MAGIC WITH NOENTERTAINMENT VALUE II

Lecture Notes by Steve Beam

CONTENTSReserved Seating

Biographical RopeNo-Tie Knot

Card CompressionCashpack

Siamese StabPen VanishPen Reverse

The Jerk With a PenMy Cap Runneth Over

Suspender SwitchImpaired

World's Greatest MagicianColor Vision

Purse SnatcherCommunity Property

Trade-In TimeThe Weasel

Riding The WaveColor Wave

COPYRIGHT 1993 BY STEVEN L. BEA.M PUBLISHED BY TRA.PDOOR PRODUCTIONS

RESERVED SEATINGWayne Kyzer

This gag by Wayne Kyzer of Columbia, SCoriginally appeared in issue #13 of The Trapdoor (1986).

The prop is the common, everyday bedpan.Wayne has provided three different but related gagswhich are funny but which don't cross the fine line be­tween good and bad taste. Using a prop such as a bedpantends to inspire risque or tasteless gags which should notbe published in a forum such as this. (Gags such as thosewhich include Baby Ruth candy bars should be saved forour own personal use.)

As an Introduction. Come out with the bedpanunder your ann. Right off the bat, your audience will knowthat (1) you do comedy magic or (2) you have a problem.Make your introductory remarks. Finish with, "My showis afun-filled thirty minutes and I don't want you to miss anyof it. So, if any of you need to . . . you know . . . There's noneed for you to get up and leave the room. Just raise yourhand and ['11 pass this baby on back. And don't worry. Therest ofus promise not to look . . . once you get planted."

Latecomer. If someone walks in after the showhas started and the house is reasonably full, "Excuse mesir. There's one more seat here." Reach into your tableand pullout your "seat" and offer it to him.

Person Leaves. When someone gets up in theaudience in the middle of the show to leave the room forone reason or another, yell, "Hold it! No need to leave. . .Here!" Hand the seat to them.

Leftovers. John Riggs and I discussedgimmicking the pan ala the Iota vase. You could thendevelop a routine around it where the magician discussesa former job he had as a male nurse. Sorry.

BIOGRAPHICAL ROPESteve Beam

Start with a five foot piece of rope tucked insideyour shirt. Fix it so that it doesn't appear too bulky but atthe same time can be cleanly pulled from the shirt. Youwant one end to protrude about half an inch from the shirtin the area of your naval. Your tie will cover this end sothat no one will notice it. Wa1kout on stage at the beginningof your show.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name isSteve Beam. Since we are going to be spending the nexttwenty minutes together, I thought I would tell you a littleaboutmy lifeand magic'career. First ofall.I was born." Reachfor the end of the rope hanging out of your shirt behind yourtie. Slowly remove it from your abdomen. You want it toappear as if it was an umbilical cord. Pull it slowly so they

will have time to make the association. When you reachthe end of the rope, form your free hand into a pair ofscissors and snip the cord away from your body. (If it'san audience who would appreciate a tasteless gag, offerthem one end of the rope: "Does anyone care for a snack?")

"I started lifeat a very early age... I camefroma longline of long lines." Stretch the rope between your handsto form a 'long line' here. "I always liked card tricks. Somesay that it was because I was born with a deck ofcards in myhands. It took me a month to dry those babies off"

"I also started magic at a very early age. Like allthe other kids, I learned to tie my shoelaces." Execute theshoelace knot forming the rope into a bow. (Among otherplaces, G.W. Hunter's Shoelace Knot can be found inVolume 1 of The Tarbell Course in Magic and in Abbott'sEncyclo.pedia of Rope Tricks.) "And like all the other kids,I also learned how to get the ends tangled and they wouldform a knot." Pull the ends through as in the regular knotflourish. Stretch the ends out to display a (slip) knot in themiddle of the rope. "But, unlike all the other kids, I wastwenty three at the time... and I could make the knot disap­pear."

Now you are going to sucker the audience. Graspthe knot with your left hand from the audience's side. Thiswill cover the knot from their view. With your right hand,reach up under the left hand and pretend to take the knotand slide it down the right end of the rope under cover ofthe right fingers. Actually, the knot remains intact underyour left hand. When you right hand clears the end of therope, pretend to grind the knot into nothing. Make thisappear as magical as possible.

Stand there as if you have just finished the Ameri­can version of the East Indian Rope Trick. "But usually atthis point, all the other kids wanted to see my left hand, whichI would show them." You are still going to sucker them.Cup your right fingers away from the audience. Place theknot into your right hand which hides it from their view.Now display your empty left hand. The audience, ofcourse, knows what's going on.

"At this point, the other kids wanted to see bothhands ... at the same time ...which looked something like this."As soon as you say "both hands," tuck the knot underyour chin. Keep it covered as if you don't want anyone tocatch on to what you are doing. Keep your head tilteddownward to hold the knot in place as you finish thesentence. Garble your words a little because you areholding the rope with some of the facial muscles youwould normally use to talk. As you display your emptyhands and talk in a funny manner, you will look ridiculous.The audience should be laughing at your predicament

COPYRIGHT ©1993 BY Steven L. BeamPublished by Trapdoor Productions

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2 3

Note: You can insert other rope knots and flour­ishes if they have biographical patter. In my case, Ineeded something in my life between shoe lace tying andgoing to college. Archery was as good a thing to be doingas any.

"Then came college. That was an experience. Onmy first night in the dorm, the seniors on the hall took all thefreshmen out on the town. They took us to a local strip jointwhere we really tied one on." Suiting actions to yourwords, quickly tie a regular knot in the rope, but don't pullit too tight. You will have to untie it shortly.

"That's where I met Lulu. Boy, oh boy, was this agirl!?! She could do things with her body which just could notbe done." Here comes your biggest laugh of the routine.Grab the rope about a foot from each end. This positionis shown in the illustration. Start spinning each end of therope around in circles. The right hand moves in a clock­wise direction while the left hand moves in a counter­clockwise direction. The whole thing is executed imme­diately in front of your chest. You are imitating the actionof another kind of artist, the muscle control stripper. Theends of the rope become your "pasties." Continuedspinning the ends for five to ten seconds. Then, quicklyuntie the knot which was left in the middle of the rope afterthe previous gag.

"Then she took it all off Who says you don't learnanything in college? She took it all the way down to a "G"string ... or "G" rope as the case may be...Gee!" Atthis pointyou are going to form the rope into a "G" as shown in theillustration.

Now execute Kevin Justice's "No Tie Knot"(explained elsewhere in these notes) several times in arow rapidly as you explain, "It was love atfirst sight. But, asyou can see, I wasn't ready to tie the knot." This is funny asthey see four or five failed attempts to tie a knot. Appar­ently you really weren't ready to "tie the knot."

Pause for a moment and look at the audience. "Iwould like to interrupt this story for just a moment. I ran intoLulu the other day at the mall. It has been almost twenty yearssince I first met her. She's still doing the same act, only shehas not aged well. Now the act looks like this." During theset up, grasp the rope as in the first illustration, only fartherfrom the ends. Swing the ends around in opposite direc­tions. The gag here is that the pasties are hanging fromlonger, aged breasts.

"I went on to graduate from college, becomes theworld's greatest magician, and started doing shows like theone here tonight. And that brings us back to tonight.: acomplete circle." Here you form the continuous loop ofrope as follows. The left hand grasps the middle of therope. Each end is brought and tucked into the first, one ineach end. Snap your fmgers and drop the middle of therope forming a loop. Pretend to pull the rope through thefist a few times. Actually, slide your right hand along therope. It will appear to be a solid loop of rope (ala GeorgeSands Sandsational and Dai Vernon's linking ring move.)Wad the rope up and take your bows.

: ~.~

SO,\

LH•

Figure 2

Figure 1

(unless, of course, you looked ridiculous when you camein).

When the laughter dies down, remove the knotfrom your chin by holding the rope six inches on either sideof the knot. "This was my first experience with a toughaudience. But as I look around this evening, I can see thatit wasn't going to be my last." Look around at the audienceas you say these last two sentences. Then smile as youslide the (slip) knot off the end of the rope with your righthand. This will dissolve the knot and appear as if you havedone what you said you were doing all along. If you tiedthe correct knot at the beginning, the audience will ap­plaud at this point.

"Magic wasn't my only interest. In high school, Itook up archery (perform the "William Tell Knot'') butlater realized that it was (k)not for me." Point to the new knotas you say the last part of the sentence. (The William TellKnot or Bow and Arrow Knot can be found in A Ring AndRope And Around The Table Lecture Notes by PhilWillmarth.)

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NO TIE KNOTKevin Justice

This rope move is by Kevin Justice of Columbia,SC was originally published in issue #2 of The Trapdoor.It is reprinted here because it is used in the BiographicalRope routine just explained.

Hold a five foot long piece of rope in each handabout three inches from the ends. Bring the ends of therope together. Place the left end ("A") between the rightsecond and third fingers. This will form a loop of ropehanging down from the right hand.

Tuck your right hand down, under, and throughthe loop from the front. It will emerge from the back. Nowgrasp end "A" between the left thumb and forefinger andend "B" ( it's the only end left) between the right thumband forefinger. Curl your pinkies around their respectivesides of the loop. Pull in opposite directions. The knot willapparently start to form and then dissolve. Important tothe illusion is the fact that as you pull the two ends, thepinkies retain a lose grasp on the loop. As they hold theloop, the rope slides through them. When ready for theknot to fallout, release the grip of the pinkies. This isbecause the rope is twisted upon itself. Repeat it severaltimes rapidly and it appears that you don't tie a knot in therope.

CARD COMPRESSIONSteve Beam

This was previously published on page 151 ofissue #9 of The Trapdoor (1985). This is one of my bestand it can be done under any conditions. It is almost self­working.

Effect. Four aces are "compressed" into twodeuces. The deuces are "compressed" into one four.(Note that they still have the same value. 4 aces = 2deuces = 1 four.) This four is "compressed" into nothing.

The Work. Start with the following cards fromthe top down: A four, the four aces, two deuces, thebalance of the pack. The deck is held in the left hand indealing position.

Use your left hand to thumb the cards from thetop of the pack into the palm up right hand. On the thirdor fourth push, push two cards. There is nothing to hidehere if you will aim the front edges directly at the specta­tors' line of vision. They will not be able to see theseparation. (If you wish to use a multiple push-off here,do so.)

Your right hand now holds five cards, apparentlyfour. Obtain a left little finger break beneath the two

deuces now on top of the pack. Flip the right hand cardsface up over onto the pack. Retaining your break, spreadthe top two aces over and take them back in the right hand.Thumb over the third ace but not the fourth. It is coveringthe face up four behind it. This displays the four aces.Replace the right hand's aces on top of the pack. Imme­diately lift all the cards above the break (seven) in the righthand from above. Retake them in the left hand betweenthe thumb and the deck. They are held diagonally asshown in figure 1. Be careful that you are aiming thefaces of the cards toward the spectators, not the edges.It is a fat packet (seven cards instead of four) so you don'twant them to see the edges.

You are now going to execute the Vernon Push­through flourish as follows. The right hand now takes theace packet in the right thumb crotch as shown in figure2. Quickly position them using the right two middle fingersas shown in figure 3. This is done as the hand is flippedface down with a large flourish. Pretend to be squeezingthe cards as you shake the hand. Then use your rightthumb to push the packet out of the heel of the right hand.

As soon as the packet emerges from the righthand as shown in figure 4, it is taken squarely onto the topof the pack. This keeps the audience from seeing theedges for any length of time. Because you inverted thepacket, it will emerge with the deuces showing. Spreadthe top several cards showing that there are two and onlytwo face up cards on top of the pack. The aces havechanged into two deuces.

The right hand takes one deuce and each handdisplays a deuce. Obtain a left pinky break under the card(the four) which is under the deuce on top. Repeat theentire sequence described above. That is, replace theright hand's deuce on top of the pack. Lift all three cardsabove the break and hold them diagonally (figure 1 again).Execute the push through flourish as explained, with thefour emerging from the right hand. Take it squarely ontothe pack.

Make the four vanish using anyone of the varia­tions of the Rub-A-Dub card vanish explained in thelecture. It is also published in Hugard & Braue's ExpertCard TechniQue.

Patter. "Stage magicians are always looking fortricks which pack flat. Theflatter they pack, the more tricksthey can carry with them to shows and the more they canchargefor their show. People who do card tricks are the sameway. The smaller we can get the cards to compress, the moredecks we can carry with us, the more tricks we can carry withus, and theoretically the more we can charge for our shows.Here is my contribution to the art."

(Just so you know, the number of ordinary decksyou bring to a show would not normally affect the numberof tricks you could do. You can do a thousand card trickswith a single deck. . . and 200 audiences.)

"Here I have/our aces. Aces have a mathematicalvalue ofone. Get ready for the question. IfI havefour aces,what is the total mathematical value ofthe cards?" They say

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The Vernon push-through flourish(or "Thru-the-fist flourish")

Figures 1-4 Figure 1

CASHPACKSteve Beam

This opener was originally published in issue #14of The Trapdoor, page 229 (1986).

Effect. Magician removes a stack of $10 billsfrom his wallet. He takes off the top few singles andpockets them in disgust. "How did these ones get in here?"He displays the remaining stack of tens with pride. "A lotofpeople ask meif it's profitable being a magician. Well, Idon't want to brag, but do you know how I earned all these?"He pauses for a response. "From doing card tricks." Asthis last sentence is delivered, the stack of bills changesinto a deck of cards.

The Work. You will need a deck of playing cardswith two jokers, some rubber cement, a pair of scissors,two reasonably new ten dollar bills, and about twentyminutes. (You can make it with phony money if you wantto see if you like the routine.)

Take one of the dollar bills and place it face up(George's face) on the table. Place an indifferent card onthe right edge of the bill and use it to cut the right side ofthe bill to the shape of a playing card. You should use anindifferent card as a pattern so that you won't mess up oneof the jokers. As soon as you have the bill down to theexact size of a playing card, cut its back and the face ofone of the jokers with rubber cement. Allow a fewminutes for each surface to dry and then carefully placethe two glued surfaces squarely together.

To make the second gimmick, take the sameindifferent card you used earlier as a pattem. This time,trim the left side of the bill so that it is the same shape asa playing card. Glue the back of the remaining joker to theback of this bill forming gimmick #2.

four. "That's right! Last night I was in Buffalo and theycounted like this." At this, stomp out the number four onthe floor as a mathematically inclined horse might. "Ofcourse tomorrow night I will be performing in Hartford and[' IIbe telling them that last night I was in [wherever you areperforming tonight] and they counted like this." Repeat thestomp/count to four.

"Anyway, if I squeeze the four aces (push throughflourish) they compress into two deuces, which still have avalue of what?" They say four. "Have you seen this trickbefore?"

"Finally, if I squeeze the two deuces, you see thatthey compress into one card ... which has a value ...offour,"I don't know how to explain the delivery of the last line. It'sas if I am asking them the value of the four which is beingdisplayed. The obviousness of the answer and the waythe line is delivered combine to produce a laugh. (Okay,so you had to be at the lecture for this one.)

"The other night, I asked a friend of mine, what hethought about the concept which enabled me to compressfour aces into two deuces, and then two deuces into thefour:"Cover the card on the table or your thigh and execute theRub-A Dub vanish. "He said he thought it was 'reallynothing:' I said, 'You're right. It is really... nothing?" Liftyour hand to show the card has vanished.

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Faro the remaining 52 cards together leavingthem telescoped. The cards should overlap 3/4ths of aninch. Hold the near end of the telescoped pack in the lefthand in dealing position. Place gimmick #2, dollar side up,square with the far end of the telescoped halves. Placegimmick #1 dollar side up square with the near end of thepack. This setup resembles a stack of tens as shown infigure 1. Your left thumb covers the seam on the backsand the second and third fingers cover the side where thecards overlap.

The Change. Display the stack of bills to theaudience giving them as much of a face to face angle aspossible. The edges of the playing cards are lighter so youdon't want to give them a side view if you are performingclose-up.

Turn to your left. Bring your right hand up to theedge of the near half. It is perpendicular to the floor andwill form a shield blocking what is about to happen. Pushthe top card (gimmick #1) to the right about an inch. Here,it will be engaged by the right forefinger which will lift theright edge of the gimmick up and around the left thumb.It will reach a position where it is perpendicular to the deckand in a perfect position for the left thumb to push it intothe right palm. Note that you do not have to actuallypalm the card, just see that when it is turned over it iscovered by the right hand.

Now execute the waterfall to square the cards.Place your right thumb at the near edge of the pack andyour right fingers at the far edge. Push up with your lefthand from underneath causing the cards to arch as shownin figure 2. The cards spring together as you relax thepressure. Release the palmed card (gimmick #1, cardback up) which falls on top. The right hand coverseverything. The sound adds to the effect of the billschanging into a deck of cards. Immediately execute a twohand fan showing the card. Double lift and ditch thejoker(s). (You may take your time coming clean sincewhen the two gimmicks are placed together, they formone ordinary joker.)

Figure 2

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SIAMESE STABSteve Beam

This routine demonstrates how an otherwisesimple effect can be elevated to a feature piece whenproperly presented. The story in the effect section shouldconvince you of the value of the trick. While it may appearto be too long a story for a card trick, I can only tell you theaudience is "hooked" and genuinely interested in theoutcome. They enjoy the journey.

Effect. "Let me tell you something that happenedto me the other day when I was getting ready for the showtonight. I went to a drug store to buy a deck ofcards. It wasnot this deck ofcards, but I can use this deck to illustrate whathappened. I bought a deck of cards, took them home andstarted to practice.

"After a few minutes, I noticed that the deck feltlight. Itfelt as if itwasn' t afull deck. Well,l've been accusedofnot playing with afull deck in the past, and I didn't want itto happen again. So I counted the cards. Sure enough, therewere only 51 cards. So I started to take the deck back to thestore to get my money back.

"However.I didn' twant to go all the way back downthere, just to find that I had miscounted, so I turned the deckface down and countedagain. When I counted them a secondtime ,Ifound the missing playing card. It was printed on theback ofanother playing card. The manufacturer had madea mistake.

"Again, I started to take the cards back to the store.But I started thinking. When the United States mint makes amistake, they double stamp a coinforexample, those coins arelater worth thousands ofdollars. And, the U.SPlaying CardCompany is no small company. They are a majorcorporation.If they made a mistake, that card is liable to be worth a lot ofmoney. So, I had the cardframed so I wouldn't damage it.And, I hung it in my den, between the RembrandtandPicasso.

"That brings us to tonight. I got to thinking that thiscard might have some unique powers. So, this afternoon Irushed into the den and yanked the frame off the wall andripped into it. In my haste, I tore the contents. I wasdevastated. Then I realizedI hadmade a mistake.... I had tornthe Picasso. Thank goodness. I thought the card might havebeen damaged. You can imagine the relief I felt.

"Anyway, I brought the card with me tonight." Atthis, the magician brings out a small combination safe. Heremoves a package from within. Upon opening thepackage, he produces a playing card which has a cardface printed on both sides. He passes the card forexamination.

"Please be careful with this because I believe it willone day be worth a lot ofmoney. You will notice that this isone card, and it's printed that way. It is not two cards gluedtogether. And you will notice that it is an ace on one side anda seven on the other side. You sir, would you hold onto the

cardfora moment. I'm going to ask you to insert the card intothe pack. Butfirst, would you turn the cardface down?" Themagician pauses while he waits for the spectator torealize that you can't turn a card with two faces facedown. "Well. ifyou can't turn itface down, would you pleaseturn it ace down? Now insert it into the middleofthe packandsquare the deck."

The magician continues. "As I said. I discoveredthis card might have some unique powers. You had a freechoice where in the deck you would insert the card. did younot? You could have put it in deep, or shallow. However. youplacedit at almost the exact center ofthe pack. Andyou placedit between two other cards."

The magician removes the gimmick along withthe card above and below it. "Wouldn't it be amazing if thecard attracted its two mates? The two ordinary cards areturned over and are shown to match the two faces of thegimmick. Applause. "Andfor those ofyou who are lookingfor an investment opportunity, be sure to see me after theshow."

The Work. A double faced card is available atmost magic shops. Despite my apparent concern over thecard, you can purchase one for less than a dollar. You donot have to worry about matching it to the deck you have.You can use a bridge sized gimmick while using a pokersized deck. This is because the card is not supposed tohave come from the deck you are using. If it was from thatdeck, there would be no explanation for the other twocards in the pack which match the gimmick. Wrap thisgimmick in paper and seal it in a box. Place the box insidethe toy safe.

When ready to perform, conspire to get the cardswhich match your double faced card to the top and thebottom of the pack. You can riffle shuffle all day long andretain the top and bottom cards. (Although, more thanthree shuffles and you probably won't retain your audi­ence.)

Everything up until the insertion of the card iswindow dressing. You want him to insert the gimmick inthe same relative condition as its mates. That is, if the aceis on the bottom of the pack, the ace should be on thebottom of the gimmick as it is inserted. If the seven is onthe top of the deck, it should be facing up on the gimmickas it is inserted.

This is why I use a double faced card with an aceon it. First, I can ask them to turn the card they hold facedown. After getting a mild response from that, I proceedto get a play on words with the next line. "If you can't turnit face down, turn it ace down." This puts the gimmick inthe correct position for insertion. If you can't locate adouble faced card with an ace on it, leave out the line.Then, just ask them to turn the card over if you need itsposition adjusted prior to the insertion.

When the card is inserted, ask him to square thepack. Pick the deck up and spread through it. When youcome to the gimmick, execute Bill Simon's Prophecymove from his Effective Card Magic. This secretly cuts

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the deck and sandwiches the gimmick between its mates,all in the guise of turning the gimmick over.

(Briefly, spread the pack from the left hand intothe right until you get to the gimmick. Break the packabove the gimmick. Rotate your right hand palm down andtake gimmick between right thumb and the top of righthalf. Turn the right hand's half and the gimmick over byturning the right hand palm up again. You have now shownthe other side of the gimmick to the audience, the apparentreason for the move. Place the left half on top of the rightcompleting the move. As far as the audience is con­cerned, you have simply turned the gimmicked card overwithout disturbing the rest of the pack.)

Now you need a little time misdirection. Recapwhat has happened and the freedom of their insertion.Then, spread the deck and remove the gimmick and thetwo cards which sandwich it. Slowly and dramaticallyreveal one card at a time. The card must be magic. It hasattracted its mates.

Leftovers. The story is long and the trick is short.Do not attempt to memorize the story. The story hasgrown during the last 15 years into the above epic. I havetold it so many times that I almost believe it. You shouldhighlight the major parts which you feel contribute to theeffect. Then, rewrite them into words which sound likeyou. Then, tell the story over and over until it sounds asthough you believe it. Only then will you be ready to do itjustice.

The card itself is unique and it holds the audience'sattention. Members of the audience are not familiar withdouble faced cards. The card they see is truly unique.Tying in the story about the mint making mistakes helpsto lend credence to the story I feed them.

I have had wives smack their husbands for treat­ing the card too roughly when they were able to handle it."You don't want to have to buy it, do you?" they wouldask. All the while I'm thinking, go ahead and mangle it.I'm sure we can work out an equitable settlement.

Background. Bill Simon published a trick calledBusiness Card Prophecy in his Effective Card Magic(I 953). His original trick was basically the same thing. Hewrote the names of the top and bottom cards on hisbusiness card and then had the card inserted into the pack.The cards on either side of the business card matched hiswritten prediction. This effect was the first appearanceof the prophecy move. I have developed numerous usesfor the move. Several others have developed variationsof the move and I perform the move slightly different thanit was originally described.

Siamese Stab was originally published in issue #7of The Trapdoor in 1985. It was later published in mylecture notes, Magic With No Entertainment Value in1989. It was first published with the complete pattertheme in my 1993 Semi-Automatic Card Tricks.

The five items which follow involve pens. Sincemagicians are prone to having items marked, added, orsigned, pens find their way into many a performance.Since signing, adding, and marking are not inherentlyentertaining, the following bits may help to grease theslow spots during your act.

PEN VANISHSteve Beam

This was originally published in issue #4 of TheTrapdoor, page 56.

Effect. You are somewhere and someone asksto borrow your pen. You reach into your shirt pocket andremove one of those "pop top" pens. You remove the capfrom the pen and give them the shaft. (Those of you whocharge for shows already know how to do this.) As youhand them the pen, it disappears. "Oh, that must have beenone ofthose pens with disappearing ink. Don't worry, I haveanother pen. Here, you hold the cap." When you hand themthe cap, it too disappears. You pretend not to notice as youreach into another pocket and remove another pen fortheir use.

The Work. You need a pen of the type where thecap covers half the pen. Included among this very com­mon type are most of the Flairs™ and most of the "roller"type pens. You will also need a spare cap to go with thepen. Clip this spare cap onto your shirt pocket as shownin figure 1. It appears to be a complete pen to anyoneviewing it. The other pen should be elsewhere on yourbody and is only used if you want to actually hand them apen after the vanish of the first.

To perform, your right hand removes the cap bygrasping it as low as possible between the thumb andforefmger. When it exits the pocket, try to expose asmuch of the cap as possible. The audience will assumethe shaft of the pen is covered by the right hand.

You are now going to use the left hand to remove

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JI- -- - - --

:-....)

Figure 1

the cap from the non-existent shaft. Grasp the capbetween the left thumb and forefinger as low as possible.Pull the cap from the shaft sharply and cause your rightthumb nail to snap off the end of the cap. This will makethe same sound that removing the cap from a pen wouldmake.

Stretch your first out as if it contained the pen.Hand it to someone. It will vanish. Open your right handwide and turn it palm up. It is empty. Drop the cap into theright hand as you look to see if the pen is in your left hand.This shows the audience it is not in either. Now executeany kind of vanish with the cap. Since it is much smallerthan the shaft, you can easily use a coin or cigarette vanishto dispose of it. To clean up, offer them another pen. Asyou reach for the spare, leave the cap behind.

PEN REVERSESteve Beam

This is the old gimmicked "rotating pencil" trickapplied to an ungimmicked pen. You can learn this in a fewminutes and (like the pen vanish just explained) I bet youwill try it if you see it in the lecture. It i also the perfectfollow up t the vanish as I will explain shortly.

You'll need the same thing as you needed for thevanish, a pen with two caps. Place a cap on each end.Place this in your inside breast pocket with the pen point­ing downward. Or, you can start with it in your pantspocket with the pen pointing upward. The reason for thedifference is that when you remove the pen from yourpants pocket, you would normally turn it over in theprocess of bringing it to chest level.

Regardless, remove the pen from either pocketand hold it as shown in figure 1. The pen is pointingdownward so they are seeing the spare cap. Transfer thepen to the same position in the left hand, being careful not

Figure 1

to flash the real cap on the pen.Close the left hand into a loose fist and tum it so

that the pen is held horizontally as shown in figure 2.Pause for a moment to let the audience see the pen in thisposition. Now take your right forefmger and push the penthrough the first. When it emerges from the other side, theadditional cap will make it appear that the pen has re­versed itself. Immediately take it in the right hand beingsure to cover the extra cap.

You are taking it as it emerges from the heel of theleft fist in the same position you originally held it, only thepen is reversed. As you remove the pen from the left fist,secretly wrap the right pinky around the body of the extracap. This holds the cap firmly while the right thumb andforefinger pull the pen, loosening the cap's grip on it.When you get used to doing this, there will not be anyperceptible movement as far as the audience is con-

Figure 2

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cerned.As soon as the cap is disconnected, the left hand

lifts the pen (with one cap) out of the extra cap and out ofthe fist. The right hand is now fmgerpalrning the extra cap.The right first fmger and thumb are extended. Use themto remove the real cap from the shaft. you want a smooth,fluid, and natural action for this entire sequence. If youpause unduly, you will spoil the whole effect. Once thecap is removed, both hands move in order to place the capon the back end of the pen. If you are seated, now is thetime (during this movement) to lap the spare cap. Other­wise, you can grasp the pen in writing position with thespare cap fingerpalmed. Now you can write whateveryou were going to write when you first removed the pen.

THE JERK WITH A PENJohn Riggs

While the name of this trick can be taken morethan one way, this effect is no slouch. It is designed for theclose-up worker working for a medium sized group. Youmay view it as a gag or an effect, depending upon yourpresentation.

This trick and the following one were both basedupon my Suspenders (issue #35 of The Trapdoor) andmy Vanishing Pen (issue #4) and Reversing Pen (issue #4).

In effect, the magician needs something signed.He removes a pen from his breast pocket. Being thegentleman he has been sculpted to be, he removes the capfrom the pen and places it on the back of the pen. This ishanded to the spectator who is to sign his name.

When finished, the magician asks for the returnof the pen. The spectator fmds it impossible to remove thecap from the back of the pen. Finally, he gives up and

Figure 1

Figure 2

hands the pen back to the magician with the cap on. Withno effort at all, the magician removes the cap from theback end of the pen and places it on the pointed end, closingthe pen. The pen is returned to the pocket.

The Work. John and I use a Sharpie (R) for thissince it is a permanent marker and writes well on playingcards. Obtain two identical caps for the marker. Superglue one cap to the back end of the pen. The other one isplaced on the pointed end. The pen, with the pointed endup, is placed in your inside breast pocket.

When ready to perform, remove the pen withyour right hand. Your hand hides the glued cap as shownin figure 1. Remove the cap with your left hand androtate both wrists so that your thumbs point toward thespectator.

Figure 3

Figure 4

You are going to pretend to place the cap justremoved on the back end of the pen. This is not possible ofcourse, since there is already a cap there.

Bring your hands to the position shown in figure2. Make sure that the cap which is already attached to thepen is not visible to the spectator. The rear end of the penis placed into the left hand - supposedly to place the lefthand's cap on the pen. Actually, the pen goes immedi­ately to the right of the pen. It should do so in a mannersimilar to the "jerk" or shove you would normally give apen which you are sticking into a pen cap.

As soon as the pen is apparently in the cap, yourleft hand drops to the table or your side. This is done as theright hand hands the newly opened pen to the spectator.

When the specator finishes, ask for the pen back.Since you were kind to him, he will reciprocate by trying toremove the cap from the back of the pen. While he doesthis, you occupy yourself with something or someone elseso that you don't notice his predicament. He will continueto struggle with the pen while you periodically ask againfor the pen. Finally, he will return the pen with the cap stillon the back end.

Take the pen in your right hand with the capnearest you. The cap should go into your hand behind yourright fingers as shown in figure 3.

The hands are brought together as shown infigure 4. The free cap is apprently plucked from the backend of the pen. Both wrists rotate so that the the thumbsare pointing to each other. The free cap is replaced on thepointed end of the pen. The right hand (still covering theextra cap) replaces the pen in the inside breast pocketas if nothing unusual has happened.

Regurgitations. By coincidence, you have an­other matching ungimmicked pen in your pocket for uselater in the show. Only, this time, a female volunteer willbeasked to hand you back the pen. She will have no trouble

10

removing the cap from the back of the pen.To ensure the spectator does try to remove the

cap the first time, I distance myself from him during thesigning phase. This is natural since I normally am notsupposed to see what is being written or the card that isbeing signed. I can then request that the spectator "tossthe pen back." Nobody tosses a fully loaded permanentmarker. For this reason, they will attempt to remove thecap and replace it.

MY CAP RUNNETH OVERSteve Beam

I really like John's pen item. It possesses a greatpotential for humor. I developed this follow up and calledJohn. He liked the idea. However, I frequently trade barbswith regular contributors about the quality of their mate­rial versus my material. Not missing a beat, John said thatI had turned one trick into two and therefore had created"some filler" for the magazine. I explained to him that histrick was now the lead-in to my miracle. His trick shouldput them in the mood for this, the capstone effect.

I like them both used together. Without perform­ing John's first, this wouldn't make a lot of sense. Whenfollowing John's gag, this doubles the response. (Actu­ally, I told John it quadruples the response.)

Following up on the spectator's troubles remov­ing the cap from the pen in John's routine, the magicianreturns the closed pen to his pocket. During the nexteffect, the magician removes the pen again and starts tohand it to the same spectator. Remembering the troubleshe had, the magician uncaps the pen and hands it to a ladyin the audience for her signature.

All attention is on her as she finishes her signa­ture to see if she will have the same problems her prede­cessor had. Slowly and carefully she removes the capwith a sigh of relief. She mayor may not hurl a barb in thedirection of the earlier victim. However, this victory isshort lived. She proceeds to close the pen at the magician'srequest. It is here that she encounters problems. Thepointed end of the pen will not fit into the cap. It isimpossible to close.

Finally, she places the cap loosely on the pointedend of the pen and returns it to the magician. He takes onepart of the pen. The other part, either the cap or the shaft,stays with her or falls to the floor. This further points upher failure. UOh! Okay, I'm sorry. I thought you weregoing to close the pen." At this, the magician takes the capand replaces it on the pen. He pockets the pen.

The Work. This is based upon my SuspenderSwitch in Suspenders in issue #35 (page 625). Similar tothat routine, you are going to fill the cap with a substance.This time, you are going to use Elmer's Glue™. You wantto fill the cap just enough to allow the rear end of the pen

to fit into the cap. The rear end takes up much less spacein the cap than the tapered pointed end - so that it will beimpossible to close the pen.

I use a Sharpiel" pen by Sanford which matchesthe pen used in the last effect since it is supposedly thesame pen. Start with the regular cap on the pen and thepen in the inside breast pocket. The gimmicked cap isin the left front pants pocket.

When ready to perform, finger palm the gim­micked cap as you retrieve the pen. Remove the cap andswitch it for the gimmicked cap in the process of placingthe cap on the rear end of the pen using the SuspenderSwitch.

Hand the pen to a lady for her to sign her card oradd the column of numbers. Ask her to recap the pen foryou. Most will expect her to encounter the same difficul­ties the man had. (We're talking deep drama here.) Hermomentary sigh of relief will be overshadowed by herdilemma in trying to recap the pen.

Take back the pen as described above, causingit to split into its two component parts. This is to make itobvious that she did not succeed in closing the pen.

Take the cap in your loose left fist beside the onealready there, with the mouth toward the thumb. Insertthe pen into the cap, closing it. If you have an inside rightbreast pocket, place the pen there along with the extracap. If not, replace the pen in your left coat pocket andgo south with the extra cap.

SUSPENDER SWITCHSteve Beam

Start with the extra cap (the gimmick)fingerpalmed in the left hand with the mouth of the cap

Figure 1

11

Figure 2

toward the mouth of the loose fist. Remove the regularpen with the regular cap.

Place the cap end of the pen into the mouth of theleft fist. Place it beneath the gimmick as shown in figure1. Note the position of the right second finger underneaththe pen. AS you pull the cpa off the pen and the pen outof the fist, this finger straightens out. This causes the pento swing around the right forefinger and come to restbetween the first two fmgers as shown in figure 2.

Now place the butt end of the pen back in the leftfist, apparently to replace the cap on the pen. Actually,place the pen into the gimmick. As soon as the gimmick

Figure 3

is securely on the butt end of the pen, remove the pen fromthe left hand and curl your second finger in again. Thiscauses the pen to rotate back around into a position whereit is grasped between the thumb and forefinger as shownin figure 3. At the conclusion of the switch, the regularcap occupies the same position in the left hand which thegimmick did occupy. It remains here until the end of theeffect when they are switched again.

To complete the trick, you may wish to switch thegimmick back out. If this is the case, repeat everythingagain. The normal cap is in the left hand. Place the endof the pen with the cap into the left fist and remove thegimmicked cap. This is the same position as shown infigure 1 except that the pen is pointing in the other directionsince the cap is on the butt end. Pivot the shaft of the penaround and insert the pointed end of the pen into theregular cap, completing the switch. Pivot the pen out ofthe left fist, palming the gimmick, and hand the pen out orput it up.

IMPAIREDSteve Beam

Effect. The magician removes two jokers fromthe pack and places them face down in the pack. One goesnear the face of the pack and the other is placed near theback. The face down jokers are left outjogged as themagician spreads through the face up pack. "Think of acard between the two jokers. Got one? Great." Themagician closes the spread and slowly squares the jokerswith the rest of the pack. Asking for the name of the card,the magician riffles the pack. Spreading out the packagain, he fmds the mental selection sandwiched betweenthe two jokers.

The Work. This is an efficient sandwich as thereare no moves and the root principle used accomplishestwo different things simultaneously. You must constructa trick pack. Take 26 cards and arrange them in Si­Stebbins order (or your favorite arrangement). Treat thebacks of these cards with roughing fluid. Take anotherdeck consisting of all jokers and rough the backs oftwenty-six. of these. After the fluid dries, alternate facedown jokers with face up arranged cards, starting with aface up card. This completes the roughed pairs. You aregoing to handle the pack throughout the trick so you shouldapply the fluid accordingly.

Spread through the face up pairs and locate twocards which would be easy to remember. One needs tobe about five cards from the face and the other about fivecards from the back. Remove the jokers from behindthese cards and turn them face up. Insert them into twoparts of the pack near the center. You are ready toperform.

Spread through the face up pack, keeping the

12

roughed pairs intact. Remove the two face up jokerswhen you come to them. Keeping the pack spread, turnthe jokers face down and insert them behind their mates.Their mates are the cards near the top and bottom youremembered earlier. Leave the jokers outjogged and askthe spectator to think of a card between them.

Square the spread including the jokers and recapwhat has taken place. Ask for the name of the mentallychosen card and then riffle the pack for the magic tohappen. When the chosen card is named, mentally dis­cern the card which lies immediately before it in yoursequence.

Carefully (but casually) spread through the packroughed pair by roughed pair. It will look as though youare thumbing the cards over quickly but individually,looking for the selection. When you come to the cardwhich falls immediately before the selection, slow down.Apply the pressure to separate the card preceding theselection from the joker beneath it. The next card will bethe face up selection. Continue spreading as you apply thepressure necessary to separate the selection from thejoker beneath it. You have shown the face up selectionto be sandwiched between the two face down jokers.

The audience assumes that the jokers at the endare the same two jokers you inserted at the beginning.The rough/smooth principle not only causes the originaljokers to vanish but also produces the jokers whichsandwich the selection at the conclusion.

Regurgitations. I explained the concept aboveutilizing the jokers for ease of explanation. I think theeffect is stronger using a pair of mates. For example, thered jacks. You would construct the pack in the samemanner except that instead of alternating the jokers withthe Si Stebbins half, you would use twenty-six red jacks,alternating between hearts and diamonds. When you arefinished assembling the pack, the face down cards arejacks of diamonds and hearts in alternating order. Thenremove one of each suit to be your sandwiching cards.

Now that you understand the mechanics of thetrick and the construction of the pack, you may wish tovary it further. The five to ten cards on the face and backof the pack do not have to be roughed since the selectioncomes from between the two jokers. This allows thefaces of more cards to be seen during the spread. It alsoallows you to turn the deck (normal cards) face down andspread the top few which you couldn't otherwise dowithout flashing the faces of the jokers.

THE RECOGNITION REFLEXNORM HOUGHTON

Have a spectator cut off "less than a third" ofa 52-card packand count the packet for a secret number. Take the remain­ing cards from him face up in dealing position. Deal 20cards face up to the table, asking him to remember the cardwhich falls at his secret number. When fmished dealing,place the 20 face up cards on top of the face up talon andtum the pack face down. The selection is now 32nd.

THE WORLD'S GREATESTMAGICIANSteve Beam

This has become one of my favorite locations. Itfools magicians and entertains laymen. You must befamiliar with Norm Houghton's method of locating theselection as I explained in The Recognition Reflex. Sincethe method was explained in the previous effect, I willstart with the routine. This was previously published in mySemi-Automatic Card Tricks.

Routine. Using Norm's method, control the se­lection to a position 32 cards from the top of the pack.Pause as if a thought had just occurred to you. "It occursto me that before wefindyourcard, there is another importantquestion we should answer. That is, who is the world'sgreatest magician? Now, you can't ask me, I'm biased. Wecan't ask you. You might pick someone else and I would haveto hurt you. Our only choice is to ask the deck ofcards who'sthe world's greatest magician."

Dealing the cards in a straight line from you to thespectator, deal one card for each letter.

"Who W -H-O ... I s .. . I-S The ... T-H-E.ooWorld's W-O-R-L-D-apostrophe-S "

Counting the word "apostrophe" as one letter,you have dealt a straight line from you to the spectatorusing fifteen cards. You are now going to spell the world"greatest" with the next eight cards. You wills tart at thecard nearest you and deal at an angle to the right. You areforming the right arm of an arrow which is pointing towardyou.

"Greatestoo.G-R-E-A-T-E-S-Too."

You will now spell the word "magician" with thenext eight cards. You will start at the card nearest you anddeal at an angle to the left. You are forming the left armof the arrow which is pointing toward you.

Because the spelling throws them off, most peoplewon't notice the arrow even after it is completed. Lookup to the audience. "Is anyone getting any message?" Placethe deck on the table between you and the arrow.

Pause for a moment while the audience catcheson to the arrow pointing to you as the world's greatestmagician. "Well, now that the cards have answered thisquestion, let's return to the original question. That is, "Whatis the name of your card?" Turn over the top card of thetabled packet revealing the chosen card.

Leftovers. This is the perfect combination ofmethod with effect. Before becoming acquainted withNorm's effect, I would control the selection to the bottomof the pack using Steve Pressley's bottom control. I would

13

Figure 1

make the arrow as described above and place the remain­ing packet at the point of the arrow. After some byplay,I would turn the whole packet face up revealing theselection and replace it in the front of the arrow.

Using the control to the bottom did allow flexibil­ity in the spelling of the question. Virtually any questionwith less than 52 letters could be spelled using the cards.Of course, under normal performing circumstances, youwouldn't want to deal much more than 32 cards. Alwaysremember that your patience and interest in magic maynot be shared with your audience. If it was, they wouldbe doing the magic tricks.

Back~round. The idea of making messages outof a spread of playing cards is not mine. The "Q" cardtrick goes way back. Jerry Andrus formed an arrow usinga faro shuffle in The Arrow from Andrus Deals You In(1956). He also formed the initials "IOU" using severalspreads in Curious Cards (1975). The latter was myinspiration for using a deck of cards to form my initials inissue #25 of The Trapdoor.

Karrell Fox formed a question mark in The Ques­tion Is... in the Tarbell Course in Ma~ic, Volume 5, page 96.Fred Lowe combined the "Q" card trick (clock effect)with the question mark idea in 1975 in Alton Sharpe'sExpert Card Mysteries.

COLOR VISIONSteve Beam

This trick establishes the magician as someonewho is either psychic or has xray vision. During theroutine, the magician and the spectator take turns "guess­ing" the color of the top card of the pack. The guesses are

made from a borrowed and shuffled pack and the magi­cian offers the spectator the choice of who will go first,

As the spectator guesses, he has two piles, oneeach for the correct and incorrect guesses. The magicianalso identifies a place for his own correct and incorrectguesses.

While the spectator's guesses are divided evenlybetween the correct and incorrect piles, the magician is100% correct. This allows for lots of humor as themagician constantly brushes imaginary specks of dust inthe area marked for his incorrect guesses. Half waythrough, he uses a handkerchief to polish the area of thetable earmarked for his errors. These actions are de­signed to gloat over the fact that he doesn't miss any.

While I do not present this as a gambling trick, ithas obvious potential for being one. You can see that bycharging an imaginary dollar for each wrong guess, youhave an unbeatable proposition.

The Work. This is based upon the Gilbreathprinciple although there are several features which dis­guise that fact. Alternate the red cards with the black.The deck may be cut as desired. Turn the deck face upand table it. Ask the spectator to cut the pack. If the cardson the face of each half are of different color, ask thespectator to riffle the two halves together.

If they are the same color, ask him to completethe cut. Then, have it cut again. Continue asking him tocomplete the cut until there are two different colors on thefaces of the halves. When you reach this situation, ask thespectator to riffle shuffle the two halves together. Finishby asking the spectator to turn the deck face down. (Asan alternative to the face up cutting procedure, you maychoose to split the pack into two halves prior to the shuffleyourself. If so, be sure to cut so that the cards on tops orbottoms of the two halves are of different color.

Now, because of the Gilbreath principle, thecards are grouped in pairs by color. In other words, if youwere to deal the cards off the top of the pack in pairs, eachpair would consist of a red and a black card. This meansthat if you knew the color of the first card of each of thepairs, you would also know the color of the second cardof the pair. The second color would be the opposite of thefirst.

To disguise this, the cards are dealt off the topone at a time. If the spectator goes first, you watch thecolor of the card he turns face up. If it is red, you "guess"that the next card will be black. If he turns over a blackcard, you "guess" that the next card will be red. You willnot do anything that links the pairs together in the mindsof the spectator. As far as the audience is concerned, thedeck consists of 52 individual cards --- not 26 pairs.

To further disguise the principle involved, youhave offered the spectator a choice of who goes first.This would tend to eliminate the principle since the ar­rangement of one pair does not tell you anything about thesecond, third, or subsequent pairs. If the spectator wishesto have the magician go first, tum over the top card and

14

use it illustrate the rules of the game. Further, it can beused to point to the areas where the "correct" and"incorrect" piles will go. You note the color of this card.Place it off to the side.

You now use the color of the discarded card todiscern the color of the new top card of the pack. The topcard will be the opposite color since it is the second cardof the original top pair.

After you turn that card up, it is the spectator'sturn and you will alternate from this point forward. Youwill now use the color of the spectator's card to discernthe color of the next card.

If the spectator chose to go first, you can con­tinue the game until the pack is exhausted. If you wentfirst, you will continue until there is one card left in the deckand one card off to the side which was discarded earlier.You will guess the color of the last card (using the preced­ing spectator's last card). Pick up the discarded card anddrop it on top of the spectator's "wrong" pile. "I' IIgive youthis one."

Leftovers. Now that you know how to performthe trick, you need to make it entertaining. There is a lotof interest in the trick since the suspense builds as themagician continues to get them all right. However, thisinterest will wane some time after the first half of the packhas been dealt. You need to make sure that the spectatordoesn't spend a lot of time making his choice. It isimportant to speed the process.

To make it more entertaining, toward the end ofthe deal, you can continue to polish the area of the tableset aside for your misses. Blow on the table to fog up thearea (as if you were cleaning glass) and wipe the area witha cloth.

Toward the end, you can also take one card facedown from the top of the pack, call its color, and place iton top of your "correct" pile. The spectators will com­plain that neither they or you know with certainty that yourguess was correct. "Oh, okay. We can do it/ace up if youinsist." Turn the card face up and leave it in the correctpile.

Don Morris suggested the use of the xray glassessold in many novelty stores and in the backs of most comicbooks. Somewhere in the middle, pretend to be havingsome difficulty determining the color of the next card.Place the xray glasses on and then make your "guess."Place the card on the correct pile.

John Riggs suggested placing your drink on acoaster in the area formerly established for your "misses."Or, reach into your pocket and produce a small card aboutthe same size as a playing card. On it you have printed,"This space for rent."

You are after mystery and humor. Do not rub inthe results. There should be enough humor in the routineto take the edge off the defeat. If not, toss the discardedcard on top of their "correct" pile. This appears to be amagnanimous gesture on your part --- but only becausethey don't know that you won because you cheated.

PURSE SNATCHERJohn Riggs

John is one of the cleverest and most originalminds in magic. Below you will find one of his manyvariations of Mr. Jimmy. This originally appeared in issues12 & 13 of The Trapdoor (1986).

This uses small rubber hands and feet which canbe purchased from magic dealers and novelty shops. Thebasic idea can be gathered from two feet and one hand.Hold your right hand palm up and place one foot on eachof your first and third fingers --- toes up. Place a hand onyour right pinky, palm down. Bend in your pinky andmiddle fingers toward the right palm. Place your left handover your right palm, covering the two bent fmgers butallowing the two feet to extend from below. If you willmove the two extended fmgers up and down, you will getan eerie visual effect. Slowly pull your right pinky intoward your right wrist. The hand on the pinky will comepeeking out between the two hands and you can make itwave to the spectators.

For the mature version (one of many) set up asabove with an extra foot toe down on the right middlefinger. Go all the way through the hand waving part withthe extra foot hidden from sight beneath the left hand.Keep asking The Thing (or "Mr. Jimmy") to come out.He won't. Finally straighten out and wriggle the rightmiddle finger and you will have a comical situation."Whoops! Mr. Jimmy is not alone!" Immediately"ampu­tate" all the rubber parts and pocket them.

There are too many versions of this to deal within this brief description. Refer to The Trapdoor forfurther elaboration. I will mention that Ron Bauer sug­gested putting a red, high heel shoe on the third foot whichpops out in the mature version.

COMMUNITY PROPERTYSteve Beam

Routine. The magician, while looking through hiswallet for a business card comes across a picture of hisex-wife holding a thousand dollar bill. You know why she'ssmiling don' tyou? She's holding a thousanddollar bill. That'swhy. / had two bills when we separated, a thousand dollar billand a one dollar bill. The judge said to split everything downthe middle. She got one bill, / got the other. That's why she'ssmiling.I don't know why I'm still hanging onto the picture.

The magician drops the picture on the table. Asan afterthought. he flips the picture face down. You don'tbelieve me. do you? Look, I' ve still got the one dollar bill. Atthis, the magician reaches into his wallet and removes aone dollar bill to prove his story. He starts to replace the

15

bill and then has an idea. After all, I am a magician...The magician folds the bill into sixteenths. It

changes into a thousand dollar bill which he unfolds.When the curious spectators flip over the tabled picture,the magician's ex-wife is holding a one dollar bill. And, sheis no longer smiling but the spectators are.

Preparation. Since there are many excellent billswitches in print, I will have to assume you are familiarwith one. The bill switch was popularized by MikeKozloski and his Hundred Dollar Bill Switch which workswell here. (My favorite method is Jay Marshall's tiplessswitch.)

I came up with this routine prior to learningAnthony's See Through Switch which will switch thepicture for you. For that reason and since many of youdon't have picture holders in your wallet, I will describemy original switch in the text of this description. It will beobvious how well Anthony's switch will work in place ofthe switch provided here.

You must take two pictures, one each with awoman ("your ex-wife") holding a thousand dollar billand a one dollar bill. At a glance the pictures should appearto be the same. However, upon closer inspection, the billsand the facial expressions will be different.

Assemble a stack of ten or so wallet sized pic­tures along with two wallet sized calendars. Glue theback of one of the calendars to the back of the thousanddollar picture. This is your double faced gimmick. Nowarrange a three card stack from the top down as follows:

Gimmick - $1000 picture face up and calendar facedown.

Face up $1 picture.Face up calendar.

Place three miscellaneous cards face up on topof your stack. The balance of the miscellaneous cardsshould be placed face up below your stack. Place thiswhole stack in your wallet along with a one dollar bill.

Performance. Remove the stack of pictures andclaim to be looking for a business card or another pictureyou wish to share with the audience. Act surprised whenyou come to the picture of your ex-wife. Cut your stackto the top of the packet. As you square the packet, obtaina left little finger break under the top two cards.

Make your comments about why she is smilingin the picture. Make sure the audience gets a good lookat the $1000 bill she is holding. Double lift, turning the toptwo pictures over onto the packet. Deal off the top singlepicture to the right. It is the newly switched in $1 picture.

I like to toss it to the table face up and then flip itface down. This adds an air of nonchalance which takesthe heat off the switch. From a distance and for the limitedviewing time, this picture will still pass for the $1000picture. This also adds some logic to why you are turningthe picture face down. As you flip it face down, "If youdon't mind, I'm a little tired oflooking at thaifoce"

Place the remaining pictures back in your walletand remove the one dollar bill. Using one of the billswitches discussed above, change the $1 into a $1000.Pause while the effect sinks in. For the humorous climax,reveal the changed picture on the table.

Regurgitations. I have used the bill switch withother items which have resulted in different presenta­tions. One possibility is to explain to the audience that youwanted to withdraw some money from your savings onthe way to the show. The bank was closed. Here I was withthis completed withdrawel slip but no money. But since I'ma magician, let me try something. At this, you change thewithdrawel slip into a $20 bill.

Another option in the south is with the artificialconfederate money which is available at most touriststops. "Can you believe this? They don't honor this stuffany more." Change it into a bill of equal value.

TRADE-IN TIMESteve Beam

Using the picture switch you just learned, youcan perform the following trick. The basis for this trick liesin issue #3 of The Trapdoor in All Keyed Up. In thateffect, the magician claims a key has been found andturned into the front desk (or whatever the place ofauthority where he's performing). "Does it belong toanyone? No? Well it appears to be a Volkswagen key. No?Well, let me try something. If I squeeze the key, you can seethat it changes into a key to a Mercedes Benz. Thank you."

After a limited response, "Well, this may not seemlike much to you. But there's a guy out there somewhere whoused to drive a Volkswagen and who now drives a MercedesBenz ... and he thinks I'm the world's greatest magician."

As you can see, this is a non-trick. The magicianis implying that because he was able to change the keyfrom one type of car to another, the corresponding caralso changed. Using the wallet switch you can arrange tohave the trick made more believable.

Routine. "I just bought a brand new sports car.It's Mercedes red, a real mean machine. Would you liketo see a picture of it? At this, the magician removes hiswallet. He finds a picture of the car, a beat up red pinto.The magician is standing in the picture with the car. Thepicture is dropped face down on the table."

"It came with a key and everything. At this, themagician removes a key from his pocket. It's aVolkswagen key. The audience is obviously disappointed.The magician asks, "Well, what did you expect? AMercedes? Hmmm. Let me see what I can do.

The magician picks up the key and rubs it. Itchanges to a Mercedes key. The picture is turned faceup and the car in the picture has also changed into a

16

Mercedes.The Work. Use the switch described in the last

effect to accomplish the change of the picture. Thechange of the key can be done with a Bobo Switch or witha Spellbound type of move. Combining the key changeand the picture change is logical and the result is more thanthe sum of the parts.

THE WEASELSteve Beam

This is a quick and visual revelation of a selectedcard. It can also be used to reveal one of the aces in a fourace location. To imagine the effect on the audience, thinkof this as an instant rise of a card (ala the rising card).Another way to envision the effect is to think of a jack inthe box. A card leaps from the middle of the pack the sameway the joker leaps from the mechanical box.

The Work. Control the card to be revealed to thebottom of the pack. Hold the pack in the right hand fromabove with the thumb on the near edges and the fingerson the far edges. Use your right forefinger to swing or kickcut the top half of the pack into the palm up left hand. Bringyour leftmost edge of the right hand's packet over to touchthe top of the left hand's cards. Figure 1 shows how theface card of the right hand's half (the original bottom card)is in a position where the pads of the left second, third, andfourth fingers can engage it.

Figure 6Figure 5

The left hand now rotates palm down in a clock­wise direction at the wrist. As the left hand turns palmdown, the fingers which engaged the selection drag it offunderneath the left hand's packet. It is face down on thebottom of the face up half, injogged for half its length. Seefigure 2.

The left hand rotates back palm up, corning torest directly underneath the right hand's half. As the twohalves come together, your right thumb will bump againstthe injogged selection. Force the two halves together, theright thumb pushing the injogged part of the card down ata ninety degree angle. See figures 3 and 4 for anexposed view. The spectators can't see the bent cardbecause they are viewing it from the front and the magi­cian is slightly elevating the rear edge of the pack. Do notcrack the surface of the card. It should fold around thelower half retaining its natural flatness. In other words,when released, it should spring back into view.

If you wish, you can take the entire pack in theright hand, showing the left hand unencumbered. Whilethis is not necessary, it does help to show just how freelyyou are handling the cards. Figure 5 shows an exposedview. Note that you angle the front edge of the pack downslightly to prevent the spectators seeing the selectionfrom underneath.

Here is where it gets interesting. Place the entireconglomeration into the palm up left hand in a high dealingposition. In order to free your right hand entirely, your leftpinky has to grasp the injogged card and continue to holdit down. Figure 6 shows a view from the rear. Experi­ment in front of a mirror to see just how much you mustangle the front edge of the pack down to keep fromexposing anything. It is not very much.

The Revelation. With your right hand now liber­ated, call attention to the pack. Angle the front edge downas far as you can go without exposing the card which exitsfrom the rear of the pack. The eye level of the audiencehas a lot to do with this angle.

Snap your right fingers while simultaneouslyreleasing the left pinky's grip on the bent selection. It willinstantly spring into place, face up and injogged for half

Figure 4

Fi e21Fi

Figure 3

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Figure 7

its length.Regurgitations. If you don't angle the pack

downward very much, they won't see the injogged cardwhen it snaps back up from the left pinky. While you seeeverything, it is amazing just how much freedom you willhave with the hidden card without exposing its existence.

For the presentation, you may consider whistling(or asking the audience to whistle) "Pop Goes The Wea­sel" while turning an imaginary crank with your righthand. Release the card at the appropriate time for the jackto spring from the box. (Thus, the name of this revelation.)

There are numerous variations possible withthis. The card can spring out face up or face down. Youcan load the whole mess into a card box and truly have ajack in the box --- using one of the jacks and the card box.

RIDING THE WAVEScott Robinson

This is an outstanding trick and a tremendous out.If you don't learn it for any other reason, you should learnit so that you use it as an out for a selected card. If I everrevise and reprint Inside Outs --- Or For My Next Trick I'llTry One That Works, I would like to include this. Thisallows you to get the effect of a Brainwave deck with aregular deck. The one sleight involved is completelycovered.

The effect is powerful. A card is mentally se­lected, merely thought of by the spectator. The magicianpicks up the cased deck from the table. He spreadsthrough the deck face up and there is one card face downin the middle. This card is turned face up. It is the mentallyselected card.

Set-up. Start by removing the kings and queensfrom the pack. Now separate the pack into odd and evenvalued cards. Place two queens on the face of the evencards and the remaining two queens on the back. Place

the two kings on the face of the odd cards and theremaining two kings on the back. Place the halves backto back and place them into the card case. Rememberwhich cards (odd versus even) are facing in which direc­tion.

When a card is mentally selected, you want tobring the deck out with that card among the face up cards.If the card is even, make sure the queen, an even card, ison the face. If the selection is odd, make sure the deck isremoved from the case with the king, an odd card, on theface.

The Work. Ask for a spectator to think of anumber between one and ten. Assume they choose afour. Now ask for a suit. Assume they chose diamonds.They have chosen the four of diamonds.

Pick up the card case and hold it so that the deckis removed with the even cards facing up. Take the deckin dealing position as it emerges from the case. Table thecase. Lift the front edge of the cards up so that the youcan see the faces but the spectators cannot. You want tobe careful so that you don't flash the face of the bottomcard. To accomplish this, aim the front edges toward thespectators.

Spread through the top half of the deck lookingfor the four of diamonds. When you come to it, slide it outthe back of the spread with your right fingers as your leftthumb retains the grip on the card above it. As soon as thefour is beneath the spread, lower the cards and continuespreading. The spectators are now allowed to see thefaces of the cards you are spreading. This is the standardculling action.

Continue spreading until you come to the firstface down card. When you approach the middle of thespread, you want to make sure you are spreading cardsone at a time. You can spread fairly quickly withoutdanger of spreading too far because of the two queenswhich are the last face up cards. They will alert you toslow the spreading process.

Push the cards above the face down card to theright to expose at least a third of the back of the face downcard. Also, allow the card which is sliding under thespread to slip in under the deck, stopping when it is the newbottom card of the pack. The right hand now has posses­sion of the pack and holds it as shown in figure 1. Fromhere, Scott has three possible ways to end it. I will startwith my favorite.

Ending. Display the spread as shown in figure 1as you stand facing the audience with your right handextended to the audience to show the condition of thecards. Bring your right hand back over to meet the left.When the hands meet, the left edge of the lower block hitsthe left fmgertips as shown in figure 2. This is done as youturn to the left.

Continue moving the right hand with the cards tothe left while your left hand stops the lower block frommoving to the left. The right hand's continued movementto the left causes the lower half of the pack to tum over.

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Figure 1

Figure 3 shows an exposed view of this action. The cardsin the right hand cover the rotating lower half.

As soon as the lower half has turned over, graspit in the left hand in dealing position. Bring the left hand upand thumb the single face down card (the chosen card) ontop of the lower half off onto the back of the right hand'scards as shown in figure 4. Immediately lower the lefthand and continue spreading the cards into the right hand.

The effect you were after during the aboveending is that you spread the face up cards until you cameto the one face down card in the middle. You stopped andshowed the reversed card. You then upjogged it andcontinued spreading the cards. The switch is so wellcovered that with practice, there is no reason to rush theaction or fear detection. Remove the outjogged card anddrop it face down on the table. Build up what has hap­pened and tum the selected card face up.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Reset. I am going to go ahead and describe thereset of the trick here as each of the endings would use asimilar method. Note that it is not necessary to reset thecards since you now have an ordinary deck with which to

do card tricks. When I use this, it makes a great opener.Afterwards, I have an ordinary pack with which to per­form. However, if you keep this in reserve for use as anout, you will want to reset.

In the above ending, pick up a break beneath theupjogged selection before you remove it. After revealingthe selection, pick it up and place it in the upper half of thepack with the rest of the even cards. Now execute a halfpass at the break, returning the pack to starting positionand replace the cards in the case.

Alternate Beginning. I'm not all that thrilledabout the method of selection which is used to eliminatethe cards on the face of either side of the pack (the two

Figure 4

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kings or two queens). By asking for a number betweenone and ten, you have ensured that they will not name acourt card. This is because it is more difficult to steal thecard under the spread if it one of the top few cards.

It is especially awkward if they were to name thetop card because you can't remove the pack from thecase in a clean manner without the audience seeing theselection on the face. To compensate for this, I place thequeen of hearts on the face of the even cards and the kingof hearts on the face of the odd cards. I then allow thema completely free mental selection. (I even place the jokerin with the even cards in case a joker is called. This hasthe added benefit of making the halves closer in numbersince there are more odd cards than even.)

If they call either the king or queen of hearts, Ichange the effect I am about to perform. I tell them thatbefore they made their mental selection, I placed one cardon the face of the pack which is in the case. They had afree mental choice. Wouldn't it be impressive if theynamed the one card I placed on the face before the show?Of course it would. Simply remove the deck with theappropriate card facing the audience. Continue with theshow.

COLOR WAVEScott Robinson

Steve Beam

This came about because I wanted to add the oddcolored back common to most Brainwave tricks to Scott'sRiding The Wave. This is what I came up with. This islisted as a separate trick because it was too complex to putin the Regurgitations section of the original (and becauseI am conscious of the trick count in each issue). The trick

Figure 1

is no longer impromptu as two decks will be required tomake up the deck with which you will perform. I willdescribe this using Scott's ending #1 so I will assume youhave read Scott's original trick and are at least familiarwith the first ending. If you can do the original trick, youwill be able to pick this up in a minute. I also added a littlepatter which suits my method of performing.Start with the same setup as in Scott's original, only thistime use red backed cards for the even half and blue­backed cards for the odd half. Further, remove one redjoker and one blue joker from the remaining cards. Thesecards are placed back to back in the middle of the packbetween the two back to back halves. However, they areplaced so that the red backed joker is the back most cardof the blue half and the blue backed joker is the back mostcard of the red half. (This is the reverse of how you expectto set this up.) Place the pack in the case, rememberingthe face card of each side and which cards (odd or even)are face up.

Assume the four of diamonds is selected. Spreadthrough the deck until you see the four of diamonds. Cullthis card underneath the spread. Slide it along the bottomof the spread until you come to the first face down card(the red backed joker followed by the rest of the deck, theface down blue backed cards). Execute the ending asdescribed in Riding The Wave. The lower half will turnover, switching the face down red joker for the face downselection. After upjogging the selection continue spread­ing the cards beneath (behind) the selection.

During this spreading process, you must use yourleft and right fmgers to steal the bottom card of the packoff and slide it under the spread to the right. You are gettingrid of the single odd backed card in the lower half. I usemy left forefmger to keep the rest of the packet square asthe left second finger buckles the bottom card down offthe forefinger and pushes it to the right under the spread­ing cards. When the right fingers can grasp the card, theydo and pull the card to the right.

The deck is now split above the outjogged cardas shown in figure 1. The odd backed joker becomes thelower most card of the cards in the right hand. The lefthand carries the face down selection to the table whereit is placed face down. The left hand's cards are returnedto the bottom of the pack and the pack squared and turnedface down.

Casually and sloppily spread the top twenty or soface down cards. Not only was that card the only reversedcard, it was also the only red backed card in a blue backeddeck. There's only one weak part to this effect. Square thecards and table them face up near you (out of the specta­tors' reach). Normally when I'm performing this trick, thatdoesn't turn out to be the mentally selected card. But if it everdoes. I'm going to have a miracle. don't you think? Tum thecard over, revealing the miracle. After you receive aresponse, shove the card back into the upper half of theface up deck and case the pack. Well it's about time that oneworked!

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