Headhunter: They were going to cut my throat

FREDERICK M: “... (A) ... high caliber miracle ... that will have them rubbing their eyes in pure disbelief ... strong impact and immediate resetability ... with a fnish that will leave them them spellbound ... (you’re) ... ready for the climax 30 seconds into the eect and ... ready to repeat the miracle 30 seconds af ter the shocking fnish ... Highly recommended.”

STEPHEN MINCH: “... a delightful surprise ... Excellent. Excellent. The visual eect is strong and ... your presentation is perceptive and cunning ...”

Headhunter % % % % % % % % % %

They were going to cut my throat.

“You savvy card magic?” I said in the tribal patois I’d picked up in three months of trying to track down the legendary City of

I could see it in their eyes. Savage eyes. A thousand years of primordial violence was

The blade began to slice into my skin. A

on re in their skulls and the paleolithic phosphorescence shone out from those eyes and danced the dance of d eath down here on the jungle oor. Down here in the lush dan gerous geography of central Borneo in the year of our Lord, 1937 1937..

Headhunters. The sunlight, ltering green as it drifted down through the layers of tropical vegetation, touched the piles of

Gold.

thousandth of an inch separated me from

innity. Calculating skin thickness and blood ow ow,, the mathema mathematics tics of mortality told me my time here on this earth was about to end. Unless—

Yes, I’d made a mistake Yes, mistake.. Used the wrong idiom. They thought I’d said, “You look fat in that dress,” and it had angered them to a blood lust only death could satisfy. satisfy.

stopped worshipping the boiled thigh of a common chicken and became chartered ac countants. They did savvy card magic .

I knew I had them when that frst card vanished from my hands and and appeared on the ground. And ground. And then it happened again. And again. again. No matter how closely they watched, it happened. They dropped their mind-shattering cliknives. And when the mind-shattering max came—a came—a devastating transformation of cards into other cards— cards —they fell to their knees and began to chant “Bwana god, Bwa na god,” over and over, until I felt the way Alexander the Great must have felt when

the known universe lay at his feet.

bleached and shrunken heads, recoiled, then sent ngers of light to probe every

“No! No! Card magic! Do you savvy card

lethal dimension of the thin, razor-sharp,

Well, you know the rest of the story story.. How they crowned me King, led me to the City

primitive peoples ignorant of our modern ways—and ways—an d become a King—and have the known universe groveling at your feet.

of Gold and under my direction recanted their primitive ways, put down their spears,

All you need is HEA HEADHU DHUNTER NTER..

bamboo knife knife that pressed against against the esh at the base of my throat. They were going to cut that throat.

magic!?” I screamed.

Now you can feel that way too—and subvert

HEADHUNTER: Here’s your chance to rule the world. It comes with everything you’ll need: the cards (two sets), the secrets, some tribal patois and even a fabulous presenta-

tion for use in more modern societies where the natives need a taste of evil power before they crown you King.

away. No extra cards. Just fabulous HEADHUNTER . Only 8 cards used. Nothing added or taken away. visual magic from start to nish. HEADHUNTER. Here’s your chance to rule the world. Don’t let somebody else beat you to it. HEADHUNTER is $20 plus $5 postage U.S., $7 foreign. Email for details. Available only from [email protected]

Bammo Magic & Bob Farmer making the world strange again, one trick at a time.

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HEADHUNTER REVIEWS B.B. "... Fantastic ... Excellent! Beautifully put together! ... Five stars!"

"One of the best effects that I have have come across in … years ... in a class with with Mike Skinner's 'Ultimate 3 Card Monte'”

M.K.

J.B. "... a very strong and visual routine ... you get Bob's bizarre patter scheme,

extensive details on each facet of the handling ... (and) ... the cards ... a fine routine ..." P.D. "... thoroughly enjoyed the routine ... ... (will) ... use it." D.M. "... It works great! Keep Keep up the excellent excellent work." K.C. "... Excellent ... great plot ... brilliant brilliant ... off-beat..." J.G. "... a bewildering and stunning effect." effect." F.M. "... (A) ... ... high caliber miracle ... that will have them rubbing their eyes in pure

disbelief ... strong impact and immediate resetability ... with a finish that will leave them spellbound ... (you're) ... ready for the climax 30 seconds into the effect and ... ready to repeat the miracle 30 seconds secon ds after the shocking finish ... Highly recommended." S.M. "... a delightful surprise ... Excellent. The visual effect is strong and ... ... your

presentation is perceptive and cunning ..." J.P. "... (Bruce Cervon) ... had never seen Bob's classic wild wild card routine ...

Headhunter ... It's great! ... if someone with Cervon's savvy about what's commercial ... tells you it's great, it is." J.R. "... beautifully done, rich in texture and technical detail ... Your presentation and

handling takes the blowoff of Wild-Card and puts it into the Monte Game. Whatta way to go! ... Bravo! L.W. "... a routine so carefully and thoroughly choreographed it will amaze lay people

and magicians alike ..." P.W. "... Another magnificently complete ... manuscript ... with lots of visual magic ...

the handling and presentation are elegant ... highly recommended!"





Eight cards are shown, four blanks and the four 10s. 1.

The 10s are interlaced face up among the face-down blanks. Magically, the 10s rise to the top.

2.

The blanks are placed in the spectator’s hands; the magician keeps the 10s. One by one, the 10s transform themselves into the blanks (the magician claims the two sets are changing places one card at a time).

3.

The spectator looks at his cards expecting to find the 10s and finds—four Kings!

•

Only 8 Cards used (of which only two are gaffed). Very convincing displays of all cards, so the Kings appearance is a real real shocker.

•

The transformation of the 10s into blanks is very visual, with minimal displacements. displacements.

•

I can’t think of another packet trick that has this much magic crammed into such a short running time. The sequence where the blanks and 10s change places looks really good and the ending is a real kick in the head. The sleights are all basic (a few Elmsley Counts, a Flushtration Count, a Biddle Count, the Olram Subtlety and a few breaks) and the gaffs and set-up are minimal.

Assemble the following cards:





From the top down: Four Kings, face down. 10D, face down. 10C, face down. blank/10H (10 side down). blank/10S (10 side down). A mnemonic for the order of the 10s is D ai ai C an an H ide ide S leights. leights.

1.1 Hold the packet face down in the left hand. Push off top four cards (the Kings) one by one into the other hand, taking each card under the one before it to form a small fan. Be careful to keep the remaining cards in the left hand square so the two double-facers on the bottom are not exposed.

Use this face-down fan to flip remaining four cards face up. Place the right hand cards on the left hand’s cards and fan the packet left to right to show four, face-up 10s and four face-down cards. From the left cards run: 10D, 10C, 10H, 10S, four face-down cards The double facers are the 10H and 10S, right next to the the face-down cards. 1.2 Square the packet into the left palm up hand using the palm down right hand hand arched over the cards, fingers in front, thumb at the back (i.e., in a so-called Biddle Grip). As you do so, take a break under the 10S (it’s the double facer right next to the face-down cards). 1.3 The left hand revolves palm down, taking the three cards below the break, turning them face down and dropping them in a squared packet in the center of the working surface. As you do this, try not to flash the face of the cards since a 10H will show where a 10S 1 0S should be. 1.4 The right hand, palm down, still holding the face-down cards, fingers in front, thumb at the back, now shows four blanks using the Flushtration Count: •

•

•

•

1st Blank: The right hand revolves palm up to show a blank card, then revolves palm down and the left thumb pulls the top card of the packet into the palm-up left hand. 2nd Blank: The right hand revolves palm up to show a blank card, then revolves palm down and the left thumb pulls the top card of the packet into the palm-up left hand. 3rd Blank: The right hand revolves palm up to show a blank card, then revolves palm down and the left thumb pulls the top card of the packet into the palm-up left hand. 4th Blank: The right hand—now holding two cards as one—revolves palm up to show a





1.5 With the right hand, pick up the 10s packet on the table table and drop it face down on the the “blanks” packet in the left hand.

Flip the entire packet over and spread it from left to right to display: 10D, 10C, 10H, 10S, four face-down cards The double facers are the 10H and 10S, right next to the face-down cards.

2.1 Remove the leftmost 10, the 10D and place it face-up above the first face-down card (i.e., the one next to the 10S, not the top card of the packet). Then the 10C and 10H go in successive slots, so the fan now runs from left to right:

10S/face-down card/10D/face-down card/10C/face-down card/10H/face-down card 2.2 Square the fan. Push off the top three cards to show a mix mix of face-up and face-down cards. Point out the 10s are face-up. 2.3 Square the packet. Turn it over and show the bottom card, a blank and point out the blanks are facing the other way from the 10s (this is a discrepancy—there shouldn’t be a blank on the bottom but only Dr. Daley would notice this). 2.4 Go back to the start position, the packet face-down, 10s face up within. Now, use the Biddle Count for the Oil and Water effect: •

Pull off the top face-down card and take it into the left hand

•

Pull off the 10H and hold a break under it. Pull off the next face-down card and steal back the 10H.

•

Pull off the 10C and hold a break under it.

•

•

Pull off the next face-down card and steal back the 10C. Pull off the 10D and hold a break under it.

•

Pull off the next face-down card and steal back the 10D.

•

•

Drop all cards in right hand with 10S on top onto cards in the left hand and square the packet.

2.5 Make a magical magical gesture or spout a magic spell and then then spread the packet left to to right to show the 10s are now all on top (note that the 10s are still s till in start order, from the left, 10D, 10C, 10H, 10S). 2.6

Spread off the 10s and place them still face up under the packet. Square the packet.





3.1 The start position is this: this: the packet is squared; the four Kings are on top, followed by the 10s, face up. The double facers, showing as 10s, are right under the Kings (10S next to Kings, then 10H). 3.2 Now a very sneaky display is used. Fan the packet slightly, then resquare it, taking a break under the 10S. Pause for a beat for some time misdirection.

Using a right hand Biddle Grip (right hand arches over the packet, fingers in front, thumb at inner end), move all the face down cards and the broken 10S (all squared) over to the right about an inch to display the index of the 10H. With the left thumb, push the 10H off slightly to the right to expose the index of the 10C beneath it. The right hand grips all the cards. The left hand lets go, so the right hand still holding all the cards in Biddle Grip, can revolve palm up to display two blank faces. Though this is discrepant, it looks great. 3.3 Turn the packet back to start position and square it, then immediately deal the four facedown “blanks” to the table. The spectator covers them with his hands. 3.4 The 10s will now be shown singly back and front using a version of the Olram Subtlety (this is very strong). 3.5

Fan the 10s from left to right—they run 10D, 10C, 10H, 10S.

3.6

Square the packet and get a break above the 10D (i.e., under the top three cards).

3.7 Immediately take the top three cards off in a Biddle Biddle Grip, then revolve both hands to show back and front of the single card and the back and front of the three card packet. 3.8 Revolve the hands back back to to position and pull the top card of the right hand’s cards, the 10S, onto the single card, the 10D in the left hand.

Revolve both hands to show the back and front of both packets, then revolve back to the start position and take the 10H onto the cards in the left hand, leaving the single sin gle 10C in the right hand. Revolve both hands again everything the backs and fronts, then revolve back to position and drop 10C on the other face-up cards. This looks very, very good, and the audience has to be absolutely convinced the blanks must be on the table. 3.9 Flip the 10s packet facedown. The top card will be the 10D, the bottom card the 10C and and the double-facers will be sandwiched between them. 3.10

Elmsley Count the packet to show three face-down cards and one face-up blank.

3.11

Really count the packet, using the same motions motions as the the Elmsley Elmsley Count, but but count count each







3.13 Turn the face-down card over to show the the 10D. Place it on the packet packet and take the the packet into your left hand.

Spread over the first two cards to show the 10D and two blank indexes. The right hand arches over the cards, fingers in front, thumb in the back, the Biddle Grip, and assists in squaring the cards, but as this is done get g et a break under the first blank. As you square, lift the cards above the break (10D and blank beneath) and put them under the packet. Square and immediately pull out the bottom card to show the 10D has changed into a blank. An alternate way to do the change is as follows: • •

•

•

Spread the 10D and the blank card beneath it so you can take a break as you square. Swing Cut the double into your left hand as your right hand grips the rest re st of the cards and moves right. Place the double under the right hand’s cards sidejogged for about ¾”. Under cover of the right hand’s cards, the left little finger pulls down the inner right corner of the blank beneath the 10D, forming a break. Shift the right hand’s cards over and back swiftly stealing the 10D and transforming the sidejogged card into a blank. Place this blank on the face of the cards and pocket the packet.

3.14 Place this blank on the face of the packet. If you want, here you could do a 2-as4 Count (or E-Y-E Count) to show four blank cards (i.e., push off 1 card, place on bottom, push off 3 cards, place on bottom, pull off 1 card, place on bottom, push off 3 cards place on bottom).

Flash the underside of the packet as you gesture towards the cards the spectator holds (a back will show). Ditch this packet in your pocket.





This effect is a version of Roy Walton’s, “Oil and Queens,” Queens,” which first appeared in his his book, The Devil’s Playthings in in 1969. It now can be found in The Complete Walton, Volume 1 , pp. 10-11 (Lewis Davenport Limited, 1981, 3 rd edition 2012). When I first created this version, I called it, “El Diablo Enigmatico,” but I have since decided that title would be best used for a different effect (i.e., one with a devil and some tacos). Originally, I used Jokers and 5s as the double facers but it was difficult to find matching Jokers. The usual double facers don’t match: either one is a Joker and one is a guarantee Joker or they are different colors. Blanks are actually better because the appearance of the Kings is so much more shocking. 10s have the largest indices of any spot card so they make the displays clearer. Earlier versions of this effect were greatly aided by the comments of Matt Field, Max Maven and Jon Racherbaumer. Max has an excellent gaffed version somewhere in the Linking Ring, “Royal Walton” (reference not to hand). Jon sent me his h is gaffed version, “Evaporation” (no reference available) and this comment on my version: “I dug out the requisite cards for your trick to see if it ‘rules,’ and, lo and behold, it does. My wife dropped her cup of tea and ran away to hide in the closet.”

1. At the beginning, you could ask the spectator to name any four-of-a-kind. You then claim the face-down cards are that four of a kind because they are blanks and thus are “wild.” Later, with the Kings finish, if he named named the kings at the beginning this would be even better (but he’d probably name Aces, so maybe use Aces instead of Kings). 2.

Building on the previous note here’s a more certain strategy.

SET-UP: Remove the four 10s from the deck and place them aside with the double facers, 10S/blank, 10H/blank.





Immediately deal the top four cards face down to the table and ask the spectator what he thinks the chances are that the cards he just named, the Queens, are all together right here on top of the deck. Don’t give him time to answer, just continue, saying the chances are very slim, but that you guarantee those are the four Queens. Now, add the face-down cards to the face-up 10s, pick up the packet, and show the face-down “Queens” as blanks—explain that blanks are wild and that they are now the “Queens.” At the end, when you remind re mind the spectator about the four-of-a-kind he named—and there they are on the table. 3. Refer to the blanks as, “ghost cards,” and like ghosts, they can walk through walls. In the Oil and Water phase use this line to explain that the ghosts (the blank cards) have walked through the walls (the 10s). The ghost card theme is also useful for the finale. Explain that ghosts not only have the ability to walk through walls, they can trade places with human beings (the 10s) but they are also very tricky. 4.

To do this as a deck trick using a regular deck do this.

In your breast pocket you have the four-card 10s stack, back side out. The regular 10s in the stack are not from the deck in use, they are duplicates. When it’s time for the effect, e ffect, run through the deck and move the four Kings to the face of the deck but claim you are looking for the 10s. Obviously, you must hide the faces from the audience. As you hold the deck in your left hand faces towards you, say you will also be using some ghost cards and remove the 10s stack, back outwards from your pocket and add it to the face of the deck. Place the packet on the face of a deck. Spread off the 8 cards being careful not to expose any blank backs and continue. 5. For the various counts consult Roberto Giobbi’s Card College series: Elmsley Count, Volume 2, pp.311-314; Flushtration Count, Volume Volume 3, pp. 609-610; Biddle Count, volume 3, pp. 1007-1009; Olram Subtlety, Volume 3, p. 603.





For more magic by Bob Farmer email [email protected] Copyright © 2019 Every Trick In The Book Inc. All rights reserved. Commercial manufacturing right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or utilized by any information storage or retrieval system, nor shall this publication or any part of it be used commercially, or associated with any product or service, or distributed by itself or with other products or services without written permission from the copyright owner. Thieves will be tracked down and torn apart by packs of pit bulls that have been starved for days, given the offender’s scent and told, “It was this man who took your mother away.” Printed by lumberjacks in Canada in the Magic Forest. Every Trick In The Book Inc., Box 1262, Brockville, Ontario, Canada K6V 10W2 [email protected] About the author: author: Presently writing his new book, Einstein Was Nuts.

Headhunter: They were going to cut my throat

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