Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs & Others

by Edwin Thomas Sachs

Card-boxes.—A well-known, but, when well executed, very effective, trick is performed with the aid of one or two boxes, known as "card-boxes." They are about half an inch deep, and sufficiently large to hold a card very easily indeed; that is to say, there is a good eighth of an inch to spare all round the card when it is in the box. The boxes are black inside, and are furnished with a thin piece of wood, also blackened, which is placed loosely within and fills up the entire interior space. This piece of wood is the secret of the box, for by its means a card is made to appear and disappear. Suppose that the box is wide open, and in the right-hand half is placed the card, whilst the left-hand half contains the piece of wood. If, on the box being closed (which movement must be rapidly executed, or the wood may unexpectedly fall out) the left-hand half is turned over on to the right-hand half, the card contained in the latter will necessarily be covered by the blackened piece of wood, and will appear to have vanished entirely when the box is re-opened. By simply turning the box over, the card will be made to appear.

The trick is performed by means of a duplicate card, which can either be forced, and, after being placed in the box, made to return invisibly into the pack whilst the latter is being held by one of the audience, or the box may contain one of the duplicate cards in the first instance. The other one can then be forced, replaced in the pack, brought to the top, and palmed. The pack may then be examined, after the card has been shown to be in the box, to prove that it really has gone from it. The proper time for replacing the card in the pack is immediately after the person has finished the examination. You take the cards from him, and, placing the palmed card on the top of the pack, make the pass, and so bring it to the middle; you can then perform the operation of passing it invisibly from the box back again to the pack, where it will, of course, be found. Opinion is divided on the question of handing the box or boxes round for examination. If this is done, the trick decidedly attains lustre thereby, but, of course, the false wooden bottoms must be concealed about the performer's person, and slipped in whilst retiring to his table. In showing the boxes round with the false bottoms in them, keep a finger on the latter, and knock the boxes about a good deal with the wand to show they are solid, &c. In "passing" the card, either from box to pack, or vice versâ, make a great show of taking it from either place by means of the wand, on the end of which you seriously declare you can distinctly see it. Conjurors are able to make great capital out of doing simply nothing at all; and as it is impossible, when performing with nothing, to make any mistakes, then is the time to do the most extraordinary things. The trick with the boxes can be varied by having two duplicate cards of different denominations, one of each kind being concealed in a box. Say the cards are the six of clubs and king of hearts. Force these cards from the pack and place the drawn king in the box containing the six, and the drawn six in the box containing the king. You have only to turn the boxes over to effect the change, although you of course affect to bring it about by magical means. You may then remove one six and one king from the boxes, leaving one of each still concealed, and, placing them in the pack, bring them to the top, palming them and proceeding as directed for one card only. This makes a very pretty trick. The boxes are best purchased from a conjuring repository, where they can be obtained cheaply.

To Throw a Card.—In a large room, throwing cards from one end to the other has a very good effect. It is astonishing how few people can throw a card, seeing how easy the feat becomes with a little practice. But I suppose it is just this practice which stands in the way. The card should be held across its end, the end of the first finger just turning the outside corner. When in position for throwing, it should rest upon the middle finger, which will be curved slightly for the purpose. Bend the arm back until the card almost touches the chest, and then throw it with considerable force from you, taking care to give it a spin with the end of the first finger. If this spin, the secret of the feat, is not given, the card will not travel three yards, whereas a good thrower can send one thirty or forty. For long throws, ordinary heavy cards should be used, but care must be taken to elevate the trajectory, as such cards hurt severely when they strike the face with full force, and serious injury might result if one struck the eye. Mehây used to place one card across the back of the left hand, and flick it off with the first finger of the right. People with strong fingers may try this method, which will, however, never send the cards farther than eight or ten yards. Some throwers merely seize a corner of the card between the finger and thumb, whilst others hold it between the first and second fingers—the latter being a favourite method.

The Revolution.—This, as an interlude, has a very pretty effect. Take a full pack of ordinary cards, and throw them obliquely on the table, so that they spread nearly across it, each card resting upon the one next it. Run the eye along the cards, and see they are all even, as a break will spoil the feat. Place the hand well under the first (the lowest) card, taking care not to disturb the position of those immediately next to it, and turn it suddenly over in the direction of the other cards, which will, each in its turn, be made to reverse their positions on the table. The first card must be more pushed than lifted over; indeed, that end of it which is towards the other cards must always remain on the table as if hinged there. If they have turned over in good order, they may be turned back again by the same means. The success of the feat depends upon the neatness with which the cards are thrown down in the first instance. Simple as it appears, very few persons can execute it neatly, or with many cards. When the line is very long, considerable force will have to be applied in turning over the first card. The cards may also be spread in the shape of an arc, which has a still prettier effect, but considerable practice will be required in laying the cards out. A more difficult method still is to lay the cards along the forearm, and turn them over there. Many will be the spills, however, in practising this feat.

Prepared Cards.—Under the heading of "Sleight of Hand," the words "prepared cards" may seem out of place; but one of the chief articles in my creed is that a conjuror should know everything appertaining to his art. Besides this, many tricks with prepared cards require considerable sleight of hand in their performance; and not infrequently their introduction is the means of defeating an antagonistic and inquisitive element which will sometimes introduce itself into an audience, members of which possess just that "little knowledge" which is said to be "a dangerous thing."

Cut Packs.—In some instances, it is very useful to have the edges of the cards shaved off obliquely, so that one end is broader than the other. When a card is taken from the pack, the performer should watch and see if it is turned round whilst in the possession of the drawer. If it be not turned, then he must reverse the position of the pack before the card is returned to it. The cards may then be shuffled any number of times, and the performer will always be able to find the card by the fact of its broad end being where the other cards are narrow. This ruse is but little known among amateurs. It saves a good deal of passing, but it will not obviate the necessity for forcing.

Long and Broad Cards.—This, a most useful preparation, consists merely in having one or more cards in the pack a shade longer or broader than the others. I, myself, never use more than one card so prepared. When not forced, or otherwise actually in use itself, it is very useful to place over or beneath other chosen cards, which will, by its means, be easily found when wanted. My preference is in favour of a broad card, as opposed to a long one: it is more easily found by the finger when preparing to make the pass. As one cannot procure single cards longer or broader than others, it will be necessary to have the other cards shaved down a little, omitting, of course, those intended to be longer or broader than the rest. It is not necessary to go to a card manufacturer in order to have these operations of cutting and shaving performed; any stationer or card-plate engraver, who possesses a paper-cutting machine, will be able to do all that is desired.

Pricked Cards.—An excellent method for detecting given cards is to have them pricked in the corners, very nearly through, with a needle. The hole, or, more properly speaking, the indentation, should be made on the back of the card, so that the face presents a little mound to the touch. The card should be marked in each corner, so that it will not matter which end of it comes to hand first. When it is desired to mark more than one card in the same pack by this method, one card should have one hole in each corner, another card two holes, another card three holes in a triangular form, another card a line of holes along each end, and so on. It will, however, be seldom necessary to mark many. Card cheating is to this day often practised by this means, cards of value of a certain suit being detected by the dealer as he deals them out.

The Chameleon Card.—Have two cards chosen, and bring one to the top and one to the bottom. Take the pack, face upwards, and make the single card slip pass from top to bottom, reversing the card during the process. This will bring the two chosen cards back to back. Openly take them up by one corner, but show only one card. Ask the name of the other card, and, blowing on the two in the hand, turn them rapidly round, and thus show the one at the back. Replace the cards at once in the centre of the pack. Care will have to be taken that the cards are very even when back to back, or it will transpire that two cards are in the fingers, and not one only. This trick is sometimes performed with the aid of prepared cards, the two—duplicates of which must, in this instance, be "forced" from the pack—being gummed together back to back. Supposing the cards to be queen of hearts and ten of spades, the performer would thus proceed: Bring the ten to the top, and the queen to the bottom, unknown to the audience. Produce, as a single card, as if taken from the pack (you will, of course, have them concealed about you), the prepared cards, showing the audience the ten. In the left hand you will hold the pack, displaying the queen. Prepare for passing the ten (vide [Fig. 35]), which is at the back, to the front, and then say, "Hey, presto, pass!" Turn the prepared cards rapidly round, and at the time execute the pass, when the change will have been effected. Palm the prepared cards, and give the pack round to be examined. This method is useful when the performer is able to execute the pass peculiar to the trick with one hand only. As this is a very pretty effect, which may be introduced in all manner of emergencies, two illustrations are given (see [Figs. 40] and [41]).