What's on Your Mind?

Before you start, conceal three cards in your pocket, faces inward. Have someone shuffle the deck. Take the deck back and deal the top four cards onto the table. (Since you're going to memorize the cards, make sure you don't have two of the same value.) "While I look away," you say, "I'd like you to think of one of these cards." When they're done, gather up the cards, remembering their value from top to bottom. Suppose the cards are nine, jack, three, five. Repeat this to yourself several times and place the cards, face inward, into your pocket, on top of the three already there. Tell them to concentrate on their card. Reach into your pocket and pull out one of the three cards you originally placed there. Don't let anyone see its face.

After studying it for a moment shake your head, and place it in the middle of the deck. Do the same with the other two cards you have previously placed in your pocket. Return your hand to your pocket. Ask: What was your card? Separate the cards so you can quickly grasp whichever is named. Produce that card. You might try a repeat. After all, you still have three cards in your pocket.

The Wizard Takes a Holiday

Preparation: Before the trick secretly glance at the card on the bottom and remember it. (Let's assume that it's the 8 of spades)

Card Trick:

Spread the cards out face down and tell the spectator that you predict he is going to pick the 8 of spades (or whatever the bottom card was). Tell him to point at the card he thinks is the 8 of spades. Once he has pointed to a card, pick it up, look at it, and mutter something like "Good job" or "Way to go." The card which he picks will not, of course, be the 8 of spades, but you want him to think it is. (Let's assume that it's the 5 of diamonds.) Now tell him he is going to pick the 5 of diamonds. Once again, have him point to a card and you pick it up, again saying "Good job." (Let's say that it's the 9 of clubs.). Announce that for the final selection you (the magician) will pick the card. When you announce it, be hesitant, saying something to the effect of "And now I will pick the... oh, I don't know, the 9 of clubs." After you announce it pick the bottom card and look at it. It will be the 8 of spades (or whatever the original bottom card was). Shuffle the 3 cards together to confuse the spectator, and then ask him what the three cards were that you predicted. As he says each one, show it to him. He will be amazed!!!

Example: You look at the card on the bottom and it is the 4 of hearts. You go up to a spectator and announce that using your telepathic powers you detect he will point to the 4 of hearts. He points to one, you look at it, and mutter something. The card that he actually picked is the ace of spades, however, he doesn't know that. You now tell him he will pick the ace of spades, he once again points to one and you pick it up and smile. The card that he actually took was the 5 of spades. Thus, you announce that this time, for a change of pace, that you (the magician) will pick the 5 of spades. You then pick the bottom card and shuffle them up. You then ask him to recall the cards and as he names each one you show them to him.

Note: The following trick is an audience pleaser, it is based on one of the oldest methods in magic. This method is used often and is best kept secret..

The Year Game

Before you begin, place one of the jokers on the bottom of the deck. Now tell the spectator to take a card. Have her place it on top of the deck and cut the cards. You can have her cut a lot of times. Then say you have to have the joker on the bottom. Look for the joker. When you find it, the card after it is the spectator's card. Cut the deck so that her card is on top of the deck, and the joker is on the bottom.

Now you ask:

- Ask how many weeks are in a year. When the spectator answers 52, deal 5 cards onto the table in a pile, and then deal 2 cards in a separate pile.

- Put the 2 card group on the 5 card group, pick them both up and put them on the deck.

- Ask how many months are in a year. Deal 12 cards onto the table. Pick them up and replace them on the deck.

- Ask how many days are in a week. Deal 7 cards onto the table and then replace them on the deck.

-Take off the top card and bury it in the deck. Take the joker from the bottom and touch the top card with it. Then turn over the top card, which is the spectator's card.

Editor's Note (--bryan): Instead of moving the top card to the bottom at the end, you may do a double lift instead. The double lift is more difficult but looks a little better than taking the top card off of the deck }:->

49er Fools Gold

Effect: Spectator selects a card from among 49 lying on the table, and the magician is able to find it, and even bet some fools gold on it.

Card Trick:

No preparation necessary. From an ordinary deck of cards (without the jokers) have a spectator select any three cards. Throw these aside while explaining "Those three cards we aren't going to use." Then deal the remaining 49 cards face up in seven rows of seven cards. Overlap the cards in each column so that they're all visible and can be slid together without disarranging their order. Deal quickly so the audience knows you can't memorize them. Have the spectator mentally select one of the cards and show you the column it's in. Scoop up the column it up, taking care not to disturb the order of the cards. Then scoop up the other columns, keeping the mystery column in the middle of the group (column, column, column, mystery-card column, column, column, column). Again do this quickly so that there is no time for memorization. Deal the cards again in seven rows of seven cards and again ask which column the mystery card is in.

No matter which column is selected, you will know that the mystery card is the middle (4th) card in that column. You can glance at the middle card of the picked column as you scoop it up, again being careful not to disturb the order of the cards and picking up the mystery-card column so that it is the middle column.

Fools Gold ending: Start dealing the cards face up, scattering them on the table. The 25th card will be the mystery card, but continue past it for about four more cards. I make it look as though I've completely screwed up the trick. I then challenge the spectator : "I'll bet you 500 pounds of fools gold that the next card I turn over is the one you chose." Since the mystery card is already lying face up on the table, most people will jump at the bet and may even bet real money. Then reach into the mess on the table and turn the mystery card face down. A guaranteed jaw dropper.

Ending variations:

1. Just turn over 24 cards, then issue the fools gold challenge. The 25th card will be the mystery one.

2. After the second deal, the mystery column can be picked up first (mystery column, column, column, column, column, column, column), second or third. If the mystery column is first, count three cards off deck and the fourth card will be the mystery card. If it's second, show the 11th card; if it's third, show the 18th card.

3. After the second deal, pick up the mystery-card column first (so that it's is on top of the deck). Put the deck behind your back and take the first three cards off the top of the deck and place them on the bottom. Take the mystery card and flip it over, face up, and insert into middle of the deck. Then bring out the deck, place it on the table, and tap your finger on deck, saying, "Roll over, roll over, red-rover, roll over." Then pass the deck to the spectator and tell him (or her) that his card should be easy to find. The mystery-card has flipped over in the middle of the deck, to his astonishment.

Ace's Memory

Effect: Trick uses full or almost full card deck: one ace, one king, and one queen of any suit in ace-king-queen order at bottom of deck (ace is bottom card). You must know how to deal from bottom of deck.

Card Trick:

1. Show spectator the bottom three cards (ace, king, queen). Then tilt the deck down so spectator can't see the bottom.

2. Tell spectator that you will take the ace, king, and queen from the bottom of the deck. Pretend to pull the ace out from the bottom with your right second finger, but actually slide it toward you with your left third finger under the deck while with your right second finger you slide out the king and lay it on the table. Slide out the next card (apparently the king but actually the ace) and lay it to the right of the king. Slide out the queen and lay it to the right of the other two cards.

3. Spectator believes that the order from left to right is ace-king-queen, but it is really king-ace-queen. Pick up middle card (ace), put it on the first card, and then put those two on the third card. Pick them up so that spectator can't see the faces. Spectator believes the ace is the second card, but it's actually the top card.

4. Deal the cards in a row again from left to right. Spectator will think the order is king-ace-queen. In fact, it is ace-king-queen.

5. As in step 3, put the middle card on the left card, and the two cards on the right card. Spectator believes the ace is on top; in fact, it is in the middle.

6. Pretend to deal the cards as before. But with the first card, do a bottom-deal: take the bottom card from the three cards and lay it down so spectator will think you dealt off the top when you actually dealt off the bottom.

7. Deal the next two cards to complete the row. Tell spectator to find the ace. If your bottom deal deceived the spectator, he (or she) will believe that the ace is the card at the left. If it didn't deceive him, he will believe that the ace is in the middle. But in fact, it's the third card (farthest to the right). The spectator will be wrong whether your bottom deal fooled him or not.

Editor's suggestion: At the beginning of step 3, it might be a good idea to ask the spectator to keep track of the ace, and after that you should deal and pick up the cards slowly, to make it easy for him to follow the ace. Otherwise, if he gets confused, he'll guess at random in step 7 and may accidentally find the ace. Also, it might be fun to ask other spectators where they think the ace is before you turn it over. Some will guess first card and some will guess second. --RS.

Amazing Ace stopper: Ultimate Card Trick

Effect: The magician riffles down through a borrowed deck and tells a spectator to say stop at any point. The magician cuts off the cards above that point, turns them face up, and replaces them on the deck. Then he spreads the deck from the top until he reaches the first face down card. The magician puts this card face down on the table. He repeats this process three times. When the four card are flipped over, they are found to be all four aces!!!!!

Before the trick starts, remove the four aces and any two other cards. Make two face-up piles of two aces each. Lay one odd card on each pile. Pick up one pile of three cards, turn it face down, and lay it on the other pile. Pick up all six cards and lay them on top of the face-down deck. You're ready to present the trick.

Starting below the top 6 cards, riffle your finger down the edge of the deck and ask the spectator to say stop. Keep the deck squared up so he (or she) won't see the 3 face-up cards. At the point where he says stop, remove all the cards above it carefully, turn them upside down, and replace them on the deck. Then look through the deck from the top down. When you get to the first face-down card, put it face down on the table. (It will be an ace.) Turn the face-up cards face down and put them on the bottom of the deck. Repeat this 3 times, being careful not to reveal the secret face-up cards, and the spectator will always stop on the 4 aces. Don't repeat it to the same crowd!

Editor's suggestions: It's hard to keep the audience from glimpsing one of the secret face-up cards when you're fanning down through the deck. I've found that you needn't give the audience a full view of the fan until you've found the first face-down card. You can hold the fan horizontally and look down at it so that it's edgewise to the audience. When you find the first face-down card, you can make sure that no secret cards are showing before you tip down the fan and show it to the spectators. You can also increase your safety margin by putting two odd cards on each stack of aces rather than one. This gives you more leeway when you're fanning down through the cards. Note that if you do this, the first face-up card will appear 8 cards above the point where you cut the deck. --RS.

Assistance Needed

Effect: You lay out a bunch of cards on the table and have a member of your audience pick one. Your assistant goes out of the room while this is done. The assistant is called back in and knows the person's card! This is repeated.

Card Trick:

1. Have an assistant with you who knows exactly how the trick works.

2. Lay out ten cards in the same layout as the spots on a 10 card (four on each side and two in the middle). The card in the upper left-hand corner must be a 10. (Editor's suggestion: After the audience has shuffled the deck, look through it--perhaps pretending to find and remove any jokers--find a 10, and casually cut the deck so that the 10 is on top.  Turn the deck face down and deal the top ten cards into the layout, starting in the upper left-hand corner. --RS.)

3. Have your assistant leave the room. Ask an audience member to help you with the trick. Have the person point to one of the cards.

4. Call your assistant back into the room and start pointing to cards one by one, saying "Is it this card?" until the assistant stops you. (Or the assistant might stop you and identify the card any time after you've pointed to the first few cards.) The secret is that when you point to the first card, which must be the 10 in the upper left-hand corner, you point to the symbol (diamond, heart, etc.) whose position on the 10 card corresponds to the position of the selected card among the cards on the
table. Therefore, your assistant knows the person's card as soon as you've pointed to the first card, the 10.

5. If you want an even more amazed response from your audience, tell the audience member to try to trick your assistant at one point by not picking a card. When you start pointing to the cards again with your assistant, point to the empty space in between the two middle symbols on the 10 card! This will have your audience thinking for hours on hand!

Editor's suggestion: You should probably point to the cards in the same sequence every time: start in the upper left corner and proceed through the layout from left to right and from top to bottom. Otherwise the audience can easily invent other ways the trick might work such as pointing to the selected card after pointing to any three others. --RS.

Effect: Two cards are freely (yes, freely) selected and inserted face up in the deck in two different places. Magician runs through the deck and drops the face-up selected card and the face-down card next to it, on the table. When the face-down cards are turned face up, they are seen to be the mates of the selected cards in colour and value.

Card Trick: Taken from David Lander's column, "I was just thinking..."

Set-up: Put deck in “Best Friends” order. See below.

Performance:

Spread the deck and have a card selected. Cut all cards above selected card to the bottom. Have card removed and replaced on the top of the deck, face up. Undercut half the deck and peek at the bottom card. If it is a mate to the selected card, remember that the selected card is a before card. If it is not a mate, the selected card is an after card. Drop the cards in your right hand on top of the face up card. Repeat this 2 or 3 times; if you do it more times than that, it can be hard to remember what cards are what. Now run through the deck. When you hit an after card, drop it and the card after it on the table. When you hit a before card, drop it and the card before it on the table. Flip over the cards, and they match. Be sure to explain the mate concept before you flip over the cards.

Features:

Best Friends Order

The deck is simply set up in pairs by value and colour. Put the two red kings together, the two black twos, the two red jacks, etc. You can cut this deck all you want. The Best Friends effect wont be affected if a pair is separated, one on top and one on bottom. With another cut the order will right itself.

Effect: Two cards are randomly picked from the deck, and inserted face up in the deck in two different places. The magician runs through the deck and drops the face-up cards on the table, and the top two cards are the mates of the two selected cards.

Set-up: Put deck in Best Friends order. See below.

Performance: Spread the deck and have a card selected. Cut all cards above selected card to the bottom. Have card removed and replaced on top of the deck, face up. Undercut half the deck and peek bottom card. If it is a mate to the selected card, remember that the selected card is a before
card. If it is not a mate, the selected card is an after card. Repeat this 2 or 3 times; if you do it more times than that, it can be hard to remember what cards are what. After each choice, you can give the effect of mixing the cards by giving the deck several complete cuts.

Now run through the deck. When you get to the first face-up card, cut the deck and drop the card on the table. If it's an after card, put your right-hand packet on the bottom of the deck. If it's a before card, slip the bottom card of your right-hand packet to the top of your left-hand packet, and put the rest of your right-hand packet on the bottom of the deck.

Then find the next face-up card. Again cut the deck with your right hand and drop the card on the table. Here comes the tricky part. If the face-up card is an after card, slip the top card of the left-hand packet to the top of your right-hand packet. Then put the right-hand packet on top of the
deck.

If the card is a before card, you must transfer the bottom card in your right-hand packet to the top of the same packet. Slip it with your right fingers to the top of the left-hand packet and then with your left thumb to the top of your right-hand packet in one quick motion. Then put your right-hand packet on top of the deck. With a little practice these moves can be done smoothly, and with some quick talking your audience will never figure it out.

Bottoms Up

Ask a spectator to shuffle cards. When he/she hands them back to you note the bottom card. That is "their card." Start by fanning the cards out. Run your finger across them and ask the spectator when to stop. When he/she says to stop, put your thumb on that point.

The Trick:
While your thumb is on that point, use your other fingers to slowly work the bottom card under your thumb. As you pull the cards off the top of the deck with your thumb, slide the bottom card under the other cards and pull them off the deck and show the spectator his/ her card. This is where you take over. Since you already know the card you can have the spectator cut, shuffle, ect.

My favourite ending:
Start flipping the cards from the top of the deck over onto the table. When you flip their card say, "I'll bet you a million bucks that the next card I flip over will be yours!" They'll think you messed up because their card is already flipped over on the table. If they know about card tricks they will think that you used their card as a key card. When they say, "Make it two million and you're on!" flip their card, which is already on the table, face down. They'll be dumbfounded.

Calling the Shots

Card Trick:

Glimpse the bottom card and shuffle the deck, retaining the bottom card in place, while you tell your friend or guest that you are going to make him (or her) pick cards out of the deck without looking at them. (False shuffles: If you riffle shuffle, remember which half was the bottom of the deck and drop the bottom card of this half first. If you overhand shuffle, when you lift the cards with your right hand, hold back the bottom card with your left fingers.)

Let's assume that the bottom card is the 3 of diamonds.

Set the deck on a table. Tell the guest that you want him to pick some cards out of the deck but not to look at them.

Tell him to draw the top card of the deck and put it face down on the table. Act like you're concentrating and say, "It is the 3 of diamonds."  Pick it up, look at it and say, "I am right."

Don't let your guest see the card. At this point he probably thinks you are faking it. Before you put the card face down on the table, memorize it. We'll assume that it's the 2 of spades.

Now tell your friend to pick any card in the middle of the deck. This one really gets them. Your guest flips eagerly through the deck and pulls out any card and lays it face down on the table.

Concentrate again and say that this is the 2 of spades. Look at it and say, "I am right again. 2 out of 2." Don't let him see the card. Let's say that it is really a queen of hearts. Put the card face down on the table.

Tell your friend to draw the bottom card off the deck and lay it face down. Once he has done this, concentrate and say that it is the queen of hearts. Once again check your result and say, "I am right."

At this point your guest is very sceptical. You ask, "What cards did I ask you to pick out of the deck?" Grab the three cards and through a little sleight of hand rearrange them so they are in the same order as you called them. (Editor's suggestion: If you lay the second card on top of the first, you can just scoop the third card under the other two to put them in the right order. --RS.)

As he names each of the cards, drop it in front of him.

Say you were able to hypnotize them or something to make them draw those cards. For added effect as they draw tell them the card. Have them draw three or four times from the middle of the deck and tell them each time they drew the same card. In the end it will look like they had.

The Changing Card

Effect: A spectator picks a card. Then he (or she) takes the rest of the pack in his hands and puts the selected card on top of the deck. The magician takes the pack of cards and takes off the top card. The magician asks the spectator what his card was. He flips over the card and it is not the selected card. The Spectator's Card has Changed!

The Performance:

When the spectator picks the card and looks at it, secretly palm a card off the deck. Hand the deck to the spectator and tell him to place his card on top. When you take back the deck, act as if you are squaring up the deck but actually place the palmed card on top. Take off the top card and ask what his card was. Flip over the card, and it has magically changed into another card. .

The Changing Card Variation

Effect: Now not only does the card change, it disappears!

Variation:

Do the trick exactly the same except for one minor preparation. Place on the top card a piece of double-sided tape. This way, when the spectator places his card on top, it will stick to the other card. Now the card changes, and also vanishes!

The Changing Colour Card

Effect:

You first shuffle the deck, and then cut it. You show the first card to the spectator on top of the deck and tell him to memorize it. You then shuffle again. You ask him to tell you a number. Then, count them from the top the number he said. Ask him if the card is his. He says no, so you put them on top of the deck, and recount them. Lets say the card you show him is the 6 of hearts, he says that it is not his card. So you put the 6 of hearts on the table, then you recount them and the card at his number is still the 6 of hearts. You tell him to look at the card on the table. It will be his card. You then tell him to put the card any where in the deck. You shuffle the deck and tell him to push on the middle of the deck. You fan the deck and one of the cards will be blue (let's say the deck was red). He takes the card from the deck, it will be his card.

Trick:

1. You do about the same thing as in Righting A Wrong, but you have to know the card he will pick (so do a false shuffle, false cut and tell him to look at the top card, which you know what it is) and you have to put the same card in, but in a different colour. (Remember that every time you shuffle you have to hide the blue card)

2. After you did like in Righting A Wrong, you put the card back into the deck, anywhere the spectator wants to. Then, you shuffle and you tell him to push on the middle of the deck (tell him to make a sound, it's funnier). Then you fan the deck and the card that is blue, is their card.
 

Any Way You Count 'Me

Shuffle the cards well. Holding them face down, turn over the top card and place it face up on the table. Think of it as a stack. Starting with its face value, deal face up on top of it as many more cards as needed to reach 10. For instance if it's a 3, deal seven cards on top of it; if it's a 5, deal five cards. Face cards count as 10, so no more cards are needed. An ace counts as 1 and needs nine more cards.

Continue making stacks as above, keeping them separate, until the deck is exhausted. If there are not enough cards to complete a final stack, keep that incomplete stack in your hand. Now choose at random any three stacks that contain at least four cards each, and turn these stacks face down.

Gather all the remaining cards in any order and add them to the cards (if any) in your hand. Pick any two of the three face-down stacks on the table, and turn up the top card on each of those two piles. Add their values together. Discard that many cards from those in your hand, and then discard 19 additional cards.

Count the remaining cards in your hand. Now turn up the top card of the third stack. Its value will equal the number of cards in your hand.

1. Tell a spectator that each card represents a number--A is 1, J is 11, Q is 12, K is 13, and the rest have their face value.

2. Tell the person to pick up the top card and place it face up on the table.

3. State its number and then count onto it enough cards to reach 13. For example, if the card is a Jack, say "Eleven..." and then deal two cards onto it while you say, "...twelve, thirteen."

4. Flip over this stack and set it aside.

5. Repeat Steps 2-4 until 13 cannot be reached with the remaining cards. Set these aside (if the count works out evenly, don't worry).

6. Have the spectator choose 3 piles. Remove all of the other piles and add them to the cards (if any) remaining from step 5.

7. Pick up the pile of cards remaining from steps 5-6, count off 10 cards and set them aside.

8. Have the spectator choose 2 of the remaining 3 piles. Turn the top cards on these 2 piles face up.

9. Add together the values of the two face-up cards, count out their sum from the cards you're holding and set them aside.

10. Have the spectator count the number of cards left in your hand.

11. Tell him or her to flip over the top card on the remaining pile. It is equal to the number of cards left in your hand.

Crises Cross

1. First, shuffle or let the spectator shuffle.

2. Go through the deck and memorize the top card (Let's say it is the ace of clubs). As an excuse for fanning through the deck, you can say that you need to remove your "unlucky card" (which can be any one except the top card).

3. Have the spectator cut the deck and place the top pile on the table.  You then pick up the bottom pile and lay it on the other pile in a criss cross manner.

4. Say something to the spectator to take his mind off what you just did, such as "You had the freedom to cut a big pile or a little pile." Make eye contact.

5. Say "O.K. Now look at your card." Point to the top card of the lower pile. You now know that the spectator's card is the ace of clubs.

6. Now you can have him shuffle or cut and then use any way of presenting his card to him.

This is an easy trick, but you'll get a great response!

Cutting the Aces

Effect: Magician cuts a deck into four piles, turns over the top card on each pile which turn out to be the four aces.

Card Trick: Start off with the four aces on the top of the deck, holding a thumb break (finger break) under the top two aces with your right hand. With the deck face down on the table, use your right hand to cut about half of the deck and place that half about two inches in front of the bottom half. As you bring your hand back, bring the cards above the break with you directly to the top of the first half. Using both hands now, immediately cut both halves and place them to the left and right of the first halves, forming a diamond shape. Turn the top card on both the left and right piles over and place the on the top and bottom piles, then turn the second card of the left and right piles over and place them on the left and right piles. Although you aren't actually cutting to the aces, the illusion that you are is a very strong one.

Double Turnover

Shuffle the deck. Glimpse and remember the bottom card and lay the pack on the table. Tell the spectator to remove the top half of the deck and hold it, while you do the same with the bottom half. Tell the spectator to put his (or her) half behind his back, remove any card from the pack, and bring the card to the front .

You supposedly do the same, but actually you (1) turn your half face up, (2) turn the card you glimpsed face down on top of the face-up pack, (3) remove any other card, (4) turn it face down and (5) bring it out from behind your back. The spectator thinks this is your selected card. Tell him to look at and remember his card while you do the same. Actually, look at your card but don't remember it. Bring the pack from behind your back, holding it face up except for the card you glimpsed. Exchange the supposedly selected cards. Each of you slides the other person's card into your pack face down without looking at the card. Reach over to take the spectator's pack while turning your pack over without anyone's noticing it. Put the spectator's pack on top of yours and cut the deck (Editor's note: a little below the middle is good). Each of you names your selected card--but you actually name the card you glimpsed, not the card you took from the pack. Spread the cards. Both selected cards are face up in the deck!!

Eight Threatening Kings

Effect: Person chooses card from deck, and magician tells person the suit and number.

Set-up: The deck is stacked. To remember its sequence of values, memorize the rhyme "Eight Kings Threatened To Save Ninety-Five Queens For One Sick Knave." The words stand for the card values 8, K, 3, 10, 2, 7, 9, 5, Q, 4, A, 6, J. ("Threatened" = 3 & 10.) To remember the sequence of suits, memorize the word "CHaSeD." Its consonants C, H, S and D stand for Clubs, Hearts, Spades, Diamonds. Arrange the deck so that its values and suits follow these sequences over and over. For example, the top five cards are 8-Clubs, K-Hearts, 3-Spades, 10-Diamonds, 2-Clubs, and so on.

Performance:

Hold the deck and have someone select and remove any card. As he (or she) is looking at the card, cut the deck at the point where he removed it and put the top cards on the bottom. Glimpse the new bottom card. Find the word that corresponds to its value in the memorized rhyme. If the bottom
card is, say, the 4 of Hearts, the word that corresponds to 4 is "for."   The word following "for" in the rhyme is "one," which stands for the Ace. Next, find the bottom card's suit in the word "CHaSeD." It's H. The consonant after H in the word is S, for Spades. So the person's card is the Ace of spades.
.

The Enchanted Card

1) Take a deck and shuffle it in front of the person.

2) Have him (or her) cut the deck in half and choose one half.

3) Tell him to put it behind his back (say "Like this" and put the other half behind your back).

4) Now tell him to keep the deck behind his back and pick a card and look at it. While he's looking at his card, with your cards still behind your back, flip your bottom card face up leaving it at the bottom, and then flip the second card from the top face up leaving it in the same spot.

5) Tell the person to put the card he chose on top of his pile.

6) Tell him to give his deck to you. Once you have it, put your deck on top of it and give it back to the person.

7) Tell him to put it behind his back, remove the top card, say "Abracadabra," and put it on the bottom of the deck.

8) Tell him to turn the next card face up (he'll actually be turning it face down) and insert it anywhere in the deck.

9) Tell them to give the deck to you. When you get it, find the face-up card. The very next one is the person's card. The face-up card has detected the person's card.

The Four Ace Extravaganza

Preparation: Remove the four aces from the deck and the cards 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (any suits). Put the four aces on top of the deck. (Later they'll be found in order from the top down.) Put the other eight cards in order from 2 through 9 and place them on top of the aces. Starting with the top card, the deck should be 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,A,A,A, then the rest of the cards. Now you are ready!

Procedure:

1. Bet the audience that they can find all the aces. Shuffle the deck, making sure that the top 12 cards stay in order on the top. (The audience won't notice, I guarantee.)

2. Ask a member of the audience to name a number between 10 and 20 (not including 20). Count that many cards one at a time face down onto the table.

3. Now ask him (or her) to add the 2 digits of his number together and state the sum. Pick up the cards on the table and count that many cards back onto the deck.

4. Remove the NEXT card and lay it face up on the table (it will be the first ace). Place the remaining cards on top of the deck without disarranging them!!!

5. Shuffle again without disarranging the top 11 cards and repeat steps 2-4 TWO more times!!

6. Now place the deck face down in front of the person and tell him to think of a number between 1 and 9. Have him count that many cards face down onto the table and turn the last card dealt face up.

7. If he thought of 9, he'll turn up the Ace. When this happens it makes the trick better, but it usually doesn't. If he thought of another number, he'll turn up a 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3, or 2. Tell him to deal off that many cards--counting the turned-up card as the FIRST--and the last card he deals will be the fourth ACE!

8. It's a good trick but don't do it more than once for the same audience.

Description: Set up the cards as in the original trick except that you have from the top of the deck the values 10 through 2 and then the Aces. (Note that the order is reversed from the original.)

1. Follow the original trick through step 1.

2. In step 2, if the spectator's number is 10-19, follow the instructions above except that after adding the digits and dealing the sum back onto the deck, you turn up the LAST card dealt rather than the next card. If the spectator's number is 20, divide it by two instead of adding its digits. This gives you 10, so you count off 10 cards and turn up the NEXT card.

3. Follow step 4 and 5, but with 5 you do this THREE more times, for four aces not just three as indicated by the original trick.

4. In step 6, have them pick a number between 1 and 10, not 1-9. Try to make sure through patter or diversion that they do not pick the number 1, since all the aces are out face down in front of them.

5. While they are deciding on a number between one and 10, quickly and secretly take a card from the bottom and put it on top of the deck, to represent the number 1 in your count.

6. Count down to the number they chose, leaving the card at that number on top. After you reveal all the aces or have them turn them over, ask what number they picked. Turn over the top card from the deck and astonish them with the extra bonus.

Magic Flick of a Finger

Effect: After the spectator tells you that you have the wrong card 6 times, you flick two cards away from his (or her) grip and the third one magically becomes his card.

1. Start dealing cards from the top of the deck. Memorize the fourth card (let's say that it's the Ace of Spades). After you've dealt five cards, tell the spectator to stop you anywhere. (Editor's note: If you memorize the fourth card before you begin, you can deal the cards face down. --RS)

2. After he tells you to stop, cut the leftover deck into three piles. Pick up the dealt cards and deal the first three cards onto the three piles. Nonchalantly give the spectator the next card (the Ace). Have him look at it and memorize it. Then have him put it back and shuffle at will.

3. Go through the deck and find the Ace. Remove and put aside the lower part of the deck so that the Ace is second from the bottom in the cards you're holding. Show the spectator the bottom card and ask "Is this your card?" He will say no. Turn the deck face down and with your left third finger secretly slip the bottom card toward you, while with your right second finger you slide out the next card (the Ace) and place it face down on the table. Remove the bottom card and put it on top of the deck. Show him the new bottom card and again ask if it is his. When he says no, put it down on the table, and remove the next bottom card and put it on top. Repeat once more.

4. Make sure the Ace is the card in the middle of the three on the table. Show the spectator the bottom card and ask him if it is his. Secretly slide it back and put the Ace on the table, then put the bottom card on top of the other. Ask if the next card is his and put it on the table. Act discouraged. Flash the next card to him and say, "This isn't your card either." Take his mind off the card because it will be the third time he has seen it, but no one ever notices.

5. After you place it on top of the other two, ask him to hold the three between his thumb and forefinger. The Ace is on bottom, so flick the top two away and smile. The Ace has magically appeared.

Fool-Proof Reversed Card

Effect: A spectator chooses a card, replaces it, turn the deck over three times in their hands, snaps it, riffles it, shuffles it, whatever then they look through the deck to find it reversed.

The Method: All you need for this are two exactly alike cards in the same deck. Place one of the cards face down in a face down deck as the ninth card from the top. Place the other either 21st or towards the extreme bottom of the deck REVERSED!! Be sure never to touch the cards yourself during this trick and don't allow anyone to look through the cards for two of the same cards later, either. I find it works better if you use this deck for awhile because and extra card has unlimited uses and is hardly noticeable. Now set the deck on the table well squared and face down. Tell the spectator to choose a number between 10 and 20.(20 will not work) Tell them to count that many cards off the top of the deck, one at a time, (reversing the order) face down onto the table. Then have them add the digits together and count that many cards back off the top of the pile onto the deck. Have them flip over the next card. This is the preplaced card. Make sure everyone (including yourself) sees it. If you messed up and this isn't the right card, they will discover the secret when they come to the wrong turned up card. Have them put this on the top of the deck and then put the others back on, too. Have them cut it however many times they want, and their card probably won't turn up, but only cut it two or three times because if it turns up too early they get suspicious. The key move is to have them turn the deck over in their hands 3 times the make them think they turned it over afterwards. Make this movement seem very important, stare at their hands intently and make sure it's three. This all adds to the effect. Now have them search through and find it. This trick is amazing to the spectator because you never touch it, and, like the name implies, is practically fool-proof. I use this almost every time I do a series of tricks.

Gemini Twins

Effect: A magician removes two cards from a deck and places them face up on the table. The deck is handed to the spectator where he/she will start dealing cards face down onto the table, when he/she stops, the magician places one face up card on top of the dealt pile and the rest of the deck is placed on top of that. The spectator again deals cards face down and when they stop, the magician places the other face up card at that point. Upon examination of the placement of the face up cards, the spectator sees he/she stopped dealing where the two "prediction" cards' twins were located.

Card Trick:

At the beginning of the trick, take two "prediction" cards out of the deck. The prediction cards are actually the twins (hearts is twins with diamonds, spades/clubs) of the top and bottom cards of the deck. Remove the prediction cards and place them face up on the table. Instruct the spectator to deal cards into a pile face down and stop when they wish. When they stop place the twin of the card originally on the bottom of the deck onto the dealt pile face up. The spectator will then place the rest of the deck on top of the face up card. Have the spectator gather the deck and repeat dealing and when they stop place the other face up card at that point and have them put the deck on top of that. Run through the deck to find that the card to the right of each face up card is their twin.

Get Money

Description: You're in a room with a bunch of friends and a deck of cards. You allow a friend to pick any card, then put it back in the deck. After shuffling the deck, you start turning over cards until you see your friend's. You bet everybody in the room $1, $2, $5, or whatever, that the next card you turn over is theirs. Seeing that it's already there, they greedily make the bet. You turn over the card lying on top of the face-up pile. Be sure to collect your cash.

Trick

1. Shuffle deck (it works better without Jokers, and you may want to use only half the deck).

2. Fan out the cards and allow somebody to pick ANY one. (Editor's suggestion: Have him or her show the card to others. Otherwise they won't have any reason to take your bet later. RS)

3. Shuffle deck again, cut it near the middle, and let the person put their card back. Note the card that goes on top of theirs (this is the Key Card), but try not to let them see you.

4. Cut the deck (single cuts only!!) as many times as you would like. After the last cut, glimpse the bottom card if you can. If it's the Key Card, cut the cards once more. (Otherwise, you'll have 1:52 odds of winning the bet, NOT 52:1.) This works because even if you separate the two cards, the next cut puts them back together again.

5. With the deck face-down, start flipping over cards. Continue until the one AFTER the Key Card. This is their card (remember it!).

6. While holding the next card in the deck as though you are about to flip it, bet everybody in the room a couple of dollars that the next card you TURN OVER is theirs.

7. After they make the bet (if you do this trick casually, they probably will. Don't act overconfident), flip over their card, which should be lying on top of the face-up pile. Collect reward.

Glad lock the Great Knows All

Effect: A spectator picks a card. You dial a number on the phone, ask for Glad lock the Great, and hand the phone to your victim, and Glad lock tells him his card.

Trick:

Glimpse and remember the bottom card of the deck. Have victim pick a card, memorize it, and place it on top of deck. Cut the deck and place the bottom half on top. Flip over deck so cards are face up. Search the deck. The card you see before the one you memorized is the selected card.

Pick up the phone and call a friend that you have told about the trick. Make sure he is the one to answer the phone. When he picks up, say, "Is Glad lock the Great home?" Your friend then starts to count down the suits of cards, "Clubs, hearts, spades, diamonds." When he has said the right suit, stop him by saying, "Yes, I'll hold." Then friend starts counting down the cards, "Ace, king, queen....." Stop him by saying, "Yes, he has chosen a card." Your friend then repeats the name of the card to double-check. If he's correct, say, "O.K., Glad lock, tell him his card" and hand the phone to your victim. "Glad lock" recites the card to him and hangs up. (If when double-checking, "Glad lock" says the wrong card, hang up and restart.)

Half and Half

You have to be quick at addition and subtraction and a good memorizer to pull this off smoothly. First, let someone shuffle the deck to let them know you haven't set it in any way. Ask someone how many cards are in a deck without jokers. If they don't know that it's 52, tell them so. After this, ask someone what half of that is. If they don't know it's 26, this will stupefy them. Tell them you will count down 26 cards, and do so, face up, memorizing the fourth card. (This is important.)

Put the remaining cards aside and turn the face-up cards and hold them face-down. Announce that you will lay three cards on the table, and deal them face up from the top of the deck. Explain that each of those three cards has to be made equal to, or greater than, ten (Jack, Queen, King, and Ace are greater than ten) and that you will put cards on them to make them so. Nonchalantly put down the cards you're holding and pick up the other 26-card pile. Deal face down onto each face-up card the number of cards needed. (Say one of the cards is the seven of clubs. You'd add three cards from the other pile. If it's a ten, Jack, Queen, King, or Ace, you'd add nothing to it.)

This is where the math comes in. Place the cards you're holding on top of the other pile (from which you dealt the three cards), and total up how many cards you placed on the three face-up cards. Subtract that number from 26 and tell a participant to count down the number you get. It doesn't matter whether the cards are dealt face up or down. When the person is done, flip over the top card of the counted down pile if it isn't face up, then flip over the last card placed on the three face up
cards, if there were cards placed on them. Pretend to be thinking for a second, then announce that the next card the person turns over is whatever you memorized as the fourth card when originally counting down.

If you're confident enough, you can let a participant count down the 26 cards, or look away when counting.

(Editor's suggestion: You can simplify the math. Instead of totaling the number of cards dealt and subtracting this sum from 26, total the values of the three face-up cards [counting 10's, Jacks, etc., as 10] and subtract 4 from this total. --RS)

Find The Card The Hard Way

To perform this trick, you need the help of four spectators. All five of you should be seated around a table. Deal five hands of five cards each, starting with the person to your left and dealing clockwise. Ask each of the spectators to look at the hand in front of him (or her), mentally pick a card and then place the hand back on the table. He should remember the card he picked but not show it to you.

You gather up the hands. Start with the hand on your left and pick up the hands in a clockwise fashion, so that you pick up your hand last. As you pick up each hand, place it on top of your pile. Deal the cards again in the same way so that each person has five cards in front of him. You pick
up each pile, one at a time, and fan it so that all four spectators can see its face. Each time, ask if anyone sees their card. If they do, place the fan on the table (without looking at the cards), pull their card from the pile and place it face down in front of them. In some hands there may be two or more participants' card, in others there may not be anyone who sees his card in that pile. Once you have picked out the cards for each spectator, go around the table turning over the four chosen cards and
asking them if that is their card. Everyone will be amazed when you get all four right!

How did you do it? Simple. Because of the way you gathered up and dealt the cards, the first spectator's card is in the first position of its fan (that is, his original pile of five cards was dealt so that each one of his five cards became the top card of one of the final five piles), the second spectator's card is in the second position of its fan, etc. So if you pick up and fan a pile and spectator number four says she sees her card, then her card will be the fourth card in the fan (or the fourth card
from the top of the pile).

Find The Card The Hard Way Variation

Deal 3 cards across 7 times so that you have 3 piles of 7 cards each. Put the rest of the deck aside. Have a spectator look at one of the 3 piles and memorize a card in it. Have him (or her) put the pile on top of one of the other two piles and then put the other pile on top of that, so that his pile is sandwiched between the other two.

Deal the 21 cards again into 3 piles of 7 cards each and ask the spectator to guess which pile of cards contains his card. Have him verify his guess. If he guessed wrong, have him guess again until he has found the pile with his chosen card. Again have him reassemble the pack so that his pile is between the other two. Deal the 21 cards once more into 3 piles and have him find the pile with his card. But this time, have him give you the pile.

Spell out the sentence "THIS*IS*THE*CARD*YOU*TOOK*". As you say each letter, move a card from the top of the pile to the bottom. As you complete each word (*) , deal the next card onto the table. When you are left with only one card in your hand, it will be the spectator's card.

From Here To There

Effect: The magician shuffles an ordinary deck of cards. He then fans the cards and asks a spectator to select a card show and memorize it. The magician then fans the cards again and tells the spectator to place his card any where in the deck he wishes. The magician then places his card on the bottom of the pack and he then squares up the pack and holds the deck up so the spectator can see the bottom card. The magician asks if this card is his. The spectator will answer yes. The magician then places two cards from the top of the deck on to the bottom thus covering the spectators card. He then holds the pack up as before and asks is this your card. This time the spectator answers no. This then repeats itself again. the magician then takes the spectators card and places it on top of the deck. and repeats the procedure as before. Now with the three cards in the spectators hand the magician asks him if the bottom card is his and he. answers no. The magician then places the bottom card into his hand and shows that the other two cards are not the spectator's. But when the spectator looks at the card in his hand to his surprise its his card!

Procedure: This trick sounds difficult but it's really not just follow these simple steps.

1. Fan the cards out and let the spectator choose a card at random.

2. After he/she has memorized the card fan them out again and tell him/her to place it back in the deck. Watch Carefully!! After the spectator has placed their card into the deck separate the deck so his/her card is on the bottom. (It's ok if the spectator sees you do this so don't try to perfect it.)

3. Now hold up the deck so the spectator can see the bottom card. Ask him/her if this is their card. They will answer yes. Now turn the deck face down and take two cards one at a time and place them on the bottom of the deck under the spectators card.

4. Now hold the deck back up and let the spectator see the card again. When you do this hold the deck in your right hand with your thumb on the left side of the deck and your remaining fingers on the right side. when the spectator answers no turn the deck face down with your hand in the same position and give him the bottom card.

5. Repeat step 4 until he/she says no. This time when you bring the deck face down curl you pinkie and ring finger downwards thus pushing some of the bottom card into your palm. Now take the second card from the bottom (The spectators card.) and place it in his/her hand.

6. Now place the bottom card (The card the spectator believes is his/her) on top of the deck, and repeat step 4.

7. Place the deck aside and take the three cards from the spectator. Repeat step 5. (Now the spectator holds his card and doesn't even know it.)

8. Now show him/her that the remaining two cards are not his. Then tell him/her to look at the card in his/her hand and it will be their card!

This trick takes some practice but it will really amaze your friends.

Psychic Hotline

Effect: You tell your volunteer that you're psychic and that you can pick out whatever card he (or she) is thinking of. Explain that this trick depends on him, so if he doesn't concentrate hard enough, it won't work. After he has the card in mind, you pick up the deck and look through the cards. After a moment, you set the deck face down in front of the spectator and announce a card. If this is the correct one, then he is amazed (and you can start your own 900 number). Since this seldom happens, let's continue.

When he says it's not his card, tell him that he didn't concentrate hard enough. Tell him to take the top third of the deck and shuffle it. Then he is to take the whole deck and find his card. When he does, he is to put it on top of the deck. Then tell him to take the bottom third of the deck and shuffle it and put it on top of the deck. Then tell him to cut the deck.

You pick up the deck and look through the cards. After a second, you put the deck face down in front of him again and ask him what his card was.  When he announces his card, you flip over the top card on the deck and it's the same one.

Card Trick: When you fan through the cards the first time, count to the 26th card from the bottom (i.e., from the right end). This will be your "key card." Announce it as the spectator's card. Usually you'll be wrong, but that's OK, it's part of the trick. Follow the patter above completely. When you look through the deck the last time, find your key card and count to the 26th and 27th cards above it. Put one on top of the deck and one on the bottom. Memorize their values or suits. Lay the deck face down and ask his card. When he tells you, either flip over the top card if that's the one, or flip over the deck and show the bottom card.

The reason that it's one of two is that it all depends on where he finds his card after you've found the 26th one. If his card is below the key card, then when he brings it to the top of the deck, it will be 27 cards beyond the key card.

Build The Houses

Deal 3 cards face up in a row, and continue dealing until you have 3 columns of  7 cards each. Then find the card the easy way. Ask the spectator to remember any one of the visible cards and to point out its column. Close up each column and combine them into a packet of 21 cards, putting the selected column between the other two. Again deal the 3 columns and have the spectator point to the one with his (or her) card. Again collect the 3 columns with the selected column between the others, and deal them out again. But this time, when the spectator points out the column, pick up that column first and put the other two on top of it.

Now it is time to build the houses. To build a house, deal one card face down at your left and another card about an inch to its right. Then deal a card horizontally at the top of the first two, and another horizontally about an inch below it. You have created a square with a little square
open space in the middle.

In exactly the same way, build another house to the right of the first one, another one to its right, and so on. There will be enough cards to build 5 houses with one card left over. Put that card in the deck. (The spectator's card is the card at the right in the 5th house.)

Now here is how you make the trick seem unbelievable. But don't do it more than a couple times because the spectator might catch on. There are 5 houses. To find the spectator's card you have to eliminate all the other houses and cards. Tell the spectator to pick three houses. If his (or
her) three choices include the house with the selected card, take away the other two houses. If the spectator's three choices do not include the card, take those three houses away. Then ask him to pick 2 houses (if there are 3 left), or 1 house (if there are only 2 left). Do this till there is only one house, the house with the selected card. Ask the spectator to pick 2 cards. If he picks the top and bottom, take them away. If he picks left and right, keep them. You know the drill now. Ask him to pick one more card. If he picks the card, keep it, if not, throw it away, and boom, there is his card. Wow, we're all finished. =)

Housing Suits

Effect: Flip top card over and put the next on the bottom. Continue doing this forming suits counting down from Ace to 2. When you find a card out of order you tell the person their card.

METHOD: Sit home and arrange cards to where if you take the top card and flip it over then put the next on the bottom and continue the process it divides the deck into suits counting down from Ace to 2 (it's easier if you add a Joker). I would tell you the order but then you'd lose the fun of figuring it out.

Have the spectator pick out a card and put in the deck. Do The process mentioned beforehand and if you find a card out of order think to yourself, if the card is behind the card that was supposed to be there you know it is the card missing. But if it is a card that has no business there you know it is that particular card.

I Can’t Believe They Don’t Get It!

Effect: Good trick, easy to figure out, but it works on people who don't pay attention.

Card Trick:

1. The two bottom cards should have different values and either both should be black or one should be black and the other red. Let's say that they're the 8 of clubs and 7 of spades.

2. The card above these should match one of them in value and the other in suit. In the example above, the card above the 8 of clubs and 7 of spades should be either the 7 of clubs or the 8 of spades. The top card of the deck should be either the 8 of spades or the 7 of clubs.

3. Shuffle the deck, being sure to keep the prepared cards in the same spots.

4. Hold the deck horizontally in your left hand between thumb and index finger. With your right hand, put your thumb on the bottom card (which you know). Walk through the face-down deck with index and fingers of your right hand, and ask the spectator when to stop.

5. When the spectator says, "Stop," quickly pull off the cards you've walked through, sliding back the bottom card with your thumb so that it appears to be the bottom card of the group you've just pulled off the top.

6. Hold the card up and tell the spectator to take it. Close the deck. Fan it out and tell the spectator to stick the card in anywhere.

7. Repeat steps 3, 4, 5, and 6.

8. The cards the spectator selected were the 7 of spades and 8 of clubs. The selected cards are in the middle of the deck. The top and bottom cards of the deck in your hand are the 7 of clubs and 8 of spades.

9. Hold the deck vertically in your stronger hand between your index finger and thumb. Flick your wrist so that you catch the entire deck in your weaker hand, leaving the top and bottom cards in your strong hand.

10. Show the cards in your right hand to the spectator, who will mistake them for the cards he selected.

Note: Though this trick is easy to figure out, not one of the 15 people I've done it to has figured it out.

Impossible Card Location

Using a 52-card deck, have three people each select a card without showing it to you. Tell them to memorize their card.

Deal one pile of 10 cards face down. Next to it deal a pile of 15 cards, and next to that deal another 15-card pile. Keep the remaining 9 cards in your hand. Have the first person put his (or her) card on top of the 10-card pile, cut as many cards as he wants from the second pile, and put them on his card. Have the second person put her card on the second pile, cut as many cards as she wants from the third pile, and put them on top of her card. Have the third person put his card on top of the third pile, hand him the 9 cards you're holding, and have him place them on top of his card.

Pick up the last pile, put it on the middle pile, and put both on the first pile. Make clear that the cards are now lost and you will find them. Take four cards off the top and place them on the bottom of the deck. Explain that you are going to flip a card up and next to it one down and keep on repeating this until you don't have cards in your hand. Tell the spectators to say "Stop" if they see their card. Deal the cards alternately into two piles, one face up and one face down, starting with the face-up pile. When all the cards have been dealt (the spectators won't see their card unless you mess up), push the face-up pile aside and pick up the other pile. Deal it into two piles in exactly the same way. Keep repeating this until you have only three cards left face down. Turn them over, and there are their cards. The top one is the third person's card, the next is the second person's card, and the bottom one is the first person's card.

In My Pocket

Effect: A spectator picks a card. The magician looks for the spectator's card in the pack but can't find it. He then magically pulls the card out of his pocket.

Note: You must have two packs exactly the same to do this trick. If not, you can try the variation at the bottom.

Preparation: Take one card from one pack and put it in your pocket. You will no longer need that pack. Put its twin from the other pack on top of the pack.

Card Trick:

Flip through the pack of cards and ask the spectator to tell you when to stop. Stop at that place. Now comes the tricky bit. Remove the top half of the pack, sliding, with your thumb, the top card of the top half to the top of the lower half of the pack (this should be the same card as the one you have in your pocket). (Editor's note: Another method is to hold the deck in your left hand with your fingers wrapped around so that their tips rest on the top card. Riffle the cards upward with your right hand until the spectator says to stop. Lift the cards above the break with your right hand, while your left fingers slide the top card onto the lower group of cards. --RS) Hold out the cards below the break and tell the spectator to take the card and memorize it. Reassemble the pack and give it to the spectator, telling him to put his card in it and shuffle the deck. Take the pack and announce that you are going to find his card. After looking through the pack claim that you cannot find his card (although in fact you should have seen it). Then say something like "Hang on, what's this in my pocket?" and pull out the card.

Variation:

If you don't have two identical packs, you can use two cards of the same number and colour. Get the spectator to find his card and put it on the table, then pull out your card.

Editor's note: When you're supposedly looking for the card, if you cut it to the top of the deck, it's fairly easy later to palm it off and get rid of it.

The Jack's Party

Effect: This trick is a great crowd pleaser and will get a lot of recognition for its seemingly magical effects. Basically, you separate four sets of cards and magically bring them back together!!

Card Trick:

1. Take out the Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Aces.

2. Tell your audience that there is a story that goes along with this trick. (This will keep their attention)

3. Begin the story, "The jacks were having a party [Deal the four Jacks face up in four separate piles] and they invited their friends the Kings. [Deal a King face up on top of each Jack] They got a little bored so they invited the Queens to liven up the party!! [Deal the Queens on the Kings] The party got a little rowdy, so the cops came and took them all to jail. [Deal the Aces on the piles in the same way as the previous cards]".

4. Pick up the four piles, one on top of the other. You now have one pile with 16 cards in it.

5. Continue, "Along the way, the police cars got into an accident." Have the audience give the deck as many complete cuts as they wish. (In each "complete cut," the deck is cut and the bottom cards are immediately put on top.)

6. Deal four cards face down onto the table left to right, then four on top of those, and so on until you have four piles of four cards each.

7. Finish your story: "Even though they were separated in the accident, when they arrived at the station they were [as you say the next part, turn over all four piles] All Together!!!"

8. You will see that the aces, kings, queens, and jacks are in their own separate piles together!!!

9. Have fun with this one and change the story however you feel fit!!!

7. Now finish your story with: "Even though they were separated in the accident, when they arrived at the station they were," As you say the next part turnover all four piles," All Together!!!"

8. You will see that the all of the aces,kings,queens, and jacks are all in their own separate piles together!!!

9. Have fun with this one and change the story however you feel fit!!!

Description: As the original trick you set it up pretty much the same way, except instead on the 2-8 cards and the 4 aces behind them, you should have from the top of the deck 2 thru 10 and then the Aces. Now your ready.

1. Separate the four jacks from the rest of the deck along with 4 other random cards.

2. Fan the four jacks out to the audience with the other four cards hidden behind the back jack so that the audience cannot see them.

3. Begin with "These are the 4 Jack firemen and they were sent to this burning house [the deck] to put out the fire." Square up the cards and place them on top of the deck.

4. Say, "The first jack [actually one of the random cards] was sent to the bottom floor," placing it in the bottom of the deck.

5. Say, "The second jack was sent to the middle floor," placing it in the centre of the deck.

6. Say, "The third Jack was also sent to the middle of the house, because this is where the fire was blazing."

7. Say, " The final Jack was sent to the top of the burning house," placing the last Jack near the top of the deck.

8. Then say, " Every time I knock, one of the Jacks will come out" (or ask audience to knock). After you knock, pick up the top card which will be a jack. Repeat this four times to get all four jacks out.

9. This is a great trick to mesmerize the minds of young children.

Liar, Liar

Effect: You go through a deck and ask a person to tell you when to stop. You take the first card of the pile and ask them if it is their card. It is not. You do it three more times, all NOT being their card. Then you pick up one that you put down and it is magically their card.

Card Trick:

Have a card selected and returned. Control it to the top. (Editor's note: The Double undercut is a good method. See the Terminology page.)

Go through a deck, making sure not to let the spectators see the faces of the cards.

When they say stop, you put that on top. Double lift the card(s) and ask if the one showing is theirs. They say no. Replace the card(s) on the deck, then take the top card and lay it on the table. You can say you're getting it out of the way. Cut the deck.

Show three more cards, each being put onto the table until you have four cards in a diamond shape. Remember to cut the deck in between each card.

Remembering the first card you put down, pick it up and say "I lied, this is your card!" Simple but fun.

Practice makes perfect, in this trick especially.

Magic Breath

Effect: Spectator chooses a card. The card is placed randomly back in the deck. The magician explains about magic breath, that it will magically make a card appear where a person wants it to be. He hands the deck to the spectator, tells him to think of a number in his head, to breath on the deck, and to deal off that many cards. The spectator flips the last card and finds that its not his. The magician then deals off the exact same number and flips the last one, showing that it's his card.

Card Trick

This trick requires a person to be able to pass a card to the top of the deck. Use whatever method you're comfortable with. After shuffling the deck, let the spectator choose a card, then place it back in the deck. Pass the card to the top and hand the deck to the spectator, explaining about magic breath. Tell him to breath on the deck and to count off the cards according to a number he chooses into a neat pile on the table. Flip the last card counted to show that it's not his. Take the deck back from the spectator, pick up the pile on the table and place it back on top of the deck while telling the spectator that he doesn't have magic breath, only bad breath. The selected card will now be at the exact number into the deck that the spectator counted. Ask the spectator what his number was, breath on the deck, and count off that many cards. Flip the last one to reveal his card.

The Magnetic Cards

Effect: Two cards are either chosen by the same person or 1 card each by two people. The magician then drops the deck and only those two cards remain.

The Performance:

1. Shuffle the cards, noting the bottom card.

2. Fan out the cards and tell someone to pick any card.

3. Once he (or she) has picked a card, close up the deck and tell him to memorize it.

4. Tell him to place it on the top of the deck.

5. Have him cut the cards and place the bottom half on the top, apparently losing the card in the deck.

6. Look through the cards and find the bottom card you noted. The card to its right will be the spectator's card. Remember it and keep going through the deck until you reach the end. Say something like "I am now giving your card a positive charge." Note the new bottom card.

7. Ask someone to pick another card. She will be amused and think you couldn't find his card.

8. Repeat steps 3-6, but this time say, "I am now giving your card a negative charge".

9. Now, knowing the two cards, shuffle the deck in such a way that one of the their cards is on the top and the other on the bottom. (See note at end.)

10. Make sure that they don't see the bottom card, because if they do, one of them will figure out the trick.

11. Firmly grip the cards and hold them lengthwise so that the back of the top card is facing them.

12. Quickly lift the deck up and slightly release pressure on the cards and let them slide so that the top and bottom cards remain in your hand and the rest fall to the table. Show the audience that the two cards left in your hand are their cards.

Editor's suggestion: After you've found the spectator's card in step 6, casually cut the deck so that it's on the bottom. Use it for your next "bottom card." After the other spectator has chosen her card and cut the deck, look through and cut the two cards to the top and bottom. Overhand shuffle by pulling off the top card with your thumb and then shuffling down so that the bottom card ends up on top. --RS

Math is Beautiful

Effect: This trick is a math trick. You make a lot of piles, have someone choose 3 of them. Have them mix around the piles while you're not looking, then flip over the top 2 cards of 2 of the piles and then tell them the top card of the 3rd deck.

Card Trick: You need a complete deck (52 cards). You make as many piles as you can following this pattern:

You put these piles face up, you then flip a card... from that card number you count up to King(13). So if you flipped a 4 you'd count the next card as 5 the next as 6 up until King(13). An ACE counts as a 1. You make as many piles as possible, if your last pile cannot be made to go up to 13 you keep it in your hand. After that you tell the person to select 3 piles, recommending them not to choose the small piles. After they choose them you take away the rest and add them to the pile in your hand or just make a pile out of them if there were no cards left from you making the piles. Then you sell them to move around the piles to make it harder for you (although it doesn't matter). You flip over the top card of 2 of the 3 piles. Add the number of each of the 2 cards up, then add 10 to that total number. If the cards were an ACE(1) and a JACK(11) you'd add 10 and get 22. You then count out (in your head) the number you got from the last step out of the pile in your hand. Then after you reach that number you restart the count, what you count out is what that top card is. So if there were 29 cards in my hand, and I got a total of 22 from the previous step the top card of the 3rd pile would be a 7.

Some tips:

- Flip over the piles after you make them, and THEN have them choose 3 of them

- Count in your head for ALL steps, then they won't know that the trick revolves around math

- When you count out the cards for the last step flip them over face up so they think you're looking through them, not counting

- Don't do the trick too many times to the same person cause they'll figure it out (like all other magic)

Math-majic

Description: A spectator chooses a card from three columns and is then led through several steps that seem to make him (or her) find his own card from piles of face down cards.

1. Deal three cards face up in a horizontal row. Continue dealing three cards across, overlapping the cards so that they are all visible, until you have three vertical columns of seven cards each.

2. Ask the spectator to choose one of the cards mentally and tell you only its column.

3. Square up the columns one at a time (without disarranging their order) and assemble them in your hand so that the pile with the spectator's card is between the other two.

4. Deal the cards across again into three columns.

5. Ask the spectator again in which column his card appears.

6. As in step 3, assemble the deck with the spectator's pile between the other two piles.

7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 once more. (The spectator's card is now the 11th card from the top of the pack.)

8. Remove three cards from the deck as a group (not dealing them singly) and lay them on the table. Place another group of three to the right of the first group, and one more group to the right of these. Directly below these, make another row of three piles of three cards each. Put the last pile of three cards under the middle column.

9. Ask the spectator to touch any three of the seven piles.

10. If the piles he touches include the pile at the far left of the second horizontal column (PFLSHC) then pick up the other four piles and lay them aside. If the spectator's choice does not include the PFLSHC pile, then pick up the three that he touched and lay them aside.

11. Rearrange the remaining piles but remember where the PFLSHC pile ends up.

12. Ask the spectator to touch any two piles.

13. Continue removing piles according to the spectator's choices, but never removing the PFLSHC pile, until only the PFLSHC pile is left.

14. When only the PFLSHC pile is left, spread the three cards and ask the spectator to choose two.

15. Remove cards according to what is picked but always leave the middle card.

16. When only the middle card remains, turn it over. If all was done correctly it will be the card that the spectator first chose.

Hints: If the card shows up in the middle the first time that you lay the cards down by doing three across then you should pick up the middle pile first and lay the cards down by laying the first seven cards in a vertical column then the second seven in another veritcal column and so on until you have three columns like you began with. The trick can then be continued from step 5.

Mental Thought

Ask the spectator to think of a number between 1 and 10. Have the spectator to shuffle the deck, count down to the number he/she thought of and remember the card. The card must be kept in the same position. You should turn your back on this part of the trick. When he/she is ready for you to turn around, take the deck, place it behind your back, count off 19 cards, reversing their order, and place them back on the top of the deck.

Bring the deck forward and ask the spectator the number he/she thought off. Begin your count with that number, dealing the cards one at a time. When you reach 20 cards let him/her name their card and you turn it over.

Mind Reader II

Effect: This is just a variation of the trick Mind Reader, submitted by James Blackie.

Card Trick:

1. Get the spectator to shuffle the deck.

2. Take the deck and put it in your back pocket, making sure you glimpse the bottom card on the deck. (say its the 3 of hearts)

3. Ask the spectator to pick any two suits from hearts, clubs, spades or diamonds. If he picks hearts and spades, you say "Ok, hearts and spades." If he picks diamonds and clubs then you would say "Ok, that leaves the hearts and spades." No matter what they choose, make sure hearts is selected.

4. Ask them to pick one of the two suits (make sure hearts is the one remaining).

5. Tell them the cards are arranged in sequence from two to eight and nine to ace, then ask them to pick one of the groups. (make sure they end up choosing two to eight).

6. The cards in sequence two to eight are arranged two to five and six to eight, pick one (make sure they are left with two to five)

7. In the sequence two to five pick either the two and the three or the four and the five. (make sure they are left with two and three.)

8. From the two and the three of hearts select one. (make sure they end up with the three of hearts)

Ending variations:

9a. Tell them you will produce the three of hearts but first they must pick a number from 1 to 10. Then reach into your back pocket and count off from the top of the deck, the number of cards they have chosen, one at a time throwing them on the table, face up. Then tell them that the next card you throw on the table should be the three of hearts, reach into your pocket and take the three of hearts off the bottom of the deck, and throw it face up on the table.

or

9b. Tell them the three of hearts has a way of disappearing. Proceed to take all of the deck except the three of hearts out of your back pocket for the spectator to examine. Of course the three of hearts will not be found.

or

9c. Tell them the three of hearts is very much an individual. When reaching into your back pocket for the deck, take the three off the bottom and flip it over, inserting it into the middle of the deck. Present the deck to the spectator and tell him to look for himself. (you must have loose pockets for this variation to work properly)

10. Trick may be repeated. If the spectator looks at the bottom card before returning the deck to you, (step 1) just tell him you don't think he shuffled the deck enough, and shuffle it yourself, sneaking a peek at the new bottom card as you do so. You may repeat the trick using each of the variations if you wish, for an added effect. Pockets are not a necessity, as tricks 9a and 9c can be performed behind your back.

Magic Magnets Colour Separation

Effect: The magician separates a regular deck of cards into 4 packets and shuffles these together. He (or she) cuts the deck into a row of 3 packets. He extracts from the centre packet a black card and a red card, which he will use as colour magnets. He places the red magnet on top of one end packet and the black magnet on top of the other end packet. After snapping his fingers, he shows that all the red cards have followed the red magnet and all the black cards have followed the black magnet. He then removes the magnets from the packets and places one on top of the centre packet and one on the bottom. Once again he snaps his fingers and shows that the packet is divided into blacks and reds.

Preparation: The deck has to be divided into reds and blacks.

Method:

To give the audience the impression of mixing the cards, deal the prepared deck into 4 face-down packets. This reverses the order of reds and blacks but keeps the colour separation. You can ask a spectator to do this. Riffle shuffle any two packets together, as precisely as you can. Do the same with the other 2 packets. Finally, riffle shuffle the 2 already shuffled packets together.

Now, cut one third from the top of the packet and place it to your left , cut another third from the bottom and place it at your right, and put the remaining cards in the middle. You've just cut one colour to your right and one to your left. Now spread the central packet facing you and say that you're going to extract 2 magnets. What you really do is make sure that the packet is well separated into black and red, correcting any stray cards Then extract any two cards, one red and one black. Note which colour is on the bottom of this packet, say black for this example. This tells you that the red packet is to your left and the black packet to your right.

Editor's note: You won't have to figure out the colours' positions if you always start with the same colour on top and cut the cards as described.

Now, let's review. You have 3 face down packets in a row. The reds are to your left and the blacks to your right. Place the black magnet face up on top of the right face-down packet and do the same with the red magnet on the left packet. Snap your fingers and fan or ribbon spread the packet, showing that the colours have separated. Now, take the black magnet and place it face down on the bottom of the face-down centre packet and place the red magnet face down on top of the same packet. Snap your fingers and fan or ribbon spread the packet, showing that the colours have separated. Take a bow.

Mongolian Clock

Effect: He spectator chooses a card from a "clock" made by the magician. Then the clock is put on the bottom of the deck; at this time the magician turns around while the spectator takes the same number of the hour that they picked and put that many cards on the bottom of the deck. Next the magician turns back around, throws the whole deck on the table (one by one) then mixes them up on the table and finds the exact card!!!

Card Trick:

First make a clock by putting the queen on top then set the upper left corner of the ace on the lower right corner of the queen. Then the two on the lower left corner of the ace all the way to the six. When there set the upper left corner of the six on the lower right corner of the seven. Do that all the way around and try to make it in the shape of a clock (12 on top (the queen)3 to the right 6 on the bottom 9 to the right) Now tell the spectator to think of their favourite hour of the day and tell them to remember the card that represents that hour. After that pick up the clock by sliding the ace under the two, the two under the three all the way around. Be sure to make sure the clock stays in order (1 to 12). Put the clock on the bottom. next tell them to take the same number of the hour the picked and put that many cards on the bottom from the top. While they do this you should turn around. When they are done take the deck back and begin tossing cards one at a time one from the top and from the bottom. Now here is the tricky part; count how many cards you throw from the bottom and when you throw the 13th one keep your eye on it (that is there card). When you have finished throwing all the cards place your thumb on there card and mix all the cards up. Now say wouldn't it be a good trick if I turn all the cards over and found your card? Well I will do it with out turning them over. Then pretend to concentrate real hard and flip over their card! They will be amazed!

Mystery Ten

Effect: This is a whole story of Seven detectives chasing a murderer (the selected card).

Procedure:

1) Take any four of the same face cards out of the deck, usually kings.

2) Shuffle the deck and memorize the bottom card.

3) Fan the cards out and ask the spectator to select one.

4) Tell the spectator to place it on the top of the deck.

5) Ask the spectator to cut the deck.

6) Explain that the card they selected was a murderer and the four face cards you took out were detectives to find him.

7) Look through the deck, the selected card will be after what the bottom card was.

8) Place the four face cards so that they're sticking out of the deck about half way and in the order of: Face Card-Bottom Card-Face Card-Selected Card-Face Card-Card after Selected-Face Card. Explain that the detectives are searching in those places.

9) Fold the deck back up and leave the four cards sticking out. Turn it up side down and hit the four cards against a table. The three alternate cards should all pop up with the selected one in the middle. Say the detectives called on these three guys to help them and show them to the spectator.

10) Take those three cards sticking up and hit them against the table and two face cards should pop up. Hit those against the table and the selected card should pop up.

Note: When hitting the cards against a table, hold the deck on the sides, not the face and back. Also, don't hold it too tight or your cards will bend and not work.

No I got it

Effect: Gives an effect of the card vanishing and reappearing back on top of the deck. Or being knocked through the table.

1. Hold a normal(52 card) deck in your hand. Put down 3 piles of any amount of cards. Keeping a decent sized deck left in your had (say 20 cards).

2. Tell a member of the audience to pick a card off of one of the 3 piles and place it back onto the top of one of the 3 piles.

3. While they are all watching the person look at the card palm a card in your hand from the remaining deck.

4. When they have put the card back. Quickly place your hand on top of the deck and say would you like me to hit the cards like this (putting the card in your hand on top of there card). or like this touch it with your finger. when they chose hit all 3 piles that way. Showing your empty hand to them after each pile (some people think they can figure any thing out)

5. Then say I am going to move your card to another deck. Get the card that you placed on top of there card on another deck. then pick up the other two decks placing the deck with there card on top of the other in your hand.

6. Then say did you keep your eye on your card. they will most likely say yes then say well show it to me. when they turn over the card that they think is there card say NO I GOT IT!!!!

You may also place the deck with there card on top under the deck with the card that they believe to be there card and act like you knocked there card through the table

Not Your Card

1 - Shuffle the deck. Fan the cards & tell the person to pick a card and memorize it.

2 - Cut off all the cards except the three bottom cards. Hold out the pile of three cards and tell the spectator to place her (or his) card on top of them. Replace the other cards on top.

3 - Show the bottom of the deck, saying "This isn't your card, right?" Turn down the deck, slide out the bottom card and place it face down on the table, remove the next card and place it on top of the deck.

4 - Show her the next card, saying "This isn't your card, right?" Turn down the deck and secretly slip this card toward you with your finger under the deck, while with the second finger of your other hand you slide out the next card and place it face down on top of the card on the table. (Editor's note: this is the glide.) Remove the next card (the one you slipped back) & place it on top of the deck.

5 - Repeat step 3 till you have placed down 6 cards.

6- Pick up the six cards and do step 4 once and step 3 two times.

7 - Show her the bottom card, telling her "That is your card."

When you get to step 7, instead of plainly flipping over the card, have the spectator make a fist and place the cards between two of his fingers so that the cards are horizontal and tell him to hold them tightly. Now, since you know that his card is on the bottom, slap your hand down on the cards, and the bottom one will always stay, which is his. When he flips it over, it usually gets a very surprised and amazed look.