
deck to the first Ace, taking care not to expose the face-down card beneath
it. "It was almost as if the cards were face up." Close the spread back into
your left hand, catching a left fourth-finger break three cards above the
upper Ace. Then cleanly cut about twelve cards from the bottom of the
deck to the top, moving your break nearer the center of the pack.
"The cards were shuffled ... " Cut the pack at the break and give the
deck an in-the-hands dovetail shuffle, letting the Ace stack fall last as a
block. Or, alternatively, do an overhand shuffle, shuffling off to the break
and throwing the balance on top.
" . .. and cut." Square the deck and give it a convincing false cut that
retains the stack on top (see "A Natural False Cut", p. 116).
As you complete the cut and square the deck into dealing position,
secretly use your left fingertips to side slip the bottom card under your
138
Sf 1
right hand (Figure 1),
A where you take it into a
L Marlo palm, gripping it
L
between the hypothenar
and middle phalanx of the
Sf
A thumb (Figure 2). From
L this point forth you should
E
s sit turned slightly to your
left, to avoid exposing the
2 palmed card to anyone
positioned at the extreme
left side.
"Yet he could see them
just as if they were face up.
He began to deal ... and as
he dealt he saw the Aces come to him!" Deal three cards face down from
the top of the pack, starting three poker hands. As the third card is dealt,
an Ace appears face up on the deck. "But then something terrible hap-
pened." When you deal the Ace onto the table in front of yourself, it
vanishes! This is made possible by a devious extension of the Benzais kard
kop, a tool Ken has used for over thirty years to excellent advantage. The
idea of using a steal or palm to make a card visibly vanish as you deal it
belongs to the ingenious Lennart Green. After seeing this Swedish
baffler's performance of his snap deal vanish, Ken elaborated on the
Benzais kop to achieve the same effect. Mr. Green has kindly given his
permission to describe Ken's handling of the deal vanish here. (The origi-
nal Green sleight, along with his "Laser Deal" application, appear in the
monograph Lennart Green's Snap Deal, 1995, written by Tom Stone.)
Ken's handling of the Benzais kop is taught in detail on pages 64-65
of Close-up Impact! (The serious student should also study the original
description of the sleight in Harry Lorayne's Close-up Card Magic, 1962,
p. 269, and The Card Classics ofKen Krenzel, p. 10 5.) To keep this descrip-
tion complete, I will repeat the details of Ken's handling here, while
adding an improvement by Edward Marlo, which Ken has further refined.
A modified left-hand dealing grip is used as you deal the cards. The
deck is positioned a bit farther forward than usual!n the hand, so that the
139
fourth finger can rest on the I
inner end of the pack. The
3 N
G
other three fingers lie along E
the right side of the deck. N
With your left thumb, u
push the top card, a face-up T
Ace, widely to the right, as I
you bring your right hand E
s
to the deck to take the card.
Pinch the outer left corner
of the Ace between your
right thumb (on top) and second fingertip (beneath), as in Figure 3. Held
in this grip the card lies naturally behind the length of the right forefin-
ger, which aids in hiding it when in a moment it is palmed .
. Move your right hand rightward and slightly forward, taking the Ace
from the deck. In doing this, you maneuver it into Marlo palm: As your
right hand moves to deal the Ace to the table, your right second finger
slides the card back along the length of your right thumb, slipping it under
the face-down card already palmed, until the Ace is aligned with the card
and is caught in the same palm grip.
Now a persuasive touch is added to Benzais's kop: the element of sound
(an element that Lennart Green cunningly exploits in his snap deal, but
in which he is preceded by Edward Marlo in his Advanced Fingertip Con-
trol, 1970, p. 140). Under
cover of the right hand and
its Ace, extend the left third
finger away from the side of
the deck, and let the Ace
slide over its tip (Figure 4).
As your right hand carries
the Ace diagonally right-
ward and forward to the
table, the inner left corner
will slip sharply off the third
fingertip and slap against
the table, causing a sharp

140
 sound indiscernible from the
sound of a card being dealt
onto the table. (Because this
sound enhances the illusion of
the apparent release of the
card, you should perform this
sleight on a bare table or hard
surface to accentuate it. A
close-up pad will only deaden
the desired snap.)
The instant you have se-
cured the Ace in palm grip,
straighten your right second
finger, just as you do when
genuinely releasing a card, and press the tip of your right thumb briefly
against the table-again simulating the actions used in an honest deal
(Figure 5). Then lift the right hand from the table, letting the absence
of the card be seen. In doing this, hold the hand in a relaxed posture, fin-
gers slightly spread, letting it assume a look of innocent emptiness. (Ken
feels this open posture of the hand enhances the illusion of the sleight.)
The sound of the card hitting the table, with the card distanced from
the deck, lends a verisimilitude to the Benzais kop that makes the imme-
diate vanish of the card a genuinely startling visual effect.
Pause briefly to let the disappearance of the Ace register. "As he dealt
himself the Aces, they evapor-aced!" Deal the next round, placing a new
face-down card on each of the three on the table, and palming the sec-
ond face-up Ace as you apparently deal it to yourself. "What a nightmare!"
Repeat this sequence again to vanish the third Ace, then the fourth.
As the fourth Ace hits the table and disappears, relax a bit and smoothly
bring your right hand back over the pack. The instant it covers the deck,
gently release the five palmed cards squarely on top (Figure 6). Then
rotate the right hand palm up in a relaxed gesture (Figure 7). The face-
down card of the palmed packet conceals the face-up Aces, leaving the
deck looking unchanged. To improve the deceptiveness of this unload-
ing action, have your left thumb extended naturally across the back of the
deck, and very slightly raised above it, leaving just enough space for your

141
right hand to slip its palmed I
packet under the thumb and N
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onto the pack. The left thumb's
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separation from the deck N
should be imperceptible, and u
the thumb's position across the
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deck makes any addition of I
cards appear impossible. E
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Your left hand must not
move as the cards are added to
the packet; and your right hand
must not hesitate as it deposits
the palmed cards on the deck 7
and turns. Nor should you suc-
cumb to the inclination of
performing this motion as a
flourishy gesture: a sort of
silent Ta-da! Minimize the
hand's movement, letting it
draw as little attention to itself
as possible and making it
appear natural. Done properly,
this unloading maneuver is
extremely deceptive.
"Even in his dreams Louie couldn't win! He looked through the deck
to see if he had any other Aces." Here you use Martin Gardner's hideout
procedure to show that the Aces are not in the pack. To get into position
for this, first tip the outer end of the deck upward a bit, tilting the back
just beyond the audience's line of sight, and immediately thumb over the
top card, taking it into your right hand. Display the face of the card as
your left hand turns palm down, then palm up again while maneuvering
the deck to face-up dealing position. In doing this the reversed Aces are
kept out of sight and now lie face down under the pack.
"But there was none on top ... and none on the bottom." Spread over
the first eight to ten cards from the face of the deck, spreading widely and
making it obvious that no bunches are being pushed over. Take these

142
spread cards into your right hand, under the card already there, and
maneuver them face down, letting the spread close. Then slip these cards
under the face-up deck.
"And there weren't any in the middle ... or anywhere in sight." Spread
off ten to twelve more cards, displaying their faces, then place them face
down under the pack. Repeat this display, working at a brisk pace, until
you run out of face-up cards. Of course, the first face-down cards you
arrive at are the Aces, but it appears as if you have gone through the entire
deck in a fair and thorough manner.
Hold the cards face down as you say, "The Aces just vanished as he
dealt them." As you mention dealing, spread over the top four cards in a
casual illustrative gesture, then square them back onto the deck, catch-
ing a left fourth-finger break beneath them.
"But Louie's dream did have a happy ending. You see, Louie had a
secret partner in the game. Which of these hands do you think belonged
to his partner?" Ask this of someone, indicating that one of the four-card
hands on the table be chosen. When a pile is pointed to, pick it up in your
right hand and spread the face-down cards as you bring them to the right
of the deck. Then flip them face up onto the pack, executing a version of
Herb Zarrow's block addition:
Your left thumb lies along the very edge of the top cards at the left of
the deck. At the moment the right hand brings its four-card spread to the
deck (Figure 8), your left thumb pushes the four-card block above the
break to the right and approximately even with the lower card of the
spread. Simultaneously, the right fingertips contact the right side of this

143
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block and smoothly flip all eight cards sidewise (Figure 9) and face up onto
the pack. Immediately spread over the upper three cards to display the
four Aces. The four face-up indifferent cards from the original hand lie
hidden beneath the fourth Ace.
While switching the cards in this way you exclaim, "Amazing! In
Louie's dream that was just the hand! And his partner had all the Aces!"
Toss the Aces face up onto the table as your left hand does a wrist turn to
conceal the face-up cards on top of the deck. (Other packet switches can
be substituted for the one described here, following the preference of the
performer. One good alternative would be Edward Marlo's "Third
Method" in The New Tops, Vol. 5, No.2, Feb. 1965, p. 25; also inM.I.N T,
Volume I, 1988, p. 131.)
With your free right hand, pick up one of the remaining tabled piles,
turn it face up and spread the cards as you bring them to the deck. Time
your actions so that your left hand turns palm up again, bringing the pack
under the right hand's spread of face-up cards without exposing the cards
on top of the deck. Let the four cards be seen and use your left thumb to
hold them on the deck as your right hand picks up the last pile, turns it
face up and spreads it over the deck to display the cards. Then casually
flip all twelve face-up cards face down onto the deck, taking advantage
of the natural bridge in the cards to grasp and turn them. This cleans up
the pack as you conclude with:
"So at last Louie the Loser won-even if it was only a dream."

144
 €LONING ~UEENS

"Some of the biggest breakthroughs in science have their

<:.___@<1 Effect:
origins in card magic," avers the performer as best he can with tongue-
swelled cheek. "An example." Running quickly through the deck, he finds
the Queen of Hearts and removes it. His handling makes it clear that this
is a single card.
"If I take this young lady, very pretty, and I wish to clone her using
genetic splitting-look!" He flexes the single card and it suddenly splits
into two identical Queens! Both are displayed, then the original one is
flexed again, and again visibly splits, creating a third Queen of Hearts.
When one of these is flexed, another split occurs, but this time, the new
Queen is a half-sized miniature.
"Oh, oh, I'm running out of clone power." He gathers the three
Queens and miniature into a packet. "If I take all our Queens-the
triplets and their half sister-we may just have time to see nature take
over, as the artificial clones fade quickly away." With a snap of the packet,
the duplicate Queens and miniature card instantly condense back into the
one original, quite ordinary Queen of Hearts.
Method: The basis of this quick and visually surprising multiplication
of Queens is Ken's flexi-split production, inspired by a Paul Harris effect
and first described in Close-up Impact! (p. 46). This very deceptive sleight
is made even more effective in this trick by adding two double-faced cards.
You will require:
A Queen of Hearts taken from a novelty miniature deck, and two iden-
tical double-facers, Queen of Hearts on one surface and a contrasting spot

145
card, like the Six of Diamonds, on the other. Any diamond spot card, I
excluding the Seven, will do for the indifferent face, as such cards are N
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"non-directional". (Unless you don't mind the extra trouble before each E
performance of assuring that all the pips on the duplicate spot cards are N
uniformly oriented. Otherwise, you will reap several unwanted anima- u
tion effects as the trick proceeds.) You also need a normal deck that
T
matches the gaffs. I
Arrange the cards as follows: Place the miniature Queen of Hearts, E
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centered and face down on the face-up pack. Lay the Six of Diamonds
(the normal card matching the spot-card side of your double-facers) face
up over the miniature card; then the two double-faced cards, Six-sides
up. The normal Queen of Hearts can be anywhere in the pack. (If you
are doing this trick in the middle of a routine, these four cards can be
secretly added to the bottom of the deck at some opportune moment.)
As you introduce the effect, spread through the face-up pack and toss
out the honest Queen of Hearts, pushing over the first few cards in a
bunch to conceal the duplicate Sixes and miniature card. Square the face-
up deck back into left-hand mechanic's grip; then, with your right hand,
cleanly pick up the Queen, making it clear without a lot of flipping and
snapping that it is a single card and quite normal.
As attention is drawn naturally to this action, use the moment to push
over the card on the face of the pack slightly, and form a left fourth-finger
break beneath it as you push the card square again.
Maneuver the Queen face down and transfer it to the left hand, grip-
ping its inner left corner between the left thumb and forefinger while
holding the card well separated
from the pack (Figure 1). 1
With your right forefinger, give
the card one or two sharp fillips,
fo cusing full attention on it as you
emphasize its singularity. Regrasp
the card by its inner right corner
between your right thumb (above)
and forefinger (below); then carry
the card just to the right of the pack.
Hold it there briefly, making it
146
 2

~-1
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-- ~~~
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flutter a bit. While attention is still focused on the card, use your left
fourth finger to widen the break under the uppermost card of the deck,
making the gap about a quarter of an inch wide at the inner right corner.
Simultaneously turn your left hand palm inward with the deck and grip
the outer left corner of the right hand's card between the left forefinger
(above) and thumb (below), as in Figure 2.
Rotate your left hand palm up again, maintaining your grasp on the
Queen and bowing it convexly over the deck. This brings your right fin-
gertips directly over the inner right corner of the face-up pack. While
keeping the bowed Queen securely gripped with both hands, flex it two
or three times. Note that the deck is held in a rather deep dealing grip
and is somewhat obscured from the audience's view. You are not, of course,
trying to hide the deck, but you are trying to make the bowed Queen the
main element of interest, while the deck falls into the background.
On the second or third flex of the card, secretly clip the inner right
corner of the separated double-facer between your right first and second
fingers (Figure 3). Immediately rotate your hands sharply in opposite
directions, the right hand carrying away the double-facer while releasing

147
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the Queen to the left hand. Using the hands' larger motions as cover, shift
the right forefinger swiftly from the near surface of the card to the far
surface, so that you hold the card with the fingers on the outer (Queen)
side, thumb on the inner (Six) side (Figure 4). The illusion of the single
Queen splitting crisply into two Queens is remarkable, as a few trials
before a mirror will prove. And the fact that the card on the face of the
deck remains unchanged subtly enhances the effect.
You must not, of course, expose the Six-side of the double-faced card
in your right hand-easily managed. Toss both Queens casually onto the
table, keeping them within your area of control, and pause a moment for
the effect to register. Then, with your right hand, pick up the normal
Queen, at the same time secretly pushing over the next double-facer on
the deck to form a fourth-finger break beneath it. You are now poised to
perform another flexi-split. Do so, and toss the two Queens onto the table
beside the third.
The next split will produce the miniature Queen, which presently lies
under the Six now on the face of the pack. To prepare for this your left
thumb must first push the Six to the right, while pushing along the min-
iature Queen as well, until its right side projects past the edge of the deck.
At the same time, with your right hand, pick up the normal Queen
from the table and hold it face down near its inner right corner, in posi-
tion for another split. As a preliminary to the splitting, rub the face of
the Queen several times in a circular motion over the face of the Six. In
this action, secretly extend your left second finger, pushing the miniature

148
 5

Queen rightward, and smoothly steal the small card under the right hands
full-sized one, holding it in place with the tip of your right forefinger (Fig-
ure 5, exposed from below).
Next move the right hand's Queen to the right of the deck and, with
your left thumb, pull the Six square onto the pack again. Use your left
thumb to flick or snap the outer left corner of the Queen. Thanks to the
size of the miniature card, the normal Queen can still be represented as
single in this way.
You now use movements that appear identical to the previous splitting
actions to produce the miniature Queen. The left hand rotates palm
inward and grips the outer left corner of the normal Queen. Your hands
then turn in opposite directions, the left hand taking the full Queen while

149
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8

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150
 the right hand retains the miniature (Figure 6). The novelty of this pro-
:. duction, following the strong visual surprise of the previous two card
splits, ensures that the audience's level of astonishment is kept high.
Drop the miniature and normal Queens onto the table to join the two
double-facers there, and pause for a few moments. Then, as you explain
that nature doesn't allow such frivolous cloning to persist for long, gather
the Queens, using the normal Queen to scoop up the double-facers, and
taking the miniature on top of the lot. You will now conclude the trick
by causing the "two-and-a-half" clones to vanish instantly, leaving only
the original Queen. This is accomplished with a K. M. move with reverse
fingering (a sleight with a name more complex than its actions). Its
application here bears a close resemblance to Richard Kaufman's radical
change (Kaufman's Cardmagic, 1979, p. 80), but in this context the action
is used to produce an instantaneous vanish rather than a transformation.
As a prelude to the K. M. move, you can snap the outer left corner of
the right hand's packet once or twice off the tip of the left thumb. This is
a stylistic fillip, and is optional.
Bring the packet of Queens to the right side of the deck, gently butt-
ing the adjacent edges of packet and deck together (Figure 7). Now "fold"
the packet and deck face-to-face, as if you were closing a book (Figure
8). In this action, use your right thumb to push all the Queens above the
lowermost one slightly leftward, and bring the tips of your left fingers up
against the left edge of this block from beneath. The packet and face of
the deck barely "kiss", then are instantly separated as your right thumb
lets the block from the packet escape and your left fingertips press the
block softly square onto the deck. Your right hand immediately glides the
left edge of its remaining Queen firmly over the face of the pack (Figure
9) and lets it snap off. As these actions are made, your hands turn simul-
taneously palms up again (Figure 10). The result is that the miniature
Queen and the two Queens under it (double-facers) blink instantly out
of existence, leaving only a normal Queen of Hearts in your right hand.
The Six-face of the lower double-faced card instantly takes the place of
the Six on the face of the pack, making it appear that all is quiet there.
Snap the right hand's Queen and toss it onto the table, proving its sin-
gularity, and end your short course in card science. The deck can, of
course, be ridded of its duplicitous cargo at some opportune moment.
151
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SJ'HE UAST flEIST

A member of the audience is asked to play the part of an

<:____@<:1 Effect:
expert FBI criminologist and "finger" four notorious bank robbers. As
the performer spreads through the deck, the spectator points freely to any
four cards he wishes. When these four are removed and turned face up,
they are seen to be the wanted men, the four Jacks!
A tale is then told of how these four once ran their nefarious careers
in different parts of the country: one in Chicago, one in Los Angeles, one
in Hoboken and one in Tallahassee. In reflection of this, the Jacks are dealt
into a row on the table; then each is covered with a quarter of the deck
and the packets are gathered, thus widely separating the Jacks through-
out the pack.
One day (the performers story continues) all four master robbers gath-
ered secretly in Detroit for a particularly big heist. Here the performer
ribbon spreads the cards, revealing that the four Jacks have congregated
face up in the middle of the pack!
When they hit the bank, each had a teller fill a large bag with money,
and they scattered again, back to their respective cities, where they went
into hiding. To indicate this, the performer separates the Jacks again,
placing each in a different part of the spread deck. They are then clearly
and cleanly turned face down at those places.
However, the robbers' daring heist didn't succeed for long. They were
quickly identified and captured by the FBI, each in his own city. The deck
is spread to show the Jacks are face up again in the pack, at the very loca-
tions they were last seen!
152
qz How did the FBI nab them so quickly? The cunning tellers at the bank
A had placed exploding dye packets in each of their money bags, and when
L
the robbers opened the bags everybody could tell who they were. Here,
the Jacks are turned face down to reveal that their backs have changed
color and contrast vividly with the rest of the deck!
Method: No gaffed or extra cards are used for this surprising sequence
L of effects with the Jacks. Instead, routining weaves together the magical
s events that highlight this story of crime, while cleverly hiding the odd
backs of the Jacks until the very end. You will need a deck in which the
Jacks are replaced with a set from a pack with a contrasting back. Place
these odd-backed Jacks together on the bottom of the deck, with one
indifferent card turned face up above them.
The first phase of the routine, during which a spectator magically
locates the Jacks in the deck, contains nothing new in its method, but has
. been chosen for its efficiency. Dai Vernon's strip-out addition, enhanced
by a Lynn Searles subtlety (from Searles's The Card Expert, 193 8, p. 49),
is used to switch the Jacks for four random cards touched by the spectator.
"You, sir. You look like the sort of man we need for the next experi-
ment. Have you ever considered a life of crime? On the side of justice,
of course. You have just been promoted to senior field investigator for the
FBI." As you ply this opening gambit and exploit whatever by-play that
arises from the spectator's response, casually shuffle the deck, maintain-
ing your five-card stock on the bottom. Then settle the deck into
left-hand dealing grip and form a left fourth-finger break above the stock.
The natural opposing bridge in the reversed card should aid in this task.
"In this teaming pack of cards are four notorious criminals. They are
hiding, and it is your job to finger them. As I spread through the cards,
just touch any four you wish. First, one near the top." Begin to spread
the cards slowly into your right hand, presenting them to the spectator
to touch a card. When he does so, ou~og the card for about half its length,
then continue spreading for another card to be touched. Do this until four
cards have been outjogged, spreading slowly and methodically, so that the
fourth card chosen lies somewhere just above your bottom stock. As you
outjog the cards, set them at decreasing angles to the right (Figure 1).
Note that the fourth (lowermost) card is not angled at all, but lies paral-
lel with the deck.
153
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With four cards clearly projecting from the pack, close the spread,
taking it back into the left hand. In the same action, pull down with your
left fourth finger, widening its break to allow the right fourth finger to
enter, creating a wedge break (Figure 2).
Your left hand now shifts its grip while the right hand holds the deck.
The left hand moves to the left side of the pack and grasps it near the inner

154
 left corner, the first two
4
fingers entering the break
'-
' /
!
r
I
and above the stock (Fig-
\, ure 3).
Your right hand can
r. now move forward to strip
the outjogged cards, which
form a fan of sorts, from
the pack. In doing this the
hand secretly carries along
the five-card stock caught between its third and fourth fingers. This grip
on the cards allows the right hand to maintain a natural, relaxed posture
as it works. Use the right forefinger to gauge how far forward your hand
should move before grasping the fanned cards (Figure 4, an underview).
When you feel this finger reach the outer end of the fan, stop and bring
your right thumb down on the backs of the fanned cards, then strip them
from the pack. Your forefinger guards against the front edge of the stock
being seen, and the fanned condition of the cards completes the cover.
As soon as you have stripped out the cards, use your left fingers to shift
the deck back into dealing position and, with your right hand, flip all of
its cards as a unit face up onto the pack. As part of this action, you with-
draw the right fourth finger from its wedge break and catch the left edge
of the packet on the heel of your left thumb, forming a break there (known
as an Altman trap). Then, with your left thumb, press down on the outer
left corner of the packet. This causes the inner right corner of the packet
to rise, opening a small gap for the left fourth finger to establish a break.
AJack has come into view atop the deck. "I knew I had the right man!
You've just fingered Jack Diamond, the notorious Chicago bank robber.
Not bad for your first day on the job." Push off the top Jack and take it
into your right hand, letting the second Jack be seen. "Hold on. You got
Jackie Valentine too, the Hoboken heister." Push over this Jack and take
it beneath the first in your right hand, fanned to the left. "Good grief!
You also nabbed ClubfootJacko, L.A.'s most wanted felon!" Take the third
Jack into your right hand, expanding the fan there. "And Shovel-face Jack,
the Tallahassee hold-up mastermind!" Do a block push-off as you take
the fourth Jack under the right hand's fan, using the first three cards to
155
mask the outer end of the block. Of course, you match the names of your I
felons to the order of the Jacks as they appear. N
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"It was Jack Diamond who came up with a foolproof plan for robbing E
the Detroit First National Bank, main branch; but he couldn't manage it N
solo. So he called in Jackie, Jacko and Shovel-face to help. Being from
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all over the country, they knew their collaboration would never be sus- T
pected. One from Chicago, one from Hoboken, another from L. A. and I
the fourth from Tallahassee." As you give this bit of history, your hands E
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are busy, preparing for Edward Marlo's "Four Ace Reverse" (from his
1945 booklet, Off the Top, p. 21, with only minor changes in handling).
Your left hand openly reverses the deck, turning it face up and settling it
again into dealing position. Your right hand then flips its cards face down
and square onto the pack. The spread Jacks fall flush, along with the cards
hidden behind them.
Immediately deal the first four face-down cards (indifferent ones
thought to be the Jacks) into a row. A face-up card shows on the deck when
you have dealt the fourth card, making everything look as it should.
Actually, there is a discrepancy, as the card at the face of the pack changes;
but since the original face card of the deck is in sight for a very short time
before the switch, and since attention is on the dealt cards, not on the card
at the face of the deck, this incidental transformation goes unobserved.
The Jacks now lie face down under this face- up card.
(A brief digression: David Michael Evans points out that when Edward
Marlo contributed his "Four Ace Reverse" to The Tarbell Course in Magic,
VolumeS, 1948, p. 123, there retitled "Ed Marlo's Face-up Ace-embly",
he addressed the above problem by positioning pseudo-duplicates-that
is, cards of matching color and value-in the initial stack to reduce the
discrepancy that occurs during the switch. In "The Last Heist", this
refinement is easily adopted by making the reversed card and the card
directly above it in your bottom stack a pair of pseudo-duplicates. The
extra effort is small and some may be find it worthwhile.)
In time with the words "One from Chicago, one from Hoboken,
another from L.A. and the fourth from Tallahassee," cut off a quarter of
the pack, revolve the packet neatly face down and drop it onto the card
at the right end of the row. Cut off another quarter and drop it face down
onto the next card in the row. Repeat these actions, working from right

156
 to left to cover the last two tabled cards with a quarter of the deck. Then
.:
reassemble the deck in this fashion: Grasp the two end piles, one with each
hand. Place the right hand's pile (which contains the four Jacks, face up
near the bottom) onto the pile to its left, then these combined piles onto
the next one; and finish by dropping the left hand's pile on top of all. This
centers the Jacks in the deck.
"But on the agreed upon day, all four robbers turned up at one o'clock
sharp at the Detroit First National and pulled off the heist." Make a
magical gesture over the deck, then ribbon spread it to reveal the four
Jacks face up and together in the center of the pack.
"Each of the master robbers went to a teller's window, and together
they had every dollar in the tills and vault stuffed into four big bags, one
for each of them. They then made their escape and immediately split up,
heading back to their separate bases of operation: Chicago, Hoboken,
L. A. and Tallahassee." As you say this, extract the Jacks from the center
of the spread deck, then reinsert them, still face up, into four different
spots in the spread. When you insert a Jack near the lower end (about ten
cards up from the face), casually contact the fourth card from the bot-
tom with your thumb and pull it inward roughly half an inch (Figure 5).
No attention is given this action. If the adjustment is noticed at all, it
should appear to be accidental. Gather the deck into left-hand dealing
position and press down with your right thumb on the injogged card,
forming a left fourth-finger break above it as you continue with the story.

"Back on their home turf, they knew they were safe." While deliver-
ing this line, casually square the deck and take it momentarily into your
right hand, grasping it by its ends from above, your right thumb main-
taining the break. Then replace the deck into left-hand dealing position
157
as you insert your left fourth finger, up to the middle joint, into the break, I
transforming it to a wedge break. Now reverse the bottom four cards with N
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the last action a mechanical reverse (see page 61). Alternatively, you can E
use a half pass here. "Each of them blended in with the local scenery, mak- N
ing themselves as inconspicuous as possible." Here you spread through u
the deck and appear to turn each Jack face down in its place; however, T
you actually execute Tommy Wonder's deceptive Wondereverse each I
time, leaving the Jacks face up in place. Ken's handling of the four suc- E
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cessive reverses requires some explanation:
First sway the top of the deck to the right and reach with your right
second finger under the pack, contacting the bottom card at a spot
between your left second and third fingers. Then draw this card
rightward, so that it rests
sidejogged and hidden
beneath the beveled right
edge of the deck (Figure
6). Your left forefinger, I
I

stretched across the front

of the deck, conceals the I
edge of the adjusted card
from the audience.
After making this small preparation, begin to spread the top cards from
your left hand to your right, until you reach the first face-up Jack. Spread
over the Jack and the first face-down card beneath it, then pause. When
pushing over this face-down card, use the tip of your right forefinger as
a stop to align the card
\\-i th the face-up Jack 7
above it. The cards needn't
be perfectly squared, but
should be in close register.
::'\ext, with your right sec-
ond finger, reach between
the left second and third
fi ngers, contacting the )
/

si dejogged bottom card

(Figure 7, an underview).

158
 Break the spread by moving your right hand and its cards to the right
while turning it palm down. This hand holds all the cards spread thus far,
up to and including the Jack and the card beneath it, and also takes along
the face-up bottom card, slipping it secretly from the left hand's packet
onto the face of the right hand's spread. As the right hand turns over, the
back of this card comes into view and is naturally mistaken for the back
of the Jack (Figure 8).
With your left thumb, peel this reversed card onto the left hand's
packet (Figure 9), then tap the left edge of the right hand's spread square
against the top of the packet (Figure 10) to assure that the face-up Jack

10

159
second from the face of the spread is completely hidden. Now turn your
right hand palm up again and continue spreading through the deck, tak- N
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ing the next cards from the left hand under those in the right. To all E
appearances, you have simply turned the firstJack face down in place; yet, N
the Jack remains face up in precisely the same spot in the pack. u
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Just before you resume your spreading, extend your right second fin- T
ger under the left hands packet and pull the bottom card (another face-up I
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indifferent one) to the right, getting ready for another Wondereverse. s
Then execute that sleight to exchange each of the remaining three Jacks.
When you have finished spreading through the deck, you will seem to
have turned each Jack face down in place; but in reality, all four still lie
face up in their separated locations. Set the deck face down on the table.
"Our story does have a happy ending-not for our four robbers, but
for all those folks whose savings they had stolen. Despite their devious
planning, all four were captured by the FBI the very next day." Make
another magical gesture over the pack, then ribbon spread it widely to
display the Jacks once more face up. With one finger, push each Jack for-
ward and out of the spread as you name the robbers:
"JackDiamond,Jackie Valentine, ClubfootJacko and Shovel-faceJack.
You may wonder how the FBI caught up with them so quickly. It was
thanks to some fast-thinking tellers, who planted exploding dye packets
in each bank bag with the money. As soon as the boys opened their swag,
everyone knew who had made the heist." Dramatically turn the Jacks face
down, exposing their odd-colored backs; and relax, knowing that once
more all is right-even though a little strange-with the world.
A a lot of magic happens during a short time in this routine, all worked
to an entertaining story that lends sense to the various antics of the Jacks.
The other great virtue of the routine is the cunning and economical han-
dling that hides the odd backs of the Jacks while giving the illusion to the
very end that those backs are quite in order. It is a pleasing construction
that yields an even more agreeable result.

160
 @RAVITY S"fRAVELERS

<:_____@-<~
Effect: The effect is a twentieth century classic. Four freely cho-
sen cards fly immediately from the deck, each going to a different pocket.
The method that Ken offers here is extremely efficient and has some
intriguing handling ideas that we believe the reader will find useful, both
for this effect and others.
Method: For this trick you must be wearing a jacket with inside breast
pockets on both the left and right sides. Start by having four cards freely
selected. These can be random selections, or a spectator can name any
value in the deck and the four cards of that value are used. If the selection
of the cards is properly handled, thoughts of duplicates should not arise.
However, if this is a concern, the faces of the cards can be signed by one
or more spectators.
While holding the deck face down in left-hand dealing grip, take the
four chosen cards and insert them outjogged and face down into the cen-
ter of the pack. You can place them in as a block, or you can insert them
one by one with a few cards separating them. Bring your right hand over
the deck and apparently push the four cards flush. However, under cover
of the hand, you actually push the cards in at an angle, swiveling their
outer ends rightward. Then, still working under cover of your right hand,
reach forward with your left fingers until their tips can contact the outer
right end of the angled cards (Figure 1) and swivel them into classic-palm
grip at a near right angle to the pack (Figure 2). The chosen cards, though
still in the deck, are now caught between the left fingertips and the heel
161
 I
1 2 N
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s
of the thumb. (This is the first portion ofLePaul's diagonal left-hand palm
from The Card Magic ofLePaul, 1949, p. 61.)
To extract the cards from the deck, Ken uses a strategy inspired by
Histed's pocket pass. Release the right hand's grasp on the pack and let
the left hand carry the deck to the left-side jacket pocket. In doing this,
turn the left hand back outward with
its thumb straight down (Figure 3). 3 II
r, /

When the hand is inside the pocket, / / '/

/ '
relax its grip, letting the deck drop to /

the bottom of the pocket, while the

fingers maintain a light but sure pres-
sure on the angled cards, retaining
them in classic palm. You will find this
one-handed method of extraction
surprisingly easy, even when the four
cards lie separated in the deck. The
rest of the pack simply falls away or
from between the gripped cards, leav-
ing them behind in palm position.
As your left hand pockets the deck, which should take only a second
or two, and begins to exit the pocket with the four selections palmed,
gesture with your right hand, letting it be seen empty; then grasp your
right lapel and pull that side of the jacket open, exposing the inner breast
pocket of the jacket. Make a fleeting comment like "My pocket here is
empty." These actions hold a particular point of interest for any magicians
in your audience, since many will suspect that your right hand may be
palming cards. When they see that it is not, they are thrown off balance.
162
 By now your left hand should be coming from its pocket. Release the
-; right side of the jacket as your left hand travels up from the pocket to grasp
I_
I_
the left lapel, pulling that side of the jacket open. The cards now lie
between the hand and the jacket and are concealed from all sides. "This
pocket is empty too. Or so it appears. But there is one thing in it." Move
your obviously empty right hand to the opening of the inner left breast
l pocket of the jacket, at the same time moving the side of the jacket closed.
s Your left hand should grasp the jacket at a point four or five inches below
the pocket, your left forearm lying horizontal across your body.
You will now execute a false
4 extraction from the breast
pocket, closely related to work
published by Edward Marlo
and Gary Kurtz. There is a di-
rectness, though, to Ken's
handling that makes it very
attractive. As your right hand
goes to the left inside breast
pocket, only three of the fin-
0
gers enter it. The forefinger
and thumb remain outside and
reach down to the left finger-
0 tips, where they pinch off one
card from the left hand's
packet, that card farthest from
the palm. The card is grasped
at its upper right corner,
thumb on the face, forefinger
on the back (Figure 4). You then slip the card off the packet, leaving the
others securely in classic palm. Raise your right hand and bring the card
into view, back out, apparently having removed it from the breast pocket.
The shapes of your right fingers, moving inside the pocket, show through
the fabric and give the action a perfect verisimilitude.
Dramatically turn or snap the card face outward at your right finger-
tips, display it as one of the four selections, then hand it to the spectator
who chose it or transfer it to your left fingertips and drop it cleanly into

163
your pocket with the deck. Don't spend long in disposing of the card. You I
wish to keep things moving. And don't put your hand into your pocket, N
G
or your audience will surmise that you are merely palming the cards off E
the deck there. N
u
Make a gesture that shows your right hand clearly empty. Then, with
that hand, grasp your right lapel and pull open that side of the jacket again. T
You will now employ an idea of Edward Marlo's (from his Action Palm I
booklet, 1956, p. 53), which Ken has rechoreographed. Move your left E
s
hand to the right inner breast pocket of your jacket and relax your right
arm, letting the side of the jacket swing partially closed. This obscures
the left hand, which secretly
transfers its three palmed 5
cards to the right hand. To
do this, first slip the tip of
your right second finger be-
tween the palmed cards and
your left second finger. This
permits you to clip the right
ends of the cards between
the right second finger (on
the face) and the other right
fingers (on the back). Now
simply release the left hands
grip on the cards as you curl
your right fingers inward,
swinging the cards behind
the right side of your jacket
(Figure 5).
The instant the right fingers have securely gripped the packet, your
left hand draws one card away (either top or bottom) and pretends to
extract it from the breast pocket. Bring the card into view, display its face
and dispose of it in the same way you did the previous card. An interest-
ing psychological ploy is embedded in this sequence, which should be
noted before we move ahead. You will recall that, just before your right
hand grasps the lapel and pulls open the jacket, you let it be seen empty.
The left hand, of course, is not shown empty. It can't be. However, if your

164
 rhythm of action is right, a curious perceptual illusion occurs: The emp-
tiness of the right hand is somehow transferred mentally to the left hand,
leaving the spectators with the impression that they have seen the left
hand empty just before it goes to the breast pocket to find the second card.
With only a brief pause you now proceed to produce the third card
!
from your right trousers pocket. You do this by sliding your right hand
smoothly down the right edge of the jacket until you reach the level of
your trousers pocket (Figure 6). You then move your hand back toward
the opening of the pocket, naturally brushing your jacket back and out
of the way. During these actions, the two clipped cards remain hidden
behind the jacket and your hand.
Use your thumb to push open your pocket (Figure 7), so that you can
slide your entire right hand into it. Then withdraw the hand, holding its
two cards as one. Display the double card.

I 165
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8 N
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10

166
~ 11
A
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You will now flex the double card as you exhibit it, during which you
transfer the card nearest you into left-hand classic palm. To do this, hold
the double card by its right end, fingertips on the face, thumb on the back.
Then press its left end against the tips of the left fingers, resting it in the
creases of the outer joints of the second and third fingers (Figure 8).
Without a pause, bow the double card, flexing its center inward (Fig-
ure 9), and secretly release the inner card of the pair off your right thumb,
letting the card snap quietly leftward against the left palm (Figure 10).
Immediately flex the other card outward, allowing it to straighten
between the fingertips and thumbs of both hands. This clever steal (the
origin of which we have been unable to determine) leaves the second card
gripped in classic palm (Figure 11).
Dispose of the visible card as you have the first two; then slip your left
hand into the left front trousers pocket and bring out the fourth card. Four
cards, lost in the deck, then instantly and unhesitatingly produced, each
from a different pocket!
This sequence, once mastered, flows prettily and the immediacy of the
productions is quite baffling. If you prefer, the sequence can be shortened
to produce only two cards, one from each inner breast pocket. In that case,
when your left hand travels to the right breast pocket to produce the sec-
ond card, the card isn't transferred to the right hand. Instead, the left hand
simply enters the pocket and draws out the card it has loaded into it.

167
 I
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~NDER WRAPS

~Effect: Here is a novel dressing for a baffling piece of card magic.

A spectator is given the cards and asked to mix them thoroughly. She then
wraps it in a paper napkin, completely shielding it from view and from
manipulation. The wrapped deck is set on the table and a magnifying glass
is introduced. The spectator is allowed to peer through the glass at the
deck, but sees nothing unusual.
The performer asks her to name any card in the pack. He examines
the wrapped deck through the glass for a few moments, then announces
a number. The spectator is instructed to unwrap the deck and deal down
to that number. The card found resting there is the very one named by
the spectator!
Variations on the effect are possible. The spectator can name any num-
ber from one to fifty-two and the performer, after peering at the wrapped
deck through the magnifying glass, names the card that lies at that num-
ber. Or he can take the deck and thrust a penknife through the paper and
into the side of the pack. When the napkin is torn away, the knife blade
is found resting directly next to the named card.
Method: The means for accomplishing these truly astonishing feats
may be found disappointingly prosaic by some, but the results produced
are far in excess of their simple underpinnings. The secret is a stacked
deck and a deck switch. Ken uses an efficient and deceptive method for
exchanging decks under cover of the napkin, which can be executed stand-
ing or seated.

168
~ The prime requisite for this switch is a bit of pre-show stage setting.
A You must place several opened paper napkins at your right on the table,
L
with your stacked deck hidden beneath them, its inner end projecting
L
roughly an inch beyond the near edge of the table (Figure 1). Since paper
~ napkins often are thin, you should place two opened together over the
.A deck, creating a double napkin that is opaque. Ken also lays a couple more
L open napkins on the table, which overlap the front portion of the two
E
s covering napkins (Figure 2). These provide more protection for the

169
concealment of the deck, and are taken as extras, casually left on the table I
in case they are needed. (Another method of preparing for the switch, N
G
which doesn't require hiding the deck under the napkins, will be discussed E
in a few moments.) N
u
The stack can be a memorized one, if you like. However, for the effects
I
under discussion, the arrangement can be as simple as separating the suits T
and setting their cards in ascending order from Ace to King. The suit I
banks are then placed in CHaSeD order, or any other you can easily E
s
remember. This simple stack makes rapid calculation of the position of a
particular card in the pack quite easy. For example, the Three of Hearts
is sixteen from the top: thirteen club cards plus three hearts. Or, the
twenty-eighth card from the top is the Two of Spades: twenty-eight lies
in the third suit-bank (spades), and twenty-eight minus thirteen and thir-
teen leaves two. Child's play.
You also require a small magnifying glass, which you keep in your left-
side jacket pocket; and another deck, which matches your stacked one.
With the napkins and stacked
deck in place, you bring out the 3
unstacked pack, with which you
perform several tricks, to estab-
lish its innocence. Then hand
the deck to someone across the
table from you and ask that the
cards be thoroughly mixed.
With your left hand, take back
the shuffled deck, holding it in
mechanic's grip. At the same
time, with your palm-down
right hand, grasp the open
double napkin and the stacked
deck under it, fingers above,
thumb below (Figure 3).
Without hesitation, move your right hand forward, just in front of your
left, and draw the napkins back over that hand and its deck. However, in
doing so, secretly leave the stacked deck on top of the shuffled one, sup-
ported above it by your left fingertips and thumb (Figure 4). Do this

170
~ 4
A
L

~
A
r
c
s

quickly and smoothly, then continue to move your right hand inward,
drawing the double napkin back until it lies centered over the decks.
Release the napkin and bring your right hand over the covered cards.
Immediately grasp the upper deck by its ends through the napkin and
carry the package forward, handing it to the spectator who did the mix-
ing. Simultaneously, use your left forefinger to push the shuffled deck back
in your hand, into gambler's cop position (Figure 5), and let the hand drop
at the wrist in a relaxed fashion, turning back outward. Also bring your
thumb to rest along the front of the deck, to aid in masking it from view
(Figure 6).

171
 Ask that the spectator fold the napkin completely around the deck, I
enclosing it. As with most deck switches, success lies more in your atti- N
G
tude and management of attention than it does in manipulation. This E
switch is not physically difficult, and the napkin provides broad cover. Just N
keep your attention (and thus the audience's) on your right hand as it u
I
passes the covered pack to the spectator. This should be easy, as the nap- T
kin and deck are the natural focus of attention. As your right hand moves I
forward with the napkin and stacked pack, your left hand drops and E
retreats a few inches, out of the frame of attention, turning so that the
s
palmed deck is concealed. While hiding an entire deck in the hand in this
manner may seem daunting, some practice in front of a mirror will show
how easy it is to shield the deck from view with the back of your hand
and your body. It is important, though, that you not move the left hand
quickly inward. This would draw attention to it. Instead, let it drop into
position in a relaxed and natural fashion, while your right hand and its
contents command attention with their broader forward motion.
Here I will briefly interrupt the action to mention the alternative setup
for the switch alluded to above. While it is possible to get the stacked deck
into place under the napkins unobserved in a variety of circumstances,
there will be times when it isn't practical. If you are seated at the table
for your performance, you may wish to try this instead:
Have the stacked deck face down in your lap, and the double napkin
open on the table, its near edge hanging an inch or so past the table top.
As the spectator finishes shuffling the other deck, drop your right hand
casually to your lap and grasp the stacked deck by its inner end, between
the forefinger (on top) and thumb (beneath). Then raise the hand and
deck to the overhanging edge of the napkin and clip the napkin between

172
~ your first and second fingers, loading the deck beneath it (Figure 7). From
A here continue with the deck switch as explained.
L
L When the spectator takes the covered deck from youand finishes the
wrapping, move your left hand back to your left-side jacket pocket and
~ reach into it, leaving behind the palmed deck as you bring out the mag-
A nifying glass. Your covert work, at this point is completed, leaving you
L
E only the task of setting up the effect and dramatizing it.
s Have the spectator set the wrapped deck face down on the table
between you. (You know by the folds of the napkin which side of the deck
is up, since the center of the napkin rests over the back of the pack.) Hand
her the magnifying glass and ask that she look through it at the deck and
tell you if she sees anything unusual. She shouldn't. Then ask her to name
any card she wishes.
Take the glass from her and peer through it at the wrapped deck. As
you do so, you will have all the time you need to calculate the position of
the named card. Announce this position and refuse to touch the deck.
Have the spectator carefully unwrap it as you point out that the napkin
prevents any visual cues or rearrangement of the cards. Then have her
count to your number from the top, dealing the cards face down into a
pile. When she reaches the number, have her turn over that card. It is,
of course, the one she requested. As the audience reacts to this extraor-
dinary happening, casually gather the deck and give it a mix, destroying
its telltale sequential order.
The magnifying glass provides opportunity for amusing by-play, which
each performer will develop for himself. Another object of interest can
be used instead, such as a small crystal ball or a curious-looking pocket
mirror or reflective surface.
It will be obvious at this point that you can have the spectator name a
number from one to fifty-two instead of a card. You then divine the card
that lies there. Another presentation that Ken has used over the years is
Bert Allerton's stabbed pack location (see Allerton and Parrish's The Close-
up Magician, 1958, p. 36). Mr. Allerton made quite a reputation with this
piece. It is certainly no less impressive today, and Ken's addition of the
deck switch under the napkin further fortifies the effect. You bring a thin-
bladed penknife from your pocket instead of a magnifying glass. Tipping
173
the wrapped deck up on one long edge, you estimate the known position I
of the card the spectator names, and thrust the blade of the knife through N
G
the napkin and into the deck. This estimation does take practice to achieve E
reliable accuracy, but is much less difficult than one might expect. In N
addition, you have a leeway of one card to either side, as the effect plays u
equally well with the knife blade landing above or below the selection. T
To aid in making your estimation, visually divide the deck in half; then if I
necessary in half again and again. Using this approximation by halves will E
bring you eventually within a few cards of your goal.
s
Once you have pushed the knife blade into the side of the pack, slit
the napkin a bit and twist the blade, forming a gap along the upper edge
of the deck, in which you can glimpse the index of the card lying above
the blade and know whether you have hit the card or how far off you are.
Given the impossible nature of the feat you are attempting, it doesn't
injure the effect greatly if you must withdraw the knife and "take another
stab at it". And even, in the worst case, if you are one or two cards off,
the stunt is still quite impressive. If you find yourself out more than a
couple of cards, adjustment procedures have been suggested by Edward
Marlo and others to save the situation. However, rather than practice
these, wouldn't your effort be better spent in further practice on your
estimation? The result will be one people will talk about long afterward.

174
~
A
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~
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~OLES cAPART

~Effect: The black Twos are removed from the deck and set aside
for a moment as the performer explains how these two cards carry a strong
charge like that of a magnet. They will actually repel each other, as do
the like poles of two magnets, which explains why they are never found
lying together in a deck. However, another card can overcome their natu-
ral repulsion. To demonstrate the phenomenon, someone is asked to
designate any card in the pack. She rubs this card against the black Twos,
then returns the card to the center of the deck.
She next takes the Twos and inserts them reversed into the pack, one
in the lower third, the other in the upper. The Twos are left projecting
from the side of the deck, and are obviously widely separated from each
other and from the selected card in the middle. The performer explains
that, when another card is rubbed against the Twos, it not only cancels
their repellent charge, it also becomes, within the tiny universe of the
· deck, a "Great Attractor" for the Twos. With this, he ribbon spreads the
deck, and the separated black Twos instantly shoot to the center to lodge
on each side of the chosen card!
The performer concludes his lesson in cardisian physics with one more
demonstration. He asks his helper to reverse her chosen card between the
Twos. This in turn reverses the cancellation of the Twos' repulsive
charges, causing them to spring apart: When the deck is squared and rib-
bon spread again, the reversed Twos are found at the far ends of the pack,
while the conciliatory chosen card sits alone in the middle.
175
 Method: While the handling for this peculiar and novel.effect is not I
totally out of the performer's hands (thus settling it here instead of in our N
G
first chapter), most of it is done by a spectator, making the sudden E
migrations of the black Twos a complete mystery. Again Ken has cannily N
employed two double-faced cards to achieve a cleanness of effect that u
I
would be impossible by sleight-of-hand.
T
The two double-faced cards required display the Two of Clubs and I
Spades on one side, and any other two cards on the reverse. As has been E
s
mentioned in previous tricks, these gimmicked cards can be secretly
introduced into your deck or a borrowed one; and for reasons of telltale
redundancy, the normal matches for the two indifferent faces must be
removed from the pack.
As you begin, the double-facers rest at the bottom of the face-down
deck, their deuce-sides uppermost.
"Have you ever noticed that you never find the two black Twos lying
together in the deck? There is a reason for that. The black Twos carry a
charge like that of a magnet, and since they have like charges, they repel
each other." As you deliver these outrageous lies with your best pretense
of earnestness, you run through the deck and toss out the normal black
Twos. Then square the pack, turn it face down and ribbon spread it,
bunching the first few cards together to conceal the double-faced Twos
at the bottom. After letting everyone see the innocent backs of the deck,
you gather the cards, turn the deck face up and perform a double cut,
sending the first gaffed card, on the face of the pack, to the rear. Then
ribbon spread the deck face up.
"The other cards in the deck, though, can have a surprising effect on
the Twos. I can prove this with your help." Here you address a cooperative
person on your left and ask that she square up the cards and hold them.
"Spread through the cards in your own hands and stop when you see one
near the middle that you like. The Ten ofDiamonds? Fine. Set down all
those card above the Ten. Now take the Ten and rub it three times across
each of the black Twos. Rubbing the cards together like this neutralizes
their opposing charges.
"Now place the Ten face up on the pile on the table-and drop the
rest of the deck onto it. If you now spread the deck along the table, you
can see your Ten buried where you found it in the middle." This is not

176
sp precisely true. While the Ten is still in the center of the pack, you have
A guided your helper into subtly cutting the deck around it, which has
L placed a double-faced card on each side of her selection.
L
"Please square up the pack again. Now take up one of the black Twos,
sp turn if face down and insert it into the side of the deck, somewhere in
A the lower third. Don't, however, push it in completely. Leave it sticking
L out of the side, so that everyone can see where it is.
E
s "Take the other Two now, turn it face down and push it into the deck,
somewhere in the upper third. Leave it sticking from the side too. You
have just separated the black Twos in the deck. Your Ten lies far from both,
lost in the middle. But when you used the Ten to neutralize the charges
ofthe black Twos, you also passed both charges into your Ten, making
it, within the tiny universe of the deck, a 'Great Attractor'. Watch!"
The black Twos should be pro-
1 truding from the left side of the deck
for about half to three-quarters of an
inch (Figure 1). If this is not the case,
quickly and cleanly adjust them. With
your palm-down left hand, pick up
the deck by its ends and turn the hand
counterclockwise and palm up as you
transfer the pack to your palm-down
2 right hand (Figure 2). Grasp the face-
down deck by its ends, with your right
hand obscuring the sidejogged cards
from the audience's view. Then, with-
out a pause, briskly ribbon spread the
deck from left to right.
The result is that the sidejogged
Twos become hidden beneath the
spread (an Edward Marlo variant of a
principle pioneered by Dai Vernon),
while the double-faced Twos are
revealed sandwiching a single face-
down card. Have your helper extract
that card from between the Twos and
show its face: her selection!
177
 After this rapid, near visual sandwich effect has been appreciated, ask I
the spectator to return her card face up between the Twos, then to square N
G
the deck. Guide her actions carefully here, so that the sidejogged Twos E
aren't accidentally exposed. N
u
"By reversing your Ten, you also reverse the charges in all three cards,
and the Twos will again repel each other. Look!" Flip the deck over, face T
up, and ribbon spread it. Three face-down cards are seen to be scattered I
E
through the deck: one black Two near the top, another near the bottom, s
and the spectator's chosen card in the middle. Dramatically tum up each
of the three cards and conclude.
Your two double-faced cards lie together in the middle of the spread,
and can be cut to the bottom as you gather the cards, then disposed of as
circumstances permit.
A cautionary note: It would not be difficult to structure this trick so
that you need never touch the pack, letting the spectator perform all the
actions. Ken has considered this course and doesn't advise it. Doing so
would make the effect too pat, arousing suspicion about the honesty of
the cards-the last thing you wish. It is better to assist in the procedure
now and then, keeping your participation to a minimum, rather than drive
the spectators' thoughts straight in the direction of the method you are
actually employing.

178
s

®AND-WITCHES

<:.___@<l Effect: An instant sandwich location, this time relying on clever

sleight-of-hand rather than cunning gimmickry. The red Queens are
removed from the pack and set aside. A card is then freely selected and
replaced in the middle of the deck. The red Queens, who are identified
as witches with a talent for finding chosen cards are placed face up on the
deck. The deck is then set on the table.
The performer waves his hands magically over the pack, upon which
the Queens vanish from the top! He cuts the deck at center, uncovering
the Queens there, in their new location. However, they now have a face-
down card trapped between them: a "sand-witch" (a pun for which only
certain performers will have the stomach). The trapped card, as readers
of this book will surely have guessed, is the spectator's.
Method: Ken:O, approach to this effect springs from an idea he included
in The Card Classics of Ken &enzel, in the context of another card loca-
tion, in which a coin finds the selection (see "Down, Down, Down", first
method, p. 177). The central sleight is Edward Marlo's rise-rise-rise
tabled palm combined with a bold but deceptive loading procedure
adapted from an idea by Larry Jennings (see "Coin Cut" in Larry Jennings
on Card and Coin Handling, 1977, p. 14), although applied in a quite dif-
ferent way. The rise-rise-rise palm does have an angle problem on the
extreme left. Therefore, this trick should be reserved for occasions when
you are seated at a table, with no one at that side.
179
 Begin the trick by finding the red Queens and tossing them face up I
onto the table. Then have a card freely chosen, noted and returned to the N
G
deck, upon which you control it to the top with as little overt manipula- E
tion as possible. A pass or side steal are able means to our end. In this N
context, though, Ken's preference is the Frederick Montague bluff pass u
I
supplemented by two convincing touches. The details are these:
T
Hold the deck face down in left-hand dealing grip and have a card I
selected by riffling your left thumb down the outer left corner of the pack, E
s
stopping as instructed by a spectator. With your palm-down right hand,
neatly cut off all the cards
above the thumb's gap, fin-
gers covering the outer end,
thumb at the inner. Keep the
right hand stationary, its back
turned toward the audience,
as you move the left hand
forward, offering the top
card of its packet to the spec-
tator. This will position the

1
crook of the left forearm just
under your right hand and its
packet (Figure 1).
Once the card has been removed, bring your left hand inward again,
and replace the right hand's packet onto the left's. Give the spectator a
few seconds to look at her card and show it to the rest of the group. Then
riffle your left thumb down the corner of the deck and stop near center,
exactly as you did for the selection. You may have the spectator specify
the place where you stop riffling, but it's doubtful that doing so adds any-
thing but misspent time to the procedure.
Bring your right hand over the deck, apparently to pick off the top
portion as you did before. However, under cover of the hand your left
thumb relaxes, letting its gap silently close, and the right hand only pre-
tends to grasp the top packet while actually taking nothing. (The use of
the thumb riffle to reinforce the illusion of this empty action is believed
to be an idea of Paul LePaul's.) The left hand moves forward with the
entire pack-tilting its front and right edges down to obscure their
180
Sf thickness-for the selection
A to be returned. Note how the
L left arm and back of the right
L
hand thoroughly conceal that
hand's emptiness (Figure 2, an
Sf
A audience view). In addition,
L all attention is focused on the
E
s spectator and her actions.
Receive the chosen card
on top of the deck, then move
your left hand back to meet
your right. Pretend to replace
the right hand's nonexistent
packet onto the deck, but im-
mediately lift off about half
the cards and dribble them
back onto the pack, creating
the illusion that these are the cards seemingly held by the right hand.
(This cunning enhancement to the bluff pass was independently suggested
by Edward Marlo and Daryl.) Despite outward appearance, the selection
is not buried in the pack, but is on top.
With the deck once more in left-hand dealing position, reach forward
with your right hand and pick up the two red Queens from the table.
Using this action as cover, push over the top card of the deck slightly and
form a left fourth-finger break under it.
Your right hand should grasp the
Queens near their inner right cor-
ners and hold them in a "reverse
fan"; that is, the lower Queen is
spread to the right. Bring the Queens
to the deck and apparently place
them outjogged on top. In reality,
you secretly slip the top face-down
card (the selection) between them.

) This is done by relaxing the left fin-

gers to let the fourth finger's break
181
open along the entire right side of the pack. For this gap not to be seen, I
N
it must not be opened until the upper Queen eclipses the right edge of G
the top card. It is now an easy matter to feed the lower Queen into the E
break (Figure 3) as the Queens are moved leftward and deposited with N
u
roughly half their lengths projecting over the front of the deck. Be sure
I
that the lower Queen is slightly advanced under the upper one as you T
make this load. Otherwise, the inner end of that Queen will be seen slid- I
E
ing under the top card of the pack (as has been done in Figure 3 to expose s
the sleight). While this loading maneuver (a Dai Vernon idea; see Dai
Vernons Ultimate Secrets of Card Magic by Ganson, p. 52 [Supreme ed.],
p. 41 [L & Led.]) is fairly simple, there is a tendency to hesitate and slip
the Queen into the break with a mechanical-looking action. Work to
make the placement of the Queens on the deck look entirely natural. Such
unhesitating naturalness is attainable with some thought during practice.
Once the Queens have been placed as described, use your right thumb
to push the upper Queen inward three-quarters of an inch (Figure 4). This
stepped configuration creates a strong visual impression of the Queens
lying together on the deck. Pause a moment to let the image register.
Then use the palm-down right hand with fingers spread, to push the
Queens square with the pack (Figure 5).

\
\

Without further manipulation, set the deck on the table, about a foot
in front of you and with the front end canted to the left about forty-five
degrees. This angling places the deck in the best position for doing
Marlo's rise-rise-rise tabled palm, while at the same time decreasing the
breadth of the poor left-side angle. You will now cause the Queens to
vanish from the top of the pack:
182
~ The rise-rise-rise tabled palm is done as you wave your hands magi-
A cally over the deck. Starting with your hands held palms down and at each
L
L
side of the pack (Figure 6), swing them simultaneously together over the
deck, left hand over right and right hand about an inch above the pack
SJ2 (Figure 7).
A
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6
s

7 ---
/
Separate your hands, bringing them back to the sides of the deck.
Repeat this magical gesture a second time, then a third. However, on the
third pass, the right hand palms off the top few cards (at least three) by
catching them with the middle phalanx of the thumb near the outer left
comer, and with the hypothenar at
the right side (Figure 8, exposed
from beneath).
Raise the hands several inches
as you separate them, and bring
them to rest at their respective
183
sides of the deck, pausing to let the visual vanish of the Queens be I
appreciated. Explain that the Queens have gone in search of their quarry. N
G
Don't pause too long here. Bring your right hand over the right side of E
the deck and, grasping it by its right corners, thumb at the inner, second N
u
finger at the outer (Figure 9), cut off the top half and carry it diagonally
forward to the left. Immediately set it down just in front and leftward of T
the bottom half. Practice this cutting action until you know exactly where I
you must place the top packet to bring the palmed cards directly over the E
s
bottom packet (Figure 10).

Neatly deposit the palmed sandwich onto the bottom packet as you
release the top packet, then move your hand back to the right, letting the
face-up Queen be seen on the bottom half. In appearance you have cut
the deck near center, exposing the new resting place of the Queens. (This
is in essence the same loading action used in "Open Prediction: a New
Angle", p. 22.)
With one fingertip, spread the top few cards of the bottom half,
exposing the face-down card between the face-up Queens. Cleanly pick
off the "sandwich" and fan the three cards as you outjog the center one.
Ask the spectator to name her card. Then, as you hold the fan by its inner
end in your right hand, press down gently with your left forefinger on

11

184
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the outer end of the center card (Figure 11), causing it to snap softly from
between the Queens and flip face up onto the table (Figure 12). The
selection!

185
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®LUGGARD S H)ONTE

c____@<t Three-card monte routines are a continual favorite in the acts of

card magicians, and we often take it for granted that the traditional monte
sequences and moves we use are clear to the audience. The truth is fre-
quently otherwise. The speed at which the standard monte toss is made
and the card exchanges are performed leaves many people confused and
uncertain of the supposed position of the "money card". I make this state-
ment from personal experience as an observer of many magicians' monte
routines, and I'm certain I'm not alone in this. What, then, is the effect
of monte sequences when many of the spectators haven't a clear idea of
where the money card is supposed to be? Answer: There is none.
Ken has drawn similar conclusions, and as a result has devised several
monte sequences designed to be done slowly, with no possibility of con-
fusion. Here are three of them.
The Slow Show: In this sequence, the three cards-two black spot
cards and the Queen of Hearts-are openly shown face up; then the
Queen is clearly placed on the back of the packet. The packet is slowly
turned face down and the three cards are dealt fairly into a row. Yet when
they are turned face up, the Queen is not where she is expected. Ken :S
inspiration for this sequence was a monte idea of Tonny van Rhee's (a
marketed item later described in Apocalypse, Vol. 5, No. 7,July 1982, p.
652) using short and narrow cards to achieve a secret displacement as the
cards were displayed. Ken's method achieves the same goal, but with
normal cards.
186
 Begin with the Queen as the center card of the packet. Spread the
A packet face up and show the three cards. Then square the cards into left-
L
hand dealing position and, with your palm-down right hand, grasp the
L
packet from above, thumb at the inner end, fingers at the outer. As you
~ now start the display sequence, turn to your left and work toward a spec-
A tator seated there.
L With your left thumb, draw the first black card off the face of the
E
s packet and onto the left palm (Figure 1). Slowly and neatly place it under
the packet, jogged less than half its width to the left. As you do this, bring
your left second and third fingertips into contact with the back of the
second black card, that lying square under the Queen (Figure 2, shown
from below). Then slowly push both black cards as a unit to the right for

about half an inch (Figure 3). Once the second black card is secretly
jogged about half an inch to the right, caught between the other two cards,
187
use the base of your left fingers I
to finish pushing the first black
3 N
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card flush with the Queen. E
Complete this action by run- N
ning the base of the fingers u
I
back and forth a time or two
T
along the left edge of the cards, I
squaring them meticulously. E
s
Your right hand conceals
the secret configuration of the
cards. However, the jogged
card can be spotted if one looks through the arc of the right thumb and
forefinger. This is why you have chosen to turn to your left and work for
the spectator there. By doing so, the bad angle is eliminated.
The Queen is now on the face of the packet. Using actions that look
identical to those employed to transfer the first black card from the face
to the back, you apparently do the same with the Queen. However, things
are not quite the same. Your left thumb seems to draw the Queen off the
packet, but instead you grip the left edges of the Queen and the black card
aligned beneath it, clipping the two cards in the fork of your thumb, and
draw them together as one card to the left (Figure 4). Meanwhile, your
right hand holds back the sidejogged black card. As you make this move
you can slowly turn your body toward center, as the danger from the left
angle is now gone.

Bring the double card under the right hand's card and leave it jogged
to the left for less than half its width. Then, with the base of your left

188
Sf fingers, push the double card square under the single card. This action
A too should appear exactly like those used to transfer the first card. To all
L
appearances you have just moved the Queen to the back of the packet.
L
In reality, the Queen lies once more in the center.
Sf Slowly and cleanly turn the packet face down. Then, while exercising
A utter fairness, deal the three cards into a row on the table. The first card
L dealt is believed to be the Queen. You now slowly switch the positions of
E
s the cards several times, adding a bit of time misdirection between the
actual trickery and its fruits. Then turn up the cards to disclose that the
Queen is not where she was supposed.
Of course, you can also begin with the Queen on the face of the packet,
in which case this sequence of actions seemingly places her in the middle,
while actually setting her at the back of the packet.
Slow Second: In this sequence the switch of the Queen is accom-
plished with a second deal-one so simple as to be almost automatic.
Begin with the Queen on top of the face-down packet. Hold the packet
in your left hand and spread it, so that everyone can see about half an inch
of the second card and of the third. Your thumb stretches across the spread
to contact the left edge of the top card; and the tip of your left second
finger touches the face of the center card.
Turn your left hand palm down to display the faces of the spread cards
(Figure 5). Point out the position of the Queen, then slowly turn your
left hand palm up again, bringing the backs of the spread cards into view.

As your left hand makes this turn, your palm-down right hand meets it
(Figure 6), to grasp the cards by their ends and square them. And this is
189
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exactly what you appear to do. Reality, though, as usual, is somewhat

contrary. Just as the left hand brings the backs of the cards into view, your
left thumb pulls the top card to the left and into alignment with the bot-
tom card. The tip of your left second finger holds the center card steady,
so that it is now jogged to the right of the packet (Figure 7). As with the
previous sequence, the jogged card can be glimpsed from your far left,
so you should favor that angle by working to a spectator on that side. The
turning of your left hand and its cards "blurs" the actual movement of
the top card, giving an illusion of the three cards being pushed square.
You will now slowly and cleanly deal the three cards into a face-down
row. The first card dealt, which is apparently the top one, should be the
Queen. In reality, you do a second deal, switching the Queen for the cen-
ter black card. The mechanics of this deal are, as promised, extremely easy.
190
sr
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Your palm-down right hand merely grips the sidejogged card by its ends
as your left hand moves slightly to the left, while turning clockwise at the
wrist (Figure 8). This stropping-type action lowers the right side of the
packet while it strips the packet away from the sidejogged card (Figure
9). To make the false deal more deceptive, tilt the front edges of the cards
up slightly, toward the eyes of the spectators. This momentarily obscures
the back of the packet as the deal it made. When these actions are prop-
erly executed, an illusion is created of the right hand retaining the top
card while the left hand swings the packet away, clearing the path for the
right hand to drop its card to the table.
191
 Do just that, dropping the card face down. Then swing the left hands I
packet back up to the right hand and neatly pick off the top card (the N
G
Queen) by its ends. Using the same left-hand action, hinge the lower card E
away from the upper one and drop the Queen to the left of the first card. N
Then take the left hand's remaining card by its ends into your right hand
u
and drop it to the left of the previous two. While in normal circumstances T
this manner of taking the cards would seem artificial, in the context of a I
E
monte sequence it appears perfectly natural and emphasizes the fairness
s
of your actions.
The switch is done. Mix the cards around a bit on the table. Then turn
them up to show the elusive Queen's unexpected location.
Slow Slip: Years ago Nate Leipzig was thoroughly puzzled by a monte
move performed by a "reformed gambler" on the lecture circuit named
Kid Royal. Dai Vernon devised (or, as he believed, reconstructed) a
method from a clue found in Charles Bertram's Isn't It Wonderful (1896),
and gave the secret to Bruce Elliott for his Phoenix magazine (No. 14 3,
Jan. 29, 1948, p. 573; later redescribed inDai Vernon's Further Inner Secrets
ofCard Magic by Ganson, 1961, p. 20). Kid Royal showed the money card
on the face of the packet. Then, without the slightest hint of
manipulation, he laid out the cards in a row, using only one hand to let
each card drop from the bottom of the packet. Yet the money card turned
out to be elsewhere than it obviously should have been.
Mr. Vernon surmised that the secret was a short card. One of the
indifferent cards was cut slightly shorter than its companions, making it
possible for the card to slip from between the other two as the gambler
pretended to release the money card from the bottom of the packet.
Years later, Edward Marlo suggested a means of executing this maneu-
verwith three normal cards (see Marlo's Magazine, Volume 4, 1981, p. 243,
steps 39-42). Mr. Marlo's idea was to create breaks above and below the
center card of the packet, so that it might slip out in place of the bottom
card. While the maneuver is certainly possible, it is quite a challenge to
release the center card quickly and surely every time. Ken admired the
cleverness of the original method, and without knowledge of Mr. Marlos
work on the subject, developed what turned out to be an easier and more
certain solution with unprepared cards. This solution follows.
192
~ The Queen starts on the
A bottom of the packet and is
L clearly shown there, using
L
the opening actions taught
in the preceding sequence
~
A (see Figures 5-7). At the
L end of this display, the
E cards are face down and the
s
indifferent center card lies
secretly rightjogged from
the packet. Your right hand,
which lies palm down
11
above the packet, grasps it
by the ends, thumb at the
inner left corner, forefinger
curled lightly on top, sec-
ond finger at the outer left
corner, the other fingers
stretched across the outer
end and lying close to-
gether (Figure 10).
As the right hand grips
12 the packet, your left second
and third fingers pull down
on the right edge of the
bottom card, the Queen,
angling it to create a gap of
about a quarter of an inch
at the right (Figure 11).
Having swiftly positioned the cards as described, your left hand moves
away from the packet. Your right hand then descends to the table to
deposit the first card. This appears to be the Queen from the bottom of
the packet. However, the right thumb cocks until its tip no longer contacts
the inner edge of the rightjogged card, and the hand tilts the right edge
of the packet very slightly downward. The center card, which now lies
loose in the gap between the top and bottom cards, slips rightward, out
of the packet and onto the table (Figure 12).
193
 Raise your right hand several inches while moving it leftward. Then I
lower it and, by applying light pressure from the forefinger on the back N
G
of the packet, release the bottom card onto the table, placing it to the left E
of the first card. N
u
Raise your hand again, moving it farther to the left, then lower it to
set down the third card beside the other two. The spectator should be T
convinced that the Queen lies on the right end of the row. However, it is I
the card in the center. Switch the cards around several times on the table E
s
and proceed as usual.
Of course, you can also begin with the Queen in the center of the
packet and switch it for the bottom black card as you apparently release
that card from the face of the packet.
This sleight can be very deceptive, but it does require careful study and
practice. You must scrupulously analyze the true action of releasing the
bottom card of the packet, then make the honest action and the false
match in appearance. You must also fight the natural tendency of the right
fingers to separate as the sleight is executed, which exposes the sidejogged
position of the center card and its motion. Keep the fingers together at
the front of the packet. With practice this sequence can be done with a
relaxed naturalness that gives every appearance of fairness.
The inclusion of any or all of these "slow-motion" sequences in a
monte routine can create an increasing sense of astonishment, as your
actions seem to grow fairer with each trial.

194
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®TRIP THE !JEADER

<:..__@<1 Effect:After shuffling the deck and displaying the mixed condi-
tion of the cards, the performer cuts the pack into two equal piles, then
sets a black card in front of one and a red card in front of the other. These
single cards are identified as "leaders". A magical pass is made over the
two piles, after which the performer shows that the mixed pile behind the
black leader card now contains only black cards, and the pile behind the
red leader card holds only red cards!
The positions of the two leader cards are reversed: The black leader
is set onto the pile of red cards, and the red leader onto the pile of black
cards. A magical pass is made over each pile; then each is shown to have
changed composition to match the switched leaders: The black pile now
consists only of red cards, and the red pile of blacks!
The performer cleanly drops one pile onto the other and turns the
assembled deck face down. He pretends to lift an "astral" or "doppel-
ganger" deck off the real one and shuffle it. A solid connection, he
explains, exists between the physical deck and its invisible doppelganger,
and to prove this he turns the real deck face up and ribbon spreads it,
showing the colors of the cards are once more thoroughly mixed.
Method: This full-deck version of the Follow the Leader plot can be
performed as a piece by itself, or as the final sequence to a packet ver-
sion ofFollow the Lea~er. Ken has been pondering the principle behind
this full-deck version for years. In The Sphinx (Vol. 6, No.9, Nov. 1907,
p. 107) Ellsworth Lyman contributed the idea using an end-stripped deck
195
to make the cards change to either all red or all black. In Mr. Lyman's I
deck the upper right and lower left corners of all the red cards were short- N
G
ened, while all the black cards had their upper left and lower right corners E
shortened. The red cards were then alternated with the black. By riffling N
u
the cards at one corner, they would fall in pairs showing only reds; and
when riffled at the opposite corner, only blacks appeared. Ken has taken T
this idea and cleverly applied it to the classic Follow the Leader plot. I
E
Ken prefers to use the more common side-strippers for this routine. s
The cards are secretly arranged in alternating color order, with the black
cards lying in reverse orientation to the reds. You can, as mentioned above,
first perform a packet version of Follow the Leader. It is not difficult to
retain the stripped orientations of the cards and casually alternate the
colors before adding the packet back to the deck. When you are ready to
perform the full-deck version, set the deck broadside before you and face
down on the table, as if preparing for a tabled cut or riffle shuffle.
With your right hand at the right end of the pack, use the thumb to
lift the inner right corner of the cards and separate the deck near center.
Cut off the top portion, table it and complete the cut. This cut is made
casually, during a relaxed moment, or while you talk. Next cut the deck
in half a second time, again using the right thumb to make the initial
separation at the inner right corner; but this time carry the top half to
the right and position it for a tabled riffle shuffle. Because you have cut
both times at the same corner of the pack, both halves will have cards of
matching color at their faces. You needn't know what that color is, only
that the two cards share it.
Shuffle the cards once, dropping several cards off either thumb to
begin the mesh. The cards will fall in pairs off your thumbs as you shuffle
(thanks to their stripped edges), and as they mesh the alternation of col-
ors will be partially lost. However, if your shuffle is reasonably even and
neat, there will be no strings of like-colored cards longer than two.
Square the deck, turn it face up and ribbon spread it to show its random
order. There is, indeed, no noticeable arrangement of the cards. No need
to linger over this display. Let the mixture of colors be seen, then divide
the spread near center, at a card of opposite color to that on the face of
the spread, and with a card of opposite color to it resting directly below
196
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it. In other words, if the card at the face of the spread is red, divide the
spread at a black card that has a red card under it (Figure 1).
Square the portions of the spread, forming two face-up piles. You need
at this point to know the orientation of the stripped edges; that is, which
color has its wide ends farthest from you. If you are uncertain of this, it
is easily ascertained as you remove a card from the face of the first pile.
With your palm-down right hand, simply grasp the pile on the right and
riffle your thumb lightly up the
2 outer left corner of the cards, ob-
serving which color shows (Figure
2). This is done as an incidental
action, under the guise of separat-
ing the upper card from the rest,
and because the indices of the
cards are only slightly exposed, no

:..
one but you will notice that all the

•
cards seen are the same color.
3 ~.
Remove a card from the face of

•• •+9 ••• •

•
J)

\'6
each pile and set these two face up,
each in front of the opposite pile
from which it came. Thanks to the
way you have shuffled and divided
~~~~~
""' the deck, the card now at the face
i-9 of each packet should match the
't't~; color of the "leader" card placed in
front of it (Figure 3).
197
 Explain that the two I
forward cards will act as 4 N
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"leaders" for the rest of
E
their group. Make a N
magical gesture over u
each pile. Then, with
T
your palm-down right
I
hand, pick up one pile E
from above, gripping ~ s
the cards by their sides. \.__
You must make this ,I\
grip at the end of the ~
pile that, when riffled
upward, will show cards of the same color as that on the face and of the
corresponding leader card. Bring the packet over your palm-up left hand
and riffle the corners gently off your right thumb, letting the cards fall
in pairs onto the left palm (Figure 4). This can be done neatly, yet with
perfect casualness, without exposing cards of the undesired color.
Square the packet and return it to its place on the table. Then pick up
the second pile, grasping it by the edges, but near the opposite end, and
dribble the cards onto the left hand, displaying colors matching their
leader. Set the packet back in place. The difference in grips used in
displaying the two packets, from inner end to outer, should not draw
attention to itself, nor hold any meaning for your spectators, so long as
your handling of the packets appears unpremeditated and casual.
For the next phase of the routine, pick up one leader card in each hand,
swap them and lay each one on the pile of the opposite color. Make a
magical gesture over the piles, then use the same method just explained
to show that the cards in each pile have changed color to match the leader.
(Rather than dropping the leader cards onto opposite piles, you might
wish to use a rapid pass, side slip or another sleight to effect a visible color
change of the card on the face of each packet. This does complicate the
handling, as you must ensure that a card of the required color for the color
change is correctly positioned in each packet. This, however, can be
managed with reasonable ease when you divide the deck into two piles.
The added visual transformations are appealing, but each performer must
decide if they add enough to the effect to warrant the extra work.)
198
Sf After displaying the second pilgrimage of colors, drop the packet you
A hold onto the tabled one, then turn the entire deck face down, positioning
L it for a riffle shuffle. You now explain the idea of an astral or doppelganger
L
deck, a spiritual double of the physical pack, and pretend to lift away an
invisible deck from the tabled one. Mimic the actions of shuffling the
Sf
A cards, then slip the doppelganger back over its real counterpart. (The
L doppelganger plot was introduced by Ken in Close-up Impact!, within an
E
s entirely different effect. See "The Doppelganger Deck", p. 102. The
presentational concept, as can be seen, is capable of varied application.)
Flip the deck face up, ribbon spread it widely to reveal the mixed con-
dition of the colors, and conclude.
Some readers will probably flinch at the suggestion of using such a
hoary tool as a stripper deck, thinking it too widely known to be useful
in the repertoire of an accomplished performer. Nothing could be fur-
ther from the truth. A stripper deck can create astonishing effects, even
for knowledgeable spectators, if it is used with subtlety and intelligence,
avoiding the standard strip-out action that is so recognizable. And many
tricks normally done with an ungimmicked deck can be done as well with
a stripper pack, letting you perform an extended routine using other
methods, while exploiting the stripper principle at well-chosen moments.
Such devious routining can leave both public and peers thoroughly
baffled. We think that the present example-marrying the stripper deck
to a classic plot in an unusual way, to achieve a genuinely striking effect
in an unorthodox fashion-goes far in proving the point.

199
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RIRED e:fp

~Effect: The performer confesses that, as a child, he dreamed of

being a fireman; until he realized that doing card tricks was a much safer
way to make a living-usually. He asks if anyone else in the group ever
had this dream of saving lives from a fiery peril? A person sharing this
nostalgic yearning is drafted into acting out his childhood humanitari-
anism with a deck of cards. The performer removes a deck from its case,
then removes one card from the deck and, without revealing its identity,
slips it into the card case. The case is then closed and set in plain view on
the table. The rest of the pack is put away.
The spectator is asked to imagine a terrible fire in a fifty-two-unit
apartment building. In each apartment resides a card. When his brigade
arrives at the scene, the top floor of the building is burning fiercely. He
is asked which twenty-six cards are caught in the top story blaze, the black
cards or the reds? Let's assume he elects the black cards.
What a tragedy! Twenty-six black cards incinerated in the blaze. Just
as his men get the hoses hooked up, he sees the upper floors of the build-
ing collapse into those below, falling in on half of the red cards. The
spectator is asked which cards these are: the diamonds or the hearts?
"Diamonds," says he.
All the diamonds, trapped and crushed in the collapse! It is almost too
much to bear. Now, as he approaches the ground floor, to begin rescu-
ing the last cards in the building-the hearts-the flames reach the
furnace in the basement and a terrible explosion brings down the entire

200
~ building, and every card in the pack perishes in the inferno. But wait!
A Someone has collapsed near the open window in front of him. Thick
L smoke is billowing out, but he can see the card is one of the hearts, which
L
he can just grab and pull from the building at the last instant! The smoke
is so dense it is almost impossible to see, but through it all he can barely
~
A make out the face of the card. It is the ...
L "Six," exclaims the heroic firefighter.
E
s "Yes, Six. It is the Six of Hearts! And-this is the strangest part of the
story-when I was a child, I dreamed this very dream. And I have proof!"
The performer picks up the card case and removes the one card he placed
inside at the start: the Six of Hearts!
Method: A recently marketed item by Larry Becker and Kenton
Knepper, titled "Kolossal Killer", was Ken's inspiration for this dramatic
and impossible seeming prediction of one card out of fifty-two. In the
Beeker-Knepper effect, someone was coaxed into naming one card in a
standard pack. That card was then produced from the performer's wal-
let. The secret lay in an equivoque strategy of Larry Becker~, using the
idea of imagining cards being burnt (an idea that Ken has dramatized and
taken a step further). This strategy eliminated the black cards from the
selection pool and was followed by a clever idea by Mr. Knepper, which
made it possible to cover all twenty-six red possibilities with only ten
cards, which were indexed in the wallet without creating a noticeable bulk.
The trick was a fine one, with several very clever subterfuges.
Ken, however, perceived a way to narrow the necessary index down
to five cards (an impressive accomplishment when dealing with an appar-
ent fifty-two-card range), and to eliminate the need for the wallet, using
instead the card case, which has a tidy logic to it. "When Ken explained
his ideas to Larry Becker, Mr. Becker not only approved of them, he
adopted them and, with Ken's permission, described the general concept
on his video tape Mental Masterpieces. In return Mr. Becker has kindly
granted us permission to describe Ken's variant here, which will be offered
in fuller detail and with recent refinements.
The first part of the secret is a narrowing process that subtly elimi-
nates three of the four suits in the deck, leaving only the thirteen hearts
for you to deal with. This is accomplished through a cunning system of
equivoque that is completely imperceptible when properly performed.
201
The scene is set, as you will recall, at a fiery disaster, a burning apartment I
building of fifty-two units. The upper floor is already ablaze when the N
G
spectator arrives at the scene, twenty-six apartments in flames; and he is E
asked which cards in the deck are caught in these rooms, the black cards N
or the red? Ken uses subtle verbal emphasis here, an ancient and effec- u
tive ploy, to try to sway the spectator toward naming the black cards. He
T
says, " ... the black cards or the red?" pronouncing "black cards" clearly, I
with emphasis on the word black, then letting his voice grow softer as he E
says "or the red?" The verbal stress must not be overdone, of course, or s
it can become painfully obvious; but when delivered with the proper
inflection, this leading technique can be surprisingly effective.
So let's assume that the spectator takes the bait and chooses black. You
continue, "What a tragedy! Twenty-six black cards incinerated in the
blaze." And thereby eliminated from the selection pool.
Your narration continues with "Just as your men get the hoses hooked
up, you see the upper floors of the building collapse into those below,
falling in on half of the red cards. Which cards are these: the diamonds or
the hearts?" Again, notice the subtle emphasis on the unwanted suit, dia-
monds. If the spectator continues to be malleable, choosing diamonds,
you say, "All the diamonds, trapped and crushed in the collapse! It is
almost too much to bear." Thus you have successfully arrived at your
needed suit, hearts; and you can continue with your story in the manner
described under "Effect".
Having reached this point, your five-card index provides a successful
conclusion, no matter which heart card the spectator now names. How-
ever, before we get into the details of the index and its handling, let's
backtrack to discuss what you do if your firefighter strikes out in a more
independent direction.
What if he consigns the red cards to the upper story inferno? You then
say, "You must act fast to save those imperiled if somewhat two-
dimensional souls. As you mount the fire ladder to the top floor, suddenly
half the apartments collapse with their occupants trapped inside. Which
cards are these, the diamonds or the hearts?" Here, of course, you are again
slanting things to encourage the spectator to choose diamonds. If he does,
you commiserate on the horrible misfortune of those cards. "All the
diamonds, trapped and crushed in their blazing rooms! It is almost too

202
sp much to bear. But as you look into the apartment nearest the top of your
A ladder, you see that someone has just collapsed at the open window. Thick
L smoke is billowing out, but you can see the card is one of the hearts, which
L
you can just grab and pull from the building at the last instant! The smoke
sp is so dense it is almost impossible to see, but through it all you can barely
A make out the face of the card. It is the ... " And again you have arrived at
L your desired destination.
E
s The last contingency to cover is if the spectator names hearts instead
of diamonds. This can happen at two stages: on the top floor or as that
floor collapses into the one below. In either case, you perch your hero on
his ladder, in position to save just one fortunate heart. "But wait! Some-
one has just collapsed near the open window in front of you. Thick smoke
is billowing out, but you can see the card is one of the hearts, which you
can just grab and pull from the building at the last instant! The smoke is
so dense it is almost impossible to see, but through it all you can barely
make out the face of the card. It is the ... " Home again.
No matter which choices the spectator makes, you will notice that the
contingent narrative seems logical and consistent. Despite this, no spade,
club or diamond is ever saved from a fiery death. There are only these
very few contingencies, which are easily memorized. Just rehearse them
well, so that you can keep the narrative rolling entertainingly.
But now that we have diminished the selection range to the hearts,
what sort of index, consisting of five cards only, can be made to serve for
thirteen? The five cards are the Ace, Three, Six, Nine and Queen of
Hearts. All but the Ace bear on their backs the handwritten inscription
"You Are Off by One!" This is Kenton Knepper's cunning idea. Themes-
sage is printed on the upper half of the card only, as shown in Figure 1.
You should use a deck with a red or other
1 light-colored back design, so that the mes-
sage is easily read.
The unapparent ambiguity of this mes-
sage allows each of the inscribed cards to
stand in for three. An example: The Three
of Hearts can clearly represent itself; but if
the message on its back is exposed, it also
covers both the Two and Four of Hearts,
203
each of these being "off by one". However, within the context of the pre- I
sentation, since everyone knows the target card, their minds interpret the N
G
message to fit the circumstance, and overlook the other possible mean- E
ing. Only the Ace, carrying no message, stands firmly for itself. N
u
If the spectator names one of the values that requires the use of the
written message, you commiserate, "Well, it really was hard to see T
through all that thick smoke." Then expose the message to the audience, I
which will be perceived as a playful little twist in your presentation, rather E
s
than the equivocal shiftiness it really is. Of course, if he chooses one of
the five hearts represented by the faces of the cards in your index, you
never show the message on the back. Instead, you jump with both feet
resolutely onto home plate rather than sliding in.
All that is left to explain is the loading of the index into the card case,
and the later extraction of the required card. Two loading methods will
be given. The first is merely an elaboration on the method employed in
"Shoe-in" (p. 30), there used to leave one card secretly in the case.
Place the Ace of Hearts on the face of the pack and insert the deck into
its case, its back upward, against the front (thumb-notched side) of the
case (Figure 2). Close the flap.
Next set the remaining Three, Six, Nine and Queen of your index in
ascending order from top to face, and put a strong crimp down the length
of the Six. Slip the packet, also back upward, completely into the case, so
that the closed flap lies between it and the rest of the deck (Figure 3).

2 3

I '
I'( (

~
\

204
Sf It is also recommended that you remove the little side flap s from the
A case, which prevents them from being hindrances during performance.
L
L
The preparation is done. When the time comes to perform this effect.
bring out the cased pack and hold it in your palm-down left hand, back
Sf outward and flap-end uppermost. Your thumb is on the right side of the
A case; your second, third and fourth fingers on the left side; and the tip of
L your forefinger rests in the curve of the thumb notch. With this finger,
E
s contact the top edges of the four-card packet trapped outside the flap and
pull them firmly toward you, creating asmall gap between the packet and
the flap (Figure 4). Next, with your right thumb, flip open the flap, then
grasp the rest of the deck and remove it.
4 Your left forefinger continues to hold the
index packet in check inside the case.
Thanks to the vertical position of the case
and the friendly screen provided by the
open flap, the packet left inside is entirely ·
obscured from the audience's view. Let
the flap spring closed over the mouth of
the case as the deck leaves it, so that no
one can catch a glimpse inside.
The second method for leaving behind the four-card index is even
craftier, and is the one Ken prefers, especially when working for fast com-
pany. This time the four cards of the index with the message on their backs
don't come from the deck. They are extras. To set up, hold the card case
with its front uppermost and slip the four prepared cards face down into
it. Then insert the deck face down into the case, over the packet. Because
of the thickness of the extra four cards in the case, the deck will bind going
in. Leave it protruding for over half an inch from the case, so that the
end of the flap just bends around the pack (Figure 5). Thanks to the tight
fit, the deck will remain securely outjogged above the index packet, and
can be carried in your jacket pocket without shifting out of place.
When you begin the
5 presentation, casually
bring the cased pack
from your pocket and,
with your right thumb,
205
pretend to flip open the flap as you talk, paying no attention to the deck. I
You do not try to hide the open condition of the case or the protruding N
G
deck. However, your actions, along with your inattention to them, should E
adequately obscure the situation. (And even if someone should notice the N
open case, what importance could it possibly have?) u
While you hold the case front up and mouth outward in your palm- T
up left hand, bend the flap back under the case, so that the tip of your I
E
left forefinger can contact the outer end of the index packet inside the
5
case (Figure 6). Then, with your right hand, grasp the exposed end of the
deck and pull it from the case.

Your actions are entirely open and

natural, and anyone paying close at-
tention to them would plainly see the
entire deck being drawn from its case
(Figure 7). The index packet lies un-
derneath the deck and is completely
hidden, the left forefinger holding it
back, inside the case. Only when the
deck is about to leave the case entirely
does your left hand turn palm inward,
twisting the case mouth upward, so
that the packet inside remains con-
cealed. Simultaneously, your left
forefinger releases the case flap, let-
ting it spring up to provide further
cover (Figure 8).
No matter which method you choose to use, you now set the case near
you on the table, the flap turned toward you to prevent anyone from

206
sp 8
glimpsing the cards inside. As you re-
A move the deck and lay down the case,
L
you should treat your actions as unim-
L
portant, giving your hands and their
sp contents no attention as you establish
A the premise of the presentation and se-
L lect your helper.
E
s Now fan the deck, faces toward you,
and remove the Ace of Hearts from the
face, holding it with your fingers ex-
tended over the lower half of the back
(Figure 9). Since the Ace has no message
on its back, you really have nothing to
hide, but if you should later have to ex-
pose the message on the back of a card from your index, anyone capable
of remembering your precise handling earlier cannot wonder why the
writing on the card was not seen. You do not, of course, hold the card in
a markedly unnatural fashion that would draw attention to itself.

r r1
Pocket the rest of the deck and pick up the card case. Hold your hands
beneath the edge of the table as you slip the Ace face down into the case,
on top of the face-down packet already there. The idea here clearly is to
keep the identity of the card secret as you put it into the case; and to keep
the uninscribed back out of sight. Once most of the card is inside the case,
though, you can bring the case into view with about a third of the card
still projecting from it. The card lies flat on the four-card packet below,
207
concealing it while making I
the case look otherwise empty
10 N
G
(Figure 10). You don't make a
E
point of displaying the card N
and case, but you do let the u
audience see the card going
T
the last little distance into a I
case that appears to contain E
nothing else. Close the flap
s
and set the case prominently
on the table. If a glass is handy,
the case can be propped up-
right against it.
During the next interval you lead your helper through his fiery adven-
tures and heroic rescue of a heart card. Once the identity of the card has
been settled, you pick up the case and from it extract the correct card of
the five, without exposing the presence of the other cards. With only five
cards, you can obtain the required one almost instantly. If the Ace is
named, the extraction of the card can be extremely open. With your palm-
up left hand, hold the case front upward and flap toward the audience.
Then open the flap and, with your right hand, pull the top card of the
packet partially out. This provides a second view of a single card in a seem-
ingly empty box. As you continue to draw the Ace from the case, turn your
left hand palm inward and the case mouth up, just as described in the
second method for removing the deck from the case (see Figure 8), so
that no one can see inside. Interest at this point won't be on the case, in
any event, since the spectators are intent on the face of the card.
If the spectator has named a court card, you must remove the Queen
from the face of the index packet. This can be done just as effortlessly as
the Ace. However, you are not afforded the secret pleasure of providing
the audience a glimpse inside the case this time. Instead, you hold the case
mouth up as you flip open the flap, reach inside and draw out the Queen,
face outward.
The other three cards are removed in the same manner as the Queen.
Thanks to the crimped Six, which creates gaps on both sides of itself
(Figure 11), extracting the Three, Six or the Nine is hardly more arduous
208
~ 11 than the top and bottom
A cards. Any minor hesitation
L
that may occur here can be
L
easily covered by a line that
~ piques the anticipation of
A the audience.
L Having removed the ap-
E
s propriate card, pocket the
case while all at.t ention is
riveted on your prediction.
Expose the message on the
back if circumstances call
for it-and wrap up a very
strong effect.
It is possible, Ken points out, to perform this effect with an unprepared
deck, making the effect completely impromptu. To do so you must add
an extra step to the equivoque process, one that eliminates the spot cards,
leaving only the Jack, Queen and King of Hearts as candidates for rescue.
("Oh no! The heat from the fire has just blown out the windows on the
left wing of the building, creating a raging inferno inside. I can't quite
see if this is the area where the spot cards live, or the royal family, who
are spending the weekend incognito in the luxury suite. Can you tell who
it is?") "Whether the spectator names the spot cards or the court, through
your verbal manipulations he becomes a national hero by saving one of
the royal family: the heir apparent, the queen mother or the king. Hurrah!
This means that you must have ready only a three-card index in the
case. In the opening procedure of the trick, you can cull the three court
Hearts to the top of the deck, then execute a triple lift and slip all three
cards as one into the case. The rest is obvious.
Ken adds two final thoughts concerning the presentation of this trick.
In the scenario explained above, the spectator is cast in a purely heroic
role. However, the spectator can be made a darker character. In the origi-
nal Becker-Knepper presentation, he became an arsonist who sets fire to
the apartment building, but at the last moment repents and saves one card
from the flames. This line can prove grimly amusing, given a sporting
helper who doesn't mind temporarily playing a monster.
209
 Ken also points out that a very interesting presentation for this trick I
could be fashioned out of the plot from Ray Bradbury's science-fiction N
G
classic Fahrenheit 4 51, in which the job of firemen in the future becomes E
setting fires rather than extinguishing them. It is a fascinating idea, one N
good enough to end a volume of ingenuities. So we will. Godmode u
I
T
I
E
s

210
 AT TFIE. SOUI OF }[rCIC'S PNOGRESS
LIES /t'GE^t1-7Tr-
Dn. Knx Knpxzpt has been a respected inno\-ar(l: in rh. trel'l
of card magic for over forq- \-ears. Durine thst iriia he h-is
released a select body of material to his fellon- masicrans. Thrs
matertat mctudes two meafr- r-olumes of orieinal r.lers. che
.1. 1

contents of which have featured tools tl-lat hsr'. btc*rrne

standards in the expert card manipulators ar:enai. \,--'n, lit-r
seven years of inventing, thinkine and retintng.
--hr :;su,: .;

KpX KnEXZpt'S IXGENTITIES. a book crarnmc,l r'jffi lresn

tricks, sleights and routines for the close-up nlaslcli"Il.
Long recognized as a leader in the realm ot slcieht-'-rt-hi:lJ
with cards, there is abundant er-idence in t}-lrse :ases the:
Krenzel has not lost his touch. -\ u-ell. lfCf}-tlT:ES hnn:>
to light another side of Krenzels crearir-e ti:'rces: Jilr,rllsiti.g
effects in which the cards and coins lre ouf n:'f :hc maslalan -.
'hands when the magic occurs-sleiehCcss o: n.;:
'ieighdess
tricks designed to baftle the most discrinrinnin g r'uCiencds"

IXCEXTTITIES contains thirn--four trcsh lttns icnr ttrre

delectation of close-up maqicians and rheir ,ruCiencts. -\m'az-
ing occurrences u-ith cards. coins-and a penc:I. Optn rhese
pages and enter a \\brld oi \lasrcal Ing.:-:::-s.
--g