Two Hearts – Paul Ingram
The method for this effect bears a close resemblance to my method for the ‘Open Prediction’ plot (in previous issue of the EF Update). In that effect the method involves performing a double lift of the centre and bottom cards of the deck. In this effect, a double lift is performed with the centre and bottom cards of the deck. However, this time the sleight is performed from the rear of the deck as opposed to the front of the deck as in the ‘Open Prediction’ handling.
The over-all effect for the plot that follows has been covered by Gary Kurtz, Doc Eason, Jay Sankey and Mark Elsdon. However, the effect by these creators is that of two spectators each signing what they believe to be two separate playing cards. The climax is that both playing cards end up melded back-to-back still bearing the signatures. All methods employ a double-faced card which, unwittingly, the spectators are signing each face. My effect differs slightly in that it employs an ordinary deck and although the spectators believe they are signing two separate cards, the climax reveals both signatures upon the same card – front and back.
If there was a prize for developing the most straightforward handling for this effect, I do feel the following method would be a strong candidate. The whole effect is achieved through the use of one sleight. A description of the sleight itself can be found on page 88 of ‘Daryl’s Ambitious Card Omnibus’. The sleight is simply titled ‘The Transfer of a Card’ and is credited to Nate Leipzeg. It is described as an ambitious move which, it would serve its purpose well. However, my ambitious routine has been developed over many years and is choreographed to perfection. For this reason I did not want to use the sleight as an ambitious move. I must have been very impressed with the sleight because I practised it until I could do it perfectly, even though I had no immediate use for it.
It was not until a few years later (1995) that while practising the sleight I did it with a signed card and holding the deck face up. It was at that precise moment that this routine was born. I have performed the routine thousands of times and in most every performance, it nails them up and hangs them out to dry!
Having already described the basic effect let us go straight into the method……….
I like to perform this routine at the end of any effect where I have had the face of a card signed by the spectator. I am left-handed and if I intend to do this routine, I have previously had the spectator on my right sign a card. This is important for covering the bad angles during the routine. If you are right handed, then you must adjust the instructions to suit as I do with every magic book that I own!
Holding the deck face-up, take the signed selection and insert it into the outer end of the deck for approximately two thirds of its length. The selection is inserted at the approximate centre.
You now appear to push the selection flush and square with the rest of the deck however, this is where the crucial sleight is performed. The left hand approaches the deck in biddle grip fashion. The left fingers reach out and square the card but in doing so they angle jog it to the right and then push it flush. This will in the right-hand corner of the selection protruding slightly from the right side of the deck. Move the right thumb into a position just in front and touching the protruding corner. In this position, the thumb will act as a pivot point for what happens next.
The right fingers now engage the selection, which is protruding out to the left at the rear of the deck, and pull it flush towards the left edge of the deck. As this happens, the card will pivot at the thumb and will finish protruding for approximately 2cm from the rear of the deck. This whole action should be practised so that it can be performed in an instant. To hide the protruding card, the left fingers bevel the cards above the selection backward to the rear of the deck.
If the right hand now turns the deck sideways toward the left so that it is vertical to the floor, the angles from the left, right and front will all be covered. You now pick up the marker and hand it to the person on the left. You request the spectator to sign the face card however, you explain that instead of signing it upon its face, it is to be signed across the back. This is where the double lift is performed. You appear to turn the face card over and face down however, your left fingers contact the face card and at the same time your left thumb contacts the previous selection which is protruding from the rear of the deck. Both cards are pulled towards you together as one and once clear of the deck, are turned faced down to enable the spectator to sign.
You are in a terrific position, the spectator believes he is signing the face card of the deck however, he is in fact signing the back of the previously signed selection believed to be somewhere in the centre of the deck. All of this is achieved with one sleight! Needless to say, you must hang on to the deck as the spectator signs the back of the card. You now remove both the top cards by holding them together in biddle grip. The cards are raised to the mouth in order to blow the ink dry. This however, is just a little conniver because as you raise the card the spectator will be viewing the face card of the double which he believes he has just signed.
The double card is lowered and while still in biddle grip is used to flip the deck face down. The double is now inserted into the front of the deck for half its length, being kept square and appearing as one. The right hand now revolves the deck over to flash the face of the double and everything appears, as it should. The deck is now revolved back to its face down position. You now reach out with your left hand to the outer right corner of the protruding card and request the spectator on the right to hold onto that corner by finger and thumb. However, as you do this the left hand fingers contact the face of the double and push it inward, at the same time the right index finger reaches out underneath and pulls the double square and flush with the deck. This has secretly disposed of the face card of the double and left a single card which, unknown to the spectators bears a signature on the face and on the rear.
For the climax, request the spectator on the left to hold the left corner of the protruding card in a similar manner to the spectator on the right. With both spectators holding on to the card, slowly pull the deck free of the selection by pulling it backwards until it clears the selection. Have the spectators turn the signed card face up to reveal the card has now changed to the previous signed selection and bears both signatures, one on the front and one on the back.
Although the effect has taken some space to describe, in performance the effect is over in less than a minute. Everything is achieved with virtually one sleight. Compare this method to the other methods in print and I’m sure you will agree to its directness and effectiveness. Be sure to investigate the sleight as described in the Daryl book. The effect can be performed by signing the back of a card first however, to do it this way the card would have to remain a mystery card until the end. Try it this way and you will understand what I mean. By using a card that has already been signed upon its face in a previous effect, you are gaining more mileage from using that same card. The presentation can be one of compatibility between couples etc, hence the title.
Selected Card from Pocket – Professor Pushp, Mumbai
Effect: Magician shows 12 cards showing the months January to December. Two heaps are made, and one of them is selected freely.
Spectator selects any one card from his heap. It is mixed with the other five cards. Now magician takes the heap from him and keeps it in his (magician’s) pocket. Then magician removes one card and mixes it with other heap which is lying on the table.
Now magician removes the remaining five cards from pocket, and asks the name of the selected card. Selected card is not found among the five cards and it is found in other heap of seven cards. If spectator wants to check the cards, they are January to December.
Required: Twelve cards from January to December and six more cards from April to September are needed. Back of the cards should be same, then you will perform this close-up miracle.
Method: Keep the six cards depicting January, February, March, October, November and December mixed in your pocket, back should be outwards. Keep one cardboard bigger than cards with back of packet, it works like a divider.
Now hold April to September, two of each card face up in your hand. Show it mixed by casually lifting off cards in batches of two, three or four cards.
Turn the packet face down and cut and complete the cut twice. Then make two heaps on the table, dealing cards altenately into each heap. Eeach heap contains the same six cards, from April to September, but in mixed order.
Tell one spectator to select any one heap, whatever heap he selects, there will be no difference, because both heaps contains same cards.
Let him take that selected heap and tell him to shuffle it, see one card and show it to others. Then tell him to mix his card in other five cards.
Take the packet from him and put it in your pocket, near the divider, saying that you will remove his selected card without looking.
Now remove one card from the packet. January, February, March, October, November and December, which you already kept in your pocket before performance. Without showing it, mix it with other heap of six duplicate cards, which is lying on the table.
Now remove remaining five cards from pocket and leave the six cards selected by the spectator in your pocket.
Ask the name of selected card. Show the five cards and tell him that his card is not with these cards, because you removed his selected card and kept it in other heap.
Now turn face up other heap and count seven cards. Selected card is found in that heap.
Now there are exact 12 cards from January to December. If anyone wants to check, let him check.
Note: If you do not want to prepare 12 “month” cards, then take 12 cards of any one suit from Ace to Queen and extra 6 cards from 4 to 9, but back should be same.
Before performance keep 6 cards Ace, Two, Three, Ten, Jack and Queen in your pocket and hold pair of Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and Nine in your hand. And perform same miracle as told first. But I like 12 months.
(Ed Note : The effect would be best with Zodiac Cards, displaying the 12 Zodiac signs. Zodiac cards are available from some Magic dealers. Or you could easily make up your own set using blank cards, and Zodiac designs from the Horoscope columns in newspapers and magazines)
Extra Sensory Lie Detector – Arun Bonerjee
Set-Up : Get 20 E.S.P. Cards, each of five symbols repeated four times. Stack the cards in pairs, i.e., Circle-circle, Plus-plus, Wave-wave and so on. Place the pairs together, one on top of the other in any order. Cut the stacked pack between any matching pair, say Plus-plus, complete the cut. So a Plus is brought to the top, also one at the face of the pack. Return pack to its wallet, keep it in your pocket.
Presentation : Take out pack of cards from wallet, hold it face up in your left hand. Go on passing the cards in bunches from left hand to right hand, telling the close-up audience, you have got a pack of psychic symbol cards, that you will use in a novel experiment. Commenting so square up pack, turn it face down.
Next, requesting someone to participate in the experiment, hand over face down pack to the spectator. Ask him which month he was born. Let us say spectator says, ‘August’. Ask him to loudly count as well as deal 8 cards, one at a time, in a face down pile on the table, as August is the eighth month of the year. Whilst spectator is doing so, you note ‘8’ is an Even number. So you derive, after spectator deals 8 cards, you have to ask him to take the last card dealt as random selection. (Alternatively, if spectator deals an odd number of cards, say 7, if his month of birth is July, then you derive, you have to ask the spectator to take the next card, after dealing 7 cards. In other words, in all cases spectator has to take a card at an even No. position in the pack).
So in above case after spectator deals 8 cards, ask him to pick up last card dealt, note the symbol depicted on it, show it to others, remember same. Incidentally, you further explain, if gentleman’s selected card depicts three curved lines, then he has to remember it’s name as Wavy Lines. (Wavy line is the only odd symbol in an E.S.P. pack). So the spectator notes the symbol depicted on his selected card, shows it to others, remembers same. You then ask him to return card on top of dealt pile, drop rest of pack on top of it. This being done, pick up face down pack in your hand.
Next, fan the pack, casually mix the cards well, except top card. Tell the spectator, now you will try to locate a card depicting his noted symbol for which you will use the pack as a Lie Detector! Of course for that you have to data process same! (you are more or less telling the truth!). Commenting so, square up pack, take it below table.
Holding face down pack below table, riffle it’s outer narrow end a number of times, then turn top card face up. Cut the pack, complete the cut, square up pack, bring it forward, place it face down on the table. Tell the spectator now he has to tell the name of his noted symbol, but he may tell the truth, or he may tell a lie! Thus, if his noted symbol is Wavy Lines, he may tell this name, or he may tell the name of any other symbol, say Circle! Let us say, spectator says, ‘Square’. Slap the pack, spread the cards and there comes surprise! – a single card is found to be face up among face down cards, face up card found to be Square! Smile, tell others, gentleman is a clever fellow as he told the truth, knowing it well that he cannot escape telling a lie in front of a Lie Detector! Alternatively, if spectator tells a lie, then express your surprise telling others, this is the first time you have met a person, who never misses a chance to tell a lie, even in front of a Lie Detector!
Above trick is based upon ‘Matching Pair’ principle that I have also used in the past in my trick, Word Fooler. (April’99 Billet). However, it is Professor Pushp’s excellent card trick, ‘Amazing Knowing Cards’ in E.F. Update, No.17/2, issue, that reminded me of the principle. So thanks to Professor Pushp, while I hope, you would also find this Lie Detecting Version to your liking.