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Deal three files of seven cards each, face-up and over-lapping.

Ask someone to note one of the cards-any card-and tell you which of the three files it is in.

Now pick up each file separately, bunching the cards together in a pile without disturbing their order, and put one pile on top of the other in your hand, face-up, being careful to put in the middle the file containing the selected card. (If it was in the first file, pick up the second, then the first, then the third. ) Turn over, face-down, the stack of cards in your hand.

Once more deal the cards, without shuffling, face-up in three files, laying out three cards across (one card in the first file, one in the second, one in the third) , then three more across overlapping the first three, and so on until the layout looks as it did in the beginning.

Ask your friend to tell you which file his card is in now. Once more gather up the three files, putting his in the middle. Turn the cards over in your hand, face down, and deal them face-up again in three files, as before.

For the last time he is to tell you which file his card is in. And now you know the card, for it is the middle card in that file.

Do not tell him yet, however. It will be more mystifying if you gather up all the twenty-one cards, shuffle them a little, then scrutinize them closely before you pounce upon the right one and display it.

You can vary this trick, and make it even more baffling, by not seeing the faces of the cards yourself at all.

Deal the three files face-down. Then, without disturbing their order, hold up each file so your friend can see the cards, but you can see only their backs.

When he has noted one card, and told you which file it is in, gather them all up, face-down, with his file in the middle, and deal them again face-down.

Hold up each file, as before, for him to see which one his card is in. Once more gather them up, with his file carefully in the middle, and deal them again face-down.

Hold the files up for the last time for him to see, and when he has told you the file, gather the cards together, still face-down, his file in the middle.

Then begin to deal the cards off, one at a time, throwing them face-up on the table, but carefully counting them to yourself as you do so. When you reach the eleventh card, you can safely say, "That is it!"

Turnstile

Not everyone knows that in every pack there are many cards whose small numbers in the corners (4, 5, 6) are printed unevenly as to margins-at one end of the card the number is closer to the side edge than at the other end.

Pick out four or five cards whose margins are noticeably different, and lay them face-up side by side on the table-being careful to make all narrow margins the left-side of the cards.

Say now to someone, "While my back is turned and my eyes are closed, turn one of those cards around, so the top of it will be where the bottom is now. I will tell you which card you moved."

When you turn back and open your eyes, you can tell instantly, for you will see one of the cards with its narrow-margin on the right. To mystify him further, you can take four more cards and tell by the way the pips are pointed. In most of the Hearts, Clubs, and Spades, it is very easy to tell one end of a card from another by the way the pips are printed, some pointing up and some down.

Then take four more cards whose pips are exactly alike top and bottom (any Diamond except the 7; or the 2,4, 10, and face-cards in the other suits) and tell again by the margins. But, be sure there is enough difference in the side margin for you to detect the change!

The Magic Change

The magic Change is an excellent trick, easy to perform, yet wholly puzzling.

Hand the pack of cards to someone-Dorothy, perhaps,-and say to her, "I shall leave the room. While I am gone, shuffle the pack and cut it. Then think of some number from 1 to 14. Count down to that number in the pack; note what card it is-if you think of 9, count down to the 9th card and look at it; if you think of 13, count down to the 13th card. Then replace the cards as

they were, so your card is still the 9th or the 13th-or whatever number you thought of."

You leave the room. Dorothy thinks of 6, say, and when she counts down she sees that the 6th card is the Jack of Spades. She leaves it in its position as the 6th card.

You return, take the pack and say to someone else, "While I am out of the room again, Richard, you write down some number from 15 to 20. When I return, I will make Dorothy's card magically change its place, from her number to yours."

Leave the room, taking the pack with you. Now rapidly but very carefully deal off, one by one, and face-down, the top sixteen cards, placing one on top of the other as you count them off. Then replace the pile of sixteen, in their new order, on top of the face-down pack. These sixteen cards will be exactly reversed. The card that was on top will now be the sixteenth, the former second card is now the fifteenth, and so on.

You return to the room and ask Richard what number he wrote down.

If he says 17, all right. If he says 16, you must slip one card from the top of the pack to the bottom; if 15, two cards from the top to the bottom. If he says 18, slip one card from the bottom of the pack to the top; if 19, two cards from the bottom to the top; if 20, three cards from the bottom to the top.

As your audience will see you do this, you can say, "For luck!" or, "To make it more confusing," or anything of the sort.

Now ask Dorothy what number she thought of.

If she says 6 (and Richard has said 19 and you have put two cards from the bottom on top ), give a few taps on top of the pack and say, "Card, I command you to skip from Dorothy's number to Richard's

Then to Dorothy: "Now I will count from 6 to 19, and there it will be!"

Count aloud, "Six"; then throw the first card face-up on the table as you say "Seven"; then the next card for "Eight"; then "Nine," and soon. (Be sure to say the number thought of, but begin your count with the next number after that; if Dorothy's number was 10, say

"Ten," and count the first card "Eleven.")

Count all the numbers aloud as you deal off the cards, and when you reach

"Eighteen"-the one before Richard's number-you can pause dramatically and say, "The next one, if it skipped down when I told it to, will be Dorothy's card." Turn it over as you say, "Nineteen" and lo, it is the Jack of Spades!

Dorothy and everyone else saw it as the 6th card. How could it become the 19th ? You could not have "placed" it when you had the pack out of the room, because you could not possibly know what card Dorothy saw, nor what number she thought of, nor what number Richard wrote down.

It is all very baffling !

One by One

One by One is a "mind-reading" trick.

A new pack of cards is best, where all the cards are straight; in an old pack they are often bent from much bending.

Begin by telling your audience you will name each card by reading the mind of someone who sees it. But you can only do that by first working magic on the card. Have someone shuffle the pack thoroughly, so you cannot be suspected of having "arranged" the cards.

You are going to hold them behind your back. As they are handed to you, or as you swing them behind you, note the card that is on the bottom-without letting anyone see you do it, of course. Suppose it is the 4 of clubs.

With both hands behind you, take off the top third of the pack (the exact number does not matter) , and turn it in reverse, so the bottom two-thirds will be facing the audience, and the top third will face you when you hold the cards in front of you. While you are doing this you can be mumbling some "Hokus-pokus-dommus-nickus" magic formula.

Now with the pack deep in the right hand, the fingers curled well over the cards (to conceal that all of them are not facing the same way), hold the pack out in front of you,' the bottom card facing the audience, and say, "Mary is thinking of the Four of Clubs. So that is the card she sees!" (At the same time you note the 6 of diamonds facing you.)

Swing the pack behind you quickly, and while you chant your magic, slip the 6 of diamonds from the top of the pack to the bottom, turning the card as you do so, so it will face in the direction of the other bottom cards.

Hold the pack in front of you, deep in your right hand, and say, "John, your mind is hard to read, but I believe-yes, it is the Six of Diamonds !"

(You note the card now facing you is the King of hearts.) Behind you again, you switch that card to the bottom, and when you hold the pack out you can say, "This one is easy, because everybody is thinking of the King of Hearts!"

And so on, for eight or ten cards, being careful to name the card you put on the bottom, and not the card that is facing you at the time!

And be very, very careful that no one peeks behind you while you are working your magic!

The Four Thieves

It may require a little practice to hold four Kings fan shape facing the audience and have two cards concealed behind one of the Kings, but a few trials will show you just how to hold them.

Let your audience see you pick out the four Jacks and place them one by one on the bottom of the pack, while you begin your story:

"The pack of cards is a warehouse, and the four Jacks are four thieves who plan to rob it. They all meet in the basement" - as you place them on the bottom of the pack.

"Someone sees the thieves in the warehouse and calls the police. The four Kings are the policemen who hasten to the warehouse." you are now picking out the Kings, letting the audience see that you place each one on top of the pack. But as you place the third King you find, have two extra cards with it, on top of it. They will become the second and third cards from the top of the pack, just below the top King.

(Suppose these two extra cards are the 7 of diamonds and the 5 of clubs. When you get all the Kings on top of the pack the cards will actually read, from the top down: K-7-5-K-K-K, but the audience must think they read: K-K-K-K.)

All the time you are going on with your story :

"The police arrive by airplane and land all together on the roof. But in the meantime the four thieves have scattered. This one"-take one Jack off the bottom, show it, and place it anywhere high in the deck, being sure it is not above the sixth card-"goes to the fourth floor . This one"-take another Jack, show it, and put it in the pack a little lower than the other-"goes to the third

floor. This one"-the same with another Jack-"to the second floor. And this thief goes from the basement to the first floor"-placing it a little above the bottom of the pack.

Be sure to show each Jack, as this will allay suspicion when you fail to show two supposed Kings.

"The four policemen are on the roof, all together." Pick up the top six cards (which are supposed to be only four) and spread them fan shape so only the four Kings will show when you hold the cards up with their backs to you. The two plain cards must be hidden completely behind the second King.

The audience sees the four Kings spread fan shape and sees you then place them all on top of the pack-the roof; and all the time you are going on with your story, which partly distracts their attention from the cards:

"The policemen know they will never catch the thieves if they stay together. They must scatter through the building. One goes to the basement." Lift the top card, show the audience that it is a King, then place it on the bottom of the pack.

"Another policeman goes to the second floor." Place the next top card (which is not a King, so it must not be shown) low in the pack.

" Another to the "third floor ." Place this one, too, quickly, as it is not a King.

"The fourth decides to remain on the roof, lest the thieves try to escape that way." Lift up the next top card, show the audience it is a King, then replace it on top of the pack.

"Now the four policemen are all scattered, searching for the four thieves."

Put the pack on the table and ask someone to cut it (just one cut), being sure the bottom part of the cut is placed on the top part in the proper way.

"The policeman on the third floor" (or on the second floor if the cut was high in the deck) "saw one of the thieves running up the stairs. He blew his whistle, and all the other policemen rushed to his floor.

"So now they are all together again !"

Turn the pack over, face-up, and lightly spread it on the table-and there are the four Kings, huddled together about midway!

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 21^st 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 one 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, every time I do a series of tricks.

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, on 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 other 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 first 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 Easy Way

In this trick 16 cards are placed face up on a table, in four rows of four cards. Ask a spectator to pick a card in his mind, and to tell you only the vertical column in which the card is located. Gather up the cards, making sure to pick the fourth vertical column first. (Take the top card in your hand, face up. Pick up the second card and put it onto the first card. The third card goes on these, and then the fourth.) Place those four cards face down in a pile. Next pick up the third vertical column and place it on top of the pile. Repeat this for the second and first column.

Next deal out the cards in four rows of four, only this time make sure that the first four cards go into the top row, the second four cards go into the second row and so on. You must remember which column (1,2,3 or 4) contained the card. By remembering this you now know which horizontal row contains the chosen card. Ask the spectator to again state which vertical column (1,2,3 or 4)contains his card. The intersection of this column with the original row is the spectator’s card. You can pick out the card immediately. In this case the spectator’s answers provide us the final row and column of the card.

Most people will see through the magic in this trick in a hurry, though it might remain a mystery to first graders for a long time.

Do It Yourself Discovery

Effect: The spectator discovers his own card in a mysterious manner.

Card Trick: Have The spectator shuffle the cards, take half the deck and give the rest to you. “Now,” you say, “while I turn my back, pick out a card, look at it, show it to everybody, and put it back on top of your pile.”

Turn away and secretly turn the bottom card and the second card form the top face up.

When the spectator is done turn beck. Till the spectator to hold out his cards and place your piles on top of his. Event up the cards, and then direct him to place his arm behind his back saying, “Now I want to perform a little experiment whit the cards behind your back”.

Make sure that no one can see what happens behind the spectator’s back and that he does not bring the cards forward. Say this to the spectator: “Take the top card … no, put that onto the bottom, so that you know I’m not trying to fool you.

“Have you done that? All right take the next card, turn it over, and stick it in the middle. Even up the card.”

Have the spectator bring the forward. Take the deck and run through the cards until you come to the face up card. Ask the spectator to name his card. Turn over the next card. “As you can see you located your card yourself.”

Tips: once in a great while the spectator will stick the card between the face up card and the chosen card. When you turn up the wrong card simply say: “You missed it by one,” and turn up the next card.

Four Islands

Effect: there are four islands in an ocean. Each has a king, queen, a son named Jack (the Jack will be used,) and a dog named Ace (the Ace will be used.) One day, a hurricane storms through the ocean, creating complete chaos and wiping everything on the island away. Finally, each king lands on his own island, each queen on her own island, etc.

Card Trick: To perform this trick, you need to remove all King, Queen, Jack, and Aces. Create four “rows” of cards going down as you would in solitaire. Each row should have a King, Queen, Jack, and Ace all of one suit. Explain the sitting as you set them up on their island.

When you tell about the hurricane, sweep the cards up from the bottom of the “island” (the Ace) up. Do this to each row, in order from left to right. Hold the cards face down. The order will be King, Queen, Jack, Ace (of each suit.) Have a member of the audience cut the small deck in half, and complete the cut (top half of deck goes beneath the bottom half.) This may be done with several audience members. Don’t let them make more than one cut at a time. Now just deal them out, one at time, onto their four different island (four piles.)if you have done it right, each island will have all of one type of card.

Cut To It

Effect: The spectator picks a card, puts it on the top of the deck, cuts the deck, and the magician finds the card.

How it’s done: All you have to do is have a glimpse at the bottom card of the deck. Ask the spectator to take any card. After he does, ask him to put it on top of the deck, and to do a complete cut of the deck, putting the bottom part of the deck onto the top. You count off the cards from the top, flipping them face up until you reach what used to be the bottom card. The next one is the chosen card.