One way to do this is to cut the deck as the very last shuffling action you do, then sneak a peek at the bottom card as you tap the cards on the table. Another option is to glance at the bottom card before you go to shuffle the cards one last time. Two methods for making sure the card on the bottom stays on the bottom when shuffling are: When performing a Riffle shuffle, make sure that you always start the shuffle with the hand that has the bottom card in it. [1] X Research source This way, your bottom card stays the same as it hits the table first. In an Overhand shuffle, angle the face of the cards away from your audience. Cut the deck, but grip the bottom card with the pads of your fingers. While you separate the deck to shuffle, pull back on the bottom card so it doesn’t get pulled up, but stays on the bottom.
Make a show of looking away as your spectator memorizes the card. The less it looks like you’re trying to figure out what the card is now, the better your trick will look in the end.
If you have good sleight of hand, you might want to cut the deck a few times. If you know where your two cards are roughly placed in the deck, you can further cut it, keeping the two cards together.
Have fun fanning out your cards, running your hand over the deck as you look for your spectator’s card.
Once you’ve located it, don’t pick it out right away. Study your spectator as if you can read the answer there. Play around with almost picking other cards, then deciding to move on. Finally, once you’ve built suspension, pick the card your audience member chose.
Ask your audience member if the card you are holding is her card. If it is, congratulations! You’ve performed a basic magic trick. If for some reason it is not her card, you can say something like “There must be an interference in the magical realm. ” And attempt the trick again.
For the Four Robbers, you’re going to make your spectators think you’ve put the Jacks into the middle of the deck. In reality, you’ll place the three other cards you’ve taken into the deck. These three other cards will be stacked on top of three of the Jacks during the trick. This trick involves a story, begin your story by telling your audience about four Jacks that decided to rob a bank.
If you are having trouble hiding the other cards, hold them in place by putting your index finger on the top edge of the cards. Once you have given your audience a bit of time to see the Jacks, square the cards together. For this part of the story, you can say that the four Jacks helicoptered into the bank, or simply snuck in through the roof.
This part of the story involves the first Jack running down to the basement (the bottom of the deck) to clear the basement and keep an eye out for cops. Make sure that your audience can’t see the face of the card you are picking up as it is not a Jack. When you pick the card up, do it so the face of the card is toward you and the audience only sees the back of the card.
You can say that the second Jack went to take the money from the tellers, placing it in the middle of the deck. The third bank robber went a little higher up to steal the money in the vault. When you place the third card toward the top of the deck, just make sure not to place it too high so you don’t separate the Jacks.
Note that this will be a different Jack than the one that would be on top if you truly moved the other three somewhere else in the deck. It’s best to match the color of the top and bottom Jacks for this reason.
Obviously, you know the Jacks have been there the whole time, but the spectators will think the cards magically returned to the top after having been inserted into the bottom and middle of the deck.
Tell the story dramatically. The more detail you provide concerning what the Jacks are looking for and what the robbers are planning to do with the cash, the more engaged your audience will be. An immersive story will distract your audience from what you’re doing with your hands. This trick can be performed with any set of face cards, not only Jacks.
If you let an audience member shuffle the deck, just take a quick look at the bottom card of the deck before moving on. This trick is similar to finding someone’s card in the deck, with a slight variation.
If you are more advanced, you can perform a swing or false cut which gives the illusion of shuffling the deck without actually doing so. [3] X Research source
The more places you find to let your audience interact in your trick, the more the audience feels in control. This will make the reveal at the end of the trick more rewarding.
This trick involves you acting as if you already know what your audience member’s card is. If you stop when you do get to it, it will ruin the next parts of the trick.
Bet a dollar that the very next card you flip over will be the spectator’s. Because the spectator already saw the card go by, he might take the bet, thinking that you’re about to turn over the final card in your hand. If the audience member doesn’t take the bet, offer a dollar up if you’re wrong.
Don’t actually take anyone’s money. If your audience member did bet you, take your dollar back and tell him that you’ll give him this one for free. You can even make a joke out of it by telling him it wouldn’t really be fair since you’re magic and already knew which card was his. If you do mess up the trick, you may have to give your audience member the dollar you staked.
Have the spectator place the card on the bottom half of the deck, keeping a pinky break between her card and the cards you’re laying on top. This way, you’ll know where the card is. A pinky break is performed by using the padding of your pinky finger to keep a slight cut in the back of the deck that your audience can’t see. [4] X Research source
If you plan to shuffle any more, make sure that the top card stays there.
You may need to practice taking the two cards off the top, and showing the face of the second one, as if it were one card before attempting this trick.
Once you’ve got the double lift down, put the two cards back on the deck, taking the top card (the spectator’s original card) and putting it into their hands, face-down, sandwiched there. Tell your spectator to hold onto the card tightly, applying a good amount of pressure. At this point, the card your spectator picked is sandwiched between her hands, but she will think it is the card you just showed her. This card is on top of the deck.
Go hunting around the deck as if you were looking for their card, all the while knowing your spectator already has it. Settle on the card that’s already on top of the deck which your spectator thinks is in between her hands.
