AUTOMATIC CARD DISCOVERY
EFFECT:
Perhaps one of the most puzzling of all card effects is when a magician causes a selected
card to reverse itself and appear face up among the face-down cards in the deck. Here is
one of the most basic and yet most effective means of accomplishing this feat.
SECRET AND PREPARATION:
Simplicity is the answer here. The trick depends upon having the
bottom card of the deck reversed from the start. (A) This can be set up before hand with
the deck in its box or it can be executed easily and quickly at a moment when the
spectator's eyes leave your hands as follows: (B) With the deck resting face up across the
fingers of your left hand, your right thumb and fingers grip the ends of the pack from
below as shown. Now, slide the pack toward the tips of the left fingers, at the same time
tilling or rotating the deck up on its left edge. This leaves the lone card - in this case
the Eight of Spades - still resting on the left fingers. (C) Continue the rotary motion
until the right hand has turned the pack face down upon the Eight of Spades, which thus
becomes a face-up card at the bottom of the pack, totally unsuspected by anyone. You are
now ready to present the trick.
| METHOD: |
| 1. Spread the cards in
your hands face down so that the spectator has an opportunity to freely select any card
from the deck. Care must be taken here not to spread the cards too near the bottom of the
deck, to avoid accidentally "flashing" the face up bottom card. |
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2. As soon as the card is selected by the spectator, square up the deck in the
left hand and ask the spectator to look at his card. |
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3. At the moment when the spectator's eyes are focusing on his card, the left
hand turns completely over and sets the deck of cards on the table. This action
turns all of the cards in the deck face up, except for the "bottom" card which
is now face down. Because of this single reversed card, it appears that the deck is still
face down.
|
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4. Leave the deck sitting on the table as you tell the spectator to show the card
to the other members of the audience. |
5. When the spectator has shown his card, pick up the deck with the left hand, in
its secretly reversed position. Particular care must be taken here to keep the deck
squared up so as not to "flash" the face up pack below the top single reversed
card. |
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6. Holding the deck firmly, ask the spectator to push his card face down anywhere
into the deck. Unknown to the spectator, he is really sliding his card face down into a
face-up deck. (Except for the top card.) |
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7. When the spectator has inserted his card into the deck. place the deck behind
your back and explain that since he touched only one card in the deck, that card will be a
bit "warmer" than the other cards. State that, due to your highly trained sense
of touch, you will be able to find his card and reveal it to him in a startling way. |
8. When you place the deck behind your back simply turn over the single reversed
card and replace it face up on the deck. This places every card in the
deck facing the same direction except the spectators card. It is the only
reversed card in the deck. |
HAVE FUN WITH IT
!
Reproduced with permission from Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic
Copyright © 1975, 1981, 1988 by Mark Wilson, Mark Wilson
Course in Magic
published by Running Press, Philadelphia and
London.
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