Miracle Methods

MIRACLE METHODS CASTING NEW LIGHT ON THE STRIPPER DECK by

JEAN H UG AR D and

FRED

BRAUE

P R IV A T E L Y PUBLISHED

22 EFFECTS

$100

O R IG IN A L ID EA S

W ILL ALMA M.I.M.C. ( L O N D O N )

The State Library of ! Viettoria “A LM A CONJURING COLLECH

MIRACLE ME T H O D S CASTING NEW LIGHT ON THE STRIPPER DECK A T re a tis e o n th e S cie n ce a n d A rt o f M a n ip u la tin g B is e a u te C a rd s

by

JEAN H U G A R D and

FRED

BRAUE •

E m b r a c in g e n tir e ly n e w a n d o rig in a l m e th o d s o f h a n d lin g s tr ip p e r c a rd s a n d p e r f o rm in g tr ic k s th e r e w ith , a n d b rin g in g th e m o st b r i l l i a n t c a r d fe a ts w ith in th e r e a c h o f e v e ry p e r f o r m e r w ith o u t th e u se o f s le ig h t o f h a n d . • Copyright 1941 by the Author

Privately Published By

JEAN HUGARD 2621 EAST 27t i i STREET

BROOKLYN, N . Y.

C O N TEN TS

PAGE

Introduction ............................................................................................................... P reparing the Stripper D eck................................................................................... Mechanics— T he Stripper G rip ............................................................................................ T he H ugard-B raue Strip Shuffle .................................................................. T o Reverse a Packet of Cards ..................................................................... T o Reverse a Single Card ............................................................................. A Reversed Card as Key Card .................................................................... T he H ugard-Braue C ut Control ................................................................... Sighting the Bottom Card ............................................................................ H ugard-Braue False Strip Shuffle .............................................................. T o Control Tw o or M ore Cards ............................................................... T he Stripper Jog Control .............................................................................. H ugard-Braue Stripper Force ....................................................................... T he Stripper U ndercut ................................................................................... The Stripper R unning C ut ............................................................................ T he Stripper G lide .......................................................................................... T he H ugard-Braue Stripper Change ......................................................... The Stripper C ut .............................................................................................. Tricks w ith the Stripper Pack— U nfathom able ..................................................................................................... Astro-Vision ........................................................................................................ The Slop R e v e rs e .............................................................................................. T he Busted Bobtail .......................................................................................... The M ind M irror ............................................................................................ Money Talks ..................................................................................................... Phenom enal ........................................................................ ............................... Card and N um ber ............................................................................................ D ig w ith a Spade ............................................................................................ A Bewildering Change ................................................................................... A Subde Location ............................................................................................ A Stripper Spell ............................................................................................... T he Stripper Key ............................................................................................ T he Lightning Calculator .............................................................................. Locating the Aces ............................................................................................ Princess Card Trick; Stripper Version ....................................................... A Canny Coincidence ..................................................................................... C ut and Come A gain ..................................................................................... T he Mystic C ut ................................................................................................. T he Pickpocket ................................................................................................. H allucination ..................................................................................................... T he Braue Aces .................................................................................................

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METHODS

INTRODUCTION T h e prepared pack of cards, commonly know n in A m erica as a stripper pack, is one o f the oldest devices of card magic. Essentially the pack is ons the sides of w hich have been tapered, the deck being thus infinitesimally w edge-shaped at one end. It is obvious that, if a single card or a num ber of cards be reversed in such a deck, these cards w ill be found at will, since the w ide end o f the reversed cards can be felt at the narrow end of the p a c k I t is a curious fact that the stripper pack has n o t been highly regarded by the conjuring fraternity, w hich for the m ost p art has thought of it as a plaything of novices. T his may be accounted for in great part, through its neglect at th e hands of m agical „ w riters. T he earliest m ention that w e have been able to find is by G uyot in his book 'Z N o u v d le s Recreations Physiques et M athem atiques, published at Paris in 1769. H e (-'describes tw o tricks only, the discovery of a chosen card by the reversal of the deck U a n d the stripping apart of the tw o colors at a single stroke. Subsequent w riters have, ~9. 3 for the m ost part, sim ply repeated these two tricks. T his paucity of inform ation as to ^ q the possible uses of the principle and the inferior quality of the stripper packs presently o O o n the m arket, these cards being cu t so strongly wedge-shaped as to invite detection b O by observant onlookers, have no doubt contributed to the disdain show n by magicians j=r 3 for this ingenious instrum ent of deception. Y et, as the reader will come to understand i— 3 after perusing this book, some of the m ost b rilliant of card effects are m ade possible £ 2 w ith this deck, effects w hich have resulted from the discovery and application of new # 0 and ingenious principles. M any of these principles and tricks are evolvem ents of the audiors, separately ^ and jointly, and never before have appeared in p rin t, having been reserved for their ^ private use. Some of these, of w hich the authors are immodestly proud, have been s m arked w ith a brand — H -B— , and the authors can only ask the reader to indulge them in their vanity, since they feel that this book cuts cleanly into new lands never before explored. In sharing these and other feats w ith the fraternity, it is their hope th at the despised stripper deck w ill come to be regarded w ith the respect to w hich it is entitled.

PREPARING THE STR IPPER DECK In preform ing the feats described in this book, the reader should use a deck the sides of w hich have been stripped extremely finely; cards w hich have been cut coarsely may be acceptable for platform work', b u t for intim ate trickery a delicate strip is essen­ tial. W ith such a deck a card may be reversed and the deck handed to a spectator w ithout fear th at he w ill discover the subterfuge; indeed, it is only after a certain am ount of ex­ p erim ent that the conjurer him self w ill learn the technique necessary for the location and control of reversed cards. Packs as finely stripped as these are difficult to obtain and for this reason the authors’ m ethod of preparing the deck is given herew ith: First of all, take tw o playing cards and of these m ake tw o tem plates for use in preparing the deck. From a side of each card trim , w ith sharp scissors or razor-blade, a tiny triangular strip ru n n in g nearly the length of the card. U pon each card m ount a strip of cigarbox w ood slightly C3 3

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smaller than the surface of the playing card, using a good glue or rubber cement. Finally, secure a fine-toothed wood file. Place the tem plates at the top and bottom of a pack of cards of good quality. Insert the pack and tem plates in a vise (or, if you prefer it, secure tw o small hand-vises and clam p one at each end of the pack and tem plates.) U sing the file, file the sides of the pack briskly until it is cut to the depth of the guiding template. Be careful to file at rig h t angles to the side of the pack, lest certain of th e cards be w ider than others, if only by the fraction of an inch. A fter the side of the deck has been cut to the approxi­ m ate requirem ent, remove the pack and the tem plate and riffle the ends of the pack, w hen a fine w hite pow der w ill be blown from it. Shuffle the cards, being careful n o t to reverse any of them , and once again place the pack betw een the tem plates and insert it in the vise. A gain score the side of the pack w ith the file; thus, if the original filing was n ot m ade at a perfect rig h t angle, this second filing w ill com pensate for the original error by reducing any cards w hich may be higher than others. R epeat the procedure if necessary. T he side thus filed should be reduced for less than a thiry-second of an inch at the narrow end— as finely as the reader finds, in his experience, a pack may be cut and still enable him to control the reversed cards. If desired the other side of the pack may be filed, thus m aking of the deck a standard stripper p a c k The authors, however, have found th at a stripper pack, one side alone of w hich has been stripped, is em inently satisfactory, fulfilling all the functions of the usual wedge-shaped deck. End strippers— cards the ends of w hich have been cut wedge-shaped— are m ade in the same manner.

A . MECHANICS T he Stripper Grip T he m ethod of gripping a stripper deck to be described hereunder is of special significance since it makes possible the system of m anipulation explained in this book. 1. G rasp the pack in the left hand, palm upwards, w ith the thum b at one side near the left hand corner, the first finger curled at the outer end, and the second finger at the other side near the rig h t outer corner. T he third and fourth fingers play no p art in the grip. 2. H old the deck low in the left hand so that its sides press against the thum b at the joint and against the second finger at the m iddle joint. T he position is almost idencical w ith that taken b y the left hand in the fa m i l iar H in d u shuffle.

T he Hugard-Braue Strip SliufQe T his m ethod is the best yet devised for controlling a card or cards reversed in the deck. H ere is the m ethod: N.B. It should be noted particularly that in the text w hich follows the w ord reverse means in all cases the turning of a card end for end. W h e n a card or cards are to be turned face upwards it will be so stated.

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JEAN 1. outwards.

HUGARD'S

MIRACLE

METHODS

H old the pack in your left hand in the Stripper G rip w ith the narrow end

2. G rasp the inner end of the pack betw een the extrem e tips of th e rig h t thum b and second finger, draw out the lower half of the pack and allow th e packet rem aining in the left hand to drop onto the left palm. If the reversed card was in the packet thus draw n o ut it w ill have been retained by the pressure of the left thum b and second finger and w ill, therefore, become the bottom card of the packet just dropped onto the left palm. Im m ediately execute an end running cut w ith the packet in the rig h t hand. 3. If the desired card has n o t been draw n o u t by this first action, it m ust now be in the low er half of the deck and you have only to repeat the m ovem ents to ensure b ringing the card to th e bottom of the pack. T he same process holds good w hen there are several cards reversed in the pack. T he first shuffle w ill bring the reversed card or cards in the low er half to the bottom and the repetition of the m ovem ents w ill strip o u t the rem aining card o r cards on top of th e first. T he shuffle may be repeated any num ber of tim es to guard against mischance and to guarantee th at all the reversed cards are taken to th e bottom , those reversed cards already on the bottom rem aining there during such subsequent shuffles. If it is desired to take a reversed card or cards to the top, m ake the shuffle w ith the pack face upwards, under the p retext that you wish those present to see for them ­ selves how w ell the cards are m ixed; or, if you have an objection to shufflling w ith the cards face upwards, take the reversed cards at the bottom to the top by m eans of an overhand shuffle. T his new procedure is perhaps the easiest and m ost deceptive m ethod o f control­ lin g cards in a stripper deck and, as the reader will determ ine for him self, opens u p a new and exciting field in practical card work.

R eversing th e Pack fo r th e R eturn o f a C hosen Card FIRST M E T H O D . 1. H old the pack in the left hand, w ith the rig h t hand spread the cards from left to rig h t in a w ide fan and have a spectator rem ove one. 2 Close the fan of cards by placing th e fingers of the rig h t h and against its left side, m oving the rig h t hand around to the rig h t and squaring the pack against the left palm. T his action turns the pack end for end in a perfecdy natural way. T o prevent a spectator from accidentally tu rn in g his chosen card end for end, thus nullifying the reversal of the pack, a casual request that he hold it close to his chest to prevent any possibility of its being glim psed, generally serves to prev en t such a contre­ temps. H ow ever, should you note that the spectator has reversed his card, fan the deck a second tim e and again reverse it, as given above, in closing the fan of cards as if merely toying w ith the deck w hile you impress on him the necessity of rem em bering his card. SECO N D M E T H O D . 1. Spread the cards in the left hand in a w ide fan w ith the rig h t hand in the usual way for the selection o f a card. 2. A card having been taken, close the fan of cards by placing the rig h t fore­ finger against the rig h t side of the spread, m oving the hand around to the left and so b ringing the pack back to its original position.

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HUGARD* S

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METHODS

3. Seize the pack w ith the rig h t hand by its ends, the thum b at the in n er end, the fingers at the outer end, and m ove the hand towards the right, at the same tim e tu rn ­ ing it, back downwards, and bringing the pack face upwards. 4. Retake the pack in the left hand by placing the left fingers on its face and the thum b on its back, the back of the left hand being upperm ost. T u rn the left hand to hold the pack as for dealing and the pack, automatically, w ill have been turned end for end. - ' j T he subde action of the rig h t hand in taking the pack should appear to be a m ere gesture accom panying some rem ark to the spectator. T H IR D M E T H O D . 1. a card freely selected.

Spread the cards in the usual way betw een the hands and have

2. Square the pack and hold it by the ends w ith b oth hands, thum bs on the top, fingers on the face. W h en the spectator has noted his card and is ready to retu rn it, re ­ move the left hand and spread the cards fanwise w ith the rig h t hand. H old them out towards the spectator and have the chosen card pushed into the spread. 3. If by chance, or purposely, the spectator reverses his card, you have sim ply to release your rig h t hand and spread the cards w ith the left. For this m ethod it is not necessary to m ake a perfect fan w ith one hand. W h ich ­ ever hand it is necessary to use, the pack is in the correct position and, by pressing the thum b one way and the fingers the other way, it is an easy m atter to spread the cards sufficiendy. FOU RTH M ETHOD.

1.

Spread the pack and have a spectator freely select a card.

2. Im m ediately hand the pack to a second spectator, have h im spread the cards and the first spectator replace his card am ongst them. T he action of handing the pack to the second spectator reverses it. T O REVERSE A PA C K E T O F CARDS. Several effective tricks w ith a stripper deck depend upon having a packet of cards, generally of a know n num ber, reversed in the pack. In cases w here this cannot be done beforehand, this procedure can be followed: 1. Riffle off the required num ber of cards w ith the left thum b and transfer the break to the left litd e finger ( E xpert Card Technique, page 125.) 2. Palm the packet in the rig h t hand and hold the pack by the ends in that hand betw een th e thum b at the inner end and th e first and second fingers at the outer end. 3. T u rn the rig h t hand to bring the thum b upperm ost and the pack on end, take the pack w ith the left hand by the sides and tu rn the left hand palm upwards, so that the pack lies on its side on th e fingers, the thum b being on the u p p er side. T ap the inner ends of the cards w ith the backs of the rig h t fingers, squaring them. 4. the top.

R etake the pack w ith the rig h t hand, adding the packet, now reversed, to

As w ith many sleights, this action should be m ade w hile talking of other things in an apparent interlude betw een tricks; it should n o t be tho u g h t of as a sleight in the strict sense of the word. I t is merely som ething w hich is done unnoticed w hile toying w ith the cards. 1 6

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MET HODS

T o R everse a S ingle Card fo r U se as a K ey Card a. 1. In toying w ith the pack, push off the to p card w ith the left thum b; grasp it at its inner rig h t corner betw een the rig h t th u m b above, and th e first finger below, at its face. 2. T u rn the card face upw ards, end over end. R est its left side against the rig h t side o f the deck and flip the card face downwards, sidewise, reversing it. T h e action should be m ade w ithout looking at the pack, as being a m ere idle gesture. It can be repeated several times, it being necessary only to com plete the action on an odd num ber. b. T o reverse a card w ithout exposing its face to the spectators, follow this procedure: 1. Push the top card off the pack w ith the left thum b and take it w ith the rig h t hand, the thum b on its face and the fingers on the back. 2. T u rn the card face upw ards, end fo r end, and th en face downwards, sidewise, by releasing the thum b and pressing dow nw ards w ith the fingers on the back. T he back of the card is towards the audience at all times. A REVERSE C A R D AS A K E Y CA R D . T his useful stratagem should be used occasion­ ally to throw the spectators com pletely off the scent since, how ever subtly the pack may be reversed, the fact rem ains th a t certain m ovem ents are m ade before the retu rn of a chosen card. By using a reversed card as a key, th e pack rem ains in exactly th e same position before and after the card is taken. All that is necessary is to reverse one card and this can be done in toying w ith the pack, as explained above, and you do n ot have to know w hat this card is. T he stratagem is used thus: 1. W ith a single card reversed in the deck, hand it to be shuffled. Take it back and allow a spectator to m ake a free choice of a card and note w hat it is. As he does this, control the reversed card to the bottom of the pack. U ndercut about half the cards and have the spectator place his card on the top of the packet in your left hand. D ro p the cu t on top, thus bringing the reversed card im m ediately above the chosen card. 2. Square the pack very openly and lay it on th e table for a m om ent w hile you ru b your hands together or pull your cuffs back a little, m aking some appropriate rem ark to th e spectator at the tim e. T o find the card later, you have merely to jog th e reversed card and cu t it to the bottom , thus bringing the selected card to th e top. I t is unlikely th at a short overhand shuffle w ill separate the tw o cards and you can, if you please, hand the pack to th e spectator to be shuffled before you m ake the cut. H ow ever, the procedure given above is so convincing th a t there is little to be gained by having a spectator shuffle the pack except w hen a direct challenge is made. In th at case, after pretended dem ur, hand the pack over, b u t take it back after a few shuffling m otions have been m ade, w ith a jocular rem ark, such as. "Oh, I don’t w ant you to shuffle all the spots off the cards.” A nother good m ethod is to use the Stripper Force to place a reversed card under a chosen card. In this case, an obviously honest ru n n in g cut is m ade u n til th e m om ent before the chosen card is dropped into the pack, at w hich tim e the bottom reversed card is stripped onto the top o f the le ft hand packet, th e spectator thus placing his card £ 7 }

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on top of the key card. A Stripper Under-cut w ill th en send the selected card to the bottom of the pack, as explained below. T H E H U G A R D -B R A U E C U T CO N TRO L. A single card having been reversed in the deck to act as a key card, it is desired to bring th at card to the bottom . 1. H old the pack in the left hand, face downwards, the narrow end outerm ost, betw een the ball of the thum b at the side and as near as possible to the outer left corner, and the top joints of the second and third fingers on the opposite side, near the outer rig h t corner, the first finger curled under the pack and the fourth finger free. 2. B ring the right hand over the pack, the thum b at the inner end, the fingers at the outer end, and at the same m om ent press the ball of the left thum b lightly against the protruding side o f the reversed card, relaxing its pressure on the cards below, thus allow ing them to fall onto the left palm. 3. Immediately grip the upper packet w ith the rig h t hand, lift it as in m aking a regular cut and slide it below the packet in the left palm. T he action is sim ilar to th at in w hich the pack is split at a bridge, or a face-up card, prior to m aking the Charlier pass. If the reversed card happens to have been left by the shuffle near the top or the bottom , m ake a regular cut first to b rin g it near the middle, then m ake a second cut as explained. S IG H T IN G T H E C A R D A T T H E BO TTO M . W e w ill suppose th at you have a chosen card reversed in the deck and you wish to sight it before revealing it: 1. Control the reversed card to the bottom of the pack by means of the H -B Strip Shuffle. 2. D raw out the bottom half w ith the rig h t thum b and fingers and m ake a ru n n in g cut exactly as in m aking the H in d u shuffle, th a t is, draw cards from the top o f the rig h t hand packet w ith the left thum b and fingers, allowing them to drop upon the cards retained in the left hand. 3. T u rn a little to the left and tilt the packet in your rig h t hand upwards, so th at its bottom card faces you, and w ith it tap the inner ends of the cards in the left hand as if merely to square them ; the tw o packets com ing together at rig h t angles. T he card to be sighted is thus brought into your view w ith o u t arousing any sus­ picion since it is natural to look at the cards as you tap them square.

H -B FALSE STR IP SHUFFLE. 1. H old the deck in the Stripper G rip and undercut a little m ore than half of it w ith the rig h t thum b and second finger. D ro p these cards on the top of the pack so that they project about an inch over the inner end of the lower packet. 2. G rasp the sides of the upper packet betw een th e left little finger and thum b and, w ith the rig h t second finger and thum b, w ithdraw th e low er half of th e cards of the projecting u pper packet. D ro p this packet on top, its outer end flush w ith th at of the bottom packet. 3. As you do this, grasp the m iddle packet, w hich now projects from th inner end of the pack, betw een the rig h t thum b and th e th ird finger, draw it away from the pack and drop it on top. R epeat the moves several tim es rapidly. A pparently the cards have been m ixed; actually they have merely been cut, otherw ise they retain their original order. For those w ho use the Strip Shuffle or the 18]

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H in d u Shuffle habitually, this false shuffle, smoothly and rapidly perform ed a num ber of times, w ill serve to convince those who w atch that the cards are in reality w ell mixed. W ith a slight modification this shuffle can be used to keep a prearranged deck in its exact order. In such case, in draw ing o u t the m iddle packet, as in item 3 above, insert the tip of the left little finger above the bottom packet and, as a final movem ent, draw out this bottom packet w ith the rig h t thum b and second finger and drop it on top. T he whole pack w ill then have been returned to its original order. T O CO N T R O L T W O O R M O RE CARDS. W e will suppose th at you w ish to dem on­ strate how gam blers control a num ber of cards, using the four aces for this purpose. T he follow ing procedure w ill show how a num ber of cards can be controlled w hen a stripper deck is in use. 1. T u rn the pack free upw ards, ru n through the cards and push the aces upO wards, one by one, as you come to them , m aking them protrude from the pack for half .S3 H their length. ~ W 2. T u rn the pack face downwards in your left hand and w ith the rig h t hand > —1take the protruding aces by their outer ends, w ithdraw them from the pack and throw •g § them onto th e table face upw ards, turning them end for end in the action. > ,q 3. R u n through the cards rapidly w ith their faces towards the spectators to H 2 show that there are no other aces amongs them , square the pack and spread it in a w ide ^ fan in your left hand. o g 4. T u rn the aces face downwards, sidewise, take them by their outer ends one ~ O by one and push them into the fan in different places, well apart, allow ing about half 0 ^ their length to protrude. T he aces have been, thus inperceptibly reversed. jS S 5. Close the fan o f cards, rest the lower end of the deck on the table and w ith 3 the rig h t hand p at the aces dow nw ards until they are flush w ith the other cards. D o s this very openly so that there can be no m istake about the aces being lost in the pack, then m ake an overhand shuffle. 6. Jog all four aces at the inner end of the pack in exactly the same way as explained below for one reversed card. 7. This action leaves the pack in the rig h t hand, held by its narrow end, the back of the hand outerm ost, the little finger resting against, and concealing the jogged cards, the forefinger, extended, resting on the back of the top card. B ring the left hand over the pack, palm downwards, and take hold of its outer corners betw een the thum b and th ird finger, the first and second fingers resting 'on th e side and taking no p a rt in the grip. D raw the rig h t hand away smartly to the right, strip p in g o ut the four jogged aces and dropping them face downwards, the action sim ulating the first m ove in a ru n n in g out. 8. Im m ediately continue taking small packets of cards from th e top and d ro p ­ p in g them onto the aces until the pack is exhausted. Pick up the pack and square it; the aces are now on the bottom . T he aces can be brought to the top of the pack by an overhand shuffle and turned face upw ards one by one, or a m ore effective finish w ould be this: 1. B ring the aces to the top, tu rn your left side to the spectators and take the pack w ith the rig h t hand by the ends betw een the thum b and fingers, holding it face outwards, vertically on its side.

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2. B ring the left hand over, palm upwards, and rest the lower side of the pack on the fingers, the thum b resting on the outer top corner. W ith th e left thum b separate about a quarter of the deck near the bottom , press the tips of the left fingers against the rear card, that is, the top card of the pack and first ace, and lift away the rem aining cards above the break w ith the rig h t hand. T he first ace is thus slipped on top of the packet in the left hand and you drop that packet face downwards on the table. 3. R epeat exactly the same action w ith another quarter of the deck, slipping the second ace on top of it, and drop the packet beside the first. D ivide the rem ainder of the pack in half, repeat the slip and drop the packet w ith the others. T hrow th e last packet, w hich has the fourth ace on top, beside the outer three. 4. Finally tu rn the top cards of the packets face upw ards and reveal th e four aces. T H E STR IPPE R JO G CO N TRO L. W ith a single card reversed in the deck, here is the m ethod of controlling it by m eans of the jog. 1. A fter shuffling the pack overhand w ith the w ide end outwards, take it in the left hand in the Stripper Grip. Square the ends of th e pack w ith the rig h t thum b and fingers. 2. Take hold of the narrow end w ith the rig h t hand, the thum b at the u p p er side, the second and third fingers at the low er side, and m ove th e rig h t thum b and fingers inw ard about an eighth of an inch before actually gripping the inner corners. This action w ill jog the reversed card at the inner end of the deck. 3. L ift the pack w ith the rig h t hand and tap its lower side on the palm of the left hand, squaring the sides. 4. Place the pack face downwards in the left hand in dealing position, cu t at the jogged card and com plete the cut, thus bringing the reversed card to the bottom of the pack. In m aking the cut, press the rig h t fingers downwards on the outer end of the pack to prevent the thum b pushing the jogged card inwards, then w ith the rig h t thum b lift the jogged card and the cards above it upwards, slip th e tip of the left little finger into the break, push the jogged card flush and m ake the cut. T his action takes b u t an instant and ensures a clean cut, otherw ise the outer end of the jogged card has tendency to drop. W ith very fine strippers it is extremely im portant th at the left hand holds the cards very lightly, so lightly in fact that the cards w il m ove a little apart at their inner ends. T o bring the card to the top you have simply to m ake the cut above the jogged card. T H E H -B STR IPPE R FORCE. W e w ill suppose th at you w ish to force the six of diamonds and that you have reversed that card in the deck. H an d the deck to be shuffled by a spectator, indicating an overhand shuffle; then— 1. Take the pack back, control the reversed card to the bottom and hold the pack w ith the narrow end outwards. 2. U ndercut a little m ore than half the deck w ith the rig h t hand and proceed at once to do a Strip Shuffle, inviting the spectator to call Stop w henever he wishes. H old the inner ends of the rig h t hand packet tightly and, in taking the successive small packets from its top w ith the left thum b and second finger tips, g rip th em lightly in order to avoid any prem ature seizure of the reversed six of diam onds a t the bottom of this packet.

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METHODS

3. W h e n the spectator calls Stop, m ake a last action w ith th e rig h t hand, strip o u t th e reversed six of diam onds from the bottom of th e packet by engaging it w ith the sides of th e left thum b and second finger and let it fall o n to p of th e cards in the left hand. Im m ediately extend the left hand towards him in v itin g him to take the card h e stopped you at, the six of diam onds in this case. T he action is easy, deceptive and convincing. T h e spectator, having shuffled the pack him self, is satisfied you cannot know the position of any particular card in the pack and, therefore, it appears to m ake no difference w hat card is stopped at. T H E STR IPPE R U N D E R C U T . By means of this sleight a reversed card is brought to the top of the pack by w hat appears to be a perfectly regular undercut. A single card being reversed in the pack, to bring it to the top, proceed as follows: 1.

H old the

pack in the left hand in the Stripper Grip.

2. Seize the inner end of the deck betw een the rig h t thum b and second finger, th e forefinger resting on the back of the top card. 3. Feel the protruding sides of the reversed card w ith the rig h t thum b and second finger, press dow nw ards lightly, separating that card and all the cards below it from the other cards above it. D raw out the packet thus separated and slap it dow n on top of the rem ainder of th e deck. T he undercut is now in such general use that the action appears perfectly regular and the reversed card is brought to the top naturally. T H E STR IPPER R U N N IN G CUT. A single reversed card being in the deck, it is desired to bring that card to the top of the pack in the course of a ru n n in g out. H ere is the process: 1.

H old the pack in the left hand in the Stripper Grip, the narrow end outwards.

2. W ith the tips of the rig h t thum b and second finger slide a small packet of cards inwards from the top of the pack, taking it by the inner corners, and drop it face dow nw ards on the table. 3. R epeat the action until eventually you take hold of a packet in w hich the reversed card lies. In draw ing this packet away the reversed card w ill be held back by the left thum b and fingers pressing against its w ide end. 4. D ro p this last card on top of the other cards on the table and imm ediately let all the cards rem aining in the left hand drop onto the left palm , thus preventing anyone noticing the space betw een the reversed card, w hich is held back, and the packet below it. 5. Take all the cards rem aining in the le ft hannd and drop them on top of the cards on the table. T he reversed card w ill be the top card having been brought there by w hat appears to be a regular running cut. If the reversed card is reached in the first tw o or three cuts, take no notice of it and continue the cuts throughout the deck in regular fashion. T h en repeat the action and, this tim e, w hen the card is stripped out, it w ill be at the top of the last small packet w hich you then drop on top of the cards on the table. Be careful n o t to look at your hands during the action, ju st keep talking.

til]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

T H E STR IPPE R GLIDE. W ith the stripper pack this very useful sleight can be exe­ cuted in a m ost convincing way. Let us suppose that you have controlled a chosen card to the top of the pack. 1. M ake an overhand shuffle by first pulling out all the cards except those at the top and bottom , then shuffle off freely onto these two cards. 2. Take the pack face downwards w ith the left hand, the narrow end innerm ost, the thum b on the m iddle of one side, the fingers on the other, the tips of the fingers p rotruding straight down below the deck. Lift the pack to a vertical position to show the bottom card, then turn it downwards to a horizontal position about two inches above the table. 3. W ith the rig h t hand, palm downwards, take hold of the outer w ide corners of the pack betw een the thum b and second finger and draw the pack outw ards about half an inch. This action accompanies the statem ent that you are about to deal from the bottom and appears to be m ade to bring the cards into a better position for this purpose. T h e pressure of the left thum b and fingers, however, on the w ide end of the reversed card holds it back and causes it to protrude from the inner end about half an inch. T his projection is covered by the left little finger and a side view of the pack can be given showing th at the left fingers do not touch the face of the bottom card. 4. Make the deal from the bottom very openly, taking the cards from the extrem e edge of the outer card, turning the first card face upwards, and taking the following cards w ith absolutely no m ovem ent of the left fingers. 5. W h en the tim e comes to draw out the reversed card, push it flush at the back w ith the left little finger and take it w ith the rig h t hand in exactly the same m anner as the other cards. This m ethod of m aking the glide is so subtle th at even those w ho are well acquainted w ith the regular sleight will have no suspicion that it is being used. T H E H -B STR IPPE R C H A N G E . T his change, w hich is applicable to strippers only is very easy to do and is perfectly illusive. Useful in m any tricks, especially T h e A m b itio u s Card, it is executed as follows: 1. A fter the usual prelim inaries, bring the reversed card to the top of the pack, w hich you hold in your left hand w ith the narrow end innerm ost in the Stripper 2. Rem ove any indifferent card from the pack, show it and place it on the top, being careful not to reverse this card in the action. 3. Place the rig h t thum b at one side of the inner end of the deck, the second finger at the other side and the straight forefinger on the back of the to p card, its tip resting near the outer end. 4. A pparently remove the top card w ith the rig h t hand, b u t actually strip out the second card, the thum b and second finger g rippin g its w ide end, the top card being retained by the pressure of the left thum b and second finger on its w ide end, w hich corresponds w ith the w ide ends of the other cards of the deck. T he position of the rig h t first finger rem ain the same so that it presses against the back of the reversed card after this has been stripped out, enhancing the illusion of taking the top card. In actual practice, w hen doing a trick, you shuffle the reversed card to the second place from the top, turn the top card to show it, turn it dow n and then, executing the change, apparently place it on the table. t 12 }

The s

'ALMA

Stnte Library of V icto ria CONJURING COLLECTION

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

T H E STR IPPER CUT. Let us say that you have a stock of twelve cards reversed to ­ gether in the pack and that it is your desire to bring this stock to the top. T he procedure is this: 1. H old the pack in the Stripper G rip in the left hand, the w ide end being grasped by the left fingers and die w ide end of the reversed packet being thus at the inner end. 2. Place the rig h t thum b flat against one side of the narrow end of the deck, the rig h t second and third fingers at the other side, and curl the first finger at the top. 3. M ove the rig h t hand inw ards on the same plane as the top of the pack, draw ­ ing w ith it, grasped by the fingers and thum b, the reversed packet. T his packet slides o ut of the pack in the same plane as its surface and is n o t lifted out. 4. Immediately, and in the same action, drop the rem ainder of the pack into the left palm by opening the left fingers, and place th e packet ju st stripped o u t o n th e top. It should be noted particularly that this strip cu ttin g of a packet o f reversed cards is equally efficient no m atter if the packet is at the top, at the bottom or in the m iddle of the deck. W h e n cards are stripped from the m iddle the action is perfectly innocent for then it appears to be the usual cu t from the m iddle, favored by m any cardmen.

TRICKS W ITH THE STR IPPER DECK UNFATHO M ABLE T his is one of the finest feats possible w ith a stripper deck. T h e w hole of the action is natural and aboveboard and the keenest observer cannot possibly obtain any clue to the w orking. In a w ord— the effect is unfathom able. EFFECT. A fter the pack has been shuffled by a spectator, it is cut into two packets about equal. A spectator secretly removes a card from one packet and inserts it in the other packet, squaring both to destroy the slightest possible clue to the action. T h e two packets are then honesdy riffle shuffled, the one into the other, yet the m agician locate* the selected card and produces it at will. M E T H O D . 1. H ave the pack shuffled by a spectator. W h en he is satisfied th a t the cards are w ell m ixed, take the pack back. 2. H old the pack in your left hand, face inwards, vertically on its side, the thum b on the u pper side, the lower side resting on the fingers below. 3. C ut off half the cards w ith the rig h t hand thus: H old the hand palm dow n­ wards and take the top half of the pack by the sides near the outer corners betw een the thum b on the lower side, the first and second fingers on the u pper side. 4. Rem ove this packet and place it face dow nw ards on the table, tu rn in g the rig h t hand outwards in the action. A t once grasp the rem aining packet by its ends, the rig h t thum b at its inner end, the fingers on the outer end, and drop it on the table, beside the first packet and a few inches apart from it. T he first packet has thus been im per­ ceptibly turned end for end and any card moved from one packet to the other w ill be reversed. 5. T u rn away and invite a spectator to take any card from one packet, note it and insert it in the other packet. 6. T his having been done, turn around, take the packets one in each hand, the thum bs at the inner ends, the fingers at the outer ends, and execute an end riffle shuffle, at the same tim e calling attention to the fairness of the action. Push the interweaved packets straight into each other and square th e pack. [13]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

T he selected card w ill be the only card reversed in the deck and ‘it is, therefore, completely under your control, to be revealed in any m anner you may desire.

ASTRO-VISION W h a t can be m ore intriguing to a m agician than to have his victim do all the m anipulation necessary to enable him to discover a card secretly chosen? In th e trick th at follows, not only has the spectator no suspicion that he is aiding the m agician, b u t he is persuaded that he is m aking the m agician’s task an impossible one. M E T H O D . 1. H and the pack to a spectator requesting him to shuffle -it well and indicating an overhand shuffle. 2. T u rn away so that you cannot see w hat he does and instruct him to deal as many cards as he likes, face downwards, on the table. W h en he has done this, have him place the next card face upwards on the face-down packet. R equest h im next to place the rem ainder of the pack upon the cards on the table, pick u p the entire pack and con­ ceal it from your sight by holding it under the table or behind his back. 3. W h e n the cards are hidden, tu rn around, m ake any kind of explanation of the feat you propose to perform and glance furtively at the table-top upon w hich the cards w ere dealt, as though it were im portant in the success of the trick. This is a m ere w indow-dressing b u t because you apparently attach im portance to it, so w ill the spectator in attem pting later to explain how the trick was done. 4. A gain tu rn your back and request the spectator to b rin g forth the pack, spread it from hand to hand, again note his card, w hich is face upwards, and rig h t it so th a t it w ill face the same way as the rest of the pack. In doing this h e w ill tu rn the card sidewise, whereas in the first instance it was turned end for end. Thus, w ithout in the least realizing it, the spectator has him self reversed his card in the deck. 5. A gain have the pack shuffled by the overhand method. 6. T he chosen card being the lone reversed card in the deck, it can be controlled by any of the m ethods previously explained and revealed in a startling fashion.

THE SLOP REVERSE In this quick and charm ing feat, a card is chosen and replaced in the pack, w hich is then m ixed in an extremely sloppy, haphazard fashion, some of the cards being placed face upw ards and some face downwards, until, to the spectators, the pack is in com plete disorder. It is fanned out imm ediately and the cards are found to be in perfect order, every card being face downwards save one and this one is the chosen card. M E T H O D . 1. Spread the pack w ith its w ide end outerm ost for the selection o f a card and, in having it replaced, reverse the pack by one of the m ethods previously given. 2. C ontrol the chosen card to the bottom by the H -B Strip Shuffle. 3. H old the pack face downwards in the left hand and w ith the thum b push off a half-dozen cards from the top. T ake these by the sides w ith the rig h t fingers on the face of the cards, the thum b on the back. T u rn the rig h t hand over inw ards so th at its back is upperm ost and the packet is face upwards. 4. Push a half-dozen m ore cards off the pack w ith the left thum b and take them in the rig h t hand under the face-up cards. T hus you now hold in the rig h t hand, a packet of cards of w hich half are face upwards, half face downwards. 5. T u rn the right hand over, so that its back is lowermost, push off another half-dozen cards from the pack w ith the left thum b and take them at the bottom of the £14]

JEAN *

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

packet in the rig h t hand; that is to say, add these cards to th e face-down cards at the bottom of the rig h t hand packet. 6. C ontinue the actions in 3, 4 and 5 u n til you have exhausted all b u t the last few cards in the left hand. C ontrive to term inate the process w ith the back of the rig h t hand low erm ost and to add all b u t the bottom card to the bottom of the low er packet. Thus you are left w ith a single face-down card in the left hand, this being the chosen card. H old this in the left hand and again turn the rig h t hand w ith its back upperm ost. Place the single card, face downwards, on top of all the other cards. 7. Y ou now hold a pack, the bottom half of w hich is face dow nw ards and the top half face upwards, the latter having a single face-down card— the chosen card— at the top. H ow ever, because of the nature of the action, the bottom half of the pack w ill have its w ide end innerm ost and the upper half w ill have its w ide end outerm ost. 8. H old the pack in the Stripper G rip and strip o u t the low er half w ith the rig h t hand, holding it by the extrem e corners. Let is sw ing dow nw ards and revolve end for end in the rig h t hand, then slap it dow n on the cards in the left hand, im m ediately tu rn in g that hand over and placing the pack on the table. 8. H ave the chosen card named, u tter your m agic form ula, or use w hatever hocus-pocus you prefer, and spread the cards on the table, show ing th at they are all face downwards w ith the exception of the chosen card. 9. Rem ove this card, show it, and in replacing it in the pack turn it dow n sidewise; th e pack w ill then be in norm al condition. In perform ing this trick the various actions should be m ade quickly and as awkwardly as possible— sloppily, in fact, as the title indicates. If this is done it w ill appear to the spectators th a t the cards have been hopelessly m ixed and the denouem ent w ill be a startling surprise. T he use of the stripper pack makes this perhaps the easiest and m ost deceptive of all reversal tricks. It should be noted particularly th at the feat is m ade alm ost self­ w orking, there being no need to bridge the deck, or use the half-pass, as in the older methods.

THE BUSTED BOBTAIL Nowadays every conjurer is expected to be able to deal at w ill the m ost m irac­ ulous hands in any gam e and to confess inability to m ake some such display is to suffer a loss of prestige. T he follow ing feat w ill be found an ideal one for such occasions, since it provides for an apparent failure followed by an astonishing and b rillian t recovery. EFFECT. T he m agician boastfully claims that he can deal a royal flush any tim e he w ants to even though the pack is shuffled and cut betw een the dealing of each card. U nder these conditions he succeeds in dealing four cards of a royal flush of spades, for example. W e w ill suppose that the card required to com plete the flush is the ten of spades. T he m agician shuffles and cuts and— turns u p the ten of hearts. A fter his vain ­ glorious boasting he has dealt a bobtail flush. H ow ever, the tables are turned w hen the four other cards are turned face upw ards and prove to com plete a royal flush of hearts. M E T H O D . Beforehand arrange the follow ing cards, Q H , QS, A H , AS, JH , JS, K H , KS, 10H, in that order, the Q H being the top card of the packet and the 10H the bottom card; reverse the packet and place it on top of the pack. T o perform the feat, proceed as follows: 1. Shuffle the pack overhand, not disturbing the order of the nine cards b u t sending them to the middle. £ 15 }

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

2. Strip out the stock to the top. Make a double lift, turning the two cards end for end showing the queen of spades. T u rn the tw o cards dow n sidewise and deal the supposed queen of spades, really the queen of hearts, face downwards on the table. 3. Execute an overhand shuffle as before and strip out the reversed packet to the top; this now consists of seven cards, the queen of spades having been again reversed, automatically joins the rest of the pack. D ouble lift end for end show ing the ace of spades; turn dow n sidewise and deal the ace of hearts face downwards on the first card. 4. R epeat the same moves to show th e jack of spades and the king of spades b u t really dealing the jack and king of hearts on the other two cards. 5. T h e ten of hearts is now the only reversed card in th e deck. T h e successful dealing of the four cards of the required flush has so swollen your ego th at you propose to perform a miracle. H and the deck to a spectator requesting h im to shuffle it thor­ oughly. Take it back and strip cut the ten of hearts to the top. W ith the greatest con­ fidence announce the ten of spades and turn— the ten of hearts. 6. W ith o u t looking at the face of the card, throw it face dow nw ards o n the four tabled cards. P retending not to understand the m errim ent of the spectators, you claim to have succeeded in your undertaking and that you have dealth a royal flush. T his is disputed and you are told th a t you have a bobtail flush, four spades and one heart. K eep u p the argum ent as long as it is am using, then tu rn the five cards face upw ards and show the royal flush in hearts. T he actual w orking of the trick is so easy that you can devote practically your w hole attention to the proper presentation, w ith results that will be found highly gratifying.

THE MIND MIRROR T his trick, w hich in its original version was devised by M r.. Jack M cM illen, now w ith a stripper deck comes close to being the perfect self-w orking feat w ith cards. D epending upon a stock of thirteen cards of one suit, a repetition was dangerous in the original version since it was necessary to cull the cards to the top p rio r to each p er­ formance of the trick. Use of the stripper deck makes possible a repetition of the feat w ithout apparent culling of required cards. EFFECT. A card is chosen by a spectator w ith the pack always in his ow n hands, follow ing w hich he riffle shuffles die pack himself. U nder these conditions the perform er infallibly discovers the chosen card. M E T H O D . Secretly, prior to perform ance, reverse the thirteen cards of one suit— say, hearts. W h en perform ing, hand the pack for shuffling and upon its retu rn cull the thirteen reversed cards to the bottom by means o f'th e H -B Strip Suffle. 2. Casually tu rn the pack so th a t its w ide end is gripped by the left hand in the Stripper G rip, the w ide ends o f the thirteen reversed cards thus being at the inner end. U ndercut about half the pack and drop the cut on top, thus placing the reversed cards in th e middle. Im m ediately strip out the hearts in one packet w ith the rig h t hand by the Strip Cut, run-cut a few cards of this packet to the top and w ith the rem ainder square the inner end of the back and thus sight the bottom card of the packet. N o te this card, w hich w ill be your key card, and com plete the run-cut of the thirteen cards onto the top of the pack, the key card falling last. Thus, you know the nam e of the to p card, your key card. 3. T o m ake it impossible for anyone to think th at you have sighted one of the cards, proceed thus: U ndercut about half the pack, d ro p it on to p and thus place the {16}

JEAN

HUGARD'S

MIRACLE

METHODS

heart packet in the m iddle again. W ith o u t looking at the pack, strip the hearts from the m iddle w ith the rig h t hand, using the Stripper Cut, and d ro p them on top. T he condition of the pack now is this: T he top card is your key card, below it are the twelve other hearts. 4. H and the deck to the spectator and ask him to follow your instructions: H e is to deal any small num ber of cards w hile you tu rn away, stop the deal whenever he likes, look at and rem em ber the card then at the to p of th e rem aining cards. H e is to replace the dealt cards and then shuffle the pack twice, using a riffle shuffle. N o th in g could appear m ore fair and any spectator w ill feel th at his card has been freely chosen and th at it is com pletely lost in the pack. 5. T his done, take the pack and fan it w ith its face towards yourself. T he chosen card w ill be that heart im m ediately to the rig h t of th e key card. T he w orking of this ingenious principle has been explained elsewhere, notably in E xpert Card Technique and for this reason is not explained again here. Suffice it to say th at if the instructions are carried through correcdy, the rest follows. T o repeat the trick, it is necessary merely to again follow the routine given above. I t should n o t be required to counsel the reader n ot to perform the feat m ore than twice; this, after all, is enough to establish the fact that the first success was n ot due to luck. Since the spectator m ust choose a heart in each case, it would be a dense person indeed not to become suspicious if always he should choose a heart in half a dozen trials. T he pack should be finely stripped. T he routine for this trick again dem onstrates that there are certain effects possible w ith a stripper pack w hich cannot be obtained by any other means. In its present form, it w ould be hard to find a feat m ore mysterious and m ore perplexing than this exciting diablerie.

MONEY TALKS EFFECT. T he pack, after having been suffled by a spectator, is spread ribbonw ise on the table. T hree spectators each freely select a card by placing a coin on its back. These cards, having been noted, are replaced and the pack is again shuffled by a spectator. T he coins are placed in line on the table and the pack is cut into three parts, one p art going on top of each coin. The chosen cards then pass mysteriously to the bottom of each packet. A gain the pack is assembled and shuffled by a spectator. T he three coins are placed together and the pack is dropped onto them . Once m ore the coins attract the chosen cards w hich are found together on the bottom of the pack. M E T H O D . 1. H and the pack to a spectator to be shuffled, taking care th at the over­ hand m ethod is used. 2. Borrow three coins of the same value, preferably quarters o r h alf dollars, and lay them on the table. 3. T ake the pack and spread the cards in a long row face downwards, the outer ends towards the spectators, the inner ends tow ards yourself. 4. H and one of the coins to a spectator and invite him to place it on the back of any card he pleases. T his done, push the card forw ard out of the line, take it by the outer end and tu rn it face upw ards towards yourself, that is, end for end. N am e the card and ask the spectator to rem em ber it, turn it sidewise and push it back in to the line of cards. 5. D o the same th in g w ith tw o other spectators. 6. G ather up the pack and hand it to be shuffled, again of course, by the over­ hand method. {17]

J E AN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

7. Pick up the coins, jingle them in your hands, m ixing them, and lay them out in a row, a few inches apart. 8. Take back the pack and use the Stripper Jog Control to jog the three reversed cards. C ut at and including the first reversed card and drop the packet on the m iddle coin; cut to the second jogged card and drop the packet on one of the tw o outside coins; cut to the third and drop the cut on the third coin; finally, even u p the packets by placing the rem aining cards on them as may be necessary. A nnounce th at the attractive pow er of the money w ill draw each of the selected cards to its ow n coin. 9. H ave the three cards nam ed and turn the packets face upwards, one by one, so th at a chosen card is seen at the face of each packet. 10. T u rn the packets face downwards, assemble the pack and again hand it to be shuffled. 11. Take the pack back and ask a spectator to place th e coins in the form of an equilateral triangle. T his request generally confuses him , few rem em bering just w hat an equilateral triangle is and, as he fumbles w ith the coins, quiedy control the three re ­ versed cards to the bottom by the H -B Strip Shuffle. T h en p o in t o u t th at by placing the coins so that they touch one another, they form a required triangle. D o this and drop the pack on the coins. 12. A nnounce that the com bined attractive pow er of the coins w ill draw the three chosen cards to the bottom of the pack. A fter a few moments, tu rn the pack face upw ards and spread the three bottom cards, show ing that they have arrived. Finally re ­ m ark that the trick is a good one and well w orth the money. T here is a general assent, so you pick up the coins and pocket them ; later, of course, retu rn in g them. This feat is one of the best th at can be perform ed w ith a stripper pack, or, indeed, w ith any pack of cards. It has a plausible story, novelty in the m anner of the selection of the cards and it requires the help of several of the audience w hich always enhances the effect of a card trick. It is extremely easy to perform and, therefore, allows the perform er to devote practically his w hole attention to the presentation. W e strongly recom m end the reader to add the trick to his repertoire.

PHENOMENOL H ere is a location w hich is calculated to cause consternation am ongst the cognoscenti. EFFECT. T he pack is shuffled by a spectator, then fanned by the perform er and held face outwards towards a spectator who merely touches a card and rem em bers it. T he fan of cards is closed and the pack is squared in the fairest possible way, no sleights of any kind being used. T he spectator then cuts the pack as often as he likes, yet the m agician infallibly picks out the selected card. M E T H O D . 1. Reverse any one card in the deck, after having noted w hat it is. H an d the deck to a spectator to be shuffled. 2. Take the pack back and hold it in the left hand in the Stripper Grip, the nar­ row end outwards. Jog the reversed card a fraction of an inch at the inner end. Y ou re­ quire to have this card somewhere near the m iddle of the deck,therefore, if necessary, b ring it to that position by a single com plete cut. 3. Fan the deck betw een the hands and hold the fan vertically before a specta­ tor requesting him to touch any card he pleases and to rem em ber it. O w ing to the way in w hich you hold the cards, the position of the jogged card is plainly visible to you b ut n ot to the spectator, and you contrive to have him touch a card somewhere near the m id ­ dle, thus ensuring that it w ill be b u t a few cards distant from your key card, either above

£18]

JEAN

HUGARD'S

MIRACLE

METHODS

or below it. As soon as the spectator touches a card, count from it to the key card and rem em ber the number. 4. Close the fan and square the cards in the m ost meticulously open way, w ith ­ out m aking any unnecessary rem arks about not executing any sleight of hand movements. Place the pack on the table and invite the spectator to cut it as often as he pleases w ith com plete cuts. 5. W hen he is satisfied, take the pack w ith the narrow end inwards, in the Stripper Grip, jog die key card inwards and again fan the cards, faces outwards. C ount to the num ber you noted on w hichever side of the key card the spectator’s card was, re­ m ove the card at that num ber and p u t it face downwards on the table. H ave the spectator nam e his card, then tu rn it face upwards, proving that you have m ade an apparendy impossible location. If you prefer it, the second fanning of the pack and jogging of the key card can be dispensed w ith. T o find the selected card, sim ply run over the faces un til you reach the key card and from it locate the spectator’s card.

CARD AND NUMBER T he fam iliar feat of sending a chosen card to any desired num ber in the pack, can n ot only be done m ore easily w ith a stripper pack b u t can be m ade even m ore surprising. EFFECT. A card having been freely chosen, it is shuffled, into the pack by the spectator himself. H e nam es any num ber and his card is found at th at num ber from the bottom of the pack. M E T H O D . H ave a card freely selected from the shuffled deck and, after having it re ­ turned to the secretly reversed pack, invite the spectator to shuffle the cards again. 2. Take the pack back and by means of the H -B Strip Shuffle, control the chosen card to the bottom . T hen shuffle by the overhand m ethod, first taking the bottom card to the top of the pack, then repeating the shuffle by first pulling o ut all b u t the to p and bottom cards and shuffling off onto these two. T hus you have the chosen card next to the bottom card. 3. R equest that any num ber be thought of, tu rn in g the pack so th at the in ­ different card at the bottom can be "accidentally” noted by the onlookers. T u rn the pack dow n and grasp it in the position for the Stripper Glide, 4. W ith the rig h t hand draw out the bottom card and deal it face upw ards on the table as you say, "Y ou are not thinking of the first card, are you?” If the answer h ap ­ pens to be Y es, a rare occurence, have the selected card nam ed; turn the pack upw ards and show the card as being the first card from the bottom . 5. If the reply is N o, glide the reversed card and continue, as you b rin g your rig h t hand to the pack, "A re you thinking of num ber tw o?” Y ou can tell from the spec­ tator’s reaction if you have to draw out an indifferent card or the "glided” card. 6. Supposing the answer to be N o again, continue in exactly the same way w ith each num ber u n til you note that he is about to say Y es to the num ber you have called. A t once draw out the "glided” card so that you have it away from the pack before he has finished his reply, and place it face dow nw ards on the table. H ave the spectator nam e his card and you flip it face upw ards show ing th at you have succeeded. T his m ethod is m uch m ore convincing than the older one in w hich the num ber is nam ed and the cards dealt to it. Since the num ber is merely thought of, the spectators im agine that the card has actually been placed in that very position.

(19}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

DIG W ITH A SPADE EFFECT. A card having been freely chosen, noted, replaced and the pack shuffled by the spectator himself, the m agician takes the first card to hand of the spade suit and thrusts it into the pack face upwards, at random. T he cards being spread on the table the chosen card is found to lie immediately below the face-up spade card. A quick, striking and incom prehensible feat. M E T H O D . T he usual prelim inaries of having the pack shuffled, a card draw n, noted and returned to the pack, having been com pleted, execute a short overhand shuffle and have the cards shuffled by the spectator the same way. Then: 1. R em ark that, naturally, spades are good for digging, as you take back the pack; turn it face upwards, remove the first spade you come to and place it face upw ards on the table. 2. H old the pack in the Stripper G rip, the narrow end innerm ost, and w ith the rig h t thum b and second finger jog the chosen card at the inner end, a quarter of an inch o r less, using the Stripper ]og method. 3. T u rn the pack to a vertical position, the inner end being low erm ost and the jogged card being hidden by the back of the hand. 4. T ake the face-up spade card by one end and thrust its other end into the inner end of the pack imm ediately above the jogged card w hich acts as a guide. K eeping about half the face-up card inserted in the pack, sw ing the rig h t hand around over the side o f the pack to the outer end, tu rning the card end for end and m aking it protrude for about half its length from the outer end of the deck. This action m ust be done swiftly so th at later the spectators will not be able to recall just how the card was thrust into the deck. 5. Square the pack w ith the right thum b and fingers, the fingers pushing the protruding card flush w ith the pack and the thum b doing the same thing w ith the jogged card at the inner end. 6. Place the pack on the table and spread it ribbonw ise from rig h t to left so that the face-up card shows u p instantly am ongst the face-down cards. Push th e cards above it, that is, to the left of it, aside. H aving the chosen card named, pick-up the face-up card and w ith it flick the card that was next to it face upwards. I t is the chosen card. This is another effective quick trick that can be introduced to good advantage into a card session at any time.

A BEWILDERING CHANGE O ne of the fine tricks in that m am m oth of magic, Greater Magic, is the tw o card transposition devised by Cardini w ith this name. A n excellent trick in its original form, the follow ing new routine, using a stripper deck, makes it b oth easier and m ore effective. EFFECT. A spectator thinks of a num ber, counts to this num ber, and rem em bers the card in the next position. T he m agician takes the pack and places one card on th e table. T h e spectator denies that this is his card. T he m agician th en counts dow n to the spec­ tator’s num ber and there finds the card just placed on the table; w hen the latter is turned face upwards, it proves to be the spectator’s card. M E T H O D . 1. H and the deck to the spectator. R equest him to shuffle it, indicating an overhand shuffle. 2. Instruct the spectator to th in k of any num ber and deal cards, face upwards, on the table to th at num ber; tu rn away so th a t you cannot see w hat is being done. Tell him then to look at the top card o f those rem aining in his le ft hand, rem em ber the card C20]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

and leave it in that position. H ave him place his rig h t hand on his heart, urging that he concentrate upon the nam e of his card. W ith his righ t hand and still pressed on his heart, instruct him to place the cards held in his left hand face upw ards on the pack of face-up cards. 3. Tell him to pick; u p and square the deck, after w hich you turn around and take the cards. A pparently you cannot know w hich card the spectator looked at; and yet, because of the subtle m anner in w hich th e cards w ere dealt and the pack placed upon them , all the cards originally dealt by the spectator are now reversed on the top of the deck w ith the chosen card directly under them. 4. M ake a false cut w hich does not disturb the order of the cards. H old the pack in the Stripper G rip and w ith the right hand strip the packet of reversed cards from the top by the Stripper Cut. Place these cards at the bottom of the pack as a con­ tinuation of the false cut. 5; P repare for a double lift and, in m aking the lift, tu rn the two cards (th e u pper of w hich is the chosen on e) end for end. Show the second card, let us say it is the seven of hearts, and tu rn the two cards dow n sidewise. Y ou have thus reversed both cards. Im m ediately rem ove the top card, the spectator’s chosen card, and place it face downwards on the table to one side. T urn to the spectator and, p o in tin g to the card, say, "T hat seven of hearts (o r w hatever the card may b e ) is your card?" 6. As he denies this, cut the pack once and com plete it. 7. H old the pack in the Stripper G rip and immediately strip the packet of reversed cards from the m iddle, using the Stripper Cut, dropping it on top, the action appearing to be a sim ple cut. Ask the spectator to nam e the num ber he thought of and deal th at num ber of cards from the top of the pack. T u rn the next card face upw ards and show that it is the seven of hearts, the card apparently p u t on the table a m om ent before. 8. H ave the chosen card nam ed and tu rn the tabled card face upw ards; it is the spectator’s card. T his bew ildering routine illustrates the type of m ethod w hich can only be used w ith a stripper pack and w hich can be perform ed before those fam iliar w ith the principle w ithout arousing any suspicion.

A SUBTLE LOCATION T he principle m ade use of in the preceeding trick can be em ployed in many feats w ith a stripper deck. For instance it can be used to control a single chosen card in this way: a. H and the pack to a spectator and ask him to deal any num ber of cards face upw ards on the table, to stop w henever he likes and to rem em ber the card at the face o f the packet on the table, that is to say, the last card dealt. Instruct h im to place the cards rem aining in his left hand face upw ards on the packet of face-up cards, to square the pack and hand it to you. T he selected card w ill then be the bottom card of the packet reversed on the top and you can locate it in any way you please. A slightly different handling is this: b. H and the deck to the spectator. Instruct him to ruffle the outer end, remove any card from the m iddle and place it face upw ards on the table. Tell h im th en to place the pack face upw ards upon the tabled card and cut the pack a num ber of times. T his done, tu rn to him , take the pack and the chosen card w ill be the lone reversed card in it.

£21]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

It should be noted particularly that this ingenious principle is applicable to ordinary cards and one-way backs. In the form er instance assemble the cards the end pips of w hich can be pointed in one direction. Carry o ut the instructions in a and the rest follows. Similarly in the case of one-way backs, either procedure can be em ployed and the chosen card found by glancing at the backs and noting the one card o ut of order.

THE STRIPPER SPELL In this very quick and puzzling feat a card is chosen and returned to the pack in such a m anner that its control by the perform er seems to be impossible. T he card, however, is always at his com m and and is imm ediately spelled o ut successfully as one card for each letter in its nam e is dealt from the top, the required card falling on the last letter. It is necessary to have twelve cards reversed at the bottom of the pack, th eir w ide ends being inwards. ( See R eversing a Packet.) This having been done, proceed as follows. M E T H O D . 1. H old the pack w ith the narrow end inwards, shuffle keeping the twelve card stock at the bottom and spread the cards in a long ribbon on the table from your rig h t to your left. 2. R equest a spectator to rem ove any card from the m iddle of the line, note it and replace it at top of the spread, that is, at the extrem e left, his card thus becom ing the top card of the pack when, follow ing your instructions, he gathers and squares the pack. 3. H ave the pack cut and the cut completed. A pparently the card is lost in the pask, actually it is the first card under the reversed stock. 4. A gain spread the cards on the table from rig h t to left, look at the spectator and say, "This is w hat you did. Y ou took any card from the pack (su it the action to the w ord by rem oving a card at the extreme right of the spread, below the stock of tw elve) and you placed the card at the top of the pack, exactly as I am doing.” T h en gather the cards, square them and hold the pack in your hands. Continue, "T hen you cut the cards.” C ut the pack yourself, b u t whereas the spectator cut the cards w hile they were on the table, you cut w ith them in your hands, thus: 5. H old the pack in your left hand in the Stripper G rip, the w ide end grasped by the thum b and fingers. T ake the inner end betw een the rig h t thnm b and second and third fingers, as for the Stripper Cut, b u t w ith the rig h t thum b pressed against the sides of the low er half of the pack. W ith the rig h t hand strip the reversed stock of twelve cards and all those below it inwards and drop the packet on the top of the cards retained in the left hand. 6 . A pparently you have merely repeated the spectator’s procedure in selecting a card; actually you have set the pack for the successful spelling of the nam e of the chosen card, w hich is now thirteenth from the top. T he m ethod of spelling any card in the pack by using thirteen letters is a fam iliar stratagem b u t w e w ill detail it here briefly. Ask the nam e of the card and, upon learning it, arbitrarily spell it so that w hen the thirteenth card is dealt th at card w ill coincide w ith its last letter. T o do this, rem em ber this chart: o f clubs is spelled w ith 7 letters. o f hearts is spelled w ith 8 letters. o f spades is spelled w ith 8 letters. o f diam onds is spelled w ith 10 letters. £22}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

T he num ber of letters in the denom ination is easily calculated, there being only three, four and five letter com binations possible. W ith the aid of a little ingenuity it is easy to spell any of the fifty-two cards by using thirteen letters: thus, queen of diamonds, having fifteen letters in its nam e, can be spelled by o m ittin g the of; similarly, ace of clubs, having b u t ten, can be spelled by adding the. It should be noted that this fine trick can be perform ed w ith regular cards by a lengthw ise bridging of the bottom twelve cards, m aking th eir backs concave. T h e p ro ­ cedure is the same, b u t in illustrating w hat has been done, the perform er cuts the cards w hile they are on the table, cutting into the bridge and thus b ringing th e twelve card stock to the top w ith the chosen card under it.

o

THE STRIPPER KEY

U

H ie use of the bottom card of the pack as a key card is so old that it was invented probably by the first conjurer to take a pack of cards in his hands. It is so old a device th a t it : ' is know n to the lay public but, despite this, it still is an excellent and deceptive subterfuge ; j w hen artfully employed. A refinem ent w hich w ill deceive those w ho ordinarily m ig h t suspect the use of such a key card is possible w ith the stripper deck. H ere is the : ' procedure: ^ 1. Reverse some fifteen cards in a packet, secredy, and note the bottom card of '£■< the group. Place this packet on the top of the pack. In presenting the feat, m ake an over3 hand shuffle w hich does not disturb the top sequence and, upon its com pletion, place rO the pack on th e table and have a spectator cut it and com plete the cut. T his procedure will convince those w ho w atch that you could not know either the top or bottom cards. 2. Spread the pack in offering it for a choice and allow any card to be taken. <, Should one of the reversed cards be removed, the success of the m ethod w ill n o t be affected. 3. Square the pack and hold it in the Stripper G rip, the w ide end being gripped by the fingers. R equest the spectator to return his card and extend your left hand w ith the pack, at the same instant stripping out the reversed fifteen cards w ith the rig h t hand by the Stripper Cut. T his is, apparently, the fairest cut in the w orld and yet you know the bottom card of the packet and hence can easily locate the chosen card, it being the card direcdy under the key card. Use of this and sim ilar m ethods w hen em ploying a stripper pack is recom m ended since it w ill confuse those who conceivably m ight be w atching for a stripper pack— a n o t im probable occurrence since the principle is fairly w ell know n to the public generally.

THE LIGHTNING CALCULATOR Use of a stripper pack makes possible the perform ance of a satndard feat of card conjuring in a m anner m uch sim pler and easier than th a t usually employed. T h e trick is this: A card is chosen and returned to the pack, w hich is shuffled. A spectator names a num ber between, say, ten and twenty. T he conjurer cuts a num ber of cards from the top of the pack, which, w hen counted, prove to be the same num ber as th at given by th e spectator, and the next card is the chosen card. M ETHOD.

1. Reverse seventeen cards at the top of the pack p rio r to perform ance. [23]

J EAN

HUG A R D ’ S

MIRACLE

METHODS

Shuffle the pack by the overhand method, retaining the reversed cards at the top; then spread the cards on the table, from right to left, and have one chosen. 2. G ather the pack and, in so doing, cut it so th at the stock o f seventeen cards is brought to the middle. Request the spectator to note his card and replace it in the pack. As you say this, strip the seventeen reversed cards from the m iddle by the Stripper Cut and drop them upon the chosen card w hen it is replaced on the left hand packet. Thus, this card becomes the eighteenth card from the top. 3. A gain shuffle the cards by the overhand m ethod, retaining the eighteen cards in order and returning them to the to p at the com pletion of the shuffle by the use of the standard injog. If the reader dislikes this practice, a sim ple false cut w ill suffice. 4. H ave a num ber named, betw een one and twenty. If it is less than seventeen, subtract it from seventeen, remove cards from the top to the num ber thus obtained and w ith them fan the deck, then place them at the bottom . For example, suppose thirteen is called, rem ove four, fan the deck w ith them and p u t them on the bottom . If the num ber is nineteen, remove tw o cards from the bottom , fan the deck w ith them and drop them on the top; if eighteen, take one card from the bottom and treat it the same way. T en and tw enty are ruled o u t in terms of your proposition. (T h e preceding treatm ent is for those who may be disinclined to use the pass for the purpose.) 5. C ut the reversed packet from the top by means of the Stripper Cut, count the cards one by one showing that you have removed the exact num ber called for by the spectator. T hen tu rn the next card, the chosen card. This sim ple feat is surprisingly effective and it is a favorite w ith many card conjurers. In other versions, a narrow or short card is usually employed and the routine is n o t so clean-cut; in the stripper m ethod the feat practically w ork itself.

LOCATING THE ACES In many instances the stripper pack can be used to sim plify standard feats which are n ot necessarily stripper pack tricks. A n instance of this is the fam iliar feat in w hich a shuffled deck is spread and a spectator is invited to p o in t to any four cards w hich are then draw n for half their length from the fan. T he pack is squared and the protruding cards are w ithdrawn,, placed; on the bottom and imm ediately draw n off and p u t on the table. T he four freely selected cards prove to be the aces, thus providing an intriguing introduction to the Braue A ces or any other ace trick. M E TH O D . 1. P rior to perform ance reverse the four aces. H and the deck for an over­ hand shuffle, retake it, the narrow end outwards, and cull the aces to the bottom by the H -B Strip Shuffle. I 2. Fan the cards in the left hand, holding them face downwards, and have four spectators each touch the back of one of the cards. As this is done, draw each card o ut­ w ards for half its length from the fan w ithout exposing any p art of the face. Close the fan of cards and square the deck, leaving the four chosen cards still projecting; tap their ends, evening them. 3. H old the pack as in the Stripper G rip b u t place the tip of the left forefinger against the outer ends of the four indifferent cards w hich protrude from the pack; strip the four aces outwards by a pressure of the left thum b and second finger at their w ide ends at the bottom of the pack. T he m om ent this reversed packet reaches the left fore­ finger and is, therefore, flush w ith the four protruding cards, grasp all eight cards and carry them away. A pparently you are sim ply stripping the chosen cards from the pack; £24}

actually you strip these cards and, underneath them , the four aces. T he action is so easy th at is is not necessary even to look at the cards. 4. Im m ediately drop the pack upon the eight cards lying on the left hand and, as prom ptly as if this had been done inadvertently, draw th e four bottom cards, the aces, from the pack w ith the rig h t fingers (holding the pack as for the g lid e) and place them face downwards on the table. 5. C om m ent upon the pow er of coincidence being so strong as to cause four different and distinctive personalities each to choose a card of the same denom ination, turn the four cards face upw ards, show ing the four aces. C ontinue w ith any other feat in w hich the four aces are used, rem em bering th at these cards are now in a reversed condition.

THE PRINCESS CARD TRICK: STRIPPER VERSION T he effect of this favorite feat, briefly stated, is that the m agician divines the nam e of a card m entally selected by a spectator from am ongst four freely chosen cards. M E T H O D . 1. P rior to perform ance, secredy tu rn the second, th ird and fourth cards of the pack face upw ards and reverse them . H old the pack w ith its narrow end inwards. 2. Spread the deck betw een the hands, contriving to conceal the face-up cards, and request each of four spectators to point to a card. A s each card is chosen, rem ove it and, in placing it face upw ards on the table, tu rn it end for end, b rin g in g its w ide end nearest to you. 3. R equest one of the spectators to think of any one of the four cards and, as he concentrates on his choice, pick them up one by one and place them squarely face upw ards upon the face-down deck. In doing this, take the cards from low to high: thus, A, 4, 7, K. R em em ber this order for you m ust use it later in discovering the card m ental­ ly selected by the spectator. If there should be two cards of the same denom ination, rem em ber the suit of the first card. 4. Rem ove the four cards and w ith them the three face-up cards u nder the top card of the pack (th e action here is exactly the same as th at em ployed in the Braue A ce s) and hold the packet of seven cards in the rig h t hand w ith the faces of the cards towards yourself. A pparently you have had four cards chosen, one of them has been m entally selected by a spectator and you have taken these four cards in your rig h t hand. 5. H olding the packet in the rig h t hand, thum b at the bottom end, fingers at the top end, spread the three rear cards, w hich are the three indifferent cards secredy added to the original packet of four, by m oving them towards the left hand, the four original cards rem aining in a single packet at the face of the fan, being ostensibly one card only. Take the cards, thus fanned, in the le ft hand. 6 . It is necessary now to confuse the spectators as to the relative positions of the various cards, since their order may have been noted. T o do this, remove a single card, look at it intently, glance at the spectator, and replace the card in a different p art o f the fan. D o this several times, finally taking the packet of four cards, as one card, and placing them in your rig h t trousers pocket. 7. T u rn the three rem aining cards face dow nw ards and deal them onto the deck, counting, "One, two, three.” C ut the deck casually and com plete the cut, thus burying the three indifferent cards. 6. It is now necessary to find out the nam e of the chosen card. Say. "To satisfy all those present that there is such a thing as paratelepathy, w ill you be good enough to nam e your card as a token of good faith, to assure the others th at you are not, through £25]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’ S

MIRACLE

METHODS

kindness or confederacy, accepting as your card the one w hich I have placed in my pocket.” 9. As you say this, place your rig h t hand into your trousers pocket and insert the tips of your first, second and third fingers betw een the cards. T his w ill enable you to g rip any one of them the m om ent it is nam ed, by sim ply releasing your hold o n the others. T he spectator having nam ed his card, you know instantly its place in the packet of four cards in your pocket, so you release your grip on th e others and b rin g o u t the required card, w ithout having to fum ble or count to it, and hold it face downwards. H ave it nam ed again, as if you had not heard the reply to your question, th en display the card to those present. H ere again the stripper pack makes the feat practically self-w orking and allows the perform er to devote his w hole attention to the proper presentation.

A CANNY COINCIDENCE A lthough it is one of the easiest feats possible w ith a stripper pack, the following feat is, nevertheless, a quick showy dem onstration of the conjurer’s powers. EFFECT. Tw o cards th a t lie next to one another are chosen by spectators A and B. T h e cards are noted, returned to the pack in different places and the pack is shuffled by a spectator. T he tw o cards are ordered to come together on the bottom of the pack and are instantly shown there. M E T H O D . 1. H ave the pack shuffled, take it back and allow spectator A to 'm ake a free choice of any card. T u rn to spectator B and invite h im to take either th e card th at was above A ’s card or the one that was below it. Stress the fact th a t the tw o cards were together in the pack. 2. H aving secredy reversed the deck, spread the cards and have A insert his card am ongst the others allow ing about half its length to protrude. Invite B to do the same w ith his card in a different part' of the pack. Stress the fact that the tw o cards are well separated, close the fan of cards and slowly tap th e tw o cards home. 3. Execute a short overhand shuffle, then hand the deck to a spectator to shuffle it to his ow n satisfaction. 4. Take the pack back and m ake the H -B Strip Shuffle, culling the tw o cards to the bottom . U ndercut half the-cards and execute another Strip Shuffle, in the course of w hich you sight the bottom card as has been explained. O rder the tw o w idely separated cards to come together. 5. C ut the pack using the H -B C ut Control, taking the tw o reversed cards to the bottom . 6 . R equest A to nam e his card. If it is the face card, show it and have B nam e his card. Slowly rem ove the face card and show th a t B’s card is next. If, o n th e other hand, the card A nam es is not at the face of the pack, thank h im and tu rn to B, show the face card and say "This is your card, isn’t it? ” U pon his acquiescence, tu rn to A, repeat the nam e of his card, slowly rem ove the face card and reveal his.

CUT AND COME AGAIN H ere is a pleasing quick trick for intim ate perform ance. EFFECT. A fter having shuffled the deck, a spectator cuts it, notes the card cut at and replaces the cut. T he cards are again m ixed and again the spectator cuts, notes the card cut to and com pletes the cut. O nce m ore the cards are m ixed, the top card is turned face upw ards and the spectator makes a final com plete cut, retaining th e pack in his £26}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

ME T HO D S

ow n hands. A t com m and the two chosen cards pass one above and one below th e face-up card. 2. Take the pack back and bring the reversed card to the bottom by the H -B Strip Shuffle. Place the pack face downwards on the palm of your left hand, tu rn ­ ing it so that its narrow end is innerm ost and holding the hand flat w ith its fingers outstretched. 3. Invite a spectator to cut the pack and place th e cut packet, A, face dow n­ wards on your fingers beside the rem aining packet, B; then to take the top card of B, note w hat it is, place it on A and com plete the cut. 4. Square the pack, jog the reversed card, w hich now lies directly above the spectator’s card, and secure a break above it, holding th e break w ith the left little finger tip. G rip the pack by the ends betw een the right thum b at the inner end and the fingers a t the outer end (th e thum b taking the break) and, w ith the left fingers, separate a small packet of cards at the bottom of the pack; carry them off sidewise w ith the left h and and place them on the top of the pack w ith the noted card imm ediately below it. 5. Square the pack and again place it on the palm of your left hand. Invite the spectator to "cut the cake— pardon m e— the pack,” and repeat exactly the same procedure as in item 3. T his second card noted by him w ill be placed on the reversed card and the com pletion of the cu t w ill result in the placing o f th e tw o noted cards in th e m iddle o f the deck w ith the reversed card betw een them. 6 . Jog the reversed card, secure a break above it, and m ake several side cuts w ith the left hand as in item 4, finally cutting to the break and b rin g in g the reversed card to the to p of the pack. T he situation then is this— the reversed card o n th e to p of th e pack, under it the first noted card and at the bottom of the pack the second noted card.

7. T u rn the top, reversed card face upw ards end for end on the deck. Invite the spectator to cut, com plete the cut and take the pack himself. 8 . T he trick is done, all that rem ains is to stress the fact th at the spectator m ade all the cuts himself, order the tw o chosen cards to place themselves above and below the face-up card, have the pack spread on the table and the face-up card, w ith the one above it and the one below it, draw n o u t of line. H ave th e spectator nam e his tw o cards and you flick them face upw ards w ith the face-up card.

THE MYSTIC CUT A slight prearrangem ent is necessary for this effective trick. T ake ten cards, of any suits, whose values ru n from ten to ace, and arrange them in sequencej so th a t the ten w ill be the top card o f the packet and the ace the bottom card w ith th e other cards in regular num erical progression. Place this packet, reversed, on the top of the rem ainder o f the pack. T o do this trick, follow this procedure: 1. T ake the pack by the w ide end betw een the rig h t thum b and second finger and execute a regular H in d u shuffle, m aking the first m ovem ent by pu llin g off the reversed packet intact w ith the left thum b and fingers and continuing the shuffle in the usual way. 2. W ith the prearranged packet thus at the bottom , spread the pack and invite a spectator to choose a card, taking care, however, that the card is n o t taken from am ongst the ten bottom cards. 3. T he spectator having noted his card, undercut about half the pack w ith the rig h t hand and have him place his card on top o f the packet rem aining in th e le ft hand. £27]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

D rop the cut on top and square the pack very openly. Y ou have thus contrived to have the chosen card just below the set-up packet. 4. Place the pack on the table and invite the spectator to cut it as often as he pleases, com pleting the cut each time. 5. Pick u p the pack, square the ends w ith the rig h t thum b and fingers, then, in squaring the sides w ith the left thum b and fingers, ascertain if the reversed packet is in the middle. If not, m ake a single cut to bring it there, square the deck and place it before the spectator. 6 . A nnounce that you are w illing him to do som ething and invite h im to cut the pack into two packets as nearly equal as he can manage. If you have done your p art in g etting the reversed packet in the m iddle of the deck, he m ust cut into the group of ten reversed cards. 7. This done, instruct him to tu rn over the top card of the low er packet and place it face-up on the table. Y ou say th at you have w illed him to cut at a card the num ber of whose pips w ill indicate the position of his chosen card from th a t point. L et us say that he has cut at and turned u p a six spot. Instruct him to take the lower packet, deal off five cards, face downwards, and place the sixth card, also face dow n­ wards, a little apart. 8 . Finally have him nam e his card and tu rn the sixth card face upw ards h im ­ self— it is his card. A m om ent’s reflection w ill show that the same result m ust follow, no m atter at w hich card of the ten arranged cards the cut is made.

THE PICKPOCKET H ere is a trick w ith simple, direct effects, plenty of action and requiring the participation o f several of the spectators, all o f w hich m ake for genuine entertainm ent. It is one of the com paratively few card tricks w hich are suitable for platform presentation. EFFECT. T hree spectators each draw a card, the cards are replaced and the pack is shuffled. T he pack is placed in the perform er’s pocket and he instantly w ithdraw s all the cards b u t one w hich proves to be one of the chosen cards. A fter being shuffled again, the pack is replaced in the pocket and a spectator succeeds in doing th e same thing, th a t is to say, he pulls o u t all the cards except one w hich also proves to b e a chosen card. A fter a final shuffle, the spectator picks the th ird selected card from the pack after it has been pocketed again. M E T H O D . Beforehand arrange the pack as follows: Segregate all the cards of denom ­ inations from two to six, m aking a packet of tw enty cards; all those from seven to ten, sixteen cards in all; and, finally, leave all the count cards and the aces in one packet, also sixteen cards. Assemble the pack w ith the low cards first, followed by the sevens to tens, and the court cards and aces at the bottom . T o present the trick proceed thus: 1. H ave a spectator draw a card from am ongst the first tw enty cards, reverse the pack and have the card replaced in th a t section, allow ing th e spectator to push the card flush and you yourself m aking no m otion w hich could be construed as a sleight. G o to a second person and have him take a card from the m iddle section, reverse the pack and have his card replaced very openly. Finally have a th ird card chosen from the bottom section and treat it in the same way as the other cards. H an d the pack out to be shuffled to convince the onlookers that the three cards are lost in the pack, yet, since they are reversed, you can locate them at w ill and you w ill know by the values w hich card belongs to each spectator. [28]

JEAN

H U G A R D ’ S

MIRACLE

METHODS

2. Take the pack back and, as you invite a spectator to take his place at your side, execute the H -B Strip Shuffle bringing the three chosen cards to the bottom . Place the pack in your rig h t outside coat pocket and, in so doing, glim pse th e bottom card. By its value you know w hich spectator drew it and you address him . T ell him th at you are about to pick your pocket in such a way that you w ill pick o ut all the cards b u t his. Plunge your hand into the pocket and bring out all the cards except the bottom card. Invite the spectator to nam e his card and have the m an beside you take the card from your pocket and show that you have succeeded. 4. H and the pack to the volunteer assistant and have him shuffle it. Take it back, and w hile talking to him , asking him if he thinks he could do the trick, execute the H -B Strip Shuffle to bring either of the two rem aining cards to the bottom , sight it as you tap the side o f the pack on the table, squaring it. Palm this card in your rig h t hand and place the pack in the same pocket again. T ell your assistant th at all he has to do is to plunge his hand into your pocket, grab the pack and one of the two rem ain­ ing chosen cards w ill elude his grasp and rem ain in the pocket. H e seizes the pack and brings it out. Instantly thrust your rig h t hand into the pocket and bring out the palm ed card at your finger tips, face downwards. Addressing the spectator whose card you know it to be by its value, have it nam ed, show it and congratulate your helper on his success. 5. H ave him shuffle the pack, then take it and strip shuffle the last chosen card to the bottom . As you do this tell your helper he m ust pass one m ore test before quali­ fying as an expert pickpocket, place the pack in your pocket again, this tim e on its side, and tw ist the bottom card upright, standing it on its end. H ave the th ird spectator, that is to say, the one whose card has not been produced, nam e his card. Instruct your volunteer assistant that, at the w ord Three, he is to plunge his hand into your pocket and instantly bring out that very card. "It w on’t give you any trouble,” you say, "it w ill jum p rig h t into your hand. Ready? One, two, three.” T he helper does this and infallibly brings out the card w hich was on end, thus bringing an entertaining trick to a very effective climax.

HALLUCINATION It is advisable to have as m any as possible of the audience take an active p art in the perform ance. T h e follow ing trick has been devised to that end and its successful execution cannot fail to arouse the m ost apathetic spectators. EFFECT. Several persons each note a card in a pack w hich has been shuffled freely and the pack is then handed to another person to hold. Each person then nam es the same card as being the one he noted b u t exam ination of the pack shows th at very card is m issing and the perform er produces it from his ow n pocket. M E T H O D . 1. H and the pack to a spectator to be thoroughly shuffled. 2. I t is now necessary to have a small num ber chosen. It is not entirely satis­ factory to have a spectator nam e a num ber since in surprising effects like this one, there are always m any w ho w ill explain the trick by m aintaining th at the num ber was deter­ m ined beforehand and nam ed at your request. A rriving at a num ber by the throw ing of dice is also open to objection, the use of loaded dice being well know n as a possibility. Perhaps the best plan in this case is to ask the person w ho has shuffled the cards to square the deck, cut off a small packet and hand it to his neighbor to count the num ber of cards it contains. W e w ill suppose that this has been done and th at the num ber thus arrived at is nine. Leave these cards in the hands of the person w ho counted them for possible verification. £29}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’S

MIRACLE

METHODS

3. Take the rem ainder of the pack, then ask a spectator to hold his left hand palm upw ards and you slowly count off eight cards onto it. T ake the cards by the outer rig h t corners, turning them face upw ards under pretext of show ing how w ell mixed the cards are, b u t really in order to tu rn the eight cards end for end. T u rn them dow n sidewise and place them at the bottom of the pack. 4. Invite the spectator to lift the outer rig h t corner of the top card, originally the n in th card, note w hat it is in such a way that no one else can see it, th en cut the pack and square the cards. 5. Jog the reversed packet, now somewhere in the m iddle and take a break above its top card w ith the left little finger. G rip the pack by th e ends betw een the rig h t thum b and fingers, retaining the break w ith the thum b, separate a small packet of cards at the bottom w ith th e left fingers, carry it away sidewise w ith the left hand and place it on the top of the pack. R epeat this m ove several tim es, finally taking all the cards below the break and p u ttin g them on the top. T he card noted by the first spectator is thus returned to its original position, n in th from the top. 6 . Go to a second spectator, a little apart from the first, and repeat the oper­ ation, but, this tim e, simply count off the first eight cards into your rig h t hand very openly and place them on the bottom . Invite this person to peek at the top card, note it and cut it to the middle. M ake the jog and repeat the side cuts as in item 5, again placing the original n in th card in that same position.

7. R epeat the w hole m aneuver w ith a third and fourth spectator, b u t invite the fourth person to take the top card in his hand and note it carefully. As he does this, quietly turn, end for end, the eight cards just counted off into your rig h t hand, place them on the bottom and reverse the pack for the return of the spectator’s card. Let him push it into the m iddle of the deck, take the deck and shuffle it himself. 8 . T ake the pack back, turn it face upw ards and, under pretext of showing how thoroughly m ixed the cards are, execute the H -B Strip Shuffle taking the reversed card to the top, tu rn the pack face downwards and palm the reversed card. D o this as you announce seriously that you are about to m ake the four chosen cards, so well dis­ tributed throughout the pack, appear instantaneously on the top. H an d the pack to a fifth person and have him lift off the four to p cards and show them to prove th a t the selected cards are n o t already in that position; m eantim e casually thrust both hands into your trousers pockets and leave the palm ed card in the rig h t hand pocket.

9In order to bring about this peculiar phenom enon you explain th at it is necessary for the four spectators w ho chose cards to call the nam es of their cards loudly at the very same m om ent. "N ow , gentlem en,” you say, "w hen I call T hree call o ut the names of your cards as loudly as you can. T he card whose nam e is called the loudest will become the topm ost card and the others in due order. Ready? One, two, three.” All four spectators call the nam e of the same card, say the seven of clubs, to your pretended consternation. A rgue w ith them that it was impossible for all of them to have chosen the same card b u t they m aintain they have m ade no mistake, so you have the fifth spec­ tator exam ine the pack and he reports the seven of clubs is missing.

10. Y ou continue, "Y ou see, gentlem en, th e w hole th in g has been a pure hallucination on your part. Y ou could n o t possibly have seen th e seven of clubs, f know ing that that is a very unlucky card, I p u t it in my pocket before w e began the experim ent.” T ake the seven of clubs from your pocket and show it. 130}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’ S

MI R A C L E

METHODS

THE BRAUE ACES H ere is a genuine novelty— som ething new in four ace tricks, a m ethod w hich w orks itself w ithout difficult sleights or m isdirective devices. A trial w ill convince the reader th a t this is one of the cleverest of all four ace tricks. EFFECT. T he four aces, widely separated, gather in one pile. M E T H O D . Prior to perform ance, secretly tu rn the second and th ird cards of the pack face upw ards and reverse them , so that their w ide ends are at the narrow end of th e pack. These two cards are concealed beneath the top card, w hich is face dow nw ards in norm al condition. 2. H old the deck w ith its narrow end innerm ost, tu rn it face upw ards by tu rn ­ ing it sidewise. R un through the cards and, as you com e to each ace, place it face dow n­ wards on the table, tu rn ing it end for end in so doing; square the pack and tu rn it face downwards, again turning it sidewise, keeping its narrow end innerm ost. 3. T u rn the four aces face upw ards on the table by tu rn in g them sidewise, retaining th eir reversed position. H old the pack in the left hand in th e Stripper Grip, pick u p one of the aces and p u t face upw ards on the pack, calling attention to its suit. R epeat the action w ith the other three aces. 4. Rem ove the four face-up aces, and w ith them the tw o face-up cards below the top face-down card, by grip p in g them at the sides near the in n er end betw een th e rig h t thum b and second finger, exactly as in the Stripper Cut. Because the w ide ends of the four aces and the tw o face-up indifferent cards are at the narrow ends of all the rem aining cards of the pack, only these six cards w ill be stripped away, the face-down card rem aining on the top of the pack. A pparently you have rem oved only the four face-up aces; actually you have included two face-up cards beneath them in the action. T u rn the six cards face dow n­ wards and drop them on the pack, thus placing indifferent cards at the first and second positions. These actions may be extremely deliberate, since there is n ot the slightest chance of detection. 5. D eal the top card onto the table on your left. In so doing, grasp it betw een the rig h t thum b and first finger at the outer rig h t corner and w ith the second finger push its rig h t edge so that its form er inner end is turned outwards, a fam iliar m ethod o f dealing in w hich cards are skim m ed across a table; in this case the action serves to tu rn the indifferent card, thus dealt, end for end. R epeat the procedure w ith the next card, dealing it to th e rig h t of the first card. In dealing the th ird card, an ace, place it upon the table w ithout reversing it, and treat the fourth card, also an ace, similarly. T he position then is this: A A ny card.

B Any card.

C

D Ace.

Ace.

6 . H old the pack in the left hand in the Stripper G rip and, using the Stripper Cut, strip off the tw o reversed cards at the to p as one card, holding them at the sides near the inner corners betw een the rig h t thum b and second fingers. Push off the top card of the deck w ith the le ft thum b and take it at the face of the tw o aces by pressing it upw ards w ith the tips of the left second and first fingers, allow ing a flash of this in d if­ ferent card. Similarly push off a second card and add it to the rig h t hand packet. D ro p these four cards, supposedly three, on the ace at D . {31}

JEAN

H U G A R D ’ S

MIRACLE

METHODS

7. Follow the same procedure w ith the cards at C, B, and A, b u t dealing three cards only upon each of them. T he condition then is this: T hree indifferent cards repose upon the ace at C; of the four cards upon the ace at D , the third and fourth from the top are indifferent cards; w hile at both A and B are four indifferent cards. 8 . C ut about three-quarters of the pack, drop the packet on A, pick u p both together by sliding the cards towards you off the table and drop all on the rem ainder of the pack in your left hand. C ut again, taking about half the cards, drop the packet on B, p ic k u p both and add them to the cards in your left hand in the same way. Cut the pack once more, taking a small packet from the top and drop it on C. Pick u p this com bined packet by the ends betw een your thum b and fingers, tu rn it upw ards and tap its low er side on the table, as if merely to square the cards b u t so giving a flash o f the bottom card, an ace. D rop the packet on top of the pack.

9. Pick u p the last packet and place it face upw ards on the deck, letting it overlap at the inner end for about half its length. T u rn the packet face downwards and push it squarely onto the deck, w hich you still hold in the Stripper G rip; immediately strip o u t the reversed cards at the top, the four aces, the indifferent cards being retained on the top o f the pack by the left thum b and fingers, rem arking, "But I w on’t use the pack. W ill you place your hand on it?” T h e'sp ectato r does so. Continue, "I have one ace, (show ace at the bottom of your packet) you have three. I merely pass my cards over your hand so (spreading them fanwise face dow nw ards) and the aces instantly come to me, w hile the other three cards pass back into the pack.” T u rn the four aces face upwards. Exam ination of the pack by the spectator proves th at the three aces have left it. It should be noted that the actions in paragraphs 1 to 5 inclusive can be adapted to any of the ordinary four ace tricks, the novelty of this brilliant m ethod being the indetectable placem ent of the two indifferent cards above the aces. N o te also th at at the conclusion of the feat the pack is in regular order, only the four aces being reversed and this can be corrected in replacing them on the top of the pack, thus preparing it for any future stripper tricks.

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