125 Tricks with Cards Or Sleight of Hand Introductory Ttie State Library of Victoria "ALMA CONJUIUM® COLLECTION”
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W !LL ALMA M.I.M.C. aO N D O N ) 125 Tricks With Cards Or Sleight of Hand Introductory Ttie State Library of Victoria "ALMA CONJUIUM® COLLECTION” Out of all types of sleight-of-hand fingers when a sleight is about to and other kinds of tricks, few are so be performed. You w ill have to imi attractive to the average amateur as tate the ventriloquist and his “speak those performed w ith the assistance of ing dummy” whom he holds on his a deck of cards. In nearly every group knees. The audience watches w ith rapt can be found at least one individual interest the movements of the dummy, who can do one or more cards tricks, which is just what the ventroloquist but the person who has at his finger wants, for then . they won’t see the tips the ability to preseat in the cor corners of his own mcuth moving rect manner a fairly continuous num while the words apparently are com ber is still rare. ing out his "stooge’s’’ lips. Therefore the person who has the The beginner can rest assured of patience to master some of the bet one thing and that is that the tricks in ter tricks to the point where they can this book are those used by some of be presented with confidence and suc the foremost masters. The experts cess really is unique. These tricks are who worked out the correct presenta not learned to the point of perfection tion of the tricks contained in this at one or two trials. Naturally, there book all were recognized as among are some who can learn to understand the real masters. The tricks are sound a trick with a few readings of the and when properly presented w ill ren Instructions, but there Is something der the effects desired. else that also must be studied—the There are many tricks which do not correct movement of the fingers. The require any equipment and it frankly tricks must be performed deftly and was the intention of fhe publishers to with as smooth a flow of motion as include as many of this type as possible. The action must not be jerky possible. Most of the equipment re and incoherent or the entire effect quired w ith some of the more elaborate is spoiled and usually the secret of the tricks can easily be obtained. Much trick given away. of it can be made by the performer, if Palming, passing and forcing are he is genuinely interested in the pos perhaps the backbone of the card trick sibilities. In fact, most of the masters sequences. These Instructions should who appeared for years on the stage be studied to the point where they can and in private manufactured their own be performed with hardly any more equipment. Frankly, most of the equip difficulty than it is to raise a fork to ment on the market is copied from pro one’s lips. ducts which those masters devised. The history of card tricks goes back Whether the reader wants to enter to the middle ages and for years It into the consideration of these more was regarded as genuine magic to be intricate possibilities is entirely up to able to perform some of the stranger himself. The book abounds with nu sleights, as are offered in this book. merous tricks and sleights which can However, the secrets are so simple that be mastered within a short period of once understood they are very seldom time and the publishers confidently fo rg o tto n . predict that once the easier tricks have Of course, there Is more to card been mastered the desire to perform tricks than the mere presentation of the harder ones will be hard to the motions. You must develop a con suppress. tinuous line of patter, as the stage per There are some who contend that formers term It, to keep up the Inter card tricks really started shortly af est of the audience and also to direct ter playing cards were introduced in the attention of the audience from your to Europe and were worked out by the 2 125 TRICKS WITH CARDS OR SLEIGHT OP HAND world’s first cheats in card games. As and studying that sometimes covered soon as the craze for cards became many years. Por instance, the trick in general there were those who worked which a card is torn up by the aud out a few of the simpler ways whereby ience and then made to reappear whole, cards could be switched to the benefit in a frame on the stage, w ith the excep of either one or more individuals in tion of a single piece of the supposedly those games where wagers and stakes torn card missing, actually took years were being sought after. Naturally, the number of these early cheats was to work out. But when it was perfect small and until their nefarious scheme ed the old master knew when he said was suspected they had gained consid he could do the trick that it would be erable riches, according to these his done smoothly and that the amaze torians. However, it was not long be ment of the audience at seeing the fore their schemes were uncovered and torn corner reappear and furthermore became, to a certain extent, the know to have one of the audience fit in the ledge of so many that it was imprac piece he retained when the card was tical to use them at gaming tables. To ripped to shreds would be almost un- beat this situation the cheats merely believeable. Still, this trick can be concentrated on finding new methods worked out if the special equipment is at palming cards, switching cards, obtained. stacking the decks, etc., etc., usually Of great value also is the ability of managing to keep just a little bit the amateur to appear exceedingly ahead of their pursuers. While the natural during the presentation of nature of card tricks is fairly well what tricks he may have mastered. understood the method of doing them .There should be little in his action to is still more or less a general mystery. indicate that he considers himself a This is why so many respectable per finished magician. The magician usual sons are annually lured into games by ly accomplishes his feats to the accom professional gamblers who understand paniment of vast flourishes, excessive card tricks and against whom the un fanfare, etc., by which he impresses his suspecting victim has no chance of audience of the great difficulty and competing. The annual toll runs into strain coincident with presentation of many hundreds of thousands and the his tricks. The amateur who can per professional gambler always'will find form a sequence of card tricks in a victims because so few persons under fashion that makes it appear that it stand what can be done with a pack requires almost no effort makes his of cards/ a fertile mind and deft fingers. audience wonder the most. The patter Of course, the great majority of card can be casual and easy, just as though tricks that have been handed down it were part of the ordinary conversa through generation after generation tio n . W hen the audience sees the cards are based on the great opportunity for do strange tricks with almost no effort entertainment which they offer. Cards they become so impressed that there can be made to rise frurn the table, is always the demand for more and flutter through the air, change their also attempts to imitate, which natur Identities while in full view of every ally always come to failure and which one—in fact so many things can be greatly increase the respect for the done that suggest strongly of black p e rform e r. magic that the conscientious performer The special equipment, of course, can make peoples’ hair literally stand does not fit in with the plans ,of the on end. person desiring to present card tricks Equipment and accessories became as a casual interlude in what may be the result of a desire for variety in a card party or a house party. Equip programs and entertainments by the ment always suggests careful prepara old masters. Once these masters had tion and naturally the performer must perfected all known tricks and sleights be careful to make his appearance, they immediately sought more. The patter, etc., appear in line with the new ones were the result of efforts nature of his special equipment. 125 Tricks with Cards Or Sleight of Hand To bo •» successful artist, it is essen that the two packets will be in the po tial that this, the pass, be mastered sition depicted in the second illustra* to the point where absolutely no tion. Fingers of the left hand are now chance of failure exists. The deck is extended, causing the upper portion o f held as in the first illustration, with the deck to be drawn away, at the same time raising (with the right the little finger of the left hand insert hand) (he lower edge of the under deck ed over the card to be brought to the until the edges of the packets just clear top. Now cover the deck with the right each other. Here refer to the third il har.d. Grasp the lower portion of the lustration. When the packets are at deck lengthwise between the second this position by the mere act of clos ing the left hand they will be brought together as at first except that they have changed places and the desired card will now be on the top.