Ralph Hull - Testament PDF [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

THE TESTAMENT OF RALPH W. HULL by Capt. Trevor H. Hall, F.S.I. CO NTE NTS

PREFACE......................................................................................................................................3 TO THE READER.........................................................................................................................4 GENERAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.......................................................................................5 SOME USEFUL SLEIGHTS............................................................................................................9 THE INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT TEST......................................................................................15 LOCATION, PROPHECY AND TRANSPOSITION.......................................................................25 THE UNFINISHED SYMPHONIES..............................................................................................34 AN ENGLISH VERSION OF NAME-O-CARD..............................................................................42 PROBLEMS USING THE ROUGH AND SMOOTH PRINCIPLE....................................................54 THE MIRACLE TORN AND RESTORED CARD...........................................................................65 TWO MAGICAL MINIATURES....................................................................................................70 A MAGICIAN AMONG THE SPIRITS..........................................................................................85 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RALPH W. HULL........................................................................................95

E B O O K E D I T I O N © COPY RIGHT 2016 BY TRIC KSHOP.COM

2

Preface. l At the Battle Creek Convention in 1939, I had the privilege of meeting the late Ralph W. Hull, but it was not until 1941 that, owing to Trevor Hall’s unbounded enthusiasm, I became a Hull fan. On studying this book, and believe me it is very well worth studying, you will see how Hull followed an idea to the Nth degree. His enthusiasm for the “Master Move” sometimes led him into losing sight of the showmanship angle, and into a repetition of effect, but his basic ideas were brilliant. In this book Hall has set them out, fairly and clearly, for those of you who care to take advantage of them. During the last four years I have done so, and it has led to a marked improvement in my shows.

Go Thou and do likewise.

Hampton Lodge, Bradford.

3

To the Reader. The creation of this book has been one of the most congenial tasks of my life. I have realised since Ralph Hull’s death two years ago that some attempt should be made to place on permanent record both his unpublished work and the revisions of his earlier routines, lest this material be lost to magic. However, to my friend, Douglas Craggs, Hon. Secretary and a Vice-President of the Magic Circle, goes the credit for persuading me that I happened to be one of the few people in the world with the enthusiasm and knowledge necessary for the task, and that I had thus a duty to perform. I am indebted to Mr. Craggs for the way in which he has smoothed my path, and for the invaluable advice which he has placed at my disposal. Credit has been given throughout this book for the invaluable assistance which I have received in individual problems. Additionally, I am deeply grateful to Dr. H. Park Shackleton for so ably introducing my book to the reader, and to Roland Winder for his devotion of many patient hours from a busy life to the unenviable task of checking the script as I wrote it. I am indebted to the President and Council of the Magic Circle for the ready permission to reproduce the biographical and general note, which appeared originally in the Magic Circular in the series “Great Magicians I have known.” I owe thanks to my friends, Percy Naldrett, the Hon. Editor of the Magic Circular, John Snyder, Jr., Past President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and Cecil Brooke, of Pontefract Magical Society, all of whom have helped me by checking some of these routines. No acknowledgment would be complete without a special expression of gratitude to my versatile father, Harold Roxby Hall, who a quarter of a century ago, took me to Maskelyne’s for the first time, and has to-day so ably taken the photographs of my hands for this book. I am grateful too, to Mrs. W. M. Dixon, who has patiently converted my appalling handwriting into neat typescript. The material contained in this book, at least in the form in which it now makes its bow to the magical fraternity, has been in the exclusive possession of myself and a few intimate friends until now. I am inclined, not unnaturally, to assess its value by reference to the very real pangs which I have experienced in releasing so many cherished personal feats. This is, however, a human frailty which the reader will forgive. I gladly relinquish my possession of these routines with the wish that my fellow-magicians may enjoy them as greatly as I have done, so that the originator may have the universal honour and acclaim which is due to him.

The Balk, Walton, nr. Wakefield. 4

RA L P H W. HU L L General and Biographical Note. l If only the reader possessed H. G. Well’s Time-Machine and a Cloak of Invisibility and could accompany me in magical retrospect to the comfortable lounge of Hampton Lodge, Bradford, the home of Dr. H. Park Shackleton, Hon. Vice-President of the Magic Circle. Every week, three men meet in this room to talk about conjuring. The host is one of the foremost amateur magicians in this country, and the trio is completed by Mr. Edgar Shackleton, with his nation-wide reputation as an inventor and producer, and the present writer–a thrice-blessed neophyte serving his magical articles with these masters of their craft. Inexplicable mysteries occur in this enchanted house, especially on those occasions when great professionals in the world of magic and entertainment, playing in or near Bradford, are literally drawn there by magic. Watch Chris Charlton choose and sign his name on a card from Dr. Shackleton’s pack, and see it torn to pieces under his eyes, with his own writing partly on the bits and partly on the piece he retains, when, hey presto, the card becomes restored, still bearing the signature. Watch Arthur Prince, great ventriloquist and magical adept, holding two examined slates while Robertson Hare and Norman Long choose a word. Climax follows climax when not only is the word found on the slates, but when afterwards Mr. Prince is invited to inspect and shuffle a pack of cards, and choose one for himself with the pack in his hands and the slates under his arm. He shuffles, holds up the Five of Diamonds, and unfastens his slates. “YOU WILL CHOOSE THE FIVE OF DIAMONDS.” We see a Jumbo Knave of Clubs transformed instantaneously in mid-air to the Seven of Diamonds, and handed for immediate inspection into the deft fingers of Fred Brezin. We watch Dr. Shackleton discover and predict thought-of-cards. We see any card named rise from Captain Hall’s shuffled pack, whilst a pack of blanks change into regular playing cards, and diamonds turn black and spades become red. Can such things be? To answer this riddle we must go back to July 5th, 1883, to the little township of Deavertown, Ohio, U.S.A., where Ralph W. Hull was born. His father was Joseph J. Hull, owner of the nearby Crooksville Pottery, and our magician was the eldest of four sons, Ralph, Floyd, Russell and John. So far as I have been able to discover the family had no magical tradition. Ralph’s interest in conjuring commenced at the age of six, when he saw Colonel Gray of Deavertown, make a coin disappear. The venerable soldier wore a broad rimmed hat, and his favourite feat consisted of taking some youngster’s hand in his left, and with a coin between right thumb and forefinger he would count “One, two, three!” depositing the coin on the brim of his hat during the last

5

count. Elementary as this may seem, it was sufficient to entrance a boyish mind, and Ralph’s absorption in magic became complete. His first public entertainment was presented at the age of twenty, and although the Hulls had removed to Crooksville, curiously enough, he returned to Deavertown to give it, in the Town Hall built on the site of the house in which he was born. Parson Deaver introduced the shy young performer with these words: “Morgan County in days gone by has produced everything from a congress-man to a horse-thief, but this is the first time she has given us a wizard.” From those early performances at school gatherings and country festivals the tall unostentatious young conjuror became by degrees a successful professional performer, and from the age of twenty-two to twenty-eight Ralph W. Hull toured the country as a magician, appearing in many States as a headliner under the auspices of the leading Lyceum and Chautauqua Bureaux of those days. Wilford Beard worked in conjunction with him as an escape-artist, and the two presented one of the best “second-sight” acts of the day. For some years his brother acted as his assistant. I have before me his first Lyceum programme of about 1906, headed “Ralph W. Hull, the Mysterious Magician, presenting a refined and Artistic Program, consisting of Spectacular Magic Tricks, Wonderful Illusions, Startling Second-Sight Experiments and Quasi-Spiritual Effects.” One item was “Spirit Slate Writing,” from which was evolved, thirty-five years later, the unpublished routine with the Dr. Q Slates which Dr. Shackleton describes as the best Smoker trick he has seen in forty-five years of magic. In 1911 duty recalled him to Crooksville, and from then till his death in 1945 he was a Director and Secretary of the Star Stoneware Co., and the Crooksville Pottery, operating his Radio and Paint Stores, and raising his pedigree herd of Brown Swiss cattle on his 300-acre farm. In January, 1936, The Crooksville Messenger described him as Crooksville’s most prominent citizen. He continued, amidst all this activity and the bringing up of a splendid family of four sons and two daughters, his life-long interest in magic, and although he became one of the most popular and highly-paid Club performers in the Middle West, it is as an inventor that he will go down to magical immortality. There is a saying, “If a man can make a better mouse-trap, the world will beat a path to his doorstep,” and Ralph Hull was a wonderful example of the truth of that doctrine. His creations are known and performed all over the world. He originated some of the most brilliant and ingenious conceptions in the history of card conjuring, and his unique routines and intriguing modes of presentation revolutionised this particular field. It is not possible, within the confines of space allotted, to describe in detail his prolific contribution to magic. I can only total the columns, as it were, and mention one or two of the highlights. I possess the following R. W. Hull creations: 37 impromptu and 9 pre-arranged card routines; 10 “transformation” special packs; two forces and 3 mental card routines employing his “Nu-Idea”

6

or rough-and-smooth principle; 2 “transformations” employing special cards but not the”NuIdea” process; 15 effects using marked, pre-arranged and “feel-able” cards ; 3 routines employing double-faced and double-backed cards; 6 short-card effects; 4 coin routines; 9 rope effects; 4 tricks using original apparatus and 17 routines using various combinations of standard equipment. He wrote five books on Magic: “Eye-Openers,” “More Eye- Openers,” “Fifteen Minutes with a Rope,” “Modernism in Pasteboard,” and “Smart Magic,” Nelson Hahne being co-author of the latter two. A number of Hull routines are given prominence in the Encyclopedia of Card and Rope Tricks. Additionally to many single effects in John Northern Hilliard’s Greater Magic, one whole chapter, “The Tuned Deck,” is devoted to Hull, and of the effect mentioned, the author says, “If there were nothing else in this book I consider that the purchaser would be more than repaid in getting this one feat. In the whole range of magic exposition I know of no greater lesson in the art of misdirection and the disguising of the use of prepared cards.” Hilliard was one of Hull’s greatest admirers, and “Name-O-Card,” “Mental Discernment,” “Marvelous Card Prediction,” and “The New Torn and Restored Card” were among his favourite personal feats and were described by him in his introduction to “More Eye-Openers” as “masterpieces of card magic.” Coming nearer home, I may say that Dr. Park Shackleton holds the view that the unpublished “Intelligence Quotient Test,” used at the appropriate moment for which it is designed, is probably the greatest card trick yet invented. I have been at some pains to prove the outstanding merit of Hull’s general card work, because he was generally known among magicians for his invention and development of the rough-andsmooth principle. The astounding and instantaneous transformations of the entire pack, previously considered impossible and yet achieved in “The Nudist Cards,” “Delirium Tremens,” and “Krazy Kards,” for example, have made available to magic only by this process, the product of Hull’s patient research. Dr. Harlan Tarbell has described the “Nudist Cards” as the greatest card trick of this generation. The “Nu-Idea” formula brought within the realms of practical conjuring several outstanding mental routines such as “Magnetic Mental Control,” and gave the magical fraternity the most flexible and perfect forcing pack imaginable. Of Hull’s original apparatus, I have a particular affection for the “Goofy Dice,” not only because I endorse the opinion of T. J. Crawford in the Linking Ring, July, 1937, that it is probably the best pocket trick of all, but because it happens to be the first Hull trick I acquired. I rank the “Juggling Knives” and “Homing Ball” almost as high, whilst “Gammatration and Cosmovision” has proved its sterling worth for me in Club work over a period of four years. R. W. Hull’s routines with standard equipment cover a wide range of apparatus from Sponge Balls to the Neyhart Rising Cards. This latter effect, in which any card called for will rise from a shuffled pack, was conceived by Hull’s non-magical friend, A. P. Neyhart, of Los Angeles, a consulting electrical engineer. Hull solved the final practical difficulties in its evolution, and

7

worked out the routine with which he puzzled 500 magicians at the I.B.M. Convention at Lima, Ohio, in 1935. I have twice had the privilege of demonstrating this method of handling the apparatus to the Pontefract Magical Society. Wonderful as this routine undoubtedly is, I may say that in my view it does not equal for effect Hull’s third unpublished arrangement for the Dr. Q Slates, which has remained my favourite feat since he sent it to me in 1940. Even before his inventive genius I place Hull’s uncanny command of audience psychology, and his wide and exact knowledge of how the human mind will react with appropriate stimulation from the performer. I ask anyone who doubts this statement to re-read the description of “The Tuned Deck” in Greater Magic. Another outstanding example is “Name-O-Card,” which depends on the great likelihood of certain cards being mentally selected, and which has been my favourite work-a-day trick for years. My consistent success with this feat vindicates my implicit belief that the subtle probabilities predicted years ago by a first-rate brain in the Middle West of America will still come true to-day, despite the gulf of space and time. This is true magic as I understand it. I never met R. W. Hull. Our friendship was, however, a close and affectionate one, a continuous stream of correspondence flowing between us, averaging a letter every two weeks over a period of five years, all of which I have retained in bound volumes. My wife and I were invited to Crooksville for the summer of 1940, but when that time came I found myself in very different surroundings and could only await the end of the war to accept the renewed invitation. As the war went on, however, it became increasingly obvious that overwork and worry over his multifarious activities were undermining his health, and in 1941 and 1942 he had periods of illness which caused me grave concern. Finally, in the Spring of 1945, his letters ceased, and on 1st July, I told Dr. Shackleton that I felt I should not hear from Ralph again. On 8th July we learnt of his death from the June Sphinx, and since then another friend, John Snyder, of Norwood, Ohio, has very kindly written to tell me details of the end and the disposition of certain of Hull’s unpublished work and personal equipment. He died on May 20th, after a cerebral hemorrhage preceded by a nervous breakdown. His age was fifty-nine. He was a true and affectionate friend and his death has left a gap in my life which only time will fill. Magic can ill-afford the loss of Ralph Hull. In this tribute I have tried to indicate the very considerable extent of that loss, and to measure the debt of gratitude which we owe to one who has helped to make possible the recent enormous technical advance in the science of magic, and especially the magic of cards.

8

C H A P TE R O NE .

SOME USEFUL SLEIGHTS. “The moment the skill of the artist is perceived, the spell of the art is broken.”–Macaulay. I am commencing this book with a description of some card sleights which I have found useful in presenting R. W. Hull routines. It is necessary that the interpreter of Hull’s technique should appreciate that implicit in all his methods was the theory that any demonstration of skill offered an obvious explanation to the audience of how the trick might be accomplished. He believed that the object of true magic should be to leave the spectators with no theory as to how the miracle had been accomplished, and that consequently all rapid moves, however graceful and effective, should be avoided, lest the watchers afterwards tend to put down the achievement of the impossible to skilful sleight of hand. In the location and control of cards, he hardly ever depended on the various passes, but instead employed a series of moves based on the shuffle. Unfortunately for English admirers of his work, much of this technique was woven around methods of mixing cards which are not in common use in this country, such, as the Haymow and Hindu Shuffles. For my own use I worked out a system depending on the ordinary overhand shuffle which I have found invaluable in many card tricks, which gives the impression to an audience that my ability to handle a pack of cards is about equal to that of a very casual bridge player, and this I am happy to pass on to you. Practically no skill is required, and if the reader will take a pack of cards in hand as he follows the explanations and the photographs, I feel sure that in half-an-hour he will have mastered the simple mechanics involved. I may say that some of my moves may appear left-handed to the reader as I happen to be ambidextrous and consequently use the hand which suits me best. When I deal cards I hold the pack in my right hand and deal with my left, and when I do an overhand shuffle I hold the pack in my left hand and shuffle them into my right. The reader will, of course, suit these moves to his own hands. The basic move I use commences by my taking the pack in my left hand with the backs facing the right hand for an overhand shuffle. The pack is in a horizontal position, gripped near the

9

top of its short sides between the thumb and index finger, the remaining fingers resting on the side of the pack below the index finger. The right hand approaches the pack, the fingers going underneath and resting lightly on the face of the bottom card, whilst the thumb extends over the back of the top card and pulls down into the right hand a small packet of cards. (See photograph No. 1).

Photograph No. 2

Photograph No. 1

(Exposed View of Fingerholds.)

As this small packet clears the main pack it drops backwards slightly until the face of the bottom card rests against the tips of the right fingers. The left hand moves downwards again for the right thumb to pull off a second packet, covering up completely the first packet which slides up behind the pack, touching it at the bottom edge and separated from it at the top by about an inch. The second finger of the left hand moves outward slightly to make way for this packet which comes to rest underneath the first finger of the left hand. The second finger then takes a grip on the side of the packet near the top, the other side being held by the left thumb just below the joint, the tip of course, still gripping the main pack. You can test this finger hold by removing the main pack, and if you have the grips correctly you will find that the small packet stays in place. A second test is to relax the hold of the little packet, which will allow it to drop, still leaving the main pack in its original position. Returning to our shuffle, it is clear that the first packet of cards pulled off by the right thumb can be easily and indetectably stolen behind the main pack as it moves down again for the second packet to be taken and this is the whole secret of the move. The right thumb pulls off its second packet and the main pack and stolen packet is again lifted by the left hand, so that packet No. 2 may clear the pack and fall against the right fingers. From the spectators’ point of view the packet will appear to consist of packets Nos. 1 and 2 together. Continue the shuffle, pulling off packets of cards with the right thumb in the usual way, retaining the stolen packet until you have shuffled of all the main pack. Then throw the stolen packet on top and you have finished, although usually I repeat the shuffle once more, as the whole

10

procedure done once takes only five seconds, using an easy and casual shuffle. I find that whilst in the first two packets pulled off it is natural for the right thumb to extend completely over the back on to the top edge, (see photograph No. 1), after that a better shuffle is obtained if the thumb extends only to a point about half way across the packet. You will find this simple move is completely hidden from the audience by the screen provided at the front by the main pack and from the side by the curled fingers of the left hand. It is, in fact, one of those rare sleights in which you could, if you thought fit so to misuse it, challenge your watchers to keep their eyes fixed on the cards and yet not detect you in any extraordinary procedure. And yet, during what appears to be a perfectly natural and casual overhand shuffle, the top ten or twelve cards remain intact, and are the top cards at the end of the shuffle. Applying this simple basic sleight to the requirements of card magic we have available to us:– (a) The preservation of a set up of the top few cards of the pack, accomplished by giving the pack two or three casual overhand shuffles, executing the basic move each time. (b) The location and control of a chosen card which is very easily done in a number of ways. Have your card chosen and returned to the top of the pack, and then very deliberately shuffle it into the middle of the pack with two overhand shuffles. That is what you appear to do, but actually you utilise the basic sleight, the chosen card remaining snugly as the top card of the stolen packet, and at the end of the shuffle it becomes the top card of the pack. A variation of this move is, of course, to draw off the first packet and have the chosen card dropped on to it. To continue the shuffle the steal is used straight away and the card comes to the top of the pack at the end, despite the fact that from the audience’s point of view, and however closely they watch, it is hopelessly lost in the pack. If it is desired to control several cards, each one is, of course, shuffled into the pack separately, the basic sleight being executed each time, so that each successive card is placed on its predecessor, and unknown to the spectators the selected cards are together at the top of the pack at the conclusion of the final shuffle. (c) With this sleight, a most perfect and certain force is at your command. The card to be forced is at the top of the pack and the shuffle commences in the usual way by a small packet of cards being stolen, the forced card being the top card. After one or two more small packets have been shuffled off, invite your spectator to say “stop” at any time. The moment he does, the pack in the left hand comes down over those in the right, exactly as if another packet was to be taken, and then is withdrawn without any cards being removed, with the remark “There?” or something of that kind. This action completely covers the necessary move, which is the dropping of

11

the small hidden packet on to the cards in the right hand already shuffled off, and thus a perfect illusion is created that the force card, now the top card of those in the right hand, is the one stopped on at the spectator’s command. Extend the right hand and allow the spectator to take the top card, apparently as free a choice as he could possibly have. This sleight again is one of those rare moves where nothing is visible to the spectators, however closely the operator is watched. (d) To execute an overhand false shuffle of the whole pack by this method is simple and most convincing. The first packet is stolen in the usual way as the second packet is taken in the right hand. Then the stolen packet is allowed to fall from the left hand with a slight throwing motion on top of the packet of cards in the right hand, the hands being separated to an extent of about 6 inches during this action. You will find that this creates a perfect optical illusion to the spectators who see and hear the packet fall apparently from the front of the cards held in the left hand. The cards in the right hand are now allowed to fall forward on to the ball of the thumb at an angle of about 45 degrees, so that the face card of this packet becomes visible to the operator, and about a third of the cards in the left hand are allowed to fall on to the face of this packet. Half of the cards remaining in the left hand are allowed to fall in like fashion on to the face of this packet, and then the cards in the right hand are tilted to the left by the right thumb, resting against the curled fingers of the right hand at an angle of 45 degrees, the backs of the cards now being visible to the performer. Drop the cards remaining in the left hand on top of these, and the shuffle is over, the pack being in the same condition as if it had been cut once. I do not claim any originality for the principle of stealing a packet of cards during an overhand shuffle; I became acquainted with this subtlety from my reading of Lang Neil’s The Modem Conjuror, in which, on page 53 of the 1905 edition is a photograph of H. de Manche’s hands executing a very similar sleight. Furthermore, on page 164 of Jean Hugard’s Card Manipulations No. 5 is described an almost identical sleight for maintaining intact a top stock of ten or twelve cards, credited to Jules the Magician, of Hotel New Yorker fame. It is, however, a fact that I did work out the whole series of moves described without having noticed the false shuffle described in Hugard’s book (see “From a Country Neophyte’s Note book,” The Budget, May, 1944), and I do claim that the application of this principle to the locating and forcing of cards is my original idea. This chapter concludes with a description of a most natural and convincing double lift, which is based on the move described under the title “The Perfect Double Card Lift,” in Modernism in Pasteboard, by R. W. Hull and N. C. Hahne. Mr. Hull and I corresponded regarding this move, and I had the temerity to suggest a small but important improvement, to which he added another idea of his own. The complete version is such a delightful move that I feel that this book would not be complete without it. Hold the pack in which ever hand suits you, with the little finger holding a break below the top two cards. Any of the standard methods for obtaining the break may be employed. You will find

12

Photograph No. 3

Photograph No. 4

that with the little finger inserted into the pack in the normal way, the cards are resting on the finger nail. Slide the little finger outwards until the two cards slip off the nail on to the fleshy tip of the finger, the corner of the nail now resting against the edges of the cards, as shown in photograph No. 3. Notice particularly how the thumb rests on the edge of the pack, and how the two lifted cards are pressed against its root. Assuming that the pack is held in the right hand, as in the photograph, the little finger now presses against the edges of the two cards which begin to move to the right. This movement is, however, anchored at the top left-hand corner by the first finger, which acts as an axis, and consequently the bottom right hand edges of the cards creep up the root of the thumb, whilst the top right-hand corners project slightly over the top of the pack as shown in photograph No. 4. During this movement, the second and third fingers exert a downward pressure on the two cards. You will find that the holds employed in this pivotal movement are such that the cards remain locked together as one card in the most perfect fashion. The beauty of this sleight is that the spectators see the pack squared, and the movement described takes place in full view as the other hand approaches to take the top card(s). According to the needs of the trick, you are perfectly equipped either to seize the projecting tips of the cards at the top-right-hand corner and turn them face-up, gripped by the thumb and third finger as in photograph No. 5, and afterwards turn them face down once more, or you may take the cards by the thumb at the rear

13

Photograph No. 5

or inner end near the root of the thumb holding the pack, and by the second and third fingers on the projecting tip, and lift them clear of the pack, exerting a little pressure to cause them to take on a slightly convex shape. If I am doing a simple change of a card as in the Intelligence Quotient Test, I usually adopt this latter course, first showing the two cards as one and then in lowering my hand and passing it casually over the pack I allow the undermost card to spring lightly off on to they pack below.

14

C H A P TE R TWO.

THE INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT TEST. “Many magicians think that the whole field of card conjuring has been thoroughly gone over and that there is nothing left. Ralph Hull is proving they are wrong.”–Al Baker.

Photograph No. 6

I am offering this description of the Intelligence Quotient Test as the first complete routine in this book, simply because I believe that wherever I place it, the average magician who buys the book will look for it first. The disclosure in my article on Ralph Hull, published in the Magic Circular for January, 1944, of the fact that no less an authority than Dr. H. Park Shackleton, a Vice-President of the Magic Circle, considered this the most perfect feat possible with cards resulted in my receiving innumerable letters from magicians all over the country who wished to acquire the routine, but it has not been given to the magical fraternity until now because I wished to record it permanently in its proper setting as a major feature of a book such as this, forming a monument to its inventor. I believe that the lover of magic who devotes the time and enthusiasm necessary for complete mastery of this beautiful routine will consider that if this book contained nothing else but the I. Q. Test, he would still have been amply rewarded for his expenditure in buying it. Certainly I know of no feat with cards which will so completely dumbfound an intelligent audience, or that so entirely satisfies my idea of what constitutes perfect magic. For a description of the effect of the experiment, I cannot do better than reproduce part of a letter from Mr. Hull to me dated 10th April, 1939, in which the trick was first mentioned, although

15

I had to wait nearly a year before the modus operandi was described by him and reached me. “I am preparing my Intelligence Quotient Test. It is submitted as a mental test; a check-up on observation. Four Aces are plainly shown and placed face down on the table in a seemingly fair manner, yet the spectators fail to remember the order of the Aces. After they are given a second chance at it they still fail. Finally, the Jack, Queen and King of each of the four suits are dealt slowly one at a time on to the Aces in four piles face down. Four poker chips with heart, club, diamond and spade emblems are placed in front of the respective piles to designate the suits. The spectators try to name the four cards in each pile, naturally calling the ones in the pile in front of the Heart symbol the Ace, King, Queen and Jack of Hearts, and calling each of the other piles in similar fashion. They prove their “I. Q.” to be ABSOLUTE ZERO, for when the piles are turned over, in one are the four Jacks, in the next the four Queens, then the four Kings and finally the four Aces. It seems impossible even to informed card men, to change sixteen cards about so that each pile will contain four cards alike, when they are so slowly and so unmistakably placed in four separate piles, with no two alike in any one pile, and the cards apparently not touched afterwards. Ultimately, in a letter dated the 3rd January, 1940, the written routine crossed the Atlantic with safety. Again I quote from Mr; Hull’s letter for it contains valuable sidelights on the reason for the very real mystery created by the routine. “Well, at last I have the ‘I. Q.’ test ready for you and enclose it herewith. I hope you will like it. Go over it time and again before presenting it until it is second nature to you. I know that with your discriminative powers you will appreciate the many subtleties in this effect. It makes what would seem absolutely impossible a possibility. Contrast it with most 4-Ace effects, where only one pile out of the four has the cards assembled in it, and then usually the cards are dealt out face down without showing the faces. In the ‘I. Q.’ Test the cards assemble in all four piles and more than that, the spectators think they see the faces of the cards as they are placed in the piles. Then again, after the ‘Heart pile’ has been placed on the table (Ace, King, Queen and Jack) the spectators still see in the hand the ‘Club Family’ and after these have been shown one at a time and placed on the table in one pile, they still see the ‘Diamond Family’ in the hand. To those who reason closely, it would be deemed almost a miracle could all these piles be magically re-assembled so that the piles consisted of Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces respectively, and yet that is what happens.” And now, here is the late Ralph Hull, describing in his own words the “I. Q.” Test:– This effect is best presented as an Intelligence Test. Of course, in the end it will turn out to be a most astounding trick, but the climax will be all the more by allowing the spectators to believe that it is a sort of a “check up” on the degree of observation possessed by those taking part in

16

the tests. Radio tests of this nature have been so common in this country of recent months, that people generally are acquainted with this method of procedure. In the beginning a statement is made that the “Mental Perception” of various individuals may vary all the way from “absolute zero” to 100 plus per cent. In effect this trick has some things in common with one put out some years ago by Dai Vernon, that Master Artist, but the method herein disclosed, the routine, the patter–in fact, the whole general set up with the so-called “Intelligence Test” as a background to cover every move that would otherwise seem inconsistent, makes of it a new trick indeed! All difficult sleights are eliminated in this routine, only the Glide, and a sort of movement used one time which somewhat simulates the “Top Change” remains. The four Aces, the four Kings, the four Queens and the four Jacks, from any pack are used. Also four poker chips, bearing the four respective emblems, namely, a heart, a club, a diamond and a spade. In place of these the four emblems mentioned may be cut from an old pack of cards, and pasted on plain poker chips, or used in themselves, but the regular Chips first mentioned suit the purpose to the best advantage. PREPARATION– The preparation required is slight–merely a “set up” of the 16 cards to be used. Place the cards on the table face up in the following order from bottom to top, and you are all ready to perform: Jack of Spades, Queen of Spades, King of Spades, Ace of Spades, King of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Diamonds, King of Clubs, Queen of Clubs, Jack of Clubs, Ace of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Jack of Hearts and Ace of Hearts. TO PERFORM– As already suggested, call the attention of the spectators to the fact that you propose to submit a sort of “Intelligence Test” similar to those now so popular in this country on Radio Programmes and elsewhere. Remark that the “Intelligence Quotient” (I.Q.) can be easily determined by a few simple tests with “these cards” which you now produce, as well as the Poker Chips. This will give the trick a setting that will immediately interest your onlookers. Place the four poker chips on the table in a row about 4 inches apart from left to right in the order of Hearts (extreme left), Clubs, Diamonds and Spades. Then display the packet of 16 cards in your hands, showing them face up, and call attention to the fact that they are sorted out and arranged in the same order In which you have placed the poker chips on the table–namely, Hearts first, followed by Clubs, then Diamonds and finally Spades. Leaf slowly through the 16 cards as you show them and while showing the four Hearts, hold the packet over and directly in front of the “Heart” symbol on the first Poker chip to the left. As you next come to the “Clubs”

17

move your hands over so that they will be holding the cards over and in front of the “Club” chip. Likewise continue this with the Diamonds and Spades. This seems a small thing, but it is a gradual building up in the minds of the spectators of the order followed, both of the chips and of the cards. As you thus show the four suits one at a time, you call out the order of HEARTS, CLUBS, DIAMONDS AND SPADES, emphasizing the order. THE FIRST OBSERVATION TEST. Leaf again slowly through the 16 face up cards, spreading them in a fan formation as you do so. As you do this, when you come to each of the Aces, push them up about an inch and a half higher than the other cards, so that when you have finished you will be holding a fan of cards in your hand with the four aces extending above the other cards, in the order named of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades. These four aces will make the dividing point of the suits of this fan. Call attention to these four Aces, and the ORDER. If you are holding the fan with the right hand, then the left hand simply pulls these four Aces out of the fan, closes them up (as the right hand closes up the fan and turns the cards face down) and places them (the four Aces) on the top of the now face down packet. Deal the four Aces from the top of the packet face clown, the first one in front of the Heart Chip, the second one in front of the Club Chip, the third one in front of the Diamond Chip, and the fourth one in front of the Spade chip. As you deal these four cards, you call each of them the card it is supposed to be–that is, the Ace of Hearts is supposed to be the one placed in front of the Heart Symbol, the Club in front of the Club Symbol (on chip), etc. But, of course, this is wrong, for the very fact you turned the four cards over in placing them on the back of the packet has reversed the order of the cards, so in reality they have been dealt on the table in front of the chips in the order of Spade, Diamond, Club and Heart. But, as already mentioned, you will find this very subtle, and when you give the first “test” by asking a spectator to point to the Ace of Spades, he will invariably point to the card to the extreme right, the one in front of the spade chip. Turn the card over and he has missed the first test, for the card is the Ace of Hearts. Turn all the four Aces over leaving them for the time being in front of the chips, but face up. Now to go back to a move that has been omitted–the moment you have finished dealing these four Aces on the table, and while you are asking the spectator to point to the Ace of Spades, you adroitly cut the three top cards of the packet to the bottom, by means of the double handed pass. Hold the break of these three cards on the bottom of the packet with the little finger tip so that they can again be cut back to the top a moment later. THE SECOND OBSERVATION OR I. Q. TEST. Offer to explain to spectator why he missed the first test, and thus “coach” him a little so that he may not fail the same way again. With the hand not holding the cards gather up the four

18

Aces on the table, first picking up the Ace of Hearts, and placing it on the Ace of Clubs, then the two cards are placed on the Ace of Diamonds and the three cards all picked up together and placed on the remaining Ace of Spades. Holding these cards (4) face up, offer the real and correct explanation of why the spectator missed the first time. Tell the spectators that the little act of merely turning the cards over was not observed. Hereupon turn over the four cards and at the same time show how this simple “ruse” reverses the order of the cards. Then show how you merely dealt them off from packet calling them by the wrong name in each instance. Show how the Ace of Spades is now the top card of the four, and that when you dealt it and called it the Ace of Hearts, that was part of the deception, etc. Now place these four cards back on top of the packet mentioning that the Ace of Spades thus is on the top instead of the Ace of Hearts. Gain your spectator’s eye a moment as you mention this, and quickly and undetectably you cut or shift the three bottom cards back again to the top. Now proceed once more to deal the cards out as before, as if in fuller explanation of how the deception was foisted. Again deal the top card (presumably the Ace of Spades but in reality the Jack of Spades) and as before call it the Ace of Hearts (in harmony with the Poker chips which remain to designate the supposed positions of suits). The second card (presumably the Ace of Diamonds–really the Queen of Spades) is dealt face down in the second position in front of the Club symbol and it is called the Ace of Clubs. The third card (presumably the Ace of Clubs–really the King of Spades) is dealt in position in front of the Diamond symbol, and is called the Ace of Diamonds–as it is dealt, and lastly the fourth card (presumably the Ace of Hearts but really the Ace of Spades) is dealt in front of the Spade symbol and is called the Ace of Spades. All this thus far is seemingly in explanation of the first failure your spectator made. You are showing him how you dealt the cards (after reversing them without his observation), and by calling them the suits in which order they apparently were placed in accordance with the emblems on the chips, caused the deception. Now your spectator will feel sure that you have again called the suits wrongly as you placed them on the table for he will feel sure the first card placed on the table and called the Ace of Hearts really was the Ace of Spades, so when you now call on him for the second test–to point to the Ace of Spades, this time he will point to the card to the extreme left–whereupon you say “No, you have failed the second time,” and you turn up the card at the extreme right in front of the Spade symbol, and lo it is the Ace of Spades. Push this Ace of Spades just a little further to the right and leave it on the table face up, the other three supposed Aces (?) remaining face down. Photograph No. 7

19

A SERIES OF SHORT TESTS. Turn over the packet of cards you still hold, and tell the spectator you will try three or four very simple tests of observation, in which reason, logic and observation all play a part. Mention that you still have the picture cards left, and that the Aces only are removed from the pack. As if in proof of this you leaf through the packet, showing first the three picture cards in Hearts and apparently the Ace of Hearts is the one card that is missing of the “hearts.” As you do this fan the three hearts as you show them, again holding the cards right over the HEART SYMBOL as you show the three hearts. It will be readily granted by all that the card face down right in front of the Heart symbol is the Ace of Hearts, which seems to be missing from the packet, and which according to every evidence should be there. Next move your packet of cards on over until you will be holding them above the supposed Ace of Clubs on the table, and leaf on through the three picture cards of the “Club” family, and sure enough the Ace of Clubs is the one that is missing. Then spread the next three cards showing the picture cards of the “Diamond family” (and at the same time moving on so you are holding the cards over the supposed face down Ace of Diamonds on the table) and they will see these three Diamonds and again take it for granted the Ace of Diamonds is on the table. Now you have gone just as far in the spreading and showing of the cards as you can go. For if you spread them any further you will disclose the fact that you still have the three Aces in your hands instead of on the table where they are supposed to be. So here is the “ruse.” In each instance you have just been showing the other cards and calling attention to the fact that the “Aces” are missing, and just as you are apparently ready to spread the last three cards and show what they will think to be the King, Queen and Jack of Spades, you just act as though you happen to notice the Ace of Spades on the table face up, and so you take advantage of this fact and say “The Ace of Spades” (and are just ready to spread the remaining cards (?) when you apparently notice the Ace and you change and say “Oh, yes, there’s the Ace of Spades!” Turn the cards face down and hold them in position to make the “Glide” and tell the spectators that you will now place each of the various “families” in their respective piles on the table in front of the symbols which will designate the piles at all times. With the packet held in position for the glide, really withdraw the bottom card which will be the Jack of Hearts and place it (after showing it fairly) under the supposed Ace of Hearts in front of the Heart symbol at left. Of course, it is placed face down. Now next show the two remaining hearts, the King and the Queen and with the cards held in same Glide position, really remove the bottom card and again show it as the King of Hearts and place it on top of the two cards in the supposed Heart pile. Now ask the spectator which Heart should be left? He will naturally say the Queen (which is right). You compliment him on his “improved observation,” turn the cards face up for a moment that he may see the Queen on the bottom, turn them over again to the “Glide” position, and this time execute the “glide,” and place what they all will think is the Queen of Hearts (really the Jack of Clubs) in the supposed Heart pile, anywhere between the top card and the bottom card.

20

Now you move your hand again over in front of the Club pile and say “Now I will give you a little test–I will remove one of the Clubs and place it on the Club pile without showing it and see if by the process of elimination you can discern which one I have removed,” whereupon you turn the packet to glide position, but fairly remove the bottom card which is the Queen of Hearts (but which spectators will think to be a Club) and place it on the supposed Ace of Clubs (really the Queen of Spades). Now turn the packet face up and spread bottom cards until spectators see the Queen of Clubs and the King of Clubs, and you ask which one you removed, and the spectator you are working with will say the Jack of Clubs. Again you compliment him on his “improved observation.” Again turn the cards to the Glide position and remove the Queen of Clubs and place it on top of the supposed Club pile after fairly showing it, and ask which Club is left now. Spectator will say “the King,” and you show him he is right, same as before, but this time you again execute the glide and instead of removing this King of Clubs you really remove the Queen of Diamonds which you place in the supposed Club pile any place between the top and bottom card. Next move the cards over to the Diamond pile, and deal the bottom card (King of Clubs) without showing it. Turn over the packet and show the next two cards (being careful not to expose Aces behind them) and these cards will be the Jack of Diamonds and the King of Diamonds. Ask spectator to say what card you just dealt and he will be forced to say the Queen of Diamonds. Again congratulate him on his “observation” and turn the cards over again to the “Glide” position, but really deal the bottom card which is the Jack of Diamonds and just as you are about to place it on top of the Diamond pile, once more you show it really to be the Jack of Diamonds and place it on the top of the Diamond pile. Then in the same fashion, show the bottom card of the packet which is the King of Diamonds (or, if you wish, first ask the spectator what card is on the bottom and he will say the King of Diamonds, and then show that he is correct), and now you turn cards to the Glide position, but fairly remove the King of Diamonds from the bottom, and just before placing it on the BOTTOM of the Diamond pile, once more show it as really being the King of Diamonds, and then place it on the bottom of the Diamond pile. Now tell the spectator you will make it just a little harder for him–ask him to name the three remaining cards in your hand–he will either say “the Jack, Queen and King of Spades” or “the King, Queen and Jack of Spades.” In either instance you say “Yes, you are correct,” only (here you apparently correct the order in which he named them)–if he said “King, Queen and Jack,” you say, “Jack, Queen and King,” or if he said “Jack, Queen and King,” then you say “King, Queen and Jack,” and at the same time you deal them one at a time face down in the Spade pile. You will remember the Ace of Spades was placed a little to the right of the Poker chip bearing the Spade symbol, and this will allow room for you to deal these supposed Spades (really three Aces) face down in front of the Spade Chip. Immediately pick up the Face Up Ace of Spades and place it on top of the three cards face up, and say “THIS IS THE SPADE PILE.” Move over to the left to the supposed Diamond pile and turn over the Jack of Diamonds and place it face up on the pile saying, “This is the Diamond pile.” In the same manner continue with the other two

21

piles turning over the Queen of Clubs face up on next pile and finally the King of Hearts on the extreme left pile. Now, apparently pick up the piles one at a time for the purpose of squaring them up (?) and manage to give a flash of the bottom card of the Heart (?) pile (which will be the Jack of Hearts) and likewise of the Diamond pile which will be the King of Diamonds. But do not “flash” the bottom cards of the other two piles. Now you are drawing near the end of the effect. Only one more move remains. That move is to exchange the face up King of Hearts for the face up Jack of Diamonds. A lot of study has been done on the best method to accomplish this. What follows is the best method worked out to date. Ask your spectator to name either “Red” or “Black.” You use the old Conjuror’s Choice idea. If he says “Black” then you say “All right, I will not even touch either of the Black piles, and will allow you your choice of either clubs or spades, and give you the FINAL ‘I. Q. TEST’ by allowing you to name the four cards in the pile of your choice–but first turn the two top cards face down.” As you have made these remarks, you have picked up the two top cards from the Red piles in the following fashion. The Jack of Diamonds is picked up in the right hand and held face down between the first or index finger and the middle finger, while the King of Hearts is picked up in the left hand and held between the thumb and index finger, face down. While pointing to the two Black top cards and asking the spectator to turn them face down, the two hands approach each other momentarily and a movement very similar to the TOP CHANGE is executed. The Jack of Diamonds is transferred from the right hand to the left hand, while the King of Hearts is likewise transferred from the left hand to the right hand. The King is taken in this movement between the thumb and first or index finger in the right hand while the Jack is taken in the left hand between the index and middle finger. In other words, the positions of the cards and the way they are held originally just reverses itself. All this is accomplished with just a sweeping move, and even though the spectators be watching the hands (which they will not he doing due to the misdirection at this point) still even then it is hard to see this “switch” of cards, so deceptive is it. All that remains is apparently to place the two cards back face down on the piles from which they were just taken (?) and the trick is over, but in reality these two top red cards have been changed. Should the Red cards be selected by the spectator instead of the Black ones, then just the same procedure is followed, you picking up the red cards as already directed and telling the spectator to turn over the Black ones, and making the switch of the two cards under this “ruse.” In this latter instance the spectator would select either the Heart pile (?) or the Diamond pile (?)–both red piles–and endeavour to name the four cards in the pile of his choice.

22

It is a good idea to have others, or the same party name the cards in other of the piles until all have been selected. They will all be forced to name The Ace, The King, The Queen, and The Jack in each pile, so fairly have the cards been placed on in these piles. But imagine the surprise when the spectator turns over the what was the Heart pile to the left, and finds it composed of FOUR JACKS, the Club pile composed of FOUR QUEENS, the Diamond pile composed of FOUR KINGS, and the Spade pile composed of FOUR ACES. Tell the spectators you are sorry that the “I. Q.” RATING turned out so poorly after all the “coaching” but after all perhaps an “I. Q.” Test would turn out better, should “the powers of conjuration” be omitted. You will find this a most wonderful effect. The idea of checking on the observation powers of the spectator now and then while placing the cards on the table, serves perfectly for the few cards that are so placed without showing them and the fact that the remaining ones are immediately shown, leads to no suspicion that other than the supposed cards have been thus placed.”

RALPH W. HULL.

Whilst it is perhaps presumptuous for me to offer any observations on Mr. Hull’s description, I am offering one or two thoughts which have occurred to me during countless performances of the trick during the past five years. In general terms, these were discussed with Mr. Hull and received his approval. In the first place, I have found some difficulty in indetectably making the pass of the three Spades from the bottom of the packet to the top over the aces at the beginning of the trick after the first observation test. I find that misdirection does not come easily for me at this stage; the spectator has just been misled and he tends to watch my hands closely so as to ensure that he sees why he was deceived. Consequently, I make the necessary move off beat so to speak. As soon as the four Aces are dealt out and I am asking which is the Ace of Spades, during which period all eyes are on the cards on the table, I turn the three top cards of the packet face up under cover of the hands with a move similar to the pass, or against my trouser leg by the standard method. I hold a break under these three cards with my little finger and rest the hand containing the packet in an easy position on the table with the face of the bottom card, Photograph No. 8 the Jack of Hearts facing the audience. As I come to the explanation of how the audience were deceived by the cards being dealt out first face up and then face down, I pick up the Ace of Spades, and place it face up on the three

23

face up Spades, keeping the packet tilted towards myself and the Jack of Hearts visible to the audience. I then pick up the Ace of Diamonds and place it face up on top of the Ace of Spades, followed by the Ace of Clubs and finally the Ace of Hearts. As these cards are placed in position, one by one, by degrees I lower my hand so that the face up cards come into view, the last two Aces being placed in position with the reversed cards tilted towards the spectators. Then when I explain how turning the packet face down reversed the order of the Aces, I illustrate by turning the Aces face down. Really, of course, I turn over the packet of seven face up cards separated by the little finger from the face down cards, which has the desired effect of depositing the three Spades on top of the Aces, with the advantage that the move is executed very slowly and fairly. You will, of course, find that many of your spectators detect the simple ruse at the beginning of the trick and are able to point out correctly the position of the Ace of Spades. I capitalise on this and award them full marks for accuracy in the first test, and find that thus encouraged, people of this turn of mind become my very best audience. They will follow the sequence closely, and at the end will not only tell me that the Diamond pile contains the Ace, Jack, Queen and King but will tell me the order of the cards from top to bottom! When the cards are turned over their faces are interesting to watch. As the whole routine lends itself to a slow easy tempo, with no fast moves, I never felt very happy at the little top change move at the end, and sought around for a logical way in which the King of Hearts and the Jack of Diamonds could be changed even with the spectators urged to watch the cards closely. My solution is by means of a final observation test. After the “Conjuror’s Choice,” I pick up these two cards and turn them face down with the King of Hearts on top, and rapidly change their positions using both hands, as I say, “Diamonds, Hearts, Diamonds, Hearts, Diamonds,” with a change of position for each word. I then drop both cards face down on the “Diamond pile,” pointing out to the audience that they know that the five cards in my hands constitute the Diamonds, showing the King of Diamonds on the bottom as I say this, with the addition of the King of Hearts. I challenge them, however, to recall whether the top card of the packet is the King of Hearts or the Jack of Diamonds. Whatever the answer may be, I double lift and show the King of Hearts, and then apparently drop this card, really the Jack of Diamonds, back on to the “Heart pile,” which actually consists of course, of the other three Jacks. As I mention putting the King back with the “other three Hearts,” I casually lift the three squared up Jacks, showing the Jack of Hearts on the bottom. Personally, I do not always use the four poker chips suggested by Mr. Hull to designate the piles. This is essentially an impromptu “opportunity” experiment, and more often than not, I use the four deuces to mark the piles. There is, of course, no need to set up the sixteen cards beforehand, as is implied in the inventor’s directions; they can be casually extracted from the pack as the experiment is introduced and the background of the intelligence test explained.

24

C H A P TE R TH R E E .

LOCATION, PROPHECY AND TRANSPOSITION. “Here are all the old trickeries fancied up with modern sleights and subtleties, and routined as only R. W. Hull can rationalise a card problem.”–John Northern Hilliard. This chapter contains three unpublished card routines sent to me by the late R. W. Hull in 1941. The first two are self working but startling in effect, and require only the learning of the necessary presentation. The third, the “Positive and Negative Cards,” depends upon a new and hitherto unknown method of changing one or more cards, which should perhaps be classed as a sleight. I have used all three with very satisfactory results. “The Detective Card Trick.” Effect.–A borrowed pack is shuffled by a spectator, who is directed to choose a card by counting off any number of cards he likes, cutting the resultant packet at any point, and noting the face card of the cut. The problem is made more difficult by the spectator then dealing a mentally chosen number of cards on to the packet, and then dropping the balance of the pack on top of all. Despite the fact that the performer has had his back turned whilst the problem has been prepared for him, even during the preliminary shuffle, and need not have seen the pack before, he is able to locate in the pack his “detective card,” and utilises its numerical value to indicate the whereabouts of the selected card. He counts down slowly and fairly from the detective card, according to its value and unlikely as it may seem, there is the chosen card. Patter.–The presentation story is that this is a mystery with cards. The preliminary counting, thinking of numbers, etc., whilst normally undesirable in modern card magic, is in this instance quite justified by the statement that you are deliberately directing the spectator to create a complex mystery for the detective to solve. Routine.–The trick is impromptu with any complete pack of 52 cards, which may be borrowed and not even touched by the performer until the climax is reached. If you are working under the last named condition you must ask the owner of the cards to remove the joker if it is in the pack. Instruct your spectator to shuffle the pack, and name any number between 10 and 20. Suppose he names 16. Ask him to deal 16 cards one at a time face down in a pile on the table from the

25

shuffled pack, which latter is laid on one side. Ask him to shuffle the 16 cards and then cut the packet at about the centre and look secretly at the face card of the cut and remember it. This little pile which has been cut off with the chosen card at its face you ask him to replace on the rest of the pack. Now ask him to shuffle the little packet left on the table. Finally ask him to think of another number between 10 and 20 (he need not name it), and as you turn your back ask him to pick up the main pack, and deal from it face down one at a time on to the little packet, cards totalling the number he has in mind. Finally ask him to drop the remainder of the pack on top of all, and square up. The patter covering this part of the routine is along the lines that he is creating an impenetrable mystery as to the whereabouts of the card, which is now hopelessly lost in the pack, its position being determined by numbers merely thought of by the spectator, and by a chance cut of the packet, the spectator himself being unaware how many cards were cut. Pick up the pack and give it any false shuffle which leaves it unaltered, i.e., not a false shuffle which leaves the cards cut. The false dovetail is ideal for this trick followed by any convincing false cut. Point out that it is impossible for you to find the card by any known method, but that you have in the pack a CARD DETECTIVE who will find it for you. Commence dealing the cards one at a time from the top of the face down pack, face up on the table, as if looking for your detective, but really you are counting the cards. The first card you deal you call mentally by the number which the spectator named in the first instance, in this case 16, the next card 17 and so on until you reach and have dealt the card equal to 39. The chosen card is now the 15th card from the top of the pack. Now one of the next ten cards will be your “detective” and you determine which one it shall be in the following way. As you turn over the 40th card (although you drop the count after 39), you say to yourself mentally “Jack, Queen, King.” Should this card happen to be a Jack, a Queen or a King, then you have your “detective.” Assume it is a King. Tell the spectators that the King is your detective and call attention to the fact that the numerical value of the King is 13. Place the King back on top of the pack, face up. Deal it calling it 1, the next card 2 and so on until the 13th card is reached. This card is dealt face down and the King placed on it face up. Tell the audience that you feel that the detective has solved the mystery and has got his man. Have the spectator name his card and with the King turn it over. To the surprise of all it will be the right one. Let us suppose the 40th card was a Queen. Tell them that you always use a lady detective. Place the Queen face up on the table instead of on the pack. Mention the numerical value of the Queen as being 12, and deal to the 12th card, which is turned over with the Queen as before. If it is a Jack, which has a value of 11 then deal 11 cards and place the next card face down beside the face up Jack and reveal as before. If the 40th card is not a Jack, Queen or King, then deal the next card face up and drop your mental set of three cards one point, as you say to yourself, “Ten, Jack, Queen.” If one of these cards appears then deal with it in the same fashion as described. If not deal another saying

26

“Nine, Ten, Jack.” From this you should get the idea of this most ingenious method of revealing a chosen card. Keep on dropping down the scale for each card until a similar one to one of the three is struck, thus: 8, 9, 10; 7, 8, 9; 6, 7, 8; 5, 6, 7; 4, 5, 6; 3, 4, 5; 2, 3, 4; 1, 2, 3. As exemplified, the rule is that if the “detective” is the card of highest value in the range of three, it is put back on to the pack, face up and included in the count. If it is the middle card, say an ‘8’ in the count ‘7, 8, 9,’ then it is placed on the table, and not included in the count. If it is the lowest card, then the same procedure is followed as in the previous sentence, except that after the count, the next card is the chosen one. Owing to the wide range of cards covered, in 99 times out of 100 a similar card will show up before you have got through the list, but there is a possibility that this might not occur. Should this happen, look back through the face up cards scattered on the table until you find a deuce, for by this time the chosen card will be the second from the top, and proceed as before. You will find that this “out” will rarely be needed. You will find this trick interesting and perplexing to the spectators. It might be thought that the effect could be improved by turning your back at the beginning of the trick, but I do not think anything is gained at all. Nobody will recall when you turned your back if you finish with it turned, and you have the great advantage of being able to direct operations and see that your instructions are understood and obeyed. “The Last Word Prediction.” Effect.–The performer and a spectator both reverse a few cards in the pack. Despite the fact that the pack may be borrowed and the performer is unable to see it in view of the fact that his reversals are executed only after the pack has been placed in his hands behind his back, he is able correctly to prophesy in writing the total number of cards which will be face up in the pack at the end of the trick. Routine.–Write on a piece of paper your prediction, which should read “There will be fifteen cards in the pack face up.” The spectators are not, of course, permitted to know what has been written. The paper is folded and placed on the table or given to a member of the audience to hold. Borrow a pack of cards and ask a spectator to shuffle it. Direct him then to cut off approximately a third of the face down pack, the remainder of the latter being placed aside for the moment. Invite your helper to cut his third into two piles, which can be roughly equal for convenience in working, but pointing out that the actual number of cards in the packets is of no importance in the experiment. At this stage of the routine when you see that your spectator has his two small piles side by side and face down on the table as directed, you can turn your back. Tell him to turn a small number of cards face up in one of the piles and to intersperse these face up cards amongst the other cards in the pile. Invite him then to turn the same number of cards

27

face up in the other packet, again interspersing them amongst the remainder of the cards in the pile. Now you turn around and ask the spectator to pass you the rest of the pack, after placing one of the face down piles on top of it and squaring up the cards. Place the pack behind your back and tell the audience that you too will turn some cards face up in the pack. Impress upon the spectators that you cannot possibly have any idea how many cards your helper placed face up in the piles. What you really do behind your back is to count 15 cards off from the top of the pack, turn them face up on top of the rest of the cards and finally bring the bottom card to the top to act as a cover for the packet of face up cards. Bring the pack out in front of you again and once more impress on the spectators that you have no knowledge of how many cards were face up in the pile added to the pack or how many are face up in the pile which the spectator still holds, but that you have turned an additional number face up yourself. Ask the spectator to place the remaining pile on top of the pack, and then you slowly and openly give the pack one riffle shuffle, which will intersperse the cards face up throughout the pack. Ask the spectator to run through the pack counting the face up cards, and needless to say there will be 15 of them. Have someone read your prediction aloud, “THERE WILL BE 15 CARDS IN THE PACK FACE UP,” and the trick is over. Of course, the secret of this most bewildering impromptu trick is simplicity itself. The number of face up cards in the first packet is the same as the number face up in the second packet. When the 15 cards are turned face up, naturally the ones among them already turned face up the spectator are turned face down again. This exactly balances the number of face up cards that will be added in the second packet, and thus the number turned over by you becomes the final number. You will be amused at the way in which this simple trick will puzzle even magicians. Needless to say, the number can be anything ranging around 15 to 20. “The Positive and Negative Cards.” Prepared from an original manuscript as amplified by correspondence with the late R. W. Hull, together with some suggested amendments in working after three years experience in using the experiment.

Effect.–The four Sevens and the four Jacks are taken from any pack of cards and slowly dealt into two piles on the table, Jacks in one and Sevens in another. One Seven and one Jack are turned face up alongside their respective piles as leaders, and these cards are changed around so that the Seven is in front of the Jack pile and vice versa. Suddenly the piles change places. The Sevens are pushed aside and an indifferent card from the pack, say an Ace, is placed face up

28

in the position just occupied by the Sevens, and three more indifferent cards are chosen from the pack by the audience. These are placed one by one in a face down pile in front of the face up Ace, forming an INDIFFERENT PILE. The Ace and the Jack are now changed around, and again a startling change takes place...the three indifferent cards change into the three other Jacks, and the Jacks are shown to have transformed themselves into the other three Aces. Patter.–The story is a pseudo-scientific one to the effect that a certain amount of static electricity can be generated with playing cards by treating the faces of the cards as positive and the backs as negative, and that by placing them back to back and back to face in certain positions they become “electronic” and are capable of the transformations shown. This patter story is a cover up for the movements of the original sleight used by Mr. Hull for changing the cards, called by him “SLEIGHT FKO.” Sleights.–The only sleight used in the trick is the FKO move as mentioned above. To practise it, turn the second card from the top of the pack face up under the top card. Prepare in the ordinary way for a double lift with the tip of the little finger holding a break under the two cards. Place another card face up on top of the pack protruding inwards about three-quarter-inch of its length. (In the patter story the cards are placed momentarily “negative to negative”). Now apparently turn this top card face down on top of the pack (momentarily positive to negative) and deal it on the table. What really happens is that when it is gripped-between thumb and finger for the turnover the thumb goes underneath the face up card now third from the top and draws it out flush with the face up card on top. They are drawn back and turned over as one card, and thus the card dealt on to the table, apparently the one just shown, is really the card which was face up second from the top, whilst the card just shown and apparently face down on the table is really face down on top of the pack. The move is not unduly difficult, but requires some practice for smooth working. The reader may be interested in my version of it; a good deal easier and more natural for me, which I shall give at the end of Mr. Hull’s routine under “SIDELIGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS.” Routine.–To commence the routine, borrow a pack of cards or throw out your own and have it shuffled. The pack should be a white-bordered one as in all reversed card tricks. Holding the pack face up, leaf through it in the ordinary way, looking for the Sevens and Jacks, throwing these face up on the table as you come to them. As you do this locate the Aces and run them to the top of the pack unknown to the spectators. Turn the pack face down when the Sevens and Jacks have all been located, and give it a casual overhand shuffle, running the top four cards singly, which will shift the Aces to the face of the pack. Commence your patter about positive and negative cards, picking up a red Jack and a black Jack and placing them on top of the pack face down. Repeat this with the other two Jacks so that all four will be on top of pack in pairs. However, your little finger holds a break between the

29

two pairs of Jacks, and under the misdirection of asking the spectators to arrange the Sevens in similar pairs, make the standard “half-pass” sleight, turning the whole pack except the top two Jacks face up. Make a second “half-pass” by dividing the pack about quarter way down and turning the lower section of the pack face down again. The pack now appears normal, whilst in point of fact a section of it is face up under the top two Jacks. Turn the pack face up and display by fanning about two-thirds of the way down, then run on to bottom and fan bottom two cards just enough to show them as Jacks. In this manner everything looks fair and the cards appear as they should. Turn the pack face down. Pick up one of the Sevens and place it face up on top of the pack but extending about threequarters-inch towards you as in the FKO move. Before the Seven is actually placed there lift the top Jack and show it, and on replacement openly insert your little finger under it as in the regular pass, and show spectators that you have separated this card from the pack. Then put a Seven on it as described, and show at close quarters the position occupied by the two cards so that there can be no mistake, the positive and negative formula covering the peculiar position of the cards. Slowly turn the Seven face down and deal as the first card of the SEVEN PILE, and deal the Jack as the first card of the JACK PILE. All this is done slowly, and forms excellent misdirection, duplicating exactly the moves that are to follow. The moves are repeated with the next two Sevens, but now the Sleight FKO is executed each time, and what appears to be a Seven going into the Seven pile each time is an Ace, and what appears to be a Jack going into the Jack pile each time is a Seven. Now the pack is turned face up and the bottom card is extended or fanned enough to show it as the last Jack, and the pack is squared and turned face down again. The FKO move is executed the last time with the last Seven. Direct attention to the piles on the table by the patter about the cards having been made “electronic” by the process just gone through, and then pick up the SEVEN PILE giving a flash of the Seven on the face. Shuffle with the OLD MAID shuffle natural with four cards by placing the second card on top of the first, the next below and the next on top, which makes the Seven the top card. If you consider two shuffles more convincing, then start the first shuffle by placing the second card below, the next on top and the last below, and follow with the shuffle as described. In either case the Seven ends up as the top card. Place the packet face down on table and repeat with the JACK PILE. Invite a spectator to turn over the top Seven and the top Jack and place them face up beside their respective piles as “leaders,” and then ask him to change them around. Under cover of this misdirection (which is perfect as the audience never think that the rest of the pack in your hands will be used again) make the “half-pass” at the break, easily detected between the convex and concave faced cards. This will place the entire pack face up except the top card, and the “half-pass” is made again turning 45 cards face down. If all has been properly executed the pack is normal again with the three Jacks on top and an Ace on the bottom. Place the pack face down on the table.

30

Pick up the Seven and gently fan the JACK PILE with it. Turn the three cards over one by one and they have changed into the other three sevens. Point out that in some unaccountable way the Seven has electrically drawn the other Sevens after it just as the Jack has drawn the other Jacks after it. Pretend to be just ready to turn over the Jacks to display them, when seemingly as a second thought you pick up the pack and throw out face up the bottom card which is an Ace. Push the Sevens to one side and place the Ace in their place, calling it “any indifferent card... say this Ace.” Say you will have three other indifferent cards chosen unseen, and proceed to force the three top cards which are, of course, the Jacks. These three cards are placed face down on the table in front of the Ace, and attention is again drawn to the other pile, with its face up Jack and three face down Jacks (?), and the effect is repeated. The Ace is placed over by the JACK PILE and the Jack by the INDIFFERENT PILE. The indifferent cards (?) are fanned with the Jack and are slowly turned over and shown to be the other three Jacks. Finally, as a climax, slowly turn over the three cards which everyone would have sworn were the Jacks until a moment previously, and show that they are the other three ACES! SIDELIGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS. The late R. W. Hull sent me this routine in 1941. But for his death, it would have been one of the effects in his final book, BRILLIANT CARD MAGIC, which now will never be written. He thought very highly of it, and rated it as the next to his best trick with unprepared cards. To my mind, the most difficult feature is the FKO move itself. I have written it up from Mr. Hull’s exact description, and whilst in his hands it was almost certainly convincing, I am bound to say that hitherto I have been unable to accomplish it to my own satisfaction. The move itself looks somewhat suspicious as I do it, at least, and I find the greatest difficulty in squaring the two cards as they come out of the pack together. Consequently, I have sought around for a way of doing the move which would give a more legitimate reason for it, with the facility of squaring the two cards with ease and certainty, whilst at the same time leaving the essentials of the move undisturbed. It seems to me that if two cards become “electronic” it is a reasonable supposition that they might become magnetised and cling together, and that this might be used as a test to see whether they are ready for the greater wonders which they are called upon to perform. With this polite fiction in mind as a basis for the patter, try this with the cards in hand and in readiness for the FKO move. You are holding the break below the two cards,

Photograph No. 9

31

and the Seven is placed in the usual position, protruding inwards about three quarters of an inch. The cards are becoming magnetised. Pull the next to the top card, the face down Jack, outwards so that it protrudes the same distance from the outer end of the pack as the Seven is from the inner. Now slowly push the Seven square with the pack, still holding the break below the face up Ace. As the Seven becomes flush you will feel it square up with the Ace beneath it, and the protruding Jack is actually between these two cards, although the audience only know of the Jack below the Seven. It is convincing to give a flash of the Jack each time as you mention it. Little of the card shows, and you can apparently show a Jack each time the FKO move is executed.

Photograph No. 10

Now point out to the audience that you believe the Seven and the Jack to be electronic, and that if this is so they will be magnetised to a certain extent, and that if you draw the Seven back, the Jack will follow it until it is flush with the pack, which still retains collectively a greater amount of magnetism from previous experiments than does the newly magnetised single card. This is quite a pretty magical feat in itself, and is automatic. You are gripping the Seven and the unseen Ace below it, with the Jack between them, and as you draw these two cards back as one the Jack follows, apparently clinging to the Seven above it.

Photograph No. 11

Photograph No. 12

32

Photograph No. 13

Photograph No. 14

As the Jack becomes flush with the pack, grip it between the thumb and first finger, of the hand holding the pack, and draw the Seven and Ace on and out, beautifully squared as one card thanks to the routine followed, turn them over length-wise, and place them face down on top of the pack. I have found this most convincing. The force of the three “indifferent cards” (Jacks) need not be elaborate, for the audience will only recall the highlights of the trick, i.e., the “transformations.” Personally, I control them in an overhand shuffle as described in Chapter One and have a spectator stop me at any point in the shuffle. Wherever he stops me I have the Jacks there as the cards apparently stopped on, and deal them on to the table. It might increase the effect casually to double lift the last one to show it as an indifferent card before dealing, but in all effects of this kind it is too easy to over-elaborate. A point is reached where you reach a maximum of effect, and any improvement beyond that is wasted, simply because the audience remember only the salient features.

33

C H A P TE R F O U R.

TWO UNFINISHED SYMPHONIES “I recognised the principles underlying the evolution of Hofzinser’s ideas, and undertook to reconstruct those problems...a work which took many months.” –Ottokar Fischer. (J. N. Hofzinser’s Card Conjuring). During the last years of my letter friendship with Ralph Hull, the two effects described in this Chapter reached me in fragmentary and incomplete form, owing to his increasing ill-health and the Atlantic sinkings. Had he lived, they would undoubtedly have been completed and included in his intended book “Brilliant Card Magic.” Since his death, I have felt it my duty to the magical fraternity to attempt to complete these unfinished routines, from my knowledge of Hull’s methods and ideas. In this task I have been greatly assisted by my friends, Dr. H. Park Shackleton, Edgar Shackleton, Roland Winder and Geoffrey Scalbert, all of whom have helped me to surmount difficult obstacles which have arisen from time to time. ASSEMBLY OF THE JACKS. This routine follows the general outline of the standard four ace trick. Jacks are, however, used for a purpose which will be evident, but the novelty of this sequence lies in the fact that the Jacks, dealt out with apparent fairness with three indifferent cards on each, vanish from their respective piles and appear in the designated heap one at a time. The chosen pile, in other words, first appears to consist of one Jack and three indifferent cards, then two Jacks and two indifferent cards, changing to three Jacks and one indifferent card and finally to four Jacks. Any pack of cards may be used and there is no preparation. Invite a member of the audience to take from the pack the four Jacks, and when he has done so take the balance of the pack from him. Ask him to turn the Jacks face down and mix them about so that he himself has no idea which is which, telling him that this is a little test of observation. As he does this, you separate the top two cards of the pack and your little finger holds the break, exactly as if you were preparing for the double lift. Take back the Jacks face down and drop them on top of the pack, and at the same time your little finger slides right in under the two cards and you push the packet of six cards forward so that they project over the front of the pack about an inch or so. This move (one cannot call it a sleight) must be practised so that it all blends into one, and from the audience’s viewpoint you are simply holding the four Jacks in a packet above the pack proper with

34

your little finger between. Really, under the Jacks are two indifferent cards. Now challenge the audience to remember the order of the Jacks. Lift the top one, show it and miscall it; for example, if it is the Jack of Clubs, call it the Jack of Diamonds, and slide it openly under the packet. Continue miscalling and showing the next two, and sliding them under the packet of four cards (really six), but the audience are certain to correct you on the second Jack, and to this you say you are not a card player, and you just know they are Jacks, that is all. Credit for this line of patter, which always causes a laugh, goes to my friend, Dr. H. Park Shackleton, O.B.E. Take the last Jack, do not show it, but hold it face down and ask the audience what it is. You will be surprised to find how often they call it wrongly, and here again, whether they name it rightly or wrongly, you can cause some laughter. If they get it right, show it, and with exactly the inflection as if they had been wrong point out that they should watch more closely. If they get it wrong, show it and congratulate them on their observation powers. In either event, it is laid face down on the table, and we will call its position No. 1. If all has gone correctly, the separated packet reads from the top, two indifferent cards, Jack, Jack, Jack. In point of fact, as you deal the Jack on to the table, you draw out your little finger and square up the packet flush with the pack. Now deal the next two cards, apparently Jacks but really indifferent cards face down across the table in the regular positions for the usual four ace trick which we will call Nos. 2 and 3, and pick off the next card, which is really a Jack. Hold it face down and challenge the audience to name it, saying this is the real test, the last Jack. Whatever they say, show it, and use the same mild badinage as in the case of the first Jack, and deal it in position No. 4. You will find this most convincing. The showing of the first and last Jacks seems to satisfy the audience that the Jacks are in fact on the table, and the little intelligence test holds interest and covers every move, or would do if there were any. The position now is that on the table are apparently four Jacks, but actually only the two outer cards are in fact Jacks, the inner two being indifferent cards. The two top cards of the pack are the remaining Jacks. Tell your audience that you propose to deal three cards on to each Jack. Prior to this remark it is an advantage to give the pack the shuffle described in Chapter One preserving the top stock of half a dozen cards, including, of course, the Jacks. As the comment mentioned is made and as you ask a spectator from which end of the row of Jacks (?) you are to start dealing, prepare for a double lift. Pick off two cards as one and hold them face down, and with the thumb of the hand holding the pack slide one card underneath them followed by one more underneath the last card. Personally, I hold the little packet in my left hand between the thumb at the inner end and the second and third fingers at the outer end, which makes the addition of the two later cards very easy. Square up the packet roughly and hold it up so that the audience see the face of the bottom card, which is, of course, an indifferent one, and drop the four (apparently three) cards on to one of the end Jacks, whichever has been chosen. For the

35

purpose of this description it is assumed that the spectator elects that the Jack at the extreme left shall have the first cards dealt on it, and we shall call this Pile No. 1. If the Jack at the opposite end were chosen, the procedure would, of course, be a simple reversal of these directions. Really count off three cards for Piles 2 and 3, apparently duplicating the moves for Pile No. 1, whilst for Pile No. 4 the moves for Pile No. 1 are actually duplicated, in that four cards are actually placed on the Jack, the first two being taken as one. In the case of Piles 2, 3 and 4, the cards need only be loosely squared up, so that the audience can see that the cards actually are all indifferent cards. A very convincing display can be made of Pile No. 1, inasmuch as the two front cards of the four are actually indifferent ones. Consider at this stage the effect compared with the average similar four ace routine. Apparently all four Jacks have been placed on the table and a choice has been given as to which end the dealing of the other cards shall commence. Further, apparently all the cards dealt on the Jacks have been shown to be indifferent. In point of fact, if all has gone according to plan, the face down piles, reading from top to bottom, will contain the following cards:

Pile No. 1.

Jack, Jack, any two cards, Jack.



Pile No. 2.

Any four cards.



Pile No. 3.

Any four cards.



Pile No. 4.

Any four cards, Jack.

Again offer the audience a choice of the end piles. If pile No. 1 is chosen, state that you propose to cause the four Jacks to assemble in that pile. If Pile No. 4 is chosen, announce that you are going to make the Jack vanish from that pile and appear in Pile No. 1. Make a rather generous pass in the air over Pile No. 4, and assert confidently that the Jack has gone, as you pick up the packet with a flourish facing the audience, as shown in the photograph. You do not glance at the packet of cards until a spectator points out that the Jack is, in fact, still there, staring the audience in the face. Contrive to look slightly crestfallen if you can, but announce that you are pleased that this mild failure has occurred, as it affords you the opportunity of showing once more the contents of the piles before the miracle takes place. Advance the other hand (in my case the right as I hold the packet in my left hand) and holding the packet in a slightly concave position, perform the “vanish count.” This move is accomplished by placing the second finger on the face card and drawing it off into the right hand where a grip is taken of it between the thumb and first finger. The first card

36

Photograph No. 15

Photograph No. 16

taken, in this case the Jack, is now slid partially behind the packet until the edge of the latter comes in contact with the right first finger in front of the single card. The right second finger now takes off the new face card of the packet into the right hand, where it is held along with and partially in front of the Jack first taken, the index of the latter being, however, visible. The move is repeated once more, at which stage the cards and finger holds should approximate to the position shown in the photograph. Actually, the card shown in the left hand is two cards held as one. This series of moves is a most convincing false count of five cards as four. As the “vanish count” is made in this instance you say “Jack, any card, any card, any card,” as the four cards are revealed. Place the two cards held as one in front of the cards held in the right hand, and replace the packet face down on the table, the order of the cards now being from top downwards Jack and any four cards. From the audience’s point of view you have merely confirmed their knowledge that Pile No. 4, like the other three, contains one Jack and three indifferent cards. Pick up Pile No. 1, remarking that you will once more, show the cards in it before the Jack is transposed. Execute the “vanish count” precisely as with Pile No. 4, up to the point where three cards are held in the right hand and two are held as one in the left, as in Photograph No. 16. When this position is reached, you will apparently be showing one Jack in the left hand and a Jack and two indifferent cards in the right. Affect surprise at the presence of the Jack (?) in the left hand, and place this card(s) behind those in the right hand. Square up the packet, retake it in the left hand and execute the “vanish count” again, as if you cannot believe that two Jacks are there. As you perform this second count, say “Indifferent card, indifferent card, Jack, Jack,” and place the two Jacks held as one in the left hand in front of those in the right hand. Square up the cards and replace them face down on the table, the order now being from top to bottom:–any two cards, Jack, Jack, Jack. Explain that perhaps the trick worked the first time after all, but that possibly your wave of the hand over Pile No. 4 incorrectly affected Pile No. 3 instead. Pick up Pile No. 3 and duplicate the

37

“vanish count” with the four mixed cards which it contains, and of course, the Jack has gone. Drop these cards on top of the face down pack which should be at one side of your table. Wave your hand over Pile No. 2, pick it up and duplicate the moves of the “vanish count” with the four indifferent cards it contains and apparently a further Jack has followed in the wake of its predecessor, to the great surprise of the audience. A greatest surprise is in store for them, for after discarding Pile No. 2, on to the face down pack as before, you pick up Pile No. 1, and execute the “vanish count.” As a result of the routine followed, the cards are now set up to show as Jack, Jack, Jack and one indifferent card, by simply following precisely the same moves as before. At the end of the count, you will have in your right hand, three Jacks, and in your left, the two indifferent cards held as one. Push this card(s) in between the face Jack and the next one behind it, which is very easy to do inasmuch as the Jacks are held slightly fanned in the right hand as the cards shown in Photograph No. 16. Replace this pile face down on the table, the order of the cards from top to bottom now being Jack, Jack, any two cards, Jack. Only Pile No. 4 remains. Notice how convincing the routine is to the audience in that only a minute or so ago they actually saw the Jack in this pile, and yet it now vanishes just as completely as the others and with exactly the same moves. Execute the now familiar “vanish count” and the Jack has gone, for once again the routine has set up the cards for you so that at the end of the count the Jack is the rear hidden card of the two held as one in the left hand. Discard this pile on to the pack as before. Pick up Pile No. 1 in the right hand, holding it facing yourself, the long sides being gripped by the thumb on one side and the fingers on the other, and say “here are all four Jacks.” As you make this remark, the left hand takes a hold on the short or top and bottom edges of the packet, the left thumb apparently counting the cards by riffling them from back to face. Actually, the two rear Jacks are riffled off, leaving three cards resting on the ball of the left thumb, these cards being from face to back Jack and two indifferent cards. With the left thumb, push these three cards as one upwards about half an inch into the position shown in the photograph. Remove the left hand and show the cards to the audience. This move, of course, only takes an instant to execute. Photograph No. 17 Turn the hand face down and without any hesitation execute the Edward Victor glide, just as if two cards projected instead of three. You will be agreeably surprised to find that only the bottom card of the three moves back as the glide is made, and that the two indifferent cards may be gripped in the left hand and pulled out, beautifully squared as one card, and dropped face down on top of the pack. From the audience’s point of view, of course, you have simply shown the Jack at the face of the packet, and dealt it on to the pack.

38

Keep the packet of three Jacks face down in the right hand, and with the left hand draw off the top card, show it and drop it on the pack. Repeat the move once more and then flick the back of the single remaining Jack, turn it face up and discard it on to the pack. Apparently four Jacks have been shown, and the routine is over. I stumbled on the “ruse” of showing the first Jack again at the end, from seeing my friend, Dr. H. Park Shackleton, perform his beautiful version of the “Ghost Card,” which depends on the same deception. For this reason alone, the reader will, I believe, be assured that he may with confidence perform this last move, and with the knowledge that it is completely convincing. I am deeply indebted to my friend, Roland Winder of Leeds, who spent many hours with this particular routine, patiently trying out each new phase over and over again, and making numerous invaluable additions and improvements, as the sequence advanced slowly towards completion. I am grateful, too, to the adept Geoffrey Scalbert, of Shaftesbury, whose friendship I enjoy, who came to our aid when we were sorely tried near the end, and helped us to overcome the final obstacle. NEVER BET ON THE OTHER MAN’S GAME. Ralph Hull had the habit of playfully sending me details of the effect of new routines originated by him, described with absolute fairness and precision, coupled with the suggestion that I should send him my idea of the modus operandi. When I had made my attempt, he would give me the correct solution. I mention this because in this instance the complete method given here was worked out by Dr. Shackleton, Edgar Shackleton and myself, as the solution of the experiment never reached England. However, we had Mr. Hull’s minute description of the effect to work from, and the reader can decide how far our solution meets the requirements laid down, and if he wishes, try his own teeth on the material given. Exact Effect of the Experiment. “A spectator shuffles his own pack and cuts it into two portions. He looks at and remembers the top card of each packet.” “The performer takes the packets and absolutely fairly shows again the single top cards of each packet. Without any top changes or double lifts, or any suspicious move of any kind, these two cards are dealt face down on the table about eight or ten inches apart. It is assumed for the purpose of this description that the card on the left is the Ten of Hearts and the card on the right is the Three of Clubs.”

39

“The spectator is asked how much money he would be prepared to bet, if he was a gambler, on the certainty that he could with success point to the Ten of Hearts. Naturally, as the spectator has himself looked at the top cards, and seen them again immediately prior to them being dealt, he points to the card on the left. The card in the position mentioned is turned face up, shown really to be the Ten of Hearts and turned face down again, and the spectator challenged to pick out the Three of Clubs, the magician pointing out what a certainty this must be from a betting point of view, in view of the fact that the other card has been already shown and only one card is left for the choice. The spectator is invited to turn over both the cards, which to the great surprise of all are now found to be two entirely different cards. The magician slowly draws the two original cards from his trouser pocket. The cards are both actually in the pocket prior to the hand approaching it, but so great is the misdirection that, however closely the spectators attempt to watch and reason, they will never detect the move of placing them there.” Suggested Solution. When the packets are taken by the performer, one in each hand, it is assumed that for the purposes of this description, the Three of Clubs is the card noted by the spectator at the top of the packet in the right hand, whilst the Ten of Hearts is the top card of the left packet. The packets are placed face down on the table, but during this action, the left packet is pushed slightly to the left, about the width of the margin on a card, as it comes in contact with the tablecloth causing the bottom card to project slightly on the right side of the packet. The spectator is now asked to name out loud the names of the two cards he looked at. As he does so, the packets are picked up, one in either hand, the hands being palm downward, the thumb in each case holding the inner end of the packet and the fingers the outer end. The left hand packet is now squared up by pushing the projecting bottom card flush with the pack with the back of the right thumb. As this is done, you will find that by pushing the card slightly downwards as well as laterally, it is very easy for a minute break to be obtained at the inner end, between this card and the rest of the packet, retained by the thumb. The performer now shows the top card of each packet to the audience again, using the following moves. The right hand twists its packet round until it is lying face down in the palm of the hand and with the thumb pushes the top card off the top of the packet and turns it face up against the finger tips, so that all may see that it is in fact the Three of Clubs. It is then turned face down again, the packet remaining in the palm of the right hand, the fingers resting on the left hand long edge and the thumb on the right. The left hand packet is now transferred to the right hand, where it is held between the thumb on one side of its long edge and the first, second and third finger tips on the other. The other packet still lies in the palm and the packets should be separated by approximately three-quarters of an inch. Further, the upper packet, the one originally in the left hand, should project forward about half its length, extending in front of the lower one.

40

As the left hand packet is transferred to this position in the right hand, you will find that it passes directly over the lower packet for an instant, and as the packets are one above the other, the left thumb relaxes its hold on the bottom card of the packet, which drops imperceptibly on to the lower packet and becomes the top card. You will find this move a very subtle one, and I am indebted to my friend, Dr. H. Park Shackleton, for its inclusion in the routine. The left hand now very fairly deals the top card of the upper packet face up on the table, showing it to be the Ten of Hearts, and drops it casually back on to its packet face down again. The left hand retakes the upper packet and very slowly, both hands working in unison, the top cards are dealt off with the thumbs face down on the table. The pack is re-assembled by placing the right hand packet on top of the left. If all has been properly followed, the card on the left is the Ten of Hearts, but the card on the right is an indifferent one, the Three of Clubs being the top card of the pack. Take the bottom card of the pack in the right hand, the pack being held in the left, and ask the spectator to point to the Ten of Hearts. When he points to the card on the left lay the card in the right hand on the table face down for a moment, and place the right hand in the trouser pocket and bring out say half-a-crown saying that you would be prepared to bet about half your worldly wealth that the card was in fact the Ten of Hearts. Place the coin on the table and pick up the face down card and with it flick the Ten of Hearts face up, duplicating exactly the moves you normally employ in performing the Mexican Turnover, but not executing the sleight. Now apparently turn it face down once more, but this time the move mentioned is executed, and the indifferent card is left on the table, the face down Ten of Hearts being casually dropped on the pack, on top of the Three of Clubs. The spectator is now asked to point to the Three of Clubs and as he does so, the top two cards of the pack are palmed in the right hand. The right hand now goes again to the trouser pocket and brings out half a dozen coins, leaving the palmed cards behind, with the comment that the bet is such a certain one this time that you would be prepared to risk everything on it. The coins are placed on the table, and the spectator asked to turn over the cards. Very slowly and deliberately the two chosen cards are removed from the pocket and thrown on the table.” I shall be happy to hear from any magician who tries out these two routines and discovers possible room for improvement in the working. Not by any means do I regard the solutions given as necessarily final, although they are the result of a great number of experiments.

41

C H A P TE R F IV E .

AN ENGLISH VERSION OF “NAME-O’-CARD.” “’Name-O’-Card’ is a masterpiece. Hull has roped and hog-tied the gods of chance and trained them to be on the side of the manipulator.”–John Northern Hilliard. “Hull’s solution of the problem of dealing with any card called for from the whole deck is by far the best of all attempts that have been made to solve it.”–Jean Hugard.

Photograph No. 18

I am devoting this chapter to a complete description of my version of one of Mr. Hull’s most sensational tricks. I have said elsewhere in this book that this is my favourite work-a-day experiment and it is perfectly true that I always carry a pack of cards in my pocket ready to perform this effect, and that scarcely a day has gone by during the past six years when I have not demonstrated this cherished feat. It is the finest possible opening trick for a card programme, whilst used by itself, it is a reputation maker and will cause more talk than tricks which cost a great number of pounds. Mr. Hull’s original instructions, put out by him as a booklet in 1932 and afterwards published in abbreviated form in the Encyclopaedia of Card Tricks, were complete and perfect in themselves, for a performer working in America. They were not, however, entirely satisfactory for an English magician, in view of the curious and unnatural manner in which the Diamonds and some of the Spades were spelt out. Referring to a card as “The Six Spot of Diamonds” may be common usage in America, but it tends to arouse suspicion in this country.

42

When the impressive effect of this experiment became apparent to me after many tests of the original version, I endeavoured to make the trick as perfect as possible for my own use in this country, and in this I believe I have succeeded. Not only have I eliminated any un-English methods of spelling, but I have increased the number of “breaks” by more than 100 per cent over the ten given in Mr. Hull’s version. I worked out these “breaks” by the same method as that employed by Mr. Hull, taking notes of the cards called for by spectators each time I worked either this experiment or the Neyhart Rising Cards and preparing statistics over a period of four years. The result is that on 69 percent of the occasions upon which I have performed Name-O-Card during the past year, I have performed what appears to the spectators to be a complete miracle of card magic. EFFECT. The performer invites a spectator to call out the name of any card amongst the 52. Whatever card is mentioned, the magician picks up the card case from the table, takes out the cards and magically produces the card called for in a most impressive and convincing way. PREPARATION. You will require a full pack of cards, including the Joker, together with the card case. The cards should be white bordered, as in all tricks where a reversed card is employed and the back design should be such that a pencil cross in the centre of the back design is discernible when attention is called to it. The Nine of Diamonds should be removed from the pack altogether and placed between two slabs of stout cardboard to prevent crushing, and sealed in an envelope, which is carried in the same pocket as the pack of cards. The Four of Hearts should be trimmed as a “corner short” on diagonally opposite corners where the indexes do not appear, whilst the Five of Diamonds should be similarly trimmed on the index corners. If you are in the habit of working Mr. Hull’s famous “Tuned Deck” (see “Greater Magic,” page 517), then you will be pleased to notice that preparing your pack for this version of “Name-O-Card” automatically prepares it for performing “The Tuned Deck” afterwards. Mark the face of the Two of Hearts with a centrally situated pencil cross X, the strokes of which may be about one inch in length. Mark a similar cross on the back of the Ten of Diamonds. On the inside of the card case, just below the flap, pencil in block capitals the words “Ace of Clubs.” The pack, apart from the Nine of Diamonds, set up in the order given hereafter, is then placed in the case. The final item is to write on the fly-leaf of your pocket diary the words “You will inevitably choose the Seven of Diamonds.”

43

THE SET-UP. The pre-arrangement I use differs in some ways from that used by Mr. Hull. The order of the cards, from the top of the pack to the bottom, is as follows :– JC, 4S, AH, 4H (short), 3C, 8H, 10C, 5C, 9C, 9S, 9H, QC, QS, 6H, 5S, 5H, 7H, 3D, 8D, 6S, 6D, 5D (short), 3S, 3H, Joker, 2D, AS, 2S, (face up) AD, 2H, (with a X on its face), 10D (with a X on its back), 7D, 4D, QD, KD, JD, QH, KS, 10H, 7S, 7C, KC, JH, 10S, 2C, 6C, 8S, 8C, 4C, AC, JS, KH. There is no need to memorise the order of the cards, all you need to know is the method of producing the various cards as called for; but you will find that the repeated act of setting the pack up gradually impresses the order of the cards on your mind. I can set my cards for this experiment as quickly as I can set up the “8 Kings” or the “Si Stebbins” pre-arrangement and thus I can perform many tricks depending on a pre-arrangement after I have demonstrated “Name-OCard.” THE “BREAKS.” I will deal with the “break” cards first. The original number was ten, but I have increased this number to twenty-two. Owing to the prominence of the cards, however, the likelihood of a spectator naming one of these cards is very great, and has worked out for me during the past year at 69 percent in over 500 performances. (1) Jack of Clubs. This is the top card of the pack. If this is named by your spectator, needless to say you are able to perform a very startling feat. Have your spectator command his chosen card to rise to the top of the pack, aided by a magical “snap” by you on the top of the card case. Ask your spectator to remove the cards from the case and you can imagine the rest. (2) Four of Spades. This is the card second from the top, and the procedure is precisely the same as with the Jack of Clubs, except that you yourself must remove the cards from the case and double lift to show that the chosen card has risen to the top. I usually conclude by pointing out that the explanation of this obvious impossibility is that the spectators are led by auto-suggestion into believing the top card to be the Four of Spades, whilst actually it is an entirely different card, the Jack of Clubs, executing, of course, the usual transformation using the double lift. (3) King of Hearts. This is the very bottom card of the pack, and the procedure is exactly similar to that for the top card, except, of course, that the chosen card is commanded to appear on the face of the pack, the case being opened by a spectator.

44

(4) Jack of Spades. This is the card second from the bottom and my method of dealing with it is to take the cards from the case myself and call attention to the King of Hearts, the card which happens to be the bottom card I then turn the pack face down and apparently draw the King out and place it face down on the spectator’s hand. Actually, of course, I execute the glide, so that I am able apparently to transform the King into the very card called for, the Jack of Spades. (5) Two of Spades. This card is face up in the middle of the pack, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the number of times this card will be named. When it is, you are able to give your audience food for thought for a long time, especially if there are any magicians present. Command the card named to turn face up amongst the rest of the pack, and have your spectator take the cards from the case and spread them on the table. Imagine the effect of this from the spectator’s viewpoint. (6) Ace of Spades. This is the card immediately above and facing the reversed Two of Spades. Tell the audience that the Two of Spades is your “detective” card which you keep face up in the pack, ready to locate any chosen card by placing itself next to it and facing it. Give the case the usual little magical “snap” and let the spectator spread the cards out and remove the card facing the Two of Spades. To the amazement of all, it will be the chosen Ace. (7) Ace of Diamonds. This is the card immediately below the reversed Two of Spades, and the procedure is exactly the same as for the Ace of Spades, except, of course, that your “detective” locates the chosen card by taking up a position above it. Have the spectator remove the card below the reversed one and behold! it is the Ace of Diamonds. (8) Two of Hearts. When this card, or the Ten of Diamonds is named, you can tell your audience that they are going to have the privilege of witnessing the most impossible feat with a pack of cards they have ever seen or are likely to see. With a pencil mark a X on the outside of the card-case on the face side. Make the X the same size and in the same central position as the one which you know is already on the Two of Hearts. Now ask the spectator to erase the mark, and as he does so tell him that you will cause the mark magically to re-appear on the face of the card he named, wherever it happens to lie in the pack. You can imagine the sensation caused when the spectator takes out the cards and finds that this has actually happened. This “break” occurred when I was performing before Castleford Magical Society four years ago and when I meet any member this is invariably the one trick of mine he mentions. (9) Ten of Diamonds. This card has a X on its back, and the procedure is, of course, exactly the same as in the case of the Two of Hearts, except that the X is made on the back of the card case. (10) Three of Hearts. This card lies immediately above the Joker. When it is named, explain that the reason why you asked for any of the 52 cards to be called for was that the Joker is your

45

“detective” card and will locate any chosen card. Snap on the case, and invite the spectator to take out the cards and deal them face up until he comes to the joker. The next card, impossible as it seems to the audience, is the Three of Hearts. (11) Two of Diamonds. This card lies immediately below the Joker. The procedure is the same as in the case of the Three of Hearts, except that the spectator deals the cards from the top of the pack, turning them face up on the table. When he comes to the Joker, of course the next card is the one named by the spectator. (12) Nine of Diamonds. Contrary to the view expressed by the late Dr. Elliott after working with American audiences, I find that this card, the “Curse of Scotland,” is frequently named by English spectators. When it is you are ready to perform an apparent impossibility. Have a spectator remove the sealed envelope from your pocket and examine it. With all the showmanship you possess, command the card named to leave the pack and enter the envelope. Have the pack examined as confirmation that the card has vanished and then invite the spectator holding the envelope to open it. In it of course, he finds the very card named at random only a moment ago. (13) Four of Hearts. This is one of the trimmed cards and enables you to perform an inexplicable location. Insist on being blindfolded as the cards are removed from the case and shuffled by first one spectator and then another. Finally they are placed face down in your hands behind your back. Riffle the right inner end for the short card, pull it out and flourish the Four of Hearts triumphantly as you tear off the blindfold. (14) Five of Diamonds. This is the other trimmed card, and the procedure is precisely the same as for the Four of Hearts, except, of course, that to locate it you riffle the left inner end of the pack. (15) Ace of Hearts. This card is immediately above the short Four of Hearts and the procedure for finding it is almost identical with that in the case of the card mentioned except that the pack is cut by several spectators instead of being shuffled. When it is put into your hands behind your back, riffle to the four of Hearts, cut at that point, and triumphantly throw the cut off packet face up on the table! Blindfolded, and with the cards behind your back, you have cut directly to a card called at random. (16) Six of Diamonds. This card is above the other short card and the same procedure is followed except that you riffle to the Five of Diamonds and cut at that point. (17) Six of Spades. Have the pack cut several times, and then cut it yourself with the cards held behind your back, to the Six of Diamonds. When your spectator points out that you have cut to the wrong six, turn the pack face down, execute the glide, and place the Six of Spades face down

46

on the spectator’s hand and have him turn it over. You have remedied your mistake and found the named card in a most magical manner! (18) Three of Spades. Hold the pack in the right hand, extended in front of you, as indicated in Photograph No. 19. With the right thumb riffle down the pack until you feel the short corner of the Five of Diamonds go past. Allow one more card to slip past the thumb, which is then inserted into the break, and the upper packet is turned face up single-handed, revealing the Three of Spades. (19) Ace of Clubs. When this card is named, invite a spectator to remove the cards from the case, look inside the latter, and read aloud the prediction written by you beforehand “ACE OF CLUBS.” (Unless attention is drawn to this message you need have no fear of anyone noticing it, by the way, for you will never find any spectator take so much as a second glance at the card case on the other occasions when he removes the cards. He drops it on the table and dismisses it). When the sensation of the prophecy has registered with the audience, pick up the cards and holding them face down slowly and fairly spell the word CLUBS from the bottom of the pack, a card for each letter, placing the five cards in a face down pile on the table. Pick up these cards, recalling attention to the fact that they spell the suit of the card called for, and ask whether you are to spell ACE from the top or bottom of the packet. Whichever they say, the result is the same, and on the letter “E” you triumphantly turn over the ACE OF CLUBS. (20) Four of Diamonds. The choice of this card enables you to perform a very fine feat. I proceed by saying to the spectator “You don’t want the Four of Spades?” As I say this I cut the pack by making a double lift and quickly showing the card mentioned and replacing the cut. As I say “And you don’t want the Four of Hearts?” I cut to and including the short card mentioned and briefly show it and replace the cut. Finally I say “And you don’t want the Four of Clubs?” cutting to this card by allowing three cards to run off my thumb from the bottom of the pack and breaking the pack at that point to show the card mentioned. I drop the three cards on to the table and holding the balance of the pack with the Four of Clubs facing the audience I slowly and fairly spell out “THE FOUR OF DIAMONDS” and on the last letter the chosen card appears. (21) Seven of Diamonds. When this card is named produce your pocket diary and hand it to a spectator to hold. Tell him that you are going to spell out letter by letter an instruction for him. The message which you spell from the bottom of the pack with the cards facing the audience is “LOOK AT MY DIARY FLYLEAF.” As you spell the last letter “F” and take away the Four of Diamonds, the chosen card, the Seven of Diamonds, is revealed. The spectator hastens to obey and reads out the prediction “You will inevitably choose the Seven of Diamonds.” You will find that this makes a deep impression on the audience, and the card is one often named in England.

47

(22) Joker. If you present the trick as suggested, and invite a choice of any of the 52 cards in the pack, you should never have to trouble with this card, and if it is, in fact, named, you can insist that another card be chosen. However, you need an “out” and my procedure is as follows. If I feel that circumstances demand that I produce the Joker, I have the pack cut several times whilst I am blindfolded, and finally it is placed in my hands face down behind my back. I riffle to the short Five of Diamonds and allow one more card to drop, and make a complete cut at that point. If you follow this with the pack in your hands you will find that the bottom card is the Six of Spades. Then I bring the pack around the front and spell the word “JOKER” in the usual way, from the top of the pack. The last card is turned over and there is the joker. PRODUCING CARDS OTHER THAN “BREAKS.” If one of the 31 cards other than the “break” cards is called for, then it will have to be spelt out of the pack. You will have no difficulty in memorising the “break” cards and the procedure to be followed, but a little application is necessary to master the spelt cards, although as you will find, a system is followed. However, you will be amply rewarded for the effort necessary to acquire this quite perfect feat. If you memorise only three cards a day in odd spare moments, ten days will leave you only one card to learn. I am offering two tables to aid you. The first is a complete table in suits, with the spelling of each card in detail, and the second is a grouping of the cards of equal values Kings, Queens, etc., with a note of whether they are to be spelt from the top or the bottom of the pack, and any helpful notes which will act as a memory aid in conjunction with the first table. THE SPELLING TABLE DIAMONDS Ace– Break. Two– Break. Three– Spell “The Three of Diamonds” from the top. Four– Break. Five– Break. Six– Break. Seven– Break. Eight– Spell “The Eight of Diamonds” from the top and turn over the next card. Nine– Break. Ten– Break. Jack– Spell “The Jack of Diamonds” from the bottom. Queen– Spell “The Queen of Diamonds” from the bottom and reveal the next card. King– Spell “The King of Diamonds” from the bottom and reveal the next card.

48

You will notice how simple the Diamond table is in this version. Only five cards have to be spelt, and they are all spelt in full in precisely the same way. The two spot cards, the Three and the Eight, are spelt from the top of the pack, and the three picture cards are spelt from the bottom. This can be memorised in a matter of minutes. HEARTS Ace– Break. Two– Break. Three– Break. Four– Break. Five– Spell “The Five of Hearts” from the top of the pack and turn over the next card. Six– Spell “The Six of Hearts” from the top. Seven– Spell “The Seven of Hearts” from the top of the pack and turn over the next card. Eight– Spell “Hearts” from the top of the pack without reversing the six cards or turning them face up, take the six cards spelt off and spell “Eight,” discarding the five cards used in the spelling. Turn over the one card remaining in your hand. Nine– Spell “Nine Hearts” from the top of the pack and turn over the next card. Ten– Spell “The Ten of Hearts” from the bottom of the pack. Jack– Spell “Jack Hearts” from the bottom of the pack. Queen– Spell “The Queen of Hearts” from the bottom of the pack. King– Break. Hearts are almost as simple as Diamonds. Eight cards are spelt, the Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Jack and Queen, which are, of course, consecutive cards and are therefore easy to remember. Notice that the cards up to and including the Nine are spelt from the top, whilst the Ten, Jack and Queen are spelt from the bottom. Finally, remember that all the Hearts except the Eight, Nine and Jack are spelt in full and that the Jack and the Nine are spelt as shortly as possible, and you are thus left with only the special manner of spelling the Eight to recall. This is made easy for you later in that all the Eights, except the Eight of Diamonds, are spelt in the same way.

49

SPADES Ace– Break. Two– Break. Three– Break. Four– Break. Five– Spell “The Five of Spades” from the top of the pack. Six– Break. Seven– Spell “Seven of Spades” from the bottom of the pack. Eight– With the pack held face down, spell from the bottom of the pack in a pile face down on the table “Spades.” Pick up these six cards and spell the word “Eight” discarding the five cards thus spelt, the spelling being executed from the bottom as before. Turn over the card remaining in the hand. Nine– Spell “Nine Spades” from the top of the pack. Ten– Spell “Ten Spades” from the bottom of the pack. Jack– Break. Queen– Spell “Queen of Spades” from the top of the pack. King– Spell “The King of Spades” from the bottom. The group table will be your best guide to the position of the Spades, but you will have to remember that the King and the Five are spelt alike and in full, the Queen and the Seven are spelt without the word “The” and the Nine and the Ten are spelt without the “The” or “of.” This leaves the Eight with its special method of spelling to be individually memorised.

50

CLUBS Ace– Break. Two– Spell “Two Clubs” from the bottom of the pack. Three– Spell “Three” from the top of the pack, holding the cards face down and not reversing their order. Spell “Clubs” with the same cards and turn over the last card. Four– Spell “Four” face down from the bottom of the pack on to the table without reversing the order. Count “1, 2, 3, 4” with the packet of four cards, this time reversing the order, but without turning any cards over. Finally, spell “Club” again reversing the order as you count and turn over the last card. You can capitalise on the fact that these four cards both spell and equal the value of the card and also spell its suit. Five– Spell “Five Club” from the top of the pack. Six– Spell “Six Club” from the bottom of the pack. Seven– Spell “Seven of Clubs” from the bottom of the pack. Eight– Spell “Eight” from the bottom of the pack as in the Eight of Spades, and with the same cards spell “Clubs,” turning over the last card. The two black Eights are together. Nine– Spell “Nine Clubs” from the top of the pack. Ten– Spell “Ten Club” from the top of the pack. Jack– Break. Queen– Spell “Queen of Clubs” from the top of the pack. King– Spell “King of Clubs” from the bottom of the pack. The Clubs are not an easy suit, but owing to the lowly position the suit occupies in Bridge, you will find that the spot cards are seldom named. The group table will fix the positions in your mind, and as regards the spelling you have a general rule that no Club is spelt with the word “The” and only the King, Queen and Seven are spelt with the word “of.”

51

THE GROUP TABLE Kings– All are spelt from the bottom except the King of Hearts, which is a “break.” All are spelt in full except the King of Clubs, which follows the rule for Clubs and omits the word “The.” Queens– The black Queens are on top and are spelt in exactly the same way and therefore the word “The” is not used following the Club rule. The Red Queens are on the bottom and are both spelt in full. Jacks– The two black Jacks are both “breaks.” Both red Jacks are spelt from the bottom. Notice that the Jack, Queen and King of Diamonds are all together and are spelt in an identical manner. This will aid you in recalling that it is the Jack of Diamonds which is spelt in full and the Jack of Hearts which is spelt in brief. Tens– The Ten of Diamonds is of course, a break, and the remaining Tens are spelt from the bottom except the Ten of Clubs. The two black Tens are spelt briefly in almost identical fashion, whilst the Ten of Hearts is spelt in full following the majority rule for Hearts. Nines– These are simplicity itself to remember. The Nine of Diamonds is a “break” and is not in the pack at all, and the other three Nines are all on the top and are spelt in an identical brief way. As, of course, the Nine of Clubs is among them, the Club spelling rule will guide you as to all three Nines. Eights– The two red Eights are on top and the two black eights are on the bottom. The Eight of Diamonds, like all the Diamonds, is spelt in full, whilst the other three are spelt in a special and identical way. Sevens– The Seven of Diamonds is a “break.” Of the remaining three, the Seven of Hearts is on top and is spelt in full following the majority rule for Hearts. The two black Sevens lie together in the pack and are both spelt from the bottom in the same way. The Club rule gives the method of spelling both. Sixes– The Six of Diamonds and the Six of Spades are “breaks.” The Six of Hearts is on top and the Six of Clubs is on the bottom, and both are spelt characteristically according to the majority rules of their suits. Fives– The Five of Diamonds is a break, and the remaining Fives are all on top. The Five of Hearts and the Five of Spades are together in the pack and are both spelt in full in an identical manner. The Five of Clubs is spelt in the usual brief fashion applicable to the majority of the cards of this suit. Fours– All the Fours except the Four of Clubs are “breaks.” The card mentioned, being the fourth from the bottom, with a method of spelling peculiar to itself, is easily remembered. Threes– The Three of Hearts and the Three of Spades are both “breaks.” The remaining Threes are both spelt from the top, the Three of Diamonds being spelt in full, of course, following the invariable Diamond rule. The Three of Clubs is spelt in similar fashion to the Eight, and being fifth from the top is not difficult to recall, the Eight being fifth from the bottom. Twos– All these cards are “breaks” except the Two of Clubs, which is spelt from the bottom in the usual brief way characteristic of Clubs. Aces– All are “breaks.”

52

PRESENTATION. The spectator whom you invite to name any card which comes into his mind should, of course, be someone who could not possibly be suspected of being a confederate, a hazard to be watched in all “miracle” feats such as this. You will have your own method of pressing this point home to your audience. I have outlined the procedure to be followed in each case should one of the twenty-two “break” cards be named. As the trick is virtually accomplished for you before you perform it, you can devote all your attention and powers of presentation to the agreeable task of bringing out the highlights and impossible features to the audience, so that you obtain the maximum possible effect from the experiment. If a “break” is not called for, then the card must be spelt out of the pack. Here again, presentation is everything, and the effect can be built up to a point where you will be surprised at the reaction from your audience. The patter I use is along the following lines:– “You, sir, with the entire range of 51 cards to choose from, have named at random, the Five of Spades. I suggest that the Five of Spades might occupy any position in the pack of cards in its case on the table. It might be near the top, near the bottom or in the middle, or, in fact, in any one of fifty-two positions in the pack. There is just one chance, and one chance only, that it might occupy the one possible position enabling me to show you a small miracle. If I spell its name, The Five of Spades, from the top of the pack, one card at a time, thus...the last card, incredible as it may seem, is the very card you chose, the Five of Spades.” Do not be discouraged by the apparent amount of work necessary to master this feat. It is really much easier than it appears in print, and is more than worth the effort necessary to acquire it. It is one of the most exciting tricks to perform, for you never know what is going to happen until the card is named. When one of the sensational “breaks” is called for, you enjoy an almost emotional experience of pleasurable anticipation, knowing as you do that you are going to open your card programme with a demonstration which your audience is likely to discuss in bewilderment for some days to come.

53

C H A P TE R SIX .

EXPERIMENTS USING THE ROUGH-AND-SMOOTH PRINCIPLE. “Of outstanding importance has been Hull’s ‘Nu-Idea Discovery’– a basic principle opening an entirely new range of perplexing problems heretofore impossible.”–Howard P. Albright. It seems to me that no book devoted to the late R. W. Hull’s work would be complete without the inclusion of some problems utilising the wonderful rough-and-smooth principle invented and developed by him. All the original effects devised by Hull using cards prepared in this way have, however, been published and sold, and therefore could not properly be included here; nor are the special cards necessary for effects such as the Nudist Cards, Krazy Kards, Coo-Coo Cards, etc., available in this country. I am able, however, to offer three routines of my own based on some of Mr. Hull’s early effects, which met with his warm approval. He paid me the graceful compliment of using my version of the Three-in-One Card Trick himself, and asked my permission to incorporate it in the book “Brilliant Card Magic,” which would have been written but for his illness and death. He discontinued the sale of his early Cosmic Ray Cards in 1939 and accepted from me the quite differently arranged pack which I devised about that time, utilising the same title and patter outline. My routine using Mr. Hull’s NU-IDEA CARDS, which are available under different names in this country, has been to a partial extent duplicated by Mr. Al Baker in his recent book “Magical Ways and Means.” However, as my method was written up and discussed with Mr. Hull and disclosed to several well-known amateur magicians in this country as far back as 1939 and as Mr. Baker’s book is not generally available in England, I feel that it is proper that a full description of Mr. Hull’s wonderful pack and my routine should find a place in this book. THE “THREE-IN-ONE” CARD TRICK. Over a decade ago the late R. W. Hull published his effect with the above title, consisting of an ingenious prediction, and a transposition of a card from one half of the pack to the other. It involved the vanish of a card by its adherence to the back of another by means of saliva, and the side-steal sleight. Interested student’s of Hull’s early technique will find the description of the routine as he devised it on page 294 of Hugard’s Encyclopaedia of Card Tricks.

54

After experiments which took place in 1939, it occurred to me that the routine could be strengthened by one important alteration, and the working simplified and improved by the use of the rough-and-smooth principle. I submitted my finished idea to Mr. Hull, with the result stated. Equipment and Preparation. A full pack of cards with one additional card, say, the NINE OF DIAMONDS. This additional card is roughed on its face, and any other card, say the Seven of Clubs, is roughed on its back, the two adhering in the usual NU- IDEA fashion as a pair. If you possess a NU-IDEA Pack you can easily prepare for the trick by taking one pair of cards from it and adding it to your regular pack, and discarding from the latter the duplicate of the face card of the pair, i.e., in the above example, the Seven of Clubs. It makes no difference what the cards are. Set up the pack of apparently 52 cards (really 53) by putting the double card on top, and the regular 9 of Diamonds (or whatever cards you are using as duplicates) 27th from the bottom. Now place the Joker on the bottom of all, cut the cards, and you are ready. Have three slips of paper or visiting cards and a pencil at hand. Routine. Commence by giving the pack any false shuffle that will keep the whole pack in order. I use the false shuffle for the whole pack described in Chapter One of this book. Now cut the Joker to the face and discard it, which leaves the pack as it was. Slowly count the cards from hand to hand face up without reversing their order, passing the double card as one card, which is easy and convincing by reason of the NU-IDEA preparation, pointing out to the audience that it is essential that the pack contains exactly the regulation 52 cards. Now turn the pack face down, and again without reversing the order of the cards, (i.e., by placing each card underneath the last as you count off instead of on top) slowly count off exactly half the pack, or 26 cards. At least this is what you apparently do, but in reality something very subtle takes place. The top double card is separated, which is very easy, and counted as two cards, so that this pile will actually consist of 26 cards. The other pile will have in it 27 cards, but owing to the convincing routine followed of first counting the whole pack of 52, and then counting of 26, everyone will be completely satisfied that the second pile does consist of 26 cards also. It would be illogical to count them. If all has been properly followed, you will find that the double card is at the top of the pile of 26 cards, and the single unprepared Nine of Diamonds is the top card of the pile of 27 cards. The two piles should be face down on the table about 18 inches apart. Now take one of your slips and write a prediction “You will choose the Nine of Diamonds,” and place this writing side down on the table between the two piles. Ask a member of the audience to think of any number he likes between 1 and 26, but not to tell you what it is until you count to it; he is then to say “Stop.” Pick up your packet of 26 cards, and pushing the double card over as one card, count the cards aloud from hand to hand, but this time reverse the order, putting the cards counted one on top of the other. Suppose he stops you at 17. Say that you will call that the 17 pile and drop the 17 (?) cards back on top of the uncounted ones. Write the number 17 on

55

one of your slips of paper and place it on top of the pile with the “17” showing. The double card will now be the 17th card from the top. Follow exactly the same procedure with the other pile of 26 cards (really 27) but insist that another number be thought of, which may in this case be, say, 22. At any rate when you have finished you should have your two piles of cards designated as the 17 PILE and the 22 PILE by the slips on top of them, and in each case the Nine of Diamonds will be the 17th and 22nd card from the top respectively. Between the piles lies the folded prediction. Recapitulate what has been done: The pack divided into two piles of 26 cards and a number freely chosen in each. Ask your helper to choose a pile. If he chooses the 27 packet tell him to put his hand on it, and if he chooses the 26 packet pick this up yourself. In either event, the result is the same. Slowly and fairly count off 16 cards from your I7 Pile and then push off the next card which will be the top card of the double one, the Nine of Diamonds. You can separate the card by picking it off and handing it to him if this suits you better. Tell him that this is his card and ask him to remember it. Have him put it back from where it came, drop the 16 cards on top and hand him the packet and ask him to mix the cards. This is an excellent and disarming move, for an overhand shuffle will not separate the double card, as a drastic trial will soon prove to you, and he will not use a dovetail shuffle with only half the pack. However, shuffle them yourself if you wish, but I strongly recommend having the spectator do the shuffling. Now take the packet back and count the cards face up, asking your spectator to say stop when he sees his card. He will not stop you, and your count will end at 25 cards for you pass the double card as one, and his card has apparently completely vanished. Remind him that he has under his hand the other half of the pack, and that his other chosen number is 22. Ask him to count his cards face down slowly one at a time and when he gets to the 22nd card he is to place this on one side without looking at it. He continues the count and finds that his packet contains 27 cards. This is climax No. 1, for obviously one card has vanished from the other packet and appeared in his packet. Ask him to name his chosen card and turn it over. Climax No. 2! Finally, for Climax No. 3, have him read the prediction you wrote at the beginning of the experiment. You will find this most convincing. The handling of both piles by the audience, the slowness and fairness of the moves and the complete absence of any sleights, all go to make it a trick for which a solution is difficult to offer. THE COSMIC RAY CARDS. A special pack of cards and a routine with the above title was marketed by Mr. Hull in 1933 and discontinued in 1939. It enjoyed a fairly reasonable sale in America, but never approached in popularity his later rough and smooth tricks, probably because the routine was difficult, involving the secret removal from the pack of the unprepared cards shown at the beginning of the

56

effect and their subsequent addition back again. The pack devised by me in 1939 is self-contained, and yet five transformations are possible, whilst no difficult sleights are employed in the presentation. Effect. The trick is a startling one. From the pack, shown to be all different and ordinary looking cards, two cards are selected by a spectator, say the Six of Diamonds, and the Jack of Clubs. One of these, the Six of Diamonds, is placed on the face of the pack. The performer claims that in the atmosphere are Cosmic Rays, of interstellar origin, which have been the subject of experiments carried our in the stratosphere. He claims that these rays can re-act through the human system and are highly penetrative, and that he proposes by their aid to print facsimiles of the freely selected six of Diamonds on to every card in the pack. His open hand is placed for a few seconds about six inches in front of the cards and when these are fanned out the entire pack is seen to consist of duplicates of the six of Diamonds. The Six of Diamonds is now removed and placed on one side and the cards revert back to the regular mixed pack. In the stead of the Six of Diamonds the Knave of Clubs is placed on the face of the pack. A similar procedure is gone through and the pack now changes throughout to Knaves of Clubs. In each of these changes the backs of the cards and the full faces of them are shown. Finally the performer picks up the Six of Diamonds and places this on the face of the pack on the top of the Knave of Clubs, but with its back towards the audience. A third exposure to the Cosmic Rays appears to print the card back on to the face of each card so that the entire pack is seen to consist of cards with backs printed on both sides. The performer explains that the influence of the Cosmic Rays is not lasting and the pack changes back to an ordinary pack of all different cards as at first. The Special Cards. This effect has been chosen, like the others in this Chapter, because its manufacture is within the reach of the average magician. You will require 18 cards all alike, in this example Sixes of Diamonds, and 18 other cards all alike, in this example, Jacks of Clubs. In addition to these two sets of 18 cards, you will require 18 indifferent mixed cards. Naturally these 54 cards should have the same back design and additionally, they should have white borders. It is an advantage to have a regular pack of cards to match, which can be used for one or two card tricks before this one, the packs being switched by any of the usual methods, but you can perform this one trick as the only experiment with cards on your programme perfectly satisfactorily. The faces and backs of the 18 indifferent cards should be treated with roughing solution. The 36 duplicates should be trimmed about one sixteenth of an inch short with a guillotine, and the backs of these cards should also be roughened. The faces of the duplicate cards should be polished with the “slicking paste” obtainable together with roughing fluid from most magic dealers.

57

To assemble the pack, place an indifferent card face down on the table and on it put a Six of Diamonds face up, followed by a Jack of Clubs face down. Continue with another indifferent card face down, a Six of Diamonds face up and a Jack of Clubs face down throughout the pack. If you examine the two top cards of the pack, you will find that the top card is a face down Jack of Clubs and the second card down is a face up Six Diamonds. This latter card should be turned face down. Needless to say, the duplicated cards can be any two cards but it is an advantage for them to be cards of opposite colours and having a good contrast in values. The Routine.

Photograph No. 21

If the cards are held vertically in the left hand facing the audience, the thumb on top and the second, third and fourth fingers along the bottom, and with the first finger crooked in the centre of the back of the pack exerting a slight pressure, and the thumb is allowed slightly to relax its hold, it will be found that the cards will spring forward three at a time into the right hand which is held to receive them slightly below the left, as shown in the photograph. In this display, known as the Card Spring sleight, nothing but the faces of the indifferent cards will show together with the regulation card backs. In this manner the pack is shown to be ordinary. Squaring up the pack and holding it face down in the right hand by the sides it is extended to a member of the audience who is invited to cut anywhere he wishes. He must cut at an indifferent card as these are the only cards with which his fingers can come in contact. The moment he cuts the top half is taken from him and placed face down on the table and the lower half placed crosswise upon it, and then the explanation is given of the use of the Cosmic Rays. This bit of misdirection covers up the almost childishly simple force of the two top cards, the audience losing sight of the fact that the completion of the cut brings what were the two top cards of the pack as the two cards apparently cut by the assistant, and these are taken off one

58

by one and placed on a small easel or propped up against some object such as a glass tumbler, where they can be displayed. It is important to note that the card second down is the first one to be used. The new top half of the pack which was crosswise across the bottom is now taken off and the bottom half placed on top of it. If these instructions have been carefully followed the pack will be exactly as before, except that the top two cards have been removed. Attention is now called to the two cards on the table and the remark may be made that the two cards, although chosen by chance, happen to be very appropriate, in that one is a red card and the other is a black one. Whilst this is being said the hands have not been idle. The pack is held face up in the right hand and the left thumb lifts the face card sufficiently for the fourth finger of the hand holding the pack to slip in between this card and the rest of the pack. Under cover of the face card the whole pack is now quickly turned over from below with a movement similar to the Two-handed Pass. A card back will still be showing as the new back card of the pack. The original second card down (in my example, the Six of Diamonds) is now placed on the face of the pack, and the exposure to the Cosmic Rays given by holding the left hand in front of the pack for a few seconds. If the cards are now fanned out or leafed through with a slight pressure, you will be surprised to see that only Sixes of Diamonds will show throughout the pack. The last card of the fan is a single Six of Diamonds, and it is a good plan to remove this one card and show it back and front, which is most convincing. The cards are now squared up and the Six of Photograph No. 22 Diamonds removed and placed on the table, and attention is called to the Knave of Clubs. As this is done, again the little finger slides in between the face card and the rest of the pack and the turn over movement is repeated. The cards may now again be sprung from hand to hand showing as all different. The Knave of Clubs is placed on the face of the pack and if this is now fanned out or leafed through as before nothing but Knaves of Clubs will be seen right through the pack. It is good policy to show the backs of the cards at this stage of the routine, which can be accomplished by a variation of the Card Spring sleight. Square up the cards and turn them with the face of the Jack of Clubs away from the spectators. The cards are held in precisely the same position as for the Card Spring sleight except that the hand is turned so that the pack is in a horizontal position.

59

The right hand approaches, the fingers going under and behind the pack in the left hand, the ball of the right thumb being about three-quarters of an inch from the back of the card nearest the audience. The palm of the half closed right hand is about one-and-half inches below the bottom edge of the pack. With the cards restricted in this manner, the Photograph No. 23 Card Spring sleight is executed, and you will find that the cards spring off in threes as before but strike the ball of the right thumb, thus retaining their vertical position, and then fall into the palm of the right hand below, which ultimately holds the entire pack. This move, correctly executed, gives a good display of card backs throughout the pack. The cards are again squared and turned faces to the audience in the right hand and the Six of Diamonds is placed on the face of the pack facing the Jack of Clubs with its back towards the audience. The left hand approaches and cuts the pack anywhere and a card back will come into view owing to the arrangement of the cards provided the cut is made from the front and not from the back of the pack.

Photograph No. 24

Photograph No. 25

It is now a natural move to take the whole of the pack in the left hand which has done the cutting which will automatically reverse the cards back to front with a card back showing at both the face and the back of the pack. They can now be sprung from hand to hand and will show as nothing but card backs on both sides. I usually finish the trick by transferring the cards to the right hand, turning them over in the process, and giving them a cut with the left hand so that an indifferent card appears on the back

60

of the pack unknown to the audience. They are slowly turned round and as the indifferent card comes into view the Card Spring sleight is executed, showing all different again as at first, after which the cards are casually returned to their case. To prepare the cards for the next demonstration, all that is necessary is to turn the face up card second from the top face down again. I feel sure that you will like this routine and that it will find a place on your programme. For those interested in the higher flights of card magic I may say that it is possible to arrange for two further changes, in which both sides of the cards change to Jokers. As the addition of this feature would make this description unduly lengthy and complex, I have not included it, but I shall be happy to correspond with any magician who works the experiment and desires this further series of transformations. THE FINAL THINK STOP TRICK. The effect of this experiment is that the performer is able to predict with certainty a card chosen from the pack under conditions which would appear absolutely to preclude any possibility of the choice being influenced by him, whilst the spectator who chooses the card is able to predict unconsciously the position to be occupied by the card in the pack after it has been shuffled by the magician. For the performance of this routine you will require a special pack of cards first marketed by Mr. Hull, which he called the NU-IDEA FORCING PACK. It has since been sold under various names in America and in this country. It consists of 26 indifferent cards and 26 duplicate or force cards, the indifferent cards being roughened on the backs and the force cards roughened on the faces. The pack is then assembled with the force cards and indifferent cards alternating throughout, one of the indifferent cards being on the face of the pack. The faces of the indifferent cards and the backs of the force cards are then polished with “slicking paste,” and the pack is ready for use. A pack prepared in this manner, in the hands of a competent operator, may be fanned, slowly leafed through and overhand shuffled with the faces of the cards to the spectators without the slightest fear of any of the force cards showing. The pairs of cards cling together in such a wonderful manner that the pack may be even placed in the hands of a spectator for a shuffle without the arrangement being disturbed or discovered. Apart from the cards, the only equipment you will need for the effect described is a pencil and two small sheets of paper, one for you to write your prophecy of the card which will be chosen and one for your spectator to write his prophecy, which will be a number between 1 and 10.

61

The moves necessary to the performance of the effect are soon learned. First practice running the cards from hand to hand with a slight pressure on the cards, without reversing the order, i.e., do not let the cards clear each other, but just push them from one hand to the other as if looking rapidly through to find some particular card. None of the force cards will show. Now overhand shuffle with faces to audience in the regulation manner, and the same will apply. I often hand the pack out at this stage, running through the deck as I place it in the hands of a spectator, and ask him to confirm that the deck contains “both red and black cards,” and the misdirection is so good that he perfunctorily looks through just as I was doing, and thanks to the treatment of the cards, and the disarming shuffling etc., and the very boldness of the move, he hands the pack back without a word. You have run through, fanned and shuffled the pack, and handed it out for examination if you feel like it. Try the latter on a lady the first time if you feel in doubt, until you gain confidence. Now write your prediction, writing of course the name of the force card, and hand the folded paper to a member of the audience for safe keeping. Have your victim write his number between one and ten and retain the prediction and now you are ready for the most convincing force you have ever seen, which is only possible with these cards. Again show all different by fanning or running through, and then ribbon spread on the table backs uppermost and have your spectator touch a card. Let him change his mind if he wants...this all builds up the effect into a small miracle. Finally, cut the pack at this point as the cards are spread, and put all the cards above the touched card to the bottom as you square up the pack. Do all this very slowly, and tell him to keep his eye on his card. Lift off the top card (it must, of course, be a force card, as there were only these for him to touch) by placing your second finger on the back of the cards and your thumb under the edge of the one card. This move must exactly duplicate the move you use later to lift two cards as one. Let him look at it and remember it and then you cut it with a sliding cut to the middle, and shuffle again.

Photograph No. 27

Photograph No. 26

Now hold the pack with the backs to the audience and go through the routine of asking him if his number was “one,” etc., and each time he says “No,” double lift in the following most

62

convincing way. With the second finger slide the top card about a sixteenth of an inch off the pack endways towards you, and you will find two come as one, thanks to the treatment. Simultaneously, the thumb comes up under the cards, and the first finger also, so that at this stage the second finger grips the card on top and thumb and first finger below. Turn the cards over as one away from you, and show the indifferent card and place the cards as one at the back of the pack. You will find all these moves blend into one, and the finger holds given provide a slight convex curve to the cards, so that there is no danger at all of showing you have two cards and not one. Carry on in this way until finally the spectator admits his number was, say, “seven,” and, of course, as far as the audience is concerned, you have so far showed in the fairest manner possible that the chosen card is not among the top six. Build up the effect as much as possible at this point by bringing out all the absolutely impossible features of the trick, and get the spectator to admit that if the next card actually is his, you have accomplished a miracle. Slowly turn around the top card, after he has named it, and you will get a good burst of applause. Get your man to open his paper and show that he actually wrote the number, and you will get another good hand, why, I never have discovered. Finally, ask the man holding your prediction since the start of the trick to open it and read it out, and the third round of applause will come. When this has died down, and the audience think the effect is over, slowly and deliberately replace the force card on top, and call the attention of the audience as you cut it to the middle, with a sliding cut. This sliding cut, which I have referred to before, always breaks at a force card, and thus another comes to the top. You could, of course, show it had returned to the top, but the following routine is much better. Lift two cards as one and call attention to whatever indifferent card this happens to be. Replace, and now lift the force card by itself and without showing it, place it on the bottom. As far as the audience is concerned you have put the force card in the middle and placed the top indifferent card on the bottom. Actually, of course, the indifferent card is still on top, and the force card is on the bottom. Show the two cards slowly, and you should have made a deep impression on your audience. This latter part of the routine is Mr. Hull’s and he called it “Knock ‘em off with a stick.” One line of his patter which I use is to point out to the audience that the transposition of the chosen card from the middle of the pack to the bottom, and the shown card from the bottom to the top is obviously an impossibility, since the two cards must pass each other in transit. THE CARE OF ROUGH AND SMOOTH CARDS. Many magicians who come to me with rough and smooth packs which they complain will not work properly show a lack of understanding of the principle of this wonderful invention. When you open a new pack of ordinary cards, naturally they fan perfectly smoothly owing to the

63

cleanliness of the cards and the polish on them. After considerable use, however, the cards tend to become sticky, and adhere together in bunches when fanned, simply because the surfaces have lost their original quality of sliding freely over each other. With use, the sliding surfaces of the outer cards of the pairs in a rough and smooth pack suffer in the same way, and consequently a sort of rival roughness is set up which counter-balances the artificial adhesion on the inner surfaces of the pairs of cards. If this trouble is allowed to develop, the natural adhesion may outweigh the artificial, and at this stage unwanted cards may begin to show. I find that many owners of rough and smooth packs which have begun to give trouble simply buy a bottle of roughing fluid and apply this generously to the originally treated surfaces, without any thought of the real cause of the difficulty. A tube of “slicking paste,” a clean silk handkerchief and half an hour’s work on the original smooth surfaces is usually all that is necessary to bring the pack back into perfect condition again, no roughing fluid being necessary in most cases. A still better plan, which I follow, is to keep the packs serviced while in use. When I have used, say, my Nudist cards a dozen times, I go over the blank smooth surfaces with a clean silk handkerchief, which removes any slight perspiration resulting from the handling of the cards and keeps them like new. If this small amount of trouble is taken, it is surprising how long the cards will last and what perfect service they will give. I use the Nudist Cards referred to in nearly every performance I give, and they have been in regular use since 1939. In six years they have been re-roughened once and re-polished twice.

64

C H A P TE R SE V E N.

THE MIRACLE TORN AND RESTORED CARD. “Here is a problem that satisfies all of our yearnings for a miracle. The impossible made possible.”–John Northern Hilliard. “Watch Chris Charlton choose and sign his name on a card from Dr. Shackleton’s pack and see it torn to pieces under his eyes, with his own writing on the bits and partly on the piece he retains, hey presto–the card becomes restored, still bearing the signature!”–Yorkshire Evening Post. This experiment, in my view the most perfect torn and restored effect in the whole range of magic exposition, was included in Mr. Hull’s second book, More Eye Openers, published in 1933. I was at once attracted by the beauty of the routine and modus operandi, as well as the impossible effect, and used it a great deal. During 1941 I stumbled on the idea of obviating the force used in the original version by incorporating the rough and smooth principle, and found that this improvement allowed an ease of handling and a strengthening of the effect which was well worth the slight amount of preliminary work involved. Because Mr. Hull approved enthusiastically of the new routine and because More Eye Openers is now out of print, I feel justified in including this modern version of one of Mr. Hull’s earlier and greatest tricks. To prepare for the experiment purchase two similar packs of cards with a fairly plain back design which will show up a signature written across the top in 2B pencil. I use the English “Hovis” cards shown in the photographs, which are excellent for the purpose. Separate the packs into two lots of 26 duplicates, as if you were making up two of the old Mene-Tekel packs. One of these packs will form your working cards and the remaining 26 pairs will a reservoir of spares, to be added a pair at a time as replacements after each performance. Take each pair of similar cards and lightly treat the face of one and the back of the other with roughing fluid, so that the assembled pack will show 26 mixed cards, and behind each is hidden a duplicate. On each of the hidden cards, which are roughened on the face, sign your name boldly in soft pencil across the top of the face side. Your signature should extend across the full width of the card, starting near the upper left hand index, and should not occupy any more space on the card, than about double that of the margin around the picture cards, and, of course, when you are using the latter, the writing will have to be confined to the margin. Re-assemble each pair by replacing the duplicate cards roughened on the backs on top of the signed

65

cards, put your working pack in its case, and you are ready to perform. You will need the 2B pencil used in the preparation, and in your right trouser pocket should be a lucky ring or coin or something of that kind. To present the trick, take the cards from the case and display them in the manner described in the routine “The Final Think Stop Trick,” giving them an overhand shuffle with the faces towards the audience. Thanks to the preparation of the cards these moves may be made with absolute freedom, and the signed cards will remain snugly hidden behind their duplicates. Now extend the fanned pack, face up, to a spectator, with the request that he touches any card he pleases. This obviously completely free choice is one of the chief points of the new version of the trick. As soon as your spectator touches a card, withdraw the two cards as one from the fan, the adhesion of the cards making this very easy, turn the pack face down, and place the two cards as one face up on top of it. I need hardly say that the signatures must all be at one end of the pack, and that when this stage of the routine is reached, the cards should be held in the hand so that the hidden signature is upright and at the top. My “Hovis” cards have a very obvious one-way design which makes this a simple matter, but if your cards are not single enders I would suggest placing a small dot on each card at the signature end. Display the face up card and say that you will sign your name across the top so that everyone will know it again, and suit your action to your words by duplicating across the top of the face of the visible card the signature which you know is below, but of which, of course, the spectators know nothing. The next few moves are extremely subtle. Turn the two face up cards over as one face down on to the pack. This move can be made perfectly naturally without any question of double lifting. The cards will move as one, and all that is necessary is for the thumb holding the pack to push off the visible card as if it were in fact one card. Hand the pack to a spectator and ask him to sign his name across the top of the back of the card so that his signature occupies the same position and the same amount of space as your name did. It is important that his name should extend practically to the right hand edge of the card. Take the pack back from him and lift off the top single card and display it back and front, slowly and in the fairest possible way calling attention to the two signatures. It may even be passed to one or two members of the audience, if desired. Your signature on this card is, of course, the one made secretly beforehand and the duplicate card with your other signature on it is still on top of the pack. Replace the card on top of the pack and pass the cards and the pencil to one or two spectators, inviting them to place additional distinguishing marks on the back of the card below the previous spectator’s signature. These marks may be made anywhere on the card. This move of replacing the card back on the pack is made perfectly natural by this procedure, as, of course, the

66

Photograph No. 29

Photograph No. 28

pack acts as a pad whilst the marks are being made, and the additional distinguishing signs add to the impossibility of what is to follow. Push off the two cards as one and take them in the left hand in the position shown in the photograph, slightly convexed, with the second and third fingers on top and the thumb underneath. Call attention to the signature on the face once more. Transfer the card(s) to the right hand into the position shown, the back of the card(s) facing the spectators, the card being held by the long edges between the thumb and second finger, again slightly convexed. Call attention to the signature and other marks on the back. Take the card(s) back again into the left hand, held precisely as at first. Bend the card(s) backwards until the edges meet, at the same time slowly turning the hand so that the card(s) assume a horizontal position. The right hand then creases the (cards) across the middle between the thumb and the first and second fingers. Now apparently open out the card and tear it in two, slowly and unmistakably, holding the pieces far apart. Actually, only the front card is straightened, the duplicate remaining folded behind the half card in the left hand.

Photograph No. 31

Photograph No. 30

67

Photograph No. 33

Photograph No. 32

All these moves are made simple for you by the “roughing” of the cards. Place the half card in the right hand in front of the piece in the left hand and seize the pieces in the same grip as before, bending back the half cards until they meet. Fold the pieces at the centre again and apparently straighten them and tear the card into four. Actually the card at the front is so torn, but once more only the two pieces of the front card are straightened out and divided and held far apart in either hand, the folded rear card remaining as before snugly hidden behind the pieces in the left hand. Exactly the same moves are now repeated so far as the audience are concerned, and the quarters are torn into eight pieces. From the magician’s point of view, every move is duplicated until he has folded the quarters into two and is ready to straighten them out again. I am illustrating what happens at this stage of the trick by two exposed views from behind. Notice how, as the quarters are straightened, the folded card is gripped by the tip of the right thumb and the left thumb has slipped under the fold of the card. The left thumb now quickly bursts open the fold and pushes the little hinged eighth of the rear card over to the right thumb which presses it against the back of the extending pieces of the front card which are ready to be torn off by the right hand. This little move is completely hidden behind the front pieces of card and the slight effort made by the left thumb is, of course, covered by the larger effort necessary to tear through four thicknesses of card. If all has gone well, you will find that in your left hand you have the folded card, intact except that one eighth has been torn from it, with four pieces of card in front of it. In the right hand you will have five pieces of card and the rearmost piece is torn from the folded card, and bears half the spectator’s signature and half your own. Place the pieces in the right hand in front of those in the left as always, except for the vital rearmost piece, which slides behind. In the left

68

hand, now, from front to rear, you will have the eight torn pieces, some of which will bear parts of your signature followed by the folded card minus one piece, and finally the missing eighth. Leaf quickly through the first four or five torn pieces, calling attention to the writing on some of them, and then push on past the folded card, to the last piece and display it, calling attention to the parts of signatures on both sides of it. Hand it to the spectator who signed his name and ask him to identify the portion of his signature and leave the piece with him. Transfer the bundle, loose pieces down, from the left to the right hand into the finger palm position, but holding it quite openly with the right thumb resting on the folded card. As this is done, the left hand goes into the trouser pocket in an abortive search for the magic ring or coin. Take the packet back in the left hand, actually the folded card only, leaving the torn pieces finger palmed in the right hand, which goes into the trouser pocket for the ring, leaving the pieces behind. Touch the packet with the ring, pointing out to the spectators the complete impossibility of the restoration of the card by any natural means, in view of the fact that they have seen it destroyed before their very eyes, with the signatures always in view even on the torn pieces. Slowly unfold the card, completely restored except for the piece retained by the spectator, drawing attention to the parts of the signatures on the card and the piece, which exactly match, and the other distinguishing marks on the card. From the audience’s point of view a miracle has been accomplished. Present the restored card to the spectator who signed his name on it and ask him to keep it as a souvenir. You will find this excellent publicity, for this is one of those tricks which make a deep impression, and result in a great deal of subsequent discussion. Your helper will find the actual card useful to illustrate his description of what appeared to happen. I am greatly indebted in the development of this routine to my friends Dr. H. Park Shackleton and Edgar Shackleton, who have watched me perform the experiment over and over again until it reached its present stage of near perfection. The trick is a favourite of Dr. Shackleton’s and in his hands is a masterpiece of magic.

69

C H A P TE R E IG H T.

TWO MAGICAL MINIATURES. “ He who presumes that Ralph W. Hull’s creative genius is limited to fifty-two pieces of pasteboard is very much mistaken.”–Howard P. Albright,

Photograph No. 36

RALPH W. HULL, KENTON, OHIO, 1943. Whilst this book is primarily a collection of unusual card experiments, this Chapter and the final one are devoted to effects with equipment other than cards The present Chapter deals with two modern versions of Mr. Hull’s published effects, the Homing Ball and The Juggling Knives. Of the first-named trick, I may say that Mr. Hull invariably opened his general club programme with it, and that he cherished it as a favourite feat. The knife trick was another original routine of beautiful close- up magic, which he regarded with extreme affection. Sometimes, as Mr. Hull admitted to me frequently in correspondence, his routines were published perhaps a little prematurely, and further ideas occurred to him subsequently which he passed on to his intimate friends. The two effects dealt with in this Chapter are cases in point.

70

THE HOMING BALL. This experiment was first described by Mr. Hull in his last book Smart Magic, published in 1935, and subsequently was manufactured and sold for him by John Snyder, Jr., 2518 Leslie Avenue, Norwood, Ohio. For the first of the two routines I am offering here, you may either purchase the apparatus from Mr. Snyder, the price before the war being $1.00, or you may, as suggested by Mr. Hull in Smart Magic, manufacture your own. With the latter possibility in mind, I may say that all that is needed for the first sequence is the original equipment, which consisted of a small pasteboard cone and two small rubber balls, preferably red, and about one-and-quarter inch in diameter. The cones may be obtained from merchants and the ones that are used in the centre of large rolls of wrapping paper are ideal. Drop one of the rubber balls in the cone and you will find that it will stick there. Now cut off the large end of the cone until the edge of the ball will be about three-quarters inch from the bottom of it. This can be done by first marking the outside of the cone accurately with pencil and then cutting it with a sharp knife. The cone may then be decorated in any way to suit your fancy. In the top of the cone should be a small hole about one-eighth inch in diameter. The photograph illustrates the equipment I Photograph No. 37 use, which is that supplied by John Snyder. Routine No. 1. This is simply a much abbreviated version of the published routine, with an improved method of introducing and dispensing with the extra ball introduced by myself. The sequence of moves, other than the use of the handkerchief and the pocket is entirely Mr. Hull’s. The only preparation necessary is for a good sized linen handkerchief to be in the right trouser pocket and resting on top of it is one of the balls. The other ball, the only one of which the spectators have knowledge, is balanced on the small hole in the top or the cone which is standing on your table. I am preceding the description of each move with the approximate patter which I use when I do the trick in this way. “I am opening my performance with this delightful little mystery, which I call the Homing Ball. Here is the principal actor in the title-role, this little red ball, together with its home, this small decorated cone. Additionally, just once, we shall need this handkerchief.” The moves covered by these remarks merely consist of displaying the ball by picking it up with the right hand and tossing it into the left, and then lifting the cone with the right hand,

71

showing it empty and placing it beneath the left arm, the open end facing the audience. The free right hand now goes to the trouser pocket, palms the ball, and brings out the handkerchief, which is held by the two top corners, in either hand and displayed back and front. It is then draped over the left shoulder. During these latter moves, the ball in the left hand is, of course, held in the open view of the audience. “You will notice by the way that at the top of the cone is a tiny hole about one-eighth inch in diameter. Obviously it is a complete physical impossibility for a ball one-and-one-eighth inch in diameter to pass through such a hole unless the ball possesses magical properties, and can at will, by a process of first stroking and then squeezing, be compressed until it is as small as a BB shot, small enough to be dropped into the cone through the top. You will notice by the way that the moment the ball drops inside the cone it instantly expands to full size again, just as solid as ever.” As these comments are made, the right hand with the palmed ball seizes the edge of the bottom of the cone between the thumb and the first and second fingers, and removes it from beneath the left arm. It is held at eye level, open end to the audience, as you look through the little hole at the spectators, with the back of your right hand naturally to the spectators owing to the routine followed. As mention is made of the ball, the latter is displayed again in the left hand, whilst the right fingers take a new grip on the cone as shown in the photograph (exposed view). The cone is lowered with the tip slightly below horizontal and in this position you will find that it is the simplest of matters to relax the palm grip and allow the ball to roll in to the Photograph No. 38 cone, where it will stick. The cone is now placed on the table in its customary upright position, with a slight impact or jar which will cause the ball to be dislodged and rest on the table under the cone. The left hand now tosses the visible ball to the right hand, and is formed into a fist, with the back of the hand to the audience and the curled fourth finger uppermost The tight hand now places the ball on the top of the left fist, and makes a vertical stroking movement down, the back of the closed left hand. This move is made with the right fingers slightly open in a natural relaxed position, and starts with the palm of the right hand touching the knuckles of the left hand, the right fingers being extended above and hiding the ball momentarily, and ends with the right hand in a much lower position, the tips of the right fingers just touching the under side of the left fist.

72

The stroking movement is executed three times. The first time, the left hand remains unmoved with the ball on top of the fist. During the second movement, the left fingers are allowed to open slightly, allowing the ball gently to settle into the half closed left hand. On the third stroke the ball is allowed to roll out of the left hand, aided by the left thumb, and is imperceptibly gripped in the right palm as it passes. You will find that this simple move is a most beautiful vanish for a ball, and is completely deceptive to the most watchful observer. The right hand with the palmed ball now drops to a natural position at the side, whilst the left hand, still half closed as if holding the ball, is held about six inches over the top of the cone. The motions are made of squeezing the ball down to a very small size and of dropping it through the top of the cone. The left hand now seizes the top of the cone, and lifts it to reveal the ball beneath. Under the misdirection of this first surprise, the left hand places the cone in the right hand, which grips it in the familiar position already depicted in Photograph No. 38. As the left hand picks up the ball and tosses it in the air, the ball is rolled from the right palm into the cone as before. The latter is placed on the table, again with the slight jar needed to dislodge the ball. “Another way of doing this is to squeeze the ball down to its previous small size and then crumble it into a small quantity of fine red powder, which can be sprinkled through the hole in the top of the cone. Once inside, the amazing thing is that the molecules forming the original structure re-integrate, taking on once more the shape of our old friend, the Homing Ball, back in its abiding place under the cone.” This phase of the routine is almost a repetition of the first series of moves, except that the vanish of the ball is varied. The ball is tossed from hand to hand, and then the right hand apparently places it in the left, really palming it. The half closed left hand now pretends to squeeze the ball to powder and sprinkle it through the hole, and lifts the cone to reveal the ball. Again the cone is transferred to the right hand and the palmed ball allowed to roll into it as the left hand displays the visible ball. Finally, the right hand places the cone on the table in its usual position, but without the little jar, so that the ball remains lodged up in the cone. The left hand once more places the ball in its original position balanced on the little hole on top of the cone. “The other week I was performing this at Barnsley and someone in the audience said, “Captain Hall, anyone who talks as much as you do can make people believe any thing. I think you just talk us into imagining that the ball gets through that tiny hole. Just stop talking for a while and then let us see if you can do it. This startled me to a certain extent, because to my friends I am known rather affectionately as ‘Tongue-Tied Trevor.’ However, there it was...they wanted me to stop talking. So I stopped...by doing this...” The moves coinciding with the foregoing bring the routine to a close with quite a sensational climax, worked in silence, which I have found most effective.

73

The ball is picked up and thrown in the air as the little imaginary incident is re-counted and then apparently placed in the mouth with the right hand. Really it is rolled into the usual palm position as the half open hand covers the mouth whilst the cheeks are slightly inflated as if the ball was really in the mouth. The right hand with the palmed ball now pulls the handkerchief from the left shoulder and the left hand drapes it over the right, and incidentally over the palmed ball, the latter hand holding it at about waist level. The left hand now picks up the cone, which you will recall has the other ball lodged in it, and places the small hole to the lips, the cone pointing obliquely downwards to the handkerchief draped over the hand about nine inches below. This position is held momentarily so that the audience have time to anticipate the impossible feat you are attempting that of blowing the ball from the mouth through the cone. Blow with increasing pressure into the cone, and with a sudden outrush of air, the ball will shoot out to be caught on the handkerchief below. You will now have one ball above the handkerchief and one concealed below. Wipe the ball with the handkerchief removing the moisture (?) from the mouth, and replace the handkerchief in the pocket, with it, of course, going the extra ball, leaving you with the cone and ball and your empty hands as in the beginning. Routine No. 2. “SIMPLIFIED GOLF.” I regard this routine as one of the most valuable items in this book, for it is the invention of my friends, Dr. H. Park Shackleton and Edgar Shackleton, who were enthusiastic in their praise of the sequence just described, yet considered that the apparatus and presentation could be even further improved. I am proud indeed to be able to include in this book an example of Dr. Shackleton’s presentation and patter, and a slight indication of Edgar Shackleton’s inventive powers. The apparatus for this routine is similar to the standard equipment, but with some important alterations and additions. Instead of red rubber balls, golf balls are employed. The cone is enlarged slightly to accommodate them, and is coloured plain red. The hole in the top is increased to slightly over half an inch in diameter. A small white ball is made of cork or India rubber, of such a size that if placed on the hole at the top of the cone it will rest half way in, but pressure with a finger will cause it to drop through. A piece of wire is fixed across the inside of the cone about one inch from the top, so that the small ball is retained in the top section of the cone when pushed through the hole. The final additional item is an egg bag made of bright green cloth, fitted with the well-known running thread device so that when turned inside out the bag can be examined. Dr. Shackleton advises that the bag, with one ball inside it, and the cone be introduced one at a time from a case or box on the table as they are mentioned in the patter story. The small ball

74

is secured on a pin under the lower edge of the coat on the left side so that it can easily and imperceptibly be finger palmed in the left hand when required. The extra golf ball is in the right hand trouser pocket on top of a large linen handkerchief as in Routine No. 1. Here Dr. Shackleton offers a very useful tip. He has discovered that, if a corner of the handkerchief is folded or pleated concertina fashion for a few inches, and the ball allowed to rest on the handkerchief with this pleating directly under it, it will remain in the correct position all evening if necessary. I am dividing Dr. Shackleton’s patter into sections, following each with the description of the moves involved. In general terms, the sequence is similar to the first routine described. “Simplified Golf...simplified by magic. The advantage of this is that you carry your own apparatus, and first of all you need a green.” (The bag is removed from the box or case on the table, and the ball removed from it and put down without comment, the bag being retained in the hands). “The beauty of this is, of course, that there are no worm-casts, and the green does not slope towards any particular part of the course.” (After being shown, the bag is placed flat on the table). “This proves that I am a real magician.” (The ball is taken up and rolled between the two extended index fingertips, thus subtly demonstrating the emptiness of the hands). “In addition, you carry your own portable hole.” (The cone is introduced and placed upright on the bag on the table). “I’m told that the difficulty in the game of golf is to get the damned ball into the blasted hole, or words to that effect. I neither speak nor play golf.” (The ball is placed on top of the cone). “The great advantage of a portable hole is that you can easily get the ball into it.” (The ball is picked up into the palm of the right hand, and the cone seized by the top in the left hand. The cone is placed over the ball and removed once or twice. The cone is replaced on the bag and the ball replaced on top).

75

Photograph No. 39

(For convenience I used the Red ball to illustrate this sleight.)

“Now the hole is, of course, always marked with a flag.” (The handkerchief is removed from the right trouser pocket and the extra ball finger palmed in the right hand. The handkerchief is waved a couple of times and thrown over the left shoulder, and the right hand picks up the cone with the ball on top of it. The left hand takes the ball and the right hand allows the finger palmed ball to roll into the cone. The cone is placed down on the bag with sufficient force to dislodge the ball, the presence of the bag preventing undue noise). “Magically, the ball is then taken and squeezed until it becomes so small that it easily drops through the small hole and, of course, is found holed out.” (The sleight used by Dr. Shackleton for vanishing the ball twice in this routine differs somewhat from those employed by me. The ball is balanced on the closed right fist as shown in the photograph and the left hand approaches and apparently takes the ball. Actually as the left fingers half close the right fist opens slightly, enough to allow the ball imperceptibly to slide downwards into the hand, where it is held in the finger palm position. The left hand goes through the motions of squeezing the ball and dropping it through the hole, after which the left hand lifts the cone and transfers it to the right hand, revealing the ball. Under the misdirection of the appearance of this ball the ball in the right hand drops into the cone which is replaced on the table as before as the visible ball is picked up with the left hand. The ball is tossed into the right hand and the left hand drops to the side and secures the small ball from under the coat in the finger palm position). “Many people imagine that I don’t really squeeze the ball, but I do. Here it is. Not quite small enough to fall in, but with a little push...it’s holed out again.”

76

(Here is a marvelous effect. The moves of the previous vanish are duplicated, except, of course, that the small ball is finger palmed in the left hand and is revealed after the squeezing motions have been executed. It is dropped on top of the cone where it sticks. However, it is pushed with a finger tip and drops out of sight, and instantly the cone is lifted as before revealing; the full size ball, the small ball being retained in the top of the cone by the cross wire. The ball is loaded from the right hand into the cone which is placed on the table without dislodging the ball, and the final phase of Routine No. 1 is performed in silence. When the ball has been blown through the cone, the handkerchief and concealed extra ball are placed in the pocket). “And there we have the hole, the ball and the green, which, by the way, is in the form of a bag.” (The cone is placed aside and the bag and ball taken in the hands. In order to free both hands to show the bag, the ball is openly placed under the left armpit and the arm pressed to the side. This is an important move, for it prepares the audience for the closing phase of the routine, where the ball is apparently surreptitiously placed there). “There you see its outside on its inside, nothing outside its inside and nothing inside its outside. In fact, it might be on its first sea voyage, mightn’t it?” (The bag is shown inside and outside using the convincing moves possible with the running thread arrangement). “Like the rest of this, it is a magical bag, and when I drop the ball in, I’ve always got it, because it’s disappeared!” (With this line of patter, which closes the routine, the ball is placed in the bag, going, of course, into the compartment, following the normal handling of an egg bag. A swift movement is made with the right hand towards the left armpit as if the ball was being hidden there, and the left arm is pressed to the side as the bag is turned inside out. Finally, after showing that the ball is not in fact, under the armpit, the empty(?) bag is placed on one side, and the routine is over). I feel sure that you will appreciate the very real value of this sequence. One of Ralph Hull’s favourite tricks, improved by Edgar Shackleton, with patter provided by Dr. Shackleton, must surely be the acme of technical perfection. For performances at golf clubs, it is of course invaluable, and the patter can be expanded to suit local conditions. THE JUGGLING KNIVES. Mr. Hull placed the effect with the above title on the market in 1935. The equipment consisted of a black bone-handled penknife, a knife of similar size and shape with a white pearl handle,

77

and two prepared knives, each with a white pearl handle on one side and a black bone handle on the other. A small booklet of instructions accompanied the knives. During 1939 I purchased the trick from Mr. Hull, and as our friendship progressed, he sent me a later routine used by himself employing three knives only, which he considered a great improvement on the published effect. I am including this unpublished sequence in this book exactly as Mr. Hull described to me together with a further arrangement of my own, using parts of both routines, which has been one of my favourite feats of small magic for five years. I imagine that most magicians will possess the necessary equipment, which is the same for both routines and consists of two knives of contrasting handles, and one prepared knife, the sides of the handle being of the two different colours of the unprepared knives. The move used by Mr. Hull for showing apparently both sides of the prepared knife, whilst actually allowing the audience to see one side only, differs radically from any description I have seen in contemporary magical literature dealing with the subject. The fake knife (in my case, black bone on one side and pearl on the other) is held in either hand as shown in the photograph, with, say, the pearl side uppermost.

Photograph No. 41

Photograph No. 40

Notice that the knife lies exactly across the first joint of the index finger, with the thumb on the centre of the handle. By pushing the thumb forward the knife will roll over towards the end of the finger, showing the other side of the handle. As this movement is made, however, the hand is turned over into the position shown in the photograph, so that the audience still see the same side of the knife. Now the hand is turned palm uppermost again, and the move of rolling the knife forward is reversed. You will find this sleight a great improvement over the old paddle move normally employed in colour changing knife routines. If you perform it slowly you will see that there is no chance of the spectators glimpsing the other side of the knife, for the upper side of the handle

78

faces the audience the whole time. It is similar to the revolution of the moon around the earth each lunar month, always keeping the same side towards us. In the descriptions of the routines this move will be referred to as Move No. 1. The only other sleight employed is a little move whereby the hand is closed over the fake knife, and when re-opened the other side of the handle is uppermost, the knife having apparently changed colour. To execute this move, lay the prepared knife across either hand in the position shown in the photograph. Close the fingers over the knife and turn the fist over back uppermost. Raise the bent secPhotograph No. 42 ond finger slightly so that the tip rests on the knife, and roll the knife over within the closed hand. This movement is executed as the hand is turned over and imperceptible. The hand is now reversed again palm uppermost, and the fingers opened disclosing the knife in its original position, but having undergone a transformation. In the routine, this change will be called Move No. 2. R. W. HULL’S UNPUBLISHED ROUTINE. The two unprepared knives, one of each colour, are in the right trouser pocket, and the fake knife in the left trouser pocket. The black handled knife is openly removed from the right pocket, and handed to a spectator to examine. Whilst the knife is being looked at, the left hand secures the fake knife in the finger palm position. The black knife is received back in the right hand, and then a turn is made to the left as though to show the knife to a spectator in that direction. Simultaneously with this turn, the knife is apparently transferred from the right hand to the left. Actually, as the right hand nears the left, the knife is finger palmed in the right hand and the left hand is opened at the same moment revealing the fake knife, black side uppermost. The knife is shown to the spectators on the left by means of Move No. 1, as a black handled knife. Inasmuch as the other spectators have examined the knife a moment before, everything appears to be fair and aboveboard. Now, by Move No. 2, the black knife is transformed into a white one. Under the misdirection of this change, the right hand changes the black knife for the white one in the trouser pocket and retains the latter in the finger palm position. The fake knife showing as a white one is now apparently thrown back into the right hand, but actually the move described a moment ago is reversed, the fake knife being finger palmed in

79

the left hand, and the white knife already in the right hand being simultaneously revealed. This genuine white knife is rolled backwards and forwards a time or two on the palm of the right hand, showing both sides unmistakably as white, and then is once more to all appearances thrown back into the left hand. Really it is again finger palmed and the prepared knife shown in the left hand, white side uppermost. Mr. Hull suggests that at this stage of the routine it is an advantage if the spectators suspect that two knives are employed, and recommends that a remark be made such as “Well, you would not expect me to perform a miracle, would you? Of course I use two knives, plus a little sleight of hand.” As this comment is made, the right hand with the white knife finger palmed, goes openly into the trouser pocket, leaving the white knife behind and brings into view the genuine black knife. With the remark “That explains the first part of the trick–two knives are used. Now let me show you the sleight of hand part of it...” the left hand closes on the fake knife, executing Move No. 2, as the black knife is openly placed in the right trouser pocket. The left hand is opened as the white knife is withdrawn from the right pocket, and apparently the knives have changed places. This transposition, with one knife held in the left hand and the other placed in the right pocket, is repeated twice to the mystification of the audience, with the remark that now that the spectators know of the existence of the two knives and can see the little twist of the wrist, they know exactly how the trick is done, which will cause some amusement. The blade of the fake knife, now showing as black, is opened and the move is repeated, the open knife apparently passing into the pocket closing itself, and the white knife appearing open in the left hand. The open blade makes no difference to the execution of either Move No. 1 or No. 2. Now the spectators are told that gentlemen usually prefer the black handled knife and the left hand knife suddenly changes into a black knife matching the one in the right hand, by the execution of first Move No. 2 and then Move No. 1. The knife held in the right hand should from time to time be rolled on the palm, for it is always the knife which can be shown both sides. Mr. Hull suggests that as both knives will alternately be rolled in this manner, during the routine the impression will be given to the spectators that they see all sides of both knives (which, of course, they really do, but not at the same time). The fake knife in the left hand is now changed back to white by Move No. 2. The black knife is placed in the pocket and instantaneously Move No. 2 is again executed with the left hand as the white knife is withdrawn from the pocket. With the remark that most ladies seem to prefer the pearl handled white knives, both knives appear as white ones by the execution of Move No. 2 with the left hand followed by Move No. 1 with both hands. Finally, the left hand knife is changed to black once more.

80

To conclude, Mr. Hull recommends that the right hand places the white knife with the fake knife into the left hand and secretly secures the black knife from the pocket in the finger palm position. The left hand now makes the familiar move of apparently transferring both knives to the right hand, really finger palming the prepared knife, the white knife joining the black knife in the right hand. The last move enables the knives to be tossed out for examination. THE AUTHOR’S ROUTINE. No originality is claimed for the sequence which follows, which is largely adapted from Mr. Hull’s. From my personal point of view, the principal reason why I decided to make certain changes in the routine was that I found some difficulty in making the finger palm moves in a way which satisfied me, and so I obviated these sleights completely, relying upon Moves No. 1 and 2, to bring about the transformations, with the addition of two little moves of my own which are so simple that they cannot be called sleights at all. Another point which seemed to me capable of improvement was the limiting of the whole of the transformations to the knife held in the left hand, and consequently it will be observed that in the routine which follows the knife in the right hand occasionally changes colour. The final innovation is a little move whereby at the stage where both knives are shown to be of the same colour they can be held in one hand and apparently all sides shown. The moves are described briefly only except where there is any radical change from Mr. Hull’s routine such as at the opening of the sequence. I am preceding the description of each section of the modus operandi with the presentation and patter I normally use. On my programme I call the item “RAPID TRANSIT.” Equipment and Preparation. The fake double sided knife is in the right trouser pocket together with a few small articles such as coins, keys, etc. The two ordinary knives can be in any pocket or in your case. Presentation. “I call this rather startling little feat of dexterity RAPID TRANSIT. I suppose you have all heard people remark when they mean something has occurred very quickly, ‘It happened before you could say KNIFE.’ Well, here is the knife, or rather, two of them. Will you examine them thoroughly, sir? (Empty (?) right hand pocket of contents except knife, without comment of any kind). You will notice that one of the knives has a black bone handle and the other a grey pearl handle, so that you can always tell one from the other. All right? Now...the trick is for me to try to deceive you as to the whereabouts of the knives. Watch carefully. I put one knife in my pocket. Can you guess which one is left in the hand. The black one? Quite right. Now watch very

81

closely, for this time the black knife goes in to the pocket, and yet when I say the magic words HOCUS POCUS here it is in my hand and here is the pearl one in my pocket.” (These opening moves are worked out so that one of the examined knives may be subtly changed for the fake knife in the right trouser pocket. When the knives are handed back by the spectator the pearl one is taken in the left hand and the black one in the right and Move No. 1 is executed several times with both hands so as to prepare the way for what is to follow. The knives are then slowly and fairly changed over and Move No. 1 repeated. Now as the hands are closed, with the black knife in the left hand and the pearl one in the right, a little feint is made by bringing the hands together momentarily and then the right hand is openly placed in the trouser pocket, where the pearl knife is left and the fake knife brought out showing as pearl. The move is again executed and then once more the knives are slowly changed over, the fake knife showing as pearl being taken in the left hand, and the black one in the right. The left hand is closed and Move No. 2 is executed as the black knife is placed in the pocket and the pearl knife brought out in its stead. Simultaneously the left hand is opened showing what appears to be the black knife). “And now for a simple little subtraction sum. Both knives are in the right hand; there is nothing in my left hand. One knife...the pearl...is removed. The question is which knife remains in the right hand? The black? Sorry, I must have whispered HOCUS POCUS under my breath, for it is the pearl knife and here is the black one in my left hand.” (The little move covered by the preceding paragraph of patter is a transposition which I worked out in order to break down at the outset any theory that the pocket contained an extra knife. At the point where the routine left off the black knife (actually the fake) was in the left hand. It is openly placed in the right hand below the pearl knife in the position shown in the photograph). The right fingers now close over both knives, Photograph No. 43 and the hand turns round so that its back faces the spectators. The left hand now pulls out from the closed right hand the lower knife, which, of course, is the prepared knife and now appears to be the pearl knife. The left hand executes Move No. 1 and then Move No. 2. Both hands are opened and the knives have apparently changed places. “Sometimes it will work even without the magic words. For example, here is the black knife in the hand (fast), the pearl knife goes in the pocket, yet here it is in my hand and here’s the black

82

knife. And now, just in case everyone in the room has not quite got it yet, I’ll open the blade of the pearl knife so that you can keep your eyes on it, and put the black knife in my pocket. HOCUS POCUS. Here’s the black knife open, and here’s the pearl knife, closed.” (These moves require little explanation. The left hand executes Moves No. 1 and 2 with the fake knife as the pearl knife is placed in the pocket and the black knife produced. The whole move is then repeated, this time the blade of the double-sided being opened, first showing as a pearl knife and then as black. At the conclusion of the last transposition the blade of the prepared knife is closed). “The next part of the experiment is pure auto-suggestion, because otherwise it must obviously be an impossibility. When I perform this trick for a mixed audience I always find that the ladies admire the little pearl handled knife and so...HOCUS POCUS...and just for a second or so an optical illusion or mirage occurs and it appears as if both knives are pearl handled.” (Move No. 1 is executed with both hands which are then closed on the knives and Move No. 2 executed with the left hand. When the hands are opened both knives appear to be pearl handled. Now comes a very beautiful move. The left hand is holding the fake knife in the position for Move No. 1 and the right hand places the pearl knife into the left hand between the first and second fingers as shown in the photograph.

Photograph No. 44

You will be surprised to discover that the presence of the second knife makes no difference to the facility with which you can execute Move No. 1, which you now do a couple of times, apparently showing all sides of the knives, now to all appearances both pearl handled). “To continue, I have to change one of the knives back into a black one; it does not particularly matter which. Oh, there we are. And now, as quick as lightning and before you can say knife, the pearl one goes into the pocket, appears in the hand...and here’s the black knife.”

83

(A subtlety is introduced here of allowing the transformation to take place in the right hand, instead of the left. The right-hand re-takes one of the pearl knives from the left hand, but actually the fake knife is the one transferred. Move No. 1 is executed with both hands, which are then closed and Move No. 2 follows with the right hand. The left hand is opened first, as if it was expected that the black knife would be there and then the right hand is opened as an afterthought. You will notice how the patter brings this point before the audience. Now the knives are openly exchanged, the left hand taking the black knife (fake) and executing Move No. 2 as the pearl knife is changed for the black in the pocket. This transposition should be done with extreme rapidity). “Most men prefer the black bone-handled knife, and so all that is necessary is for the gentleman to imagine that both knives are black, and they appear to be so. To conclude this hallucination, we shall have to change one of the knives back into a pearl-handled one . . . and place both knives in the left hand. One knife . . . the black one . . . is removed and placed in the pocket leaving the pearl behind. HOCUS POCUS . . . here is the black one in the hand, and believe it or not, here’s the pearl one in the pocket.” (I feel sure that you will appreciate the ending of the routine, and especially the way in which the prepared knife is disposed of, leaving two ordinary knives as in the beginning. The change to two black knives is, of course, brought about by the execution of Move No. 2, with the left hand after the closing of both hands. The regular black knife is then placed in the left hand between the first and second fingers and Move. No. 1 executed with both knives in the same hand as described for the transformation to two pearl knives. The fake knife is then taken in the right hand, Move No. 1 is executed with both hands, which are then closed and re-opened after Move No. 2 has taken place in the right hand. The knife in this hand, now apparently a pearl one, is placed in the left hand below the black knife, as shown previously in Photograph No. 43, although now, of course, the relative positions of the knives are reversed. The hand is closed, turned with its back to the audience, and the fake knife is withdrawn from the closed fingers showing as a black knife, the real black knife remaining concealed in the fist. The fake knife is placed in the pocket and exchanged for the unprepared pearl knife, which is produced, as the left hand opens disclosing the black knife. To all appearances the usual transposition has taken place between the knife held in the left hand and the knife placed in the pocket, but this time you are left with the two unprepared knives as at first. They may be handed out for examination if the conditions under which you are performing indicate that it would be an advantage to do so.

84

C H A P TE R NINE .

A MAGICIAN AMONG THE SPIRITS.

Photograph No. 45

RALPH W. HULL, KENTON, OHIO, 1943. “Ralph Hull’s unpublished routine with The Dr. ‘Q’ Slates is the best smoker trick I have seen in forty-five years of magic.” –Dr. H. Park Shackleton, O.B.E., (Vice-President, Magic Circle.) With the publication of this book I am resigning my exclusive possession of what in my view was the late R. W. Hull’s greatest single achievement in magical creation. It has been assessed by expert critics as the most impressive feat of club magic hitherto conceived. To the lay audience it is a sequence of three sensational climaxes, accomplishing feats of prophetic pseudo spirit slate writing under apparently impossible conditions. By way of a description of the exact effect obtained, I am first offering the approximate patter which I use in presenting the routine:– “I have called my last experiment A MAGICIAN AMONG THE SPIRITS because in it I shall attempt to duplicate, under a broad light instead of a darkened room, the most impossible feat of the spirit mediums. Here are two slates, blank on all sides...which you are going to examine;

85

indeed, one of you is going to keep the slates in his or her possession the whole time. Now, in pink chalk, I am marking up this slate with two lots of inverted commas, a cross and a question mark, and then some apparently meaningless hieroglyphics or chicken tracks...actually this is Chinese for the last line of ‘The Young Lady of Gloucester.’ On the other one, in yellow chalk, I am putting the ten numerals–1, 2, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0. Now as this is really so remarkable I would like one or two of you to be satisfied that these are real slates with real chalk marks on them. You are satisfied, sir? Thank you.” “And now, I wonder if I could persuade some one to help us by holding the slates? You, sir?... thank you very much. Will you be seated? Now, you can see the marks on the slates? Will you tie this rope round, first one way and then the other. Thank you very much. We look upon you as the custodian of the slates.” “And now, I would like you, sir, to cut these cards just wherever you like. There? Thank you...do you mind if we mark the cut by turning these face up? Our friend has cut the cards just where he wished and marked the cut.” “I am going to ask him to look at the two cards at which he has cut and add the values together. Ace to Ten will count as 1 to 10 and pictures will count Jack 11, Queen 12 and King 13. Is that perfectly clear? Now what is the total? Eighteen? Thank you. I think everyone in this room will agree that nobody could possibly have foreseen that our friend, with the whole pack to cut from, would cut at two cards which would total 18. Your number, then, sir, is 18, arrived at by chance and chance alone.” “Here are two English novels of the popular kind that you could buy at any bookstall for 6d., before the war...I believe they are 9d., now. There is a green one DEATH OF MY AUNT and a blue one THE LADY VANISHES. Each of these books contains probably something like 80,000 words...I haven’t counted them...and from one of them I am going to have one of you choose a word. Will you help us? Thank you. I want to emphasise ahead of time that you are going to choose one of these books, and that the choice is going to be yours and yours alone. If you say the green book, then the green book will be used and the selection will be made from it. If you say the blue book then we shall use the blue book and from it will come the word. So...which will you have...the green or the blue? The blue? Could anything be fairer?” “By the way, I would like someone to hold the green book just for the moment. You, madam? Thank you. Now, sir, the number you will remember, was 18. I want everyone in this room to be convinced that chance and chance alone governs the selection of the word. You have of your own free will chosen the blue book...I offer you a further choice...will you have page 18 or chapter 18? Whichever you say we will use. Which is it to be? Chapter 18? Then will you turn to chapter 18 in the blue book and count to the 18th word; just along the script in the ordinary way. Will you call it out? WAS? W.A.S.? Thank you. Then that is your word.”

86

You will agree with me that a matter of seconds ago you could have had the green book? Shall we out of curiosity ask this lady to look at the 18th word in chapter 18 in the green book, so that we can all be satisfied that it is an entirely different word? What is it, madam? RUSH? An entirely different word, but one we should have used had the green book been chosen. But for some reason you chose the blue book and the word is WAS.” “And now for the miracle. You will remember that long before we thought about words or numbers the slates were tied together and held by this gentleman. Would it not be a complete miracle if those red chalk marks were to obey my command and become animated, take on life of their own, and begin to move about on the slate, and slowly but surely come together to form the word WAS? If, additionally the two yellow numbers 1 and 8 on the other slate, forming the number 18 chosen by our friend were to leap across to the other slate and join the word WAS, then I think you will agree that we should be entering the realms of the impossible. The number was 18 and the word was WAS. 1...8...W...A...S!!! Will you unfasten the slates, sir? And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the word WAS and the numbers 1 and 8 now missing from the other slate!” “I was performing this experiment over at Leeds the other evening, and the gentleman who had been kind enough to help me by holding the slates said, “Captain Hall, even now I have seen it I still don’t believe it. The word and the number could not possibly have been known beforehand, and in any case, I was holding the slates the whole time.” I answered this challenge by a very quick test, by having just a card selected this time, purely by the laws of probability and chance. Will you tie the slates up again, sir, and put them underneath your arm. Now you will agree that if we shuffle a pack of cards in the ordinary overhand fashion like this, the card which happens to be at the top of the pack at any particular second is governed by pure hazard? If I shuffle face down, then the same rule applies but we don’t know what the card is until we turn it over. Now I am going to get right away from conjuring or any suggestion of conjuring even entering into it by giving you the pack to shuffle yourself, sir, while I walk over here. Will you stop the shuffle any time you like, sir, and pick off the top card and hold it up. THE FIVE OF DIAMONDS? From 52 cards, with the shuffled pack in your own hands, you have chosen, entirely by chance, the FIVE OF DIAMONDS. Will you unfasten the slates, sir...Believe it or not, however impossible it may appear, here on the slate is an entirely new message, “YOU WILL SHUFFLE THE FIVE OF DIAMONDS TO THE TOP.” “I believe, sir, that you still have the two cards which you chose which totalled 18? I think you will agree that up to now nobody but yourself could possibly know what the actual cards were? Will you for the first time tell us what they happen to be? THE EIGHT OF DIAMONDS and the TEN OF CLUBS? Then here is the final stage of the miracle...a new and even more impossible message...”YOU TOOK THE EIGHT OF DIAMONDS AND THE TEN OF CLUBS.”

87

“Thank you very much indeed, sir, for your help.” The equipment for this trick consists of a pair of Dr. “Q” self-locking flap slates manufactured and sold by F. G. Thayer, of Los Angeles. Additionally to the single metal flap sold with a standard pair of slates, you will need an extra similar flap. The apparatus is precision made, and the flaps will lock securely into either side of either slate. Before the war, the standard set of slates cost $22.50 and the extra flap was priced at $1.50. As well as the slates, you will need a pack of cards with one double back card to match, and a pack of R. W. Hull’s NU-IDEA FORCING CARDS (described in this book in “The Final Think Stop Trick”) with similar back patterns. With the cards and the slates you will require two books, a box of coloured chalks and a length of soft white rope for tying up the slates. To prepare for the routine, one of the slates, which we will call Slate No. 1, is left blank and unprepared. On Slate No. 2, on one side, holding the slate in a horizontal position, print the ten numerals from 1 to 0, omitting however, the 1 and 8 leaving blank spaces where these numbers would normally lie. The numbers should be in yellow chalk, and should fill the surface of the slate. The general appearance of this slate will now be as follows:–

Now take one of the flaps, and holding it in a horizontal position, mark in pink chalk in each of the upper corners a set of inverted commas. With the same chalk mark a cross in the lower left hand corner and a question mark in the lower right hand corner. In the upper centre or body of the slate, in pink chalk, print in large block capitals the word “WAS.” Underneath this word in yellow chalk, print the numbers 1 and 8, matching in size the numbers on the slate. The general appearance of this flap will be as follows:–

88

Place this flap over the message on the slate, so that the chalked sides are together and lock it into place. The slate will now appear to be blank once more. Turn the slate over, and on the reverse side fill the slate with the following message, in as large printing as possible:–

I have found by experiment that the best arrangement of the wording is obtained by using the slate vertically as shown in the sketch. A striking looking message is obtained by printing the “8,” “DIAMONDS,” “10” and “CLUBS” in red chalk and the remainder of the message in white or green. On the remaining flap, print the following message, again filling the slate:–

Once more I would suggest different colours for the name of the card and the rest of the message in order to obtain a striking appearance. I use yellow and green chalk for this flap. Place the flap, message side downwards, over the message on the slate and lock it into place. This second slate, now apparently blank on both sides, with a flap locked to either side should be marked secretly so that the sides can be distinguished. I would suggest placing a pencil dot on each corner of the side of the slate with the flap locked into it with the FIVE OF DIAMONDS message on. The other side of the slate may be left unmarked. The NU-IDEA FORCING PACK in its case (my pack is designed to force the Five of Diamonds) should be placed in the right trouser pocket. The matching pack should be made ready for

89

Henry Christ’s 203rd force by placing the Eight of Diamonds and the Ten of Clubs face up on top of the face down pack, and over these cards placing the double backed card. This pack should be in its case on your table. The slates should be tied together by passing the rope round first one way and then the other and then tying it in an ordinary bow knot. To present the routine, untie the slates, and mark up Slate No. 1 in pink chalk with the inverted commas, the cross and the question mark, duplicating to this extent the prepared message hidden under the flap of the other slate. The centre of the slate should, however, be filled with pink hieroglyphics, so that the slate will appear something like the sketch:–

As the slates are marked up, they should, of course, be held up in full view of the spectators. Slate No. 2 is now picked up, and on the unmarked side the ten numerals are printed in yellow chalk:–

At this stage the slates are offered to one or two of the audience for examination, and so perfectly are these slates made that they will stand the most rigid scrutiny. Slate No. 2 is slightly heavier than Slate No. 1 owing to the presence of the two flaps, but as the slates are handed to two different spectators this small difference cannot, of course, be detected. As you walk back to your table for the rope, having invited a spectator to come with you to hold the slates, the slates are placed together, Slate No. 1 at the bottom, message side up, and Slate No. 2. on top of it, message side down. The locking device on Slate No. 2 is released with the thumb and the flap drops on to Slate No. 1, where it is instantly locked into place. Invite the spectator to wrap the rope around the slates each way and tie a bow knot. At this stage, I sometimes press the top slate the inch or so to one side which the rope will permit so

90

that he obtains a glimpse of the inverted commas and the question mark, without, of course, being able to see the word “WAS” which has now appeared on the slate with the numbers “1” and “8” in yellow chalk below it. Leave the slates with your helper. Pick up the pack of cards, take them from the case and fan them out which you can easily do without disturbing the arrangement of the three cards at the top. Shuffle the cards a couple of times using the shuffle described in Chapter One, preserving the stock of the top dozen or so cards. Now have another member of the audience cut the cards, calling attention to the fact that he has the completest freedom as to where he cuts. Take the cut off packet from him and turn it face up on the rest of the pack, as described in the patter. Fan out the cards after a few more remarks, and remove what appears to face up portion, and allow him to remove the two top cards of the lower portion, to every appearance the cards cut. Actually, these cards are the 8 of Diamonds and the 10 of Clubs, the next card being the double backer. This force is an extremely subtle one as a trial will convince you. When the cards have been totalled and the number “18” named, pick up your two books for the most beautiful force of a word you can imagine. My books are a green backed “Penguin” entitled Death of My Aunt, by C. H. B. Kitchen, published by Penguin Books, Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, and a blue book entitled The Lady Vanishes, by Ethel Lina White, published for The Crime Club, by Messrs. Collins, 48, Pall Mall, London. Invite a choice of the books, and let us suppose that the green one is chosen. Hand it to a spectator, and ask him to turn to page 18, and call out the 18th word. Shortly he will call out the word “WAS.” Invite another member of the audience to check in the blue book that the corresponding 18th word on page 18 is an entirely different word, and shortly he will call out the word “MOUNTAINS.” Let us, however, put the clock back and suppose that the blue book is named. With this choice the effect is even more astounding. Offer a choice of Page 18 or Chapter 18. Suppose Chapter 18 is chosen. Invite your helper to turn to Chapter 18 in The Lady Vanishes, and count to the 18th word and call it out, and shortly he will say “WAS.” Ask the person with the green book to check on the 18th word in Chapter 18 and he will confirm that it is entirely different, being, in fact, the word “RUSH.” If you think it desirable, you can even let the man with the blue book check the 18th word on page 18 of his book, of which he had the choice, and the word is, of course, different again, being “MOUNTAINS.” If page 18 in the blue book is chosen, tell your helper that the figure 1 indicates the line and the figure 8 the word, and that he is to call out the 8th word on the first line. Shortly he will call out the force word “WAS” whilst in the green book the corresponding different word is “MOUSTACHE.” If the man with the blue book checks on the 8th word in line 1 of Chapter 18, he will call out another different word “SHE.”

91

You will find this force extremely subtle and convincing. So far as I am aware, in all the hundreds of times I have demonstrated it, nobody has solved the modus operandi, and indeed it is difficult to see how a solution could be worked out from seeing it once, for, of course, the audience only see what happens in the one instance, according to the choice made. The beauty of it is, of course, that ordinary books are used. I need hardly say, however, that a good deal of patient work was necessary before two English books were found showing the necessary peculiarity, having a similar word in exactly the right positions. Now you are ready for your first climax. Play up the impossible features of the trick as set forth in the patter outline and have the spectator untie the slates and take them apart. Take them from him and hold them up so that all may see that the miracle has been accomplished. As you stand there acknowledging the enthusiastic applause which this routine always brings, place the slates together again, Slate No. 1 underneath message side up, and Slate No. 2 on top, but this time with the pencil dotted side underneath and the yellow numerals uppermost. During the applause, and whilst the audience think the trick is over, release the locking device on Slate No. 2 again, and the second flap will drop, being instantly locked into place on Slate No. 1 on top of the other flap. Ask the man who held the slates to stay a moment or two longer and have him tie them up again and place them under his arm, facing the audience. I should perhaps have said that when the first two cards are chosen and left with the spectators, the remainder of the pack is put into its case and dropped into the right coat pocket as if its use was over. Now apparently, the same pack, but really the NU-IDEA PACK is taken out of the trouser pocket and displayed and shuffled in the absolutely convincing way possible with these cards and described in the “The Final Think Stop Trick.” As suggested in the patter, shuffle them first with faces to the audiences and then with backs uppermost. Hand the pack to the spectator with the slates under his arm and ask him to shuffle the pack as you have done whilst you walk away. If he is anything of a card handler he could shuffle these cards all night without disturbing the order, whilst even a clumsy shuffler will not disturb more than one or two, as a drastic trial will show you. Let him stop shuttling and lift off the top card. According to the way he picks it off the pack, it will either be the single force card, or two cards together, the top one of which will be the force card. In the latter instance, either he discovers or I point out to him that he has two cards, and he takes the top one of the two. Take the chosen card and the pack from him and hold them up, the Five of Diamonds (in this example) in one hand and the fanned out pack in the other, so that the audience may see the card which has been chosen under conditions which appear absolutely to preclude anything but a chance selection.

92

Now ask your helper to open the slates which have been held under his arm whilst he shuffled the cards, and take from him Slate No. 1 with the message “YOU SHUFFLED THE FIVE OF DIAMONDS TO THE TOP!” and hold it up so that all may see. This second climax seems to create an even greater impression than the first one, and you will be gratified at the enthusiastic reception. Again the audience imagine that nothing more wonderful can possibly occur, but you have still your third climax to come. Turn to the original spectator who chose the first two cards, pointing out that as yet nobody but himself knows their identity, although their total value is known to be 18. When he calls out the names of the cards, take them from him and hold them up so that all may see. Now take Slate No. 2 and dramatically hold it up, reading aloud the new message which fills the slate “YOU TOOK THE 8 OF DIAMONDS AND THE 10 OF CLUBS.” Put the cards down, and pick up the other slate, and take your bow holding both slates, filled with the writing from the final two messages, which brings this experiment to a sensational close. I feel sure that the reader who gets together the necessary equipment for this routine and gives the experiment the necessary study and rehearsal will be deeply satisfied with his investment. It has been the feature of my club programme for five years and has never failed to score heavily with the audience. I normally present it as a complete entity, forming the second half of my programme, which is divided from the first half by another artiste. I might add too, that if I ever do present this experiment in conjunction with others, I am careful to keep completely away from card tricks. This avoidance of any diminution of effect in one’s featured routine by careful selection of the tricks which precede it is to my mind an important factor in programme building. Regarding the books, I strongly urge you to find two of your own rather than relying on mine, but, of course, for completeness I have given you particulars of those I use. I am also including here details of two other books which I use for return engagements, employing a different number and a different word. The Titanic Hotel Mystery, by John Hawke. (Blue backed). Published by Messrs. Skeffington & Sons, Ltd., Paternoster House, St. Paul’s, E.C.4. Page 14, 14th word, “TO.” Four Fingers, by Lynn Brock (Red backed). Published by Messrs. Collins, 48, Pall Mall, London. Page 14, line 1, word 4, “TO.” Chapter 14, 14th word, “TO.” Any number between 14 and 20 is about right, and any common word will do. The chances of finding anything but a common word are, of course, remote, but it is necessary that the word should be insignificant, as in one instance you will notice that the second spectator counts right over it in looking up the quite different word in the book not chosen.

93

In choosing books for this quite perfect force, be careful to avoid the occurrence of any hyphenated words or other ambiguities in the words to be counted before the ‘force’ word. Experience has taught me that the count in all cases must be a perfectly straightforward one.

94

C H A P TE R TE N.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF R. W. HULL. “I know of no conjuror who has invented so many wonderful card tricks as Ralph W. Hull.” –W. W. Durbin, –First President, International Brotherhood of Magicians. During the past few years, many magicians have written to me, asking for the names of Ralph Hull’s magical publications and where these may be obtained. For this reason, and because it is my hope that some readers of this book will wish to explore the possibilities of the earlier material available, I am listing it in this final chapter. Books. Eye-Openers, More Eye-Openers, Fifteen Minutes with a Rope, Modernism in Pasteboard, and Smart Magic. The latter two books were written jointly with Nelson C. Hahne, of Dayton, Ohio. Books containing Hull Routines. Encyclopaedia of Card Tricks (Jean Hugard), containing:–Cards of Chance, Joker Spelling Trick (in part), Modernism in Mentalism, Name-O-Card, The Mirage Principle, The Mirage Deck, The Eye-Popper, Three-in-One Card Trick and Magnetic Mental Control. Greater Magic (John Northern Hilliard), containing:–Mental Discernment, Magic Number Revealment, Routine with the Neyhart Houlette, The Tuned Deck, The Eye-Popper and Magnetic Mental Control. Card Tricks (W. F. Steele), containing:–The Joker Spelling Trick (in full) and The Three-in-One Card Trick. The Encyclopaedia of Rope Tricks (Stewart James), containing:–The Vanishing Knot, The Magic Shoe Laces, Stretching a Rope and The Marked Rope and Thumb Tack.

95

Effects with Apparatus. The Goofy Dice, The Juggling Knives, The Homing Ball and Gammatration and Cosmovision. Routines and Patter for Standard Equipment. The Neyhart Rising Cards, The Chinese Sticks, Thayer Silk Cabby, Vanishing Cane, Steel Ball through Glass, The Enchanted Arabian Mirror, Nelson’s Sponge Ball Trick and The Petrie-Lewis Boomerang Sticks. Separately Published Tricks with Ordinary Cards. Name-O-Card, Joker Spelling Trick, Cards of Chance, Mental Discernment and The Three in One Card Trick. Routines with Special Cards. Colour Discernment, Weigh-O-Card, Chango Card, Argus Wonder Cards, N.R.A. Cards, Cosmic Ray Cards, Jim-Jam Cards, P.D.Q. Cards, Flash Cards, Nu-Idea Cards, Mirage Cards, Magnetic Mental Control, Fourteen Deck, Pegasus Cards, Nudist Cards, Delirium Tremens, Coo-Coo Cards, Krazy Kards, Hullabaloo Cards, Four Aces, The Double Blank Card Trick and Joker Jumbo Monte. As far as I have been able to ascertain this list is a complete one. On the death of Mr. Hull, the manufacturing rights on the published material were purchased by John Snyder, Jr., although Mr. Snyder tells me that it is not his intention to continue publication of all the items mentioned. Many of the early routines, such as the Cosmic Ray Cards, were discontinued by Mr. Hull several years ago. Others, such as Colour Discernment and Weigh-O-Card, were combined into single routines such as the Argus Wonder Cards. However, the list is an impressive one and provides a happy hunting ground for the magician who feels the urge to set sail in earnest as an interpreter of Hull.

96