Expert Card Technique. Jean Hugard
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be put are many; one will be cited here. Let us assume that in the Ambitious Card trick, a card has apparently been placed in the center of the pack and magically caused to rise to the top. It is replaced at the top and, by means of this sleight, it is secretly placed under the second card. The operator is now in a position to repeat the double-lifting process. It should be noted that as the top card slides under the second card, the left little finger can be pressed up against its face, making a break at the inner left corner and thus eliminating any further get-set move for the subsequent double lift.
THE THROW TOP CHANGE
The main action in this deceptive change is similar to that of the orthodox top change but the details differ radically. We will suppose that the ace of hearts is to be changed into the ace of clubs and that you have the ace of hearts in your right hand, while the ace of clubs reposes on the top of the pack. The table in use should be to your left and a little to the rear. To execute the change:
1. Hold the ace of hearts between the right thumb and fingers at the lower right corner, and the pack in the left hand in the usual position for dealing. Bend the left arm across the chest to bring the left hand in front of the body.
2. Push the top card, the ace of clubs, about an inch over the side of the pack and hold it between the tips of the left thumb and first and second fingers.
3. Swing the right hand towards the table and, the moment before it reaches the left hand, throw the ace of clubs from the top of the pack onto the table and leave the card in the right hand, the ace of hearts, in its place.
4. At once swing the left hand outwards or upwards in a gesture to the onlookers and continue the motion of the right hand a little way towards the table as if it had actually thrown the card there.
Some practice is necessary to time the action perfectly but this is well worth while since, under cover of a turn to the table or of turning and bending to throw the card onto the floor, the change is invisible to the onlookers.
THE TIP-OVER CHANGE
This sleight is an extremely easy one and it is one of the most surprising changes in the whole range of card conjuring. The method of preparing for the change which we are about to describe is a great improvement upon the method given by Merlin in his book … and a Pack of Cards, permitting the operator to perform a bewildering series of tip-over changes with the same card without awkward fumbling. The change itself is made by secretly dropping a second card on the first in the act of turning the latter face downwards. Here are the moves:
1. Hold the pack in the left hand as for dealing, the little finger maintaining a break above the chosen card.
2. Cut the pack at the break with the right first and second fingers at the outer end, the thumb at the inner end. The two fingers are near the left corners with their top joints curled in against the face card, Fig. 1. In actual practice the first finger curls at the top of the pack and is only moved into the position shown in Fig. 1 for a moment, in order to effect the sleight later to be given in item 4. Thus more of the back of the pack is visible.
3. With the left thumb push the top card of the lower portion, the chosen card, to the left. Turn this card face upwards upon its packet by striking its right edge upwards with the left side of the right hand packet. As the attention of the spectators is concentrated upon this faced card:
4. Press the third phalange of the right second finger flat against the face card of the right packet. Draw this face card outwards an eighth of an inch with this finger and then swing it a quarter of an inch to the right into a diagonal position. Let the inner end of this card drop slightly and place the tip of the right thumb against its inner left corner, the opposite diagonal corner being held against the second joint of the third finger, Fig. 2.
5. Turn the faced card on the left packet face down by pushing it off the deck with the left thumb as before and striking it with the left side of the right packet, which moves over the left packet in the action. When the right hand packet is directly over the left hand packet release the card gripped by the right thumb, thus secretly placing an indifferent card on top of the card just shown.
6. Thumb off the top card of the left packet onto the table. To the spectators it is the card which just before was turned face upwards upon the left hand packet. Actually it is an indifferent card, the chosen card remaining on the top of the packet.
This sleight can be used very effectively as a finale to the trick known as The Ambitious Card. After having shown that the card continually returns to the top of the pack, undercut half the deck retaining the upper half in the left hand. Turn the top card of this packet with the right hand packet as explained above, then execute the tip-over change and thumb off the indifferent card onto the table.
Turn the chosen card face up again and continue the action for as many times as you think desirable, finally spreading the cards on the table and the pack face upwards to prove that no duplicate cards are being used. Smartly done the effect will be found all that one could wish.
THE PUSH-IN CHANGE
This card change, though well known to most conjurers, is still one of the best available when its one weakness is recognized and corrected.
The change is this: The operator makes a double lift and shows the second card, let us say the ten of hearts, above which is the ten of spades. The two cards are taken as one and thrust, face downwards, halfway into the outer end of the deck. With the aid of the left forefinger the ten of hearts is thrust flush into the pack, the upper card remaining projecting from the end. This card is then removed and dropped upon the table.
Since the onlookers believe that only one card is used, and this card apparently always remains in sight, they are willing to concede that the tabled card is the ten of hearts, whereas actually it is the ten of spades.
Using the method generally employed, too many of the spectators see the lower card sliding into the pack, for an overlap of only a fraction of an inch is instantly noticeable. The following method eliminates this flaw in an otherwise excellent sleight.
1. Make a double lift, taking the two cards, perfectly squared, at the outer right corner between the right thumb on the top and the second finger at the face. Rest the tip of the first finger at the edge of the outer end to aid in holding the two cards in alignment.
2. Show the face of the lower card and thrust both cards into the outer end of the pack, which is held in the left hand as for dealing, the left thumb riffling open a break at its side for the convenient entry of the two cards as you shift the pack to the left finger tips.
3. Retaining your grip of the two cards at the right outer corner, thrust the two cards into the deck until only three-quarters of an inch protrudes from its outer end, Fig. 1.
4. With the right thumb push the top card outward and to the left, at the same moment drawing the lower card a little to the right with the tip of the second finger, both digits acting at the same moment in a sliding motion one against the other. In Fig. 2 the right fingers have been re-moved, showing the relative position of the cards. The fleshy ball of the right thumb rests on and conceals the outer right corner of the lower card and the edges of the lower card cannot be seen from the end or the left side since it has been drawn inward and to the right.
5. Engage the outer end of the lower card with the tip of the left forefinger, which can be done cleanly since the upper card now projects beyond it, and push the lower card flush into the deck. The card protruding from the pack, the original upper card, can now be employed in any way required for the purpose of the trick.