Illustrated Moves Of The Shell Game

Illustrated Moves A Study Guide for The School for Scoundrels

The Shell Game Series Volume I

© copyright 2004, School for Scoundrels/Tricks of the Trade, Inc.

The Basic Move

Right hand is held in ‘Pinch’ position and placed at the back of the shell.

The first finger holds the front of the shell and the shell is pushed forward—the pea exits into the right hand and is gripped in the pinch position. Reversing these moves loads the pea back under the shell.

The Basic Move actually consists of two different moves known as the steal and the load, or in some of the older books—the push and the draw. These moves are also sometimes referred to as the Pinch Steal and the Pinch Load. The pea is secretly removed from the shell as it is pushed forward, or secretly loaded under the shell as it is drawn backwards. It is a very simple move to acquire, but it should be done without any hesitation and with no visible motion of the thumb and fingers as the pea is gripped or released.

Advanced Moves: The Deep Pinch Steal and Load

The Deep Pinch as shown exposed in the photo on the left, is very open and natural in appearance, and still invisible in use as can be seen in the photo on the right.

The hand is held in a fist as on the left, the thumb and second finger forming a “track” for the pea to follow. As the shell is pushed forward as in the photo on the right—the pea travels out of the shell into the Deep Pinch.

A variation on the Pinch Steal and the Pinch Load is the Deep Pinch steal and load. In this move, the pea travels into a different pinch position, called the Deep Pinch, which can give a more open and innocent look to the hand, and lends variety and a sense of casualness to the movement of the push and draw. The reversal of these moves will load the pea under the shell.

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Advanced Moves: Back Pinch Steal and Load

The shell is held by the right thumb on the left side and the first finger on the right side. The remaining three fingers are curled behind the shell. As the shell is moved forward, the pea rolls under the fingers and gripped in the Back Pinch position as shown exposed on the right.

Once the shell is released, the hand can be turned to gesture toward the shell, apparently empty, yet still holding the pea out in the Back Pinch.

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Advanced Moves: The “V” Grip Side Steal and Load

When the shell is held in the “V” grip as on the left, the pea can be stolen as the hand moves the shell forward and to the left. If the hand is moved slightly forward and to the left, the pea is stolen into Front Pinch as on right above.

If the hand is moved farther forward, and slightly more toward the left, the pea can be stolen into the Little Finger Pinch as shown here. Reversing these moves will load the shell.

Eddie Joseph created a whole style of shell game work based largely on this grip, the “V” grip, in the 1940’s and 50’s. In his own publications and in a wonderful series in Magic Wand magazine, Joseph described in detail a series of moves and ruses using this grip. The two “steal and load” moves described above are the simplest and most useful of these. The Side Steal and the Side Load using the Front Pinch are essential to our system. The Haydn Turnover, Inside Shift, and other moves work well with these moves to create a fluid and deceptive manner of handling the shells. The deceptiveness of these moves is enhanced when both hands are handling shells in the “V” grip at the same time, mirroring each other’s actions. This helps split the focus of the spectators. The Side Steal and Side Load utilizing the Front Pinch can also be accomplished using other grips as described below. 4

Advanced Moves: The Four Essential Pinch Positions

Pinch

Deep Pinch

Back Pinch

Front Pinch

There are many different ways to hold out a pea in the hand, but the four most common and most important are these four: The Pinch, The Deep Pinch, The Back Pinch, and the Front Pinch. It is very important to be comfortable and relaxed while holding out the pea in these four positions, and it is also important to be able to move the pea from any one of these positions to any of the others easily and invisibly. For this we have the two main shifts—The Inside Shift and the Back Pinch Shift.

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Advanced Moves: The Inside Shift

The Inside Shift, first published in Tom Osborne’s book, is used to move the pea from the Pinch to the Front Pinch position. Above the actions are shown exposed. In action, the hand would be palm down, and the action covered by a movement, such as the hand relaxing to the rear of the mat, or reaching for a shell, chip, or other object. The Front Pinch is an excellent position for holding an object such as a cigar, shell, bills, or poker chip, and these can provide excellent cover for the pea. This is also the position from which to use the Sheets Acquitment. The Inside Shift is an extremely important move for our system, and should be practiced until it becomes second nature.

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Advanced Moves: The Back Pinch Shift

The pea is in the Front Pinch position. To move it to the Back Pinch in order to display the hand empty, or to load the pea under the shell from the Back Pinch position, the pea is brought into contact with the working surface by flattening the palm. The hand is curled into a fist, while allowing the pea to roll under the back of the hand as it closes. It is gripped in the Back Pinch position, and the hand can then be lifted off the table to gesture at a shell, for example, showing the palm of the hand empty. The movements can be reversed to bring the pea back into the Front Pinch. The Back Pinch Shift is actually not a difficult move, and is very useful in many situations. When used with the Back Pinch steal, for example, going into a Sheets Acquitment, the hand is shown to be perfectly empty along with the shell. This is very convincing. 7

Advanced Moves: The Inside Shift to Side Load

In the photo on the left, the pea is stolen into the Pinch position. At right, the hand is brought back to rest as the pea is moved to the Front Pinch position with the Inside Shift.

The empty middle shell is loaded with the Side Load as it is moved to the performer’s right in an “adjustment.”

The Side Steal and Load using the “V” grip position have already been described. Here is the same steal and load with the Front Pinch using a different grip of the shell. This variation of the Side Load works just like the “V” grip Side Load, but with the hand in a slightly different position. The pea can be both stolen and loaded from this position. In these illustrations, the pea is stolen with the Basic Move or Pinch steal, and then shifted to the Front Pinch before loading the middle shell with the Side Load in an apparent “adjustment” of the shell.

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Master Moves: The Sheets Acquitment

The Pea is stolen with the Basic Move into the Pinch position—exposed at right.

The pea is moved to the Front Pinch with the Inside Shift—exposed view at left.

The right hand, with pea in Front Pinch, hits the front point of the shell, turning the shell sideways.

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The right hand grasps the shell with fingers on one side (hiding pea in Front Pinch) and turns it over to show it empty.

The Sheets Acquitment works best when two shells are picked up at the same time. The position of the pea in the Front Pinch is exposed in the photo on the right.

Here is a variation of the Sheets Acquitment. The pea is in the Front Pinch position, and the shell is gripped on the sides by the thumb and first finger of the hand. The other three fingers are closed into a fist as in a finger palm with a coin. The shells can be shown with the hands palm up (left), or palm toward the audience (right).

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Master Moves: The Sucker Loads

In this feint, the second finger of the right hand is swept under the empty shell as it is brought into place, creating the false appearance that a pea has been loaded under the shell.

Here is a similar feint, in which as the hands holding two empty shells cross, the second finger of the left hand is allowed to flick under the slightly raised shell in the right hand, creating the false appearance that a pea has been loaded under the right hand shell.

These are just two of the feints known as “sucker moves.” These are the very heart and soul of the game, and a couple of different ones are used in the “Golden Shells” routine also on this dvd. These moves will be covered in greater detail in future dvds. It is not enough that the spectators can not follow the pea, it is just as important that they “think” they can follow it. They have to “know” where the pea is, if they are going to want to “bet” on it.

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Master Moves: Chanin’s Favorite Turnover

The shell is held in the right hand as in the photo on the left, with the last three fingers curled into a light fist behind the shell, and the right thumb and first finger gripping on either side of the shell. This is the same position as for the Back Pinch steal, and the pea is stolen into the Back Pinch as exposed on the right photo.

The hand and shell are turned over in a twisting motion that keeps the pea hidden behind the fingers, and the pea can be kept tight against the mat or lifted off the table as in the photo on the right. Reversing these moves will replace the pea under the shell, or the shell can be replaced and the pea held out in the Back Pinch.

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Master Moves: The Haydn Turnover

The shell is held in the right hand in the “V” grip. The pea is stolen into the Front Pinch as exposed in right photo.

The hand is closed as if into a fist, with the forefinger held straight, turning the shell over to the point it can be gripped by thumb.

The pea is still clipped in the Front Pinch, as the shell is laid upside down on the table.

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To turn the shell back down, and re-load the pea, the right second finger is pressed down against the right side of shell.

As the shell turns over, it is gripped between the thumb and first finger.

The pea is released on the table as the shell is set down over it. It appears that an empty shell has just been turned over.

This unique method of stealing and loading the pea can be used as a “turnover” move to replace Chanin’s Favorite and other turnovers. It is one of the few turnovers that is strong enough to work under heat, and can even be used to show a chosen shell is empty. It looks best when used with two shells—one in each hand—simultaneously. It is perfect for using with two peas. A pea is shown under the shell not chosen, and then the other two shells are turned over at the same time using the Haydn Turnover to prove them both empty, and then to reload the second pea.

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The System These are the basic moves necessary for the shell game system that we are recommending to the School for Scoundrels class. This system is a combination of moves and ruses developed by Whit Haydn and Chef Anton of the School for Scoundrels and those developed independently by Bob Sheets. This system is based on the two pea concept that dates back to Soapy Smith. The three of us have shared an interest in the two pea concept since 1996, and have compared notes and ideas periodically since that time. The result has been the creation of this system, only the thin outlines of which are described on this first dvd. Here you will find the basic moves and concepts that will take you from the beginner level to an intermediate level of working with the shells. Our future dvds will expand on the work here to teach a whole new level of mastery of the shells—a system that will be totally bulletproof in performance against even the most sophisticated audiences. This system gives the student not only a deep and unassailable method for working the shells under any and all conditions, it is also open-ended and easily incorporates new moves and subtleties. The Introduction to the Shell Game dvd is the first in a series of dvds that will explore this system. All of the sleights taught on this dvd will be required for the successful enactment of the system we will be explaining in further detail on the next volumes. This dvd is far more than an “Introduction” to the shell game—it is an introduction to a whole new way of working the shells and of thinking about the shell game.

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