TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Black Deck Creation by Mike Kelley Our Favorite Black Deck Quotes Foreword by Brad Christian Introduction by The Shaman CHAPTER 1: The Black Deck and Your Audience Is That a Trick Deck? Get People Used to It Ways to Introduce the Black Deck Magician’s Special Edition Mike Delbert Bicycle® Production Mishap Mike Delbert Treasures from Black Magick Roy Ornelas Jr. The Art of Cartomancy Roy Ornelas Jr. CHAPTER 2: Black Deck Care and Additional Notes Black Deck Care – How to Do It Right Sharpie Care with Your Black Deck Using a Card Clip The Black Deck Revolution – Other Options and Ideas CHAPTER 3: Black Deck Effects Negative Flip Ken Sasamura Hypnotic Induction Magius Divergent Animation Malcolm Vendryes Radial Telepathy Richard Agnew Strange Art of Fortune Telling Roy Ornelas Jr. Outcast Division Dominick Cancilla Black Mantis Raymond Singson Time Splitter Brad Christian CHAPTER 4: Bonus Tricks – Sleights and Deck Switches Risk (The Routine) Chris Schuh Redline Cut Chris Schuh Black Deck Blackjack Chris Schuh Black Deck Death The Shaman The Black Awakening The Shaman The Genius Chris Schuh (Bonus) Cerebral Calibration Chris Schuh (Bonus) CHAPTER 5: Color Changes Open Finger Color Change Bob McAllister’s Bet-A-Dollar Color Change CHAPTER 6: Deck Switches Black Deck Morph Chris Schuh Ed Marlo’s Standing Deck Switch CHAPTER 7: Working with Ellusionist Black Tiger Gaff Deck Bonus Section
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Brad Christian
I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Mike Kelley who accidentally discovered reverse image cards while fooling around in Photoshop and gave me a call with the idea of producing the Black Deck. His persistence is why you are holding a Black Deck in your hand right now. I want to thank the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC), Joe Robinette, for working with us constantly and keeping an open mind. Greg Simko, president of USPCC, for his love of magic and willingness to bend the rules on custom cards and magic gaff cards. Mostly however, I want to thank Ellen Hecht for her tireless support of Ellusionist and the projects we’ve produced through her. USPCC has found a true gem in Ellen and we owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude. Extra special thanks to Mike Delbert for painstakingly photographing all the images in this book. Marvelous work, Mike! Special thanks also to our Ellusionist forum members that contributed such great routines and ideas for the book; our forum guys hold a special place in my heart. Acknowledgement goes to De’vo Vom Schattenreich who also thought of inverting the cards (before we did) and created a deck by hand! De’vo has been instrumental in his help and suggestions with the Black Tiger Deck. Huge thanks also to Ellusionist’s Chris Schuh for the painstaking work of formatting the material, writing, and putting the whole book together. Finally done, Chris! Get into the Black Deck Support Forum at Ellusionist Our aim with this book is to take you a certain distance in discovering routines and presentation ideas for the Black Deck. The real work will be done by YOU later while you are working with a pack of black cards in your hand. You have a chance to talk with, share, and discuss things with other owners from around the world while you are developing effects and presentations in the Black Tiger Deck Discussion Forum on the Ellusionist web site. Set up a free account and log in with the following password: tbd46972. I’ve seen some of the best ideas come out of the Ellusionist forums, so get in there and check it out! Also, it allows you to get support and ask questions if there is something you don’t understand in the book. This forum is a free bonus with the book – ongoing full support at Ellusionist! We want your creativity to blossom and expand! Brad Christian San Rafael, CA. 2004
BLACK DECK CREATION
Mike Kelley
All I wanted was a picture of a fanned out deck as a background for my cell phone. I inverted the picture and was FLOORED! It was then I knew that this was to be the new deck for magicians. The ideas went through my head so fast I couldn’t keep up! The possibilities were endless. I knew that the Black Deck would expand the creativity of magicians everywhere and help to create fresh, new concepts in card magic. Between the astonishing impact the look alone creates and the stories I’ve invented of its origin, there has been an instant added ”air” to any well presented effect and/or routine. One of the first decks printed by the United States Playing Card Company was called the Tiger Deck way back in the 19th century. Now, with the help of Brad Christian, Ellusionist, the USPCC and their faith in a simple concept, the Tiger has been reborn. Here are the original two images that I sent to Brad with this idea, taken on my cell phone as I sat at my desk.
Michael Kelley Bristol, Connecticut
FOREWORD
The Shaman
Welcome to the Black Deck book, presented exclusively by Ellusionist. We have screened and collected the best of the best for effects and routines to teach you how to take your Black Deck and use it to create miracles. These effects and routines are described in tremendous detail so that you can learn how to perform them flawlessly, and improve your existing magic. You’ll notice that there are full scripts and complete explanations for every effect. The book has been organized in such a way that you can pull parts from each effect and adjust them to fit your character. You might love a patter line for one effect and use it to develop a new script for another effect in the book or from your own repertoire. You might have an existing patter line and no effect to go with it – you can use any of the effects taught in here. The moment you open up a new Black Deck, you get “that feeling.” The feeling that I’m talking about is awe. These cards are commanding and automatically get attention. They demand respect and instantly obtain it from audiences and magicians alike. Now that you have an arsenal of awesome effects to go with your Black Deck, this feeling will only intensify. Be sure to use the Black Deck Book Forums at ellusionist.com to master your effects before you take them out into the world. Most of all learn and have fun with your Black Deck, a killer new tool in the realms of magic! Enjoy. The Shaman Ellusionist’s Underground, Top Secret Guru
Finishing up this new edition of the book has been a great ride. Thanks for reading. Better change into something else now. Turquoise spandex pants aren’t as comfortable as they look. -Marcus
INTRODUCTION
Brad Christian
What This Book Is First and foremost, this is a concept guide – a collection of brilliant action ideas assembled by Ellusionist – NOT an instruction manual. The goal and function of this text is to inspire further creative thought to give readers a small glimpse into the world of the Black Tiger Deck, filled with many ideas that they have not thought of. This is not an instruction book; although when a particular sleight or move is mention you will almost always find a direct reference for it at the end of that section so you know where you can learn it.
Imagine when the White Deck Was First Invented No magician knew what to do with it. Slowly, over time, sleight of hand was applied to the deck and card tricks were born. Today, there are more card tricks and more ways to USE “white” cards than could EVER be imagined. From the Shapeshifter change to Mentalism to card throwing to flourishes to gaffed card tricks and packet tricks to all the incredible performers like Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, Asher, Ortiz, Erdnase, McBride, Hollingworth – the list goes on and on. We are just now beginning to discover what can be done with a Black Deck and how it can be used in magic. People with a closed mind may say “but everybody knows a white deck! Why would I use a black one? Everybody will think it’s a trick deck!” Well, we know a few things about the Black Deck so far. It’s up to YOU to get over it if you have a “thing” about black cards looking like trick cards to your spectator – there are billions of ways around it. You tackle it like anything else in magic, as a part of your routine. We will discuss this in detail shortly with specific methods for introducing a Black Deck to your spectators. We know that the black cards get attention fast. We know people go, “Wow, cool cards!” We know the top flourish guys absolutely rave about the cards. We know that many card workers treasure the cards dearly. And we know that when used in routines that feature voodoo, spooky stuff, occult, levitation, horror, magick, black magick, the cards bring these themes to life like never before. The cards seem to take on a mysterious force when used in tricks like this and the cards help people to feel your magic that much more by putting a reality behind what you are talking about in your presentation. Thank you for jumping into this process of discovery with us! We are thrilled that you’ve purchased the Black Deck book and we look forward to learning about and developing the Black Tiger Deck with you. Brad Christian San Rafael, CA. 2004
THE BLACK DECK
AND YOUR AUDIENCE
I IS THAT A TRICK DECK?
If you pull out a brand new deck of red or blue Bicycle® cards that are still in the wrapper, some people will still believe that it’s a “trick deck.” As magicians, we are always going to be struggling to convince our audience that the cards are legit. Therefore, when you pull out a deck that a spectator has never seen before, you’re going to realize that he or she is more likely to suspect it’s a trick deck right from the beginning. Therefore, we’ve come up with some ideas and techniques that you can use to help reduce the number of times you get asked, “Is that a trick deck?” Fortunately, the Bicycle standard deck pattern is the most recognized pattern in the world, and the Black Tiger Deck utilizes this pattern – it makes your job a lot easier. The only issue is that the deck is black. The fact that the deck is black has advantages and disadvantages. The main advantages are that it is extremely beautiful for performing and seems to have an attention getting and profound effect on spectators. Certain effects come alive and have far more impact when performed with a Black Tiger Deck; this has been documented and proven.
“… I have used the black cards at two gigs so far and the reaction was overwhelming.” - Jerry Cestkowski, Author of Encyclopedia of Card Flourishes
The disadvantage of the Tiger Deck is the flip side of this coin; they stand out and thus draw attention. If someone in your audience is predisposed to believe you’re using gimmicks they’ll believe this is a gimmick, too. Making the audience accept the cards is simply part of your job as a card worker – it’s exactly the same as using misdirection in a trick – you figure it out ahead of time and then use it! Treat the deck casually and normally; give a brief reason for using it and why it’s black, and then get into your magic. There are several concepts listed in this chapter that will help you introduce your deck and get your audience used to it.
GET PEOPLE USED TO IT
I found I could make my audience accept the Tiger Deck as a normal deck, just one with a different color. I came up with a method to introduce the Black Deck and make people accept it before the very first card was selected: a short, sweet flourish routine utilizing the Tiger Deck. Putting on a small flourish show is a way to introduce a deck of cards, break it in a bit, get used to how the cards feel, and showcase some of your skills. Using the flourishes taught on various Ellusionist videos, here is a short flourish routine that can be used to introduce the Black Deck. This is an extremely “beginner” flourish routine, if you know other flourishes that are more difficult, feel free to substitute. Phase 1 Shuffle the cards using a regular riffle shuffle and bridge. This breaks the cards in a bit and gets the audience used to seeing them in a common setting. Phase 2 Fan the cards face down and then close the fan with one hand. Turn the cards face up and do the same thing. This gives the audience a peek at the cards and demonstrates more skill with the deck. This also indirectly shows them the back and face of every card. Phase 3 Dribble the cards so that the audience can see no links or anything between them. This also looks like you’re just breaking the cards in a bit, then inspecting them, then breaking them in a bit more. Phase 4 Execute a pressure fan with the cards to show the faces again to the audience. This displays the faces one more time and does so at your eye level. This gets your face into the picture and also has them looking into the cards, rather than down on them. Phase 5 If at a table, ribbon spread the cards on the table face down. Pick up the last card and use it to turn the ribbon spread face up. This shows the back of every card on the deck and then the face of every card in the deck. It also does so in a very elegant manner and you can do this very slowly. Phase 6 Have a member of the audience briefly shuffle the deck. You don’t have to point out that they can inspect all the cards. If they are curious, they will look closely as they shuffle the cards.
Having them handle the cards and freely shuffle them lets the audience know that the deck can be fully inspected and it does so discreetly. It also shows them indirectly that the deck does not have to be in any particular order. (An important tip for this section is when you hand them the cards and ask them to shuffle, mime an overhand shuffle. The last thing you want is people whipping out their “big shot” riffle shuffles, taking up time in your routine, and mangling your cards by bending them over nearly double.) Ending From here, you can take the deck back and begin your normal routine. The entire process takes only a couple of minutes and gives the audience something pretty to look at while you get used to the cards and break them in a bit. If anyone interrupts you or comments about the cards being trick cards, you can stop after that trick and point out that you displayed all the cards at the beginning and handed them out. From there, I’d hand them out for a thorough inspection before continuing. Please note that this flourish routine is designed with the beginner in mind and anyone who has more experience in the art of flourishes will be able to come up with their own introductory routine.
WAYS TO INTRODUCE THE BLACK DECK
In addition to the flourish introduction, you can also consider using these introductions that have been submitted by various forum members. Magician’s Special Edition
Mike Delbert
“Every once in awhile, The United States Playing Card Company comes along and releases special occasion decks. A few years ago, they released the Iraqi Most Wanted deck in salute to our soldiers and to show the faces of the most wanted. A year before that they released a Christmas Edition with Santa Claus drinking Coca Cola™ to salute Coca Cola™ Corporation on their anniversary. This year, the USPCC is looking in unfamiliar places to acknowledge and honor who deserve and they chose to make a brand of playing cards to salute magicians across the globe. I now present to you The Black Tiger Bicycle Playing Cards.” Bicycle Production Mishap
Mike Delbert
”Every company who makes products has their occasional mishaps in quality control. Even the treasure has mishaps in printing currency. They usually sell these rare deffects as novelties for collectors. The USPCC currently had a quality control mishap when printing playing cards; the image of the card was exposed to light unbeknownst to the management, and 10,000 decks of cards were printed in its negative film format. Instead of destroying the batches of cards, they released them to the magic community for purchase in hopes not to lose money on the mishap. These were so widely accepted by magicians that Bicycle produced more, a second edition that included the diamonds and hearts in red. I now present to you the Black Deck Tigers.” Treasures from Black Magick
Roy Ornelas Jr.
“Once people discover that I’m involved in magic, sooner or later, the subject of ‘Black Magick’ arises. I don’t wish to go into detail, but it does exist in magic. That’s ‘magic’ with a ‘K’ at the end. When I first began to ‘study’ magick as a Black Art, I quickly found out it was not for me. However, during that period of ‘study’ I was given these, and I will always protect and treasure the.” Art of Cartomancy
Roy Ornelas Jr.
“Iam sure you have all heard of Tarot Reading but have you ever heard of Cartomancy? Cartomancy is much like Tarot Reading except that you use normal playing cards. The problem with fortune telling with playing cards is that people normally don’t believe what you are doing is ‘real’. That is why those who practice Cartomancy use a special deck. During my studies in this art, I was fortunate enough to acquire a few of these special decks in brand new condition. Since they are quite rare in this state, I take exquisite care of them and rarely bring them out. However, I can sense that what we have going on tonight means now would be a perfect time.”
BLACK DECK CARE AND ADDITIONAL NOTES
II BLACK DECK CARE – HOW TO DO IT RIGHT
Now that you own a Black Deck, it’s important to learn how to properly take care of it. While no cards last forever, we do have tips and techniques that help extend the life of your cards and ensure you get the most out of them. The best thing you can do to prolong the life of your cards is wash your hands before using them. You must do this every single time (before practicing and performing). Your hand produces oils and other chemicals that will stick to the cards and cause them to get dirty. Please understand that black cards are very different from white cards. They demand a different kind of care. Whereas fanning powder works with white cards, it leaves a white residue on black cards. After much experimenting, Ellusionist has invented a new finish called the UV500 Air-Flow Finish, which renders fanning powder unnecessary on black cards (as long as proper care is taken when using your Black Deck!). It’s important to understand that black cards have BLACK INK all over them, that’s why they are black. Black ink generally picks up dust and absorbs sweat more quickly than white (but the Air-Flow Finish helps dramatically). If the edges of the Black Deck cards start to get white, do not panic, this is a common issue. The ink wears out faster on the sides of the cards than the middle because of the way magicians usually handle cards using fans, springs, and shuffles. Many people take a black Sharpie® and touch up the sides of the cards to fix this. However, you must do this correctly so you do not damage your deck. Sharpie Care with Your Black Deck Take each card individually and touch up the sides separately. Rather than using the tip of the sharpie, use the side of the tip and run it along each side of the card once. Set the card down onto a paper towel and let it dry for at least 24 hours. You have to repeat this with every card, but it usually only takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Remember to lay the cards out individually, so they are not touching. If you don’t follow this procedure, then the cards might dry and end up sticking together. If you still notice white edges, then repeat the entire process again (waiting 24 hours each time). When you handle the cards, remember that they are not resistant to all abuse. They will take a bit more abuse than regular cards because the stock and print are better, but they are still cards. Handle the cards with care. Try to think about being elegant with the deck and how you treat it. When practicing a routine that destroys
the cards (or permanently changes them), you might consider using a regular deck and then only performing with the Black Deck. Many people have suggested that putting the cards in the fridge or freezer is a good idea to extend the life of the cards. It isn’t. This does absolutely nothing to extend the life of your cards and can actually cut down on their life significantly. While in the freezer or fridge, they will be subjected to moisture, which can cause the cards to warp. Instead, store the cards in a cool, dry place. Using a Card Clip Another recommended option you have with the Black Deck is to purchase and use a Joe Porper card clip. This card clip is the best one on the market (it has a beautiful black finish to match the black deck) and will help extend the life of your deck. Not only will it protect it from the elements (even carrying a deck in your pocket does a little damage), but it will help prevent it from warping, keeping it cool and straight. For tricks that involve getting a signature from the spectator on a card, we recommend a silver or gold Sharpie, the writing looks incredible on black and dries in a second or two. These are all available inexpensively at ellusionist.com.
THE BLACK DECK REVOLUTION – OTHER OPTIONS AND IDEAS
Trick Black Decks There are currently five major trick decks that are made from the Black Deck. They are the Invisible Black Deck, the Rising Card Black Deck, the Forcing Black Deck, the Exchange Black Deck, and the Stripper Black Deck. Each packs a powerful punch and will elevate your performance when used in a routine in conjunction with a regular Black Deck. Now the Tiger-MINI is also available…a tiny version of the Black Deck that can be used in many routines to reduce the size of the cards. Baby Tigers!
Black Deck Presentation Concepts In this book are tricks and routines that are fully scripted. Sometimes it’s good to just take a general idea and “run with it” in a trick, rather than fully script it. The following are some presentation ideas to use with the Black Deck that we have found to be particularly effective on audiences.
The Zombie Card (for an Ambitious Card routine) This routine was hallucinated by a sleep-deprived Chet from the Ellusionist Discussion Forums; the Zombie Card idea was developed from a spider-like hand movement of Dan Turcotte. When I saw Dan getting spectators to “help rise” the Ambitious Card, I sort of drifted into “what if that magical hand movement actually DID raise something?” Start with the old “pick a card; any card.” Make this as hokey as possible, but be a little afraid. Warn your audience that there is something unique about this deck of…Stop in the middle of the sentence and stare at the card they’ve selected. “You, you realize,” you stammer, “that you have picked the Zombie Card?” Even if they don’t ask, “What’s a Zombie Card?” tell them. “This Zombie Card was once a living, vital Four of Spades (or whichever card they picked). But, cursed for its sins against humanity, it was made subject to unsanctified voodoo. Now it can never rest. No matter how often we try to give it a proper Christian burial (bury the card in the deck), it cannot rest.” Before turning it over, put your hand over the deck in spider fashion. Draw your hand upward, as if you were lifting a marionette with a string on each of your fingers (call this “invoking the voodoo curse”). Then, reveal that the Zombie Card has risen to the top. When the card is actually on the top, you can have the spectator “do the voodoo” and make the Zombie Card rise. For this, he puts his hand over the deck in a spider fashion and draws his fingers upwards, just like you did. Then, have the spectator turn over the Zombie Card himself. Continue on with your Ambitious Card routine with this patter line until you get to the final move. “It always rises, no matter how deeply we bury it.”
For the finale, tell the spectator that “Once, they tried to end the rampage of the Zombie and bring peace to the undead corpse. They broke its back so it might not rise again.” Execute the Braue Pop-Up Move (taught in Crash Course 2). When the Zombie Card rises again, say “The Zombie still lives!!!”
Voodoo While this might seem a bit obvious, many people forget that the color of the deck already gives it inherent meaning to the audience on a subconscious level. They respond to the deck immediately and you can capitalize on that, ensuring you will maximize reactions. We feel that voodoo themes work perfectly with certain effects. Any time something strange is happening to one card (or more), you could build a script based on the power of voodoo. For example, we feel that the effect Burned (How to Do Street Magic) and Card Warp by Roy Walton (taught as Voodoo Zone on How to o Street Magic) are excellent examples of the voodoo theme working beautifully. Do a search on the Internet for voodoo and pick up some solid FACTS to base your routine around. You’ll be amazed at the power of being able to rattle off some straight facts about what you are talking about: i.e., voodoo began back in 1634, deep in central Africa and was originally used by tribal witch doctors to ward off evil spirits and maintain the health of the village, etc. Facts bring a sense of reality to your story and people instantly think you know what you are talking about.
Black Magick Many audiences have heard about the Black Arts, but few have any exposure to it. Consider presenting something that delves a bit into the Black Arts using your Black Deck and you’ll be amazed at how the reactions explode from your audience. Again, research!
Scratches on the Cards There is a lot of black ink on the Tiger Cards and you can use it to amazing advantage. Take a pin or the end of a paper clip and scratch a word or phrase in the middle of one of the cards; don’t make it perfect, make it as if it was written by a hand that just came out of the grave and scratched the card with its fingernails (chicken scratches). For testing right now, scratch the word, “AFRAID” on one of your black cards. Step back and look at it… Look at how scary it looks and how real. Now come up with a few routines for this premise. We’ll start you off. What if you had a duplicate Three of Spades in the deck? This duplicate has the scratches on it. Maybe it has the spectator’s name, maybe it has the words “this one”, maybe it has “I am real”. Think of something subtle but scary. Then… • You force the normal Three on the spectator. • Shuffle it back into the pack and control it to double lift position (second from the top), with the scratched three above it on top of the deck.
• Double lift, showing the person’s card has risen to the top maybe mention the Zombie?). • Turn the double back over and hand them the Three to keep in their hands (in reality the scratched duplicate). • Have them cover the card with both hands. • Talk about Zombies and how dangerous they are and how nothing can stop them, and then eventually have them reveal the card in their hands with the “fresh” writing. • Sorry, we have to go now; we’ll be under our bed hiding…Aaugghhh!!!
BLACK DECK EFFECTS
III NEGATIVE FLIP
Ken Sasamura
Effect Description A photograph of a face down card is turned face up to reveal a selected card. The card that was selected is missing from the white deck and only a black version of the card can be found. Patter Line The patter for this effect is based on a photo negative that represents the selected card. It’s obvious that photographic tricks and themes can be widely expounded upon, given the “negative image” look of the Tiger Cards. Use your imagination – you never know what you’ll be able to come up with in this regard. How about in the middle of a white deck routine, a sudden flash goes off and you are left holding a negative image of the selected card? Setup This setup requires some additional props, other than the Black Deck. Remove a single card from a Black Deck and put it second from the bottom in a regular red/blue deck. Have the matching red/blue card on the top of the deck, so you can force it on the audience. You will need to have a printout of the face of a Black Deck card that matches the force card. Cut that face card out and put it in the center of a large sheet of paper. You will also need a printout of the back of a Black Deck card that is cutout so it can be placed over the top of the face up card. The printout of the back of the Black Deck card is not connected to anything so it can be moved around. To recap, the magician ends up with a sheet of white paper. In the center of that sheet is a picture of the face of a Black Deck card. This picture is about 75 percent of a regular card size. The magician also has another picture of the back of a Black Deck card. This picture (of the back) is cutout and there is no paper around it at all. Put some magician’s wax on the blank side of the picture with the back of the Black Deck card. Place the cutout over the top of the card on the printout, so the face up
picture is completely hidden. Stick the picture of the face down card to the picture of the face up card. Put this in your pocket Method The method is quite simple. You force the top card on the spectator so they select the one that matches the Black Deck card (an overhand shuffle force would work well and allow you to leave the deck more or less in the same order with the black card near the bottom). Have the spectator replace the card into the deck and then control it to the top either by a shuffle, pass, cull, or any other method you see fit (it doesn’t matter where the black card in the deck winds up, just control the spectator’s card and then palm it). Palm off the selection and reach into your pocket to remove the printout with the cover card already on it. Leave the selected card in your pocket. Take the printout of the back of the Black Deck card and use it to cover up the face up printout. Show the paper to the audience that has the picture of the face up card, which is covered by the cutout of the face down card. Begin to rub the picture and during this rubbing action, you will pull the cutout down and away so it is not blocking the face up picture anymore. Continue rubbing this until the cutout is palmed (right in your palm, do not finger palm it). Then, you can slowly lift your fingers up one at a time to show that the image has changed and the card is now face up. Hand it out for inspection and then pocket the cutout picture.
Note Adjusting the size of the images and the size of your printouts will allow you to control the portability and visibility of this effect. For close up, you want the photo to be no larger than a playing card. Alternatively, you could make the photo larger for parlor performances.
Reach over and get the deck again. Glance at the side of the deck to locate the black card (it should stick out to you). Cut the deck or execute a pass to bring the black card to the center. Spread the cards to reveal that the selection has changed to black and then reveal it face up. Leave the cards out in the open, in case anyone wants to see if the original card is still in the deck somewhere.
Note You can also introduce a black card in the middle of a routine by palming it in and then controlling it via a shuffle to the second from the bottom position. Then, you simply have to locate the matching card and work it to the top.
Script The magician pulls out a red/blue deck of cards and removes them from the box. Before the time of digital cameras, we had to use an ancient technology called “film.” Rather than being able to view your photos on your camera, you had to take two or three pictures and hope that one turned out right. When you got your pictures printed, you could have as many sets as you wanted, but you only got one set of negatives back. Since people here seem a bit camera-shy, we’ll take a photo of one of the cards in this deck. The magician forces a card on the spectator. Please put it back in the deck, so we can begin. Does anyone have a camera here? The magician waits for the audience to answer with a “no.” If they do have a camera, look at it and disregard it saying you need a different one. For example, if the camera is not a Polaroid (one that instantly develops film), then you say you can’t use that camera because it’s not a Polaroid. If it is a Polaroid, then you can say you need a regular camera or a digital one. No matter what they answer, you always indicate that it’s the wrong kind of camera. That’s all right. We’ll just take a mental picture of the card. Now, everyone is picturing the card as they saw it. Magicians are a bit different, though. We can take mental pictures and also keep the negatives. Let me show you what I mean. During this patter, the magician controls the card to the top and executes a top palm. Or, the card can be controlled to the bottom and the magician executes a bottom palm. Either way, the selected card is palmed out of the deck. He reaches into his pocket with the palmed card in hand, drops it in his pocket and then pulls out the image with the cover up image on top of it.. My negative is only in black and white, and the colors are reversed. But this is a representation of the backside of my mental picture. Now, after looking at it, I’ve noticed that you’re thinking of the card and using the colors you see here. But this picture could be any card. The magician rubs on the picture of the face down card and in the process, palms off the piece that is covering the face up image. I believe that this looks a bit more like your mental picture. The magician hands the image out to be inspected and pockets the palmed card. He notes where the black card is in the deck by glancing at the side and then cuts the black card to the middle, if necessary. He then ribbon spreads the cards and waits for the audience to notice the single black card. Sometimes real life does imitate art.
References This section references the Ellusionist videos that teach the sleights used in this book. • Various methods for forcing a card are taught on Ninja 2, Inside Magic and How to Do Street Magic. • The Pass is taught on Ninja 1. • Controlling shuffles are taught on Crash Course 1. • A one-handed top palm is taught on Crash Course 2. • A bottom palm is taught on Ninja 2. • The ribbon spread is taught on How to Do Street Magic and Inside Magic.
HYPNOTIC INDUCTION
Magius
Effect Description A spectator selects a card from the spread and he is the only one to look at it. The magician sets the deck down on the table and begins to hypnotize the spectator into forgetting the selected card completely. The audience then checks to see what the selected card was as the spectator names it out loud. They do not match. Patter line The magician is going to attempt to hypnotize the spectator and cause them to forget the card that was selected. Many magicians will scoff or shy away from this trick because it uses a single, simple sleight. However, this trick is more of a challenge than that because it forces the performer to turn this single sleight into an amazing effect. This challenge is not with sleight of hand, but with presentation. If you’re unsure about performing this one, just try it out a few times, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how strong the reactions are. Many top magicians have become extremely famous by using simple and direct effects. They have realized that a simple principle applied in a very clever manner is not only incredibly deceptive, but also incredibly powerful. Just because an effect does not require you to bust your knuckles does not mean it is not powerful. We’re not alone in this attitude either, which is why we love the following quote. Popular Indian magician Manuj Chandra Sharma, in talking about the Stripper Deck once said, “You have in your arsenal one of the most powerful concepts to create an aura of disbelief for your audience, but no, you don’t care about your audience. You want to prove to yourself that after a month of practice you can pull a fancy move off so you can feel great that others can’t do it and you are more dedicated and hard working than all the others. But from the audience standpoint it proves nothing. The audience does not see the sleights, they see magic.” Setup No setup is required for this trick, only a Black Deck. Method The method behind this effect can vary, depending on the performer, the audience, and the environment. This is a list of the possible sleights you can use to accomplish the effect. These start from the point of having the card pushed out of a ribbon spread (but not looked at) by the spectator.
Double lift Here, you will just need to remove the selection and keep the face of it hidden. Set it aside and then square up the deck and place it face down on top of the deck. Then, show the selected card to the single spectator, but do a double lift. Have him memorize it and then turn the double over and set the deck down on the table. Continue with the script and have the other spectators turn over the real top card to reveal that it is in fact different than what the spectator thought. (This is an awesome and little used method of forcing a card; you can also perform it in your hands.) Top Change Here, you will have the selection looked at by a single spectator as soon as it’s removed from the deck. As you scoop up the cards, you square them up and he is asked to memorize the card. You take it back and turn to the other side of the audience. During this turn, you have the spectators look at each other and execute the top change. You lay the selected card down to the side and put the rest of the deck down and away from it. Continue with the script and the rest of the audience can look at the single selection at the end. There is a classic effect called Everywhere and Nowhere that utilizes the top change in this way, on three separate cards, all of which turn into the Ace of Spades later on. The effect became a classic because of its simplicity and how hard it hit the spectators. Mexican Turnover This is performed exactly like the Top Change performance. However, this time the selection is revealed by you at the end. When you reveal the selection, you execute a Mexican Turnover and this swaps the cards. Continue on with the rest of the script after the audience knows that the hypnosis was successful. Pass When using the pass for this effect, you will have the spectator look at the selection without you seeing it. Then, it is placed on top of the deck and you set the deck down. As you set the deck down, you execute a pass to put the selection into the middle. Continue on with the script and you can have the rest of the audience reveal the top card to be different. Palming (Out) In this palming method, you have the selection placed on top of the deck. As you turn to the rest of the audience, you palm it off and set the deck down. You then turn back to the spectator and reach into your pocket to remove a pocket watch (or some other item that will help you with the hypnosis), while dropping the palmed card in your pocket. Continue with the rest of the script and have the audience reveal the different card. Palming (In) In this palming method, you will have an indifferent card in your pocket already. The spectator looks at the selected card and places it back on top so it’s easy to keep track of. You will reach into your pocket to remove the
watch (or other item to help you with the hypnosis). After the hypnosis has finished, you will put the item back in your pocket and palm an indifferent card. As you reach over to pick the deck back up, you drop the palmed card on top and you have effectively changed the card. Let the rest of the audience look at the card and reveal that it is different. Protrude Control In this method, you switch the card as you are displaying it. You have the spectator touch a card and they look at it in the deck. Then, as you set the cards down you perform the switch undetected. From this point on, you can continue with the script at the start of the “hypnosis.” Script
Brad Christian
The magician brings out a Black Deck, still in the box, and sets it on the table. Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgot why you went in there? The audience responds with agreement.
We list different methods so you can see there are many ways to “attack” a trick when accomplishing it. Pick the one that feels most right to you and go with it.
I have, too. In fact, I think that everyone has done that at least once in his or her life. Well, I am working on a way to cause that to happen to other people. The uses of it are phenomenal. Imagine that your boss walks over to you and is ready to pile on a bunch of work for you to do over the long weekend. Then, you see that puzzled face and suddenly he (or she) walks off wondering why they came up to you in the first place. It would be priceless. Note You have to present this effect in a serious manner for it to be believable. This means that everything in your presentation must have a serious “tone” to it – such as your body language, gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions, tempo, and your posture – must be presented seriously. Absolutely everything. You must really believe that you are going to try to hypnotize someone at this point to bring a realistic element to the effect itself. This is a test of performance skills.
The magician takes out the deck of cards and spreads them on the table to show all the faces. Then, he reverses the spread to show all the backs and leaves them in that state. But, I’m only working on my techniques; I’m still a while away from developing a way to prevent extra weekend work. This technique uses all black cards, so that the images of the cards are different in your mind than any other cards you have seen before. It also removes the extra coloring and allows our thoughts to focus on values and not pictures. What we will try to do now might not work out. I just want to prepare you for that; it’s just an experiment. Would you please push one card forward and leave it on the table?
The magician has a spectator push one card forward and it stays on the table, face down. The cards are left in this state while the magician talks to the spectator. Now sir, when people think of hypnosis, they usually think of people doing
embarrassing things on stage. So, some people shy away from it. I promise you that I will not cause you to do anything embarrassing. Some people also resist hypnosis because they don’t want to give up control of their thoughts or because they don’t want the hypnotist to “beat” them. I promise you that you will not give up any control at all and that if this is successful and you allow me to hypnotize you, then everyone will win. But some people simply don’t believe in hypnosis at all. What I’m presenting here is not a trickery of the eye, but trickery of the mind. This is based on scientifically proven techniques and is accomplished only by words. Are you ready? The magician then begins to “hypnotize” the spectator. You are going to notice certain things going on in your mind and through your body as the hypnosis begins. You’ll experience common things like feeling very relaxed, almost sleepy, and some sensations that aren’t so common. You may begin to notice that you want to close your eyes. You can do so, if you wish. What you will begin to feel is a light tingling in your feet and in your hands. It will feel almost as though you can sense the blood pumping throughout your body and you can feel it going to the ends and coming back to your heart. What I am going to do is simply remove a thought from your mind. The thought is nothing important and nothing that will affect you at all. I’m going to remove the thought of the card you selected. I will also try to plant a new thought in your mind, but I doubt that it will work. As you start to relax a bit more, you’ll notice the tingling has moved up into your legs and into your arms. It’s faint, but if you focus, you can feel it. I can tell by your smile that you’re sensing something. On my command, I want you to open your eyes (or “look at my eyes” depending on the current state). The magician pauses for a moment, but no more than 2-3 seconds. Now! Open your eyes (or look at my eyes), ! The magician says that part with more emphasis, but he does not shout it. He then waits for eye contact to be established. The instant that eye contact is established the magician says the next line. As the next line is being delivered, the magician waves his hand in front of the spectator’s face, horizontally. He does not break eye contact at all, though. After the wave has been completed and the line has been delivered, the magician snaps his fingers. What thought is in your mind, ?
Note You can actually get them to forget the card. This is possible and does happen. If they don’t forget the card, then you can simply say that the thought they have is the one you planted there because the card that was selected is different than the thought (thanks to the switch).
Either way, the magician has the rest of the audience show the card to the spectator or we discover that the though has either been successfully removed or successfully changed via hypnosis.
Additional Notes This effect requires a lot of serious performing and a lot of showmanship. You want to view the cards as a small part of this larger effect. The effect that you are trying to create is that you’ve hypnotized someone into forgetting a thought (or having a different thought). The cards should be considered as a small prop used only for easy verification. We cannot stress enough how you must present this seriously. Also, if you are in the middle of a routine that is not serious, then this effect might not work at that time. You must be performing something with a serious tone before this effect to have a chance for it to be a success and get great reactions. You must also appear to have complete confidence in your abilities. You might notice that you are not fully confident on the inside as you perform this effect, but on the outside you should be completely confident.
References • The ribbon spread is taught on How to Do Street Magic and Inside Magic. • Double lifts are taught in various places. Ellusionist products that teach at least one double lift are Crash Course 1, Crash Course 2, and Ninja 2. • The Top Change is taught in great detail in Kard Klub. • The Mexican Turnover is taught in various videos and books, but none that Ellusionist themselves have produced. • Various methods of accomplishing the Pass are taught on Ninja 1 and Ninja 2. • Some palming methods are taught on Ninja 2 and Crash Course 2. • The Protrude Control is taught on Crash Course 1. Additional Credits Magius has indicated that the inspiration for such presentation is from Derren Brown’s magic style, demonstrated in his TV specials and described in his book Pure Magic. Luke Jermay and Kenton Knepper also deserve to be mentioned, as something similar to this effect appears in the book 7 Deceptions by Luke Jermay. Luke has some brilliant additions and concepts that can be used to enhance the effect even further.
DIVERGENT ANIMATION
Malcolm Vendryes
Effect Description The magician proceeds to bring out the most famous card in any deck, the Ace of Spades, shows it face up on top of the deck, and then rubs it with an empty hand. When he removes his hand again, the pip in the middle of the card has twisted to the side. He then takes it off the deck and passes his hand back over it to straighten the pip out and return it to normal. Patter Line The magician speaks of the most famous card in the deck – the Ace of Spades. He then says that not many people know why the Ace of Spades is so famous, and then proceeds to let them know how it became known as “The Death Card.” Setup At the printing of this book, the 2nd Edition of the Black Tiger Deck contains a Twisted Ace of Spades, which can be used for card work. Have the Twisted Ace of Spades second from the bottom and the normal Ace of Spades on the bottom of the deck. Method This method only uses four sleights, but they are well crafted and go well with the script below. You introduce a deck already set up as needed. You start the script and then turn the deck face up so that the normal Ace of Spades is showing. At the right time in the script, you perform a Classic Color or Erdnase Change. You continue with the patter and then perform a double lift, but do not turn the double face down. Instead, you execute a double lift and take two cards (as one) off the deck. The rest of the deck is set down on a table or handed to a spectator. From here, you execute a Bertram Change. During the reactions to the Bertram Change, you palm the Twisted Ace of Spades and pocket it. The normal Ace of Spades can then be handed out. Script The magician brings out a Black Deck and takes the cards out of the box. He holds them face down, in the Mechanic’s Grip.
Note Timing is critical. You want to pause and begin the first half of the color change after you finish saying the word “sinister.” You do not deliver the next line until you are halfway through the change. You then deliver the next line as you complete the color change, but you hold back on the word “twisted.” A slight pause is put in, and then you twist your hand as you say the word “twisted.” Once you finish saying that word, pause for a single moment and then lift your hand up to show that the Ace of Spades has now actually twisted.
Many people know that the most famous card in the deck is the Ace of Spades. It is sometimes mistaken for the trump card of trump cards. It is sometimes mistaken for “The Devil Card.” But, most people know the Ace of Spades as “The Death Card.”
Note The timing of this line and when you execute the change is also critical. What you want to do is pause on the first time you say the word “card” to display the Twisted Ace of Spades. On the second time you say the word “card,” you want to execute the Bertram Change.
The magician turns the deck face up and reveals the Ace of Spades. What you don’t know is why the Ace of Spades became the Death Card. Some people say it’s because the Ace of Spades is a bit darker than the rest. They feel it’s a bit more sinister. They believe that it’s twisted.
The magician executes the first color change.
In reality, the reason why the Ace of Spades is known as the Death Card is because of US soldiers who fought in Vietnam. Combat troops would take decks of cards out onto the battlefield. They suspected that the Vietnamese soldiers believed the Ace of Spades to be an omen of death and that it was feared. So, during the war, US soldiers would leave these cards on top of fallen enemies. They would also leave them in areas that were regularly patrolled by the enemy as a sign of what was to come. The magician executes a double lift, but does not turn it over. Instead, he takes the two Aces off the deck and sets the deck on the table (or hands it to a spectator). Many people think that a card is just a card. The magician executes the Bertram Change. Now that you know why this card is so famous, it is up to you to decide if you believe in the superstition or not. The magician palms off the Twisted Ace of Spades as he hands the normal Ace of Spades out for inspection. During the audience reaction, he puts both hands in his pockets and ditches the Twisted Ace of Spades. He’s then completely clean, in case anyone wants to inspect the card or the deck.
Note Do not be in a hurry to ditch the palmed card. Many times, it’s much stronger to retain the palmed card and simply ask the audience if they believe in that superstition, or any other ones. As soon as you finish the question, they will think about the answer before they reply. This is when you can pocket the ditched card, as their mind will be focused on something else away from the cards and away from your hands.
References • The Erdnase or Classic Color Change is taught in How to Do Street Magic. • Ellusionist products that teach at least one double lift are Crash Course 1, Crash Course 2 and Ninja 2. • The Bertram Change is taught in the book Bertram on Sleight of Hand. • Some palming methods are taught on Ninja 2 and Crash Course 2.
RADIAL TELEPATHY
Richard Agnew
Effect Description A card is selected, lost in the deck, and then a “reading” is given by the magician about that selection and how it might relate to the spectator. The card is then located near the top of the deck and then the white pips on the card visually change to red. Patter Line This effect is about love and two hearts. The selected card represents them. For those interested in Mentalism and cold reading, you have a unique opportunity to include that element into this effect. We feel that it really adds to the overall impression and impact, so we recommend that’s how you perform it. Setup From the top of the deck, you have the following cards: • • • •
Black/White Two of Hearts (face down) Black/White Joker (face down) Black/Red Two of Hearts (face up) Rest of deck is Black/White (all face down)
Note If you want to perform this with a clean deck before this trick, then it is quite simple to set up in front of the audience. You simply have the Joker and black/red Two of Hearts in your pocket. The cards are facing each other and the Joker is on top. You can reach into your pocket, palm both cards, and place them on top of the deck. Then, you have to find the black/white Two of Hearts in the deck and bring it to the top.
So, the only card that has red on it in the deck is a single Two of Hearts. The rest of the cards are from a Black/White colored Black Deck. Method While you can open with this effect, we find that the impact increases a lot if you perform a few tricks before it using the Black Deck. The reason for this is you want the audience to become comfortable with the deck itself and also with the colors. You also want them to know that there are no Jokers in the deck (or cards with color).
This effect does not rely heavily on sleights. You will begin by forcing the black/white Two of Hearts on the spectator. Rather than the spectator putting the card back into the deck, you will do so and you will insert it into the third position, face down. You will use Marlo’s Tilt to do this. At this point, you can begin a cold reading on the spectator and relate it to the selected card. It shouldn’t be too difficult to relate a Two of Hearts to someone. Of course, if you have alternative ideas for the cold reading or force card, then you can easily change it to whichever card suits you.
Once the cold reading (which is optional) has finished, you pull off the top two cards as one, but do not turn them over. You then turn over the third card (the forced card) and leave it face up on top of the deck. At this point, you can do a very short talk about the card and then execute the paintbrush change. Take the face down Joker still left in your hand and stick it into the middle of the deck, but leave it injogged. You will be left with a face up double lift (both of the Twos). From here, turn the double lift over and square up the Joker, but hold a break over it. Execute a pass and this brings the Joker to the top and the Two’s are buried in the deck. Allow the spectator to turn over the top card (which they believe is the red Two of Hearts) and they will notice that it is now the Joker. Script The magician completes the previous trick and then palms in the two cards from his pocket. He then locates the Two of Hearts, injogs it, and brings it to the top of the deck by using a cull. The deck is now set up and ready to perform this effect. We’ve all heard “pick a card, any card” from someone who wants to show us a piece of magic. Sometimes it’s terrible, sometimes it’s good, and a few special times it can become something that we will remember forever. We’ll see if we’re fortunate enough to experience that sometime this evening. Please tell me when to stop. The magician forces the top card via the Slip Force. Now, most people just say ‘stop’ when the thought occurs to them. Usually, the decision is based purely on their intuition. Either that or it’s our fate that can guide us. No matter what, it can be very interesting to find out which card that is. The magician gestures for the spectator to take the force card. Of course, you get to see the card right now. I get to find out if it means something more than what we’re initially seeing. After the card has been shown to the audience, the magician takes it back and inserts it into the deck. He uses Marlo’s Tilt to do this. However, he ensured that the card is inserted into the third position in the deck (this is a slight modification to the original sleight). He then sets the deck down or hands it to the spectator. You pride yourself in being an independent thinker and you usually don’t accept people’s opinions without some sort of proof. I get the feeling that you often doubt whether you have made the right decision because of certain events that have happened in your life. You know you have a great deal of untapped potential that you keep hidden from others. You need to learn how to harness that potential. You tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside, yet on the outside, you can seem very controlled. This is probably because of some hurt you have suffered in the past. I’m sensing a past love interest and that there was a third party that seemed to have complicated things. There are some financial concerns that you want to change in the short term and also down the road. But all of this has to tie together. Our lives are full of routine and regular things. This can sometimes leave us feeling like we’re in a “rut.” While it might seem like we’re leading a life full of routine, each day is unique. The mystery of life is to find out the little things that happen to us each day that make that day unique and relate them to our own “big picture.”
Some people might select a card and think that it is nothing more than a playing card. Other might select a card and relate it to the rest of the deck. Only a select few will select a card and relate it to their own lives. I leave that choice up to you, but I want you to realize that sometimes the is more than just the . The magician ends the cold reading section and continues on with the script from this point. Most of us have heard the famous line “you complete me” from the movie Jerry McGuire. This, of course, is based on the feeling that we might have when someone else seems to make us a whole person. Usually, when we meet someone who does this, we wonder how we actually got through life before the first time we met.
Note Alexandre kindly donated this cold reading patter to our project. Please check out the references section for the credits and other information about him.
This feeling of “oneness” can be quite breathtaking. However, I don’t believe that two people become one at all. Instead, I believe that we can become so in tune with another person, so in sync, so connected, that it gives us the illusion that we’re one being. The magician takes the deck back. Therefore, I think that what is happening is more like two hearts beating at the exact same time and in the same place. The great part is that when you’ve found this, you know it immediately. That electricity from eye contact cannot be denied. The magician picks up the top two cards as one and pauses. I think that I’ve found it. The magician uses the double card to turn over the next card in the deck (the selection) and pauses for people to react. But, the best part about this miracle isn’t knowing immediately that you’ve found it. No, not at all. The best part of this miracle is that when you’ve found it, you feel so (pause) alive. The magician begins the Paintbrush Change on the last sentence (the best part). On the word “alive,” the magician completes the Paintbrush Change to make the black and white Two of Hearts visually change into the black and red Two of Hearts. The magician pauses for the reaction and inserts the leftover Joker into the middle of the deck, but leaves it injogged. He then turns the two face up cards on top of the deck face down, hiding the black and white Two of Hearts. He then squares up the deck (including the injogged Joker) and catches a break above it. As he sets the deck down, he executes a pass to bring the Joker to the top of the deck and the Twos to the middle of the deck. The deck is either sitting on the table now or in a spectator’s hands. But the second we start to take things to heart too much, we’re jolted back to reality. That’s why it’s so important to realize things can change before we even know it. So, we shouldn’t always take life so seriously. The magician gestures for the spectator to turn over the top card. If the spectator doesn’t do it, then the magician just says it outright. They react, as the card is now a Joker.
Additional Notes For those who perform cold reading with this effect, the script will change every time you perform it to suit the spectator. Remember to perform some effects before this one, using the Black Deck so people are already aware that it is just a black and white and that there are no Jokers. It’s much stronger to do it this way, as opposed to showing the deck and explicitly saying, “there are no red cards or Jokers in here.” References • Various methods for forcing a card are taught on Ninja 2, Inside Magic, and How to Do Street Magic. • The Marlo Tilt is taught on Crash Course 2 and Ninja 2. • The Paintbrush Change is taught on Ninja 2. • Double lifts are taught in various places. Ellusionist products that teach at least one double lift are Crash Course 1, Crash Course 2, and Ninja 2. • The Pass is taught on Ninja 1.
Ellusionist would like to give our special thanks to Alexandre (www.eyesandminds.com) for allowing us to use his cold reading patter for this effect.
STRANGE ART OF FORTUNE TELLING
Roy Ornelas Jr.
Effect Description The magician has a card selected and it is left unseen by everyone in the audience. He then continues by giving a “reading” on the person who selected the card. At the end of the reading, the magician names the card that was selected and the spectator turns it over to see if it’s correct. Patter Line This effect is about Cartomancy (the art of fortune telling with cards). The difference is that this uses a regular deck instead of Tarot cards. The patter is about the spectator and the spectator’s life. At the climax, the magician names the card and the spectator reveals how it relates to him or her. Setup None required – you only need one Black Tiger Deck. As an additional bonus, the cards should be carried without the box. We recommend purchasing a Tarot deck Bag (they come in various colors) and you can use that to hold the cards. You want to give the impression that the cards are rare and have been passed down to you. Method The method of this effect relies on a glimpse of a bottom card and then using it in a Riffle Force. The patter is entirely based on cold reading techniques. Have the spectator shuffle the deck, but do not instruct them to cut it. If they do it on their own, that is fine. You are going to attempt to glimpse the bottom card of the deck. This card is the one that you intend to force. The reason you do not have them cut the deck is because you are going to cut it in preparation for the Riffle Force. If they have cut the deck themselves, then your cut (which is required for the Riffle Force) is unnecessary and could become suspect for some of the “extra perceptive” spectators. If you cannot glimpse the bottom card by now, then hold the deck sideways and you can see the bottom card easily. This looks like you are just looking at the edges of the cards, but with a tiny angle you can see the index of the bottom card. Once you know what the bottom card is, hold the deck in Mechanic’s Grip. Using your pinky finger, pull down on the bottom card. This will allow you to get a break above it. Bring your right hand over and take the deck into Biddle grip and transfer the break above the bottom card to your right thumb. Give the deck a Swing Cut and retain the break above the bottom card as it is inserted into the middle. As the deck is starting to close, drop the bottom card. It should now be the top card on the bottom packet. Retain the break you have from the Swing Cut (above the card that was originally on the bottom) and execute a Riffle Force. Put the forced card face down on the table and remove the entire deck from view of the audience. You want to make this entire effect about the spectator and that one card. Script The magician brings out a small, black velvet bag. He reaches inside the bag and
removes the Black Deck of cards. He ribbon spreads them face up to show the faces and then collects the cards into one pile. The deck is handed to an audience member and is shuffled. Please shuffle the cards carefully. I don’t have many of these decks and they are quite rare. After the deck has been thoroughly shuffled, it is returned to the magician. He cuts the deck. He then has the spectator select a card via a Riffle Force. Using nothing but your intuition, tell me when to stop. The magician stops on the spectator’s command and places the single card directly in front of him and puts the rest of the deck back in the bag. The bag is then returned to its original location, completely out of view from the audience. One person. One fortune. One card. The magician then proceeds to perform some cold reading on the spectator.
Note This effect is meant to be presented after using the Cartomancy introduction that Roy has come up with. Please see the “Black Deck and Your Audience” section for that introduction.
You pride yourself in being an independent thinker and you usually don’t accept people’s opinions without some sort of proof. I get the feeling that you often doubt whether you have made the right decision because of certain events that have happened in your life. You know you have a great deal of untapped potential that you keep hidden from others. You need to learn how to harness that potential. You tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside, yet on the outside, you can seem very controlled. This is probably because of some hurt you have suffered in the past. I’m sensing a past love interest and that there was a third party that seemed to have complicated things. There are some financial concerns that you want to change in the short term and also down the road. But all of this has to tie together. Our lives are full of routine and regular things. This can sometimes leave us feeling like we ’re in a "rut." While it might seem like we're leading a life full of routine, each day is unique. The mystery of life is to find out the little things that happen to us in each day that make that day unique and relate them to our own "big picture." Some people might select a card and think that it is nothing more than a playing card. Others might select a card and relate it to the rest of the deck. Only a select few will select a card and relate it to their own lives. I leave that choice up to you, but I want you to realize that sometimes the is more than just the . At the end of the cold reading, the magician returns to this script. And now we return to the beginning. One person. One fortune. One card. I have a feeling about where your intuition has led you. That is my role in this journey. Your
role in this journey is to discover the relationship between this intuitive moment and your life. For some it is the value, for some it is the suit, and for a very select few, it is both. The magician pauses while this statement sinks in. Your intuition has led you to the .
Note Kindly donated to our project by Alexandre. Please see references section for credits and other information about him. During this cold reading you can use any or all of the above. Take bits and pieces of it or use it verbatim, depending on the interest level of your audience and how "into it" you are.
Additional Notes This effect becomes powerful based on the cold reading and the importance you place on the selection. You want it to be more than just them picking a card and you naming it. The card has to take on meaning and have some importance for the spectator. You'll need to perform this in a serious tone and it would not go over well in a comedy-based routine. While it seems quite easy to perform from a technical aspect, the real difficulty comes from finding a way to make this into a piece of art in the performance.
References • The Swing Cut is taught in Crash Course 1. • The pinky break above the bottom card, transfer to the right hand thumb, and Swing Cut are taught in Ninja 1. • A version of the Riffle Force is taught in Ninja 2.
Ellusionist would like to give our special thanks to Alexandre (www.eyesandminds.com) for allowing us to use his cold reading patter for this effect.
OUTCAST DIVISION
Dominick Cancilla
Effect Description A selected card (red) is found to either be the only black card in a deck that is all red, or a selected card (red) becomes the only red card in an entire Black Deck. Patter Line The magician is always asked about how he learned to do magic. He decides that he's going to take the audience through the entire process of learning a brand new trick. Setup You need to have all of the props required to perform this effect in a plastic bag. Since most people have purchased a trick in their lifetime, you should have an extra plastic bag kicking around the house that can be used. The concept you want to promote is that this is a brand new trick for you. Therefore, the deck of cards must be new (but not in the wrapper] and the paper you use to print the instructions must be new, too. Save the document to your hard drive so you can reprint at a later time. There are two options for presenting this effect. The first is that the entire deck changes from red to black with the exception of the forced card. The other option is to have the forced card change from red to black and the rest of the deck remains the same. If you are going to have the entire deck change colors, then you need to have an extra Black Deck. In this deck, you will insert one red card. That red card wall be in the middle of the Black Deck and face down with the rest of the cards. The matching black card will have to be removed. The red deck will have the force card already in the proper position. If you are going to have just the single card change, then you need only to have the matching black card in a full, red deck and position it second from the bottom. The matching red card will be on top, or in any other position to be forced on the spectator. Method You are going to force the red card onto a spectator no matter which ending you choose. After the card is forced, the method will change depending on how you choose to end the effect. If you want the whole deck to change color, then you need to execute a deck switch. This will involve you having the cards put back into the box after the forced card is lost in the deck. Common deck switches are done by simply putting it into your pocket, continuing on with the script, and then pulling out a different deck from the same pocket. This requires that you have a prepared deck already in the correct pocket.
Script The magician starts out with all of the props in his pockets or set to the side somewhere. He begins speaking and introducing this effect without any distractions. Many people wonder how magicians learn their tricks. I'm often asked, "Where do you learn all this" or "When did you get started?" These are common questions and I want you all to experience the answers first hand. Why don't we learn a new trick together? The magician removes a plastic bag from his pocket that contains the setup props. He opens up the bag and removes a deck of cards that are still in the box (but the box is opened and already set up as needed). He then removes two sheets of paper from the plastic bag. He reads a bit of the first page and then stops. He appears to think about what he's going to do and then finally makes a decision. I think that it would be much easier for everyone to follow the learning process if someone read the instructions out loud and I followed them. Would you mind helping with this, sir? The magician hands the sheets to a spectator and points out from where he can start reading. Please see the Ellusionist Discussion Forums for a link to download the "instruction sheets" and print them from your computer. For login information please see Brad Christian's Acknowledgements at the beginning of the book. Additional Notes This effect, when played right, is a lot of fun and can really lighten the mood of the audience. The task you give a spectator is very simple and the surprise ending makes a nice piece of magic. Depending on your patter and how you use your audience, they may be howling at this routine - there are lots of good opportunities for comedy and you never know what people will come up with in the middle of the trick. It is definitely a good effect to perform near the beginning of your routine. However, this is not a good opener because you must already have rapport with the audience before they will give you the benefit of the doubt that you are learning a trick for the first time. Perform it lightly and "tongue in cheek" for best results. References • Various methods for forcing a card are taught on Ninja 2, Inside Magic, and How to Do Street Magic.
BLACK MANTIS
Raymond Singson
Effect Description A single card is selected from the deck. The back of the card is touched to a lighter and it instantly changes color and the face of the card remains white. Then, the magician has the face card touch the flame and it changes to black as well. Patter Line The magician shares a relatively unknown secret about cards: they are really sensitive to heat. It’s the heat that causes the card to change color, but strangely enough the heat can only affect the side of the card that it touches. Setup A single card from a Black Tiger Deck is kept in the performer’s right pocket. It is face down. The exact match to that card is on top of the regular deck of cards, prepared for a force. Method The top card is forced on the spectator. As the audience is looking for a lighter, you set down the deck with your left hand and go into your pocket and remove the Black Deck card with your right hand. This card is held in Tenkai Palm Position. You then execute a Bertram Change and the card’s back visually changes from red to black. Flick the card from hand to hand, using the second phase from Paul Harris’ effect, Simple Switch. You agree to do this one last time, but this time for the face of the card. Introduce the corner of the card that is facing the spectators to the flame. Just as the corner starts to singe from the flame, you execute Ed Marlo’s Visual Snap Change. This completes the card’s transformation. From here, you are going to set the black card down and pick up the deck with your right hand. This will allow you to pass the card out for inspection and clean up your “dirty” right hand in a natural action. Script Not many people are aware of this, but there is a special finish put on playing cards. Different cards have different finishes and this causes them to feel different to the trained hand, look different to the trained eye, and respond differently to things like heat. The magician brings out a red deck of Bicycle playing cards, still in the box. As you can see, these cards have what’s called an “Air Cushion Finish” on them. The coating was
Note This effect is difficult to accomplish, but not impossible to perform. It will get you tremendous reactions. However, we do not feel it is an effect designed for a beginner. We are including it for those who wanted a challenge and a beautiful visual effect.
designed to prevent the cards from sticking due to normal wear and tear. However, the chemicals that were used also tend to react badly to heat. Here, let me show you. The magician begins to riffle down the side of the deck. Please call out “Stop!” whenever you like. The magician executes the Slip Force (or any other force that he likes to use). Great. You don’t even need to look at it; we just need a lighter now. The magician sets the single card on the table and puts the rest of the deck aside. While the audience searches for a lighter the magician reaches into his right pocket and removes the Black Deck card and hides it in Tenkai Palm Position. The palmed card is face down. Spark the lighter and hold it steady. The magician picks up the selection with his left hand and brings it near the flame. He executes the Bertram Change and the back of the card visually changes color from red to black. That’s what I was talking about. The magician proceeds to pass the card from hand to hand using the second phase of Paul Harris’ Simple Switch. I’ll bet that you’re dying to see that again. Keep the flame going. The magician shows the face of the card to the audience and touches the corner to the flame. He then executes Ed Marlo’s Visual Snap Change to change the face of the card. References • Various methods for forcing a card are taught on Ninja 2, Inside Magic, and How to Do Street Magic. • The Tenkai Palm is taught on How to Do Street Magic. • The Bertram Change is taught in the book Bertram on Sleight of Hand. • The effect Simple Switch is taught in The Art of Astonishment, Volume 3 by Paul Harris. • The Visual Snap Change was created by Ed Marlo and is taught in Jeff McBride’s DVD Art of Card Manipulation, Volume 1.
TIME SPLITTER
Brad Christian
Effect Description The magician borrows a quarter and leaves it sitting on the table. He pulls out a deck of cards from which the spectator chooses one and then SIGNS the back of it. The magician takes the card, still signed, and slowly places it into the middle of the deck, losing it. He sets the deck on the table. He picks up the quarter, lifts half the deck up a few inches and tosses the quarter through the gap. The quarter suddenly has a Spade printed on it. The magician spreads through the deck face down until he reaches the SIGNED card. True enough, it’s missing one of its Spades. Patter Line The magician talks about the phenomenon of a quantum leap. He then proceeds to demonstrate the science with a borrowed coin and a deck of black cards. Setup You need a card with one pip missing. It doesn’t have to be a spade, it can be ANY suit. There is a prepared card that is in the Black Tiger Gaff Deck, which is available through Ellusionist. It is the Five of Spades with the center pip missing. Alternatively, you can make your own at home. Note that because you are using black cards, if you use the card included in the Gaff Deck (Five of Spades) you will print the spade on the quarter with Wite-Out. You can get Wite-Out from any stationery store, used to correct mistakes on a printed document. You need to have that gaffed card second from the top and the matching card on top of the deck. The deck order would be regular Five of Spades on top, gaffed Five of Spades in a second position, and the rest of the deck in any order.
Brad Christian
Method
Borrow a quarter from the spectator. While he is getting one, reach into your pocket and palm the prepared quarter. When you take the quarter from the spectator it is very easy to switch the coin for the prepared one as you set it onto the table for “later”. There’s no heat on you at this point, don’t make it a big deal. If performing street magic and you are outside, lay the coin on the pavement – you’ll use the pavement as your table. Remember to set down the prepared coin with the pip down toward the table or pavement. If you scratch the coin on one side you’ll know by feel which side is which. Ditch the spectator’s quarter in your pocket as soon as you can and forget about it. Alternate patter idea: the coin, acting as a razorblade, slices off the pip, and fuses with it. Two patter concepts are presented, choose the one that fits you best and run with it. However, only the Quantum Leap presentation will be fully outlined in the script. If you’re on the street with no table, use the sidewalk.
The magician forces the top card (regular Five of Spades) on the spectator. While the spectator is looking at it and showing it to the audience, the magician executes
a Single Card Reverse on the leg. This reverses the top card on the deck (the gaffed Five of Spades with the missing pip). So the position is this: the deck is in Mechanic’s Grip in the left hand. One card is face up on top of the deck. The left hand is palm down so no one can see the face up card on the top of the deck. The magician replaces the spectator’s card onto the deck face up to show to the audience one more time (see reference for this move at end of description). At this point, the deck is held face up in Mechanic’s Grip; on top of the deck is the gaffed card, face up; on top of the gaffed card is the spectator’s card also face up. It’s as if the magician just did a double lift and the two cards are sitting face up on the deck. Then, in order for the spectator to SIGN the back of the card, the magician flips the double face down on top of the deck and tells him to sign it. Take the top signed card off the deck (the gaff with the missing pip). You can show it to the audience one more time as you slide it into the middle of the deck; simply cover the missing pip with your thumb! The card is thus “lost” in the middle of the deck. It does not matter where it goes. Cut the deck at any point near the middle and hold the top packet a few inches above the bottom packet. Pick up the quarter fingers on top and thumb underneath. Turn your hand over and toss the coin through the gap and skip it off of the bottom packet. Don’t throw it too hard, as you don’t want to lose it or waste a lot of time trying to find it. When the quarter comes out the other end, it will be pip side up. If not, then have the spectator examine the quarter. Then, execute a table spread or fan of the cards with them face down. Slowly remove the signed card. Have the spectator turn it over to show that a pip is missing from it now. You can also let the spectator keep both the signed card and the quarter. Script Does anyone happen to have a quarter? The magician borrows a quarter from the audience and displays it in his right hand. He switches it and lays the prepared quarter (pip down!) on the table or street. We’ll use that later, we’re going to need it for this experiment. In science, a quantum leap is when a particle starts off in one location, disappears, and then shows up in another location. Scientists have only been able to observe this in the laboratory, but I can demonstrate it in such a way that no microscopes or white coats are needed. The experiment works better with black cards because there’s a lot more ink on these cards – which means more particles to work with. The magician brings out a Black Deck. He fans them face up and face down to show that they are all different on the faces and all the same backs. The magician forces the top card on the audience member. While it is being shown to the rest of the audience, he executes the single card turnover of the gaffed card on top of the deck. Actually, I think I’ll get you to sign the card so your card is unique on both sides.
The magician turns over the two cards as one and the spectator signs the back of the gaffed card, but he believes that it is his regular card (get a silver or gold Sharpie pen for this purpose, looks FABULOUS with black cards). The magician then takes the signed card off of the deck and flashes the face to the spectators. His index finger and middle finger grip the card so that the missing pip is hidden from view. He then puts it into the middle of the deck and flashes the face of the card to the audience again, once the pip is covered by the cards. The magician lays the deck down and cuts about half of it off, holding the upper packet a few inches above the lower one. He throws the quarter through the packets and skips it off of the bottom packet. Look, look at the coin…it literally changed before your eyes. The magician picks up the coin and hands it to the spectator. The magician spreads through the cards slowly and locates the signed card and removes it, but does not turn it face up. This is your card, with your signature. Wouldn’t it be bizarre if…? LOOK… The magician trails off and turns the card over to show that the pip is missing from the middle. He then offers to let the spectator keep both the card and the coin. This is what the scientists call a quantum leap of particles. References • Various methods for forcing a card are taught on Ninja 2, Inside Magic, and How to Do Street Magic. • The Single Card Reverse on the leg is taught on Crash Course 2 and Inside Magic. • The Demanche Change is superb for easily switching any coin and is taught on Ellusionist’s Coin-Only DVD (coming in early 2005). Additional Credits Brad Christian devised the effect and routine based on an idea by one of the Ellusionist Forum members who did not wish to be named.
BONUS EFFECTS SLEIGHTS AND DECK SWITCHES
IV RISK (The Routine)
Chris Schuh
Introduction I have personally used this routine as a closer for many of my professional shows due to the phenomenal reactions it gets. Typically, I perform everything with red Bicycle cards and only bring the Black Deck out for this closing routine. It is a series of three effects that blend into one story. This routine will captivate your audiences. I came up with this entire script concept while talking with a great friend of mine. In the middle of the conversation, I just started into the story and went with it. He was enjoying every second of it and impatiently waited for the climax. At the end, he was just as excited about the concept as I was. However, I only had a theme and no effects to go with it. A few months after that, my friend was at my house and performed an effect for some people, but I felt it wasn’t for me. However, the reactions he got were stunning, and his presentation drew me into the effect, too. Even though I knew how it was accomplished, I was drawn into the sheer beauty of the performance. What I did not want to do was copy my friend’s performance, but I did want to use that style of an effect. So, I ended up re-working the effect and using the Joyal Stack to accomplish it. I felt that the effect was great, but it could have been so much more. I needed it to be part of a routine. For a while, I performed the effect using a regular deck of cards and got great reactions from it. My audiences were delighted at the effect and truly enjoyed the performance. Inside, I still had the nagging feeling that I was only at the beginning – I could sense the potential and just needed to find a way to unlock it. As the routine developed into what you see below, I was fairly happy with it. Then, one day, I was reviewing some older concept ideas that I had saved and came across the story again. I loved the story so much, but still did not have any effects for it. With that fresh in my mind, I went over to my bookshelf of magic to see if something caught my attention. Looking at the shelf, as if it was calling to me, was a single Black Deck. Normally, I keep all my Black Decks in a protective box, but this one was left out. It was as if it was fate. I wondered if the Black Deck would go well with my story.
I made a few changes to the presentation to give some meaning for using the Black Deck and rehearsed everything several times over the following week. I was excited and a little unsure of how audiences would respond. I had a private party performance coming up and decided that it would be a great time to give this a “test run.” Since I already knew which effects should be the last ones in my routine, I put the RISK routine in the middle of the show. That turned out to be a huge mistake. Every single person in the audience (there were about 50 people) was riveted. Not only were they captivated by the story, but they were literally stunned by what I was accomplishing with a deck of cards. I was blowing them away. In fact, it was all they could talk about for the rest of the night. Even when my closing effects came, the ones that usually have them remember my name forever, they were saying things like “Did you see all of the crazy things he did with those cool black cards?!” I was actually shocked to find out that this routine was stronger than my other material I was using to close my shows for years. I wasn’t sure what the difference was at this point, but I suspected that the Black Deck was the reason. Not wanting to take a sole performance to be my only guide, I decided to use this routine near the end (but not as the closer) of my show the following week. It was a different audience, different age group, and a different event so I knew that this would be a good test to see how consistent this routine was. Again, that was a huge mistake. After I finished the RISK routine, the audience looked almost tired from reacting so strongly to every point. I had to put a lot of effort into hiding my smiles because the reactions were just that powerful. I knew that I had created something truly amazing. Since those two performances, I have been using the RISK routine to close out all of my shows. This routine has been audience tested in various situations, in different environments, on different audiences, and it has always been the absolute highlight of my show. The reactions I get from this routine every single time I perform it are utterly amazing. They respond to the story itself and they react to the magic. I owe this all to the Black Deck and I could not have created such a great routine without it. While you could perform this with regular cards (and I have), there is absolutely no comparison to how much stronger it is when a Black Deck is used. The audience loves the cards and is sparked by their visual mystery. They are engulfed in the story and completely entertained. By the end, they are captivated and left in a state of astonishment that I cannot explain to you in words. You will have to try it for yourself. Looking back, I think that those first two audiences simply did not react to the other material that much because they had nothing left in them after seeing the RISK routine. I hope you enjoy it. Stacks This entire routine is based off of a stacked deck. I know that many magicians shy away from stacked decks but those who do are truly missing out on miracles. Many professionals have been using stacked decks to accomplish some of the most stunning card magic you can dream of.
Learning a stack for a deck of cards is easier than you think. To prove that point, we have included a very basic card stack that you can use for the following routine. The stack we will teach is known as the Si Stebbins Stack. This is a commonly used stack and is very simple to learn. Si Stebbins Stack There are two orders you have to remember. The first is the suits and they go in CHaSeD order. This means that the cards rotate in Clubs, Hearts, Spades, then Diamonds. After you go through the four suits, you simply start over. So, after a Diamond comes a Club again. The numerical values of the cards go up in three’s. So, you would go Ace (value of 1),4, 7, 10, King (value of 13), 3, 6, 9, Queen (value of 12), 2, 5, 8, and so on. Here’s an example of the Si Stebbins Stack in action: AC, 4H, 7S, 10D, KC, 3H, 6S, 9D, QC, 2H, 5S, 8D, and so on. The entire deck will come around having the suits and values be perfectly cydical. There is no end or beginning to this stack. See how easy and simple that was? Now, the stack we really recommend is the Joyal Stack, created by Martin Joyal. His book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck will teach you this stack in about six hours. Within a few days, you will have the stack memorized and you can then go on to use it for the rest of your life to create phenomenal effects that were not possible without it. We love this stack because you can show the entire deck face up in stack order and no one will ever be able to figure out that the cards are stacked. A great way to learn and practice your stack is to get the stack in order and then go through the cards one by one. Name the first face down card in the stack and then check to see if you’re right. If you are, continue on and try to name the next card in the stack. If you are wrong, you have to start over. After you have memorized the stack, try to do this exercise at least twice a week to ensure you keep it memorized. Like any sleight, you have to continue to practice using the stack to ensure that you always have it memorized. Credits Before we get into this routine, I’d like to provide the credits to you because I’d hate for anyone to skip over them. Martin Joyal and Stephen Minch worked closely with Ellusionist and have graciously allowed us to talk about the Joyal Stack in this book. We truly appreciate their cooperation and hope that you purchase Martin’s book because it has many other truly amazing effects in it that feature the Joyal Stack. Ellusionist carries the book to make it easy for you to obtain. The routine is precious, simply because it was rather difficult to master and incredibly powerful to perform. I’ll be in the Black Deck Book Forum to help anyone who needs it.
The Redline Cut
Chris Schuh
Effect Description The magician pulls out the Black Deck after an introductory speech and then begins to shuffle it. He then asks the spectator to cut the cards. After this has been done, the magician successfully names the top card of the deck.
Patter Line The magician takes the audience through a chilling tale of a dream he once had. The dream was about the magician’s best friend being caught up with the wrong people. His friend ended up owing more than he could pay to a man who would make sure you paid one way or another. Setup The setup for this effect is that the Black Deck be arranged in the Joyal Stack. The performer must have this stack completely memorized. The Black Deck is in the box and carried by the performer. Method At the right point in the script, the magician removes the Black Deck from his pocket and takes the Black Deck cards out of the box. He gives the deck some false shuffles that do not change the order at all. He then sets the deck down on the table. The spectator freely cuts the deck, but does not complete the cut. The magician completes the cut and squares up the cards. During this action, glance at the bottom card of the deck and remember it. Since you know the bottom card of the deck, you can get its position in the Joyal Stack. To get the top card; simply add one to the bottom number from the bottom card and now you should know what the top card is. Script I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “I’d never want to sit across from this guy at the card table.” Either that or you’re thinking “I’d love to take him to a casino or to Vegas. We’d clean up!” However, there really is no link between magic and cheating at cards. They are completely separate. The reason for this is simple. A magician doesn’t mind that you know he is skilled with cards. On the other hand, a card cheat doesn’t want you to suspect a thing. He wants you to feel completely comfortable betting all your money only for him to ensure you lose it. Many people want to know if I’m a good card cheat or if I use my skills or gifts to help me win card games. I must admit, the idea always crosses my mind. But, it’s the dream I once had that always reminds me of why I would never do this. It was one of those dreams that was just too real. I could see the smoke lingering in the air, I could feel the stiffness in the chair I was sitting on, I could smell the booze underlying the smoke, I could hear everyone’s little adjustments in how they were sitting, and I could taste my own fear. The room was quite dark, but I could still make out faces. The only person I recognized was sitting to my left and he was my best friend. I could see the stress on his face and I could almost hear the thoughts flying through his mind. I wasn’t sure why he was feeling this way, until I looked across the table. I couldn’t name the man sitting there, or explain why I was afraid of him, but sometimes you simply can’t explain that feeling you get in your stomach.
My instincts were letting me know that this was a situation I did not want to be in. When he spoke in his slow, methodical manner, my suspicions were confirmed. “Well John,” he started, “we’ve come to an end and now I believe you know what’s coming.” John’s face dropped even more. It was like he just accepted a fate he had been trying to dodge his entire life. I was still unclear on the situation, but it did not take me long to realize that it was very, very serious. “I’m sure you’ve heard about this deck,” the man plainly stated. “Everyone who has been unable to pay me has had to see this deck. While some might believe that the Black Deck is only a myth, you now personally know how very real it is.” The magician reaches into his pocket, removes the Black Deck, and continues the script. John nodded his head as the tears started to well up in his eyes. I knew he was not capable of speaking because of a huge lump in his throat. His right knee was bouncing up and down like a nervous wreck. “This is the deck that will decide how many fingers you are going to lose,” he stated. As he shuffled, he spoke a relatively well-known phrase that I will never forget. The magician shuffles the cards (using a false shuffle) as he speaks, and only a few shuffles are done to speed up the effect. The deck is left in front of a spectator. “Trust in God, but always cut the cards.” With that, he stopped shuffling and looked at John. His hand shook as he reached across the table to cut the cards. I could tell that he was praying to cut to a low card because his lips were speaking but no sound came out. The magician gestures to the spectator to cut the cards. If the spectator’s hand is not shaking, then the magician reminds him that his hand needs to be shaking. The deck is cut, but the cut is not completed. The magician completes the cut and then squares the cards up. During this squaring up motion, the bottom card of the deck is glimpsed. Then, the magician knows the top card of the deck, based off of the Joyal Stack. As the man’s hand reached out to reveal the top card, something overcame me that I cannot explain. I was aware of my actions and in full control of them. And yet, I was still in disbelief as to what came out of my mouth. “Wait,” I said. “I have an offer for you.” Everyone stopped breathing for a moment while he contemplated what I had just said. He decided to hear me out and responded simply by nodding. “If I can tell you exactly what card that is, what the top card is, then you work out a deal for John to pay you back – without taking any of his fingers.” “And if you are wrong?” He responded immediately. “Then you can take that many fingers from me, as well as John.”
John tried to speak up and intervene, but was quickly silenced by the man’s waving hand. He looked down at the deck and then back up at me. His eyes pierced through mine and I knew he understood just how afraid I was. I nodded back without breaking eye contact and our fates were sealed. As the cut was completed, the severity of the situation seemed to sink in and my mind raced with panic. Sometimes I know things that I shouldn’t. I know things that seem impossible to know, and yet it has become my reality. I had that feeling before, but it had left me when I needed it most. Uncertainty was all that was left and it tortured me to try to hide it. I mustered up all my courage and announced a single card. The magician names the top card on the deck. The man seemed more confident than I felt, but he still reached for the top card with a hint of caution. He knew that if I was right, he hadn’t just made a deal to save some fingers. He knew that if I was right, he had made a deal to change his perceptions on reality forever. The magician gestures to the spectator to turn over the top card. Additional Notes This effect might not seem like much, but the story is what truly creates a magical experience. It is also meant to be a lead-in effect to the full routine. Audiences are interested in the story itself, and the magical touches added to that story make this something truly memorable. This has been audience-tested and the response has always been utterly fantastic. References • The Joyal Stack is taught and fully explained in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. • The ribbon spread is taught on How to Do Street Magic and Inside Magic.
Black Deck Blackjack
Chris Schuh
Effect Description The magician has the spectator deal out three hands of Blackjack and one for himself, as the dealer. The magician then proceeds to correctly name all of the face down cards and also guides the participants into playing the best hand that they possibly can. Patter Line The magician continues his chilling tale regarding his dream. The story escalates even more as the magician is put to a stricter test and the stakes are much higher.
Setup The setup for this effect is that the Black Deck be arranged in the Joyal Stack. The performer must have this stack completely memorized. If performed after “The Redline Cut” then the deck is already in the proper order.
Method The spectator replaces the top card back onto the deck and then cuts the deck completely. He then deals out four hands of Blackjack. Three cards are dealt in front of three other spectators and they are face up. One card is dealt in front of the spectator (now known as “The Dealer”) face up. Then, a single card is dealt face down and placed under the face up card of each spectator and the dealer. This brings us to a total of eight cards on the table, four are face up and four are face down. Note the number position in the Joyal Stack for the dealer’s face up card. Add one to that value and you will know the number position of the first spectator’s face down card. Have the spectator peek at the face down card while you are turned away. Turn back and reveal the card. Based on this revelation, you can count up by one for each person (including the dealer) and you’ll know every card that they have. Also, you’ll be able to then add one to the dealer’s face down card and you’ll know the top card on the deck. Another option is to add four to the number position of the first spectator’s face down card. This will give you the number position of the card on top of the deck. Then, you can just focus on the one hand and the top card to help them play the game as best they can. From here, it’s simple to keep the order of which cards are facing down. The real secret is to know the stack inside and out. This means you have to be able to know instantly which card is at the 32nd position. The other calculations are very simple math. Continue to reveal all of the face down cards in the order that a regular Blackjack hand is played and wait for the applause. Script The magician takes the top card that he previously revealed and puts it face down, on the bottom of the deck. Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, I felt my arms being pulled behind my back and I couldn’t move. I then noticed the cool, sharp edge of a large blade on my left wrist. I found out just how sharp it was when some pressure was applied and my skin broke. When he spoke again, suddenly my attention shifted from the blood on my hand to his eyes. They were burning with accusations and I felt like my knees could give out at any second.
Note It is extremely important that the magician is turned around before the spectator even peeks at the face down card. He already has all the information he needs to complete the effect blindfolded. Fear of making a mistake must be cast aside to ensure that the audience gets the best effect possible. This is done to ensure that people do not suspect that the deck is marked. Even if the deck was marked, you can’t see the face or the back of any card, so it doesn’t matter.
“I hope that you understand the disrespect that has just been shown here. I hope you are grateful that we only take the hands of cheaters and not their lives.” Note Here is where knowledge of Blackjack will help. The magician can make comments on the hand that the player was dealt before he reveals the identity of the face down card. For example, if the player has a total of 11, then the magician can comment about a rule of thumb being always to “Double Down” when this hand is dealt. This also ensures that the presentation of this effect is different every single time the effect is performed.
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. I thought of what just happened. I told him that I was not a cheater and that my family has more honor than that. “Then you should have no problem doing it again,” he responded. I nodded back with a newfound confidence that seemed to startle him. “Do it again,” he commanded. “Only this time, we’re going to gamble a bit more. We’re going to play Black Deck Blackjack.”
He dealt out three cards face up in front of him, three hands of Blackjack to those of us sitting at the table and then face up for himself, as the dealer. He then dealt each player a face down card, including himself. I was forced to turn around and couldn’t see a thing. Then, the first player looked at the first face down card that was dealt. He checked his face up card and confirmed his hand.
The magician uses the Joyal Stack to determine the face down card for the first player. He then uses the Joyal Stack to determine the next face down card on top of the deck. With this information, he knows the player’s hand and the next card. He can then offer his advice on if the player should hit, or not.
Note Remember that the patter line is not based on who wins or loses the hand. The magic comes from you being able to tell who has which cards face down and what the next card in the deck is going to be. In your script, you will have to improvise here so that it matches the hand the players have been dealt and the outcome of the game. We did not include the script for every hand because it will be different every time you perform it.
The magician continues throughout the entire hand of Blackjack and accurately names the face down cards for all the players and advises them on what card is on top of the deck, so they can decide to hit or not. Continue the revelations until the entire hand of Blackjack has been played. Additional Notes After you have memorized the Joyal Stack, put a practice deck in that order and then give it a few real cuts. Go through the routine many times as a test. Once you feel 100 percent comfortable that you can nail it every time, practice it for one more week (just so you can do it without thinking) and you’re set. This is a trick you will have to regularly maintain, though. Try to perform it for yourself (just as a rehearsal) at least three times a week. This will keep you sharp and quick with the stack order and the performance of this effect in the routine.
Once you become completely comfortable with the Joyal Stack and completely confident with your calculations and performance, then you can determine if the dealer is going to bust or not based off of the four face up cards and the stack. Again, there has to be an emphasis on performing this entire routine without looking at the cards at all – the performer must be completely turned around. Many audiences might conclude that the backs of the cards are marked. By facing the other way, the performer can ensure that even if an audience arrives at that conclusion, they will dismiss it as a possible method because the performer never sees the backs of the cards. References • The Joyal Stack is taught and fully explained in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. • There is a similar effect in the Richard Osterlind Mind Mysteries DVDs. We can’t recommend Richard Osterlind enough. All of his material is phenomenal.
Black Deck Death
Chris Schuh
Effect Description The remaining cards from the deck are shuffled by the spectator and then spread so only he can see them. The performer proceeds to name the remaining cards that are held by the spectator without ever seeing the faces of the cards. Patter Line The magician ends his chilling tale of his dream, as the audience sits in astonishment. With his very life on the line, the magician is forced to name every single card in the deck at gunpoint. Setup The setup for this effect is that the Black Deck be arranged in the Joyal Stack. The performer must have this stack completely memorized. If performed after Black Deck Blackjack, then the rest of the deck is already in the proper order. The performer needs to know what the next face down card is on top of the deck. This information comes from the previous effect because he will know what the previous top card was. Method Based on knowing what the top card is, you simply have to go through the rest of the Joyal Stack and name the cards in sequence. During the reaction to the previous effect Black Deck Blackjack, note down the last card dealt. You can then get the number position of it and add one to that value to get the number position of the next card in the deck. From there, you’ll just start naming out the cards, as they appear in the Joyal Stack.
While the spectator shuffles the remaining cards, you will still be able to name them out in Joyal Stack order. You will be naming the cards one by one and the spectator will look through his fan of cards and pull out the named cards one by one. This will give you a bit of a “Rain Man” effect and will also dispel the idea that you have the deck memorized (even though you do). When you get down to the last that the spectator is holding, end this effect. Script The magician pauses while people react to the previous effect. Once attention returns to him, he continues with the story in his dream. I didn’t get much time to breathe a sigh of relief. The focus I had on the knife was quickly replaced by the focus I had on the gun I felt against the back of my head. Thankfully, I was paralyzed with fear because a sudden movement on my part could have ended everything right there. Most men will react to the unknown with fear. Most men like the one I was dealing with will react to fear with threats. Most men like the one I was dealing with don’t just threaten you – they follow through. I began to accept the fact that this could be the end of my life. “Get down on your knees,” he commanded. I did so as my heart raced. It was beating so fast and so hard that it seemed to hit my rib cage. While I knew I was breathing normally, I felt like I couldn’t get any air into my lungs. I heard him pick up the remaining cards, leaving the Blackjack hand on the table. I then could hear that he started to mix them as he talked to me. The magician gestures to the spectator to pick up the remaining cards and shuffle them. “Take comfort in knowing that this will end with you and we will leave your family out of it.” He stated it so plainly that I had to believe him. “You may have your last words, but there is no need to beg for your life. The decision has already been made.” I paused and took a deep breath and exhaled. My mind cleared completely, with the exception of two images. There was a large J and a large Heart. The only thing I quietly said was “Jack of Hearts.” “What was that?” I felt a bit like “Rain Man” and repeated myself. “Jack of Hearts”, I said a bit louder and with more conviction. He seemed a bit confused by this, and I continued by saying “You have the Jack of Hearts in there.” The magician would naturally alter his performance to have the images he just said to the audience represent the actual next card in the Joyal Stack and he would alter his patter to have him say the correct card. This script is only an example. So, in the performance the next card in the Joyal Stack could be the Four of Spades. You would then say that the images you saw in your mind were a large Four and a large Spade. “Look at the cards and find it yourself.”
The man spread the cards so that only he could see them and looked up at me as he removed the Jack of Hearts. From here, name the next card in the Joyal Stack. The magician continues until the spectator is holding only two cards. It doesn’t matter that the magician calls them out in the Joyal Stack order and that the cards are not in that order anymore. The real effect comes from the magician being able to name the cards that are left in the spectator’s hands.
Note This is where knowing the Joyal Stack inside and out is a huge thing. The performer must be able to name the cards in the proper order, faster than the audience can find them in the spread and remove them. It has to be completely memorized and the performer must be able to go through it without thinking – it should be done automatic. Be sure that you don’t reveal them so fast that the spectator can’t keep up with locating the cards to remove them.
The magician pauses when there are two cards left in the spectator’s hands. He then takes a deep breath. This is where the Black Deck Death effect ends. The final climax to the entire RISK routine is listed in the next effect “The Black Awakening”. Additional Notes This solidifies the performer’s knowledge of the Joyal Stack. He must be able to quickly name the cards in sequence at the end for increased buildup and dramatic effect.
Again, emphasis on doing this entire effect while not even facing the cards is essential. Many spectators will believe that the backs of the cards are marked or that you have memorized the entire deck order. By being turned around the entire time and having the spectator shuffle the remaining cards, the performer can ensure that audiences will dismiss these conclusions as possible methods. References • The Joyal Stack is taught and fully explained in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck.
The Black Awakening
Chris Schuh
Effect Description The magician brings out a Black Deck and removes it from the box. He then goes through the deck and shows that all the cards are face up with the exception of one. That single card, which is face down, is the exact same one as the face down card lying on the table from the previous effect.
Patter Line The magician concludes his story explaining what happened when he woke up after his nightmare.
Setup The only setup for this effect is already accomplished from the three previous effects in the routine. The performer should already know the exact value of the face down card remaining on the table. It is the last one in the deck to be named. In his pocket, he must have an invisible Black Deck, still in the box. Method Since you know the single, face down card that is on the table, you will simply reveal the identical match to that card in your Invisible Black Deck. Instructions for how to perform the Invisible Black Deck are included when you purchase it. You can obtain one of the finest quality Black Decks from the ellusionist.com web site. Script The magician sits in a bit of silence while the spectator holds two cards. “Of the two cards remaining, I can see that you’re drawn to one. This one is a bit more appealing to you. This one calls you a bit more.” The man sat motionless, almost paralyzed with curiosity, waiting impatiently for me to finish. The magician names one of the two remaining cards that the spectator is holding.
Note If the magician is correct, then he allows for the reaction of audience before continuing his story. If he is wrong, the spectator is going to let the performer know right away. Cutting off the reaction immediately, he will continue with the story. He will have the card that he incorrectly named set down by the spectator and only the focused on card will be retained.
Note The magician knows the final two cards that are being held by the spectator, based on the Joyal Stack order. From those cards, he simply makes a guess as to which one he suspects the audience is focusing on. Based on the values of the two cards and the eyes of the audience, this guess can be fairly accurate. Either way, the magician will not fail in the effect overall.
And that’s when I shot up out of bed. I was wide-awake and it took a few moments for me to realize that it was all just a dream. I just sat there thinking about the nightmare and because the images were still so vivid, it seemed like I was reliving everything. That’s when I noticed that I woke up before I should have because there was still one card being held in the smoky room. So I got up and walked over to my bookcase and got one of my Black Decks. I opened it up and took the cards out. I got a bit of a chill just thinking about the nightmare, as I saw the black faces on the cards.
As I spread through them, I noticed something was off. I wasn’t sure how or why, but there was a single card in this deck that was face down, while the rest of the cards were face up.
The magician goes through his Invisible Black Deck and shows one face down card in the entire deck. It couldn’t be, but it was. The magician extends the face down card in the middle of the face up spread to a nearby spectator (a different spectator from the one holding the final card) to have them remove it. The spectator does so and shows the card to the rest of the audience. The magician then gestures to the original spectator to reveal the final card that he is holding. The entire audience sees that they match and the effect and routine comes to a conclusion. Additional Notes This is the climax to the entire RISK routine and with proper buildup and presentation with the previous effects; it can definitely strike a powerful chord within the audience. Being an effective storyteller will enhance this entire routine and make it even more powerful. Having the script memorized so the performer can smoothly tell the story without fumbling is also extremely important. This is very “hands off” magic and very “impossible” magic, to the eyes of the audience. While some performers might scoff at it (and we WORRY about those performers!), this routine has been used, and has always been extremely well received. People will talk about the Black Deck for some time, and they will remember it because of this routine. For an added enhancement, it’s best to perform this routine after dark. References • The Joyal Stack is taught and fully explained in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. • The Invisible Black Deck can be purchased only through Ellusionist.
THE GENIUS
Chris Schuh (Bonus)
Effect Description Three spectators shuffle a deck of cards. One of them passes about 15 cards to another, who concentrates on the cards he or she is given. The magician then names those cards one by one without having ever seen their faces. Patter Line The magician talks about a common movie known as Rain Man. He then comments about how he has come up with a similar challenge, but that the conditions make it much more difficult. Setup/Method The setup and method for this effect is described in full detail in the effect entitled “The Lazy Mentalist Returns.” This is featured on page 147 in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. Script Most people have seen or heard about the movie Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. In this movie, Dustin played the part of an idiot savant who had a tremendous ability to instantly know what cards were left in a deck when he saw what was already removed. Of course this was used at a casino to win lots of money.
Note This script has no actions in it because we did not want to reveal what is taught in The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. However, if you have the book you can easily go through the teaching of that effect and apply this script to it.
Rather than cheat the casinos out of money, which could be fun and quite rewarding, I have come up with a more difficult challenge. The magician proceeds to have the card selected as per the procedure listen in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck, under the effect entitled “The Lazy Mentalist Returns.” We highly recommend this book and you can find it in the Store section under “Books” on the ellusionist.com web site. In the movie, Dustin’s character saw the cards that were removed from the deck and he used that information to deduct which cards were left. The first thing that makes this more difficult for me is that I won’t look at any of the cards at all. In the movie, all of the cards used were colored white. These cards are black. The increased difficulty in this is that Dustin’s ability was based on photographic memory. For those who know about how the brain processes information, you’ll know that it’s much more difficult to read and remember white writing on a black background, compared to black writing on a white background. The third thing that makes this much more difficult is that Dustin’s character was in a movie. This is real life. The magician proceeds to name all of the cards that the spectator is holding. The effect gets incredible reactions because of its simplicity and sheer impossibility. Additional Credits Ellusionist would like to extend our special thanks to Martin Joyal and Stephen Minch for allowing us to publish scripts that are published in The Six-Hour Memorized Deck, by Martin Joyal.
CEREBRAL CALIBRATION
Chris Schuh (Bonus)
Effect Description After having shuffled the deck, the magician removes a certain number of cards. The spectator then cuts off a packet while the magician turns away. She quietly counts her cards, keeping the total to herself. The magician shows a few cards, one by one, from the balance of the deck, without looking at them himself. The spectator remembers the cards at the position corresponding to the number of cards she has cut. The displayed cards are buried in the middle of the remaining cards and the spectator shuffles the packet. The magician then concentrates and names the cards though of by the spectator. During the course of this trick, it is the spectator who determines the number of cards removed from the deck in the beginning, the number of cards cut off, the number of cards shown, and the position at which those cards are buried in the packet. Indeed, it seems that everything is under his or her control, leaving no possible way for the magician to learn that he/she mentally chooses. The conditions featured in this trick are designed to astound a sophisticated audience (which may include one’s magical peers), and should do just that. Patter Line The magician talks about how the pupils of everyone’s eyes react subconsciously. He then claims that he’s mastered this technique, but needs to use a stronger contrasting card. He utilizes a Black Deck and offers to prove his earlier claim. Setup/Method The setup and method for this effect is described in full detail in the effect entitled “The Lazy Mentalist Returns.” This is featured on page 156 in Martin Joyal’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck. Script Many people are familiar with how our eyes, and specifically our pupils, respond to various things on a subconscious level. While most people have this knowledge, a very select few actually have the ability to harness this knowledge and use it. What many don’t know is that a mental image based on a strong contrast is what we need to be able to showcase this skill. Therefore, I had this deck specially made. It is a regular deck in every way except for the colors. You are free to look at the backs and faces of every card in here at the end.
Note This script has no actions in it because we did not want to reveal what is taught in The SixHour Memorized Deck. However, if you have the book you can easily go through the teaching of that effect and apply this script to it.
The magician has the card selected as outlined in Martin’s book, The Six-Hour Memorized Deck.
Now there are two challenges here. The first is for me to actually use my ability to tell when your pupils reacted the strongest to the card you now have in your mind. The second is for me to be able to remember all of your pupil reactions and then distinguish the single one that stood out the most. Please give me some time to replay what happened in my mind. You can just keep focusing on the card, so it is not forgotten. The magician pauses and really concentrates for a while. He then looks up at the audience as if he has discovered something and announces the selected card. Additional Credits Ellusionist would like to extend our special thanks to Martin Joyal and Stephen Minch for allowing us to publish scripts for effects that are published in The SixHour Memorized Deck by Martin Joyal. Get the book – it’s a killer.
COLOR CHANGES
V This section contains various color changes that you can use wherever you see fit. When using various cards from the Black Gaff Deck you will need to change cards suddenly and these next changes are particularly good for this function.
OPEN FINGER COLOR CHANGE
Effect Description The magician holds the deck face up so the audience can see the bottom card on the deck. The magician passes his hand over the deck and the card instantly and visually changes to a completely different card. Setup No setup is required. All that is needed is a regular deck of playing cards. Method Hold the deck face up with your left hand. Your left thumb is on top of the face up card and your four fingers are underneath the deck. See image 1.
Image 1
Image 2
Transfer the deck to your right hand; your right hand holds it on the short edges. Your right index finger and your right middle finger are on the top edge and your right thumb is on the bottom edge. See image 2.
The crotch of your thumb should meet the bottom right edge of the deck. There should be no visible space between the deck and your right hand. See image 3 for what not to do.
Image 3
Image 4
Your left hand fingers slide the card that is on top of the deck between your right pinky finger and your right ring finger. Those two fingers pinch the card. The audience should not be able to see anything happening because of the cover provided by your right hand. See image 4.
Image 5
Image 6
For an exposed view of what is really happening in this action, see images 5 and 6.
Image 7
Image 8
Once the top card has been placed between the right pinky finger and the right ring finger, those two fingers pinch it and the left hand lets go of the deck and is shown to be empty. The remainder of the deck is held by the right hand. See image 7. The left hand then comes back and takes the deck, but grasps the short edges of it so the card being pinched between the right pinky finger and right finger remains in the right hand. The deck is then held about six inches higher than the right hand to show the face of the card one more time. See image 8. The left hand begins to lower down to the right hand. When the left hand is only about three inches higher than the right hand, the right hand begins to move up towards to the deck. The left hand continues to move down when the right hand starts to move up. This ensures that your motions are completely covered. Also, by starting to move your left hand first, the audience will lock in on that motion without locking in on the motion of your right hand with the hidden card. The right hand comes over top of the deck and the card is placed on top of the deck in one, smooth motion. See image 9 for an exposed view.
Image 9
Image 10
As the card is placed onto the deck, the right hand covers the face of the deck completely. This is exactly what the audience should see. They should not see the exposed view in the previous image. See image 10 for what the audience should see.
Image 11 The instant that the card is perfectly lined up on the deck (use the fingers and thumb from your left hand to align it if needed), the right hand’s fingers completely open up to show the change. See image 11.
The face of the original card should only be hidden for an instant (less than a second) and then the fingers should immediately open up to show the changed card. Note You will have some angle considerations to be aware of when performing this color change. You will have to ensure no one is to your immediate left and that no one can see under your right hand (or that they aren’t far away so they can see the pinched card being secretly held). If you are in that situation, then, you can use the original handling for the entire audience and you don’t have to worry about the angles as much. We just wanted to include a more close up handling. References/Credits • The Tarbell Course in Magic, Book 2.
BOB MCALLISTER’S BET-A-DOLLAR COLOR CHANGE
Effect Description A dollar bill is wrapped around the bottom half of a packet of cards. The packet is then pushed down through the bill and the face card visually changes as it goes through. The packet is pushed back up to show the entire card that has changed. Setup You will need a small gimmick to accomplish this color change. It is simply a card that has been cut in half across the middle. See image 1. You will also use a packet of 15 to 20 cards when performing this color change. Method Palm the half card in your right hand. Be sure to note which end is the middle and which end is the end of the card. Have the deck inspected or have the spectator just hold the deck. Take the deck back with your left hand and transfer it to your right hand. This will put the half card right onto the bottom of the deck. With a few practice runs, you will be executing this move smoothly and convincingly.
Image 1 Place the deck face down on a table, or hold it face down in your left hand. The half card should be on the end closest to you. See image 2 for the table position and see image 3 for the hand position.
Image 2
Image 3
So, for example, you have the deck in your left hand. Under the deck is ALSO the half card lying on your hand. The half card is toward the bottom (heel) of your hand – its edges are even with the bottom part of the deck closest to your body. Wrap the dollar around the deck so that it’s half covering the partial card and half covering the rest of the deck. See image 4. For an exposed view of the bottom side of the deck (the audience never sees this), please see image 5.
Image 4
Image 5
Remove about 15 to 20 cards from the deck and put them aside. The packet with the half card should now look like this. The bill has not been wrapped around the packet at the time. You can also remove these cards at the very beginning of the color change. The original handling is to remove the cards at this point, but we feel that the color change is smoother when you remove them at the beginning. See image 6. Wrap the bill tightly around the entire packet and then display the packet in your left hand. See image 7.
Image 6
Image 7
Using your right fingers, push the entire packet down through the dollar bill to show the beginning of the card changing. See image 8 and image 9.
Image 8
Image 9
Push the packet back up with your right fingers to show the STUNNING completed change! See image 10.
Image 10 If the bill is wrapped tightly enough around the packet, when you push the packet back up with your right fingers, the half card should stay hidden behind the bill. You can continue pushing the packet up and down using your right fingers for practice. In performance, simply push the packet down, once to show the bottom half of the card that has changed, and then push the packet back up to show the top of the changed card. You can then slide the bill right off of the packet and steal the half card with it. If it is the spectator’s bill, simply put it into your pocket and watch him squirm a bit. After a few moments, “notice” that you took his bill. Remove it from your pocket, leave the half card, and hand it back to him. If it is your bill, “notice” that the audience did not get a change to check the bill out after the effect (you would have them inspect it beforehand), remove it from your pocket, leave the half card, and you allow them to inspect it. References/Credits • The Tarbell Course in Magic, Book 7. • Bet-A-Dollar Color Change was created by the late Bob McAllister. Short Biography Bob McAllister was born in Philadelphia and raised in Norfolk, VA. At the age of 10, he became fascinated with ventriloquism and magic. He began to pursue these interests and by the time he reached high school, he was rewarded with a dummy named Chauncey for getting good grades.
This dummy stayed with McAllister for many of his early years in ventriloquism. He won a contest in 1953 on Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour. He moved onto hosting children’s television shows in Norfolk and Baltimore. In 1967, he became the host of the popular children’s television show, Wonderama. Both the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians have honored McAllister. He taught adult magic classes and also released a magic video entitled Bob McAllister’s Amazing Magic. On July 21st, 1988, Bob McAllister passed away at the age of 63. He still lives on through his magic and through every performer who enjoys his material. We hope you enjoy it and respect it.
DECK SWITCHES
VI This section features two deck switches that you can use to accomplish some truly amazing magic. For example, imagine you have an amazing effect that requires an extensive setup. You could have a deck freely shuffled by the audience and then use a deck switch to subtly swap out the shuffled deck with your prepared deck. There is also a deck switch in this section that is a killer way to introduce the Black Deck to your audience.
BLACK DECK MORPH
Chris Schuh
Effect Description A red deck card box is handed to an audience member and he removes the red cards and inspects them. The cards are replaced in the box and the magician removes a piece of paper from his pocket. He proceeds to wrap the red deck with the paper. The magician goes back to his pocket for another piece of paper and wraps the deck again. He then borrows a lighter from the audience (or uses his own), hold the wrapped deck at his finger tips, and lights the paper. As the paper catches fire, the magician throws the deck into the air and the paper burns up extremely brightly and quickly. When the deck lands in the magician’s hands, the box is now a Black Deck box. The deck is immediately handed to an audience member and they open up the box to discover every card is now black. Setup The setup for this requires two large pieces of flash paper in your right pants pocket or your left coat pocket. They have to be in these pockets if you are right handed. (If you were left handed, then it would be your left pants pocket or your right coat pocket. You will also need a lighter in the same pocket as the flash paper.
Note If you are uncomfortable removing the deck in front of the spectators, you may have the deck already concealed in your hand when you start the effect.
In the pocket with the flash paper, you will have a shuffled Black Deck that is in the box. In another free pocket, you will have a red deck and the red deck shell (a deck shell is a metal container that looks like a box of cards – it’s open at the bottom and at one end so that it can fit over a regular deck of cards in a regular box. No one can tell you’ve got a “shell” over your box of cards.)
Method Take out just the red deck and leave the red deck shell in your pocket. Hand it to a spectator and have him remove the cards from the box. At this point, he can either inspect the cards fully (since it is a normal deck) or you can get him to shuffle the deck. Personally, I prefer to have the spectator do both because it gives you ample time for the next move.
Note For those who do not feel comfortable with that section of the Black Deck Morph, they can introduce the deck already in the box. The magician can then remove the cards himself and hand them out for inspection. That would allow the magician not to have to palm the shell onto the box after the audience has inspected it.
While the spectator is shuffling the cards and/or inspecting them, you reach into your pocket and palm the deck shell. You want to have the deck shell in your hand lengthwise (like you would normally palm a card). The open side of the shell is facing out of your hand and the open end of the shell is facing up. Therefore, if you were to put the deck shell onto the table with your palm down, it would look like a normal card case to the audience in front of you.
Some magicians prefer to put both hands into their pockets, I personally don’t. As the spectator starts to shuffle the deck, you can palm the deck shell and remove your hand from your pocket. You don’t want them to notice the pockets at all in this effect. Have the spectator put the cards back into the box and hand the box back to you. You should then take the box back with your free hand and transfer it to the deck shell hand. This puts the shell over the top of the deck in a clean fashion. You can now freely display the deck and then the deck shell as a regular deck of cards. Reach into your pocket to get the first piece of flash paper. Do this with an empty hand because you want to pre-condition your audience to believe that every time you go into your pocket your hands are empty. However, you have to do this in a subtle way, you cannot just point it out and make a deal about the empty hand. Instead, make a small gesture to the audience with your empty hand (I like to point in the air as I make a note about the color of the cards). Then, reach into your pocket with an empty hand and remove the first piece of flash paper. Put it on top of the deck and start to fold it under. At this time, you let the red, full box of cards fall out of the shell and palm it. When done in a smooth motion, the right hand will take the red deck out of the shell as the paper is being folded around it. You might be concerned that they will notice the palming, but since they can still see the red case through the flash paper, they won’t suspect that anything is going on. This is actually very easy and the audience has no reason to suspect anything. As you go into your pocket for the second piece of flash paper, you’re going to drop off the red deck and pick up the Black Deck. You will also get the second piece of flash paper. You can now palm the Black Deck and remove the flash paper from the pocket with the same hand. This is done by holding the Black Deck against your palm with your middle, ring, and pinky fingers curled under it. The flash paper is pinched between your index finger and thumb. Lay the flash paper on top of the other piece of flash paper (which is covering the deck shell) and bring the hand palming in the Black Deck immediately under the other hand. As the hands come together, you will bring all of your fingers (on both
hands) under the deck and deck shell. Your thumbs will remain on top of the deck shell. This will allow you to maneuver the Black Deck into the red deck shell under complete cover. This takes practice to get smooth, so be prepared to invest a little time and effort. Next, wrap the deck and the deck shell in the flash paper, but leave the short ends of the paper open. Hold the deck shell and deck vertically so that the open ends are facing up. This will allow the shell to slide off of the deck due to gravity. You can then catch it in your right hand and immediately go for your pocket to get the lighter. Turn your body to the side as you go for the lighter, this helps to cover the palmed shell easily. While you get the lighter, drop off the shell and you’re clean. From here, you finish wrapping up the Black Deck with the flash paper. Do this loosely so that the black color doesn’t show through clearly. Then, you simply have to light the flash paper and throw the deck up in the air. Be sure to throw it at least 10 to 15 feet in the air so that the flash paper completely burns up by the time you have to catch it. Additional Notes
Note It’s a nice touch (and excellent misdirection) to have a spectator touch the Black Deck box that is wrapped in the flash paper while you ditch the deck shell and get your lighter. His focus will be on touch and not on sight, so they won’t notice you palming off the deck shell at all.
Some magicians might be scared to perform this because of all of the palming and switching. For others, this effect will be pure gold. Once you let go of your fear of palming, a huge door will open for you to walk through. Then, you’ll fully realize the power that palming has and how effective it can be when executed properly. It makes the move so much easier when you realize you can use your body to turn to the side as you go in to your pocket, and camouflage the palming move each time it happens. You are already one step ahead of the audience because they don’t know what you are going to do, so they’re not looking for anything. Some might not like the cost (two sheets of flash paper) or the difficulty, but others will truly enjoy performing this routine. It’s great for any situation, too. Close-up performers can use it, parlor performers can use it, and it will be a tremendous VISUAL for stage performance. You can perform this with any color deck shell and any color deck. All that matters is that the box and cards you give the spectator initially has to match the color of your deck shell. The ending box and cards can be anything you want. We have various shells available at Ellusionist, reasonably priced. I personally have a red deck shell and have found this a very visual way to introduce the Black Deck to an audience. Another important thing to notice applies to those who own the Deck Shell Video by Chuck Leach. In that video, you will learn the ABC Switch. You can use this switch to accomplish the following all in one action: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Steal the red deck out from the shell. Go into your pocket and ditch the red deck. Get the Black Deck into your hand. Get both pieces of flash paper in your hand. Bring everything out and replace the Black Deck under the deck shell. Wrap it all in the flash paper.
You could also use the first phase of the ABC Switch to ditch the deck shell after it has been wrapped with the flash paper. This handling was not described or included because the Black Deck book does not include the video. I personally own the deck shell video and the deck shell book (both by Chuck Leach) and find them both to be incredibly valuable. References • The Deck Shell Book has all of the precise handlings for the deck shell sleights described in this routine. THIS REQUIRES THE USE OF A FLAMMABLE PRODUCT KNOWN AS FLASH PAPER. IT SHOULD NOT BE PERFORMED BY PERSONS UNDER 18 WITHOUT THE SUPERVISION OF A PARENT OR GUARDIAN. PERSONS OVER 18 ARE ADVISED TO FOLLOW ALL CAUTIONARY DIRECTIONS ACCOMPANYING THE FLASH PAPER. ELLUSIONIST.COM, LLC ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR INJURIES OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF FLASH PAPER.
ED MARLO’S STANDING DECK SWITCH
Effect Description The magician, standing amongst the crowd, hands the deck to a spectator for examination and shuffling. He then hands the deck to a different spectator to hold. In these natural motions, the deck has been switched. Introduction Note Marlo’s Standing Deck Switch is a very bold switch but is covered under natural motion of receiving the cards from one spectator and handing them to another spectator. There are many points incorporated into this move that make it bold, but a worthwhile study. By studying and rehearsing this switch you will learn timing, body positioning (angles), misdirection, confidence, conviction, and precision. Note
Setup Have a stacked deck of cards concealed on the right side of the body. The deck can be concealed in a front right jacket pocket, front right pants pocket or back right pants pocket. In your left hand hold a normal deck of cards in left hand dealing position or the Mechanic’s Grip.
For clarity in these pictures, you will see a red deck of cards being switched for the Black Deck cards. During a performance the decks being switched must be the same color.
Spectator Arrangement: Spectator A should be in front of the performer and a bit to the right. Spectator B should be in front of the performer and a bit to the left. This arrangement between the performer and the spectators will form a V shape.
Note When you hand Spectator A the deck, pivot your body and have your feet “pointing” to Spectator A. By positioning your body like this you will conceal the right side of your body from Spectator B. Spectator A will not see what is going on because he is preoccupied with a task.
Method With the original deck in the left hand held in Mechanic’s Grip, reach over with your right hand and grab the deck. Use your thumb on back, index finger curled on top and the middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the outer short end away from your body to do this. Take the cards out of the left hand and give the deck to Spectator A on your right.
Gesture with the left hand and then drop it to the side of your body. While giving the spectator directions on shuffling or any other verbal presentation, use your right hand to secretly reach into your pocket that conceals the second deck. Remove the deck and hold it in your right hand down at your side. Your left hand mimics the same position as the right hand.
Image 1
Image 2
The deck that is going to be “switched in” is concealed in the performer’s right hand while the left hand mimics the position of the right hand. See image 1. The second deck is secretly concealed in the performer’s right hand. See image 2 for the exposed view. After Spectator A has shuffled and inspected the cards, extend your left arm to receive the deck. Hold the deck in left hand dealing position and close to your stomach (below the rib cage and above the navel). With your left hand index finger, push the deck so that the outer short end of the deck is below the first finger and is held by the middle, ring and pinky finger. This is known as a Gambler’s Cop Palm. See image 3 for the performer’s view.
Image 3
Image 4
The right hand comes over to apparently square the deck. In fact, the right hand is actually loading the second deck into position. The index finger is pushing the first deck to be gripped by the middle, ring, and pinky finger while the second deck is being loaded on top. See image 4.
Image 5
Image 6
While the right hand comes over to square the deck, you simply load the second deck on top of the first deck at an angle. See image 5 for a performer’s view.
See image 6 for an exposed view of how both decks should be held in the left hand. The performer’s right hand is removed for clarity on how both decks are held, but in a performance he would never let go of the second deck (the one on top). Your right hand remains on the deck with the first finger curled on top, middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the front short end and thumb in back. You are now facing Spectator B holding two decks in your hand and shielding the right side from Spectator A with your right hand, forearm, and wrist. The performer is concealing the first deck in a Gambler’s Cop Palm. See image 7. Turn your left hand palm inward and rotate your wrist slightly clockwise. Your right hand holds the second deck in place so that none of the cards move. While your left hand is turning in and your wrist is rotating clockwise, drop your left hand to the side as you lean forward.
Image 7 Note During this process you are simply turning to face the direction of Spectator B. The action looks like you are receiving the deck from Spectator A and squaring the cards as you turn to Spectator B.
Image 8
Extend your right hand to give Spectator B the deck. The performer’s left hand turns palm inward, clockwise and lowered to the left side. See image 8. The performer’s hand is turning clockwise and being lowered to the left side as the right hand reaches over by leaning to the left to give Spectator B the deck. See image 9.
Image 9
While you are turned toward Spectator B and leaning forward to hand them the deck with your right hand, your left hand drops to the side to ditch the first deck of cards into the front left coat pocket, the front left pants pocket or back left pants pocket.
If you are nervous about ditching the deck, you may cover that motion by removing flash paper, a pen, another deck of cards, a note pad, and so on from your pocket as you ditch the deck. Additional Notes While you are performing this deck switch, do not look at your hands. Instead, look at the audience and talk with them. Remember that they will look where you look. Relax and act casual because all you are Note doing is taking the shuffled deck back from By having your right hand in this one spectator and handing it to another position (image 7) on the deck spectator. This is where practice, timing, you shield the two images from and confidence become extremely Spectator A on your right. The important. Practice this switch in front of a wrist and forearm of the right mirror for smoothness and naturalness. If hand also aid in concealing the you have a tri-fold standing mirror, that will first deck that is in the Gambler’s be the ultimate aid in your practice. Cop Palm from Spectator A. Be careful not to tilt the deck too far Also during your practice and rehearsal up or too far down, as it might sessions, wear the clothes you will be flash the decks to the audience. wearing during your actual performance. At the same time, don’t make a This will help you build the precision to big deal out of this. No one quickly and secretly remove and ditch the knows what you are doing and decks without fumbling or delays. the LAST thing they’re thinking is that you’re going to switch decks; it’s not even on their radar Additional Ideas screen. Relax, and just carry • You can perform this deck switch through with your business. seated at a table. Have the deck you want switched resting on your knee. When the switch occurs, ditch the deck from the left hand into your lap or pocket. This is so easy it’s not funny. Do it on the offbeat. • You can use this to switch cards that are in card boxes for any trick deck in a box. • You can use this technique to switch single cards. • You can have a red deck in a black box be examined, and change it into a Black Deck in a black box with this switch. Reference • Ed Marlo Private Studies: The Video by Marlo/Wakeman.
WORKING WITH THE ELLUSIONIST BLACK TIGER GAFF DECK
VII BONUS SECTION
Rejuvenating the playing card industry, the Ellusionist Bicycle Black Tiger Deck has been an instant, breakthrough success in every market of the world. Today, less than a year later, a new world of effects is possible using the first collection of gaffed (specially designed) cards for use with (or without, be creative!) the Black Tiger Deck. Drawing suggestions from some of the best minds in the industry, Ellusionist has teamed with the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) to create this compilation of specially designed cards. Each card is specifically designed for a variety of uses – the possibilities are endless. In addition, we do not doubt that you will come up with your own, unique ideas just by holding them in your hands. They are an open invitation for the creation of a brilliant routine. The Gaff Deck is divided into two categories: general utility gaff cards and special artwork gaff cards. The cards listed first are utility cards. They ensure that you can perform virtually anything you want to with the Black Deck. Some standard, wellknown tricks require a double backed card; some require a double-faced card, and so on. These cards are used in many effects and now you’ll have what you need to perform these effects with the Black Deck also. General Utility Gaff Cards The utility gaff cards are used in tricks that demand a gimmicked card or two. These are standard tricks that until now you could only perform with a white deck. Now you can use your Black Tiger Deck. • Double Backed Card - Black/Black • Double Backed Card - Black/Red • Double Backed Card - Black/Blue • Black Face/Red Back • Black Face/Blue Back • Blank Black Face/Black Back • Blank Black Face/Blue Back • Blank Black Face/Red Back • Blank Face/Blank Back
• Split Faces Vertically (6 of Spades/6 of Clubs) • Split Faces Horizontally (2 of Clubs/2 of Spades) • White Faces/Black Backs (9 of Spades) • White Faces Black Backs (King of Hearts) • Double Black Queen (Spades and Clubs) • Double Red Queen (Hearts and Diamonds) Special Artwork Gaff Cards This section details several ideas for using the special artwork cards found in the Black Tiger Gaff Deck. We aim to get you started and then it’s up to you to let your OWN creativity shine through and take over. The sky is the limit, and some tricks will not at first be apparent until you really begin to work with the cards and think about them and get them into your hands. • Four of Spades with Fingerprint Using your Black Deck, force a regular (non-fingerprinted) Four of Spades onto a spectator using your favorite method. Have the gaffed Four of Spades third from the top. You’ll take the next card on top and turn it face up and press your thumb into the middle of the face. Get the spectator to do the same with his card, but ensure you don’t see the card at all. Then, have the spectator place it back into the middle of the deck. Control the card to the top and then go through the cards face up. Locate the gaffed Four of Spades (since the regular one is on the bottom of the face up pack) and outjog it without showing the fingerprint. You can then show the audience how you knew it was the card that was picked by revealing the fingerprint on it. • Three Fractured-Pip Aces and the Swirled Ace of Spades These Aces are great. Virtually any Ace routine can be greatly enhanced by using these cards. You can cut to the Four Aces and say that the reason you knew where they were in the deck was because they were all different. You could transform regular Aces into these via a series of different color changes. They could even be used for a gag when someone asks you to do something cool with the Aces, you can say you don’t like to work with them because they always end up being broken at the end. Start thinking about what you can do with these Aces – perhaps a surprise kicker at the end of a standard Four Ace Routine? Switch them out for the normal ones and have your spectator turn them over. • Three ½ of Clubs This is an interesting concept. What you would do is force a Seven of Clubs on someone. Then, you would take that card and split it into two cards. Since Seven does not divide by Two evenly, you would be left with two cards, each worth three. Figure out how to do this: maybe triple lift, showing the Seven, then pretend to take the Seven off the deck, but in reality take only the Threes which were part of the triple lift. With a shake, split them. Wild, baby! Various methods of the following will be discussed in the Ellusionist Black Deck Discussion Forum (part of your bonus in the purchase of this book). • Pips in Uncommon Corner/(Four of Spades) (4 pips in one corner) • Pips in Uncommon Corner/(Four of Spades) (3 pips in one corner, 1 in regular corner) • Pips in Uncommon Corner/(Four of Spades) (2 pips in one corner, 2 in regular corner)
You could force a regular Four of Spades on a spectator and then visually move the pips, one by one, into one corner of the card. Then, that card can be handed out for examination. A method for this is taught on Ellusionist’s Army of 52 DVD. • Mirror Image Joker This would go nicely with the Blank Face Gaffed card. You could freely display the regular Joker to the audience. Then, you could visually change it into a blank. From there, you put that blank face card to the face of another card and (using standard color change methods) the image of the Joker is mirrored onto the new card. It can be immediately handed out and inspected. Various methods of this will be posted in the Forum. • Tiger Hanging on Face (4 of Spades) You would force a regular Four of Spades onto a spectator and then use your favorite color change (we prefer to use the Erdnase Classic Color Change taught on How to Do Street Magic) to visually put the tiger onto the card. This also works well with the Two of Spades that has the claw marks slashed through its face. Figure out a routine and story! Send the tiger out searching for the spectator’s card – the tiger always gets his man! Maybe tell a story about a man-eating tigers in India and how one man evaded the tiger for years (normal 4 of Spades) until finally the tiger caught him on a dark windy, rainy night! Remember there is also a tiger-alone-ona-black-card (no pips!) to display the tiger in the dark night. • Uncommon Pips (13 of Spades) This works out well for changing a King of Spades (value of 13 in many card games) to a card with pips of the same value. We like to use the Down’s Change taught on Ninja 1. What about a trick where you BET the spectator that you will find the card that has EXACTLY as many pips as he’s thinking of (after forcing the King of Spades); he knows you can’t do it because Kings don’t have pips, but you can. He could even be holding the 13 pipper in his hand (a Two Card Monte) when you are done! • Pips from Face of a Card on Back (4 of Spades) This works well without forcing a card at all. Instead, take out the regular 4 of Spades and then put it on the bottom of the deck. Perform an Erdnase Classic Color Change (taught on How to Do Street Magic) to transform it to a blank card (included with the Black Gaff Deck). Suddenly the pips are on the BACK of the card! • Missing Center Pip (Five of Spades) With this card, you can literally remove a pip from the center and have the card freely inspected after you’ve magically altered it. This is the card that works well with Brad’s Time Splitter taught earlier – what a killer trick! • Ten of Clubs with Red Pips This works out beautifully with a Red-Pipped Black Deck. You can force a regular 10 of Clubs on a spectator, comment about how the colors are different for the red and black cards, and then visually change it to the same card, but with red pips. We like to use Shapeshifter (taught on the Shapeshifter DVD) for this effect. • Card with Tiger Claw Marks on the Face (Two of Spades)
Another interesting concept we have is this gaffed card. This works exceptionally well with the gaffed card that has the Black Deck Tiger hanging from the top two pips of the Four of Spades. The tiger slides off, leaving the claw marks but taking two of the pips with him! Find him alone sitting on the next blank face card underneath the claw card. Or maybe the spectator had selected the 2 of Spades earlier and now here it is! • Joker Holding a Face Down card • Joker Holding a Face Up (Ace of Spades) These two cards work out quite nicely in an Ace routine, or as a stand-alone effect. You would need to force the Ace of Spades on a spectator (since this is a high profile card we recommend using a Classic Force). You could then show a regular Joker and place the selection face down on top of it. Then, by executing an Erdnase Classic Color Change (taught on How to Do Street Magic). To reveal the face up gaffed Joker, you would then execute the Shapeshifter color change (taught on the Shapeshifter DVD) and hand it out for full inspection. • Voodoo Card without Needles • Voodoo Card with Needles and Card Revealed This is a creepy pair of cards. Once you see them, you will know what we mean. You would force the 4 of Hearts onto a spectator and then introduce the first gaffed card (the one without the needles). Then, you could perform an Erdnase Classic Color Change (taught on How to Do Street Magic) to slowly and visually change it to the one with the needles. This one is creepy, so be careful where you perform it. Many voodoo themes come totally alive with this set of scary-yet-beautiful cards. • King with Bleeding Sword This one works well with the Two of Spades that has the claw marks because they could also be slash marks made by the sword. You could force the regular Two of Spades on the spectator and then switch it secretly using a top change to the slashed one. You could then introduce (or force) the regular King and have it shown around. Execute your favorite color change (we like to use Shapeshifter here, which is taught on the Shapeshifter DVD) and say that he actually attacked another card. You could then reveal the slashed Two of Spades to say that this is how the King regained his throne. A full script of this effect (with a detailed handling) will be In the Forum. Get in there! • Smudged Face Three Clubs This is a nice one, as you can use it with the normal white-faced Three of Clubs (included currently in every normal tiger deck). Simply force the white-faced Three of Clubs on the spectator. Then, use Shapeshifter (taught on the Shapeshifter DVD) to instantly and visually change it to the black-faced Three of Clubs. From there, you can take that new card, have it inspected, and then smudge the ink on it by using the Erdnase Classic Color Change (taught in How to Do Street Magic). • Faded White Edges on the Back of the Three of Clubs We had this card printed so that the edges would blend in perfectly with a regular white deck of Bicycle cards. Cool!
• • • • •
Black Black Black Black Black
Deck Deck Deck Deck Deck
– The – The Blank Blank Blank
Web Web Face Face Face
(Web and Spider) (Web only) (For Web Effect) (For Web Effect) (For Web Effect)
This is for use with performing the effect known as “The Web” by Jim Pace. You will need to purchase that effect to know how to properly use these cards in the routine. In this trick, a large hairy, realistic spider appears on the spectator’s hand at the very end of the routine. We can’t recommend the trick enough. • Blurred Black Face Speed Warp (5 of Clubs) Begin by having the Five of Clubs forced onto the spectator. Then, you could display it on top of the deck. You could use a variation of the Snap Change taught in the Shapeshifter DVD to change it into the blurry version of the Five of Clubs. We like this color change for this effect because it has you shaking the single card (regular Five of Clubs) and it visually blurs until you can freely show the gaffed Five of Clubs. • Black Back/Skull (Ace of Spades) For those who have heard the myth that the Ace of Spaces is the Death Card, then this can add a huge boost to that type of effect. Even by simply removing the Ace of Spades from the Black Deck and talking about it, then doing a simple color change to this card, will floor your spectators. The changes that work best are either extremely slow ones (Erdnase Classic Color Change) or instant ones (Shapeshifter). How about doing Two Card Monte and having normal cards change to two of these? The following cards are grouped together with the cards that they are intended to be used with. • • • • • •
Ace Ace Ace Ace Ace Ace
of of of of of of
Diamonds (White)/Seven of Clubs Double Faced Card Hearts (White)/Four of Spades Double Faced Card Clubs (White)/Seven of Spades Double Faced Card Diamonds/Seven of Clubs (Red) Double Faced Card Hearts (Red)/Four of Spades Double Faced Card Clubs (White)/Seven of Clubs Double Faced Card
These cards are for Gary Ouellet’s effect called Dream of Aces, produced by the Camirand Academy of Magic in Montreal. Gary’s effect is based on an older trick called “MacDonald’s $100 Dollar Four Ace Trick” by Frank Garcia, first printed in the Stars of Magic in 1972, by Louis Tannen (Tannen’s Magic) and is still available from them. The Aces come in BOTH original and red versions of the Black Deck. Though we are printing the cards we will NOT be printing the effect, as it is not ours to print. However, we urge you to pick up either of the two wonderful effects.
CLOSING WORDS
This ends the first and currently only work on the Black Deck. You are armed with killer material and ideas from the book, but the REAL work will come from you from this point on. Take your beautiful black cards, sit quietly with them, and let your imagination run wild. The cards hold an amazing amount of mystery in them naturally and you can only enhance that mystery with your own imagination. Get into the Ellusionist Deck Forum and start to create. You are at the edge of a precipice – leap off and take your Black Deck to the limit.
