A FEW WORDS..... Ihave reread some of my other forewords in m ly, my thoughts on the subject of trick cards hi that a cardician should stick to using an ordin performing. In view of this statement, the reader may b ¥ in the first three chapters, a few effects with tricked-y ye Surprised to find, make good reading -- something to play around with inthe ny Well, they own home during your spare time, but you don't have to add howto oe repertoire, do you? I'll bet right now you have so man them to your don't even need to bother reading this book. With all the card t bother encumbering yourself with tricked- Se car at any moment, be caught without, y other card books and frank- asn't changed, I still insiet ricks you So im d tricks, why rds and decks that you ma: Yes, I know that all yor re : 1 ¢ ‘ u > you need fe I tine is 2 paper clip, but 1 again wager that right mow yoo dee eee hand. How about a rubber band? See what Imean? Unless you are fessional bartender magician, who always has his reputation making gimmicks on hand, be practical, Grab a deck ~ any deck - and do the tricks of the time-anywhere variety. any~ Sometime ago, someone said, somewhere, something to the effect that if you had a trick with three sleights, and then eliminated one of the moves. you. would have a better trick, Then, if you worked out a method to accomplish the effect with one move, you had a darned good trick, And, if you could do the trick without that last move, you would have a miracle, However, I have found that if you eliminate that last move you usually wind up with a mathe- matical atrocity. Within the pages that follow I have tried to stay away from such effects, and have even tried to prove via the "21 Card Trick Streamlined" that the editing of a trick by the addition of a subtlety or sleight would not only shorten the process but in turn strengthen the effect. Some may say that a subtlety is not a move, but to this I add that there are some subtle principles in cards that are more difficult of perfect execution than the most difficult manual sleight ever conceived, At this point I should go into pages and pages on presentation, showmanship, technique, practice, naturalness, style, etc. but you would only be reading what you have already read hundreds of times, in hundreds of books, and which I believe was learned thru actual experience by the first conjuror thousands of years ago, then repeated, ad nauseum, down to the present day. The few different things I would like to say I am afraid would take another book, So, for the present, I remain Cardially yours, ED. MARLOCHAPTER ONE SENSE OF TOUCH (The Phoenix, February, 1945) This is one of my favorite follow-ups for "Out of This World", ‘The stage is set when the spectators comment on the effect. Iturn and say, "Yes, it is most amazing that a person who never did more with cards than play games with them should suddenly have the ability to separate the red ones from the black ones by intuition alone, You all know that Joe Joaks, here, is not a magician. Now, if Ihad so separated the cards, you wouldn't have consider-~ ed it amazing at all, You think a magician can do anything, Or do you? Suppose I were to give you the deck to shuffle, and then, by sense of touch alone, I were able to tell the red cards from the black? You look doubtful. Well, if Joe Doaks can do it, I can. Here, you shuffle the cards very thor-~ oughly." Here the magician proves his point by actually calling out the red cards from the black. He isn't kidding when he says he does it by the sense of touch. The secret is simple, but requires practice to do well, No stooges, peeks, or trick cards, After the Curry effect has been completed, the red cards and the black cards are separated, Pick up each pile and before they are shuffled or mixed, bend the red cards so they are convex and the black ones so they are concave. This is done in a single natural movement as you pick up the pile. (See figure 1) Now go into a dovetail shuffle. This will take out some of the work in the cards but you will still be able to feel, as well as to see and appreciate, the difference in the red and black cards. That's the secret. The spectator can give the cards any type of shuffle he wishes. You do not worry even if by his shuffling he takes the work out of fifty percent of the cards, You only need about twenty to convince and satisfy the most critical audience. Like a tum- bler, an occasional miss strengthens the fact that you actually feel the cards.THE WISHING CARD Trick, (The Phoenix, February, 1945) How many times has a magician placed tator to think of any card in the Placed a card face down and asked the apec- ack? | Spades (the card he placed face ® f the thought of card waa the Ace of down), he hi 4 the King of Hearts (the card on top ™ ‘he deck). miracle. I it happened to be i ee, a fast te 4 hada miracle. But if it was neither of these, then what? change and he still delay oft "I don't think the card is here in the p fle the caeata une viously controlled to the top for another top chenen,,” “mle the card is ob- My method causes no embarrassment and is a hundred percent perfect f lay audience. By a lay audience, Ido not mean magician’ wives, ss eae cause as a rule they are so intimate with magic that they no lon: er act or respond like the average layman even tho they do no magic themselves - Begin as in the old way by removing the card, the Ace of Spades. Lay it face down. Look at your spectator and say: "What card do you wish that to be? If he says Ace of Spades, turn it over ~~ fini! However, should he mention another card, try to get him to change his mind by saying: "Now you are sure you don't want to change your mind? Positive? This is your last chance!" He does not want to change his mind and his wish let us say is the Seven of Hearts. Calmly say: "Very well." Now turn to a second spectator and say: “I want you to wish for a card." Remove the previously named card, then lay it face down on top of the Ace of Spades, Ask the second spectator the name of the card he wished for, If he names the Ace of Spades, pick up both cards and fling them face up on the table 90 they separate, No one will ever know which was the top or bottom of the two, but they will see that both wishes were correct. This is even better working with one card, Let us say that the second spectator did not say Ace of Spades but Five of Clubs. Are you rattled? Of course not, You just follow the same procedure for him and turn to the third spectator. If he names the Ace of Spades, all three cards are flung out, face up so they separate. Three correct wishes make a tremendous effect, lL have never had to go over four wishes at any time, but nevertheless, I have speculated on the possibility of it happening. Here is my out, First, 1 would never want to go over five cards, If the fifth card named was the Ace of Spades, I would show all five as correct, But should the fifth card called be any other card, I would look at this last spectator and very boldly say: have every other card but yours," I would then pick up the five card, 2e move the Ace of Spades, again look at the spectator and say: “T mi sse ye but I have the others." I would then have each of the four spectators 5