“All right, you’re sure that you can see the markings?” Deal a
card face up to the spectator and say, “Okay, there’s your hit. Do
you want another hit?” The spectator will say “no.” Add: “You’ll stand pat then?”
Peek at your hole card; never let them assume that you can read it. Say, “I’ll take a hit.” Deal a card. Continue: “I’ll stand
pat; I don’t think I could stand one more card. What do you have? Twenty? (If he didn’t turn his hole card face up, ask him to do it
now.) “You’ll have to turn your card face up! I can’t read them,
you know. I have only fourteen, so you win. See how easy it is to cheat with the Sneaker Peepers? Let’s pretend that we’re playing for money now.”
Deal Blackjack (round two) and continue: “Before we start,
are you sure you can read the markings? Fine! Do you want a hit?” (He’ll say “no.”) “I’ll look at mine. I don’t want a hit either. What do you have? Eighteen? I have twenty. Are you sure you can see the markings...maybe you don’t understand the game. Let’s try again. Remember, you’re supposed to win, not me!”
Deal Blackjack (round 3) and say, “Do you want a hit?” The spectator will affirm. Continue: “Ah, there’s a big five for you. You
have nine showing. Do you want a hit again?” The spectator will
say “no.” Look at your card and add: “I’ll see what I have here.
What do you have? Nineteen? No good, my friend! I have twenty. I’m sorry, but are you sure that you see the markings? Don’t lie to be polite. If you can’t see them, I’ll clean the glasses for you.”
Deal Blackjack again (round 4) and say: “Now, sir, do you
want a hit?” The spectator will affirm. Continue: “All right, you have a King. You have sixteen showing. Do you want a hit?” The
spectator will say “no.” Add: “You’ll stand pat.” Peek at your card, then say: “I’ll take a hit. What do you have? Nineteen?
That’s what I have! Nineteen! You’re doing better, but that’s still a push. My gosh, you haven’t won a hand yet! Do you realize that? I would have a lot of money right now. You’re sure you can see the markings? Let’s start again. I just don’t know. You either don’t understand the game or you’re a terrible cheater.”
Deal another round of Blackjack (round 5) and say: “Careful
now, do you want a hit?” The spectator will reject a hit. Continue: “Let me see what I have...I don’t want a hit, either. What do you have? You have eighteen...I have nineteen. Are you putting me on? You still haven’t won one hand! Even I’m confused. Let’s try again!”
Deal another round of Blackjack (round 6) and ask: “Do you
want a hit?” The spectator will take another card. Continue: “You have a big seven. Do you want another hit?” The spectator will
take another card. Say, “It’s a six...that’s thirteen showing. Do you
want another hit?” The spectator will reject another card. Add: “I’ll check what I have. I’ll take another hit. Let’s see, I have ten showing and an Ace underneath. I have twenty-one! What do you have? Twenty! Come on...you haven’t won one single hand! Maybe it’s your eyes? Have you had them checked lately?”
Continue: “I don’t want to keep reminding you, but are you
sure that you can read these cards? Not just the ones on the table, but the ones on the deck, too. Do you want a hit?” (He’ll say “no.”) “You don’t want a hit...So, I’ll see what I have. I’ll stand pat. Show your hand. Eighteen? Look, I have twenty. Something is wrong here! I’ve given you all of the advantages. You can read the cards from the back and you still lose! Seriously, don’t you like me? Are you doing this on purpose?”
Deal another round of Blackjack (round 7) and say: “Let’s see
now, you have a four showing, and I have an Ace. Do you want a hit?” (He’ll say “yes.”) Continue: “You want a hit and you’ll get it. It’s a five! Do you want another hit?” (He’ll say “no.”) Say, “What do you have? Nineteen? I have twenty! What do you want from me? I’ll ask you one more time...can you read the cards? Look, I’ll tell you what. We’ll play this last hand according to Western Rules. That means that you can double your bet. All of the money that you’ve lost, you can double! What’s more the dealer has to stand pat at seventeen! That seems fair enough, doesn’t it?”
Deal a final round of Blackjack (round 8) and say, “If you
don’t mind...can you see the markings?” (Your face down 14S is
unmarked, so he can’t read it.) Say, “What’s wrong? You can’t see
the cards? Hell, that’s what I’ve been saying all along! Oh, you can’t see one of the cards. Let me check the Sneaker-Peepers for a minute!”
Take the glasses, “clean” them, and quickly inspect the 14S. If he says that he can see the markings on the other cards without the glasses, comment that it’s due to temporary sight retention – it’ll quickly pass. Shake your head, put the glasses back on the spectator, and say: “Son-of-a-gun, do you know what this means?
It means that they forgot to mark that one card. Well, that’s all right, because you can read all of the rest of the deck, can’t you? We’ll continue. Let’s see what I have.” Look at your face down
card and add: “Isn’t that funny? We’re playing by Western Rules,
right? Do you want a hit?” (He’ll say “yes.”)
Continue: “You have a nine showing, all spades – Six of
Spades, Three of Spades. I can’t take a hit. What do you have? Nineteen? Dealer has to stand pat at seventeen...Western Rules!”
Turn your card face up and say, “Well...I have the Fourteen of
Spades and the Seven of Spades; that’s twenty-one! Sir, are you sure you understand the rules? You didn’t win one hand. Will someone please give him a lesson on how to play Blackjack?”
The stack was Eddie Fields’s idea and Don Alan developed the routine and patter. The basic routine was devised and marketed in 1976. When it was released, it included a gimmicked card box with a flap concealed along the red border of its Fox Lake label. The flap was hinged at the top and its sides were held down by dabs of wax. The flap could then be lifted by placing your thumbnail under its bottom edge and prying up. When raised, it revealed a printed paper that listed the stack used in the routine. It was handy to furtively consult or when it was necessary to reset the deck.
[Editor’s note: This routine offers the potential for a lot of fun and audience interaction. However, since the assisting spectator always loses, you have to play this with a light touch, otherwise you may find yourself in a situation in which the spectator simply quits or demands to shuffle the cards.
You don’t need lens-less glasses; any tinted sunglasses will work. Simply refer to them as “luminous readers.” If you use the lens-less glasses, you might want to allow your finger to pass through the eye-frame as you clean them the last time.
Unless you are a particularly gifted performer (or you are working for a captive, friendly audience) you may want to reduce the number of rounds of dealing. This is easily done. Also, for the final hand, instead of saying that the dealer will stick on seventeen, you might want to say that for the final round the dealer cannot hit at all – you can only play your first two cards. If you do that, it looks like the assistant can’t lose.]
Y
ou know the kid. You can pick him out in a room full of SYMers. He’s not the one who is there just to learn the secrets. He’s the one who walks around the room taking in all that is offered. He asks a lot of real questions and makes you show him a move over and over. When he goes to bed he is the type who is not under the covers with a flash- light reading comic books. Instead, he is reading Houdini biographies or poring through the latest magic magazine for the umpteenth time, absorbing the contents of each page like a sponge. He’s the teen who was always paying late fees for not returning magic books on time to the library. This was MatFranco.
Back when he was fifteen years old, I interviewed him for the
Magic SYMbol because I
felt that this was an exceptional magic
student who one day could be working
conventions and more. He kept
winning the local magic contests and took some master
c l a s s e s with Jeff McBr ide.
When I introduced him to the Stars
of Tomorrow
show producer, Andy Dallas, he
booked him for the very popular SYM convention show at the S.A.M. convention in Las Vegas.
Mat continued his magic, performing throughout his college years while he majored in marketing and minored in communications. After graduation, he took on magic full time and has been performing the college circuit. Then last February, his friends
suggested that he try out for America’s Got Talent.
By now, the name Mat Franco is known by laymen as the winner of AGT. Overnight, he became famous. Local comedian Nick
Albanese joked, “Half of Rhode Island actually knows Mat Franco, and the other half will claim they do!”
Each year, while magicians appeared on AGT doing large stage illusions, the judges dismissed the magicians as lower class acts and kept telling them they had to do something “bigger, more dangerous, and flashier.” Much like David Blaine, who went in the opposite direction during an era of stage magicians with dancing girls and sequins, Mat took the unexpected route of performing close-up magic in big theaters and connecting with the audience by showing off his warm personality. His persona on stage, his looks, and his skill won the judges – Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Howard Stern, and Mel B, who stated, “he makes magic sexy.”