THE GREAT MELD MYSTERY FROM PINOCHLE

As Presented By Little Johnny Jones

The secret of this effect is old but little known. I do not claim it as my own. But like most tricks it isn't the secret that counts for most, it is the way in which it is presented. I personally never cared very much for tricks that were obviously mathematical, but on the other hand if you can do a mathematical trick in such a way that it appears to be a miracle of sleight of hand, then you have something.

In its original version this trick was called, "Kings and Queens", I have renamed it "The Great Meld Mystery From Pinochle" to give it glamor and a background for presentation possibilities. This is the way I present it: "Now I would like to show my great Meld Mystery from Pinochle". (Pick out the four kings and queens from deck. I usually do this by dropping them onto the floor face-up as explained in Dorny's trick elsewhere in this book). "In Pinochle a king and queen of the same suit are known as a marriage or meld". Lay the rest of the deck aside and pick up the cards from the floor, as you do so arrange the king and queen of each suit together and have all suits in sequence — king, queen, king, queen, etc., without being obvious about it. "I have separated the colors for the sake of contrast". Give them a quick but not hurried flash so they may see that the colors have been alternated without observing that they have ben arranged in sequence, for you do not want them to even imagine that this is a mathematical trick. "Now the object of this trick is to place the cards behind my back, carry on a semi-intelligent conversation and endeavor to pick out all of the kings in one hand and all of the queens in the other. Now in this hand are the (whatever they might be) kings, and over here are the queens". While the cards are behind your back you must talk continually without pause to avoid any suspicion of counting, which is exactly what you are doing.

The Secret is to take every other card into the right hand and they will all either be kings or queens. I neglected to tell you that before you place the cards behind your back to begin this mystery, that you should have several people each give the cards a straight cut, which to the lay mind mixes them . . . Now pick up the four kings and count them: one, two, three, four, and do the same with the queens as this affords you the opportunity to arrange the king pile and the queen pile in sequence. If the king of spades is on the bottom of the king pile, then the queen of spades must be on the bottom of the queen pile etc. on through the suites. "Now we have the kings altogether in this pile and the queens all together in this pile". Place the two piles together and have them cut several times. "Now I shall again place the cards behind my back, carry on the same semi-intelligent conversation and endeavor to pick out the kings and queens all paired up as they were in the beginning. Here we have the king and queen of (whatever it is, you name it as you reveal them) spades, and now we have the king and queen of hearts, and now would you like the king and queen of clubs or the king and queen of diamonds? Diamonds? That's what I thought you would want so I kept the king and queen of clubs for myself". In the above example you can readily see that due to the color separation you can instantly tell what suit will be in your right hand after two have al- ready been produced. Therefore, they have a choice and you can't lose. The secret of the second part of this trick is to count down four cards and insert the index finger between the two piles. Remove the top card from each pile and they- will always be the king and queen of the same suit.

It is my wish that you may derive the pleasure from this trick that I have over a period of many years, I have fooled most top flight magicians with it and many gamblers. Only a few times have I shown it to one who already new it.

May I suggest that you practice this effect until the counting and separating of the cards behind your back becomes automatic, then your conscious thought can be used for patter and misdirection. 

SPECTATOR'S NAME

By Martin Barnett

This is a spelling trick that its author has been carrying around as one of his pets for quite some time. Once you use it on a lay audience I am sure you will like it, as it is quick and sure fire.

Effect: You ask spectator to remove any number of cards up to and including six cards and place same in pocket. They then count down the same number of cards in the deck as the number of cards they removed from the deck and re- member the denomination of the card at that position in the deck. In other words, if they removed four cards and placed same in their pocket, they would now look down four cards in the deck and remember the fourth card.

Now the performer takes the deck for the first time and asks spectator his full name, say it is "Rufus Steele". Performer counts the letters in the name, which in this case is eleven letters, and spells the name given. When he reaches the last letter of the name he turns the card, and this is the card spectator looked at when the trick was started.

Secret: When you have spectator's name, say it is an eleven letter name, reverse ten cards (one less than spectator's name) on top of deck by shuffling them off into the left hand one at a time. Replace these cards on top of deck and have 32 spectator return the cards he has placed in his pocket to top of deck. Now go ahead and spell spectator's name and turn over the last letter. This will be the spectator's selected card.

This is a good effect to start off an evening with when you are asked to do some card tricks. It gets the name of some spectator and is quite interesting from the layman's point of view.

MATHEMATICAL DISCOVERY

By Harry Blackstone

This trick my friend, Harry Blackstone, gave me permission to use from his book "Modern Magic". The knowledge of this effect is not only valuable, but it is a life saver when you are in some spot where you must locate the card which you do not know.

Effect: A spectator has chosen a card. Tell him to re- member its numerical value (Ace, one; Jack, eleven; Queen, twelve; King, thirteen) also the suit of the card. Tell him to double the value of the card. Then tell him to add three to the total. Then tell him to multiply the complete total by five.

This done, ask him to concentrate on the suit. If the card is a diamond, he must add one. If it is a club, he must add two. If it is a heart, he must add three. If it is a spade, he must add four. He must then tell you the final total. From it you immediately divine the name of the selected card.

Secret: Subtract fifteen from final total. You will have a number of two figures—possibly three. The last figure gives you the suit (Diamonds, 1; Clubs, 2; Hearts, 3; Spades, 4) while the first figure or figures gives you the value.

Example: Jack of Clubs. Eleven doubled is 22. Add 3, equals 25. Multiply by 5 equals 125. Add 2 (for Clubs) making total of 127. You are told the number. Subtract 15 mentally. Result 112. Last figure (2) means Clubs. First figure (11) means Jack.

With the Five of Hearts. Five doubled is 10. Add 3 equals 13. Multiply by 5 equals 65. Add 3 (for Hearts) making 68. You are told that number. Subtract 15 mentally. Result 53. Last figure (3) means Hearts. First figure (5) means Five spot.

This is a very effective routine and is particularly valuable when a troublesome spectator takes a card and makes it im33 possible for you to go ahead with the trick as you had intended.

Remember that spectator performs all his calculations without telling you a word about the card itself. He can do it mentally or on paper. All you ask is for the total. The total does not appear to give you any clue to the card, because no one knows your secret system of deducting 15.

I usually do this effect by saying, "Think of a card" and then have spectator go through the above routine. After getting total number I present the deck and either turn over the thought of card or force same on the spectator. 

THAT NUMBER DOWN

By Doc Miller

Some time back when Doc Miller was visiting at the Round Table here in Chicago he did a little trick that impresed me at the time, and I asked permission to use same for the book. Since that time my friend Eddie Mario took the trick and put a new dress on it and fooled all the magis at the table with same. I am going to present the trick as it was given to me.

Effect: The spectator is asked to select a card and have same placed on top of deck and then the deck is given a square cut with the cards face down. Now turn the deck face up and have same cut again and again as it suits your purpose. Now, as the cut, the spectator makes suits your purpose, you say, "That card tells me how far down in the deck your card is." Now you turn the deck over and count down to the number of the card on the bottom of the deck. Say the card on the bottom of the deck was 7 of Spades —you count down seven cards and turn over that card (7th card) and that will be the se- lected card.

Secret: You stack thirteen cards of the same suit from the King to the Ace of that suit on bottom of deck. Now when the spectator selects a card he does so from any of the cards above your 13 card stack and places same on top of deck. Now give the deck a square cut. This will place the Ace of your 13 card stack next to the selected card, in other words, the first card below your Ace in the 13 card stack. Now turn the deck face up and ask to have it cut again. Say your 13 card stack consisted of thirteen spades from the King down to the Ace. Now when spectator cuts the deck face upwards, you are hoping he will cut into your 13 card stack, and when he does, which he will eventually, you call attention to the spade he cut. Say it was an eight spot. That will tell you his card is now the eighth card down from the top of the deck, so turn deck over and count off eight cards face down on the table, and the eighth card is the spectator's selected card. Now pick up the other seven cards and get them mixed up in the deck so spectator won't notice the thirteen spade stack. Try this and then get Eddie's improvement. I am sure you will like them both. 

PHENOMENAL MEMORY

By Paul Stadelman

Here is an effect that was used by Jack Merlin a long time ago only Jack used a marked card or crimped card for the effect. In my opinion Mr. Stadelman has improved the effect considerably by just using a "sight card" in one of his packets.

Effect: Performer fans deck of cards rapidly before his eyes and claims that he has now memorized the entire deck of 52 cards. To prove his assertion he spreads the deck in two rows on the table, face down, and asks someone to remove a card from one row, look at it and place same in other row. Then have a spectator hand performer the row from which selected card was removed.

Performer glances rapidly through the packet of cards handed him and after a moment's study says, "The card you selected was removed from between the Jack of Diamonds and the four of Spades".

Performer then picks up other part of deck and after looking through it says, "The card you selected is now between the King of Spades and 9 of Hearts, and the selected card is the 5 of Spades." (Or what ever the selected card happens to be) . The packet is then offered for inspection with the remark, "Isn't that correct, Sir? (or Madam?).

Secret: As you fan the deck to "memorize" the cards note the tenth card from the top of the deck. Place deck on table, remove top half of deck and spread on the table face down keeping your eye on the location of the tenth card which is your "sight card". When spreading the cards fanwise on the table let each one overlap the other and leave a slight in-jog or out-jog at the tenth card — your "sight card". Be sure this is not enough of a jog to be noticeable but enough that you can instantly locate this tenth card with a flash of the eye.

The lower half of the deck is now spread in the same manner as the top half. Have spectator remove a card from this lower half, look at it and place same in the top half of deck. Watch them closely now as they put selected card in the top half to see whether they place it above or below the tenth card which is your known "sight card". Notice carefully how many cards above or below the tenth card they place the se- lected card, as the trick hinges on your knowing the exact number of cards.

Ask spectator to square up both packets. Performer takes the lower packet and calls attention to fact that the selected card was between (name any two adjacent cards near position from which card was removed, as no one knows whether you are correct or not and it adds mystery to the effect).

Now pick up the top row and say, "The selected card is now between — (name the cards on each side of the selected card) , and the selected card is the — (name the selected card) ."

This is not as hard as it sounds. There are only twenty or twenty-five cards in the top row, and the tenth card is bound to be near the center of the top row. You will find that when the spectator places the selected card in the top row the aver- age person will place it within three or four cards of the index card as they think if they place it near either end it will be easier to find. Sometimes they place it right in the jog, and that makes it very wonderful for the effect.

Give this a trial. I am sure you will be delighted with the result.

This effect was printed in a book by Stadelman in 1933, and I have his permission to use the effect as he printed it.

YOU COULD HAVE SELECTED THAT ONE

By Frank Shepard

This trick is one of Frank's foolers. He uses it quite fre- quently when he is called up to do close-up card work. It has the wise ones guessing.

Effect: Performer lays six cards on the table face downward in a row and then asks spectator to select a card from the remaining part of the deck and show same to other spectators. With this done spectator returns his card to the deck and is asked to turn face up any of the six cards face down on the table. Regardless of what card spectator turns face up that card will tell the location of spectator's selected card in deck.

Secret: This trick consists of a slight set-up such as a King, 5, 6, 5, 6 and an ace. When spectator has selected a card and is showing same to other spectators, finger count off five cards from top of deck and have spectator place his card on top of deck as you lift off the five top cards as though you were cutting the deck. (If you can false shuffle, do so.)

When the spectator turns over one of the center cards he is bound to turn over a five or six spot. Should it be a five spot, count down in the deck five cards and turn over the next card which is the selected card. If spectator should turn over a six spot, that is perfect, since his card is now the sixth card down.

When spectator has turned over a card, just turn over two more cards for him and say, "You could have turned over this King, or this five, or six." Then jump to the last card and say, "or this Ace."

Then throw the cards all in the center of the table face down, and after you have produced spectator's se- lected card place deck on the five card pile leaving the turned up card on the table — which later you return to deck and give deck a shuffle. Don't worry. They seldom select the end cards, and if you present the trick right, you may take my word, it will fool them.

ALLERTON'S INDICATOR

By Bert Allerton

Here is one of Bert Allerton's pets and if you have ever had the pleasure of watching him fool the boys with it you can understand why it is a pet with a hundred percent accent.

Effect: The spectator is invited to select a card and re- turn it to the deck. If you can false shuffle here it will add quite a bit to the effect but if you cannot a couple of square cuts will help matters a lot.

After the card has been returned to the deck, the performer starts turning cards over one at a time in front of him and after several cards have been turned over he asks the spectator to stop him turning them over at any time he likes.

When the spectator says "now" he asks, "This card, or the next." Upon receiving his reply he turns over the card and the denomination of that card indicates how far down in the deck the card is. For instance should the card be a 9 spot the spectator's selected card will be nine cards further down in the deck.

Secret: This trick is based on an arangement or set up. You start with a King (which will be 13) next an indifferent card then a Jack (which will be 11) another indifferent card and then a 9 spot — then an indifferent card an then a 7 spot, indifferent card and then a 5 spot, indifferent card and then a 3 spot, indifferent card and then an ace. This is the set up the odd cards from 13 to Ace. These are placed on the bottom of the deck in that order.

It is well to note several cards above your set up for the reason you are about to ask the spectator "To stop me anytime you like".

Now should spectator stop you on one of your key cards, you ask "this card, or the next". If he says your key card, fine, and if he says the next card, you just say "and this next card tells me how far down your selected card is", and turn over the next card which is a key card, as every other card is a key card.

When spectator returns his card to the deck just cut the deck down about half or a little better, and this brings your stack up on top of his card. Now the trick is just about over, all you watch for as you turn the cards face up on the table one at a time is for one of your key cards. 

I SHOULD JUDGE 

This effect was used for a number of years to fool magicians with.

Effect: The cards are cut and the card at bottom of cut remembered. The deck is now squared and if you can false shuffle it will help. The deck is now divided into five piles one card at a time on each pile. Now spectator is asked to look through the piles and find the pile his selected card is in.

The rest of the piles are discarded. The spectator is told to hold his pile face down and deal one card at a time in a pile until told to stop. When spectator goes through the pile the first time offer an excuse "you laid them down too fast for me, do it once more and do it slower". After several cards are laid on the table and the spectator is about to lay another down say, "Stop", and believe it or not the card he is now holding is the selected card.

Secret: You must be able to judge within five cards of the number of cards the spectator cut. Let us say he cut half the deck (26 cards) and the card he looked at on the bottom of his pile was the Jack of Spades. Replace cut on top, now you have spectator make five piles, the first and second pile will have eleven cards in and the other three piles ten cards each.

If the spectator cut 26 cards his card must be in the first pile, if he cut 27 it must be in the second pile and 28 cards in the third pile. If it was in the last pile it would have to be five, ten, fifteen, twenty or twenty-five cards. In this way you can keep track of how many cards he cut.

Now if you have guessed his amount of cards correct or within five cards the trick must work. The purpose of having him lay his cards down the first time is the reversing of his pile.

When he lays his cards down the second time you start counting five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and now as he starts to lay the sixth card down stop him for that is the selected card. For example let us say you thought he cut off twenty-two cards.

You start counting five for each card he lays down and when your total reaches twenty-five he is told to stop before he lays the card down, it will be the selected card, the Jack of Spades. Should the card be at an even twenty cards then you stop him when your total reaches twenty.

You can count one card at a time, in other words if your total is twenty-five just stop him on the fifth card. Remember that when he cuts the deck and notes the bottom card of his cut, the cards are put back on top — don't place them on bottom. As the cut is just for him to select some card and the deck should now be in same shape as when he cut the cards, you are figuring how many cards down from the top his card really is.

The author does not reverse the count when doing this trick. He allows spectator to count his pile and during the count stops him on the selected card. For instance you esti- mated the cut at 22 cards which would give you a key number of five.

Subtract five from the number of cards in pile: say there was eleven cards in pile which contained spectator's card — five from eleven is six and turn over the next card (7th) and that will be the chosen card. If the estimate was between 25 and 30, say 28 cards then subtract six from ten which gives you four and turn over the next card. Remember you count cards in series of five, 10 to 15 counts 3; 15 to 20 — 4; 20 to 25 —5; 25 to 30 — 6; 30 to 35 — 7. 

PASSE SHUFFLE

By Bill Baird

Bill built this trick up while in the armed forces and is now using it to fool the boys back home.

Effect: The deck is given a thorough shuffle by spectator and then divided into three piles. The performer turns his back on spectator while he chooses one of the three piles of cards on the table, spectator shuffles that selected pile again and selects any card he desires from that pile, placing it on top of his selected pile.

Spectator then reverses that pile, so the faces of the cards are now upward and his selected card is also face up, only on the bottom of the heap. He now places his face up cards on either pile and the third pile is then placed on his face up cards. We now have two thirds of the deck face down and one third face up. Spectator now gives the deck a riffle shuffle (just one shuffle) and cuts the deck, then completes the cut. Spectator hands performer the deck and performer finds spectator's selected card.

Secret: Performer turns the deck over and upon looking through the deck locates the largest number of face up cards. Once this has been done you locate the first card face downward after the largest number of face up cards and that is the spectator's selected card. 

THREE CARD LOCATION 

Here is an effect my friend McDermott, owner of the Richard Studio, showed me and I am sure you will like it al- though it carries a small sleight.

Effect: The deck is shuffled and spectator has free choice of any card which is returned to the deck and immediately placed on the bottom of the deck in reverse position (this is the only sleight). Say the card was the Nine of Hearts, you now leave it reversed on bottom of deck. Cut off about a third of your cards and hand them to second spectator with instructions that they be shuffled. Now another third is handed to the third spectaor to be shuffled. Now ask spectators to select a card from their packets and while they are doing that you turn deck over in your hand so the first selected card (Nine of Hearts) is on top of deck reversed. Now ask second spectator to place his card in your part of deck. This he does. Now gives you the balance of his packet which you reverse and place on botton of your packet. The third spectator places his card in your packet and then gives you the balance of his cards which are reversed and placed on top of reverse card now on top of deck. Now tap the deck and turn same over and here we find the three selected cards reversed in the deck and all the rest of the cards as they should be, face down.

Secret: The reverse card on the bottom is the key to the situation as the other two cards when placed in the deck immediately become reverse cards also. Now the balance of the second spectator's cards are reversed and placed on the bottom which keeps the deck as it should be with a reversed card on top. Now third spectator places his card in deck face down and the balance of cards reversed on top of deck. The deck now upon being turned over has all the cards face down except the three cards which are face up. All you must be careful of is that the spectator does not get the idea that he is placing his card in among other cards that are face up.