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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................3 DANGER! UXB!..................................................................................................................................... 4 IT IS DONE ............................................................................................................................................ 7 LISP ACES ............................................................................................................................................. 9 UNDER 21.............................................................................................................................................13 JAZZ JOKERS.....................................................................................................................................16 THE INNER EYE ................................................................................................................................19 THE BEERGLASS EFFECT ..............................................................................................................21 MATCHING STAYNES......................................................................................................................24 YOUR NUMBER’S UP........................................................................................................................ 25 BONUS: FRIENDS – A PRESENTATION .......................................................................................26 AND FINALLY .................................................................................................................................... 28
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Introduction We’re back with a brand new volume of card effects! However you’ve arrived here at ‘The Underground Collection Volume 2’, welcome! This time, the routines are extremely varied – we have our ‘takes’ on classic plots and routines, some innovative new ideas, some presentational angles and more! Some of the highlights: Check out ‘Danger UXB’ for one of those ‘fool yourself’ effects – it’s a merging of two ideas – from Ed Marlo and Richard Vollmer, with a presentations approach borrowed from Tom Frame! A true cocktail of class with an explosive result! There’s a new handling of the classic ‘Jazz Aces’ effect and while we’re on the topic of classic plots, something we’ve been having much fun with: A new version of Henry Christ’s classic card effect ‘Christ Aces’ – with a presentation that in the right environment goes down a storm! In the wrong environment, of course, you may end up in hospital – but at least there you’ll have plenty of time to practice your moves! But let’s not cherry-pick – find out what it is in here that you like most by working through each effect. Everyone will have their own preferences so best begin – this is the fun bit! Until next time, enjoy this collection! Regards, Jamie Badman & Colin Miller The Underground Collective
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Danger! UXB! Effect The magician introduces the deck and explains how it represents an unexploded bomb! To defuse it, the correct wires must be found and removed… the correct wires are represented by the Aces. What follows is a sequence where the Aces are lost and three of them found. The stakes are raised for the final Ace which is eventually located in an impossible manner! Method and Presentation The presentation for this routine is as critical as the routine itself, so I’ve interspersed the method with the patter for the effect. By all means detach the presentation from the method and attach your own – but I think you’ll find this all works together particularly well! So first, introduce the deck and remove the four Aces. “Disaster has struck! Terrorists have decided to plant a bomb in this very building – and it looks just like a deck of cards – a very complicated bomb. 52 wires and only by removing the 4 correct ones will the bomb be defused! The four correct wires shall be represented by Aces. But the terrorists have built a very difficult bomb to defuse; the Aces are hidden amongst the other 48 decoy wires!” Place the four Aces on top of the deck, jog shuffle a couple of times, adding six cards to the top of the Aces – so the situation is now that the deck has the Aces at positions 7-10 in the deck. Follow this up by an outfaro of the deck. The faro must be perfect but the cut does not have to be exact. “But luckily for us, there are four heroes in the building to save us – members of the elite ‘UXB’ defusing team! One of the team steps forward and examines the bomb… but can see no signs that might give away the whereabouts of the defusing wires…” Ask a spectator to examine the sides of the deck for any marks, crimps etc that might aid in the task. “He is, however, a professional – and mustering all of his powers he reaches forward with his pliers and… cuts!” As you say ‘cuts’, cut the deck, approximating the cut to halfway down the top half of the deck – ie the top quarter. Look briefly at the card cut to – if
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it’s an Ace, point this out, remove it and place it on the table. If it’s not an Ace, remove the top card of the tabled pile and reveal it to be an Ace! “Phew! The first guy cut the right wire! But just look – if he’d cut above, he’d have cut the wrong wire…” Show the face card of the held packet. “And if he’d cut below… again, the wrong wire!” Turn over the top card of the tabled packet and replace it on top of your held packet. Place the held packet back on top of the tabled cards, pick them up and give them a false cut. “Then the second member of the team steps forward and makes his cut…” Repeat the sequence above. “Number three steps up to the bomb and nervously examines the bomb then boldly steps forward and… snip!” Repeat once more the cutting sequence. Follow this up with an in-faro of the cards and then a double-undercut, moving one card from the bottom of the deck to the top. Again, the faro needs to be a perfect weave but not necessarily a perfect cut. “One more wire to go – but time is running out… because when that third wire was snipped, the bomb began to tick – and three displays lit up, each revealing a countdown!” “The fourth member of the UXB team said ‘don’t worry; I know what to do… we need to enter the code to defuse this thing… I’ll deal down with each countdown and if the number shown equals the countdown, I stop then move to the next. If I reach the end of a countdown, it’s dead. When I’ve finished, the total should give us the code we need…” Explain that court cards represent ‘10’ and proceed… pick up the deck and deal down cards, counting backwards from ten as you do so. If at any time the number you call out corresponds to the card you deal, stop that deal and move to the next backwards countdown. If you hit ‘One’ with no match, cover the pile with a face down card from the deck. Do this until you have performed three countdowns. At this point, either three piles are covered, or you have some uncovered cards. If there are some uncovered piles: “The UXB expert examines the displays and totals the numbers…”
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(add the totals of all the displayed cards) “And enters the total into the keypad…” (deal that number of cards to the table from the remaining deck) “As he enters the code there’s a moment of intense silence and then…” (turn over the card on the final count to show the fourth Ace) “immense relief! The UXB team has saved the day and we’re all safe once more!” If all piles are covered: “The UXB expert completes his countdown but could not crack the code. He has just one more chance… taking it, he reaches forward and SNIP… cuts a wire at random…” (turn over the top card of the third covered pile which is the fourth Ace!) “… well I guess even UXB guys have to get lucky sometimes!” Notes The worst eventuality (which is relatively rare) is if all three piles are covered. A more involved approach here which I think improves this eventuality somewhat is if when you cover the third pile with a face-down card, you execute a second-deal. This leaves the fourth Ace on top of the undealt cards, which I think is preferable to being on the top of the final pile. You can then either simply turn it over or execute one final flashy false-cut as you make the final revelation. Credits This routine has a bit of a history! It’s actually a combination of two separate effects which we’ve assembled together since they really seemed to work so well together. The first three cards are revealed using Edward Marlo’s method for “Marlo Miracle Aces” from his manuscript “Faro Controlled Miracles”. The final card is produced using a revelation from a Richard Vollmer routine “LIIIkelihood” from Semi-Automatic Card Tricks Volume Two (Steve Beam) which in turn credits a Stewart James routine for its inspiration. The presentation was inspired by Tom Frame’s take on Vollmer’s routine. Tom Frame’s routine employed an unexploded bomb presentation including the countdown after which a selection was found. Tom’s routine is called “The Final Countdown” and can be found in Onyx #7.
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It is done Effect Four Jacks removed from the deck and placed in the card box. Spec cuts deck into four piles. Magician asks spec to place one of the Jacks on top of each pile. When spec opens box, finds one card - with 'It is done' written on the card. Spec turns over top card of each pile... to show the four Jacks! Method: The 'message' card is on top of the deck. Search for the four Jacks and upjog them. When you have all four upjogged, buckle the back card (message card) of the deck and strip the four jacks out along with the buckled card (outjog addition), placing the stripped out cards on the back of the deck then flipping the deck over. Immediately spread the top four cards of the deck out into the right hand, outjogging the second and fourth cards by half their length. Place this packet with the deck ensuring the two outjogged cards square with the deck. Lift up on the bottom-most injogged card with the right thumb, moving the packet forward and away from the deck. This is Rob Moreland's 'Subtraction Subtlety' and should leave you with a packet of THREE cards in your right hand. Place the deck aside, the packet into the left hand and pick up the box from above with the right. The grip on the deck is: thumb on one long side, middle finger on the other, both slightly extending below the box. The forefinger is free to pull open the box flap. As the box is gripped, the left hand gets a break under the top card of the packet. The right hand opens the box flap and the left hand apparently pushes the cards into the box, from their inner short end - actually only a single card is pushed in, the rest riding under the box but held in place by the right thumb and middle-finger which extend below the box. The right hand holds the box upright so that the flap points up and the back of the right hand is toward the spectator. The left hand pushes the flap 'home' and then the right hand places the box into the left hand in deep dealing grip. The right hand then lifts up the inner short end of the box, leaving the two cards in the left hand which holds them in a cop position. You as a spectator to hold their hand out - you place the box in their hand with your right hand as you lower your left hand. When your right hand returns, it picks up the deck and places it into your left hand, adding the two cards beneath.
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Situation Check: The card box is held by the spectator. The deck has two jacks on top and two jacks at the bottom. You now ask the spectator to cut off a small packet of cards – about ten or so. By way of demonstration, cut a packet of cards from the deck, actually performing a slip-cut. Keep the cut-packet in the right hand as the spectator then cuts a small, similar packet to the table. Replace the small packet in the right hand on top of the deck and have the spectator cut another packet. Ask the spectator how well they think they’ve done in estimating ten cards for each packet and as they consider this, side-steal the bottom card of the deck to the top. Have a third packet cut and then over-hand shuffle the remaining cards, running the last few cards singly in order to place the final jack on top of the balance. The spectator cuts a fourth packet to the table. You then ask the spectator to place one Jack on top of each pile. They will open the box, find just one card inside – with ‘It is done’ written on it. Have them turn over the top card of each pile to show that the four Jacks have already been placed on top of the deck!
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Lisp Aces This is a two part routine using a ‘Cutting the Aces’ introduction in to our own version of Henry Christ’s fabulous Ace Routine from Cliff Green’s ‘Professional Card Magic’. Setup From top of the pack down any two Aces, Eight of Hearts, any eight cards, the other two Aces, the Eight of Clubs, the rest of the deck and finally, the reversed Eight of Spades. The Eight of Diamonds is not used so it can form part of the central deck. For ease of handling you may also wish to put a breather crimp into the Eight of Clubs, but this isn’t essential. Part 1: Spectator cuts to the Aces This is our handling of what we believe is an Ian Baxter effect. We use this because it’s SO much better than just taking out the Aces, to lose them again. In the Christ effect, it never made sense to me that you would run through a deck, upjog the Aces simply to show that you can lose them and the find them again. After a brief explanation about estimation, card cutting etc you offer a demonstration. Get a break above the two Aces (under the Eight of Clubs) and say “I am going to cut about 13 cards” Cut this small packet to the table and place the rest of the deck to the right of it. “This little packet is your gauge, see if you can cut that amount from the top of the pack to here” You point to the right of the large pack. The spectator cuts. “Now try again, using the gauge” You instruct the spectator to cut from the large pack and place to the right of the pack he just cut. Position check, you could have four piles, we shall call them from left to right 1, 2, 3 and 4 Pack 1 will have 2 aces on top, followed by Eight of Hearts, the 8 ‘X’ cards and then the Eight of Clubs on the bottom Pack 2 will have the reversed Eight of Spades on the bottom Pack 3 two Aces on top Pack 4 just a bunch of cards Now for the revelation: You look the spectator in the eye as you lift the top cards from pack 1 and Pack 3. Use eye contact at this point for subtle
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misdirection. You pause for a second as you look at the cards, slowly turn them over to show two Aces “Wow… good start” as you say this drop the two Aces face up onto packs 2 and 4 and immediately turn over the top cards of 1 and 3… The spectator has successfully cut to the four Aces! Lay the Aces on the table in CHaSD order from RIGHT to LEFT (DSHC) and lay them face up in front of the cut piles 1 2 3 & 4 D S H 1 2 3
C 4
Part 2: Lisp Aces Now you will assemble the cards as per the Christ effect, with a slight modification, follow this carefully… Pick up the cards behind the AD and fan them f/d, pick up Ace of Diamonds and place it into the 3rd position from the bottom, I usually pull it across to the right so it looks like its central, close the fan clearly showing no breaks. Pick up the Ace of Spades and drop it face down onto the top of the cards in your hand, pick up the pack belonging to the AS and drop it squarely on top of the cards in hand, again clearly showing no breaks or control. Pick up the cards behind the Ace of Hearts and drop them onto the cards in hand, as you reach for the Ace of Hearts get a break under the top card. Place the Ace of Hearts on top and double undercut these two cards to the bottom. Turn over the Ace of Clubs onto its cards and then drop the cards in your hand on top, square on the table. You have cleanly lost all the Aces in the fairest manner possible… now the fun begins. You may change your patter to suit, the patter we often use borders on being a little non PC. Perhaps even a touch offensive – but there’s a time and a place when this is appropriate and works extremely well! We have a ‘milder’ approach which we’ll describe at the end – but for now, bear with us! Tell the spec that we find the aces using voice control ask him to say “Ace of spades” at the deck, spread the deck across the table displaying 8S face up in the middle, clearly show no other face up cards act a little confused “Mmmmm do you have some kind of speech impediment pal? A lisp or something, the deck must have heard you say Eight of Spades and not Ace of Spades?” as you say this place all the cards above the Eight of Spades in a face-up pile to the table. Get a break under the two top cards in your hand (face up Eight of Spades and the face up Ace of Spades),
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place them carefully onto the tabled face up pile “OK, OK this eight may be able to help, lets count 8 cards” you the count 8 cards face up onto the tabled pile displaying the Ace of Diamonds on the last count “Well that’s good, we got an Ace at least” Leave the AD aside turn over the cards in you hand and drop them face up onto the tabled face up cards, turn the whole lot over and square. “OK try again, say ‘Ace of Spades’” the spec does his best “See there you go, I heard it, you have a lisp… you cant say your SSSS’s properly!” You then shout “ACE OF SPADES” spread the deck showing the face up Ace of Spades: “See I can do it, but then I don’t have a speech defect, unlike yourself” Put the Ace of Spades aside with the Ace of Diamonds and place all the cards below the Ace of Spades to the top as you reassemble the deck. Get a break under the second card. “OK let’s try for the Ace of Hearts, go on give it a go!”. The spectator at this point will be a little bemused, maybe even offended as he says “Ace of Hearts” turn over the double showing the Eight of Hearts. “See you lisped again, I heard it!” turn the double back and say “OK lets spell A C E O F H E A R T S” you do exactly that spelling one card for each letter face down onto the table, the on the final letter will be the Ace of Hearts. Drop the deck on top of the dealt cards and pick them all up. Position check… Top card 8C second card AC… you know what’s coming “OK let’s try Ace of Clubs”. The spectator dutifully repeats: “ACE OF CLUBS” to which you reply “Ah its getting worse, you’re also dribbling and you just spat at me!”. Obtain a break under the top two cards and turn over the top card showing the Eight of Clubs! Now you can end here by taking the top two cards as one and do the Shapeshifter Change displaying the AC! The Change is accomplished by taking the double by diagonal corners in one hand (the right hand if you’re right handed) from above – in a kind of biddle-grip. The other hand grasps the two ‘free’ corners and pulls down, bending the card. The lower hand then releases the cards, one corner fractionally before the other. The effect is that the pair spring back and rotate around in the process – the card appears to change! The move can be found, described in exacting detail, in Marc De Souza’s excellent book “De Souza’s Deceptions”. Obviously a top change or any kind of dramatic ending will suit, we like Shapeshifter because it’s quite visual.
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Notes: Tailor the performance to suit. Colin usually goes for the jugular when performing for friends, they know me and can take a joke, for strangers we recommend you calm it down and play it by ear. If you actually have a lisp you could probably get a good laugh out of this for obvious reasons. We are not sure if this would be suitable for a spectator who actually has a lisp, they may have hang ups about it… So an alternate presentation can quite easily be that the deck is hard of hearing – and then when you ask the spectator to call out the Aces, claim that the deck is mis-hearing what the spectator is saying. This is a less ‘edgy’ approach to the presentation that some may find more suitable to their performing style. Now… here’s an interesting fact… When you’ve finished performing ‘Lisp Aces’ the deck is automatically stacked for a performance of ‘Misdirection Monte’ – an effect found in Jamie’s manuscript ‘The Underground Change’! And there’s a very obvious presentational ploy to use in this case… here’s how it goes. Situation: The four Aces are on the table. Take one of the aces and lose it in the middle of the deck. Spread through the deck and locate the Eight of Diamonds, placing it face up on the table. Explain how you’re going to show the spectator an effect that requires sharp eyes rather than a clear voice – perhaps that will be more suitable! Perform Misdirection Monte (the deck, as I say, is already stacked for it). When you ask the spectator, at the end, where they think the eight is… have them turn that card over – they’re correct! Now say “Imagine if we’d still been calling out the cards instead of watching them… I think it would look something like this…” Turn the apparent Aces over to reveal that they’ve transformed into the remaining three Eights!
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Under 21 Effect A game of BlackJack is played out between the magician and an imaginary opponent (or the spectator if you have one handy!). As the game unfolds it seems quite clear that the magician is going to win but… wait – somehow the spectator’s cheated – he now has the winning hand – well two can play at that game… the magician reveals his hand once more to show that he now has 21 – and collects his winnings! Comments This routine is quite difficult – but it looks very clean and convincing. There’s a video of this effect available on our website so please take a look so that you can get a real feel for how it should look. We’re particularly proud of this effect and we hope you like it too… Setup From the top of deck: 6C, JS, AS, 8S, Red Queen, Face up Red Queen, Rest of Deck. Working First, deal out two Blackjack hands consisting of two cards per player, the first card dealt face down and the second card dealt face up on top of the first, sidejogged to your right. One hand to the spectator and the other to yourself. Turn over the spectator’s cards, ensuring that the face up Ace is placed to your left and comment on the total – 17 – a kind of difficult hand. Now turn the spectator’s card face down again – but execute my ‘Underground Change’ on the left hand card (the Ace) as you do so. Now square the two cards ensuring that the switched card goes underneath the other (ie the card on your right goes on top of the card on your left). If you don’t know the Underground Change, I’ll describe it briefly here, along with Marlo’s excellent ‘Breakless Curry’. Actually, since learning this, it’s become apparent that the way we do it differs from the original Marlo technique in so far as the Marlo approach uses gravity more, while we tend to pin the cards, rendering the movements entirely mechanical. Anyway, here are the required descriptions of these moves:
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Ok, first, here’s a brief description of the ‘Breakless Curry’ – you can find a more detailed description in Jon Racherbaumer’s magazine ‘The Hierophant’ which is now collected together in a superb hardbound volume. So here’s how it goes: There’s a face down card on the table and you hold the deck in your left hand. Now push the top card to the right but pivot it on the left pinky, which lies at the near right of the deck, so that the pushed-off card ends up at an angle, slightly off the right hand side of the deck. The left forefinger holds the angled card in place at the shallow ‘V’ formed at the far short end of the deck by the deck and the angled card and this holds a pressure between it and the left pinky. The left hand descends onto the tabled card, the left thumb stretching across the tabled card to contact it on it’s long right side. The thumb pushed down on the right side of the tabled card causing the left side to lift upwards slightly (assuming the surface has some ‘give’!). The tip of the left forefinger pulls up on this lifted edge and raises the card to the deck as the left middle and ring fingers push the angled card to the table and over – as the left thumb helps the tabled card gather to the deck. The net effect is that the tabled card is pulled on to the deck as the angled card is pushed away from the deck and over. The appearance is that the tabled card is simply turned over! You can see this in action on our website on the ‘Misdirection Monte’ movie (in the ‘Underground Change’ effect section or on the ‘Under 21’ movie on the ‘Underground Collection Volume 2’ effect section. Now – the Underground Change - once again this is brief and if you would like to pursue this move further then we recommend the full manuscript… but this should be sufficient: The move starts as a combination of ‘The Breakless Curry Change’ and a two-card push-off. Your pinky is positioned along the right side of the deck, but down near the inner corner, where it will act as a pivot point for the remainder of the move. As the top two cards are pushed off together, they pivot on the left pinky. Your left middle and ring fingers ride beneath the cards and your right first finger is positioned in the shallow ‘V’ formed between the double card and the deck at the outer right corner. Stretch your left thumb across the back of the top card and pull it back flush with the deck. The card second from top will remain angled. From this point the move is executed in exactly the same way as the ‘Breakless Curry Change’. The only difference here is that there is a card on top of the one you are switching – but this card will not hinder the move in any way!
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So now you have those moves under your belt… read on! Comment on your face-up card – an eight – then suggest we take a look at your other card too… Turn your cards over, executing Marlo’s ‘Breakless Curry’ on the two card packet as you do so – this switches out the eight, unknown to the spectator, and switches in their Ace! The apparent total of your hand is an Eight plus a Jack – 18 – just beating the spectator! Suggest that the spectator might find this a good time to indulge in a little… cheating! Now spread the spectator’s cards face down again, this time with the face down Six to the left and perform a second Underground Change on it as you turn both of the spectator’s cards face up to reveal that he now has two Queens! 20 – beating your hand! Congratulate the spectator on his skills… But suggest that he may not be the only cheat in the room… Have the spectator turn over your face down card to reveal that you now have a Jack and an Ace of Spades – the perfect 21! Comments Probably the hardest moment here is the packet turnover incorporating the Marlo/Curry switch. It takes a lot of practice to ensure this works properly – but it’s definitely worth the effort. I have a number of routines now that use this technique and it opens up quite a number of new and interesting possibilities…
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Jazz Jokers Effect Eight cards are used: Four Jokers and Four Queens. The Queens are laid on the table in ‘T’ formation and the Jokers held in the magicians’ hands. One by one the Jokers are placed on the leader Queen and a Queen placed with the Jokers but each time the Joker returns to its packet and the Queen to the leader. At the end, everything is clean and examinable. Comments Some years ago I (Jamie) met another magician in Davenports during my lunch break and a brief, slightly (only slightly) heated discussion took place. The essence of the conversation was regarding methods used to accomplish effects. The other magician claimed that method should never matter so long as the effect was as strong as possible. My argument was that provided you do not sacrifice any strength of the effect, the method can also be inherently ‘satisfactory’ to perform and therefore the preferable approach because the choice of method should be one that you not only can perform well but one which you actually like performing. I still stand by this – some things just feel good to do, with cards. This routine is my take on Peter Kane’s wonderful ‘Jazz Aces’ routine but the method I use is my own and one that fits me like a glove. Please try it out and see if it fits you too! Oh, please note that in the write up I pay attention to the orientation of the cards and my method builds this in so that it all works how I like it. You can ignore this aspect of the method if you like – it probably doesn’t need to be this ‘exacting’. Setup You need four identical Jokers and four Queens. Place the four Jokers on top of the Queens and the Jokers should be oriented towards you. Working First, spread all the cards as you explain you’re using just eight cards – four Jokers and four Queens. Have them examined if you wish. Now you’re going to split the packet apparently in to two packets – one of Jokers and the other of Queens, using Karl Fulves’ ‘Mechanical Switch’ (Packet Switches Volume One):
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Holding the packet in the right hand in a pinch-grip on the long right hand side of the packet (thumb on top, fingers below), peel the topmost Joker in to the left hand. Repeat for the second card, making sure that when you do so, the entire first joker aligns under the right hand packet as you do so – this is in order to condition an upcoming action. Peel the third card just as you did the second. For the final Joker, you perform a block pushoff with the right thumb, pushing over the Joker and the three cards beneath it to the left as you steal the left hand cards beneath the remaining single right hand card. It should appear as though you simply peeled the four Jokers into the left hand but in fact the situation should be that the left hand packet has one Joker above three Queens and the right hand packet should have one Queen above three Jokers. The only really tricky thing to watch during this switch is that the right hand cards remain nicely squared after the switch – you don’t want to flash here! Now turn the right hand cards end over end so that they are face down and hold them at the left finger tips while you remove the right hand. The left hand packet is in left hand ‘dealing’ grip as this happens – the two packets clearly never truly meet. Take the top card of the extended packet with the right hand and place it to your left, face down on the table. The next card is placed to the right of the first card, the third card is placed to the right of the second and finally, the fourth card is flashed face up then placed in front of the centre card of the line of three, nearest your body. This, you explain, is the leader Queen. Turn the left hand cards end over end and retake in the left hand. Place the top card of the left hand packet on top of the leader Queen. Take the left-most ‘Queen’ and place it second from top in the Joker packet. Now snap your fingers or whatever it is you do when working your magic – and… Well at this point I use the Orion Count to show the Joker packet still contains four Jokers – but I’m not at liberty to explain this count here – the alternative to this is simply to take the cards in to right hand biddle grip, flash the bottom card of the packet, turn the cards back face down and peel the top card of the packet into the left hand. Repeat this for all the cards. This is Ed Marlo’s ‘Flushtration Count’. Now turn over the Leader Queen packet to show that it contains two Queens! Turn this back face down again.
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Now…, reverse count the face down Joker packet, obtaining a break under the third card as you do so. When you are done, perform a double turnover to show a Joker. Turn the double face down again and immediately deal the ‘Joker’ onto the leader Queen packet. Drop the Joker packet on top of the next ‘Queen’ then pick up this packet, ensuring you do not rotate it in the process. Turn it over sideways and perform an Elmsley Count to show that it still contains four Jokers. As you do this Elmsley Count, obtain a break under the third card. Turn over the Leader Queen packet to show that the Queen has travelled there. Finally, turn the Joker packet face down once more, maintaining the break – and turn a double face up to show a Joker. Turn this double face down again and take the top card and place it on the Leader Queen packet. Drop the Joker packet on top of the final Queen. Pick up the Joker packet again maintaining its orientation, turn it over sideways and show it just contains four Jokers. Turn over the Leader Queen packet to reveal that the last Queen has travelled!
Notes So there you have it – same effect, different method. Something about this method just ‘clicks’ with me – I think it looks extremely fair and clean and is a perfect routine to execute very slowly – a ‘challenge’ routine. Jazz Aces is a wonderful plot for experimentation – feel free to mutate this thing as much as you like until you have a version that works for you too…
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The Inner Eye Effect A spectator selects a packet of cards from the deck, peeks at one and it is lost in the packet. The spectator places her hand over the packet. The magician concentrates a while then declares that the spectator has (for example) 17 cards beneath her hand. She lifts her hand and counts the cards… 17! She replaces her hand… the magician then declares that her card was the 2H! It is correct! He then concentrates one final time and with some effort declares that the 2H is the 8th card from the top of the packet… she lifts her hand and counts to the 8th card… the 2H! Setup A logical combination of two concepts: The deck is marked on the back so that the magician can tell what the face of a card is by checking the marking on the back. The deck is also in a memorised stack order. On completion of this effect, the deck is easily reassembled back in to stack order so that further miracles with a memorised stack can be performed! Method The spectator is requested to cut some cards from the deck and place them to one side then from the lower packet, cut off a number of cards and keep them by placing them in front of her. You then casually replace the lower portion of the remaining deck on top of the original upper portion and place these to one side. Ask the spectator to peek at the top card of her packet and remember it, then cut the packet and complete the cut. At this point you must glimpse the mark on the back of the top card of her packet (the selection) and remember it… she then cuts the packet after which you request that she places her hand over the packet. You are now ready for ‘Revelation 1’. You simply glimpse at the mark on the back of the top card of the deck… translate that card to its stack position number. Subtract from this number the stack position number of the spectator’s selection. The result is the number you call out as the number of cards in the stack! The spectator counts her cards, one by one to the table – your statement is shown to be correct!
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The cards in her packet are now in a reversed order. Glimpse the mark on the top card before you ask her to cover the cards again. Translate that card to its stack position number. ‘Revelation 2’ is simple – just name her card – you glimpsed that earlier! For ‘Revelation 3’, recall the stack position number of the top card of her covered packet (the last card you glimpsed) and subtract from that the stack position number of the selection. Add one to this result and declare that the spectator’s card is at that position from the top of the packet! The spectator lifts her hands and deals down to that position then reveals the card at the named point… it is her selection! Clean Up Have the selection placed on top of the counted cards. Take the remainder of the cards from the spectator; quickly reverse the order of these cards with a run-overhand shuffle. Place the packet of cards with the selection on top, on top of the cards in your hand. Place all these cards on top of the deck. All you need to do now is cut to the first card in your stack and the memorised stack is back in order. We often put a breather crimp in the last card in the stack so we can easily cut this correctly.
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The Beerglass Effect Effect The spectator is given a deck of cards to ‘keep safe’. A second deck is introduced and spread face down. You fairly remove a card, face down and place it to one side. The spectator then names a number from 1 to 52. You then ask the spectator to select a card which is also placed to one side and you name a number. You recap – you have each removed a card and named a number for each others unseen card. The spectator is instructed to open the ‘safe’ deck and deal the cards down to each of the numbers… the cards at those positions are removed… turned over – and upon turning over the selections, found to match… exactly! Setup Both decks are in memorised stack order. One deck – the deck from which the selections are made, is also marked on the back. The decks should have contrasting backs. Method Proceed as described in the ‘effect’, having the spectator ‘make safe’ one deck, and then from the other deck you may remove any card. It does not matter which card you remove – in fact, for fairness-sake you may ask a second spectator to choose one for you. This is placed face down, to one side. Now have the spectator name any number from one to fifty-two. Emphasize how fair and free the choice is. As soon as they name their card you must estimate a cut in the deck – you need to cut – or pass so that the named card is less than five or six cards from the top. You must not cut deeper, however. If you do happen to cut too deep you will need a second cut to rectify this. Now have the spectator remove a card… but not so fairly… Note the stack number of the top card of the deck and spread the cards counting from that number until you reach the target card (the one whose stack number has just been named by the spectator). Cull this under the spread.
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Note that if the card you had removed at the start has a stack number between the top card of the deck and the target card you will need to count one less. Perform Hofzinser’s ‘Under the Spread Force’ with this card and place it to one side. If you don’t know this force, it is worth your study time investigating it – Roberto Giobbi’s Card College books provide a good source for this sleight. (By the way – two years on and still reeling from some of the superb card work we witnessed at the Eastbourne IBM Convention in the UK! Nice one Roberto – write a book on your card magic please!). It is now your turn to name a number from one to fifty-two: Check the marking on the back of the card they originally selected – you now know the identity of their card! Translate the cards identity to its stack number and name this as your chosen number! Place the deck aside and pick up the two selections. Place them briefly together and turn them over, then place them face up onto the table, reversing their original positions. This action should be casual and unseen. This is easy to do and can be covered, in any case, by your asking the spectator to remove the safe deck from it’s’ case. Have the spectator count down to the lowest number and place that card face down beside whichever card apparently had that number named for it. The count then continues to the second number and that card is placed beside the other selection. Both cards are turned over and… they match exactly! And there you have it… a double “Any Card at Any Number”!
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Summary Sometimes an effect can seem complicated when written, even though it’s not… so here’s a condensed summary of what happens for your easy reference: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Card ‘A’ is placed to one side Spectator names a number from 1-52 (N1) Spectator removes card ‘B’ from the deck and placed to one side. This card is forced. It has the card with stack number N1 Magician names a number (N2) – this is the stack number of ‘A’. Cards from other deck are dealt, stopping at whichever is the smallest of N1 & N2. The card at this position is removed. Deal continues to the second number. Card removed. Reveal all four cards as matching.
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Matching Staynes Introduction Ok, here’s a routine that utilizes a ‘Stay Stack’. It’s useful, when using the Tamariz memorized stack, to have some Stay Stack routines at your disposal, since you can move the Tamariz stack to a Stay Stack very easily – as explained in the book ‘Mnemonica’.
Effect The deck is fairly shuffled… many times… then the deck is cut into two halves and two spectators given half the cards each. One spectator turns her half face up. Each spectator deals cards to the table ‘in synch’ until the spectator dealing face down cards says ‘stop’. At this point, the top dealt face up card and top dealt face down card are placed to one side. This is repeated twice more. When the face down cards are revealed, they are the mates of their face up partners!
Setup As already mentioned, the deck must be in a ‘Stay Stack’ order. This is where the 1st card is the mate of the 52nd card; the 2nd card is the mate of the 51st card right through the deck to the 26th card mating the 27th.
Working You can perform as many perfect faros as you like. These can even be off centre shuffles provided the cut is perfect. Now, this is pretty much self working from this point in. It does not matter which spectator has their cards face up so make a point of letting them choose! Have the spectators deal the cards together, calling stop when they desire and setting the cards aside. Make sure no peeking takes place! When they are done, retrieve all the dealt cards and the undealt cards and reassemble the deck; if you counted the number of dealt cards, you can assemble the deck by placing the two undealt packets together then placing one of the other packets on the bottom of the deck then shuffling briefly by running X-3 cards and returning them to the top of the deck – this places the cards back to Stay Stack order. Finally, reveal the three pairs to show the match… Return these cards to the deck placing three on top and three on bottom, in such a way as to maintain the stack and you’re ready for another StayStack miracle!
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Your Number’s Up Introduction Stay Stack again! This is kind of similar to the previous routine but this time, two spectators are involved… Effect The deck is fairly shuffled… many times… the deck is then split between the two spectators. who each think of a number and deal to the card at their number. They then swap halves and deal to their number again. The two sets of cards are turned over and found that they match in mates! Setup As already mentioned, the deck must be in a ‘Stay Stack’ order. This is where the 1st card is the mate of the 52nd card; the 2nd card is the mate of the 51st card right through the deck to the 26th card mating the 27th. Working You can perform as many perfect faros as you like. These can even be offcentre shuffles provided the cut is perfect. Then the deck is cut into two halves and two spectators given half the cards each. Each spectator is asked to think of a small number – say up to 12. They are then to deal cards to the table up to their number and place the card at their number to one side. The dealt cards are place on top of their packet. They then swap half-decks and are told to turn their packet face up – and yet again, deal to their number. They place the face up card at their number on top of their other face-down card. The dealt cards are placed back on the face of their packet. The cards, of course, match! The deck can easily be reassembled back to stay-stack order: Simply place one pair inside the other, take one half, and add the four cards to the top and then place the remaining half on top of all. The deck is now reassembled back to stay-stack order.
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Bonus: Friends – a presentation Introduction If you’re reading this manuscript and you don’t have Simon Aronson’s books then you really should. They contain some of the brightest memorized stack material ever conceived. And one of the strongest of these is his effect ‘Past, Present and Future’ from his book ‘Simply Simon’. This is a presentation for the effect; we like this approach because it provides nice ‘meaning’ to the effect, involves groups of the spectators and the finish is endearing. It’s really designed for a situation where there are a number of spectators who all know one another. You’ll be able to spot a ‘central’ character who appears to know everyone well and this is the idea person for whom you should perform this. It is also best if the group of people includes some people between, say, 25 and 35. This is perfect for the revelation of the second card. This is purely the presentation. No key mechanics for the effect are described herein; simply enough for you to be able to use this presentation if you already know the original effect. We hope you like it. Presentation “I’d like to do something for you now that’s more than just another card trick – it’s about something far more important… friendship. You seem to know everyone here pretty well, but no doubt you know some more than others – and perhaps one or two not very well at all. I’d like some cards to be selected, each card to represent a group of friends…” “The first selection is in many ways the most important. It is also the most mysterious. It will represent the friends you have yet to meet; people who, in the future will become your friends. So please, cut deep into the deck and remove the card you cut to and place it to one side; perhaps place it in your pocket for the time being; we need not know what card you’ve chosen right now…” “The second selection represents your oldest friends; people you’ve known for years and with whom you’ve shared both good and bad times but regardless of what you have been through, you still stick together and are there for one another… so please, pick up the cards remaining on the table, give them a mix then look through and select one to represent your old friends. Place the rest of the cards on the table. Show the card to some of your friends if you like! Now place that card on the small packet.”
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“Finally we need a card to represent your current friends. Certainly this will include everyone here with you today – and no doubt many more people – for this, just cut off some cards from the large pile, look at the card you’ve cut to and show it to everyone here, then shuffle the cards and place the packet on top of the other pile.” “Now, we have three cards chosen and between those three cards we’ve covered every friend you’ve had and every friend you’ll have in the future! I think you’ll agree, this is way more than a card trick! One more thing to do though; pick up the remaining small packet of cards and deal those cards on top of the deck and stop whenever you like. Turn over the top card and place the rest on top. This face up card represents this moment in time…” “Ok, we’ll deal with your current friends first of all. You showed this card to everyone here, right, so I want everyone to concentrate on the card. Ok… the gentleman over there is thinking ‘Red’… the lady next to him is thinking of a… diamond and you… you’re thinking of a six! The card for your friends here today is the six of diamonds!” “And your past… well you fixed a moment in time by that face-up card, remember… we’ll start from there. Please, would anyone here regard themselves as being a good friend of this lady? Ok, and of you all, does the number ‘28’ mean anything to you? It does? Why ? It’s your age! Ok, well this may be pretty strange for you then… let’s count from our ‘moment in time’ 28 cards…” The cards are dealt and on the 28th card, the ‘Past’ card is revealed! “Finally we have our future card. The card that represents friends you may one day meet. In many ways, the most interesting of all the cards. Certainly this is the card I find most interesting – indeed, many years ago someone showed me this and my future card meant so much to me, I kept it here in my wallet… it’s the eight of clubs…” Remove the eight of clubs from your wallet “I believe that one day I’ll do this for someone and their card will also be the eight of clubs and if that happens then perhaps… we’ll be friends! Please, remove the card from your pocket and let’s see what it is…” It is shown and it is the eight of clubs.
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And Finally We hope you have enjoyed this small collection of effects and presentations! More importantly, we hope that you have found within something you will use; there’s nothing more gratifying to us than knowing that other magicians are using our ideas. Also, if you have any ideas of your own you’d like to chat about – or if you have any feedback you’d like to offer us regarding this manuscript please feel free to contact us using the emails below: Jamie Badman: Colin Miller:
[email protected] [email protected]
Until next time, take care! Regards, Jamie & Colin - The Underground Collective
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Whispers from the Underground We trust you enjoyed this manuscript; we at the Underground Collective are proud to have been able to bring it to you. Rumour has it you can nd more effects and manuscripts at our website: http://www.underground-collective.com - you can visit there and browse. For the time being, take a look at a few of our offerings below. If you have a product you’d like us to consider for publication through our site, please contact us at ‘
[email protected]’. Regards, The Underground Collective.
Other effects available from www.underground-collective.com The Underground Change
Heirloom Imagine an effect that resides snugly in your wallet. An effect that packs such a punch when you perform it that your spectators get goosebumps just thinking about it. Someting with such impact that people talk about for years to come. Heirloom is that effect - and its nally here!
The Underground Change has been creating a storm amongst card magicians around the world. It is a brand new, very versatile and practical card move invented by Englands Jamie Badman. Those who have been lucky enough to see it feel that it is something very special in a time where little is truly new any more.
Panagram
Sensory Projection
Imagine having a spectator just think of a word... imagine being able to be able to pluck the letters of that word out of thin air and slowly rebuild that thought in front of the spectator as though you had drawn it directly out of their mind! Panagram makes this pipe-dream a reality; Panagram truly is the last word!
The Mind-Reading ideal uses no props, no gimmicks, no devices. The spectator thinks a thought and the mind-reader tells them what it is. Traditionally this was thought to be a dream; an un-attainable goal. No longer. Now we have Sensory Projection...
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