Professional Documents
Culture Documents
50 Modern Card Tricks
50 Modern Card Tricks
50
Modern
Card Tricks
by
Glenn Gravatt
Introduction
In an early issue of The Bat the publisher, Lloyd E. Jones, wrote: "There are fellows who would
like to do a few card tricks, nothing elaborate, but simple tricks that can be done at any
time. There are so many good tricks available that it seems a shame that most people who like
to do tricks and even those who call themselves magicians are at a loss when handed a strange
pack of cards. They fumble, they hem and haw, perhaps they can't think of a single thing to do,
perhaps they have no time to prepare their especially wonderful trick, perhaps they have left
that prepared deck at home.
Here then is the answer, card tricks that work themselves, no set ups, no sleights, no fake cards,
tricks that are really impromptu, so that you can borrow a deck, ask someone to shuffle the
cards and start right in doing tricks. Recently I read a book labeled "Impromptu Card Tricks"
but some depended upon decks that were pre-arranged, some required forcing, palming
and other sleights, some required waxed cards and needle punctured cards, one even required a
newspaper with a secret pocket. This is not my idea of "impromptu."
Here is a feast for the card gourmet. In the nearly 40 years that have gone by since I wrote the
original "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" I have made notes of tricks that have come to
my attention from many sources and in a variety of ways, so that sufficient material has been
accumulated to fill another Encyclopedia. The best impromptu effects were drawn from that
material for this book.
Here are some of the finest creations of such noted magical inventors as Gerald Kosky, Bob
Hummer, Eddie Joseph, Stewart James, Ed Marlo, Ralph Hull, Jack Miller, Francis
Carlyle, Frank Garcia, George Dean, Sid Lawrence, Scalbert, Tom Sellers, Ned Rutledge, Percy
Bee, Rufus Steele, Paul Kahn, and others, including of course some of Glenn Gravatt.
Sometimes two originators get the same idea. There is no way to prove who thought of it first,
so while assignment of credits cannot be guaranteed to be correct, credit has been given
where known. However in many of these cases I have taken the liberty to make changes, hoping
that my efforts might improve the original.
In preparing this book I tried out all the tricks to see if they actually worked as they were
supposed to. They worked but I was amazed to discover how effective they were, more
wonderful than they sounded by just reading them. In many cases simple mathematics are
converted into little mysteries, disguised with misdirection, and the magician has little to do but
direct the proceedings.
Too many so-called self-working card tricks call for long drawn out procedures involving
endless counting and dealing. They may be mystifying but they can be very boring, and
your primary purpose is to ENTERTAIN. I have tried to avoid this fault. There is of necessity a
certain amount of counting and dealing but this has been kept to a minimum and is very
limited. No counting is lengthy and no dealing is excessive. So while some of this is inevitable
only tricks have been used that are not too time consuming.
GLENN GRAVATT
10
Add a Pair
Hand pack to spectator. Turn your back to him. Tell him to remove any 2 spot cards and add
the spots together. A 7 and a 5 would total 12. So he puts his 2 chosen cards to one side while
he deals a pile of cards equal to the total of their spots, in this case, 12. He then deals another
heap of the same number.
He assembles these 2 heaps into one, then puts his 2 chosen cards on top of the combined heap.
Finally he puts the balance of the pack on top of all. Cards are face down at all times.
You turn, take the cards, stressing that you do not know the 2 cards chosen, therefore you could
not know the number dealt. Likewise you could not know where his 2 cards lie in the deck.
He must agree.
Fan the pack face up in front of you, passing the cards from one hand to the other, counting
from the face of the deck. Begin your count at O. Count the first 2 cards as 0, the second pair
as (41," the 3rd pair as "2," the 4th pair as "3" etc.
Removing them 2 by 2, when you arrive at a pair of cards, the spots on which total the same as
your mentally counted number, those will be the 2 selected cards. In this case the spots on a
pair of cards will total 12 as you mentally count 12. Credited to Torn Sellers.
Perfect Force
World's easiest force. Only trouble, you need more than one spectator. Top card is the force card.
Put pack on left fingers, out near fingertips. With left hand held out flat, go to "A." Ask him to
12
Numerology
Begin by telling a spectator that in numerology everyone's personality is represented by 2
numbers, the numbers being different in each instance. Say: "Just by looking at you, I would
guess that your numbers are 5 and 3. Let's see if I'm right."
Ask him to count off any 8 cards. Have him hold these 8 behind his back in order to shuffle
them behind him. Say: "Shuffle these without looking at them." As you put the cards in his
hands held behind him, just turn the bottom card face up. Doing this behind his back, he can't
see it.
Say "After you've mixed the cards behind you, turn the top and bottom cards face up. Next,
shuffle them again, and again reverse the top and bottom cards. Repeat this as often as
you wish. When you finish spread the cards on the table. Since your numbers are 5 and 3, you
should have 5 cards facing one way and 3 the other.
Note: Have your spectator stop at either 3rd, 5th, or 7th time they do this, as it is not probable, it
is possible to undue your 5/3 spread and you will end with a 7/1 spread, as you did at the start
of the routine. The chances of it happing are low, but it can happen.
Your prediction proves correct. The trick works automatically. This is credited to Bob Hummer.
13
Easy Reverse
A spectator shuffles his deck and deals 2 piles of 10 cards each. He picks up either pile and from
it chooses a card which he puts on the table face down. He then deals this pile on top of his
card, dealing the first card face down, the next face up, the third face down, and so on,
alternating.
He deals the other pile on top of those 10, dealing the first card face up, the second face down,
and so on. He cuts the 20-card packet to lose his card, then hands the packet to you behind
your back.
You put the top card between thumb and first finger, the second card between first and second
finger, the third card between thumb and first finger, and so on with all 20. Finally you take
one group (either one) and turn it over, then combine the two groups into one.
Bring the cards into view and ribbonspread them across the table. All cards will be facing one
way while the chosen card will be reversed in the spread.
14
15
No Questions Asked
A Glenn Gravatt simplification of an involved Eddie Joseph creation. A spectator shuffles his
pack, and while your back is turned, deals 15 cards in a pile FACE UP. He is to select anyone of
the 15 cards and remember it. Also he must silently count the cards as he deals and remember
both the card and its number.
He then deals a pile of cards to the right of the face up pile, this time dealing them face down.
This pile is to contain his secret number, that is, as many cards as the number on which his
chosen card fell. The rest of the cards are placed down at the left.
He has 3 piles, his card being in the center one. He takes this center pile, turns it face down, and
puts it on the pile at his right. He then puts the pile at his left on top of all. Thus the deck
is complete once more.
You turn and take the pack. Stress the fact that you do not know his secret number or the card
he looked at, and will ask no questions. Put the deck behind your back turn it face up,
and count to the 16th card from the FACE. That will be his card.
The above saves time but if you want to do it another way, without putting the deck behind
your back or turning the cards face up, his card will be 37th from the top. (Quite naturally,
since it is 16th from the bottom.) You can therefore locate it with the cards face down, silently
counting to the 37th card. In such case it should not be obvious to the spectator that you are
counting. You can use any pretext for passing the cards from hand to hand, such as feeling the
spots with your "sensitive fingertips" or any other ruse.
Deckspert
16
17
18
Australian Aces
Originated by Glenn Gravatt. The 4 aces are laid out on the table. You say that from the earliest
of times the number 7 has been considered a mystic number, that it appears dozens of times in
the Bible. There were dreams of 7 lean years and 7 fat years, the river Jordan was crossed 7
times, etc. Therefore 7 cards are dealt on to each ace
These 4 piles are combined into one. A false cut at this point, while not necessary, increases the
mystification. Ask the spectator to take the packet of cards and to do the "Australian Deal." Tell
him it is sometimes known as the "Down Under" deal, that if he isn't familiar with it it is simply
this:
19
20
Contrived Coincidence
Spectator shuffles his deck. You take the deck and state you will do a trick in reverse, that
instead of you guessing a card a spectator might choose you will try to have him guess one of
your choice. You say you are thinking of one particular card and that you will place it aside for
future verification.
Fan the deck faces to you to look for your thought-of card.What you do is to note the top and
bottom cards. If, for instance, one is the 2 of Clubs and the other the 5 of Hearts, you quickly run
through the pack to locate whichever comes first, the 2 of Hearts or the 5 of Clubs. In other
words you find a card of the same suit as one and the same value as the other.
21
22
23
Berg's Revelation
The old principle of counting a batch of cards, adding the digits, etc. is cleverly used by Joe Berg
as follows: While your back is turned a spectator cuts off a bunch of cards from a deck he has
just shuffled, any number at all. He counts how many cards he has, adds the 2 digits and
discards that number of cards from the bunch, putting them back with the deck.
For instance, if he has 24, he adds 2 and 4, totaling 6. So he removes 6 cards. He is now asked to
think of any number from 1 to 9, and again discard some cards, returning to the deck a
number corresponding to the number he decided upon.
This done, he counts to his thought-of-number (from 1 to 9) in the packet of cards remaining in
his hands, and looks at and remembers the card lying at that position. He then hands you
the cards which you keep behind you as you turn to face him.
Without disturbing their order count them behind your back. Whatever their number, subtract
that number from the next highest multiple of 9. The result gives you the position of his card.
If you have 11 cards, subtract 11 from 18, the next multiple of 9, giving you 7. Thus his card lies
7th in the heap. If there are 24 cards, subtract 24 from 27 (the next highest multiple of 9)
giving you 3. So his card lies 3rd in the heap. If there are 7 cards, subtract 7 from 9, giving 2. So
his card is second.
Emphasize the fact that at no time have you asked a single question. At the start he helped
himself to an unknown number of cards, that is, unknown to you. He added the 2 digits and
discarded that number unknown to you. And finally he discarded some more, this time having
free choice of the number discarded, a number which was never announced. He then noted a
card at this freely chosen number.
Remove the correct card and place it face down on the table. Ask him to name his card. He does
so. You turn it up. Marvelous!
25
X-Ray Eyes
Secretly glimpse the bottom card of the pack. Hand pack to a spectator. Ask him to square up
the deck face down on the palm of his hand. Tell him to pull out the center third of the deck
and drop it on top of the pack. Ask him to mark his .initials lightly on the back of the top card
(the top one of the middle section he pulled out.) He is not to look at its face.
26
Back In Place
A spectator shuffles his deck, thinks of a number between 1 and 10, then looks at the card at that
number from the top. He now transfers the Same number of cards from the bottom to the top.
You sec none of this as your back is turned.
You now take the deck and place it behind your back. You stress the fact that since you do not
know the number he thought of, and since it is no longer at that number inasmuch as some
were transferred from the bottom on top of it, you wiII attempt the impossible. That is, with no
knowledge of his number you will find it and restore his card to its original position.
Behind your back count off 20 from the top, placing the first between a thumb and first finger,
the second between the first and second finger, the third on the card between thurnb and
first finger, the fourth under the card between first and second fingers, and so on, until you
have dealt 20. Now put the 10 that are between the first and second fingers on the 10 that are
between thumb and first finger, then place all 20 on top of pack.
Bring pack into view. State that you have located his card and placed it back in its original
position. Ask him his number. Suppose he says 7. Count down to the 7th card and toss out.
Ask him the name of his card. He says, for instance, the 3 of clubs. Turn the tossed-out card face
up. Sure enough, it is the 3 of clubs.
Perfect Location
Perhaps the closest approach to the perfect card location, as the spectator does everything with
the deck in his own hands. Hand deck to spectator. Have him shuffle. Ask him to remove
any card, to note and remember it, then put it face down on the table. Tell him to cut the rest of
the deck into 3 piles ABOUT EQUAL.
Tell him to put his card on anyone of the 3 piles, then take the pile with the chosen card on top,
turn the whole pile over and put it face up on either of the other 2 piles. He then puts the
27
28
Impromptu Detection
A spectator shuffles his own deck, thinks of a card, removes the thought-of card, and puts it
face down on the table. Take the deck and without looking at the cards, put them over the
chosen card, saying: Your card is at the bottom of the deck. Just cut the deck so that your card
will be lost somewhere in the middle of the pack."
The spectator does this. You square the cards and say you will try to find the card while holding
the deck behind your back. You put the cards behind you and soon bring forth one. He names
his card. You show the card you have brought forth. It is his.
While he is looking for a card to remove from the deck you turn your back to him "so you wont
get an accidental glimpse of the card." This gives you a chance to put the tip of your
right forefinger to your mouth and obtain a little saliva.
When chosen card is put on table, turn around, take the rest of the cards, and while putting
deck on top of chosen card, pass the moistened fingertip across the bottom card of deck.
When deck is cut and squared the two cards stick together.
It is easy to find the chosen one behind your back by feeling for two cards stuck together.
Separate the two and bring the chosen one forward. Attributed to Paul Kahn.
29
30
31
Improved Clock
A selection of "The Club" presented by Magic Limited. Effect: Any hour on the clock is thought
of. Spectator transfers that number of cards from the top of the deck to the bottom
while performer's back is turned.
Performer now takes deck and deals 12 cards to form a clock dial. He asks spectator to note card
at the hour he mentally thought of. Now the cards, which have blue backs, are picked up one at
a time and placed aside. Only one card is left on the imaginary clock dial. This is the card and
hour spectator is thinking of. Further, when turned over it has a RED back, the only redbacked
card among all the other blue backs.
32
33
Perplexity
Say you will use only 20 cards. Deal that many. Mr. A looks through them and notes a card, also
its number from the top, for instance the 3 of Diamonds, 8th. Mr. B does the same, noting, say,
the 4 of Spades, 15th. You then take the cards.
What you intend to do, you tell them, is to find both cards and reverse their places, that is, you
will put Mr. A's card at Mr. B's number, and vice versa. Run the cards from hand to hand, each
card going on the preceding one, thus reversing their order, except for the last card, which is left
on the bottom where it was.
Now ask for the 2 numbers. If they total more than 20 openly deal the extra amount from the
pack onto the 20 cards. I f the 2 numbers total less than 20, say 11, remove 9 cards from the
20, so that the number left equals the total of the 2 numbers of A and B. If the 2 numbers total 20,
go ahead without further ado.
In the above instance A's number is 8 and B's is 15. Since 8 and 15 total 23, you deal 3 more on
the 20. Count to the 8th card and turn it up. It will be Mr. B's, the one originally 15th. Continue
counting until you reach 15. Turn up that one. It will be Mr. A's.
Apparently you have located the cards of each and put them in each other's position, a little
miracle. Trick is automatic and self working.
Impromptu Prediction
Spectator shuffles his deck and gives it to you. You state you will make a prediction by
removing a certain card, the significance of which will become apparent later. Fan the faces of
the cards to yourself and note the top card.
Suppose it is an 8--spot. The suit is immaterial. Quickly count from the bottom (face) of deck to
the 8th card. Suppose it is the 5 of Clubs. Run through the deck to find its mate, the 5 of
Spades (same value, same color.)
Remove the 5 of Spades (or whatever) and place it face down on the table without showing it.
Turn the deck FACE UP and start dealing off cards into a pile. When you have dealt, say, 7 or 8,
ask the spectator to stop you whenever he feels like it. Continue dealing.
When he stops you, you turn both sections face down, that is, the dealt off group and the main
deck. Have spectator turn over the top card of the deck. It is an 8--spot, so he is to count down
to the 8th card in the pile dealt off. I-Ie does so and removes the 5 of Clubs. You turn up the
card you took at the start, the 5 of Spades, showing a magical coincidence, both matching in
color and value.
The above is Rufus Steele's version. Following is Frank Garcia's method for accomplishing the
same effect.
34
Divination Supreme
You must know the top card of the pack. You can ascertain this quite openly and without
suspicion merely by fanning the cards face up for a moment "to show that it is a regular,
ordinary pack well mixed," etc. Hand pack to spectator and turn your back to avoid seeing his
actions.
Tell him to deal off a small pile of cards, but silently so that you cannot know their number, and
to avoid prolonging things, not too many, say any number up to 15. This of course will
bring the card you noted to the face of the dealt-off packet.
So far this is an old subterfuge. But now comes a procedure, the idea of Walter Gibson,
designed to cause the spectator to forget this, taking his mind off it altogether. He is asked to
divide the rest of the deck into 2 nearly equal piles, then to shuffle each of these 2 piles
separately.
This done, he is to pick up the dealt...off heap, square it, look at and remember the bottom card,
then sandwich it between the 2 shuffled parts of the main deck. In this manner you have
"forced" the top card of the pack, the one you noted.
Now you tell him to shuffle the entire deck. Many laymen know the principle of the "key" card,
the card lying next to a noted one, and this shuffle will be sure to throw them off.
You can now finish in any manner you choose, naming the card by your powers of divination,
or you can locate it in the pack.
Note: At the start you may wish to have him first think of number, say, between 5 and 15, then
have him deal that number of cards. This will plant the suggestion that the number dealt
has something to do with it and that you intend to ask for that number later on. Of course you
never do.
Simple as this appears to be, the solution never occurs to the spectator.
35
Transposition In Reverse
Probably the easiest and most effective of all "reverse card tricks" is this one originated by
Francis Carlyle. The secret was once sold by dealers and later appeared in a magic book or
two. The trick is so good it was felt it must be included here.
A spectator shuffles his pack, cuts it into 2 fairly equal portions, retains one half and gives you
the other. You tell him that while your back is turned he is to look at his cards and decide upon
one, and you will do the same. He is to hold his chosen card face down in his right hand, his
half pack in the other.
You turn your back and quickly take the bottom card of your portion, look at it, remember it
and replace it FACE UP at the bottom of your face down packet. The right hand takes off
the top card of the packet and holds it aside while the left hand turns over the entire packet so
36
37
Fantastic Revelation
A simplification of a rather complex trick by Bob Hummer. A spectator shuffles his deck, after
which you ask him to call out a number, say from 10 to 25, or if you wish from 15 to 30.
Whatever he chooses, he deals off that many cards.
He puts the rest of the deck to one side. From those dealt off he takes a bunch and puts them in
him pocket. Neither you nor he know how many he has in his pocket, as he does not bother
to count them.
He shuffles the cards he dealt off, notes the bottom or face card of the packet, then puts these
cards on the main deck, remembering the noted card. You remind him that since he has
an unknown number of cards in his pocket neither of you can know how far down his card is.
You take the deck and reverse the order of a number of the top cards by passing them one at a
time off the top of the deck into the other hand, each card going on top of its predecessor so
that the order is reversed. The number you reverse depends upon the number originally called
out by the spectator. The only requirement is that you reverse enough to include his card.
Therefore if the number 20 was called, reverse 20 cards.
This procedure should not be obvious, the best method being to show him each card in turn,
asking him to watch for it but give you no sign when he sees it, that you merely hope to catch
the proper mental vibrations when he sights it.
This puts his card at a known location (to you) providing you put the batch of cards you
reversed at the BOTTOM of the deck. In other words you have not only reversed a bunch but
have cut them from top to bottom. This trick was originally sold as a dealer's item and as far as
38
39
40
41