Contents

Ripped and Repaired - Pg.2

A brand new method for the torn and restored card that is as amazing as it is easy to perform.
Twirl and Shout - Pg.8
A card on the table from before the trick began transforms into the signed card.
Dear Diary - Pg.12
A diary is used to reveal a signed card, far too strange to be a coincidence.
Take Note - Pg.17
A prediction written on a notepad visibly changes to a signed selection as it is torn from the pad.
Signature Piece - Pg.21
A signed two-card transpo with a difference. This blows people away.
Boxing Clever - Pg.23
A super-easy card to matchbox where the simple gimmick does all the work.
Introduction

How do I introduce Ripped and Repaired? I love this trick and since its
creation have used it time and time again, getting the kind of reactions that
almost make you feel guilty considering the method. I always had a lot of
faith in it and was sure that other magicians would also appreciate its devilish
simplicity and ease of execution. It seems I was right. Ripped and Repaired
was first offered to the magic community as a bonus item with my Card
through Window booklet, 'CTW'. It was then that feedback started appearing
from satisfied customers, more and more of whom seemed to be heaping
praise on this effect, Ripped & Repaired, which you hold in your hands right
now. It's a great little worker, a true ‘real world’ effect which will serve you
well, I promise.

Also included in this booklet are five other original effects, all of which I
created at around the same time as R&R. To me, they each have the same
qualities as R&R in as much as they are straightforward in effect, fairly brief
and easy to do. There are no new technical breakthroughs or amazing
handlings, just good solid workers designed with the lay-person in mind. If
you stroll or table hop I think you’ll find one or two effects in here that you will
use.

One effect worth particular attention is ‘Take Note’. I don't know how it will
come off in print, it may be more suited to a visual medium but believe me
when I say if you put it in your repertoire you will be doing something unique
and something that will induce the ‘Ooh’s and ‘Aah’s that we all love to hear.
Also, don't overlook ‘Dear Diary’. It may be discarded by some of you as a
throw away but believe me when I say, if it is presented well, lay-people are
always suitably dumfounded .

That's it. I hope you enjoy using this material for your audiences as much as
I have for mine.

Thanks for listening….I mean….reading!

Dave Forrest.

1
Ripped & Repaired
A few years ago I came up with an idea for a torn and restored card. In its infancy the
idea was completely unworkable but I had managed to create the illusion that a card
was torn when in fact it was not by employing a 'fake tear'. This was intriguing to me
and so I continued to play around with the concept for a while. I didn't have much
success in making it workable and so I almost forgot about it completely. Some time
later while trying to develop an effect involving staples, lightning struck and I
eventually found a way to use the 'fake tear' illusion in a way that was both practical
and direct. I have been using it ever since and receiving fantastic reactions. I hope
you have as much fun as I have and receive the same kind of reactions when
performing Ripped and Repaired for your audiences.

Effect: A corner is cleanly and fairly torn from a selected card. (It really is!) The
magician claims that he can restore this card to its former glory with the aid of a very
special and ancient and magic-endowed instrument of necromancy. The spectators
clutch their handbags to their faces and peek through the gaps in their fingers.
The magician goes to his pocket and produces.......a stapler! He talks half the
audience out of leaving before re-attaching the torn corner with the stapler. The
"restored" card is signed by the spectator as proof that this miracle was witnessed by
human eyes. A man in the back row cocks the hammer on a large handgun, a woman
in the front is picturing the magi with an axe in his liver....before things turn violent he
gathers everyone around close and with a gentle rub (ooh!) he visually heals the torn
corner and hands out the card for inspection, there is nothing to find, just the two
staples which once held the card
together.

Constructing the Gimmick

You will need:
One blue backed deck.
One duplicate card.
One pair of scissors.
One stapler.
One extra card.

2
The first thing you must do is tear a corner from the extra card. You'll have to tear a
similar sized corner off later on during performance, so it's a good idea to have a
mental guide as to where the tear starts and ends. Look at Fig1. The highlighted area
is the piece you must remove. Arrow 1 points at a small 'dot' in between two 'leaves'
where the tear starts and arrow 2 points at the middle of three small 'leaves' where
the tear ends. When you tear a playing card a white/grey torn edge appears. You
must tear the card so that the white/grey torn edge is clearly visible on the back of the
card and not on the face. This is achieved by having the back of the card facing you
and tearing the corner off towards you. Fig2.

fig.1

fig.2 fig.3

fig.5

fig.4 fig.6

Now take a pair of scissors and carefully trim only the white/grey torn edge off of the
card. Fig3. Flatten the thin sliver of torn card (Fig4) out and put it aside. This is your
fake tear, you can discard the rest of this card.

Take your duplicate card and punch two staples into the white border using your
mental guides to position them. Fig5. Now slip the ends of your fake tear under both
staples and you have a card which looks like it has had a torn corner reattached with
a stapler. Fig6. Place your gimmicked card on the bottom of the deck face up with the
"torn" corner towards you. Place the un-gimmicked duplicate, your force card, on top
of the deck face down. Have the stapler in your pocket and you’re ready to begin.

3
Performance
The first thing you must do in
performance is force the top card on
a spectator but you want to do it
without disturbing your gimmick on
the bottom. The force I use is
‘Hofzinser’s' 'Under the Spread' force.
It is a brilliant force, I use it all the fig.7 fig.8
time.
Here's how it goes. You have the deck in left hand dealers
grip. Peel off the top few cards into the right hand reversing
their order. Fig7. Now begin to spread through the deck for a
card to be touched, holding a break between the first few
cards you took and the spread. A spectator touches the back
of any card. Split the spread at the touched card so that it is
on the bottom of the right hands cards. Fig8. Now use the left
hands cards to square the right hands spread into the break fig.9
you are holding above the first few cards that you peeled off
earlier. Fig9. shows an exposed view. When the right hands
packet is squared your force card will be at the face of the
packet. Turn the packet face up and thumb the face card onto
the table, the illusion is that this card is the card they touched.
Fig10. Re-assemble the deck by putting the right hands cards
on top of the left hands packet.

Now you must cut the gimmicked

fig.10
card to the top of the deck without it
being seen. Here's how I do it. Get a
left pinkie break above the gimmick which is on the bottom of
the deck. Take the deck from above in the right hand taking
over the break with the right thumb and cut the top half of the
deck to the bottom, below the break. You now have a break
fig.11 held in the centre of the deck above the gimmick. Fig11.
Pause for a moment then with the left hand take all the cards
below the break including the gimmick and turn them face up
as you place them on the table. Fig12. Turning the packet like
this keeps the gimmick from view. Come back and take half
of what's left, adding it to the tabled cards. Finally take the
rest of the cards and add them to the face up deck on the
table. The deck is now face up on the table, with the gimmick
reversed at the bottom. This 'move' should have the
appearance of casually cutting the deck as it is tabled.
fig.12

4
OK, it's time to tear the corner from the selected card. Pick
up their selection and show it on both sides. Show your
hands empty and tear the corner off of the card using your
mental guides as before to ensure that the corner piece is
roughly the same size and shape as your gimmick. Fig13.
(You shouldn't worry about this too much as tears by their
very nature are inconsistent and no one will ever notice minor
differences.) With the corner torn off hand both pieces to the fig.13
spectator and inform them that you have a magical device
that will re-attach the corner to the card, thus restoring the
selection. They should be more than a little intrigued and
when you go to your pocket and produce the stapler you
should get a laugh or two, depending on how you play it.
Take back the card and the torn corner and re-attach it with
the stapler, punching the staples in roughly the same place
as your gimmick. When you do this
you will notice that it is possible to
fig.14
attach the torn corner while leaving
no obvious tear mark on the back of
the card, this is no good. You must
make sure that the white/grey tear on
the back of the card is visible by
stapling it in front of the torn corner.
fig.16 Fig14. Now show the restored card
around triumphantly.

You will now switch this torn card fig.15

with the gimmick. Pick up the deck,
necktieing it as you do to keep the
gimmick out of sight. Get a break below the gimmick. Place
the selection face up on top of the gimmick, making sure the
stapled corners line up. Fig15. shows an exposed view. Turn
both cards face down as one and the fake tear comes into
fig.17
view. Take a marker from your pocket and hand it to a
spectator. Have them initial the back of the gimmick as proof
that they witnessed the miraculous restoration. Back/side jog
the gimmick (Fig16.) then point to the signature on the card
with the right hand. Fig17. This automatically neckties the
deck and you have switched in the gimmick. Put the deck
down on the table face up. Now, as you patter, make the face
of the card visible to your audience while your fingers hide
the fact that there is no tear on the face. Fig18. This takes all
fig.18 suspicion off of a switch.

5
Now you offer the card as a souvenir and as an afterthought you restore the card for
real. Make sure they are paying close attention as you go into this. The action for
removing the tear gimmick is as follows: With the back facing the audience, hold the
bottom right corner of the card in the right hand. Fig19. The left middle finger covers
the tear and very lightly rubs it once and then twice. Fig20. On the third time cover the
tear completely with the middle finger and use both the index and ring fingers on the
left hand to provide extra cover. Fig21. Pressing firmly with the left index finger rub
downward slightly and you will feel the fake tear come free from the staples. Now
slowly drag the fake tear towards the upper left hand corner of the card, revealing the
restoration. The gimmick is held between the middle finger and thumb of the right
hand. Fig22. The left hand drops to your side as the right hand turns the restored card
around and presents it to the spectator.Fig23 You can now drop the fake tear to the
floor or pocket it along with the marker.

fig.19 fig.20 fig.21

fig.22 fig.23

Final Thoughts

To clean up the duplicate card in the deck: After switching in the gimmick, pocket the
deck. When the trick is over, bring the deck back out of your pocket minus the
duplicate and you're clean.

It is always better in my opinion to use a blue backed deck. The fake tear is more
realistic in appearance than on a red backed deck. You may disagree however, so try
it with a red deck and decide for yourself.

6
David Le Fevre contacted me with a suggestion which I thought was brilliant. David
suggested that the card with the staples and the thin “fake tear” strip could be creased
along “the tear”. That way, when it’s magically restored, it would seem more plausible,
having some evidence of where the restoration has taken place. Obviously to put
David’s idea to use you will have to use a straight fake tear and tear the corner off
accordingly. I’ve tried this out and watching spectators tugging on the creased corner
to no avail is very amusing. If the idea of the complete ‘unharmed’ restoration seems
a little too perfect for your liking, I suggest you give David’s idea a try.

7
Twirl and Shout
The basic effect of ‘Twirl and Shout’ is that a card on the table from before the trick
began becomes ‘the signed card’. Reminds you of Bro. John Hamman’s ‘Your Signed
Card’, right? Well, a little play on words makes this effect a little bit different.

Twirl and Shout uses the Twirl Change to achieve a switch. The Twirl Change is one
of my favourite ways to change one card into another. One card seems to simply
'melt' into the other, it’s wonderfully deceptive and visual. In playing with it I realised
that If you use two duplicates back to back and perform a Twirl Change there is really
nothing to see and everyone watching will swear that at the end of the move they are
still looking at the same card. I'm sure others must have used it in this way before but
none-the-less, I like the idea of using the Twirl Change implicitly to achieve a switch
rather than a colour change, it’s the basis of this whole effect.

You need a deck of cards and one duplicate card, say the ten of hearts. The duplicate
is somewhere in the deck, there is no need for any set up. Have a marker pen with
you.

Shuffle the deck and announce that you will remove your lucky card.

'Why is it lucky? Because it can change itself into other cards!'

Run through the face up pack until you come to one of your duplicate ten of hearts.
Either cull it to the top or cut the deck making the ten the top card of the pack.
Continue spreading through the cards until you reach the other ten of hearts. Up-jog it
and strip it out placing it face up on the table.

'Yep, the ten of hearts! The card that can change on command! Would you please
place your finger down on top of the ten for me please? Don't let anyone get near that
card'

Have a spectator 'guard' the ten of hearts for you. It's important that you stress that no
one is to get near it.

8
Cut the deck and hold a break in preparation for the Riffle force. The Riffle force very
briefly is as follows. The deck is held in left hand dealers grip with a left pinkie break
held above the force card. Run your thumb down the outer left hand corner of the
pack inviting a spectator to call out 'STOP'. When they do you simply lift off all the
cards above your break. The illusion being that you cut where they said stop. You
should try to time your riffle so that your spectator says stop somewhere near your
break.

After the spectator says stop, cut the deck at your break bringing the force card to the
top. Turn over a double showing an indifferent card and call it's name. We'll assume
it's the Queen of Spades. Turn the double face down again and invite your spectator
to sign his name '…across the back of the Queen of Spades.' Of course, they are
actually signing the back of the duplicate ten of hearts. Leave the marker out on the
table when the signing is complete.

When the spectator has signed the card across the back, lift
the double straight off the deck and blow on the ink, showing
the face of the double, the Queen, to the audience cementing
the idea that this is the card bearing the signature. Place the
double back on top of the deck face up taking a pinkie break
beneath it.

'My lucky card will, before your very eyes, change into your
signed card!' fig.1
As you say this you will perform the Kardyro/Marlo or ‘KM’
move as you wrist-kill the deck. I use the KM move a lot in
my work. It is a very versatile and deceptive move. In this
instance it will be executed during the larger action of losing
the Queen of Spades into the middle of the pack. The
following movements should flow freely into one another. It
doesn't take but a moment and looks quite natural.

The deck is in left hand dealers grip and there is a face up fig.2
double on top of the deck. You have a break below the
double. The right hand fingers come over and grasp the
double by its right hand long edge. The fingers move the
double to the right until its left edge is almost touching the
right edge of the deck. fig1 As this is happening, the left
hand begins to turn palm down, turning the deck face up. The
left hands finger tips now contact the back card of the double,
stealing it onto the top of the deck (fig2) as the right hand
continues out to the right with a single card. fig3 fig.3

9
Don't pause for a moment as the left hand deposits the face
up deck onto the table top and simultaneously cuts half of it
off. The single, supposedly signed card is now placed face up
onto the tabled half and the left hand replaces the other half
on top. fig4 Effectively, you have placed the signed card face
up into the center of the face up pack. In reality the signed
card is still on top of the deck which is face up. The turning or
'wrist-killing' of the deck is essential here as otherwise the fig.4
signature on the back of the duplicate comes into view on top
of the deck.

It's a good idea now to leave the deck sitting on the table for a few moments and
patter about the lucky card and how it is going to change into the 'signed card'. You
should refer to the selection as ‘the signed card’ from now on as it gives you a nice
line to close the effect with as you'll see.

The marker, which the spectator used to sign the back of the
card, should still be on the table somewhere. You'll use it as
an excuse to bring the tabled ten of hearts near the deck
momentarily. Pick up the deck from above with the left hand
and at almost the same time gingerly pick up the ten that has
been on the table the entire time.fig5 As you pick up the 10H
and all attention is on it, take a break above the top card, the
fig.5
signed ten. Now, on spotting the marker on the table you turn
the ten of hearts face down placing it under the deck, which is
held in the left hand, leaving it out-jogged a little. fig6 The
idea being that you move the card to the left hand in order to
free that hand to pick up the marker. Pick up the marker with
the right hand and pocket it. As the right hand comes back to
retrieve the card, the left index finger pushes the ten square
with the card below it as the left hand turns palm up again.
You now have a break under the top two cards, they are back
to back and are ready for a twirl change. fig7 I'll first describe fig.6
the twirl change itself and then how it is used in the routine.

The deck is held in the left hand dealers grip and you have a
break below the top two cards, the uppermost of which is
face up. The palm down right hand comes over the top of the
deck and picks up the double between thumb at the inner
right hand corner and middle finger at the outer left hand
corner. fig.8 Lift the double off the deck and begin to 'shake'
it. As you do, use the index finger to contact the left side of fig.7

10
the double and turn it over clockwise. fig9 At the culmination of the change (fig10)
drop the double back onto the top of the deck and lift off a single, showing both sides.

fig.8 fig.9 fig.10

(Note: Figs 8,9 and 10 illustrate the traditional use of the twirl change of one card into another)

There are a couple of ways to finish now depending on your performing

circumstances. The first and 'easiest' is to simply perform the twirl change, waving the
card over the deck. Stop after a while and drop the double back onto the deck and lift
off the single face up ten.

'It just happened! I know you where probably expecting the face to change but my
lucky card has in fact just transformed into the signed card!’

Turn the ten over slowly and show that it has indeed changed into the signed card.

You can also have it happen in their hands. In this instance The twirl change is carried
out while demonstrating what the spectator is to do and the signed ten is handed back
to them. Have them wave it over the deck and end accordingly.

Yet another way is to perform the twirl change under cover of a gesture. Address the
person who has been guarding the card and ask them:

'Now, has anyone been near this card while you have been closely guarding it?'

As you say 'anyone' you give an open armed gesture as if to emphasise the word. In
reality, you perform the twirl change under cover of this action.

Hand them the signed ten and finish in your own time.

Whichever way you go, after the revelation of the signature on your lucky card, ask for
the name of the selection. Run through the face up deck and find it then show that it
no longer bears the signature.

11
Dear Diary
I almost didn’t include this effect fearing it would be disregarded as nothing more than
a series of forces. I mean, that is really all it is but I think it has a nice clean structure
and its real strong point is that it plays well for larger groups of people. It is all based
around the similarities between the calendar and a deck of cards. I won't go over
these at the moment but I will list some of them after the description. The patter
centres around these similarities, posing the question of whether or not this is
coincidence or if there is indeed some strange parallel between the calendar and the
cards. It is best presented as an 'experiment' to test these
similarities.

You need a little pocket diary. They are usually not much
bigger than a deck of cards so shouldn't commandeer too
much pocket space. You can get them all over the place and
they are relatively cheap. Turn to the Fifteenth of June and
write 'King of Spades'. fig1 You'll now need to write a
different playing card on every other day of the year in the
diary. Just take a deck and shuffle it then go through them fig.1
one by one attributing a card to each day of the year.
Obviously you'll have to do it several times to fill the year but using an actual deck like
this ensures it looks very random. It doesn't take too long and I think you’ll find it’s
worth it.

You will also need a deck of cards. Remove any 10, any 5 and any 6 along with the
King of Spades and set the deck as follows:

From the top down: Indifferent card, King of Spades, rest of deck, 10, 6, 5.

Have a marker pen handy and you are set to go.

Riffle shuffle the pack maintaining your set up as you introduce the audience to the
similarities between the calendar and the cards. Go on a bit about it, pointing out all
the similarities. People are genuinely quite interested in this as it is really quite
intriguing.

12
Announce that you'd like to try an experiment and remove the diary from your pocket,
handing it to a spectator to hold on to. Ask them to flick through the diary.

"You will see that on every single day of the year in that diary I have written the name
of a playing card. I simply shuffled the deck several times and wrote each card in turn
on a page in the diary. There is no pattern, it is completely random is it not?"

They will agree that it is because it is.

You will now use one of the best forces I have ever come across. It is so fair in
appearance that it can stand on its own as an entire effect. I believe it was first
published by Henry Christ.

Give the deck another quick false shuffle. Turn the top card, an indifferent card, face
up on top of the deck and as you do get a break below the
next card down. Now with a break below the top two cards
you can pull them back, in-jogging them for about half their
length. The impression is that you have only pulled the face
up card back when in reality the face down force card is
underneath it. Continue by pulling cards out from underneath
the in-jogged cards, turning them face up onto the first in-
jogged card. fig2 As you are doing this you are
explaining that you will continue to turn cards face up until
they say stop and that they will get the next face down card. fig.2
fig3 When they say stop you push the face up cards flush
and run through to the first face down card saying, '…and
you could have stopped on any of these cards but you
stopped me right here.' It is, of course, your force card, the
King of Spades. fig4

You are going to have the King of Spades replaced in a

moment or two after it has been signed on the back. You
need it to be fifteenth from the top of the deck. Thankfully the fig.3
force just described makes this very easy. You must count
the cards as you turn them face up one at a time and simply
remember how many you turned face up.

Take the King of Spades out of the spread and place it face
down on the table, squaring the deck and leaving a bank of
face up cards atop the deck. Hand the spectator a marker
and ask him to sign the back of the card but not to look at its
face. No one gets to know the value until the climax of the
fig.4
effect.

13
‘Do not look at your card, no one gets to see it just yet, not even me, but do sign the
back so that it can be easily identified later on.’

You are left with some face up cards on top of the deck after the force. You will know
how many there are because you counted them as you went through the force. There
may be more or less than fourteen cards but it will usually only be a few cards either
side of fourteen. Fourteen cards of course being the number of cards required to go
on top of the signed card in order to put it into fifteenth position from the top. All this is
for a revelation of the signed card later on in the effect.

If there are more than fourteen cards, say 17, you fan through all the face up cards
until you reach the last three. Flip the last three face up cards in the spread face down
on to the pack then flip the rest face down catching a break below the desired 14
cards.

If there are less than fourteen cards, say 11, you fan through all the face up cards
plus three face down cards catching a break below them. Flip all the face up cards
face down and you have a break below fourteen cards.

It reads a bit awkward but in practice it is over quickly, is very easy to do and is all
done while the spectator signs the back of the chosen card.

Now riffle down the deck with your left thumb and lift off all the cards above your
break with the right hand, offering the left hand portion for the return of the card.
When it has been placed back on top slap the right hands fourteen cards down on top
of it, positioning the signed King in fifteenth position.

In the act of apparently mixing the deck, cut the bottom two cards, a 6 and a 5, to the
top of the pack by means of a double undercut. The position of the cards in your set
up will now be a 6 on top followed by a 5 followed by the rest of the pack and there is
a ten on the bottom. Cut the pack and hold a break in preparation for the
Riffle force.

Explain that you will now form a random date by using three playing cards.

'This first card will represent the month in the year.'

Perform the riffle force, cutting at the break and hand the top card to a second
spectator.

'Don't look at it just yet. I'd like you to push the card face down into the center of the
pack and the two cards on either side of where you stick it will form our day of the
month.'

14
Once the card is sticking out of the deck you will perform Bill
Simon's 'Business Card Prophecy' move. Yet another sleight
that can stand on it's own as an entire effect. This is truly
brilliant.

You have the deck in left hand dealers grip and there is a
card sticking out of the front, a 6. fig5. You say:
fig.5
'Right, let's see what Month we got.'

Begin to fan through the face down deck, pushing cards into
the awaiting right hand until you come to the out-jogged card.
The right hand takes all the cards above the out-jogged card
and turns palm down and clips the outer narrow end of the
out-jogged card against the right hands packet with the right
thumb. fig6 The right hand now turns palm up again and
places everything underneath the left hands cards, still fig.6
leaving the card out-jogged. fig7 It looks like you merely
turned the out-jogged card face up to learn it's identity but
what you really done was complete a full cut of the pack in
the process, placing the original top and bottom cards, a 5
and a 10, on either side of the 6.

'OK, it's a six so that's January, February, Ma……June!'

Act as though you are counting to the month. If you where to fig.7
simply say 'It's a 6, so that's June' it can give the impression
that you knew the outcome. Even if you can immediately
identify all the months by their numbers without hesitation, you shouldn't. It's a little bit
of acting and it goes a long way.

This also provides a little time misdirection before getting to the cards either side. You
simply run through the pack to the out-jogged card and split the spread. The right
hand takes all the cards above it and drops the lowermost card face down onto the
table. The left hand thumbs the face up six onto the table and then the next face down
card also. Re-assemble the pack by putting the left hands cards on top of the right’s.
This is very important. Turn over the face down cards to show their values. While
doing all this you are saying:

'…and our day will be made up of the cards either side of where you stuck that card,
and you could've stuck it anywhere, they are a five and a ten so that's fifteen. The
Fifteenth of June. I'm sure you all agree that is a completely random date chosen not

15
by me but by the gentleman right here.'

They will agree because the process seems very fair.

So now you have your date. By spelling 'Fifteenth of June' from the top of the deck,
one card for each letter, the signed card will be discovered on the last letter.

Give the deck a few false cuts and say:

So, a chosen card with a signature on it resides in the deck somewhere and no one
knows it's identity. We have a random date here and I wonder if there is truly anything
more to these similarities between the calendar and the cards than coincidence. Lets
see. If I spell F-I-F-T-E-E-N…….'

Deal one card for each letter forming a new pile for each word until you get to the last
letter, the 'E' in 'June', and it will be the signed card.

'Well, that seems like a bit more than a coincidence doesn't it? But I wonder if we can
go for even longer odds. Would you please turn to the Fifteenth of June in that diary
and read aloud the card that is written on that date.'

They will of course read out 'The King of Spades'.

'The 'King of Spades'

Turn the signed card towards yourself and look at it first. After a brief pause turn it
around to show your audience that they did indeed sign the King of Spades.

Some similarities between a deck of cards and the calendar

52 cards in a deck - 52 weeks in a year.

4 suits in the deck - 4 seasons in a year.
13 cards in a suit - 13 lunar cycles in a year.
If you add up all the values of every card in the deck the total is 365. (It’s actually only
364 but if you add one more for the Joker you get 365. I wouldn’t explain this to your
audience however.)

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 Take Note
This is a stunning card trick for laymen. The surprise finish is as visual a moment as
you are likely to find and you should entertain yourself for quite some time in front of
the mirror, pulling a playing card out of a drawing in a notepad. The effect is that you
pick up on your spectator's thoughts, drawing the card they are thinking of in a small
notepad. You are correct of course and then in tearing the page from the notepad it
seems to transform into the selection before their very eyes, the page in the notepad
becoming blank.

You need a small notepad, not much bigger than a playing card, which is spiral bound
down the left hand side. Turn to a page somewhere near the centre and place a
playing card under the right hand page. Now trace the face of the card with a black
marker; I use a three of clubs. Fold over a corner on a blank page a few pages before
the drawing of the three of clubs. This will help you locate the page with the drawing
on it very easily during performance. It's also a good idea to tear the cover off of the
notepad if it has one. Close the pad and place it in a right hand pocket. You need a
black marker and you also need a deck of cards. Take out the deck and in looking
through it to remove the Jokers, get the three of clubs to the face of the pack in
preparation for my handling of another Henry Christ force.

Grip the deck from above in right hand Biddle grip and bevel the left hand side of the
deck. Hand one of the Jokers to a spectator saying:

‘Insert the Joker face up anywhere you like into the middle of the deck. Your card will
be the card directly above where you place it.‘

As you say these words riffle down the beveled left hand side
of the pack with the left thumb and at the same time use the
left finger tips to push the bottom card, the force card, to the
right for about an inch. Fig1 shows an exposed view.

The bevel in the deck, the misdirection of the riffle, as well as

the right hands position, ensures that this action is not fig.1
noticed.

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The spectator now inserts the face
up joker into the pack. fig2

"Are you sure you want to stick it

right there?"

99 times out of 100 they say yes. If

they do want to reposition it, that's
fig.2 fig.3
fine, have them remove and replace
it. Lower the right hand until it is
about three inches above the table. The left hand comes over
and the thumb presses down on the protruding joker, opening
a break above it. fig3 The left hand then removes the Joker,
and every card below it except the force card, placing them
down on the table. The left hand then briefly squares the right
hands cards, ensuring that the force
card is flush with the bottom of the
packet and raises it to show the card fig.4
which was apparently directly above
where the Joker was placed. fig4

Remove the force card from the face of the packet, placing it
face down on the table. Hand them the marker to sign the
fig.5 face of the card. Re-assemble the deck and turn away as the
signing is taking place. Get a left pinkie break above the
bottom card and then transfer the break to the right thumb as
you take the deck from above in the right hand. When they
are done signing the card turn around again and swing cut
the top half of the deck into the left hand offering that portion
for the return of the card. You'll now do Marlo’s add on move.

The right hands packet comes over the left hands packet and
the right finger tips contact the middle of the selection. fig5
fig.6 Out jog the selection until your right thumb registers with the
back of the lower packet. fig6 Turn your head away as you
turn the face of the right hands packet towards the spectators
but as you do you take the card below the break with it. This
is to apparently give them one last look at their selection.
With the faces still towards the spectator the left index finger
pushes the selection flush (fig7) then the packet is turned
face down again. The card on top of left hands packet is an
indifferent card but your spectators would swear it's the
fig.7 selection. Use the left thumb to push the top card off,

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inserting it into the middle of the right hands packet. fig8
Leave the card out jogged and place the packet on the table.
The spectators believe the selection is sticking out of the
packet on the table, in actual fact it is on top of the packet
you are holding.

The right hand now goes into the pocket containing the
notepad and brings it out, making sure that the spiral binding fig.8
is at the left hand side. You will now steal the top card of the
left hands packet underneath the notepad.

Take a break beneath the top card in the left hand and ask a spectator:

"Would you mind shuffling your card into the pack please?"

Place the notepad squarely on top of the left hands packet,

holding it in place with the left thumb, apparently freeing up
the right hand to pick up the tabled packet. Square the out-
jogged 'selection' into the pack and hand the tabled packet to
the spectator. fig9

You take the notepad back into the right hand, taking the fig.9
selection along for the ride with it (fig10) then place the rest
of the cards on the table in front of the spectator.

'…and shuffle the two packets together please.'

While they are shuffling the deck, open the notebook to the
page with the folded corner. The pages you turn will go right
round the back of the pad, concealing the chosen card and
giving you much more freedom of handling with the notepad.
Ask the spectator who chose the card to concentrate and fig.10
mentally send you an image of their card. Now pause as
though you're concentrating on picking up their thoughts. With the notepad facing you
turn to the page with the drawing on it and mimic drawing a playing card on the pad,
eyes flitting between page and spectator. When you're done, blow on the drawing to
make sure it's dry. Recap the pen and ask for the name of the chosen card. They say
"Three of clubs" You turn the notebook over and show them that's exactly what you've
drawn. You may get some applause here, the spectators assuming that the effect is
over.

Explain that you'd like to give them the drawing as a souvenir as you get into position
for the finale. Insert the right finger tips underneath the back cover of the book; the
right hand is palm up, fingertips now contacting the face of the concealed card.

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The left hand then adjusts so that it is palm down and is
holding the notepad by the spiral bound side between fingers
on top and thumb below. fig11 In a short, fast, ripping action
pull both hands apart revolving them as you do, turning the
right hand palm down and the left hand palm up. The end
result is that the page now appears blank and the actual card
has appeared in the right hand giving the impression that as
page was torn from the pad it materialised into the actual
selection. fig12 Put the notepad away and hand the card to fig.11
the spectator.

If you wanted to do a super clean and easy version you could

simply have a duplicate of your force card already loaded into
the notepad. Of course, the card could not be signed in this
instance but for table hopping situations this may be a better
route to go down.

Take Note (variation) fig.12

The notepad does not require any preparation prior to performance for this very cool
version of Take Note, simply have it in your back pocket.

There is no ‘mind reading’ here, they will choose a card and you will find it. Force the
three of clubs and have it signed as before. Have it returned and control it to the top.
Now attempt to find it behind your back, actually slipping their card into your back
pocket behind the notepad making sure it is facing the correct way for the revelation.
Take an indifferent card off the deck with the right hand and bring both the deck and
‘their card’ out from behind you. They will of course tell you that is not their card. Try
again and fail. Have them shuffle the deck. Tell them to turn over the top card, wrong
again. Do this for as long as it is funny.

‘OK, I give up, just tell me what it was and I’ll make you a new one! The Three of
Clubs? Fine. ’

Take out the notepad, turning to a blank page near the centre and draw the three of
clubs. Your spectators will be looking at you like you are insane. When you’re finished
comment that it’s not an exact replica because their card has a signature on it. Have
them sign the drawing. Now, as you tear the page out of the pad to give them their
‘card’ it will transform into their actual signed selection which should come as quite a
surprise to all concerned.

20
 Signature Piece
I love transpositions and this is one of my absolute favourites. It completely fools
laymen and though it may not 'fool' magicians per se, I've a sneaky suspicion that it
may at least surprise one or two of them. (Not that they'd ever admit it mind you.) I
recommend you perform this after a standard 'in the spectators hands' transposition.
Jay Sankey’s 'Skin Deep' is an excellent example of this genre and would be the
perfect prelude to this effect.

Take a card out of the deck and sign your name across the back of it, let's say it's the
six of hearts. Place this card on the bottom of the deck, place a marker in your pocket
and you are all set go.

You must force the card on the bottom of the pack without its back being seen. I
reccomend the use of the Hindu Shuffle force. I’m sure you all know how this goes but
in case not I’ll describe it very briefly.

The deck is held from above by the right hand between your thumb on one long side
and fingers on the other. The left hand comes under the deck, palm up, and strips out
a few cards, again between fingers and thumb, from the top of the deck into the left
palm. This continues until the spectator calls out stop. At which point the right hand
raises its packet to show the face card, in our case, the six of hearts.

At the culmination of your force show the spectator the force card, the six of hearts,
this card remember has your signature across its back. Place the packet back to the
bottom of the deck and turn the deck face up. The six of hearts is still at the face.
Explain that you will make this card change places with another card and that you
would like them to sign it across the back. Do a double turnover and have them sign
the back of an indifferent card. Turn the double face up again and lift off the six of
hearts only, placing it face up on the table. Wrist-kill the deck as you table the card so
as not to allow any spectators a glimpse at the new face card. Ask the spectator to
place one finger down on top of their card.

Turn the deck face down and get a break above the bottom two cards. In the act of

21
'cutting to a random card' cut the bottom two cards to the top of the deck by means of
a double undercut. Turn over a double on top of the pack, let's assume the face of the
double is the eight of clubs, this is the card with the spectators signature on its back.

'Ok, this card will be my card, the eight of clubs. I'm going to put my signature on the
back of my card.'

Flip the double face down and, making it as similar as possible to your other
signature, sign it across the back. Turn it face up again in preparation for the KM
move. You will perform it here in exactly the same way as described earlier in 'Twirl
and Shout' in that you must wrist kill the deck to prevent the signature that will appear
on the top of the deck from being seen.(see page 9)

'OK, get ready, on the count of three these two cards will change places and you'll
actually get to see it happen!'

As you say the above line you do do the KM move, tabling the deck face up as you do
so. Count 1, 2 and on 3, snap the card in your hand. Now, if you have done some
other sort of transposition beforehand where the face of the card changes you can go
into the following.

'It doesn't look like much has happened I know but you see playing cards are made
up of two layers, a front and a back. The first time, the face layers switched places but
this time the backs have switched places, take a look.'

Gesture to the card under their hand and they'll find your signature. Slowly turn over
your card to reveal their signature and once the riot has calmed down accept your
applause and a plethora of free drinks.

You can give the two signed cards away. You have a card bearing your signature on
the top of the deck which can easily be put into the correct position again and you're
reset.

Incidentally, I'm aware that playing cards are in fact made up of three layers and not
two as mentioned in the patter. For the purposes of the presentation it would be better
if playing cards where indeed made up of two layers. But they're not, so I tell a lie, but
it is mainly for the spectators benefit, meaning I don't feel so bad and sleep soundly,
free from any guilt.

22
 Boxing Clever
This is a 'Signed Card to Matchbox' routine, it's really that simple. There is a
gimmicked matchbox involved which is very easy to make and I'll describe it in detail.
It is a very simple gimmick but it does allow for some very strong magic. The
matchbox is ostensibly shown empty to begin with. Without any fudging about, the
next time it's opened there is a card folded up inside. You tip the card out into your
hand, the matchbox is once again shown to be empty and the spectator discovers that
it's his signed selection. It's exceptionally clean except that the matchbox cannot be
examined but that's not a big deal as no one has ever asked to see it.

To make the gimmick you need an ordinary matchbox and an

extra card with the same colour back as the deck you'll be
using. Take the drawer out of the matchbox and use a pair of
scissors to cut one of the back panels off as shown in fig1.

Fold the card up into quarters,

'Mercury Card Fold' style. Take a
fig.1 stapler and staple three quarters of
the card together as shown in fig2.
This allows the card to lie semi-flat
in the box and prevents any hang ups.

Now place a little piece of tape over one end of the 'slide'
part of the box as shown in fig3. The tape has been fig.2
highlighted in the image but this is only for illustration
purposes. I recommend the aptly named 'Magic Tape' made
by 'Scotch' but any clear tape will do the job.

Finally, take a small piece of magician’s wax and fix a single

match into the drawer in the position shown in fig4.

Ok, place the card in the drawer and the drawer into the slide
fig.3

23
making sure that the open end of the drawer is towards the
end with the tape. fig5

The tape is positioned so as not to allow the card to fall out

but still provide access for your index finger to push on the
card, opening the matchbox. With the matchbox towards you
and with the gimmicked end downward push the drawer open
slightly. Now open the drawer by pulling up on the drawer. It fig.4
will appear to be empty but for a single match. fig4 Because
the match is fixed by the wax, the impression is that there
must be a bottom to the box because if not, what’s keeping it
in place? If you remove the match, the box appears empty
but by sliding it closed it's automatically loaded with the card
gimmick. The next time you open the box all the way by
pushing on the card through the gap in the back, the
impression being that you are pushing on the back of the
drawer, a card comes into view in the drawer. fig5
fig.5
Now if you have a Mercury folded card in your right hand and
you apparently tip the card out of the box, it actually falls back into the slide and out of
sight, the Mercury folded card coming into view in your hand. It's like a shuttle pass of
sorts. The box is immediately seen to be empty again and you can hand out the card.
The impression that this was the card inside the box is very strong indeed. Push the
drawer shut and pocket it while they are unfolding/examining the card and you're
done.

Here is a suggestion of a routine you might use.

Have a card selected and signed across the face by a spectator. It's a free choice so
be as fair as possible. Have the selected card returned to the pack and bring it to the
top via your favourite method. Put the deck down on the table and go to your pocket
to retrieve the matchbox. Open the drawer slightly by pushing up on the card through
the gap at the bottom as described earlier. When you have it open turn it towards your
spectators, showing it around.

'I have in here a magic wand of such great power that it has to be contained in this
high tensile carrying case! Here it is.'

You can get a laugh out of this moment. People relax and all of a sudden no one
cares about the matchbox, it's all about the match or 'wand' inside. As far as they are
concerned the matchbox is now completely empty, it is really loaded with a playing
card which by all rights shouldn't be there so you’re about four weeks ahead of them.
Remove the single match and slide the drawer closed, pushing it out of your

24
performing space but still in plain sight. Hand the match to a spectator very carefully,
as though it's a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

'What ever you do, for God's sake, please I beg you to be careful with it. The last time
I performed this trick ambulances where called!’'

Have the spectator cut the deck in two.

'Choose a pack for me please.'

Which ever pack they choose you end up with the one with the selection on top. I'm
not going to explain equivoque, I'm assuming we all know how this ploy works.

Riffle shuffle your half on the table keeping the selection on top and have the
spectator do the same. If he can't riffle shuffle (I've found not many people can here in
the UK, it's not our shuffle of choice it seems) have him
shuffle it any way he likes. Now ask him to cut his half into
three equal piles stressing that they must be as equal as
possible. As he does this all eyes will be on him giving you
ample opportunity to flip your packet face up and Mercury fold
the selection. Your Mercury fold should be as neat as
possible.

The Mercury Fold.

fig.6
The deck is in left hand dealers grip to begin. The right hand
comes over and grips the pack from above, fingers at the
front, the back of the deck is resting in the crotch of the
thumb, much deeper than usual, allowing the thumb to
protrude further down off the bottom edge of the pack. fig6

The left hand then moves forward to the bottom front edge of
the deck, almost as though you where preparing to gambler’s
cop the bottom card. fig.7

The left first finger applies pressure and begins to buckle the
bottom card, the thumb being the fulcrum point for the buckle,
(fig7) and slide the card all the way back until it hits the
thumb. The card is now folded in half lengthwise.

To complete the fold into quarters, the left finger essentially

close around the right thumb (fig8) then the left fingers push
the card up against the underside of the deck firmly creasing fig.8

25
the card into quarters. fig9

A fuller description may be found under the title ‘Mercury’s

Card’ on page 303 of Expert Card Technique by Hugard &
Braue. See also an excellent alternate fold done without the
cover of the deck on page 306.

With the mercury fold complete, the left hand drops to your
fig.9
side with the folded card and the right hand offers your
packet to the spectator. Invite him to cut your packet into
three, adding each packet to each of the three tabled packets. At the end he should
still have three piles. Have him gather all three piles up in any order he so wishes and
give the pack a complete cut.

'OK, I think that should just about do it. Very carefully, please, pick up the wand and
slowly wave it over the pack!'

You should gesture with both hands at this point. You don't want suddenly to become
a one armed magician half way through an effect.

Allow these shenanigans to continue for as long as you see fit.

'That should have done it! The card will not be able to resist being attracted to the
wand!'

They will turn over the top card, it will not be the selection.

'Hmmm. Are you sure you're using that thing right?'

Have them spread the deck face up on the table. They will see that there card has
vanished.

'It could be that your card is so attracted to the wand that it went where the wand is
the most, inside the high tensile carrying case!'

Pick up the Matchbox with the right hand. Push on the card
through the gap in the back with the left index finger, opening
the Matchbox until it is a little over halfway open. Everyone
will see a folded up card inside. fig10 People will react at this
point. They'll assume that this is the selection. This is worth
remembering when it comes to your shuttle pass in a
moment. You don't need to make a big deal out of it.
fig.10

26
I do the shuttle move while talking.

'I bet you all want to see if it's got a signature on it.'

At the start of this short sentence the card is still in the box,
by the end of it it's out and in my hand being offered to the
spectator. The box is facing them, obviously empty and as
they open the folded card I close the matchbox and put it fig.11
away.

The Shuttle

The action for removing the card, done correctly, can visually
confirm that the card came out of the matchbox. The action
for removing the card does not follow exactly the movements
you would use to actually remove a folded playing card from
a matchbox but it is not so different as to arouse suspicion.
fig.12
The right hand is palm up and the matchbox is held around
the middle between the thumb and fingers. The box is a little over half way open. Now
imagine the action used when tipping a cigarette out of the American paper style
packets. The top of the packet is tapped on the heel of the hand causing a cigarette to
fall from the packet. The action for making the gimmick card fall back into the slide is
the same. As the matchbox hits the heel of the hand the gimmick disappears from the
box and the card in your hand comes into view. fig11 Your timing must be good and a
little practice in front of a mirror will soon sort that out. The matchbox is facing the
spectators at the moment it is tapped and so is immediately seen to become empty.
Hand them the card to finish. fig12 You should try to get some movement into the
Mercury folded selection as it gives a stronger impression that the card just fell from
the matchbox.

27
© Copyright 2004 David Forrest.

The information contained in this booklet is copyright and must not be duplicated or
distributed without the authors prior consent.

28