By Bob King EASY ROUTINES FOR & Kz, ef *, CARDS, COINS, TELEPHONE, (So MENTAL AND MORE! co | Copyright © 2005 | Bob King Magic Includes Bob’s brilliant 585/: 2207 ” + a |; azel http://members.aol.com/bkingmagie/ | Tae URS co |By Bob King EASY ROUTINES FOR CARDS, COINS, TELEPHONE, MENTAL AND MORE! Copyright © 2005 PNB See co acoable of Content: Introduction 3 The Edge 4 Kickback up a Notch 6 Cube Route 8 Time Flies 10 Color Cut 13 Phantom Coins 14 Coin Squeeze 16 Color-Changing Knives 18 Paralocks II 20 No Place Like Home 22 Pokermental II 25 Calling Mr. Stebbins 27 Rubbed the Wrong Way 29 Turncoat 31 Gypped 32 Copyright © 2005 by Bob King Magic—All Rights Reserved Page 3 INTROOUCTION hose who like tricks requiring very little in the way of ma- nipulation and who do not have an aversion to using gim- micks will love the magic in this book. Thaye taken some standards and some original plots and worked them over to eliminate any moves which are truly unnecessary and where a gimmicked card or prop would make the trick easier, it has been included, This is not to say that the effect has been compromised by irresponsibly using gimmicks. Only where they actually enhanced the effect, were they included. Thave tried to include some effects other than card routines. You will find cards, coins, blocks, keys and mental effects in the book. One thing you will definitely find are tricks which are commer- cial. I have personally used every one of these effects over the years. Only the ones I would use professionally have been in- cluded. ‘Thank you for purchasing the book. I sincerely hope its contents will bring you as much fun as it has me. November, 2005 Bob KingPage 4 THE EDGE pat ‘on Jim Steinmeyer’s version of an Alan Wakeling effect, this routine adds an element, which will fool those who know the original. It also adds a presentational angle, which makes the actions more logical than the original. Preparation: In each of three #6 coin envelopes, place four indif- ferent cards. In a fourth envelope, place the four aces. Seal each and pencil-dot the ace envelope so you can keep track of it. Instruct an impromptu stooge as follows: Whenever he puts an en- velope into his pocket, he is to put it behind those already there; whenever he removes an envelope, he is to remove the out velope. This is the one farthest from the body. Have him place the four envelopes in his inner jacket pocket. The ‘envelope second from his body is the ace envelope. In front of it are the other two envelopes. Have a complete deck of cards and four more envelopes on the ta~ ble. Performance: Ask three helpers to join you at the table. Make sure your stooge is one of them and sits to your left, not across from you as in the original version. Run through the deck and remove the aces; give one to each helper. Give each person three more cards to add to their ace. Ask each to remember which ace they have. Here, you are setting the stage for the game, which will justify the mixing of the envelopes in a mo- ment, Each helper then puts their four cards into an envelope and seals it up. You do the same. Ask each person to put his or her envelope into a pocket for safe- keeping. Your stooge, following your earlier instructions, places his envelope behind the others already there. You start to put your Page 5 envelope in your pocket, but change your mind and lay it in front of you, claiming that yours will not leave their sight. Have those sitting opposite each other exchange envelopes and re- turn them to their pockets. You give the person opposite you your envelope and place his on the table in front of you. Your stooge ex- changes envelopes with the person opposite him, giving the enve- lope from the rear and placing the one given him behind his others. You now explain that the envelopes will be mixed in a clockwise fashion. Exchange your envelope with one belonging to your stooge. He puts yours into his pocket behind the others. He now exchanges envelopes with the person to his left, giving him the outer envelope; this will be the ace envelope. This next player does the same with the player to your right. He, in turn, exchanges enve- lopes with you. This has the affect of giving everyone a non-ace envelope and gives you the ace packet. ‘Now, you explain the nature of the game and the reason for the mixing. Take out three $100 bills and claim that you will give one of them to whomever can tell you which ace he now holds. Have all three take a guess. This can be funny, because they, most likely, will have been keeping track of their original ace. Finally, Each player removes his envelope and opens it to remove his cards, They will all find that they have lost the game, because they have four indifferent cards and no ace. Open your envelope and show that you had the edge, because your envelope contains all four aces.Page 6 KICKBACK UP A NOTCH Ine of the best card effects I've ever performed is Ryan Swigert’s “Kickback” from the December, 2001 issue of Magic Magazine. I wanted to do it in the hands away from the deck and I wanted to show the original red aces on both sides at the beginning. The following is the result of my thinking. Effect: Two red aces are shown, front and back, and placed aside. Your helper selects two cards, which are then placed into the deck. The two red aces are turned face up and waved over the deck. When spread, there are two face down cards between them. The spectator pulls out these two cards, expecting them to be the two selections. When he looks at them, he is surprised that they are the two red aces. By the time he looks back at your cards, you are holding the two selections, as you remark, “...Jooking for these?” Setup: On top of the deck, have the two red aces (Your set may be different, simply make the adjustment in these instructions); below these are the seven of hearts and the four of spades; follow with one face down card and below this are two double-faced aces with the above four and seven on their reverse sides. The d/f aces are ace sides down with the diamond below the heart. Performance: Explain that each of you will select two cards. Fur- ther explain that yours are right here on top. Show the two top aces and place them aside. You must now force the two top cards. I cut them to near the bot- tom, getting a break above them and do a thumb riffle-force. When the two cards are taken, return your setup to the top. While the cards are being looked at, get a break under the top card Take back the selections; place them onto the deck and double- cut, the top three cards to the bottom. You will need to lift up the deck during the cut, so the face is toward the audience. Manage to get a break under the top two, face up, cards. Page 7 Pick up the two red aces, making sure that the diamond is at the face of the two. Place them, face up, onto the deck and lower it to dealing position ‘The right hand comes over the deck and holds it at the upper and lower left comers. Move the hands to the right and table the deck. As this is done, the right fingers pull the cards above the break to the right; their right sides trip over the left fingers and the four-card packet is invisibly pivoted and tumed over. Because the deck is in motion and the same diamond is in view, this move passes well The left thumb pulls the diamond off the face and moves it to the rear of the packet. You have just substituted the real aces for the d/f ones. Make your magic gesture and spread the cards to show two face- down cards between the aces. The beauty of Ryan’s effect is the strong presumption here that these are the selections. Have your helper pull out the two facedown cards and look at them. As he looks at them, simply bring you hands up to your chest, exposing the under sides of the d/f cards and wait for him to look up. Finish with the patter line mentioned above. Thank you Ryan for giving us what I consider to be one of the greatest card tricks ever! For a much more thorough explanation of the original, plus many different handlings by other magicians, check out Ryan’s publica- tion on this effect. I feel justified in publishing my handling, as it was in print well before Ryan put it on the market.Page 8 CUBE ROUTE have several ideas based on this principle which eventually will see print as a separate booklet. The principle is that from any angle, only three sides of a cube are visible. Therefore, if three adjacent sides of a smalll cube are painted one color and the other three a different color, the cube will be assumed to be the color of whichever three sides are visible. Effect: Two one inch cubes, one yellow, the other red, are placed behind a 4 by 6 inch card, folded slightly to stand like a screen, ‘The yellow one is brought into view. When covered with the empty hands for only a second, the cube changes to red. The screen is moved aside to show the yellow cube now behind it. This same thing is repeated. The third time, the red cube is brought into view and changed to yellow. When the screen is moved aside, instead of there being a red cube, there is a green one. Everything may now be examined. Method: You must go to a hobby shop and purchase three one inch wooden blocks. While there, get three bottles of modeling paint. Paint all sides of one cube green and all sides of another yellow. The third cube gets painted yellow on three sides as in the illustra- tion below. The other three sides are painted red. Let’s call this the gimmick. Cut a piece of card stock to about 6 by 4 and crease it so it will stand and appear as ascreen 4 inches high. The illustration shows the solid yellow on the right and the gimmick on the left with the three red sides toward the audience. This is the opening position of the blocks. Page 9 You must be seated at a table with the green cube on your right thigh. Performance: Remove the screen to show the two blocks, a red on the left, a yellow on the right. Replace the screen so that the two blocks are hidden from the audience’s view. Reach behind the screen and tum the gimmick over so that the top and two front sides now appear as yellow. Bring the cube into view and set it on the table well to the right of the sereen. Bring both hands, palms down onto the cube and allow the heel of the right hand to secretly turn the cube a full revolution toward you. When the hands are lifted, the cube appears to be red. Lift the sereen and they will see the yellow cube; apparently, the two have changed places. Place the gimmick to the right of the other cube and place the screen in front of the two. Go through the exact same motions to, once again, make the two change places. However, as the hands are lifted off the gimmick, the right hand quickly drops down and palms the green cube. The left hand lifts the screen and puts it into the right fingers. ‘The left hand lifts the gimmick and places it down next to the yel- low cube, The screen is put back in place. The right hand dips be- hind the screen and does the following: Pick up the yellow cube and let the green one take its place; palm the yellow one and bring the gimmick into view, showing as red. Set it onto the table, close to the edge. The two hands come down over the gimmick. The right thumb tip kicks the gimmick straight back where it falls into the lap; this happens too fast to be seen. The palmed cube is al- lowed to drop to the table and the hands are lifted. This time, the red cube has changed to yellow and they will be ex- pecting to see the red one behind the screen. Imagine their surprise, when you remove the screen to show a green cube. Imagine the surprise of your fellow magicians, when you let them examine eve~ rything.Page 10 TIME FLIES love performing this routine. It starts out like a routine clock- trick, but then, hits them right between the eyes. The plot owes a lot to Ed Marlo. I have simplified it and added a subtle “proving” aspect, which, although not pointed out, will be psychologically re- membered. ‘You will require a double-face (d/f) card, different on each side. This card is placed thirteenth from the face of the deck. The side facing you will be the force card. Remove, from the deck, the regu- lar card represented by the force side of the d/f card and place it into the card box. Discard the duplicate of the bottom side of this card. Performance: Hand the face up deck to your helper and ask him to think of his favorite hour of the day. Turn your back and ask him to remove, from the face of the deck, a number of cards, equal to his number. Have him hide these cards. Turn to face him and take the rest of the face up deck. One-by-one, place the face up cards down to form a clock. Begin by placing the first card in front of and close to you at position 12. The next goes counter-clockwise to position 11. You are building the clock up- side down for you, but right side up for your helper, whom we will presume is opposite you. & Dy @® n 6 Page 11 Continue around in a circle, finishing at the number 1. See illustra- tion. Place the rest of the cards, face down to the left. ‘Ask your helper to, mentally, make a note of the card at the chosen hour (this will be the d/f force card) Gather up the cards into a face up pile. As you casually look through the cards, get a break behind the card below the d/f card and square the packet. Cut the packet at the break and complete the cut. Turn the packet face down into the left hand. The d/f card is now the second card down. You will now complete the first part of the trick with a rather star- tling revelation and, at the same time, plant the seed that the selec- tion is a normal card, with a back. Ask for the name of the mental selection. Do a double turnover and leave the cards face up on the face down packet. he will be startled to see his selection. Take advantage of the fact that, apparently, the trick is over, to per- form the following: The right hand deals the d/f card to the table as. the left hand does a wrist turn and places the packet face up onto the balance of the deck on your left. As an after-thought, offer to take the effect further. Place the d/f card onto the others and pick up the deck. Quickly spread off all the face up cards and place the deck aside. You have subtly gotten rid of one card and now, have only eleven. As if to show that all twelve cards are there, perform the following: Take the d/f card with the right fingers on the face and the thumb below. Tip it forward to show its face to your helper. The card is now turned over and placed to the bottom of the packet, without showing its other side. You will have to tip the packet back toward you and place the d/f card on the bottom, to keep the other side hid- den. Call this card number one. Continue turning cards over andPage 12 placing them to the bottom. Count each one as it is placed to the bottom. No need to hide the backs of the next ten cards. When you come to the last face up card (other side of d/f card) you must hide its other side as you place it to the bottom. This card has been show twice and will be called number twelve. You have shown twelve cards and also show the selection as one of them. Actually, you have only eleven cards and the selection is face down, not to be seen again. Ask your helper what his favorite hour was, and begin to deal the cards into a clock. When you get to his hour, you don’t deal a card. Instead, you place the card box into that space and continue to deal the rest of the cards around the clock. Call attention to the fact that one card seems to have disappeared, and this card happens to be the selection. Ask your helper if it would be a good trick if his card was under the card box? Explain that it would be an even better trick if the card was inside the box: Finish by letting your helper remove the card from the box and dis- cover it to be his mental selection. Page 13 COLOR CUT 'y thought processes resulting in this effect were spurred on by David Jade's “Cutting off Colors” from the March, 2004 issue of Magic Magazine. [felt that the Mechanical Reverse could be eliminated. I also wanted to reduce the bulk of the cut-off. cards by using a gimmicked card. You will need the following: A red thick card, made by gluing two cards, face to back; a double-baked card, red on both sides; four blue backed aces and a red-baked deck. Set the deck up as follows. Place the thick card onto the deck. Then, place the four blue aces onto this card. Finally, place the db card on top. Have your helper cut the deck into four packets. Manage this cut- ting so that the pile with the blue aces is the one on your right. If you're squeamish about letting them handle the deck while it is dirty,” Cut off the top quarter of the deck yourself and place it to the right. Then have your helper use this packet as a guide in cut- ting three packets to the left Your right hand comes over the packet on the right, fingers at the far end, thumb at the near. The thumb quickly riffles up the end un- til the thick card can be felt snapping off the thumb. The top five cards are picked off as one, The hand moves to the next pile to the left. As the tip of the thumb riffles up the rear of this packet, you simply pretend to pick off the top card under the one(?) in your hand. Move to the next packet and do the same. Finally, pretend to take the card from the last pile, doing the same as you did with the other packets. If you can manage to cause a card or two to be mis- aligned on top of a couple of piles, this will add to the illusion that a card has been removed ‘Now, tum the packet face up and deal the aces from left to right, onto the four packets. The last ace is actually an ace with the d/b card below it. To end, turn each ace face down to show blue backs.Page 14 PHANTOM COINS his is simply a coins through table routine. I have taken the simplest methods I could find and have blended them into a routine that really flows. You won't realize the value of this classic until you perform it for laymen. Begin with four coins—I always use silver dollars—in a row on the table. You also need a small semi-opaque glass—mine is fluted. This is at the upper right. ‘The right hand stacks the coins and holds them by the edges. As the left hand moves in front of the right to go for the glass, the left moves back and allows the bottom coin to fall into the lap. Imme- diately, drop the three coins into the glass as you explain that this is one way to get them into the glass, but you will show them a more magical way. Dump the coins from the glass to the left hand and, if you act casually, your audience will believe that you still have four. The right hand takes the glass below the table and lays it in your lap. The fingers locate the lapped coin and hold it over the opening of the glass. The left hand covers the coins and presses down as the right hand allows its coin to fall into the glass. Move the left hand aside to show just three coins. As this hand gathers these coins up, the right hand brings the glass up and spills its coin onto the table near the edge. By this time, the left hand is holding its coins and has pushed the bottom coin back toward the wrist until the tips of the fingers are barely holding it. The left first finger and thumb pick up the tabled coin. As this is done, the pushed-back coin in a position where it can be dropped into the lap as the tabled coin is picked up and dropped into the glass. This is an idea belonging to Daryl The right hand takes the glass under the table and immediately turns palm up so the coin falls into the palm. The glass is held up- side down over the coin. The left hand presses its coins down onto Page 15 the table. The right hand tums over, allowing the coin to fall back into the glass, creating the noise of another arrival. The left hand picks up its two coins and gets one pushed to the rear into Han Ping Chien position. The right hand comes up and dumps its coin forward onto the table. The coin flies under the left hand, which releases its rear coin and moves aside. The two coins hit the table at the same time and it appears that they both came from the glass. ‘The right hand drops the two coins into the glass and goes beneath the table. The glass is placed in the lap as before and the coin, which has been in the lap, is held over the opening of the glass. ‘The left hand—thought to contain two coins—presses its coin onto the table, as the right drops its coin into the glass. The left is lifted to show just one coin, and as the right dumps three coins from the glass onto the table, the left drags its coin to the back edge of the table, where itis lapped, as the left closes into a fist and comes forward to the middle of the table. The right drops its three coins into the glass, goes beneath the table, retrieves the coin and hovers over the glass as before. The left presses down on the table as the right drops its coin into the glass. Come up and spill all four coins onto the table.Page 16 808 KING ROUTINE FOR COIN SQUEEZE Coin Squeeze, or Quarter Squeeze, as it is sometimes called is really a wonderful trick for laymen. The problem with it is that it becomes predictable. What I have done is give it a sorely needed ending which comes as a complete surprise. Naturally, because this is a commercially sold item, we can't expose it’s secret. Have five quarters stacked on the table; call no attention to the number. The second coin from the top of the stack has a % inch la- bel on its upper surface, on which you have secretly written the ini- tials of your helper. Have a package of similar labels handy. Show and assemble the brass tube. Drop the stack of coins into the tube, calling their number as four. Immediately, dump the coins out into an overlapping row of four. Set the tube, coin-side down onto the table. ‘The right hand picks up the stack of four coins and places them into the left hand, turning the stack over in the process. This stack is dropped into the top of the tube. Lift the tube to show the appearance of a coin. Turn the tube over and dump three coins out. The right hand picks up the stack of coins, turning them over as be- fore. This stack is placed into the left hand, as the right places the tube over the visible coin on the table. The left hand drops the stack of coins into the tube, dislodging another coin on the bottom. Lift the tube to show two coins on the table. Dump two coins from the tube, turn it over and table it. Place the tube over the first two coins. Pick up the top coin of those, which were dumped onto the table (this will be the one with the label on the bottom) and drop it into the tube, as is. Pick up the other coin and do the same. Tap the tube and lift it to show three coins on the table. Page 17 ‘Tum the tube over and dump out one coin. Set the tube on the ta- ble, turning it over as before. Place a label onto the single coin and write the helper’s initials on it, Place the tube over the stack of three coins and let your helper place his hand over it. Vanish the initialed coin (we sleeve the coin) and let your helper lift the tube to find it(?) resting on top of the stack of coins.Page 18 COLOR-CHANGING KNIVES hese instructions will be written as though your set of knives was white and black. On one side of the double-white knife, stick a piece of red Mylar. Trim this so it looks like knife painted red. You might want fo attempt painting this side red: I have al- ways had trouble with settling dust on the paint, etc. Don't overlook the suggestion in the last paragraph. This presenta tion is priceless. This knife goes into the right pocket. The white/black knife is in the left pocket. Performance: Remove the white/black knife, showing as black. Do the paddle move to show both sides as black. Lay the knife across the base of the left fingers. Curl the fingers over the knife and turn the hand palm down. The thumb pushes the knife out the little finger side of the fist, where it is shown to have changed to white. ‘The right hand takes the knife and does the paddle move to show both sides as white. Hold the knife with the right thumb on top at the middle, fingers below. The left fingers go to the outer end of the knife and pivot this end to the left until it becomes the near end, Go back to the outer end and pivot it again. On the third pivot, the right thumb pushes to the left, doing the first phase of the paddle move. This causes the knife to change to black while pivoting. Take the knife into the left hand. Explain that you are using two knives and making a switch, The right hand brings out the pock- ted knife, cupped in the hand. As the hand is removed from the pocket, glance into the cupped hand to make sure the white si showing. Page 19 Lay both knives, side-by-side at the base of the left fingers; the white knife is closest to the fingers. Curl the fingers onto the knives and turn the hand palm down. The left thumb pushes out the white/ black knife, showing as white. The right hand takes this knife and does the paddle move in the act of pointing to the left fist. You are explaining that this knife will change places with the one in your left fist Position this knife at the base of the right fingers and turn this hand palm down, The left thumb rolls its knife one turn and pushes it out, showing as white. A beat later, the right thumb pushes its knife out, showing as black. ‘The right first finger and thumb take hold of the protruding black knife and the right hand is removed and takes hold of the protrud- ing white knife. Do the paddle move with both knives, Repeat the previous step where the knives are laid next to each other and the left thumb pushes out the white knife, which is taken in the right hand. Use this knife to make circles around the left fist. The third time the knife comes to the bottom of the fist. The right thumb rolls the white knife, changing it to black. Ask your audience which knife is in the left. When they reply, “white,” uncurl the left fingers to show the red knife. Finish by do- ing the paddle move with both knives. Now, here’s what makes the routine so funny: Throughout the rou- tine, every time you see the white knife, refer to it as red. The au- dience doesn’t know if you are joking, or color-blind. At the end, ask them which knife is in the left. When they say white, you show the knife and say: “No, it’s RED; are you color-blind?”Page 20 PARALOCKS I he following is an easier and more to the point version of a routine I have in my book: Opening Night Magic. The reason this routine fools is that if your audience is looking for anything, it will be the switch of keys. The fact that you actually switch locks will go right by them. PREPARATION: You will need two small padlocks and five keys. All five keys will open one lock and none of them will open the other. You will also need a miniature treasure chest, with a slit in the top, or some sort of piggy-bank which can be locked with a padlock. Place one of the keys in the pad lock, which does not ‘open. Drop this into the box. Have the other four keys in a small cloth bag; this is also in the box. In your right coat pocket is the other padlock and a $100 bill. PERFORMANCE: Pretend to unlock and remove the padlock from the box, remove the key and place it off to the side. You are implying that this is the key, which opens the lock. Explain that you will use this key in a moment. Close the padlock and bring ‘someone up to stand to your left. Have your helper dump out the keys in the bag. They try each key in the lock to show that they do not open it. As he tries the fourth key, your right hand goes to the jacket pocket, finger-palms the lock and brings out the bill. Hand your helper the bill and take the lock from him with your left hand. Tell him to put the bill in the box and close the lid. It is while all atten- tion is on his actions that you take the lock into your right hand and immediately sleeve it. Here you will use the same “soft” sleeve I use in my pen through coin routine; this is Sol Stone’s. Have him pick up the key you placed aside in the beginning. He ties the key in the lock and it opens. Unbeknownst to your audi- Page 21 ence, all the keys will now open this lock. Have him place the lock on the box and close it. All the keys are now mixed together by your helper as you drop your arm and retrieve the lock in your sleeve. Pick up the cloth bag and place it into your pocket, ditching the other lock as well. You now go through any elimination process where the rejected keys are placed into the locked box via the slit. Explain that if the last key doesn’t open the box, he gets to take everything home, in- cluding the $100 bill. Triumphantly, show that you have influenced the decision by taking the remaining key and opening the box.Page 22 NO PLACE LIKE HOME he Homing Card effect is legendary, having been performed by some of the most famous magicians of our time. A while back, Trevor Lewis decided to finish the effect with the homing card changing to a different colored back. Bob Sheets decided 10 use a double-faced card at the end. What I have done is to make more and better use of a d/f card and combine it with some think- ing of Eddie Fechter and myself to come up with a very direct and baffling routine Preparation: You will need a d/f card, with a spot card on one side and a court card of the opposite color on the other side. You will also need three more spot cards, the same color as the d/f spot side and two more regular court cards, the same as the d/f court card side. Set up: Onto the table, place the two regular court cards; face up, ina pile, Onto these, place the three spot cards face up. Finally. place the d/f card, spot side up, onto the rest. Turn this packet face down and you are ready to perform. Performance: Show five face down cards by counting them into the right hand, one under the other. Hold the last two as one. Square up the packet and turn it face up. Explain that you have five spot cards. Count the cards as above, holding the last two as one; a court card will appear. Close the cards and turn them face down. Show the face of the top card and deal it, face down, onto the table. Explain that you want only spot cards, so you will have to do the trick with only four cards. Turn the cards face up and deal/show four spot cards, by holding the last two as one. The right hand, holding three cards approaches the double in the left to square the cards. However, instead of the double being placed to the back, it is quickly placed between the two cards at the left of the right hand’s cards. Square up the cards. Page 23, Deal/show four cards and the court card will appear again. Square the cards and turn them face down. Deal the top card to the table, sliding it under the one already there ‘The right hand takes the cards from above, fingers at the outer end, thumb at the inner. Raise the cards so the faces are toward the audi- ence. The left first finger pulls the face card (d/f) out to the left for half its width. The left second finger now drags the next card from the face fanned to the right of the first. As the left fingers hold these two, the right fingers hold the double card. The audience will see three spot cards. Bring the regular card from the left hand to your side of the double in the right. This card is held in place by the right first finger. Bring the d/f card to your side of the others and square up the cards. ‘You will immediately show the return of the homing card. The right hand holds the cards the same as above. The left fingers drag the spot card at the face half way out to the left. Then, the left thumb drags out the d/f card, fanned to the right of the first. The right fingers will be left holding a double. Turn the left hand palm down and the right hand palm up. Use the two left hand cards to point to the homing card in the right. Place the two left hand cards onto the face of the double and square the cards with the double at the back/bottom of the cards. Turn the packet face down, Deal the top card to the table, under the other two. Hold the cards in left hand dealing grip. The left thumb pushes the top two cards to the right. The right hand flips these cards over, face up, onto the other card. The left thumb pushes these cards over and they are taken at the right long side by the right fingers. Use this double to flip the other card face up into the left hand. Allow the double to fall face down onto the left hand card. It should look as though you turned two spot cards face up and then put them face to face, Deal the top card into the right hand. Once again, the homing card will appear in the left hand, Turn the left hand over and deposit its card(s) onto the tabled packet.Page 24 Pause for a beat and tum up the last card to show the return of the homing card. Place this card, face up, off to the side. Pick up the packet; tum it face up and Elmsley count the cards to show four spot cards. Drop these cards onto the court card and put the cards away. ‘Your closing line might be: “Since I don't know any tricks with ‘four spot cards and one court card, we might as well call it quits.” Please don’t be tempted to try showing all the cards as court cards; you will be ruining a classic. The whole premise is that the same homing card keeps returning to your hands. Page 25 POKER MENTAL I he following is an improvement over my “Poker Mental” from my book Magician Foolers. In this method, five people take part instead of three. In addition, once a spectator hears his card, ‘you know immediately what their card is; no need to “fish.” EFFECT: You shuffle and cut your deck and then it is cut by your helper. He then deals five poker hands to as many people. Each of these five people then merely think of one of their cards. The five hands are gathered and shuffled by your helper and then returned to the deck. You run through the cards, naming them as you go. After naming a few, those who heard their card named are asked to iden- tify themselves. You unerringly name each of their cards. This is repeated, with variations, until all five cards have been found. METHOD: You must first arrange your deck in Sy Stebbins order: From the top, each card is three cards higher than the one above it; in addition, their suits run in Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds order. E.G the first few cards from the top might be AC, 4H, 7S, 10D, KC, ete. When ready to perform, place the Jokers aside, false-shuffle the deck and give it any number of straight cuts. Have your helper cut the cards and then have him deal five hands of five-card Poker, dealing in rotation, as he would in a game. Have him keep the first hand and allow four others to take one of the other hands. You must identify each helper with their hand. In other words, you would think of the person who took the fifth hand as spectator #5, ete. Have each person shuffle their cards and then merely think of, and remember, one of them. It is while they are doing this that you do the following: Double-cut the bottom card of the deck to the top and replace the Jokers to the top of the deck.Page 26 Have helper #1 gather the five hands and shuffle them. Have this packet returned to the top of the deck and false cut it a few times. Now, if you look at the face of the deck and spread the first five cards, you'll find that they are the mates to one card in each of the five hands and they are in order with #5°s mate at the face of the deck, #4’s second from the face, etc. As you spread through the deck, miscall the first five cards as to suit. That is, call the correct number, but call it the other suit of the same color. In other words, if you saw the 5 S, you would call it the SC. The QH would be called the QD. Do this with only the first five cards. Then, as you skip through the deck, continue calling about twelve more by their correct names. Don’t name any cards above the Jokers; these are the actual cards looked at. Close the deck and ask anyone who has heard his card to stand. Let’s assume that spectators #5 and #3 stand, You immediately know that the mate to #5’s card is at the face of the deck and the other mate is two cards to the left of the first. Now, false cut the deck. The reason for this cut is that if you didn’t, it would appear that you named the card near the face and then removed it from the top half of the deck. After false-cutting the deck, run through and remove the mate to the face card; this will be spectator #5’s card. Have him name it and tum it around for all to see. Do the same with anyone else standing. Now, double-cut the five cards at the face of the deck to the back; you're done with them. Go through the same procedure as above until all five cards have been revealed. Try to vary your method of revealing the cards. You might show the wrong card via a double lift and then have it change to the cor- rect card. You might pull one from your pocket. I always show the last card reversed in an Invisible, or Brainwave deck. Finally, if you have gone through four rounds of naming cards and there is still one person who has not heard his card, you do not need to name any more cards. The mate to their card will be in po- sition at the face of the deck. Bring out your “Invisible Deck.” Page 27 CALLING MR. STEBBINS ere is a telephone mystery which leaves no clue as to its method. It is easy to perform and very direct in presentation. EFFECT: Two spectators each cut the deck and take the top card as their selection. They each cut off a few more cards and mix their selection among these. You take back one of the packets, remove one of its cards and pocket it, The second spectator uses a phone number, which was given to him before the start of the trick, to call your assistant. The person on the other end of the line not only tells him the name of his card, but also tells him the name of the card in your pocket. There are no codes, confederates or communication (on your part. METHOD: The deck must be set up in Sy Stebbins order: Each card is three cards higher in value than the card above it and is of the next suit in order of C, H, 8, D. In other words, if the bottom card is the 7C, the next (or top) card in the cycle would be the 10H. ‘Your assistant has a chart in front of him like the chart “A” below. Notice that the cards are in Stebbins order, Give the deck a false shuffle and offer it to be cut. Let them cut as many times as they like. Complete cuts will not alter the cyclical order of the cards. Chart “A” ac [4H |78_|10p]Kc [3H |6s Joo |ac jan |ss |sp Jac au [48 |7D |10c]KH|3s |6p |oc Jax |2s |sp |sc [an as [4D [7 |10H]Ks 3p }6c Jon |Qs |2D |sc |sH [Js ap [4c |7H |105 |p 3c Jon }9s |Qp |2c |sH |ss [sDPage 28 Hand the helper on the right the phone number of your assistant. Have him take the top card of the deck as his selection. Have someone to your left take the next top card. Now, go back to the helper on the right and have him cut off a small packet (8-10 cards) from the top of the deck. He then shuffles his selection amongst these cards. Have the other helper cut some cards off and do the same. The helper on the right must cut his cards off before the other helper. While they are shufiling their packets, you pick up the rest of the cards and secretly glimpse the bottom card. Count two ahead in the system to ascertain the card belonging to the helper on the left. For example, if you see the AC, you would think ahead to the 4H and then ahead to the 7S. Take his cards, look through them and pocket his card without letting anyone see it. Return the rest of his cards to the deck. Have the helper on the right dial the phone number you gave him. Needless to say, your assistant is standing by for the call. Your as- sistant asks him to shuffle his cards some more and then call them out over the phone, As the cards are called out, your assistant cit~ cles them on the chart. After all the cards in this helper’s packet are called out, your assistant will be looking at a situation similar to chart “B” below. Notice that the cards circled are consecutive ex- cept for one, the 4H, which has skipped a space. The situations will always look like this. In this case, the card by itself (4H), will be this helper’s card and the card which was skipped over (7S) will be the one in your pocket. Your assistant needs only remember that the card off by itself is the caller's card and the one which was skipped is in your pocket. Have him dramatically reveal this infor- mation to end this mystery. Chart “B”