Swing Cut

Effect

A technique to cut the cards.




Method

Picture 1: Hold the deck in your left hand in the mechanic's grip.


Picture 2: Grip the deck in your right hand, using your index and middle finger for the upper right part of the deck, and rest your thumb naturally on the side closest to you.


Picture 3: Using your right index finger, lift about half of the deck up and 'swing' it as far as you can to the left.


Picture 4: Grab the top half of the deck with your left hand, gripping it in between your thumb and index finger. Then drop the half from your right hand onto the half in your left hand.


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Glide

Effect

The glide is a sleight that lets you deal the bottom card onto the table, except you actually deal the second card from the bottom.




Method

Hold the deck face-up in a mechanics grip, then turn your whole hand over, and using your fingers, move the bottom card towards yourself fractionally. This allows your other hand to pull off the second-from-bottom card, and put it on the table. Your pinky finger can then square up the deck, or simply reverse the movement of your fingers.

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Force

Effect

The magician allows the spectator to select any card, but what the spectator doesn't realise, is the magician is forcing them to pick one card!


Method

There are many, many techniques to do a force. I will only mention one here, one of my favourites as it is nice and easy, and reasonably effective.

The grand-daddy of all forces is the Classic Force, which relies on perfect timing while you spread the cards to leave the force-card under the spectator's fingers at just the right time for them to take it. It is also the hardest, and easiest to go wrong. If you are interested in it, find out how to do it, then use it every time you give a card to a spectator but when you do not need to force it, just for practice. Then when your success rate gets close to 100%, use it for real!

Back to the fan-force. Have the card you wish to force on the bottom of the deck, and start by holding the cards in your left hand, then make a nice fan with them, using your right hand. While you are creating the fan, use your right fingers (which should be below the deck) to pull the bottom card along with you as you create the fan, and leave it about half way under the fan, hidden from view.

Now, run one of your right-hand fingers along the fan and ask the spectator to say stop. When she says stop, split the cards there, making sure that the extra card is held in your right hand, and becomes the bottom card of the top pile of cards that you lift off. Now show them the bottom card (or give it to them).

Voila, you have just forced a card. This is the closest force to the Classic Force that I have found, but with 100% success rate for beginners and professionals.

1. The fan appears normal.


2. Except underneath the force card is in the middle.


3. So when the deck is separated, it becomes the bottom card.

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Ace Change Monte

Effect

The performer shows three aces and lets the spectator hold them. The magician asks a different viewer to choose a separate card, which is then lost in the deck. The two red aces and one black ace is placed at the bottom of the pack. The aces are dealt out on the spectator's hands face down, and the spectator is asked to guess where the black ace is. The two red aces are shown but the black ace has turned miraculously into the spectator's chosen card!


Sleights
Shuffle
Glide
Card controlling

Method

1. Remove from the deck, two red aces and one black ace.
2. Ask the spectator to hold the aces. Next, ask a different spectator to pick a different card from the deck. Have him/her place their card on top, and control it to the bottom using the Hindu shuffle.
3. With the spectator's card at the bottom, keep the deck face down at all times. Next, take the black ace from the spectator and put it on the bottom first (face down) and then place the next two red aces on the bottom one by one (face down).
4. Show that the aces are on the bottom. Deal the red aces (face down) on the spectator's hand and when you come to the black ace, perform the glide and deal their card (face down) on top of the red aces.
5. Remove the packet from the spectator's hands in addition to the top card (chosen card) and put it in the middle of the two aces. However, the spectator thinks that you are putting the black ace in the middle of the two red aces.
6. Fan the three cards, and ask the spectator to guess where the black ace is. The spectator will choose the middle one.
7. Announce that they are wrong, and show that it has changed into their chosen card!
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4 U 3

Effect

The magician allows the spectator to choose one of four cards. Then uses mind reading to reveal the card, and then reveals the other three sister cards of the spectator's chosen card.


Sleights

Shuffle
Cut
Force
Card Controlling

Preparation

All threes must be on top of the deck before performing the trick.

Method

1. Begin by false shuffling. Keep the four 3s on top of the deck at all times.

2. Ask your spectator(s), 'How many seasons are there in a year?' or 'How many suits are there in a deck of cards?' it doesn't matter really what you ask them, so long as the answer is four (get creative). Then tell them since the answer is four, you will deal four cards off the top of the deck (the four 3s). Tell the spectator to choose one of the four cards and memorize it. Alternatively, it would be more deceptive if you forced the top four cards, and then give them a free choice from those four cards you just forced (which are the 4 3s).

3. While they are looking at their card, take the other three 3s from the table and glance all of them while saying 'You could have chosen any of these'. The 3 that is not in your hand is, of course, the spectator's card. Place the other 3's back on top of the deck OR, to be more deceptive, you could perform a multiple shift and control those 3 3s back the top.

4. False cut or false shuffle, whichever you prefer so long as the other 3s are on top of the deck when you are finished. Start dealing cards from the top of the deck and tell the spectator they may stop you whenever they wish. Emphasise the freedom of their choice on where they could have stopped at. Stress that it would make a big difference if they stopped even one card less, or more.

5. After they tell you to stop say something like, 'I will now lay down a number of piles equal to the number on your card by reading your mind.' While looking in their eyes deal out three piles (as if you where dealing a hand of poker) and continue until you have run out of cards in the pile you dealt out.

6. They may be a little impressed but go ahead and give them what they came for. Look serious as you wave your hands mysteriously over the three piles you just laid down, and then reveal the suit of your spectator's card (the one that was NOT in your hand when you took the cards back at the beginning of the trick).

7. The audience should react by now, but your not through yet. Ask them, 'Do you know how I did that?' Wait a moment and flip the top cards of the piles you made, revealing all of the remaining 3s.

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