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Eight Cardscapes from the mind of Jack Carpenter

Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………… 3 Blackjack Lesson…………………………………………………….. 4 Bent Corner for 3-Card Monte………………………………….. 10 Aces in Action…………………………………………………………17 There it Is!……………………………………………………………..27 Blind Lemon Aces……………………………………………………33 Escalator Aces………………………………………………………..35 My Favorite O. Henry……………………………………………… 40 Grandma’s School of Card Table Artifice…………………... 49

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Introduction Welcome to “Pasteboard Palette.” In the following pages, you will find eight of my all time favorite card routines. Though there are only eight routines outlined in the following pages, you will find that the sum total of magical moments exceed twenty. They all share one common element, and that is the element of “surprise” (cliché deliberate.) I feel that the truly great tricks are not only amazing, but also take a “detour” that is totally unexpected. When you combine deception with “surprise” you extract the most entertainment possible from any given effect. For example, you can do an outstanding job of “sawing a woman in half” and then restore her to unified health and your audience will no doubt be astounded, and your applause justly deserved. However, if you performed the exact same bisection and restoration as described above, and at the end (or at any point for that matter) the magician split into two pieces, falling to the floor, well, I must say, the audience would both be astounded and surprised! Anyway, that’s the idea! I like those “detours,” and I’m always searching for them when I design a routine. I hope you find inspiration in the following routines, and that they encourage you to find those special “detours” in your own work. Thank you for considering my work in your continuing education, or at least as an addition to your library! Jack Carpenter October 8th, 2006

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Blackjack Lesson I have to say, this is one of my all time favorites when performing for laymen. Whenever the subject of Blackjack arises, you’re going to want to do this routine. It’s fun, an absolute fooler, and a reputation maker. Briefly, the effect is as follows. The performer begins talking about “card counting” and the necessity of mastering it if you ever want to beat the game of Blackjack. The first step to learning to count cards is to learn basic “tracking” techniques, and he offers to teach the audience the basics of this skill if they’re interested. He begins by showing a typical “lousy” hand at Blackjack, a 13 count hand. He places it on the table saying “I’ll keep this hand for myself. You don’t want this hand, it’s one of the worst hands you can be dealt.” He then brings out a hand that is definitely worth tracking, a Blackjack consisting of an Ace of Spades and a Jack of spades. He puts this hand face down on the table in front of the spectator. The performer then shows his “13” count hand again, and asks, “OK, do I have the Blackjack or do you have the Blackjack?” When the spectator responds, “I do!” it is revealed that the spectator somehow lost “track” of the Blackjack when the performer turns over his hand and reveals it to be the Blackjack! The spectator turns over his hand and it is the “13” count hand! The performer then states that, “it seems you need a little practice at this “tracking” thing, so let’s try it again.” Again, the exercise is repeated, and again the spectator “loses track” of his Blackjack hand. This is repeated under test conditions, with the Blackjack even being placed under the spectator’s hand- but with no success- the performer again has the Blackjack, and the spectator the “13” hand. Finally, the performer says, “You’ve got to learn this basic skilllet’s try it this way.” He puts the “13” count hand face down in from of the spectator and places the Blackjack hand face up in the center of the table, asking very slowly, “Do I have the Blackjack or do you have the Blackjack?”

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Blackjack Lesson The spectator, seeing the Blackjack face up in front of the performer, states confidently, “Well, you do!” The performer, with a sigh says, “You know, maybe Black isn’t your game.” As he says this, he places the Blackjack hand on top of the “13” hand, face down. “I’ll bet you’d make a great poker player though! Not everyone is meant to play Blackjack. Here, see what I mean? You’ve got a great poker hand, hard to beat this one!” The performer turns over the cards and they are the Four Aces!! This routine takes advantage of an old ruse that has found its way into many routines including Ambitious card, collectors, sandwich tricks, etc. Oddly though, it has never been applied to a Blackjack routine, a place where it can be most fully exploited. The ruse is the old “Impromptu duplicate pair”. A 6 of diamonds and a 7 of hearts shown together is indiscernible from a 6 of hearts and a 7 of diamonds shown together at another time or location, providing the routine directs the focus properly. The game of Blackjack, or 21, is perfect for this application because the game places no value or import to the suits of the cards. All the player is concerned with is a card count- a count as close to 21 without going over- and it consumes the player. It will consume the spectators in this routine as well- I assure you. I have done this routine innumerable times, and not once has a laymen noticed that I was showing him a different “13” count hand. They are obsessed with following that Blackjack hand (they remember its suit!) and when they transpose, they don’t doubt for a moment that they have witnessed a transposition of two hands under test conditions. I will provide the basic method and procedure I use to exploit this state of affairs, but I will not repeat the patter as outlined in the “effect” description above. It is fairly obvious where and when to speak the lines delineated there. I should also note that, depending on the reaction I am getting during the performance, I may repeat the transposition sequences up to 3 times before I go into the surprise finish of the four ace appearance.

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Blackjack Lesson The set-up, from the top of the deck down, is as follows: 6D, 7H, 6H, 7D, JS, AS, AC, AD. Holding the deck face down in dealing position in the left hand, flip the the top two cards face up, showing the “13” count hand. After a comment about “13” being a lousy hand, place it face down on the table in front of you. Never comment on a “six” or a “seven”. Always refer to the pair as “the 13 hand”. They’ll do the addition for themselves- they will be compelled to check you as all good 21 players are wont to do. (Let them “cook” themselves.) Push the next two top cards to the right with your left thumb, and grasp them with your right hand, thumb on top, fingers below. As you do this, obtain a left pinky break beneath the next two cards (the Blackjack). Using the Zarrow Block addition, flip over all four as two, revealing the Blackjack hand. (Descriptions of the Zarrow Block addition can be found in “The Vernon Chronicles”, by Stephen Minch and in my book “The Expert’s Portfolio No. 1”). Flip the Blackjack face down (all four posing as two) and thumb the top two cards, ostensibly the Blackjack, face down onto the table in front of the spectator. While placing the “Blackjack” on the table, your left pinky gets a break beneath the top two cards of the deck (the actual blackjack). Your right hand picks up the “13” hand and turns it face up. It is held in the right hand, thumb on top fingers below. You now execute an Al Leech move, which will load the Blackjack to the face of the “13” hand as you ostensibly turn the “13” hand over. It is executed as follows: Flip the “13” hand face down onto the top of the pack and immediately grab everything above the break from above, in Biddle grip. As soon as this is complete, your left hand, with the deck turns over and points to the “Blackjack” hand in front of the spectator. This is all accomplished fluidly, as you say, “Do I have the Blackjack, or do you have the Blackjack?” You will be pointing to the spectators hand as you say the last part of the above line.

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Blackjack Lesson In your right hand, you are holding four as two, the audience believes it to be the “13” hand. As soon as the spectator answers (wrongly, of course) turn the cards in your right hand face up, end for end, and place them face up on the pack. Keep a break under the four card packet (ostensibly two) and use your left thumb to push over the Ace of spades, revealing the Jack of spades behind it. Your audience will be flabbergasted to see the blackjack hand in your possession. Depending on their level of fear, they may or may not turn over the cards in front of them! You may have to ask them to do it. This is very strong, and may be repeated up to three times before going into the climax. Use your judgment, and don’t over do it of course. After each transposition, you are automatically in position to repeat. Vary your patter as you see fit and vary your speed and presentation. Have fun with it. It’s a blast. Put the cards under their hands on the last one. When you’re ready for the ending, proceed as follows: You have revealed the Blackjack, and it is spread face up on the top of the pack. (There is of course a “13” hand behind it.) The “13” hand is face up on the table. Pick up the “13” hand and place it face up on the Blackjack hand. Pick up all the face-up of cards from above (Biddle grip) and place them face up on the table, roughly squared. You have actually placed six cards on the table, the audience believes four- the blackjack and the “13” hand. Get a left pinky break beneath the top two cards of the pack (two aces) as you talk about the importance of mastering this “tracking skill” and offer them one more chance to try. With the right hand, pick up the tabled packet from above in Biddle grip. You’re now going to do a slight variation of the Braue switch. Bring the right hand cards over the pack, and pick up the two aces below them, keeping a small right thumb break between the aces and the packet. Simultaneously, peel off the “13” hand cards, one at a time, onto the face of the pack. They will end up face up and spread on the pack. See figure 1.

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Blackjack Lesson

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Blackjack Lesson Use the left side of the packet in your right hand to flip over both cards of the “13” hand onto the pack, and as you do, drop the aces on top of them. Immediately thumb off the “13” hand (really the aces) face down onto the table in front of the spectator. Immediately following this, place all the cards in your right hand squarely onto the pack, no break is necessary. Deal the Ace of Spades face up onto the table. Deal the Jack of Spades face up onto the face up Ace on the table. As you deal this Jack down, you will execute a wrist turn with the deck (to avoid exposing the face up cards on the pack) and point with your left index finger at the spectators face down “13” hand, and then place the deck off to left, far from the field of action as you proceed. See figure 2. This is all accomplished as you say the now familiar “Do I have the Blackjack, or do you have the Blackjack? Your audience will be quite surprised by your question since you’ve left the blackjack face up, in plain sight for all to see, in front of yourself. It’s hilarious to watch them still waiver in their answer, as they are so unsure of themselves by this point. When they finally answer, patter as described in the effect description, while you turn the Blackjack hand face down on their two cards. Reveal the four Aces with a simple Elmsley count! Watch their eyes pop out! Don’t forget you have two reversed cards on top of the pack to clean up. I usually just flip the four “aces” face down and drop the face up pack on top of them. Then I turn the pack face up, and turn all the “aces” (and the dirt) face down as a block to clean up. I love this trick.

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte This is my approach for the classic bent corner ending for 3-Card Monte. I’ve always felt that the standard bent corner presentation, though impressive, was lacking from a “surprise” standpoint. Let’s face it, laymen are not stupid. If you’ve just completed a routine in which the “money card” was never where it ought to have been, why would a spectator be surprised that a card that you marked with a bend was suddenly another card? They will certainly be impressed with your skill, but not at all surprised. As soon as you bend the card, whether you present it in the classic sense that you “don’t notice it” or in a “expose” manner, they expect that bent corner to move. I think that if you examine your favorite effects, you’ll find that in most cases there is a twist or turn in the routine that affords an unexpected event tagged onto a series of magical moments. Case in point: The classic “one at a time” ace assembly is certainly amazing and entertaining. However, the simple fact remains that after you’ve translated 3 aces to the “leader” pile, doing it a fourth time is simply further demonstrating this “phenomenon”, and though amazing, it is certainly not unexpected. That’s why most of you make the aces “backfire” to their original positions, or perhaps a classic “O. Henry” approach where they all move to a different packet. Same goes for our coin assemblies, etc. So how do we generate surprise with the bent corner? This is how I do it. I will first give the presentation and patter, and will follow that with a quick outline of the moves. You’ll be able to align the “con” with the moves without any problem because you will understand the idea.

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte The Con: After a sequence of 3-card monte demonstrations, the operator offers to explain a particularly “dangerous” con used by hustlers that toss the boards. He explains, “Look, what the hustler will do is put a bend in a card just like this (operator bends the corner of the money card, lets say the queen of spades) but he will act like he didn’t notice it. Or he’ll have one of his accomplices put the “ear” in, and he will pretend not to notice it. Either way, he knows you’ll notice it. I’m putting a larger bend in the card than the hustler would actually use- he will use a much more subtle bend, but not so subtle that you couldn’t follow it.” The operator is suiting his actions to words as he continues to explain, “Then, in the course of mixing them up, he will put a bend in another card like this, (operator openly bends the corner of another card) and take the bend out of the “money card” like this. (operator demonstrates openly the actions just described). The operator continues, “Of course, this is done by secret sleight of hand- I’m doing it openly so that you’ll get the idea.” “Now if he does his work well, you will believe that the money card has a bent corner, and put all your money on that card.” The operator points to the new bent card saying, “Of course, the hustler has switched the bend to this card, one of the aces.” The operator pauses briefly, then says, “But you know, I wouldn’t cheat you like that- that’s just a little too low, even for me.” As he delivers this line he turns over the bent card and it is STILL the QUEEN. Now that is a surprise, and you still got to demonstrate your skill at the bent corner. This is the classic “fake explanation”, and it works very well in this application. I’ve never had a laymen not follow this “expose” with concerned interest as they revel in getting “in on the secret”. When you turn that queen over, you’ll be quite pleased with the reaction. Now let’s go through the technique.

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte The Technique: Let’s use the queen of spades and the two red aces. The queen is the money card. The cards are bent longitudinally in the classic fashion for 3-card monte. Hold the cards in a face up fan in the left hand, queen in the middle. See figure 3. The right hand comes over and grasps the fan as the left hand out jogs the queen for half its length, towards the spectator. As this occurs, the right second finger, hidden beneath the fan, contacts the inner right corner of the bottom ace, and bends its corner downward. See figure 4. After this, the right hand takes over holding the fan, as the left fingers move to the outer left corner of the out-jogged queen and openly bend it downward. Figure 5. As far as the audience is concerned, you’ve simply bent the corner of the queen. The left hand now removes the queen, and flips it face down on the table. The bent corner is obvious. The right hand, still grasping the aces at the inner right corner, turns over and gestures at the bent corner with the now face down aces. The right fingers easily hide the bend in the rear ace as this occurs. Figure 6. The left hand now takes the unbent ace into its possession, as the right hand re-grips the secretly bent ace from above (in classic Biddle grip) with the fingers hiding the bent corner. The left hand has also dropped its ace to the table, so that it can re-grip it in Biddle grip from above.

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte

Figure 3

Figure 4

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte

Figure 5

Figure 6

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte

Figure 7

maninthedark

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Bent Corner Method for the 3-Card Monte You’re now ready to execute a standard Monte “hype”. I assume you are familiar with this maneuver. The right hand, with its card in tow, descends on the money card, and picks it up in standard hype position. The right hand turns over, flashing the queen as the left hand turns over showing its ace. The “queen” is apparently tossed to the table. Actually the hype maneuver is executed, and the bent ace arrives on the table in its stead. The ace in the left hand is deposited to the right of the “queen”. The right hand (supposedly holding an ace) deposits its card onto the left hand, in dealing position. Without hesitation, the right fingers move to the outer right corner, and feign putting the “ear” into it. (Of course, it’s already bent!) This is accompanied with the patter, “The hustler puts the bend in another card”. Figure 7. After the bend is placed into the supposed “ace”, it is dropped to the left of the other two cards. The bent “queen” is supposedly in the center. The center card (supposedly the queen) is now picked up and the bend is removed from it openly as you say, “. . And he takes the bend out of the money card.” That’s it. You’re done. The rest is “showmanship” as they say. If you do this casually, with a sincere expository manner, you will suck them in big time. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve witnessed you very openly bend the queen, then openly bend another card, and then openly unbend the queen. When you reveal that the bend is back in the queen, they will not only credit you with skill beyond comprehension- they will be surprised! Enjoy.

maninthedark

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Aces in Action This is one of my favorite ways to introduce the aces. The routine is quick and has three “hot” moments. Briefly, here’s the effect: The magician begins by saying “Name any two red aces!” (A Bill Malone line, I believe.) After the immediate laugh, the magician pulls the two red aces out of the pack and holds them face up, one in the right hand, and the other face up protruding for half its length from the face down deck in the left hand. The magician then states, “Perhaps I was a little too pushy, maybe you didn’t want the two red aces- maybe you wanted the two black aces. . .” Immediately upon saying this, the two red aces instantly (and face up) change into the two black aces! Without pause, and while the audience is still reeling from this change, the magician removes the two black aces and holds them in a two card fan in his left hand while the deck is ribbon spread on the table. As this is occurring, the magician says, “You’re probably wondering where the red aces went- well, they always go to the center.” All attention is brought to the center of the spread, and there in the center is one red ace. Before the audience can ask, “where is the other ace?” the magician says, “Like I said, they’re always in the center. . .” As he completes this line, he gazes at the two black aces fanned in the left hand, and there, reversed in between them is the second red ace! A fun opener. Let’s go through the mechanics.

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Aces in Action The Method: The aces are on top of the pack, in the following order from the top down: Black ace, red ace, red ace, Black ace. Holding the deck in left-hand dealing position, perform a double lift, revealing a red ace. This double is flipped face up on the pack, and then immediately grasped from above in Biddle grip in the right hand. This double is then used to flip over the single red ace that resides on top. Both red aces are now in view. The double is now inserted into into the outer end of the pack, and left protruding for half it’s length in preparation for my “Impulse Change”. The “Impulse Change” is described fully in my book, “The Expert’s Portfolio No. 1”. (Don’t worry, if you’re not familiar with this move, I have included the description at the end of this article.) After the double is inserted, the right hand lifts another double off the top of the pack, from above, in Biddle grip. This consists of a face up red ace, with a face down black ace behind it. Leave this double side-jogged off to the right on top of the pack for just a moment, to allow you to re-grip the double along the long sides from above with your right hand. See figure 8 for your position at this point. You’re now apparently holding a red ace in you right hand, face up, and about six inches to the right of the pack. Protruding from the pack is the other face up red ace. You’re now going to execute the “Impulse Change” with the left hand, while simultaneously executing the standard “Flip-over Change with the right hand.” As soon as this is complete, the picture as the audience sees it is as in figure 9. Quite stunning.

maninthedark

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Aces in Action

Figure 8

Figure 9 maninthedark 19

Aces in Action The back-to-back double in your right hand is immediately placed on top of the pack, but keep a left pinky break beneath it. You’re now going to apparently remove the two black aces together. Here’s how: The left pinky kicks the double on top of the pack slightly to the left. This will cause the double to angle slightly as shown in figure 10, enabling your right hand to grasp its outer left corner with your right first finger and thumb. See figure 11. This is a Cliff Green technique. Your right second finger simultaneously goes behind the black ace protruding from the center, and removes both aces together. You are left holding a two card fan (with a reversed red ace hidden in between) as shown in figure 12. Without pause, your left hand places the deck face down on the table. The two card fan is placed face up in the left hand and the right hand immediately moves to the pack and ribbon spreads it dramatically. While the audience’s attention is on the red ace revealed in the ribbon spread, your left hand spreads out all three cards in a fan and turns it over. The final ending position is as shown in figure 13. Great fun! The Impulse Change As promised, here is a description of the “Impulse Change”. You have a double in your right hand (red ace visible, black ace behind). The left thumb riffles down the corner of the pack, creating an opening near center. The double is then inserted into the break. As you insert the double, the lower card is pushed in further about a half inch. This is done in the same manner in which you would do the push-in change, but simply don’t complete it.

maninthedark

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Aces in Action

Figure 10

Figure 11

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Aces in Action

Figure 12

Figure 13

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Aces in Action The end result is that the cards are held as in figure 14. With the red ace protruding a little less than half its length, and the black ace hidden behind it, injogged. See figure 15 for an underside view. Notice that the hidden card is held between the left thumb and index finger at its extreme outer corners. This grip is vital to the proper execution of the move. Angle the card(s) to the left by pushing them to the left with the index finger. As you do this, the left thumb moves out of the way and onto the top of the pack. The left third and fourth fingers also open up slightly to allow the inner right corner of the hidden card to angle out of the deck. This inner right corner should end up protruding about a quarter of an inch. The left fourth finger locates itself right behind this corner. See figure 16 for a performer’s view of the situation. This angling of the card not only positions everything for the change, but also reinforces the “singleness” of the red ace, due to the free handling of the card. All of the above maneuvers, as well as all that is to follow, are executed while the deck is in dealing position; parallel to the table top, with the top of the deck and the card never leaving the sight of the audience. Now for the change. The left index finger moves to the outer right corner of the protruding red ace. This finger then pushes the red ace into the pack, with a clockwise rotary motion, while the left fourth finger simultaneously pushes outward on the inner right corner of the hidden ace. See figure 17. The end result is that the black ace comes into view at the same angled position in which the red ace was displayed. See figure 18. The above sequence is executed as the left hand does a quick shake. Pivoting at the wrist, the left hand darts backwards towards the performer, and then immediately snaps back to its original position.

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Aces in Action

Figure 14

Figure 15

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Aces in Action

Figure 16

Figure 17

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Aces in Action

Figure 18

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There it is! This is a quick interlude that I’ll usually do right on the heels of the previous routine. It is really a little bit of quick “silliness” that is actually quite visually stunning. The whole thing is executed in about 10 seconds or so. The Effect: After the last effect, the four aces are face up on the table. The magician offers to show how well he can find cards hidden in the pack. He places the aces in a single pile face down on the table. He makes a face down pressure fan in his right hand, and begins to place each each ace face up into the fan, one at a time, and protruding for most of their length from the fan. When he reaches down to get the fourth ace, it’s gone! Where is it? Instantly gazing back to the fan, all FOUR aces are seen to be protruding from the fan! Great fun, and it wakes ‘em up! The Method: Hold the pack face up in left-hand dealing position. The aces are held spread in the right hand, with the second ace from the face slightly injogged toward the performer. See figure 19. The aces are flipped face down onto the face of the pack, and the right hand moves over them from above and apparently grasps them from above in Biddle grip and places them face on the table. What actually happens is the right thumb lifts up on the injogged card and only picks up the top three aces. The Three aces are dropped face down on the table as four, as the left hand does a wrist turn to hide the fourth ace that is reversed now on the bottom. See figure 20. In a continuing motion, the pack is placed face down into the right hand, (figure 21 and 22) and the magician executes a thumb driven reverse fan.

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There it is!

Figure 19

Figure 20

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There it is!

Figure 21

Figure 22

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There it is! This reverse fan consists mostly of the upper half of the pack, leaving a good solid portion of the pack on the bottom that is not fanned, and remains square. See figure 23 for an underside view. Notice in figure 23 that the right hand third finger is in contact with the reversed ace on the bottom. It is this third finger that will pop out the “missing ace” in just a moment. The left hand now reaches down to the ace pile, and grasps the top ace, turns it face up and inserts into extreme right side of the fan. He continues with the second ace, inserting it face up to the left of the first ace. The third ace is picked up and inserted into the fan at the extreme left side. You’re position is now as shown in figure 24, with a “gap” in the fan where there is no ace. You continue to reach down to grab the “fourth” ace, and of course are shocked to see it is not there. (The audience has already noticed this, “before you have.”) At this point, you look at your audience to your left saying, “What the. . .where is it?” as your right third finger straightens out with a pop, and the ace pops into position in the fan “gap”. Your gaze returns to the fan and you of course are taken aback by it’s sudden appearance. “Oh! There it is!” Sometimes I vary the ending, and say, “Where is it?” as I snap my left fingers and point at the “gap” with my left index finger, and deliberately produce it. See figure 25. It depends on whether my audience is “burning” the fan or not. It’s a “feel” kind of thing. You’ll get it. In preparation for the next effect, “Blind Lemon Aces”, I say, “You know, losing the aces face up is kind of silly anyway- anybody could find a face-up ace!” I then pull the aces out, and move onto “Blind Lemon Aces.”

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There it is!

Figure 23

31

There it is!

Figure 24

Figure 25

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Blind Lemon Aces This routine has been in print before, (Steve Mayhew’s lecture notes) and a British magician, Dave Forrest, recently asked me if he could include it on his DVD set, “Trickery”. It has just been released and he does a fine job with it. I feel the need to include it here because it is an integral part of my “Ace Set”, and I always do it. To leave it out would be a disservice to those who want my entire “Ace Set”. This routine is extremely easy to execute but the return in effect is marvelous. The Effect: Once again, the magician offers to demonstrate his skill at “cutting to the aces.” He places them into four different parts of the pack, and squares. He immediately gives the deck a fancy, two-handed cut, and locates the first ace. The magician then says, “I know what you’re thinking- you’re thinking that since I used two hands, it wasn’t such a big deal to find that ace. I’ll find the rest of the aces with just one hand!” The magician immediately takes the deck into his left hand, raises it to eye level off to his left, and performs a series of pretentious, fancy one-hand cuts. He then pauses, looks at the audience (Leaving the deck in his left hand, still in the air) and says, “Not this hand. . . this hand!” As the magician utters the latter “. . .this hand,” he produces all FOUR ACES in a fan from his RIGHT HAND! I love this bit. Often it will leave layman just screaming. The Method: Let’s go through the utterly simple handling: Control the four aces to the top via any method you like. (I do a strip-out control, which is simply a multiple card version of Greg Wilson’s “Backstage Pass” if you’re interested.) It doesn’t really matter.

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Blind Lemon Aces Once they’re on the top, perform the fanciest two-handed false cut you know. (You can milk-it-up here if you’d like.) Next, spread the cards between your hands as you say, “I could have cut anywhere but look, I’ve cut to the first ace!” As you finish saying this, you close the spread and obtain a left fourth finger break beneath the four aces. You then turn the top ace face up, and take it into your right hand, face up, thumb on top, fingers beneath. As you finish the patter line about finding the “rest of the aces with just one hand,” you perform the following actions: In one continuous action, flip the ace face down on the pack as the right hand lets go and re-grips everything above the break (the four aces) from above in Biddle grip. The right hand then moves off and down to the right as you focus all your attention on the left hand which has already moved to the left and up and has started its fancy cutting. You’re now ready to end as outlined in the “Effect” description. Have fun! Note: The flip-over of the single card and grasping of the cards above the break is an Al Leech maneuver, and I use it a lot in my card work.

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Escalator Aces I ALWAYS do this routine after “Blind Lemon Aces.” It’s an “elevator” effect with a nifty kicker. It’s also one of my all-time favorites. The Effect: The magician cleanly lays the aces out in a row, face down on the table. He explains that these “guys” are like kids, and they love to play and ride on the elevator just like when we were kids. He offers to demonstrate. The deck is introduced as the “elevator” and the audience is invited to watch the aces “ride” the elevator. The deck is “dribbled” onto the first ace, and the top card is turned over. It’s the ace! This ace is tossed back onto the table and the magician moves on to the next ace. This ace is dropped on top of the pack, and the audience watches as this ace too rides the elevator down to the bottom! This ace is also tossed to the table as the magician moves on to the third ace. This third ace doesn’t go to the top of the elevator or the bottom but rather is placed in the center of the “elevator”. It too rides the elevator up and is revealed at the top! This ace also is tossed back to the table as the magician moves on to the fourth and final ace. The magician then explains that this ace get bored more easily than the other aces and sometimes needs more excitement. He likes to ride the escalator- thinks it is more fun than an elevator. He also wants his buddies to ride the escalator with him. . . At this the magician simply dribbles the deck from left to right onto the four aces on the table, creating a ribbon spread that covers all the aces. As soon as the ribbon spread is complete, ALL FOUR ACES are plucked from the air inches above the ribbon spread with the right hand! This always elicits a quite a few gasps from the audience.

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Escalator Aces The Method: Begin with the following simple set-up: From the top down: indifferent card, indifferent card, the four aces, balance of deck. With the deck face down in left-hand dealing position, do a quick spread, and obtain a break beneath the top six cards of the pack, and re-square. With the left thumb, push over the top four cards, and execute a Zarrow Block Addition to turnover ostensibly the four aces. (You’ve actually turned over the six card block.) Maintain your pinky break beneath the now six face up cards. With the block face up, the left thumb spread the top three cards to the right, revealing four aces. The right hand grasps the top ace, thumb above and fingers below, and takes it to the right. The right hand now comes back and takes the next ace onto the ace already in hand. The right hand again returns to the pack and takes the third ace on top of the two already there. The left thumb now does a push-off to the right of all the cards above the pinky break, onto the three aces in the right hand. This entire packet is now flipped face down onto the pack. This little sequence allows you to show four aces, and return them to the pack in a new order: Ace, Ace, Ace, two indifferent cards, Ace. The left thumb now spreads the top four cards without reversing their order into the right hand. The right hand then drops the aces(?) from left to right onto the table in a neat row. From left to right on the table you have: An indifferent card, followed by the three aces.

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Escalator Aces The right hand now removes the top card of the pack, flashing it (it’s an indifferent card) and uses it to gesture at the aces as you explain the premise of the routine. As you do this, the left hand gains a left pinky break beneath the top card (an ace) of the pack. Return the “gesture” card to the top of the pack, but retain your pinky break under the ace. (This sequence is a strong convincer that the aces must all be on the table, as well as setting you up for the first elevator ride.) Now, take the deck from above in Biddle grip with the right hand, transferring the break to your right thumb. Dribble the deck on the ace to your extreme right. When you run out of deck, you will be left holding a double in your right hand, Biddle style. Flip this double face up on the pack, and leave it slightly sidejogged to the right, on the pack. As the effect registers with the audience, the right hand, picks up the entire pack Biddle style, and places it in left-hand dealing position. Flip the double face down, and deal the top card (supposedly the ace) back to it’s original position on the table. The Second Ace: The right hand picks up the second ace from the right (without showing it), and drops it dramatically on the top of the pack in the left hand. As soon as the ace is dropped, the left thumb riffles down the outer left corner of the deck for effect. Immediately turn the deck face up, end for end, revealing the appearance of the ace on the bottom! While this effect is registering, obtain a right thumb break beneath the two cards on the face of the pack (the ace and an indifferent card) and jog these two cards squared to the right. Grasp this double with the right fingers, thumb on top, fingers below, and move to the right slightly with it. Flip the deck in the left hand face down. Immediately flip the double onto the deck face down. Deal the top card (supposedly the ace) back to the table to it’s original position second from the right.

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Escalator Aces The Third Ace: The right hand now reaches for the third ace from the right, and picks it up, and flips it face up on top of the pack. As you do this, you say, “This ace won’t start at the top, or the bottom, but rather the center.” As you say, “ . . .or the bottom” your left hand spreads a few of the bottom cards to emphasize your words, and when the deck is re-squared, you will obtain a right thumb break above the bottom two cards of the deck, in preparation for a drop switch. The deck is held in Biddle grip from above with the right hand. It has a right thumb break above the bottom two cards, and the third ace is face up on top of the pack. In continuing motion, and as you say, “. .but rather the center” you will swing cut the top half of the deck into the waiting left hand. The left thumb then pushes the top card (the face up ace) to the right, as the right hand packet is used to lever over the card face down on the left hand packet. Of course as you do this, you drop the two cards retained by your right thumb onto the ace. Right after doing this, put the right hand half deck down onto the table. Immediately deal the top card of the pack (supposed ace) onto that packet. Out-jog this card toward the audience as you place it on the half pack. Finally, drop the remaining cards in your left hand onto the pack on the table, squared. Only the ace(?) is left protruding. Pick up the whole pack, and place it in your left hand, in dealing position. The protruding ace(?) is left protruding. Your right hand flips over the top card of the pack to show that nothing magical has occurred yet. Flip this card back face down as you obtain a left pinky break beneath the second card of the pack (an ace). Slowly push the protruding card into the deck flush with your left index finger. Immediately do a double turnover revealing the third ace! Turn the double face down, and deal the top card back to the table, in position third from the right.

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Escalator Aces The Fourth Ace (The Escalator Revelation): If you’ve followed the routine correctly, you’ll see that the four “aces” on the table are all indifferent cards, and the four aces are all on the top of the deck. As you patter about the fourth ace preferring the “Escalator” to the dull “elevator”, obtain a left pinky break beneath the four aces on top of the pack. To perform the “Escalator” revelation, hold the deck with the right hand from above in Biddle grip, transferring the pinky break to a right thumb break in the rear. Simply dribble (tightly and neatly) the pack from left to right, covering all the aces as you do so with a neat “ribbon” spread. Start the dribble about 5 or 6 inches above the “aces”. You don’t want it to look like you came anywhere near the “aces” during this “flourish.” Time the dribble so that you run out of cards just as you reach the break below the aces, and as you reach the right most “ace” on the table. When you do, snap the four aces vigorously into a fan, with a forward motion towards the spectators to end! This ending really surprises everyone- you’ll love it.

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My Favorite O. Henry We’re now ready for the closer of my “Four Ace Set.” This is my favorite version of the classic one-at-a-time ace assembly with an O. Henry ending. The Effect: The plot, as you are probably already aware, is simple: The Ace of spades, (the “leader ace”) is placed face down on the table. The other three aces then magically travel to join the leader ace, one at a time. On the last ace, something goes wrong, and they all assemble under the spectator’s hand! The first vanish and re-appearance in the leader packet is strong, but the second is even stronger: It uses my handling of an Aaron Fisher “impromptu duplicate” technique that gives the vanish almost a “MacDonald’s Aces” feel to it. Regard the ending, it goes without saying that anytime magic happens in the spectator’s hands, you’ve got a winner. This routine really “fills the bill” in that regard, and then some. Many times, I have to end my act with this effect, because the reaction is so strong that it would be foolish to continue. Let’s get right into the method. Most of the moves are quite standard, with the exception of the “miss-show” for the second ace, so you should have no difficulties. The Method: You’re going to perform Vernon’s classic T-formation layout. Begin with the four aces face up on top of the pack, which is held in left-hand dealing position. The order of the face-up aces, from the top down, is: Ace of hearts, Ace of diamonds, Ace of clubs, and Ace of Spades. The top card of the face-down deck is the 3 of hearts. Spread the aces to the right, but leave them on top of the deck. Re-square the aces, grasping them from above in Biddle grip, and as you do pick up the top two cards of the deck beneath them.

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My Favorite O. Henry Still holding the packet from above in Biddle grip, your left thumb peels off the ace of hearts and flips it face down on the pack. The left thumb next peels off the ace of diamonds, and flips it face down on the pack as well, but the keep a left fourth finger break beneath it. The right hand now drops its packet on top of the pack. The left thumb immediately pushes the two black aces to the right, displaying them, and flips them both face down on top of the deck. (You still have that pinky break beneath the ace of diamonds.) The right hand lifts off the Ace of spades, shows it to the audience and identifies it as the “leader ace.” The Ace of spades is then placed face down on the table in front of you. The right hand now comes over the pack and grasps the next card, the ace of clubs, from above in Biddle grip. It then moves to place the ace forward and to the right of the Ace of spades, (you’re starting the familiar “T” formation), but just then you have a second thought, saying, “Let me show you all the aces before they go down.” As you say this, your right hand moves back to the pack still holding the ace of clubs in Biddle grip, and picks up all the cards above the break, squared, beneath and to the left of the ace of clubs. Without pause, your left thumb pushes the ace of hearts to the right, and it too is pickup beneath the cards in the right hand, also jogged to the left of the cards. Your right hand now turns palm up, displaying all three aces. After displaying, the three aces are returned face down to the pack. The left hand then pushes the top three cards to the right into the right hand, without changing their order. The right hand takes them in spread condition, thumb on top, fingers below.

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My Favorite O. Henry The aces(?) are now ostensibly dropped on the table in front of the “leader ace”, one at a time, left to right, forming the familiar “T” formation. If you’ve done everything correctly, the actual layout should be as follows: The Ace of spades is face down in front of you. The first card to your left and forward of the ace of spades is an indifferent card. The next card, directly in front of the ace of spades is the three of hearts. To the right of that card is the ace of clubs. On top of the pack is the ace of diamonds, followed by the ace of hearts. This Vernon lay down is almost identical to the one as described in the classic ace assembly in the “Stars of Magic.” It’s still great today. The entire lay down sequence takes only a moment and is quite natural, though the description is quite cumbersome. Let’s move on. You now explain the premise to the audience, stating that each one of the aces will travel invisibly from their location to join the “leader ace.” After that, spread the top six cards of the pack between your hands as you say, “it doesn’t matter how many cards I use. . .” immediately after saying this, close the spread keeping a left pinky break beneath the six cards. Continue speaking, “. . .as long as I place a few cards on top of the leader ace.” As you say this, you spread three cards, without mentioning anything about quantity, and re-square them and pick everything up above the break (six cards) with the right hand, holding them in Biddle grip. Drop this packet on the “leader ace.” There is some important psychology involved in the above maneuver. You don’t want some “eagle” eyed spectator saying, “Hey! You put more than 3 cards on that ace!” This won’t happen now because you verbally “killed” that thought by stating “it doesn’t matter how many cards I use” and never said anything specific about quantity anyway. No one will question that “brick” you put of the “leader ace”.

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My Favorite O. Henry Immediately following this, thumb off three cards from the top of the deck, and place them on the first ace(?) to your left. Place the deck down and about eight inches to the left of the layout. The first vanish: Perform any magical gesture you wish above the first packet and the leader packet. Pick up the packet to your left and snap the cards face up revealing the vanish of the first red ace. Say, “That’s only half the trick- if it showed up here in the leader packet, with the ace of spades then we’ve got a real miracle!” Return the first packet to its original position, but face up and spread. Pick up the leader packet, and hold it face up in dealing position in the left hand. Push over the aces of spades into the right, then the next card (an indifferent card) is pushed into the right hand (below the ace of spades). Then perform a single buckle of the rear card of the packet, revealing the arrival of the ace of diamonds! This ace is brought to the face of the packet, and placed on the ace of spades. Close the packet, and return it to the leader position, face down. Say, “Don’t worry, you’ve got two more chances to see that again!” as you point to the remaining aces left to travel. The second vanish: Again pick up the pack, spread the top three cards and drop it on the next ace. (Really the three of hearts.) Put the pack back down to the left where it came from. Say, “To help you keep track of this ace, I’ll put it reversed in it’s packet.” Pick up the center (ace of hearts) packet and place it in the left hand, dealing position. Grasp the top three cards of the packet from above, and turn them end for end face up. Leave the ace(?) in the left hand face down. (Really the three of hearts). The three cards in your right hand are now reverse spread as in figure 26.

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My Favorite O. Henry

Figure 26

Figure 27

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My Favorite O. Henry Insert the supposed ace face down second from the top of the face up reverse spread cards. Close the spread and flip the packet face down into left-hand dealing position. The face up three of hearts is now third from the top of this face down packet. You’re now going to show the reversed ace. Hold the packet as shown in figure 27, both hands a mirror image of each other, in a classic Elmsley position. The cards are held on both sides by the extreme fingertips, thumb on top, fingers below. Your left thumb now executes a block push off of the top three cards. This block is pushed to the right about an inch. See figure 28. Your left thumb now contact the top card of the packet and drags it back to the left and downward, as your right fingers spread the two cards they retain as shown in figure 29, creating a sort of longitudinal spread display as shown. Only the center pip of the three of hearts is visible. This gives a very nice shot of the “ace of hearts”, and it’s quite convincing. This entire display is done with conviction and quite casually. Don’t baby it. With practice, you’ll find you’ll hit it with precision every time. After letting the audience see the “ace” for a beat or two, close up the spread. The three of hearts is still reversed third from the top. Say, “Obviously the ace is not on the top, nor on the bottom, but is locked hopelessly inside the packet, reversed.” As you speak the above lines, flip over the top card, showing an indifferent card, leaving it face up on the packet. Do a block push off of the top three cards (ostensibly flipping the top card back face down) and flip it face down on the packet. Immediately turn over the packet showing an indifferent card on the bottom as well. Now spread the packet revealing three face up indifferent cards, and a face down card, which must be the ace. Turn this indifferent card over revealing it also to be an indifferent card. The ace is gone!

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My Favorite O. Henry

Figure 28

Figure 29

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My Favorite O. Henry Put this packet back in its original location, but face up, just as you did with the first vanish. You will now show the ace of hearts has arrived in the leader packet. Pick up the leader packet and hold it in left-hand dealing position face up. Push over the the ace of diamonds to the right, followed by the ace of spades. When you push over the ace of spades beneath the ace of diamonds, in-jog it towards you about a half an inch. Then single buckle the rear card, (the ace of hearts) and bring it into view. The ace of hearts is placed on the face of the packet. Miracle number two! The O. Henry Ending: You now have the leader packet in your left hand face up, with the ace of spades in-jogged a half inch towards you. Flip the packet book-wise face down into right-hand dealing position and bring the left hand over the face down packet. Grasp the packet in Biddle grip with the left hand, and as you do, push down on the in-jogged card getting a thumb break between the three aces and the four indifferent cards above them. Using the right pinky as an assist, maneuver the three aces into Vernon Transfer position as shown in figure 30. You will now execute the Vernon Transfer, as you ostensibly place the leader packet back down onto the table while simultaneously scooping up the deck with the left hand. This loads the three aces on top of the pack. Once you’ve picked up the pack with the left hand, slap it into dealing position in the right hand. Immediately spread three cards off the top of the deck (the three aces) and drop them on the last ace, the ace of clubs. Pick up the ace of clubs packet with the right hand, squared, and show that the ace is still there. Replace the packet to its home position and have the spectator place his hand over the whole packet as a precaution. The rest is showmanship!

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My Favorite O. Henry

Figure 30

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Grandma’s School of Card Table Artifice This routine was inspired by an idea and routine by Steven Hobbs. Steve started out with the excellent concept of packing a royal flush punch to the classic "Homing Card" plot- and he worked out a very interesting routine to that end. I LOVED the look and feel of the thing and kept going. The result is below. Here's the setup I'm using and an outline of the patter- makes the thing flow beautifully and gets a lot of laughs. From the top of the deck down: 10S, JS, 3D, 5D, 9D, AD, QS, KS, AC, AS. (The 3, 5, and 9 of diamonds can be any non-picture card diamonds.) Holding the deck in left hand dealing position, I begin by talking about how my Grandma taught me a lot of what I know about cards today. “She used to be a card hustler herself- worked the cruise ships in fact. Went back to being a hooker on the off-season. She taught me how to play poker when I was nine. Let me show you a hand I had during one of these lessons.” Here I introduce the hand by spreading off the top five face down cards, adding the sixth one- the ace of diamonds- underneath with the Zarrow block addition, turning the hand face up. “I had a four-flush. Four diamonds and a jack of spades. Even then I knew the basics: Discard the jack, draw for a chance to fill the flush.” This patter is accompanied by the following actions- turn the poker hand face up, and hold it from above in right hand biddle grip. The deck is placed aside on the table, face down but within reach. The left hand thumb then peels the cards one at a time, and spread, into the left hand. You will be left with a display of four diamonds and the Jack of spades. The Jack is of course a double, with the ten hidden behind it. Use the face up double to flip the four diamonds face down into the left hand, then flip the double face down on top of all. Deal the top card face down to the table as your first discard.

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Grandma’s School of Card Table Artifice Then draw a single card from the top of the deck, and without showing it, place it on top of your poker hand. This sequence will be repeated a few times later as well, and in the future I will refer to it as "The display, discard, and draw sequence." “That's when Grandma said, sorry kid. You can never win with that hand. That Jack of Spades is the Jonah card. Even if I gave you four chances you'd never fill that flush! So anyway, I take a look at my hand, and there it is- I have four diamonds and the Jack's back!” I do the first part of the display as I say this, ending with the jack face up- a double of course. “Well right away I could see that Grandma was up to her old tricks again. So I discard the Jack again, and I make sure I really put it down. . . And I draw for the flush again”. Suit actions to words completing the discard and draw portion of the display and discard and draw sequence. “No luck”. I do the display, discard and draw sequence again as I speak. “That Jack was back! One more time- I watched her close too- she was pretty fast you know.” During this patter, I'm discarding the Jack, and drawing again. “There it was again! I just couldn't catch her!” (I'm doing the display again as I say this last line.) “I was starting to get a little nervous now. . .I only had one more chance.” Three discards and draws have already been completed. I'm displaying the Jack -really a double- but I KM move it, and really put the Jack on the discards. This leaves the ace of clubs on top of my hand. I then do a quick face down display of my "four" cards and displace that ace to second from the bottom, above the red ace. This is simply buckling the bottom card as I reverse count the top two on top of it- this makes a little short spread of four cards.

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Grandma’s School of Card Table Artifice Then I draw my last card, placing it on top of my hand. This of course is the Ace of spades, and I'm ready for the Elmsley count to display the four aces, but I don't do it yet until Grandma says her next bit: Just then Grandma says, “I'm telling you kid, you can't win with that hand! In fact, I can beat you with that garbage on the table, your own discards!” I point to the discards to identify them as Grandma's hand. “What Grandma didn't know is that I also had given up on trying to fill that flush. She also didn't know that I had been doing a little practicing myself! I didn't tell her of course, but I had the four aces!” Here I do the Elmsley count, displaying four aces followed by peeling the rear card a la Jordan, showing the diamond "kicker" as well. As I patter in this manner, I do an open displacement of the lone diamond to between the face up red ace and the Ace of spades. Then I just put those three cards to the rear of my hand. This leaves the ace of spades on top, with the diamond second from the top. I don't try to hide this. (They’re still floored by the appearance of the aces.) I continue the patter: “I knew Grandma was going for the flush, so I say, Go ahead Grandma, in fact, have the last diamond- it's on the house- and I gave her my "kicker". I suit action to words; performing a double I show a diamond, turn it face down again, and drop the "kicker" on the discards. Grandma now has a complete five card hand. Patter continues. “I knew I had nothing to worry about- even if she made the flush, it wasn't going to beat my four aces! But Grandma was tough. She schooled me good that day. . .” That's when I turn over Grandma’s hand, the Spade Royal Flush.

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