COMMUNITY DO AS I DO

By Bert Allerton

This trick was originated by Bert Allerton who has been in the Pump Room of Chicago for 5 years doing close-up work.

Effect: Any number of people up to eight all take a card from the deck which is unknown to the performer. Theyare told to remember their card and replace same in deck.Then the deck is separated into piles of six cards each, one pile to each spectator who selected a card. The performer nowasks them to do as he does—place the top card of their pile onthe bottom of their pile and the next card on the table, thenext card on top place on bottom next card on table, this is carried on until there is only one card left face down in spectator's hand and when spectator names his card the card heis holding is that card.

Secret: The secret is very simple. The whole trick laysin the fact that each selected card in each pile is the secondcard from the bottom in the pile handed to the spectator whois told "to do as you do".

When you gather the cards from the spectators see thatthey are all kept together in rotation of the way the spectatorsgive them to you. In other words you must remember your"number one" spectator and the last spectator.

Now with the cards replaced in the deck they are broughtto the top of the deck with the first spectators card on top ofthe deck, second spectators card next and so on until youhave covered your audience that have selected cards.

Now if you can false shuffle the deck keeping the spectators cards on top of the deck well and good. If you can't false shuffle just place them on top of the deck and do a bit of talkingand then they will over-look the false shuffle.

Now turn thedeck face up in your hand and say "you took a card, and youalso took a card" until you get the number of cards down onthe table as spectators taking part in the trick.

For instance,there are five people who have selected cards there will befive cards face down on the table, because as you place a card on the table from the deck which is face up in your hand besure and turn it face down.

Now turn the deck over and place one card at a time on the cards on the table. Each one of thesecards belong to your spectators.

Now ask where you will take the next cards from top, bottom or middle and again place down another card on top of each pile. Now we have three cards face down in each pile. Ask spectator where youwill take the next cards from and how many cards.

Top,bottom or middle. If he says "three cards" fine, you nowplace three cards on each pile face down, and you are readyto give each spectator a pile making sure you give "numberone" spectator the pile his card is in "the first pile" and so onto the last pile.

Now you tell them what to do. Take the first card on top of the deck and place on the bottom of the deckand the next card face down on the table.

This will be carriedout until you have placed five cards on the table and the cardthey have in their hand is the selected one.

Should you have less than eight people take part in thiseffect, then I would take a pile for myself for demonstratingpurposes, which always helps.

A "CHIC" TRICK - By "Chic" Schoke

The deck is shuffled by performer and spectator is invitedto take a group of cards from anywhere in the deck.

Tell spectator, "If I were to ask you to take a card andreplace it in the deck you would be suspicious that I could control the card in some way. Now select a bunch of cards, andas I run the faces in front of you, while my head is turned, I want you to think of any card in the bunch. Now while myhead is turned take this bunch of cards and take your cardfrom it and place it face down on the side. Now shuffle thebalance and place them on top of the deck. Place your card ontop. I may have known the bottom card, so here is a bunchfrom the bottom. Shuffle these and place these on top. Cut thedeck". Performer then takes the deck, spreads it and finds theselected card.

Secret: Before shuffling deck glimpse top card and keepit there. When they take a bunch of cards, take them in yourhands and as you pass them in front of his eyes count them.If there are 10 cards then the selected card will be the tenthfrom known top card of the deck.

For instance:

1. Top card glimpsed (Ace of Hearts).

2. Shuffled.

3. Group taken.

4. Deck placed on table and group placed in your hands.

5. Count cards as you pass them from hand to hand.(12 cards).

6. Give him group and ask him to take his card fromthem and place on side.

7. He shuffles his remaining 11 cards and places on topof Ace of Hearts on deck.

8. He places his selected card on top.

9. You take group from bottom of deck and he shufflesthese and places on top, then cuts deck.

10. Spread cards face up and look for Ace of Hearts.Count 12 to your left and the 12th card will be his selectedcard.

COLORS WILL TELL - By Eddie Morton

Here is a prediction trick that is new and merits some at- tention. My friend did it with a lump of sugar but it can bedone by just writing your predicted card at the start of thetrick. I will describe it as Eddie worked it for me.

Effect: After the deck is shuffled have spectator dividedeck in two equal piles of 26 cards each. Spectator when he ar- rives at 26 cards is told it is not necessary to count the othersas there is no joker in the deck. Ask that the 26 cards beseparated as to colors in two piles, (this should be done singlyespecially in the last group of 26 cards). Have the remainingcards also divided in colors. If the first card is a red card thatis placed on the red heap and the black card you start a thirdheap (or it can be black and then a new red pile). Now thisprocedure gives you two outside piles of one color. Take thespectator's hand and ask him to point to one of the outside piles.What ever pile he chooses, whether it be the right or left handpile, he is to count the number of cards in that pile. When hetells you the number of cards, you pick up the middle pile andcount that number and there will be the predicted card whichyou selected at the start of the trick.

Secret: If you use a lump of sugar print the initials ofthe card, say 10 D. clearly and have same in your trouser pocket. With the initial side downward or as you like. Justbefore you take spectator's hand you dampen the thumb withthe tongue or from a glass of ice water. (I usually have a coldglass of "something" in front of me and the sweat on the glassfurnishes the moisture for the thumb) . Upon pressing thedamp thumb to the lump of sugar the initials are transferredto the thumb. With the thumb still damp take the spectator'shand in the course of showing him what you wanted done.With your thumb against the fleshy part of this hand and thefingers pressing on the back, your thumb will leave an impression of the printed 10 D. on the fleshy part of spectator's palmunbeknown to spectator. Now when the palm is shown to some other spectator he is as much surprised as the owner ofthe palm. If you don't care to use the sugar idea just write thepredicted card while the spectator is counting his 26 cards.

The predicted card is naturally known by performer as he has glimpsed the bottom card of the deck when he askedspectator to count off 26 cards and that is the card he mustuse in this trick. Of course if the sugar idea is used you writethat on the sugar long before you go to your entertainmentand this card must now be placed on the bottom of the deckin your favorite way.

The dividing colors is an old idea as you have 26 red cardsand 26 black cards. Therefore should there be eleven red cardsand fifteen black cards in one half the other half would naturally have fifteen red cards and eleven blacks. The one thingthat you must keep track of is your piles, the first 26 cards I keep the color of the predicted card in the center and the re- mainder of those cards at the left. Now when the other 26 cards are counted I place the predicted card on the centerpile and the opposite color I make a new pile at the right. Nowyou have two small outside piles of one color and one centerpile of 26 opposite color cards. The first card off the bottomof the remaining 26 cards heap is the predicted card. Now afterthe cards are all separated in colors the spectator has pointedto one of the outside piles. You have him count the cards, andwhat ever number he has you count down in the center pile to that number and there the card is. If he points to the righthand pile you leave the center pile as it is face up and if hepoints to the left hand pile you turn the center pile over (facedown) and count whatever number his pile totaled and turn the next card. In other words if there was 13 cards in each outside pile the thirteenth card of the center pile face up wouldbe the predicted card and if you turned the center pile facedownward the predicted card would be fourteen cards fromthe top.

When spectator counts his cards have him turn cards faceup then you can watch and see that he doesn't mix upthe cards. 

MIX—CUT AND LOOK - By Billy O'Connor

Many years ago when the author visited this country hedid this trick for me and I was very much worried for sometime until he showed it to me.

Effect: Cards are given a true riffle shuffle once byspectator. Then the cards are cut and the suit remembered ofcard cut at. If the bottom card of his cut packet is a Spade andthe first card of that suit noted when he turns the deck overis an Ace of Spades or any other card of that suit, that is thecard to be remembered as the selected card. Now the deck is again shuffled and handed the performer for the first time,who produces the looked at card in any way he sees fit.

Secret: The trick consists of a stack of two suits — saySpades and Hearts. Have them well mixed together. Out ofthe 26 cards remove the King of Hearts and the Ace of Spades.Now divide the 24 cards into two piles of twelve cards eachof assorted Spades and Hearts. On the face of each packetplace six cards Diamonds and Clubs, then turn the packetsface down and on top of them place six cards on one pile andeight on the other, it makes no difference, or it can be seven and seven cards. Now add both packets together by placingeither half on top of the other. This places twelve (12) cardsor fourteen cards, Diamonds and Clubs in the center of thedeck. Now place the Ace of Spades and the King of Heartsthird and fourth from the bottom of the deck and you are ready to present the trick. Spectator is now asked to dividecards and give them a riffle shuffle (just once) . This will notdisturb your two key cards on the bottom of the deck, as all it did was place more Diamonds and Clubs on the bottom if they cut cards near the center. Now spectator is told to cut thecards and remember the suit of the card he cut. (See that the deck is cut somewhere near the center). Now spectator turnsthe deck over (face toward him) and looks for the first cardof the suit he cut and remembers the card. This done the cardsare shuffled and handed to the performer, who studies a mo- ment and says "you cut a cherry colored card, didn't you?, I mean a black cherry, or was it a red cherry?" Once you findout the color the trick is finished. For if it is a red color thecard must be the King of Hearts and if a black card, the cardis the Ace of Spades. Now produce the card in your favoriteway.

I usually have my deck set for this trick and when I amcalled on I just pull out the deck and tell spectator to givethem a riffle shuffle and I am off to a flying start.

LOCATION FROM NEW DECK - By Arthur Buckley
This effect was given me by the author some time ago andit has been used by me on some of the best gamblers in thecountry. Any trick by this author is well worth more than theprice of this book.

Effect: Take a brand new deck right from the store openit up and remove the joker and other advertising cards. Dividethe deck in two piles of twenty-six cards each. Have a spectatorselect any card from the first pile and now ask second spectatorto select any card from the second pile. Both cards are lookedat by spectators and asked to remember their names. Now thefirst spectator places his card in the second spectator's pileand the second spectator is asked to place his card in thefirst spectator's pile. Both cards are unknown to the performer.Now ask that the two piles be shuffled together by a fair riffle shuffle. Now another fair riffle shuffle and call attention to the fairness of the two riffle shuffles. Now you glance thru thedeck and produce both selected cards.

Secret: When the cards are removed from the case theyall come in suits in sequence and so when you have the two cards removed from their decks the sequence is broken as far as these cards are concerned. Now the cards are placed in opposite packets and the deck given a riffle shuffle twice whichdoes not interfere with the original sequence. Now upon looking thru the deck look for two cards out of sequence and these will be the two selected cards. You will find that the suits are mixed thru the deck but not the sequence of cards. It can bepossible for one of the two selected cards to be put back inthere regular sequence but very unlikely. The percentage is about a hundred per cent in your favor.

YOUR NUMBER—YOUR CARD - By Paul Rosini

This effect was given me by the author after he had fooleda crowd of magicians up in my room.

Effect: The deck is given to spectator to shuffle and thenthe spectator is instructed to divide the deck into about threeequal piles. He is now told to select any one of the piles hechooses. He is now to scan thru his selected pile and select onecard in his mind, then shuffle the pile so even he doesn't knowthe location of his card. Now the other two piles are shuffled together and cut in about equal halves so as the performer willnot have any idea of the location of any card in the deck. Nowthe selected pile with the selected card is counted and the lo- cation of the selected card is only known to the spectator. Thespectator takes his selected pile and places it in the center ofthe larger pile, and the cards are given as many square cuts as spectator desires. Now the performer takes the deck and presents the mentally selected card in any way he sees fit.

Secret: Once the chosen card has been shuffled in theselected heap the performer asks spectator if he knows howmany cards he has in his heap.

Of course he does not exactly.So ask him to count his cards one at a time slowly while youturn your back, and remember just how far down in pile hiscard is. Count these cards face up on the table.

Here the trick hinges, you take a quick look at the first card laid down andremember same as your key card. After you get a glimpse ofthe card walk away and with your back turned to him. Heshuffles the other two piles and then cuts them and places hispile in between them and squares the pack. As you come backto the table say "maybe you had better cut them also, andagain please." The key card is all you need remember for thistrick. Say it was the Jack of Hearts. Now for the first time youtake the deck. Run thru the deck face up and locate your "keycard." (Jack of Hearts) and count five more cards on top of it (face up) and cut the deck at this point (the fifth card aboveyour key card). This will place the Jack of Hearts six cardsfrom the bottom of the deck. Meaning that the sixth card ofhis selected packet is now on the bottom of the deck and theseventh card on top of the deck. Ask spectator after you havereviewed what has happened at what number his card appeared when his pile was counted. The number is very important to you, because now you know the exact location ofhis card in the deck. If the location happens to be six — it is the bottom card of the deck.

If it is seven it is on top of the deck.If the number given is from "one to six" you must subtractfrom bottom. In other words if the number was three — thenthe card is third from bottom. If seven or higher just countfrom top of the deck to number. Say number was twelve —just count cards seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thatwill be the selected card. Now you can present the card anyway that suits your fancy. When I find his card was the seventhcard, I just say "you didn't reverse your card did you?" anddrop the deck on the table and there is the card face up ontop of the deck.

The basic principle of this trick can be made into a very wonderful mental effect.

THIS IS YOUR CARD

By George Coon

This effect is probably one of the cutest effects for a layaudience that can be pulled at a moments notice when you aretrying to figure out just what trick would hit the group best.I have used it a great many times and probably just a bit dif- ferent than my friend does. Anyway give it a trial, I am sure you will like it.

Effect: The deck is passed to the spectator for a genuineshuffle and he can shuffle as much as he pleases. Now uponreceiving the deck back in your hands, you ask spectator toselect any card and have it returned to the deck. This beingdone you now instruct spectator to scan some cards you aregiving him and should his card be among the bunch of cardshe is to remove it and lay it face down on the table. If it is not,he removes a card anyway and places it face down on thetable. He must not at any time let you know what his selected card is. Since the procedure is done five times, I always handout ten or twelve cards for the spectator to scan. When thedeck has been completed you will have five cards on the tablein a pile 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st in order; the 5th card on topof the pile. You patter about not knowing his card and youdon't know the denomination, (but you do know the locationas I will explain). You now start spelling "t-h-i-s" and placeeach card as you call the letters on the bottom of your five cardheap. When you come to the last letter which will be "s" youplace that card face down on the table and start with the nextword "i-s". You place "i" on bottom of your now four card heapand "s" you throw on the table. Now you have three cards inyour heap and two on* the table. The next word you spell is "y-o-u-r" and again you place a card at a time on the bottomof your heap until you come to the letter "r" which you throwon the table. Now you are down to two cards in your hand andthree cards on the table. The last word you spell is "c-a-r-d"when you come to the last letter "d" you throw that card onthe table. You are now left with one card in your hand and youask the spectator to name his selected card and when he doesturn the card over in your hand and that is the one. "This Is Your Card."

Secret: After the spectator selects a card be sure to havehim place it back in the deck between 20 and 30 cards, anyplace will do. You pass him the first ten cards, you know hiscard is not among those nor is it among the second ten cards,but it is among the third ten cards, and you just carry on foranother twenty cards, ten cards at a time. Now your pile offive cards on the table should be two indifferent cards andthen the selected card and then two more indifferent cards andwith this set up you start spelling "This Is Your Card", and theremaining card in your hand is the selected card. If you canfalse shuffle a deck it might add just a bit more mystery to the effect.

MONEY ON THE LINE

By George Foster

Here is an old trick with a cute bit of misdirection I thinkyou will like.

Effect: Take an ace and place same on top of deck and then on the bottom of the deck place the other three aces. Thisis your "four ace stack". Hand deck to a spectator and ask "thathe count down as far as he likes and stop." Now he is told to put a coin on top of his pile, a penny if he has one. The secondspectator is told to do the same thing and place a nickel on hispile. The third spectator is told to do the same and- place a dimeon his pile. The fourth spectator does likewise and places a quarter on his pile. Now we have a total of four piles and forty one cents on the line and with these cards you should win thepot. Now turn over each pile and here we have the four aces.

Secret: The stack tells the story. The first ace is already on top so when spectator counts his cards on the table his aceis on the bottom .of his pile. Now when you take cards backand ask spectator "to place a penny on his pile." While he is locating the penny you have plenty of time to bring anotherace to the top. Which you do. This same procedure is carriedout while spectators are looking for their coins to place ontop of pile. You always hold the deck while they are looking for their coins which gives you plenty of time to bring anace from the bottom to the top of the deck. I usually ask spectators if they should choose an ace what one would theychoose and when they turn over their pile there is the ace. Just remember your location of three aces on the bottom andget the favorite ace of number one spectator on top of deck.

DO IT FOR ME

By Gene Bernstein

This is an effect that Gene Bernstein showed me and it struck me as having quite a bit of mystery to it and I like dit so well I prevailed on Gene to give it to me for the book. So here it is.

Effect: A deck of cards is cut, spectator holding one halfand performer the other half of the deck. The performer asksspectator to do as he does. Performer removes a card fromhis packet and writes his initials on it and asks the spectator to do likewise.

Now the cards have been initialed they are put onthe top of their packet and the packets are cut which nowplaces the initialed cards somewhere near the center of theirrespective packets. The cards are now spread fan wise facedown on the table and spectator draws one card from performers half and places same in his packet. Performer selectinga card from spectators packet and places same in his packetwithout looking at same.

Now the spectator and performereach shuffles his packet. Now the packets are spread face upwards and the initialed cards are removed and placed beforeeach other on the table and upon doing this both spectator andperformer find they have removed the cards initialed by eachother at the start of the trick.

Secret: Of course you know this would be almost impossible feat if there was not some key to the situation. So here is the key to the situation.

You pencil mark a card with a dot on the border that you can recognize at a moments noticeand you place that card about five cards down in the deckcounting from the top. This is your key card for sighting.

Now sometime before you start this trick steal a card from the deckand put your initials on it. This card you place two cards abovekey card.

Now the next move is to have spectator and performer draw a card at random from deck and put his initials on it. The spectator does this but the performer just goes thruthe motions of writing his initials on his card as he already has an initialed card planted in spectators packet.

Now both cardsare placed on top of their packets and the cards are cut into thecenter of the packet and the packets squared up so as they arelost sight of. Let us say that the performers initialed card previously marked is 10 of Hearts and the spectators card initialedwas the King of Spades.

Now the cards are spread fan wiseface downward on the table and a card withdrawn from eachpacket and placed from one packet to the other without looking at same. The spectator draws a card from performerspacket at random but the performer must use his key card at this moment.

When the trick started the key card was five cards down in the deck now when the spectator placed hisinitialed card on top of packet that brought his card five cardsabove the key card.

So all performer does is count the fifth card above the key card and removes same which is spectatorsKing of Spades, places same in his packet and gives his packeta riffle shuffle and asks the spectator to do likewise.

Now theperformer asks that the initialed cards be removed from thedeck, and performer says, "my card was the 10 of Hearts, whatwas yours?" Both cards are laid upon the table and there theyare identified by their initials.

At the start of the trick ask spectator to cut off about halfof the deck and you allow him to keep his half for the reasonall your key cards are planted there. This is a good trick andcan be built up to look like a real miracle. Give it some time.

MATHEMATICAL MARVEL

By Arden Morris

This is an effect that was shown me by my friend ArdenMorris who obtained the idea from a mathematical studentback east. I am sure you will like the effect.

Effect: The usual procedure is for the performer to askthe spectator to select a card. In this instance it is reversed,and the spectator asks the performer to select a card. This theperformer does, and after doing so replaces his card in thedeck, asks for pencil and paper and writes the name of a cardupon the paper which he now gives the spectator to hold forlater identification. Now the spectator is asked to mention anynumber between one and twenty-six — suppose he mentions"seventeen." He is then to count off the top of the deck 17 cards and turn over the 18th card for the performer to see. Performer upon seeing it says "I am sorry that is not the card."The 18th card remains on top of the deck now spectator re- places his 17 cards on top of the deck and the performer says"Well, if it wasn't in the upper half of the deck maybe it willbe in the lower half of the deck so give me a number between 26 and 52 cards. Suppose the spectator says "33". Now the spectator counts off 33 cards into a pile and again shows the performer the 34th card (which remains on top of the deck). The performer again says "I am sorry that is not my card." The 33 cards are placed back on top of the deck and the performer patters about it should work and then says "17 from 33 is how many?" and the spectator says "16". Count off 16 cardsand look at the 17th card that remains on top of the deck andthere he finds the predicted card. The paper is unfolded andthere is the name of the card.

Secret: Having the performer draw a card is all horseplay. What the performer does is draw a card, and while spectator finds his pencil, the performer glances at the top card ofdeck say "Jack of Hearts" and writes that on the piece of paperwhich he gives the spectator to hold and now the numbers between one and 26 is just reversing a number of cards, andthen have him look at card on top of deck (not at the numberhe selected) . Now get a number in the lower half of deck between 26 and 52 and again look at the top card of deck (not thenumber spectator mentioned) . Now subtract the lower numberfrom the higher number and count that many cards off thedeck and turn the next card over and that is the predicted card.This trick really goes over in a crowd of business people, tryit and see for yourself.