Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
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of every worshipper at the shrine of Tarot.
In this change this is what the spectators see and what the magician himself will see in his mirror: The conjurer holds a card in his right hand, the six of diamonds for example. Momentarily he holds it face downwards, immediately thereafter its face is turned to the spectators who now perceive that the card they have watched closely has changed to, say, the two of hearts.
The Method. Obviously a change of the two cards is made and, since this is the case, the sleight can be used in any number of tricks in which it is necessary to change one card for another. The method is as simple as the change is good; one card is top changed{2} for the other. The secret lies, not in the method, but in the application of the principles of the top change in a new manner.
First of all, hold the pack in the left hand, the thumb lying straight across the top of the pack, the first finger slanting upwards at the outer end and the other three fingers at the right side. The position is very similar to that known amongst gamblers as the Mechanics’ Grip.
Take the top card, the six of diamonds, for example, in the right hand, holding it by the inner right corner between the thumb at the top, the first finger at the face, with the side of the second finger at its top joint pressing against the inner edge. Holding the pack and the card in this fashion, practice the top change, the two hands performing the following functions:
a. Left Hand. Draw back the thumb, bending it, and drop its tip upon the top card near the left side. Straighten the thumb sharply, sliding the top card off the right side of the pack. At the conclusion of the thrust of the left thumb, hold it rigidly straight, pointing towards the right and slightly above the pack.
b. Right Hand. Move the right hand with its card towards the pack, at the same time thrusting outwards sharply with the ball of the thumb, half pushing, half throwing the card upon the pack, Fig. 2. This card slides under the left thumb which, being raised above the pack a little, does not impede the action. At the same moment the top card of the pack, which the left thumb has thrust to the right, is taken by the right thumb, first and second fingers, in exactly the same grip as that which held the first card.
In practice both actions are made at the same moment, the two cards sliding over one another in a fraction of a second. Once the moves are mastered they will be found to constitute an effortless, frictionless and very rapid way of making the top change, the two cards being exchanged in the twinkling of an eye. Masked by the usual covering movement of the hands, this is the finest method of making the top change.
To use these moves in the Fadeaway Card Change, proceed thus: Hold the card, the six of diamonds, in the right hand as directed, the left hand holding the pack at the top of which is the two of hearts. Hold both hands easily about waist high and some eight inches apart.
Show the right hand card by turning its face to the spectators, immediately afterwards holding it horizontally.
Move the right hand, with its card still horizontal, to the left and up-wards in the trajectory of an arc, at the same moment moving the left hand with the pack to the right and upwards, also in an arc, Fig. 1.
The two hands meet and the top change is made as described while both hands continue their upward arcing movement until they are at the level of the chin. The back of the left hand will be towards the audience, while the right holds its card, now the two of hearts, vertically facing outwards. Immediately, with the left hand make a short indicatory gesture, tapping the right hand card with the tips of the fingers which hold the pack, as if to say, “You see?” Figure 1 shows the nature of the preceding action. Figure 2 shows the action at the point marked A in Fig. 1. Figure 3 shows the action at the point marked B in Fig. 1. In the last drawing the hands have been omitted for greater clarity.
The illusiveness of this change comes from two factors. First: Because of the nature of the action and the natural momentum arising from the hands moving towards one another, the top change is made at great speed; moreover, the right hand card shooting onto the pack is masked by the card shooting out from the pack to the right fingers, the pack by that time having turned to a vertical position. Second: To the spectators it seems that the right fingers never relinquish their grasp of the inner corner of its card and it is this single fact, as much as any other, which gives to the sleight its effectiveness. And this effect is so illusive that onlookers, describing it, often claim that they see the card fade away and the second card take its place.
When it is desired secretly to exchange cards by this method, hold both the pack and the right hand card face upwards. With the pack in the Mechanics’ Grip as described, stand facing a quarter to the right; thus the back of the pack is towards the spectators and the face card cannot be seen.
Calling attention to the face-up card in the right hand, make the Fadeaway Change as you turn full face to the spectators. At the completion of the action immediately turn the left hand back upwards, so that the face card of the pack (the card originally in the right hand) cannot be seen.
The changed card may now be placed, face downwards, to one side; or it may be handed to the spectator for safe keeping; or it may be blown upon by the spectator or magician to cause a change to occur.
THE SLIDE TOP CHANGE
It is more than passing strange that, with all the thought expended by card manipulators, both amateur and professional, for so many generations, no really practical method of interchanging the top card with the second, without removing it from the pack, has been evolved. The need for such a sleight has been apparent, and yet the only two methods of producing this effect cannot be termed secret sleights since both necessitate an open manipulation, which, if the sleight is to be used as a secret subterfuge in the course of a trick, immediately precludes their use.
The earliest textbooks give the following method: With the pack held as for dealing, the left thumb pushes the top card off the pack an inch to the right where it is supported by the tips of the fingers. The thumb moves back, drops upon the exposed surface of the second card and draws it back an inch towards the left, tipping it up at its right side. The top card is then slid back underneath by the left fingers and the cards are again squared. As stated this method has no practical value except perhaps as a little flourish, Fig. 1.
The second method, A New Top Change, was first published in 1935.{3} It is an excellent sleight, but since the top card must be faced to effect the change, it cannot be used in those tricks in which the exchange must be an entirely secret one, and in which the face of neither card must be seen.
The method given here fulfills these requirements:
1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, place the right hand over the pack and make a light squaring motion of the ends with the thumb and fingers.
2. Push the top card to the right an inch with the left thumb, immediately gripping it between the first joint of the right little finger and the flesh at the base of the thumb.
3. Drop the left thumb upon the exposed surface of the second card and draw it to the left until it clears the top card, lifting the right side of the second card a quarter of an inch in the action, Fig. 2.
4. Continue the squaring action by moving the right hand to the left, sliding the left side of the top card under the right side of the second card.
5. Immediately square both cards upon the pack as both hands continue the squaring movements.
The sleight is done in a second under cover of a small and slow motion of the hands to the left, the top card being concealed at all times by the back of the right hand. The uses to which it