Treatise on Modern Magic - Professor Hoffmann

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allow him to draw any card he pleases, which second card we will call b. You open the pack, and ask the persons holding the two cards to replace them one on the other; that first chosen, a, being placed last—i.e., uppermost. You make the pass to bring them to the top, and palm them, and then immediately hand the pack to be shuffled by one of the company. This being done, you replace them on the top of the pack, and, spreading the cards, and appearing to reflect a moment, pick out by the backs as many cards as there have been persons who drew (i.e., four) including among them the two cards a and b. Exhibiting the four cards, you ask each drawer to say, without naming his card, whether his card is among them. The reply is, of course, in the affirmative. Each person who drew, seeing his own card among those shown, naturally assumes that the remaining cards are those of the other drawers; and the remainder of the audience, finding the drawers satisfied, are fully convinced that the cards shown are the four which were drawn. You now replace the cards in different parts of the pack, placing the two actually drawn in the middle, and secretly make the pass to bring them to the top. Then, spreading the cards, you invite another person to draw, which you allow him to do wherever he chooses. When he has done so, you request him to name aloud his card, which we will call c. Holding the card aloft, you ask each of the former drawers in succession, “Is this your card?” To which each answers, “No.” After having received this answer for the last time, you “change” the card by the first method (see page 28) for the top card. You now have the card a (the one drawn several times) in your hand, while b has become the top card, and c, which you have just exhibited, is at the bottom. You continue, before showing a, “You are all agreed that this is not your card; you had better not be too sure. I will ask you one by one. You, sir,” addressing the first drawer, “are you quite sure this is not your card?” He is obliged to own that it now is his card. “Pardon me,” you say, breathing gently on the back of the card, “it may have been so a moment ago, but now it is this lady’s,” exhibiting it to the second drawer, who also acknowledges it as her card. To the third person you say, “I think you drew a card, did you not? May I ask you to blow upon the back of this card! It has changed again, you see, for now it is your card.” The card having been again recognized, you continue, “There was no one else, I think,” at the same moment again making the change by the first method, so that a is now at bottom and b in your hand. The person who drew b will, no doubt, remind you that you have not yet shown him his card. You profess to have quite forgotten him, and, feigning to be a little embarrassed, ask what his card was. He names it accordingly, upon which you ask him to blow upon the card you hold, and, turning it over, show that it has now turned into that card. Then again making the change, you remark, “Everybody has certainly had his card now.” Then, yourself blowing upon the card you hold, which is now an indifferent one, you show it, and remark, “You observe that now it is nobody’s card.”

      In this trick, as in every other which mainly depends upon forcing a given card, there is always the possibility that some person may, either by accident or from a malicious desire to embarrass you, insist upon drawing some other card. This, however, must not discourage you. In the first place, when you have once thoroughly acquired the knack of forcing, the victim will, nine times out of ten, draw the card you desire, even though doing his utmost to exercise, as he supposes, an absolutely free choice; and the risk may be still further diminished by offering the cards to persons whose physiognomy designates them as likely to be good-naturedly easy in their selection. But if such a contretemps should occur in the trick we have just described, it is very easily met. You will remember that the first card drawn is not forced, but freely chosen. It is well to make the most of this fact, and for that purpose, before beginning the trick, to offer the cards to be shuffled by several persons in succession, and specially to draw the attention of the audience to the fact that you cannot possibly have any card in view. When the card is chosen, offer to allow the drawer, if he has the slightest suspicion that you know what it is, to return it, and take another. He may or may not accept the offer, but your evident indifference as to the card chosen will make the audience the less likely to suspect you afterwards of desiring to put forward any particular card. If, notwithstanding, a wrong card is drawn the second time, leave it in the hand of the drawer, and at once offer the cards to another person, and again endeavour to force the proper card, a, and let the wrong card take the place of b in the foregoing description. In the very unlikely event of a second wrong card being drawn, leave that also for the moment in the hands of the drawer, and let that card take the place of c in the finish of the trick.

      To make Four Aces change to Four Kings, and Four Kings to Four Aces.—This very effective trick is performed by the aid of four cards, which are so prepared as to appear aces on the one side and kings on the other. To make them, take four ordinary aces and four ordinary kings, and peel off half the thickness of each card. This may be easily done by splitting one corner of the card with a sharp penknife, when the remainder can be pulled apart without difficulty. The cards being thus reduced in thickness, paste back to back the king and ace of each suit, placing them in a press or under a heavy weight, that they may dry perfectly smooth and flat. Better still, entrust the process to some person who is accustomed to mounting photographs, when, at a trifling cost, you will have your double-faced cards thoroughly well made.

      Place these four cards beforehand in different parts of the pack, the “ace” side downwards, i.e., in the same direction as the faces of the other cards. Place the genuine aces face downwards on the top of the pack, which being thus disposed, you are ready to begin the trick.

      Take the pack in your hand, face uppermost. Remark, “For this trick I want the aces and kings,” and pick out, one by one, the real kings and the sham aces. Lay these cards on the table, the kings face upwards, and the prepared cards with the “ace” side uppermost. Draw the attention of the audience to these cards, and meanwhile make the pass so as to bring the two halves of the pack face to face, when the four genuine aces will (unknown to the audience) be at the lower end of the pack. Place the four kings ostentatiously upon the opposite end of the pack, i.e., that which is for the time being uppermost.

      You now borrow a hat. Placing the pack for a moment on the table, and taking the four false aces in one hand and the hat in the other, place the aces on the table, and cover them with the hat, at the same moment turning them over. Then taking the pack in your hand, once more show the kings, and replacing them, say, “I shall now order these four kings to pass under the hat, and the four aces to return to the pack. I have only to touch the cards with my wand, and say, ‘Pass,’ and the change is accomplished.” As you touch the cards with the wand, turn over the pack (see page 37), the bringing together of the hands and the gentle tap with the wand effectually covering the slight movement of the hand. If you do not use the wand, a semi-circular sweep of the hand which holds the cards in the direction of the hat, as you say “Pass,” will answer the same purpose.

      Having shown that the cards have changed according to command, you may, by repeating the process, cause the cards to return to their original positions. It is better not to carry the trick further than this, or some of the audience may possibly ask to be allowed to examine the cards, which would be embarrassing.

      After the trick is over, make the pass to bring the pack right again, and then get the double-faced cards out of the way as soon as possible. The best way to do this, without exciting suspicion, is to take them up in the right hand, and apparently turn them over and leave them on the top of the pack, but in reality palm them, and slip them into your pocket, or elsewhere out of sight. After having done this, you may safely leave the pack within reach of the audience, who, if they examine it, finding none but ordinary cards, will be more than ever puzzled as to your modus operandi.

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