Three and a Half of Clubs Card Instructions

What Happens
You make a bet with your spectator that you can predict what card they will choose from a deck
of cards. You’ll prove this by putting aside a prediction that is the same suit and exactly half the
value of the card they’ll choose. For example, if they choose the 6 of Diamonds, your prediction
will be the 3 of Diamonds.

They eventually choose a card and, uh oh, it’s the 7 of Clubs. They think they’ve caught the
magician failing a magic trick. But, you flip over your prediction to show it’s the 3 ½ of Clubs.
Exactly half their card…just like you said!

What You Get

You’ve received a specially-made gimmicked playing card with the 3 ½ of Clubs on it. It has
been printed by the same company that makes Bicycle Playing Cards and is designed to work
with a regular deck of Bicycle cards that you can find in nearly any store or magic shop like
Vanishing Inc. Magic.

Before You Start

Place the 3 ½ card somewhere in the middle of the deck. Some performers may choose to
put the special card somewhere else like an envelope with a big question mark on it. However,
by pulling it from the middle of the deck, you’re communicating to your audience that it’s just
another ordinary card. It helps make the final reveal way more magical.

You will also want to place the 7 of Clubs on top of the deck. This is the card we are going to
force the spectator to choose later using a very easy card force known as the Cross Cut Force.

The Secret
Start the trick by spreading the cards with the faces toward the spectator so they can see
they’re all different. Don’t rush this, but it should be done quickly and casually. They shouldn’t be
inspecting every card. Don’t worry about anyone seeing the 3 ½ of Clubs either. It’s designed to
blend in.

Turn the faces toward you and casually look for, and remove. the 3 ½ of Clubs card. Place this
card face down on the table without letting anyone see. (PRO TIP: take out another card first,
and then put it back and take the 3 ½ of Clubs. This will help sell that you’re really struggling to
make your prediction).

Tell your volunteer that this is a prediction of the card they will choose. It’s exactly half their
card. So, for example, if they choose an 8 of Hearts. This will be a 4 of Hearts. Ensure they
understand this because it will be important for the final reveal.
Place the whole deck face down on the table. Ask your volunteer to pick up about half the cards
and place them next to the remaining cards. Once they have done this, pick up the remaining cards
and place them on a slight angle on top of the cards that were just cut off, marking the position.
Alternatively, you could let them do this.

Now is where you will need to kill some time using what magicians call “time misdirection.”
Essentially you let a little bit of time pass so that they lose track of which pile is which. This is the
key to making the force work. To do this, you’ll recap what’s happened so far.

You can say whatever you’d like, but here’s a good example:
“Think about this for a minute. Before we began, I took a card out of the deck, I then handed the
deck of cards to you and I haven’t touched them since. I asked you to take some cards and set them
aside and we marked the position that you cut to. You could have cut to any position in the deck. I
said that the card I removed would be the same suit and exactly half of the value of your card.”

“This is the card you cut to” as you say this; pick up the top pile of cards, and hand the top card of
the lower pile to your spectator. This card will be the 7 of Clubs. Congrats, you just learned how to
force someone to choose a playing card!

Give them a moment to look at it and register it’s an odd number. Make sure to act a little confused
at this point (remember, a lot of magic comes down to acting). If it hasn’t clicked for them, point out
the fact that since they chose the 7, your card would have to be a 3 ½. Pause a little for dramatic
effect, and then turn over your prediction to reveal it was correct.

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