Move Two Cards
This effect was originally published over 50 years ago by Martin Gardner. I only recently discovered that fact but I have been performing it for around 30 years in various guises. (The stage version which follows is a particular favourite). For 10 years I taught a basic magic course and this effect was week 1, trick 1. The reason I used it in that position was that it is so strong and so amazing, yet incredibly easy to perform. Anyone with a fear of handling cards had nothing to worry about. The timing and premise I’ve put in place ensures that it’s not only entertaining but bullet proof. I have performed this effect more than anything else in this book, so I’ve given you all the little observations and additions that make it a really complete piece. Although I’ve performed and taught it for so long, this is the first time it has seen print.
What the audience sees.
A pack of cards is shown and openly shuffled. The magician claims he will memorise the pack in a record time. He spreads the cards widely on the table and, whilst being timed by a spectator, he works his way across the pack
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apparently memorising them. He calls ‘stop’ and remarkably matches his record. The cards are closed up and re- spread face down. He asks 2 spectators to each remove a card from the spread whilst his back is turned. The spectators are asked to remember their cards, they then swap cards and replace the new card in the position where they took their original card from. The pack is now squared up. This all takes place whilst the magician’s back is turned. He turns back around and picks up the pack. Without pausing he looks through the pack and removes 2 cards. The spectators are asked to name their cards. The magician turns the 2 cards around and they are of course correct.
You might take a moment to read that again and consider just how strong the effect is for laymen. A shuffled pack, looked at for 11 seconds, you touch nothing, in fact your back is turned. Cards are not removed, simply moved within the pack and yet you know which they are 100% of the time with no moves, no pumping and no gimmicks. In a dealer ad, it would sound too good to be true. The fact is this routine has been hidden in the literature for so long, it’s almost unknown. If this is your first exposure to this idea, I confidently predict that it will quickly become a favourite. I’ve fooled some very knowledgeable magicians with this over many years.
Set up
The basic method for this effect is this. The cards are divided into 2 distinct halves. A card from part A winds up in part B and vice versa and you are able to spot the stranger cards. When I was originally shown this routine as a teenager, the cards were divided into odds and evens (indeed on stage, I still use that version as it’s a little quicker to spot, hence the variation which follows.). Gardener’s version of the groupings however is more invisible in close-up and will stand more examination.
You begin by dividing the pack into 2 groups. ‘Hook’ cards and non-hook cards. Take a look at the indexes of the following cards and you will see that that they each have a ‘hook’ shape at the top or bottom. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, J. The remaining cards have ‘closed’ or ‘flat’ indexes A, 4, 8, 10, Q, K. Remove all the hook cards (there will be 28) and shuffle them and place them in a pile face down on the table. Check the remaining cards (there will be 24), shuffle them and then place this pile on top.
Spread the cards face up on the table and you’ll see that they look completely mixed. There is no obvious pattern or stack. Each half has a mixture of red and black, pictures and spots, odds and evens.
Hook Cards
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Method and Presentation
In order to ensure that you give yourself the maximum opportunity to nail this first time, it pays to set the ideal conditions. I will only perform this on a decent sized table (like the end of a dining table) with a spectator sitting to my right and one to my left. I have also performed in on a card table often and that is an ideal surface. It’s not ideally suited to the floor or a small coffee table. If the spectators are standing, they are too mobile and it allows for mistakes. This will be apparent as you work through the mechanics. I have included the patter and timing and you’ll see how this allows me to manipulate the spectators.
“Magicians use all kinds of psychological techniques and mind tricks to help them create magic and if you want to get really good, one thing you need to practice is memorising cards, you know the world memory champion can memorise 30 shuffled packs of cards in order. That’s almost 1600 cards. Tonight, I’m going to attempt to equal my own record….…52”
Remove the pack from the box and begin to casually overhand shuffle the first half of the pack with the faces pointing towards the audience (explained in more detail in the move chapter at the end of this book). Having the ‘hook’ cards on the face, gives you slightly more than half the pack to work with. Try not to look at your hands whilst you do this. This is a very convincing false shuffle since you are genuinely shuffling cards and the spectators can see the face card changing constantly.
“I know it doesn’t sound so impressive but the difference I’ve added is speed, my personal best is 52 cards in 11 seconds. I need someone to help by timing me. Does anyone have a watch with a second hand? Or even a second hand watch? You do sir. OK, I’ll spread the cards but I won’t look until you tell me.”
Ribbon spread the cards in a wide arc on the table. Use as much space as you can. This aids the illusion of memorising lots of cards and sets the spectators up for the spread you will do in a moment.
“Ok, tell me when to go.”
Once the spectator says “go,” begin at the left hand end of the arc and stare at the cards, moving your gaze across the spread. As you do this, count in your mind one, one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, up to 11. Time it so you get to the end of the spread as you count 11. As soon as you reach 11, say “stop”,scoop the spread up quickly in one movement and set the pack on the table face down. If you practice this a few times you’ll get to the point where you’ll get the timing pretty close to spot on every time. You’ll surprise yourself at how easy it is. On a watch with a second hand, anything between 10 and 12 seconds will count as 11 and the spectator generally plays
along. It’s not a miracle but it adds a neat moment. I make a lot of fuss about the fact that I’ve equaled my record. This proves funny to the spectators since, at this point they will not believe that you have memorised the pack. This fact adds tremendously to the deception later on.
Spread the cards in the same wide arc that you used before, but this time face down.
“In a moment I’m going to turn my back and, once my back is turned, I’d like you Fred, to slide a card out from the spread. Make sure you remember the exact spot you removed the card from.”
As you say these words, turn to the spectator on your left and look him directly in the eye, ensure you have eye contact as you deliver the instructions. Hold your hands palm down over his half of the spread and gesture by pushing your hands towards him. (below left and right). The eye contact will ensure he is not distracted and is listening to a direct instruction. Your hand gesture is telling him that he should simply slide a card out from his half. Don’t be tempted to say “from this half.” Any narrowing of the choice sets alarm bells ringing. Your gesture and words will be enough. Now turn to the spectator on your right and repeat this exact series of steps with the eye contact and hand gestures.
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“And I’d like you Charlie to also slide a card out from the spread and remember exactly where you got that card from and then I’ll tell you both what to do next.”
In the many years I’ve performed magic, I’ve had a number of effects in which the spectators are required to perform an often simple action, whilst your back is turned. I’ve had them go wrong many times, especially when I was very young. There are a myriad of things which can go wrong in this situation. Many performers simply blame the spectators for being stupid; however the reverse is often true. Communication is the job of the performer. If the spectator does not understand fully what is expected, it isn’t their fault. In this effect, and indeed any effect where this kind of action is required, look at directly into their face, speak slowly and clearly and look for signs of recognition. They will nod and acknowledge in such a way as to communicate to you that they do understand. The other issue which can occur is that you will get an audience member who is drunk or mischievous enough as to try and mess you around deliberately. In this situation, you have a few things which you can do to minimise this interference. The first, we’ve already discussed; a direct instruction delivered slowly and clearly with full eye contact. The next thing you can do in extreme circumstances is to change spectator at this point if you have any doubt as to whether they will play along. I’ve only had to do this once. Strangely it was a young girl at a corporate function. She was hell bent on messing me about from the first minute and I gained more kudos for moving her than I might have done, had I continued.
As you turn your back, you ask each spectator to slide a card out from the spread. When you do this, turn your body slightly in each direction and your head a little further and you will find that your peripheral vision will allow you to see if the spectator is moving unnaturally forwards, or leaning excessively over the table. It is very unlikely that this will occur, however if it does, you know that things are not going to go according to plan. At this point you will need to change tack and we’ll look at this exception shortly.
“Now, I’d like you each to look at your card and remember it.” “In fact show it to a couple of people sitting close to you.”
“Once, you’ve done that, swap cards and tell me when you’ve done that.”
“Now put your new card in the exact place where you took your original card from.”
These instructions are delivered one at a time, slowly and directly so as to ensure a clear understanding. I pause a little at this point. I’ve watched videos of myself performing this and an interesting thing happens at this point. When the spectator returns the card to the spread, he will straighten the cards and make them neat. He is expecting
you to turn around at this point and his only explanation of how you will discover the cards is the untidy movement in the spread. I assume that the other spectators are thinking in the same way. I use this to my advantage.
“Can someone tell me if the cards are back in the pack?”
“Great, now Fred, can you scoop all of the cards up into a neat pile please.”
In much the same as Juan Tamariz likes to send you up a pathway and then shut down your thoughts of how things might be done, so this will stop the spectators in their tracks. Two cards were selected at random, simply moved and somehow you will find them. The spectators are fascinated to see how this effect will proceed.
Turn around and pick up the cards and begin looking through. You will simply need to find the ‘hook’ card in the ‘non-hook’ section and vice versa. This is an easy process but I implore you to practice it many times until you get used to it. It is easy to skip over a card if you are not concentrating. I like to mime as if this is a difficult process; I also talk to myself and mumble words as if I’m using a memory system to locate the cards. I’ll upjog a card and then push it down again to increase the illusion that I’m struggling. As you reach the selections, upjog them and continue to work to the end of the pack. Remove the 2 cards and hold them with their backs towards the spectators.
“Fred, what was your card?” Look at the cards and don’t react.
“And Charlie, what was your card?” Look at the cards and don’t react. “It doesn’t work every time……But it did today.”
Turn the cards around and show them to be correct. At this point, I throw the cards on the pack, pick the cards up and begin shuffling them as I’m thanking the spectators for their help.
This revelation allows me to employ one of my favourite techniques. The graph of interest/emotion would drop at the point you ask for the cards as the spectators will really believe that the effect had failed. Turning the cards around and dramatically proving that you were correct, and raising your voice and tempo in jubilation shoots the graph up almost vertically. This wave of emotion, like a huge laugh, causes the spectators to spontaneously react, applaud, and amazingly forget everything which went before. This is the very reason most people forget jokes when they go to a comedian’s show.
I enjoy effects which allow spectators a peep behind the curtain. If they genuinely believe that they are getting some inside information, their interest level will be higher. In this case, the memorisation seems very unlikely at the outset, almost to the point of a joke. By the end of the effect, it is the only possible explanation. The irony of performing a
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trick where you apparently explain at the outset exactly what you are doing, appear to do exactly what you said you would do, yet achieve it by another method makes me chuckle. This, combined with the revelation makes this a real favourite of mine. I hope you get the same pleasure from it.
Afterthoughts
What to do if one spectator lean’s over and removes a card from the opposite side.
It’s all very well knowing that this has occurred, but what do you do about it? As I said already, it’s an unlikely occurrence but if it does happen you need to head in an alternate direction. At the point you know that it has occurred, turn around and scoop the cards up. The 2 selections will be either on the table or in the hands of the spectators. Either way; ask the spectators to pick the cards up and remember them. Turn your back as they do that. Now pick up the pack and have them place the cards back into the pack. If they were selected from the bottom half, they will need to go back in the top and vice versa. One way to do this, is to dribble the cards and have them throw the cards in. You can control the dribble so that you either go slowly with the first half and drop the rest as a block or drop a block and then dribble slowly depending on which half you need to return the cards to. You now proceed as before and look through the pack and discover the 2 cards out of place.
You can’t be half right.
If you look through the ‘hook’ section and find a ‘non-hook’ card and then look through the ‘non-hook’ section and can’t find a ‘hook’ card then you have made a mistake. In this effect, it is not possible to be half right. If a ‘hook’ card has been moved to the ‘non-hook’ section, then the opposite must also be true. There is only one exception to this and in thousands of performances, this has happened to me only twice. If a spectator removes the very last card in the ‘hook’ section; i.e. at the point the changeover occurs and the second spectator removes a ‘non-hook’ card as normal, the ‘non-hook’ card is placed between the 2 sections in the middle of the spread and, in effect becomes the last ‘non-hook’ card. In this situation, if you have looked a couple of times through the second section and still can’t find a card out of place, it will be the first card in the other section.
What if I look through and can’t find cards out of place?
The simple fact here is that the spectators have both selected cards from the same section and simply swapped their positions. The solution to this is to begin the effect from scratch. This is a pretty remarkable feat and not nailing it first time can add to strength of the effect. Remember the trapeze analogy. Explain that you are not sure and that you will start over, do the same false shuffle you did at the outset and proceed exactly as you did first time. Explain again, exactly what you want the spectators to do. Use the hand gestures in precisely the same way.
A wide and even spread will help to eliminate this possibility. And you should practice your ribbon spread. A good way to do this is to arrange the cards for this effect and spread them face up over and over again. Aim to get the spread as wide and even as you can and each time you spread, take a look at where the 2 sections meet. This should be as close to the centre of the spread as you can get it. (and, therefore the centre of the table and well away from a seated spectator).
Having a cloth on the table, especially one with a little give, will help to create the friction necessary for a good spread. I find that using downward pressure from the first finger (or forefinger) helps to regulate the spread. A close-up mat will never be big enough to give you the ideal size of spread necessary. A card table is ideal if you can