CARD TRICKS AND COMBINATIONS.
For Parlour Magic a pack of cards will be found the source of endless amusement and variety. For the sleight-of-hand card tricks considerable practice is needed before they can be performed neatly and cleverly, so as to prevent the detection of the trick. To palm a card, to make the pass, to force a card, to make a false shuffle, to sight a card, are necessary accomplishments for the conjurer to learn and practise. As a general rule, it will be found more convenient to exhibit card tricks with a piquet pack of cards, or with an ordinary pack from which have been thrown out the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes; the pack so reduced can more readily be palmed; indeed, for a lad whose hand has not attained its full size, the reduction of the pack from fifty-two cards is absolutely necessary.
TO PALM A CARD.
This consists in bringing a card from the general pack into the hollow of the hand and keeping it there unperceived. The card it is desired to palm should first be brought to the top of the pack; hold the pack, with the faces of the cards downwards, in the left hand, covering the pack with the right hand. Push the card to be palmed until it projects beyond the edge of the pack; with the third finger of the left hand press the card upwards into the right hand, which should be half closed over it. Slightly bend the card, and it will lie snugly curved up against the inside of the hand. The better to prevent detection, then take the pack of cards between the finger and thumb of the right hand and offer it to be shuffled. If the palmed card is not known by the performer this will give him an opportunity of seeing it. The mere motion of taking the pack into the hand will give sufficient opportunity to return the palmed card into the pack. The possessor of a large hand with long fingers may in this way, if necessary, palm a whole pack of cards, and so enable him to increase very considerably his repertoire of card tricks.
TO MAKE THE PASS.
No one should attempt conjuring tricks with cards until he has thoroughly mastered this sleight; it requires a good deal of practice to perform it neatly and without risk of detection. Its object is to reverse the respective positions of the top and bottom halves of the pack. There are various methods of producing this result, some requiring the use of both hands and some of one hand only. Upon the instructions here given the plan may be varied after experience has been gained, but M. Robert Houdin states that at least an hour a day for a fortnight should be devoted to practising the "pass" before the conjurer appears before an audience. At any rate, it is useless to attempt card-conjuring until the "pass" has been mastered. The following description of how to make the pass is derived from Hoffmann's translation of Houdin's account of the trick:—The cards are to be held in the left hand, with the faces downwards, and between the two cards at which the pass is to be made the tip of the little finger is to be inserted; then cover the whole pack with the right hand, and at the same time take between the middle finger and thumb of that hand the opposite ends of the cards forming the lower portion of the pack; with the little and middle fingers of the left hand draw away and make the upper packet pass under the lower packet of cards. The whole trick will, after practice, be done easily, lightly, noiselessly, and in less than a second. The different motions here separately described will have to be done simultaneously, and with such rapidity that no motion of the cards should be apparent.
TO FORCE A CARD.
This means that when offering a pack to one of the audience for him to draw from it any card he chooses he is made to draw that card which the performer wants. The trick, although of some difficulty to perform successfully, is really more dependent upon mental address than upon manipulation. The card to be forced should be placed either at the top or the bottom of the pack, and by a cut brought into the middle of the pack, and should be held by the little finger, as explained in making the pass, immediately above that finger. Proceed with the pack closed to some one of the audience, requesting that a card may be taken, at the same time spreading the whole pack out fan-wise, and very slightly pushing forward the card to be taken. In all probability the card offered will be taken, owing to its being slightly more prominent than the rest; but if it seems that any other card is about to be selected close the pack up, appear to cut it again, and make the offer a second time. Be very careful not to spread out the cards until the invitation to take one has been given—so long as the pack is closed a card cannot readily be removed—but immediately upon giving the invitation spread the whole pack out, slightly advancing the desired card as instructed. If by inadvertence the wrong card is allowed to be taken, the mistake may be remedied by forcing the desired one upon some other person. The card to be forced should not be held, while all the other cards should be tightly secured in one or other of the performer's hands. The readiness with which the forced card may be removed will imperceptibly act as an inducement to its removal. If, on the other hand, the wrong card should be taken—and from the nature of the trick it is unadvisable to force the right card upon a second person—let the card taken be again placed in the pack; palm it in accordance with the instructions given as to palming a card, and manage then, unperceived, to get a sight of it, when it may answer all the purposes that the card it was desired to force would have answered.
TO SIGHT A CARD.
As stated above, it is sometimes necessary to sight a given card, and this has to be done in the presence of, but yet altogether unknown to, the spectators. The following plan will generally be found to succeed:—Slip the little finger, as in making the pass, under the card that it is desired to look at, bend the top half of the pack upwards and the bottom half downwards, so that in a modified degree they make two packs, bent in a concave form, thus:—
. The cards may then readily and openly be cut at the desired point, and a careless wave of the hand holding the pack will enable the performer to get the necessary sight of the desired card. Houdin's instruction on this point is apparently simpler, but we think more difficult to attain by an inexperienced performer. After instructing as to the position of the little finger, he says that the pack should be opened at that point with extreme rapidity, and the card ascertained by a swift glance. This method undoubtedly is better, if it can be safely performed without detection; but the rapidity of motion and the swiftness of the glance will be difficulties not easily overcome by an amateur magician.
THE FALSE SHUFFLE.
This is a movement intended to neutralise suspicions that may be held by spectators to the effect that the cards are retained in a pre-arranged order. There are several kinds of false shuffles, but the performer must use his discretion as to which he adopts. Generally speaking, however, it is only one, or at most a few cards that it is desired not to lose sight of, and then the neatest so-called false shuffle will be that which permits the pack, as a whole, to be genuinely shuffled, while the card or cards to be kept in view are retained in one position in the pack, secured either at the top or bottom of the pack, or the place where they may be found may be designated by means of the little finger, as in making the pass.
Clumsy performers who find a difficulty in mastering the above preliminaries of card-conjuring sometimes make use of what is called the Long Card.
THE LONG CARD.
This is a card either a trifle longer or wider, or both longer and wider, than the remainder of the pack; the difference being such that, although readily distinguishable by the touch of the performer, it is not perceptible to the eye of the spectator. To make the long card, have the whole pack, excepting one card, slightly shaved down at a book-binder's; this can be done in a second by placing the cards in a book-binder's cutting machine. The use of the long card should, however, be as much as possible avoided: it encourages the use of mechanical appliances, when a little diligence will overcome all difficulties by sleight-of-hand. Remember, as the penny showman announces at country fairs, that "The true Hart of Conjuring is to make the And of the performer deceive the Heye of the spectator."
TO GUESS A CARD THOUGHT OF.
This trick can only be successfully performed by introducing it apparently in a casual manner between tricks of an altogether different nature. Spread out the cards in such a manner that when they are held with their faces towards the audience one card only is entirely exposed to view. Shuffle them about freely, with the faces of the cards turned continually towards the audience, and request a person in the company to take a mental note of one of the cards. The probability is that the majority of those present would fix upon just that card that has been throughout completely exposed to view. Suppose, for example, it is the jack of hearts. When one of the audience has expressed himself as having mentally selected a card, shuffle the pack, carefully keeping in view the jack of hearts by using the false shuffle already described. Flourish the cards well about, and finally pick out the jack of hearts, apparently as a card taken at random. Refrain from looking at its face in the presence at any rate of the audience, and place it back uppermost on the table. Again select a card to be noted by the audience, and proceed as before, until three or four cards have been placed upon the table. Then request the company present who have selected cards to name them, and as they do so pick up the respective cards named from the table. In nine cases out of ten, with an audience with whom this trick is not familiar, all will proceed smoothly; and a performer may generally rest satisfied that if the trick should be known to two or three in an ordinary drawing-room audience, they will keep silence, to ensure a due share of credit to the performer and amusement to the rest of the spectators. In the event, however, of a card other than the one desired having been selected, at once, but politely, insinuate that the memory of the spectator may perhaps be deficient, take up the wrong card, and, while continuing with some appropriate talk or "patter," shuffle the cards as if at random, keeping the wrong card conspicuously in view of the audience until sight is obtained of the correct card; palm it at once, or keep it in view until it can be brought out apparently at random, and changed for the wrong card in such a way that the change shall not be seen. Then, still insisting upon the defective memory of the spectator, say that for his satisfaction the necessary change has been made. If this part of the trick be cleverly done, it is generally as effective as when all goes smoothly, it being evidently easier to select by chance a proper card than to change the spots or designation of one card into the spots or designation of another; besides which, it often is the cause of raising a laugh in the performer's favour, which will be of material assistance in the event of any subsequent trick not going off altogether satisfactorily.
This trick is usually done with a portion of a pack picked up at random, necessitating the spectator fixing on a card seen rather than on any card in an ordinary pack.
TO SHOW THE FIVE CARDS FIVE DIFFERENT PERSONS HAVE SELECTED.
This is a clever variety of the above trick, or rather, the above is a variety of this. On the top of the pack the performer should put any card the designation of which he knows—suppose, again, the jack of hearts; make the pass, bring that card to the middle of the pack, and force it upon some person to whom the pack is offered from which to draw a card. Take the card back, without, of course, looking at it, and again repeat the process until the same card has been forced upon five or more different persons. The persons asked to draw the cards in this trick should be placed at some distance from each other, and each should be requested not to make known to any one the card drawn. This is necessary to prevent the audience from suspecting that a particular card is being forced, but the reason given may be attributed to sharp hearing on the part of the performer, or some other equally plausible tale may be invented. Shuffle the whole pack, without, however, losing sight of the forced card, and deliberately select four cards in addition to the forced card, or sufficient cards to agree with the number of persons upon whom the card has been forced. Place the cards selected face downwards on a table, and when all are placed pick them up, hold them fan-wise towards the audience, and ask each person alternately whether the card he selected is not held out. Of course all will answer "Yes." To prevent conversation on the subject of this trick, proceed at once to some other, prefacing it with some such observation as, "By a careful attention to the movements of my hands, the audience will probably detect the secret of the clever little trick I am about to exhibit." Then show off some very familiar trick in as roundabout a way as possible, until the jack of hearts is probably forgotten.
TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF OUT OF THIRTY-FIVE EXPOSED CARDS.
Deal out thirty-five cards, faces uppermost, in seven packs of five cards in each pack; and when all are placed, desire some person to select and mentally note any one of the cards dealt out, and to state in which pack it is situated. We will suppose the card selected is stated to be in the third pack of seven cards. Pick the cards up in order, row by row, and proceed to deal them out again in the same order as that in which they were picked up, but placing them this time in five packs of seven cards in each pack, placing one card alternately on each pack, and then again ask in which pack the selected card is to be found. The card selected should be the third card in the pack designated—that is to say, in the second dealing the card should be in the pack at the number corresponding with the number of the pack in which it was placed after the first deal. To confuse the spectators, the packs, after the first dealing, may be picked up out of the proper order, so long as the performer bears in mind in what order the pack containing the selected card is picked up. This trick can hardly claim to rank as a conjuring trick; it is nothing but a combination of cards, but it may fairly be shown in an amateur entertainment of parlour magic. As one merit of such combinations is their variety, we proceed with others of a similar nature, again enforcing the hint that no trick or combination should be shown twice in succession. If the above should be called for a second time, show instead one of the following.
TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF WHEN THE NUMBER OF CARDS IS NOT FIXED, BUT WHEN IT IS SOME NUMBER DIVISIBLE BY THREE.
When a card has been mentally noted by one of the audience, proceed to deal out the cards in three heaps, with the faces of the cards turned uppermost, and so that the first card shall be first in the first heap, the second card first in the second heap, the third card first in the third heap, and so on. When the heaps are completed, ask to be informed in which heap the selected card will be found, and place that heap in the middle, and again deal out the cards as before. Again ascertain in which heap the card noted will be found, and once more let that heap be placed second among the heaps. Once again form the three heaps, and once again ask for the same information, making the same arrangement of the heaps. The card selected should then be the last card of the first half of the pack, if the whole number of the pack be even—that is to say, the twelfth in a pack of twenty-four, or the eighteenth in a pack of thirty-six. The arrangement is somewhat simpler when the number of cards is odd, as: fifteen, twenty-one, &c., for then the card selected should be the middle one of the heap in which it is found after the third time of dealing the cards.
TO TELL THE CARD THOUGHT OF BY ARRANGING THE CARDS IN A CIRCLE.
Arrange the first ten cards of any suit in the manner shown in the annexed diagram. Request some one present to think of one of the exposed cards and to touch some other card; desire also that the number of the card touched may be added to the number of cards exposed, namely, ten; and then ask him to count that sum backwards, beginning at the card touched, and reckoning that card as the number thought of. For example, suppose the three was the card thought of and the six was the card touched: six added to ten makes sixteen; and if commencing with three at the sixth card, and counting up to sixteen on the cards backwards—that is, three on the six, four on the five, five on the four, six on the three, seven on the two, and so on up to sixteen—it will be found that the counting will end on the three, the card thought of.
Cards in Circle Trick.
TO NAME A CARD NOTED.
Take a number of cards out of a full pack, say from ten to twenty, carefully counting and remembering the number, and holding them up with their faces to the audience, and so that the backs only can be seen by the performer. Open the cards out, commencing from that card which was uppermost when they were turned faces downwards, and request some person present to note the designation of any one of the cards shown, together with its order from the top of the pack, whether it is first, second, third, fourth, or what order, and to name the order. Immediately then place the cards face downwards on the table, and place upon them the remainder of the pack of cards, knocking the sides and ends well together, or indeed, if it is desired, letting the cards be knocked together by any of the audience. To find the card noted, subtract from fifty-two (the number of cards in a full pack) the number of cards held out at the commencement of the trick, and to the result add the order number of the card noted; the result will give the position in the whole pack at which the card will be found. For example, hold out twenty cards, and suppose that the seventh card from the top was the card noted; the position of that card in the whole pack will be found by subtracting twenty from fifty-two, and adding seven to the result, which will indicate that the card noted will be the thirty-ninth card in the whole pack. To pick out the card and show it is, of course, then an easy matter.
TO GUESS THE RESPECTIVE CARDS THOUGHT OF BY DIFFERENT PERSONS.
Show to each person cards equal in number to the number of persons the performer intends to request to think of a card, and from the cards shown to each person request that one may be mentally noted. For example: if three persons are to make selections, to each show three cards. When the first has made his selection, place on one side the cards from which his choice was made, and proceed in the same manner with the second and third. Then deal out the first three cards, placing them with their faces uppermost, on them deal the second three cards, and on these again the third three cards. Request each person to name the heap in which the card he selected is to be found, and the result will be that the card chosen by the first will be at the bottom, by the second in the middle, and by the third at the top of the respective heaps in which the cards are to be found. The more persons selecting cards the better and more complicated does the trick appear.
TO DISCOVER A CARD BY THE TOUCH OR SMELL.
This is not a first-rate trick, as it is done either with prepared cards or with the aid of a confederate; as, however, it is a universal favourite, we give it a place here.
First Method, with Prepared Cards.—Offer the long card (previously described) or any other card of which the designation is known, and as the person who has drawn it holds it in his hand, pretend to feel the pips with the forefinger, or, if blindfolded, smell it, and declare its designation.
Second Method, with the Aid of a Confederate.—Offer, when blindfolded, to select from a pack of cards all the court or some other combination of cards. Before commencing, however, arrange some signal with a confederate that shall be intelligible to the performer, but that shall remain unnoticed by the audience. Accompany the performance of the trick with plenty of "patter," the better to keep attention away from the confederate; expatiate upon the delicacy of the sense of touch or upon the strength of the sense of smell, directing full attention to the thoroughness of the blindfolding, and one by one hold up the cards to the audience, declaring in accordance with the signal given whether the cards held up are of the designation to be named, or the reverse. The signal agreed upon may be by touch or sound, according to the circumstances of the case.
TO TELL ALL THE CARDS WITHOUT SEEING THEM.
This is generally one of the most successful of this series of tricks, inasmuch as the whole pack of cards is brought into use, and in the hands of an operator of ordinary intelligence and care it need never fail. The secret of the whole trick is a pre-arranged order, and if this be not carefully done the trick, of course, fails. The following is the order in which the cards may be arranged: 6, 4, 1, 7, 5, king, 8, 10, 3, knave, 9, 2, queen; but it is, of course, open to the performer to vary the order, and provided he maintains a uniform order throughout, and remembers the order, one arrangement is as good as another. In order to keep the above order in mind, the following sentence has been prepared to serve as an artificial aid to memory:—
| The | sixty- | fourth | regiment | beats the | seventy- | fifth; |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| up starts the | king | with | eight | thousand | and |
| king | 8 | 10 |
| three | men | and | ninety- | two | women. |
| 3 | knave | 9 | 2 | queen. |
In the above sentence it will be seen that certain words which suggest numbers or particular cards are made to be reminders of those cards. As this trick only undertakes to designate the value and not the suit of the cards, it is not necessary in picking up the cards that the whole of one suit should be lifted before commencing another, and the numbers only need be according to the series adopted. The cards, being duly arranged, should be handed round to be cut, with the understanding that they may be cut whist-fashion only, and not shuffled: that is, a portion of the cards may be removed from the top to the bottom of the pack again and again by as many of the audience as may desire to make the cut. By means of a judicious sleight, all that is necessary for the performer to do is to sight the bottom card, or if he is clever at palming, the top card will give the necessary key to the whole. The cards may then be dealt out in the ordinary way from the top card, each card as it is dealt being named and then turned over. For example: if the cutting has resulted in leaving a knave at the bottom of the pack, that will give a three at the top, and taking the key from either of these two cards, the order will be as follows: 3, 10, 8, king, 5, 7, 1, 4, 6, queen, 2, 9, knave, and so on throughout. When the sequence is thoroughly mastered a corresponding sequence of suits may be arranged, so that the full designation of the card may be given.
THE NERVE TRICK.
This is another of the same class of tricks that enables the performer to name a card selected by some other person. Any one may select a card. After it has been examined and returned to the pack, make the pass, and bring the card to the bottom. Then cut the cards in two packs of about equal size, and to the person who selected the card give that half of the pack which contains the card selected at the bottom, requesting him to hold it tightly at the corner between his forefinger and thumb. Impress upon him the necessity of holding the cards tightly, as the success of the trick depends entirely upon him, and all the performer offers to do is to knock all the cards on the floor except the one that was chosen. When the cards are properly held, the performer has to strike them sharply, upon which all except the bottom card should fall to the ground, and that, of course, is the selected card. The trick of striking the cards in the right place can only be learnt by practice.
TO MAKE SOME OTHER PERSON DRAW THE CARDS THE PERFORMER CALLS FOR.
We have given several tricks in which the performer finds out the card or cards selected by the audience, but in this trick we explain how the performer makes one of the audience select the cards he calls for. After shuffling the cards, let the performer spread them out with their faces downwards, without entirely separating them; before, however, letting them leave his hand, sight and note the designation of the bottom or some other card—say, for example, the ace of spades. Then call up any one of the audience, or request that some one of those present will kindly step forward and assist in the development of the trick; say that neither he nor you have seen the faces of the cards on the table, but, nevertheless, you will get him to select from the pack just those cards called for, and ask him to be good enough to hand you up some cards one by one, without looking at their faces, as you call for them. The card the position and designation of which you know should be first asked for, when probably—indeed, almost certainly—some other card will be handed in. Suppose the card handed in is the two of diamonds, then call for the two of diamonds, and receive, say, the queen of clubs; for the third card call for the queen of clubs, and perhaps the jack of diamonds will be picked out. Say now that you will select a fourth card, which shall be the jack of diamonds, and leisurely examine the cards on the table, finally taking up the ace of spades, the position of which you have borne in mind. The four cards in the performer's hand will then be the four cards that have been named. If, however, the known card should be picked up, expose at once what you have, and bring the trick to a conclusion.
TO CALL FOR ANY CARD.
Having seen a card, make the pass, and bring the seen card to the bottom of the pack; place the cards behind the back, and call for the card that is known, at the same time turning the top card face outwards. Bring the cards forward, showing the bottom card only to the audience, and again place the cards behind; call for the top card, bringing it now to the bottom, and turning over the card which will be left at the top; and so on proceed until the audience is satisfied that you are able to discern the cards by the touch.
Another Method of performing this trick is done by the performer standing in the middle of a room in which there is a mirror, and while holding the cards high above his head reading them off from the reflection in the mirror; this form of the trick, however, can only be expected to deceive very simple or young persons.
TO DISCOVER WHAT CARDS HAVE BEEN TURNED.
Place the court cards and a certain number of diamonds (but not the ace or seven) in a row on the table, and undertake to go out of the room, and name upon return which, if any, of the cards have been reversed in position by being turned during your absence. Except the court cards, the spades, clubs, and hearts are useless for this trick, inasmuch as the form of the designation printed on the card is irregular. A very careful examination of any pack of cards will show that they are not evenly printed—that is, that the pips of the common cards or the lines of the court cards are nearer to the outside edge of the card on the one side than on the other. The cards on which the difference is not distinguishable reject, placing the others with the broad margin to the right and the narrow margin to the left hand. Explain that the position of any one card or cards may be reversed by turning the top to the bottom, and vice versâ, and that upon your return to the room you will denote the card or cards. This, of course, with the above explanation as to how the cards are printed, will be an easy matter.
TO SEND A CARD THROUGH A SOLID TABLE.
Request some one of the company to draw a card, examine it, and return it to the pack. Make the pass, and bring the chosen card to the top of the pack; make a few false shuffles, always leaving the chosen card at the top of the pack. Place the whole of the pack, face downwards, on the table, and near to the edge at which the performer is sitting, the performer being careful to be alone on one side of the table, with the audience facing him. Slightly moisten the back of the right hand and sharply strike the cards therewith; the top card will then adhere to the hand. Bring both hands at once smartly under the table, in such a way as to prevent the card being seen. Take the chosen card with the left hand, and bring it up from underneath the table. Show the card, which will be recognised as the one chosen at the commencement of the trick.
TO TELL THE PAIRS.
Deal out twenty cards, and request ten persons each to take two cards during your absence, to return them to the table in pairs, and to remember their designation. Upon your return collect the pairs, and distribute the cards according to the numbers in the following table:—
| M | U | T | U | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| D | E | D | I | T |
| 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| N | O | M | E | N |
| 8 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| C | O | C | I | S |
| 10 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
Upon now being told in which row or rows the cards selected by any individual are placed, you will be able to point out the pair selected by that individual. The key to the trick is in the four following Latin words, "Mutus dedit nomen cocis." In these words it will be seen that there are ten different letters, each of which is repeated. The figures under the letters denote the pairs as they are placed. If it is stated that a pair selected is in the first and third rows, it will be evident that the cards are those placed under the letters "M" which appear in those lines. If both the cards are stated to be in the fourth row, it is evident that they must be the tenth pair, or those placed under the letter "C." The performer will, of course, understand that the key must be remembered, and the necessary arrangement of the pairs of cards be made from memory.
THE FOUR KINGS.
Take the four kings and two knaves out of a pack of cards, and spread the kings only before the audience, in order that it may be seen that they are the kings, at the same time hiding the two knaves between the third and fourth king; then place the six cards at the bottom of the whole pack, face downwards, on the table. Lift up the pack and remove the bottom card, which will be the fourth king; let it be seen that it is a king, and place it on the top of the pack. Take the next two cards, which will be the knaves, carefully keeping them from being seen, and one by one place them in different positions in the pack. This arrangement will leave one king at the top of the pack and three kings at the bottom, but as the kings only have been shown, it will appear as though there was one king at the top, one at the bottom, and the other two in different positions in the pack. Let any one present cut the cards, and the performer, while placing the bottom cut on the top, may say that he is now, without apparently altering the relative position of any of the cards, going to bring the four kings together into the middle of the pack. Make a few conjuring passes and utter some conjuring mumblings over the pack, hand it to any person in the audience, and announce the trick as completed. The four kings will be found together as promised.
THE TURNOVER.
The turnover is a pretty sleight, and forms an appropriate termination to some of the before described tricks, in which the card selected by one of the audience is found and exposed by the performer. When the card selected has been ascertained let it be brought to the top of the pack, and held there with its edge somewhat pushed over the remaining cards, which are to be held with their edges perfectly even. If when so placed the whole pack is suddenly dropped out of the hand, the cards, all excepting the top card, will fall on their faces, while the projection of the top card, finding resistance in the air as it falls should, during its descent, turn over and fall face upwards.
TO TELL THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PIPS SHOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF PACKS MADE UP IN A CERTAIN MANNER.
Take the whole pack of fifty-two cards, and let them be well shuffled by as many persons as care to do so. Explain that if during your absence any one present will deal out the cards, faces downwards, into packs made up according to instructions, you will upon your return tell the aggregate number of pips shown on the bottom cards of the packs, the court cards being considered as equal to ten pips and the ace as equal to one pip. The dealing has to be done in this way: Take the top card, and count it as the number shown upon its face; place upon it then sufficient cards to make that number up to twelve; then take the next card, and proceed in the same way, and so on until all are dealt out, or until the remaining cards are insufficient in number to make up twelve. The remaining cards must be handed to the performer. To ascertain the number of pips on the bottom cards, the performer counts the number of packs on the table, from that number deducts four, multiplies the remaining number of packs by thirteen, and adds to the result the number of cards remaining which were insufficient to make up twelve; the number so obtained will be found to be equal to the aggregate of the pips on the bottom cards of the packs. This counting will, of course, be done with many apparently intricate calculations, founded upon the pips of the cards in the performer's hand combined with the packs on the table. Below is an illustration of the trick, which will perhaps make the above more intelligible. Suppose (1) a seven card is first turned out: it will be placed on the table, with five cards on the top of it to make up twelve; (2) a court card next, counting ten, has two cards placed upon it; (3) a two has ten cards placed over it; (4) a nine requires three more cards, or, in all, four to form the pack; (5) a five requires seven more cards; (6) a three requires nine additional cards; (7) an eight card requires four; (8) a court card and two cards, leaving two cards remaining.
The table annexed will show the pips on the bottom cards of the respective packs, with the number of cards in each pack:—
| Bottom Card | Number of Cards | |
| Counts | in Pack. | |
| 1st pack | 7 | 6 |
| 2nd „ (Court Card) | 10 | 3 |
| 3rd „ | 2 | 11 |
| 4th „ | 9 | 4 |
| 5th „ | 5 | 8 |
| 6th „ | 3 | 10 |
| 7th „ | 8 | 5 |
| 8th „ | 10 | 3 |
| 54 | 50 |
This arrangement shows eight packs, with two cards over; following the rule given, deduct four packs from the number of packs, multiply the remainder by thirteen, add two (the cards remaining), and the result will be 54, the aggregate number of pips on the bottom cards; thus: 8-4=4×13=52+2=54.
TO ASCERTAIN THE NUMBER OF PIPS ON UNSEEN CARDS.
In these tricks aces count as eleven instead of as one, court cards count as ten. The piquet pack of thirty-two cards only must be used for the first method, the ordinary pack of fifty-two for the second method.
First Method, with three cards out of the piquet pack of thirty-two cards. Let any person select three cards, and place them separately, faces downwards, on the table. On each of these must be placed as many cards as will, with the number of pips on the card, make fifteen. The remaining cards are to be handed to the performer, who goes through any farce he chooses to make the audience believe that his calculations depend upon the pips of the cards handed to him. The actual result is obtained by adding sixteen to the number of the remaining cards. For instance, suppose the cards selected are a king, a ten, and an eight; on the king (which counts ten) will be placed five cards, on the ten will be placed five cards, and on the eight will be placed seven cards, making in all twenty cards used and twelve remaining. The total number of the pips will be twenty-eight, made up of the king, which equals ten, the ten, and the eight, i.e., 10 + 10 + 8 = 28. The twelve cards which remain, added to sixteen, also make twenty-eight.
Second Method, with two cards out of the ordinary fifty-two card pack. The two cards must be placed as the three described in the first method, and each have placed upon it sufficient cards, with the number of pips on the card, to make up twenty-five. The number of cards remaining will be the number of pips on the two bottom cards. For instance: take it that the nine card and the seven card are selected; on the nine card sixteen other cards will have to be placed, and on the seven card eighteen other cards, making thirty-six cards in all, leaving sixteen cards over; thus 52-36 = 16, or 9 + 7 = 16.
LIKE WITH LIKE.
Select from a full pack all the picture cards and aces and one ordinary card; place the ordinary card in the centre of a table, and proceed with the following descriptive and illustrated anecdote:—"One dark night four farmers came to a tavern, represented by the card on the table, and asked for a night's lodging. The landlord, having four unoccupied rooms, showed one farmer into each of the rooms." (At this point place round the card representing the tavern the four knaves). Proceed: "Not long after, four policemen knocked at the door, and also requested lodging for the night; but as the rooms were all occupied, each policeman had to share a room with one of the farmers." (Here place an ace over each of the four knaves.) "Presently four gentlemen came with a similar request, and for the same reason a gentleman was put into each of the already occupied apartments." (Here place a king upon each ace.) "To add to the crowding and inconvenience consequent upon these arrangements, four ladies next called and required accommodation, and the landlord, at his wits' end, placed a lady in each of the already over-tenanted rooms." (Place a queen above each king.) "The ladies were naturally indignant, and suggested that it might at least be arranged that they should be placed together in one room, similar requests being at the same time made by the kings, the policemen, and the farmers. The landlord consented, and all were soon lodged like with like." While finishing the story, place the four descriptions of cards in heaps, and one heap upon the top of the other, and let them be cut as often as is desired. If the cards are now told off in order from the bottom of the pack, and placed around the tavern, the knaves will be found in one circle, the aces in another, the kings in a third, and the queens in a fourth.
TO MAKE A CARD COME OF ITS OWN ACCORD OUT OF A PACK.
Let a card be drawn, ascertain its designation by means of one of the sleights already described, or when it is replaced in the pack keep its position in view. Being previously supplied with a tiny piece of wax attached to a long hair, press the wax on the card in question, retaining the hair attached to the thumb or wrist-link. Place the cards on the table, and by means of the hair pull away from the others the card that was drawn. The hair will be imperceptible to the audience if placed facing the performer. While pulling the card away, say that the card chosen will now walk out of the pack. When it is separated from the pack the performer should quickly take it, remove the wax, and expose it to view.
TO DRAW A PARTICULAR CARD FROM A COAT POCKET.
For this trick a long card will be required. Force that card upon some person, hand him the pack, and request him to be good enough to place the drawn card in any position in the pack he chooses, and to place the pack in his own coat pocket, promising that the card drawn shall be picked out of the pack while in his pocket. The sense of touch will render the trick perfectly simple, and easy to perform as promised. The same trick may be varied by placing the cards under a hat, in a basket, bag, or in any other convenient receptacle.
TO DEAL OUT THE ALTERNATE CARDS IN A PACK SO THAT THE CARDS DEALT OUT SHALL FALL IN ROTATION AND IN SUITS.
The very greatest care is necessary in arranging the cards for this trick, as in the event of one card being misplaced, the whole trick will be spoiled. To arrange the pack sort the suits of spades, clubs, and diamonds in numerical sequence, and the suit of hearts in the order of seven, ace, queen, two, eight, three, jack, four, nine, five, king, six, ten; place the hearts face uppermost so that the seven is at the bottom and the ten at the top. The other suits are also to be placed face uppermost, with the aces at the bottom. Sort in together the suits of clubs and hearts by placing the seven of hearts under the ace of clubs, the ace of hearts between the ace and two of clubs, and so on. Place the suit of spades on the top of the suit of diamonds, so that the ace of spades is immediately atop of the king of diamonds. Work in together the two half-packs so formed by placing the seven of hearts under the ace of diamonds, and then take one card alternately from the bottom of each pack, so that when completely arranged the top faced card will be the king of spades, and the second card the king of clubs. The cards are then ready to be brought forward for the trick to be performed. Turn the pack face downwards, remove the top card and place it at the bottom, turn up the next card, place the third at the bottom, turn up the fourth card, and so on, alternately removing a card to the bottom of the pack and turning up a card. The cards turned up, commencing with the ace of diamonds, will fall in rotation and in suits.
TO CATCH A SELECTED CARD FROM A PACK THROWN IN THE AIR.
Let a card be drawn by a spectator, replaced by him in the pack, and by means of the pass or a false shuffle brought to the top by the performer. Palm the card, again hand the pack to one of the spectators and request him to throw the whole pack loosely towards you, and undertake, while the cards are in the air, to pick out the drawn card. When the cards are thrown thrust the hand smartly into the middle of the pack, deftly bringing forward the palmed card at the same time. This is one of the best of the simple sleights-of-hand, and a little practice will enable any one to make the illusion very pleasing.
THE FOUR RECRUITS.
The following simple deception or puzzle is always received with great amusement:—Place the four knaves out of an ordinary pack of cards in a row, state that they represent four recruits, two of whom were passed, and two refused upon the medical examination owing to a physical disability; ask the company to designate which were passed and which refused, and why. Nine people out of ten will fail to detect any difference, but upon examination of most packs of ordinary cards it will be found that two of the jacks are printed with two eyes in each head, whereas the others are printed with one eye only. It may also be noticed that the kings are usually printed three with two eyes in each head, and one with one eye only, while the queens are all given two eyes each. These peculiarities are not so likely to be found in the modern fanciful cards which are now becoming generally used.
THE FOUR CONFEDERATES.
Let some one draw any four cards from the pack, and tell him to notice and remember the particulars of one of them. When the four cards are returned, dexterously place two of them at the bottom and two at the top of the pack. Under those at the bottom place any other four cards, and then, taking eight or ten cards from the bottom, spread them out on the table, and ask if the card fixed upon is among them. If it is not it will then be apparent that the remembered card is one of the two at the top of the pack. Make the pass so as to get those two cards to the bottom of the pack, drawing off the lowest of them; again ask if that is not the card. If the answer is again "No," bid the right card to be drawn from the bottom of the pack. If, however, the card should be among those first shown, the four cards placed under the two of the four that were held out at the commencement of the trick must be dexterously removed by making the pass to the top of the pack, leaving the other two to be dealt with as above described.
THE TRANSMUTABLE CARDS.
For this trick two cards of the same sort, say, for example, the king of spades, are required in the pack. One of these is to be placed next to the bottom card, which we will call, but which may be any card, the seven of hearts. The other is to be placed at the top of the pack; then shuffle the cards by a false shuffle without disturbing these three cards, and show some one of the audience that the bottom card is the seven of hearts. Then privately and secretly drawing this card aside, take the king of spades from the bottom, which will be supposed to be the seven of hearts, and place it, face downwards, on the table, requesting the person to whom the seven of hearts was shown to cover it with his hand. Again shuffle the cards without displacing the first and last cards, pass the other king of spades from the top to the bottom of the pack, and show it to some other person. Draw it privately and secretly away, bring the seven of hearts to the bottom of the pack, then place it upon the table and request the second person who believes it to be the king of spades to cover it with his hand. Take up the magic wand, wave it, and command the seven of hearts, supposed to be under the hand of the first person, to change into the king of spades; and command the king of spades, which is supposed to be under the hand of the second person, to change into the seven of hearts. Afterwards request both persons to remove their hands and to take up and show the cards they have been covering, when, to the astonishment of all, it will be seen that the performer's commands have been strictly obeyed.
THE TWO CONVERTIBLE ACES.
On the ace of spades fix, by the use of soap or some similar substance, a heart coloured red, and on the ace of hearts a spade coloured black, in such a manner that they will easily slip off. Show these two aces round; then, taking the apparent ace of spades, desire some person to put his foot or his hand upon it, and during the act of placing on the ground, or on the table, as the case may be, draw away the spade. In like manner place the seeming ace of hearts under the foot or hand of some other person. Then, as in the preceding trick, command the two aces to change places.
A variety of this trick is sometimes practised with one card only, say the ace of spades, over which a heart is slightly pasted. After showing the card to some person, let him hold one end of it, face downwards, and while he is being amused with the "patter" of the performer who holds the other end of the card, the heart is slipped off. Then, placing the card on the table, request that it may be covered with the hand; knock under the table and command the heart to turn into a spade.
TO TELL THE NUMBER OF CARDS BY THEIR WEIGHT.
Take up a parcel of cards, say forty, among which insert two long cards; let the first long card be, for example, the fifteenth, and the other the twenty-sixth from the top. Seem to shuffle the cards, and then, cutting them at the first long card, poise those cut off in the left hand, and say, "There should be fifteen cards here." Cut them again at the second long card, and say, "There are here only eleven cards." Then holding up the remainder, say, "Here are fourteen cards." Let the different heaps be then counted, to satisfy the audience as to the accuracy of the performer's judgment.
TO DISCOVER A CARD DRAWN BY THE THROW OF A DIE.
Prepare a pack of thirty-six cards, in which six different cards are contained six times. Dispose these cards in such a manner that each of the six different cards shall follow each other, and let the last of each suit be a long card. The cards being thus disposed, it follows that if they are divided into six parcels by cutting at each of the long cards, these parcels will all consist of similar cards. Let some person draw a card from the pack, and let him replace it in the parcel from whence it was drawn, by dexterously offering that pack. Should he succeed in placing it elsewhere, bring it, by making the pass, into its proper position. Cut the cards several times, so that a long card may be always at the bottom. Divide the cards in this manner into six heaps, and giving a die to the person who drew the card, tell him that the number he throws shall indicate the parcel in which is the card he drew, which necessarily follows. The performer should place the cards in his pocket immediately after completing the trick, and be prepared with another pack to show should any one request to be allowed to examine the cards.
Many other card tricks might be given that are of a more complicated nature than the above, but those selected are thoroughly simple and easy, and of sufficient variety to enable an amateur performer to pass from one to another without ever being reduced to the necessity of repetition.