Don't you hate going to a magic site and finding absolutely no
magic? Just page after page of endless hype and egotistic self-promotion
(just like THIS site)? Well -- as a 'Thank You' for visiting my site, I'm
offering this little diddy for any magician who wants something to limber
up their deck of Bicycles. It's been passed around to a few publications
over the years (I first started doing it over 12 years ago) -- but it has
remained a print orphan for various reasons. It was scheduled to be included
in TREPHINE, but it was lost among a few others
that didn't make it into the book. So, here it is -- a magic trick, detailed
and exposed for everyone surfing the world wide web to peruse. Of course,
unless the curious viewer is familiar with the pass, color changes, culls,
etc. -- this will all be a major disappointment.
Effect: This is essentially the same routine as described
in The Stars of Magic of Dr. Jacob Daly's Cavorting Aces.
The major difference added here is the climax of the effect.
Openly remove the four Aces from the deck. Place a red Ace at
the face and rear of the deck and insert the two black aces together in
the center. To benefit your audience, recap what you've done as you spread
the face-up deck between your hands. As you square the deck, acquire a left
pinky break between the two black Aces. Execute a Turnover Hermann Pass
and follow in a similar motion to reestablish the deck face up in the hands.
Spread the cards to show that the black and red Aces have changed places.
Repeat the transposition.
For the third transposition execute any deceptive face-up pass.
As you spread through the face-up deck, prepare to execute a Hofzinser Cull
(pass) with the first Ace you come to at the center of the deck. Needless
to say, the spreading motion during the cull should emulate the previous
spreads that followed each transposition. Close the deck and square it as
the Ace is secretly transferred to the bottom during the cull.
With the deck in a left hand dealer grip, approach the deck from
above with the right fingers at the outer edges and the thumb at the inside
edge. Riffle off the bottom two cards (Aces) with the aid of the right thumb
and immediately remove the remainder of the deck -- leaving the two Aces
squared in the left hand. Follow by transferring the two cards, as one,
to the face of the deck. So far it should appear as if you've merely transferred
a black Ace from the bottom of the deck to above the black Ace at the face.
After the left hand reassumes the grip on the deck, riffle up
from the rear of the deck with your right thumb until you spot the black
Ace in the center. Hold a left pinky break beneath the Ace.
"I'll do things a bit differently, this time. It should
be easier to follow. The black Aces will stay together at the face of the
deck, while the red Aces remain in the middle."
Execute a side-steal of the center Ace into the right hand, and
follow by transferring the card to the face of the deck via your favorite
Color Change technique. John Cornelius' Winter Change (Vol. 1 Apocalypse)
is an excellent choice.
Draw the top two cards (as one) inward an inch or more to reveal
the red Ace beneath. With your right thumb at the inner edge of the double-card
and your middle finger contacting the face of the red Ace, push all forward
to square the double with the rest of the deck. This same motion outjogs
the red Ace via the time honored Christ-Annemann Alignment move. Remove
the outjogged Ace and transfer it to the face of the deck.
Turn the deck face down and spread it for a selection to be made.
"...if you happen to take one of the black Aces from the center, put
it back and select another card."
Turn the deck face down and secure a left pinky break beneath
the top three cards. With the left thumb, push the top Ace to the right
enough to reveal the Ace beneath it. Add the face-down selection to the
top of the deck as you square the Aces (still retaining the break.) With
the right fingers gripping the cards in a Biddle grip, strip out all of
the three Aces above the break (as one card) as the left thumb retains the
face-down selection square with the deck. Transfer the three card packet
to the top of the selection and immediately release the bottom (black) Ace
to fall flush with the deck. The left pinky assumes a break between the
black Ace and the two red Aces above.
Apparently you've just sandwiched the selection between the two
red Aces at the face of the deck.
To bring the effect to its climax, execute a Cardini Snap Change
(Card Manipulations by Jean Hugard), transferring the two red Aces at the
face to the bottom of the deck -- and reversing them at the same time. Thumb
off the top three cards at the face of the deck onto the table to reveal
the selection still between the visually transposed Aces. As the spectator
is instructed to turn the sandwich over varify the obvious, take advantage
of the misdirection to execute a turnover pass. Spread the deck face-down
to reveal the red Aces face-up in the center.
© 2000 by Richard Bartram, Jr.
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